A/N: Here's the next chapter. YAY!

*Streamers and fireworks going off in the background'

Well…. that was weird J

Something I forgot in the prolog: I DO NOT OWN THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES! And this is not betad. And just a reminder, my grammar I probably really bad.

Anyway, I wanted to thank blazenite104 for the kind review and say that you are so right, Rhea seems to be the only Titan/God who cares and having her as a mom would be pretty cool.

That said, on with the chapter.

Chapter 1.

"I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher."

"Accidentally?" Nico looked thoughtful. "I would do it on purpose."

Hermes, Apollo and Ares nodded enthusiastically. Hermes and Apollo because the hated anything to do with learning and Ares, well he just loves bloodshed and fighting.

"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood."

Thalia and Nico hummed in agreement.

"If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:"

"Noooo…. We are all going to die, Percy is giving advice. Run Thalia, save yourself." Nico screamed dramatically while hiding behind the sofa. Thala was laughing her ass of while Percy sank down in his seat with a pout.

"Close the book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life."

"That won't work, sea spawn." Athena said.

"Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways."

"Well, he's not wrong." Thalia admits. "Do all half-bloods feel like this?" Hestia asked sadly. "Not everybody, but most." Percy shrugged.

"If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened."

"Oh, now I get it." Thalia said with a snap of her fingers. "You're delusional." "Shut up, pinecone face." Percy glared at her. "Make me, kelp head!" "Come at me, bark girl." Before a real fight could break out Athena started to read.

"But if you recognize yourself in these pages – if you feel something stirring inside – stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"You didn't warn me, how could you?!" Nico started to sob on Thalia's shoulder until she punched him in the arm.

"My name is Percy Jackson."

"No," Nico started. "I'm pretty sure it's Peter Johnson." Both Thalia and Percy laughed at him while the god looked confused.

"I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I troubled kid?"

"Yes!" Thalia and Nico screamed.

"Yeah. You could say that."

There was laughter all around the throne room. "You agreed with them." Apollo laughed so hard that he fell out of his throne. "I'm okay." That just made everyone laugh harder. When they all calmed down Athena started to read again.

"I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but thing really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan – twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff."

"That sounds…" Athena started but was interrupted by Poseidon. "Boring!" He said in a loud voice. Athena glared at him but kept reading at a look from Hera.

"I know – it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were. But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading the trip, so I had hopes. Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee."

"That sounds like Chiron." Dionysus yawned. "You're actually listening, Mr. D?" Nico asked shocked. "Of course not, Nathan." Was the snapped answer.

"You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armour and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep."

"You sleep in class?!" Athena screeched. "Yes, because of the dyslexia and ADHD the teachers treats me as if I'm stupid or they ignore me completely, so it's easier to just sleep." Percy explained. "Is it really that bad?" Athena asked. The demi-gods just nodded.

"I hoped the trip would be okay. At least I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble."

"You jinxed it." Hermes shouted and was promptly hit by Artemis.

"Boy, was I wrong."

"Told you. Please, don't hit me." Hermes hid behind Apollo.

"See, bad things happened to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway."

"What were you aiming for?" Nico asked. "I wasn't." was Percy's embarrassed answer.

"And the time before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong leaver on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And before that…. Well, you get the idea."

"You are a genius." Apollo laughed. "We're going to have a meeting later so you can tell me more." Hermes told Percy.

"This field trip, I was determined to be good. All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly red-headed kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend, Grover, in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and ketchup sandwich."

"I have heard of peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches, but peanut butter-and ketchup? That sounds disgusting." Hades said getting surprised and choked looks. "What, you can't tell me you haven't heard of PB&J sandwiches." "Oh, we have." Dementer said. "I just didn't a bottom feeding, daughter stealing, low life like you would know." Nico looked pissed, but Hades just smirked. "'Bottom feeding, daughter stealing, low life.' It took you the whole year to come up with that, didn't it?" Everyone laughed at Dementers red face while Hades looked smug. Nico sent a proud look at his dad.

"Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of that, he was crippled."

"I'm so telling Grover when we get back." Thalia said with an evil glint in her eyes. "Please don't, he's going to kill me." Percy pleaded. "I know." Thalia cackled evilly. The gods just looked at them like they had a few screws lose. Which they probably do, but that's not the point.

