I do not own Percy Jackson & the Olympians.
Chapter Three - Super Powered Hot Chick
...
I dreamed I was inside the eye of a hurricane. Above me were clear skies and I could feel the gentle touch of a warm summer breeze ruffling my hair and clothes.
This gentle picture did nothing to quell the dread in my stomach at the sight of the eerie calm surrounding me, and the pervasive smell of ozone permeating the air. I could see lightning flashing in the distance and hear thunder booming at intervals.
I startled when I heard the sound of static, like an out of tune radio. I looked around confusedly and froze when a familiar song began to play.
Tick tock on the wall, could this be my wake up call
hiding underneath the sheets I wait for life to come to me
think it's time I break these patterns systematic 'comes a habit
am I strong enough to believe
I knew this song very well, but it was from my old life. One of my favorites. I tried finding it but it didn't exist in my new life.
The sky that seemed so calm and cloudless before changed into a foreboding shade of grey.
maybe I haven't cried enough tears
maybe I haven't laughed out loud
maybe I-
The song stopped abruptly followed by a crashing sound, as if someone picked up the radio and threw it against a wall. I turned to the sound and nearly fell back in shock when I found myself face to face with Poseidon.
"Soon, Child. Soon." my father said softly before everything went black.
I woke up with my heart pounding in my chest. This dream was not giving me the fuzzy happy feeling the dreams about my dad normally did. It probably had something to do with the fact that I was pretty fucking sure that it wasn't my dad. I didn't know why I thought that because he looked exactly like Poseidon, had the same voice even, but I just knew somehow that it wasn't him. It felt more like someone was trying to send me a message and thought I'd be more receptive if the messenger wore my father's face. That meant that whoever was behind it was probably an enemy, or at the very least, an asshole trying to manipulate me.
"Fuck," I sighed, tiredly rubbing my eyes.
I hadn't felt this exhausted in a long time and knowing it was caused by someone deliberately messing with my sleep was enough to piss me off. It was the fifth nightmare I had this week alone, and I wondered how long they intended to keep interrupting my sleep. In all honesty I wasn't even sure if I should be calling it a nightmare since it didn't have the usual monster, manic killer, or lightning storm, trying to end me. There wasn't even any blood. Still, the feeling of dread in my stomach and the pounding of my heart wouldn't let me ignore it easily.
I looked up when my roommate shifted and mumbled in her sleep. "I'm walking on needles!"
I couldn't help but snort. I only wished I was dreaming about needles. I loved my dad, really, and I missed him very much and couldn't wait for the day I could finally meet him again, but that didn't mean I liked seeing him play the lead-role in my creepy-ass dreams. Especially not if it was someone using his face to send me a message. A very confusing, probably incomplete one, but a message nonetheless.
"Oh, I so have a bad feeling about this." I groaned softly.
I was already on edge without someone using my dreams as if they were a supernatural voice mail. The last two years had been very difficult for me, and it was only recently that I felt even a little reassured. From the second I was born into my new life and had started making plans, I had always told myself not to assume things. Just because it seemed like I knew things about the new life I was born in, just because I'd read it in a book or seen it in a movie, didn't mean it was what would happen. I hadn't known I failed miserably until I was twelve years old and eagerly waited for the signs that meant I would soon meet my father again. The strange weather, Percy's dreams, Grover's appearance in Percy's life. I waited eagerly and was beyond disappointed when our thirteenth birthday came and went without any of those things happening.
I couldn't help but feel lost. I was so certain events would play out like they did in the books, I hadn't even seriously considered that they wouldn't. Yes, when I tried to caution myself not to assume things I thought briefly about the possibility of being reborn in the movie universe, but secretly dismissed it. I had been so certain, so when nothing happened as it should have it made me feel uncomfortable. Out of my depth, even.
I had two years to adapt to the way things were, and that my new life would be nothing like the books, and had just started to accept that fact when I read one of Percy's monthly letters while drinking a glass of Fanta and almost choked when I read about his new friend called Grover, his new favorite teacher Mr. Brunner, and Mrs. Dodds, the pre-algebra teacher that hated his guts and would blame him for global warming if she could find a way to make it stick.
