A/N: Greetings! As of lately, I've been obsessed with the Percy Jackson novels - and the movies I'm on a bit of a Greek mythology kick at the moment. And I've found stories like this across the website that have never been completed, so I figured I could do my own where the Seven and Nico read passages that are from the Percy Jackson books, reacting to it as if they're reading from a journal entry. I'm determined to be one of those authors who finishes a story like this. So be sure to provide feedback in the reviews!
Chapters will be labeled based off which character is reading.
Chapter 1 – Percy and Jason
The war against Gaea had ended. The Seven had succeeded, uniting Camps Jupiter and Halfblood – something no one thought would be a possibility. But as Percy sat up on his bunk in the Poseidon cabin, he felt a rush of pride soar through him as he kept his hand linked with his girlfriend's.
Annabeth looked exhausted, yet somehow, he never got tired of looking at her. He would never allow anything to tear them apart from one another. After she'd judo flipped him at Camp Jupiter after they'd passionately kissed in front of everyone, he'd made the promise to himself that he would never leave. They'd gone into the depths of Tartarus for each other. Now, they were borderline inseparable and slept beside one another every night. And as for the other couples, those being Frank and Hazel, and Piper and Jason, their relationships had only grown stronger as a result.
"Well, that was one hell of a summer," commented Percy as he remained stretched out on his bunk, holding Annabeth closely to him. His fingers ran through her blonde curls as he breathed in her scent – a scent so distinctive, he could never ascertain what it was. All he knew was, whenever she was near, she brought him peace.
"Tell me about," replied Piper, snuggling under Jason's warm hold. As he kissed her forehead, she felt a spark of electricity – it wasn't uncommon that whenever they shared an affectionate moment, Jason's elemental powers would act up. In many ways, Piper was proud that she had that effect on him.
"But, let's look at it this way," said Nico, grinning. "This means there won't be another war –"
"Never assume, Nico," said Leo. "When you think one prophecy is over, there's always another."
"And some could take hundreds of years before they come true," Annabeth said.
"What about the first prophecy?" asked Frank.
"What do you mean?"
"The very first one, from when you guys were –" Frank's voice trailed off.
Annabeth and Percy both cast each other a glance. Annabeth's eyes held the strangest hint of sadness. Hearing Frank bring it up brought back everything . . . the losses, the betrayals, the hurt, the torment, and the never-ending dreams they'd experienced. Everything had mounted up, culminating in the deaths of Beckendorf, Silena, and Luke. They were memories they'd rather forget about. But the memories remained permeated.
"It seems like so long ago," whispered Annabeth, turning to glance at her boyfriend.
Percy closed his sea green eyes as he leaned a kiss to Annabeth's lips, brushing his finger over them. His breath always smelled of saltwater taffy – blue saltwater taffy.
"There was so much that happened in those five years," he murmured. "You could write a book of it all."
"You sound like you already have," mumbled Hazel as Frank's arm tightened around her.
"I've kept journals of everything that occurred," said Percy. "I figured I should hold onto it . . . in case I ever have kids and they ask me about all I'd done. I don't think I could explain it all to them in one seating."
"Like the show How I Met Your Mother," sighed Piper. "You're right. We've had a lot of crazy things happen to us over these years. Probably too much to account for."
Silence washed over them. All they heard was the sea in the background, crashing into the waves. The smell of the strawberry fields overwhelmed them. But hearing that Percy had kept journals of everything he'd gone through with Annabeth, it left the other members of the Seven, as well as Nico, intrigued. Their curiosity getting the better of them, Piper spoke up.
"Percy?" she asked. "Do you mind if we see what's in one of your journals?"
Percy raised an eyebrow as he turned his head to glance at her. "Why?" he asked.
"Because we hear around here how you paved the way for everyone else," said Jason. "And we'd want to know how, and why. It's not just your history. It's ours."
Percy hesitated. The thought of his friends looking so deeply into his past left him unsettled. There were things that had been downright ugly . . . things he hadn't even revealed to Annabeth. They were his deepest secrets . . . his personal thoughts that he'd documented through the years. But he also knew eventually, he would have to tell them what happened.
"Are you sure you'd want to read all that? And unlock all the baggage?" he asked.
"Baggage isn't always a bad thing, right?" asked Leo.
"Yes," Percy said tightly. "But there's also a lot that you guys don't know. And once you know it, it'll change everything."
"We know," said Frank. "But we can handle it."
Percy swallowed hard before glancing at Annabeth. She tangled her fingers in his messy black hair before kissing his jaw gently. Percy rose from his bed, allowing Annabeth to sit up as he went to his desk, which had been organized thanks to Annabeth. Annabeth had neatly stacked his journals in one corner of the desk, with each one labeled as "Journal One – The Lightning Thief," etcetera, etcetera.
Percy grabbed the thick notebook labeled "The Lightning Thief." And as he clutched it in his hand, he felt his heart race. He was about to reveal everything, most of which she knew, but quite a bit she didn't have a clue about. Sitting back down on his bunk, he opened the notebook to reveal his handwriting – a lot of which was written in ancient Greek for the sake of him understanding what was on the page.
