As a warning, I am extremely tired, so please endure this A/N with me. The sun has been up for a while now, but I wanted to fix the mistakes that Cera pointed out for me, so that I could post it. Just a heads up on what is going on with me. First, it's going to be a few days before I update Children. I'm trying to figure out the best way to censor the sexual act that occurs in that chapter. That is not enjoyable for me, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to rewrite it, while still getting it across as to what is happening.

Second, it may be a little bit before I update this again. I'm not tired or lost, it's just that I need to give some attention to Shadows and try to finish out Genesis as fast as possible. Once Genesis is finished, I can put more focus on this. I'm also trying to spare some time on character development for my original fic that I want to write, as well as the ones for the book series I want to write. And then there's the fic I want to have almost complete by the time Children gets finished. I haven't had much time to work on that. So I'm just trying to space things out and take time to write for each of these things, trying to end some so that I can have more time. Shadows is a little past it's halfway mark, so it shouldn't be much longer either. On a final note, I can't spell when I'm delusional. I had to retype so much while writing these two paragraphs.

Warning: religious bashing? Language. That's all that I can think of this early in the morning.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3

Typically, when a container filled with cookies gets dropped in front of him first thing in the morning, Percy would not think twice about it being anything other than a good sign. However, when he glanced up from the table he sat in the cafeteria to find Nico looking down at him with an emotionless stare, he had to reconsider things.

Percy's green eyes blinked as he glanced between the skinny boy and the fresh cookies. "Um, thank you?" He tilted his head to the side, peeling back the lid.

Luke, who stood behind Nico, chuckled and elbowed Nico in the back. Nico huffed and rolled his eyes. "I was told to give those to you," the brown-eyed boy mumbled.

Percy's brow furrowed as he stared at Nico in confusion. Luke wrapped an arm around Nico and pulled the boy against his chest. "Nico's grandmother is Demeter."

"Step-grandmother," Nico mumbled, crossing his arms and looking away.

Luke shrugged. "Either way, she wouldn't let Nico leave until he promised to hand those to you." He smirked. "And made him promise to be polite."

Percy noticed Nico's eye twitch. Luke made a small squeaking noise before pursing his lip. Percy arched a brow, shifting his gaze. Nico had sunk his nails into the arm Luke had put around him. The green-eyed boy quickly looked down and opened the container, pulling out a cookie and stuffing it into his mouth.

As soon as the cookie hit his mouth, his taste buds exploded. "Oh wow, these are delicious." He chewed it more in his mouth. "These are really good."

Luke smiled at him. "Demeter does a lot of cooking for our families, especially for when we all get together." The blond threaded his fingers into Nico's hair, pushing the boy's head slightly to the side. Nico rolled his eyes, but did not seem all that bothered by the action. Was it just Percy, or did Nico seem a lot less irritable when Luke was around?

Percy nodded, still chewing on his cookie. "So, you guys have known each other for a long time?"

Nico did not seem amused, but Luke was not about to let him say anything to ruin the conversation. As soon as the pale boy opened his mouth, the blond slapped a hand over it. "Our whole lives. Nico and I were practically raised together." He tilted Nico's head back to smile down at the boy, who crossed his arms and glared. "I guess that's why we're so close."

Nico jerked away from Luke. "This is pointless," he hissed. "He isn't any different."

"And I said he was." Luke sighed as Nico walked off, joining Thalia at a nearby table. The blond shook his head as he stared at the boy. "Sorry about him. I've tried talking to him, but all the people around here have left a bit of damage on him." Luke pulled out a chair across from Percy and sat down. "I told him you aren't one of those Bible carrying bigots, but he's not really convinced."

Percy nodded, pushing the cookie container to the side. "That's okay, I guess I can't blame him. Still, if it's all right with you guys, I wouldn't mind hanging sometime, or something." The raven-haired boy rubbed the back of his neck. "It kind of gets boring when I'm just sitting at my apartment all day."

"Um, yeah." Luke chuckled and nodded. "Yeah! We can definitely hang out sometime." He drummed his hands once before leaning back in his chair. "Wow, I never thought I'd get an offer to spend time with someone outside the-err, outside of our families." The blond pulled out a small piece of paper that looked like a receipt and scribbled something down. "There's my number, call my anytime you want."

Percy slid the paper over to himself and glanced at the number on it before nodding. "Thanks. I, um, hope I can convince the rest of you that I'm not a bigot." The boy chuckled. "Hell, I'm not even a Christian. But, yeah, I think this town is being dumb." Luke stood up and smirked. Percy slipped the paper into his pocket as the bell rang. "I guess I'll see you later."

There was a gleam in Luke's eye as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "Oh, you definitely will."

As the students made their way to exit the cafeteria, Luke disappeared into the crowd. Percy stared down at the cookies Demeter had made for him. If he was to get in with these kids, he figured Luke was the best place to start. Something about Luke made him feel like he was sort of a leader figure.

Letting out a sigh, Percy stood and gathered his backpack and the container. Falling into the crowd, Percy made his way towards the main building. Once inside, he stopped before going up the stairs. Something had caught his eye.

Standing in the main office was Mrs. Dodds, who looked very animated as she pointed and ranted at a very tall man with a scruffy beard. His brown hair almost reached his shoulders. The bearded man was dressed up, wearing khaki pants and short sleeved button-up shirt. A coffee mug rested in his hand.

The man shook his head and opened the door, gesturing for Mrs. Dodds to leave. The woman huffed and stormed out, stopping on the other side. "I'm starting to wonder if they've gotten to you, Chiron." A lot of the students stopped to watch. "These children need to know who they're going to school with."

"Believe me, Mrs. Dodds, I'm sure they are already quite familiar with all the rumors. But, as the principal, I cannot allow for outright persecution to happen at my school." He planted his feet in the doorway and slipped the hand he wasn't using to hold the coffee into his pocket. "Besides, the entire town is already aware of the pastor's death."

"And you're not going to speak about it?" The woman screeched.

