The camp store loaned them one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. The drachmas were coins that 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 them, but the Olympians never used anything less than pure gold. The coins would be useful in non-mortal transactions.

Then, he gave each of the half-bloods a flask of nectar and an airtight bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if they were seriously hurt. Ambrosia could heal almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. If you took too much of it, you would become extremely feverish. After an overdose of ambrosia, demigods would burn from the inside out.

Evangeline was bringing a book to read, a dagger that she kept sheathed in her boot, covered by her t-shirt, and earplugs for Grover's singing.

Annabeth was bringing her magical Yankees cap, which was a twelfth-birthday present from Athena. She carried a classical architecture book in her arms, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and her Celestial bronze knife was hidden in the shirt sleeve of her Camp shirt.

Grover wore his fake feet and his trousers to pass as human. He wore a Greek rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and they could see just the tops 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. The satyr only knew two songs all the way through; Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12 and something called Hilary Duff's 'So Yesterday',  however, both of those sounded really bad.

Percy seemed to be traveling the lightest not that she could blame him, he didn't have many things to carry. He had simply packed clothes, a toothbrush, and very few other small items. Evangeline was surprised by how many useless items the son of Poseidon had packed.

Chiron was waiting for them in his wheelchair. Next to him stood Argus, head of Camp Half-Blood's security. Today, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so Evangeline could only see extra eyes on Argus's hands, face, and neck.

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

Evangeline heard footsteps behind them. Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

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

Annabeth blushed.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke said to Percy. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these."

He handed the sneakers to Percy, which just looked like an ordinary pair of shoes

Luke said, "Maia!"

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling Percy so much, he dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover said.

Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days ..." His expression turned almost bleak.

Percy looked startled at the kind gesture, so much so that the tips of his ears turned red.

"Hey, man," said Percy. "Thanks."

"Listen, Percy ..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just ... mess up some monsters for me, okay?"

The two boys shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns. Luke gave Evangeline a tight hug and told her to be safe. He gave Annabeth a goodbye hug, she almost looked like she could pass out.

After Luke was gone, Percy told the daughter of Athena, "You're hyperventilating."

The wistful look on the daughter of Athena's face faded quickly. "Am not."

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?" Percy then asked.

"Oh... why would I want to go anywhere with you?"

She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed after her, jingling the car keys loudly.

Percy turned to Chiron, asking, "I won't be able to use them, will I?"

Chiron shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air ... that would not be wise for you."

Percy nodded sadly, then his head snapped up. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"

The satyr's eyes lit up. "Me?"

Pretty soon, Percy managed to lace the shoes over Grover's fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.

"Maia!" he shouted.

He got off the ground just fine, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.

"Practice!" Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"

Grover let out a lengthy scream. He went flying sideways down the hill heading towards the van.

Before Percy could head for the van, Chiron shot his hand out. His warm hand landed on Percy's shoulder. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said.

"That's okay," Percy said. "I just wish—" he stopped himself.

"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."

He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to Percy. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, and a removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents.

"Gee," said Percy, clearly unimpressed. "Thanks."

"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, now knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."

Percy took off the black cap, and the pen grew longer in his hand. In half a second, he held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, leather-bound grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs.

"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron said. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"Riptide," Percy translated. He sounded shocked with himself at his quick translation.

"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."

Evangeline looked at the wickedly sharp blade.

"What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?" Percy asked.

"The sword is Celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."

"Percy, now recap the pen."

Percy touched the pen cap to the sword top and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. He tucked it inside his shorts pocket, patting the pocket nervously.

"You can't," said Chiron.

"Can't what?"

"Lose the pen," the centaur said. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pockets. Try it."

Percy looked wary, but he still threw the pen as far as he could down the hill. Evangeline watched it disappear into the grass with a confused look.

"It may take a few moments," Chiron warned Percy. "Now check your pocket."

Percy slipped his hand in his pocket, pulling out the ballpoint pen.

"That's extremely cool," Percy admitted. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"

Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."

"Mist?"

"Yes. Read The Illiad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their visions of reality."

"Chiron ..." said Percy. "When you say the gods are immortal ... I mean, there was a time before them, right?"

"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."

"So what was it like ... before the gods?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually, the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."

"But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So ... even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?" Percy asked.

