Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians' quotes and plot line. I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.
This is my fourth FanFic although my first one got reported for MST and the second one I put up for adoption. The third one is complete.
Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.
Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.
Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.
Apologies if there are any grammar mistakes out there that make the story unclear.
SharkAttack719 out. :)
A HEADS UP: There will be a Zoe story that I'm going to post. I'm just thinking of some ideas before I put up a vote for you to choose which story you want.
Chapter 2: Goode Isn't So Good
Thalia's POV
Here we were. On Monday morning of the first week of June, Percy and I were sitting in Sally's car in front of Goode High School on East 81st.
Goode was this big brownstone building overlooking the East River. A bunch of BMWs and Lincoln Town Cars were parked out front. Staring up at the fancy stone archway, I wondered how long it would take us to get kicked out.
"Just relax," Sally said. "It's only an orientation tour. And remember, this is Paul's school. So try not to... you know."
"Destroy it?"
"Yes."
Paul Blofis, Sally's boyfriend, was standing out front, greeting future ninth graders as they came up the steps. With his salt-and-pepper hair, denim clothes, and leather jacket, he looked like some sort of TV actor, but he was just an English teacher. He'd managed to convince Goode High School to accept Percy for ninth grade, despite the fact that he'd gotten kicked out of every school he'd ever attended. With me, it was no problem because I didn't have any New York track record in schools.
Percy looked at his mom. "You haven't told him the truth about us, have you?"
She tapped her fingers nervously on the wheel. She was dressed up for a job interview- her best blue dress and high-heeled shoes.
"I thought we should wait," she admitted.
"So we don't scare him away."
"I'm sure orientation will be fine, Percy. It's only one morning."
"Great," Percy mumbled. "I can get expelled before I start the school year."
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "Are you two forgetting about me? I can use the Mist to cover it up."
"Whoops, sorry." My boyfriend started squirming, expecting me to shock him.
I rolled my eyes.
"Think positive. Tomorrow you're off to camp!" Sally exclaimed. "After orientation, you've got a date at the movies."
"That's the only good part about today," Percy said, hugging me.
"What movie are we going to watch?" I asked.
"I don't know. We'll have to see when we get there."
"Okay, but we're sitting in the back."
"Why?"
"Movie is too loud." I winked at him.
He grinned and his mom interrupted. "You guys better get inside. I'll see you two tonight."
Percy was about to open the door when he froze. I tried to see what was in his line of sight. I saw Paul Blofis greeting a girl with frizzy red hair. She wore a maroon T-shirt and ratty jeans decorated with marker drawings. When she turned, I caught a glimpse of her face. There were some freckles around her nose, like me.
"Percy?" his mom asked. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing," he stammered. "Does the school have a side entrance?"
"Down the block on the right. Why?"
"I'll see you later."
Sally started to say something, but Percy got out of the car and dragged me along, running.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
Percy was muttering, "What is she doing here? Not even myluck can be this bad."
"Yeah, right," I snorted. "Your luck is horrible."
Percy stopped for a second, realizing I heard his muttering.
"Who is sheanyway?" I asked him.
"Um... you'll see," said Percy.
Percy's POV
Sneaking into orientation didn't work out too well. Two cheerleaders in purple-and-white uniforms were standing at the side entrance, waiting to ambush freshmen.
"Hi!" They smiled, which I figured was the first and last time any cheerleaders would be that friendly to me or Thalia. One was blonde with icy blue eyes. The other was African American with dark curly hair like Medusa's (and believe me, I know what I'm talking about). Both girls had their names stitched in cursive on their uniforms, but with my dyslexia, the words looked like meaningless spaghetti.
"Welcome to Goode," the blonde girl said. "You are sogoing to love it."
But as she looked Thalia and I up and down, her expression said something more like, Eww, who are these losers?
The other girl stepped uncomfortably close to me. I studied the stitching on her uniform and made out Kelli. She smelled like roses and something else I recognized from riding lessons at camp- the scent of freshly washed horses. It was a weird smell for a cheerleader. Maybe she owned a horse or something. Anyway, she stood so close I got the feeling she was going to try to push me down the steps. "What's your name, fish?"
