Now see here. I didn't want my life to turn out this way. I never expected all that's happened so far to happen. Listen and listen good: do not read this story. Just enjoy your life and the lies that your mom or dad might've told you about where you come from...or who you come from to be more specific. Try your best to lead a normal life, as normal as you can get, that is.
Okay, how am I supposed to say this...I'm a half-blood. I'm not getting too into this right now, I just need to get to the point before it's too late. Being a half-blood is not a good thing, it's very dangerous with a capital D. It's utterly terrifying, it keeps you on your toes, your guard is always up and it's like you can never get a single moment of peace, you're always on edge and if you don't ...you're dead. Being a half-blood can get you killed a variety of painful and gruesome ways; it makes me sick to my stomach hearing stories about these wonderful people, being killed in the most brutal ways imaginable.
If you're a normal kid, I'm jealous of the life you have to lead. Keep reading this story, keep thinking that this is just fiction and none of this happens in real life.
But if you start recognizing traits about yourself within these pages-if you feel something similar to the way I do. You might be just like me-in that case you should stop reading immediately, drive yourself or ask your parents to drive to Long Island New York and look for Camp Half-blood, and maybe you'll get there before they find you.
If you're sticking around...don't say I didn't warn you.
My name is Alexander Fallon.
I'm twelve years old. Until a couple months ago, I was a student at Quentin's School for Unique Individuals in Queens, New York. I say Unique loosely. The school's basically for people like me, people who are seen as not capable as others. I have dyslexia and ADHD, and I'm not doing too well in school either, my Mom already knows that, but she didn't seem angry or disappointed, we just talked and she kept encouraging me to do better.
Honestly, I can say anything, start at any point in my life, but I'm going to start where things get interesting. It was in May, it was a good day, not too hot, not too cold, but the wind seemed out of control. That's been happening a lot at that point: Thunderstorms, hurricanes, once in a while earthquakes, the wildlife in the area started getting out of control, some families of kids I've known started going through divorces left and right, it's been very hectic.
I'm in the sixth grade, there's only one class that I have at least a B- in: Latin. My Latin teacher, Mr Brunner, he's my favorite teacher to say the least, but throughout this entire year he's only taught us stuff about Ancient Greece, like the Greek Gods and Goddesses, monsters, stories about the Olympians and Mortals, you know that stuff.
Mr Brunner is a middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which smelled like coffee almost all the time. The average uncultured swine wouldn't fathom how cool Mr Brunner is. Mr Brunner told stories and jokes, he'd let us play games in class too, all around cool guy, if I could be taught by anyone in every grade I go to, it would be him. Mr Brunner also had this extremely cool collection of Roman armor and weapons, he was the only teacher who's class I could stand.
The weapons that I'd liked the most were his sword and spear. The sword was a Xiphos, the blade itself was about 3 feet, bronze and shaped like a leaf, the hilt was a golden color and the handle was black and leathery. The spear was about eight feet, the tip was bronze like the sword was, the shaft was a nice brown color.
For as long as I've known I've loved weapons, mostly swords and spear, maybe the occasional shield. I've never used a weapon before, my Mom would never allow that, she doesn't want me hurting myself. But I can admit I'm a little reckless so she's not really wrong.
Anyways, I'm getting sidetracked. Like I said, this day had started perfectly normally, well, as normal as it could get with the crying kids who's parents are going through divorces and squirrels running after children whenever they saw one, and the very strong wind that was so strong that I almost didn't make it to school today on time.
Today classes went on and on. The same boring things and the same boring lessons. I couldn't wait for school to be done in a week, but if I knew about what I was about to go through on that day, and the following week...I probably would've been happier where I was.
When it was lunch time, I went with my friends until we were called up to get into the lunch line...oh right, I didn't talk about my friends yet. I have a total of two friends in the entire school, in case you haven't noticed...I'm not really popular.
I met them both when I arrived on the first day. We bonded over a lot of things, the three of us found out that we were very similar. They had dyslexia and ADHD too, what are the odds?
