PERCY

Percy was confused, to say the least. He woke up at the back of a cliché yellow school bus next to a boy who was sitting down with a pretty girl's head in his lap. The boy seemed to be taking care of the girl as she slept. He looked around. In front of him, people were listening to music on their IPods, or talking or sleeping. They were all his age, 15 or 16. Outside, there was a desert landscape with cloudless skies, a few trees in the distance. He turned his attention back to the people next to him.

The boy was Latino, for sure. He had curly brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was scrawny and small. However, he seemed to have skilled hands. With those faint scars on the palms, Percy guessed he did metal and woodwork a lot.

The girl had a deep tan and choppy brown hair. She was small for Percy but an inch or so taller than the Latino boy was. Her arms were huddled into her body to conserve heat as she slept. The two of them looked like family.

The boy turned and grinned when he saw Percy. 'Ah! You're awake.'

'Do I know you? Sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh… It's just… I have no idea where I am. Or who I am for that matter.' The Latino boy frowned. He whispered something to the girl on his lap. She shot up and looked at Percy. Percy noticed her eyes kept changing colour. From green to blue to purple to red.

'You don't remember us, Percy?' she asked.

'No… sorry,' Percy rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

'Well, in that case,' the Latino boy said, 'we better introduce ourselves. Again. I am Leo Valdez. Best friend of Piper McLean and Perseus Jackson. I like chicken nuggets and building robots.'

'Leo!' Piper scolded. 'Seriously?'

'No, it's fine! It might help me remember something.' Percy said.

Leo smirked at the girl who ignored him. 'Ok. I'm Piper McLean.' Leo looked at her. 'What?' she asked. He kept looking. 'Fine. I'm best friends with Leo Valdez and you, Perseus Jackson.' Leo kept looking. 'Ugh! I am a vegetarian and like to… uh… do stuff.' Leo raised his eyebrows but shrugged.

'So, anyway,' Leo began, 'you are Perseus Jackson, but you prefer to be called Percy, you are my best friend and Piper's too. You like swimming and pizza. All three of us go to the Wilderness school. A school for "bad guys". We've all been framed. Eh, Piper?'

'I did not steal the car!'

'Riiiight. You just talked to the salesman and then borrowed the car forever.' Piper said nothing.

'Ooookay.' Percy nodded. The bus lurched and evryone was thrown onto the back of their seat. A man with a baseball cap stood up from the front. He was obviously a coach. He ahd a whistle around his neck. He held a baseball bat in his right hand. He looked at Percy like he didn't belong in the bus. Percy thought, So I'm not crazy! The coach held a speaker in front of his mouth. 'ALRIGHT CUPCAKES! GET IN A PAIR, WE HAVE REACHED OUR DESTINATION! THE GRAND CANYON!' Cheers erupted from the students. 'The skywalk is strong enough to hold several weather conditions, so you may go outside. But try not to fall off the edge, as that would mean more paperwork for me.'

'Since you have no memory, it's best if you stay with me. Also, that was Coach Hedge,' Leo told Percy.

'But… what about me?' Piper asked.

'Sorry Pipes, but we gotta take care of Perce here, and since I'm a boy, I can stay with him as long as necessary.' Piper muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Boys!' Leo and Percy watched as she looked for someone to partner up with, but could find nobody. She started walking back. 'See? Noone! I have to go al-'

'I can come with you.' Somebody said. The trio turned around to see a boy with short, dark hair. He had a really deep tan and teeth so bright there should have been a warning sign on his shirt: DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT TEETH. MAY CAUSE BLINDNESS.

Percy disliked him immediately.

'Hey, Piper, I can be with you.' Piper's eyes widened. 'Please, no. Please, not Dylan,' she whispered. Dylan grinned and walked off, forcing Piper to follow.

'Well, she's doomed,' Leo whistled. 'C'mon, Perce, let's walk the skywalk!' Leo sauntered off, Percy close behind.

Everything was going fine, but then Coach Hedge pulled Percy to the side. 'I know you're not supposed to be here,' he said. 'Where did you come from? How did you get into the bus?'