Chiron let out a sigh. "I allowed for a prayer circle to go on yesterday morning. I felt that would suffice."

Mrs. Dodds narrowed her eyes and wagged her finger in Chiron's face. "Jesus is coming again, Mr. Brunner. I do hope you're on the right side when it happens." She adjusted her purse on her shoulder. "The town is already concerned, you not attending church and all. It would be unfortunate if the school board were to think you weren't...right for the job anymore."

The man did not seem bothered by her words. He arched an eyebrow at her. "My dear, Mrs. Dodds, the only unfortunate thing going on at this school is your poor choice in hats."

Percy bit back a laugh. And, judging by the sound of it, several other students found it amusing, as Percy heard chuckles. Mrs. Dodds's mouth was agape, her hand over her chest. "Well I never!" Turning with a huff, the woman made her way to the exit, students jumping out of her way. "I will not rest, Chiron! I will not rest until this school is safe from those devil worshipers!"

The raven-haired boy shook his head with a laugh as he turned around to head to class, only to bump into someone. The smell of nutmeg instantly filled his nose. Drew stood in front of him, looking like someone just spilled coffee all over her. "Excuse you."

Percy shook his head, finding himself at a loss for words. "I, um-hi."

The Asian girl rolled her eyes and inspected her nails. "It would do you well to learn your place around here," she said with a smirk. She quickly glanced him over before snapping her fingers and moving past him. Percy's mouth hung open as he turned to watch her walk away.

A slender boy with followed after her, carrying a lot of books in his hands. His brown hair was cut short and styled to the side, kept from his emerald green eyes. He watched Percy closely as he walked by, mouthing an apology.

Percy blinked a few times and rubbed his head. It felt...foggy, like he could not think straight, or was just waking up. He stared back at the brunet, who smiled and winked at him before turning a corner. Percy stood there like a statue, letting people walk around him. His brow furrowed as he studied the last spot he had seen Drew before she had vanished. That had been odd.


Percy coughed several times, wiping the powder from in front of his face as the explosion of flour cleared. He turned to give Nico an apologetic look, finding the boy in a similar flour covered state. Nico glared at him, attempting to wipe off his shirt.

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

Percy pursed his lips and rubbed the back of his neck. "Not really." He cringed when Nico shook the flour from his hair. "I'm really sorry."

Ms. Stheno came to stand in front of them, looking appalled. "In all my years of teaching this class, no one has managed to make this big of a mess." Even though it had been clearly Percy's fault, she turned to give Nico a look. Nico just shook his head and went back to trying to clean himself up. "I expect you both to stay after and clean this up."

"Yes, ma'am," Nico mumbled. Percy just nodded. "Just great."

Percy began clearing their workstation so it could be wiped clean. "I really am sorry."

"Were you even listening?" Nico glared at him.

Truthfully? Percy had honestly not been paying attention. His mind was still a little foggy from his encounter with Drew, and that was not even counting his partner. Nico had been a bit of a distraction for him. While he had not been wearing it when Percy had seen him earlier, Nico had entered the classroom with yet another jacket, this time an aviator jacket. How the boy did not suffocate with all these jackets was beyond Percy. Percy was also thankful that the boy had taken it off before they had started baking.

But it had been once the boy had taken his seat that Percy had really taken notice. Nico was shaking today. The dark bags under his eyes very pronounced today, his eyes barely hanging open. The boy had obviously gotten little sleep, if any at all. And, even when they were tasked with baking a small cake, Nico's hands shook as he sat out the ingredients.

But whenever Percy tried to help, Nico had quickly shut him down. Percy was going to guess that Nico had not been paying much attention while letting Percy deal with the flour. Ms. Stheno huffed from her desk.

"All right class, I'll be right back. It looks like I need to get a mop and a rag," the woman announced. With a dark look in Nico's direction, she left the room.

Before Percy could even process what was happening, Nico had yanked off his T-shirt and tossed it onto his chair. A black metallic chain caught Percy's attention. It swung from Nico's neck before the boy grabbed it to still the necklace. Percy did a quick glance over Nico's body, licking his lips as he took in the slender boy's torso.

He was so thin, a hint of his ribs was even showing. There were no tan lines, not that Percy had really expected any. No hair lay upon the boy's soft looking skin. Quickly running his fingers through his hair to get out any remaining flour, Nico pulled a fresh shirt from his backpack.

"Whoa," Percy breathed out as the necklace spun to face him.

A bright red stone sat in its center, the name 'di Angelo' scrawled out inside it. A similar skull to the one that had been on Nico's ring sat above the name, this one looking slightly more darker. Four talons sat around the red stone, holding it in place.

"Keep staring at me and you're going to get yourself labeled as gay." Percy blinked and looked up to meet Nico's eyes, his cheeks now pink. Nico studied him with a blank expression as he slipped the clean shirt over his head, hiding the necklace from Percy's prying gaze. "I do hope you brought a change of clothes."

Percy kind of wanted to kick himself. "Not really," he mumbled.

"Sucks for you then."

During the remainder of their class, Percy and Nico worked hard to clean up their station, and their work paid off as the bell rang and their area was decently cleaned. Ms. Stheno tapped a finger to her lips as she inspected the station. "I suppose it'll do."

Percy breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to smile at Nico, but the boy was already at the door. The brown-eyed boy turned to glance at Percy briefly before disappearing down the hall. The tall boy let out a groan as he fell back into his seat. He needed to get to his next class, but he also needed to clean himself up. The only class he would need a change of clothes for was his last class, and since it was the last class of the day, he felt it was not necessary for him to worry about showering after baseball tryouts were over. But, given that he was hoping to end up on the team, and that he was pretty much slaughtering any chance of a social standing with the majority of this school, Percy was beginning to think he needed to bring spare clothes from now on.

Grabbing his backpack, Percy stepped into the hall and headed for the bathroom. At the very least, he could try taking a wet paper towel to his shirt. He stepped off to the side to enter the bathroom, but stopped before turning the small corner that was inside.