I felt like the rug was pulled from under me. Again. The worst part was still not knowing whether the next few months would turn out like the books, the movies, a combination of both, or something altogether different. It worried me, not knowing what was truly going on. I didn't know how I was going to protect myself and my brother from all the different threats converging on us, both known and unknown. I tried very hard to reassure myself that other people had lived their entire lives fine without ever knowing what would happen next, but I couldn't help but feel that other people weren't about to be put smack-dab in the middle of a re-enactment of The Clash of the fucking Titans.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, tiredly rubbing my brow. Things were going to change soon. Even if I hadn't received Percy's letter or had the foreknowledge by reading the books and seeing the movie, I would've known anyway. I could practically feel it. Things were going to change and our peaceful, somewhat quiet, but boring life, would be no more.
It was it strange that even with all the uncertainty, I couldn't wait for it to start.
.
.
I woke up the next morning with a headache the size of Texas. I took an Advil hoping to ease the pain, but I knew it wouldn't help. It was the same every morning after a nightmare. I'd wake up with a headache that wouldn't go away no matter how many painkillers I took to get rid of the hellish pain. The headache would usually disappear around the time the pain grew so much I'd start contemplating hitting my head against a brick wall to distract myself from the agony.
It was like someone was trying to make sure I wouldn't forget about my nightmares. If they were they really shouldn't have bothered. The only thing my headache did was make it impossible to concentrate on school. The dreadful feeling in my gut was enough of a reminder of my creepy dream visitor.
I took a quick shower, ignored my roommate's banging on the door and demands that I 'hurry the hell up', dressed in my uniform and made my way to class. I decided to forgo breakfast like I'd done every morning after a nightmare. My stomach was honestly not up for it. Neither was my head.
"Yo, Jackson!" I cringed at the loud bellowing voice of my friend. "Wassupp!"
"Keep it down, idiot," I groaned cradling my head in my hands. "I have the mother of all headaches performing a drum solo in my cranium."
"What, again?" he asked more softly.
"Yep," I muttered, thankful he'd stopped yelling at the top of his longs.
He frowned concernedly," So this is like the third time this week alone, right?"
The fifth actually. "Yeah, so?" I asked uncomfortably.
"Are you sleeping alright?"
I hesitated slightly. "No, not really."
"So you had a nightmare? What was it about?" he asked eagerly, studying me carefully.
"Nothing important," I replied, trying but failing to sound casual.
I really didn't want to talk about it, least of all to Dag. He was a good guy, really, the best friend a girl could ask for. Especially if you considered the fact that I didn't make friends easily - or at all as the case may be. But he was also a Satyr. I was pretty sure everything I told him would be reported back to Chiron.
"Look, Rhea, if you're having nightmares it's best if you talk to someone about it. I'm your friend, I only want to help."
This was one of the reasons I didn't want him to know about my nightmares. I knew he would just assume I was having demigod dreams, and he was probably right, but they were my dreams, private dreams. I didn't want him to report them to anyone else, which I knew he would.
"Nah, it's nothing to worry about, seriously."
"Alright, if you're sure," he said reluctantly. "I'm here if you wanna talk though."
I smiled warmly. "I know. Thanks, Dag, you're a good friend."
And he truly was. The problem was that he wasn't just talking to me as my friend. He was talking to me as the Satyr assigned to me by Chiron and possibly the 'Wine Dude' - but probably just Chiron. Dionysos wouldn't give a flying fuck whether any demigod, apart from his kids, lived or died.
"Anytime," he grinned brightly. "We need to get to class though," he said urgently when he looked around at the now empty halls.
"Aw crap," I groaned. "I can't be late again, especially not to Mr. Vogel's class. I think he might actually kill me this time."
Dag sighed resignedly. "You know this is all your fault."
I wanted to disagree, really I did, but then I'd be lying. I did have the unfortunate habit of always being late everywhere. It wasn't like it was on purpose or anything, it was just something I did. At first Dag tried to make sure we weren't late but he had discovered early on that time just had a mind of its own around me. It always seemed to fly, or slow down so much, it felt like the world was standing still. We'd be on our way somewhere with fifteen minutes to spare and the next moment we'd be late. We had no idea where the time went. Other times we'd be running to make it in time, only to arrive and find out we were the first people there. It was weird and irritating as hell, and also, completely out of my hands.
