Hey guys!
By some miracle, I completed the chapter. I will start writing the next chapter after two and a half weeks, so it will probably come out at the month-end. You can keep tabs on the update schedule from my profile page. I mention updates at the bottom.
Tbrucks: Yes, I am planning on adding something interesting but it will take a little time. Your review made my day! Thanks a lot!
[Edit: 30/09/2020] SeaweedBrainIsBlue: Thalia meets Sally at the very start of the book and it completely slipped my mind. I have edited that part. Thanks for pointing that out and thanks for reviewing!
Please review and tell me if there is anything wrong 'cause I know there are a lot of grammatical errors in chapter. English is my second language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and I will not keep repeating it in all the chapters. It applies to future chapters too.
I won't bore you with AN anymore. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter - 1: I wish I could kill my maths teacher too!
"I have the book. I'll start." Annabeth offered. "Chapter one- I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher…"
Annabeth paused and raised an eyebrow at Percy. Percy opened his mouth to defend himself but Fates decided that moment to send some more demigods. The light cleared to show two identical boys.
"Travis and Connor?" Percy asked surprised.
Curly brown hair, blue eyes, elfish features, and a sarcastic smile. Yup, they were Stoll Brothers alright. Two of them jumped up with an identical grin and a gleam in their eyes that just screamed 'I'm gonna drop a firecracker down your shirt so watch out' and bowed in unison.
"Yours truly…" Started the slightly taller one.
"Travis…" Continued the slightly shorter one.
"And Connor…" The taller one continued.
"Stoll!" Both finished in unison.
Annabeth rolled her eyes "You're Travis" she pointed towards the one who had introduced himself as Connor "and you're Connor." She pointed towards the shorter one. "Stop confusing everyone."
"How did you tell them apart?" A very confused Piper asked.
"Travis is slightly taller than Connor," Percy answered for Annabeth.
"Huh? That makes sense." Piper muttered quietly.
"So when are you from?" Jason asked warily. He definitely did not like that gleam in their eyes, it reminded him of the look on Leo's face before he pulled one of his 'epic' pranks.
"Same time as those four." Connor nodded towards Percy, Annabeth Thalia, and Nico.
"And," Stoll brothers said in unison before Travis continued "we know what's going on."
"Gods explained everything to us." Connor elaborated.
"Oh! And more people are going to keep showing up in between." Travis nodded gravely.
"Well, have a seat." Aphrodite summoned on more couch. Both of them immediately plopped down.
"Let's continue, without any interruptions this time, I hope," Athena said.
Annabeth nodded and began to read.
Look I didn't … half-blood.
Thalia snorted "Who does?"
If you're … advice is
"Fair warning, never listen to Percy's advice," Nico said seriously.
"Yes, I agree. They are always stupid and most likely to get you killed." Thalia agreed.
"Hey!" Percy grumbled, "Why does this book have to be based on my thoughts anyway?"
"Stop interrupting!" Zeus boomed "We need to finish this book."
"Lord Ju- Zeus, if I may. If Fates bought us all here specifically, doesn't that mean we all have something we can share?" Surprisingly it was Reyna who spoke up. She opened her mouth to continue but stopped when she heard a soft voice fill the room.
"I agree. Let's not stop these young demigods from voicing their thoughts." A small girl tending the hearth spoke up.
"Sister…" Zeus was left voiceless. Hestia rarely ever spoke nowadays, so her speaking up against Zeus's thoughts was surprising to say at least. "Very well."
"Please don't hesitate to speak up." Hestia smiled warmly at the demigods.
"Thank you, Lady Hestia." Percy bowed to her.
Close this … lead a normal life.
"Close the book! Close the book!" Leo jumped.
"Whoa, what happened Leo?" Jason asked
"I felt something stir inside of me!" Leo said dramatically. "Percy said to close the book if something stirs inside of us."
Travis and Connor snickered and said to Leo, "We're gonna be best friends."
"That isn't a piece of bad advice," Piper commented as she smacked Leo on the head.
"Did Percy just…" Thalia started.
"… give good advice." and Nico ended, both of them looking like they had been smacked between their eyes.
"That is actually good advice, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth complimented her boyfriend.
"Of course it is." Percy nodded smugly while all the gods had an unsettled look on their faces. Annabeth continued reading.
Being a half-blood is…in painful, nasty ways.
All the demigods winced or grimaced.
"Surely, being a demigod is not that bad?" Demeter asked downcast.
"I'm afraid it is, Lady Demeter," Percy answered softly.
Both Nico and Hazel nodded with a bitter look on their faces, something neither Frank nor Hades missed. Ruler of Underworld's heart clenched at the thought of his counterpart's daughter's death.
'But how then? How is she alive and why is Nico out of Lotus Casino?' The god of the dead mused.
'Hazel?' Frank thought worriedly.
But if you recognize…and they'll come for you.
This time, Leo wisely decided to keep his mouth shut.
Reyna nodded, "That is good advice."
"Hn." Octavian the scrawny blond grunted. Many sets of eyes turned towards him.
"Dude…" Travis stared at Octavian the scrawny blond.
"… you did not..." Connor continued but none of the brothers completed the sentence.
"Why are you trying to imitate the Uchihas?" Percy asked shrewdly. "You'll never be as cool as them or strong for the matter of fact."
Leo bust into maniac laughter, while all the demigods were snickering.
Poor Hazel just looked confused, 'It must be one of the modern things'.
