Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Percy and Annabeth were just chilling on the 'Argo II' as normally as they could, (finally getting a small break from chaos all the time, gods.) when all of a sudden, everything around them stops. And you know, Percys like 'What the Hades is happening'. So he looks over at Annabeth with a confused look, and shes giving one back. Great. We both don't know what happening.'. He thinks to himself. But all of a sudden, again, he hear movement below deck and turns around to see the rest of the people on the 'Argo II' come above deck (besides Coach Hedge). They all give each other puzzled looks as the seven of them crowd above deck and then suddenly, again, 10 books appear with a note on top. They all look at each other and move towards the note as Frank grabs it and reads it (Since he's the only one there that isn't dyslexic)

"Hello young Heroes," He begins. "I've brought you all here to read books about yourselves (Though it is mostly Percy). I have stopped time and to return to the regular world, you must finish reading all these books. Have fun. Also, I have improved everybody's reading skills so that poor Frank Zhang wont have to read everything. The gods will be joining you after this chapter. They may be from the past or not, you shall figure it out on your own. Once the gods are here, you will continue reading. The point of this reading is so that the gods realize their mistakes and learn how difficult the life of a demigod actually may be. Sincerely, The fates." Frank finishes

Percy brings his hands up into his face and groans, "Why me?" The note disappears from Franks hands and the seven for a circle around the books.

"Okay, who's reading first?" Piper questions as they all finished getting situated.

Percy leaned forward and grabbed the first book, "I will, since it is about me." He reads the title and looks up to smirk at Annabeth. "Guess what" He says smugly. She groans "I really hope the first one isn't what i think it is." 

Everybody looks at Percy expectantly at the reaction of both of them. "Yup. It's the one and only 'Lightning Thief'" The others blink before settling back down in their seats. "What, did you steal the lightning bolt or something?"

Percys smirk grows wider "Something like that". But before other respond, he clears his throat and reads the chapter opening

"I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER"

Some of them snicker. "One interesting title you got there, Percy" Jason says as he snickers. Percy shrugs and continues to read.

"Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood. If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

If you’re a normal kid, reading this because you think it’s fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.

But if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it’s only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they’ll come for you.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

"Harsh much?" Frank comments

Percy just shrugs at this. "It's true though."

"My name is Percy Jackson. I’m twelve years old.

Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.

Am I a troubled kid?

Yeah. You could say that."

Leo let out a small laugh"Who isn't?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes "Can you guys stop interrupting? The sooner we get this done the better"

Piper nodded in agreement as Percy looked back own at the book to continue.

I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan—twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.

I know—it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.

But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn’t think he’d be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn’t put me to sleep. I hoped the trip would be okay.

At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn’t get in trouble.

Boy, was I wrong."

Hazel tried to stifle a small laugh. "Subtle foreshadowing much?"

Percy and Leo laughed before Percy went back to the book.

"See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn’t aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that…Well, you get the idea.

This trip, I was determined to be good.

All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich"

That earned a chuckle from Annabeth who seemed to smile at the memory of grover back at camp and the times they spent together.

"Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must’ve been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don’t let that fool you. You should’ve seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria."

"Mmmm, I love enchiladas" Leo hummed in agreement. As if on cue, his stomach rumbled and he laughed nervously as everyone looked over at him.

Piper blink a few times as she stared at him blankly. "You can get food after this chapter."

Hazel perked up, "Speaking of which, how many more pages?"

Percy grimaces as he looked at the book and flipped through the pages "About... 11". Leo groaned loudly as Hazel sighed. "well then, i guess we better hurry." Jason commented as he urged Percy to continue.

"Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn’t do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

“I’m going to kill her,” I mumbled.

Grover tried to calm me down. “It’s okay. I like peanut butter.”

He dodged another piece of Nancy’s lunch.

“That’s it.” I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.

“You’re already on probation,” he reminded me. “You know who’ll get blamed if anything happens.” Looking back on it, I wish I’d decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would’ve been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and- orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, “Now, honey,” real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.

One time, after she’d made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn’t think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, “You’re absolutely right.”"

Frank smirked at that "More subtle foreshadowing'

Percy huffed out a laugh and smirked, one almost matching Franks, though a little bigger "Yep, theres a lot of those in my life."

"Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, “Will you shut up?”

I t came out louder than I meant it to.

The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

“Mr. Jackson,” he said, “did you have a comment?” My face was totally red. I said, “No, sir.”

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. “Perhaps you’ll tell us what this picture represents?”

I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. “That’s Kronos eating his kids, right?”

“Yes,” Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. “And he did this because…”

“Well…” I racked my brain to remember. “Kronos was the king god, and —”

“God?” Mr. Brunner asked.

“Titan,” I corrected myself. “And…he didn’t trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—”

“Eeew!” said one of the girls behind me.

“—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans,” I continued, “and the gods won.”

Some snickers from the group.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, “Like we’re going to use this in real life. Like it’s going to say on our job applications, ‘Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.’”

“And why, Mr. Jackson,” Brunner said, “to paraphrase Miss Bobofit’s excellent question, does this matter in real life?”

“Busted,” Grover muttered.

“Shut up,” Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears."

Annabeth laughed at that, though not loudly "Chiron can hear either everything or nothing, convince me otherwise."

Percy, Leo, Piper, and Jason all nodded in agreement, having experienced his amazing and/or horrid listening skills. 

"I thought about his question, and shrugged. “I don’t know, sir.”"

Percy huffed out a laugh "Well i sure do now." He gestured to the boat, sky and basically everything around them.

"“I see.” Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. “Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan’s stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it’s time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?”

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, “Mr. Jackson.”

I knew that was coming.

I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. “Sir?”

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn’t let you go—intense brown eyes that could’ve been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

"Well technically thats not wrong." Annabeth said.

"“You must learn the answer to my question,” Mr. Brunner told me.

“About the Titans?”

“About real life. And how your studies apply to it.”

“Oh.”

“What you learn from me,” he said, “is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.”

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: “What ho!” and challenged us, swordpoint against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C– in my life. No—he didn’t expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn’t learn all those names and facts, much less spell them corr ectly.

I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he’d been at this girl’s funeral.

He told me to go outside and eat my lunch."

"Subtle foreshadowing" Leo whispered slyly.

Percy rolled his eyes and groaned "Leo i swear to all the gods."

"Just keep reading." Annabeth shot quickly

Leo nodded in agreement quickly. "Please do actually. My stomach is begging for food." Percy only nodded before turning his attention back to the book he had in his hands and continued on reading the first chapter.

"The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I’d ever seen over the city"

Leo whistled "Zeus is maadd" Percy and Annabeth shared a knowing look "I wonder why" Annabeth said sarcastically. "Oh yes i really really wonder why he would ever be mad at all." Percy did't take any comments after that as he began to read again.

"I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We’d had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.

Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady’s purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn’t seeing a thing.

Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn’t know we were from that school—the school for loser freaks who couldn’t make it elsewhere.

“Detention?” Grover asked.

“Nah,” I said. “Not from Brunner. I just wish he’d lay off me sometimes. I mean—I’m not a genius.”

Grover didn’t say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, “Can I have your apple?”"

Annabeth snorted. Yep. Snorted. As she quickly flushed in embarrassment before glaring at Percy, silently telling him to continue.

"I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.

I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom’s apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn’t seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She’d hug me and be glad to see me, but she’d be disappointed, too. She’d send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn’t be able to stand that sad look she’d give me.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.

I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she’d gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover’s lap.

“Oops.” She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, “Count to ten, get control of your temper.” But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.

I don’t remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, “Percy pushed me!”

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.

Some of the kids were whispering: “Did you see—”

“—the water—”

“—like it grabbed her—”"

Hazel scoffed out a laugh. "And you still didn't know you were a son of Neptune- i, uh, mean, Poseidon." She flushed a little in embarassment but i just huffed. "I was in 6th grade, okay? calm your horses." 

Leo gasped dramatically next to us. "Be nice to Arion" Hazel grinned and crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "Yeah be nice to Arion, Percy"

Percy rolled his eyes "I should't have to be nice to him with all that awful stuff he says." Percy defended before Piper Piped in. "Okay okay, we get it. Just finish reading Percy." Percy nodded and went back to the book at hand.

"As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I’d done something she’d been waiting for all semester. “Now, honey—”

“I know,” I grumbled.

“A month erasing workbooks.”

That wasn’t the right thing to say.

“Come with me,” Mrs. Dodds said. “Wait!” Grover yelped. “It was me. I pushed her.”

I stared at him, stunned. I couldn’t believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.

She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

“I don’t think so, Mr. Underwood,” she said.

“But—”

“You—will—stay—here.”

Grover looked at me desperately.

“It’s okay, man,” I told him. “Thanks for trying.”

“Honey,” Mrs. Dodds barked at me. “Now.”

Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I’ll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn’t there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.

How’d she get there so fast?"

"Because she's evil, duh." Leo said as he went to lean back but accidentally fell but quickly sat back up, slightly embarrassed. His stomach rumbled and he groaned. "How many more pagessss" 

Percy counted the pages before looking up at Leo. "4 and a half" Jason let out a huge sigh of relief "Thank the gods." Jason turned to look at Percy. "Please continue reading so we can finish."

