Chapter 70
We can take you guys as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you all are on your own.
Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.
"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."
It didn't take us long to pack. A pair of extra clothes and a pair of toothbrushes to stuff in a pair of backpacks Grover had found for us.
The camp store loaned us one hundred golden drachmas. 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 Percy 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.
Percy was bringing his changing forms pendent necklace that he got from his big brother James when they got here. He also has a backpack with a change of clothes, a bag of ambrosia squares and a canteen of nectar.
Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rains his curly hair flattens and you can 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 Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.
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 Percy'd seen when he was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy is 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 we could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.
"This is Argus," Chiron told us. "He will drive you guys into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."
Both the Jackson brothers heard footsteps behind us.
Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.
"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you both."
"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told us. "And I thought . . . um, maybe you guys could use these."
He handed Percy the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal.
Luke said, "Maia!"
White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling Percy so much, that he dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.
"Awesome!" Grover said.
Percy picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. We looked at Chiron. "We weren't be able to use these, will we?"
He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. James. But taking to the air . . . that would not be wise for the both of you."
We nodded, disappointed, but then we got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"
His eyes lit up. "Me?"
Before we'd laced the sneakers over Grover's fake feet, I used magic detection to see if the flying shoes were cursed. It easily detected the curse on the shoes, and I take the curse off of the shoes using Holy magic. Then we'd laced the sneakers over Grover's fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.
"Maia!" Grover shouted.
He got off the ground okay, 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!"
"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van.
Before we could follow, Chiron caught our arms. "I should have trained you both better, Percy," James," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason—they all got more training."