I do not own Percy Jackson or the Kane Chronicles.
Ok so from here on out it is new chapters. Finally. Right?
The next day at school harder than it was yesterday because I actually had to do work but it wasn't too much so I was ok with it other than the fact that I had no clue what I was doing. In English class we got a book report/project assignment thingy, whatever that is. Now we also have a project in history class as well but we get to work in groups of four so I would have help with that. In my group were Walt, Sadie, and Drew. Much to the displeasure of Sadie. Our project was to choose two of the gods that were worshipped back in ancient Greece and do a presentation on them. We even got to pick which ones we did ourselves.
"So which gods should we do?" Walt asked.
"We're definitely doing Aphrodite." Drew said.
"You can't just decide for yourself what we're supposed to do as a group, Drew. We need a group consensus." Sadie said to her.
"Then you three can do whatever god you decide on and I'll do Aphrodite." She gestured to the three of us. "Problem solved."
"We should at least discuss what we're going to do."
"I know what I'm doing so I don't have to discuss anything with you three."
"Sadie calm down. Drew will you please not do this today. We really do need to decide as a group what we're going to do, so could you at least listen to other ideas before you go making executive decisions?" Walt tried reasoning.
"Fine. TJ, what do you think we should do?" She turned to me and batted her eyes at me. Suddenly, I started freaking out. Not many girls are like this with me. Then again I've never really met a lot of girls either.
"Umm, I-I-I'm not entirely sure what we're doing and I know next to nothing about Greek mythology." I managed to stutter out. Her eyes were kind of distracting.
"Aren't you familiar with the name Zeus, Athena, Hera, and such?"
"No. I only really know Egyptian mythology." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sadie and Walt shaking their heads warning me not to say too much. Drew just looked exasperated.
"Really? Why would you care about them? They have no good love stories other than Cleopatra and Marc Anthony." She said.
"Didn't they both die and Egypt loses to Rome?" I asked her.
"Yeah, and your point?"
"How is that a good love story?" Sadie demanded.
"Well it's not as good of a story as Paris and Helena but they looked past each other's differences to make the relationship work."
"Paris and Helena also died." Walt stated.
"And Aeneus escaped the destruction of Troy and made his way to Italy where he founded the town that eventually became Rome," Drew countered, "which eventually led to the deaths of Marc and Cleopatra and the fall of Egypt. It's really remarkable how much one couple can affect several wars that are centuries apart." Walt looked a little angry when she mentioned the second time Egypt fell to another country. Sadie on the other hand looked surprised.
"You actually know something about history?" She asked Drew and she did a really good job pulling off the look of disbelief.
"History? No but I do know plenty about love stories."
"That explains why you want to do Aphrodite." I heard Sadie mumble.
"Who's Aphrodite?" I asked.
"TJ, sweetie, Aphrodite is the goddess of love." Drew explained as if I were a little kid. "She's one of the oldest gods and she'd one of the 12 Olympians. The other 11 are Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Ares, Hermes, Athena, and Hephaestus."
"Wait isn't Hades also an Olympian?" Sadie interrupted.
"Yes and no. He's the eldest of the 'Big Three' but he was not originally counted as one of the 12. But he is still a major god." Walt answered her question.
"Who are the 'Big Three' as you put it?" I asked because now I was even more confused.
"They are the three oldest sons of Kronos: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Duh." Now I'm not stupid but the way Drew said that made me feel like I was, and it's not even my fault that I've never learned Greek mythology. Before I could reply the bell rang and she stood up. "Well you two lovebirds can finish filling TJ in on all the boring stuff and tomorrow we can decide on what we're going to do. Kay? Bye now." Then she walked out not even waiting for a reply.
"Uhg, she's annoying." Sadie growled. "I wish I can turn her into a mouse and feed her to a hawk."
"Umm, Sadie you can do that." I told her.
"Not without getting in trouble for it by Carter since we're not supposed to use magic in the presence of regular people." Walt pointed out. "Or on them."
"Drew is not a regular person. She is from an entirely different planet." His girlfriend argued. We laughed.
