Act I Chapter I: Percy Has a Bad Dream
Percy Jackson was no stranger to weird dreams. They started when he was ten, usually showing weird creatures straight out of horror movies fighting figures that he recalled seeing from history textbooks. He never thought much of the dreams as a kid, simply chalking it up to too much sugar or the really cool cartoon he saw the night before. As he got older, the dreams got weirder, more violent, and made no sense whatsoever.
When he was twelve, he had his first dream that he remembered parts of. It was about a monster straight out of a kid's fairy tale attacking him. He had that one a few more times, with a different creature each time. There was also one time he found himself in a civil war where it seemed like he was the only one not interested in shedding the blood of everyone around him. He just did his best to ignore the dreams.
Until tonight. Because tonight's dream was weird.
Percy opened his eyes and expected to find himself snug under his covers, a cloud beneath his head. Instead, he was standing in what seemed to be some kind of cavern. He blinked a few times to try and adjust his eyes to the darkness. When that didn't work, he screwed his eyes shut and rubbed them.
This was different from his other dreams. In those, he wasn't able to move. He was like a puppet, and someone else pulled the strings. Or, maybe someone was putting on a show just for him and wanted to make sure he watched it. Now, he was able to open his eyes and shoot his head side to side, taking in his surroundings. He screwed his eyes shut once again as he tried to figure out where he was.
Upon reopening his eyes, he looked around the cavern. It took him a moment to realize that it was not a cavern but a massive room. He took a few steps forward, feeling out with his toes. Percy kept a careful walk forward until he saw something in the darkness. His feet slowly inched forward until he saw light.
Percy stopped walking and focused on the light source in front of him. The light source, if it could be called that, was the remnants of a cold fire, embers flaking from the dying flame. A cloaked figure sat by the fire, gently stoking the coals with a thin, golden stick.
"Who are you?" Percy asked. The figure gave no indication that they had heard. "Where am I? What is this?"
Percy moved closer to the dying fire. He turned his head and saw some kind of structure near the fire. He moved closer to the structure. It was much taller than him, and upon looking up, he realized it was a large chair. Or a throne. It took him a few moments to count out twelve of the throne-like structures.
Each one was covered in a large number of cobwebs and dust. It looked like no one had sat on these for a very long time. What was this place? Why was he seeing it? Percy turned back towards the fire and voiced those questions. He was given no response.
Instead, the figure leaned down closer towards the fire. They placed their golden stick down and carefully reached towards the flames. As if they were moving broken pieces of glass, they carefully gathered up some of the ash and a single ember. They blew on it, as if hoping to rekindle the dying flame.
The ash blew from the figure's hand, and as it did, it grew. Percy just stared as the ash formed a wall so large that it towered over him like a tidal wave. He tried to back away, but it felt like he was trudging through knee-high sand. The wave of ash fell into him, and as it did, his world was consumed by darkness.
Percy woke to a knock on his door. His eyes blinked a few times as he came back to reality. Percy slowly lifted his hands to rub his tired eyes. When he looked up, he heard a voice, "Time for breakfast, Percy."
"Thanks, Paul. I'll be there in a moment," Percy said. He finished rubbing his eyes and slowly sat up. His mind thought back to the dream, but he easily chalked it up to the horror movie that they all watched the night before. And all the candy he ate. Plus the stress of school.
Percy took the time to stretch, limbs cracking and popping. He slowly got out of bed and changed into new clothes. Every time that he blinked, he could still see that dark room. Percy took a deep breath and closed his eyes, determined to forget. A pit was starting to form in his stomach, and it caused his breathing to quicken.
The ball of anxiety in his chest started to grow until he stepped out of his room and made it into the living room. Upon seeing the two figures in the kitchen, the anxiety seemed to dissolve. A smile came to his face as he looked at his mother. If anyone asked Percy, he would tell them that Sally Jackson was not only the most amazing mother in the world but also the most wonderful person. Percy would do anything for her.
For most of Percy's life, it had just been him and his mother. His birth father was never around, having disappeared when Sally was still pregnant. It wasn't until Percy turned ten that his mother started to date a piece of garbage. Their relationship lasted for two long, torturous years. Percy named the man Smelly Gabe because he always smelled like he lived in a sewer and decided to roll around a septic tank before coming to visit. How Gabe kept that smell up after he just shoved himself into their apartment and made it his own, Percy would never know.
When Percy turned twelve, he received the best gift his mother could have ever given him. Smell Gabe just disappeared. One day, he was there with his poker buddies threatening Percy. The next, he was gone. There was no trace of him in the house. It was as if he never existed, and Percy would have imagined he didn't know the man, if it wasn't for the small scars he still had.
