Percy's POV
Chiron gave us some money, nectar, ambrosia personally me a pen. He also told us that Argus would take us to the closest bus terminal. Annabeth tried to accept the first three things, but I took them from her and stored them away. Those were valuable supplies and I didn't trust her with them. It took me a few moments to realize the pen was the same as the one from the museum. I uncapped it and sure enough, the celestial bronze sword sprang forth.
"Simply tap the cap to the blade's tip turn it back into a pen." He told me. I nodded and proceeded to tap it onto the hilt. The sword shrunk down into a regular pen, but this time the cap was on the butt. I brought the tip to my arm and drew a simple line. What came out was a shimmering, glittery bronze ink. "Huh. That's cool." I said and put the top back on the tip. Chiron looked flabbergasted, but I ignored it. "Thanks old timer. I'll be sure to use it well. Let's go you two." I said. "We've got a deadline." Wit that I spun on my heel and started down the hill.
I could hear Annabeth and Grover following after me. Argus was waiting for us in one of the camp vans. We all climbed inside and Argus took off. Not at a speed that I would go, but it seemed like he was trying to get us there as quickly as possible. The ride was silent for the most part. I was looking out the window along with Grover. Annabeth was taking glances at me from time to time, but I ignored her. If she wasn't gonna speak her mind I had no reason to ask about it.
"Why were you so hostile towards Luke?" Never mind. I looked at the blonde with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes seemed darker than normal. Likely portraying her annoyance. In another universe, I'd find her intimidating. "I don't know anything about him. I don't know who he is." I explained shortly. "He was trying to help." She pressed. "Maybe, maybe not. He gave me flying shoes knowing that I'm a son of Poseidon. If I didn't see the use in them, I'd destroy them." I said causally. Annabeth practically growled.
"Luke is a good person! He wouldn't try anything like that." She denied. "He might've been. People change Annabeth. Especially people so young." I said. "He's nineteen!" He exclaimed. "Yea and in the eyes of a demigod that's a long time. But a demigod isn't a killable god. They're humans with godly powers. Nineteen might be old for a demigod, but what matters is what events did he suffer through to survive this long? How did it change him? How strong was his mind? How strong is it now?" I asked.
"The mind is still human and very capable of breaking down. What he wouldn't do before, could definitely be an option now. It's simply human nature. No amount of pride will let you run from it." I said and looked back out the window. "Why would he? Hm? What would be his motivation?" I shrugged. "You would know that better than me. I'm simply suspicious." I said. Annabeth went quiet after that. I'm going to assume there is a reason he'd do some shady shit, she was just in denial.
Argus dropped us off in Manhattan and I immediately thought about my mom. I texted M.J ti check in them. About three minutes later I texted again.
"Hey, wanna play hacky sack?" Grover asked me. I shrugged and we started playing with an apple he hand in his bag. Yes, I pulled an apple out of my body in broad daylight. Surprisingly, no one said anything or even looked at me weirdly. Probably the mist Grover was telling me about. Grover and I passed it back and forth, with me getting more hectic with my bounce method. After a while, Annabeth joined in and she was just as good as I am.
She bounced it off her elbow, I did more forehead. She sent it with her knee and I did so with my shin. She even managed to hit it with her hip. Now, I can admit that I look pretty androgynous. However, my hips aren't wide enough to bounce the apple off of so I had to give her props. Our game ended when we bounced it a bit to close to Grover's mouth and his goatly instincts took over. It was fine though.
We all had a good laugh about it.
Pretty soon after, the bus pulled up and we all boarded. Annabeth put her bag in the overhead compartment. I still figured it would be better if I had it, but meh. To each their own. Pretty soon after we were on the road, my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw a message from M.J.
Hey, we were all out with a friend of hers. Left my phone at the apartment. Gabe is scarce.
Good. Thanks for staying with her.
No problem, call when you can. Felicia's getting antsy.
Definitely will. Tell her to drink some milk and take a nap.
Haha, I will. By babe.
C-ya.
"Is that a phone?" Annabeth demanded. A hysterical expression on her face. I nodded. "Yep. And before you say anything, yes I know the dangers. Chiron made sure I did when we argued about me having it for like thirty minutes. However, I have relationships to keep up with so I need this thing." I said. "You know the danger you're putting us in and you're still going with it!?" She demanded angrily. I nodded.
"We'll be fine. Have some faith." She glared heatedly at me. "Look, you have no idea what I'm capable of, ok? Trust that I can keep you two alive." I rolled my eyes. "Im blaming every monster attack on you." She growled. "Oh? Not on the fact that someone stole Zeus' bolt and might want to stop us from getting it back?" I asked. She was quiet. "Exactly. Shut it."
