Well, this is really bad. Not only my old algebra teacher, who is actually a literal demon from the underworld. Not only that, but she also brought her two sisters. They aren't doing anything to cause a scene yet, but they are subtly threatening us by making sure we stay on the bus.
Percy swallowed hard. "She didn't stay dead long," he muttered, voice trembling just a bit. "Didn't you say they were supposed to be gone for, like, a lifetime?"
Annabeth didn't even sugarcoat it. "If you're lucky. Which you're clearly not."
I didn't join the conversation. I just tightened my fingers around my baseball bat until my knuckles went white. I took a shallow breath as I formed plans and strategies to get us out of here. First of all, fighting them is not ideal; in fact, it might be a terrible idea. While an inexperienced Percy managed to slay one of them, and now Percy is stronger, I'm stronger with better weapons and skills with Grover and Annabeth backing us up, fighting them still won't be ideal.
Mrs. Dodds is probably more careful and has now brought along her sisters. Not to mention the space on the bus. There wasn't nearly enough room for us to move and fight properly. The only option is to get out of the bus or at least fight in a more open area. But I can't seem to think of a way for us to get to the bus.
I bit my lip. I didn't want to ask for help, but I turned to Annabeth to ask how we should get out. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she was making her own plans, also.
"It's fine," Annabeth muttered, though she clearly didn't believe herself.
I watched her thumb tap off-beat on her Yankees cap, her nervous tic. "They're the Furies. The worst monsters in the entire Underworld. We'll... figure something out."
"That's your pep talk?" Grover bleated.
He was halfway curled around his backpack, as it could protect him. Annabeth shot him a look.
"The windows! We can climb out through the windows."
I leaned sideways, peering at the glass. Sealed shut. Of course.
Grover groaned. "They don't open."
"What about the back door?" Annabeth said, already twisting to check.
There wasn't one.
Even if there had been, it wouldn't have mattered; the bus was already rumbling down Ninth Avenue, traffic thick around us as we headed toward the Lincoln Tunnel. Percy tried reassuring himself, but his breathing started to get heavier.
"They won't attack with all these people around... right?"
Annabeth winced. "Mortals only see what the Mist lets them see, Percy."
"So... they'll see what, exactly? Three killer grandmas murdering us with handbags?!"
"Be quiet!" I hissed quietly. I'm sure they knew exactly where we were, but I didn't want to risk it.
"...Unclear," she admitted to Percy. "Very unclear."
I silently reached for my bat, sliding it fully into my lap. My heart beat slower, calmer battle rhythm. If they came for Percy first, which they always did, I'd swing first, ask questions after. But here's the thing: if I do, the people might just see me hitting three old ladies with a metal bat. It's not like my metal bat is obscured by the mist; it's a mortal item after all.
We entered the Lincoln Tunnel, and everything dimmed except for the faint aisle lights running down the floor. The hum of the engine replaced the outside rain. The whole bus felt like it was holding its breath. Then Mrs. Dodds got up and said in a rehearsed tone:
"I need to use the restroom."
Her two sisters stood at the exact same moment.
"So do I," said the one in green.
"So do I," echoed the one in purple.
They moved in perfect unison, stepping into the aisle... and started walking toward us.
My brain went into overdrive, and my heart beat so fast it threatened to explode. It doesn't matter what the other mortals will see, I'm going to bash my bat at these wrinkly grandmas' faces. Before I could do anything, Annabeth perked up.
"I've got an idea," she muttered. Then she shoved her Yankees cap into Percy's hands.
"Seaweed Brain, hat. Now."
Percy blinked at her like she'd thrown a calculus test at him. "Huh? Why?"
Annabeth groaned quietly — the kind of groan she only makes when Percy's being especially Percy.
"Because you're the target. Put it on, vanish, and move up the aisle before they reach us. If they walk past without noticing you, you might slip to the front of the bus and get away."
Percy looked horrified. "What about you guys?"
Grover swallowed hard, clutching his backpack straps like they were comfort blankets.
Annabeth answered. "There's a chance, a small one, but it's there, that they'll overlook us. You reek of god-power. That might drown out everything else they smell."
Percy shakes his head with a stubborn look on his face. "No way, I'm not leaving any of you."
"Percy, I know this isn't ideal, but this is the only way," I said.
Percy gritted his teeth and opened his mouth to say something, but Annabeth and I shot him a serious look, while Grover put a reassuring hand on Percy's shoulder.
