Chapter 2, The Road to Camp Half-Blood

Percy was worried about the cuts he got from Mrs. Dodds claws. They really hurt. He was glad that Tom thought quickly and used his hoodie to bandage the wounds, though he felt a little bad for the hoodie.

"How's your back Perce? Is the hoodie bandage tight enough to stop the blood flow?" Tom asked in worry.

"Don't worry Tom, it should hold for now. Let's hope Mr. Brunner can explain all this." Percy responded while trying to mask his pain behind a smile. Tom nodded before supporting Percy to the door and holding it open for him to exit through. The two friends walked side by side as they sought out Mr. Brunner who was reading a book coincidentally about Greek mythology, huh go figure.

"Mr. Brunner, I believe this sword belongs to you sir." Percy told his teacher before promptly uncapping the pen and elongating into it's sword form. Percy then passed the blade pommel first to the old man before he could speak.

"Ah, yes. Thank you Percy." The old man sad before his eyes widened slightly as he looked at Percy. However, Percy and Tom were already heading back towards Grover who was sitting at the large water fountain looking scared out of his mind. The two were interrupted by Nancy.

"I hope Ms. Kerr whooped your butts." The red haired annoyance said as snottily as always.

"You wish, Bobofit." Tom said as he shared a look with Percy that clearly said that they would talk about Mrs. Dodds later. Percy nodded slightly before walking over to Grover and sitting next to him as they waited for the bus to come so that they could return to Yancy Academy.

2 Weeks Later, City Bus, Manhattan~

Thomas sat on the bus next to Percy and Grover as it came to a slow halt. As the trio exited the bus back into the city, Tom noticed three old ladies who were knitting a beautiful red scarf across the road running a fruit stand and walked over with the intention of buying an apple for the rest of the ride home. As he walked over he inspected the trio of women, The lady on the right knitted one side of the scarf. The lady on the left knitted the other side. The lady in the middle had a basket of blood red yarn and was holding an ornate pair of shears.

All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms stocking out of bleached cotton dresses. The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at him.

"Hello, I would like to buy an apple please?" Tom asked the trio of old ladies behind the stand.

"Of course you can Thomas, pick one and we will give it to you for free, young one." The one in the middle said. Tom picked up an apple before he realized that she knew his name.

"How do you know who I am?" Tom asked as his hand reached for the spear charm that held Red Desert. The three old ladies merely laughed as the middle one spoke again.

"We know all demigods Thomas and we especially know you. We have great plans for you." The middle one said, although she sounded sad about it. "After all, we are the Fates and we know all."

That made Tom pause as he realized that these three little old ladies are way older than anything he could think of. He wasn't sure what they meant by plans but for some reason it didn't bother him.

"Wait….I'm a demigod?" Tom asked incredulously.

As one the Three Fates nodded which kind of creeped him out but as he thought about what the middle one who guessed was Atropos due to her holding a lot of shears said he realized it did make sense. All those weird things he saw growing up, dogs way bigger than they should be and a large golden lion that shined in sunlight, along with what happened with Mrs. Dodds and meeting the Three Fates all lead towards him being a part of Greek myth or history.

"Here take these Thomas, and keep them close. Use this charm over your spear until your father claims you officially." Atropos told him dimly as she handed him the red scarf and a scissor shaped charm made out of the same metal as his spear charm. As he put both the scarf on and looped the scissor charm onto his bracelet, Atropos left him with one final piece of crucial information.

"Your father will not claim you for some time Thomas, and we request you not wield your spear until he does. It is crucial that the spear stays hidden considering it's history." Atropos said in that same sad tone as the Three Fates slowly faded out of existence as if they were never there.

As Tom walked back towards the bus and his friends he took a bite of his apple and pondered what Atropos meant by plans and why she seemed so familiar to him, and why did she look like a way older version of what he remembered his mom looking like before she left for Egypt on her excavation 6 years ago.

Something to think on Tom supposed.

Same Time, City Bus, Manhattan ~

Percy was still in some pain from Dodds talons. Thankfully the school nurse didn't ask any questions when he asked for a roll of gauze and some bandage tape, although her eyes did look weird. Sitting on those uncomfortable bus seats didn't help his back either. In fact Percy was somewhat happy when the bus broke down and they could stretch while the driver fixed it.

Percy spoke to Grover as Tom walked across the road to speak with the old ladies running the fruit stand.

