Title: The Story Of Rhea
Universe: Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus
Disclaimer: All characters, credit, and storyline belong to Rick Riordan. All pictures have been taken from Google. All videos and music have been taken from YouTube. I own only the slight twists in the original plot. This story will be posted to Wattpad and as well.
Warnings: This story will contain FEMALE Jason Grace and FEMALE Percy Jackson. There will scenes of violence, mentions of characters deaths, blood, and gore. There will also be mentions of past child abuse, neglectance, and slight cussing. There will also be gay coupling and some mature content.
Rating: T (For Content)
Summary: Rhea is a girl with a big problem: she has no memories prior to her waking up in the back of a school bus. Apparently, she has a boyfriend named Leo and a best friend named Piper. She attends 'Wilderness School' and is a bad kid who only gets by by living off of her rich parents' cash. At least, that's what everyone tells her. But even after facing off with students-turned-monsters on the Grand Canyon Skywalk, being rescued by a guy who claims she's part god and finding haven in Camp Half Blood, she can't help but feel that something is off...like she doesn't belong...
Another war is on the horizon and the stakes are unlike anything before. Enemies must unite as allies, and the future of the world lays heavily on the shoulders of seven. All hail Rhea Grace, the second born daughter of Zeus! (Female Jason)
*Additional Notes:
Italics = 'Thinking'
Underline = Writing/Reading
Bold = Divine Intervention
The Story Of Rhea
Chapter One: Blank Beginnings
"It's worse than that. I don't even know who I am." - Rhea Grace
EVEN BEFORE SHE WAS ELECTROCUTED, Rhea was already having a bad day. She awoke in the back of a bus, head on the shoulder of some boy sitting next to her, with her fingers interlaced with his. That wasn't necessarily the bad part. The boy was cute, but she had no idea who he was.
She sat up and looked around, perplexed. There were other teenagers in the seats in front of her; talking with friends, listening to music on their iPod, or sleeping. They all looked around her age - sixteen, maybe seventeen? Okay, that's scary. She didn't even remember her own age.
The bus rumbled along a bumpy road, and the window she sat besides showed rolling desert dunes and golden sand under a cloudless blue sky. Rhea was pretty sure she didn't live in a desert. She tried racking her brain. Tried to think back...the last thing she remembered...
A sharp pain flared up in her head and she hissed while laying a hand to her temples.
The boy sitting next to her tugged lightly on her hand, looking at her softly in concern. "You alright there, beautiful?"
The boy wore faded jeans, a grey tee, and an army fatigue jacket. He had a cheerful, babyish face, pointy ears, curly black hair, and a mischievous smile. He looked like a Latino Santa's elf who should never be allowed around matches or sharp objects. His free hand was moving with rapid speed; fiddling with the buttons of his jacket, running through his hair, tapping patterns into the beige colored seats. He was either high on a sugar rush or had a serious case of ADHD.
Rhea pulled her hand away and scooted closer to the window. She tried to explain, "I'm sorry, I don't-"
Up in the front of the bus, a loud voice boomed out, "Alright, Cupcakes, listen up!"
The speaker was a man who just had to be a coach. He had beady, gunslinger eyes and a sour face with a wispy goatee. His body was buff and muscular. He wore a bright orange polo shirt, nylon workout pants, Nikes, and a baseball cap that was pulled low over his bushy eyebrows. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero.
From somewhere on the bus someone yelled out, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"
"Who said that?!" Coach Hedge snarled. He glared around the bus for the culprit. When his eyes landed on Rhea, he froze and narrowed his eyes more.
Rhea felt a pang of pure fear jolt through her body. This man knew she didn't belong here. He would call her out and ask her who she was, and Rhea wouldn't have a clue what to tell him.
Coach Hedge stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before looking away. Rhea let out a breathe of relief.
"We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way." He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer.
Rhea looked at the boy next to her and asked, "Can he talk to us that way?"
The boy shrugged. His now free hands seemed be a whirlwind of motion. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. 'Where kids are the animals.'" He grinned like it was joke they shared, wiggling his eyebrows.