Apollo and Hermes looked like they wanted to join in with Leo in his maniac laughter. Athena and Aphrodite looked amused while Zeus shook his head in resignation (We are never going to finish the book).
Octavian the scrawny blond just glared at everyone. Annabeth caught the look on the king of gods and continued reading.
Don't say I …didn't warn you.
"You didn't warn me." Nico pointed out.
"Come on! You were already under attack before I could warn you!" Percy protested.
"Besides you were pretty happy back then, playing myth-" Thalia was cut off by a loud "Annabeth, read!"
Annabeth complied but not before adding "Oh, I'm sure, me falling off the cliff must have something to do with Percy not warning you too."
Athena's eyes widened but Annabeth had already started reading before she could say anything.
My name… is Percy Jackson.
"Really? I thought…" Travis started.
"… it was Annabeth Chase." Connor finished.
Both of them were quick to apologize at Annabeth's Do-You-Want-Me-To-Kill-You glare. All the males in the room (yes, including gods) made a mental note not to anger the blond and most definitely not have that glare directed in their direction.
I'm twelve years old. Until a … upstate New York.
Am I a troubled kid?
"Yes" echoed from all the demigods from Percy's timeline.
"Come on!" Percy sigh "At least one of you can be on my side." He looked at Frank and Hazel hopefully.
"Well… you are a troubled person, Percy." Hazel joked, deciding to go along with everyone. Frank grinned and said, "I agree with Hazel."
Annabeth snorted.
"What's so funny?" Octavian the scrawny blond sneered.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him, letting a tiny amount of killer intent leak towards him. Needless to say, he tried and failed to uphold his dignity when he began squirming in his place.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and continued reading.
Yeah. You … could say that.
Everyone laughed.
I could start at ... life to prove it,
"Dramatic much?" Thalia teased.
"But it's true." Percy pointed out.
but things really started ... ancient Greek and Roman stuff.
"Sounds fun!" Hazel, Annabeth, and Athena cheered.
Annabeth growled when she saw the next line. Percy not-very-discreetly scooted away from her.
I know—it sounds like … field trips were.
Athena gasped, looking scandalized. Both mother and daughter looked ready to flay the son of Poseidon alive.
"Umm… Annie? How about we continue reading and I will help you kill Kelp Head later?" Thalia intervened before things could escalate, saving her cousin from imminent death.
The goddess of wisdom narrowed her eyes to the nickname. She had her suspicions about the boy and it looked like she might be right after all.
And by the looks of it, she wasn't the only one. As proved by the multiple looks towards Poseidon.
But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hoped.
Annabeth calmed down a bit after this and looked questionably towards her boyfriend. "Is Mr. Burner…?"
A quick nod was all the conformation Annabeth needed.
Mr. Brunner was this … play games in class.
He also had this … class didn't put me to sleep.
"You sleep in class?!" Athena looked horrified while Octavian the scrawny blond/wannabe Uchiha just tsk'ed "I wouldn't expect anything else from you."(For which he promptly got kicked by Reyna).
Athena had expected her daughter to have a similar reaction, so understandably she was surprised when instead of yelling at the green-eyed boy, her daughter just patted him on the shoulder.
"I understand." Annabeth simply said much to everyone's surprise.
Leo, who just couldn't keep quiet anymore, looked up from some sort of mini motorized chair he was making and said the first thing that came to his mind. "You slept in classes too?"
He immediately started regretting it when Annabeth's eyebrows twitched but she surprised everyone yet again.
"No, I didn't sleep in classes but I understand why someone else might." Annabeth started slowly "It was difficult for me as it is, I can only imagine what it is for someone other than..."
"A child of Athena." The goddess of wisdom guessed.
"So she is your daughter, Athena!" Apollo pumped his fist in air as he gleefully turned towards Hermes to collect his debt.
"You placed bets for this?" Frank asked a little bewildered.
"Yup." Apollo replied cheerfully as he collected 10 drachma from Hermes. "We have bets on all of you!"
Artemis mumbled something about foolish little brother.
Jason leaned over to Piper "Is it me or Annabeth seems a lot calmer and less angry?"
Piper nodded "It's probably because she's with Percy."
"Let us continue, for now, we will talk later Annabeth," Athena told her daughter.
I hoped the trip would … wouldn't get in trouble.
Boy, was … I wrong.
See, bad things happen … I got expelled anyway.
Everyone was silent for the count of three (Percy counted) before breaking into a laughing mess.
"Dude, you blew up your school bus?" Frank gasped out.
"How come you never told us, Percy?" The Stoll brothers somehow managed to say in unison.
"Percy, my man, please tell me we are best friends in future," Leo said after he had calmed down.
Annabeth decided to start reading before Percy could answer that. They really needed to finish the chapter, forget the whole book.
And before that, at my fourth-grade … the time before that... Well, you get the idea.
Many cries of "No! We want more!" were heard.
"That was epic!" Hermes cried. Athena, herself smiling, nodded towards Annabeth, silently telling her to keep reading. Before Annabeth started reading, however, she saw Hermes, Apollo, and Hephaestus mumbling together something and she knew something bad was going to happen.
This trip, I was … determined to be good.
"Yeah, like that worked." Percy snorted.
All the way into the city … peanut butter-and- ketchup sandwich.
"Ew!" Aphrodite cried out.
Before the Goddess of love and beauty could get all started about ugliness and makeover, Annabeth wisely decided to continue reading.
Grover was an easy … muscular disease in his legs.
