OH SPHINX!

(I don't own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan does, but I do own Vicki, Izzy, and Cody Daniels [who might possibly end up being a nice guy... if I feel like it])

Main part of story set a year after TLO but TLH and SoN never happened

Vicki's POV

Today couldn't get any worse! First off I got a tardy slip for being late to Maths this morning, I was teased by the girls in Gym class and for the most part of English I had a thumping headache that wouldn't go away! Speaking of headaches, Cody hadn't made another appearance yet today, maybe he had finally stopped wanting to annoy me! But I have a feeling that he was planning something, and that made me weary.

I spent my lunch time in the library, checking out a book on Mythology for an English assignment that was due for after the weekend. I didn't bother going to my locker until before Art, the last lesson of the day, as I didn't need anything but the sketch pad that I kept at school. I smiled at people as I walked down the corridors from Chemistry towards my locker, but they didn't seem to notice me, which was fine; better that than being noticed and therefore bullied. As I reached my locker I saw a flash of golden hair duck behind the corner, a bit odd but I didn't really think anything of it.

I opened my locker, thinking that I would just grab my sketch pad and go when four or five litres worth of water balloons were propelled at me. I gasped and swiped my wet hair out of my face as the whole corridor burst into laughter. My eyes stung with tears as I quietly grabbed my art pad and quickly walked down the corridor, trying not to let anyone see me cry. Unfortunately, because I wasn't looking where I was going, I walked straight into the person that I hoped I wouldn't see.

Cody Daniels smirked down at me and I realised that he had rigged the balloons to be thrown at me. I tried to glare up at him but couldn't stop the rebellious few tears that trickled down my cheeks or hide the hurt that was in my eyes. Hoping that he thought my tears were just water from the balloons, I quickly scooted around him to my art classroom, shivering as I walked away to the soundtrack of laughter.

.oOo.

Cody's POV

I hadn't really seen Victoria today apart from this morning so I started planning something to get her attention. An idea formed in my mind over lunch and with the help of my mate Oscar we rigged Victoria's locker to go off as soon as she opened it, which was before last lesson.

"Quick! She's coming!" Jamie, my friend who was keeping watch, hissed as I forced the door to her locker shut before sprinting around the corner. I glanced back and saw her smiling as she walked down the corridor; no one seemed to be paying her any attention. Well not for long. She glanced in my direction so I quickly whipped my head back; she must not have been suspicious as the next time I checked around the corner she was just opening her locker.

The moment the door opened; ten or twenty water balloons were flung at her by the catapult that the Hermes and Hephaestus cabins had invented. The Flinger500, a pranking utensil courtesy of Travis and Conner Stoll. In a matter of seconds, Victoria was drenched. Laughter filled the halls as she swept her wet hair out of her face and took out a sketch pad before turning and heading in my direction. I stood in her path slightly so that she would walk into me and therefore look up; I smirked as I looked down at her.

But the moment she looked up at me I realised my mistake. She was crying! She tried to glare at me but tears streaked down her cheeks and her eyes were full of hurt. She quietly stepped aside and headed for her next class, shivering as she went. Gods I was such an IDIOT! I didn't think that it would upset her like that; I thought that she would just think it was a joke and laugh along with everyone else before getting angry and yelling at me. I didn't expect her to cry!

"Good job man!" my friends laughed, oblivious to my turmoil, "We got her GOOD!" the bell rang for class to start and the hallways quickly emptied, the other students congratulating me on pranking 'the Oddball'. Was that really what people thought of her? And I was unintentionally playing along with them! Gods, no wonder she hated me! She must think that I'm another one of the bullies, taunting her for a laugh.

All through Physics I thought about how much of an idiot I had been and decided to catch her after school and apologise for being such a prick. I waited anxiously for the end of school bell to ring, which coupled with my ADHD, meant that it felt like forever before I finally heard the long awaited 'ding-a-ling-a-ling!'

I stuffed my books into my bag and scrambled out of the room, hoping to catch her on her way out. I scanned the corridors for her long dark hair before I caught a glimpse of her heading out of the doors. I pushed my way through the crowds until I was outside and saw that she was halfway down the pavement.

"Victoria!" I yelled in an attempt to get her attention, earning a few odd looks from the people around me but at the moment I didn't care. She twisted at the sound of her name but when she saw it was me she turned and ran, leaving me to try and follow. Man, she was fast! Before I was even outside the gates she was around the corner and out of sight. I mentally kicked myself for being such a jerk and resigned myself to finding her on Monday. For now I think that I'll head over to the Carnival, I really needed some sugar therapy.

.oOo.

