The Next Generation: Hades's Helm

Chapter 14: Hayley

No disclaimers for you. If you've read this far and don't know which characters are mine and which aren't, I'm worried about you.

As soon as Ally shouted the summoning, a gust of wind knocks both her and Hayley onto their backs, Thunder just barely managing to stay on her feet.

When the three girls look up, a yellow taxi is in front of them, three old ladies in the front. Hayley slowly stands up, confused. What was so important about this taxi? It looked like any other in Manhattan. And why was it driven by three old women?

Ally steps closer to the taxi, opening the backseat door and putting her bag on the floor and climbing in. Thunder followed, sitting in the middle. Hayley got in last, keeping her mask up to cover her scars.

"Where to, young heroes?" The old lady driving asked, turning around to look at the girls. Hayley's eyes widen when she sees the lady's empty eye sockets.

Hayley was about to ask how a woman with no eyes could drive them all the way to Korea, but Thunder spoke before she could. "Jeju, Korea."

The old woman grins, revealing that she only had one tooth in her gums. "Overseas? That'll cost you extra, daughter of Jupiter."

Again, Hayley wondered how the woman could know Thunder's father. And again, Thunder spoke before she could. "We know. We're prepared to pay for it."

The woman chuckles, turning forwards again. One of the other women, the one on the far right, shouts, "Anger, give me the tooth! You've had your turn!"

"Wasp, shut up. It's my turn to have the eye, but Tempest won't hand it over!" The woman driving, presumably Anger, shouts.

The three sisters start arguing among themselves, while Hayley turns to the other two girls. "They only have one tooth?"

"And one eye," Ally confirms, nodding. She's facing forward, watching the sisters fight, looking almost fascinated by it.

"How do they drive if they only have one eye?" Hayley asks, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Don't know. But they've been doing it for years. My older sister came in here when she was about 13," Ally says, shrugging her shoulders.

Hayley rolls her eyes, leaning back in her seat. "Great. Any other info about this crazy car ride with old ladies you all forgot to tell me?"

"Actually, yes," Ally says, finally tearing her eyes away from the sisters to look at Hayley. "The sisters love to share their knowledge. They'll pretend to be hesitant at first, but they love it."

"Okay," Hayley mutters, raising her eyebrows. "And why is it so bad if they tell us what they know? Won't it make the quest easier if we know what to do?"

"No," Ally answers, shaking her head again. "The exact opposite, actually. They'll tell us what they know, but not directly. They'll be cryptic and secretive, leaving you with more questions than you had before."

"Both of you, shut up," Thunder suddenly interrupts, glaring at both the younger girls. "We need to focus on the quest. We don't even know who we're looking for."

"Speaking of which, I have a question for you too," Hayley says, looking up at Thunder. "Why Jeju? Why wouldn't we go to Seoul?"

"You're just full of questions, aren't you, girl?" Thunder asks, looking over at Hayley, clearly annoyed.

"Thunder, lay off her. Fighting amongst ourselves won't help anything," Ally says, bumping the older girl's shoulder. "And she's only asking a bunch of questions because she doesn't know anything. She only got to camp yesterday, remember?"

Thunder rolls her eyes, although she sighs and nods. "Alright, yeah, I'm sorry. This quest is just stressing me out. We're going to Jeju because it's where I was born. The prophecy said to return to my roots. So, I figured this was the best place to start."

Hayley raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms. She feels a pang of annoyance at the older girl not telling her this beforehand. "Alright. Would've been nice if you told us that."

Thunder glares at Hayley, but before she can speak, Anger puts her withered hands on the wheel and shouts. "Jeju, here we come!"

The taxi immediately starts going, the city of Manhattan blurring by in a few seconds. Hayley's eyes widen, gripping the car door in panic.

"Oh, young heroes! So much in your future!" The middle sister shouts, turning to look at the three girls. She had one eye in her right socket, but the left was empty. Hayley didn't think she'd ever not get queasy when she saw that.

The middle sister grins her toothless grin. "Who shall we start out with?"

"Oh, I know, Tempest! Start with the daughter of Hades! She's already so afraid!" The sister farthest to the right shouts, also grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm not afraid!" Hayley protests, but the sisters ignore her.

"Or the daughter of Athena! There's so much to tell her!" Anger shouts, not taking her eyes off the road.

"We don't want your knowledge, Graeae!" Ally shouts, her expression darkening.

"Of course you don't! Ungrateful heroes!" The sister in the middle, Tempest, shouts, crossing her arms. "Well, we don't want to share out knowledge! Do we, sisters?!"

"Yes, we would very much like to share our knowledge!" The sister on the right shouts, nodding quickly.

"Ugh, Wasp! You're not supposed to say that!" Tempest shouts, glaring at the sister to the right of her.

The far right sister, Wasp, looks confused for a moment, before nodding. "Oh, that's right! We're supposed to make the heroes think we don't want to share our knowledge, but also make them think they need it so they beg us for it!"

Wasp seemed to be the dumbest. Hayley thought this must also make her easier to manipulate.

"Wasp, what would happen if you and your sisters lost your eye and tooth?" Hayley asks, leaning forward and feigning curiosity.

"Oh, we would be completely blind and starve. But it's not like we could starve to death. We're immortal, after all. But it sure is uncomfortable," Wasp answers, looking back at Hayley.

"Hm," Hayley hums, leaning back in her seat and pretending to think. "Can I see them?"

Wasp goes quiet at this question, looking over at her sisters. Tempest immediately glares at Wasp, shaking her head. "No way! We've had our eye and teeth stolen by too many heroes to keep falling for that!"

Well, that wasn't going to work. Time for plan B.

"So, what if we did want your knowledge, sisters? Who would you start with?" Hayley asks, ignoring the look the other two girls are giving her.

"Oh, I know! I would start with the daughter of Jupiter! So much to tell her, so little time-" Wasp was cut off when Tempest covered her mouth.

Thunder's eyes widen, her face going pale as a ghost. Hayley would know, she's seen a ghost before.

"What... What do you mean, so little time?..." Thunder asks slowly, her hands fidgeting with the ring on her right hand.

"Oh, Wasp! You've spoiled it! They didn't even beg!" Tempest shouts, hitting Wasp with the back of her hand.

"Sisters! Stop it! We still have two more heroes we can make beg!" Anger shouts, turning to glare at her sisters, causing the taxi to swerve slightly.

"No, I don't want to do it anymore! Wasp ruined the fun!" Tempest shouts, crossing her arms and slouching in her seat.

Anger groans, before slamming on the breaks. Outside the window, Hayley can see light blue waters, stretching as far as she could see. On the other side, a neighborhood of homes.

Ally drops a drawstring bag in the front seat, presumably full of Golden Drachmas. While the sisters dove for it and started fighting over it, Ally and Thunder grab their bags and get out. Hayley follows a moment later. As soon as she climbs out of the cab, it's gone, like it was never there to begin with.