Chapter Text
“Annabeth, wake up!” A small voice squeaked out.
Annabeth’s fingers dug through her hair to scratch her head as she sat up. Her eyes burned as she found the clock where it had always been. It took about twice as long as it should have for her to realize that class started in five minutes.
She threw the covers off and jumped from her bed in one fluid motion. Landing in front of her dresser, she pulled the doors open to read from the list taped to the inside. Annabeth cursed herself for not writing bigger.
“Shirt…pants…shoes…” She read off every item as fast as she put it on. Now fully dressed, she looked at the clock, which read a minute later than before. She briefly paused as a yawn slunk out.
“Why can’t Hawkmoth have a curfew? Some of us have lives.”
Deciding that Hawkmoth wasn’t listening, she stuffed the homework she barely finished into her backpack with a sigh.
The last thing on her list was her kwami, Tikki. The name was underlined, because apparently her magic friend was the easiest thing to walk out the door without.
“Tikki…” Annabeth mused. “Tikki?”
“Annabeth!” Her blanket answered.
Annabeth ran over and pulled it back to reveal Tikki, floating in place with a concerned look.
“I am so sorry, Tikki! Are you okay?” Annabeth’s hands popped open the purse that Tikki hid in while she bent down to examine her.
“I’m completely fine, but you should be more careful.” Tikki scolded. Annabeth nodded in agreement, and Tikki flew into the purse. Annabeth felt the lobes of her ears to make sure she had put on her earrings.
One more look at the clock. Two minutes until class.
Ladybug could probably get to school in two minutes, but it was broad daylight.
“I shouldn’t,” She said to no one. “The last thing I need is to dare the world to make me be Ladybug before school starts.”
Instead, she rushed down the staircase and out the door of her parent’s bakery, waving goodbye to them urgently.
The beauty of Paris was an absolute blur from the front door of her home to the first step of the staircase in front of the school. Annabeth heard the bell ring somewhere along the way, but continued to run.
A long sigh gave relief from her overworked lungs. She opened the classroom door and stood there, trying to catch her breath.
“Nice of you to join us, Miss Dupain-Chase.” A stern voice called from the front of the class.
“Sorry I’m late, Mr. Brunner.” She offered no excuses as she walked up to her seat, trying not to make eye contact with anyone but her friend Piper.
Mr. Brunner turned back to the board as she sat down.
Piper tapped her on the shoulder, neither of them daring to look away from the lesson.
“Hey, you oversleep?” Piper whispered.
“Yeah, I was up late last night.”
“What else is new?”
Piper was, of course, completely right. Annabeth was no stranger to late nights, but she was one to being late. Such an obvious half-truth was not going to satisfy her nosy best friend. Piper did, however, have the good sense not to cross-examine her in the middle of class.
“Hercules, or Heracles as he was originally known, was a great hero who overcame many terrible trials formulated by the jealous hand of the goddess Hera.” Mr. Brunner lectured, relishing in the minute details. “Upon his death, the gods took pity on him and allowed him to live forever as a minor god.”
Annabeth had already read all about this, so she was having trouble keeping her attention on what Mr. Brunner was saying. He really likes Greek Mythology, she thought to herself. It seemed as though they had spent more time on this section of history than everything else combined. She could certainly see the appeal. The Ancient Greeks wove amazing tales of larger-than-life heroes, terrible monsters, and incredibly flawed gods. It was one of her favorites, but even she had to admit that Mr. Brunner had tapped the subject in this class. A quick look around the room told her that everyone else agreed.
“Miss Dupain-Chase,” Mr. Brunner called on her again. Annabeth focused her eyes back to him and sat straight up.
“Since you didn’t find it very important to come to my class on time, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were studying all night. Therefore, it should be easy for you to tell me the name of Heracles’s mentor.”
Annabeth sighed in relief. “Heracles was trained by Chiron the centaur.”
The look on Mr. Brunner’s face looked more like relief too, with a hint of surprise. “You’re absolutely right! Chiron was a centaur that defied the nature of his people, more intellectual than reveler or fighter.”
By the time Mr. Brunner had finished telling Chiron’s life story, the bell had rang for lunch.
“Read the next chapter in full before our next lesson, everyone!” He called to the students that were already out of the classroom. Annabeth and Piper stepped out into the hall together as most of the class walked off to eat.
“Alright, girl, spill it.” Piper said with arms crossed.
“Huh?” Annabeth replied coyly. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Uh huh. Why were you late today, really?”
Annabeth’s face felt hot. She just couldn’t tell Piper the truth, she had decided that a long time ago. It would put both of them in danger if she did.
“I just was up late doing homework, Piper. That’s all.” She hoped her poker face, which was pretty stoic if she did say so herself, would fool her for once.
It didn’t.
Piper held up one finger and pointed it towards Annabeth’s face. “I don’t buy it. That doesn’t sound like you at all. You have a secret boyfriend you call all night?” It sounded like she was joking, but there was probably a serious question buried in that.
