Three Old Ladies Try to Send Us to the Underworld
Percy was thinking that he really did not care much about saving the world. Or his father's backside. Or even getting Zeus's master bolt back. Which, by the way, did not sound at all like one of those cool uncles who take you out for burgers when your mom has something to do and leaves you in their care.
He sounded more like the grumpy kind of uncle who does not even want you in the same room while he watches football on TV and bosses everyone around.
And his father also sounded like a… bad father, to avoid using a worse word. The only memories he had were the stories his mother had told him. And of course, if you remembered the stories about the Greek gods, those two brothers were known for charming women, leaving children behind, and disappearing from any kind of responsibility.
I mean, he did not even bother to visit. Or send a postcard. Or at least a check for child support. Even Harry's grandmother sent gold bars to his mom, knowing she would be raising two kids on her own. And thankfully she did. Because of that, they never lacked anything.
And now he was claiming him only because he needed his help. What a jerk. Even so… part of him wanted to see him at least once. Just to check if he was even worth it.
Luckily for his father, Dred's freedom might be in the same direction. If not, Percy would have told him to rot.
Either way, Percy was interested in continuing the quest. Mostly because, in the end, he had to go with Harry anyway, and it was a good excuse to get out. Besides, an adventure… who would not actually want one?
He already had his adventure in the magical world, at Hogwarts. Although Percy still believed that one had been more Harry's adventure than his, since Harry was the wizard in the family. Now it was Percy's turn to have his own.
Which honestly did not seem that hard. Aside from the small detail that they had to go to the Underworld. But they would deal with that when they were standing in front of the door.
So he turned his gaze back to the bus window, the four of them sitting in the back seats. Rain was hitting the glass harder and harder now, soaking the streets and forcing people to run toward their buses before getting drenched. City lights reflected in warped streaks across the wet asphalt, and the steady tapping of raindrops against the window made the inside of the bus feel smaller somehow.
"Hey, guys," Harry said suddenly, pulling Percy out of his thoughts.
Annabeth and Grover, who had been distracted themselves, lifted their heads to look at him.
Percy noticed Harry had a strange expression. Annabeth glanced at him for a second, then followed the direction of his gaze. Just like Harry, her expression changed. Except hers turned into full panic. Her skin went pale instantly, and she grabbed Percy's knee so hard that he frowned.
He was about to complain, but Harry started elbowing him insistently from the other side. And Grover began trembling slightly after sniffing the air, like he had just caught a scent floating around them.
"What is wrong with you guys?" Percy asked, starting to feel like his travel companions were losing their minds, as he looked toward whatever the three of them were staring at.
He saw three ordinary old ladies sitting in the front row. They looked like some kind of triplets, since all three of them were exactly alike. Even their wrinkled dark dresses were identical. The only difference was their hats. Or maybe their manicure, because one of them seemed to have claws just a little longer than the other two…
Claws?
Percy looked at them again, this time more carefully. And if he had not imagined it, for a brief second one of them had very clearly shown a set of horrendous dark claws before hiding them in the folds of her dress and pulling her hands back out as perfectly normal again.
It was obvious Percy had not imagined it. It was not like he had some kind of trauma involving an older woman with a strict-teacher face turning into a monster and trying to kill him.
With that very specific thought in mind, Percy turned to Annabeth, waiting for some kind of explanation, since she usually knew more about these things.
"The Furies," Annabeth said, trying to stay calm, though she was barely managing it. She was genuinely nervous. Especially every time one of them glanced back. "The three worst monsters in the Underworld. No problem…" she added, even though her voice trembled slightly. "We'll just escape through the windows," she said quickly, looking toward them. But when she noticed they were sealed shut, her face turned even paler.
As if that was not enough, the bus jerked forward suddenly.
"The emergency doors?" she asked, almost stuttering.
Harry and Percy shook their heads after glancing around.
"Well… maybe they do not want to kill us," Percy said, trying to sound calm. But seeing Grover and Annabeth like that did not help much.
"You want to go ask them? As one of the sons of the Big Three, maybe they will not want to take a bite out of you like everyone else," Annabeth shot back, looking at him with such intensity that Percy immediately shut his mouth. She had used his own sarcasm against him perfectly.
"Mm. No, I'm good," he replied, while Harry kept staring at the three old women without blinking.
