Chapter 3-Welcome to the Dysfunctional Family

The Monday of Labor Day weekend, we packed up Gabe's car and drove back out to Long Island. Gabe complained about us borrowing his car again, but I hardly heard him. I was too nervous.

I'd been going to boarding school for a while now. All the private schools in the city knew me, or at least, they knew my reputation. Yet there was something different about this year, and my mom and I both knew it. Achilles Academy wasn't just any school, it was my dad's school, the one he'd picked out for me before I was even born. There I might actually be able to survive more than one year. If you believed my mom, I might actually thrive there. (Of course, she said that about every school, so I loved my mom, but I didn't believe her.)

Still, I knew this school would be different. I was entirely expecting that I would be expelled, if not in one year at least within two. But maybe, just maybe, this school could explain all the weird things which kept happening to me. Try as I might, I couldn't forget the dog-man, or the water-lady (as I'd so cleverly taken to calling them). The pearls and trench coat in my backpack made them impossible to forget. Every time I wondered if I was going crazy, I'd just pull out a pearl and rub it in my palm. It was real. I couldn't explain it, but maybe Achilles Academy could.

The closer we got to the school, the more nervous my mom got. I knew she hated that I couldn't live at home, but normally she put on a brave face and told me what fun my new school would be. Not this time. Instead, I watched as the muscles in her face grew taut, as the light in her eyes died out. It made me feel terrible. This was all my fault, after all. If I hadn't gotten kicked out…

But no. My dad wanted me to go to Achilles Academy, and I would have whether-or-not I got expelled from everywhere else. If anyone was to blame, it was my father.

Believe it or not, that wasn't a new sensation.

I hadn't been able to find the school on MapQuest, and the directions petered out when we were in the middle of nowhere. My mom, however, seemed to know what was going on. There was a line of cars forming in the middle of the strawberry fields, and kids my age and older were all getting out. I watched one or two hug their parents… no, only their parent. None of them seemed to have both a mom or dad. That was odd.

"Percy, this is as far as I can go. You'll have to walk over the hill," my mom whispered, eyes locked in front of her. My heart dropped. She couldn't even walk me to the door? What kind of school was this?

Finally she turned to me. The worry in her eyes was unmistakable, and I noticed a little tear glittering across her cheek. It broke my heart like nothing else. I considered refusing to get out of the car. I didn't need answers; I needed my mom to be happy. But then a little smile broke across her cheeks, and she reached out, running a hand through my hair, "Look at me getting all emotional. I'm happy for you Percy, I really am. I just… I just can't believe it's already time."

I reached across the car, hugging her tightly. My mom had the sweetest smell in the world, and not because she worked in a candy store. That was just the way she smelled. And I loved it. I loved her, and I wasn't afraid to say it when so many were, "I love you Mom."

"I love you too, Percy," she answered, and I knew she meant it. I'd never doubted that. "Now you had better go. I'll help you get the bags from the trunk."

We both climbed out of the car, and silence fell over us. I didn't know what to say. How did you say goodbye when you didn't know where you were going? Why did this feel so different from every time before?

It only took a moment for me to pull out my luggage; I really didn't own all that much. A few cars behind me, I spotted a girl with six bright pink suitcases and promptly gagged. I really hoped I didn't have to interact with her.

"Percy, do you remember your promise?"

Suddenly I could taste the salty air, hear the crashing waves. For a moment, I was back on Montauk, the camp fire crackling before me. "Mom, I could never forget you. I promise."

She pulled me into a tight hug, and didn't let go right away. I wish she'd never let go. But finally she did, pulling away and looking me straight in the eye. She didn't look sad anymore. Perhaps she looked a bit frightened, but mostly she just look certain, "And Percy, forgive your father and me if we keep secrets from you even now. It really is for your own safety."

I didn't understand what she meant, but the way she spoke… she seemed so certain I would meet my father now that I was at this school. It almost made me wonder, "Mom, is he… is my dad here?"

She smiled softly, but shook her head. Reaching out to lay a hand on my heart, she said, "No, Percy, but he is here. He is within you. You are truly his son, as you are mine. Now go. Before I lose my nerve."

I took a deep breath, grabbed my bags, and began walking away. The hill was much larger and steeper than I'd imagined, probably a half mile. The further I got, the fewer cars there were, until finally there was just me and a handful of other teenagers walking up a hill, bags in tow. A few of the kids greeted each other. Others looked around, almost as if they were expecting something.

Then I heard a scream to my left. I turned to see the girl with the pink suitcases screeching her head off, yellow dust covering her, and a single arrow on the ground. I panicked, thinking for a second that we were under attack, but I didn't see anything. I couldn't even find who had shot the arrow.