We arrived at our classroom looking like we were about to walk to our deaths. "It was nice knowing you, Jackson," Dag joked weakly.
"Yeah, you too, Dagwood," I replied, trying but failing to smile. Before I could even scrape up enough courage to open the door to the classroom it flew open.
"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Dagwood, Miss. Jackson," Mr. Vogel sneered. "Are you done with your conversation, I wouldn't want me teaching this class stand in the way of whatever important issue you were discussing."
I winced. Oh he was pissed off alright. Damn, he was going to give me so much detention I probably wouldn't be able to breathe in fresh air for a long time.
"No, Sir, we're good." as soon as the words left my mouth I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.
"Good, you say? I don't think you'll continue to use that description when I tell you what your punishment will be for being late. Again. You might want to hold on to that 'good' feeling. Soon you won't even remember what it means."
I could actually hear Dag whimper, and honestly, I wanted to do the same. He was just being mean. I mean, so yeah, I've basically been late to pretty much all of his classes this year. And okay, he did kinda warn me that I wouldn't like the consequences if it happened again, but he was taking it a bit far. Maybe.
We quickly took our seats not wanting to make him any more angry than he already was. I seriously didn't need anymore detentions on my record, my mother would worry herself sick. She'd probably think I was trying to imitate Percy or something, which I so wasn't. My brother was usually kicked out of school once a year, and his grades were crap. I could sympathize. Being dyslexic sucked ass. I was just lucky I already went through school in my past life. I may not have graduated but that was more a mistake on my part than an inability to pass.
I missed my brother fiercely. Since we only saw each other during summer vacations and school breaks, we tried to keep in contact by sending each other e-mails whenever we could get our hands on some computer time. Being dyslexic and writing letters was a fucking nightmare. Sometimes I just wanted to cry when I thought about how I'd get nauseous by simply thinking about writing Percy a letter. My hands would start shaking, my palms would sweat, and there were times where I had to do all I could to stop myself from throwing up. I knew it was probably worse for my brother. Percy and I would occasionally have webcam conversations, but it was very rare to find us both behind a computer at the same time.
To Percy's everlasting irritation our mom wouldn't buy us cell phones. I remembered that it was dangerous for demigods to use cell phones, something about it was like lighting a beacon for monsters telling them 'Here I am, come and get me'. My dad probably warned my mom about it. I wasn't sure about land-lines, but I avoided them as much as I could, not willing to take that chance. Percy didn't know about any of it so to him it seemed completely unfair. He loved our mom very much, but he had no qualms about questioning things if they didn't make sense to him. Knowing more about the situation than he did, I understood why some things had to be the way they were, to my mother's everlasting relief and Percy's obvious irritation.
I sighed mentally thinking about the madhouse our life was about to become.
The winter solstice had come and gone so Zeus' Master Bolt and Hades' Helm were already stolen by Luke, if everything went the way it was suppose to. Percy would soon be confronted about the theft by one of the Furies. He had sent me detailed e-mails about his hated pre-algebra teacher and how she'd always favor the stupid Nancy Bobofit. Soon things were going to change for us and I dreaded it as much as anticipated it. I couldn't wait to see my father again, but I could do without the quest for the Lightning bolt. I fucking hated lightning, it literally killed me. It went against every instinct I had to go look for the most powerful one in existence. It was like I was actively searching out my own death. Not exactly something I would willingly do.
I tensed when I felt someone staring at me and almost cringed when I looked at Mr. Vogel, expecting to find him staring at me with his glare of doom. In my mind his glare of doom was comparable to the feeling Harry Potter had whenever a Dementor was near, or how Frodo felt when he was facing the Nazgul. It had the ability to reduce me to a whimpering mess on the floor crying for my mommy. I breathed a silent sigh of relief when wasn't paying me any particular attention and looked around to find who was staring at me. I smiled when I saw Dag watching me with a small frown that quickly turned into a smile when he noticed me looking back.
