Her New Life
Chapter 2
Hi! I'm back! Thanks so much for all the review! I'm glad you guys liked my story!
Okay, now, remember when I told you guys to guess Nancy's father? I know the clues were obvious, but trust me it gets harder. I'm going to give out clues to a question whenever I think of something. Every time, it's going to get harder, so I suggest you relish the easy questions before I start giving you one, vague clue to go on. I have another question at the Author's Note at the bottom.
The winner, by the way, was My Name's Unique. Her OC, Kyra Hunter-Solace will be introduced the next chapter. A lot of you got the answer right, which was Hermes, but My Name's Unique was the first one to send in her correct answer.
Also, I want to thank pjoroxs for letting me use her OC, Jaycee Carter. Jaycee will also be introduced in the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson in any way.
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Last Time On Her New Life…
"Okay, take a seat you three. We're teaching Greek this week and our lovely volunt-" Mr. Rio got interrupted by the door … again. A middle age man with brown hair, intense brown eyes, and a scruffy beard walked, well, rolled in, considering he was in a wheel chair. Nancy thought he looked familiar and when she saw his fleece jacket, her suspicions were confirmed.
"Mr. Brunner?" She called out. Percy, his friends, the Stoll brothers, and that Gardner girl snickered. Mr. Rio shot them a look.
"Sorry, inside joke. Hi, Chi-," Annabeth hit Percy in the shoulder. "I mean Mr. Brunner." Another round of quiet snickers erupted from the group. Mr. Brunner nodded at them and scanned the room. His gaze lingered on Nancy for a second longer. Percy's little group caught his gaze and started whispering in Greek to each other. What's up with that?
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Nancy Bobofit
Nancy was heading towards gym, her last class of the day. Kara was chatting away next to her and Madeline was walking on her other side, silent as a mouse, the total opposite of Kara.
As they made their way to gym, Nancy was occupied by her thought, only giving the occasional nod or a mumble of 'yeah' to Kara. What's with all the secrecy at Greek? Demigods? Monster? Danger? What were they talking about, and more importantly, how did she understand them? Last time she checked, she didn't know Greek. To say Nancy was confused would be an understatement.
While still in her thoughts, Nancy paid no attention to where she was going and collided into a locker … next to the football team and cheer squad. Oh joy.
"You should watch where you're going," a red head cheerleader sneered.
"Whatever," Nancy mumbled.
"I can't believe you can still show your face. Jackson told you to move from his table! He usually lets people stay to eat with him," A blonde, football player said. Nancy ignored them and kept walking to gym.
When she arrived, she followed Kara and Madeline onto the girls' locker room. There were only a few girls in there. After quickly changing, the trio hurried into the gym.
Nancy was in awe. The gym was huge. There were doors leading to the pool, tennis, badminton, basketball, volleyball court, soccer, baseball, softball, and football field.
Nancy saw the Travis and Conner talking to the coach. They were waving their arms this way and that. They looked like they were persuading the coach because when he finally nodded his head, they both jumped on him, giving him a hug. Katie sighed and dragged them by their ears away from the scared coach.
The coach was a middle age man with balding black/gray hair and brown eyes. He was a bit heavy set, but had proved himself an athlete when he was young by beating a lot of the kids in races, or so Nancy heard.
Nancy turned to Madeline who was sitting on one of the bleacher seats. Kara was off talking to a group of girls, probably her new friends because of her newly risen popularity stats.
"So, you didn't get to finish what you were saying at lunch," Madeline looked up from her journal. She beckoned Nancy to sit next to her and opened her journal for her to see its contents. Nancy's eyes widened. Inside were profiles of every single student at school! "How did you get all of this," Nancy asked in awe. Madeline shrugged.
"Did a little research."
"Wow."