A strange chill passed over me, and I walked faster. Somehow I knew I would be safe once I reached the top of the hill, but all of us out here in the open… it was a recipe for disaster.

Finally I reached the top, and something very strange happened. For a moment, I thought I'd been punked. It looked like there was absolutely nothing there. But then, out of nowhere, a towering Greek-style temple stood before me, and I was surrounded by all side by strange looking guys with goatees and hats. One, on the younger side, came right up to me and then I swear, he sniffed. He made a face then, but then cocked his head, as if smelling something else.

"You okay, dude?" I asked awkwardly.

The guy looked nervous, but he nodded, waving his hand. I paused for a moment, confused, but there was so much going on around me that I couldn't stay focused on him for very long.

The temple itself was dazzling. Glistening white columns rose high into the sky, and I almost had to crane my neck to see the top. But the bit that was really cool was that it wasn't all white, not like you'd expect. Instead the base of it was painted bright orange, and up top, the figures displayed dazzling color. I saw a guy with a beard and a pin-stripe suit, and another, my personal favorite, a calm-looking man in a bright blue Hawaiian shirt.

To the left and the right of the temple, there were a dozen smaller buildings. To the far end, there was a big building that reminded me of a bank, and yet I could have sworn there was thunder coming from inside. Another one reminded me of a Barbie dream house, and next to it, I swore there was a full-blown factory.

People milled about, greeting their friends. Most of them looked pretty normal, though a number were sporting orange 'Achilles Academy' shirts. But I noticed more than one who person who just looked strange. For example, talking to an African-American girl with a flower in her hair, was a girl I swore had green skin. I didn't get a good look because suddenly someone bounded past on a horse… a horse I swore had wings. It was all too much for even my ADHD mind to process. I just stood there gaping.

Then a heard a gasp, and a voice I'd never expected to hear again, "You!"

I turned, and sure enough, there was Annabeth. She looked just like she had over the summer, though her cheeks were a bit more burnt. I could never forget those eyes though. They had the same intensity to them they had when charging the dog-man, the same fearsome power. This was definitely the same girl I'd met in Central Park. She was real, and she was here.

My stomach dropped. My heart skipped. Yes! I knew I wasn't crazy. I knew it was all real. Finally, finally I would get my answers. It seemed only fitting to get them from the girl who'd started it all.

Though, when she stomped over to me, I was more than a bit frightened, and suddenly remembered she carried a knife around just for the fun of it. "You said you were eleven!"

Beneath her intense gaze, I stumbled. But I finally managed to mutter something like, "Well I was but now I'm twelve because people get older you see."

Annabeth glared at me. Then she grabbed me by the shoulder and started pushing me into the main temple. "Come on. You need the orientation film more than anyone. Oh I can't wait to rub this in Luke's face!"

So Luke went here as well. I wasn't surprised. I didn't even fight her as she pushed me into the temple. And that was hard, because the place was really cool, and I wanted to get a better view.

You couldn't tell from the outside, but it was two stories tall, with little classrooms on either side of a long hallway. Not one of the classrooms, however, looked vaguely normal. I caught a glimpse of one and realized it was a full-sized swimming pool somehow fit into what appeared to be an otherwise normal room. The one next to it was the biggest library I had ever seen, three stories high, despite it only being a two-story building.

My brain turned to mush, and I followed Annabeth. She led me to a big auditorium, except it was closer to a Greek amphitheater, go figure. It was packed, probably a hundred kids my age through high school, everyone talking and laughing and in some cases shouting. I thought I saw two kids sword fighting in the corner, but decided it was best for my sanity if I just didn't look.

I spotted a blond guy sitting in the middle of the back row, and I guessed it was Luke. Sure enough, Annabeth made a bee-line for him, climbing over half a dozen kids to get to the center of the aisle. They all just grumbled at her, and I muttered quick apologies. Finally we got to the two empty seats next to Luke.

"Turns out eleven meant almost twelve," Annabeth proudly announced as Luke looked up and saw me. His eyes glistened with surprise, but he smirked. Clearly he remembered me as well as I remembered him.

"How's the forgetting working for you, Perseus?"

"It's Percy," I reminded him, rolling my eyes. Something about this guy… He was just so weird. Not a bad weird, but definitely weird. "But I don't even understand what I'm supposed to be forgetting!"

Annabeth looked ready to explain, but suddenly a man in a wheelchair rolled out onto stage, and silence fell. He was on the older side, with a warm, bearded face. I had the strange sense that I had seen him before, but I couldn't remember when. He carried an undeniable authority though, and so I listened intently to what he had to say, "Hello everyone. Welcome back to school. I'm sure many of you have been dreading it, but in my many years I have never ceased learning, and neither should you."