“Piper, you’re my best friend. If I didn’t tell you something, it would have to be for a very good reason.” Annabeth punctuated the thought by putting her hand on Piper’s shoulder. That seemed to finally sway Piper, whose expression softened.
“Yeah, I know that of course. Sorry for the third degree.”
“Don’t worry about it, Piper! I just don’t want you to be…suspicious of me.”
Wow, what a completely unsuspicious thing to say.
“Aren’t you hungry, babe?” It was Jason, Piper’s boyfriend.
“Hi, Annabeth.” Percy Jackson said from behind his friend. She waved to him as if he was really far away, and he laughed as he got in position next to Jason.
His hands were tucked into a blue hoodie. It looked like he didn’t know what to do with them. She saw him shoot Jason a glance before looking back to her.
“So, Mr. Brunner, he…sure likes the Greek stuff, huh?” Annabeth suppressed a giggle. He was really trying. She had no idea why someone as attractive as him was would feel awkward talking to girls.
“Yeah, definitely. I guess all history teachers are like that, they have that era that made them want to be teachers.” Annabeth focused on her body language and tone of voice. She wanted Percy to get a bit more comfortable around her. She really liked Jason, after all. Maybe they could all be friends!
“Yeah, but…surely we should be getting on to Rome at some point. There’s a lot of years we gotta get to before the end of the school year.”
Percy did seem to be gaining confidence. He started talking with his hands like she’d seen him do before.
The four of them started walking towards the sweet reprieve of lunch as they continued. “The next chapter is Rome, thankfully. Though the beginning will just be the Greek Mythology part 2, haha.” Percy must not have known that, because he gave a pained smile in reply.
Lunch and the rest of class passed uneventfully. After the last bell, Piper and Annabeth walked their way out of school while talking about Piper’s favorite thing: gossip.
“Percy really has the hots for you. Jason and I agree that it’s painfully obvious.” Piper sounded like she expected Annabeth to be shocked.
“I mean, yeah. He’s not very good at hiding it. Still though, it’s cute. I’m flattered by the attention.” She tried to sound matter-of-fact about it, but her face was betraying her.
“I think he would make a sweet boyfriend!” Piper answered entirely too loudly. Annabeth made a motion with her hands to speak softer. She began again at a near whisper. “He’s always there for Jason, and he is the first best friend of any guy I ever dated that treats me like a person.”
Annabeth just nodded. It was hard to her imagine having time for all of this, and drama wasn’t her idea of fun.
“Well, if he asks me out, I’ll say yes. Do with that information what you will.” Piper was already smirking before she finished speaking.
Piper was already texting away as they walked out the front door of the school. She almost didn’t stop when Annabeth did at the top of the staircase, but Annabeth had held her arm out in front of her.
“Is that Mr. Brunner?” Annabeth said, pointing to the fountain, where he was sat down. Most of their class had made a circle around him. The two of them went with haste to see what was wrong.
“Mr. Brunner?” Annabeth said inquisitively. “Are you…” He looked up at her, and his eyes were sad. The surprise made the words catch in her throat. She didn’t need to finish the question anyway.
“They fired him!” Another of Percy’s friends, Grover, said with anger spilling from his words. The rest of the students looked his way, and he seemed embarrassed of his outburst. Annabeth’s confused face frowned on its own, and her mouth opened to speak.
“They can’t do that!” Piper said next to her as loudly as Grover had a moment ago.
Annabeth closed her mouth and nodded in agreement. Mr. Brunner looked at everyone, but said nothing. His eyes drifted to the paper in his hand, a small slip in bubblegum pink. He extended his hand to Annabeth, offering the paper for her to read.
She took it in two hands, nothing how much small text had been crammed onto it. She scanned it, looking for the important part. Then it jumped out at her, hastily written in a blank under “REASON FOR DISCHARGE.”
“Unethical examination; Failure to properly assess students on information taught in class.”
Confused murmurs floated around the group. Annabeth reread it in her mind, eyebrow firmly arched.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Piper was as confused as everyone else.
Suddenly, Annabeth heard something. Laughter. She turned around to face it, and saw Principal D. He was laughing as he walked down the stairs to go home. He was speaking to a girl from their class.
“Drew.” The very name was a curse of misfortune on Annabeth’s lips. Her mind swirled and she was back at the end of Mr. Brunner’s last history test.
“Ugh!” She had heard Drew groan as she stomped out of the classroom. Apparently, she hadn’t exactly been studying after class. That might have been fine, if she were paying attention during class. Somehow, of course, this was Mr. Brunner’s fault. “My father is going to hear about this!” At the time, it sounded like an empty threat. Her father, the mayor of Paris, ‘hears about’ anyone who doesn’t grant her whatever she wants.
Piper must have read Annabeth’s mind, because they were on the same track without her ever saying anything.
“What can we do about this, Annabeth?”
“I’m not sure. I think a good place to start would be –”
She felt a small bump of her purse against her hip. What did Tikki want at a time like this?
