CHAPTER 4:
Piper POV
I felt so bad for Percy and Annabeth. How could this happen to them? They were the sweetest demigods on the planet and they were the ones that were tortured the worst.
After Hazel manipulated the Mist, Percy's mortal friend Juliet was still looking confused, and I started to think that she could be a demigod.
I walked up to her, with Hazel and Clarisse flanking my sides.
I charmspoke.
"If you are ADHD and/or dyslexic and have a single parent, raise your hand please." She didn't raise a hand. Hmm…
"Have you seen strange things that no one else ever seems to see?" I ask. She nods.
"You'll forget that I just asked any questions, alright?" I ask overly sweet. She nodded.
I walked back to the demigod group, leaving her shaking her head, confused. "I think we have a clear-sighted mortal." They nodded. Right then Thalia arrived.
"They're fine. I think they'll be here soon." She said. I relayed my newfound information to her and she nodded. As if on cue, Percy and Annabeth arrived at the doorway, holding hands tightly, and Annabeth's eyes still a little watery. Chiron waved them over.
"Are you children alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pick that one." He whispered.
They smiled weakly. "It's not your fault Chiron." Annabeth protested, glaring at Krystal.
He smiled at her. "Piper believes that she found clear-sighted mortal. Juliet is clear-sighted." The two nodded.
Percy's jaw dropped. "How did I not realize that?" He asked, astonished.
Annabeth kissed his cheek lightly. "'Cause you're a Seaweed Brain." She said, matter-of-factly.
He smiled, "But I'm your Seaweed Brain, right?" He said, and she laughed while nodding. We were all relieved that they were not dwelling on what just happened.
The bell rang and we all walked to English with Percy's stepdad. The mortals followed, and Juliet kept asking questions. After the probably 179th, Percy cracked. "We'll explain it later on, at my house after school." He said, in a tone that had no negotiating.
In English class, Paul said that we'd be reading the Odyssey. All of us demigods exchanged smirks.
"If anyone would like the Greek copy, they can get it. You all have to read the first chapter, and then we will discuss. But first, does anyone have anything to say about this book?" Paul asked.
Percy and Annabeth exchanged looks.
Annabeth POV
I raised my hand. "Pau- Mr. Blofis, do you believe that Polyphemus, the Cyclops, would fall for the Nobody trick again?" I asked, the picture of innocence. Percy, Grover and Clarisse were stifling their laughter.
Paul subtly winked at me. "That is a good question, does anyone think that they have an answer?" He asked.
Clarisse raised her hand and he called on her.
"In my opinion, Polyphemus would have an old grudge against Nobody, and he would fall for that trick again. Even if the Nobody was, perhaps, younger and female." She said, failing to keep a straight face. Paul laughed and started passing out books, giving all of us Greek copies.
Thank goodness no one noticed that we had the Greek copies. We all read the story incredibly fast and waited patiently for everyone else to finish. Then we discussed the first book. Eventually the bell rang, and we all piled out, ready for PE.
In the locker rooms, as I took off my shirt, I heard gasps. I turned around, confused.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
A girl, I think her name was Madison, answered in a shaky tone. "Y-y-your back h-h-has all th-th-these sc-sc-scars." She said as if I didn't already know that. I shrugged.
A few of the meaner girls (coughKrystalcough) started teasing me about my scars.
I just rolled my eyes, pretending like the comments didn't hurt and finished changing. Piper, Hazel, Thalia, Clarisse and Katie all gave me sympathetic looks as I walked out of the locker rooms and immediately found Percy.
He saw the sad look on my face and wrapped his arms around me. "What happened Wise Girl?" He asked worriedly.
I shrugged, not meeting his eyes. "Just a couple girls made fun of my scars." I whispered. His eyes darkened and he gripped my hand tighter.
"I think you're beautiful, even with the scars, because your scars make you who you are. I love you, and I love each and everyone of your scars, after all, I was there when you got most of them, and each scar is a memory, right?" He said, and I nodded, the tears left my eyes. "Like this scar," He said, rolling up his sleeve, showing me a thin scar, "you weren't really there when I got it, because it was when you about to get captured by Dr. Thorn, he shot one of his spikes at me and poisoned me. But even though it wasn't a great memory, it's still a part of me." He says, and I gently kiss the scar. He smiles at me, right then, the rest of the girls and boys came from the locker rooms.
