Daughter of Madness
AN: Hi to all of those who are reading my story I really appreciate this, so far I'm enjoying writing this although some feedback would be wonderful. But I wont complain as I'm enjoying writing this, anyway I wont bother you anymore I hope you all like this chapter, you will get more of an insight into Ophelia. I plan to do all the books as well
SHOULD I INTRODUCE A MALE OC FOR OPHELIA OR USE ONE OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE BOOKS?
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Percy Jackson or the plot I only own Ophelia my OC.
Chapter 3: Cousins and Old Ladies
What the hell was going on?
I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. I'm not handling this very well, I wish I was back home with my mother not in some different country in which people treat you like you're crazy and mock you for your accent and ways. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.
Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho. I most likely was but then again all the best people are a little mad.
It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.
Almost.
But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would practically crap his pants, Percy could be convinced but I'm not, I can see it in his eyes, everytime I stare at him he looks at me like ill turn him into a dolphin or something, G man needs to calm down.
Something was going on. Well duh Opehlia don't be dumb like Percy know, of course you know something is going on.
The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. Contrary to belief I do enjoy the warmth of the sun and when it hits my skin even though I usually burn. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. Quick fact mamma isn't to fond of tornados I may of seen it in wizard of oz but this freak weather doesn't appeal to me.
Not at all.
I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. In my defense I would of done this if I wasn't cranky, am I sarcastic? Yes but am I mean? Sometimes, but this week is terrible for me.
The headmaster sent my grandparents a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.
Fine, I told myself. Just fine.
I was homesick.
I wanted to be with my grandparents in out town house, where I see my Nan baking and my granddad read the newspaper everymorning, I want to see the devil cat called misty, deep down behind my sarcasm, my grandparents are my everything.
And yet... There were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the gardens, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss G man and Percy, who'd been a good friend, even if they were a little strange. I worried how they'd survive next year without me. Although I'd see Percy everyday due to us not living to far.
Well Percy Jackson is my best friend and I can honestly say I love him, we just found out last week that I'm actually related to him, my grandfather and percy's grandfather were actually estranged brothers so me and Percy are actually cousins. When I found out I played it off, but Percy will be the only one to see behind my mask and he knew that inside I was bouncing for joy.
Percy Jackson will always be my bestfriend.
I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tourna-ment days and his faith that I could do well. And not to brag or anything I'm pretty down with weaponry.
As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him. Percy was a nervous wreck if I'm honest, I played it off but deep down I'm pretty disappointed in myself.
The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it. I mean I'm pretty good at school but this Greek Mythology stuff sucks, I mean nobody are Greek gods or demi gods, what's the point?
I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt. And let me tell you from past experience it isn't very pleasant.
I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Ophelia Anderson.
Yeah you and nana Eirlys as well buddy.
I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. Stupid book may I add.
I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.
I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.
Ohh look there's Percy.
"Percy Hi" I shouted at him
He glared at me and pointed to his lips indicating for me to shutup. How rude of him.
I scurried over towards him and we walked towards to door.
I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... Worried about Percy and
Ophelia, sir."
I froze.
I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult. G man all I better here are you praising me and my awful good looks.
I inched closer.
"... Alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"
"We would only make matters worse by rushing them," Mr. Brunner said. "We need them both to mature more."
Umm rude, I am perfectly mature, Percy on the otherhand I understand, silly boys.
"But they may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line- "
"Will have to be resolved without them, Grover. Let them enjoy their ignorance while they still can."
That is one of the most nicest things Brunner has said about me. I'm touched.
"Sir, they saw her... ."
"Their imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince them of that."
Well that backfired Brunner. It really backfired, mamma knows all.
"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."
No I don't, but please continue. I'd whoop them if anyone upsets you G man.
"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy and Ophelia alive until next fall-"
Well than you for your consideration Brunner.
The mythology book dropped out of Percy's hand and hit the floor with a thud.
Mr. Brunner went silent.
God damn Percy. God damn.
My heart hammering, Percy picked up the book and backed down the hall. You better our for your life Percy, I will attack you.
A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow. Holy crap is he training for the Olympics.
I opened the nearest door and slipped inside. Percy ran away and hid in a locker, he obviously didn't see this door. Idiot.
A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muf-fled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.
A bead of sweat trickled down my neck. This is the most tense thing that has ever happened to me not including the illegal but awesome party I held.
Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice." maybe you need to see aa doctor then.
"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."
"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."
"Don't remind me."
The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.
I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.
Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and I grabbed Percy out of the locker which he fell asleep in may I add.