"I'm trying, really I am," came a familiar voice. Percy just could not quite place it, though. "I can't tell my father. I mean, he was already suspicious, that's why I got put in this situation."

A sigh was let out from the other side of the wall. "I'm not asking you to tell him." Percy's brow furrowed, recognizing Nico's voice. "I just-stop!" Percy slid along the wall at the sound of something being smacked. Peering into the mirror on the opposite wall, Percy found the blond boy with the scar on his lip standing there, rubbing his hand. Nico glared at him. "You know how I feel about this, and I'm not in the mood to have to tell you again."

"You're grumpy because you're not sleeping." The blond kid reached out and tilted Nico's chin up. "How much did you sleep last night?"

Nico jerked his head away. "I'm fine." The pale boy let out a sigh. "I just...I know why you're doing what you're doing, and I don't need protecting from him."

"I'm just concerned."

Nico held up a hand, keeping the blond at a distance. "And I know you're full of shit." The blond opened his mouth, but Nico cut him off. "Okay, maybe not full of shit, but I know you have other motives."

"I can't help it," the blond whispered.

Nico pursed his lips. "Jason, you know where I stand with this." Nico rubbed at his face, blowing out a breath.

Jason clenched his fists at his side. "You've been acting like your father lately, closed off and hands off. I know what you're doing, but we-I need your help."

Nico wrapped his arms around himself. "She-"

"Sits back and lets others run things," Jason interrupted. "Stop playing the puppeteer." He reached out and touched Nico's arm, smiling at the boy. "Please? For me? We've known each other since we were babies, and we used to be really close."

"And you wonder why your father gets suspicions," Nico mumbled. Jason tossed him a look. Nico let out a sigh, rolling his eyes. "Things are working fine. And, besides, my sister-"

Percy's eyes widened as something shoved him toppling to the floor. Jason and Nico jumped as Percy slid into the trashcan that sat beside the sink. Percy groaned and rolled over, meeting the girl that Annabeth had identified as Medea yesterday. And, today, she had decided to wear even more black.

A spark of amusement shined in her eyes as she stepped over Percy's legs. "What about your dear sister, sweet brother?"

Nico glared at the girl. Jason pursed his lips, taking a step away from Nico. "Hey," he said, throwing on a smile.

Medea eyed the blond before taking his hand. "I was just looking for you," she said, pecking the blond on the lips. Nico crossed his arms and looked away. "It seems you had a fly in the room." She turned to smirk at Percy.

Nico's dark gaze fell upon Percy. The green-eyed boy felt the color drain from his face. The look Nico gave him could have made a murderer feel nervous. "How long have you been there?"

Percy gulped. "I, uh-not long."

Medea patted Nico's cheek. "Don't tell me you're losing your touch, brother."

The brother tossed his sister a venomous look. And by some chance Percy did not think would have been possible, the smile was wiped from Medea's lips. She huffed and hooped her arm through Jason's. Nico turned back to Percy. "Don't spy on me."

"I wasn't. I just," Percy motioned to his clothes, "wanted to clean up."

The tall blond moved forward and held his hand up. "You must be the new kid we've been hearing about." Percy took the hand and was yanked to his feet, though the blond did not release his hand. "The name's Jason. Jason Grace. I think you met my sister, Thalia, the other day."

Percy shook the blond's hand. "Percy Jackson. And, yeah, I sort of hung out with her the other day."

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, don't expect much from my sister when it comes to manual labor."

Medea rolled her eyes. "Come on, sweetie." She grabbed the blond's arm and dragged him out the door, waving to Nico as he went.

Percy's green eyes fell on Nico again, who was still glaring at him. The exhaustion seemed to have lifted from the boy's gaze, though it was now replaced with that of anger. Nico stepped forward, walking by Percy, but stopped beside the green-eyed boy.

"Forget what you heard, or I'll make you rethink trying to befriend us."

And with that, Nico disappeared from the bathroom. Percy, for his part, glanced up from admiring Nico's backside as he left. One good thing about the boy's clothing: the jeans were tight. Percy chuckled and grabbed a paper towel, running it under some water.

He was going to assume Nico was just being defensive, like Annabeth had said yesterday. That was part of the reason Percy did not really find that threat intimidating. He looked down at his shirt and began wiping it clean of any remaining trace of flour.

Once he was done, Percy pulled out his phone and cursed. He was going to be late for class. Grabbing his backpack from the floor, Percy ran out the door and dashed down the hall. The raven-haired boy took the stairs down as quickly as possible, stumbling at the bottom. Percy let out a yelp as he fell forward, only to be caught by a boy with brown curls.

"Whoa, brother, slow down," came the boy's mellow voice. Percy blinked as he stood up straight. The boy was roughly the same height as him, perhaps an inch or two shorter. Light brown eyes shined back at Percy, twinkling with amusement. A wispy beard covered on the brunet's chin. The boy took a step back. "Don't believe I've seen you around before, so you must be the new kid."

"Um, yeah." Percy adjusted his backpack, which was threatening to fall off his shoulder. "Percy Jackson."

The brunet took his hand with a smile, shaking it wildly. "Grover Underwood."

Percy's eyes widened slightly. This was the boy Kinzie and her friends had talked about yesterday at lunch. "Uh, thanks. I'd have looked like an idiot if I had fallen on my face."

Grover clapped him on the arm. "Don't mention it, man." With a quick smile, the brunet jogged up the stairs.

Percy turned to watch him go, his brows furrowed. For some reason, he had expected something different when meeting this guy. The way the others had talked about it, he figured Grover would have been depressed, or something. He definitely did not picture Grover being the image of calm and happiness.

Percy's next class was Woodshop, which was as boring as it sounded. But he really did not have much of a choice, considering he had already taken most of the curriculum that was offered at this school. There was one thing Percy found himself interested in getting to class for, though. There were two kids from the shunned families in there.

