บท 147: Chapter 147: What Real Fury Looks Like
[Third Person's PoV]
As the bus trundled along the rain-soaked road, it came to a stop, and three old ladies, each clutching a knitting kit, stepped aboard. Percy's eyes widened in panic as he slouched down in his seat, trying to make himself as small as possible.
"Guys, guys, that's her—that's Mrs. Dodds, my math teacher, the one that tried to kill me before," Percy whispered urgently, his voice trembling.
"Relax," Lucian said, trying to reassure him. "They won't do anything."
"Maybe not to you! But once they find me, they'll all try to kill me!" Percy hissed, his anxiety palpable.
Lucian rolled his eyes and glanced at Annabeth, giving her a slight nod. She immediately understood and reached into her pouch, pulling out her invisibility cap. She swiftly placed it on Percy's head, causing him to vanish from sight. Percy sighed in relief, grateful for the temporary protection.
The three old ladies, who had initially sat near the front, slowly made their way toward the back of the bus, where Lucian, Annabeth, and the now-invisible Percy were seated. The leader of the group, Alecto, fixed her cold eyes on Lucian.
"Young prince," she hissed, her voice dripping with venom.
"Alecto," Lucian acknowledged her with narrowed eyes. "What are you guys doing here?"
"What does it look like?" Alecto sneered. "We're here to retrieve Lord Hades' lost possession. So, Young Prince, where is he? Where's the thief?"
"We know he's here; I can smell him," Tisiphone, the fury behind Alecto, said, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air.
Lucian raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Are you Spots now, sniffing the air like that?" His tone quickly shifted to seriousness. "It's not in his possession. If it were, I would have already taken it from his hands and returned it to my father."
"So you're abetting him in the theft?" Megaera, the third fury, asked, her wings unfurling behind her as she spoke. The other two followed suit, their fiery whips materializing in their hands. "You're betraying the Underworld and Lord Hades by not telling us where the thief is."
Lucian's eyes flashed with power and authority, and a menacing aura surrounded him. "I'm not abetting anything! You three are out of a job. You failed to retrieve the helm the first time, and now it's my responsibility to retrieve it due to your incompetence."
His words, laced with power, made the three furies take a step back in fear. Lucian stood up, his gaze sharp and unforgiving. "You don't even know who the real thief is, and yet you dare to accuse me of betrayal."
In a swift motion, Lucian grabbed onto the poles of the bus and launched himself forward, delivering a powerful dropkick to Alecto. The force of the kick sent her crashing into the other two furies, knocking them back.
The furies roared in fury, their fiery whips crackling to life as they prepared to strike back.
Lucian stood tall on the bus, the rain outside tapping incessantly against the windows as the vehicle rumbled along the slick road. His eyes narrowed as he faced the three furies, Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera, who now bore their true, terrifying forms, wings unfurled and fiery whips crackling in their hands.
Percy was nowhere to be seen, hidden under Annabeth's invisibility cap. She and Thalia watched in tense silence, unsure whether to intervene or let Lucian handle the situation on his own. But the moment Lucian launched his attack, it was clear he intended to take them on by himself.
Lucian's kick sent Alecto hurtling down the aisle of the bus, her body crashing into the others with a force that dented the metal walls. The bus driver, seemingly unaware of the supernatural battle unfolding behind him, continued to drive calmly, the rain and thunder outside masking the noise of the fight within.
Alecto snarled as she righted herself, her fiery whip crackling to life. "You dare strike me, you insolent Prince!" she screeched, lunging forward with a vicious swipe.
But Lucian was faster. His foresight allowed him to predict the exact moment she would strike, and he sidestepped her attack with fluid grace. His hand shot out, grabbing her wrist mid-swing, and with a twist, he disarmed her, the whip falling to the floor in a burst of flames.
Before she could react, Lucian delivered a sharp elbow to her sternum, the impact sending her crashing to the floor. Without pausing, he turned his attention to Tisiphone, who was already upon him, her own whip lashing out in a blur of fiery streaks.
Lucian ducked and weaved, his movements impossibly fast, anticipating each strike with uncanny precision. He closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, catching her arm and using her momentum to flip her over his shoulder, slamming her into the floor with bone-jarring force.