Chiron gave the son of Poseidon a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."

"Our destiny ... assuming we know what that is."

"Relax," Chiron told Percy. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."

"I'm very relaxed," Percy lied.

Argus drove the three demigods and satyr out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be in the mortal world after so much time at camp. Annabeth was sitting up front Grover was sitting behind the passenger seat, Percy was in the middle seat, and Evangeline sat behind the driver seat. It was as if they were normal carpoolers.

"So far so good," Percy said. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

Annabeth turned in her seat to give him an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, Seaweed Brain."

Percy narrowed his eyes at Annabeth. "Remind me again—why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you."

"Could've fooled me."

The girl folded her cap of invisibility. "Look ... we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

"Why?" Percy asked.

The daughter of Athena sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple. which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god of the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."

"They must really like olives," the son of Poseidon responded.

"Oh, forget it," Annabeth snapped.

"Now, if she'd invented pizza—that I could understand."

"I said, forget it!"

Annabeth didn't say anything more, snapping her book open and starting to read it.

Percy turned to Evangeline he scanned her, she was wearing dark blue jeans with a black T shirt. He saw her twisting the snake ring on her index finger back and forth as she looked out the window. Percy nudged her knee with his, diverting her attention to him. "What about you why do you hate me?"

She nudged his knee back and then spoke. "Because you're annoying, and our dads don't exactly see eye to eye."

He rolled his eyes at her comment, then said. "Oh yeah, like you're such a treat. All you have been doing is trying to kill me,"

The daughter of Hades scoffed.

"Or was it you being nice?" Percy arched a brow.

"If I was trying to kill you, you would have already been six feet underground before your first capture the flag."

"How thoughtful of you death girl," The son of Poseidon put a hand on his chest.

Percy scanned her face waiting for her to snap, but she didn't she just rolled her eyes at him, then looked out the window again.

Argus dropped them off at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side. The head of security unloaded their bags, made sure they got their bus tickets, and then drove away, the eyes on the back of his hands opening to watch them as he pulled out of the parking lot.

The rain kept coming down. The four campers got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce off the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. Percy wasn't too bad himself. Evangeline didn't play, she just watched them play. She wasn't one for sports or anything that wasn't going to give her a medal for winning.

The game ended when Percy tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega bite, their hacky sack disappeared—core, stem, and all.

Grover blushed like crazy. He tried to apologize, but the two demigods were too busy laughing, and Evangeline was banging her head against the bus stop waiting for the bus to arrive.

Finally, the bus came. As they stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air.

Evangeline looked at the satyr. "What?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."

She raised her eyebrows in suspicion. Grover was a bad liar. There was no way it was nothing. She started looking around herself, looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

They finally got on board and found four seats together in the back of the bus. They stowed their backpacks away. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.

As the last passenger got on, Evangeline noticed that she got goosebumps, which was weird since the last time she did was when the hellhound showed up. She began twisting her ring again.

An elderly lady had boarded the bus. She wore a crumped velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face. She carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered.

Percy scrunched down into his seat.

Behind the first old lady came two more old ladies: one in a green hat and one in a purple hat. Otherwise, they looked exactly like the first old lady—same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet monster grandmothers.

They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.

The bus pulled out of the station, and they headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," Percy said. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"I said if you're lucky," Annabeth said. "You're obviously not."

Evangeline looked at the two confused. She thought of Percy's former math teacher, having been told the story by Annabeth. "What are you two on about?" she asked.

"Di immortales!" Grover's teeth were nearly chattering together.

"It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the window."

"What?" Evangeline whispered as she looked toward the three grandmothers and widened her eyes.

"Looks like you're dad sent us welcome presents." Percy snarked, she smacked him in the arm making him yelp.

"They don't open," Grover moaned.

"A back exit?" Annabeth suggested.

Evangeline looked over her shoulder, looking to the back of the bus. "No," she whispered.

Even if there had been one, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, they were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.

"They won't attack us with witnesses around," said Percy. "Will they?"

"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded him. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."

"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"

"Possibly. They could also see the four of us murdering them. It's all hard to predict."

"Maybe there's an emergency exit on the roof ...?" Annabeth trailed off.

They hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain beating down.