"Fish?"
"Freshman."
"Uh, Percy."
The girls exchanged looks.
"Oh, Percy Jackson," the blonde one said. She turned to Thalia. "What about you, finch?"
Thalia looked puzzled. "Isn't that some kind of bird?"
That sent a major Uh-ohchill down my back. Fish for the son of Poseidon and Finch, some kind of bird, for the daughter of Zeus. My hand crept instinctively toward my pocket, where I kept my lethal ballpoint pen, Riptide.
"Sorry, I meant freshman."
I almost had Riptide out. Thalia said, "Name's Thalia."
"Thalia Grace, right?"
Thalia's eyes widened. I pulled Riptide out of my pocket slowly.
Then another voice came from inside the building. "Percy? Thalia?" It was Paul Blofis, somewhere down the hallway. I'd never been so glad to hear his voice.
The cheerleaders backed off. I was so anxious to get past them I accidentally kneed Kelli in the thigh.
Clang.
Her leg made a hollow, metallic sound, like I'd just hit a flagpole.
"Ow," she muttered. "Watch it, fish."
I glanced down, but her leg looked like a regular old leg. I was too freaked out to ask questions. I dashed into the hall, pulling Thalia behind me and the cheerleaders laughing behind me.
"There you are!" Paul told us. "Welcome to Goode!"
"Hey, Paul- uh Mr. Blofis." I glanced back, but the weird cheerleaders had disappeared.
"Percy, you look like you've seen a ghost. Same goes to you, Thalia."
"Yeah, uh-" I started.
Paul clapped me on the back. "Listen, I know you're nervous, but don't worry. We get a lot of kids here with ADHD and dyslexia. The teachers know how to help."
I almost wanted to laugh. If only ADHD and dyslexia were my biggest worries. I mean, I knew Paul was trying to help, but if I told him the truth about me, he'd either think I was crazy or he'd run away screaming. Those cheerleaders, for instance. I had a bad feeling about them…
Then I looked down the hall, and I remembered I had another problem. The redheaded girl I'd seen on the front steps was just coming in the main entrance.
Don't notice me, I prayed.
She noticed me. Her eyes widened.
"Where's the orientation?" I asked Paul.
"The gym. That way. But-"
"Bye."
"Percy?" he called, but I was already running, dragging Thalia behind me.
I thought I'd lost her.
A bunch of kids were heading for the gym, and soon I was just one of three hundred fourteen-year-olds all crammed into the bleachers. A marching band played an out-of-tune fight song that sounded like somebody hitting a bag of cats with a metal baseball bat. Older kids, probably student council members, stood up front modeling the Goode school uniform and looking all, Hey, we're cool. Teachers milled around, smiling and shaking hands with students. The walls of the gym were plastered with big purple-and-white banners that said WELCOME FUTURE FRESHMEN, GOODE IS GOOD, WE'RE ALL FAMILY, and a bunch of other happy slogans that pretty much made me want to throw up.
None of the other freshmen looked thrilled to be here, either. I mean, coming to orientation in June, when school doesn't even start until September, is not cool. But at Goode, "We prepare to excel early!" At least that's what the brochure said.
The marching band stopped playing. A guy in a pinstripe suit came to the microphone and started talking, but the sound echoed around the gym so I had no idea what he was saying. He might've been gargling.
"Why do you keep yanking me like that?" Thalia asked me, rubbing her shoulder.
"Because-" I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"What are you doing here?" a voice said beside me.
It was her: my redheaded nightmare.
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," I said.
Her jaw dropped like she couldn't believe I had the nerve to remember her name. "And you're Percy somebody. I didn't get your full name last December when you tried to killme."
"Kill her?" Thalia asked me.
"Look, I wasn't- I didn't... I was running away from those skeletons! But, what are youdoing here?" I asked Rachel.