Their names are Hudson Flare and Gideon Andino. Hudson was the shortest out of the three of us, but not by much. He had curly blonde hair, storm grey eyes, and is slightly tanned, he's the brainiac of our little trio. Hudson's literally the smartest kid I've ever met, even though he's got ADHD and dyslexia, he manages to get an A on every single class. I've never seen anyone who's been able to do that, yet again I've never seen someone or head about someone who's like me before, though Hudson is much more introverted than Gideon and I.
Gideon was just as tall as I was, we were both about the average height for children our age. Gideon is almost the exact opposite of Hudson. Gideon is loud and extroverted, he has wild tousled black hair, he also sports blood red eyes and has a fair complexion. Gideon's grades were like mine, meaning we never get anything above a B-. Whenever Gideon does something "stupid" as Hudson says, he berates him for it, that means I usually have to be the mediator between the two when they get into a fight.
What I found strange about them is that whenever they would go at each other's throats, they would reach for something that they were wearing or had in their pockets as if they were going to bring out weapons and start fighting each other to the death. But then they'd take one look at me and stop what they were doing.
As we were walking back to our table with our lunch trays, one slice of cheese pizza in each of them, I was feeling very...unsettled...like I was being watched.
"Is something wrong, Alex?"Hudson asked
"Oh come one. There's nothing to be sad about. It's pizza day! There's no way you could be sad on pizza day!"Gideon said as we sat down.
"I don't know...I feel weird. Like I'm being watched. Something just doesn't feel right about today"I said, biting into the slice.
"Well didn't your mom say that whenever you feel like something's wrong to look at your charm bracelet?"Hudson said
I breathed out. I took a look at my right wrist to see a silver charm bracelet with only two charms on it, a cloud, and a bolt of lightning. This helped slightly, sometimes I'd have a hard day and looking at them would make me feel better, I don't know why though.
I also had a wrist watch on my left wrist. It was different from other watches. The strap was yellow and the hands were just two lightning bolts. The only time my Mom wanted me to take them off was at bedtime but otherwise she wanted me to keep them on at all times.
"I don't feel much. I still feel weird"I said, looking up from my charm bracelet.
"Well maybe it's-"Hudson was cut off when a slice of Pizza hit him straight in the face. "Gross"
As Hudson peeled it off, we looked at the table in front of as, we knew it was them from their shared laughter. The loudest one was standing up, hands on his stomach: Melvin Sloan.
Melvin was a big and wide boy, he had black hair that fell over his eye, and he usually wore a black t-shirt with a skull on it. Yeah...he's a real freak. Especially his laugh, it sounded like two screaming goats mixed together with a pig squeal and a horse that was in excruciating pain.
"What's wrong, Flare? Have a little case of Pizza face?"Sloan laughed.
Oh and I forgot to mention, he's the stupidest kid in the grade, probably even the school. His insults barely make sense.
"Shut up, Sloan!"I said, standing up from my seat. "How about you go back to whatever farm you came from and say hi to your mom. I'm sure she's waiting for you back in the mud pits"
People ooed as Sloan made his way towards me. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and slammed me on my back onto the table. Sloan began punching me in the face as he held me down with one of his fists, I tired my best to cover my face. I could hear Hudson and Gideon trying to force him off me. A few moments later, the fist that held me down was no longer there. I looked and saw Hudson, his arms wrapped around Sloan's neck from behind.
Sloan grabbed Hudson's arms and forced him off. Sloan turned around and punched Hudson across the face. Hudson hit the ground hard and didn't move. Before I could react, Gideon was already at Sloan. Gideon grabbed Sloan on his right shoulder a turned him around and punched him across the face.
Sloan stumbled back and went to hit Gideon who dodged automatically. Sloan threw more punches at Gideon who dodged easily before hitting him in the face three times. Sloan stumbled back once more...I've...never seen this before. I never even knew Gideon could fight this good.
Sloan threw his entire arm at Gideon who grabbed it, swept his leg and threw Sloan onto the floor. Gideon grabbed him by the hair and lifted it up a bit, Gideon then punched Sloan one last time and then...he was knocked out cold.
