Percy's POV
It was a few stops in when trouble arrived. It came in the form of three old hags, all wearing the same type of dress, just different colors. I immediately knew the first was Mrs. Dodds.
"Look alive, we got monsters." I said. "What? Where?" Annabeth asked. "The hags. The one in the lead is Mrs. Dodds which means the other two would be just like her." I answered. "Oh gods. Kindly Ones." Grover whimpered. "Kindly Ones? You fought a kindly one?" Annabeth asked in shock. "I don't know what that is. No one told me." I shrugged and put my hand on the bus wall. No one realized that I was slowly draining the electricity from the bus. Annabeth gained a thoughtful look.
"Ok, I have a plan." She said. "TelL me yours and I'll tell you mine." I said. "You have a plan?" She asked. I nodded. "Is that hard to believe?" I asked. She nodded. "You're father isn't know for being very strategic." She said. "Well, good thing I'm not my dad now isn't it?" I said. "Fine then. They only want you, right? So you take my cap and sneak up to the front of the bus." She said. "Ok, what then?" I asked.
"What?" She asked. "That's it? Monsters are meant to smell demigods, right? So how is that going to hide me for the whole bus ride? They'd eventually realize that I'm still on the bus." I said. "We'd get off on the next stop." She explained. "What about you guys? You might not be as strong, but if all of them are here, they have to know about the quest. A good way to hinder or stop that quest is to kill the quest mates. Your plan is an unnecessary risk that they won't attack you in front of so many mortals." I said.
"Ok, well what's your plan Einstein?" She asked with frustrated sarcasm. "I'll slowly drain the electricity from the bus. By the time I've gotten all the power out of it we'll be in the Lincoln Tunnel. It'll be too dark for any human to see anything. I'll be able to see perfectly though. You get your bag and sneak out of the window with Grover. I'll confront them in the bus and use my powers to get passed them. Once off the bus, we'll escape into the surrounding wood just to make sure that if they do follow us, we can fight with no worries of human casualties." I said.
Annabeth stared at me. Grover as well.
"Let me guess, you didn't expect me to be that smart." Both shook their heads no. I tutted. "Shame on you both. There's a reason I say have some faith." I smiled smugly. We decided to go with my plan and we waited. What we didn't account for was Mrs. Dodds and her dear sisters somehow lining up with the plan. Once we were inside the tunnel, they all announced that had to use the bathroom. Luckily, the lights flickered and the bus 'suddenly' died.
"What the hell?" The driver asked. Grover was first ti go out the window since he didn't need to get anything. Annabeth reached up and grabbed her bag. She then climbed over me as well and out the window. I jumped up on the ceiling and started hurriedly yet quietly crawling past them. Apparently, Dodds remembered I could stick to walls. She screeched and started turning. "Fuck." I muttered and used a power I typically avoided using more than even him. I held out my hand and the world seemed to just stop.
I didn't keep time stopped for long. Just long enough for me to get off the bus. Once my foot was on the pavement time resumed. Grover and Annabeth met me in front of the bus. I didn't speak and nor did I let them. I wrapped an arm around them, using my strength to make sure they wouldn't go flying and ran into the woods beside the street. Our Figueroa were nothing, but a blur. I only stopped once we couldn't see the street anymore. My companions pushed me away and puked all over the ground.
"Yea, expected that." I mumbled. "What the hell?!" Annabeth yelled. "Sorry 'bout that." I said while sheepishly running the back of my neck. "I didn't expect Dodds to remember that I could walk in ceilings and immediately start transforming. We needed to get outta there as fast as possible." I explained. "A little warning would be nice." Grover rasped. "Life doesn't give you warnings." I shrugged.
"Wanna rest for a bit?" I asked. "And stew in the stench of our regurgitated food? Absolutely not. Let's keep moving." Annabeth complained and before we could say anything, she started walking away. In watched her for bit. "That's east!" I called and started walking west. Grover shook his head at me while hiding his laughs. Annabeth came stomping after us angrily. We walked until it was getting dark out. That's when the smell of burgers and fries filled my nose. Along with the unfortunately now familiar stench of monsters. "I smell monsters. Stay alert."
"Really?" Grover asked as he sniffed. "I don't smell anything." He said. "That means I have a better nose than you." I retorted. He looked at me tiredly. A few more minutes of walking and his nose twitched. So did Annabeth's. "I smell food." She said dreamily. "We have food." I told her. "Not hot, fresh cooked food." She countered. "Food is food. Quality doesn't matter in our situation. Only if it's edible." I said.
"Grover, got something to say?" He grumbled at me. "What was that?" I asked teasingly. "I smell monsters." He grumbled louder. "That's what I thought." I said smugly. "I hate you." Annabeth did a double take. "Wait, wait. What? There's monsters around?" She asked and I nodded. "It's coming from, there." I pointed to a small gas station like building underneath a sign. "What does that say?" Annabeth asked. I shrugged. I can do a lot of things. Reading English might be one of them, but I'm definitely not good at it. "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."
Grover read it for us.
"So, what monster do you think it is?" Annabeth asked. I looked at the building for any clues using my enhanced sight and immediately figured out who it was. "It has to be the main gorgon sister. There's a bunch of statues with scared and horrified faces surrounding the place." I revealed. "You can see that far?" Grover asked. "Yup. Some times it's a curse. Too many times have I seen dudes showering." I shuddered. "Anyway, you guys stay here. I'll handle it." I said and started walking. "Alone?" Grover asked. "Yea, I'll be fine. I'll make sure not to look her in the eyes." I smirked and turned back around, ignoring the frown on Annabeth's face.