Leo Valdez and Charles Beckendorf. Percy had learned their names when attendance was taken yesterday, but had not had a chance to speak to them as of yet. Percy briskly walked into the classroom as the bell went off, earning him a pointed look from the teacher.

"Cutting it close there, Mr. Jackson," the teacher, a man named Tantalus, muttered as Percy took his seat. He gave the room a pointed look to silence the snickering.

The man was very odd looking, in Percy's opinion. He was very thin and tall, hunching slightly. His hair was grey and shooting in every direction imaginable. He also seemed to always have dirt under his nails and bad breath. But what stood out the most was the man's taste in shirts. Today's choice was a bright orange polo.

Tantalus reached down, still eyeing the class, to pick up a plastic cup. "All right, today, children," he began in a slightly mocking tone, "we're going to-shit!"

The class busted out laughing as the man dropped his cup, quickly having taken notice that it was leaking on him. The man narrowed his eyes as he bent down to pick up the cup. Percy had to cover his mouth to hide his laughter upon noticing the small hole that had been made in the red plastic cup.

"Who is responsible for this?" The man yelled. No one answered. The man rubbed his head as he dropped the cup in the garbage. "I knew I shouldn't have left that on my desk when I had to go make a phone call. You two," he pointed to Charles and Leo, "where are your hooligan friends?"

"In class, I would imagine," Leo responded, smirking cockily. "Perhaps they did it from their history class."

"Don't mock me, Valdez."

Charles elbowed the smaller boy. "Sorry, sir. I'm sure it wasn't them."

Tantalus growled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No matter, let's just get on with class." He grabbed a roll of paper towels from his desk and used it to clean up the water. "Stupid kids," he muttered before clearing his throat. "Today, I want to assign your first project. You're going to be making art, wondrous art. I want to marvel upon the beauty of your work. Now, we're going to do something different. This year, I want you to make...a bird house."

"Don't you always assign that?" One student asked.

"No talking in my class!" Tantalus narrowed his eyes, drawing his hands to his chest like some rat. "You'll make a damned bird house and you'll like it!" Seeing the smirks on the class's face, he rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll do something different. It'll be a group project. Three to a group, and you can pick your partners." The man took a brief pause, eyeing the class. "Battle to the death!"

The teenagers hesitated a moment before quietly getting up and going to talk to one another. To say Tantalus looked disappointed by the lack of aggression might have been an understatement. Percy blew out a breath as he watched the man, finding the urge to laugh. The man was interesting, to say the least.

He really was not sure if he should been surprised or not, but one of the students came over to him. An Asian boy with glossy black hair and a slim, wiry build stood to the side of him. His clothes, which were slightly too big for him, hung loosely from his body, he even had to wear a belt to keep his pants from falling off. When Percy glanced up, he was met by a brown eye and an eye patch.

The guy smiled at Percy as he held out his hand. "Hey, the name's Ethan. You want to be in my group?" He glanced up, casting a dark look over to Leo and Charles. "I would hate for you to have to be left with no options, so I just thought I'd offer you some assistance."

"Um." Percy closed his mouth. Furrowing his brow, he blew out a breath. He was at a loss for words. Even though he knew what his choice in all of this was going to be, he did not really want to be rude either. That would just make him like everyone else in this town. "No thanks, I'm fine."

Ethan eyed him for a second, looking at Percy like he was crazy. "You sure? You know they're-"

"Witches?" Percy nodded. "That's what I keep hearing. Not really scared, though, to be honest." Percy tossed the guy a smile and clapped him on the shoulder as he stood up. "Thanks for the offer, though."

Ethan nodded with his mouth open. Percy chuckled to himself as he strolled over to where Leo and Charles sat. They froze when he sat down across from them, looking at each other in disbelief. Leo's mouth floundered a few times.

Charles cleared his throat. "You, uh, actually want to be our partner?"

Percy nodded his head. "Yeah," he replied, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "If that's okay with you guys."

Charles turned to Leo, who still had his wide eyes trained on Percy. "Dude, we've never had a partner before." A grin finally broke out across the Latino boy's lips. "Welcome aboard!"

"Shhh!" Tantalus glared at them from his desk.

Leo shot up from his chair, grabbing Percy's hand and shaking it energetically. "So, I'm Leo, and this is my brother, Charles."

"Beckendorf," Charles said with a nod. "I just prefer Beckendorf."

"Okay." Percy nodded. "Wait," Percy's brow furrowed, "you're brothers? But you have different last names."

Beckendorf nodded with a small chuckle. "Yeah, we also have a brother with the last name Mason. Our dad's remarried a few times."

"Yeah, you should meet Silena's mom." Leo received a quick punch to the shoulder for that comment.

"Silena?" Percy asked. Luke had mentioned that name.

Leo rubbed his arm with a frown. "Charles's girlfriend, and the only one of her siblings to carry her mother's name."

"She has a lot then."

"Oh yeah, her mom's-" Leo shut his mouth upon receiving a dark look from Beckendorf. "Um, so, Luke mentioned you."

Beckendorf relaxed, resting his large arms on the table. He was massive, that much could be said. He looked like a mountain, and made even Percy feel small. The guy's arms were almost as big as Percy's torso. His skin was a dark ebony, much darker than that of Hazel's. The dude's hands had to be the size of a baseball mitt.

Leo glanced at Beckendorf from the corner of his eye. He, on the other hand, was relatively small compared to his brother. A lot more hair sat on his head, too. Black curls sat above the boy's elfish looking face. His body reminded Percy of Nico, though with a darker skin tone and a hint of more muscle on him.

Percy cleared his throat. "I get the feeling that Luke talks about me a lot."

Leo grinned. "Just mentioned you." The boy shrugged. "You're sort of an interesting topic. It's not every day that we have someone willing to socialize with the likes of us." He motioned between himself and Beckendorf. "Didn't really think he was serious with it all, though."

"What all has he said about me?"

