So, I'm glad to say I am officially finished writing this fic. There are 21 chapters total, and I plan on just posting one a day until it's all up. If you like it, don't forget to review. If you have any questions about why I've changed certain aspects, ask me about that too. I enjoy talking way too much.
Enjoy!

Chapter 6- Scary Thing-This Was A Normal Day

Luke was not at all happy with me when I got back to Hermes House, Celia by my side. Not only did he now have one more student to fit in the place, but she was soaking wet. Oh, and the little bit of me leaving with no mention of where I was going and then promptly getting in a fight with a sea monster might have had something to do with his anger. But that's just a theory.

"I told you to go back to sleep," Luke muttered, but he had to help Celia find dry clothes before breakfast, so he didn't have time to yell at me. I made a point of not antagonizing him any more that morning though.

After breakfast we went to math class. It was surprisingly normal. The teacher, Miss Entwistle, was a demigod daughter of Athena, like Annabeth, but she'd gone to college for education and had taught in a mortal school before coming back to AA. (As apparently everyone called it. I thought it was odd, because we weren't a type of battery, but no one asked my opinion.)

My science teacher was a bit stranger. Mr. Sanderson's was the son of Demeter, and his room was covered in plants. Not flowers or cacti though, strange plants. There was a type of grass that bobbed and weaved in the sunlight. Apparently it was called dancing grass and in the wild it did move. But something told me it didn't normally do the cotton-eyed-joe. (It was named Joe by the way, in case you were curious).

Then there was this other plant named Galina, the 'Shy Plant' which looked like a normal pink flower, except it closed when touched. Well, normally shy plants closed when touched. Galina closed whenever someone looked at her…it… whatever.

Still, besides for the décor, the class was normal. We talked about the scientific method. Mr. Sanderson gave us strange acronyms to remember kingdom-phylum-order-class… or is it class then order? (So much for that acronym.)

English was extra Greek. I was dreading that class because it was always my worse. I'd faced down multiple monsters at this point, but I would still tell you that there is nothing more terrifying than being called on to read aloud in class. Luckily, everyone else had dyslexia as well. Well, not everyone, but most of us.

No, instead of just telling us to stare at the books and read, the Mr. Danes threw something new at us… well actually he threw a book.

The game went a little like this. We all stood in a line along the far side of the classroom, our back facing Mr. Danes. He would describe a book, throw it, and then call out one of our names. If he called your name you had to turn and catch the book before it hit the ground and then read out its title.

It was a complete mess, don't get me wrong. Apparently being a demigod gives us enhanced reflexes, hence the ADHD, but Mr. Danes was a demigod as well, child of Apollo, and when you combined his killer aim with a fondness for waiting until the last second to call out a name….

I ended up doing better than anyone else. I fumbled over how to say 'Frindle', but only because it wasn't a real word. At least I caught all my books. Drew, daughter of Aphrodite, was good with words, but catching… not so much. Half the time she didn't even try, just squealed and placed her hands in front of her face. Granted, that was probably a wise choice. Annabeth tried her best, but she still ended up taking a hard-cover 'Call of the Wild' to the face.

But it was fun. I don't know how much we learned, but there was certainly something about the task of catching a book which made the title seem to stay on the page. I doubted every day would be as fun, but Mr. Danes was cool at least, which helped a ton.

Lunch was good. As with dinner we ate with our house, but Luke seemed to have forgotten he was mad at me. Instead he and everyone else listened as Celia and I explained our battle with the sea monster. By the end of lunch, everyone in Hermes House seemed to think I was pretty great. It was a new experience, and I didn't imagine it would last very long, but still, it felt good.

History was less fun. Mr. Shepherd seemed nice, but he told us that he wanted to give us an opportunity to explore our personal histories before we got into the state-mandated stuff. That meant we had to draw a family tree of our godly side, explaining how we were related to everyone else. It was an impossible task even for someone like Annabeth, but I didn't even know where to start.