"That isn't exactly a very flattering description for a friend." Reyna tilted her head. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement while Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Thalia zapped Percy. "G-Man deserves a better description!"
Percy jumped. "Jeez, Thalia! I was twelve. Besides the description is pretty accurate."
Thalia retorted back and soon it turned into another one of their 'bickering sessions'. Annabeth sigh 'We are never going to finish the chapter.'
Ignoring the two siblings, she continued reading.
He walked funny, like … enchilada day in the cafeteria.
"Wow." Piper deadpanned.
"Well, that's one way to blow your cover." Surprisingly, it was Dionysus (who was called to the meeting from Camp, along with Hades) who commented. A few gods looked shocked he was even paying attention.
"We'll have to do a lot of work on Grover." Travis nodded seriously.
"You bet! Rule number 206 very clearly states to never blow your cover." Connor shook his head sorrowfully.
"Also teach him how to lie while you're at it," Percy interjected.
"What?" Connor looked absolutely horrified.
"He broke rule number 254 too?" Travis asked, his expression mirroring his brothers.
"Lot of work indeed." Connor nodded gravely. Hermes was looking at his sons with pride.
"Grover's a satyr, right?" Piper asked Annabeth.
"Yeah." Annabeth nodded.
"Really? He doesn't sound like Coach Hedge." Leo said, still tinkering with the mini motorized chair.
"I think that's because Coach Hedge is unique. I don't think any other faw- satyr threatens to bash everyone's head with a club while calling them a cupcake." Jason answered Leo before turning towards Annabeth. "Does Grover call anyone cupcake?"
"No," Annabeth answered slowly. "That's only Coach Hedge. He is unique."
While the conversation regarding satyrs transpired, Romans (excluding Jason, because he had already meet Coach Hedge) were becoming extremely confused.
"Bash other people's heads?" A very confused and horrified Hazel squeaked, trying to imagine her friend Dawn the fawn trying to kill people with a club. Needless to say, she failed to do so.
"Cupcakes?" Equally confused Frank asked. He couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of any fawn calling him a 'cupcake'.
"You send fawns to keep tabs on demigods?" Reyna asked, figuring Grover was there to recruit Percy.
"They prefer satyrs but yeah. They go undercover as regular high schoolers to sniff out any demigods or monsters and alert the camp about them or sometimes they directly bring the demigod to the camp if a monster is hot on their trail." Percy explained.
"I see," Reyna said unconvinced. "And do they bring the half-blood back alive?"
"Of course they do!" Percy exclaimed. "Well, mostly." He glanced towards Thalia.
"It was my decision! And I am alive right now, aren't I?" She shrugged. "Besides, no one is perfect."
"Hn. What else can you expect from those useless fawns? They are pathetic good for nothing beggars. You Greeks are fools, entrusting such a job to those stupid creatures. And accepting an untrained demigod among your ranks? Foolish, just like your piteous fawns. Hn. They can't even-" Octavian the wannabe Uchiha stopped his rant.
The reason, whether it was from the large amount of killer intent in the air or the murderous glare directed towards him or the growling sound from Dionysus, remains unknown but the simple fact remains- Octavian the scrawny blonde had pissed off some powerful demigods and he was going to pay for it.
"If the fates hadn't specifically told not to harm the future demigods, you would be dead by now." Dionysus spat, utterly disgusted at the blonde's words.
Percy and Thalia stood up, while Nico had to restrain one seething Annabeth (which is not fun, by the way), shooting murderous glares towards The wannabe Uchiha.
"The note said gods can't harm the demigods, it said nothing about demigods hurting each other," Percy said, absolutely livid.
But before Percy or Thalia could even take two steps, Octavian was already lying flat on the floor. You'd think it was Reyna, Frank, or Jason but it was none other than Hazel Levesque. Albeit, a very wrathful Hazel Levesque.
"How dare you? I am the camp Augur!" Octavian, I would say screeched like a little girl but that would be offending to all those little girls, screamed like a banshee. "How dare y-" His words died in his throat when he sees the look on Hazel's face.
At that moment Hazel truly looked like what one would think a child of God of death would be like. Deadly. Hazel Levesque looked deadly.
"How dare you say all those things about fawns and satyrs?" Hazel fumed. "You have no right!" A memory of Dawn laughing with her flashed across her eyes and her anger rose. How dare he say all those things about her friend when he doesn't know the first thing about them!
She pulled back her hand to punch him again but a blinding light filled the room again.
A small note innocently fluttered down on the floor. Frank read it out aloud.
Dear gods and demigods,
This is to emphasize that demigods cannot be harmed by either the gods or their fellow demigods.
Killing anyone would cause a lot of complications.
Fates
Thalia grit her teeth, walked up to the scrawny blonde, and extended her hand. This action was met by many baffled looks.
"Thalia!" Percy sounded betrayed.
"What? That note practically said we cannot harm him." The daughter of Zeus snapped. "Intentionally" She muttered under her breath, too low for anyone but Hazel, who was standing next to Thalia, to hear.
Octavian realized she was right. That small piece of paper was the only thing keeping the gods and demigods from murdering him on the spot. He hesitantly accepted her outstretched arm (yes, he accepted help from a Greek!) as he pulled himself up.
But before he could completely gain balance, Thalia zapped him with millions of volts of thunder.
"Sorry, it was reflex." Thalia grinned. "It kinda happens to any boy who isn't Percy, Jason or Nico. It takes conscious effort not to zap any other male. Something I didn't bother with, in your case."