Rhea frowned. "This is some kind of mistake. I'm not supposed to be here."
She was telling the truth, but the boy seemed to think it was a joke. He barked a laugh. "Sure, Rhea. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times, and Piper didn't steal that BMW."
"I didn't steal that car, Leo!" snapped a girl from the seat besides them. She leaned over the aisle and shot the Latino a glare, a deep blush covering her nose and cheeks.
Piper wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it didn't work. She was seriously pretty. Her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope—brown, blue, and green.
"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story? You 'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" the boy, Leo, rolled his eyes and looked at Rhea like, Can you believe her?
"Leo..." Piper's words carried a clear threat if he continued.
The Latino ignored her tone and looked back towards Rhea, he said, "Anyway, I hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago. Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again?"
"I don't know you," Rhea said bluntly. This guy obviously needed it spelled out in front of him to understand.
Not that it helped. At her words, Leo gave a crocodile grin. "Sure. I'm not your boyfriend. I'm his evil clone."
Rhea felt the urge to face- wait, what?!
"B-boyfriend?!" She stuttered. She could feel her face turning red.
"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"
Leo winked at Rhea. "Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"
Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "The cow says moo!"
The kids howled, and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!"
Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"
Leo slipped a tiny Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve. "I'm a special boy."
"Guys, seriously," Rhea pleaded. The blush on her face was slowly fading away. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"
Piper knit her eyebrows together. She looked concerned. "Rhea, are you joking?"
"No! I have no idea—"
"Aw, yeah, she's joking," Leo said while tossing an arm around her shoulder and drawing her to his side. "She's trying to get me back for kissing her in the middle of Algebra, aren't ya Babe?"
Rhea stared at him blankly, slowly slipping herself from under his arm and scooting back into her corner by the window.
"No, I think she's serious." Piper moved to the very edge of her seat and leaned as much as she could into theirs. She tried to reach over to lay a hand of Rhea's forehead, but the other girl only leaned further away.
"I'm sorry," Rhea said. "I don't—I can't—"
"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"
The rest of the kids cheered.
"There's a shocker," Leo muttered with a huff.
But Piper kept her eyes on Rhea, eyebrows furrowed like she didn't know whether to feel hurt or skeptical. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"
Rhea shook her head helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't even know who I am."
A few minutes later, the bus dropped them in front of a museum sitting in the middle of nowhere. The students all filed out of the bus, and Rhea found herself situated awkwardly between Leo and Piper's bodies. A cold wind blew across the desert, and Rhea shivered. She hadn't paid much attention to what she was wearing, but it was no where near warm enough. Her jean shorts were high waisted, her purple t-shirt had been tucked in fashionably, and a thin, black wind beater hung loosely on her frame. Compared to her companions, Rhea felt seriously underdressed.
Leo's arm had once again made its' way across her shoulder. He was ridiculously close to her. Rhea could feel the sheer amount of heat radiating off his body - much like a furnace. Though she felt uncomfortable and flushed at his proximity, she didn't brush the limb away. Like she mentioned before, her clothes weren't warm enough.
"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," the boy began in a way-too-cheerful-voice-to-be-trusted tone. "We go to the 'Wilderness School', which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison—sorry, 'boarding school'—in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"
"No." Rhea deadpanned.
The other students didn't look anything like Leo had described. Most of them were laughing and gossiping with others, their voices mingling in the quiet air. None of them had the appearance of an delinquent. Rhea absently wondered what happened to get them in 'Wilderness School'.
"You're really laying this on thick huh?" Leo seemed amused by the 'prank'. "Okay, Piper here - your best friend - is the service maid your parents got for you when they sent you away. She does laundry, chores, homework, and even gives you the answers to tests - all you have to do is ask. She waits on you hand and foot and always covers for us when we decide to make out in the dorm and wherever else I feel like. Speaking of me; I'm your fiancée who you're madly in love with and have been dating for the past month and a half. We both enjoy taking romantic strolls in the gardens, pranking all the jerks in the school, and having heated sessions every five-"
"LEO!" Piper screeched with her cheeks flushed a crimson red. "I swear, Valdez, if you say one more word!"