In the end, I sat with Celia and Annabeth, brainstorming different sea gods I could be related to. Celia was really hoping I was her brother. "It would be cool to have a sibling." Personally, though, I doubted it. She'd been right about one thing- our powers were very different. Her bubble of protection made sense if her dad kept sailors safe, but what about me? According to Annabeth most of the storm-causing sea gods were sea goddesses, and rivers didn't have the kind of waves I made. The only options left were Triton, Poseidon's son, and Nerites, only brother to the fifty nereids. Triton didn't sound too bad, except for the fact that he was a fish, and that Ariel would be my half-sister.

"I don't want to be related to a Disney princess, okay?"

Annabeth huffed, looking around, "Hey, who has Hercules on their family tree?"

Every single one of them raised their hand, including Celia besides me. I groaned. Disney princes were different than Disney princesses, but I didn't know how to explain that without Annabeth murdering me.

Nerites didn't seem to do anything in the stories but drive Poseidon's chariot, so it was hard to know if he could be my dad. Well, he also might have been Poseidon's lover at one point, but for some reason the idea of Poseidon having lovers at all, male or female, made me really uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, when I told Annabeth about the women I'd met in the sea, she told me that it had to have been a nereid, which gave credence to the Nerites theory. Even she didn't seem convinced though. More than once she hissed, something about "Zeus didn't keep his oath." But each time I asked her about it she pretended I was hearing things.

Ancient Greek was just odd. Maybe even odder than Annabeth. Ms. Jett started speaking to us immediately in Greek, which should have been a disaster, except somehow I managed to understand some of it. Apparently that was another demigod ability. Still, the moment we sat down and started talking 'conjugations' and 'declensions', I remembered why I had always hated language classes in school. I didn't know what a 'direct object' was in English, never mind in another language.

PE should have been fun, except our coach was a son of Nike, and obsessed with running. Sure, I'm a hyperactive demigod, but I can't run for forty minutes straight around a track. Not fast at least. And if we didn't go fast enough we started to sink right into the track. Lou Ellen ended up knee deep in cement when she stopped to breathe.

I was glad when the bell rang, especially because our last class of the day proved to be actually interesting. According to Annabeth, there were all sorts of things you could end up doing during open-block. The heads-of-houses planned activities and pulled in as many grades as they wanted. For this first day though, we were all alone. The head of Hephaestus House, a burly senior named Thaddeus, led us all to the forges. Some of the older Hephaestus kid who were allowed to pick how they used their open-block were in the back, hammering away at weapons. The daughter of Hephaestus in my grade, Nyssa, had looked pretty sullen all day, sticking to herself mostly, but she seemed to let down her guard the moment we stepped into the forge.

"Children of Hephaestus have to make their own weapon, it's tradition," Thaddeus explained, nodding as Nyssa went off to a block of bronze she must have started on the day before. "But the rest of you we can find something for. Every demigod needs a weapon." He paused, looking between me and Celia, "I hear we had a sea monster this morning. I bet you wish you'd had a knife."

Yeah, a knife definitely would have been nice.

"Most of you will probably have a lot of weapons over the years. Some people pick one and stick with it, but I don't care how strong you'll be at sixteen, you probably can't handle a battle-ax right now.

"The Ancient heroes fought with spears called dory or proto-xiphos, basically short swords. Odysseus used a bow so heavy no one else could draw it. But they usually knew when they were going into battle and could bring a shield and armor. You won't get that luxury when a hellhound jumps you in the middle of Arby's, so don't limit yourself to the kind of weapon you think a hero uses. Daggers are great for girls. Easy to hide, and usually you can trick someone into coming close enough for you to stab them. Poisoned blades are even better, but you'll have to make your own poison. Personally, I fight with a mace, think a giant rock on the edge of a stick. The Egyptians loved them. But you need strength to do that, and none of you have it. So just keep an open mind, walk around, see what calls to you."

I was about to wander over to the spears, but Annabeth grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the swords. Apparently since she already had a weapon she was determined to help me find one of my own. The problem? All the weapons stunk.

Okay, that's not very fair to the Hephaestus kids who worked hard on them, but really, none of them felt right in my hand. One had too fancy a grip, dueling dragons which wrapped around your hand. Unfortunately, my hand just got stuck, and I almost chopped off Annabeth's arm as I tried to put the sword down.

