DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN PERCY JACKSON!

The first chapter! Hope you like it! :)

Chapter 1: I bleed to death

My name is Percy Jackson. I'm just a typical twelve-year-old kid that lives with his stepfather and a really great mother. My dad died in a car crash before I was born, and ever since then I had to cope with my extremely snobby and smelly stepfather.

I'm at school now. Behind me sits my best friend, Grover. He was born with a leg disease, some kind of problem in the muscles, so he's got to use crutches. He's the only one who acknowledged me. That's why he's my best friend.

On his left, sits Nancy Bobofit, my enemy. She's a kleptomaniac who likes to steal everyone's stuff, mostly mine. I'm her punching bag, and her lab rat. She uses me as a testing tube for her dirty tricks. Last time, she almost stuffed my head down the toilet bowl if it weren't for Grover, who hit her in the spine with his crutch. She whined to the teachers that one of her bones was broken, but fortunately, no one believed her.

I'm having my Maths lesson right now. My teacher, Mrs Dodds meditates when we're doing our homework and throws a chalk at anyone who dared to go to the toilet during her class. Really freaky.

"Anyone knows how to answer this question?" she asked the class. Everyone looked up. On the blackboard was a Maths question.

936 / 9 +235 – 14 * 36 =

I didn't know the answer to that question. What I saw was:

δεν μπορείτε να το σκάσω.

Very weird. It's like I have ADHD.

"Mr. Jackson."

I looked up.

"Could you answer this question?" Mrs Dodds asked.

I stared at her. She stared back, waiting for my answer.

I hesitated to answer, then decided to try my luck by refusing the offer. "No, I'm sorry." I leaned back against my chair.

She looked the other way. "Is there anyone else?" she asked again.

"Me, me!" As usual, Nancy Bobofit answers the question. The only subject she liked was Maths, which was hardly surprising.

"Its 11700." she said.

"Correct! Let's give a round of applause to Nancy!" Mrs Dodds clapped her hands. A few students pretended to clap, and some clapped without much enthusiasm. After all, who would encourage the worst bully in the school?

~ The bell rang. Everyone sighed, relieved. It was Latin class now, and our teacher, Mr. Brunner, arranged us to go to a museum in LA, The New Greek Roman Gallery, about 70 miles away. We would go there by bus.

As always, he was dressed in his usual black coat, and black tie. He had a brown beard, brown hair and brown eyes which was sharp like an eagle's and could detect any pickpockets or thieves before they even knew it. He sat in the wheelchair, apparently he had a broken leg or something.

The bus was waiting outside the school gate. It was a big yellow bus, and it looked like a walking advertisement to me. The walls of the bus were full of advertisements:

JUMPING MONKEYS: THEY'LL MAKE YOUR CLASSMATES SCREAM!

THE STICKY DART: THROW IT, AND IT'LL STICK TO ANYWHERE!

REAL COCKROACHES FOR SALE: CALL 0115834772! BUY 1 TODAY!

GLOWY BLOWY: IT GLOWS IN THE DARK! IT BOUNCES! IT STRETCHES! IT'S PULLABLE! IT'S BLOWABLE!

TOTALLY COOL EARPHONES: CHANGES THE VOLUME INTO MAXIMUM AT ANY RANDOM TIME! SUITABLE FOR PLAYING JOKES ON YOUR FRIENDS!

OBSESSED WITH GUNS? PERFECT! COME TO EEKY'S TOY SHOP! WE SELL NERF GUNS, WATER GUNS, CANNONS, BAZOOKAS, RIFLES, SHOTGUNS, AND MORE!

PRESENTING THE JOKER'S MAGIC DECK! IT'LL MAKE YOU WANNA SCREAM!

SELLING DRAGON'S EGGS FOR 20 DOLLARS EACH! 20% OFFER! FOR TODAY ONLY! GET YOURS AT BENNY'S FREAK SHOP!

I stared at the bus. The advertisements looked crazy. Very. Especially the one with the dragon eggs. How someone got their hands on a dragon egg, I'll never know. As for the driver…he looked weird, wearing a pair or khaki shorts and a purple T-shirt that said: 'Gimme that or I'll blow your brains out!' Grover seemed freaked out. Nancy Bobofit took an interest in the gun advertisement. She probably wanted to use me or Grover to test it out.