“The best place to start would be...?” Piper repeated. Annabeth didn’t respond, but instead opened her phone and checked the time. She was supposed to be going to patrol with Chat Noir.
“Aw man, I have somewhere to be Piper. I’ll call you tonight and we can make a game plan, okay?”
The skeptical look returned to Piper’s face, but she didn’t protest. “Alright, but it better be very important if you’re just going to leave when Mr. Brunner needs us.”
“I swear it is. I’ll talk to you later!” She tried to sound cheerful as she ran off. She didn’t go too far, finding an alley between two buildings close by. Her eyes darted both ways. She was alone. Tikki came flying out as soon as Annabeth released the latch on her purse.
“Today has been rough.” She admitted to the kwami.
“After every rain is a rainbow, Annabeth.” Tikki’s face was sympathetic, and her voice was comforting. “You’ve been really doing your best, given how today has been going.”
“Thanks, Tikki.” She patted her friend’s head before putting on a brave face. “Now, spots on!”
Tikki was sucked into her earrings as red light shone around Annabeth. A red mask dotted with black spots slowly sparkled into existence on her face. Her matching suit did likewise, beginning at the chest and extending out to both arms and legs. Her trusty Yo-Yo was the last thing to appear, wrapped around her waist. She immediately grabbed it and used it to throw herself up to the rooftops.
A few houses down, she ran into Chat Noir. His mask colored his entire eyes green, but Annabeth was pretty sure his eyes were some shade of green. His brunette hair was messy, but subdued under a pair of leather cat ears that matched his whole outfit. His ‘tail’ was nothing more than a solid black belt fastened to the back of his waist. The button on his baton, shaped like a paw, shone blue as he twirled it idly in his hand.
“Afternoon, Chat. Ready to go?”
He shook his head in a noncommittal way.
“Hmm? Oh yeah, sorry. I was just preoccupied. Where do you want to start today?”
Ladybug picked up on how he mushed that question in at the end so she didn’t ask what he was thinking about.
“Well, we haven’t scanned the Louvre area lately.” She answered after a moment. “There might be some emotional reactions to the art that Hawk Moth tries to take advantage of.”
That was a joke, obviously. Chat laughed, but it was forced. “Alright Lady, so just make a circle between the Louvre and here?” Ladybug nodded in agreement.
“Let’s get to it then!” Chat extended his baton to get some momentum, then swung it in a circle to float in the direction he wanted go. He was focused on heading that way, but something caught the corner of his eye as he left. When he heard a scream, he pushed his staff towards one of the roofs and pushed himself towards the noise.
Annabeth saw him turn and threw her yo-yo at a TV antenna to swing herself around. As they both sat down and leaned over the edge of the roof to see what was up, they were looking back at the school.
Sure enough, her fellow students were running in every direction away from a giant…centaur?
“I’m not sure if the timing is great, or terrible.” Chat Noir said flatly.
“Well, it could be worse.” Ladybug replied. “The hero of Paris, Chat Noir, could have already been halfway to the Louvre by now.”
He shook his head, smiling in spite of himself. “It’s hero time.” Chat Noir punctuated his sentence by jumping down to face the akuma. Ladybug was right behind him.
“I am Chiron, a messenger of the gods! The principal of this place of learning has offended Olympus, and now must face judgment!” The voice was loud and mechanical. Chiron was definitely a centaur, just as the person from which he took his name. However, this Chiron’s human half was in full, bronze battle armor. A bow was in his hands, and a quiver was on his back. However, Annabeth noticed that there were no arrows in it. Chiron’s horse half had black fur, standing up in alarm. Chiron would be menacing enough to look at, even if he wasn’t 10 feet tall on top of that.
“Wrath of Zeus!” Chiron called as he notched his bow. The arrow sitting in it appeared to be an actual bolt of lightning. He fired it at the front of the school, causing an explosion of blue light.
The heroes struggled to keep their balance at the tremor of the impact. Ladybug was shocked to see a giant hole where the front doors used to be, scorched black.
“The real Chiron would never take revenge!” Chat Noir called up to him. Chiron’s intense, red eyes shone onto the both of them as he looked down. Annabeth saw Chat flinch out of the corner of her eye.
“That’s right! Chiron was an intellectual, and one of ethics at that!” Ladybug agreed. Chat looked over, seeming thankful for the backup. Though both of them clearly showed a knowledge of Greek Mythology, neither of them were about to admit that they knew exactly who was akumatized into this villain.
“You dare to stand for those that have offended the almighty gods of Olympus? Villains, I’ll give you one chance to turn back before their wrath extends to you as well!” Then suddenly, a purple outline of light shone across Chiron’s face.
It was Hawk Moth.
“…I see, Hawk Moth.” Chiron said after a moment before turning back to the two of them. “I have good news. The gods have foreseen a new way for you to regain their favor. Simply…give your miraculous to me willingly, and they shall once again watch over you.”
“Fat chance!” Chat Noir answered crudely.
“Very well then, have at you!”
Ladybug barely had time to swing her yo-yo into a shield before the Wrath of Zeus was shot right at them.