Silas Dagwood, or Dag as he liked to called, turned up in my life two weeks after Percy first wrote to me about Grover. At first I was a little suspicious about the timing, but when he never asked me any questions about my family, I reluctantly let go of my wariness around him, and accepted his friendship. Being stuck in the body of a fourteen year old girl made it hard to make friends my own age. It was difficult because the fourteen year old in me wanted to make friends and talk about boys and do other things girls my age did. But the older twenty-seven year old - or forty-one if I wanted to get technical about it - didn't feel comfortable hanging out with a bunch of fourteen year old kids. It was frustrating, spending time with them. They seemed so slow and childish to me, and though I would never decline any opportunity to gossip about hot guys, my definition of hot did not include sixteen year old pimply faced boys younger than my previous incarnation's kid brother. (It was also somewhere around that time that I first figured out my mission of getting laid was going to be much harder than I thought it would at first.)
So meeting Dag and becoming his friend was a stroke of good luck in my opinion. He was also an adult undercover as a child, so that made things a lot easier. Missing my brother and feeling lonely had a lot to do with accepting his friendship despite knowing he was basically sent to spy on me. In the end it didn't really matter. He either knew who I was, or didn't. It wasn't all that important. Even if anyone suspected my father was Poseidon, they still couldn't do anything about it until after I was claimed, and they knew for certain either way, broken oath or not.
I was pretty sure he knew I was a demigod, but I don't think he knew, or even suspected, whose daughter I was. I hadn't seen Chiron around anyway which he would have been if they suspected I was a child of the big three, even if only to visit and see me in person if he was too busy taking care of my brother. And unlike Percy, whose power I could practically feel churning under his skin, my power was calm and almost undetectable. I didn't think it was because I was less powerful than Percy. In all honesty, I probably was, but I also had a much bigger handle on my power than he did.
I had lived without this power inside of me for almost twenty-eight years and I also had the advantage of knowing what it was. It took a lot of time and effort, years worth almost, but I had learned to suppress it, or maybe calm it down would be the more appropriate term to use. My powers always felt like the ocean to me, and all I did was keep a tight grip on it. It was the only thing I was comfortable doing with my powers.
It would've been awesome if I could have practiced, maybe even have an advantage on my brother and many other demigods, but the reality of things was very different. Had I done something other than learning how to suppress my power I probably would have died many times over. My power calls to monsters, It would be like Isabella Swan slitting her wrists and then deciding to take a stroll around the Cullen house to see how many vampires would try playing 'suck the bottle' with her jugular. As it was, I had to be careful with the little training I did do.
In the beginning I was so scared I was going to attract Zeus or Hades' attention towards me and Percy, causing our deaths. I worried constantly but knew something had to be done. Two children of Poseidon, one destined to be one of his most powerful - if not the most powerful mortal child Poseidon ever fathered, and another child with the potential to go either way, living under one roof was just asking for trouble. Percy didn't know anything about our heritage so it fell to me to protect our family.
I figured out early on that our powers were tied to our emotions. Whenever Percy was truly angry I could almost feel this heaviness in the room. I could practically taste the salty smell of the sea, but a furious, roaring sea, not a calm one. Sometimes when he was angry enough and I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine standing on a wooden raft in the middle of a stormy ocean. I didn't know if it was because I was in essence a child of the sea or not, but I thought it felt magnificent. I imagine it would feel terrifying to other people, but to me it felt like being surrounded by my father's loving embrace - like home. It was hard not to piss my brother off on purpose just so I could feel that good. The only thing stopping me was the danger it posed to him when others would undoubtedly notice.
I think I did as well as could be expected in the end, without anyone to guide me. I didn't get us killed, that was a big plus in my book, and my awesome fishy powers were somewhat under wraps. I couldn't ask for more. It would serve me well later on, when everyone kept their eyes on Percy as the big threat, I could slip in unnoticed from behind. That was in essence the part I had appointed to myself; back up.