"Yeah, I guess," she flipped to a page that had a picture of Nico. "Nico di Angelo. His mom, Maria di Angelo is dead. It's also rumored that he had a sister, Bianca di Angelo, but she died for unknown reasons. Nico is 16 years old and is a sophomore. A lot of people say he's emo or Goth. He's also the quietest one in the group." Nancy looked at her quizzically.
"Are you sure it's Nico who's quiet? I've only ever heard Jacob say one thing this entire day." Madeline brushed it off.
"He has a sore throat from performing yesterday," Madeline explained. Now that Nancy thought about it, his voice did sound a bit hoarse
"He performs?" Nancy asked. Jacob didn't look like he'd be a performer. More like as athlete maybe.
"Yeah. One of the best musicians the school has ever had. He can play most instruments. Jacob's also the captain of the basketball team. He's about as popular as Percy. His mom is Jasmine Anderson and his step dad is Julio Hyde."
"Oh, okay," Nancy, mumbled.
"Yeah. Hey, Percy has swim practice after school. Do you want to come watch with me?" Madeline offered.
"Fine. I was going to go with Kara, but she seems a bit busy." She jerked her head to where Kara was chatting with a group of girls. Suddenly, a piercing whistle penetrated the air.
"Okay my little couch potatoes! Get of your little behinds and start stretching. We have a very interesting class today. It was requested by Travis and Conner," the coach explained.
Some of the class looked scared. In the few periods with the Stoll twins, they had learned about the trouble they can and have caused. They had already TP-ed the boys' bathroom and set the snakes loose in the science lab. Of course, no teacher had caught them doing any of the pranks, but the students had. They kept silent, fearing the prank that would be pulled on them if they ever told.
"For the next month," the class groaned. "We will be fighting," the class perked up. "With swords and bows and arrows," half of the class cheered and the other half groaned. The coach ignored them and gestured to the crates filled with wooden swords and bows and arrows. "Take your pick."
Everyone went to get one while Percy and his group silently went into the locker room. They came out a minute later with wooden weapons. Percy, Annabeth, Nico, and Camille all came out with swords, while Travis, Conner, Katie, and Jacob came out with bows and arrows. Where did they get them? Nancy swore she saw Percy's wooden sword had a real blade for a second.
"Okay class! We have targets set up on one side of the gym and mats on this side. First, we'll start with swords. Does anyone know how to use a sword?"
"You hack at the enemy with it!" A voice called from somewhere. "How hard can it be?" Nancy secretly agreed.
"Very hard actually. You have to know how to hold it properly for starters. Make sure your stance is correct, then, you have to make sure your footwork isn't clumsy. You have to make sure you're balanced and can jump and run around. Wooden swords are pretty light, but a real sword is way heavier. Sometimes, you wouldn't be able to lift it up, much less swing it. Sometimes, your sword feels uncomfortable to you. Make sure it's the right size and weight. The grip has to feel natural. Take me for example. I have a hard time using other swords, that's why I have my own to practice with," Percy said. The class and coach looked at him. Nancy stared at him. When did Percy know how to use a sword?
"Then, you have to know how to correctly defend yourself. It's not all about 'hacking at the enemy.' You have to learn to block so you don't end up a human shish kabob," Camille said, continuing from where her brother left off. Part of the class chuckled at the human shish kabob. "Blocking isn't as easy as it sounds. You have to learn to anticipate your opponent's movements. Your opponent can feint. For example: the person could look like they're aiming for your side, but at the last second, they can switch it and aim for your head. Follow your opponent's movements carefully. Blocking is also about your reflexes. If you have ADHD or ADD, you'll probably have an easier time, but it would still be pretty difficult."
"Then, you have to learn to correctly attack. You can't swing too hard, because if you miss, you'll stumble and fall from the momentum. If you don't hit hard enough, it wouldn't be too effective. You also have to make sure your swings don't leave you vulnerable to your opponent. If you miss, make sure you can gather your wits and brush it off. Study your opponent's style and try to counter it. Like Camille said how defense is partly about your reflexes, the same thing goes for offense. The faster you are, it's most likely you have a better chance at winning." Annabeth further elaborated.
