Percy Jackson and the lightning thief

I ruin a perfectly good bus [Percy]

You finally get a better narrator than my idiotic brother.

[Yes I'm still pissed at you for one invading my mind and two revealing the last two lines of this bloody prophecy that I didn't want revealed]

It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me.

The camp store loaned me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. I had a LOT of my own mortal money but I thanked them anyway. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never used less than pure gold.

Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions — whatever that meant. He gave Jade, Annabeth, Mattheo, Harry and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt.

It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us  of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a halfblood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally. And Jade and Mattheo had to be more careful since they were legacies not demigods.

Jade was bringing her magic Los Angeles cap, which she told me had been an eleventh-birthday present from Hades. She carried a book on famous classical myths, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and daggers that were made of a small amount of Stygian Iron and other metals strapped to her side.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duffs "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

Annabeth was bringing her own magic Yankees cap of invisibility. Which had been an twelfth-birthday present from Athena. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. Which had also been given to her by Luke. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.

Harry had his sword which could be disguised as green click pen. Mattheo had a Stygian iron sword and leather gloves which he claimed are better for punching.

We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room.

According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security.

He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

I heard footsteps behind us.

Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me.