Percy Jackson - The First Being

Chapter Ten

"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned

You shall see what was stolen, and see it safely returned

You shall be betrayed by the one who calls your friend

And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end."

I recited to Chiron as I rubbed my hands over my face. He hummed in understanding. "And that was all the Oracle said? We need to have all the pieces to make sense of it." I looked at him incredulously. "Make sense of it? It sounds like a bunch of gibberish." Alex, who had been listening silently in the corner, walked over and sat next to me. He bumped his shoulder against mine, grabbing my attention away from the floor.

"How am I supposed to help save people if I can't figure out this stupid prophecy?" I asked Chiron, not meeting his eye.

When I took up the opportunity to live as a demigod, I was expecting pressure. Expectations. Maybe even doubt. But this is so much for a person, let alone a child to handle. This is so much more than a child should have to handle.

He gave me a simple mournful look and patted me on the shoulder. "Percy, nobody is expecting you to charge in, prepared for whatever the fates throw at you." My eyes landed back on the floor. "You are far too young to travel such distances to seek out Hades. Hercules had much more time to train and prepare, but we mustn't wait."

I let out a long sigh, my hands leaving their place on my face to hold it up. Surveying the room, I glanced at Chiron. "You said something about seeking out Hades?"

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"Okay?"

"Okay, yeah. I'll keep an eye on camp while you're away." Alex nodded, standing up straight from where they were leaning on Thalia's Tree. Since I was leaving for a quest I needed someone to survey what's happening at the camp. I patted their shoulder and made my way towards Chiron, who was waiting to send Me, Annabeth, and Grover off onto our quest.

"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will be driving you and keeping an eye on you." He chuckled softly. Can't go wrong with dad jokes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke pull Annabeth to the side. "Percy," I turned back to Chiron. "You'll be needing this." In his outstretched hand was a ballpoint pen, the same pen that was a sword. "It is a mighty weapon that will help protect you in your journey. It has a tragic backstory that hopefully you will learn of one day."

I looked at him in disbelief. "This is a pen. This is a pen!" I said waving it around like a kid about to throw a tantrum. "I mean the pen might be mightier than the sword, but I don't think they meant that in a literal sense."

Argus let out a quiet laugh as a smile grew on the centaurs face. "Uncap the pen." He instructed. I raised an eyebrow at him, but did as he said. As soon as the cap was off it was like magic as the simple ballpoint pen elongated into a three foot long celestial bronze sword. "Whoah!" I exclaimed, putting some distance between myself and the sharp object. The horse man explained how to work the magic of the sword and sent me off down the hill, followed by a beet red Annabeth holding a pair of.

We seated ourselves in the car and were off. "So, "I said, breaking the silence, "What did Luke want?"

"He was wishing us luck on the quest." She lifted the pair of shoes off her lap to show me. "Maia." She said. Tiny wings popped out of the shoes, trying to tug their way out of her grip. "He gave me flying shoes. Said to kill some monsters for him." She blushed looking out the window.

I made small talk with Grover about satyrs, which he was happy to talk about. The culture and how the whole 'council' worked.

We made it to the bus stop and waited there, playing hacky sack to kill time. The game only ended when Grover ate the apple we were playing with. We all just laughed. The bus finally pulled up and we boarded the bus going towards the back. Bad idea kids, don't do that if there's a possible impending fight. Something felt off as soon as I turned my back.

I swiveled around seeing three grandmas sitting down in the front. I cursed under my breath. Grover sniffed the air, eyes darting around the bus settling on the three in the front. "Monsters?" I whispered. He nodded, nudging Annabeth on the shoulder, pointing towards the front of the bus. "Di immortals! All three. The last time that happened..." He trailed off looking at Annabeth, who shoved her baseball cap into my hands.

"Put it on and sneak out the front of the bus. We'll cover for you." I put the cap on my head and looked down at my body only to find open air. Yes, that is how it would work Percy. I slowly walked up the aisle towards the front of the bus. As I passed by the old ladies Mrs. Dodds sniffed the air, I backed into a half empty seat to avoid where she was facing and then darted next to the driver's seat. Apparently the old hag didn't find what she wanted and lashed out her fiery whip, hitting a nearby seat.

"Where is he! Where is the thief!" Annabeth jumped out of her seat, dagger in hand. "He's not here." She lunges at old lady numero uno, slashing at her torso. I see Grover reaching down, picking up his bag and throwing tin cans at old lady numero dos, distracting her for the time being. That left me old lady numero tres, Mrs. Dodds. I made a very dumb, impulsive decision. Don't try this at home.

I grabbed the wheel from the driver and yanked it to the right, slamming the bus into the side of the Lincoln Tunnel. I heard screeching in the background which could only mean that somehow we were winning, or Annabeth was winning. "Hey!" The driver yelled, trying to get a hold of the bus, but I wouldn't budge. I swerved the bus to the left, smashing everybody into the left windows. We exited the tunnel, but we still needed a way to escape the monsters. I saw the emergency brake and made yet another impulsive stupid decision. I yanked the thing like a kid would when their uncle said to pull their finger.

The bus came to a screeching halt. I felt a sudden burning sensation on my back, only to find one of the old ladies fiery whips. I took the invisibility cap off and raised the weapon. "Hey! Why don't you have a taste of your own medicine!" I lashed the whip forward toward old lady numero dos. It didn't hit her of course, but wrapped its way around her wing, burning the underworld flesh. She screeched in pain and gripped the whip and pulled, pulling me towards her. Annabeth was pinned against a window by old lady numero uno. Numero tres must have been the one Annabeth killed before.

When I got close enough, she gripped me by the throat and hissed out, "Where is it boy? If you tell us than maybe we won't torture you that much." She rushed my windpipe under her grip. I only grinned. "Hmh, I don't know, you got any better deals?" I choked out. I pulled the pen out of my pocket and uncapped it, plunging it right through her abdomen. I fell to the ground, trying to catch my breath. The fiery whip fell to the ground burning through the ground right where the gas tank would be.

I noticed Annabeth was about to pass out from the other fury's grip on her throat while Grover was passed out on the side. We didn't have much time before this whole thing blows. I hit the monster with the butt of my sword, making her release Annabeth. I grabbed Grover and hurried out of the bus with Annabeth following behind me. "Wait but our-" She never got to finish as the bus blew up, but not from the gas tank blowing up, but from a single bolt of lightning.

"Come on, she's gonna call in reinforcements." Annabeth said, tugging me towards the woods.