"Same as you and her, I guess. Orientation.
"You live in New York?"
"What, you thought I lived at the Hoover Dam?"
Thalia whispered into my ear, "So this is the clear-sighted girl?"
I nodded.
"And you met and the Hoover Dam?"
I nodded again. It had never occurred to me. Whenever I thought about her (and I'm not saying I thought about her, mainly because I was too busy hanging outwith Thalia), I always figured she lived in the Hoover Dam area, since that's where I'd met her. We'd spent maybe ten minutes together, during which time I'd accidentally swung a sword at her, she'd saved my life, and I'd run away chased by a band of supernatural killing machines. You know, your typical chance meeting.
Some guy behind us whispered, "Hey, shut up. The cheerleaders are talking!"
"Hi, guys!" a girl bubbled into the microphone. It was the blonde I'd seen at the entrance. "My name is Tammi, and this is like, Kelli." Kelli did a cartwheel.
Next to me, Rachel yelped like someone had stuck her with a pin. A few kids looked over and snickered, but Rachel just stared at the cheerleaders in horror. Tammi didn't seem to notice the outburst. She started talking about all the great ways we could get involved during our freshman year.
"Run," Rachel told me. "Now."
"Why?"
Rachel didn't explain. She pushed her way to the edge of the bleachers, ignoring the frowning teachers and grumbling kids she was stepping on.
I hesitated. Tammi was explaining how we were about to break into small groups and tour the school. Kelli caught my eye and gave me an amused smile, like she was waiting to see what I'd do. It would look bad if I left right now. Paul Blofis was down there with the rest of the teachers. He'd wonder what was wrong.
Then I thought about Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and the special ability she'd shown last winter at Hoover Dam. She'd been able to see a group of security guards who weren't guards at all, who weren't even human.
"Come," I told Thalia.
She didn't hesitate since she knew all about Rachel's clear-sightedness. My heart pounding, I got up and followed Rachel out of the gym, Thalia right behind me, once again.
We found Rachel in the band room. She was hiding behind a bass drum in the percussion section.
"Get over here!" she said. "Keep your head down!"
I felt pretty silly hiding behind a bunch of bongos, but I crouched down beside her.
"Did they follow you guys?" Rachel asked.
"You mean the cheerleaders?"
She nodded nervously.
"I don't think so," I said. "What are they? What did you see?"
Her green eyes were bright with fear. She had a sprinkle of freckles on her face that reminded me of Thalia, except the freckles was pretty much the only thing they seemed to have in common. Her maroon T-shirt read HARVARD ART DEPT. "You... you wouldn't believe me."
"Oh, yeah, I would," I promised. "I know you can see through the Mist."
Thalia elbowed my gut as Rachel asked, "The what?"
"The Mist. It's... well, it's like this veil that hides the way things really are. Some mortals are born with the ability to see through it. Like you."
Thalia elbowed me again and hissed, "What are you doing?"
I looked at her confused. Rachel was studying me carefully. "You did that at Hoover Dam. You called me a mortal. Like you're not."
I felt like punching a bongo. What was I thinking? Thalia was trying to warn me, but I never listen. I could never explain. I shouldn't even try. But I did anyway.
"Tell me," Rachel begged. "You know what it means. All these horrible things I see?"
"Look, this is going to sound weird. Do you know anything about Greek myths?"
Thalia sighed, sat down and started banging her head on the bongo.
"Like... the Minotaur and the Hydra?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah, just try not to say those names when I'm around, okay? Or whenever Thalia's around either."
"We never got introduced," Rachel said to Thalia. Rachel stuck her hand out. "I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare."
Thalia shook it meekly, still banging her head on the bongo. "Thalia Grace."
Rachel turned to me, "Friend?"
"Girlfriend," I corrected.
Rachel looked at me. Then at Thalia. Then at me. "What's wrong with her right now?"
"Well... I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but all of those monsters and Greek gods... they're real."
"I knew it!"