"He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria."

"Grover." The demi-gods groaned.

"Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death-by-in-school-suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip."

"Can they do that?" Poseidon asked, worried. No one answered him.

"'I'm going to kill her,' I mumbled."

"Do it, do it, do it," Ares chanted, bouncing in his throne.

"Grover tried to calm me down. 'It's okay. I like peanut butter.' He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. 'That's it.'

Ares was bouncing so much he almost fell out of his throne.

"I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat."

"Oh, come on." Ares looked very disappointed. He started to pout like a six-year-old and sank down in his seat. "This book sucks."

"'You're already on probation,' he reminded me. 'You know who'll get blamed if anything happens.' Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into."

"That does not sound good, not good at all." Poseidon was pale and sweating while he was mumbling to himself and holding his trident in an iron grip.

"Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years."

"Longer than that, kid." Hermes said impersonating Athena. He was then attacked by owls, for some reason.

"He gathered us around a four-metre-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye."

"What sort of teacher is she?" Athena sounded annoyed. "If the sea spawn wants to learn something she should help him, not hinder him." Everyone just stared at her until she started to read again.

"Mrs. Dodds was this little maths teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker.

Ares got this manic look in his eyes that made him look a bit unhinged, not saying that he was hinged or sane in the first place.

"She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last maths teacher had a nervous breakdown. From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy bobofit and figured I was devil spawn."

"Where are the horns and the tail?" Nico asked staring intensely at Poseidon. He got weird looks from all the gods. "What, he already has the pitchfork." "That's a trident, Nico." Percy said slowly. "Trident. Pitchfork. It doesn't matter what you call it, they look the same." "You'll have to excuse Nico, I think he was dropped on his head as ha kid." Thalia explained. Athena started to read before Nico could retort so he just stuck his tongue out at Thalia.

"She would point her crocked finger at me and say, 'Now, honey,' real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. One time, after she'd made me ease answers out of old maths workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me real serious and said, 'You're absolutely right.'"

"Grover." Thalia groaned. "Way to blow your cover."

"Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, 'Will you shut up?' It came out louder than I meant it to. The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. 'Mr. Jackson,' he said, 'did you have a comment?' My face was totally red. I said, 'No, sir.' Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. 'Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?' I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. 'That's Kronos eating his kids, right?' 'Yes,' Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. 'And he did this because….' 'Well…' I racked my brain to remember. 'Kronos was the king god, and…'

"You insolent child!" Zeus thundered, and by that, I mean that there was thunder and lightning all around Olympus for dramatic effect. "Calm down, husband." Hera said, "Remember, we are not allowed to harm the demi-god." "But he…" Zeus pouted. "I know dear, but it isn't his fault that he's stupid, he was born that way." Hera said with a sneer aimed at Percy.

"God?' Mr. Brunner asked. 'Titan,' I corrected myself. 'And… he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead.'"

"Ha, told you mother loved me best." Zeus said, preening like a peacock. "It wasn't because she loved you best." Poseidon started. "More like, you were the only one who looked like a rock." Hades finished, high-fiving Poseidon.

"'And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-' 'Eeew!' said one of the girls behind me. '-and there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans,' I continued, 'and the gods won.'

"And the price for shortening the most information into just a few sentences goes to…. Percy Jackson!" Hermes said while giving Percy a stuffed purple unicorn for a price. Everybody else chuckled at the antics of the idiot known as Hermes.

"Some snickers from the group. Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, 'Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'

"Well, if you're going to be an historian or a tour guide at a museum, you would need to know." Surprisingly it was Aphrodite who said this. Apollo went over to her and put a hand on her forehead, "Well, you don't have a fever. Are you feeling alright?" Hermes was chuckling, which became full blown laughter when Aphrodite slapped Apollo across the face. He walked pack to his throne and said, "Oh, shut up." to Hermes while rubbing his sore cheek. "That was a really good answer, Aphrodite." Athena complimented and the goddess of loved beamed.

"'And why, Mr. Jackson,' Brunner said, 'to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?' "'Busted,' Grover muttered. 'Shut up,' Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got in trouble, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. I thought about his question, and shrugged. 'I don't know, sir.'