"We'll be fine, we're tougher than we look."
Percy released a heavy sigh, before he put on the cap and as soon as he did, he vanished completely from sight. Though I felt him getting up and squeezing past me before he tried to walk past Mrs. Dodds and her sisters. I can't tell because of the whole invisible thing. Mrs. Dodds stopped sniffing in the air before narrowing her eyes and continuing her way towards us. But then stopped when only a couple of inches away from our seat. I got goosebumps when her eyes shifted to the demonic glow she had back at the museum before she transformed into her true form.
"I will only ask once. Where is he?" She said in a menacing tone.
I was about to act dumb, maybe make up a story, anything to draw their attention away. But Annabeth stood up, glaring at the trio of demonic old ladies.
"You just missed him, just go away and eat skatos!"
Mrs. Dodds and her other sisters did not like that. I gripped my bat tighter as I watched them transform. Their bodies twisted and collapsed inward, shrinking into something corpse-thin and leathery. Their velvet dresses shredded away, revealing wings that looked like they belonged on vampire bats the size of horses. Their legs bent backward.
Talons clicked against the floor. Their handbags melted and stretched into burning whips that spat embers. The Furies hissed, voices scraping like rusty nails on a chalkboard.
"Where is it? Where? Where?"
Passengers were losing their minds, crying, ducking, and curling up in the seats. They weren't seeing monsters, but whatever the Mist showed them must've been the stuff of nightmares. I pressed myself lower behind the seat, heart hammering. My brain was firing plans like a slot machine on fire, every stupid, reckless idea lighting up one after another.
Hit them from behind? Jump them? Throw my bat? Great. All terrible.
Annabeth shouted, "He's not here! He's gone!"
Her voice cracked, but she didn't back down. Grover stepped beside her, shaking hard.
We immediately got up from our seats and moved back as they menacingly approached us. I tried to think, but none of them are good; the space of the bus is too difficult to fight in. Wait, Percy should still be somewhere nearby, knowing that reckless kid, he's probably...
"Holy!"
"Di Immortales!"
Then the world lurched sideways.
We were thrown across the aisle as the entire bus jerked hard right so violently even the Furies slammed into the windows. I heard the crack, heard them screech in anger. I gripped one of the seats for dear life as Percy is probably messing with the wheel to throw off the Furies off our backs. Reckless, definitely. But those old bats weren't having a good time so that's a win in my book.
The driver freaked out, "HEY! HEY!" too late to do anything useful.
Metal screamed as we scraped along the tunnel wall. Sparks burst behind us like fireworks while we rocketed out into the storm again. Cars spun out of the way; some flipped. I held onto the seat in front of me with one hand and my bat with the other, feet barely staying on the floor.
Somehow, the driver veered off the highway. Lights blurred past streetlights, signs, traffic signals, until suddenly we were tearing through a quiet New Jersey road with nothing but woods on one side and the Hudson on the other.
And the idiot was steering toward the river.
"Nope," I muttered, and Percy must've thought the same—because he yanked the emergency brake.
The bus shrieked, spun out, and slammed into the tree line. Passengers bolted for their lives. The doors burst open like they were trying to escape, too. The Furies recovered fast, way too fast. They snapped their wings open and whipped their flames toward Annabeth. She dodged and shouted in Ancient Greek, blade flashing.
Grover pelted one in the face with a tin can. I moved in from the Fury, the one Grover threw a tin can at, and swung my metal bat overhead as hard as I could. It landed, the fury screeched, it didn't kill it, but I bet it didn't feel pleasant. I had to duck down to avoid a swipe from its talons. I gathered up all my saliva and moved back up and spat directly at their face.
The fury yelped before swinging my bat like I was trying to send a baseball into orbit. I cracked the hag across the jaw. which made her legs stumble. I begin to hit with reckless abandon, my lungs on fire as I hit her as hard as I could. But even then, it feels like I'm hitting a rock, no, actually, it feels like using a fly swatter at Mike Tyson might hurt them or annoy them. Critically injuring them? Not likely.
Before I could do anything, one of the furies, Mrs. Dodds, grabbed my jacket's collar and, with insane strength, threw me back, Annabeth ducking to avoid me, and poor Grover crashed into my flying body. Making us both groan. Annabeth rushes in and actually manages to slice Mrs Dodds' hand, which makes the demon hiss. She had to move back to avoid a swipe from her talons, though I could tell that nearly got her, as her talons were a few strands of blonde hair.