"...seconds."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
Leo laughed at her before turning to Rhea again. "Seriously though, Piper is your best friend and we are dating."
Piper groaned in annoyance and rubbed at her temples. "Let's j-just call Coach Hedge and tell him what's wrong."
Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Rhea by whacking her upside the head. I don't know about you, but I'd like to keep my girlfriend sane and unharmed."
"Leo, Rhea needs help," Piper insisted. "She's got a concussion or—"
"Yo, Piper. Don't talk to those bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?" A guy dropped back from the crowd of students entering the museum and wedged himself between Piper and Rhea, knocking Leo to the ground. He tossed an arm over each of their shoulders, drew them close, and grinned, showing off teeth that were bright enough to make someone go blind.
He was tall, buff with dark hair cut Superman style. His eyes were hidden behind dark shades and his skin was deeply tanned. He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, Western jeans, and boots. The arrogant air around him made it clear that this dude thought he was God's gift to girls everywhere.
Rhea hated him instantly.
"Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."
"Ah, come on, Babe. This is your lucky day!" Dylan looked Rhea up and down in a lecherous way before hooking his arm with Piper and dragging her through the museum doors. Piper looked back at Rhea with a like, 911 look before she disappeared.
Leo got to his feet and glowered darkly towards where Dylan disappeared. He muttered something under his breathe before announcing, "I hate that guy."
"I don't like him touching me." Rhea frowned. Leo wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her to his side, fingers rubbing comforting circles into her hip.
"Don't worry about it, Beautiful," Leo's voice was oddly soft as he steered them both through the doors. "If he touches you again, I'm going to punch his perfect teeth in. Promise."
"...Thanks."
"No problem, Princess. It's kinda in the job description."
The museum tour didn't interest Rhea at all. It was all about the Grand Canyon and the Hualapai tribe, which owned the museum. To be honest, her attention was mostly focused on the peculiar thing Leo was fiddling with in his hands and Piper's hissed threats to Dylan, who had a tendency to let his hands stray lower than they needed to.
At one peticular exhibit, a girl who must've been part of the popular cliqe called out, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"
The other students laughed. Even Piper's so-called partner Dylan suppressed a smile. Piper's snowboarding jacket sleeves hid her hands, but Rhea got the feeling she was clenching her fists.
"My dad's Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai. 'Course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."
Isabel widened her eyes in mock surprise, so that she looked like an owl with a makeup addiction. "Oh, sorry! Was your mom in this tribe? Oh, that's right. You never knew your mom."
Piper charged her, but before a fight could start, Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll break out my baseball bat!"
The group shuffled on to the next exhibit. The girl, Isabel, stayed quiet for less than a minute before muttering something to the others around her. Rhea couldn't hear, but from the laughter that rang out and the stares Piper got, she could put together that it had something to do with the pretty brunette.
There were two girls in the group that looked almost identical to Isabel herself. All three of them wore horrid makeup and flashy clothes. Once they laughter faded away, the duo shared nasty grins and taunted Piper loudly.
"Does it feel good to be back on the rez?" one asked in a sweet voice.
"Her dad's probably too drunk to work," said the other in a drawling voice. "That's why she turned klepto."
Piper ignored them, but Rhea was ready to beat her black and blue. She may not remember anything, but she knew she hated bullies.
Leo didn't even look up when he caught her arm. "Be cool, Babe. Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be all bowing down to her and screaming, 'We're not worthy!'"
"Why? What about her dad?"
Leo laughed and shook his head in disbelief, head rising to look at her with raised eyebrows. "You're not kidding? You really don't remember that your best friend's dad—"
"Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember her, much less her dad." Rhea replied testily.
Leo's lips thinned and a look of concern passed onto his face before he went back smiling playfully. "Whatever. We have to talk when we get back on the bus."
Coach Hedge stopped them before a set of clear glass doors. He announced, "Alright, cupcakes! You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."
The moment Rhea stepped foot out of the doors, something cold and hard settled at the bottom of her stomach. A shiver ran down her spine. When the doors closed shut behind her, she couldn't help but think that she just signed her own death note.