Octavian twitched on the ground again, gasping in pain.
"Note said we can't hurt them intentionally but it said nothing about hurting them unintentionally!" Hazel realized what Thalia was mumbling about earlier.
Gods looked flabbergasted. There was only one thought running through their minds 'What is wrong with them?'
"That is a job well done, Thalia." Reyna smiled, not feeling even an ounce of sympathy towards her fellow comrade.
Percy whistled, Frank grinned and Jason smiled. No one in this room liked the scrawny blonde.
"Thank you, Praetor."
'Praetor?' Gods were suddenly much more uneasy. What were their future selves thinking, sending Greeks and Romans together? How are they not trying to kill each other? Better yet, HOW DO THEY EVEN KNOW EACH OTHER?
Gods had spent centuries trying to make sure the two sides stayed separate and at a safe distance.
When he first saw Jason, Zeus had suspected that the two sides might know each other but dismissed the idea almost immediately. Greeks and Romans were like fire and water, complete opposites. They can't stand in the same room without trying to kill each other, right?
But now, Praetor and Augur, not to mention the other two demigods. It was too much to just brush aside. They had to talk. And judging from the looks on other god's faces, they were probably thinking along the same lines.
While Zeus was mulling over his thoughts, demigods had resolved their fights. The end result was twelve satisfied and one very battered demigod, completely covered in bruises.
This apparently had happened when all the demigods aiming their fists for some other target had mysteriously landed on Octavian's face. Unintentional beating, as they called it.
So naturally, another note appeared from the fates, saying it was prohibited to hurt demigods mentally or physically, intentionally or unintentionally, which did put a little damper on the demigod's mood (except one).
Zeus cleared his throat to get the still bickering demigod's attention. "We need to discuss something important." His gaze fell on the group Of Roman demigods before turning sharply towards the Greeks.
Annabeth instantly understood, so did the other girls by the looks of it, and nodded "Yes, but how about we discuss that after we finish this chapter? We are not even halfway through."
The king of gods sigh but nodded, knowing she was right. They had to finish the chapter. Hades was looking at his counterpart's daughter thoughtfully.
Annabeth started reading.
Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing … entertaining happened on this trip.
"Like that's gonna happen," Frank muttered. If there was anything he learned about his friend, it was that nothing normal ever happened to him.
There were a few mumbles of agreement.
"I'm going … kill her," I mumbled.
Thalia nodded, "Go for it."
"Aren't hunters supposed to be on the girl's side?" Nico raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah but no one hurts Grover."
Artemis narrowed her eye. The girl was a hunter? She had noticed the silver circlet on the girl's head but didn't give it much thought. But it was the mark of the first lieutenant of her hunters.
What did that mean? Did she choose two lieutenant in the future? Or did something happen to Zoe? No, the goddess of the moon quickly shot down those thoughts. She would talk to the girl after this chapter.
Grover tried … like peanut butter."
Leo snorted, "Yeah, right!"
"In the hair?" Piper asked rhetorically.
Aphrodite's disgust for the girl returned.
"That's it." I started … pulled me back to my seat.
"You're already on probation … get blamed if anything happens."
Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked … mess I was about to get myself into.
"You would have hit a girl?" Artemis asked dangerously.
"Yes, I would have," Percy answered honestly. "She might be a girl but Grover is my best friend. Besides, girls can protect themselves. They are strong too." He glanced over all the girls in the room.
Many gods and goddesses beamed at the answer. Artemis was certainly surprised. He didn't say the words most would think Artemis wanted to hear, he had answered her question honestly and that might have earned him some amount of respect.
Annabeth sent him a smile before continuing on.
Mr. Brunner led … the museum tour.
He rode up front in his wheelchair, … old black-and-orange pottery.
It blew my mind that … thousand, three thousand years.
"Probably more," Hephaestus said gruffly.
He gathered us around … would give me the evil eye.
Hades and Nico narrowed their eyes.
Mrs. Dodds was this little math ... math teacher had a nervous breakdown.
"She sounds familiar." Hades mused. Nico nodded absently, already trying to figure out who she was.
"I don't know…" Travis started.
"But she sounds…" Connor continued.
"Kinda weird." Leo finished, looking up from his mini invention.
Everyone looked at them in horror. Stool brothers with Percy were bad enough, now Leo too? Not to mention all the mumbling earlier.
"Is she a monster?" Piper asked.
Percy nodded.
From her first day, Mrs. Dodds … figured I was devil spawn.
Thalia grinned. "Oh! But that's -"
She would point her crooked - detention for a month.
"You know, that sounds really familiar." Hades had a sneaky suspicion who it was and he did not like it one bit. If the boy was Poseidon's son (the boy was practically mini- Poseidon!), his brother would definitely not be happy if he sent that monster.
"Detention." Percy, Leo, and Piper shuddered.
Hazel looked over towards Leo. And just like every time before, she saw Sammy instead of Leo.
'No.' she told herself. 'Sammy is dead. That is Leo.'
It didn't make forgetting Sammy easier.
One time, after she'd made … math workbooks until midnight,
"What?" The Stoll brothers exclaimed in unison.
"You poor soul!" Travis said dramatically, looking at Percy with awe.
"You sure had a hard life!" Connor continued the trend.
Percy snickered, "The hard part isn't even close yet."
I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds … , and said, "You're absolutely right."
"There he goes again." Dionysus shook his head.