I had no will to change things for the better, had no grand design to save the world or my 'favorite character'. I only cared about my family. I would be Percy's support, make sure he wasn't alone, and always place him first. One of the things that stayed with me from my past life, besides my strange addiction to Fanta and the unhealthy and admittedly somewhat inappropriate relationship I had with it, was my complete and unwavering loyalty to people I deemed worthy.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't blind loyalty, never that. But as long as Percy was loyal to me, he would have mine, even if he was trying to take over the fucking world. I'd probably talk him out of it because it was wrong, and a lot of work, but I'd follow him if it was something he really wanted to do, and had a fairly good reason for doing it. That was just the way things had always been for me. I was loyal to the core but I took care where to place my loyalty. Percy had secured mine when he saved me from the snake; it didn't mean I wouldn't kick his ass if he was doing something that went against who he was, though. Sometimes people needed to have some sense bitch-slapped into them. I would gladly slap him silly, if it ever came to that.
I startled when Mr. Vogel cleared his throat giving me his glare of doom. I eeped and quickly payed attention. I might have been re-born with all my memories intact, would soon go out in the world to fight monsters and Titans, was the daughter of a god, had a brother who would end up saving the world, on more than one occasion, but that didn't mean Mr. Vogel didn't scare the ever loving shit out of me.
.
.
"I hate Mr. Vogel," Dag groaned after he read the detention note for the fifth time. I didn't blame him, I did a lot of re-reading too, thinking it had to be a mistake. Sadly, we really had received that much detention. My worry about ever seeing the light of day again, were long gone, I was now pretty fucking sure I wouldn't get to see it anytime soon.
"You hate what you fear," I told Dag sagely trying but failing to sound wise. My mother was way better at that than I was. Probably because I was anything but wise.
"I'm not afraid of him," he denied instantly, trying to sound brave.
I raised my eyebrows incredulously. "Who the hell are you trying to fool? I've seen you almost crap your pants whenever you think he's gong to call on you to answer a question in class."
"Yeah, well, screw you, Rhea. I don't remember seeing you do any better." he spluttered indignantly.
"So, I don't remember claiming anything different. I'm not ashamed to admit he scares me to death. Just one look from him gives me the chills. I don't know what the hell he was thinking becoming a school teacher. He should have just become a prison guard instead, especially with the way he goes about giving detention."
"Ugh," Dag said shuddering visibly. "Don't remind me," he muttered looking forlornly at the detention note still clutched in his hand.
"Don't worry about it. We'll just do the detention and things will die down again. You should seriously consider not walking with me to class though. You know how weird time runs around me. This is not gonna stop, I don't care how many detentions he assigns me. It's not like it's a choice or anything."
Dag looked thoughtful for a moment, before snickering amusedly. "Maybe you can convince them it's a handicap."
I snorted. "Yeah right, they're not that moronic. Although, how you convinced them there's something wrong with your legs just so you can get out of P.E still remains a mystery to me."
Like Grover, Dag walked with crutches to hide his hooves. It was one of the things that made me realize he was a Satyr, that and his unhealthy obsessions with my empty Fanta cans. We actually fit together pretty well with they way I drooled over the Fanta while he drooled over the can.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Dag denied, eyes wide with worry. "I told you, I have a muscle disease-"
"Whatever, dude," I interrupted casually, "Say what you want, I've seen you running like a fucking track star when you're worried about not making it in time to Mr. Vogel's class."
"Still don't know what you're talking about," he replied, still adamantly denying everything. Not that I ever thought he would come out and say it. That would've been stupid and reckless on his part.
"Right," I scoffed, "I don't think that's gonna work for me, trying to say it's a handicap. It would've been great if I could have though."
"Yeah," Dag sighed wishfully, all too willing to let go of the subject of his legs.
"Anyway, I gotta go. I reserved some time behind the computer to talk to my older brother, if I'm really lucky I'll get to actually see to him this time." it really had been too long since I last saw Percy. This separation thing sucked hairy ass.
"Oh."
He sounded surprised. It was probably because this was the most information I had ever volunteered about my brother without prompting.
"See you later, Dag."
"See ya, Rhea. Say hi to your big brother."
"Will do," I smiled widely before making my way to the computer room.
.
.
Although I had told Dag I was hoping to see my brother, I had very little hope. We rarely saw each other, I was always a bit too late or too early, time truly was my curse in this life. So when I logged on and saw that Percy was online, it was a big surprise. I didn't even have time to marvel at the unusual stroke of good luck before he invited me for a webcam conversation. I eagerly accepted, nervously fixing my hair as if I was going on a first date.
"Rhea."