Everyone was excited. Including me. Latin was my favourite subject, since most of the classes were spent in museums or in water parks. Mr. Brunner taught us Latin the fun way. That's what I like about him. He's also against Nancy Bobofit and her buddies. She's scared of him because he's always trying to shield up on me. Another good point.

I sat beside Grover on the bus. Behind Grover, sits the kleptomaniac. She took out a peanut butter sandwich from a plastic lunch box, and threw it at Grover.

"Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Grover shouted. He took out a tin can (he loves them for some weird reason) and threw it at her. It hit her in the knee.

"Yeowwwwwwwwwwwwww!" she cried. It was just a tin can, it couldn't have broke a bone.

Unfortunately for me and Grover, Mrs Dodds came on the trip, I don't know why. She hurried towards Nancy and inspected her knee. "Hmmm...…it seems to be okay," she said, soothing the sobbing girl. She glared at us. "Both of you," she scowled. "Detention for a month."

Both of us groaned. Detention was the worst. She would have to see my mum again, and my mum's already got tons of problems. I didn't know what to do. Sighing, I stared at the scenery from the window. Cars rushed by the slow-moving bus, motorists jutted in and out behind the cars, pedestrians stood on the walkway, waiting for the pedestrian crossing to turn green.

An hour later, we reached our destination. Mrs Dodds followed behind the crowd of students, making sure they weren't going to sneak away.

"There are three Olympian gods, three of the brothers: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. They obtain power by overthrowing their father, Kronos, by chopping him into little pieces. The three gods have been rivals ever since. Always arguing. Always threatening war."

I felt someone looking at me and turned. Mrs Dodds was staring at me with that weird look of hers. What did I do? Just listening to songs on my MP3 player. After all, Mr. Brunner didn't say anything about not bringing gadgets and phones.

We walked to another section of the museum which showed the statue of the Olympian gods. "In several occasions, they would come down to Earth and umm….." he paused. "How should I put this….."

"Hook up?" Grover joked. Some of the students giggled.

"They would hook up for mortals." He continued. "The children of Zeus were half god, and half human. Can anyone tell me what they were called?" He looked around. "Percy."

Grover nudged me. "Huh?" I took off my earphones. "I'm sorry. What, Mr. Brunner?"

"What is the proper name of the offspring of a human god?" he asked me.

"Demigod." I said.

"Exactly." He nodded. Many became great heroes, like Hercules, and Achilles. Can you name another?"

I shrugged. Although I liked Latin, I was never good at it.

"I'll give you a hint, it's in front of you."

I looked up at the huge statue behind Mr. Brunner. The words were written in Ancient Greek.

What I saw was:

PERSEUS DEFEATS CETUS

"Percy….." I muttered. "Perseus?" I told Mr. Brunner.

Grover raised his eyebrow. Mr. Brunner nodded. "Correct." He moved his wheelchair to another section. "Over here, we have a picture of Hercules defeating the namian line. Hercules killed the beast with his bare hands and took the skin as proof. Next, we have Zeus fighting Poseidon over here….."

After the talk about the Olympian gods, we had a lunch break. My mum packed ham and cheese sandwiches, a bar of Hersheys chocolate, an apple and two cans of mango juice. I shared my lunch with Grover since he didn't have any. While we were having dessert, which was of course the chocolate, one of Nancy's buddies came along.

"Ooohhhhhhhhh! Look!" she pointed to the Hersheys bar. Of course, busybody Nancy came running. "Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Hersheys! My favourite!" she grabbed the Hersheys bar.

I was angry, but I forced myself to be patient. "Nancy, give it back." I thrust out my hand.

"You should learn some manners. Say 'Please?'" she grinned.

"Nancy, PLEASE give it back."

"Doesn't your parents ever teach you manners?" she took a bite from the chocolate bar. "What about your know-it-all mother?" she smirked.

I totally lost it. One second I was sitting on the bench, controlling myself, and the next second I was strangling her.

She screamed and tried to pry my hands of her neck. Mr. Brunner and Mrs Dodds came running along. By then, there was a huge crowd of students around us, most of them cheering for me. Grover looked anxious, or probably too stunned to move.

"Stop! Stoppppppp!" Mr. Brunner said. Nancy stopped screaming. I let go of the girl's neck. The students stopped cheering. Grover came back to his senses. There was a moment of silence. Mr. Brunner was the first to regain his calm.

"Mrs Dodds, check Nancy for any sign of bruises. Percy, follow me." He turned his wheelchair round and shuffled away. Me and Grover looked at each other for a split second, both confused, but I followed Mr. Brunner.