Percy nodded and went back to reading.

"I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I’ve missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. I wasn’t so sure.

I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.

I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.

Okay, I thought. She’s going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.

But apparently that wasn’t the plan.

I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for us, the gallery was empty.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.

Even without the noise, I would’ve been nervous. It’s weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it …

“You’ve been giving us problems, honey,” she said.

I did the safe thing. I said, “Yes, ma’am.”

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. “Did you really think you would get away with it?”

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.

She’s a teacher, I thought nervously. It’s not like she’s going to hurt me. I said,

“I’ll—I’ll try harder, ma’am.”

Thunder shook the building.

“We are not fools, Percy Jackson,” Mrs. Dodds said. “It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.”

I didn’t know what she was talking about. All I could think of was that the teachers must’ve found the illegal stash of candy I’d been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they’d realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book."

Leo grimaced "Reading? Yikes" Jason laughed "Oh no, not Tom Sawyer" They both said sarcastically, kinda.

"“Well?” she demanded.

“Ma’am, I don’t…”

“Your time is up,” she hissed.

Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn’t human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

Then things got even stranger."

Hazel and Frank furrowed her brows. "Literally how" Hazel said. Frank nodded in agreement, "Like i know that you see weird things but for not even knowing you're a demigod? Thats rough buddy."

Percy laughed a little, along with Annabeth before turning back to the book.

"Mr. Brunner, who’d been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

“What ho, Percy!” he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.

Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.

With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn’t a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner’s bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.

Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.

My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.

She snarled, “Die, honey!”

And she flew straight at me.

Absolute terror ran through my body.

I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword."

Leo huffed."Yeah that just casually comes naturally." Jason and Annabeth smirked. "It actually does sometimes." Jason said. "Yeah, thats why basically all demigods have ADHD. It's their battle reflexes." Annabeth agreed.

Leo huffed "not before training" he pouted

"The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!

Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.

I was alone.

There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner wasn’t there. Nobody was there but me

. My hands were still trembling.

My lunch must’ve been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.

Had I imagined the whole thing?"

I went back outside.

It had started to rain.

Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head.

Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends.

When she saw me, she said, “I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt.”

I said, “Who?”

“Our teacher. Duh!”

I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr.

I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away.

I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.

He said, “Who?”

But he paused first, and he wouldn’t look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.

“Not funny, man,” I told him. “This is serious.”

Thunder boomed overhead.

I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he’d never moved. I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted.

“Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson.”

I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding it.

“Sir,” I said, “where’s Mrs. Dodds?”

He stared at me blankly. “Who?”"

Piper laughed. "You look so schizophrenic, Percy." She said, clearly amussed.

Percy just rolled his eyes and kept reading.

"“The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher.”

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. “Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?”"

Percy found a peie of paper into the book and slammed it closed. "CHAPTER ONE IS OFFICIALLY DONE!!!" he announced loudly. Leo immediately stood up and went to get food before coming back just as quickly. "Okay, I'm ready. Whos reading the next chapter?"

Annabeth raised her hand. "I will." 

Percy nodded at her and handed her the book with a small smile. She took the book as she returned the smile and set it in her lap.

Chapter Text

Annabeth was about to open the book when a blinding flash flashed in the middle of them. Instinctively they all covered their eyes or closed them. After the flash was gone they all uncovered his eyes or opened them and looked at where the flash was. What met their sights were the 12 Olympians. Including Hades and Hestia. They all blinked up in surprise before most everybody the romans) got on a knee and bowed. Percy nudged them and gestured for them to stand up.They raised an eyebrow at him but he insisted again so they did as he told them. 

The gods looked around at their surrounding and noticed the demigods. Zeus cleared his throat and all the demigods and gods alike turned to look at him "What are we doing here children?" he asked sternly.  All the demigods looked over at Percy and Annabeth to explain to them. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other before Percy nodded and cleared his throat. "Actually, we don't exactly know the point in this but the time around us has frozen and we are here to read about our lives. Well the note said it was mainly mine," he grumbled, "but we still are here so we read about my adventures and quests." Percy finished. 

The gods nodded along before Hestia looked over at Zeus. They seemed to be having a silent conversation before Zeus nodded. "Well since time is stopped for the time being, and there is certainly not enough room here on this ship, let us go somewhere else." Before the demigods could react, they were flashed away and were suddenly in Olympus. They blinked to clear the blacks spots from their vision from the bright light before they looked around. 

The books appeared in the middle of the room, though the first book was still in Annabeth's hands. Hestia waved her hand and 2 pairs of couches appeared across from where the thrones of the Olympians thrones' were formed in a 'U' shape.

The first couch consisted of Piper, Jason, Leo. The second consisted of Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, and Frank. All the gods sat in their thrones, besides Hades and Hestia. Zeus reluctantly waved his hand and a throne for Hades appeared, while he grumbled. Hestia just sat down by her hearth. Percy stood up again and explained what happened in the first chapter. 

After Percy finished the explanation, another bright flash appeared. The demigods closed their eyes and when they opened their eyes, there stood Nico, Will, and Reyna.

Hestia smiled warmly and waved her hand so another couch appeared and Will, Nico and Reyna sat down.

Percy groaned "I am not explaining that again. I'll just sum it up." He sighed and turned to look at the new 3 people to join "Basically we're reading about my quests. We just read one chapter and its before i got to camp and I just killed Alecto, who was also my algebra teacher. Any questions?" Percy put a mock smile on. Will and Reyna raised their hands. "No questions?" Percy clapped his hands together. "Great lets starts the second chapter." Percy sat back down as Hermes sniggered.

Annabeth opened the book in her hand and read the chapter title to herself before she looked over at Percy in horror. "Please don't tell me this means what i think this means.." 

Percy just rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and chuckled. "I mean, it probably does mean what you think it means, lets be honest" 

Annabeth just groaned. Hades cleared his throat, "Mind reading out loud?" He said with a raised brow. Annabeth just blushed in embarrassment and nodded before she read the chapter aloud.

"THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH"

the color drained from the faces of a few people in the room. Poseidon looked at Percy in horror. "Please, child. Tell me this does not mean what i think it means." Percy just laughed awkwardly. "Well iff it makes you feel better, it wa-" suddenly he was cut off and a piece of paper appeared in his hands. He read it in his mind before sighing. "The note says that if I try to tell you spoilers, that whatever just happened is going to happen"

Apollo raised an eyebrow at that "Spoilers? whatever for?" At that, Percy raised a brow "What do you mean?" Percy opened his mouth to speak but Annabeth cut him off with a skeptical look on her face. "What year are you guys from?"

Hermes narrowed his eyes at her "2006 of course, why do you ask that?" 

All the demigods eyes widened and they looked at each other. Reyna stood up from her seat and bowed slightly. "My Lords and Ladies, we demigods are from the year 2011." The gods stared at her in shock before Lady Hestia nodded. "Well, how about you children do introductions then." 

The demigods all nodded and turned to look at Percy again. Percy stood back up and introduced himself "Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon."Percy sat back down. There was a shocked silence between the gods and the air got tense before Zeus scowled and turned to Poseidon. "YOU BROKE THE OATH!?" he all but yelled. Poseidon just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest "Oh please brother, you did too, do not be hypocritical." Zeus scowled deeper before Hestia interjected. "That is enough. children, continue." She said warmly

Next Annabeth stood up "Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena." Athena looked proud and nodded. Annabeth just avoided eye contact and sat back down, interlinking her hand with Percy's. He smiled at her and returned his attention to the introductions. Hazel stood next "Hazel Levesque, Daughter of..." Her voice cut off. "i guess thats considered a spoiler." She frowned and sat back down.

Hades stared at her in shock before he shook his head lightly. Next Frank stood up. "Frank Zhang." He sat back down. Next was Leo. "Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus" He grinned and sat back down. Hephaestus grunted in approval but otherwise said nothing.

Jason stood next. "Jason Grace." He bowed and sat back down. Piper stood. "Piper McLean, Daughter of Aphrodite" Aphrodite smiled widely and Piper just ignored her and sat back down. Nico reluctantly stood up next "Nico Di Angelo, Son of Hades" before any of the gods could yell at his father he cut them off. "I was born before the oath. It's a long story and im sure it will be explained." he sat back down. Hades smiled slightly but his expression went back neutral before anyone could notice.

Will stood next. "Will Solace, Son of Apollo" Apollo smiled a bright, blinding smile as Will sat down. Finally, Reyna stood up. "Reyna Ramírez-Arellano" She bowed again and sat back down. 

Percy sighed. "Okay now that introductions are done, can we continue with the story?" He said, sounding tired and annoyed. Some people made sounds of agreement before Annabeth opened the book again and started to actually read.

"I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle."

Apollo raised an eyebrow "Were you actually hallucinating?" He frowned slightly. Percy laughed and shook his head. "No but someone had me convinced that i was. Because it was when i first learned about our world but Chiron and Grover, the saytr, had me convinced it wasn't true. Well partially convinced." 

Apollo nodded at that and gestured for Annabeth to continue.

"For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I’d never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our prealgebra teacher since Christmas.

Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho. It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.

Almost."

Leo sighed and shook his head dramatically "You can't get literally  anything past Percy."  All the demigods made noises of agreement. 