He sounded strangely...relieved, and he looked like he hadn't slept in a while. This was worrying to me. Despite everything against him Percy was a good kid, a happy kid. In fact he was seldom unhappy, and when he was it was mostly because of someone else. Like how he hated our mother having to put up with stinky Gabe when she deserved so much better.
"Percy," I grinned cheerfully. "How have you been?"
He leaned in, bringing his face closer to the webcam and exhaled loudly out of his nose. "Paranoid. Insane, maybe? I'm not sure."
Oooo-kay? There was clearly something going on there. "What's wrong?" I asked, feeling slightly anxious.
"Rhea, something weird is going on, and I'm talking Invasion of the Body snatchers weird here, not the usual one-eyed stalker weird."
Alright, definitely something going on with him. "What happened?" I asked urgently, "What do you need?"
"I need the second opinion of someone who I know won't lock me up in a nut house or worse, turn me into one of the pod people. The worst thing is...I think Grover's in on it. I'm not really sure I can trust him because I know he's lying to me, but on the other hand he looks like he really doesn't wanna lie, and is feeling really guilty about it. You know?" he rambled in a very un-Percy like way.
"No. No I don't." okay that was a big fat lie. I was starting to have an idea what this was about. "Take a deep breath, calm down and tell me what happened."
"Yes...okay...deep breath...I can do that."
My brother was clearly freaking out. This was strange, he didn't seem so freaked out in the books. Was there more going on than I initially though? Fuck. I hated this. Things were too different, we were fourteen years old instead of twelve or sixteen. I assumed I knew what he was talking about but in all honesty, Hades could have come himself instead of one of the Furies. My knowledge of how events were going to unfold was worth shit with the way things kept shifting around me.
I studied my brother carefully, noticing he was still busy taking a deep, very deep breath. I could only hope he wasn't going to pass out with the way he was behaving.
"That's good," I said trying to calm him down. "Why don't you take another deep breath just in case, and start your story."
"Okay," he exhaled heavily. "The first weird thing that happened was water coming out of a fountain in the form of a hand to grab Nancy Bobofit and pull her into the fountain. Crazy right? I know, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who saw, and for some reason, no one seems to remember but me - and Grover, but he's lying about it."
"Alright... So the water came out of the fountain...by itself?"
"Yes!" he yelled desperately. "I swear, it was like magic or something. Normally I'd say she deserved it, I mean she was being so obnoxious even the water took offence and tried to drown her. But there was something... I don't know, it was weird - weirder than usual I mean."
"That is strange. I've seen a couple of freaky things, we both have, but I haven't seen water act like it has a will of its own."
"I know," he replied softly, thoughtful almost. "It was weird 'cause I was really angry, Rhea, and in that moment I wanted to punch her so bad..." he trailed off, still looking very deep in thought. He looked up at the webcam, making eye contact, "But you believe me right?" he asked hopefully.
I sighed deeply. Of course I believed him, hell I knew exactly what happened. I hated lying to him, so much. Sadly, that was just the way things had to be between us. I would never tell him about being re-born, or about the things I knew.
"Yeah, I believe you." his grin was blinding, his eyes smiling warmly in happiness and relief. I was the worst sister in the entire fucking world. "But this still doesn't mean I believe that fish was actually talking to you though," I grinned hoping to light my mood by bringing up happy memories. "I'll figure out who gave you drugs and kick both your asses."
I almost burst out in laughter just remembering his face when he came running out of the ocean like the hounds of hell were on his tail, screaming about talking fish. I almost pissed myself laughing at him. I knew it was probably true, but seriously, his face when he tried to convince me he met a talking fish was priceless.
"I wasn't doing drugs, honestly!" he yelped indignantly. "I know it sounds weird but I swear to God it talked to me."
I shook my head slowly, "Uh-huh, still don't believe it."
"Well at least you believe me about Nancy, no one else does."
"I believe you, now tell me the rest."
"So the second weird thing; Mrs. Dodds, please, please tell me you remember her?" he begged desperately.
"Your pre-algebra teacher right, the one that hates your guts?" it was exactly what I thought it was about. I hoped it would be at least somewhat similar to the books.