We were in the main gallery, the one with the statue of Athena. My Latin teacher spoke.

"Percy, did you know what you have done?" he asked me.

I nodded, too ashamed to speak.

"I understand your actions, but to strangle your classmate….."

"She was insulting my mum!" I cried. "Calling her a know-it-all….." I clenched my fist.

"Percy, I understand your feelings. I know you didn't mean to hurt anybody. I have also lost my temper before, during an occasion..I kicked my best friend in the stomach for calling my father a maniac…" he looked away.

I stared at him.

"But, you must control your temper, Percy. Control it." He told me.

"How?" I asked.

"Think of the consequences. Think what will happen next. Your classmate will get hurt. You will be scolded, and probably get punished. Think, Percy, think."

"Think." I told myself.

"Think before you act, Percy. It is never too late, even if you're in a crisis." He moved his wheelchair. "Come now. The bus will be here any second."

"B-but Mr. Brunner! What about Nancy?" Although I hated her, I still didn't want her to end up in the hospital.

He turned. "I doubt if she's hurt in any way," he smiled.

I smiled back.

The journey back was awful. Nancy kept staring at me with her killer glare, as if she was saying: "Why aren't you in trouble? Why?"

"Come on, Grover, I found a shortcut back home," I told my best friend. We don't usually walk home, just occasionally.

"Where?" he asked.

I grinned. "Through the forest."

He was anxious, but I told him it was okay, there were both of us, no harm could come to us. How wrong I was.

The forest wasn't so bad. Sun beams shone through the branches of the trees, creating a rather warm atmosphere. I walked past clumps of bushes, and even a beehive which I was afraid to shoot at it with my catapult. We chatted along the way, about school, family, and other stuff.

I almost tripped on a rock when I heard a growl. I turned. Nothing there. Grover was worried. "Maybe it's a lion." He trembled. "Lions don't live in forests," I snapped. Suddenly there was another growl. I couldn't be mistaken. It is a growl. We walked faster. Another growl. I turned. Behind me, was a sphinx. My mouth dropped open. A sphinx? Impossible. But it is a sphinx. A human head on a lion's body, with an eagle's wings, Uh-oh. I recalled one of Mr. Brunner's classes.

"Sphinxes are rare during the ancient times. They are rarely seen during daytime, except when they're hungry."

This sphinx does look hungry.

I ran. Grover tried his best to limp faster. By the time I ran two hundred meters ahead, I was far ahead of him. The sphinx was five feet away from my friend. "Come on!" I shouted.

"I'm trying!"

Then, I remembered my catapult. I took a stone off the ground, took careful aim, and let go of the rubber band.

BINGO! It shot the creature's eyes. The sphinx howled in pain. The sound was deafening, the trees swayed, the grounds shook and I covered my ears with my hands. But at least it gave Grover some time to escape.

Both of us ran all the way to my house. We didn't stop until we reached the door.

I sighed, relieved. "We must have been lucky." I grinned at him.

Grover looked fear-stricken.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Lucky? Oh my….." he looked away. "I gotta see your mum, Percy."

"Wh-what? Why?" I asked, worried. Grover never acted like this before.

"Now!" he snapped. He looked anxious.

I did as he told me. "Mum, I'm home!" I called at the door. As usual, Gabe and his buddies were playing poker at the table.

"Percy, welcome home~!" my mum hugged me tightly. She turned to Grover. "Wh-" she began.

"Sally, its happened." He told her.

Her expression changed. "It's happened?" she looked scared.

Grover nodded.

She didn't wait a minute longer. "Percy, we have to go." She grabbed my arm and pulled me outside, towards Gabe's old Mustang.

"W-wa-wait! Where ye going?" Gabe called from the living room.

"Shopping for more beer," my mum responded. "There's no more in the fridge."

"Be sure to buy more! And also more steaks!" he called back.

"I will!" she answered, opening the car door for me to get in. Grover sat at the backseat, munching on a packet of potato chips.

A minute later my mum was behind the wheel, driving the Mustang through the busy highway. I had lots of questions, but I didn't know where to start.

"Mum, what is happening? Where are we going? And why is Grover here? And what is 'it'?" I asked my mum.

"Percy, it's hard to explain on what's going on right now…" she answered, not keeping her eyes off the road.

"Where are we going? What…"I began.

"You're in danger." my mum said.

"What?"

"You're in danger, Percy..."

