Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief

I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus

It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin,which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in abackpack Grover had found for me.The camp store loaned me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twentygolden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had imagesof various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on theother. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, butOlympians never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come inhandy for nonmortal transactions – whatever that meant. He gave Annabeth andme each a flask of nectar and an airtight bag full of ambrosia squares, to be usedonly in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chironreminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals.Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose wouldburn us up, literally.Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been atwelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classicalarchitecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a longbronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us bustedthe first time we went through a metal detector.Grover wore his fake feet and his trousers to pass as human. He wore a greenrasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could justsee the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal andapples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat hadcarved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concertono. 12 and Hilary Duff's 'So Yesterday', both of which sounded pretty bad onreed pipes.We waved goodbye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberryfields, the ocean and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tallpine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dudeI'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guywas the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so hecould never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform,so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.'This is Argus,' Chiron told me. 'He will drive you into the city, and, er, well,keep an eye on things.'I heard footsteps behind us.Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.'Hey!' he panted. 'Glad I caught you.'Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around.'Just wanted to say good luck,' Luke told me. 'And I thought... um, maybeyou could use these.'He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelledkind of normal.Luke said, 'Maia!'White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I droppedthem. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up anddisappeared.'Awesome!' Grover said.Luke smiled. 'Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad.Of course, I don't use them much these days...' His expression turned sad.I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to saygoodbye. I'd been afraid he might resent me for getting so much attention thelast few days. But here he was giving me a magic gift... It made me blushalmost as much as Annabeth.'Hey, man,' I said. 'Thanks.''Listen, Percy...' Luke looked uncomfortable. 'A lot of hopes are riding onyou. So just... kill some monsters for me, okay?'We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave agoodbye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.After Luke was gone, I told her, 'You're hyperventilating.''Am not.''You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?''Oh... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?'She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on theshoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys.I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron.'I won't be able to use these, will I?'He shook his head. 'Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air... thatwould not be wise for you.'I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. 'Hey, Grover. You want amagic item?'His eyes lit up. 'Me?'Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's firstflying goat boy was ready for launch.'Maia!' he shouted.He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpackdragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tinybroncos.'Practice,' Chiron called after him. 'You just need practice!''Aaaaa!' Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawnmower, heading towards the van.Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. 'I should have trained youbetter, Percy,' he said. 'If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason – they all gotmore training.''That's okay. I just wish –'I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat. I was wishing mydad had given me a cool magic item to help on the quest, something as good asLuke's flying shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap.'What am I thinking?' Chiron cried. 'I can't let you get away without this.'He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinarydisposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents.'Gee,' I said. 'Thanks.''Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing youwere who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are theone.'I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I'dvaporized Mrs Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword.Could this be...?I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half asecond, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leatherwrapped grip and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon thatactually felt balanced in my hand.'The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into,' Chiron toldme. 'Its name is Anaklusmos.''"Riptide",' I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily.'Use it only for emergencies,' Chiron said, 'and only against monsters. Nohero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this swordwouldn't harm them in any case.'I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. 'What do you mean it wouldn't harmmortals? How could it not?''The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heartof Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to anycreature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the bladewill pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enoughfor the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed byeither celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable.''Good to know.''Now recap the pen.'I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to aballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket, a little nervous, because I wasfamous for losing pens at school.'You can't,' Chiron said.'Can't what?''Lose the pen,' he said. 'It is enchanted. It will always reappear in yourpocket. Try it.'I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched itdisappear in the grass.'It may take a few moments,' Chiron told me. 'Now check your pocket.'Sure enough, the pen was there.'Okay, that's extremely cool,' I admitted. 'But what if a mortal sees me pullingout a sword?'Chiron smiled. 'Mist is a powerful thing, Percy.''Mist?''Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine ormonstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, whichobscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a halfblood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, thelengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality.'I put Riptide back in my pocket.For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. Iwas heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cellphone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, itwould be worse than sending up a flare.) I had no weapon stronger than a swordto fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.'Chiron...' I said. 