'I see.' Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. 'Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus 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?'"

"Happy note? Happy note? Is he insane?" Hades said.

"Yeah, you would know all about insanity, wouldn't you?" Dementer smirked.

"The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing eachother around and acting like doofuses."

"When don't boys act like doofuses?" Artemis sighed. Percy opened his mouth to protest, but then he thought about it, and closed his mouth with an agreeing nod to Artemis. Artemis looked shocked that a boy would admit to something like that.

"Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, 'Mr. Jackson.'

I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned towards Mr. Brunner. 'Sir?'

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go – intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

'You must learn the answer to my question,' Mr. Brunner told me.

'About the Titans?'

'About real life. And how your studies apply to it.' 'Oh.'

'What you learn from me,' he said, 'is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.' I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard."

"He only does it because he wants you to succeed." Hestia said kindly.

"I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armour and shouted: 'What ho!' and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above C- in my life. No – he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one sad look at the stele, like he'd been at the girl's funeral. He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.

"I'm hungry." Nico said quietly.

"Me to." Percy, Thalia, Hermes and Apollo agreed.

"Here." Hestia said, snapping her fingers, everybody now had a sandwich in their lap. "This will tide you over until lunch."

The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city."

Suspicious looks were thrown at Zeus, who had found a really interesting lose tread on his shirt.

"I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in."

Poseidon started to whistle a fishermans tune, while everyone where looking between him and Zeus.

"Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's bag, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school – the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere."

"Did it work?" Apollo asked, but got no answer.

"'Detention?' Grover asked.

'Nha,' I said. 'Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean – I'm not a genius.' Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me aome deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, 'Can I have your apple?'"

There was a stunned silence, then, one by one, everyone started to laugh. Well almost everyone. Hera didn't because she doesn't have a sense of humor and Artemis was shaking her head and said, "So typical, boys and their stomachs."

"I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home."

"Mama's boy." Ares taunted with a sneer.

"Yes I am." Percy said proudly. Hera smiled and thought, 'That's how family should be.'

"She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me."

"You're a sweet boy." Hera smiled at Percy, who looked freaked out, because when does Hera do nice to demi-gods.

"Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like motorized café table. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends – I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from tourists – and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.

'Oops.' She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos."

"First of all: That is not an attractive look." Aphrodite said. "Second: I think this Nancy Bobofit, has a crush on Percy. I mean, you don't act like she does without wanting attention from someone, and she basically just picks on Grover because he is Percy's friend." Percy had a horrified look on his face which then turned green and he ran out of the room. A little while later Percy came back into the room and sat down beside Nico and told Athena to read.

"I tried to stay cool. The school counsellor had told me a million times, 'Count to ten, get control of your temper.' But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears."

Oh, she's going to get it now." Nico said and laughed like a maniac. Thalia also smiled with a evil look in her eyes.

"I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, 'Percy pushed me!'

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. Some of the kids were whispering:

'Did you see –'

'- the water –'

'- like it grabbed her –'

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again."

"Awesome!" Apollo, Hermes and Nico screamed. Artemis promptly hit Hermes and Apollo, while Thalia hit Nico.

"As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I done something she'd been waiting for all semester. 'Now, honey –'

'I know,' I grumbled. 'A month erasing textbooks.'"

"Never guess your punishment. That's rule #6" Hermes said seriously.

"There's rules?" Percy looked confused.

"Yeah, there is a whole book. You can borrow it if you want." Hermes smiled.

"Eh, no thanks, I think I'm good." Percy said nervously.

"Your loss." Hermes shrugged.

"That wasn't the right thing to say.

'Come with me,' Mrs. Dodds said.

'Wait!' Grover yelped. 'It was me. I pushed her.' I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death."

"That was very brave of him." Hestia hummed.

"She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

'I don't think so, Mr. Underwood,' she said.

'But –'

'You – will – stay – here.'

Grover looked at me desperately.

'It's okay, man,' I told him. 'Thanks for trying.'

'Honey,' Mrs. Dodds barked at me. 'Now.'

Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll – kill – you – later stare."

"It's not as good as mine." Nico bragged.

"Of course not," Percy said, ruffling Nico's hair. "You are the son of the god of the Underworld and the dead after all." Nico looked so proud of being the son of Hades, that his father had to smile.