"That you don't carry a Bible." Beckendorf let out a bellowing laugh. "And that's pretty much all I need to know. I'd assume you're not racist and a bigot, unlike most people in this town."

Percy smirked at the two of them. "Well, I'd hope that's not all that's required of me to be friends with all of you."

Leo leaned back in his chair, scrunching his lips. "Some of us can be a bit of an acquired taste. Like Drew and Medea." His eyebrows rose, glancing off to the side. "Nico doesn't seem that fond of you, he's sort of cautious about what angle you're working."

The green-eyed boy shook his head. "I just think all of this is stupid." He chuckled. "I mean, it's like I stepped into an old Salem, where the villagers were trying to burn you at the stake."

"Funny," Leo chuckled nervously. He tossed Beckendorf a quick look. Beckendorf just waved him off. "So, Percy, Luke's talking about having you hangout with us."

"It has to be discussed?"

"Just making sure everyone's on their best behavior." Beckendorf shrugged. "Luke's brothers are usually up to no good," the large boy nodded towards the teacher's desk, "if you can't tell by their prank."

"The twins are awesome," Leo chuckled. "Last year, at prom, they had me build-"

Beckendorf placed his hand over Leo's mouth. "He gets a little excited when he drinks coffee." He ruffled the smaller boy's hair as he removed his hand. "But, yeah, it'll probably be a small group, just to get you used to us. There are quite a few of us, and we wouldn't want you getting overwhelmed."

Percy nodded as he stared back at Beckendorf. One thing he was noticing about these kids: none of them really spoke with an accent. Small hints in a few of the ones Percy had talked to, but nowhere near as potent as with the other people in the town. It made him wonder.

As the time ticked on in the class, the trio got to work on delegating assignments. It quickly became apparent to Percy that his two partners knew what they were doing when it came to craftsmanship. So, for most of the discussion, he simply nodded and agreed to do any part that was given to him. For the most part, it sounded like an easy A.

Percy nearly jumped out of his skin when he exited the class after the bell rang. His eyebrows rose as he came face to face with Nico, looking like death. The look of exhaustion had returned to the boy, who slouched as he stood in the hall. A bored look sat on his face as he met Percy's eyes. "Must I run into you everywhere?"

"Gives me a chance to grow on you." Percy smirked, receiving a glare from Nico. "Maybe I should worry about being followed home."

"Oh no, wouldn't want that. I might turn you into a toad while you sleep."

"Can I be a sexy toad?"

Nico's eyes widened slightly, a faint blush coming to his cheeks. Leo came from behind Percy, laughing. "Wow, it seems your intimidation thing isn't working on him, Neeks."

The pale boy ran his tongue along his teeth as he looked Percy over. "I came here for Leo," he said, holding Percy's gaze. With a click of his tongue, he looked to the Latino boy. Beckendorf patted Percy on the shoulder as he passed. "You mind if I borrow your brother?"

Beckendorf looked between Nico and Leo before shrugging. "Knock yourself out."

"What's up?" Leo asked. Nico just nodded his head down the hall. Leo smirked. "C'mon, dude, would it kill you to smile?"

Nico turned his head to glare at the Latino boy as they walked off. "Just leave me alone," he said exasperatedly. "I'm not in the mood to joke." Slipping his hands into the pockets of his aviator jacket, Nico disappeared into the crowd of students with Leo.

Percy frowned and scratched his chest as he headed towards the back stairs. English was his next class, yet again containing two of Luke's bunch of friends. Thalia happened to be one of them, while the other girl seemed to talk the raven-haired girl's ear off. Rachel was her name, or so Percy had gathered when attendance had been taken yesterday.

She seemed to zone out a lot, doodling in her notebook, which was exactly what she was doing when Percy entered the room. Thalia nodded at him as he walked towards the desks. But, instead of sitting where he had the day before, Percy changed course to sit in front of Rachel.

The girl raised a hand to wave in acknowledgment, not even bothering to look up. It seemed her notebook was not the only thing the girl doodled on, judging by the appearance of her arms and jeans. A golden bangle rested on her right arm, a scepter engraved in its metal and two small peacock feather fragments hanging from its sides. She was tall and thin, her frizzy red hair resting on her shoulders.

"Wow," Thalia said, blinking at Percy. The green-eyed boy turned to face her. "The others were right, you are committing suicide today."

Percy smirked. "Just enjoying myself. You guys seem like decent people to me."

A spark of amusement resonated in Thalia's blue eyes. "You hear that, Rachel? We're decent people." The girl laughed, crossing her arms on her desk.

Percy turned his head as the red haired girl looked up, meeting him with a pair of intense green eyes. The girl's brow furrowed as she looked him over. "Oh thank god," the girl breathed out. Percy and Thalia looked at her strangely. Rachel shut her mouth, her brow furrowing again. "Um, I mean, you're the boy Luke was talking about, right?"

Percy quirked a brow. He turned to Thalia, who had an eyebrow raised and her mouth was hanging slightly ajar. The boy tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, that's me." It was apparent that Thalia did not believe the girl either, and they had known each other longer.

"Rachel?"

The girl in question was studying Percy's face again. "Nice to meet you."

The boy nodded in response. The girl was strange. She stared at him as if she was questioning his presence there. He was afraid she might reach out and pinch him.

"Hey, freaks," Kelli sneered as she walked past their desks, Dylan in tow. Thalia turned to stick her tongue out and flip Kelli off.

"Girls." Everyone fell quiet as the teacher entered, frowning at them. "Do I need to reiterate my rules for the class?"

"No, ma'am," Thalia and Kelli answered.

The woman's mousy brown hair fell over her shoulders like curtains, shining faintly in the light. Her warm, dark brown eyes reminded Percy of a warm fire, cozy and inviting. She wore a freshly pressed blouse with a brown skirt that came up to her knees, a pair of flats resting on her feet. She raised a well-manicured finger.