"Wh-why? Somebody's gonna kill me?"

"Something like that." Grover chimed in from the backseat.

"But why?" I was totally confused.

"Percy, you have to understand that this has something to do with your father….." my mum trailed off.

"This has something to do with dad?"

"Yep. Well, most of it." said Grover.

"What's wrong with him? He's risen from the dead and wants to kill me?" I asked again.

"No, Percy, no." my mum looked at me, sadness engraved on her beautiful face. "He was a good man."

"He died stupidly." I muttered.

"Percy, he didn't die…"

"What? But you told me…"

"I lied."

"What? Why?"

"Sally lied to protect you, Percy…." My friend comforted me.

"To protect me from what?"

"Bad guys." Grover flipped the pages of an old magazine he found lying under a heap of burger wrappers.

It dawned on me. "The sphinx." I looked at my mum, then at Grover.

"It has something to do with the sphinx, right?"

My mum looked away, pretending to concentrate on the driving. Grover kept quiet and pretended to be interested in the contents of the magazine.

"What is this? Why does a sphinx want to kill me? Sphinxes aren't supposed to exist! And dad…." I trailed off. "He's still….."

"Alive," my mum nodded.

"Then where is he?"

"He's in somewhere far away…"

"You…divorced him?" I was shocked.

"No, Percy, no. He left to protect you. He loved you. He didn't want to leave you….." a tear rolled down her cheek.

I looked away, sighing. I didn't know what to say anymore.

Three hours later, we were in the middle of a deserted highway. I finally spoke.

"Where are we going?"

"To a camp." My mum answered.

"What camp?"

"A summer camp."

"Why?"

"It's a camp for special people, Percy, like you." She smiled for the first time during the journey.

"What? Am I crazy or something?"

"No, Percy, no. It means that you're special."

"Special?" I sniggered. "In what way? I'm not clever or anything…"

"Everyone is special in ways they don't know…" my mum responded.

We passed a strawberry farm. There was a sign there that said: 'Pick your own strawberries for free!' A smiley face was drawn at the bottom.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, as if someone had thrown a piano down the stairs. "Wh-what was that?" I looked back. Something huge and black, with red eyes was staring at the car. At us.

"Oh no. Sally hurry!" Grover urged.

The car sped along the highway at 200 miles an hour. Suddenly, something black appeared in front.

"Sally, look out!" Grover exclaimed. The car hit the huge black object and skidded on the road.

My mum screamed. And, abruptly, the car came to a halt.

"Mum, are you ok?" I called.

"I'm fine, Percy. Grover?"

"I'm ok, Sally."

"Come on, let's get out of here." I climbed out of the broken window, and cut my hand on the broken glass.

"Ow!" I grabbed it. Blood was coming out of the cut. I helped my mum wriggle out of the upside-down car, and together we managed to wriggle the panting Grover, which took off his pants and revealed a pair of goat's hooves and was trying to smash open the backseat window with it. He said it was a weird disease, descended by his ancestors. I didn't really believed that.

"Gods.."we stared at the huge black object. It was a Minotaur. Without waiting for it to come back to its senses from the blow, we ran.

We ran for 300 meters, and apparently the monster came back to its senses, and chased after us. It was covering good distance, and would be on to us in a matter of seconds.

"There!" Grover pointed to a sign hidden in between the trees. It said, 'Half-Blood Camp'. Together, us three ran to the entrance, with the Minotaur in pursuit.

"Percy, I can't go through, just go!" my mum called to me.

"No, I won't leave you!" I grabbed her arm. "Come on!"

"I can't go through!" she shook off my arm. "It doesn't want me, just you…." She smiled. "Goodbye, my son…."

By now the Minotaur had reached my mum. It grabbed her by the waist with its huge hand, and flung her onto a tree. My mum vanished in a puff of smoke.

"No!" Grover pulled me away.

I shook him off and took out my catapult, grabbed a stone off the marshy ground, took careful aim, and shoot.

It missed. Apparently I made it mad, because it charged at me.

"Gahhhhh!" The Minotaur's sharp claws ripped through my jacket and pierced me on the shoulder. Blood gushed out.

There was a flash of light, and a bike appeared out of nowhere. The biker fired flames from the palm of his hand.

It must have been my cut hand, or maybe I was tired, because I passed out after that.

So there ya go, everyone! Took me a full day to type this! I had fun writing it, and I hope yall enjoyed reading it! :))