A/N: Thanks a bunch to happygoluckyfull, Anime Princess, MalikaiDragonSlayer and philosophyluver for reviewing. Thanks also to the following for adding my story to their favorites/story alert: lanny03, RubySongbird, Yume Li, Perseus peverell, JaredLetoObsessed, Roofiegirl, xXDarkStarGirlXx, riml, phoenixdragon78, thekeeblerelf, WolfassassinKing, , AgathaGrace, Team werewolf and vampire DrinkingAlcoholicRainbows, and TheJazzyDolphin. If I missed someone... sorry!
Enjoy the chapter! XD
Winter Solstice Meeting- Mt. Olympus- throne room
The usual fighting during the meeting was heard all over Olympus. Hera was chastising/lecturing Zeus about his being a womanizer, Aphrodite and Artemis were arguing about needing love. Hades and Demeter were fighting over Persephone and cereal, Dionysus was sitting in his throne, reading a wine magazine. Ares and Hephaestus were fighting over Aphrodite. Athena and Poseidon were fighting over Athens again while Apollo and Hermes were hunched over a small remote control thingy and Hestia was tending to the hearth.… The campers were huddled at the corner of the room with Chiron standing in front of them in case thing got ugly.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, POSEIDON, I GOT ATHENS! DEAL WITH IT!"
"I DO NOT NEED A LOVE LIFE!"
"STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE, ARES"
"I WOULD IF YOU WEREN'T SO LOUSY"
"ZEUS, HOW MANY TIMES MUST YOU CHEAT ON MY? I'M YOUR WIFE!"
"FOR THE LAST TIME, APHRODITE, I AM A VIRGIN GODDESS! I DO NOT DATE MEN! NOR DO I NEED LOVE!"
"… and this is why we should never anger the gods. You won't live to see the next sunrise."
When the campers had arrived in the throne room, they found the gods like that. Hestia had the decency to flash the demigods an apologetic smile and gestured to the corner of the room where the campers took refuge at.
"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME ZEUS?"
"… JUST LOOK AT MY DARLING KORE! HOW THIS SHE HAS BECOME IN HER TIME IN THE UNDERWORLD. You need to add more cereals there."
"FOR THE LAST TIME, WOMAN, I DO NOT NEED CEREALS AND NEITHER DOES PERSEPHONE.
In the midst of all this, a white circle formed in the ceiling of the throne room, momentarily silencing everyone in it. Not long afterward, they heard screams and three people came falling out of the hole, 25 ft. from ceiling. (I'll just pretend that the throne room is 25 ft. tall in all)
"ARRRRGGGHHH!" Athena, being brought of her trance-like state, snapped her fingers and immediately a fluffy (VERY fluffy) couch appeared just in time to catch the falling people… well more like two people. Percy who was unfortunate enough, landed a mere 3 inches away.
"OWWWW! OW! Ow! Ow! Ooowwww!" Percy shut his eyes tight from the pain while trying to stand. "You have got to be kidding me! How come you guys landed on the couch while I landed three inches away from it? On white marble nonetheless."
Thalia and Nico snickered at the Hero of Olympus.
"Me and Thals are just cool like that." The laughed as Percy winced in pain again. (such sadists….) When Thalia looked up her giggles turned into a coughing fit… sort of. She choked on air… if that's possible.
"Uhhh… guys? Look up." Percy and Nico did, knowing from experience that Thalia should be followed when it came to simple things like that. Their eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets and immediately all three stood and bowed to the gods (although Percy had a bit of a hard time) This snapped everyone into reality.
"Who are you and why are you here?" Zeus boomed, lightning flashed outside. The children of the Big Three stood erect. Percy stepped forward. Aphrodite eyed him and knew she would just adore messing with his love life.
"Lord Zeus, we, my cousins and I, well… how should I put this? Well… basically, we're from the future. We were umm…" Thalia stepped in. "We were sent back here to read a few books with you." All the gods and Aphrodite groaned. Thalia just sighed.
"That's what we thought too."
"Ummm… would all of you mind sitting down? It gets quite intimidating to have 13 fifteen feet tall beings look at you." Nico said. The gods/goddesses noticed that they were indeed still standing. They all straightened up and proceeded to sit on their respective thrones. Athena noticed the campers still huddled by the corner with Chiron.