As if the universe was paying them back for two years of hell, Sally was able to quit her job at a small candy store and took up her dream to become a writer. While Percy would miss getting his favorite jelly beans, it was amazing to see Sally wake up happy every day. The only downside to the gift was that the two of them seemed to move every four months.
Percy had always been worried about why. His first thought was that Gabe was trying to find them. He had always treated Sally like a servant and Percy like a repulsive rodent. Was Gabe in the background waiting for them, or had Sally gone to the police and into witness protection? Whenever Percy tried to bring it up, Sally just smiled and told him not to worry about it. She would tell him one day.
It did nothing to make Percy feel better because he knew there was something he wasn't being told. How did Gabe just disappear one day? It wasn't possible that Sally gathered up all of his things and threw it away, unless Gabe went on a vacation for the three months it took them to move after. Percy wouldn't question the blessing, though, and he knew that his mother would tell him the truth sooner or later.
Percy's gaze moved to the second person in the kitchen: Paul Blofis. After her relationship with Gabe, Sally hadn't dated for a year and a half. That all changed when she met Paul in a writing class at the local college. While the two had only been dating for six months, they acted as if they had been married for years. A smile came to Percy's face as he watched the two of them.
"You ready for school today?" Paul asked. Percy's smile dimmed. While his mother and him moved apartments every few months, he tried to stay in the same school, but he usually only lasted a semester. Between his ADHD making it hard to focus and causing him to get into trouble, his dyslexia making it hard to get good grades, and the fact that weird things seemed to just happen around him, he was usually expelled.
Percy didn't understand how all these weird things happened to him. One year on a field trip, he accidentally soaked his whole class in water. Another where they were visiting a Civil War monument, and a cannon started to fire at him despite no one being around it. Somehow, the school blamed him for that. There was also the flood at the theater not far from his fifth grade school. All these weird things happened, and he wasn't sure how.
"Morning, Percy. I made pancakes," Sally greeted with a big smile. Percy returned it and walked towards the plate that Paul was making for him. The pancakes were blue. It was a tradition in their house. Percy wasn't quite sure where it began, but he did remember Gabe commenting that blue food was impossible and stupid. In an act of defiance, Sally started to make blue food.
It started with small things like blueberry muffins with extra blueberries and cookies. It grew into blue pancakes and waffles. Sally even tried making pizza with blue crust. Percy had it for lunch at school one day, and a teacher tried to stop him from eating it because they thought it was expired and covered in mold.
"Thanks, Paul," Percy said as he grabbed a plate. He sat it down near Sally and hugged her. "And, thank you."
Sally hugged him back and smiled. Then, she went back to looking down at her notebook. Sally had been trying to write a novel for a year now. It was slow going, but Paul was with her every step of the way, helping her edit and giving her ideas.
Percy focused on the golden pen that Sally had. It was a capped pen, but Percy didn't think he ever saw the pen when it was closed. The cap was always on the back, and Sally was always writing with it. When he asked where she got it, he was told that it was a gift from his father. When Percy was old enough, it would be given to him.
Another small smile came to Percy's face. He spent years wondering who his birth father was. Sally told him that he was a wonderful man, if not very quiet. They had not been together long. In fact, Sally said it felt like she only knew Percy's father for moments. Then, he disappeared. Lost at sea. Not dead. Just lost.
Percy held onto the hope that he would see his father again. It was a lesson that Sally distilled in him a long time ago: to always hope. When things seemed darkest, it was because the light was coming. That was why Percy didn't give up when they were cursed with Gabe. It was why he did his best to keep his cool and continue to show up every day despite his issues at school. If Percy held out hope, he could make anything happen.
"Percy, can I have your help with something?" Paul asked. Percy took a bite of his pancakes and nodded. Paul was holding onto a few different books. As Percy tried to read the titles, he felt his eyes narrowing in concentration. Slight pain started in his head. Dyslexia made it hard to read things. Words just floated off of pages, and he was usually left angry as he struggled to get through a few sentences.
"I'm trying to decide what book my students should read and analyze," Paul explained. He was a teacher at the high school Percy was a freshman and had even helped him get admitted to the school. Paul taught English, and Percy knew that the man didn't like to have his students read American classics as much as he did ones from other countries, including all those old mythological stories.
"What are the books?" Percy asked.
"Well, we have the Illiad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Beowulf, or a story of Ragnarok," Paul answered. "We are on a mythology unit, and while I want to cover each aspect of each mythology, we only have time to read sections from one book."
"I was always fond of the Illiad," Sally commented as she looked up. A warm smile came to her face. "Percy was named after a Greek hero."
"Perseus: the only hero to have a happy ending," Percy said with a small smile. He looked at Paul. "What are you covering in the unit?"