Most of the kids groaned, but his words actually made me smile. It was just such a teacher thing to say.

"For those of you who don't know me, I am Chiron, the Headmaster here at Achilles Academy. Now, as many of the seniors have reminded me, it does us no good to watch the same orientation film each year. Therefore Apollo House has graciously volunteered to turn our usual orientation film into an exciting skit. I hope you will all give them your complete attention. Well then, without further ado, Apollo House, the stage is yours."

The lights suddenly dimmed, and darkness surrounded us. A cool voice called out, "In the beginning, there was chaos, pure darkness and stink- like Hermes House on any given day."

Laughter echoed through the crowd, and nearby Luke let out a noise that sounded both amused, and offended. I guessed maybe he belonged to this 'Hermes House'.

"Then the sheer boringness of all that darkness gave birth to Gaea, the earth, who gave birth to the sky Uranus… I mean Ouranos…" the voice continued. Suddenly two people came onto the stage, one painted green, one painted blue. They stumbled together, and kissed, and then suddenly a bunch of baby dolls were thrown onto the floor between then.

"Ouranos had a bunch of kids with Gaea, which is only slightly more creepy than the rest of the story. But one of those kids was the Titan Kronos."

A guy ran on stage, grabbed one of the dolls, and raised it high in the air. I guess that was Kronos.

"Kronos hated his father because his father ignored him, so he stole his father's scythe, cut off his father's…" a big 'bleep' played "and threw it into the sea. From those would come the goddess of love, Aphrodite, so if you ever think your birth is weird, remember that."

"Kronos then married his sister, Rhea, which is slightly less creepy than marrying your mother, not that anyone told Oedipus that. But anyways, Kronos and Rhea had a kid, Hestia." A new baby doll was thrown onto the stage by 'Kronos' even though the original 'titans' hadn't been cleaned up.

"When Kronos realized his daughter was a goddess, not a titan, he did what any rational dad does, and promptly ate her."

The kid playing Kronos started biting the baby doll, and I cringed in my seat.

"Rhea and Kronos had four more kids, all gods, and Kronos ate them all. At this point he was starting to look pretty fat, and Rhea as annoyed about not having any kids, so she sought answers from her mother… I mean mother-in-law… no actually folks I had it right the first time, Gaea was her mother. Well Gaea told Rhea to give birth to her next child far away from her husband, and feed her husband a rock. I guess the eldest gods weren't much different from rocks anyways, because when she tried it, Kronos didn't even notice."

The guy playing Kronos actually swallowed a rock, and I was seriously worried about this kid.

"Well Rhea's last son, Zeus, grew up not inside his father, and eventually he convinced his father to vomit up his siblings. Then there was a huge war, and in the end, the gods won. Kronos was cut into tiny little pieces, like M&M's but evil, and cast into Tartarus. Then the gods ruled over the world, and everything was good."

Finally they paused to move all the baby dolls off the stage. Once it was clear, the narrator continued while various people, boys and girls, walked across the stage in Greek armor, "But even though the gods got married and had lots of kids who were also gods, they were never satisfied with their actual spouses, so they looked down to earth and said 'oh, she's hot, let's make babies'. There were many heroes, Achilles, Jason, Perseus, Theseus, and Heracles, so cool they gave him a Disney Movie. And every one of these heroes was trained by the one and only, our friend the centaur, Chiron!"

Suddenly a girl dressed up as the headmaster came riding across on one of those pony-sticks you see in Toys'R'Us. Everyone laughed at that, but I just looked over at Headmaster Chiron. This was some joke, right? If you asked me, it wasn't very funny to make fun of the guy in a wheel chair.

"But then all the heroes died, except for Heracles, who became a god. But the gods weren't done having kids. They moved to Rome because the school system was better and had kids there. Then they passed on to Constantinople and tried to be Greek again, though it was all a bit odd. Then they went to Britain. Until, finally, they came to the United States and did what they do best- have kids. And that, my friends, is where you come in."

I furrowed my brows. Somehow this felt very important, but between all the jokes, I was struggling to understand the point.

A new kid came on stage, and I realized that he was dressed up as Luke, scar and all. Next to me the real Luke stiffened, and then the kid on stage began to sing, "My dad is Hermes he messengers things. You'll know his sign by his shoes with those wings. I wait by the phone, but the phone never rings. Oh no! When your dads a god, life can be tough. I met the guy once, and once was enough!"

Next to me Annabeth reached over and gripped Luke's arm. But before I could say anything, a girl in a blond wig came on stage, and began singing, "My mom's Athena, she's smart and she's wise. She's sworn of gluten and she's sworn off guys. But if she came to school, it would be a surprise. Oh no! Oh my stepmom she hates me and my dad works all day. So I left Virginia, and I ran away!"