"Once you get the basics down, come up with tricks. If an opponent is tiring you out, fake defeat. When their guard starts to come down, that's when you strike. Also, find vulnerability in the armor if they're wearing any. You know, small nooks and crannies where they're exposed. Don't think amateur tricks won't work you'll be surprised. Use you surroundings to your advantage. Trip them, corner them, pinned them," Nico finished off. The class looked stunned. Nancy's mouth was opening and closing like a fish's.
"Wow. You guys sure no your swords," the coach said. "Do you mind demonstrating?"
"I don't mind," Percy answered. He turned to Annabeth. "Up for a challenge Wise Girl?"
"You're on Seaweed Brain."
They both got into the correct stance and started to circle each other, daring the other to make a move first. Soon, Percy got impatient and lunged at Annabeth. He aimed for her side and Annabeth blocked. Percy retreated a few steps.
"What? Are you running away?" Annabeth taunted.
She ran forward and tried to do the disarming maneuver. Percy saw this coming and twisted his sword to avoid being disarmed. This time, it was Annabeth's turn to retreat.
"I'm far from running, but you seem to want to," Percy teased.
Percy charged at Annabeth and started to swing his sword in different directions. Annabeth blocked most of them, but only narrowly avoided one on her side. Percy raised his sword to strike, but Annabeth rolled to the side. Now his back was facing Annabeth. She charged at him, but he pivoted on his heel and blocked.
He ran quickly to Annabeth who side stepped. He twisted his body and aimed for her shoulder. She quickly spun and raised the sword to block, but Percy kept pushing and forced Annabeth to kneel down on one leg. He did the disarming maneuver. Annabeth had no choice but to let go. Her sword skidded a few feet away. Annabeth was now disarmed, but wasn't going to go down anytime soon.
Using her hands for support, she swung her legs to try to unbalance Percy. He tripped and fell, landing on Annabeth, but caught himself so he wouldn't crush her. She grabbed his shoulders and rolled them around. She was now straddling Percy's stomach, she reached for her sword, but before she could, Percy rolled them over again. He pinned her arms above her head and carefully placed his sword near Annabeth's throat. He was careful not to cut her. Percy lowered his mouth next to Annabeth's ear.
"I win." She pushed him off of her and he helped her up. The class erupted into cheers and applause. Nancy couldn't help but clap. It was amazing, but Nancy wished she were the one under Percy.
"That was amazing kids! How did you learn how to fight like that?" The coach asked. They both shrugged. How did they learn to fight like that? Nancy wanted to know.
"Okay. Um, now that we have seen such an amazing demonstration on swordsmanship, we will now turn out attention to archery," the coach said. He was still in awe of Percy and Annabeth's skills with a sword. He turned to see the grinning face of Jacob.
"You want to try you hand at archery, boy?" Jacob nodded enthusiastically. "You sure? That's a real bow and a quiver of real arrows. I know you're a darn good musician, but can you shoot?" Jacob rolled his eyes. He got into a stance, pre-aimed, drew the bow, aimed, released, and followed through. The arrow sliced through the air and struck dead center. The other kids mouth hung open and Jacob shot the coach a look that clearly said 'are you convinced now?' Nancy was amazed. Percy and Annabeth knew their way with a sword and Nancy had no thought Camille and Nico knew too. Now Jacob had hit dead center and Nancy was positive Travis, Conner, and Katie were no strangers to archery. Where did they learn this stuff?
"My boy! How did you pull that off?" The coach stammered. Jacob shrugged and shot him another grin. "Okay couch potatoes, partner up and started practicing! Try not to chop anyone's head off or shoot an arrow through anyone!"