The demigods circled around me, the girls asking me questions, like if I was okay. I nodded.
Right then, Coach Hedge appeared. He had a soft spot for demigods in general, but he really loved the Seven. Even though he was a bit mad about the stables incident, he still loved us all.
So, naturally, when we saw him, the Seven all ran to him. "Coach!" We chorused.
"Cupcakes!" He shouted back. We all hugged him.
"How are (AN: I don't know Coach's kid's name, so I'm making one up) Marissa and Mellie?" I asked. His eyes lit up.
"They're great, Marissa, floated all by herself yesterday." He said proudly. We all whooped for her. He told us to sit down, because he had a surprise for us.
He held up his bullhorn. "WE ARE DOING A SWORD FIGHTING/SELF DEFENSE UNIT! THE COW SAYS MOO! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU VALDEZ! QUACK QUACK! WE HAVE A FEW 'TEACHERS' FROM THE CAMP I AM A PART OF! CROAK! HERE ARE MALCOLM CHASE AND WILL SOLACE!" He shouted. We all laughed at Leo's additions. But when Malcolm and Will showed up, we all ran to them. I hugged both of them, kissing Malcolm's cheek.
"How you doing, Mal?" I asked after he lifted me up and spun me around. I'm his favorite little sister, so he babies me sometimes.
"Good, how are you, Annabeth?" He asked me. I smiled. "Fine."
Juliet, Rebecca, Alex, Max and Sam walked over to us. They had horrified looks on their faces, they probably thought that I was cheating on Percy. Like Hades.
I introduced them to him and Will. "Malcolm, Will, these are Juliet, Rebecca, Alex, Max and Sam, and you guys, this is my half-brother Malcolm, and our friend Will." They all nodded. Juliet looked a little disappointed. I had a feeling that she liked Percy…
Coach Hedge broke up our little reunion. "Let's have one demonstration, then Malcolm, you start with sword fighting and Will you start with archery, anyone you want can help." We nodded. Malcolm and Will exchanged looks, grinning.
They cleared their throats in front of class. "We will have a demonstration. Percy and Annabeth! You demonstrate!" They screamed in unison. We smiled. As we walked to the mat, they said that we should just use our own weapons. Percy uncapped Riptide and I brought out my dagger. Juliet yelped. Hades, I thought. I forgot she was clear-sighted. Oh well.
Coach blew his whistle and Percy and I circled around each other. The demigods were placing bets on us. Half the people bet on Percy, the other half bet on me, Malcolm, however bet that it would end in a tie. The mortals were rolling their eyes.
Finally, Percy stepped towards me, and slashed. I sidestepped and stabbed. He moved out of the way just in time. He kicked down my legs, and I somersaulted. The mortals were now watching intently. Percy kicked my legs again, and I fell. He tackled me, but I lifted up my feet, and kicked his chest. Using his chest as leverage, I back-flipped in the air and landed in front of him. He looked impressed. I smirked inwardly. He slashed and stabbed in quick recession and me and I barely dodged. I was ducking, so I aimed a stab at his leg. He hopped away. We both were barely sweating. He slashed towards my neck, and it was years of demigod training that saved my life. I ducked, and then kicked Percy down. He weighed a lot, but I fell on top of him. I tried holding him down, but then he flipped upwards, so he was standing up. He grabbed me from behind, and I twisted his arm quickly getting away from him. We both slashed at the same time, and our weapons hit with a clang. I twisted his around, but he managed to keep his grip. We kept fighting until his sword was at my chest and my dagger was at throat. This took about 30 minutes. There was a stunned silence.
The demigods all clapped. There were a few curses when people lost their money. Malcolm got a bunch of money because he bet that we would tie, everyone else bet on either Percy or me. The mortals were still staring at us.
Malcolm cleared his throat. "Anyone who wants to try sword fighting go to that side of the gym with me, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Leo, the Stolls and Clarisse. If you want to do archery, stay with Will, Thalia, Frank, Katie and Chris." The still-shocked mortals made their way to one side of the gym or the other.
Malcolm split the sword fighting group into two groups and had a few instructors for each group. We taught the basics. We didn't dare teach anything that we actually learned at camp, because these lucky mortals would never need to use this knowledge. They used wooden swords, but Juliet still eyed them warily.