'When you say the gods are immortal... I mean, there was atime before them, right?''Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age,sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the timeof Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age'.'So what was it like... before the gods?'Chiron pursed his lips. 'Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, butI know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord ofthe Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and freeof all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothingfor your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It wasonly in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan broughtfire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheuswas branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Ofcourse, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization wasborn.''But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization isalive, they're alive. So... even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it wouldmess up everything, right?'Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. 'No one knows how long the Age of theWest will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans.They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endlesspain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fatesforbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should everreturn to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow ourdestiny.''Our destiny... assuming we know what that is.''Relax,' Chiron told me. 'Keep a clear head. And remember, you may beabout to prevent the biggest war in human history.''Relax,' I said. 'I'm very relaxed.'When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree thatused to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron was now standing in full horse-manform, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off byyour typical centaur.* * *Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weirdto be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we werenormal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemedlike a fantasy. I found myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the backof his parents' car, every billboard and shopping mall.'So far so good,' I told Annabeth. 'Ten miles and not a single monster.'She gave me an irritated look. 'It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain.''Remind me again – why do you hate me so much?''I don't hate you.''Could've fooled me.'She folded her cap of invisibility. 'Look... we're just not supposed to getalong, okay? Our parents are rivals.''Why?'She sighed. 'How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caughtPoseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful.Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city ofAthens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My momcreated the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named thecity after her.''They must really like olives.''Oh, forget it.''Now, if she'd invented pizza – that I could understand.''I said, forget it!'In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye onthe back of his neck winked at me.Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it wassunset and starting to rain.Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not farfrom my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer withmy picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice.Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away,the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of theparking lot.I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. On a normal day, mymom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe was probablyup there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction Iwas looking. 'You want to know why she married him, Percy?'I stared at him. 'Were you reading my mind or something?''Just your emotions.' He shrugged. 'Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can dothat. You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?'I nodded, wondering what else Grover might've forgotten to tell me.'Your mom married Gabe for you,' Grover told me. 'You call him "Smelly",but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura... Yuck. I can smell him from here.I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a fortnight.''Thanks,' I said. 'Where's the nearest shower?''You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively humanhe could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside hisCamaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn'tlived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters along time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady.She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy – if that makes you feel anybetter.'It didn't, but I forced myself not to show it. I'll see her again, I thought. Sheisn't gone.I wondered if Grover could still read my emotions, mixed up as they were. Iwas glad he and Annabeth were with me, but I felt guilty that I hadn't beenstraight with them. I hadn't told them the real reason I'd said yes to this crazyquest.The truth was, I didn't care about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt, or savingthe world, or even helping my father out of trouble. The more I thought about it,I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, never helping my mom, never evensending a lousy child-support cheque. He'd only claimed me because he neededa job done.All I cared about was my mom. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades wasgoing to give her back.You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle whispered inmy mind. You will fail to save what matters most in the end.Shut up, I told it.The rain kept coming down.We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack withone of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the appleoff her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. I wasn't too bad myself.The game ended when I tossed the apple towards Grover and it got too closeto his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared – core, stemand all.Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busycracking up.Finally the bus came. As we stood in line to board, Grover started lookingaround, sniffing the air like he smelled his favourite school cafeteria delicacy –enchiladas.'What is it?' I asked.'I don't know,' he said tensely. 'Maybe it's nothing.'But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder, too.I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in theback of the bus. We stowed our backpacks. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankeescap nervously against her thigh.As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee.'Percy.'An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lacegloves and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried abig paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and myheart skipped a beat.It was Mrs Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face.I scrunched down in my seat.Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat.Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs Dodds – same gnarled hands, paisleyhandbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers.They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossedtheir legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent aclear message: nobody leaves.The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets ofManhattan. 'She didn't stay dead long,' I said, trying to keep my voice fromquivering. 'I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime.''I said if you're lucky,' Annabeth said. 'You're obviously not.''All three of them,' Grover whimpered. 'Di immortales!''It's okay,' Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. 'The Furies. The threeworst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slipout the windows.''They don't open,' Grover moaned.'A back exit?'she suggested.There wasn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By thattime, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.'They won't attack us with witnesses around,' I said. 'Will they?''Mortals don't have good eyes,' Annabeth reminded me. 'Their brains canonly process what they see through the Mist.''They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?'She thought about it. 'Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help.Maybe an emergency exit in the roof...?'We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lightsdown the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.Mrs Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced tothe whole bus: 'I need to use the restroom.''So do I,'said the second sister.'So do I,'said the third sister.They all started coming down the aisle.'I've got it,' Annabeth said. 'Percy, take my hat.''What?''You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them passyou. Maybe you can get to the front and get away.''But you guys –''There's an outside chance they might not notice us,' Annabeth said. 'You're ason of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering.''I can't just leave you.''Don't worry about us,' Grover said. 'Go!'My hands trembled. I felt like a coward, but I took the Yankees cap and put iton.When I looked down, my body wasn't there any more.I started creeping up the aisle. I managed to get up ten rows, then duck into anempty seat just as the Furies walked past.Mrs Dodds stopped, sniffing, and looked straight at me. My heart waspounding.Apparently she didn't see anything. She and her sisters kept going.I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through theLincoln Tunnel now. I was about to press the emergency stop button when Iheard hideous wailing from the back row.The old ladies were not old ladies any more. Their faces were still the same –I guess those couldn't get any uglier – but their bodies had shrivelled intoleathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyleclaws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing:'Where is it? Where?'The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. Theysaw something, all right.'He's not here!' Annabeth yelled. 'He's gone!'The Furies raised their whips.Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bagand prepared to throw it.What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should've been namedADHD poster child of the year.The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rearviewmirror.Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left.Everybody howled as they were thrown to the right, and I heard what I hopedwas the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows.'Hey!' the driver yelled. 'Hey – whoa!'We wrestled for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel,grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us.We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, peopleand monsters tossed around the bus, cars ploughed aside like bowling pins.Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half adozen traffic lights, and ended up barrelling down one of those New Jersey ruralroads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river fromNew York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right and thedriver seemed to be veering towards the river.Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake.The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet tar and crashed into the trees. Theemergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first oneout, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into thedriver's seat and let them pass.The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth whileshe waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off.Grover threw tin cans.I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn't leave my friends.I took off the invisible cap. 'Hey!'The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenlysounded like an excellent idea. Mrs Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she usedto do in class, about to deliver my F- maths test. Every time she flicked herwhip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her andcrawled towards me like huge nasty lizards.'Perseus Jackson,' Mrs Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely fromsomewhere further south than Georgia. 'You have offended the gods. You shalldie.''I liked you better as a maths teacher,' I told her.She growled.Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for anopening.I took the ballpoint pen out of my pocket and uncapped it. Riptide elongatedinto a shimmering double-edged sword.The Furies hesitated.Mrs Dodds had felt Riptide's blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing itagain.'Submit now,'she hissed. 'And you will not suffer eternal torment.''Nice try,' I told her.'Percy, look out!' Annabeth cried.Mrs Dodds lashed her whip around my sword hand while the Furies on theeither side lunged at me.My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but I managed not to dropRiptide. I struck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backwardsinto a seat. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the bladeconnected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Annabeth gotMrs Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backwards while Grover rippedthe whip out of her hands.'Ow!' he yelled. 'Ow! Hot! Hot!'The Fury I'd hilt-slammed came at me again, talons ready, but I swungRiptide and she broke open like a piñata.Mrs Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed,hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs Dodds's legs tied upin her own whip. Finally they both shoved her backwards into the aisle. MrsDodds tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she keptfalling down.'Zeus will destroy you!'she promised. 'Hades will have your soul!''Braccas meas vescimini!' I yelled.I wasn't sure where the Latin came from. I think it meant 'Eat my pants!'Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck.'Get out!' Annabeth yelled at me. 'Now!' I didn't need any encouragement.We rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in adaze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, 'We're goingto die!' A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped my photograph beforeI could recap my sword.'Our bags!' Grover realized. 'We left our –'BOOOOOM!The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightningshredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told me MrsDodds was not yet dead.'Run!' Annabeth said. 'She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out ofhere!'We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behindus and nothing but darkness ahead.