Check ANs…

Months Later

An emerald train came roaring from a deep cave that was engraved deep into a mountain. The train cars were filled with passengers who were traveling, ranging from future students to busy politicians. Several large groups of students could be seen donning their light green uniforms, while less than 2 dozen students donned white uniforms. No one paid these students any attention though, the main topic of conversation was the handful of students in red uniforms. No one had seen student uniforms like these before, and it spread throughout the students aboard the train.

Sitting in one of the few seats and wearing red was Percy, who was trying hard not to get annoyed by the whispering. He was used to the treatment of rumors from the camps and he didn't care that he had to deal with it again. The part that was getting on his nerves was the other students didn't know how to talk quietly. Emma who sat across from him looked at him with an apologetic expression on her face. She held a small book and would take small glances at Percy whenever a group walked by. I'm sorry Percy, I didn't know there would be more people up here. If I knew, I would have said we could have stayed in the cars in the back." Emma placed the book on the spot next to her and folded her hands onto her lap. Percy smiled at her and waved it off to show he didn't care.

Another group of students walked by and whispered something about a pity group being formed. Percy who heard this glared at the group, and when they turned and noticed the glare they quickly walked away. "It's not your fault Emma, I'm just happy they weren't trying to spread rumors about you. It's a lot to do with the red uniforms. They're brand new and people are confused about it." Percy looked out the window and saw the tree line rushing to push the train. His leg had been bouncing up and down the entire ride and he was getting more exhausted as every second passed. Percy suddenly stood up and gave Emma a nod to indicate he was going to walk back towards the back cars. Emma gave him a smile and a nod back and went to read her book again. She picked it up and gave him one last slight glance before he walked away.

Percy made his way through the train car taking glances at the other passengers as he passed them. Most of them didn't spare him a second of their day, and the few that did just gave him a once over before going back to whatever they were doing before. Percy would spot a red uniform every few train cars as he walked to the back car. As he entered one of the few cars left he bumped into a young man also wearing a red uniform, both of them almost crashing into the few people sitting in seats next to the walkway. As they both got up and said their apologies to the people next to them Percy got a good look at the other guy. This guy was tall, almost the same height as Percy himself. They stared at each other for a few moments until a loud cough came from an overly dressed man behind them. With a blush on their faces, they made way for the older man and listened as he angrily whispered to himself about teenagers.

Raising one of his hands while the other rubbed at the back of his neck, "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to bump into you. I had a lot on my mind lately, especially with these red uniforms." Percy felt a hand clasp his in a handshake. 'Strong grip'. The other man responds in a similar state, with his hand out and shaking Percy's while his other hand rubs at his cheek. "Don't worry about it, it's more of my fault. I had to get up and away from the countless stares and whispers about the uniforms myself. They were starting to whisper about this one girl who had one too. I think they were trying to say we were dating but I walked away to help stop that rumor the best I could. Oh shoot I forgot, my name is Rean." Rean ended his little speech and dropped his hands to his sides. Percy took a good look at Rean and noticed the both of them stood in a stance that left them ready for anything.

Rean also noticed the way they stood and smiled in his mind as he thought about how happy he was to follow through with this choice of where to go to school. Rean pointed at an empty seat near them and Percy gave a small nod as the two started to make their way to the open seat. Rean started the conversation with the topic that was plaguing both of their minds. "Do you know why the red uniforms were given?" Percy sat there and wondered to himself for a few seconds, "I think it might be for a small group of students that did well on the exam, but I didn't do well so I shouldn't have been given one." Rean gave him a look as if to determine if he was being honest or just humble about his score. "I would agree I also scored okay, so I doubt I would be the best pick for the best student group if that is what this is. I mean wouldn't they pick the nobles then, and there's not a lot of them compared to the commoners." Percy nodded along, he remembers Emma explaining the whole Nobles vs Commoners, white uniforms were given to those of Noble status, and the green was given to Commoners. Both of them sat there and pondered on this puzzle of theirs. When the train conductor came on over the PA, "Now arriving at Trista Station, I repeat we are arriving at Trista Station. If you are a student of Thors' Academy please leave your luggage in the area as instructed on your papers. I repeat leave your luggage in the area on your paper." Both Percy and Rean stood up and started to make their separate ways to their belongings. "I'll see you around Rean, it was nice to meet you." Percy gave him a wave goodbye as Rean nodded in agreement.