Some of them were too long, more of a medieval style. Maybe in a few years I'd be able to manage them, but at the moment, well I could hardly lift them.

The knives were all too short. Sure, with Annabeth's knife I'd managed to kill the dog-man (no I wasn't going to bother learning it's Greek name). That didn't mean I would get so lucky again. I didn't have the right charm to get close enough to my enemies without being close enough to be dead, and I didn't have the right reflexes for such personal combat. Trust me, I tried.

I was studying one of the knives intently when Annabeth hissed, "I'm telling you, Percy, it's not right. You need a sword."

Was she right? Probably. Did I want to admit it? No way. Besides, this knife was kind of cool. The serrations on the blade reminded me of the ocean. "I can't carry a sword with me everywhere, though, and I'm bound to get in trouble."

"An ill-suited weapon is more likely to get you killed then none at all. If you're unarmed you use your wits. If you're poorly armed you're dumb and charge anyways."

Again, was it a fair assessment, probably, but that didn't mean I was going to listen to her.

Gripping the knife tight, I turned, saying as I did, "No, I think this will…"

I cut off as Annabeth drew her knife and slashed at me. I stumbled away just in time, knocking over a whole rack of throwing-stars. Thaddeus shouted, "Hey, watch it!"

Annabeth didn't relent. She had a point to make, and she had every intention of making it. I tried stepping around her, but had to dodge as she stepped in to stab my armpit. I took a step to the right, and promptly tripped over screwdriver which had fallen on the floor. Down I went, landing with a thud on my butt.

You might think Annabeth would have stopped then, but that's only because you don't know Annabeth. Before I could even think of getting back onto my feet, she jumped down on top of me, knocking the breath out of me and pressing her knife to my throat. She looked ready to actually kill me as she ordered, "Drop your knife."

I'd mostly forgotten I was even holding a knife, so I did. For a moment longer, Annabeth stayed on top of me, her eyes studying my face.

Then I did something utterly and completely reckless. Annabeth's knife was still pressed against my jugular, but I brought my knees up and pushed her up off of me. If she hadn't been distracted I would have died, but instead I felt only the slightest nick as Annabeth went crashing to the floor besides me.

We both jumped to our feet, ready to keep fighting, but Thaddeus jumped in-between us. "Chill, Annabeth. You don't need to kill him."

You know that kid with no filter? No ability to shut up to save their life? Hi, I'm Percy. "She couldn't kill me if she tried."

Annabeth just glared at me. "You're an idiot."

Hey, it wasn't like this was news to me.

Unfortunately, I'd made Annabeth mad enough that she no longer helped me try to find a weapon. Instead she just stormed out of the forge leaving me to clean up the mess from the fight she'd started, That girl is kind of crazy. I decided. Though I have to admit, I felt horrible about my last comment. Annabeth had just been trying to help. She was simply a little… intense.

I couldn't find any weapon that felt right in my hand, especially without Annabeth, so when the bell rang, I just snatched up a standard-issue knife and left. Luke had informed me that morning that after class was over we had free-time. He needed to have a basic idea of where we were, and we couldn't leave the property, but besides that, we could do whatever we wanted.

Posters lined the main hallway, urging me to 'Try out for soccer', 'Audition for Lysistrata' or 'Join the Dead Poet's Society'. For some reason it weirded me out that AA had normal clubs open to anyone. I'd assumed that people mostly hung out with their siblings, like Nyssa staying in the forge, but it made sense that wasn't the case. Even demigods had interests outside their parent's domain.

"Hey you! Wait! Percy!"

I paused at the sound of my name, and turned to see the most beautiful girl in the world running toward me. She was probably a junior or a senior, with a thin frame and long legs. Dark, wavy hair bobbed as she ran. Her skin was golden and clear, accented beautifully with makeup and bright red lipstick. Long story short- she was a knockout, and older, so I had no idea why she knew my name, never mind why she'd be pushing through crowds to get at me.

"It is Percy, right?" she asked, flashing her long eyelashes. I could hardly muster up the presence of thought to nod. Then she smiled, which made it way worse.