"You know where you're going after lunch, TJ?" He asked me as we made our way over to where the rest of the group was sitting in the grass next to the lake. Carter, Jazz, Zia, and Cleo had different books and scrolls around them that they were intently studying.
"I think so. The general direction anyway." I answered as we sat down with them. "What are you guys looking at?" I asked the people with that books and Zia answered.
"We're looking for any other time in the history of the house had encountered a different type of magic. It might help us in understanding your differences."
"Any luck?"
"Not yet. The only things we have been able to find are some guys who said that they were sorcerers but they turned out to be fakes when the house uncovered all of their tricks and slights of hand and all the other stuff that street magicians and stage performers use." Jazz said as if that kind of stuff offended her. But being actual magicians it was pretty aggravating when people who fooled others for a living called themselves magical. "Do you know of anything about other magicians out there or something like us?" she turned to Walt and he flickered to Anubis.
"There is something but the answer is extremely dangerous and extremely unlikely to be his problem. I want every other possibility ruled out before we resort to considering it."
"That's helpful." Carter said as he closed the book he was reading. "We don't even know if this is something that happened by chance or if it's something that was passed down to you. If it was passed down then we'll need to know if it was from your father's side or your mother's."
"It can't be from my mother's side. Neither of my grandparents had this problem and my aunt doesn't have it either and I know that because she told me." I informed him.
"So that leaves chance and your father." Cleo spoke from behind her book.
"We could ask Percy about it." Matt said. "There's always a chance that he knows."
"Except he didn't even know about the House until we told him about it yesterday, so how could he know?" Nancy replied.
"He knew some stuff before then because he said that he met Carter and that he explained some stuff to him about what we are. Plus he didn't seem too surprised when we told him that the Egyptian gods are real." Sadie shot back and then glared at her brother. "What did you tell him, and why didn't you tell me about meeting him?"
"I didn't tell him very much and I didn't tell you because you would have flipped out." He told her.
"Who's flipping out?" I heard someone ask as they sat down next to me. "Cuz I want to tape it if it's someone I know."
"Percy what are you doing here? Don't you have school?" Jazz asked him. I looked over and, indeed, saw my brother. He was in casual clothes today rather than the uniform he was wearing yesterday. Somehow it made him seem more real to me and that I might be able to have him in a part of my life. It was a nice feeling.
"Accident in chemistry and I got to get out early." Percy replied and held up his right arm which was wrapped in a bandage. "And it was not my fault this time." I'm pretty sure he said that in response to the pointed look Matt was giving him. "We didn't even have to call in the hazardous waste removal squad. I tripped while carrying some strong acid and it got on my arm."
"You're a klutz, aren't you?" I asked as I smirked.
"You could say that but in all honesty, that's putting it lightly." All of us laughed at him but he didn't seem to mind it. "I don't think you can really call it clumsy when you accidentally blow up a bus when firing a revolutionary war cannon." We all stared at him. "What? It was fifth grade and I wasn't aiming for the bus."
"What were you aiming for?" Julian asked in between laughs.
"I wasn't." that started a new round of laughter. When it died down I asked my brother a question.
"Hey, Percy, are you going to come train with us at the Brooklyn House?" I looked at him as I waited for his answer and the others quieted down. He seemed torn about something and it made me worry.
"I don't know." Was what he finally answered with.
"What?!" Sadie shouted. "You're a magician of ancient bloodlines, and a powerful one at that as much as I hate to admit it, who can host a god if you wanted to and you don't want to learn any of it?"
"I get the whole bloodline thing and learning the power that comes with it but I also know who I am and where I come from and if I do train with you than bad things will come from it."
"You're afraid, aren't you? That you won't be able to control your magic." Nancy accused him.
"Trust me, Nancy, when I say control isn't my problem. War is the problem."
"That's really cryptic." I told him.
"Why is war the problem?" Jazz asked. "We're not in a war."
"Not saying you are, just that it could happen if I stay with you in Brooklyn House and join the House of Life."
"Why, brother?" I asked and he looked me in the eye as he replied.
"Because of our father."
Ooooo, getting on shaky ground there Perce. Careful on what you say next.