When Percy returned to where he left Emma, he came face to face with an angry student in a red uniform who was talking to Emma. This guy was wearing the same uniform as both Rean and he wore but with some different accessories. His dull green hair shook a little when he moved his head from left to right, with square glasses resting on his face. Percy hummed to himself as he made his way through the train car. 'Good for her, meeting new friends like this'. Percy approached the duo and gave Emma a wave before he went to grab the stuff that had to be carried with him. The new guy who was still talking to Emma, gave Percy a weird look and cut Emma off from finishing her question. "Hello there, are you with the young miss here?" The more formal tone brought Percy out of his musings.

Percy looked around for a quick second wondering if he was talking to someone else before realizing he was talking to him. 'Geez shows how long it's been since I talked to someone who is more formal, Rose doesn't count.' Percy shook his head to clear his thoughts. Smiling at him Lercy raised his hand, "Percy Jackson, nice to meet you. I'm sorry but I don't know your rank so I'll just say thank you for being a noble to this empire." Percy repeated the phrase Rose had him learn just in case a noble wanted to talk to him. The young man's face grew a disgusting look, as his lips curled in a way that reminded Percy of a Hydra, and his color turned red. Emma shook her head in a look of great disappointment if it was directed at Percy or this other guy he didn't know.

The green-haired student gave Percy a death glare before waving his hands around, "HOW DARE YOU! I'M NO FILTHY NOBLE!" The student screamed at the top of his lungs. This gained the attention of everyone on board the train car. Percy threw his hands up in the air and quickly looked around. "Hey man calm down, I didn't know you weren't. It's a simple mistake." Percy tried to continue to diffuse the situation, but no matter what Percy tried it wouldn't work.

Percy watched as the face of the unnamed student grew redder and redder with anger. "Hey man, I have a name you know! I'm the student with the number two score on the entrance exam." Percy gave him a blank look at the news of that information. The anger came back even more than before, "I'm Machias Regnitz, I do hope you heard about me." Machias spoke with a smug tone in his voice. Percy still held that blank look and turned to face Emma instead, deciding that this wasn't worth his time. Emma watched as Machias couldn't stand it, being looked down upon by those who he believed thought they were better than him. "Look at me when I'm talking to you. I get it. I must not be worth your time since you must be a noble right. You must think you're so great, standing there gloating over the rest of us commoners!" Percy stopped what he was doing and gave the people around him a quick look before he took his bag and walked away.

Machias stood there with his chest heaving up and down from his yelling, his eyes wild with rage. Emma looked at Machias as he started to collect his stuff and made his way off the train and away from the large mass of onlookers. Emma walked past him as she made her way off the train she overheard quiet angry muttering from Machias. "Must think he's so much better than me. Sure his daddy is some sort of big wig noble, and I might not know who it is yet. Still, he never had to work hard like the rest of us commoners had to. We fight tooth and nail to even get to one government position."

Emma kept moving further and further away from the angry boy. She had to turn around several times till she was able to see Percy, who stood alone outside the train station. Emma waited for the rest of the student body to exit the station and as the horde of confused and stumbling students exited she was able to make out the train station's design. Large platforms rested inside the station with blue pillars rising into the air to support the roof. Only one ticket booth sat toward the north side of the station. The ticket booth was sitting next to the large doorway to the outside of the station. Emma smiled as she saw Percy look around confused as dozens of students walked past him and pointed him out. Percy finally turned around enough to notice Emma at the back of the other students. Trying to make his way to her, he pushed and shoved the other students just enough to get them to move out of his way. Soon Percy and Emma were face to face again and without saying anything the two started to make their way toward the large campus on the other side of the town

Percy looked around as both Emma and him walked through Trista. He was able to see some of the notable spots that were mentioned in the papers and books he read back in the village. He could make out the Radio Trista building which housed the local Radio Station, which is famed for some of its famous hosts and guest speakers they have had in the past. They gained a new host about a few months ago and it's said that she has the voice of a goddess. Percy also saw some customers walking into a local Inn that featured a restaurant with plenty of tables outside with some comfortable wooden chairs. Both of these spots were towards the south side of the town of Trista and featured houses directly across from them.