"Good, that's what I thought. I'm Kerry, Aphrodite Head, and captain of the swim team. I heard your dad may be an ocean god. You need to try out."

Swim team? My school last year had a swim team, but I'd never tried out because the season was the same time as basketball. Probably a good thing in retrospect; it would have been majorly odd if I'd come out of the pool dry in front of my school.

"We compete all year against a bunch of schools and only practice Tuesdays, Thursdays, and the Saturdays we don't have a meet. It's a really great group of people and it's fun to get off campus sometimes. Try-outs are today and tomorrow from 5-6 by the pool, but you don't have to go both days. Just think about it, okay?"

She smiled broadly at me, and I could never have resisted her. Though I dumbly said, "I don't have a swim suit."

She laughed, a bright, warm laugh, and shook her head, "I don't think it matters. Paula told me you don't even get wet. Just come, okay?"

I nodded dumbly, then watched her go, hips swaying, hair tossed over her shoulder. I resolved to keep a close eye on the daughter of Aphrodite in my grade, Drew. Suddenly they seemed utterly dangerous.

From behind me, I heard a laugh, and I turned to see Luke had been watching the whole exchange. "I think she's a little old for you, Percy."

I blushed bright red, which just made him laugh more. Then he slapped me on the back (a bit too had honestly). "Don't worry, Kerry does that to everyone. Just don't disappoint her and you'll be fine."

"I've never been on a swim team before. I don't know what she's expecting to happen."

Luke shrugged, "Probably a few championship medals before she graduates, but she'll tone it down. Besides, you don't have to do it. You could always audition for Lysistrata."

I grimaced at the thought, and Luke grinned. Then I asked him, "What do you do after school. Are you on a team?"

Luke's smile faded, but only for a second, then he shrugged once more and said, "I'm not one for 'team sports'. I usually just go to the training yard, practice my swordplay. Sometimes people will join me, if they want…"

It was an invitation, and I was torn. On the one hand, the idea of learning how to use a sword sounded like a lot of fun. Everyone kept saying that demigods were meant to fight, and that we'd have to. I knew we'd do some sword fighting during our open-block, I guess when Luke had us, but it might be a good idea to focus on that compared to swimming. Still, there was something appealing about being on a normal school team as well.

"I don't have a sword. None of the ones we looked at fit me," I admitted. Was I just making excuses? You decide. I did feel bad about disappointing Luke though.

"Here, Seaweed Brain, try this one."

Annabeth appeared besides me, almost like she'd been invisible only a moment before. Apparently, she wasn't mad at me anymore, because she held out her hand to offer me something. Or maybe she was mad at me, because what she was offering me wasn't a sword.

"This is a pen," I dumbly stated, grabbing it from her and waving it in the air.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes, "Uncap it."

I was certain it was a prank. Annabeth was still mad at me for our little fight in the forge, and she was getting her revenge by making me look like an idiot. I would uncap the pen and she'd just say, 'Look at Percy. He's so stupid he actually thought the pen might be a sword.'

I uncapped the pen anyways.

The pen changed shape in my hand. It was the strangest feeling. One moment I was holding a thin pen. The next, I had a thick handle in my hand, a three-foot long leaf-shaped bronze blade sprouting from it. It didn't grow. It wasn't like I felt the handle get wider until suddenly it was full-sized. No. One minute it was a tiny pen, the next, a full-sized sword. The expression on my face probably made me look way stupider than if Annabeth really had been pranking me.

Annabeth looked very pleased with herself. "It's name is Anaklusmos. That means…"

"Riptide." I didn't now how I knew what the word meant; I just did. It went deeper than just knowing the sword's name, though. As I held it in my hand, spun it around, it felt right. I had complete control over its every movement. It was an extension of my arm. The feeling made me giddy.

"Thank you. Where did you get it?" I asked Annabeth, a wide grin across my face.

She rolled her eyes, but I could see she was glad it worked. "Chiron had it. I convinced him it would be safe in your hands. Touch the tip with the cap and it will turn back into a pen that you can't ever lose. Touch the handle with the cap and it will just turn into a pen."

