[AN: Thank you to Anonymously96 for the input/review on the last chapter. Percy is going to be going to camp earlier in this story. Percabeth might not be possible because of certain plot points I had in mind for this first story. The first quest in the canon series set up their entire friendship and later relationship so I will see what I can do in the series after this story without making it sound like most of my other writing (completely and utterly crazy). -Sincerely, Kratos Leonidas Renascitur.]

Chapter 2: My Latin Teacher Totally Wasn't Planning to Kidnap Me

The ride back to Yancy was long and boring but somehow quick at the same time. I kept fingering the pen in my pocket (AN: No, this is not a euphemism. He is talking about Riptide. Stop reading the lines in between the lines in between the lines. Childish.) and stealing quick glances at Grover and Mr. Brunner. My skin hadn't stopped crawling since the museum. I felt exposed.

Then the realization hit me. I had killed someone.

Maybe I hadn't. I had asked Mr. Brunner and he said that there was no Mrs. Dodds. So if there was no Mrs. Dodds then I couldn't have killed Mrs. Dodds. I had hallucinated her for months. Did that mean I hallucinated her one last time and killed someone else in her place?

I yanked my hands out of my pockets and looked down at them, palm up. Then I flipped them over to see the back side of my hands. No blood, just tiny specs of golden dust.

My thoughts went back to the pen in my pocket. If I uncapped it right-

"Percy, come on man. The bus stopped." It was Grover. I looked up and he was right. The bus had stopped, and everybody was shoving each other trying to get off first and make their way back to the dorms.

I stood up and did as they did. Walking back to the dorms I kept thinking about the museum and kept coming to the same conclusion: Mr. Brunner had to know what was going on. He was the one that brought me the pen/sword. So, why did he deny that Mrs. Dodds existed? Maybe he didn't want to talk about in public… but that was a museum with tons of people, security cameras, and stuff. Someone had to have seen what had happened. Was he scared of getting caught?

By this time, we had gotten back to the dorms. My thoughts went like this in circles clogging up my brain so I couldn't do anything else. I stopped trying to do homework and laid on my bed. After a while, Grover said he had to go do something.

After he left, I turned to look out the window. It was surprisingly to dark. I closed the blinds and took the pen out of my pocket. Moment of truth; if this pen was just a pen, I needed some serious help; if this pen turned into a sword, I needed to talk to Mr. Brunner. I flicked off the cap and hoped I had it the right way around. The cap fell to the floor in slow motion but before it had the chance to hit the pen was a familiar three feet of bronze. The sword was the same as before, perfectly balanced (AN: As all things should be.), double-edged, leather wrapped handle, and sharp.

That was it, time to go see Mr. Brunner. Maybe he would tell me what really happened if we were in private. As I walked through the halls to Mr. Brunner's office I was listening for the loud footsteps and key jingles of any administrators or teachers. When I rounded the corner to the hall with Mr. Brunner's office, I saw the lights were on. Not only that but I could hear voices. I was about to turn around and go back to my dorm, but I recognized the other voice. It was Grover.

What was he doing talking to Mr. Brunner at this hour? Even crazier thoughts force their way in place of my previous thoughts. Suddenly the memory of the terrified look that Grover had shot Mr. Brunner when he watched Mrs. Dodds lead me into the museum popped into my mind. It occurred to me that Grover must have known what was going on the whole time. He knew how dangerous Mrs. Dodds was. Grover also knew that Mrs. Dodds wasn't human. But Grover had lied to me the same as Mr. Brunner. Had Grover and Mr. Brunner planned this? There was one was way to find out. It's not like they would hurt me. If they had wanted to, they had plenty of chances to do so already. Grover was my dormmate, for heck sake (AN: Trying to keep it "T" here.).

Before I could lose my nerve, I stepped out from the shadows, stuck one hand in my pocket to make sure that I had the pen/sword ready just in case, used the other to turn the handle and open the door. I did not find whatever I was expecting.

Standing, yes standing, behind his desk was Mr. Brunner with some kind of fur wrapped around his legs. Grover was sitting in the chair closest to the door with some other kind of fur wrapped around his with hooves in place of feet. I must have been shocked because it took me a few moments to realize that Mr. Brunner had a bow, with an arrow notched and drawn, pointed at me. Leaving the pen in my pocket I put both hands into the air non-threateningly.