...oOo...
The feeling didn't go away when Rhea saw the Grand Canyon in front of her, alive and in person. It didn't go away when Leo took her hand and dragged her along the skywalk's edge to lean on the railing and peer down into the endless abyss. It didn't go away when he looked at her with a dopey grin and eyes ablaze with excitement and awe. It didn't go away when he opened his mouth and said the worst pick-up line ever imaginable. "You know, I always wondered what the Grand Canyon looked like, mind if I see yours?"
Rhea might not have her memory, but even she knew that was an epic fail.
Instead of indulging him to continue, Rhea busied herself with taking in the view, trying hard to ignore the feeling that just wouldn't go away. The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. They were up so high that birds circled below their feet. Five hundred feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. As far as Rhea could see in any direction, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.
Crazy Gods...
Rhea hissed as that sharp pain flared up again. Where had she come up with that idea? She rubbed at her temples and Leo looked at her in concern.
"You okay? You look like you're about to puke." He placed a hand to her forehead, but Rhea only moves away, choosing instead to lean heavily on the railing.
"I'm fine," she told him. "Just a headache."
Leo pursed his lips with a look that said he knew it was a lie, but he didn't push it.
Above them thunder rumbled. A cold wind blew at them from the side and pushed the duo dangerously against the railing.
The latino looked up and narrowed his eyes. "This can't be safe. The storm is right above us. We can be blown right over."
He was right, Rhea mused. The cloudless blue sky from before disappeared, and now dark storm clouds swirled above them in an angry, billowing way. But only above the skywalk - no where else. The rest of the sky was clear.
That feeling in the pit of her stomach grew.
"All right, Cupcakes!" Coach Hedge shouted over the wind with a frown. He was looking at the storm with squinted eyes. "Looks like we gotta cut this short! Finish your worksheets quickly! We're going in in thirty."
The storm rumbled again in response. Not knowing why she did it; Rhea stuck a hand in her pocket and pulled out a golden coin the size of a half-dollar, thick and uneven. Stamped on one side was a picture of a battle-ax. On the other was some guy's face wreathed in laurels. The inscription said something like ivlivs.
"Is that gold?!" Leo's face was split between awe and surprise. He grinned wickedly. "Dang, Babe, you been holding out on me."
Rhea stuffed the coin back into her pocket as soon as he began. "It's nothing. Just a coin."
Leo raised an eyebrow but shrugged. "Whatever. So you still got your worksheet?"
As the minutes passed, the storm grew darker and darker. Leo filled in the worksheet with one word responses and promptly shoved it into his back pocket, choosing instead to draw out whatever he was fiddling with earlier.
"Wanna see something cool?" He shot Rhea a grin.
"Sure." Rhea replied.
"Check it out." He held out a copter made of pipe cleaner and launched it into the canyon. Rhea figured it would plummet, but the pipe-cleaner blades actually spun. The little copter made it halfway across the canyon before it lost momentum and spiraled into the void.
"How'd you do that?" Rhea asked with wide eyes.
Leo shrugged. "Would've been cooler if I had some rubber bands."
"Seriously, are we friends?" Rhea's face was completely serious.
"Have to be if we're dating, sweetheart."
"You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?"
"It was …" Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD, man. You can't expect me to remember details."
"When's my birthday? What's my favorite color? Who are my parents?"
"June first." Leo said, looking at her like she just told him the sun exploded. "You like both sky blue and gold, and you never talk about your parents because they were drunk and neglected and abused you. Don't you remember?"
"No, I don't remember anything! I don't remember you or Piper. I don't remember anyone here. What if—"
"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"
'That's exactly what I think', Rhea thought.
But it sounded crazy. Everybody here took her for granted. Everyone acted like she was a normal part of the class—except for Coach Hedge.
"Stay here," Rhea said to Leo. "I'll be right back."
Before the latino could protest, Rhea was walking across the skywalk.