"He broke the rule 368!" Leo exclaimed. The Stoll brothers nodded their heads in agreement. Everyone stared at them.
"Where do you get all that from?" Frank asked.
"Do the three of you have the same rule book or something?" Thalia asked at the same time.
"Of course we do!" Three of them said in unison.
"All pranksters have the same rule book," Hermes said proudly and then proceeded to summon a couch and sit with his sons instead of on his throne. The Stoll brothers looked equal parts surprised and happy.
Apparently, Hermes wasn't the only god who wanted to sit with their children for Apollo, Aphrodite and Hephaestus followed Hermes's example. After a brief hesitation, Athena and Hades too walked over.
Poseidon shot Percy an apologetic look. If he were to claim his son right now, his brother would blow his fuse even if he himself had already broken the oath. No, better to let the book break the news first.
Mr. Brunner … Greek funeral art.
Finally, Nancy Bobofit … you shut up?"
It came … I meant it to.
"Of course it did." Annabeth sigh.
The whole group … stopped his story.
"Mr. Jackson," … have a comment?"
My face … totally red.
"Must have been a sight to see!" Thalia snickered.
I … "No, sir."
Mr. Brunner pointed to … what this picture represents?"
I looked at the carving, … eating his kids, right?"
All the older Olympians groaned.
"It had to that one!" Demeter moaned.
"Of all he could choose from!" Hera shuddered.
The elder three brothers looked plenty constipated themselves. Even Hestia shuddered once.
"Yes," Mr. Brunner … did this because ..."
"Well..." I racked … king god, and—"
"GOD?" Zeus thundered, pun intended, down.
"Calm down, brother," Poseidon said, looking pretty disturbed himself. "I am sure he will be corrected."
"God?" … asked.
"See?"
"Titan," I corrected … brothers and sisters—"
"Eeew!" said … girls behind me.
Cue more shudders.
"—and so there was … and the gods won."
"You summed up years of war, nearly an entire era, into one sentence." Athena deadpanned, still trying to process 'big fight and the gods won' part.
Percy shrugged.
Some snickers … the group.
"Why?" Hazel asked, confused. "He got it right."
"Mortals are weird," Thalia stated in a matter of fact tone.
Percy had a feeling that Thalia was just rubbing the fact that they all technically still fell in the category of mortals unlike her. Partial immortality is still a form of immortality after all.
Behind me, Nancy Bobofit … Kronos ate his kids.'"
"And why, Mr. Jackson," … this matter in real life?"
"Busted!" Leo and Stoll brothers sang together.
"Busted," … muttered.
"We think like a goat!" They cried, horrified.
The rest of them snickered. Octavian the scrawny blonde wanted to comment about fawn's stupidity but had a stronger sense of self-preservation. After all, only a small piece of paper was standing between him and his death.
"Shut up," Nancy … red than her hair.
At least Nancy … had radar ears.
"Horse ears." Stoll brothers corrected.
I thought … don't know, sir."
"I see." Mr. Brunner … you lead us back outside?"
"Happy note?" Hades deadpanned. Though he had not missed how Percy, Annabeth, and Nico had shivered at the mention of Tartarus.
The class drifted off, … and acting like doofuses.
"Boys are doofuses," Artemis said and Thalia nodded sagely.
Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner … to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.
"It's for your own good," Reyna said softly.
"He's right, it is important," Nico said. "Withou-"
"I know now," Percy cut off Nico. "But I didn't know back then."
"Whatever," Thalia muttered.
I mean, sure, it was kind of cool … never made above a C— in my life.
"C- ?" Athena looked horrified. "Is it really that bad for all demigods?"
All the demigods nodded solemnly. They all knew how difficult their school life was.
"Even my siblings and I have trouble with academics, mom," Annabeth asked.
No—he didn't expect me to be … much less spell them correctly.
"Dyslexia." Percy winced.
I mumbled something about trying … he'd been at this girl's funeral.
"He probably had." Nico nodded sagely.
He told me … eat my lunch.
The class gathered on the front … foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.
Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, … surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.
"What's got two so riled up?" Hades raised an eyebrow, looking at his brothers.
"How are we supposed to know?" Zeus replied shrewdly.
"It's in the future, it hasn't happened now." Pointed out, his tone a lot calmer and politer than his brother's.
Athena narrowed her eyes as she remembered the title of the book. Her father and uncle were fighting…? The lightning thief? Hadn't her daughter mentioned a quest with the boy? And if the boy was his son, it could very well explain the tension.
Nobody else … to notice.
"Mist?" Piper asked.
"Mist," Thalia confirmed.
Some of the guys were … with Lunchables crackers.
"That's not very nice!" Frank exclaimed.
"Men," Artemis said with disdain as if the single word could explain the root of all the problems in the world. The downside was that the goddess of the moon probably believed that to be the case.
Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket … Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.
"Are you sure, that girl isn't your daughter?" Demeter turned towards Hermes.
"Definitely." Hermes said, "My children are never seen 'trying' to steal something, they just do it. They are never caught." He looked at his sons proudly.
"Like this." Travis was holding up Nico's skull ring while Connor was holding Thalia's bracelet.
"What the Hades?" Thalia exclaimed, jumping up and snatching her fashionable shield from Connor.
"Hey!" Nico protested. Whether it was for his stolen ring or Thalia cursing on his father's name again, the demigods never found out.
"It would be nice if you all would stop swearing on my name." Hades frowned.