"Are you guys sure about this?" he asked.
"We are," Jason assured him, flashing his best friend a smile.
Percy managed a smile in return. Swallowing, he glanced down at the page and saw the title of his first chapter – "I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher."
"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood," he said.
"None of us wanted this," murmured Hazel, sighing.
"If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is this: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life," Percy continued, swallowing hard.
"Yeah, we all wish we could," sighed Piper.
"Being a half-blood is dangerous," Percy continued to read.
"Agreed," Nico piped up.
"It's scary," Percy said.
"Yep," Leo sighed.
"Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways," Percy said. "If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages – if you feel something stirring inside – stop reading immediately."
"Too late now," murmured Hazel.
"Hopefully, we don't regret this," Jason said.
"You might be one of us," Percy continued. "And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you. Don't say I didn't warn you."
The other members of the Seven shuddered. They could only imagine what Percy was about to recount.
"My name is Percy Jackson," he said. "I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid? Yeah, you could say that."
"I think we can all agree," murmured Frank, sighing heavily.
Percy swallowed before continuing to read. Annabeth squeezed his knee comfortingly. "I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan – twenty-eight mental case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. I know – it sounds like torture."
Annabeth interrupted with a sharp elbow to his ribs. Percy let out an "Ow!" sound.
"Aww, did that hurt you?" Annabeth cooed.
Percy smiled sheepishly as she leaned in to kiss his ribs. But then she slapped his arm. "You're such a baby!" she said teasingly.
Percy grinned at her slightly before continuing. "Most Yancy field trips were. But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip. So, I had hopes."
Percy smiled fondly as he read what came up next. "Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep."
Annabeth looked at him incredulously. "Wait . . . you slept in school?!"
"Oh, like you didn't!" Percy told her, shaking his head.
"Never," said Annabeth, shaking her head.
"Geek," Percy teased.
"Fish brain," Annabeth teased right back.
"That's new," Percy laughed, playfully shoving her shoulder. But he continued to read, sighing. "I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped for once I wouldn't get in trouble. Boy was I wrong. See, bad things happen to me on field trips."
"I'm sure most of us experienced something similar," said Piper. "My charmspeak got me in trouble with the police plenty of times."
"Really? You Pipes?" Percy asked, grinning.
"It was things like, asking to borrow a car, or some money. It would put those people in a trance that I couldn't control," she said.
"Well, that charmspeak is good for many things," purred Jason.
"Oh, are you trying to turn me on, Sparky?" Piper asked.
"I have to try now?" Jason asked her, kissing her playfully.
Percy cleared his throat to continue. "Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus –"
Jason and Leo snickered, grinning up at him.
"But of course, I got expelled anyway," Percy continued. "And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk, and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that . . . well, you get the idea. This trip, I was determined to be good. All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich."
"Gross! How could anyone eat that?" Piper commented, making a face. Hazel nodded in agreement, shaking her head.
"Grover was an easy target," he continued. "He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin."
"Oh, Grover would love that!" Annabeth said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"On top of all that, he was crippled," Percy said. "He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria."
Percy smiled fondly at the memory of when he and Grover had been in school together. But he continued. "Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or mildly entertaining happened on this trip."
Percy closed his eyes before continuing to speak. "'I'm going to kill her,' I mumbled."
"Please tell me you did!" pleaded Nico.
"Grover tried to calm me down. 'It's okay. I like peanut butter.' He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. 'That's it.'"
"Do it!" Hazel said, her eyes widening with excitement at the thought of Nancy Bobofit getting what she deserved.
"I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat."
"Oh, come on, Grover!" groaned Nico. "You couldn't have let him deck her?! Really?"
"'You're already on probation,' he reminded me. 'You know who'll get blamed if anything happens.' Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there."
"You should have," agreed Jason. "It would've served her right."
Percy smiled bitterly. "In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into."
"What was the mess you got into?" asked Jason wearily.
Percy shuddered at the memory, closing his eyes before passing the book to Jason. "Do you want to continue?"
Jason nodded, picking up from where Percy left off. "Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years."
"Way more than that," grinned Leo.
"More like millions," said Hazel.
Jason continued to read. "He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye."
As Jason read, the others felt a cold sensation run down their spines. Nico, Percy, and Annabeth looked especially uncomfortable. Annabeth shifted under Percy's arms.
"She was your first monster?" whispered Piper, guessing.
Percy nodded, shivering as Jason continued. "Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown."
"They always do," groaned Nico, shuddering as he remembered his former vice principal, Dr. Thorn.
"From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn," said Jason, continuing. But he was interrupted when Hazel muttered, "If anyone's the devil spawn, it's me and you, little bro." Nico sighed in agreement. He didn't even seem to care if it pissed off his dad who remained in the Underworld.