Annabeth looked ready to kill someone. She stood up in her chair, and Luke pulled her back down. Mr. Chiron must have seen her, because he decided enough was enough. He rolled back on stage just as another girl prepared to sing. "Yes, yes, thank you Apollo House. I think we do get the point. I'm sure you've made your father very proud with your… creativity. But now it is time for seriousness. You must not forget that you come here to learn and train as people as well as heroes, but the world is dangerous. I am saddened to announce the death of Verity Truth, daughter of Aletheia. Verity would have been a sophomore this year, but when attacked by a griffin she was unable to reach help in time. Let us all take a moment of silence for the loss of our friend."

Crap, that was intense. A kid from this school had died over the summer? I couldn't imagine it. But no one else seemed surprised. I noticed a few sad faces among the older kids, and Luke looked disappointed, but the 'moment of silence' really only lasted a moment.

"But the time for sadness is not now. Instead we must look to the future. This year we are blessed with six new half-bloods, and of course, our very own Annabeth shall be with this class. I shall now make an offering to the gods in thanks for the safe arrival of all our students, and ask that, perhaps, any gods who wish to claim their children do now."

I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but Mr. Chiron dumped a large steak into the fire near the stage. Then a guy stumbled over. He was normal looking enough, except I was pretty sure he was drunk. No one else seemed surprised to see him though, though there was a little bit of surprise when he pointed to two twin boys sitting in the second row and said, "Mine."

"Yes, Mr. D, we are aware. Castor and Pollux have been here for two years now," Chiron said, sounding very, very, tired. "For those of you who are unfamiliar with our school director, this is Mr. D, better known as Dionysus, god of wine. Not that he should be drinking any while he is here."

Mr. D flushed, "Of course not."

Flustered, I turned to Annabeth and asked, "Annabeth, why does he keep saying 'god'? What does he mean?"

"Shh," Annabeth told me, though Luke cast me a sympathetic look. If he intended to answer my question, however, he didn't get a chance. Suddenly there was a commotion a little bit away from me. An Asian girl about my age stood up, and she was glowing pink. Now I don't mean just the fact that she was wearing all pink, and the girl I'd seen carrying the suitcases before. No, she was actually glowing pink, and suddenly wearing what looked to me like a prom dress.

Suddenly on the other side of the theater, a mischievous looking kid who reminded me of Luke stood up, a winged shoe flying around his head, and that medical snake thingy you see at hospitals floating over his head.

An anvil appeared over the head of another girl, and a bow over a guy near her, which made our 'Apollo House' actors cheer. Another girl got two torches floating over her head, which just seemed dangerous.

I didn't quite get what was going on, but I had a sense that whatever was happening, it should be happening to me as well. I looked up, but there was nothing glowing over my head. Annabeth and Luke were looking as well, and seemed a bit disappointed to find nothing.

"It's alright. A lot of half-bloods never get claimed. This just means you'll be staying with me in Hermes House. We'll have fun."

I shook my head and ran my hands along my face. "I don't understand what's going on! What is 'claiming'? What are these houses? Why is everyone glowing!"

Annabeth gave Luke an 'I-told-you-so' look, then she rested a hand on my shoulder, and for a moment, she almost didn't seem so scary, "Percy, surely you've realized by now what the play was trying to say. The gods, the Greek gods, they're real, and just like in all the stories, they have kids with mortals. And those kids, we're called half-bloods, or demigods, and you're one of us. That's why you got attacked by the cynocephalus. We didn't tell you because once you know, well monsters find you easier, but it's all true. You have to admit, it makes sense."

No! No it didn't make sense! How could it possibly make sense? My dad wasn't a god. He was just some deadbeat sailor who'd gotten lost at sea. This… this was all some kind of sick joke. Or maybe I really was crazy and had just completely lost it. I was probably in some white padded room somewhere and…

No, Annabeth was right. It did make sense. I'd seen monsters, not just in central park, but throughout my life. I'd really stabbed that dog-man with Annabeth's knife. I'd really breathed under water and come out of the ocean perfectly dry.

I reached in my pocket and pulled out one of the pearls inside. It was the blue one, the one my mom had found the day before my birthday. I held it tight in my hand, praying it would give me strength, and maybe some explanations as well.

And who was I praying to? I guess my dad. If he was a god, I supposed that was the only thing I could do.

AN: To the guest who asked about the pearls. Much like everything in this fic, the pearls are similar and different from in the original book. There are obviously more of them, and they won't all be used for the same purpose. They could, however, function as they did in the book. I know that's not really an answer, but you'll have to keep reading to find out. Thanks for the review. :)