CHAPTER 1

DEPARTURE

THE WALLS TO HIS ROOM were barren, save for the chipped blue paint on his walls. There were holes too; holes where he used to hang the framed pictures of his mom and friends, maybe a few medals from swimming competitions and a drugstore calendar that served more as a decoration rather than its actual purpose.

Percy's eyes travelled across his former room, which was now reduced to an empty space held together by four mahogany walls.

"Percy, hurry up," he heard his mom call.

Grunting a reply of "Yes, mom," his hand flew to his right pocket, where he took the small piece of gold coin given by his mom.

To be honest, Percy didn't want to leave this place, no matter how old, cranky and rotten their apartment was. He had been born, grown up and established his life in this small, cramped up space he called home. The low, creaking sound of the uneven floorboard on the second step of the stairs, the humdrum of traffic and feet slapping across the pavement were music to his ears. This was where he was familiar, and he longed for it to stay just like that.

However, because of a promise his mom made to his insensitive jerk of a father, Percy was forced to leave his home in Manhattan and to go study in a place he had never heard even before. The Olympus Institute? What the heck was that?

Flipping the coin in his palm, he stared at the gold coin again. He glared at it, as if the weight of his gaze could be carried by the coin to his father, letting him know of Percy's resentment towards him, whoever he may be.

"Yeah, right. As if you'd cost me a fortune," he said to the coin.

Feeling hopeless, Percy shook his head to himself as he grabbed the large bags with his hands and trudged down the stairs, where his mom was waiting for him at the bottom.

"Are you nervous?" Sally asked him, her eyes flitting over to him for a second.

Percy squirmed in his seat and glanced at the window. The buildings and establishments along the road were just a mash of blurry lines and blinking lights in his vision, as his mom drove the Camaro with a speed fast enough not to get them into trouble. Sally got the car from a loan she was able to pay through her job in Sweet America, which thankfully paid enough to sustain them enough food for the day. His mom hadn't allowed him to drive a car even if he had already reached 17. Most of his schoolmates drove their own cars while he settled on a skateboard to school. Percy knew it wasn't for the reason that he was always blowing up things accidentally, but more of the matter that she was just concerned for his overall safety. Although, the former could be a reason too.

"Don't be nervous, Percy," Sally said to him, reassuringly when he kept his silence.

"I'm not nervous. Why would I be?"

"Why! It's a new place, a new environment for you where you can be your best."

Scowling, Percy replied. "You're not sure about that, mom."

"Why would I be sending you there if I wasn't?" Sally asked him. She briefly let go of the steering wheel and reached across the console to grab his hand. "Your father means well, Percy, He may not be around us but he wants you to have the best."

"He should've been there for us, if he does mean it!"

His mom regarded him with a warning look. "Perseus."

Percy slinked back to his seat, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I just didn't understand why you can't join me and why do I have to stay there. I don't want to leave you, mom."

She patted his cheek twice, like she always did when he was younger. "Sweetie, I know. I don't want to leave you too. But you should understand that this is the right path for you."

"Okay," he conceded.

Sally looked at him then pinched his cheeks. "Now, don't go flashing around that frown in your face. You might want to bring that smile out now, baby."

"I'm not a baby. I'm a grown up," Percy argued.

"Yes, you are. But you'll always be my baby boy," Sally said. She then glanced ahead and smiled. "We're almost there."

Percy looked out to the window and watched the familiar gray themed buildings faded out into distance. His mom continued to drive steadily as they weaved past the main road and broke out into a narrow soiled path. He could no longer see the city edifices as they were now covered by large maple and pine trees on the side of the road.

After that, they passed by a strawberry field with fresh and delicious looking strawberries. Percy wanted to tell his mom to stop for a moment so they could pick some strawberries, but he figured that the person managing the field wouldn't be too happy. As they crossed the field, a large, metal gate greeted them from a distance and a short crippled guy was standing on the side. He was wearing simple jeans and an orange shirt, with a black Pegasus designed at the front. He didn't look like he was guarding the gate, so maybe he was a student or something.

Sally parked the car at the side and turned the engine off. She turned to Percy, who sat frozen in his seat. "Honey, we're here."

"Yeah," Percy whispered, like the thought. "I'm not scared."

"You'll be okay. Trust me," she said and leaned forward to drop a kiss on his forehead. "Come on. Let's greet your first friend."

Percy wanted to reason that no, they weren't sure he's going to be but he kept his mouth shut. He brought his backpack with him while unloading the rest of his luggage from the car. He reluctantly followed his mom and watched as the guy struggled to approach them in his crutches.

"Hi," the guy in orange greeted, his voice a bit raspy and hushed. "You must be Mrs. Jackson."

"In fact, I am," Sally replied and gestured to him. "This is my son, Perseus."

"Perseus," the guy repeated. He then extended his hand, which was rough and calloused. "I'm Grover."

Percy shook it with a smile. "Just Percy. Perseus makes me sound like a hero."

Sally choked a little and Grover let out a bleated laugh. Weird. "Sure, Percy. Do you have the drachma with you?"

He stared blankly at Grover. "What drachma?"

Grover glanced at Sally, questioningly.

"He's referring to the gold coin, Percy."

"So, it's called a drachma? That sounds funny," Percy commented as he reached for his pocket and held the coin out.

"Sure." Grover laughed, nervously. He sounded like a goat. "He's now okay, Mrs. Jackson."

"Sally. Call me Sally. And Percy, I think it's time for our goodbyes now."

Percy bit his lip and tried to squash his own tears. He felt as though he's back on his first day of school, too scared to part with his mom. But he had grown and had been taller, bigger now, yet he was still awfully the same.

He reached for her arms to hug her tight against his body. He didn't want to go, he didn't want to leave his mom but he had to. Percy promised her that he'll try to fit in and avoid accidents as much as possible. He had to keep his words.

"We'd still see each other again, right? I'll miss you, mom," he whispered to her hair.

"Of course, Percy." Sally pulled back and held his face between her hands, as her eyes stared at him with unshed tears. "Look at you. All grown up now. I knew even before that this was your fate. Remember that this was for your own good. Live it for me, Percy. I'll miss you, sweetie."

She pressed two quick pecks on his cheeks before waving a last goodbye to him and climbed down the Camaro. Percy watched her as she drove away from them, the car becoming smaller and smaller until it was only a speck of his dust in his vision.

"You have a nice mom, Percy," Grover said beside him.

"Yeah. Yeah she is." Percy turned to him. "No offense but, you aren't really cut out for these kind of things, are you?"

Grover let out an annoyed huff. "I know. Don't remind me. But I hope you had a nice welcoming to The Olympus Institute."

"I didn't. You might have to do it again," Percy said just to tease Grover.

"Bah! You're lucky I'm not Clarisse," Grover muttered to himself.

Percy was about to ask who Clarisse was when he heard a frantic cry of "Leo!" and a big blast sending him flying backwards, before everything faded into nothing.

Author's Note: Hi. So this was chapter 1, and I'm sorry if this wasn't long and still kind of bore. I'm just not used to writing long chapters. But we'll get to the real thing soon after a few chapters (in a few, to be honest). I've already made a rough outline of what would happen in the story so yay! I'm trying to write as much possible because next term is starting next week and for sure, I won't be able to update as much.

Thank you for the reviews. For some reason, I can't reply by PM (I don't know why), so I'll have to thank you here. I'm not really sure if this would be funny, because I'm not really good in writing humor.

Have a good day and please review!

As always,

ThisIsAwesomeness

p.s. this was also unedited. sorry for the mistakes!