"Chiron, there is no need to stay in a corner. Come now, campers. Introduce yourselves."
The group in the corner joined the rest of the gods/goddesses/demigods. The eight of them stood side by side as they introduced themselves. One by one they stepped forward.
"Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter." Demeter beamed at her and nodded her head in acknowledgement.
"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares." Said god nodded his head twice.
"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." Percy looked at Annabeth lovingly which Thalia and Nico cooed at, making him blush. This of course did not go unnoticed by the love goddess. Next, a boy that looked like Apollo stepped up.
"Will Solace, son of Apollo." Will bowed to his dad who flashed him a really bright smile.
"Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite." No one noticed the sad looks that Percy, Thalia and Nico had when Silena introduced herself. Their sad expressions turned even sadder when they saw the next person.
"Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus." Two identical boys stepped forward. The only difference they had was their height. Both had identical grins on their faces too.
"Name's Connor-"
"and Travis-"
"Stoll" they both said.
"sons of- " (Connor)
"the awesome-" (Travis)
"HERMES!" The twins flashed their dad a mischievous smile which he returned with an equally mischievous one. Soon it was the Big Three kids' turn. Percy noticed everyone looking at them.
"Oh. Right… um…. One moment." He dragged Nico and Thalia to the side and they huddled around. Whispers could be heard and a slight argument before the small group returned to their seats. Nico faced the gods but not after flashing Percy an irritated look.
"Right. The three of us…" He motioned to himself and his cousins. " we won't tell you who our godly parents are since it will most likely be said in the books. I'm Nico di Angelo"
"Thalia… Grace" After Thalia said her name all Hades broke loose. The gods looked shocked while the campers tried to get a good look at Thalia. Annabeth ran and tackled Thalia into the ground.
"Thalia? Is that really you? How come you're not a tree? When did this happen? How did yo-" Annabeth fired her questions so fast no could follow and only stopped when Thalia clamped her hand over Annabeth's mouth. "Whoa there, Annie. One question at a time. It'll be explained in the books we're gonna read so no more questions till then." Annabeth pouted but nodded and got off Thalia.
"Welcome back, daughter…." Everyone turned to Zeus who had a slight hint of a blush on his cheeks and was looking at everything except those staring at him. "WHAT?"
Percy cleared his throat and got all the attention on him. If he was in a cartoon he would have sweat dropped. "Err… right. I'm Percy Jackson… and uhhh… that's pretty much it."
The campers snickered at Percy while his two cousins just shook their heads.
"So" Athena spoke up. "Where are these books which we're supposed to read?"
The children of the Big Three looked at each other.
….. "We don't know"…
Athena's eye twitched and all the deities leaned away from Athena. She doesn't like it when someone barges in on something important and doesn't have anything to say. Zeus looked equally angry. The smell of ozone hung in the air. Demeter, sensing her brother's anger, questioned them.
"How will we be read-" She wasn't able to finish because another circular light appeared on the ceiling and a package came out of it, free falling into the room and effectively hitting Percy in the face at the exact time he looked up. (I'm such a sadist… poor Percy)
"Pfft…. AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! OH MY GODS! EPIC FAIL PERCY!" Nico and Thalia were rolling on the floor, too busy to notice that Percy took the package of his face and was now standing over them, his eye twitching. "Are you done yet?"
His two cousins looked at each other and laughed again this time causing everyone to laugh with them. Hey, laughter is contagious. Apollo and Hermes had tears running down their faces by the time they finished. Poseidon on the other hand was smiling sadly at his son.
"That's one bad luck you've got there Percy." Will commented after everyone settled down.
"I know, Will. Believe me, it doesn't get any better." At this Poseidon began to sweat involuntarily.
Hermes and Apollo suddenly let out a big groan. "It IS books. I was hoping you were kidding" Percy smiled sadly at them. "Sadly nope. Could you read the titles?"
Hermes nodded and removed seven books from the brown packaging paper. Before he could start, a piece of paper floated in and landed on his lap. He cleared his throat and began reading what the note said.
