*ATTENTION: PLEASE READ THIS AS IT IS CRUTIALLY IMPORTANT TO THIS STORY!*
This fanfic is going to be part of a four-story series called "The Mortal Chronicals". The first three may be read in any order, but all three must be read in order for the fourth to make sense.
Ok, so, I thought of this fanfic because I thought it would be great to give mortals a chance. After all, who says humans can't do amazing things for the gods too, right?
I pulled my hood farther down my face, trying to avoid glances. Sitting in the back of a crowded school bus, I didn't look much different from everyone else, and the average person might be able to look over me. But unfortunately, I was not among average people. These people were vicious. They were scary. And they were definitely NOT average; more like below it.
I was on a school field trip, the worst thing to be on at my school. On school field trips, there are only two teachers with twenty mental-case students. There were no safe classrooms, no schedules on paper to follow, and no teachers monitoring your every move. Most kids would be happy about that sort of thing. But not me. It took every bit of willpower not to scream every time someone looked at me in an even remotely menacing way.
My name is Andy Granger.
How I got into Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids, is anyone's guess.
Supposedly I was a troubled preteen who suffered from hallucinations, resulting in severe anxiety. But I'm not crazy. One day I'll show them I'm not. But at any rate, I don't see why sending me to a juvenile delinquent school is supposed to help any of that.
Right now I was sitting in the very back of the bus, ipod in hand, trying to inconspicuously steal glances at the situation unfolding in front of me while still avoiding the gaze of one of the many school bullies: Nancy Bobofit. I had always thought it a little funny; Nancy from Yancy, but of course I never said it to anyone, for fear of death by beating.
Nancy was chucking pieces of peanut butter and ketchup sandwich at one of the guys two seats in front of me. Why someone would eat peanut butter with ketchup, I had no idea. The thought made me nauseous. I felt bad for the victim. The gooey masses stuck in his curly hair, and the guy looked about ready to cry.
I heard the other guy, someone with black hair and fierce green eyes, mumble, "I'm going to kill her".
I took out one ear bud and listened intently.
"It's ok," said the sandwich victim, but I could tell it was definitely not ok "I like peanut butter".
Yeah, but with ketchup? I thought, shuddering in my mind.
Nancy threw another piece of sandwich, and being dodged by its target, went flying over the seat and right into my face. I spluttered, spitting out the unusual condiment combination. I just barely caught what Sandwich Target said next.
"You're on probation. You know who will get blamed if anything happens".
I froze. I knew who this guy was. I couldn't think of his first name, but I knew his last name. Jackson. The name sent shivers down my spine. This kid had been kicked out of almost every private and boarding school in the area. This guy was legendary. And I had made it my goal to stay away from him. This dude was connected with all of my troubles. And I wanted no part of it.
Jackson sat down, though reluctantly, and was able to mostly keep his cool for the rest of the bus ride.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
Mr. Brunner led the tour of the museum. The whole year I didn't really know what to think of the guy. Yeah, he was cool and all, but there was something about him that wasn't…right. First o all, he replaced another Latin teacher only two weeks into the year. And for the whole year from that point everyone forgot the first. No, they actually had their minds wiped clean of it. I kept asking every so often where the old teacher was, and everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Even the Jackson kid thought there was, and had only been, Mr. Brunner. From that moment I tried to distance myself from him as much as possible. I had had this situation once or twice, and the outcome wasn't pretty…
But Mr. Brunner wasn't near as menacing as Mrs. Dodds. The mere mention of her name gave me the creeps. Old, but sharp, Mrs. Dodds looked mean enough to run over a kitten with a monster truck. But it wasn't just that. Mrs. Dodds wasn't just a mean teacher. She was pure evil. I didn't tell anyone this, but if I looked at her real closely, or out of the corner of my eyes, she didn't even look human. Crazy, I know, but I'm not lying. Her skin was that of a wrinkly old leather purse, and her eyes glowed red. She had wings and a mouth full of jagged teeth. Every time I looked at her in a public area, like monitoring lunch or on a field trip like this one, she seemed to always have her eyes on Jackson, eyeing his hungerly.