Hermes raised a brow "And why do you say that child?". Percy sighed "He's just being dramatic." Annabeth shook her head "No no, it's true" Percy shot her a betrayed look, she just ignored him. "It's like he can sniff out a lie anywhere" Will continued. "Even your own children, the Stoll brothers, can't even lie or pick pocket him, which is their specialty." 

Hermes just looked at him in a mix of shock and awe, since he knew how good his sons were at that, and nodded. Apollo and Poseidon raised a brow but didn't say anything.

"But Grover couldn’t fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn’t exist. But I knew he was lying.

Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum."

Will and Annabeth just chuckled, "He's always been horrid at lying." Dionysus huffed and leaned back in his throne "That's because it's against their nature to lie." 

They both nodded and Annabeth continued reading. 

"I didn’t have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.

The freak weather continued, which didn’t help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year."

Demeter huffed "you guys and your petty arguing. Why cant you just talk it out over a nice bowl of cereal." She suggested. The two brothers just looke annoyed but decided on ignoring each other.

"I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs"

Athena scowled "D's and F's? Do you even try child?" She said in a bitter. Percy opened his mouth to say something, that would probably be disrespectful, but Annabeth cut him off before he could say anything.

"Mother, you need to understand that us demigods have ADHD and dyslexia. It's difficult for us to stay still, which is what you need to do in a classroom. And the words fly off pages is they are not in a language that we are hard-wired for, such as ancient greek. so it is difficult for us to keep grades up since most schools don't have teachers that assist with that."

Athena kept scowling but it softened the slightest bit and she didn't say anything and took that as a a sign to continue.

"I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.

Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn’t even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.

The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.

Fine, I told myself. Just fine"

All the demigods grumbled in annoyance. "I hate when that happens." Piper complained. "And then you have to go and find another school that would actually take you." Leo added.

They all nodded in agreement.

"I was homesick.

I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties."

Nico raised a brow and looked at Percy questioningly. "But Paul doesn't play poker, does he?" He frowned.

Percy stiffened slightly but shook his head. "This was before Paul." He said in a low voice.

Nico had questions and he wanted answers but he knew that expression enough to know not to push the topic orPercy in general. He leaned back against the couch and will gave him a questioning look as if to ask 'are you going to ask?' but Nico just shook his head.

Poseidon looked at his son, future son, wow, that was a weird thought, in concern. Hestia looked at him with a raised eyebrow and Poseidon shook his head. She nodded and turned back to he hearth.

"And yet…there were things I’d miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I’d miss Grover, who’d been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he’d survive next year without me.

I’d miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner’s crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.

As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn’t forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-anddeath for me. I wasn’t sure why, but I’d started to believe him."

Nico sniggered "Almost like it's true". I rolled my eyes as everyone laughed (at least Will had the decency to try and hide it behind a cough.) and the gods were not much better off. Well, some were. Apollo and Hermes were laughing freely, Poseidon tried hiding his laugh behind a cough, Artemis just huffed, Aphrodite was giggling behind a hand that covered her mouth. Hestia was smiling happily as her hearth warmed up with the aroma of family around it. Everyone else wasn't laughing.

Annabeth waited until everyone finished laughing to continue.

"The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces"

Ares raised a brow at him and scoffed "You better know the difference now." Percy bit down a scoff and nodded "Of course I do." 

Annabeth moved her hand closest to him and smacked him on the arm. "What was that for" He frowned. Rolling her eyes, Annabeth responded "Don't be to rude yet, you haven't had your fight with him yet."

Reluctantly, Percy huffed but nodded.

"And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.

I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt."

Percy shivered uncomfortably. "Ugh, why can i practically feel it" Another note appeared in his hands and he read it aloud. "Dear Perseus Jackson," He rolled his eyes at the full name but continued. "You will be made to feel the effects of these books for personal reasons of the future Olympus. That is also the price you must pay for having the time stopped and the gods of the past here." The demigods all groaned.

"Percy has done so many stupid things though. Thats like, torture." Leo frowned. Nico scoffed but it was lighthearted. "yeah just imagine how it was before hemet you guys." The 7 besides Annabeth and Percy groaned.

Suddenly Annabeth gasped and leaned over to whisper in Percy's ear "Wait so does that mean you're going to feel Mt. St. Helens again and the Styx and like... everything?" She asked worriedly. Percy just gave her a small smile "Don't worry too much Wise Girl, I've goe through it before, whats one more time?" And with that he smirked.

Zeus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can we please focus on the task at hand and be done with it sooner?" He asked annoyed.

Annabeth nodded and the demigods composed themselves before Annabeth started reading again.

"I remembered Mr. Brunner’s serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.

I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. I’d never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn’t want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn’t tried.

I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner’s door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.

I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover’s said “…worried about Percy, sir.”"

Before anyone could say anything, Percy raised his hands in mock defense "Hey, can you guys blame me? Imagine your best friend is talking about you to an adult. Would you not eavesdrop?"

The demigods all grumbled in agreement. Jason smirked at him. "Remember when we were fighting P-" Before he could finish, Percy leapt forward and smacked a hand over Jason's mouth. The force of Percy jumping forward, forcing them both to fall to the ground. "We do not speak of that." He hissed. Everyone around them laughed. Hestia smiled as her hearth grew brighter.

Aphrodite sighed in content and hummed. "Oh how platonic love is beautiful." Poseidon smiled at his son and nodded though didn't say anything. 

"Can we just hurry this up" Dionysus grumbled."I really don't see a point in this." Zeus nodded and cleared his throat causing all the demigods to move from their positions and sit back at the couch. The laughing died down and Zeus continued. "Let us continue." He gestured for Annabeth to continue.

"I froze.

I’m not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.

I inched closer.

“…alone this summer,” Grover was saying. “I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too—”

“We would only make matters worse by rushing him,” Mr. Brunner said. “We need the boy to mature more.”

“But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline—”

“Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can.” “Sir, he saw her.…”"

Percy scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I have eyes thank you very much" He said low enough for only the demigods to hear. "A few snickered but quickly went back to normal.

"“His imagination,” Mr. Brunner insisted. “The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that"

“Sir, I…I can’t fail in my duties again.” Grover’s voice was choked with emotion. “You know what that would mean.”"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and frowned "He never failed." Percy nodded and continued "Anyone who says so can shove it right up their-" Annabeth slapped a hand over Percy's mouth. "Seaweed Brain." She warned. The other demigods, along with Apollo, Hermes, Poseidon and Aphrodite laughed. Percy just huffed and leaned back against the couch, totally not pouting.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes and picked the book back up and continued to read.

"“You haven’t failed, Grover,” Mr. Brunner said kindly. “I should have seen her for what she was. Now let’s just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—”

The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud"

Everyone groaned. "Really cousin?" Hermes said. "Never reveal your hiding spot, everyone knows this." He huffed. 

"Hey, I was shocked okay? Imagine your an adult talking about trying to keep you alive until a certain time to your best friend. So not cool" he huffed and a few people laughed.

"Mr. Brunner went silent.

My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.

A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner’s office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer’s bow.

I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.

A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.

A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. “Nothing,” he murmured.

“My nerves haven’t been right since the winter solstice.”

“Mine neither,” Grover said. “But I could have sworn…”

“Go back to the dorm,” Mr. Brunner told him. “You’ve got a long day of exams tomorrow.”

“Don’t remind me.” The lights went out in Mr. Brunner’s office. I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.

Athena raised a brow at him. "How did the satyr not notice you? Surely your sent has to be especially powerful to a saytr if you're.." She glared over at Poseidon, "his kid."

Percy laughed awkwardly. "Both Chiron and Grover both said that my sent was all around the school so it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where i was." She nodded and gestured for Annabeth to continue.

'Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.

Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he’d been there all night.

“Hey,” he said, bleary-eyed. “You going to be ready for this test?”

I didn’t answer.

“You look awful.” He frowned. “Is everything okay?”

“Just…tired.”

I turned so he couldn’t read my expression, and started getting ready for bed."

Hermes shook his head. "thats not going to work. Satyrs can read emotions."

Percy rolled his eyes "Well I know that now."

"I didn’t understand what I’d heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I’d imagined the whole thing.

But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.

The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I’d misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.

For a moment, I was worried he’d found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn’t seem to be the problem.

“Percy,” he said. “Don’t be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It’s…it’s for the best.”

Poseidon groaned along with a few other gods and campers from Camp Half-Blood. "Please don't say that Chiron is attempting to give one of his pep-talks" Poseidon said.

Percy nodded. "Yeah" He drawled out. "He still hasn't got any better at those has he?" Apollo sighed. Percy and Annabeth shook their heads "Nope." Jason, Piper, and Leo and sighed and looked at each other. They laughed but then stopped as Annabeth started reading again.

His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.

I mumbled, “Okay, sir.”

“I mean…” Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn’t sure what to say. “This isn’t the right place for you. It was only a matter of time.”

My eyes stung. Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn’t handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.

“Right,” I said, trembling.

“No, no,” Mr. Brunner said. “Oh, confound it all. What I’m trying to say…you’re not normal, Percy. That’s nothing to be—”

“Thanks,” I blurted. “Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.”

“Percy—”

But I was already gone.

Percy groaned and buried his face in his hands. His eyes stung and he felt just at he did before. Curse that stupid price.