"Perc" I mumbled " Percy are we in danger?" I said to him my panic showing
" Na its okay Lia we're fine" he tried to reassure me. "ill always protect you" he said gripping my shoulder.
" Percy I don't need protection IM tough for a chick" I said to him jokingly, but he could see how grateful I was and we parted off heading towards different dorms.
But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me and Percy behind our back. They thought we were in some kind of danger.
The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside. Ohh look Percy is there, I smiled to myself. At least IM not going down alone.
For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem. Its official I am a ninja.
"Percy," "Ophelia" he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... It's for the best."
His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed I don't get emarrassed, payback will be coming your way soon brunner. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. uchh Nancy.
"Okay, sir." Percy mumbled.
I just glared at him and he flinched away at my striking eyes. Violet eyes 1 Brunner 0.
"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."
I looked at him in outrage, I seen tears in percy's eyes.
Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out. Who the hell does this tool think he is, calming breath Ophelia.
I could see him trying not to look in my eyes as he was gazing at the vines outside in worry. Weirdo.
"Right," I said, in my flat voice.
"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... You're not normal, Percy , Ophelia. That's nothing to be-"
"Thanks," I blurted
"Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me" Percy spat out.
"Percy-" Percy left quickly.
"Ophelia"
But I was already gone.
On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.
The other girls were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a shopping trip to Paris. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month.
They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city with my grandparents first, then I'll most likely head off to Great Britain for the summer maybe somewhere in Germany to see some relatives.
"Oh," one of the girls said. "That's cool."
They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed. This is why I never socially interact.
The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover and Percy, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city. I already knew Percy had the same ticket as me, but I didn't know about Grover that was a pleasant surprise.
During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing enviously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.
Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.
I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?" I said silkily. I'm like the muggle version of severus snape. No complaints for me though.
Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Who-what do you mean?"
We confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.
Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"
"Oh ... Not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?" Percy asked in anticipation.
He winced. "Look, guys ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."
Rude.
"Grover-" I said in my no nonsense voice.
"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."
"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." Percy said with a small smile in his face.
His ears turned pink. Well that's adorable.
From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.
The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:
Grover Underwood
Keeper
Half-Blood Hill
Long island, New York
(800) 009-0009
"What's Half-" I said in curiosity
"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... sum-mer address."
Swarmy Grover, very swarmy.
"Okay," Percy said glumly. "So, like, if we want to come visit your mansion."
He nodded. "Or ... Or if you need me."
"Why would we need you?" I said in a joking tone. I'll always need them
Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, guts, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."
Protect me.
I stared at him.
All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me. Maybe he is crazy, but I appreciate madness in my life.
"Grover," Percy said.
"what exactly are you protecting us from?" I asked hesitantly.
There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway. Holy crap this is like an episode of supernatural.
Awesome.
After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover, Percy and I filed outside with everybody else.
We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand. I hope they have grapes, I love grapes
The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen. My Nan would totally appreciate these.
HOLY SMOKES GRAPES.
I spotted those bad boys instantly.
I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue and violet ball of yarn.
All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses. Maybe I could buy something off them, they could smile then.
The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.
Why hello ladies, it is I the dashing Ophelia Anderson my inner self said snidely.
I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.
"Grover?" Percy said.
"Hey, man-" I got out.
"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"
"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?" I said jokingly.
"Not funny, Ophelia. Not funny at all."
The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.
"We're getting on the bus," he told us. "Come on."
"What?" Percy said.
"it's a thousand degrees in there." my blonde hair will frizz all up and go afro like, I couldn't handle that in my mundane life.
"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.
Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue and violet socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for-Sasquatch or Godzilla.
Please be Godzilla.
At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.
The passengers cheered.
"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"
He is one jolly man today.
Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.
Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.
"Grover?" Percy asked.
"Yeah?"
"What are you not telling us?" I asked pretty sheepishly.
He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Guys, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"
"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?" I asked in a slightly hysterical voice.
His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."
"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn." Percy shrugged.
He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.
He said, "You saw her snip the cord."
"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.
"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."
"What last time?" Percy rushed out.
"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."
"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"
"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."
This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.
"is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.
No answer.
"Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"
He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.
Let it be violets G man.
The best flowers are violets.
AN: Well hi guys, I hope you've all enjoyed, im pretty proud of this chapter and the next one you will be able to see Ophelia wiht her grandparents and maybe you will see her reaching camp. Who knows? anywho let me know about that male OC or a character from the book
BTW i sort of broke through the fourth wall or however its said, and Eirlys is the name of my grandmother, she is repping.