"What happens if I lose the cap while it's in sword form? Is it stuck like that?"

Clearly, Annabeth hadn't considered that yet. She took a moment to think, then shrugged. "I think the cap will always reappear in your pocket like the sword, but I'd recommend just not losing the cap."

I was satisfied with that answer, but besides me, Luke asked, "What happens if he's not wearing pockets? And why pockets? The Ancient Greeks didn't even have pockets. "

Annabeth hit him.

Luke didn't seem to mind. Instead he nodded outside, "Let's go see what you can do with that."

I was surprised to discover the training yard was actually a yard. Maybe that sounds stupid, but considering the main temple housed everything else- dining hall, classrooms, pool, gymnasium, track field, archery range, forge- I had assumed the training yard was indoors. Instead, Luke led me outside. It was cooler than it had been in the city, a sure sign of the impending winter, but the day was clear and bright. After hours inside, it took me a minute for my eyes to adjust.

"Chiron wants us to have as normal a school experience as possible. I think he's crazy. Demigods aren't meant to be inside all day," Luke muttered, guiding me towards a clearing near the woods. There were a few other kids there, hacking at each other with swords or spears, laughing and chatting as they did. Most of them lacked armor, but they fought with big round shields that looked heavy.

Luke saw me looking, "We'll save the hoplon for another day. For now…"

I hadn't even seen him grab a sword, but suddenly he swung at me. If I wasn't a demigod, I would be dead. Somehow though I managed to react in time, turning Riptide back into a sword and meeting his blow. "You could have warned me!"

"Do monsters give you warning?" Luke grunted back, bringing his sword back around. I greeted it, my muscles straining against his greater size and strength. This wasn't fair at all! Luke was a senior and I was in sixth grade! I'd expected him to go easy on me not…

I blocked his sword as it came towards my neck. Clearly this was no time for thinking. I just had to not die.

Luke was good. He seemed to know what I was going to do before I even did. As I finally began to fight back, he didn't relent, he pushed harder. His sword danced and curved, bobbed up and down. I struggled to find any pattern to his movements. They seemed random, but I knew they were calculated. I just had to learn how to predict the same way he could.

All and all, I lasted about five minutes, but it felt like an hour before he finally managed to disarm me. Suddenly forty minutes of running didn't seem so bad. My arms felt like jelly. Every inch of me would be covered in bruises. I couldn't seem to catch my breath. And Luke… Luke hardly looked winded, like he'd just been fighting off a fly.

Annabeth looked disappointed, but tossed me a bottle of water. I drank half of it in a sip, and then proceeded to pour the rest on me, just to cool down. It helped a ton. Immediately I felt better, though I couldn't imagine trying that again.

Luke bent down, grabbed Riptide, and handed her back to me, nodding, "That wasn't bad. I shouldn't have expected you to be able to keep up with me. You're only twelve, after all."

Was he baiting me? Yes. Did it work? You betcha.

Luke expected my blow, and raised his sword to match it. But this time I had the advantage. I used my smaller size, dodging and turning. I'd always thought that the spinning and dancing you see during movie swordfights was just for dramatics, but I found myself ducking and rolling and turning to avoid being hit or add just the littlest bit of power behind my blows.

Luke was thrown. Maybe he was just surprised by the renewed ferocity of my attacks. Whatever the case, his form began to crumble. Suddenly we were both just swinging, trying desperately to land a hit before the other hit us first.

And then our swords locked, and I tried copying what Luke had done to disarm me. It shouldn't have worked, but it did. His sword went clattering to the ground.

A loud groan erupted around me. I hadn't noticed during the fight itself, but we'd gathered quite an audience. Now that it was over, I saw money passing through hands, losers paying up debts. I blushed bright red. Who'd dared to bet on me?

Then I noticed that all the money was heading towards Annabeth, who smirked proudly, gripping the water bottle I'd thrown away. My jaw dropped. She'd planned the whole thing. She'd known the water would help me; she'd known before I did.

Luke came and clapped me on the back. If he was annoyed about having lost to a kid, he didn't show it. Instead he remarked, "Just saying, you don't get to do that on the swim team."