'I don't know who I am, or how I got here.' Percy admitted.

'You must have a powerful control over the Mist though, to be able to make everyone think you've been here all year. The other two, I had known about since the start. But now I have to protect you three! I knew I smelt a monster. But you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood.' Percy had no idea what that meant.

'Are half-bloods and monsters code names, or something?' Coach Hedge rolled his eyes, but didn't answer. He looked back at the rest of the group. He squinted his eyes, as if trying to find something, or someone.

A storm suddenly began brewing. The coach's eyes widened. He yelled through his speaker. 'Everyone, get inside! This is an emergency!'

'I thought you said the bridge could hold most weather conditions.' Percy said.

'Normal ones, sure, but this isn't normal!' The people started runninng inside. All but one. Dylan stood outside, grinning like a maniac. 'Surprised, Coach? I've been in your team all year and you haven't realised. Your nose is weakening, you retired goat!' Then the weirdest thing happened; Dylan turned into a tornado. His eyes and teeth were still there but his body slowly turned until it was a typhon.

Percy grabbed Coach's baseball bat and threw it straight at Dylan. Somehow, it hit his forehead. Dylan rubbed his head. Wait… was that… golden blood? The bat rolled to a corner. 'Good,' Dylan acknowledged. 'But not good enough.' Leo stepped back slightly. Dylan observed them.

He looked at Leo and his smile widened. He pointed at Leo, who was suddenly thrown into the air and down the Grand Canyon's side. Desperately, Leo clawed for something to keep him from falling. He managed to grab a rock that was jutting out more significantly than the others. Coach Hedge bleeted. 'Keep the tornado busy. I'll save the boy.' Coach Hedge took of his pants and Percy thought he was going to die from surprise. Coach was half goat. 'You're a faun!' Percy blurted.

'SATYR! We'll talk about that later.' Then coach jumped down onto he side and started leaping down, standing on ledges smaller than an envelope. Percy turned back to the spirit Dylan. 'You're a ventus.' Percy didn't even know how he knew that word.

'My mistress told me there would be a third,'Dylan the ventus said, 'I could have taken the other two anytime, but my mistress told me of you. She will reward me greatly for your death!' Dylan flew toward Percy, who sidestepped.

Percy felt around in his pocket and felt a ballpoint pen. He took the pen out. It was a blue ink pen, with the word Lanioaestus on it. Riptide, Percy translated. Percy let his instincts take over, and pressed the button on the top of the pen. Instantly, the pen turned into a metre-long sword. Percy smiled. Apparently he had a weapon in his pocket.

'It looks like my brothers have arrived.' Two dark clouds touched the floor. The skywalk shook. The cracks in the glass extended. The clouds turned into two boys, both exactly like Dylan.

A gust of wind knocked Piper off her feet and she fell to the ground, near the baseball bat. 'Woopsies!' Dylan turned to Percy. Percy could see through the corner of his eye that Leo was laying on the ground, Coach Hedge sitting next to him. He looked at Piper who was staring right back at him. Her message was clear: Distract them while I brain them from behind.

Percy nodded slightly. 'Hey, Tornado trio! Over here!' The venti turned to Percy. Suddenly, he didn't feel so brave. But he held his ground. Suddenly, a loud thwack! was heard. The three spirits fell to the ground. Behind them, Piper was standing, swinging the baseball bat lazily. 'Did I do well?' Piper asked. A ventus groaned.

'Pretty well,' Percy answered. He drew his sword and pressed it onto the venti. But it passed right through. The venti stood up, or rather, floated up. Their laughs sounded like lightning flashing and thunder booming loudly. 'You think you could defeat us?' the one on Dylan's left asked. He looked like a Bob to Percy. The other one looked like a Barry.

Bob and Barry floated to Piper. She swung her bat wildly, but they were just toying with her. The bat just passed through them like they weren't there. Then Barry flung his arms and Piper was thrown into the air, along with the bat. Coach Hedge caught the bat, but missed Piper. She fell down the Canyon. 'Hey! I don't know who you are, but go save her!'Coach Hedge shouted at Percy. Then Coach started fighting the venti with some serious goat-fu. Percy thought that Leo should be safe then. He ran to the edge of the skywalk, and had the time to think I must be crazy! before jumping off.