Dear gods, goddesses, Percy, Nico, Thalia, Chiron, Annabeth, Katie, Will, Clarisse, Charles, Silena, Conner and Travis,
The books you hold in your possession a story of a very special demigod. You, my dear gods/goddesses might just learn a thing or two from him. Do NOT under any circumstance, kill or harm the demigods from the future (aka Percy, Nico and Thalia).
Be warned, I will be watching…. Have a nice time reading dears.
Love,
Mother or Grandmother or possibly Great-grandmother Rhea.
PS. Percy, dear, sorry about the books hitting you in the face. It was an accident.
PPS. Five of the books have already happened while the rest will happen in the future.
After Hermes read the letter, he smiled deviously at the blushing Percy who was fidgeting in his seat, glaring at the books that hit him. Hermes picked up the package again and read the titles.
"So here they are… books… Percy Jackson (said boy winced) and the Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian, The Lost Hero and the Son of Neptune. Man! That's a lot of books!" The campers snickered/ giggled at the messenger of the gods.
Zeus sat up straighter and said "Let us begin this… activity. Who shall read first?"
Immediately, Nico and Thalia said "PERCY!" Said boy just gave them a horrified look. "Do you want us to never finish reading these books?" asked mini-Annabeth. Percy looked hurt while Athena smiled at her daughter.
Percy stood up and took the book from Hermes and sat down again. Why does this ALWAYS have to happen to me?
"SO…. It's called The Lightning Thief. Right… chapter one."
"I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher,"
"Umm," Connor and Travis spoke up, "I know I'm not as smart as Annabeth. But how do you accidentally vaporize your pre- algebra teacher?" The gods shrugged while Annabeth was smirking about the 'as smart as Annabeth' comment.
Percy just shrugged as well. Even HE didn't know and he was the one who did it.
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.
All the demigods sighed at this, thinking of their lives.
If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:
"Percy is giving out advice? Run for your lives! It'll only get you killed." Screamed Nico. Percy did the most natural thing… he stuck his tongue out at his cousin.
Close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.
Being a half-blood is dangerous.
The children of the big three nodded wholeheartedly.
It's scary.
Cue in nods.
Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.
The other demigods winced at the last three words. The gods looked down sadly.
If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.
"So do we."
"Perce?"
"Yeah, Nico?"
"You're talking to a book."
"So?"
"….."
But if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.
Connor spoke up again. "Who'll come after me?"
Thalia shot Katie a look and she immediately hit him on the head. Thalia gave her a curt nod.
My name is Percy Jackson.
I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.
Am I a troubled kid?
"Yes." All the demigods said. Percy rolled his eyes at them.
"Feeling the love, guys. Really feeling the love."
Yeah. You could say that.
Percy looked at the book as if it stabbed him. "You weren't supposed to agree with them!"
Everyone looked at him weirdly. "Err… Perce?"
"Yeah Thals?"
"You're talking to a book."
"I know."
I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan— twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.
Athena and Annabeth perked up instantly. "That sounds fascinating."
Poseidon mumbled. "Like mother, like daughter. Sounds like torture to me." Apollo and Hermes heard him and nodded their heads in agreement.
I know—it sounds like torture.
The deities and campers laughed at the similarity.
Most Yancy field trips were.
But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.
Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.
Chiron fidgeted slightly when he heard his usual disguise when going into the mortal world. Why would he be making a house call? Unless…. No…..
You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.
I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.
"Way to jinx it, Percy" Everyone jumped. Beckendorf had been so quiet everyone forgot he was there.
Boy, was I wrong.
See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.
Silence…. 5 seconds….. 10… 13….. and….
"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Most of the people were laughing but none more so than Hermes, Apollo, the Stolls and Nico who were laughing, clutching their sides and on the floor.
And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.
Another batch of laughter came. Hermes had gone up to Percy and clapped him on the shoulder. "I would absolutely love it if you were my son. Think of all the pranks…." He left the thought hanging as he sat back on his throne.
"Sort of? What person sort of hits the wrong lever?" Athena mused.
This trip, I was determined to be good.
Thalia and Nico snorted knowing that their cousin could do no such thing.
All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.
"EWWW! Who in their right minds would eat that?"
Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.
Annabeth rolled her eyes at Percy. "If Grover heard you, you would be dead right now." Percy just flashed her his signature grin which made Annabeth blush a bit.
He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.