Vicki's POV

OMG I was so embarrassed! I kept to myself in art, but I still received several smirks and I knew that everyone was laughing about how I got soaked. I bet Cody was laughing it up right this second! Thankfully I dried out pretty quickly and over the course of the year I had gotten very good at ignoring people, so I focused on my work and said nothing. I looked forward to the moment when the bell would ring to signal the end of school for another week, I silently counted the minutes in my head; three, two, one...

Ding-a-ling-a-ling! Yes! I threw my sketch pad into my backpack and was out the door before everyone else. I didn't go back to my locker again, I had everything I needed anyway and I wasn't going to risk another soaking, and rushed out of the door to freedom. But the Fates must hate me today as just as I was out the gates I heard my name being yelled from the school.

"Victoria!" I glanced around to see who it was and saw to my dismay that Cody Daniels was stood at the top of the steps, looking straight at me. Panicking I took off at a run towards Izzy's school, knowing that I would lose him along the way somewhere and hoping that he wouldn't even try to follow.

Fortunately I got to Izzy's school without any followers and with just a few minutes to spare. A bell rang and the kids came streaming out of the school and into the school yard, searching for their parents. I felt a jolt of sadness and grief but pushed it down; there was no reason to think of that right now.

"Vicki!" I smiled at the sound of my sister's voice and turned to see the energetic five year old barrelling towards me, her black hair flying out behind her,

"Hey Fizzy!" I laughed as she slammed into me, hugging her as she giggled excitedly,

"I've been weally, weally good today!" she shouted as I spun her around,

"Really?" I asked, grinning, "Well you know what that means!"

"Carnival! Carnival!" she yelled as she took my hand and dragged me towards Central Park. Ignoring the curious glances, I laughed along with her as we ran towards the loud flashing lights and the sweet and salty smells that were wafting from the carnival.

I really loved the Carnival, with its bright colours and fast rides, silly games and junk food. It was impossible not to be happy when you're at the Carnival; I instantly forgot my problems and had fun with my sister. Almost as soon as we got there Izzy dragged me towards the big wheel, it being her favourite ride in the world. After several rides I bought us both an ice-cream and we wandered around, our hands entwined. Suddenly something caught Izzy's eye;

"Look! It's a seal! It's sooooo cute! Can we try and win one? Can we, can we, can we?" she had spotted one of those games that you throw balls into holes that had numbers next to them and the higher the score you get the bigger the prize you win. All around it were huge sea themed toys; fish, octopi, crabs, seals, dolphins and whales as well as sharks and jellyfish, all in really bright colours. It would appear that my darling sister had her heart set on a large electric blue seal.

"Sure Fizz Bomb!" I smiled as she dragged me to the stall, "How much is it?" I asked the burly man that stood behind the counter,

"Fifty cents for three," he grunted, wow that was cheap, I handed over enough money for six throws and he handed us both three balls each. Izzy decided to throw first and got a total score of sixty, winning her a small purple octopus with a moustache and a red bowtie. I went next, I managed to get one ten and a fifty; I lined up for my last toss and crossed my fingers. Yes! One hundred! With a total score of one hundred and sixty, I received a giant blue seal with a navy blue top hat that was about the same size of a suitcase.

"Thank you!" I said to the stall holder who just grunted. I turned to my slightly sulking sister, "I have an idea, how about we swop!" I exclaimed and she nodded eagerly and laughed as she held onto her new toy excitedly, saying that she was calling it 'Benji'. I put my octopus (I think I'll call him Senor Squidly) into my backpack next to Ollivander the Seahorse and took Izzy's slightly sticky hand, glad that my originally bad day was finally lightening up.

But this serenity was not to last.

All of a sudden an enormous bellow shook the ground and a huge... thing came crashed towards us. Izzy screamed as we got a closer look at it; it was a Sphinx, the body of a lion with the head of a man and its glowing red eyes were looking right at us. I grabbed Izzy (who was still clutching Benji the seal) in my arms and ran as fast as I could, hoping that this was all just a dream.

"DEMIGODS!" the beast roared, destroying everything in its path. For some reason people were yelling weird things like, 'Bull dozer!' and 'OMG is that a tank?' I wanted to yell at them and say that it was obviously a Sphinx but before I could, the monster caught my backpack in its paws and lifted me into the air. I dropped Izzy before I was too far from the ground;

"RUN IZZY!" I yelled, struggling in the creature's vicelike grip. Suddenly it gave a grunt and threw me across the park where I crashed into a tree, blood dripping down my back from where the demon's claws had caught my skin and my head feeling like it was about to split open. I felt Izzy's sobs on my chest as she hugged me and heard the aggravated howls of the beast before falling into darkness.

Ooooo! Dramatic tention... i think (giggle) if you like it review it! (i think i might use that as a catch phrase now... lol) oh and Yeh i felt like updating early :P HolySnail OUT!