April

Percy patted Mrs. O'Leary's head before getting up from the kitchen table. It was their first day back to school after the car accident four weeks ago.

"Try to take it easy today," his father said as he took Percy's empty plate and washed it in the sink. "If you start to feel unwell or if you want me to pick you up early, just give me a call." He looked at Triton. "That goes for you too, Triton."

Triton grabbed his backpack from the stool he had set it on just minutes before. "I'll be fine," he said.

Poseidon looked up from the sink, "Please don't overdo it today, and if you make it through the day, go straight home. You two aren't allowed at the aquarium until at least another week."

"And I'll be home early to take care of my boys," Amphitrite said as she brushed some lint off of Triton's shirt.

"Mom, I'm eighteen; I don't need you to coddle me," Triton groaned.

Amphitrite pinched his cheek, "You're still my little boy, and you don't get to complain about it after what happened; you almost gave your mama a heart attack."

Triton's face turned beet red, but not from Amphitrite's touch. "I'm sorry, mom."

Amphitrite shook her head. "You two should get going before you're late."

Percy grabbed his bag from a different stool and carefully slung it across his shoulders. He was off the crutches; he had a pretty good handle on the new prosthetic. His left arm, however, is still in a cast for another two weeks.

"Stay safe! And remember to call if you want me to pick you up early!" His father called out as they exited the house.

Triton unlocked his old car and sat in the driver's seat. "You still haven't gotten the blood stains out?"

Percy grimaced at the reminder of his fall on his first day of school; he shook it off and opened the passenger door, then buckled up.

They had to share the car until Triton went to college in a couple of months. Triton wasn't happy about the situation, but he didn't openly complain about it.

It didn't take long for them to reach the school; neither of them were eager to get out of the car once it was parked. The crash had made national headlines, and the story about their grandfather wanting to kill them was being broadcasted.

It wasn't a shot in the dark to know they would be hounded by curious teens and their questions. They didn't get the luxury of entering the school while it was relatively empty; they had to leave later than usual. The school was surely crawling with students now.

Percy was the first one to muster the courage to get out of the car. He walked into the school alone; the students who were chatting by the entrance stopped and stared at him.

"That's him!" exclaimed a student from the back, pointing.

Percy made a beeline for the cafeteria as a flock of students followed behind, asking, "Is it true?" and "Why did his grandfather want to kill him?"

He pulled his hood over his head as he entered the cafeteria, and the pesky students behind him kept asking him questions.

Luckily, Thalia was waiting for him and put a stop to it. "Leave him alone! You haven't gotten any details from me, so what makes you think he's going to tell you anything? Mind your own dam business!" She shouted at the teens.

Thalia took his good arm and led him to their table, and thankfully, none of the other teens followed them.

Percy took off his hood with a defeated sigh; he said, "I was hoping they would've forgotten about the news by the time I got back."

Jason frowned distastefully, "They have been hounding Thalia and I since it happened. Usually news is only hot gossip for a couple of days, but this seems to have peaked certain interests." He shook his head, "Enough about that. How are you doing?"

Percy shrugged. "Better. I'm kind of glad to be back, honestly. I was going stir-crazy by being at the house for almost two weeks."

"That's great that you feel better! I brought some extra apples just in case you wanted one." Grover said, putting his backpack onto his lap.

"I'm good, thanks G-man."

"You also look better, And I-" Piper stopped midsentence. "Is there something wrong, Annabeth? Why are you so red?"

Percy's eyes shot over to Annabeth before she could lower her head; her face reflected a bright tomato hue.

Percy's face mirrored hers as he thought back to their last interaction at the hospital. He quickly lowered his head before anyone else noticed. He wasn't fast enough; Thalia had already caught him.

Thalia snorted, "You're totally going to have to tell me that story later, Annie."

"Don't call me Annie!"

Percy shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he and Triton sat in front of their counselor. They had been pulled out of their third-period class, unwarranted, to go to the counselor's office.

Miss. Nightshade gave them both comforting looks, but neither brother felt comfortable.

"I don't think you need an explanation as to why both of you are here, do you?"

They shook their heads no.

"After hearing the news, we just want to make sure everything is going alright."

Triton gave a jerky nod, not making eye contact with the counselor. Percy kept silent, staring at a spot on the floor.

"I understand that this subject is uncomfortable to talk about..." the counselor trailed off reading their facial expressions.

"We don't need to go into specifics; however, we will stay in touch with your parents to ensure you are receiving the proper care." The counselor said, continuing to observe their expressions.

She paused for a couple of minutes; Percy squirmed under the silence. He didn't want to talk about it, especially to a counselor.

"You're probably aware the accident made the news, and if it gets too overwhelming, you're always welcome in my office." The counselor handed them passes for the counselor's office. "Use these if you ever want to come by and talk, or if you just want to decompress."

The two of them took the passes and put them in their pockets before the counselor dismissed them back to class.

Lunch

Percy ignored the stares from the other students; Thalia stopped them from approaching, but she could do nothing about their curious gaze.

He ducked his head and put a spoonful of mashed potatoes in his mouth.

"Hopefully, today will be the only day you're a celebrity." Grover grumbled as he shivered under the stares.

Percy muttered, "I hope so."