I got back up and prepared my bat in a fighting position. "You okay?" I asked Grover never to leave the three Furies, who are ready to charge in and rip us apart at any moment.
"I'll live." Grover croaked, rubbing his chest.
This is bad. Annabeth is the only threat to them. At best me and Grover could be used as distractions, but other than that, we were useless. Then second Percy yelled "Hey!" and yanked off Annabeth's invisibility cap, getting their attention. They turned around and hissed.
He then pulled out his pen and uncapped it, transforming it into a sword. The Furies faltered, their wings twitching. They were hesitating, that's good. As for us, we were waiting for an opening. Their backs may have turned, but I bet they could react quickly.
An idea popped into my head. I subtly nodded at Percy, who looked at me as I passed the Furies. He looked confused at first, before his eyes widened, and before blinking in confirmation. I took a deep breath and held my bat tight.
"Annabeth," I say.
"I know, I'll follow your lead."
Mrs. Dodds adjusted her whip. Ready to use it to lash at Percy.
"Perseus Jackson." She hissed like a snake. "You will die for offending the gods-"
Percy didn't let her finish as he rushed to her, sword at hand. I rushed in too. I could feel Annabeth following close behind. Mrs. Dodds swung her whip at Percy, who managed to duck in time. As for Annabeth and me, she managed to plunge her knife at one of the sisters' necks and, almost instantly, got reduced to dust. I, on the other hand, just used his bat to bash to the face of the other sister.
I then turned to swing my bat when Mrs. Dodds caught my weapon, but I wasn't able to counterattack as she had to fly away as Percy tried to thrust his sword at her abdomen. Since the space of the bus is small, Mrs. Dodds wasn't able to fly very effectively. I guess we're not the only ones who have to deal with the cramped space. Annabeth threw her dagger at the still-dazed fury, the one I sneaked up and hit with my bat. Her knife drove inside the monster's head, and she screamed, but was cut off when she exploded into golden dust.
"My sisters! How dare-" Before Mrs. Dodds could say anything, Annabeth somehow got behind her and put her in a rear naked choke.
She screeched as she tried to get Annabeth to get off her back. Grover rushed out, ripping Mrs. Dodds' whip before yelping and tossing it away.
"Hot! Hot!"
He then tells everybody to run, but I quickly had to run back to grab my backpack, and then I took a good look at the whip, before I pulled my jacket's sleeve over my hand, before I grabbed the handle of the whip. Surprisingly, I actually managed to grab it. I could still feel the heat of the handle, but I ignored it and ran out of the bus along with Percy, Grover and eventually Annabeth, who kicked Mrs. Dodds away before running out of the bus.
"Run!" Annabeth cried out, shoving the passengers away.
She didn't need to tell me twice, but Grover stopped and looked back. "Wait, our bags-"
He yelped when the bus exploded. The passengers screamed and ran away or jumped and rolled on the ground in panic. We didn't look back and continued running. Then we heard an ear-piercing screech. We made a mistake looking back and coming out of the flames of the destroyed bus. Mrs. Dodds, hurt and looked about to come apart, but still alive, ready to fight.
She used her wings to fly and charge at us. Annabeth clicked her tongue and swore in ancient Greek, brandishing her dagger. Percy held his sword tightly. Grover put his fist up, which I could respect. As for me, on the other hand, my brain fired up on ways to bring her down until I recalled the whip in my hand that still felt incredibly hot even with my thick sleeves covering my hand.
I dropped my baseball bat before I grabbed the whip's handle with my now free hand. I screamed as my flesh made contact with something incredibly hot, like I was putting my hand on lava.
"Clay, what are you doing!?" Percy screamed.
I ignored him, I ignored the pain as I glared at Mrs. Dodds, who was flying at us at high speed. I took a step forward and swung my whip at her, recalling how Indiana Jones used his whip. It soared through the air before the whip crashed into Mrs. Dodds' batlike wings, tearing a large hole in them. She screamed in agony; she had completely lost control of her flight and ended up crashing into the river.
I let go of the whip, looking at a red mark that was already swelling. Before Annabeth pulled me.
"We need to go, now!"
I nodded before running away from the destroyed bus and away from Mrs. Dodds, who is probably alive and now probably on top of her hit list.