Thalia apologized to Hades before turning back to the Stoll brothers. "How did you do it?!"
"Secrets!" They chorused mysteriously, tossing Nico his ring back.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and continued reading.
Grover and I sat on the edge … loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.
"Detention … Grover asked.
"Nah," I said. … I'm not a genius."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Annabeth nodded towards Percy sardonically.
Percy groaned. Thalia and Nico grinned.
Grover didn't say … "Can I have your apple?"
Everyone burst out laughing.
"Maybe," Thalia started, sticking up for her satyr friend. "Percy doesn't like apples so Grover took his apple so he wouldn't have to eat it." Her laughter telling her everyone that she herself didn't believe it.
"Yup!" Percy said enthusiastically, his words practically drowning in sarcasm. "That's it!"
I didn't have much … so I let him take it.
I watched the stream of … stand that sad look she'd give me.
All the girls coo-ed at that as Percy's face started resembling a tomato.
"Momma's boy!" Stoll brothers sang.
Percy proudly agreed to it as Thalia, Nico and Annabeth nodded along.
"You would be like that too if you ever meet her," Annabeth said with a smile. "She's really amazing!"
Athena furrowed her eyebrows, if the boy really was his son, she did not like the fact they were close enough for her to meet his mother.
"She's really kind." Nico nodded. "Percy get all his good qualities from her."
"Yeah!" Thalia said enthusiastically. "She even told us all those cute baby Percy stories!" Ignoring Percy's glare and Annabeth's chuckle, she turned towards Nico. "When did you meet Ms. Jackson?"
"Well, technically it Mrs. Boflis now." Percy's correction went unheard.
"I met her on Percy's fifteenth birthday," Nico said. "That blue cake and blue ice-cream were absolutely delicious."
Annabeth nodded, "Don't forget the blue cookies!"
"Blue cookies are amazing, aren't they?" Percy brightened up at the mention of his favorite food. "Can you blame me for being addicted to them?"
"Blue?" Reyna looked confused. Hazel and Frank remembered their dinner before the war games- the blue coke.
"It will probably be explained in the books," Percy said.
Thalia, Nico, and Percy began discussing blue cookies addictions and the wonders of blue cake. Annabeth decided to continue reading.
Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair … making it look like a motorized cafe table.
Leo looked down on his invention, a mini motorized and weaponized chair, and started thinking of adding a weaponized umbrella because a normal umbrella is too boring. Hephaestus looked at his son proudly before doing the same thing.
I was about to unwrap my sandwich … her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.
"She did what now?" Piper said, disgusted. She hated bullies just like anyone else in the room.
"I know she's a girl but she is making it really hard to stay biased," Thalia said.
"That was not very nice of her." Artemis agreed.
Aphrodite, meanwhile, was having a panic attack. How could that girl do something like that?! I feel sorry for that satyr. Breathe! Breathe!
Annabeth instead of fuming like everyone else continued reading because she knew Percy was going to do something. He would never let his friends be treated like that. Nico was on the same page as Annabeth.
"Oops." She grinned at me with … spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.
"That's a weird way to describe someone," Reyna said. Octavian's tiny brain was still trying to process that the only thing standing between the angry demigods around him and his imminent death was a piece of paper.
Aphrodite nearly fainted. That girl needed makeover.
I tried to stay cool. The school … went blank. A wave roared in my ears.
'A wave?' Athena thought suspiciously.
Hades leaned back and turned to look at one Percy Jackson. He was nearly one hundred percent sure that the boy was Poseidon's son. The looks alone were a dead giveaway.
But then again, if the boy was Poseidon's son, what did that mean for the prophecy? The boy easily looked sixteen, seventeen even. He glanced towards Athena and she seemed to be thinking the same thing.
Maybe, the prophecy came through. Maybe, that is why he let Nico and Bianca out of the Lotus Casino. But… where was Bianca anyway? She didn't come back with these demigods but Nico did. Hades' musings were broken when Athena's daughter started reading.
I don't remember touching her … screaming, "Percy pushed me!"
Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.
Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—"
"—the water—"
"—like it grabbed her—"
"POSEIDON!" Zeus yelled. "YOU BROKE THE OATH!"
"So did you, brother, twice." Poseidon calmly retorted.
"Looks like I am the only one who kept the oath then," Hades said trying to make his presence known in the conversation.
"Yes, indeed," Hera said to Hades before turning to look at Poseidon and Zeus.
"So you admit the boy is your child!" Zeus cried.
"Of course I do! He is my son." Poseidon rolled his eyes.
"I didn't think you'd follow in Zeus's footsteps too," Hera said to Poseidon.
Poseidon raised an eyebrow at her sister. "Well, at least, I didn't have to give my son to Amphitrite as a peace offering so she wouldn't go on a rampage, nor did I have to name my son after her favorite hero or name him her champion."
"Check that out, Uncle P doesn't like Hera either!" Thalia said excitedly as if someone told her she could zap Octavian the scrawny blonde as much as she wanted.
Annabeth snorted. "Nobody like Hera!" Jason, Piper, Leo, Stoll brothers, Hermes and Apollo nodded sagely. Wait… Hermes and Apollo?
Hazel, Frank, Reyna, and Octavian looked absolutely lost as to why and how Greeks could insult their gods like that. And the fact as to how they were still alive. Oh! That's right, a piece of paper.
"Now we know where Percy gets his sass from," Nico said.
Zeus and Hera, both of whom were about to retort to their brother, turned towards the demigods.