Anyway, Mr. Brunner was talking about some ancient Greek artifact, when Nancy Bobofit snickered about something, I couldn't hear what, and Jackson turned around and shouted, "Will you shut up?!"
The people around me all laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Jackson," he said. "Did you have a comment?"
Jackson's face turned red and he mumbled, "No sir".
Brunner pointed to the stele. "Perhaps you could tell us what this picture represents?"
I looked at the Jackson kid, and saw a flush of relief pass over his face. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"
Brunner didn't look satisfied. "Yes. And he did this because…"
Jackson's expression flickered. "Well…Kronos was the king god, and—"
Oo, mistake number one.
"God?" Mr. Brunner said with a raised eyebrow.
"Titan." Jackson corrected. "And…he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, Kronos ate them right?"
So good so far…
"But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"
"Eeew!" I said aloud, but it came out sounding like a girl, so I clamped a hand over my mouth.
"—and so there was this big fight between the gods and titans, and the gods won".
I heard some snickers from the group.
Nancy mumbled to her friend, "Like we're going to use this stuff in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids'".
Like you would ever know, I thought moodily.
"And why, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"
"Busted," I heard the kid next to Jackson murmur.
"Shut up," Nancy hissed, and I took a step back even though she wasn't talking to me.
Jackson paused, then said, "I don't know sir".
"I see," Mr. Brunner said with a frown. Was it just me, or did he look like he expected some great explanation from Jackson? The kid couldn't even stay in the same school for more than a year. There were bets on how long it would take for him to get kicked out of this one. "Half credit Mr. Jackson. Zues did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"
We were lead out, and I made sure I lagged behind, as usual. I never talked to anybody, never had any friends. I was just walking out when I noticed the curly-haired kid walking by himself. That's weird he was always with the Jackson kid. I looked back and saw Jackson talking with Mr. Brunner. I was looking back, so I didn't see what was in front of me, and I ran into Mrs. Dodds.
"Oops," I said timidly, avoiding the teacher's gaze. "Sorry Mrs. D".
"Careful Mortal," Mrs. Dodds hissed. I looked up and saw her red eyes glowing with fury. That word made my skin crawl. Fury…
The way Mrs. Dodds had called me a mortal; almost like…like she wasn't.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
The class ate lunch by the entrance, the traffic of Fifth Avenue in sight. I nibbled my sandwich, which was not, thankfully, filled with peanut butter and ketchup. I looked up at the storm boiling in the heavens above. The weather recently had been crazy, and it made me nervous. Not the weather, the reason behind it. Every so often, in the middle of a storm or on tv, a story about a wildfire or flood or earthquake, I would see what looked almost like a chariot dart in and out of the clouds, or a hand reach down and strike a bolt of lightning. Crazy, I know, but I saw it with my own eyes.
I watched the kids in my class from a distance, sitting on the steps of the museum. I saw the Jackson kid join the curly-haired one near the fountain, distancing themselves from everyone else. I could understand why. Yancy Academy wasn't a school to be proud of. All the students were just there because they couldn't make it anywhere else, and it was illegal not to go to school at this age. I studied the curly-hair kid. He was another I was cautious about. There was something different about him for sure. The kid walked on crutches, but I had seen him move fast when he needed to. The crutches were obviously just a ploy. And he had an acute sense of smell too. And his laugh was weird, almost like…
Just then Nancy Bobofit came over with about three of her friends and dumped her lunch all over the curly-haired kid.
"oops," she said spitefully.
Then things got weird. The Jackson kid seethed in rage, and before I could comprehend what was happening, the water from the fountain reached out and grabbed Nancy, and then she was sitting in it, shrieking.
I blinked, rubbing my eyes.