Dionysus snorted. "Silly satyrs. Why do we send them to do such important jobs when they get so easily distracted?"
Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death
"WHAT!" Poseidon exclaimed. No one was going to kill his boy if he had anything to do about it. The gods raised an eyebrow at him but none more so than Zeus and Hades.
"Tell us brother, as to why you seem so concerned by this young demigod's welfare" asked Zeus a little too nicely. Poseidon gulped. "N-no reason…" Hades and Zeus narrowed their eyes at him but Artemis motioned for Percy to continue.
by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.
Ares and the Stolls sighed. "That sucks. Mildly entertaining…"
"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.
"DO IT! DO IT! This book needs more action!" Aphrodite whacked Ares in the head but still smiled at him.
Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."
He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.
"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.
"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."
Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.
In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.
Apollo mustered up his most spooky voice and whispered "Foreshadowing the future…. Never a good sign for demigods."
Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.
He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.
It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.
Chiron smiled. "Longer than that Percy. Longer than that."
He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age.
"Do you remember who it was, Percy?" asked Katie. Percy shook his head.
"It was Caroline Lite, daughter of Apollo" Chiron told her. Apollo smiled sadly at the memory of his daughter who died fighting for her friends.
He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.
Nico and Percy shivered knowing for themselves what the evil eye actually looked like.
Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker.
Ares started laughing maniacally at the mental image of him doing that. Those nearest to him just leaned away.
She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.
"The poor mortal" Hestia and Hera said. (I'm not much of a Hera fan plus she hates demigods so she won't say much)
From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.
Nico gasped dramatically and pointed a finger at Percy. "You took my pet name. How could you?"
Percy rolled his eyes and pushed Nico off his chair causing people to laugh at him.
She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.
One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."
Cue in shivers from demigods.
Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.
Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"
It came out louder than I meant it to.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Sure it did."
The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.
"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"
"I really wish Chiron didn't hear that."
Chiron flashed me an apologetic smile. "Sorry"
My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."
Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?
I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"
"It just had to be that one? Why is it always that one Chiron?" asked Hades.
"Well… it's a great opening topic for Greek Mythology." Explained Chiron who was getting glares from the eldest gods bar Zeus who wasn't eaten.
Thalia smirked at Percy. "This is why my dad's the best. He didn't get eaten by titans." Percy and Nico glared at her.
"Well my dad isn't overdramatic unlike yours. And newsflash Thalia, your dad didn't get eaten since Lady Rhea obviously liked him which isn't fair at all. At least my dad got the best domain"
Poseidon smirked at Zeus who glared at him.
"Yeah well guys? In case you haven't noticed, my dad's the best since he is the eldest and he can induce fear in people without even trying. Beat that!"
Hades smiled at his son before smiling mockingly at his own brothers. Demeter leaned into the hearth and said to Hestia. "They argue just like our brothers. You don't think that maybe, all THREE of them broke the oath?" Hestia glanced at the demigods and shook her head. "I don't know Demeter. We'll have to wait and see."
"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied.
"And he did this because ..."
"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and—"
"GOD! PERCY JACKSON, HOW DARE YOU –"
"Give me a break! I WAS TWELVE!"
"Percy clearly demonstrates how NOT to talk to a god. Don't imitate him, children." Chiron told the campers who nodded wholeheartedly.
"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.
"Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead.
Connor spoke before Percy could continue. "I never did understand that. How could you confuse a baby with a rock?" Everyone looked at him weirdly.
"What?" He asked. Travis shook his head sadly.
"My dear Connor, haven't you learned to just accept it?"
"Accept what?" Connor inquired. Everyone just sighed and Percy began to read again.
And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"
"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.
"—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."
Silence filled the entire throne room. Both gods and demigods looked at Percy with open mouths.
"You just summarized a whole century's worth of fighting into FOUR sentences! How could you associate a war as a BIG FIGHT! So many lives were lost in that war!"
Percy rolled his eyes at Athena. "I honestly don't know how I do it. I guess I'm just awesome."
Now everyone rolled their eyes at him. Thalia leaned over to Nico and whispered "He wishes." The two of them snickered earning them many raised eyebrows to which they just smiled at.
Some snickers from the group.
Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"
"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"
"BUSTED!" yelled Ares.