"Yes! Thank God you remember her!" he exclaimed with relief. "So Mrs. Dodds, you know the teacher from hell, turned into an actual freaking creature from hell and tried to kill me." he didn't look good. He was very pale and his sea-green eyes seemed too large for his face, as he waited for my reaction. I could only imagine what he thought I'd say, but he almost sagged in relief when denial wasn't my response.
I knew this would happen, well expected it anyway, or something very similar at the very least. But now that it actually had I was...furious. How dare that fucking bitch try to kill my brother?! Then came the panic and images of Percy all alone having to defend himself against that hellish freak. I would annihilate her for trying to harm my brother. The rage that overcame was surprising to say the least. I wanted to find her and tear her limb from limb, show her not to fuck with a child of the sea. I wanted to... I shook my head dazedly, trying to clear it of the rage. I only half succeeded. What the fuck was that? Why was I suddenly overcome with desire to bathe in her blood. Ugh disgusting.
Shock and horror must have shown on my face because Percy nodded in agreement, "Yeah, so not kidding. And as if that wasn't weird enough, Mr. Brunner came wheeling in, threw a pen at me and told me to kill it with said pen. Isn't that the weirdest thing ever? No, it really isn't 'cause the pen he threw at me turned into a freaking sword and I killed her with it. only there wasn't any blood 'cause she turned into a sand castle and...and... Rhea, Sis, I think I'm going out of my mind here," he rambled, sounding panicked.
"I know it happened, I mean it did happen, but as soon as she was dead, destroyed, turned into sand, whatever, everything changed. Suddenly I was alone, no Mr. Brunner, no Mrs. Dodds, no sword, nothing. The only thing I could think of was find Mr. Brunner and ask what the hell was going on, so I did. But then when I found him he was all like 'Percy my boy, you've come to return the pen you borrowed.' Only I hadn't borrowed anything from him, especially not a pen that could transform into a sword, because first of all; what the hell would I need pen for, to write down notes about a museum trip I hadn't wanted to go on? And secondly; if I was suddenly overcome with the insane urge to write down why the all powerful Titan Kronos needed a prescription for glasses because he couldn't tell the difference between a rock and his youngest kid, I wouldn't have needed to borrow a pen 'cause I already had one in my pocket."
"So he was lying," I summarized.
"Yes."
"And he was expecting you to buy it because...?"
"Well he obviously thinks I'm a moron," he pointed out dryly.
"Obviously," I drawled. "Seems like he's got your number."
"Oh, shut up." he smirked, "Anyway, I clearly didn't buy it so he must have been reading the wrong kind of phone book."
"What happened then?"
"Nothing. Not really anyway. Grover keeps lying, which is so obvious, I'm almost embarrassed for him. And the entire world is acting like there was no Mrs. Dodds, like she never even existed. Everyone keeps giving me these looks like there's something wrong with me when it's clear to see they were the ones that got whammied by the alien pod-people."
I snorted involuntarily. "Seriously, you're blaming this on aliens?" of all the things he could have used to explain away everything that had been happening around him, he went on the alien route. Un-fucking-believable.
"Yeah, what the hell else should I think?"
"Witches, and magic maybe? Hell, you could've gone with drugs that induced hallucinations, but aliens?"
He sighed exasperatedly. "How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not doing drugs. Seriously Rhea, the fish was talking to me."
"Yes, and I'm sure whatever it had to say was very interesting, but unless it told you what to do in the unlikely event your school was taken over by aliens, I think we'll put the talking fish in the 'Don't bring it up 'cause people will think I'm insane' box for the time being."
"Fine," he almost pouted, "whatever. Does that mean you believe me about the pod people though? I gotta admit it's unlikely, but what else could it be?"
"Many things. But yes, I believe you. I'm not sold on your alien theory, but it's all we've got, for now anyway."
He smiled brightly, making me smile back without even wanting to. His smile was irritatingly infectious like that. "So what do we do? What's the plan?"
"It's clear that Mr. Brunner is at the center of this, do you agree?"
"Yeah, I guess. He did give me the pen...that turned into a sword...and then told me to kill my teacher from hell with it." he frowned thoughtfully, "I think that's the weirdest thing I've ever said."
I snorted, "I very much doubt that Mr. 'I can talk to fish'."
