R/N: Surprise!

I managed to get hold on some wifi, so I'll upload some more!

Chapter 2: Hi, dad

[Percy's Pov]

The first thing I found when I went to the other side of the exit was a line of blood trails leading off into a dark hallway. So, a pretty good start off.

I took 3 steps inside, when the emergency exit swung shut by itself with a loud 'thump!' that echoed down the dark hallway, leaving me in complete darkness.

Great. I might've just as well burst in with a war cry blindfolded.

I reached into my pocket and brought out my pen. As soon as I uncapped it, it grew in my hands until I held a bronze Greek sword about three-feet long with a leather-bound gripe. It glinted in a faint golden light in the dark hallway, giving me just enough light to follow the trail of blood.

The good news: I didn't have to wander around like an idiot. The trail was pretty clear.

The bad news: the kid might be literally bleeding to death right now. Or already be dead for all I know.

After few minutes of creeping down the corridor as fast as I dared, the trail ended up in a science…y room.

It had a sign dangling at the top of the door, but my dyslexia prevented me from reading. I only guessed it would be related to science because there was a small flask drawn next to the scribble.

The door was left ajar, so I peered in through the gap.

Thankfully, the kid was not dead. He was impaled against the wall with some kind of spikes, with one of them tinged red with blood.

The kid himself was taking the situation extremely well; he looked surprised, but that was it. That's already something more than how most of the kids would react in the same situation.

There were no signs of the trench coat guy. I doubt he could hide with his size─maybe he fled at the presence of Riptide. Monsters hated celestial bronze.

I carefully slipped in. The kid raised his eyebrows as I came over.

"Is that a sword?"

"Um, yes, it is."

I didn't expect that to be the first question, but it was still better than screaming.

"Look, my name is Percy. I'll get you out of here first, and we'll talk second, ok?"

Then, a sound of a door creaking open was heard from my back.

I instantly whirled around, but even before I can take a proper swing something came flying towards me and caught my coat. It sent me flying back, and I got impaled against a skeleton model with a heavy thump.

"Well well well, how nice of you to join us, Perseus Jackson."

The trench coat guy walked out of the shadow with a horrible British accent.

[David's Pov]

This day was just going great.

So great in fact, that I hoped to the nonexistent gods for this to a dream. Even if my shoulder was stinging in a dull sense of pain.

The day was bad enough when I had to attend to the stupid ball thing, but then just my English teacher had to kidnap me and peg me against a wall with whatever these things are.

And now a kid who came to 'rescue' him got caught against the skeleton model.

"Thanks a lot for trying."

"You're welcome."

He replied and we both let out a snort at the same time.

At least he had a decent sense of humor; that's better than nothing, even if I had to wonder if I'm going to get murdered by my apparently psychopathic teacher. This still felt too unreal to be true.

"Silence! You heroes and your witty talks are always a pain to hear."

Dr. Thorn (Yes, his name was Thorn.) growled and threw two additional projectiles. They each narrowly missed our heads and we both shut up. Dr. Thorn grinned in satisfaction, and his yellowish teeth made me want to throw up.

"Now, you two will follow me as captives.
Quietly, Obediently. Unless you want to turn into a human hedgehog with my spikes."

I had no idea how he is managing to throw all these 'spikes'. His arms were behind his back, just like he'd keep them at detention, and there were no projectile launchers of any kind behind him either.

The kid must've been wondering the same thing too.

"Where are you getting all of these spikes─"

He began to ask when another spike slammed next to his side. It must've grazed him pretty badly, as he winced in his spot and a trickle of red blood started to drip down from it.

"For your question, Jackson: I have this."

A bright orange tail appeared from under his trench coat. The end was sphere shaped with bunch of spikes growing out, just like a spiked mace.

He swished it down onto the floor. The marble floor of the laboratory caved in with a loud 'crack!'. When the tail lift up, there was a small crater as if a tiny asteroid landed there.

Dr. Thorn rumbled his throat with his laughter.

"No use trying to run; I can snipe a flying bird with my spikes from the ground. And you'd notice the poison I specially doused in, Jackson, so you'll be in no shape to fight back."

"Yep…thanks for that."

The boy winced as Dr. Thorn released him from the spikes.

"Now start moving!"

[Line Break]

We had no choice but to follow.

Dr. Thorn led the way through the back door that had a huge 'do not enter' sign posted on it, and I walked in front of the kid as he lagged behind.

He had a frown on his face the entire walk. It looked like he was concentrating on something, but I had no way of telling what it was.