"How dare you disrespect me like that, you mortals?" Hera spat. "You will show me respect and-"
"Respect you?" Annabeth hissed, glaring at the goddess of marriage. "I think, I have every right to disrespect you, especially after what you did to Percy and Jason!"
"That's right." Nico, Thalia, Stoll brothers agreed.
"You'll have to earn our respect, Lady Hera." Percy said the word 'lady' with so much sarcasm it was practically drowning in it.
Jason, Piper, and Leo nodded along.
"Percy, wasn't Lady Juno the one to bring you to Camp Jupiter?" Reyna asked, still not getting all the hate directed towards the goddess.
"She was also the one who stole eight months of my life, all my memories, and kidnapped Jason from Camp Jupiter too," Percy replied as all the gods' jaws slacked open.
Since when did gods start interfering in mortal affairs? All the gods (and goddesses) were thinking.
"Yeah! Do you have any idea how scary Annabeth is without Percy?" Travis said, shuddering at the memory of Annabeth after Percy had first disappeared. Heck, even before Percy had arrived at camp Annabeth was much scarier.
"And do you have any idea how difficult it is to pull all the pranks without your trusted pranking partner?" Connor added on.
Hermes was beaming with pride and joy. He was probably the only father who was proud of his sons for pranking others. Though he was wondering why Luke wasn't here. Not that he didn't want the Stoll brothers to be here, Luke was older and the cabin counselor. Did something happen to him?
But apparently, Hera did not find this amusing if the dark glare was anything to say by.
Athena was also glaring at Percy as if he had just burned down her personal library. And why in the world were her daughter and that sea scum so close to each other?!
Hades would have argued and blamed his brother for breaking the oath had he not seen Nico and Hazel with his own two eyes. If he let out Nico and Bianca that has to mean everything was alright. Besides, the future demigods didn't seem too worried when they arrived so everything must have settled down in their time.
"So, now that we are all over the fact Percy is my son, let's continue with the chapter," Poseidon said cheerfully, going and sitting with demigods and few gods on the couches.
Zeus and Hera glowered at him while Hades scowled but none of them argued.
I didn't know what they … I was in trouble again.
"Of course you were." Hazel sigh.
As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor … she'd been waiting for all semester.
"That you did do." Nico pointed out.
"You're observant." Annabeth complemented her boyfriend. Percy shot her his lopsided smile.
"Now, honey—"
"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."
"You broke rule number 258!" Travis said in dismay.
"What does rule 258 say?" Frank asked.
"Never guess your punishment!" Connor answered.
That wasn't the right thing to say.
"See. Even Percy agrees with us!" Stoll brothers cried.
"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.
"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."
Dionysus nodded. That was what a protector should do.
I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he … Nancy Bobofit smirked.
I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.
All those who had experienced that glare shivered.
"Scared of a glare?" Ares taunted. "Punks."
"You wouldn't say that if you see it," Nico said.
"Actually, you wouldn't be saying anything by the end of the book," Percy smirked as he remembered Ares's betrayal and their battle.
"Why you little punk-" Ares was cut off when Annabeth started reading again.
Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds … impatiently at me to come on.
How'd she get there so fast?
I have moments like that a lot … my brain misinterpreting things.
"Battle reflexes," Athena explained.
I wasn't so sure.
I went after Mrs. Dodds.
Halfway up the steps … but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.
"Shouldn't Chiron go after Percy?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, what's he doing?" Poseidon asked, getting a bad feeling about it.
I looked back up. … at the end of the entrance hall.
Okay, I thought. … Nancy at the gift shop.
But apparently that wasn't the plan.
I followed her … in the Greek and Roman section.
Except for us, the gallery was empty.
"That is never a good sign," Hermes said, the tension in the room growing with each word.
Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms … noise in her throat, like growling.
Even without the noise … as if she wanted to pulverize it...
"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.
I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."
"Good." Hermes approved.
"Finally, some action!" Ares said excitedly.
She tugged on the cuffs … get away with it?"
The look in her eyes … It was evil.
"Observant," Athena said under her breath, too low for anyone to hear.
She's a teacher … going to hurt me.
"Yeah, that would be true in most cases," Reyna said. "Except for demigods."
I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."
"That was the wrong thing to say." Annabeth winced as she realized what it implied for the false accusation of Percy stealing Zeus's lightning bolt.
Thunder shook the building … I didn't know what she was talking about.
All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.
And just like that, all the tension in the room disappeared.
"Illegal candy?" Demeter asked confused as everyone started coming out of their serious stupor.
Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade.
"You did what?" Annabeth and Athena yelled at once.
Percy winced. "I have dyslexia." He protested weakly or rather it looked weak against the two pairs of angry grey eyes glaring at him.
"But copying from the internet is cheating!" Annabeth protested but let it slide.
Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.
"Oh! I am going to make you read the book after this, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth chuckled darkly. Percy looked extremely nervous.
Everyone in the room scooted away from her not-so-discreetly.
Athena frowned. There it is again! Why are they close enough to have nicknames like that?! And they act like they are best friends! What's going on? Goddess of wisdom thought. We are going to have to talk after this anyways… about that cliff thing she mentioned earlier.
Poseidon also took notice of the nickname but he did not have any problems with his son being friends with a child of Athena.
The Roman demigods were thinking how Percy fell for someone so scary while the Greek demigods were thinking how much less scary Annabeth was around Percy. Needless to say, Greek demigods were very happy with the answer.
