A/N: I started this chapter on Day 19 of NaNoWriMo! It's finally Percy's chapter! Finished the chapter November 20th!
Rising Storms
A Harry Potter and Percy Jackson crossover
Chapter 22:
Percy
Percy Jackson sat on a bus, heading with fellow Yancey students to a museum. Boring. He tried ignoring Nancy Bobofit throwing food at his friend, Grover, because he couldn't be thrown out of the school. Not this time. This time, he was determined to finish the year with no incidents. He had to. The twelve year old clenched his hands tightly, staring straight ahead, and trying to stay calm.
"I'm thirsty," Nancy said to a friend, reaching for her bottle of carbonated water. "Messing with that freak made me thirsty," she complained.
Percy felt anger burning through his body before a sudden tug in his stomach made him relax. He heard her open the bottle and she let out a sudden yell when the water hit her face. Everyone, including Percy and Grover turned to look at her in shock. How had that happened?
"Dude," Grover said. "Do you think the movement of the bus shook her water up enough to do that?" He looked over at Percy, echoing what other students thought.
Percy shrugged. "That seems to be the only possibility." He turned back around to face the front. "I'll help you wash the food out of your hair when we get to the museum," he said, not seeing the look Grover sent their Latin teacher. He looked out the window at the passing scenery.
When they got to the museum, Percy asked Mr. Brunner if he and Grover could stop by the restroom real quick before the tour of the place. Inside the boy's restroom, Grover said, "Hey, thanks, Perce. You don't have to do this."
"Yes, I do. You're my friend. Nancy shouldn't be able to get away with this. I wish I could do something to stop her… but I need to be able to come back to Yancey next year." Percy sighed.
When Percy was done washing Grover's hair of the food that Nancy threw at him, Grover stood as straight as he could, leaning heavily on his crutches. "Thanks, Perce."
"No problem, G-man." Percy grabbed a few paper towels to dry Grover's hair to the best of his abilities, the little curls starting to fluff up on his friend's head. Percy snorted a laugh.
"What?" Grover looked bewildered.
Percy shook his head. "Fluffy head," he said. "Come on," he threw the paper towels away and held the bathroom door open for his friend. "We need to get back to the others."
"Yeah." Grover placed his crutches forward and swung his body forward, getting momentum going to leave the bathroom and head back to the other students in their school tour.
Percy followed Grover back to Mr. Brunner. "Thanks, Mr. Brunner," he said.
"You're welcome," Mr. Brunner said, nodding. "Now, let's start the tour." He led everyone through the museum, rolling his wheelchair between the exhibits.
Percy looked around the museum as they moved from one exhibit to another. A little girl in a motorized wheelchair is looking up at a statue of Poseidon. Percy continues following the tour, listening to his Latin teacher talk about the different exhibits.
They stood in front of another statue. "Now, what can you tell me about this statue?" Silence. "No one? Percy?"
Percy winced as he looked up at the statue. "It's Kronos eating his kids?"
"That's correct," Mr. Brunner replied. "Now, can you tell me why?"
Percy frowned. He didn't like being put on the spot. He tried to remember the stories that Mr. Brunner always told their Latin Class. "He was a power hungry, Titan?, and didn't trust his kids… the gods. So he ate them, but um… Rhea, I think… hid baby Zeus from him. She gave Kronos a rock instead, and when Zeus grew up, he made Kronos barf up the other gods." The other students behind Percy made disgusting sounds. "Didn't the three brothers cut their father up?"
"Yes, Percy. Well done," Mr. Brunner said.
"As if this has anything to do with real life," Nancy Bobofit scoffed.
Mr. Brunner laughed slightly. "Percy, as Miss Bobofit mentioned, how does this apply to real life?"
Percy was confused, his eyebrows scrunched together. "Well, according to your stories, the gods would have affairs with mortals and have kids with them."
"And what are they called?"
"Demigods?" Percy asked, scowling in frustration. He hated being put on the spot. "None of this really matters, anyway. They're just stories," he said, looking at his feet.
Later, they went outside to eat lunch, and Percy looked up at the sky where storm clouds were rolling in. This type of weather had been happening lately, but no one seemed to think much of it.
Percy and Grover were quietly eating away from the others when Mrs. Dodds walked over to them. "Mr. Jackson, come with me."
The two boys looked at each other in surprise. What was going on? "Yes, ma'am," Percy said, standing up and following Mrs. Dodds. He glanced back at Grover, who hurried over to Mr. Brunner on his crutches, and when he turned back… Mrs. Dodds was all the way up at the door to the museum. How did she get up there that quickly? Percy hurried up the stairs. "Where are we going, Mrs. Dodds?"