I personally wanted to ask more about what the hell was going on, and mostly about the sword that somehow became a pen? But I held my tongue; it wouldn't be smart to disturb whatever he was doing, just in case that ends up saving us.

"Hurry up Jackson!"

Dr. Thorn snapped out of impatience. His tail whooshed out and one of the spikes nearly slashed my eyes out.

"It's just my arm-it feels like it is burning."

The kid answered back in a convincingly worn out voice, and he gave out a laugh.

"Ha! Whining like a child; the poison you got is not a serious one. You don't even need a nectar for healing! Stop whining and walk!"

Nectar…wasn't that what the Greek Gods drank in the tales? Why is that suddenly being mentioned now?

Eventually we ended up beside a cliff next to the forest outside of the school.

The night was dark and it was impossible to see the shore, but the sound of waves was clearly audible. Also I could feel my bones freezing up by the cold breeze coming from the woods.

"Are you going to push us off or something?"

Dr. Thorn snarled out a laugh. His laughs were slowly sounding less human, and more like a lion or a tiger. He aligned both of us at the edge of the cliff, and the boy whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"We might have to jump off."

…Alright, I take back everything I said about him prior; this kid was nuts.

"If you want to die in a spectacular fashion, do it yourself."

"I'm not planning on dying─"

Our conversation was cut short as a spike flew between our faces. Dr. Thorn had a gleeful smile on his face.

"Don't hope your parentage would save you, Jackson. The sea is a mile away from this cliff. You'll reach the rocky surface right below faster, and my spikes would even faster."

"That still doesn't explain you brought us here."

Dr. Thorn opened both his arms wide. His eyes shone with excitement. The trench coat flapped about, and underneath there was a pair of feet nothing like humans, but more like a lion's paw.

"Soon our ride would arrive, and you two will witness one of the greatest Generals in the whole history of this world. And you, Jackson, will serve him greatly by slaying the beast for him!

At that exact moment, 'something' knocked me over.

A baseball cap fell over my face and a blonde haired girl with grey eyes appeared over my face. Dr. Thorn yelled out in confusion, and a volley of spikes flew over my head to the cliff

"Percy! That thing is a Manticore!"

"I don't know what that means!"

The girl rolled her eyes, muttered "Seaweed brain…" under her breath before throwing a canteen at the kid─Percy, and he poured the containment on his wound.

Dr. Thorn let out his most un-human roar yet, and his body started to grow. His coat ripped away into shreds as his body expanded, orange fur rapidly growing on them until it became a lion's body...with a mace for a tail.

I glimpsed Percy lunge at Dr. Thorn with his sword in hand.

I wanted to get a better look at what was going on, but the girl pinning me down was a lot stronger, especially for a girl her size.

"Here, kitty!"

Then, some other voice─it was feminine─yelled out, and Dr. Thorn growled again. For whatever the reason he sounded he was in fear of something.

The girl pinning me down was trying to get a glimpse of the action herself, but she was having trouble in managing that and pinning me down.

"Can you get off me now?"

She looked down at me for a second, then poked down on my chest.

"Don't move, and stay hidden."

"Yeah, ok."

The girl got off me and drew a knife out from her back. She put a Yankee's baseball cap over her head, then went entirely invisible. Only her footprints was visible on the snow as she crept around the edge of the battle.

Oh, and it was a battle alright.

I had interest in those kind of stuffs─the myths and stories of heroes armed with metal swords and shields going on a war, or facing off a monster that no other ever dared to─my favorite was Greek Mythology; with its humane gods, which was the only kind of 'god' I'll ever accept.

And right before my eyes, the 'Greek Myths' has come to life.

Percy had a sword and a shield on each of his arms, deflecting the spikes that flew out from Dr. Thorn, trying to get to behind him. There was also a girl with a punk styled hair, a spear, and─

─my god, that's a terrifying shield! She was jabbing at Dr. Thorn's face, keeping his attention to her.

I was awestruck watching the battle. A rouse of excitement was rising up from my chest, which was weird to be honest; shouldn't most people be afraid witness something like this?

Oh, whatever. I wanted a weapon of my own. I wanted to join in their fight. I─

"David!"

"Jesus Christ─"

An arm suddenly grabbed me from the side. I nearly hauled the owner over the cliff, but it was just Grover Underwood.

I never really tried to talk with him, he wasn't a very interesting character, especially among all the flash, trashy kids at Westover hall, but he was one of the few exceptions where he wasn't a total waste of a human being.

I was wondering what on earth was he doing here, but then I made a mistake of looking down to his legs. It was a goat? Donkey? Not human legs, that's for sure.

"Y─You're a monster too!"

"Blaahh!"

He bellowed out like a goat.