The class started busting with activity. Students asked Percy and his group for help and asking them to demonstrate. Nancy was trying to use the sword to spar Madeline but with great difficulty. There was a commotion over at the archery targets. Nancy and Madeline both turned to see some kid trying to be a smart aleck. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He was a bit shorter than Percy and Jacob.
He was currently annoying the heck out of Jacob. Jacob remained calm enough, but his right eye was twitching with irritation and his grip on his bow tightened.
"Who's that?" Nancy asked Madeline who was sure to know.
"Laurence Davidson. He's the principal's son and thinks he owns the school. He's a total flirt and hits on a lot of girls, especially if they have boyfriends. He's been after Annabeth and Camille since they got here," Madeline had a disgusted look on his face. Nancy nodded. Laurence sounded like a total pig.
"Why don't you show us again? It could've been a fluke!" Laurence sneered at Jacob.
"I suggest you keep your trap shut," Camille growled.
"Why's that darlin'?" He asked with a wink. He turned to a fuming Jacob. "You need your girlfriend to fight you battles? C'mon, don't be a wi-." Jacob had punched him in the stomach. Laurence doubled over in pain and Jacob bent down so he was leveled with his ear.
"You can mess with me and I won't hurt you, but if you flirt with my girlfriend, I'll kill you. Understand," Jacob rasped. Laurence pushed him away from him. Jacob then shoved him even harder. "When push comes to shove, I always win," Jacob hissed.
"Not on my watch!" Laurence charged at Jacob who easily side stepped. Laurence charged again, but this time, Jacob kneed him in the stomach.
"You and me. Archery. Now!" Laurence gasped.
"Fine, but don't go crying when I beat your sorry $$!" Jacob snarled.
"If you keep talking, you're going to lose your voice," Katie pointed out. Jacob just shrugged and went back to glaring at Laurence.
Laurence and Jacob both stepped up about ten meters from the targets. A crowd was starting to form and Nancy was pushed around. Someone shoved her aside to get to the front and pushed her into a muscular chest. She looked up to sea green eyes. Percy.
"Oh, it's just you," he said with a bored expression and pushed her off of him. Nancy tried to ignore her racing heart, irregular breathing, and blushing face. She concentrated on the two guys.
"Are you sure? This is awfully close the targets?" Jacob asked. Laurence growled.
"It's fine."
"If you say so. Ten meters isn't much of a challenge, even if it's a moving target." Nancy looked at Jacob skeptically.
"He's so damn cocky," she heard some guy mutter.
"I'll judge. You get ten arrows each, shoot at anytime, who ever has the most arrows in the center wins," Conner announced. Both guys nodded. "You may begin." Jacob wasted no time and shot. Dead center, again, and again, and again, and again. He had one arrow left when Laurence still had all ten left.
"How is he going that?"
"That's impossible!"
"Is it even possible?"
Laurence was gaping at Jacob who had a smug smirk on his face.
"Back down Laurence. Everyone already knows I'm going to be the winner." Jacob shot him another glance and shot his last arrow. It split the first arrow he shot in half! (1) Everyone's eyes widened to dinner plates and their jaws dropped to the floor.
The gym was quiet until the shrill sound of the bell shook everyone out of what seemed like a trance. Nancy jumped a few feet in the air along with a few other students. Everyone started streaming into the locker rooms, the little scene forgotten like it never happened. Did it happen? Nancy's mind was foggy and the memory was hard to recall. She turned to Percy's gang who was whispering, rapid Greek at each other. They looked angry and annoyed.
"C'mon Nancy! Percy has swim practice and I don't want to miss it!" Kara squealed from behind. They headed towards the girls' locker room. Nancy lost Madeline in the crowd of students, rushing to get home.
"Uh, sure. Um, what happened back there?" Nancy asked. Kara gave her a confused look.
"What do you mean? Nothing happened," Kara shook her head.
"What? But-but, Laurence challenged Jacob! H-he split the f-first arrow i-in half!" Nancy stuttered, trying to explain.