Poseidon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Someone needs to tell Chiron that sometimes things just shouldn't be said or should be said differently. He sighed again and sat up in his throne.

Annabeth rubbed Percy's back but went back to the book.

On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.

The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.

Ares scoffed and opened his mouth to say something but Percy cut him off before he could say anything "This was before I knew i was a demigod so i genuinely thought that but I don't now."

They asked me what I’d be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.

What I didn’t tell them was that I’d have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I’d go to school in the fall.

Hestia frowned. "Why would you have to do that? You did only have 12 years of age, correct?" Percy nodded "Im sure it will be explained Lady Hestia" He smiled at her.

“Oh,” one of the guys said. “That’s cool.”

They went back to their conversation as if I’d never existed.

The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn’t have to. He’d booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.

During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he’d always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I’d always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.

Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore.

I said, “Looking for Kindly Ones?”

"PERCY!" most of the demigods yelled. Annabeth smacked Percy on the arm. "What the heck Seaweed Brain!! You probably gave him a heart attack!" She complained. 

Percy laughed lightly. "Yeahhh I probably did." She huffed.

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. “Wha—what do you mean?”

I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.

Hermes shook his head with an exasperated  look "Never confess about it"

Grover’s eye twitched. “How much did you hear?”

“Oh…not much. What’s the summer solstice deadline?”

He winced. “Look, Percy…I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers…”

“Grover—”

“And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and…”

“Grover, you’re a really, really bad liar.”

His ears turned pink.

From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. “Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.”

The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:

Grover Underwood

Keeper

Half-Blood Hill Long Island, New York

(800) 009-0009

“What’s Half—” “Don’t say it aloud!” he yelped. “That’s my, um…summer address.”

Annabeth winced. "Bad move Grover, bad move." Apollo tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow "Because Percy hates snotty rich people." Annabeth snorted. 

Percy rolled his eyes and leaned back in the couch, while Apollo nodded and urged her to continue reading.

My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I’d never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.

“Okay,” I said glumly. “So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion.”

He nodded. “Or…or if you need me.”

“Why would I need you?” 

"PERCY!" He winced and sank lower into the couch. "I didn't mean it like that. And i was in a Bitchy mood." He sighed in dissapointment at himself and looked pleadingly at Annabeth to continue. 

She narrowed her eyes at him. "We will talk about this later."

He nodded.

It came out harsher than I meant it to.

Grover blushed right down to his Adam’s apple. “Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you.”

I stared at him.

All year long, I’d gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I’d lost sleep worrying that he’d get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.

“Grover,” I said, “what exactly are you protecting me from?”

There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.

Percy gagged slightly "Oh gods, i forgot how bad that smelt."

The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.

After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we’d all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.

We were on a stretch of country road—no place you’d notice if you didn’t break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I’d ever seen.

The color drained from the faces of the gods and demigods who knew what they were. Poseidon stared at him in horror "Please, tell me this isn't what i think it is.." Percy grinned a crooked grin and rub the back of his neck "I would but that would be lying and most people know i don't like doing that."

I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.

All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.

The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.

"Oh us." Apollo groaned

I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.

“Grover?” I said. “Hey, man—”

“Tell me they’re not looking at you. They are, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?”

"Not the time Percy" Jason said worriedly. Percy rolled his eyes. "I know that now." He grumbled, but no one paid him any mind.

“Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all.”

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.

“We’re getting on the bus,” he told me. “Come on.”

“What?” I said. “It’s a thousand degrees in there.”

“Come on!” He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back. Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.

It was dead silent. You could have heard a fly buzzing from a mile away. Then suddenly everyone turned to Percy.

Annabeth turned to look at me with a shocked and horrified expression. "Perseus. Jackson." Percy winced at the full name. "You saw the fates cut your string, AND YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL ME?" 

"Or ANYONE for that matter!" Poseidon said. He was looking at Percy as if he would drop dead at that very moment

Percy leaned into the couch, wishing a black hole could open up and swallow him whole. Actually he could probably ask Nico to- nope,  we're getting off track.

He sighed and looked over at her. "If it makes you feel any better it wa-" He was cut off. Groaning, he gestured with his hands. He moved so the gods wouldn't see what he was doing. He made and 'X' with his 2 index fingers. Then, he pointed to himself with his right thumb.

The demigods seemed to look at him with confusion for a moment before realization and relief flowed through them. Annabeth raised a brow and tilted her head and whispered. "If not yours, then who's?" Percy shook his head "Sorry wise girl, that one i can't tell you." 

She sighed and nodded. Percy turned back to the gods, hoping to calm them down. "Well, I'm still here aren't I? Obviously I was unharmed. from it"

Ares shook his head. "No one just watches the fates cut their string and comes out unharmed, kid." He said haughtily. Percy rolled his eyes "Yeah well i guess i'm an exception because I'm from the future and i'm obviously fine."

Before anyone could answer, Percy turned to look at Annabeth with his so called 'baby seal eyes', pleading at her to continue. She just rolled her eyes fondly before and continued to read.

Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.

At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.

The passengers cheered.

“Darn right!” yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. “Everybody back on board!”

Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I’d caught the flu. Grover didn’t look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

“Grover?”

“Yeah?”

“What are you not telling me?”

Leo groaned. "Why are you so damn perceptive Percy"

Percy shrugged and leaned against Annabeth. "I don't know. I just always have been, if you can't tell" He smirked.

He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. “Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?”

“You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They’re not like…Mrs. Dodds, are they?”

His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. 

All the demigods groaned. "You being annoying and cryptic." Annabeth said. The gods looked curiously at the demigods. "Does he do this much?" Zeus questioned. Frank rolled his eyes "All the time." 

"one time we were on a side quest during our quest and he said something along the lines of 'Go faster, they're following us" and we had no clue who he was talking about so we asked him and he didn't say anything." Piper piped up. 

Nico scoffed "Or the time when he said 'Don't worry, they won't do anything like that again. I'll make sure of it.' And then proceeded to walk off as if nothing happened."

Will laughed and grinned "Or like when-" 

"Okay, enough children, I am positive we get the point." Will, Nico, and Piper blushed in embarrassment and ducked their heads. "Let us continue."

He said, “Just tell me what you saw.”

“The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn.”

He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might’ve been crossing himself, but it wasn’t. It was something else, something almost— older.

He said, “You saw her snip the cord.”

“Yeah. So?” But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.

“This is not happening,” Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. “I don’t want this to be like the last time.”

“What last time?”

“Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth.”

Annabeth sighed "It wasn't his fault, and he should know that." 

Dionysus frowned at the attitude of the saytr but otherwise said and did nothing else.

Leo raised a brow "Whats last time"

Percy shook his head and frowned. Leo got the memo and pressed no further.

“Grover,” I said, because he was really starting to scare me. “What are you talking about?”

“Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me.”

This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.

“Is this like a superstition or something?” I asked.

No answer.

“Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?”

He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I’d like best on my coffin.

Hades shook his head "He most likely was." Percy laughed "Oh, he was. He told me what he chose."

Nico raised a brow at that. "What did he choose?" Percy smirked "Pink carnations,  Orchids, Gladiolus, and Sunflowers." Nico nodded "those are fitting. Don't worry, I'll make it live up to the expectations when you die." He winked and gave a thumbs up with a grin. Percy laughed along with others "Thanks man, wouldn't have it any other way." He joked.

The gods stared at them, mildly concerned about the casual talking and joking of funerals and such, but made no move to point it out.

Annabeth slammed the book shut, catching the attention of everyone."Chapter 2 is officially finished. Who is going to read next?" Everyone looked around before Hestia reached out a hand. "I will child." She smiled.

Annabeth nodded and handed Hestia the book.

Chapter Text

Hestia turned to the right page in the book. Once she got to the right page, she let out a small laugh and raised her brow at Percy who just shrugged. She smiles and reads out the chapter title.

GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY LOSES HIS PANTS

The demigods and some gods burst out laughing while others tried to hide their laugh behind a cough. 

Once the laughter died down, Hestia started about to read the chapter before a bright light flashed. Out came from where the light was was Grover and Chiron who looked confused.

They looked around and once they noticed the gods, they bowed and then looked behind them to the demigods. "Children, what are we doing here?" He questioned.

"Oh, we're just casually reading about Percy's crazy and dangerous adventures. Come! Join us!" Leo said, partly mockingly and partly sarcastically.

Hazel raised a brow. "What year are you guys from?" Chiron looked mildly confused but it flashed away as quickly as it appeared, and it was quick. "2011, just as you children are, I believe." They nodded and Percy clapped his hands, gaining attention of everyone.

"Well we were reading about Yancy Academy and we are about to read the part about the bus terminal on the way back to the city with me and Grover." Chiron nodded and Grover opened his mouth to speak before Percy cut him off with a smirk. "Also, we're not allowed to spoil anything about the future.' Grover looked mildly annoyed before going over to where Percy sat (against the armrest of the middle couch) and forced everyone to scoot down until there was room in between Percy and the arm rest, where he sat down.

Chiron trotted over to the edge of the couch that Reyna, Will, and Nico sat on and stood to the right of it.

Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.

Annabeth smacked the back of his head. "Ow" He complained with a frown. "Sorry G-Man" Percy apologized. 