Just as the bus entered a tunnel, one of them suddenly stood up and said loudly, "I need to use the restroom."
The other two followed right behind her, repeating in perfect unison, "Me too."
And the worst part was that, out of everyone on the bus, no one seemed to care. They all kept their faces glued to their phones or magazines, completely oblivious to what was about to happen.
The four of them stopped talking and turned toward the three old women. Annabeth quickly gripped the dagger hidden in her sleeve. Percy reached for the pendant around his neck. And Harry pulled out his wand, tightening his grip.
Then, as if it were some kind of mirage, the bodies of the three old women began to change right in front of everyone as they moved closer. From the neck down, their forms twisted and reshaped into brown, leathery harpy-like creatures, with bat wings and claws like gargoyle hands. All three had spiked whips hanging at their waists that looked painful just to glance at, not to mention the faint sparks of fire flickering between the barbs.
When they were halfway down the aisle, the one in front opened her mouth.
"At last, I found you. I searched for so long," she said, licking her lips as if she were already tasting a steak cooked exactly the way she liked it. "I'll send you to hell."
And she lunged toward them at incredible speed.
Percy did not hesitate. He touched his pendant and a sword shot out instantly, extending into his hand. He slashed at once.
The Fury stopped and took a step back. She frowned at Percy with mild irritation, more annoyed than hurt.
One of the Furies behind her, seeing her sister attacked, seemed to lose her temper. Without hesitation, she rushed forward and leaped straight at Percy, claws aimed at his face.
Percy raised his sword. When the claws struck the blade, sparks burst out, as if those nails were made of metal just as hard as the steel of his weapon. Percy ended up in an awkward position, pressed back against the seat, the monster forcing him down.
Harry lifted his wand straight at the Fury's face.
"Stupefy!" he shouted, firing the spell point-blank.
But before the beam could shoot out, a whip snapped around his wrist. The other Fury yanked violently, knocking his aim aside.
The spell blasted off in another direction.
Annabeth was about to strike with her dagger when the bus suddenly swerved hard to one side. The three Furies slammed into the seats along the aisle, and Percy and the others were nearly thrown from their spots, along with several passengers.
Harry looked toward the driver and realized his previous spell had hit him. The man was now unconscious over the steering wheel, and the bus was still picking up speed.
Shaken by the movement, Harry grabbed a fistful of Percy's hair with one hand to keep from falling, while Percy held on to Grover's goat legs. Even so, Harry managed to lift his wand again toward the driver.
"Renervate."
The spell hit, and the man jolted awake, confused, as the vehicle zigzagged wildly. Realizing he had blacked out at the wheel, he instinctively yanked the emergency brake.
The bus spun one hundred eighty degrees across the wet asphalt. For a second it looked like it might flip over in the middle of the road, which, thankfully, was not very crowded.
Terrified, the driver threw the doors open and was the first to jump out. The passengers did not hesitate. No one wanted to stay inside another second. Some of them probably would not be riding a bus again anytime soon.
When the Furies lifted their heads and regained their balance, they looked toward where the kids should have been.
They were gone.
Instead, the rear windows seemed to have vanished.
The one who appeared to be the leader turned to her sisters with mild anger, especially the one who had attacked first.
"Idiot. Now we'll have to find them again," she said, her voice dripping with irritation.
The other lowered her head slightly.
"Split up. They can't have gone far," the leader ordered.
The other two nodded before stepping off the bus and taking flight into the rain.
Meanwhile, Percy, Harry, Grover, and Annabeth had slipped into the woods along the side of the road, using the trees as cover. The rain helped wash away their tracks and blur their scent in the air.
The four of them were slightly out of breath after running as far as they could.
Percy glanced at Harry, trying to keep his tone light.
"Okay, note to self. No more spells inside moving buses, yeah?"
Harry, hearing that, couldn't help feeling embarrassed. In the end, they'd been in more danger because of him than because of the attack.
"Sorry," he muttered. He had almost killed them. Not the Furies. Everyone.
Percy rubbed the back of his neck. He'd seen that look before. It was supposed to stop it before it spiraled. It clearly hadn't. He opened his mouth, about to say something else—
"This isn't the time. We need to get farther away. They can still track us," Annabeth warned before urging them deeper into the dark forest.
The woods closed in around them. Their steps splashed through mud, and between the trees there was nothing but the rain hitting the leaves and the sound of their own racing heartbeats.