"Huh? What do you mean? I was talking with Laurence the whole time. Are you okay? Do need to see the nurse?" Kara's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. Katie popped up just as they finish changing.
"Nothing happened. I'll take you to the nurse's office. Lets go." With that, Nancy was dragged out of the girls' locker room.
"Meet me at the pool when you're done!" Kara shouted. When they got to the hallways, they were deserted except for a few students hanging around. Katie led her to a corner where lockers blocked the view of everyone left at school. Katie spun her around and cornered.
"Okay. Nothing happened and the incident between Jacob and Laurence never happened." Katie snapped her fingers.
"What do you mean it never happened? It did happen. How did everyone forget! They were all there!" Nancy shouted. Katie cursed under her breath.
"Kitty-Kat, what's wrong," one of the Stoll brothers asked, appearing from behind Katie.
"I think she's who we're looking for," Katie mumbled.
"What? Are you sure?"
"I'm not positive Travis, but…" Katie trailed off.
"But what?" Travis asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I can't make her forget that little seen that just happened."
"What? Why? Did you try controlling the Mist?"
"What's the Mist? What are you guys doing?" Nancy exclaimed.
"Be quiet!" Katie snapped.
"Here, let me try. The fight between Jacob and Laurence never happened. You just imagined it," Travis snapped his fingers.
"It happened! What won't anyone believe me! What are you guys doing! I'm going to tell my mom and put a restraining order on you two!" Nancy shrieked.
"Ugh, it's not working! She's probably who we're looking for. We'll get Chiron to confirm it or something. Just keep her close for now," Katie groaned. Travis nodded and ushered them into the gym and through and set of glass, double doors to the indoor pool.
The swim team was there. Some were stretching or in the water while others were fooling around. The swim coach was nowhere to be seen. Percy's friends sat around the pool, chatting with Percy in the pool.
"Where were you guys?" Nico asked.
"Nico! Don't be an idiot. They were probably eating each other's faces!" Conner announced. Katie and Travis both blushed tomato red.
"Shut up, bro!"
"Watch it Stoll. Besides, we think we found what we were looking for," Katie explained.
"That's a lot of we's in one sentence. You mean her!" Camille yelled. Percy had started hoisting himself out of the water. Annabeth pushed him back in.
"What was that for?" Percy exclaimed.
"Είσαι ακόμα ξηρά! Πάρτε πίσω στο νερό!" Annabeth hissed in Greek.
"Um, oops!" Percy dunked himself underwater and came back up again to sit next to Annabeth. What was that all about? Nancy's eyes roamed over Percy. He had a muscular and tan torso and rock hard 6-pack abs. Damn! He's smoking! Nancy was starting to drool.
"Are you sure it's her?" Nico asked.
"Pretty sure. We can't control the Mist to block out her memory of Jacob's little fight. We need Chiron to confirm it," Katie explained.
"Okay. Can you keep this conversation here under wraps?" Annabeth asked Nancy.
"I don't know what you're all talking about! You guys are all crazy lunatics!" Nancy shrieked causing everyone's attention to be reverted to the group.
"Shut it!" Percy shouted. Nancy flinched back, hurt showed on her face.
"Okay pansies! We're having the swim tryouts today!" A loud cheer was heard from the bleachers at the back as Nancy and everyone else sat down to watch the tryouts. Nancy turned to see Kara and Madeline with a few other girls sitting there.
"Quiet down. Now, me and the team captain Percy Jackson." Another loud shout came from the Kara and a few more girls who obviously didn't get the memo to be quiet. "Will be monitoring each of you," the swim coach explained. The tryouts went by fairly quickly with screams from, you guessed it, Kara and her friends. The coach had gotten annoyed with them and threatened to kick them out if they don't stop screaming every time a name is announced.
"Okay guys! Thanks for coming to tryouts. We'll have the list up in two weeks!" Percy dismissed.
"Nancy!" Kara shouted. "Wasn't that awesome! And Percy was totally hot!"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Nancy mumbled.