I tried to widen my eyes but as soon as I tried I shut it, my left eye began to hurt terribly. I gritted my teeth together as it continued to pain me.
"Oh dude...you're eye's all swollen"Gideon said as he tried to wake up Hudson, who was still out cold.
"It's fine...it'll go down soon enough"I said
"What is going on here!"A new voice blared throughout the cafeteria. I looked behind me to see a familiar face walking towards me, a familiar face that I wished wasn't so familiar.
It was a man, he was a bit wide and large, with gorilla arms with hair on them, his legs didn't quite fit the rest of his body, they resembled toothpicks. He had a few curly hairs on his head, dark eyes, and some wispy hairs on his chin.
This was my Gym teacher, Coach LaBoe. He's been the gym teacher since the start of the year, and he's had it out for me. I don't know why, it's like from the moment he laid eyes on me it seemed as though he made it his life's mission to make my life miserable.
Throughout the year he's been giving me detentions, given me more work to do than the rest of the class, mocking me and always showing up at the most convenient times, convenient for him, as he keeps catches me doing stuff he calls "trouble-making".
"Well...look who it is. Mr Fallon. Someone tell me what's happened here"Coach LaBoe said, crossing his gorilla shaped arms.
"It's Fallon, sir! He threw a slice of pizza at Melvin. The he insulted him and his mom. When Melvin went to tell him to knock it off, he and his friends started beating up on him!"Sloan's second-in-command, Donaldson said
"He's lying! Sloan threw the pizza at Hudson. Then he came over here and started beating up on Alex. Hudson and I tried to stop him, but he knocked Hudson out. He should be the one in trouble"Gideon said
Coach LaBoe's stare was fixated on me, like he already concluded that I was the one who started this whole thing. Coach was about to say something which was probably something about detention, but then he shut his mouth before pointing straight at me with his sausage finger.
"We'll talk about this after class"Coach LaBoe grew a broad smile on his face, showing his crooked, oddly green colored, teeth. He then walked away, Donaldson smirked at our direction just as Hudson woke up.
"Are you alright?"I asked, walking over to him to help him up.
"Yeah, trust me. I've been hit by worse"Hudson said
We resumed lunch, which didn't last much longer before we had to go back to class. We only had two classes left: Latin and Gym.
Latin class was normal, learning about Greek stuff, today we learned about Laistrygonian Giants. Granted I didn't pay attention as much as I would have, my eye was killing me.
The bell rang soon enough and I got up to head to gym class...I was not going to enjoy that.
I walked towards the door, about to walk straight out-
"Alexander. May I speak with you for a moment?"Mr Brunner asked
I turned around to meet him and walked in front of him. "Yes, sir?"
"I've heard about your scuffle with Melvin in the cafeteria"Mr Brunner said
"Look. Before you say anything I wasn't really responsible for that. I barely even fought against them. You should be talking to Sloan about that, he's the one who actually started fighting me"I said
"No. You're not in trouble. I just wanted to gift you something"Mr Brunner said
"Gift me what?"I asked
"Someone have given me this as a gift myself, to pass it down to someone else who it truly belongs to. I always find this object giving me very broad good fortune"Mr Brunner said
"You mean as in money? Or in luck?"I asked
"In luck. I think it time for you to take it for yourself"Mr Brunner dug into his pocket and took out something. When he took it out and placed it in my hand I saw what it was very clearly.
It was a large, round coin made of gold. On one side of the coin was the head of someone who was wearing a greek helmet, on the other side was an owl.
"I-Is this a coin?"I asked
"A very special coin. I must suggest you take very good care of it"Mr Brunner said
"Um, okay. Thank you"I said, I pocketed the coin and walked straight out of the classroom.
Why did he just give me a random coin? What could I possibly use it for? Well if it really is made of gold then maybe I can sell it for a lot of money, it seems rare.
In between classes I had gone to the bathroom, to see a swollen black eye on my face. The eye so swelled that I could barely see my blue eyes in it, and my blown back hair hadn't moved an inch.
When it was finally time for gym class, Hudson, Gideon, and I went to the locker room to change into our gym uniforms. The whole time, Donaldson and the rest of Sloan's gang were laughing at us, but Sloan kept quiet, his shiner matching mines.