"Just in here, dear," she replied. They walked into an empty exhibit room and suddenly, she was across the room from him. "You have done something really wrong, my dear," she said. "Where is it, Percy Jackson?"
Percy looked at her in shock. She thought he did something? "Where is what? I don't have anything."
"Of course you do, dear," Mrs. Dodds said. "Come, now. Where did you hide it?"
"I didn't take anything!" Percy was frustrated and confused. What did she think he took? A piece of a statue, or something? Rain started pouring outside of the building, and lightning flashed.
Suddenly, her visage changed, and she grew wings. She flew at him with claws out, and she screeched at him, "Give it here, Perseus Jackson!" As soon as she got close, Percy leapt out of the way, knocking into a display of spears… making them fall to the ground. She screamed in fury and lunged at Percy again.
Percy grabbed a spear, slicing it sideways and trying to get her to back away. Mrs. Dodds sliced the spear in half… shocking him.
"Percy!" Mr. Brunner was there, throwing an uncapped pen at Percy.
When Percy caught the pen, it was no longer a pen… but a sword. This time, when Mrs. Dodds lunged at him, he swung the sword and cut her in half, causing her to turn to dust. He was shocked! What had just happened?
"Oh, good, you found my pen!" Mr. Brunner said, suddenly. "What caused this damage?"
Percy walked over to Mr. Brunner in shock. "Here," he said, handing over the pen. "I don't know what just happened…" He blinked at his teacher.
"Did you see Mrs. Kerr anywhere while you were searching for my pen?" Mr. Brunner asked.
"Huh? Who's Mrs. Kerr?"
"Your Math teacher. Percy, are you okay?" The Latin teacher looked up at Percy in concern.
Something wasn't right about all of this. Yes, he had ADHD, but there was something weird about the monster and Mr. Brunner's actions. "I'm fine," Percy said, walking past his teacher and out of the museum to meet up with Grover. It was no longer raining, and the ground had puddles everywhere. He made his way slowly over to where Grover was sitting on the edge of the fountain. "What was Mrs. Dodds?" he asked suddenly.
Grover froze in shock for a minute before he acted like nothing had happened. "Who? There was never a Mrs. Dodds. There's only Mrs. Kerr, our Math teacher."
Percy inwardly scoffed at the blatant lie. Something was going on. He would ignore it for now. However, the end of the school year made it clear that Grover and Mr. Brunner were in it together to make Percy second guess his memory of fighting Mrs. Dodds. He overheard them one day discussing him.
"He's becoming aware," Mr. Brunner said.
"What do I do?" Grover asked. "They never survive past the sixth grade with me."
"Don't worry, Grover. This time will be different. This time, we just need to keep him unaware until after the deadline," Mr. Brunner replied, warily. "If he doesn't know what he is, then they won't find him as easily."
"But the Kindly One already found him." Grover sounded partly frustrated and partly worried. "And we only have a couple of weeks!"
Percy shook his head and left the area. He couldn't believe them. They were talking about him, he knew. That was it. He was going to leave now. He couldn't wait for tomorrow to leave for home. He quickly packed his things and left the school. His feet trudged down the road to the bus station.
An overnight bus into New York City cost a little more than normal, but it was well worth it for him to get some distance from Grover and Mr. Brunner and their secrecy. Unfortunately, he was going back home to an unpleasant situation.
On the bus, Percy was just settling down for a nap when time seemed to slow down. He looked around, confused, but outside the bus there was a trio of ladies sitting on the side of the road and knitting huge socks. They were staring at Percy, and one of the women cut the string… Percy heard it snip even inside the bus.
Percy tried shaking it off as time resumed its speed. He couldn't focus on that for long, because he was soon asleep, waiting for the arrival in New York City. He couldn't wait to see his mom again. She would be a little disappointed to hear that he wouldn't be welcomed back at Yancy.
A few hours later, Percy was spending the last of his money to pay for a taxi ride to his apartment. He was not looking forward to seeing Gabe. Gabe Ugliano was his step-dad, unfortunately, and he was the worst sort of man.
Sure enough, the first words out of the man's mouth when Percy walked into the apartment were, "You got any money, kid?"
Percy said, "No."
Gabe grunted. "You got a taxi here, probably used a twenty. You must have about seven or eight dollars." He glanced up at Percy.