"Well, I want to touch on the differences of each mythology. Like how Beowulf has roots in mythology but does not focus much on the gods or goddesses. How the Illiad has a perspective of those mythological gods and goddesses as they dabble in the affairs of mortals going to war. And of course the story of Ragnarok being about the end times of the gods in Norse mythology," Paul explained.
"I may even touch into how the different cultures around each story approach everyday life. From how they worship their gods and honor them to even death. Like how in Norse mythology warriors that die in honor and with a weapon in hand are taken to Valhalla to become an einherjar, fighting forever until the time of Ragnarok. Or how when those from ancient Greece died they believe that they went down to Ha-"
"Oh Paul," Sally quickly interrupted. She smiled, but it didn't meet her eyes, like it was forced. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I think Percy should get going soon. We don't want him to be late."
"Of course," Paul said. His eyes moved to his watch. "Would you like a ride?"
"No thanks. I'm walking with Grover," Percy replied. He quickly finished his plate and placed it in the sink. Percy hugged Sally again, gave Paul a nod, and grabbed his backpack. He quickly left the apartment and hurried through his apartment building. They had only moved here a month ago, but Percy felt like this place could be the one they actually stayed at.
As Percy made it outside, a smile came to his face. His best, and one of his only friends, was standing outside. Grover Underwood stared down at the apple in his hands. It was when they first met a year or two ago that Percy watched Grover eat an apple and then the core. Percy found it super weird, but when someone insulted and teased Grover about it, Percy stepped in.
"Hey G-Man," Percy greeted as he walked over. Grover looked at him and smiled. Percy opened his backpack and handed off a bag of aluminum soda cans to his best friend. The smile on Grover's face widened. He loved the environment and was always doing things to protect it, like picking up those aluminum cans and recycling them.
"Percy!" Grover exclaimed, and he wrapped both arms around his friend. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too," Percy said as he hugged his best friend back. Percy pulled away and looked Grover up and down.
Grover wore baggy pants that spilled over his large shoes. He always walked like he was about to fall out of his shoes, and Percy figured it was some kind of birth defect. He could never bring himself to ask about it. Grover had stubble, and he looked too large to be a freshman in high school.
There were plenty of times throughout the last year that Grover had disappeared from school for weeks at a time. He always told Percy that his family had called him away to help, and he usually came back smelling of the forest... and like a wet dog. Percy tried to ask further, but Grover wouldn't tell him anything else.
Percy figured that why was Grover was still a freshman. It was hard to keep up with your studies if your family kept pulling you away to the middle of nowhere. Grover put the bag of aluminum cans into his backpack, and Percy spied a few more cans inside.
"How was it?" Percy asked as the two started walking together. Grover adjusted the floppy hat on his head. Percy had never seen him without it, even in gym class. The hat mostly hid his friend's brown hair. Grover's brown eyes sparkled with joy.
"Amazing," Grover answered. A dreamy look came to his face. "I met a girl too: Juniper."
"Does she live here?" Percy asked. Grover shook his head.
"No. Unfortunately not. She lives in the forest," Grover explained. Percy nodded. "She doesn't leave her home at all."
"Are you going back to visit her?" Percy wondered. He knew Grover had the same problem as him in school. They really only had each other as friends, but Grover seemed to have a large family that loved him. While Percy wouldn't trade his mother for anyone else, he just wished they had other people to rely on.
"Of course," Grover replied. He bit into his apple and started to chew on the core. Percy would be lying if he said that he didn't try to eat an apple core as well. He almost cracked a tooth and found it was absolutely disgusting. Grover seemed to love it, and he never stopped even after people made fun of him about it. In fact, he would try to lecture them about the environment, which only made everything worse.
"Enough about me, Perce. I know your birthday is coming up. Any plans?" Grover asked. Percy smiled slightly. He would be fourteen soon. It almost felt unbelievable as he would officially become a teenager and then an adult after.
"I'm not sure," Percy answered. "My mother and I usually go to Minotauk beach, but with Paul in our lives now, she might want to do something different."
"I think she'll do whatever you want," Grover assured. Percy nodded his agreement, and the two crossed their street. The two of them walked to school, keeping the conversation light with topics of what class assignments Grover had missed in his last week, and Grover told him about all the incidents in his small camp.
That was all Percy got out of Grover. That whenever he visited his family he would also visit this small camp, like a community, and the females there never seemed to like him. He helped out anyway, and when Percy asked what about the males, Grover just chuckled and said they got along with the females even less.
By the time they made it to school, Percy was feeling tired again. The dream had been pushed out of his mind, but he knew it kept him from getting a restful night of sleep. Maybe, that was why he lumbered into math class, sat at the back, took one look at the numbers covering the board, and got an instant headache.
Percy groaned and rested his head on the table. He would close his eyes just for a few moments, a quick power nap. Then, he would wake up and be ready for the rest of the day. Percy closed his eyes, and the quick power nap turned into another nightmare.