The Daughter Of Olympus

Chapter 4: The Taxi Man

Luna never liked heights, but the view of New York from the chariot was so fascinating it made her forget her fear for a minute, even if they were basically falling from the top of the Empire State Building. Some of buildings were so tall and elegant, while others were small and scrawny.  After a second the approaching ground snapped her back to reality. She stared at the panel in front of her. There were all sorts of buttons and knobs, but none of them said autopilot. She started to panic.

"Do you know how to work this?" Luna yelled over the wind. Sure, the chariot was flying, but it was like it was concentrating more on moving forward rather than keeping them in the air. At least they still had more time than someone who would have jumped.

"Nope. How about we press that button?" Zan yelled back, pointing at the biggest button on the panel, which just happened to be red.

"Are you crazy?! Do you know what happens when people press big red buttons, Zan?" Luna asked, still trying to figure out the controls, Zan winced. She's probably getting another memory. I'm glad I don't feel pain every time I remember something. Luna thought.

"Now I do," Zan said sheepishly, backing away slightly from the button.

Zan started fidgeting, turning in circles and feeling the walls. Luna looked at her questioningly, "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Maybe there's an instruction book." Zan said, her eyes lighting up as she pulled open a small compartment on the side of the chariot. Luna shook her head, "Why would there be an instruction manual in such and old-"

"Found one!" Zan exclaimed pulling a leather book out and waving it in the air. Luna blinked.

Zan opened it up and started flipping through the book. She stopped at one of the pages, examining it and frowning.

"What is it?!" Luna demanded. The ground was getting closer- thinking wasn't an option anymore.

"It says to push the red button to land." Zan said, still frowning. Luna took the book and gave Zan the reins. She looked over the entire page, trying to find something else.

"Fine," she said grudgingly, "Push the stupid button."

Zan's eyes lit up as the slammed her hand on the button. The chariot started to vibrate as if there were turbulence on an airplane. Compartments opened on either of the sides of the chariot, two large white wings expanded outward, which immediately slowed their fall. Zan pulled on the reins and turned the chariot, as it glided downward.

"This isn't so hard." Zan said, grinning at Luna, whose death stare returned. Zan laughed nervously and turned back to controlling the chariot.

"What type of person makes a big red button a good thing?" Luna grumbled, "That daughter of Athena-" The chariot hit the ground front first, shooting them both out onto the pavement. Never insult the daughter of Athena, Luna thought, they have eyes in the back of their textbooks. "Are you okay, Zan?" she coughed, sitting up and picking gravel out of her hair. Zan's groan came from behind her.

"What?"

"Make him let go!" she whined. Luna looked up and around. Snowball was holding on with fear to Zan's stomach, and Zan was vigorously trying to get him off.

"Oh my- get off of her you furry four-legged chicken!" Luna exclaimed, pulling him off of her. Luna held the squirming pegasus with a tough grip.

Zan sighed with relief. "Okay, well now that that's over-"

"What are you doing?!" came a random cry. Luna, Snowball, and Zan turned their heads. A woman was staring at them. Luna realized how strange this must seem- a teenage girl had just pulled off a animal of some sort off of another teenage girl. Plus, the chariot wasn't much help. She quickly let one hand off of Snowball and snapped her fingers. The scene began distorting. The chariot was transformed into a car, and Snowball was a white kitten. So this is what she sees. Luna thought.