He dived down and caught up with Piper. She was screaming and flailing her arms. He grabbed her waist and she held on tightly to him. She kept screaming. Now if only the water could stop us, Percy thought. Piper stopped screaming and looked down. 'Um, P-P-Percy?' she gestured down. He looked down and was more surprised than when Coach Hedge took off his pants. The water broke their fall acting like a geyser. Then Piper said, 'Percy, you're dry! Are you doing this?'

'I think I'd know if I could control water.' But then a thought passed through Percy's head. You don't even know who you are.Piper and Percy looked up. 'We should help them.' Percy said.

'Agreed.' Piper replied. Percy looked at the water. Up, he thought. The water shot up.

Coach Hedge was now trying to hold off Dylan with the bat, whilst kicking Barry and Bob with his goat hooves. Percy drew his sword and slashed at Barry and Bob. The sword cut through them and they disappeared. Dylan cursed.

The sky suddenly darkened and something like a vortex appeared.

Dylan grinned. 'My mistress calls me back! And you are coming with me.' Dylan charged at Percy, but he dodged. 'I'll settle for you, then!' He turned and charged at Leo. Coach jumped in front of him at the last second and the two of them went through the portal. The sky went back to its original state, sunny and cloudless.

Leo stood up and moaned. 'Don't tell me Coach saved my life.'

'Three times.' Piper replied, still looking at the place the vortex was. Leo moaned again. 'I hit my head too hard. That's it. The pen-sword. The tornado men. Dylan.'

'It's all real.' Percy told him.

'Then tell me those aren't flying horses.' At first, Percy thought Leo had hit his head too hard. Then he saw them. Two horses pulling a two-wheeled car; a chariot. The horses landed on the ground. There were three people in the chariot. Two boys with some serious faces. They observed the trio. The other one was a girl. She was very pretty, Percy admitted. She had curly blonde hair. She was tall for a girl, but smaller than the two boys were. The girl was tanned. She had a mad expression on her face. Yo, boss! Percy frowned. Who was that? Over here! The black horse. The one named Blackjack! Percy looked at the horse. 'How did you talk?' The horse rolled his eyes. He turned to the other horse. He doesn't even know!

I know right? The other horse said. Piper, Leo and the people in the chariot looked at him. 'What are you doing?' the girl asked.

'Talking to Blackjack.' Percy replied simply.

'You mean Dawn?'

Dawn is a girl name! Blackjack protested. The other flying horse just laughed. 'What's your name?' Percy asked the white flying horse.

Porkpie, it replied.

The girl looked seriously confused. 'Now you're "talking" to Pine?' Percy and Blackjack started laughing. 'P-Pine? Oh, gods…you don't even… hahahahaha!'

Man, that's amazing! Twelve years and I still can't get over it! Blackjack neighed. Everyone was looking at Percy and the horses. Percy coughed and stood still, suddenly embarrassed. Then he asked, 'You can't hear them?'

'No,' the girl said worriedly.

Her name is Annabeth, Porkpie told Percy.

'Wait, Annabeth, why are you here?' Percy asked. Annabeth looked surprised but then looked at Piper, Leo and Percy. 'Where is he?' Annabeth muttered. 'Annabeth,' the guy on her left pointed at Percy's foot. 'Look!' Percy hadn't even realized it, but his left shoe had been blasted off in the fight. Percy explained the story with the help of Piper and Leo.

'Let's take them to camp, Butch. We can talk there,' Annabeth told the boys. They helped Leo in, as he seemed to be in major pain.

They flew off into the skies, heading for the camp. Percy turned to Butch. 'Who was she looking for, anyway?'

'Her boyfriend,' he replied. 'A guy named Jason Grace.'

So... what do you guys think? Is it good? I'd hope so. Well, hope to write another chapter soon. Oh, and please review for me? I want your opinion here: Percabeth; Do they date in this story or in The Mark of Wisdom? Your choice will count.

See you

-Anaklusmos3000