On the other side of the time, toward the north was a set of houses that ran along the open fields and road to the north. One by one the houses were all soft colors that reflected the soft pink of the lino flowers that came falling from the trees. The center of town had a small gathering area that sat in a small oval shape with nice benches and the right amount of sunlight hitting the area, one on end was the start of a walkway. Throughout the town, Percy could see other walkways and paths that brought you to some back streets and other sets of houses, a large wide walkway ran through the whole town and kept moving west as it opened up to a large walled-off building. Percy and Emma followed the walkway towards the large building, on their way they passed the local chapel that was on their left. Percy saw Rean exiting the building and he took a moment to look around before seeing Percy. Rean walked towards the duo and after a quick minute to introduce himself to Emma and her to him the three started on their way to the school.

As the three of them approached the school they were able to spot two more students wearing red uniforms. One a noble girl with long blue hair in a ponytail and an older man in a butler get up. She talked very formally and addressed the butler with a form of kindness that wasn't heard from nobles often. Rean surmised that the girl could be the daughter of a military general as they tended to not be as formal as the rest of the nobles. Percy just nodded along thinking of the children of war gods he had met in his world. Emma smiled at Rean and stated how she never cared for the idea of Nobles and Commoners and to her she judges people on their actions and words they chose to do or say. Percy could see that this allowed Rean to ease up a bit around him as he looked like he lost a large weight from his shoulders. Percy grinned at the thought of his friend meeting Rean and already helping him lose some nerves that were getting to him. The trio was soon cut off from the entrance of the soon by a large orbital limo that drove to the front of the school and parked at the gate. A younger butler came out of the car this time and he rushed to get the door of the passenger opened. However he wasn't quick enough, the back passenger door swung open and a tall young man with blonde hair stepped out with a step that showed off a more elegant design of the red uniform. The butler was dismissed as the young noble grabbed his bags and walked away. The trio watched as the limo drove away and the noble walked ahead to the school. Rean pointed out that it was Jusis Albarea the son of Duke Albarea, which was one of the four Great Houses.

All three of them soon made their entrance into the campus and came face to face with two students. One was a short girl with brown hair and brown eyes, who wore a green uniform. The other was a larger boy with a little heavy set. His face held a soft joyful face. He wore an orange jumpsuit that a mechanic would wear. The short girl walked up to them and smiled a big bright smile, "Hello there, you are the last three which means you're Emma Milstein, Rean Schwarzer, and lastly Percy Jackson. We ask that you turn in your weapons for a quick inspection, and don't worry about them as they will be returned to you very shortly!" She finished before the larger boy next to her held out his arms. Emma and Rean had no issue with handing their gear over to the two, it was when they got to Percy. Emma looked at Percy for a moment before remembering his pen would return to his pockets due to the magic placed on it. Percy smiled and pulled out a dagger from his back pocket, Emma gave him a questioning glance before steeling her emotions. The short girl blocked for a few seconds before clearing her throat, "Umm there might be a mistake but we were told you carried a sword with you. Do you happen to have it on you?" The tone in her voice sounded a bit nervous. Percy pushed his hands into his pockets and out came a bronze ballpoint pen. "No, no sword. But you know what they say, the pen is mightier than the sword." With a small chuckle, Percy started to walk away. The short girl looked at him like he was crazy before she realized he didn't know where the orientation was. "Wait you don't even know where you have to go. Oh never mind, you are all to meet in the gym where the student orientation is being held. Please don't go and cause trouble." She pleaded, and both Emma and Rean nodded.

Percy was able to make it only a few dozen feet away before he heard his name getting called out. Turning around he saw a very serious-looking Emma, which meant he was in trouble. She made her way towards him and once she got to his spot she stared at him for a few seconds. Percy waited a second to see if she was going to say anything. When she didn't say anything Percy started to, "Are you going to say anything or-?" He started before she cut him off, "Did you have a dagger in your back pocket this entire time? Why did you have to tease them with that stupid joke of yours?" Emma yelled at Percy, who at the moment looked like he was more scared of her than any monster you could face in the wild. Rean, who came up on both of them, laughed at the scene. Both Emma and Percy turned their heads to look at him, "What's so funny Schwarzer? Are you jealous that I make good jokes?" Percy tried to joke his way out of Emma's scolding but she didn't let it go. "Don't think he can get you out of this Percy, you walked yourself into this." Percy nodded his head to let her know he agreed he deserved it.