"There will be no intolerance in my classroom." Her eyes flickered to Thalia when the girl snickered. "Nor will there be any rude gestures tossed around in here." She took in a deep breath, making the inward motion with her hands. "This is a peaceful environment, and I will not see this course soiled by what goes on between the community."

"Yes, Mrs. Hestia," the class responded.

"Good, now-" The door opened, Hestia turning to look. Grover walked in, looking sheepish. Hestia let out a sigh. "How nice of you to join us, Mr. Underwood. I trust you have an excuse for missing my class yesterday?"

Grover cleared his throat, handing the teacher a slip of paper. "Sorry, ma'am, I was still visiting family."

Hestia sighed and nodded her head, handing the slip back to the brunet. "Very well," she motioned to the desk, "feel free to take a seat wherever you deem fitting." Walking over to her desk, Hestia picked up a book. "Now then, if you'll all turn to page four, we'll begin our first lesson for the semester."


By the end of the day, Percy found himself disliking surprises. After he was done with his last day of tryouts, he had headed back to the locker room to change back into his regular clothes before the team list was posted. The problem was that he ended up on his back as soon as he opened the door.

He groaned and moved to sit up, finding two pairs of hands resting on his back to help get him to his feet. "Whoa there," came one voice.

"You came out of nowhere," laughed a second.

Percy shook his head. He must have hit his head harder than he thought, because he was seeing double. Two boys with brown, curly hair stood in front of him, both with the same mischievous grin plastered on their faces. They were both on the skinny side, their jeans fitting perfectly to their waists. Their blue eyes widened upon hearing the sound of a small explosion behind them.

"Stolls!" Came a yell from inside the locker room.

"Got to go," they said simultaneously.

"Wait!" Percy yelled after them as they dashed towards the parking lot. But they were gone, heading straight for a new, very expensive looking silver mustang. There was something about them, Percy thought, something that seemed familiar. He just could not quite place it. Something about their grins.

The coach, a short man by the name of Gleeson Hedge, came barreling out of the locker room, wiping whip cream from his face. "Did you see two hooligans run through here, Jackson?"

Percy's mouth floundered as he looked between the man and the direction the boys had run. When Percy did not respond, Hedge waved him off and went back inside. A smirk spread across the boy's lips as soon as the door was closed, soon followed by uncontrollable laughter. His aunt and ex-boyfriend hated it, but Percy had always been the mischievous sort. Something he got from his dad, according to his aunt.

His laughter stopped when he looked down to notice himself scratching his chest. He let out a sigh, silently cursing himself as he pushed open the door. He opened the locker that was assigned to him for the time being. He just hoped the list that was about to be posted would keep it his locker.

After changing, Percy walked out of the building. The other guys that had tried out for the team had gathered around the dugout. Percy felt his breath hitch. Well, this was it, he thought. And it really was no surprise to him when some of the kids parted to let him through. With the amount of suicide he had done today it was bound to happen. Kinzie had not been pleased with him at all when they had eaten lunch. But had that stopped him?

No, and he had no intention of backing down from his decision.

Dylan, who had also tried out for the team, clapped him on the shoulder when he reached the front. "Congratulations, buddy, looks like you made it." He lightly punched Percy's shoulder. "Now you won't have to hangout with those creepy kids, since everybody loves the people that play sports."

Even though Dylan had said it, Percy still looked to make sure. And there his name was, plain as day. He smiled to himself. "I guess I'll be seeing you around then." He received a pat on the arm from Dylan. Percy's brow furrowed as the dark haired boy strutted off.

The kids in the town did not seem all that bad, at least when Luke and the others were not involved. But the intolerance sort of soured their presence for Percy. He was sort of hoping that this little endeavor of his would show everyone that these kids were not to be feared and persecuted.

Having had enough school for the day, Percy readjusted the strap on his backpack and headed towards the parking lot. At least he had made the team-that was some good news. His brow furrowed as his phone began to vibrate.

It was a text from his aunt.

Furniture waiting for you at your apartment.

Great, he thought, she had given up on trusting him to do it. Which, in all honesty, was probably for the best, considering it seemed to be the last thing on his mind. Percy tossed his backpack into his car and climbed in, cranking the car and pulling out of his parking spot.

Sure enough, when he got home, he found a truck sitting outside his apartment building. Two men stood beside it, one of the scribbling on a clipboard. The other one looked up when he climbed out of his car. "You Percy Jackson?"

He nodded. "Yes, sir, that's me."

The man with the clipboard looked up with a smile. "Seems your aunt was worried about you, called us and said you had probably forgotten to rent some furniture." The man tipped his hat back as he walked towards the back. "I was a bit surprised when she said you were living out here on your own, what with you being young and all."

Percy peered into the truck. A bed, couch, some chairs, a coffee table, a dresser, and other pieces of furniture had been loaded inside. "I'm just out here looking for some family."

The two men looked at each other. "Extended family?" The shorter of the two asked.

Percy shook his head. "Don't think so." He rubbed his arm. "Not really sure. It's just some of my dad's family."

The man with the clipboard blew out a breath. "No one that I can think of in town has any out of state relatives." The guy took off his cap and scratched his head. "And you're from California?" Percy nodded. "Nope, nobody that I can think of."

Percy nodded his head in understanding. He supposed it was not going to be easy. How did his aunt even know his family was still here? In all honesty, he was a little relieved. If he did not find anyone, maybe his aunt would let him come home. After seeing this town, he had no desire to stay. Sure it was peaceful and quiet, but the people sort of ruined it with their prejudice against those families.

Percy opened his apartment and let the men do their job. He offered to help, but they declined, saying it would not be "hospitable of them". He walked into the area that was his kitchen while they were outside and pulled two glasses from the cabinet. He ran them both under some cold water and grabbed some ice from the fridge.

"At least let me give you something to drink." He glanced past them. "It's really humid outside."

The two men chuckled, having deposited his couch. The man without the cap wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. "You get used to it after a while."

Percy did not see how. It was like a furnace outside. But they took the iced water and drank it happily. The man with the cap sat his down and studied Percy. "Jackson, wasn't it?" Percy nodded. "No, I know for a fact there aren't any Jacksons around here."