"I'm a satyr. There is a difference!"

A Satyr?

"You mean the half human, half goat thingies in the myth? What─"

"Let's just get out of the action zone first! It's my job to get you safe to camp!"

Now that just raised about 50 new questions in my mind, also I didn't want to get out of the 'action zone'. But Underwood pulled me along away from the cliff and the fight; hilariously, he was weaker than the blonde girl, but I followed him to behind of a huge bolder near at the woods.

As excited as I was, I still wanted an explanation. And maybe a spare weapon─those kids all seemed to have one, and I had a suspicion that Underwood would have one on him as well.

But he was busy peering over the bolder watching the fight, anxiously tiptoeing on his spot as if he was torn between jumping in the fight himself with staying behind this bolder.

"Hey!"

I snapped my finger under his nose.

"Blaaaah!"

Underwood jumped up a feet into the air with a surprised yelp of a goat before remembering my existence.

"What the hell is going on? Who are you people?"

"Well─"

There was a 'clang!' of something smashing against a metal, and someone came flying towards us landing face first into the snow right below followed by a round shaped metal─a shield.

It was Percy. His shield was dented in deeply in a shape of a mace, and he looked quite bitterly down at it when he heavily got up to his feet.

Underwood pranced over to him immediately.

"Percy! Are you ok?!"

"Yeah. I always wanted to know what snow tasted like on the ground."

He actually did look fine, considering he must've flown at least 10 feet over to land here. Percy wiped off the snow from his face and clothes, then looked at me.

"What is going on?"

"Just stay here until that kitty is sorted out, and we'll explain everything. Ok?"

"I'd rather have explanation now─"

Then a scream of "Annabeth!" interrupted me again. Percy instantly ran off even without listening to a single word, with Underwood close behind.

At the battlefield, the blonde girl was being flung into the air with trails of blood arching over her. Dr. Thorn had a vicious grin as he flicked his tail, shaking off her blood from his tail.

Then Percy gave a yell that was so loud, that it actually felt like the earth was shaking underneath my feet. Even Dr. Thorn looked surprised as he advanced with high speed, and slashed down at his tail.

"ARRGHHH!"

"Wow…"

He cut off the tail clean off with just one strike!

Dr. Thorn roared out in pain and blindly swung out his paw, but he ducked under the strike with jabbed at his right eye.

Dr. Thorn gave another roar out of frustration and jumped back, only to get stabbed at the side by the punk girl.

The tip of her spear was crackling with electricity as it forced its way into his body, and it exploded from the inside like a bomb.

"D-hamn you-h!"

Dr. Thorn coughed out dark, red-green blood as he slowly backed up, clutching his sides.

Underwood was checking on the blonde girl. She seemed to be unconscious and Underwood rummaged in his sack. I found myself running out from the boulder next to him.

"What are you─"

"Is she ok?"

Underwood stopped in his sentence, looking rather surprised.

That made me unpleasant; why wouldn't I be worried? She tried to protect me, didn't she? Her wounds didn't seem too deep, but it was at the head, and ma always said a small cut could be fatal there.

But Underwood soon found what he wanted; a bottle simply labeled 'Nectar', and he trickled some into the girl's mouth. I had no idea how that'll help, but then a loud rumbling laughter was heard.

Dr. Thorn was cornered by Percy and the punk girl. He darted his one eye between them with a leer.

"I see, there is a certain difference with the children of the big three. No wonder the general has sent me instead of that pesky Hermes child."

"You know Luke?"

Punk girl asked out loud, and Dr. Thorn laughed.

"Ha! I see you have a soft spot for that one, just like he does to you.
Yes, he screamed out your name as he sacrificed himself to a fate worse than death for the general."

"What?"

As the punk girl startled at his words, Dr. Thorn cleared his throat. And the next time he opened his voice was completely different; a voice of a teenager I've never met.

"Thalia! Help me! Please!"

I could barely make out her expression from here, but even I could tell her shock and confusion, which quickly turned to rage.

Sparks of electricity flew out from her punk hair, and I felt my skin crackle too. Her expression was nothing short of pure furry as she stabbed forward at Dr. Thorn's head.

But─

"You FOOL!"

A whooshing sound followed by a clang of metal, and punk girl went flying into the air before landing on her back.

"Thalia!"

Percy cried out, but he had to quickly jump back when Dr. Thorn swiped at him with his claw.

His two eyes were glinting brightly in the dark night; the one Percy had pierced had grown back. It was bloodshot red with no white to spare.

His other previous wounds were also all patched up with red skin, with his regrown tail being bigger than before as it dragged along the snow.