Rean continued to laugh at the two, they reminded him of the couples in the romance novels his little sister reads. She would always tell him how the couple were childhood friends and the girl always takes care of the guy when he's being stupid. The guy would take care of her when she was stressed out, he could see that in both Percy and Emma. Those two were good but there was something else there, something they were hiding. Rean shook his head at those thoughts, it didn't matter if his new friends were hiding something since everyone had the right to have something hidden. He pointed out that they only had a few minutes left before the orientation started, the three of them smoothed their uniforms and rushed into the gym where the rest of the new students were sitting. Percy sat on one end of Rean while Emma sat on the other end, leaving him in the middle of them. Percy was looking all around and his hands were fidgeting, Rean hadn't seen anyone with so much energy. Emma leaned over to Rean's ear and started to whisper into it, "He has this medical thing called ADHD, it's a newly discovered condition. His body has issues with paying attention and controlling impulsive behaviors, he's also overly active. But he has learned how to move on with his life with it." Emma watched Percy as he tapped his leg in a weird rhythm. Rean looked around the room for anything that might pique his interest, and then he saw her. The blonde hair stood out, a small feather peeking out from the top. She was talking to the girl that was next to her, and their conversation made it so that Rean couldn't look into her eyes. Percy leaned over and noticed who Rean was looking at and a small smirk grew on his face, "Sooo Rean, do you have a crush on blondie over there?" Percy asked with a grin on his face. Rean came out of his daze before going to retort back at him, but before he could the sound of clapping came to life.

Rean and Percy both looked up at the stage to see a professor standing at the podium. He cleared his head and tried to pay attention but the girl from before kept staying in his head. Percy was playing with the pen that he had in his pocket before, and Emma was paying attention to the speaker up on the stage. The speaker was a thin man who had a more elaborate style than most of the other professors who were present. "Now you are all responsible for your failings. If you need help with your studies, talk to your homeroom instructor and they can get you a tutor. Now some words from your school's very own Principal Vandyck." The thin man stepped away as the sound of clapping erupted in the hall. A large man with broad shoulders came up to the podium. He held himself in a way that screamed to respect him. He had a big white beard and mustache that sat on his face and gave him a serious look. Vandyck cleared his throat before looking out to the crowd of students. "Arise, o youth, and become the foundation of the world. These words were spoken by our founder and we work to instill the meaning of them in each of your young students. You will lead the change needed in the world or join our growing military where you would protect the interests of this empire. You are the new face of our school, rise and step up to our challenge." With a slam of his fist, Vandyck ended his grand entrance speech, stepped away from the podium, and allowed the thin man from before to approach. The thin man cleared his throat before addressing the students, "Now then we will start our orientation tour. Students, please report to your homeroom Instructor, Classes one and two go out the left doors. Classes three, four, and five go outside through the right side doors." The students all started to make their way to the exits leaving just a handful of students inside the building.

The gym was empty except for the students in the red uniforms. Each one of them waited for an instructor to come and explain what they were doing. The trio stood around for a little bit before Rean broke into a conversation with a shorter man with orange hair. This new person seemed a bit nervous around everyone but he seemed like a nice guy, Percy thought he was a good fit for Rean who was a nice guy himself. Emma started to get annoyed by the lack of an Instructor but before she could say anything to Percy about it an overly joyful voice spoke over the group. A tall young woman with cerise-colored hair, with a troublemaker look on her face. She gave them a huge bright smile. "Hello there my dear young students, I'm betting you are all wondering where my instructor is or what am I doing. You would be wondering the right question. I can put those worries to rest right now. I'm your Instructor and I'll be helping you by giving you your orientation. You can call me Instructor Sara and everyone can follow me to our location." Sara made her way out of the gym and allowed the group to follow behind her, each person bared a confused look on their face. They have never heard of something like this happening at the school.

One by one they followed Sara to a building on the far left side of the campus. A rundown path led them to an old run-down building that one could see had been an important part of the school. The building features a stone design with a dull gray color to it with older Empire stained glass for the windows.

As Percy approached the building he felt a feeling of pure energy wash over him. Giving a little shudder as the energy pulled itself back into the building he glanced at the area to see if anything was giving off the strange energy he felt go over him. Seeing nothing poke out to him as strange or noteworthy he allowed himself to follow the rest of the group.

The group of students followed the instructor inside the worn-down building and came to a stop below a large stone platform. Sara stood overlooking the area the students found themselves in. She stood in front of a few tall brick pillars that rose to the ceiling. Sara gave them a little nod before she spoke up, "Well first let me start by saying congratulations and welcome to Thors' Military Academy. You have all been through your trials and hardships and have made it to the point you aimed for. This part of your tour is your own original experience, now any questions?" Sara waited for a few moments for any hands. Suddenly a hand shot up and when Sara saw who it belonged to she had to resist the sigh that was almost coming out. "Yes, our dear number two scorer, what is your question?" Sara let the silence between her and the green-haired boy she knew would cause some of the most trouble.