"Busted," Grover muttered.
"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.
Apollo snickered earning him a whack on the head from his twin.
At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.
"More like horse ears." Percy muttered. Suddenly Connor and Travis gasped.
"It's Chiron!" They said in complete unison. The campers sighed at the twins while Katie smacked the two of them uphead.
I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."
"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld.
Zeus smirked at Poseidon this time. Hades just grumbled about "idiotic younger brothers".
On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"
The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.
"When are boys NEVER doofuses?" mused Artemis. All the males bar Chiron rolled their eyes.
Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."
I knew that was coming.
Connor and Travis gasped dramatically. "You aren't a son of Apollo! How could you say you knew what was coming when you can't predict the future?"
Percy pinched the bridge of his nose and looked at the campers. Almost immediately Connor and Travis were whacked up head by two very annoyed girls (some of which are named Katie and Clarisse)
I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"
Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go— intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.
"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.
"About the Titans?"
"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."
"Oh."
"Ah yes. The most intelligent answer ever invented." Apollo mused while pretending to stroke his non-existing beard. Hermes was laughing at him inwardly because he looked ridiculous.
"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."
I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.
Chiron sighed and Percy shot him an apologetic smile.
I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.
"You know, that does sound fun." All the occupants of the room looked at the Queen of Olympus as if she'd gone mad.
But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C— in my life. No—he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.
I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.
He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.
The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.
"Yes… because it's a great view to look at." Murmured Athena.
Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas.
Everyone looked at Zeus who had his eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.
Now everyone looked at the two brothers who found a sudden interest in their thrones.
Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.
Now everyone was looking at Hermes. He just looked offended and shook his head. "Not every person who steals is my child you know."
Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.
"Did it work?" asked Silena. Percy shook his head and continued reading.
"Detention?" Grover asked.
"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius."
Nico pretended to look like a professional. "Truer words have never been spoken."
Thalia patted Percy on the shoulder. "At least you admitted it Percy." Percy just mumbled something about weird, obnoxious cousins.
Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"
Everyone laughed at this. Even Zeus who hated the satyr for letting his daughter die.
"Good Ol' Grover" said Annabeth.
I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.
I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too.
Hera sat up straighter when she heard this, same as Artemis.
She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.
By this time all the goddesses were cooing at Percy who was receiving mischievous smiles from all the males bar Chiron, Hephaestus and Dionysus (who was sleeping on his throne) and Thalia and Clarisse.
Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.
I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.
Percy gritted his teeth. Same with Annabeth, Thalia and Nico.
"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.
"Liquid Cheetos? I swear Percy. You have the most peculiar descriptions." Mumble Annabeth.
I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.
A wave? Everyone was thinking bar Percy, Nico and Thalia. The latter female was watching her dad narrow his eyes at Poseidon. Hades did the same thing. Poseidon just shifted uncomfortably in his throne.
I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"
Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.
Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—"
"—the water—"
"—like it grabbed her—"
Percy gulped and readied himself for the outburst that was sure to come. He waited as did Thalia and Nico. 3 seconds… 5 seconds… then….
"POSEIDON!" and there it was. The campers quickly covered their ears.
"HOW DARE YOU BREAK THE OATH?"
"AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO REMAINS FAITHFUL TO THIS FREAKIN OATH?"
"I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO BROKE THE OATH! ZEUS DID TOO!"
"IT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOU BROKE IT, BROTHER."
The gods and goddesses were trying to calm the gods of the sky and underworld but to no avail. When Percy had enough, he summoned enough water to fill the red sea to crash down on the Big Three. This was followed by a little extra shock from Thalia.
To say that everyone was surprised was an understatement. The Big Three looked like fishes with their mouths opening and closing, fishes that had been part of an unnecessary chemical explosion in a mad scientist's lab.
I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.
As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester.
"Now, honey—"
"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."
Hermes and his children gasped and spoke in total unison "NEVER guess your punishment."
That wasn't the right thing to say.
"No duh, Sherlock" Percy glared at Thalia. "Can't I go two pages without you guys insulting me?"
"Nope." Nico said, popping the p. Percy just let out an irritated sigh.
"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.
"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."
I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.
She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.
Zeus was chuckling like an evil maniac. He still hadn't forgiven Grover for failing his first duty.