I would've been more comfortable if she'd called me a liar, but Rachel looked like I'd just confirmed her worst suspicion. Thalia would've been more comfortable if I didn't say anything at all, but Rachel deserved to know. She did save my life last December.
"You don't know how hard it's been," she said. "For years I thought I was going crazy. I couldn't tell anybody. I couldn't-" Her eyes narrowed. "Wait. Who are you? I mean really?"
"I'm not a monster."
"Well, I know that. I could seeif you were. You look like...you. But you're not human, are you?"
I swallowed. Even though I'd had three years to get used to who I was, I'd never talked about it with a regular mortal before, except for my mom, but she already knew. I don't know why, but I took the plunge.
"We're half-bloods," I said pointing to Thalia. "We're half human."
"And half what?"
Thalia said quietly to us. "Uh-oh. We've got company."
Just then, Tammi and Kelli stepped into the band room. The doors slammed shut behind them.
"There you are, Percy Jackson," Tammi said. "Thalia Grace as well. It's time for your orientation."
Thalia's POV
"They're horrible!" Rachel gasped.
Tammi and Kelli were still wearing their purple-and-white cheerleader costumes, holding pom-poms from the rally.
"What do they really look like?" Percy asked, but Rachel was too stunned to answer.
"Oh, forget her." Tammi smiled at Percy and started walking toward us. Kelli stayed by the doors, blocking our exit.
They'd trapped us. I knew we'd have to fight our way out, but Tammi kept distracting Percy. I opened my mace canister and my spear appeared. I swiped at Tammi and she jumped away, sneering. That knocked Percy out of his trance. He uncapped Riptide and a three-foot-long bronze sword grew in his hands.
"They're here to bite you Percy. I don't know why they want to kill me, but they're afraid of you," I told Percy.
"I'll take Kelli, you get Tammi," he said.
I nodded and tapped my bracelet. It spiraled out into Aegis and I charged Tammi. Tammi dodged and swiped, but I could tell she was just a trainee.
Then she began to change. The color drained out of her face and arms. Her skin turned as white as chalk, her eyes completely red. Her teeth grew into fangs.
"A vampire!" Percy stammered. Then he looked at her legs. Below the cheerleader skirt, her left leg was brown and shaggy with a donkey's hoof. Her right leg was shaped like a human leg, but it was made of bronze. "Uhh, a vampire with-"
"Don't mention the legs!" Tammi snapped. "It's rude to make fun!"
"A vampire, you say?" Kelli laughed. "That silly legend was based on us, you fool. We are empousai, servants of Hecate."
While Kelli told us they were empousai, I forgot about Tammi and she had inched her way over to Percy. She was moving toward him, baring her fangs. Percy was paralyzed and didn't move. I charged my spear and shot electricity at her. She tried to dodge, but it hit her and she exploded into dust all over the room.
Rachel coughed. She looked like she'd been sprayed with golden glitter. "Gross!"
"Monsters do that," I said. "Sorry."
"You killed my trainee!" Kelli yelled. "You need a lesson in school spirit, half-bloods!"
The she too began to change. Her wiry hair turned into flickering flames. Her eyes turned red. She grew fangs. She loped toward us, her brass foot and hoof clopping unevenly on the band-room floor.
"I am a senior empousa," she growled. "No hero has bested me in a thousand years."
"Yeah?" Percy said. "Then you're overdue!"
Kelli was a lot faster than Tammi. She dodged Percy's first strike and rolled into the brass section, knocking over a row of trombones with a mighty crash. Rachel scrambled out of the way. Percy and I put ourselves between her and the empousa. Kelli circled us, her eyes going from Percy and me to our weapons.
"Such pretty weapons. I see you have Medusa over there," she said. "What a shame it stands between us."
Her form shimmered- sometimes a demon, sometimes a pretty cheerleader. I didn't need to focus, but Percy did.
"Poor dear." Kelli chuckled. "You don't even know what's happening, do you? Soon, your pretty little camp in flames, your friends made slaves to the Lord of Time, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. It would be merciful to end your life now, before you have to see that."
