Chapter One

Chiron Goes Academic

The year that I turned thirteen was a year I'd never forget. I was finally going to be a teenager, I might actually convince Chiron that I was mature enough to be granted a quest, and I found out that I had a cousin that was closer than I thought.

It was September Second, 2005 and I just entered the sixth grade. My job was to supervise Grover Underwood, gods what a satyr. Last Keeping job he didn't do so well. Let's just say that someone died, and people weren't too happy. Let me introduce myself before I tell you any details. I'm Soren Wildwood. My birthday is August twenty-first. See, I'm a half-blood. Half human half god. What god you ask? We'll get to that later. Somewhere in Manhattan, don't ask me where, laid a school named Yancy Academy. It was basically a school for troubled rich kids whose their parents didn't have time to deal with. Am I troubled?...sort of. Am I rich?...no. Dyslexic and diagnosed with ADHD I fit in perfectly. Grover and I were assigned here to look for other half-bloods like me. Little did I know that my roommate would be one. And you're probably wondering why a twelve year old and not someone older? Where I live, age doesn't matter, it's how long you've lived there. And I've lived there the longest. Where is There? As I said with my parent, we'll get to that later.

Room 205, no, no, no! 206, or is it 207? Stupid dyslexia! Anyway I'll just ask Grover. Yeah, this is what I was thinking on a possibly life-threatening adventure.

"Hey Grover what number is this?" I said completely annoyed that I couldn't read properly.

"That is room number 135." He replied

Boy was I off. I thought. Of course Grover could read and I was close to him, I was his supervisor. I barged in the door and helped Grover in a no-nonsense way. Put his clothes away, make his bed, and he arranged his backpack. I didn't even notice the other boy in the room.

"Hey," the mystery boy said.

"Hi," Grover replied for me.

"Hey, you, over there," he called out. "I didn't know that they had co-ed dorm rooms."

Lie Soren LIE! I thought. "Uh… actually I'm in the girls wing…where I'm supposed to be. Grover is uh…my bro…ther. Anyway. Uh…my name is…Soren.. Grover has a different last name because he's…my…stepbrother.

"That's cool. Well, I'm Percy Jackson. I guess you're in sixth grade too."

"Yep. So how'd you get into Yancy?" I questioned him. I really wanted to know.

"Oh, well, it's not that bad. I just can't stay in one school for over a school year. I always get expelled and most of the time it's either an accident or not my fault."

"That's too bad," I said. I gave Grover a panicked look. Expulsions every year. One of the signs that he might possibly be a half-blood.

"So, what's your name?" Percy asked Grover.

"Oh, I'm Grover Underwood. I'm Soren's…brother"

I didn't know how long Grover could pull this off without spilling. He was always a terrible liar.

"So, I guess you guys are like rich kids right?" Percy said.

"You could say that. I mean you probably are too." I was beginning to get nervous around him.

"Not really." He answered."My mom had trouble paying the tuition. Only if my stepdad would spend his paychecks on something besides beer and other stuff."

Sign two, missing parent. He might actually be a half-blood. I wonder if Grover is picking all the signs up or if he's just staring at the Diet Coke can on the nightstand by Percy's bed. I gave him a nudge to see if he was paying attention. He was. The lunch bell rang, and I didn't have to worry about extra reading since it was only Saturday and classes start on Monday. As we filed through the hallway my head cleared from all the worries from earlier today.

There. Is. A. Menu. Gods why does everything revolve around READING! I hate it. It looks like that Percy kid was having trouble too.

"Hey, Percy, having trouble with the menu?" Did I ask? I really shouldn't have asked.

"Yeah, I'm dyslexic, doesn't really help with the reading thing. Can you help me?" And he asked me the question I couldn't help him with.

"No, I'm dyslexic too. I have to ask Grover to read it for me." I replied.

Sign number three. He's dyslexic. Most half -bloods are. This is starting to get fishy. I have to tell Grover.

"Don't tell me," I scoffed, "You have ADHD too!"

"Actually, yes, I do." He was beginning to get suspicious. "How do you know?"

"Well…uh…I have it also." I was freaking out while Grover stood in line completely unaware.

Sign number four. He has ADHD. That's his battle reflexes. I was almost one hundred percent sure that Percy was a Half-blood. Grover really needs to know. I waited until we sat down at the table and asked Grover if I could talk to him.

"Grover!" I hissed.

"What? That was a perfect enchilada waiting for me to bite it!" he was really annoyed now.

"It's about Percy. He told me he was dyslexic. Had ADHD too." I was shaking.

"So you're saying that Percy is a Half-blood. I'm not surprised. He has a really strong scent. At first I thought he was friends with one because the smell was diluted a ton. But now that you mentioned the signs. Oh gods! Soren listen to me! He had a strong scent! As strong as yours or Thalia's!"

I cringed. The sound of Thalia's name made me sick. Thalia died on Grover's first job. She was my sister. I put the pieces together. Stronger scent means bigger god. Bigger god means…one of the big three! By the way, the Big Three are the three brothers that control the main parts of the Earth. Those gods were Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. But, they swore not to have any more children after World War Two because their children were too strong. So basically if my dad had obeyed the rules, Thalia and I wouldn't have been born. This is bad, really bad. That means if I'm here, and he's here. Monsters would appear. No rhyme intended. I started hyperventilating. Then everything went black. When I woke up I was staring right into the face of Chiron. What was he doing here? I felt like I was going to pass out again, but I forced myself not to. This was starting to be too much for me.

"Chiron?" I called. "what are you doing here?"

"Soren," he replied. "Grover gave me the call about Percy. And also, while I'm here, my name is Mr. Brunner. Anyway, Grover started worrying after you passed out so he IMed me. I came here because we can't have a repetition of last time can we Grover?"

He stared Grover in the eyes and Grover started nervously bleating.

"Wait" I said. "Mr. Brunner? Are you teaching here Chiron?"

"Yes, I will be your Latin teacher for the rest of the year so I can keep an eye on Percy. And if anything strange happens that the mist covers up for the rest of the students but not for Percy, I need you to mask it even more with the mist like I taught you, and if that doesn't work, I need you to lie. That goes for you too Grover. I'm counting you responsible when I can't be there with Percy. Do you understand?

"Yes sir." Grover and I said in unison. Good, more lying for Grover.

Percy was wondering where we were. We promised to hang out with him. And we were late. I wonder how many late nights with Chiron we could pull off without too much of his suspicion.