Grover patted his shoulder in sympathy "Its okay Perce." He smiled

I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering “Why does this always happen?” and “Why does it always have to be sixth grade?”

Leo hissed "Yeah i would be a little freaked out too." Piper elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow! I mean uh, no offense Grover."

Grover sighed and shook his head "None taken man." Percy wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Hey G-Man, you know its not your fault. You brought her to camp and you did the best you could." "Yeah but-" "ah ah ah. No speaking like that Grover, you know you did the best you could, you're not Head Council of the Elders for no reason now are you?" 

grover smiled at him "No. I'm not." Percy grinned "Thats the spirit!"

Whenever he got upset, Grover’s bladder acted up, so I wasn’t surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus,

Grover bleated in embarrassment "Wow Perce, way to tell all my secrets" Percy chuckled and patted his back

he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown

“East One-hundred-and-fourth and First,” I told the driver.

Percy raised a hand "Thats not my address anymore, for some people who are going to try and break in." He said with a pointed look at a sheepish looking Leo.

A word about my mother, before you meet her.

"Amazing" Annabeth said.

"Kind" Grover continued.

"Caring" Nico chimed in.

"Supportive" Will agreed.

"The best" Percy completed.

"Thats 2 words" Leo teased. Percy grinned "But true"

The gods stared at them curiously. Who was this mortal woman who seemed to have a major impact to the demigods. All gods seemed to ask. All but Poseidon, who looked a mix of proud, fond, and longingly at the demigods who described the mother of his youngest in such fond words in such a fond way.

Artemis was the first to speak up. "What does this mortal woman hold of importance to you young demigods?" 

Everyone who knew Sally opened their mouth to talk but Annabeth got there first. "Sally, Percy's mom, is sort of a safe house for demigods who are on quests and need supplies or shelter. She also often hold shelters to your hunters as well Lady Artemis."

Artemis, along with most other gods, looked shocked, but quickly schooled their expressions. "Thank you,". Annabeth nodded respectfully at Artemis.

Her name is Sally Jackson and she’s the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn’t care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.

Aphrodite sighed "Oh that poor woman. I hope she is doing better in the future." Percy smiled "oh she is. She just published one of her first books which is already getting quite a lot of attention, and she has a lovely partner which has been supportive of her through out it all."

Aphrodite nodded approvingly.

The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.

Poseidon smiled wistfully. Percy caught eye of him and smiled to himself.

I don’t have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. 

Zeus turned to stare at him stoically. "You visited him? What about the ancient laws?" Percy could smell the ozone filling the open air.

Poseidon huffed and crossed his arms. "Of course i visited him brother. And, do not be hypocritical, we all know that you visited your kids, no matter the ancient laws." Zeus scowled deeply but didn't say anything. Hestia took that as a sign to continue.

My mom doesn’t like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.

See, they weren’t married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.

Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.

Hermes nodded "Smart woman. Not the truth but not a lie either." Poseidon smiled proudly while Athena nodded in agreement with Hermes.

She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn’t an easy kid.

Leo nodded in agreement. "It's okay, none of us are." Annabeth agreed while moving her hand to interlink with his.

The demigods all made noises of agreement.

Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.

Percy gagged and covered his mouth. "Oh thats awful." Grover looked at him in worry. 

Annabeth sighed. "I forgot to mention that he has to feel everything he did that they read in these stories." Grover winced. "Oh, thats a lot." Annabeth nodded. "Yeah we know." 

Between the two of us, we made my mom’s life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along…well, when I came home is a good example.

I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.

Aphrodite wrinkled her nose "Oh that is atrocious." Percy nodded "Believe me. I know."

Demeter huffed "he could use some more cereal"

Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, “So, you’re home.”

“Where’s my mom?”

“Working,” he said. “You got any cash?”

Apollo snarled "What kind of man asks a 12 year old child for cash. Despicable." He huffed

Poseidon sneered and nodded in agreement.

That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?

Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.

He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don’t know why he hadn’t been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer.

Percy covered his mouth as a wave of nausea kicked in and he gripped Annabeth's hand tighter, wishing he didn't have to hear about him in the first place.

Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our “guy secret.” Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.

The room was dead silent for a moment, just before it all erupted into chaos. 

"What!? Why didn't you tell us Percy!?" Annabeth asked.

"That man" Artemis spat "dares threaten a child!?"

Poseidon practically growled "He DARE threaten my child and face no consequence!?"

There was more talking and more aura of powers flowed through the room, becoming overwhelming.

"STOP!" Percy yelled. Everyone went silent. He sighed "This was years ago, theres no reason to fuss about it now. Plus, he got properly dealt with in time." Percy smirked.

Poseidon sighed, though he didn't completely calm down. "Yes child, but in our time, this has not even happened yet." Percy nodded "Yes but as I said, he has been dealt with in my time, you must just let it happen for all the events to play out correctly." 

Poseidon didn't look convinced but nodded anyway. "I understand. Please continue sister."

“I don’t have any cash,” I told him.

He raised a greasy eyebrow.

Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should’ve covered up everything else.

Apollo looked deep in thought for a moment before he perked up, appearing to have come to a conclusion. "Thats why your mother even bothered to stay with him yes? You said his scent could have covered anything, that anything would have included your scent as well. Am I wrong?"

Percy looked mildly shocked before thinking, Oh yeah, god of logic,  and nodding. "Yeah."

“You took a taxi from the bus station,” he said. “Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?”

Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. “Come on, Gabe,” he said. “The kid just got here.”

“Am I right?” Gabe repeated. Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels.

The other two guys passed gas in harmony. “Fine,” I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. “I hope you lose.”

Leo let out a small laugh before Jason hit him lightly "Not the time dude." Leo looked down. "Right, sorry."

“Your report card came, brain boy!”

Percy visibly flinched at the name. "Stupid price" He muttered.

Annabeth looked over at him in horror and worry. "Percy.. When i said seaweed brain.. does that..?" Percy blinked at her before shaking his head. "No! no. Gods no." He lowered his voice to a slight whisper. "I hadn't even made the connection. Maybe when you first called me that but now its just more out of affection that i never really thought about it." 

She frowned an nodded "So do you want me to stop calling you that?" Percy shook his head again. "No, you.. ah.." He blushed. "I.. It's like our thing, right wise girl? We can't just drop the names we've had since we were 12." He smirked. Annabeth just sighed with a fond yet exasperated look on her face. "I guess not, Seaweed Brain." She smiled.

he shouted after me. “I wouldn’t act so snooty!”

I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn’t my room. During school months, it was Gabe’s “study.” He didn’t study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.

I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.

Gabe’s smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady’s shears snipping the yarn.

But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover’s look of panic—how he’d made me promise I wouldn’t go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.

Then I heard my mom’s voice. “Percy?”

Percy's whole body relaxed as he laid down on the back of the sofa. He still had his hand tightly holding Annabeth's, and he was now leaning against Grover.

She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted. My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She’s got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it’s like she’s seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I’ve never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.

“Oh, Percy.” She hugged me tight. “I can’t believe it. You’ve grown since Christmas!”

All the demigods burst into laughter "Adults always say that 'Oh you've grown since i last saw you' and then you look the exact same" Nico said and rolled his eyes, though there was fondness in them. "Literally" Leo agreed.

Chiron looked down fondly at the children. He was sure some of them were thinking of him in this line (Annabeth after quests or on the rare occasions she does choose to go home mainly) but decided not to comment.

Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She’d brought me a huge bag of “free samples,” the way she always did when I came home.

We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn’t put in my letters. She didn’t mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn’t seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?

Ares fought the urge to say 'Mama's boy' But decided by Uncle P's Glare towards him, he knew what Ares was going to say and was warning him not to, so he decided not to. For the sake of his very little sanity.

I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.

From the other room, Gabe yelled, “Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?”

The lively mood instantly became sour and most gods had a scowl right back on their lips.

I gritted my teeth.

My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should’ve been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.

For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn’t too down about the expulsion. I’d lasted almost the whole year this time. I’d made some new friends. I’d done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn’t been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn’t seem so bad. Until that trip to the museum…

“What?” my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. “Did something scare you?”

“No, Mom.” I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.

She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn’t push me.

Grover groaned "Noooo Percyy, just tell her."

Percy patted his arm "This already happened G-Man." Grover nodded in acknowledgement "I can still complain"

“I have a surprise for you,” she said. “We’re going to the beach.”

My eyes widened. “Montauk?”

“Three nights—same cabin.”

“When?” She smiled. “As soon as I get changed.”

I couldn’t believe it. My mom and I hadn’t been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn’t enough money.

Poseidon growled. How dare that poor excuse of a man keep his son and his mother from going anywhere. He was snapped out of his thoughts when his son spoke "Father." He looked up at him. "Calm down father. This has already passed for us and we are much better in the future. Plus, we don't need all of New York wiped out.

Poseidon looked outside and there was a huge storm brewing. Poseidon calmed himself down. "Apologies child." Percy smiled at him and nodded to Hestia.

Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, “Bean dip, Sally? Didn’t you hear me?”

I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom’s eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.

“I was on my way, honey,” she told Gabe. “We were just talking about the trip.”

Gabe’s eyes got small. “The trip? You mean you were serious about that?”