The first old lady got up, and Evangeline immediately recognized to be Alecto. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the restroom."

"So do I," said the second sister.

"So do I," said the third sister.

Then, all three started coming down the aisle.

"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."

"What?"

Evangeline caught on to the daughter of wisdom's train of thought.

"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."

"But you guys—"

"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," said Annabeth. "You're a son of one of the Big Three and Evangeline too. Your smell might be overpowering. And they won't hurt Evangeline since they work for her dad."

"I can't just leave you."

"Don't worry about us," said Grover. "Go!"

Evangeline grabbed the Yankees cap, shoving it on Percy's head. He disappeared from view. However, she could feel Percy go past her; his shoulder brushed her like a small gust of wind. And, then, he was gone.

Feeling the hairs rise on the back of her neck, Evangeline watched as the Furies made their way down the aisle toward them.

Mrs Dodds stopped, started sniffing, and looked into an empty seat about ten rows ahead of the three questers. Then, after an agonizing moment, she kept going. They were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel by then. But just as they started to have hope, the old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same—but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.

The Furies surrounded Evangeline, Annabeth, and Grover. They lashed their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"

The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, even past the Mist, that was horrifying enough.

"He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"

The Furies raised the whips.

Evangeline reached for the hunting knife in a back pocket and pulled it out she flipped it in a play-full manner before she brandished it near their necks. Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.

Evangeline felt the burning stare of Alecto. She knew they smelled her scent and figured out who she was. "You have been manipulated into helping them. Do not trust them, my dear Evangeline."

Before Evangeline could say anything the bus jerked left. Everyone howled as they were thrown to the right. The three Furies smashed against the windows. Evangeline almost fell near where the furies fell but grabbed a seat and pulled herself up, regaining her balance.

"Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey—whoa!"

The driver was wrestling for the wheel with an invisible force. Evangeline knew it was Percy's fault. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, and throwing sparks a mile behind them.

They careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.

Somehow, the driver found an exit. They shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to their left, the Hudon River to their right, and the driver seemed to be veering towards the river.

The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet tar, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one off the bus, with the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him.

The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth, Annabeth waved her knife, yelling curses in Ancient Greek. Grover threw tin cans. Evangeline kicked Alecto in the chest.

The air shimmered behind them. Percy appeared at the front of the bus. "Hey!"

The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at him. Mrs. Dodds/Alecto stalked up the aisle. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.

Her two sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward Percy like huge, nasty lizards.

Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere further south than Georgia or Tennessee. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."

"I liked you better as a math teacher," Percy snapped back.

The Fury growled.

Annabeth, Grover, and Evangeline moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening.

Percy took the ballpoint pen out of his pocket. Riptide elongated into a shimmering double-edged sword.

That made the monsters hesitate.

"Submit now," Mrs. Dodds hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."

"Nice try," said Percy.

Annabeth must've seen something. "Percy, look out!" she yelled.

The Fury lashed her whip around Percy's sword hand while the other Furies on either side lunged at him.

Managing not to drop his sword, he struck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. He turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade made contact with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Grover managed to rip the whip out of Mrs Dodd's hands.

"Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"

The Fury Percy had hilt-slammed came at him again, talons ready, but Annabeth managed to throw her knife so perfectly, that it hit the Fury between the shoulder blade. The monster exploded like a piñata.

Evangeline caught the other end of the whip, it hurt to hold but she could handle it. She and Grover got Mrs Dodds's legs tied up with her own whip. Finally, Evangeline kicked the fury in the face causing her to fall down and Grover shoved her further back onto the bus. Mrs. Dodds tried to get up but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down.

"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"

"Braccas means vescimini!" Percy yelled in Latin.

Evangeline rubbed the bridge of her nose, her Latin was good enough, to know Percy just said 'Eat my pants! '

Thunder shook the bus. Evangeline tensed up.

"Get out!" Annabeth yelled. "Now!"

The four rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles, yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped a picture of Riptide before Percy could recap his sword.

"Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our—"

There was a gigantic boom behind them.

The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told Evangeline that Alecto was very much still alive. She winced at the cry of the fury.

"Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"

They plunged into the woods as the rain poured down from the sky, the bus in flames behind them, and nothing but darkness ahead.

A/N: Playlist has been added to The Lightning Thief