I know its a little bit by the books, but I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Perseus Jackson, but everyone calls me Percy. I'm just a troubled kid living in a normal world. That is, until I got my letter of acceptance into Demigod's Academy.
You see, Demigod's Academy is this super prestigious but really religious private academy. They only recruit the people they see as the best, or 'halfblooded'. I have no idea how I got in. I'm just a normal kid who just so happens to like to swim. Heck, I didn't even apply for this. I didn't want to go at first, but then they said that they would let me into the school for my whole high school life. And I didn't even have to pay anything! It seemed too good to be true, and I almost declined the offer, but then a certain fact came to me. My mom and I could really use the status boost. They say that anyone who graduates from this school is guaranteed a successful future. A graduate's diploma from Demigod's Academy is the same as graduating from an Ivy League school. It's that crazy.
So anyway, back to Demigod's Academy. I was standing there, double and triple checking my letter. This seemed too good to be true. They really must've been set on letting me in, though. They even covered the medication for my ADHD and dyslexia. It was literally insanity. That must've been at least a thousand dollars to cover everything for me, yet my mother didn't have to spend a penny.
I sighed and closed my letter, shoving it in the back pocket of my black jeans. Well, I thought, here goes nothing.
The moment I stepped into the huge glass door, a blaring pain rang throughout my skull. I collapsed, writhing as I brought my knees up, clawing at my head. I don't remember anything after that.
When I woke up, my face was promptly set on a desk. No joke.
I lifted my head, gazing around sleepily. I felt like I had just woken up from a bad dream…
Of course, for whatever reason, I didn't have time to ponder over my state as my surroundings appeared in higher definition. I was in a dimly lit classroom. After making sure that the classroom I was in wasn't lit by candles, I gazed over to the windows. They had metal plates over them, blocking the sunlight. They were bolted shut. I went over and tried pulling them off; knowing the chances of tearing it off was incredibly slim. Hey, A for effort, right? After a couple of seconds straining to tear off the metallic shade, I let my arms rest at my side, turning and scanning the room. The board read 'Welcome students!' with a bunch of smiley faces, but that hardly suited the mood. I needed answers, and I fully intended to get them. With that thought in mind, I turned to face to door and walked towards it, placing my hand on the doorknob and taking a deep breath before twisting it and pulling it open.
After a bit on investigating, the only thing I learned was that literally every door except one was locked. Heaving a sigh, I made my way back to that unlocked door, which was a big double door with two metal handles. I pulled the door open to meet about twenty-two eyes staring at me, plus a gym. I kind of automatically assumed I was late. A girl with stormy grey eyes stared at me disapprovingly, arms crossed.
"You're late," she spoke, her voice echoing across the gym.
I opened my mouth to speak, but four mischievous eyes and their owners beat me to it.
"Aw, come on, Annabeth!" one of them spoke. "Cut him some slack, we're all kind of shaken up here! Right, Connor?"
The one addressed to as Connor nodded. "Yep!" he said. "Was knocked out kidnapping-style and everything. Freaky."
"You're just trying to cut some slack off you and your brother," Annabeth accused. When the twins tried to protest, Annabeth simply turned away. Geez, that girl was intimidating to the max.
"Well," I spoke. "I guess we'd all be shaken up after what happened here."
"Hm, I suppose so," the girl said, gazing at me before turning once again to end the conversation.
"Sorry," Connor said, turning to me. "Annabeth's always like that."
"I guess she's just a bit scared," I said. "By the way, I'm Percy. If we're gonna be trapped here, then I guess we should all get to know each other."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Connor's brother said with a grin. "I'm Travis, and he's Connor."
We talked for a while before the twins decided to go and look around for an exit. That left me to just look around at the scene, memorizing faces.
Other than those three, there was a boy fretting in the left corner behind me, along with a girl in a floppy green cap trying to reassure him that things were okay, and to coerce him out. I heard the girl whispering hushed things to the boy, along with the name 'Nico'. The boy responded in a worried tone, and through his tears I managed to hear 'Bianca'. They looked like siblings. I just imagined how hard it must've been on them, and the two named Connor and Travis.
Over on the left and right walls, there were people trying to kick the closed metal shutters down. There was this really bulky girl on my left, brown hair and muscles and all. There was an unexplainably pretty girl on her side, trying to convince her to cease her attempts at escape. And next to the model stood this big tough guy. I could've sworn he was a MMA fighter, judging by his build and his scowl, but he had more of a mechanic build then a fighter.
On my right was a girl with choppy black hair and electric blue eyes that told everyone within a fifty-mile radius not to mess with her. She looked like some biker, with her tough attire. Or maybe a punk rock star. I wasn't too sure at the time. Next to the punk rock girl stood another woman, but she looked much more mature and much more dangerous. She stared at every man in the room coldly, as if she was better than us. I assumed she was like some sort of princess, since she had a silver crown thing in her long black hair. Now that I thought of it, she kind of looked more like a Persian princess. Maybe a queen.
Doing a quick scan, I identified three more people. There was this weird guy with…were those goat legs? Nevermind. He had goat legs—but who was I to judge, right? Aside from his…different hindquarters, he had shaggy black hair and a goatee, even though I was sure that he was just our age. His hair was tied up in a bandana.
There was this other girl with bright red hair and clothes covered in unicorn snot. Okay, not actual unicorn snot, but you know what I mean. Her outfit was normal enough, if you didn't count the paint splatters. If Skittles were liquids, then this girl's clothing would be the freaking motherload of Skittles. There were paint splatters everywhere. I wasn't sure if it was intended or not, but it certainly looked like it.
My thoughts were so rudely interrupted by a shrill and nasally voice. Everyone turned towards the source, which was…a skeleton plush. It wasn't intimidating—just something you'd find in a Goth girl's bedroom. However, its words were unnerving to the point of horror.
"Howdy everyone! Is everyone here? Good! Then let's get this murder spree rolling!"
"Murder spree?" I asked, blending in with everyone else's surprise.
"That's right!" the skeleton plush squealed. "We're getting into some extra special murder up in here!"
The skeleton plush gleefully observed everyone else's surprise before speaking again.
"You punks wanna get out of here, right?" he asked. "Then you gotta kill each other!"
"What kind of sick joke is that!" the girl who was punching walls asked in an enraged tone.
"Clarisse—" the girl with straight black hair started, but the skeleton cut her off.
"You heard me! We're doing things a battle royale up in here! Or Hunger Games if you prefer. You freaking weirdo."
"You want us to really murder our classmates?" Travis asked, his playful demeanor vanishing.
"I'm just gonna cut you off there with a 'yes'!" the skeleton said, jumping off his podium. "Imagine the despair! Brother against brother, friend against friend!"
"Wait—" Annabeth tried to intervene, but was cut off by the rude skeleton again.
"Now, let's go for it! Let's give it everything we got!"
Just like that, the skeleton fell back and disappeared- just like our lives before this day. Only one word could describe the ambience, the horrible pit of unknown that filled the room. There was only one word that could describe the hopeless feeling about the situation we were shoved into. This feeling...there's only one word for it.
Despair.