“I knew it,” I muttered. “He won’t let us go.”

“Of course he will,” my mom said evenly. “Your stepfather is just worried about money. That’s all. Besides,” she added, “Gabriel won’t have to settle for bean dip. I’ll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works.”

Gabe softened a bit. “So this money for your trip…it comes out of your clothes budget, right?”

Aphrodite let out a shriek "Clothes budget!? Who does that man think he is!?" She turned towards Percy. "Please tell me that poor woman does not have one in the future."

Percy shook his head. "No she does not." Aphrodite let out a relieved sigh. "Good"

“Yes, honey,” my mother said.

“And you won’t take my car anywhere but there and back.”

“We’ll be very careful.”

Gabe scratched his double chin. “Maybe if you hurry with that sevenlayer dip…And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game.”

Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.

The demigods, along with Apollo and Hermes laughed. "Do it cousin." Hermes encouraged. Apollo continued to laugh and rolled his eyes. "As if that man could reach that note and not make it sound horrid"

Percy laughed.

But my mom’s eyes warned me not to make him mad. Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?

“I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I’m really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now.”

Gabe’s eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Anyone could detect the sarcasm in that statement from a mile away."

Percy smirked. "Perhaps not everyone."

“Yeah, whatever,” he decided.

He went back to his game.

“Thank you, Percy,” my mom said. “Once we get to Montauk, we’ll talk more about…whatever you’ve forgotten to tell me, okay?”

For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I’d seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air. But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.

An hour later we were ready to leave. Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom’s bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his ’78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.

“Not a scratch on this car, brain boy,” he warned me as I loaded the last bag. “Not one little scratch.”

Poseidon scowled deeper. "As if you're the one driving" Grover said/

Percy shook his head "That didn't matter to him." Jason huffed and crossed his arms, clearly annoyed.

Like I’d be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn’t matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he’d find a way to blame me.

Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can’t explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I’d seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. 

Everyone stared at him in shocked silence. "Thats a nature spirit gesture. How did you do that?" Percy shrugged "I don't know, it seemed right."

Annabeth shook her head "Thats probably going to be a common answer." She sighed

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he’d been shot from a cannon. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn’t stay long enough to find out.

I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.

Ares whistled "Now that is the right way to drive" He grinned

Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.

I loved the place.

We’d been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she’d met my dad.

Poseidon smiled and looked at Percy "I did not know you and your mother still went there" Percy smiled "We used to go there every year until... well you know, Gabe."

As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.

We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin’s windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.

I guess I should explain the blue food.

All the demigods loudly made noises of agreement. "Please do!" Leo sounded close to begging. "Honestly man, you still never told up." Jason said

Percy frowned "You guys could have, you know, asked. Like a normal person?"

Nico grinned. "But where's the fun in that Perce?" He teased.

Percy rolled his eyes "I can't with you people sometimes"

Piper grinned "It's okay Percy, we can't with you sometimes too."

Everyone burst out laughing. Once the laughter died down, Hestia continued.

See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn’t totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.

Grover sighed "Man, your mom is the best."

When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.

Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father. Mom’s eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.

Annabeth sighed mournfully "We never do"

All the demigods nodded in agreement.

“He was kind, Percy,” she said. “Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes.”

Hades nodded "Honestly child, you look just as he did when he was younger." Percy blushed slightly "I get that a lot." Poseidon nodded "It's true, you do get much of your looks from me."

Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. “I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud.”

Poseidon smiled warmly. "I am child."

I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.

“How old was I?” I asked. “I mean…when he left?”

She watched the flames. “He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin.”

“But…he knew me as a baby.”

“No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born.”

I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember…something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.

I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I’d felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he’d never even seen me… I

felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He’d left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.

Poseidon opened his mouth to speak but Percy spoke before he could. "I'm not angry or anything with you anymore. That was before I knew you and your reasons. I don't blame you anymore now." 

Poseidon nodded but still looked guilty.

“Are you going to send me away again?” I asked her. “To another boarding school?”

She pulled a marshmallow from the fire. “I don’t know, honey.” Her voice was heavy. “I think…I think we’ll have to do something.”

“Because you don’t want me around?”

"PERCY!!" The demigods yelled."I feel like I'm going to be hearing that a lot." Annabeth slapped his arm and huffed. "I hope you apologized to your poor mother."

Percy could feel his own regret and guilt mixed with the emotions from the story and it just made it 10x worse. "Yes, I did." He said as he bowed his head.

I regretted the words as soon as they were out.

My mom’s eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. “Oh, Percy, no. I—I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away.”

Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.

“Because I’m not normal,” I said.

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing, Percy. But you don’t realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you’d finally be safe.”

“Safe from what?”

She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I’d tried to forget.

During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broadbrimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.

Poseidon chuckled awkwardly. "I sent him. I sent him to check up on you." Percy smiled "The adults were mean to him but he was nice when he spoke to me." Poseidon laughed. "Oh yes, he reported about the 'indescribably ride adults' who kicked him out the park" Percy laughed.

Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I’d somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.

Zeus narrowed his eyes "Like Heracles." Percy shivered "Please, do not compare me to that guy,"

Zeus scowled. Brother. Hestia warned in his head. Zeus sighed and calmed slightly. Continue sister. He spoke to her

In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.

I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn’t make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn’t want that.

“I’ve tried to keep you as close to me as I could,” my mom said. “They told me that was a mistake. But there’s only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just…I just can’t stand to do it.”

“My father wanted me to go to a special school?”

“Not a school,” she said softly. “A summer camp.”

My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn’t even stayed around long enough to see me born—talk to my mom about a summer camp?

Annabeth snorted. "Oh, just because it is casually the only place where you're actually safe for once in your life."

Chiron sighed. Truly, the children did not deserve to be hunted by monsters. But thats just the way the world works.

And if it was so important, why hadn’t she ever mentioned it before?

“I’m sorry, Percy,” she said, seeing the look in my eyes. “But I can’t talk about it. I—I couldn’t send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good.”

“For good? But if it’s only a summer camp…”

She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.

That night I had a vivid dream.

All the demigods groaned."Demigod dreams." Will cursed.

The gods raised a brow. "Is it truly that bad?" Hestia asked

The demigods made sounds of 'mhm' or 'yep 'or some 'sadly'

The gods frowned. "Percy's are especially bad though." Nico said. "Most show future events or events that are about to happen or incredibly important stuff. But only the Apollo kids or Percy have clear and vivid dreams of future. Percy usually has then future, past, or present though." Will continued

The gods stared at him curiously. "It may be because he's most likely to be the prophecy child, due to being the only big three kid alive at the time. And the oldest." Athena said, gesturing towards Nico.

Percy leaned in behind Grover to whisper to Nico "Are we not gonna tell her that you're technically older?" 

Nico had a thoughtful look before shaking his head. "Nah. She doesn't have to know. At least not yet."

It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. 

Hestia groaned. "What in Chaos are you two arguing about now." She frowned. Zeus and Poseidon looked at each other. They looked back at Hestia after a moment. "We don't know sister" Zeus said. He looked almost pained to admit that.

Hestia narrowed her eyss at them before nodding. "Very well"

The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse’s muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle’s wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse’s wide eyes, and I screamed, No!

Zeus smirked "Hah, I won" Poseidon rolled his eyes and grumbled in annoyance.

I woke with a start.

Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.

With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, “Hurricane.”

Hades sighed. "Honestly, I can't with you two" 

I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.

Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice— someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.

My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.

Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn’t…he wasn’t exactly Grover.

Leo frowned "What does that mean?"

Percy shook his head "Spoilers."

“Searching all night,” he gasped. “What were you thinking?”

My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he’d come.

“Percy,” she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. “What happened at school? What didn’t you tell me?”

I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn’t understand what I was seeing.

“O Zeu kai alloi theoi!” he yelled. “It’s right behind me! Didn’t you tell her?”

I was too shocked to register that he’d just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I’d understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn’t have his pants on—and where his legs should be…where his legs should be…

Annabeth groaned. "Grover, you have got to stop doing that to people." 

Grover was about to respond before Hermes cut him off. "Wait, what's right behind him?"

Percy smirked. "Spoilers."

My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she’d never used before: “Percy. Tell me now!”

I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.

She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, “Get to the car. Both of you. Go!”

Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn’t running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.

Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.

Hestia closed the book and sighed. "Thats the end of the chapter"

Before anyone could do anything Percy sat up. "I would like to suggest we take a 10 minute break?" Zeus raised an eyebrow. "And why would we do that." Percy sighed. "You see, us demigods have ADHD, which means it's a struggle to stay still. And for us, we have been sitting still for 3 whole chapter, not including the commentary. So it would be greatly appreciated if we could have just a 10 minute break." 

Zeus studied Percy for a moment before sighing and gesturing for the door. "Go on then. 10 minutes only."

Percy smiled "Thank you, Lord Zeus." He said finally as all the demigods got up and rushed to the door.

Chapter Text

The first people out of the room were Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Will, Grover, Jason, Leo and Piper. They, all eight of them, walked with each other in a group. Reyna walked with Hazel and Frank out after the major group. The gods stayed behind in the throne room.

The first thing the demigods noticed as they walked out of the throne room was a huge dining area. But it wasn't in a room, it was outside.

