Percy Jackson, The Gamemaster

Just a Couple Snakes

~Percy's Pov~

After arriving at the Bus stop all of us waited. I had given Grover the shoes Luke gave me because I knew Zeus would hate me going in his domain. We didn't exactly know what to do so we started to use an apple as a hacky-sack, which surprisingly Annabeth was very skilled with. She managed to bounce the apple of her knee, foot, and elbow. But when the apple bounced over to Grover he managed to eat it all in one bite. 

He blushed when he realized what he did, muttering out a small 'sorry'. Which got us to start laughing. The bus showed up at that time and we all got on. We all headed towards the back of the bus and sat down. 

Most of the bus ride went smoothly. Until at a stop 3 old women got on. I didn't even need to use 'Observation' on them to recognize one of them as Mrs. Dodds. Which I quickly assumed wouldn't be a stretch if I guessed the other 2 were her sisters. The monsters can be revived even after you kill them. Though it seems that Mrs. Dodds/Alecto managed to get out early.

They started to harass the different bus riders. Making their way towards the back where we were. 

"Uh guys, please tell me I'm daydreaming the three old women coming towards us." I pointed out. I heard Annabeth blurt out a curse in ancient greek, she then took out her Baseball cap and handed it to me. "Percy, they're after you so put this on and try to escape." After I thought about it I put the hat on and managed to sneak past them. 

I turned around and saw the Furies were yelling at them. Mainly repeating the phrase 'Where is it?!' Then after Annabeth responded with, "He's not here anymore." The Furies then took out their whips, which promptly set on fire. Seeing my friends in danger I went over to the bus driver and while still invisible I pulled the wheel to the right. 

The sudden turn made the bus turn off into a ditch. The distraction was enough for Annabeth and Grover to escape. The driver pulled a lever and the doors opened, letting everyone pile out. While the Furies were still distracted I went back and grabbed our bags. When we all piled I took off the hat and I saw someone hold up a camera and snap a picture of me. The bus suddenly went up in flames.

I handed the bags to Grover and Annabeth and gave her her hat. "Thanks." She nodded, though I didn't know if it was for the distraction or for giving her the hat. We all headed off in the woods.

"Well, that could have gone better." I pointed out and Grover nodded. We continued to walk through the forest until it started to get dark. We set up camp in a clearing, though it was covered in wrappers, cans, and other junk. 

I saw Grover scowl in the corner of my eye, I raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner at him. 
Soon enough all of us were set up in a tree, Grover was on the other side of the tree from my branch and Annabeth was on a completely different tree. It eventually became night and I asked a question to Grover.

"Hey Grover," I asked to see if he was awake. "Yeah Percy?" He asked, "Why do you seem to hate the litter?" I asked him. I hear him sigh but he eventually said: "It's because only a few Satyrs have gone out in search of Pan, and when we find him we'll finally be able to restore nature back to its original glory." 

"Let me guess, You wanna be one of them and find Pan?" I asked, while not knowing much about Pan I still recognized the name and recalled him being the God of Nature or something like that. "Yes, none of the Satyrs who have gone out to find him have ever come back, but I plan on being the one who does." His voice was filled with so much determination I couldn't help but believe that he would be the very one who finds him.

Though I didn't need to be a genius to know my friend's chances were fairly low. "Well, I think you'll be the one to find him one day," I reassured him.  After a couple of minutes of no response, I heard a snore. I cracked a grin and fell asleep looking at the moon.