Percy wanted to curse himself. "You're sure?" Both men nodded. "Oh," Percy said dejectedly, "well thanks for telling me."

While the men unloaded Percy's new furniture, Percy sat himself down at the kitchen island and got to work on some of his homework. He glanced at his phone from time to time. What he really wanted to do was call his aunt, telling her what he had just learned, but he didn't. His aunt was a smart woman and she would not have sent him out here unless she had her facts straight.

Over an hour later, Percy closed the door upon the movers' departure. He sighed and leaned against the door. His shoulders were sore and his entire body felt exhausted. He had given it his all at tryouts today, and now his body was suffering the consequences.

He groaned as he glanced at the kitchen. Percy really did not feel like cooking. He dragged his feet towards the fridge, only to stop.

The boy let out another groan and hung his head at the sound of a knock at his door. Percy blew his lips and turned around, running his fingers through his hair. Who could that be? Opening the door, Percy fought every urge to slam the door shut.

Mrs. Dodds stood there, with several plastic containers filled with food all stacked on a large metal plate. "I'm sorry to intrude like this, Perseus, but your landlady informed us at church that you were living here by yourself." She held up the food. "May I come in?"

Before Percy could answer, his stomach growled at the smell of food. "Um, I guess."

Mrs. Dodds moved past him and sat the food down. She then tasked herself with sorting the containers and placing them properly around the kitchen island. "And, well, after hearing about your mother, I just couldn't stand by and let you starve."

"Oh." Percy blinked a few times. He had to remind himself that these people were not all bad. They could be ignorant about things, but they were still nice at heart. For the most part. "Thank you." His face paled. "Wait, is this going to become a thing?"

"What's that, sugar?"

The boy cleared his throat, gesturing to the food. "I just...didn't think people would actually take the time to...make...food...for me." He realized that, by the end of his sentence, his statement had sounded more like a question, rather than a statement. "I mean-"

Mrs. Dodds waved him off. "Oh think nothing of it, sweetie. The ladies at church don't mind taking care of a handsome young man such as yourself." She picked up the metal plate she had used to carry her mountain of food containers in and placed it against her stomach. "Now then, if you need anything else, just call this number," she said, handing Percy a card.

Percy slowly nodded his head, slipping the card into his pocket. "Thank you."

The woman moved towards the door, clearing her throat. "Now, as you know, Percy, we had a murder occur here just a few days ago. So, you need to make sure your doors are locked every night, and make sure you say your prayers." She raised a finger. "It was those families, I tell you that now. I know, I know it was them. You need to stay away from them, or they might put a curse on you."

And there it was, the reason he kept getting annoyed with these people. Sure they could be nice, but that did not stop them from being hateful as well. How the Christian religion could have gotten so convoluted was beyond him. Last he recalled, Jesus preached about love and acceptance, not burning sinners and outcasts at the stake.

"Not that I mean to offend," Percy began, "but what have they exactly done to warrant all of this persecution?"

That seemed to be the wrong thing to ask. "What have they done? What haven't they done? They are devils, all of them. Drownings, accidents, illness, people going missing; you name it, and it's happened here." The woman flung her arms in the air. "If you do anything wrong to them, you end up getting cursed. Anyone who has severely attacked them has had something happen to them. Don't you consider that a little strange?"

"But people seem to constantly treat them badly."

"Through the protection of the Lord, we might be spared from evil's touch." Percy was not surprised when the woman pulled out a pocket Bible from her purse. She gave him a stern look before placing it in his hand. "You should read this every night, son, it'll help ward them off. The Lord's faithful will prevail in the war against evil."

Percy stared down at the book as the crazy woman closed his door. But before he could even put it down, there was another knock at his door. He sighed, figuring it was Mrs. Dodds again, and opened it.

"Hey there, Percy!" Luke grinned at him, leaning against the doorframe. He tossed his thumb over his shoulder. "Looks you had a visit from the town's crazy old bat." His lips tilted up more. "We had to sneak up here, so she wouldn't try tossing holy water on us."

Stepping aside, Luke revealed the very two boys that Percy had gotten trampled by after tryouts. The only difference in their appearance was the shirts they wore. The one on the left wore a light blue T-shirt, while the duplicate wore a green one. And both of them were carrying food.

Luke stepped around Percy. "So, the twins' mom decided to cook you something to eat, if you want it."

The identical boys stepped forward with matching grins to the one Luke wore. Glancing between the three of them, it clicked in the green-eyed boy's mind where he had seen those grins in the first place. These were the twins he had heard about on his very first day in town.

"Um," Percy motioned to the kitchen area, "I guess find a place to put it over there."

The boy in green sat his plate down next to the stove before poking around what Mrs. Dodds had brought. "Looks like Mrs. Dodds beat us to it, Luke."

The tall blond blew his lips. "Figures." He looked at Percy with a wag of his brow. "The church ladies around here are relentless. I did try to tell you."

Percy let out a groan. "You did, I just didn't think you were being serious." He glanced at the food. "Is this the end of it?"

"Nope," replied the boy in blue.

"Ah." Luke motioned to the twins. "I guess I forgot to introduce you to the troublemakers of the family."

Both boys rolled their eyes simultaneously. The one in green slung his arm around his clone. "You're one to talk." He grinned over at Percy. "Plus we already ran into, Percy."

The other twin snickered. "Literally."

Luke shook his head. "Travis and Connor, the twins and youngest of my dad's brood." He tossed his thumb over to them. "Travis is the one in green and is the ringleader of their stunts. Connor is the one in blue. He's got a way with words and will talk you out of your socks."

"Pleased to meet you," the twins said together. Percy glanced over at Luke, who chuckled. They both offered Percy their right hand to shake.

When he glanced down to shake their hands, his brow furrowed. Around their wrists were matching hemp bracelets. There were several other bands around their wrists, but these stood out because of the large brown beads that rested in the center. White symbols were etched across both of the beads, but a distinct image of a caduceus rested in the very center.