There was a huge patch of flat green grass, and on top of that flat patch were pieces of wood, forming 4 pillars and a open square at the top. There was a slightly transparent fabric that blowed through the wind that connected all of the ceiling outline pieces of wood. There were also what looked like curtains that could be dropped down to cover the open space between pillars. 

Inside the pillars were about 6 huge tables that were wide, probably about a yard in width, and extremely long, probably about 17 yards. There were nice cloth covering the table. It was white with gold linen designs on the sides.

Around the tables, there was a waterfall and the grass was bright and green and there were plants and flowers everywhere. Occasionally, there would be a deer or two passing by. The sky was bright and clear and Apollo's sun shone bright on the area, highlighting everything in its path. The area looked straight out of a Disney movie.

The demigods stared in awe. "Wow." Someone said. Percy nodded in agreement. Wow was an incredible understatement. He thought to himself. 

He smiled and looked back at the other demigods. "Stay close, I'll let you guys know when the 10 minuted are up. Until then go explore and do... whatever it is you do." He chuckled. Everyone quickly made conversation with others and headed in their own directions. Percy grabbed the hands of Annabeth and Grover as he walked over to the waterfall. 

They both laughed and Annabeth rolled her eyes fondly. "Of course you'd go to the waterfall" Percy just grinned at her. Grover laughed "Really Annabeth, what did you expect him to do" Ignoring them, Percy tugged slightly harder at their hand and walked faster until they got to the edge of the lake that the waterfall fell into. 

Percy sighed, content to stay there all day and do nothing at all. "You guys ready to read about our first quest?" Annabeth groaned "I am not excited to hear about how rude I was to you."

"Yeah.. You didn't like him at all." Grover bleated. Annabeth huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I didn't 'not like him' I just.. you know... thought we had to be rivals because of our parents." 

Percy laughed. "Could've fooled me" He teased. Annabeth slapped his arm and pouted. "Whatever." She grumbled. Percy flicked his finger and water sprayed on her. She gasped but he quickly waved his hand and dried her off.

Grover groaned. "What I'm not excited for is having to listen to you two pining on each other for 4, almost 5, whole years." Percy cackled and shrugged. "Yeah we were pretty bad."

Grover just rolled his eyes "You don't even know" 

Percy and Annabeth laughed again.

For the next few minuted, they just talked idly before Percy stood up and whistled. "Okay guys, 10 minuted are up!" He called. "Lets head back in!". The demigods all walked back towards the entrance of the throne room and once they were all there, Percy opened the doors and they sat down.

_______________________

Once Percy let them off to do their own activities, Nico quickly grabbed Will's hand and they headed off into the forest. The place was beautiful. The trees stood tall and healthy, there were animals all over but not in a crowded way. Occasionally, there would be a butterfly of ladybug or something to land on one of their hands or somewhere, but they would leave just as quickly.

After about 4 minutes of walking, they reached a huge flat open grass field, surrounded by trees and flowers, Apollo's sun shining brightly. 

Nico tugged on Will's hand again, pulling him forward and sitting down in the sun. Will in front of him, Nico with his back to the sun and Will with his face to the sun, accentuating his features.

"So" Nico started, before Will cut him off. "Whats your favorite color?" Will asked. 

Nico blinked in surprise before shaking his head "Contradicting to theories, it's not black." He frowned slightly, but Will just smiled brighter. "Okay, so what is it." Nivo thought for a moment, staring off into the distance and telling his answer. "Blue, a light type of blue, almost like the sky." 

Will raised a brow but nodded "Why?" He asked but Nico shook his head. "Whats your favorite color?" Nico asked.

Will thought for a moment before humming and saying "A deep brown." Nico didn't question but nodded. 

They asked basic questions like that for a few more minutes before they heard Percy whistle, which, somehow, rang across the entirety of the area.

Will stood and smiled down at Nico and gestured for him to follow him. Nico stood and followed him, side by side.

_______________________

Hazel, Frank, Leo, Jason, Piper, and Reyna all sat down at the tables. They didn't talk about much. Just about what happened before Reyna showed up with Will and Nico, which wasn't much.

After about 3 minuted, Leo sighed and slumped against Jason and rested his feet in Franks lap. "There are so many booksss." He complained. Hazel nodded. "I get we have to read all these adventures and stuff but thats, like, a lot." She sighed. 

Reyna nodded and continued. "Also, this 'price' situation that Percy has going on isn't going to be fun for him." Piper nodded and frowned "Especially when him and Annabeth fell, you know, into the pit.." Her voiced dropped to a low whisper. 

The others seemed to have not thought about it and paled. "Oh gods." Hazel and Frank said simultaneously. "Poor Percy. Him having to emotionally go through the fact he's there again and the traumatic experiences and then also feel it? So not good" He frowned.

Jason nodded "And I honestly doubt that the fates would let Percy not have to feel the price because they 'want the gods to know how their actions affect others' and what not" he sighed.

Piper grabbed his hand and Leo patted his shoulder. "Hey it's okay dude. They got through it once, and now they know they get out and it won't last forever." Leo tried to comfort. 

Jason sighed and nodded. "I guess so." 

They finished just as Percy stood up and whistled "Okay, 10 minuted are up!" He announced. "Lets head back in!" 

Once everyone was there, he did a head-count and opened the doors and walked in.

The gods had not moved from their spots prior. The demigods walked in and sat down at the couches next to their godly parent (Seeing as the rest were removed besides one), and the ones who didn't have a godly parent sat at the only other one available. "Let us continue." Hestia said as she handed the book off to her Nephew, Apollo.

Apollo took the book and opened it to the right page.

Chapter Text

Apollo clears his throat before reading the chapter title. But right before he can start a light flashed through the room. "Oh come on. Not again." Hermes complains.

After the flash, Thalia, Nico, Clarisse, Chris, and the Stoll brothers stood in the middle of the room. All of a sudden, along with the new people, everybody got teleported on a couch next to the thrones of their godly parent. Everyone looked shocked, and confused. Especially with Thalia and Nico appearing in the middle as well but no one commented.

Percy sighed rather dramatically and slumped back in his seat. He moved his hand in a gesture of showing everyone in the room "We're reading about me. We just got to the part where I'm arriving at camp."

They looked at him for a moment, a blank look on their face, before they nodded and got comfortable on the couches.

My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting.

Percy winced. Yeah, this was not going to be a fun chapter. At least in his book. Heh, his book. Because it's a book about himself. Anyways, yeah, not a fun chapter.

Grover threw a pillow at Percy to get his attention. When he saw Percy was leaning in, he leaned in too to whisper, "Is this when..." he makes a small gesture of his head. Percy sighs and nods. 

The other people from camp half blood all lean forward slightly. They never really got to hear how it actually went down.

We tore through the night along dark country roads. . .  wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.

Most of the room burst out laughing. Grover bleated in annoyance. "Wow Percy, thats just so nice of you." He huffed and crossed his arms. Percy smiled sheepishly. "Sorry G-Man" though Grover could see that he clearly wasn't very sorry.

But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo—lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.

Conner and Travis snickered. Grover shot them a half hearted glare.

All I could think to say was, “So, you and my mom…know each other?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "When you say it like that, it makes it sound weird." She points out. Percy just shrugs. He can't control his thoughts, and usually what he says either.

Grover’s eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there . . . "watching me?"

Travis whistled. "Oh ho-ho. Seems our dear Percy has a stalker." He grinned. Grover flushed. "I was not stalking him. Just...keeping tabs." Conner sniggered. "Whatever you say man."

"Keeping tabs on you . . . is a donkey-"

"GOAT!" Grover bleated. Clarisse crossed her arms. "You're lucky it wasn't Gleeson. He would have your head." She grinned at him. 

Most of the seven nodded in agreement. Some (Leo, Jason, and Piper) shuddered the tinniest bit. That would not end well. 

Percy shook his head. "Yeah, glad it wasn't Hedge who I said that too." He said before grimacing. "I cannot believe i just agreed with Clarisse." Annabeth, and the rest from camp half blood, besides the ones who weren't there before HoO grimaced and nodded. "Once in a lifetime." Nico commented.

Apollo cleared his voice. "If we could continue?" He left no room for argument.

Grover let out a sharp . . . the waist down!"

"You just said it didn't matter" Conner pointed out.

"You just said it didn't matter"

Travis mock gasped. "You think like Percy!" Conner wailed, exaggerated obviously. "Oh no. Dear brother, I must ask you one thing before i die- Ow!"

Conner looked over at where the pillow to the face came from and saw Percy with his arms crossed. "Shut up Conner." He huffed, though Conner could tell he was trying not to smile.

Him and Travis smirked but said nothing.

"Blaa-ha-ha! There. . .  was a Ms. Dodds!"

Will looked at him with a blank face. "Really Percy? Thats what you focused on?"

"Hey, I was thinking i was going insane for months! Let a guy want some confirmation."

Frank nodded. "I don't blame him though."

"Of course" . . .  dream up something this weird.

Piper laughed. "No, no. I definitely think you could."

Leo smirked. "I know he can."

My mom made a hard left. . . .  ladies cut yarn."

Annabeth nodded. "Yes. Exactly for that reason. Or, well, mainly."