"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.
"But—"
"You—will—stay—here."
Grover looked at me desperately.
"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."
"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."
Nancy Bobofit smirked.
Thalia gripped the armrest of the couch so hard she dented it. (If that's even possible)
I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.
Clarisse and Ares snorted, along with Nico and Hades.
"A stare? Pathetic. You have much to learn, boy"
"I'm sure it's nowhere near my stare." Nico bragged.
Percy smiled at him sweetly before unleashing his deluxe I'll-kill-you stare on his cousin. Nico didn't know if it was just his imagination but the room seemed to have gotten a bit colder. Everyone shivered at Percy's expression, thinking of only one thing "How could someone so nice have such an evil side to him?" Percy continued reading as if nothing happened.
Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.
How'd she get there so fast?
Everyone was unconsciously leaning towards Percy, even Hera.
I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.
"It isn't." Will said.
I wasn't so sure.
I went after Mrs. Dodds.
Thalia and Nico looked at their cousin worriedly as did most of the campers and deities. They had only known Percy for a few hours but they figured he was the type of person who you could get along with without even trying.
Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.
Poseidon glared at Chiron who swished his tail back and forth nervously. "If my son gets harmed, Chiron…" Poseidon let the threat hang.
I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.
Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.
"Stupid boy. It's obviously a monster." Athena thought.
But apparently that wasn't the plan.
I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.
Except for us, the gallery was empty.
Poseidon was now whimpering silently. This was noticed only by Hestia who shot a smile of encouragement to her brother.
Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.
Hades sat up straighter. If this was who he thought it was then… how was the boy alive?
Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...
"Oh yeah. Definitely Alecto." Thought Hades.
"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.
I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."
She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"
The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.
Everyone held their breaths. (Yes, even Dionysus who had woken up)
She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.
The gods rolled their eyes at Percy but there was still an air of tension
I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."
Thunder shook the building.
The gods glanced at Zeus for a moment before looking at Percy again.
"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."
I didn't know what she was talking about.
Thalia and Nico rolled their eyes. "When do you ever, Percy?"
Percy just stuck his tongue out. This eased the tension a bit.
All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.
Hermes, Apollo and the Stolls suddenly mobbed Percy in his chair effectively shoving Nico off his and breaking the tension. No matter how serious the situation some people just can't get away from old habits.
"How much did you sell?"
"How much did you gain?"
"Dude, why didn't you let us join?"
"Do you still have any left?"
It went on like that until Hestia took pity on Percy and made a few fireballs which hit the rear ends of the males who were harassing Percy with questions. The quartet (that's what I'll call Hermes, Apollo and the Stolls when they do something together) all yelped and tried to extinguish the flames from their clothes. Poseidon , who was trying not to laugh made water splash on the quartet, effectively extinguishing the flames. Nico retook his seat and glared at the quartet.
Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.
"It's a good book." Athena and Annabeth mumbled. "Why don't you read it Seaweed Brain/Sea Spawn?"
Percy blushed when he heard Annabeth call him by his pet name. "I can't. It's in English."
"Oh." Athena smiled evilly. "Then I'll send you the Greek version." At this, Percy paled noticeably.
"Well?" she demanded.
"Ma'am, I don't..."
"Your time is up," she hissed.
The tension returned. It was so think you could almost cut it like a cake.
Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.
Hades and Nico both shrunk under Poseidon's glare (Nico because he's Hades' son but most of the glare was aimed at Hades)
" YOU sent a FURY after my SON!" Demeter and Dionysus weaved vines around Poseidon, tying him to his throne. Hades looked guilty. Percy immediately spoke up.
"It's okay, dad. I'm alive." This caused Poseidon to calm down but still glare at Hades.
Then things got even stranger.
Poseidon groaned. Hestia patted his arm comfortably.
Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.
"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.
Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.
With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.
Percy got a dreamy look in his eyes, thinking about Riptide when he was jolted out of his thinking state by someone who was clearing his throat. Percy blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."
Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.
My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.
Ares shouted "WIMP!" Guess who just got blasted by water from the Mediterranean Sea? Yup, the war god.
She snarled, "Die, honey!"