"You okay Percy? You've been weird ever since that field trip to the museum." Grover asked in concern.

"I told you Grover, Dodds turned into a monster!" Percy exclaimed. "She turned into some kind of demonic bat thing and tried to kill us!"

"Yeah right Percy, we never had a teacher named Dodds." Grover bleated out, a sure fire sign of him lying. "Anyway, where did Tom go?" Grover continued, in an attempt to derail the previous conversation.

"He went to buy an apple from those old ladies running the fruit stand." Percy responded as he pointed across the street. When Grover looked over his face ran pale and his jaw dropped. Percy followed his gaze and didn't understand why Grover was so freaked, Tom was just talking with some old ladies. Although now that he was watching the lady in the middle passed him the scarf they were knitting before he walked back to the group.

"Hey Tom, why'd they give you a scarf dude?" Percy asked his friend. Tom just shrugged and took a bite out of his apple while sending Percy a look that clearly said 'I have info, talk later'. Percy nodded at him as he turned to Grover who was still pale. Percy just laughed at his slack jawed expression and followed Tom towards the bus. As they were heading over to the bus, the bus driver chucked something black and smoking out of the engine and the bus sputtered to life.

The group of people cheered as they swarmed back onto the bus. Percy, Tom, and Grover waited for everyone else to board before they followed to ensure they didn't get trampled. Once they sat down, Percy turned to Tom with a look that said 'Is this about Dodds' to which Tom just nodded while inspecting his new red scarf. Percy was also interested in the scarf and decided to look over Tom's shoulder at it, and it was beautifully crafted. It is a deep red color, much like red sand, and has golden wool spiraling around it. In all regards it looked like a piece of clothing someone of royalty would wear.

"What did those old ladies say to you Tom?" Grover shakily asked, finally breaking out of his stupor.

"Nothing much, I paid for the apple and they asked if I was traveling alone. When I said no they gave me this scarf as a way of thanks, I guess I must have been the only one to buy some fruit. Tom said nonchalantly after taking a bite out of his apple. "Now that I think about it, maybe I should have bought more fruit from them, they might need the money."

Grover relaxed somewhat before turning back to his window. Percy glanced at Tom who just shrugged before taking another bite. The rest of the ride was quiet and quaint, with Grover looking scared, Percy looking bored, and Tom reading, well struggling, but still reading a book on Greek myth. Percy sometimes forgets that even though Tom suffers from an attention disorder and dyslexia, just like Percy does, that Tom is also one of the smartest people he knows. Percy likes to use Tom's example of pushing through his flaws as motivation to help himself and ever since Tom became his friend and helped him study Percy's grades have slowly started to rise towards constant B's. Something that he hoped made his mom proud of him.

The bus rolled to a stop near Central Park and the trio of friends departed towards Percy's moms apartment building which just so happens to also house Tom's grandpa who he was staying with for the moment. At the door to the lobby of the building Grover said his goodbyes after handing them each a business card with his phone number and address on it. The two boys then said goodbye to each other, promising to meet up later that day, before heading up to their respective apartments.

5 Minutes Later, Rami Badawi's Apartment ~

Thomas was happy to be home. As he climbed the stairs to the 3rd floor where his Aljadu's apartment was, he messed with the scissor charm looped through his Alab's bracelet and thought about how much his life will change now that he knows his father was a God. He pushed aside his thoughts as he got to his grandfather's door and knocked. When his grandfather opened the door, the first thing he noticed was that his Aljadu was holding something small and gold, then he noticed that the elderly man' expression brighted immensely in the sight of his grandchild standing before him.

" Oh my sweet Hafid, it's been so long my dear boy." Rami Badawi exclaimed in slightly broken English as he hugged his grandson. As his grandfather backed out of the hug Tom quickly inspected him to make sure nothing had happened in his absence. His grandfather, Rami Badawi, stood at 6'0 even with his slight hunch from old age and had gray hair that was closely cropped to his head and connected to a perfect, yet short, Gandalf-esk beard. The elderly man was also in incredibly good shape with visible muscle mass for a man in his late 60s.

"It is good to see you again Aljadu, I have missed you much." Tom replied after his quick inspection, "I see your speech classes have been going well?" The old man laughed before responding.