Once we got into the gymnasium, exiting the locker room; Coach LaBoe had us lined up in a straight line across the gym.
"Alright everyone, today we'll be playing dodgeball. I'll pick two captains and I'll leave the rest to you"Coach LaBoe said. "Okay...Sloan and...Jacobs"
Sloan and Jacobs, a skinny twig boy with caramel skin, moved across from the rest of us and started choosing teams. Sloan got the first pick and instead of picking any of his friends first, the first person he chose was Gideon.
With a sigh of aggravation, Gideon reluctantly strolled over to Sloan's side. Jacobs picked Hudson. As the time went by it was only me and Orion, a light skinned boy. Almost as expected, Orion went to Sloan's side and I was left to be on Jacobs's side.
Coach LaBoe set the dodgeballs on the floor and blew the whistle for the game to begin. Sloan's team got to the balls first and began pelting us with balls. I could tell Gideon didn't really want to go up against Hudson and I, but nothing could stop him. Gideon can get really competitive in competitions.
Gideon was the one who got the most people out, his throws were brutal, it left very visible bruises on the skin of my teammates, Gideon didn't get hit once, he was just too quick.
Meanwhile for me and Hudson, we were the targets of almost everyone on the opposing side. We were hit multiple times with the balls and one even hit me in the left eye which didn't help the pain at all.
By the time the period was over, my eye hurt worse than before, I felt very humiliated and defeated. As I got changed into my clothes and walked towards the exit of the gymnasium with Gideon and Hudson-
"Hey! Fallon! Don't tell me you've forgotten! I wanna speak to you, one on one!"Coach LaBoe said, I narrowed my right eye, I knew that as I was being bombarded with dodgeballs, he was laughing at me from the sidelines.
Gideon and Hudson looked at me as if concerned for my safety.
"Don't worry guys, I'll be fine, just go"I assured them, they looked at one another and grew a determined look on their faces before turning towards me and nodding simultaneously and exiting the gym.
I walked towards Coach LaBoe. "So what do you want to talk to me about?"
Coach LaBoe narrowed his eyes at me before turning towards the large cage of red dodgeballs. He slowly walked towards them, as if relishing this moment. He picked up a single dodgeball, threw it in between his two hands as if checking it. Coach LaBoe then turned heel and threw the dodgeball at me, I narrowly dodged it as it zipped pass me and hit the bleacher, creating a dent in one of them.
"What the hell was that about?!"I yelled
"Just stay still. It will all be over quickly"Coach LaBoe said. He grabbed another dodgeball and threw it harder than the last one, straight at my head. I ducked just in time, this time when the dodgeball hit the bleachers a whole was broken through it.
"Hey! You almost took my head off!"I yelled
Coach LaBoe smiled wickedly. "That's the idea...Alexander Fallon"
The way he said my name made an unsettling feeling run down my spine. I watched in horror as he grew and grew. Coach LaBoe was usually five foot nine, but then he started to grow. Six feet...seven feet...eight feet!
Coach LaBoe's gorilla sized arms grew larger, harrier, and more muscly. His twig legs grew to fit his appearance better, his green and crooked teeth grew as sharp as razor blades, his dark eyes turned wild and his arms were now tattooed with snakes and hula women and valentine hearts.
"Time to perish, half-blood!"Coach LaBoe picked up a dodgeball...which didn't look too much like a dodgeball anymore. Instead it looked like a large metal ball.
"I don't know what you're talking about!"I yelled
Coach LaBoe threw the ball and I ducked narrowly, when the ball made contact with wall it blasted a large whole in it. As he threw the metal balls at me I ran around the gym. I noticed as the balls made impact that flames seemed to emerge. I ran towards the gym door to escape but the flaming metal ball met with the door first and exploded, blowing me back onto my...well, back.
I hit the floor back and as I got on all fours I saw the flaming metal ball speeding towards me. I figured I wouldn't have enough time as it was already a quarter of the way towards me. As I waited for the flaming ball to hit me, I felt myself being tackled.