From down the hall, I heard voices. A tour group was approaching. A man was saying something about locker combinations. I sounded a lot like Paul.
I empousa's eyes lit up. "Excellent! We're about to have company!"
She picked up a tube and threw it at us. We ducked. The tuba sailed over our heads and crashed through the window.
The voices in the hall died down.
"Percy!" Kelli shouted, pretending to be scared, "why did you throw that?"
"We have to get out of here!" I said to Percy and Rachel.
Kelli picked up a music stand and swiped a row of clarinets and flutes. Chairs and musical instruments crashed to the floor. "Thalia! What are you doing?"
"Stop it!" Percy and I said.
People were tromping down the hall now, coming in our direction.
"Time to greet our visitors!" Kelli bared her fangs and ran for the doors. I got prepared to use the Mist. I'm lucky Chiron showed it to me otherwise we'd be in deep shit. Like I expected, Percy fell for the trick. He charged at her with Riptide.
"Percy, don't!" Rachel shouted. But he hadn't realized what Kelli was up to until it was too late.
Kelli flung open the doors. Paul Blofis and a bunch of freshmen stepped back in shock. Percy raised his sword.
At the last second, the empousaturned toward him like a cowering victim. "Oh no, please!" she cried. Percy couldn't stop his blade. It was already in motion.
Just before the celestial bronze hit her, Kelli exploded into flames like a Molotov cocktail. Waves of fire splashed over everything. I yanked Percy back as flames engulfed the doorway.
"Percy? Thalia?" Paul looked completely stunned, staring at me from across the fire. "What have you done?"
Kids screamed and ran down the hall. The fire alarm wailed. Ceiling sprinklers hissed to life. I stepped forward and snapped my fingers.
"Paul Blofis, Percy, Rachel and I did not cause this fire. Kelli, a cheerleader did and she jumped through the window," I said.
Paul woke up from his temporary trance. "Percy! Thalia! Are you okay? I'll get the paramedics!"
"No, Paul!" Percy shouted. "We're going to the summer camp now. It's safe there. Mom has lots of friends there. We'll be safe!"
"All right!"
We turned and sprinted for the broken band room window.
LINEBREAK
We burst out of the alley onto East 81st. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining brightly in the summer sky. To be honest, ever since I started dating Percy, I like being outside more than I did previously.
Percy and I stopped right out of the alley. Rachel came charging out of the alley, yelling, "Percy! Thalia, wait up!"
We turned around to Rachel.
"You two are in so much trouble," she said. "And you still owe me an explanation! I mean, shooting electricity from a spear!"
Police sirens wailed on FDR Drive.
"I want to know more about half-bloods," Rachel insisted. "And monsters. And this stuff about the gods." She grabbed Percy's arm, whipped out a permanent marker, and wrote a phone number on my hand. "You two are always together. One of you is going to call me and explain, okay? You owe me that. Now get going."
"But-"
"I'll tell them the whole story about it being Kelli's fault." She turned to me. "And you also better explain that finger-snap thing."
She ran back toward the school, leaving Percy and me in the street.
"Looks like we gotta go to camp," he said.
"Looks like it," I sighed. "I was looking forward to the movie."
"Yeah."
"For the first time, you're right."
"Hey! That's mean!"
I ignored that comment. "Rachel can be annoying sometimes."
We kept walking to York Avenue. Percy looked back one more time and Goode High School. I turned around as well and saw smoke billowing up from Goode. In the dark column of ashes, I thought I could almost see a face-a she-demon with red eyes, laughing at me.
Your pretty little camp in flames, Kelli had said. Your friends made slaves to the Lord of Time.
Percy turned toward me with a pained expression. It must be hard to have a fatal flaw of personal loyalty. "We have to get to Camp Half-Blood. Now."
Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.
SharkAttack719 out. :)
Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.
Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.
A HEADS UP: There will be a Zoe story that I'm going to post. I'm just thinking of some ideas before I put up a vote for you to choose which story you want.