Dr. Thorn landed on all fours and pounced forward like an actual lion. Percy tried to move out of the way, but he was a lot fast than before and got knocked back by force of the pounce.

The red tail came down with a heavy impact. Percy barely managed to roll out of the way as the ground exploded right next to him.

Dr. Thorn's body was again changing; the red skins seemed to be spreading over his entire body as his muscles grew even more. Now his length was nearing 20 feet, much bigger than any lion could ever be.

"Yes! With this power, I'll soon be the strongest monster to set foot on the earth! And you would be the honorable first victim, Son of Poseidon!"

Dr. Thorn swung his red tail once more, and this time Percy couldn't get up in time. I was for a certain he would get his entire torso broken and shattered, but then he was pulled back just in time by someone invisible.

"Blasted Athena's brat!"

Dr. Thorn snarled out, and then turned to punk girl.

She had just struggled up to her feet, but a volley of spikes engulfed in flames fired out from Dr. Thorn's tail and exploded on impact all around her like a small missile.

"Thalia!"

"There you are!"

Dr. Thorn pounced at where the voice came from, and the blonde girl reappeared. She had managed to duck under his pounce, but her invisibility cap was knocked off onto the snowy ground.

This was looking bad. Both Percy and punk girl was out and the blonde girl only had a knife, which I doubted would do much against something of that big of a size.

Underwood scampered over to her and played a wooden reed pipe. A patch of vines broke through the snow and entangled on Dr. Thorn's paws, but he tore them off easily, his mouth crooked with a victorious smile as he got ready to pounce.

And I, I was just standing at the very back.

I hated just watching.
I hated being not able to do anything.
I hated being helpless, I had to act.
I wanted to help.

I had to help.

Then I thought I saw a faint red light shimmer beneath me.

Suddenly, I was holding a smooth black sword in my left hand. 3.5 feet long, strong leather grip for two hands or one, perfect length for both stabbing and slashing.

I had no idea where this thing came from, or how I managed to deduce all the information about the sword as soon as I gave it a look, but I grasped the hilt with both of my hands.

I felt strength surging through my body.

I finally had a weapon. I can fight. I can protect.

Dr. Thorn was just pouncing at the two. I bolted out a second later.

"What─"

"David!"

Both Underwood and the blonde girl gave a surprised gasp as I darted in front of them, right in the line of Dr. Thorn's pounce.

My stupid brain, only then deduced that I'd probably get ripped into pieces. I'll die on the floor bleeding; just like how I did to by step parents.

It must be one of those 'at the brink of death' things, but as Dr. Thorn came down on me I was absorbing a lot of information around me. The snow that got flung into the air by Dr. Thorn's pounce, the cold breeze of gust flowing across my face…

…and a patch of orange among Dr. Thorn's red fur.

"!"

I thrusted my arm out, stabbing forward with all my might.

The sword, somehow, miraculously connect with the orange patch of his body, and went deep inside. The feeling of stabbing through something warm and squishy engulfed my hand.

"Ah─"

Dr. Thorn was suspended in mid-pounce, his mouth gaping open from the stab. I must be holding him up, which was quite surprising considering his mass.

Then he let out a roar.

"RWAAAHH!"

It was so loud, that I felt my brain shaking in my skull. It nearly made me faint just from the volume alone.

He twisted his body and yanked away the sword from my hand. He jumped and rolled around in circles like a crazy dog, roaring and writhing in pain, spraying blood over everything.

I was still dazed from his roar, and I was mentally shaken as well.

"H─How did you do that?"

The blonde girl's voice sounded very far, but I kept myself from fainting like an idiot.

"I, uh, I'm not sure?"

My voice was weaker than I hoped.

Did I just murder my English teacher? Was I really a murderer─if I did it twice, it's hardly an accident, would it?

But then, I realized she was looking up at my head with a surprised look on her face.

I also looked up, and there was a crimson red swords crossed against each other with a boar head over it.

The symbol flickered fiercely on the dark night sky.

"You, you're, a son of Ares."

Now, I don't recall if monsters bleed blood or golden dusts, but I thought it would be more appeasing when it is blood. So monsters will bleed in this story even if they don't in the original, until they die into a burst of gold dust.

Also I am not sure what the limits of violence is when the rating is T. I know there is a guild line in the site, but it is very vague from my perspective.

So if the violence gets too extreme, let me know. Then I'll change the rating to M. And no, I won't tone it down. That's not an option.

Also I thank everyone who followed or put this story on their favorite list, and doubly thank for who made reviews. They all help me strive toward a better writing(especially reviews!) and I'll come back soon with another chapter!