"C'mon! Lets go to my place. You can come to Madeline!" Nancy looked at Kara skeptically. She really didn't like Madeline at lunch, now she's hanging out with her? Is she bi-polar or something?
"No can do Kara. We need to talk to Nancy," Conner piped up.
"Oh, okay then. Have fun Nancy!" Kara shouted. A few minutes later, Nancy, Percy, and his friends were the only ones left at the pool. Percy was still shirtless. Nancy couldn't help, but stare.
"I would really appreciated if you didn't stare at my boyfriend like that," Annabeth piped up. Percy had a smug smirk on his face.
"You jealous, Wise Girl?" Annabeth looked a bit flustered.
"Jealous of what?"
"Please you're enjoying the view," Percy said, flexing his muscles. Nancy started to drool. She wanted so badly for Percy to wrap her in a tight embrace with those arms.
"What view," Annabeth retorted.
"C'mon babe, you love the muscles."
"Again. What muscles?"
"Ouch, that hurt." He feigned a hurt expression and out his hand on his heart.
"It was meant to, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth sighed and rolled her eyes.
"You're cute." Annabeth gave him a peck on the cheek, but Percy turned his head and captured her lips.
"My eyes! Ahh! They burn!" Travis yelled and doubled over. Percy separated from Annabeth and glared at him. Katie pulled on his ears.
"Don't be a drama queen. That's Nico's job."
"Hey! I am not a drama queen! If anything, I'm the drama king!" Nico yelled indignity.
"Whatever Death Berry," Percy replied. He went into the locker rooms. "I'm gonna change!"
"Death Berry? Huh, that's a new one," Nico muttered.
"Okay. I can't take it anymore! What am I going here?" Nancy exploded. They all stared at her.
"Oh, about that. Um, how do we explain this," Camille stuttered nervously. Jacob shrugged.
"Uh…" Travis trailed off. He looked to his brother who started whistling absentmindedly.
"It's, uh, complicated, I guess…" Katie muttered.
"How do we tell a, uh, how old are you again?" Nico asked.
"16. Turning 17 in a couple of weeks," Nancy muttered with her head cocked to the side. She wondered by he wanted to know.
"Uh, right. How do you explain to a 16 year old turn 17 in a couple of weeks that there are monsters out to kill her?" Nancy looked at Nico liked her grew another head.
"What the hell are you talking about? Monsters? What are you, 5?"
"Look Nancy. You're a demigod," Annabeth told her with a serious expression. Nancy burst out laughing.
"Oh, that's rich! I'm a demigod! What's next? Percy saved the world?" Nancy continued laughing.
"Oh, the irony in that sentence," Katie muttered to Travis and Conner.
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I'm going to stop there. I'm sorry this chapter was so boring, but I needed it to lead up to the interesting parts. Nancy will be introduced to Camp Half-Blood in the next chapter.
Anyway, sorry about any mistakes I've made, but grammar is evil and it hates me as much as Athena hates/dislikes Percy.
Also, to the Guest Reviewers, can you guys please put a name other than Guest. It makes me feel like I'm talking to a bunch of clones when it's the same name for multiple people. Thanks!
Can anyone name all of the nicknames for Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo, and Leo Valdez?
Nicknames by Dionysus count too. So do self-proclaimed nicknames and nicknames made by animals. Some of the nicknames are mentioned in the story.
Percy Jackson has about 5 nicknames.
Annabeth Chase has about 3 nicknames.
Thalia Grace has about 1 nickname.
Jason Grace has about 3 nicknames.
Piper McLean has about 2 nicknames.
Frank Zhang has about 2 nicknames.
Nico di Angelo has about 4 nicknames.
Leo Valdez has about 2 nicknames.
Those are all the clues! Good luck! First reviewer to get all or most (if no one gets them all) right gets an OC!
L8ERZ,
~Jackie