Suddenly Mrs. Dodds was right there with a triumphant smile on her face. After she promised Nancy that she would get her a new t-shirt, she said to Jackson, "Now Honey—"
"I know," Jackson said. "A month erasing textbooks".
I spit out my soda. I knew Jackson had his moments, but was he really that stupid? He was gonna die!
Mrs. Dodds' smile disappeared and she said coldly, "Come with me".
"Wait!" said Curly-hair. "It was me. I pushed her".
I choked. They were both gonna die! They would have to dig each other's graves, suffer a horrible death. And haunt Yancy for all eternity.
"I don't think so Mr. Underwood," said Mrs. Dodds.
"But—"
"You—will—stay—here".
He looked at Jackson.
"It's ok man," he said. "Thanks for trying".
"Honey," Mrs. Dodds called. "Now".
I screamed as I saw her materialize—literally—at the top of the steps. Luckily I was behind a column and she couldn't see me.
Jackson turned and followed her up the steps and into the museum. Just before she closed the door, I saw her form flicker, and she turned fully into the creature I had thought I was imagining the whole school year. I screamed again.
I had to help the Jackson kid. He made me nervous, but I had to help him. I didn't know what else to do, so I bolted for Mr. Brunner.
"Mr. Brunner!" I shouted. He was sitting in his wheelchair, reading a novel.
He looked up and saw me. "Hello Mr. Granger. What brings you here? Do you have a question?"
"Mr. Brunner, the Jackson kid is in trouble!" I probably sounded crazy, but I told him what I saw. Mr. Brunner was a good listener, and when I was finished, he looked at me in confusion.
"You saw that?" he asked.
"Um…yes," I shifted.
"Interesting…" he said. "A mortal…"
"Um, hello? Student in danger!"
"Right," Brunner said. "I have to help him". And with that, Mr. Brunner wheeled up the ramp.
"Wait!" I chased after him. "You believe me?"
Mr. Brunner stopped and looked back at me. "Of course".
"But—" I said. "Everyone else thinks I'm crazy".
Mr. Brunner put a hand on my shoulder. "Andy, people may say things to you that will make you sound crazy. But you are not crazy. You are a gifted child. Remember this".
"I—I will".
"Good. Now let me help my student".
"I'm coming with you".
"No you're not. It's too dangerous". And he wheeled away. I lingered for a moment, then followed after him, but at a distance.
When I reached him, I saw a scene unfolding that turned the world upside down. Jackson apparently saw Mrs. Dodds for what she was, because he looked terrified. Mr. Brunner appeared and shouted, "What ho, Percy!" and tossed a pen.
Mrs. Dodds lunged.
Jackson caught the pen, but it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword, gleaming bronze in the light. He slashed, and the blade passed right through Mrs. Dodds like play-dough. The former teacher let out a hisss! and exploded into what looked like sand. All that was left was the smell of sulfur and an evil chill in the air, like her ghost was still there.
Mr. Brunner was gone. There was no sword. I backed away before I could be seen and ran away, and didn't stop until I was back in my seat on the bus.
When I got back to the bus, I saw a pretty woman whom I had never seen before.
I whispered to the person behind me, "Hey, who's that?"
"That's Ms. Kerr, our teacher," he said.
I gave him a confused look. "Mrs. Dodds is our teacher".
"What are you talking about, you freak?!"
I sat back down and didn't speak for the rest of the trip. Something was definitely up.
Percy was his name. Not a very menacing name, but now I was more terrified that ever of the kid. He was connected to all the mess I had had to deal with my whole life. It was how I had gotten into Yancy. And now I knew I had to stay away from him, no matter what it took.
Ok, so that's the first chapter! Not all of the chapters will be as scripted with the book as this one. Andy will get some chapters for himself. But there will be several crossovers with pjo, as Andy's path does cross with Percy's several times. This story will cover the time span of all five books of pjo. I hope you like it and continue reading!