"So-"

"Shut the door Percy." Mr. Brunner said as he lowered his bow, which made me feel a little better. I did as he said and then sat in the chair next to Grover.

"What are you doing here Percy?"

"I wanted to ask you about what happened at the museum."

A few seconds passed.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about Mrs. Dodds."

"Like I said before Percy-"

"I know, I know there was never a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy… Except I know there was a flying demon thing that called itself Mrs. Dodds because it tried to kill me, and Grover is terrible at lying."

"I'm not-" Mr. Brunner put his hand up silencing Grover.

Looking at me Mr. Brunner, with an unknown emotion on his face, asked, "What would you like to know?"

"What are you guys?"

"Grover is a satyr and I am a centaur."

"Like in your stories?"

"They are not 'my' stories but yes. All the gods, monsters, nymphs, and other creatures do exist."

"So that was the answer to your question? I needed to know all the myths because they would be trying to kill me?"

"Not all of them are trying to kill you. In fact, Grover and I are trying very hard to protect you."

"Why?"

"My real name is Chiron. I have trained demigods for millennia. Usually, these demigods are brought to me at Camp Half-Blood, by the satyrs, but occasionally there is the rare case, like yourself when I come to see for myself."

"So, you were planning on having Grover kidnap me? And what do you mean demigods?"

"We were not planning on kidnapping you," Grover said indignantly, "all demigods have a choice whether they go to camp or not. They just tend to live longer if they do."

"It is a sad fact that monsters like to hunt, kill, and eat demigods or rather the children of full gods and a mortal," Chiron explained further.

"But I'm not a demigod."

"Remember the sword I threw to you at the museum, Percy? That was Celestial Bronze it can only harm those with godly or monstrous blood. In fact, you would not have even been able to catch the sword had you been mortal. Even if you had been able to see the sword it would have passed straight through you like a mirage."

I thought about this for a few seconds.

"Why did you lie about Mrs. Dodds?"

"When demigods learn about their heritage it makes their scent grow by a lot making more monsters attracted to them. We were hoping we could fool you so that your scent would stay unnoticeable."

"We saw how well that worked out."

"Yes. Well, now you have a choice to make. Do you want to go to camp or would you like to try to stay in the mortal world a little longer?"

I know what you're gonna say about this, "You had to think about either sticking around middle school or going off to train to be a hero?" yes, yes I did. At first, I was going to say yes. I figured I was failing all of my classes anyways and I really would rather not fight another Mrs. Dodds, or whatever, but then I thought about my mom.

"What about my mom?"

"Should you choose to go to camp I will contact your mother and tell her of what happened."

"Will I get to see her again?"

"At the end of every summer every camper has the choice of leaving to go back into the mortal world or staying for a year-round course."

I thought this over. I wanted to stay with my mom but if I did that without training, I would just be putting her in danger. I made my choice.

"How do I get to camp?"

"Go back to your dorm and get some rest. Grover will drive you to camp first thing in the morning."

After we had gotten back to the dorm, Grover spoke, "I wasn't lying, Percy."

"What?"

"I wasn't lying about being your friend. I want you to know that."

We had done a lot together. Together we had sold candy illegally, pranked Nancy Bobofit, given each other answers to the homework the other had forgotten to do, and tons of other stuff. We had suffered through Algebra, English, and Nancy's torment for almost an entire school year. Add that along with my ADHD and I don't think anyone could fake liking (AN: as a friend) me for that long.

"I know."

[AN: And that's the end of chapter three. I know my sense of humor is bad, so I hope you guys/girls liked the little jokes and memes I sprinkled in there. Some people are probably wondering why I am asking for input on the story if I had everything 'planned out'. The truth is I have a loose overall arc along with a few details to change and ways to tie this story universe to others. Other than that, I have no idea what is going on. I just of write things (see what I did there?) and hope it doesn't sound dumb. Now that I explained I'm not just being an a**hole I have a few questions for you guys.

1. Who should Percy be with?

2. Who should Percy take on his quest with him?

3. How long should the quest take approximately? I enjoy thinking about how it was normal for the original mythological to take months, years, or decades and how Riordan managed to shorten that to days, weeks, and months (at most).

4. Should Percy have his 'demigod dreams'? This Percy is gonna be a considerable amount less 'obtuse' (as Riordan put it) than in canon. So, I guess the real question is, do you guys want an easy way to read the answer to things or should I rely more on Percy recognizing the details?

Thanks for the input in advance and thank you to Anonymously96 again.]