As I was moved, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flaming ball meet the floor and explode, leaving a whole behind. I looked to see my savior and immediately recognized the curly blonde hair.
"Hudson!"I said as I looked at him, his grey arms storming. I saw that he had a bronze knife in his hand.
"Just sit tight! This'll be over soon! Gideon, now!"Hudson yelled
"RAH!!"
With a battle cry, Gideon rolled into the gymnasium, a spear with a bronze blade in his hands.
"Don't worry, Alex. We've got your back man"Gideon said
They both charged at Coach LaBoe who roared and threw flaming balls their way, but they seemed to be dodging them fairly well. Once Gideon sliced him on the leg, LaBoe let out a roar of pain.
LaBoe continued to throw balls at them, but Gideon and Hudson stood close to him as they attacked so that he was less likely to throw the balls at them. LaBoe was getting cut up by Hudson and Gideon, so much so that I thought I had nothing to worry about. Boy was I wrong.
As Hudson and Gideon fought, when Hudson sliced LaBoe one more time from behind the leg. LaBoe roared one more time, LaBoe lashed out this time, swinging his hand and backhanding Hudson, sending him flying and crashing down onto the floor.
"Hudson!"Gideon cried before being smacked away as well. He slid along the floor and crashed into the bleachers, the spear that was once originally in his hands flew out.
LaBoe turned to Hudson with a flaming metal ball in his hands. He threw the ball at Hudson. Hudson got up in time and dodged, but he didn't dodge it fully. By the time he was in the air the ball made connection with the floor and exploded. Hudson was blown back and landed on his back, unconscious with his jacket catching fire and a noticeable burn on his skin.
I ran to his aid and quickly threw off his jacket but out of the corner of my eyes I saw LaBoe pick up Gideon and began squeezing and strangling him. Gideon screamed in agony. I ran over to LaBoe, grabbing Hudson's bronze knife that he had dropped.
I walked up behind LaBoe and sliced him from behind. LaBoe screeched and kicked me hard, I felt something crack right before I hit the floor. The bronze knife fell out of my hands.
I grunted on impact. I didn't know what I could do, my whole body was hurting, I had no idea how to defeat this thing, and my friends were about to die. I just needed someway to win, someway to protect my friends.
Someone, anyone...I need help.
Then something weird happened...I felt my right arm grow heavier. I looked at my right arm and saw a shield, the shield was silver and bronze with the face of Medusa on it. Woah.
I stood and looked at the sword that was right behind me on the floor. The sword's blade was about 3 feet, bronze and shaped like a leaf, the hilt was a golden color and the handle was black and leathery. It was the sword Mr Brunner had, the Greek Xiphos. I walked towards it and picked it up.
I noticed on the blade there was small writing on it: Kataigída
"Tempest"I said, although I didn't know how I understood Greek.
I got up on my feet and glared at LaBoe who had resumed squeezing Gideon who was purple in the face. My fist tightened around the handle and I ran at LaBoe. I slid across the floor and sliced LaBoe's heel. I heard him cry out and drop Gideon whom I caught before he could hit the floor.
As LaBoe tried to swat me like I was a fly, I dodged at the last second. I don't know where these skills came from. Whenever he'd miss I sliced him, which seemed to pain him greatly. LaBoe threw a punch at me which I dodged as it hit the floor and made a hole. With a swift move I sliced him on the cheek, and then plunged my sword into his chest.
Time seemed to slow down for him and he looked down at the blade that had just ran through him. "Ouch"
He then turned into a cloud of green flame and then disappeared. I then looked down where my sword and shield were and watched them slowly fade away until the coin Mr Brunner gave me was in my hand and the shield turned into my watch.
I looked at the destruction around me and watched as Gideon helped Hudson up, putting his arm around his shoulder. They both looked at me.
I turned heel and ran.
"Wait! Alex, come back!"
I heard them yelling my name, I don't know how but as I reached the gym doors which the floor and walls surrounding it was on fire, I jumped over the fire and ran out of the school.
As I hailed a cab I just realized something...Did I just kill my Gym Teacher?