Apollo snickered earning himself weird looks. "I was thinking of the fury attacking a jar of honey." Everyone subconsciously did too and most ended up giggling or chuckling.
And she flew straight at me.
Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.
"So swinging a sword is natural for you, huh, Percy?" Beckendorf asked. Percy looked thoughtful before nodding his head.
The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!
Athena rolled her eyes. "He's making water references. How could I have not seen this coming? Kelp-for-Brains was bound to break the oath."
Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.
All the demigods shivered.
I was alone.
There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.
The campers and gods were looking at Percy as if he had gone mad. "You still let the Mist affect you? You are such a Seaweed Brain, Percy" Annabeth said.
Percy blushed (which was noted by Aphrodite), Poseidon narrowed his eyes at Annabeth while Athena looked smug. Nico and Thalia were laughing inwardly at the coincidence.
Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.
My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.
"Magic mushrooms…."
"No Connor. You will not use mushrooms for your next pranks or any pranks to come." Addressed boy pouted along with his twin. "But Chiron!"
Said centaur shook his head. "NO. and that's final." The twins looked like their Christmas gifts weren't as did Hermes.
Had I imagined the whole thing?
I went back outside.
It had started to rain.
Cue in glances at Zeus and Poseidon… again.
Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."
The campers all blinked and said "Who?" Percy stifled his laughter and read the next line.
I said, "Who?"
The gods smiled at the similarities, except Athena who did not want Annabeth thinking like a sea spawn.
"Our teacher. Duh!"
I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.
She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.
He said, "Who?"
Dionysus yawned. "That's not going to work. Satyrs are terrible liars."
But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.
"See?"
"No one disagreed with you D." responded Hermes.
"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."
Thunder boomed overhead.
"Apparently Zeus thinks so too." Athena said. What could have happened to make father so mad?
I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.
I went over to him.
He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."
"Now Chiron, Chiron can lie." Hermes nodded proudly at Chiron as if he was Hermes' prized child. Chiron responded with a blank look.
I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.
"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"
He stared at me blankly. "Who?"
"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."
He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"
"DUN DUN DUUNNNNN!"
"Apollo, shut up!" said god pouted.
"You're just jealous." This made Artemis scoff. "Jealous? Of what?"
"…."
The twins glared at each other out of habit. The room was silent.
Fortunately, Nico broke it. "Well this is awkward." Thalia rolled her eyes and zapped him.
"OWW! What was that for?" Nico rubbed the spot on his arm where Thalia shocked him. "For stating the obvious, Death Breath."
"Better something said than nothing at all." Nico crossed his arms proudly while Thalia raised an eyebrow. "and where did you hear that from?" Nico pointed at Percy with his thumb.
"From Fish Face over here." (I'm too lazy to type who spoke so just pick which one.)
"Don't call me that, Zombie dude."
"Is that the best insult you've got Kelp Brains?"
"Now you just got that from Pinecone Face, didn't you?"
"Pinecone Face? You did NOT just call me Pinecone Face Seaweed Brain." (guess who ) Percy blushed at that comment.
"Shut up Sparky." BY now Thalia and Percy were standing, seconds away from getting their weapons. Nico tried to call them down but ended up getting doused by water and zapped unintentionally. This just got him really pissed off. The gods and campers where watching the cousins like a tennis match.
"That's it. You two are so gonna get it." Thalia's eye twitched and Percy glared at Nico.
"Stay out of this Death boy." = Percy and Thalia shouted at him then returned to glaring at each other.
"Why don't we finish what we started at the creek, Kelp Brain?" Thalia said bringing out her spear and Aegis. The campers flinched and backed away from the shield. Heck, even the gods did. Percy brought out Riptide.
"Bring it on Pinecone."
Thalia summoned lightning while Percy summoned his water. The gods and campers looked shocked and their jaws were practically hitting the floor. Nico just retreated so as not to get in between the fight.
Five seconds passed… Thalia was the first to make a move. The lightning headed at Percy the same time the water shot at Thalia… but they never got to their targets. A girl with blonde curls appeared 5 meter away from the battling cousins.
"Just what do you think you are doing?"
A/N: Ok, I'll end it there. This is a REALLY LONG CHAPTER! Never knew I had it in me. Thanks Apollo! XD Review please! (This chapter took 24 pages in Microsoft!)