"Well?" she demanded.
"Ma'am, I don't..."
"Your time is up," she hissed.
Then the weirdest thing … about to slice me to ribbons.
Jaws dropped open.
"A fury?" Poseidon yelled in fury, turning towards Hades. "You sent a fury after my son?"
'I thought the description sounded familiar.' Hades thought. He turned towards Poseidon. "I have done no such thing yet, brother."
"But you will in the future!" Poseidon argued.
"There was a good reason, dad!" Percy said, trying to calm his father down. "Besides the fact I am your son, I mean."
"Percy?" Poseidon asked, not understanding as to why his son would defend the person who tried to kill him.
"I am sure it will be explained in the books, Uncle Poseidon," Thalia said. "Besides, Percy survives."
Poseidon frowned but settled down on the couch.
Then things got even stranger.
Mr. Brunner … holding a pen in his hand.
Poseidon looked hopeful. "Is that…?"
"Yup," Percy answered the unfinished question.
"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.
Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.
With a yelp, I dodged … which he always used on tournament day.
Poseidon looked relieved.
Mrs. Dodds spun … I almost dropped the sword.
"Punk." Ares sneered and opened his mouth to continue but wisely closed it when he felt multiple glares.
She snarled, "Die, honey!"
"She's still calling you that?" Nico sweatdropped.
"She was quirky." Percy agreed.
And she flew straight at me.
Absolute terror ran … I swung the sword.
"How does swinging sword come naturally?" Leo asked.
"You know… hold a sword in your hand and take it from right to left like- swish!" Percy explained.
The metal blade hit … made of water.
Hisss!
Many jaws dropped open yet again.
Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle … still watching me.
I was alone.
"Did you just kill a fury without any training?" Poseidon asked, very happy and impressed.
"Yeah?" Percy said- no more like asked modestly.
"Impressive." Reyna complimented, already knowing how powerful Percy was.
Frank and Hazel were awed by Percy's powers again. They had seen how he had dealt with the gorgons but killing a fury at the age of twelve without any training? That was a whole other level.
Octavian the scrawny blonde's tiny mind had just comprehended the fact that a piece of paper was keeping him from dying. And now the poor brain, working overtime, had to comprehend how an untrained demigod killed one of the most terrifying monsters in Roman/Greek mythology at the age of twelve.
Piper, Jason, and Leo were depressed to say. Not that they weren't impressed by Percy but disappointed at themselves as they remembered what had happened at the Grand Canyon.
Percy here killed a fury with no problem but they themselves had failed to kill their monster miserably. They even had a satyr with them and they were sixteen! And Piper was thinking Percy was unimpressive when she had first seen him.
Greek demigods, already knowing what had happened, were smirking and sending Octavian a smug look that said That's-Our-Percy. But honestly, Travis and Connor were personally wishing they could kill their maths teacher too. I mean, who likes maths?
And the gods were completely shocked.
Ares and Athena were still completely ignoring him but the other gods were looking at him with expressions warring from shock, surprise, pride, bored, and indifference.
Artemis was starting to think the boy was a little different from other males.
Annabeth decided to continue reading.
There was a ballpoint pen in my hand … lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.
"Yes. Magic Mushrooms, that's it." Thalia deadpanned.
"Magic Mushrooms!" Stoll brothers started whispering excitedly.
"Don't get any ideas," Annabeth said warily.
"What? Of course not!" Connor said, a little too innocently to be believable. He immediately turned towards Travis and they gathered Apollo, Hermes, and Leo around and started whispering furiously.
Annabeth shook her head and started reading.
Had I imagined the whole thing?
Multiple choruses of "No" were heard.
I went back outside … "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."
"Who?" Poseidon asked blankly.
I said, "Who?"
"Like father, like son!" Apollo snickered.
"Our teacher. Duh!" … so I thought he was messing with me.
"Oh, Grover!" Connor cried.
"We need to do so much work on you!" Travis wailed.
"I'll help you too!" Hermes said, he was shaking his head mournfully when he heard how awful Grover was at lying.
Dionysus sigh.
"Not funny, man," I told him. … He stared at me blankly. "Who?"
"That's how it's done!" Hermes cheered.
"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."
He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"
"That's the end of the chapter." Annabeth closed the book.
"Was that mist at the end?" Piper asked.
"Yup." Thalia answered, popping the 'p'. "It must have been Chiron."
"Who's Chiron?" Frank asked.
"Chiron is the activity director at Camp. He came undercover to watch over me after Grover warned him about my strong scent." Percy answered.
Thalia rolled her eyes. "You forgot the most important part. He trains heroes."
Zeus cleared his throat. "So I believe we have something important to talk about."
Oh right! The thing about Romans and Greeks. Annabeth thought. She was definitely not looking forward to it.
Hades looked at Hazel again. He still couldn't understand how she was alive. And as to how his future self had not done anything about it… not that he minded his daughter alive.
He was planning to talk to both of them privately anyways. But that might raise some eyebrows. Oh well. He would claim them both. He hadn't technically broken the oath (not that his brother had any room to talk about that). It would be funny to see their expressions.
"So about-"
Zeus was cut off when a bright light filled the room.
Hazel was a bit OCC but it will be explained in the upcoming chapters.
An important question: Do want me to redeem Octavian or let him be as he is- a punching bag and comic relief?
I personally want the latter but I would like to hear your opinion.
Please review and let me know what you think!
Until next time.