"I then turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How'd she get there so fast?

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank space behind it. The school counsellor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things."

"Sadly not, son." Poseidon said nervously.

"I wasn't so sure.

I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel. I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disapeard again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop."

"Oh yes, one with sparkly kittens on it." Percy mumbled sarcastically.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"Nothing, dear cousin." Percy smiled.

"But apparently that wasn't the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally coughed up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty. Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…."

"She wouldn't, right?" Athena asked.

"Well, that depends which gods are on it." Percy shrugged. Athena tried to ask more but Percy refused to answer.

"'You've been giving us problems, honey,' she said.

I did the safe thing. I said, 'Yes, ma'am.'

She tugged on the cuffs on her leather jacket. 'Did you really think you would get away with it?' The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me."

Poseidon was looking pale as he muttered 'He's fine, he's sitting in this room right now, he's fine,' quietly to himself.

"I said, 'I'll – I'll try harder, ma'am.'

Thunder shook the building.

'We are not fools, Percy Jackson,' Mrs. Dodds said. 'It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.' I didn't know what she was talking about. All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room."

"There's hope for you yet, young one." Hermes stated.

"Don't corrupt my son, Hermes." Poseidon snarled.

"I would never," Hermes sounded offended at the mere prospect, but then he winked at Percy.

"Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.

'Well?' she demanded.

'Ma'am, I don't…'

'Your time is up,' she hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was s shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons."

"A fury?!" Poseidon screamed at Hades.

"Don't look at me, I haven't done it yet." Hades shouted back.

"Then things got even stranger. Mr. Brunner, who'd been out front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. 'What ho, Percy!' he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air."

"What is he going to do with a pen? Write her a letter to kindly ask her not to kill him?" Hermes asked sarcastically.

"Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen any more. It was a sword – Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.

"Oh, yeah, a sword is probably better than a pen in that situation." Hermes said quietly to himself.

"Mrs. Dodds spun towards me with a murderous look in her eyes. My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword."

"Wimp…" Ares didn't get further before he was drenched in ice cold salt water, curtesy of Poseidon.

"She snarled, 'Die, honey!' And she flew straight at me. Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.

The metal blade hit her body as if she were made of water. Hiss!

Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of Sulphur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if two glowing red eyes were still watching me."

"Not bad, hero." Hesta said kindly to Percy who blushed.

"I was alone. There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something."

"Don't even think about it, Apollo!" Artemis growled.

"Think about what?" was Apollos innocent question.

"Whatever you were thinking about." Was the snarled answer.

"But, Artemis, if you tell me not to think about what I shouldn't think about and then when I ask what I shouldn't think about, you tell me to think about what I shouldn't think about, then how can I not think about what I shouldn't think about?" Apollo looked at Artemis expectantly.

"I'm confused." Nico said, scratching his head.

"You're not the only one." Percy admitted as Thalia nodded.

"Had I imagined the whole thing?

I went back outside.

It had started to rain.

Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, 'I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt.'

"Who?" Poseidon asked.

"I said, 'Who?'

"Like father, like son." Hestia smiled at Poseidon, who looked proud to be compared to his son. Or, well, technically it's the other way around, but anyway.

"'Our teacher. Duh!'

I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. He said, 'Who?' But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.

'Not funny, man,' I told him. 'This is serious.'

Thunder boomed overhead. I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as he'd never moved. I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted. 'Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson.' I handed it over. I hadn't realized I was still holding it.

'Sir,' I said, 'where's Mrs. Dodds?'

He stared at me blankly. 'Who?'

'The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher.'

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned.

'Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?'

"Chiron is a really good liar," Hermes seemed proud of that fact.

Everyone was sitting quietly until Apollo turned to Athena and asked, "Aren't you going to read?"

"That was the end of the chapter." She answered. "Who wants to read next?"

"I do." Aphrodite held out her hand for the book. When Athena gave it to her she put on a pair of pink reading glasses and cleared her throat.

"Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks Of Death."

And…. done!

At least this chapter.

I hoped you liked it. And I'm sorry if the text looks weird.

Another question, because I'm nosey and curios.

Who is your favorite characters in PJO or HoO?

Mine is Tyson, I think he is adorable.

Till next time

love Nyxi