Megaera, the last of the furies, circled around, her eyes blazing with fury. She lunged at him, her wings propelling her forward with unnatural speed. Lucian pivoted on his heel, narrowly avoiding her talons as they raked through the air where his head had been moments before.
In one fluid motion, he brought his leg up in a powerful roundhouse kick, catching her in the side of the head. The impact sent her spinning, her wings flapping wildly as she struggled to regain control. Lucian didn't give her a chance. He followed up with a series of rapid strikes, each one landing with precision on her vital points, leaving her stunned and disoriented.
The furies regrouped, their faces twisted in rage as they realized they were no match for Lucian's martial prowess. The bus swayed slightly as it took a turn, the motion throwing off their balance just enough for Lucian to exploit.
He leaped forward, landing a flying knee strike into Alecto's chest, the force sending her crashing through the back window of the bus. The shattered glass rained down around her as she laid sat down on one of the seats.
Tisiphone tried to rush him from behind, but Lucian's foresight warned him of her approach. He spun around, catching her by the throat and lifting her off the ground effortlessly. With a flick of his wrist, he slammed her into the side of the bus, the impact leaving a deep dent in the metal.
Megaera, seeing her sisters defeated, tried to flee, her wings beating furiously as she launched herself toward the front of the bus. But Lucian was already there, his speed blurring as he intercepted her. He grabbed her by the wing, twisting her around before hurling her into the seatbacks with a sickening thud.
As the bus barreled down the road and entered a dark tunnel, Percy seized the opportunity to sneak to the front, grabbing the wheel in a desperate attempt to throw the Furies off balance. The sudden shift in control sent the bus careening against the tunnel wall, causing sparks to fly as the metal scraped along the concrete. Passengers who had been unaware of the brewing chaos screamed in terror, clutching their seats as the bus jolted violently.
The Furies, caught off guard by the unexpected turbulence, stumbled, giving Lucian the perfect opening. He capitalized on their momentary imbalance, unleashing a barrage of attacks that showcased what true fury looked like. His movements were precise and relentless, forcing the Furies onto the defensive as they struggled to regain their footing.
As the bus exited the tunnel, it slammed into a pole, causing the door to burst open. The terrified passengers, seeing their chance to escape, scrambled out into the pouring rain, their screams echoing through the night. Lucian's eyes suddenly glowed, sensing danger. "Shit! Everyone out of the bus!" he shouted, urging his companions to follow the fleeing mortals.
They all leaped from the bus just as a bolt of lightning tore through the sky, striking the top of the vehicle. The bus exploded in a deafening crash, and from within, the anguished screams of the three Furies could be heard. Thalia, standing outside and drenched from the rain, pointed an accusatory finger toward the turbulent skies.
"ARE YOU CRAZY!? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US!" she screamed at the heavens, her voice barely audible over the roaring thunder.
The sky answered her with a series of rapid lightning flashes, but Thalia wasn't having any of it. "WE ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU RETRIEVE THE BOLT, YOU UNGRATEFUL—UGH!" She stopped herself short of cursing and instead groaned in frustration, visibly fuming.
Meanwhile, Percy removed the invisibility cap and handed it back to Annabeth. He turned to Lucian, a curious look on his face. "So, who's Spots?"
Lucian gave him a flat stare. "Seriously?"
Percy just shrugged, still curious. "I noticed it got under her skin when you compared her to Spots, so I want to know who that is."
Lucian sighed and rolled his eyes. "That's Cerberus' actual name."
"Seriously? Spots?" Percy said, trying to suppress a laugh as he glanced at Thalia, who was still arguing with the sky. "But I thought Cerberus was his name?"
"Cerberus means spotted or speckled," Lucian explained, shaking his head at the ridiculousness of it all.
Thalia finally finished her one-sided argument with Zeus, huffing as she returned to the group. "So, where do we go from here?" she asked, eyeing the destroyed bus and the stormy sky with clear frustration.
"I say we take the woods," Grover suggested, pointing toward the dense forest up ahead. "The scent from the trees, mud, and basically nature, along with the rain, should mask our smell."
"Lead the way, Nature Man," Lucian said with a smirk, using his shadow to create an umbrella to shield them from the rain. The group followed Grover's lead, heading toward the cover of the forest, hoping to stay one step ahead of the dangers that pursued them.
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