When Coach called for us to go, we all piled into the locker rooms and showered and changed.
I walked out of the locker rooms and saw a perfectly dry Percy. "Seaweed Brain, will you dry me off please?" I ask sweetly. He closed his eyes and I felt myself completely dried also. I kissed him lightly as a thank you.
We waited for everyone else, and when they showed up we walked to the parking lot. Percy, Thalia, Nico, Hazel, Frank and I walked to Percy's sea green car that his dad got him as a 17th birthday present. It was a convertible and absolutely gorgeous. I sat in the passenger seat, leaving the others to squeeze in the back. Jason, Piper, Leo, and Grover all went in Jason's car, while Clarisse, Chris, Katie and the Stolls went in Chris's car. The mortals went in Alex's car.
We drove over to Percy's apartment building. I hopped out and ran inside and to their apartment door before anyone else. Sally had given me a spare key, so I let myself in.
"Mrs. Bl- Sally?" I called, stumbling over her name. I heard voices in the kitchen, so I walked in there. Sitting there were Sally and Lady Aphrodite. Oh Hades no.
"Hi there Sally! And hello Lady Aphrodite." I say respectfully. Sally hopped up and hugged me, and then Aphrodite did. I was a little wary, because you see, Aphrodite really wanted me and Percy to have a tragic love story, but no one else really wanted that… So you see my dilemma.
"Annabeth, I heard that you and a few others were all coming, but the problem is that I really don't have enough room. But then Lady Aphrodite appeared and said that the gods built a house for all of you. Your mother did the architecture, Poseidon made sure there was an indoor and an outdoor pool, Lord Zeus made it so it was powered for eternity, Ladies Hera and Hestia decorated, Lady Demeter stocked it up with food for eternity, Lady Aphrodite filled everyone's wardrobes, Lord Hermes made sure there was a garage and vehicles for most everyone, Lord Hephaestus made monster-proof electronics for you all, Lord Ares made the training room, Lord Dionysus made the party room, Lord Apollo filled it with ambrosia, nectar and other healing supplies, Lady Artemis gave you a gorgeous skylight and Lord Hades gave you all unlimited debit cards, one for mortal money and one for drachmas. There will be a room for just about everyone, and some extras also. All of your belongings have been transported there already. And it is mostly protected like how it is at camp, there might be a few monster attacks here and there, but not nearly as many as there would be otherwise." I processed that all. NO WAY. NOWAYNOWAY! I squealed and hugged Sally again then Lady Aphrodite also.
They both laughed. "Also, Annabeth, darling, I have to tell you two things. First, you are all needed on Olympus tomorrow after school, and secondly, I'm done with you and Percy's love story. No more drama! You guys can get married and have kids and EEP! They'll be so cute!" I blushed slightly, but thanked Lady Aphrodite nonetheless.
Right then, I heard a key turning in the lock and realized that the others were probably here now. Lady Aphrodite smiled and told me to tell Piper that she said hi, then vanished.
The others walked in and smiled at Sally.
I whispered to Sally quickly. "Do you think you can distract the mortals quickly, so I can explain the new house situation?" She nodded. She called them over to help with something. As fast as demigod-ly possible, I explained what Aphrodite told me. There was silence, then cheers.
"Also, I have exciting news! First, we are going to Olympus tomorrow after school, and Aphrodite finally said that she was finished with the drama in Percy and my love story. We can just be happy now!" I said kissing Percy happily. He returned the kiss enthusiastically.
Thalia was screaming, "ETERNAL MAIDEN HERE!" so we finally parted. I turned to everyone and they were smiling happily for us. They knew what a pain we had getting to where we were today, so they were glad that the drama in our life was over.
Chris then interrupted the celebrating. "I think we should tell the mortals, because we know that Juliet is clear-sighted, so we might as well tell everyone." We sighed, but nodded.
"Let's move into the house after we explain the situation to the mortals." Clarisse decided, and we all nodded.
Just then, Sally came back with the mortals. We lead them to the couch, and took a deep breath.
"This might be hard for you to process, but don't interrupt until we are done." I say.
Then Thalia took it over. "You know the Greek and Roman myths?" She asked. Here we go.