"She would point her crooked finger at me and say, 'Now honey,' real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month," Jason continued. "One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was humans. He looked at me, real serious, and said, 'You're absolutely right.'"
"Wow, Grover! Way to blow your cover!" Annabeth said, shaking her head.
"I hadn't caught onto anything yet," Percy said, shaking his head.
"Still, he could've been more subtle!" Annabeth said, rolling her grey eyes hard.
"Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art," said Jason as he kept on reading. "Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, 'Will you shut up?'"
"Thank the gods!" said Hazel. "That girl was seriously getting on my nerves! I'm glad you told her to shut up!"
"It came out louder than I meant it to," Jason continued. "The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. 'Mr. Jackson,' he said, 'did you have a comment?' My face was totally red. I said, 'No, sir.' Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. 'Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?' I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. 'That's Kronos eating his kids, right?' 'Yes,' Mr. Brunner answered, obviously not satisfied. 'And he did this because . . .' 'Well . . .' I racked my brain to remember. 'Kronos was the king god, and –'"
Annabeth's eyes widened, especially as they heard a distant sound of thunder, and the lake starting to pick up in little waves. Obviously, Percy's description in the book had pissed of Zeus and Poseidon.
"Sorry, Dad," murmured Percy. At another flash of lightning, he added, "Sorry, Uncle." But upon feeling a snowy owl land upon his shoulders, and feeling the owl's wise, grey eyes glaring at him, he added, "Sorry, Athena. I didn't mean –"
"We don't expect you to get it perfect each time," Piper said, her voice laced with her charmspeak as she looked at Percy reassuringly, and the owl flew off, obviously having accepted Percy's apology.
Jason continued to read. "'God?' Mr. Brunner asked. 'Titan,' I corrected myself."
"There you go!" grinned Frank, slapping Percy's knee teasingly.
"'And . . . he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Krono ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters –' 'Eeew!' said one of the girls behind me. ' –and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans,' I continued, 'and the gods won.'"
"At least you memorized it," said Annabeth, smiling teasingly. "I'm shocked."
"What? You have no faith in me?" Percy asked.
"Your head is so full of seaweed, I didn't think you'd remember anything," joked Annabeth, before kissing him sweetly which caused Piper to coo slightly.
Jason smiled at the two. They embodied everything he could ever hope to have with Piper. They showed what true love looked like. He continued to read. "Some snickers from the group. Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, 'Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.''"
"I'm hating this girl more and more," Nico groaned.
"I should have gotten a medal for putting up with her as much as I did," Percy said.
Jason continued. "'And why, Mr. Jackson,' Brunner said, 'to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?'"
The Seven all laughed together as Leo said, "Busted!"
"'Busted,' Grover muttered," Jason said. "'Shut up,' Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears."
"More like horse ears," grinned Frank, snickering.
"I thought about his question, and shrugged. 'I don't know, sir.' 'I see.' Mr. Brunner looked disappointed," Jason said. "'Well, half-credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feet Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach.'"
"Gross," muttered Frank, shuddering at the thought.
"'The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?'" Jason continued.
"A happy note?" inquired Hazel.
"I guess he was trying to make things less grim," shrugged Percy.
Jason continued on. "The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, 'Mr. Jackson.' I knew what was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. 'Sir?' Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go – intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years and had seen everything."
"He has seen everything there is to see," whispered Nico.
"'You must learn the answer to my question, Mr. Jackson,' Mr. Brunner told me. 'About the Titans?' 'About real life. And how your studies apply to it.'"
Percy sighed as he leaned back on his bed, allowing Annabeth to wrap her arms around him. "I didn't realize it at the time. My whole life was about to change. Everything. And there was no warning about it. My mom just kept moving me from school to school, and I hadn't had a clue. But I was twelve! How was I supposed to guess that this would be my life?!"
Annabeth tightened her arms around him and kissed his head. "I know," she murmured as Jason kept reading.
"'Oh.' 'What you learn from me,' he said, 'is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.' I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard. I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: 'What ho!' and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disordered and I had never made above a C- in my life. No – he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly," Jason read, feeling a pang of sympathy hit him as he watched Annabeth rub her hands up and down Percy's arms soothingly. But he kept on reading. "I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral. He told me to go outside and eat my lunch."
Jason stopped there, watching as Percy curled into Annabeth's side. It was growing darker outside and it was past curfew. They all had to get back to their cabins before tomorrow's activities.
"We'll continue tomorrow?" he asked.
Percy nodded, watching as his friends exited his cabin. But Annabeth stayed right there, keeping him resting against her stomach as she traced her hands up and down his arm.
"Are you okay?" she murmured.
"Do you think it's a good idea? Having them read all this?" he asked.
"They need to know," she said, leaning over to kiss him on the forehead. Her smooth blonde curls brushed against his face. "Let's sleep, alright? You're giving Pegasus riding lessons tomorrow."
Percy nodded, sighing as he closed his eyes. He knew what his friends would read about next would only worry, frighten, and anger them. But as Annabeth ran her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp, he fell asleep in peace.