"Ha yes, and I see you haven't forgotten your Arabic either Waladay." Grandfather Rami stated as he led Tom into the household and let him place his bags in his room. After the two Badawi's ate dinner together, Tom said something to his grandfather that made the old man flinch before sighing.

"Grandpa? Am I really a Demigod?" Tom said almost childlike yet still determined, as if scared of the answer he was going to receive.

"Yes Walady, you are." Grandfather Rami explained. "How did you figure it out?" Rami asked after a short silence.

"I was attacked by a Fury during my last field trip." Tom stated. His grandfather's eyes widened drastically and he stood up and checked Tom for any injuries. "I'm fine Aljadu, I only got punched in the face my friend who I also believe is a Demigod got that much worse."

The old man sat back done with a sigh of relief before cursing softly in Arabic then started to speak.

"Well Thomas, your father is a rather powerful God, one that I cannot tell you before he deems it time. However, I can warn you that once he claims you other Demigods may ostracize you due to the power his blood gives you." Rami explained to his grandson apologetically. Tom sighed.

"I was given an out from that happening, at least for a while, by The Fates. They gave me this scarf and charm then told me to not use the spear charm until my Ablu claims me." Tom explained, as Rami listened to his Hafid, his expression gave nothing away about what he was feeling on the matter and before he could respond Tom spoke again.

"The one who spoke to me, Atropos I think, told me that they had great plans for me in particular." Tom told the eldery man as he stood and passed Tom his coat.

"It's time I take you to a safe place for Demigods, let's go, Hafid." Grandfather Rami said as he grabbed his keys and ushered Tom out the door. Tom walked to the elevator for his grandfather instead of the stairs, he knew about the elderly man's knee problems. During the short ride down to the 1st floor the elevator speakers were playing Highway to Hell by AC/DC which made both Badawi's laugh before leaving the building to get into Rami's 1985 Dodge Ram and rocketing off in the direction of Long Island Sound.

About 30 minutes into the drive both Badawi's heard a loud roar before something large crashed into the truck. Forcing the truck to roll over twice before it landed roof first in a ditch, with Rami knocked out and bleeding profusely from many scratches and a large gash on his head and a concussed Tom with a dislocated shoulder and multiple stab wounds from the broken windshield being embedded into his upper chest. When Tom opened his eyes and saw his grandfather dangling from his seat limply he got angry, really angry. Despite his injuries, Tom unbuckled from his seat, landed on the truck's roof in a pile of hurt before kicking the rest of the broken windshield out of his way and exiting the truck.

Once Tom stood up and saw what hit his grandfather's truck he supposed most people would be scared, not Tom though. All he saw was red as his anger grew the more he thought of this beast injuring his grandfather. The large wingless dragon in front of him glared at him as he started glowing red, the glow getting slightly dimmer as he yanked on the scissor charm.

A beautiful ornate shamshir grew in his hand. The blade itself appeared to be in the shape of a single curved blade similar to the shears Atopos held. Made out of some black metal with silver lining along the dull edge of the blade, with the crossguard being two crossed disconnected scissor blades and the pommel ending in a sharp point. Of course Tom noticed none of this in his angry state.

Tom charged the large beast, shamshir in hand, and jumped at it's head landing a deep gash down its right eye, blinding it partially, before immediately hopping onto the beast's back. Once on the beast's back, with his injuries still slowing him down, he used both arms to raise the glowing blade of the Fate of Death before plunging it down into the spinal column. Efficiently paralyzing the dragon-like beast.

Tom slid off the beast's back before walking to its head and looking down on it. The dragon glared back with equal amounts of pain and hatred in it's eyes before Tom decapitated the beast. Tom watched as it slowly crumbled to dust just like Dodds did.

"No one messes with my Aljadu. No one." Tom hissed in Arabic before dropping his blade and running to his grandfather and pulling him out of the wreckage to sit him up against the rolled over pickup's side. After finding the older man's phone, which somehow wasn't broken, Tom called for the police and an ambulance. Then he promptly passed out with one final thought.

'Tom 1, Dragon thing 0'

For those who don't know their Arabic too well, don't feel too bad I had to use google translate. Lol. I'm not sure if I will do Percy coming to Camp Half-Blood due to me keeping it the exact same as canon. Anywho, here's what those Arabic words mean in English.

Aljadu = Grandfather

Alab = Father

Hafid = Grandson

Walady = My Boy

Erebus, Signing off.