"Even the teachers are watching you." Leo commented, "I couldn't even do your prosthetic as Mr. Beckendorf was having an internal battle to keep his focus on you or the Stolls."

Annabeth frowned. "Even Miss Dodds didn't say anything bad about you while you were gone."

Percy spat out his mashed potatoes onto a napkin, "She didn't?"

She shook her head, "Nope."

If Miss Dodds is going to be nice to him today, he might need to call his dad to pick him up; it would be too overwhelming for him if she treated him differently.

Percy mindlessly listened to the table's conversation as he finished eating his lunch; he would pipe in with his own commentary here and there.

However, he averted his attention once his eyes caught a student with an eye patch sitting alone at a table in the corner of the cafeteria.

"Hold my seat for a moment."

"Where are you going?" Thalia asked.

Percy didn't answer; instead, he headed over to where Ethan was sitting and took a seat across from him.

Ethan didn't say anything; he regarded Percy with a guarded gaze.

"Why did you do it? Why did you stop Luke?"

Ethan shrugged, "Luke changed."

"Changed as in how?"

Ethan stayed quiet for a few minutes; Percy wondered if he was going to answer him or not. "Luke and I have always been close friends, practically brothers," Ethan began, "but that changed when he took a turn for the worse two years ago."

"What happened two years ago?"

"He started to hang around a local mafia, and through there, he found a mentor; your grandfather to be precise."

"So Luke knew my grandfather for about two years?"

"Or longer. I'm not sure if that was his first meeting with him, or not; it was the first time I was aware of him…" Ethan shook his head, his fingers tapping on the table. "After that meeting, Luke became vengeful, arrogant, and prideful—the characteristics Luke didn't possess until your grandfather came into the picture."

Percy frowned. "If he changed, why did you still hang out with him?"

"I thought I could fix him, or turn him back into the same Luke I grew up with. Obviously, that didn't happen."

"How long did you know of Luke's plan?"

Ethan didn't answer; he twiddled with his thumbs instead. Percy waited a few minutes before asking another question that had been plaguing his mind.

"Why did you save me?"

Ethan shrugged again. "Honestly, I'm not sure what the actual reason is. At first I thought it was to save Luke from getting charged with murder. If that was the case, I would've stopped him months ago, before the olive incident occurred…" Ethan trailed off, his eyes gazing over Percy's head.

"Regardless of the reason, I need to thank you for stopping Luke. If you haven't stepped in when you did... I wouldn't be here talking to with you."

Ethan raised his hand from the table, "There's no need to thank me; I actually prefer it if you didn't."

Percy pursed his lips, "Alright, but what about you? Do you have anyone, or was it just Luke?" He gestured at the empty table.

"I have other friends, they just have a different lunch hour."

Percy nodded, feeling closure from the conversation. "Let me know if you need anything," he said as he stood from his chair.

"Shouldn't I be the one telling you that?" Ethan asked, raising a brow.

"Please no! I swear if another person tells me that, my head will literally explode."

Ethan chuckled as Percy left his table and headed back to his own.

"Percy, can you stay behind for a moment?" Mr. Brunner asked as the final bell rang.

Percy nodded as the other students left the classroom.

Mr. Brunner rolled his wheelchair over to where he was sitting and asked, "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine with all things considered."

"I'm sure you're getting annoyed with all the attention, so I'll make this brief. With your grandfather and Luke not being in the picture anymore, I'm sure there are loose ends unanswered for."

Percy nodded.

"And I'm sure your father hasn't answered them, has he?"

Percy shook his head.

"I didn't expect him too. But If you have any questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them."

"Thank you Mr. Brunner."

"Anytime. I'm glad to have you back in my class, Percy."

Percy smiled, "It's good to be back."

Percy exited the classroom, and to his relief, he saw that most of the students had already exited the building.

Thalia and Jason stayed behind and were waiting by the lockers for him. Each of his friends had taken turns today escorting him from class to class to avoid getting ambushed by questions from other students.

"That was quick." Thalia commented.

Percy nodded. "Mr. Brunner just wanted to let me know he'll be there if I need him."

Jason hummed in approval, "We need to get him a gift basket on the last day of school for being the best teacher."

"I'm already on it." Thalia said.

Jason asked, "Are you going home, or to the aquarium?"

"Home. I'm not allowed at the aquarium for another week or two."

"You don't sound too happy about it." Thalia commented.

"I'm not. Even if it's my job, I still enjoy doing it. I just want things to go back to normal."

"Was it ever normal to begin with?" Thalia asked, glancing at his prosthetic.

Percy lifted his prosthetic leg to have a better look at it, "I guess not."

They made it to the parking lot before splitting off. This time, Triton was the one waiting in the car for him.

Percy grimaced, expecting to get yelled at or reprimanded. He was caught off guard when he saw his smirk.

Percy warily opened the car door and sat down in the passenger's seat, his bewilderment growing as Triton's smirk widened.

"Are you late because of Athena's daughter?"

Percy's face turned red; he didn't forget that Triton had seen the entire incident that took place at the hospital.

"No. And you promised not to tell dad."

Triton laughed as he pulled the car out of the parking lot. "I made no such promise."

Damn is purposely spelled wrong in reference to The Titans Curse.

This could've been chapter 27 of Treading In The Unknown, but I think chapter 26 was a better ending place.