"If I have to put it in the 'Don't bring it up 'cause people will think I'm insane' box, then it's only fair that you do too, Rhea," he teased lightly. "So you think Mr. Brunner is behind all this, huh? Grover too, I think. There's something between them, something..."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Are you trying to tell me Grover and Mr. Brunner are together...like having sex, together?"
Alright that image needed to be bleached out of my mind immediately. I didn't know whether I should laugh my ass off, or...well honestly...laugh my ass off.
Percy's face contorted in disgust. "Oh that's nasty," he exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing saying things like that? You shouldn't even know about things like sex. And why did you have to put that picture in my head, I need brain bleach, lots and lots of brain bleach."
I chuckled amusedly. "I know about sex Percy."
"Well you shouldn't," he said firmly, his cheeks tinted red with embarrassment. "There should be a law that says so."
"You know about sex, don't you? Everyone our age knows about sex, it's only natural that I do too," I said still amused at my brother's over-protectiveness. In the future I could see it getting old very fast, especially if he tried to stop me in my quest of getting laid. But for now it was cute enough.
"Yeah, but you're my sister, that's completely different."
I snorted loudly an burst out in laughter. "I'll just let you keep your delusions for now Perseus, it'll be so much more fun to shatter them later."
"Don't call me Perseus!" he snapped reflexively. He was such an easy target to rile.
"Now tell me what you think I should do about this mess. I'm thinking of playing James Bond, maybe poke around a bit, but I'm not sure if I should." he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "You know me, with the luck I have they'll catch me, turn me into one of them, and make me marry their king or something equally disturbing."
I smirked widely, knowing that if the situation was different, and there really were aliens instead of characters from Greek mythology running around, it probably would turn out that way. Percy could have some of the worst of luck sometimes.
"I don't think you should go 007, at least not while we know so little about what's going on, and especially not without me there to veto the most idiotic ideas you come up with. For the time being just observe. You said Grover is a bad liar, right?"
"The worse," he agreed. "I don't know if it's because he doesn't want to lie to me, or if he's just naturally that bad, but I can see right through him."
"Well there you go," I retorted with a smile. "You found your weak link. Just try not to let on that you know more than they think you do. Knowing you, you won't be able to restrain yourself for long," I teased, knowing how he would eventually blurt it out to Grover almost giving the poor Satyr a heart attack, "But try to use when you drop this information to your advantage, catch them off guard, but don't do anything stupid," I cautioned.
I knew he'd probably be fine, but I couldn't help but worry. This wasn't a book or movie anymore, after all, it was now the reality we lived in.
"Alright, I can do that," he agreed easily.
I smiled softly at my brother. "Good. Let me know what else you find out, I'll need to know in advance if I have to go find mom's old shot gun and come rescue you from an unwanted marriage."
Percy grinned widely. "Mom doesn't have a shotgun, Rhea."
"I know, I'm just saying-"
"-Be careful," he interjected, "Yeah, I get it."
"Good. So what else is new in the exciting life of Perseus Jackson?"
"Don't call me Perseus, Rhea!" he snapped before giving me a detailed description about what happened to Grover the last time they had Enchilada day at school.
I tried letting go of my worries while my brother filled me in about his life, but it was hard. All I could do to alleviate my worries was focus on the book future, and tell myself he would be fine. However, knowing how little was going according to plan, I was far from reassured.
Oh well, in the words of the great Faith Lehane 'Thank the gods I'm a hot chick with superpowers'.
A/N: Thanks for all your reviews, they mean a lot. Please let me know what you think? I'm desperate for some feedback.
A lot of people weren't sure if I meant favorite Percy Jackson books, or fanfiction and gave me both, so I decided to do the same.
Answer: Favorite Percy Jackson book is The Last Olympian, and favorite fanfiction is Waking Up The Ghost by Perseia Jackson. It's an AU: Fem!Percy story. I quite like those, check it out if you're interested, and let me know what you think. I have a million people to talk about the books I like, but no one to talk to about the fanfiction stories I enjoy reading.
QUESTION: name your favorite Percy Jackson character (from both series) and tell me why he or she is your favorite. You can name more than one if you can't choose.