"Nice to meet you," Percy said quietly, releasing Connor's hand. He tried to not let his eyes linger on the jewelry, not wanting to be caught staring, but something else caught his attention when Connor let his hand drop to his side.

All of the bracelets fell towards the boy's hand, revealing a very disturbing image of a carved cross on the boy's lightly tanned wrist. Percy's brow furrowed as he stared down at it.

Connor placed his arm behind his back, grabbing it with the other one. He was looking down when Percy shifted his gaze to look the brunet in the face. Travis had his lips pressed into a thin line, reaching up to rub his brother's back.

Percy turned to Luke. "What happened to him?"

The blond now wore a solemn expression. "Exactly what you probably think happened." His eyes flickered over to his brothers. "Go wait in the car, I'll be down in a second."

Travis leaned in and whispered something to Connor before leading the other brunet out of the apartment. Luke crossed his arms, watching the two leave from the corner of his eye. Once the door was closed, he let out a sigh.

"It happened over the summer. Thalia and Bianca found him in a ditch, not far from where we live, shortly after the sun had gone down." The blond ran his fingers through his hair with another sigh. "It looked a lot worse when we got him inside, there was a lot of blood. Dad was scared that they might have cut too deep." Luke looked down, his eyes becoming unfocused. "They want to call us monsters, but you can see what they do. Hazel and Beckendorf, their families even got racial slurs before they married into our families.

"Connor said it was a bunch of guys on the football team." The blond clenched his fists. "I wanted to beat them until their mothers could no longer recognize them." There was a dark look in the blond's blue eyes when he looked up at Percy. "These are the people you sit with at lunch, these are the people who are trying to befriend you, trying to keep you from getting corrupted."

"Why didn't you?" Luke's brow furrowed at Percy's question. "What stopped you from going after them?"

Luke ran his tongue across his teeth, nodding his head. "Nico." He raked his fingers through his hair with another nod. "Nico stopped me. His sister got angry because of that, saying that they didn't deserve the mercy." He placed his hand on his chest. "I still stormed out of my house that night, ready to go hunt them down. But before I even started my car, I stopped myself. I told myself that if Nico could look past what they had done, then so could I."

Percy's brow furrowed. "Why? What happened to him?"

Luke scraped his foot against the floor, cursing under his breath. "Nothing," he whispered. He wiped a hang across his mouth. "Nothing, it's nothing. Just know that some messed up shit has gone on in this town. Quite frankly, I feel sorry for you. Because, chances are, whatever family you are here to look for, they are probably the same as everyone else in this town."

The green-eyed boy shook his head. "Doesn't really seem to matter. I've been informed there isn't anyone in town with the last name Jackson."

Luke nodded. "Didn't really want to disappoint you on your first day." A small smirk threatened to appear on his lips. "Don't really like being the bearer of bad news."

Percy eyed Luke for a moment. "Mrs. Dodds said similar stuff about you and the rest of your families. Is any of that true?" The boy raised a brow. "People going missing? Drownings? Odd occurrences?"

Luke chuckled dryly, staring down at his shoes. "The people around here are paranoid, Percy, and just looking for someone to blame." He looked up, his eyes no longer carrying that warmth they usually did. "Who are you going to believe, the Bible carrying witch-mongers?" He motioned towards the door. "There's evidence for you to actually see. My family and I didn't go looking for hate or to cause trouble."

"I'm sorry." Percy shook his head. "I didn't mean for it to come across like I was siding with them."

Luke blew out a breath, placing his hands on the back of his neck. "Don't worry about it. It just gets stressful sometimes, trying to keep them all looked after. After Connor, we're doing our best to prevent something like that from happening again. It's why you'll usually see more than one of us around at a time."

"What about Nico? He's by himself in Home Ec."

"That was his decision." Luke groaned and rubbed his neck. "He was taking something else, but when I signed up for the same course, he swapped at the last moment. That boy doesn't really like depending on others for help." He smiled. "And I think that's a problem he has with you. According to him, you're 'acting a little too concerned'."

"You seem to really care about him," Percy pointed out.

The blond chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Well, like I said, we've known each other since we were born. I'd do anything for him." He glanced Percy over, studying the boy in front of him. It made Percy uncomfortable, for whatever reason. There was just something unspoken, uncertain, in the way Luke looked at him.

Percy cleared his throat. "So, could we hang this weekend?"

Luke's smile returned. "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea. I think a lot of us could use a day to relax. After what happened on Sunday, everyone has been a little on edge." He scratched his cheek. "Um, how about Saturday? We can go down to the river, or something?" Percy nodded. Luke backed towards the door. "Text me and we'll discuss the details."

"Sounds good."

Percy's smile dropped as soon as the door was closed. Connor's scar was still seared into his mind. This town was insane. The faster he got out of here, the better off he would be.


There's you a hint at the dark side for the story. And that's not even the tip of the iceberg. A good bit more with Nico, so I hoped you enjoyed that. And Percy finally learned Jason's name. And what's a good story without the Stolls, I just love them. If you're looking for hints for what's going on, there's a ton of them in this chapter. But what are your thoughts on this chapter? I hope you enjoyed it. As for Percy and Nico's eventual romance: I'm going a bit of a different route with this story, so it might get a little complicated for me at some points. I'll talk more about that eventually, but I'm just trying to write this as a progression romance. In Children, it is at a slow pace, but I feel it's not shown enough how it develops. But I think I'm going to skip to the weekend for the next chapter, and feature the day with Luke and the others. That will be fun.

But, yeah, I hope you enjoyed. I hope I'm doing a good job with this story, it feels a bit different for me than what I've written before. Don't know why exactly, something just feels different. It's not even that I think I'm causing it to derail and blow up, I just can't place what it is. But let me know your thoughts on what happened this chapter. I'm going to go pass out, so I'll see you lovely people later.