Their group had the place to themselves. Kids had spread out in pairs across the skywalk. Most were joking around or talking. Some of the guys were dropping pennies over the side. About fifty feet away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet, but her stupid partner Dylan was hitting on her, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile. She kept pushing him away, and when she saw Rhea she gave her a look like, Throttle this guy for me.
Rhea motioned for her to hang on. She walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his baseball bat, studying the storm clouds.
"Did you do this?" the coach asked her.
Rhea paused. It sounded like the coach had just asked if she had made the thunderstorm. "Do what?"
Coach Hedge glared at her, eyes as hard as diamonds. "Don't play games with me, kid. What are you doing here, and why are you messing up my job?"
"You mean...you don't know me?" Rhea said. "I'm not one of your students?"
Hedge snorted. "Never seen you before today."
Rhea was so relieved she almost wanted to cry. She was right! She was in the wrong place. "Look, sir, I don't know how I got here. I just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here."
"Got that right." Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret. "You got a powerful way with the Mist, kid, if you can make all these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling a monster for days now. I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood. So who are you, and where did you come from?"
Most of what the Coach said didn't make sense, but Rhea decided to answer honestly. "I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've got to help me."
Coach Hedge studied her face like he was trying to read her thoughts.
"Great," Hedge muttered. "You're being truthful."
"Of course I am! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"
Hedge narrowed his eyes. Part of Rhea wondered if the guy was just nuts. But the other part knew better.
"Look, kid," Hedge said, "I don't know who you are. I just know what you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect three of you rather than two. Are you the special package? Is that it?"
"What are you talking about?"
Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the skywalk.
"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from camp. They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The two I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why the camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up. But then you pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"
That sharp pain flared and grew enough to have Rhea's vision covered in white. It was like a sledgehammer had been slammed into her head. Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters. She still didn't know what Hedge was talking about, but the words did something. It felt like her mind was trying to access information that should've been there but wasn't.
She didn't know how long the pain lasted, only that - when her vision came back - she felt sick and was being held up only by Coach Hedge. For a short guy, the Coach had hands like steel. "Whoa, there, cupcake. You say you got no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you, too, until the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out."
"Director?" Rhea said. Her voice came out slurred. "What camp?"
"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before—"
Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.
"I had to say something," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"
"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Rhea shouted over the wind.
"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed, "which these aren't. Come on!"
Chapter Notes
1 - First, I'm pretty sure you're all wondering why I named my female Jason, Rhea. Well from my understanding, Jason was given his name as a way for Zues to calm Hera after his affair. Jason was Hera's favorite hero, so naming his son this was basically saying "Hey, you can have him at your mercy if you stop making me sleep on the coach!". I'm not sure if Hera gave birth to a daughter, but in my story Zues gave her his youngest in a way that said, "Hey, you always wanted a daughter, so why don't you take this one and raise it so I don't have to worry about her anymore!". Rhea was the one who tricked Kronus into eating the rock that freed Zues, so by naming his daughter this, he was basically saying that she would grow into a hero (Also there are no greek or roman names besides Juno that start in "J").
2 - Secondly, the endgame pairing of Valgrace isn't one that I have much experience with. With me having to genderbend Jason in this story, I had to find someone to pair her up with. In the books, I thought having Leo as the only lonely member of the crew was a little too spiteful. I mean, he did get with Calypcso at the end and that's good, but that pairing came too late for me. I also love Leo's character in general and think that having him paired up with Rhea would make the couple cute and adorkable.
3- And lastly, I'm pretty sure all of you are wondering about Piper. Piper is probably my favorite character in the series and I didn't want to change her at all. I'm still in love the paring of Jasper, but I wanted to try my hand at writing a girlxgirl couple. I've recently fallen in love in the pairing of Pipabeth (Piper/Annabeth) so none of you have to worry about Piper being the odd wheel out.
4 - Also, please remember to check out my profile and view my other published stories! The prequel "Andromeda" is still in the process of getting finished, but I would still love it if you helped along the way. Updates may be long or short depending on my life's schedule. Editing is currently being done to the published chapters of this story.
5 - Rhea Grace is played by Elle Fanning.
Enjoy the story! Heart, Comment, and Follow! ~ SweetNikki825