Machias brought his hand down and pushed his glasses up before clearing his throat. "Yes, my question Instructor is what the hell is going on? We aren't wearing traditional uniforms and have been allowed to give them minor alterations, unlike in past years. Are we supposed to think of this as a joke?" The rant ended with a loud huff of breath.

Sara nodded along with his question, she was about to answer when Machias cut her off again. He threw his voice around and expressed his anger towards this poor excuse of a joke as he would put it. The young man was about to continue when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning he saw a very dignified boy around the same age as him. This boy held himself with an air of confidence around himself that needed respect. Percy was able to remember that Rean mentioned him to be the Son of a Great House, the one and only Jusis Albarea. "Would you be so kind as to allow our Instructor here to answer your questions? We are all confused and want answers." He spoke in a low tone that stated how angry he was getting. The two glared at each other before Sara gave a loud clearing of her throat that stole the attention of both the boys in front of the group. One by one each of the students watched as she took several steps behind her and watched her reach behind it with one of her arms. "My only advice to my little students is to brace your landing." Sara pulled down on a lever with all of her strength. The group of students heard a click and could feel the ground beneath them suddenly slope downwards. Some of the group tried to stop their fall by sliding down the slope while others just fell with it. The last thing Percy saw before he fell was a shorter girl with white hair hanging from a rope of some sort. The pitch black made him think about Tartarus, that fall that nearly killed him and Annabeth within their first few moments in the pit.

He could hear some of the others in the group landing already and was grateful when light breached his eyes. One would think with all the times Percy has fallen from a high height he would have perfected falling and landing, however, the other students had to watch a 17-year-old demigod fall flat on his face and groan. Percy pushed himself up from the ground and looked around to see most of the other students up on their feet already. He did laugh when he saw Rean had gotten into a small accident he collided with the blonde girl that Percy caught him staring at, and the two of them were stuck in a heap of limbs. Deciding that he would be the one that helped out his fellow swordsman he reached his hands out and helped them both up. He couldn't help but laugh at the way Rean was embarrassed for not noticing the trap that was so easy to notice, Percy gave him a pat on the back and tried to console him with some simple words, "Don't beat yourself up, we all should have noticed it."

The rest of the group gave everyone a once over and they were soon rewarded with the sound of scraping coming from above. Within moments the short girl with white hair came sliding down the slope as the entrance to the floor above closed up. She didn't say anything but she gave a small thumbs-up to show she was okay. Percy gave a small nod to her and decided to check out the room. It wasn't filled with anything other than some small stone pedestals that all held something in their center. One large doorway stood alone at the back of the room. The group moved as one and saw the pedestals holding their weapons and some sort of device that reminded Percy of cell phones from his world. Just as Percy was about to put the device in his pocket it started ringing, 'Huh so it's just a weird cell phone that's cool.' Percy flipped it open and was surprised when he heard everyone's voice on the other end. The caller waited for everyone to calm down a bit before explaining what was going on.

Loudly Sara shouted into the device before lowering her voice. "Hello my little students, I can hear you all which means you lived and survived the fall. That's great because now your objective is to make your way through the dungeon and I will be watching everything so nothing crazy. Oh before I forget these are the brand new ArcusUnits designed by our lovely Reinford company, these babies are Battle Orbments that are designed to support you in battle. If you can there is a bit of a master quartz which if you pass the test means you should know those give power to a lot of Battle Orbments out there. The Arcus are going to be the new fifth-generation Orbments adopted by the military however they need field testing which is why you are going to do it. Place your quartz in and take it easy as you adjust to the new power output, good luck little ones!"

The group looked past the doorway to see a dark and damp hallway that had the sounds of monsters filling the dark void. Rean walked a few feet in front of everyone and turned to face the group, "Well then I guess let's go hunting."

ANs

So I didn't think this would take me so long to write but I had a crazy couple of months recently. I was out at a conference and had a bunch of medical stuff to take care of. Started a new project with a group of people where I'm helping write a script for a film and got a bunch of ideas for some new stories but holding myself back for now. But I promise to get these chapters out ASAP!

As always my server if you want to talk or just hang out is the link here tNTvnQSCGs