Percy rolled his eyes. Gabe was always asking for money to play poker with the guys. "Actually," Percy said. "I got on the overnight bus, and spent the last of my money on the taxi here."
"Come on, Gabe, leave the kid alone." That was the Superintendent.
Gabe glared at him, shutting him up, before looking back at Percy. "Stupid boy. Leave my sight."
Percy thought, 'Gladly', and walked to his room. It was a mess. Gabe hid all of Percy's things during the school year, placing his smelly things all over the room. Percy wrinkled his nose, gathering all the items and tossing them in the room that his mom shared with the lump of human waste. He didn't know why his mom stayed married to the guy.
Back in his room, now slightly smelling better, Percy was unpacking his bag when his mom came into the room. "Hey mom."
"Hey, Percy," she said, reaching out to pull him into a hug. "Pack a bag with a few days' worth of clean clothes. We're going to the cabin." She winked at him.
Percy grinned. "I'm glad," he said. "I need to tell you everything that happened this year." He tightened his grip on her briefly before stepping away to grab clean clothes.
"Let me talk to Gabe real quick to let him know we're leaving."
Percy scoffed only once his mom was out of the room. He didn't see how Gabe would let them leave for any amount of time. He packed his bag and waited for his mom.
Something outside of the apartment caught his attention, drawing Percy to the window. He looked down, seeing a bulky figure down below. It was a fuzzy figure, not quite there, but still visible. Percy was confused about what was down there and what it could mean.
"Percy," Sally said, coming back into the room. "What happened at school?" Grover was behind her, looking at Percy nervously.
"I'll tell you on the way…" Percy promised her. "Grover, what are you doing here?"
"No time!" His brown eyes were wide. "It's right behind me! We gotta go!"
Sally nodded. "To camp it is. Come on, Percy."
Percy grabbed his bag and followed his mom and friend. He didn't know what was going on, but they quickly reached the car, with Gabe complaining that Percy better not damage the car.
"He's not driving," Sally said as the boys got into the back of the car. She told Gabe, "I'm taking them on that trip and then we'll be back." She acted happily and it seemed to work.
"Okay," Gabe replied, walking back inside.
Sally got behind the wheel and they took off down the road. "Now, what happened at Yancy this year?"
Percy frowned. "We went to the museum and then my math teacher, Mrs. Dodds attacked me and I attacked her, while trying to protect myself. No one seemed to know who Mrs. Dodds was, thinking that we always had a teacher named Mrs. Kerr."
"That was a quick summary," his mom said with a laugh.
Percy let a small half-laugh out, but turned to look behind them on the road. "Grover, what's behind us?"
"It's a monster," he said, turning to look behind them. "It's half-man and half-bull."
"Pasiphae's son," Sally said, with a gasp.
"The Mino-"
"Percy, don't say its name! Names have power." Sally was pale as she gripped the steering wheel tightly. They suddenly noticed a bright flash before the car was sent flying!
Percy groaned, aching all over. How was he still alive? Didn't the car explode? Opening his eyes, he saw that they were upside down. The car had been hit with lightning! "Mom! Grover!"
"I'm okay, Percy," Sally said to calm her son.
"Me, too." Gover moved swiftly, taking off his pants.
"Whoa!" Percy exclaimed. "Why are you taking off your pants?"
"Pants are too confining," Grover explained as he kicked at a window to get out. His legs were hairy, and at the end of his legs were a pair of hooves. "Come on," he said. "We have to get out of here before we get blasted again."
"You're a goat," Percy said in shock.
"Not the time, Percy," Sally said.
They ended up getting out of the totaled car just in time. When they ran into the field of grass, another lightning strike hit the car, exploding it into a fiery ball. "Goodness, I wish I had known how much they wanted to kill you," Sally said, just thinking aloud.
They ran up the hill, trying to get away from the Minotaur, but came to a barrier that Sally couldn't cross. "Mom!"
"I can't go any further," she told him. "Go down to the big house. They won't ignore you. They'll actually keep you safe."
"She's mortal," Grover explained. "They can't get through the barrier."
"Then give her permission, or something." Percy glared at him. "I'm not letting my mom get killed by some monster." Before Grover could say anything, the Minotaur came closer and ran towards Sally. "No!" Percy yelled, running back through the barrier to protect his mom.
"Percy, no!" Grover and Sally yelled.
Percy was horrified as the monster grabbed his mom and squeezed. "Mom!" he yelled, running forward. Grover attempted to stop him, to pull him back towards camp, but her body shimmered slightly before she disappeared. Percy froze.
A/N: 2741 words