Annabeth Chase and the Necklace of Harmonia

My Taxi Takes Forever

I sighed and stomped to my cabin to look up where this country club was, and to pack for this stupid quest. The gods must really hate me. The only thing that could make this quest worse is if it involved spiders or something. I grabbed the laptop that Daedalus gave me a couple of years ago to look up if there were any buses to anywhere near this country club I had to go to, but there weren't. That left me with only one option; the Chariot of Damnation.

I packed what was necessary; a change of clothes, toiletries, some drachmai and mortal money, my dagger, a book to read on the way there, nectar and ambrosia. I asked Chiron to keep the search up for me, told Malcolm he was in charge while I was away, grabbed my stuff and walked up Half Blood Hill. Pulling out a drachma, I dropped it onto the ground.

"Stêthi 'Ô hárma diabolês" I recited and waited for the Grey Sisters' Taxi to arrive. The last time I had used their service, the Sisters lost their eye and nearly drove us all into the Sound. The golden drachma sank into the ground and smoke began to form in front of me into the rough shape of a cab. I got in and ignored the bickering of the three sisters who shared one eye and one tooth between them.

"Hardscrabble Country Club, Arkansas." I told them where to go, not caring about how much it was. I just wanted to get going and get things over and done with as soon as possible. Not only was Aphrodite one of my least favourite goddesses, but the sooner I could get out of the chariot, the better. They began to drive and I opened my book, willing the time and miles away.

Of course, the Grey Sisters loved to argue over who had the one eye and one tooth they shared, which meant I wouldn't have much peace to read. Whilst Anger was driving, Wasp had the eye; and while Wasp had the drachma I used to summon them, Tempest had the tooth. So as I tried my best to read about the Temples of Bel and Baalshamin in Palmyra, I had to try and drown out their quarreling.

"Give me the eye!" Anger snarled at her sister "I need it to drive."

"Not until Tempest gives me the tooth!" Wasp replied in a manner worthy of her name as she tried to yank the yellow incisor out of Tempest's mouth

"You had it last time!" Tempest tried to protest, but the attempt was feeble as Wasp's hand muffled her words.

The shouting went on, and on, and on. Only when Anger nearly drove us straight into the back of a petrol tanker did they shut up. Even then it was only for a couple of miles, and then they were back to their incessant bickering. I bit my lip to stop myself from shouting at them.

After sixteen hours and 1422 miles of bumps and near misses with trucks and cars, they pulled up outside a fancy golf course. The door popped open and I got out, my legs a bit wobbly from sitting still for so long, and from my nervousness. This wasn't the kind of place someone like me could pass as normal at. I gave the course a cursory glance, and headed inside to the dining area, hoping to find Oedipus quickly and easily.

As I walked into the room, I scanned it, looking for likely candidates. There were two old women having afternoon tea, an old man in a suit reading the newspaper, a young woman a bit older than me going to and fro from the kitchen who seemed to be a waitress, and in the back corner there was a man with dark glasses on struggling to sip his coffee. 'That must be Oedipus.' I think to myself, assuming that the old man was struggling because he was blind. I aimed towards where he was sat. But as I passed between the waitress (who must be called Elizabeth if the name on her shirt was to be believed) and the old man reading the newspaper, the latter looked up, straight at me.

"Where do you think you are going, Annabeth?" He asked me simply, as if he was confused as to why I was walking past him.