"Those weren't old . . . Not you, you"

Travis shook his head. "Face it Grover, you can't hide anything from him." All the demigods grumbled in agreement.

Hermes raised a brow at them but said nothing. So far the gods have not been intervening for the sake of figuring out what happened.

"Boys!" my mom said

"Thank the gods for Sally" Annabeth said.

She pulled the wheel . . . and our car exploded.

Poseidon snarled and looked at Zeus' direction, a warning evident in his eyes. "That had better not been you, brother." Zeus sunk back in his chair the smallest bit but said nothing. Poseidon sighed after a few seconds and gestured for Apollo to continue.

I remember feeling weightless

Percy winced slightly at the feeling. That was never not going to be weird.

like i was crushed, fried, . . . Lightning. That was the only explanation.

Poseidon glared at his brother and snarled once again. "And why exactly did you attempt to, not only, strike down Percy, his mother, and a saytr who was supposed to bring him to camp safely," Grover winced at that. "but also while they were on the run from a monster, sent by our dear brother." Poseidon said calmly. 

Zeus sunk into his throne once more before straightening up. "He is a forbidden child. He has no right to live." Zeus argued back. Poseidon raised a brow and continued to glare at him. "You have, not only one, but apparently two," He gestured towards Jason. "forbidden children. I don't think you of all people deserve the right to try and punish another kid born against the oath."

Before Zeus could answer or Poseidon could continue, Percy raised a hand and called, "Father." making all eyes turn towards him "I understand that you are upset but for me this was almost 5 years ago for me," He winced, not believing it had already been that long but at the same time, not believing it had only been that long. "and I believe it has already happened to you, no?"

Percy looked at them skeptically and took their facial expressions as conformation. "Then it has already been set in stone, no need to fuss over it. Now, let us continue."

Before anyone could disagree, Apollo started reading again.

We'd been blasted right . . . and I knew there was hope

A few people let out a small chuckle as Grover blushed and groaned softly. It seemed he was just getting embarrassed left and right.

“Percy,” my mother said, “we have to…”. . . It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too.

Annabeth groaned. "Just your luck that both of your doors would be jammed." 

Percy just grinned sheepishly. He wanted to delay this for as long as he could because he really  had no desire about the -temporary- death of his mother. But at the same time, he wanted it to get done quickly. Like ripping off a bandaid. He was torn between rushing Apollo and making comments after every line. 

He sighed and leaned back into his seat and decided to just let it get bu quickly.

I looked up desperately at the hole . . . “Mom, you’re coming too.”

Leo frowned, full of sympathy. He understood completely. If that were his mother (and she weren't dead) and he was in that situation with her, he would have tried to get her to go with him no matter what.

Poseidon eyed his son. If he were staying in behind in the face of danger to try and get his mother to a camp that she can't even enter, that might be bad. He may leave himself or sacrifice himself for people he shouldn't be doing that for. He let out a small sigh so no one could hear and leaned back in his throne.

Clarrise, the Stolls and everyone else who was at camp or heard the story, leaned forward. They had all wondered how this happened and how he got out of this alive. Especially now that he refused to leave without his mother and he arrived at camp alive but without a mother. Some knew of his mother dying but most did not, dur to it bering personal.

Her face was pale, her eyes . . . looked. like horns...

Poseidon buried his face in his hands. His son hadn't even figured out he was a half-blood -This had already happened for gods sake- but he could already tell that he was going to give him heart attacks in the future. Even if gods couldn't get them.

"He doesn't want . . . wet waist-high grass.

Grover sent Percy a grateful look. "Thanks man." 

Percy smiled in return "Of course G-Man, I'm not leaving you"

Glancing back, I got my .  .  .  get from an electric sharpener.

Thalia chuckled slightly and the corner of Nico's lips quirked up slightly. 

Annabeth sighed in exasperation but also fondness at the ridiculous comment in danger.

Poseidon tensed slightly. Not only did his son not have a weapon, but he wsas untrained and unwilling to leave his mother behind for himself. It wasn't a bad thing but it could get him killed.

I recognized the monster, . . .  “Names have power.”

Athena nodded. "Smart woman." 

Poseidon wanted to agree but refused to agree with Athena for anything. Instead Percy nodded "Of course." He didn't say it with a bite or obnoxiously, it was as if he were stating a fact.

"If only you actually listened." Annabeth shook her head. Thalia laughed and covered her mouth. "Yeah, it would help you not get in as much trouble." She teased.

Percy rolled his eyes and smirked. "You of all people should know that even if I didn't use their names, I would still get attacked basically the same amount." He stated. She grimaced but nodded her head nonetheless.

Poseidon looked at his soon. If he truly did not care about saying names, than that could be bad for everyone around him, especially Pecry himself.

Apollo took the silence as a sign to continue.

The pine tree was still . . . Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.

Conner smirked "Oops." 

Oops.

All demigods and some gods laughed. "Oh no! You think like Percy! Again!" Travis exclaimed dramatically. Conner gasped and put a hand to his chest and slumped against Travis. "Grant me mercy brother. Let me die without this hell. I can't keep doing this."

Percy rolled his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms. "I'm not that bad" Everyone eyed his good naturally before laughing.

Apollo cleared his throat. "If you lot could stop interrupting?" He said. Everyone quieted down, some apologizing.

“Percy,” my mom said. “When he sees us, he’ll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way—directly sideways. He can’t change directions very well once he’s charging. Do you understand?”

Athena nodded once again. 

"She seems to be up on the myths" Hermes stated. Percy nodded "She studied them once I was born"

“How do you know . . . Remember what I said.”

Percy was suddenly hit with a wave of fear and guilt, remembering his mother die in front of him. He wanted to reach out to Annabeth or something but everyone had moved to sit next to their godly parent -or at least by them- and he wasn't exactly close to his father so he didn't want to really touch him that much (unless he hugged him but thats beside the point) and holding his hand would be awkward.

He sighed and decided to accept sitting by himself. He brought one leg up to his chest and wrapped his arms around is leg, resting his head on his knee.

I didn’t want to split up, but I . . . He reeked like rotten meat.

Most people wrinkled their noses. "Oh gross." Nico said. He had no urge or want to smell that, especially since it probably smelt worse than described.

Thalia nodded in agreement. "Don't feel like smelling that in person."

Zeu frowned slightly. "You shouldn't be fighting it anyway."

Thalia raised an eye in his direction but nodded and said nothing. Jason eyes her carefully. She just shrugged and he shrugged back, as if saying 'what just happened' and 'do I look like I know?'

He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.

Poseidon winced. He knew this already happened but he still didn't want to think about his son fighting the minotaur practically alone. He glanced at his son who was in the couch next to him. He wanted to hold on to him to make sure he was still there, even though he knew he was, but he assumed it would be unappreciated.

The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, . . . as the monster charged her.

Percy shut his eyes tight but it didn't help.

Annabeth eyed him with worry. She knew how much his mom had and does mean to him. She wanted to go over and grab his hand but she didn't know if it would be helpful at all.

Everyone looked at him with a tad bit of worry and sympathy. Many being there before.

She tried to sidestep, as she’d told . . . blinding flash, and she was simply…gone.

Artemis raised a brow. "Thats not how it works." Everyones attention shifted to her. Apollo raised a brow as well "What do you mean, sister?". Artemis shook her head. "She is mortal correct?" She looked at Percy. He nodded. "Than she should not have disappeared in gold dust, a way a monster would when killed." Athena finished for her. Artemis nodded.

Everyone turned their attention to Hades with a wondering gaze. He shrugged. "Maybe I did it, maybe I didn't. I do not know." Eyes narrowed. "How do you not know? This has already happened, oh dear brother." Poseidon said. Hades only shrugged again but didn't elaborate further.

Apollo decided to continue since they would obviously not be getting an answer.

“No!” Anger replaced my fear

"Take cover!" Conner yelled. All the demigods pretended to take cover. Percy rolled his eyes but did not comment further.

Newfound strength burned in my limbs— . . . “Hey, stupid! Ground beef!”

Clarisse smirked at him "Thats the best you got Prissy? Come on now, you need to work on those." Percy rolled his eyes but smirked as well, "I just so happen to not spend all my time thinking up insults, La Rue." She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth, ready to fire something back but. Apollo cut her off.

“Raaaarrrrr!” The monster turned toward me . . . landing on his neck.

Everyone stared at Percy in shock and awe. "Literally, how did you do that." Nico said, though it looked like he was fighting back a small smile. 

Percy shrugged. "The rain water gave me an energy boost." He said plainly.

Poseidon shook his head. "My domain is the sea, not any water. You should not get a boost from simply being in the rain." Percy just shrugged, not having an answer for that.

"He is still tall. About 10-15 feet high. You should not have been able to just that high even with a power boost." Hermes stated, eyeing Percy with curiosity. Percy slumped under all the attention. The feeling of losing his mom again was enough, he didn't want people to interrogate him. He sent Apollo a pleading look. He was also eyeing Percy curiously but decided to save his suffering and continued to read.

How did I do that? I didn’t have time . . .  nearly knocked my teeth out.

Percy grunted in surprise and pain as his whole head, mostly his jaw, had pain shoot through him. Poseidon looked over at him, being the only one that heard. "Are you alright?" He eyed him with worry. Percy nodded. "Yeah, fine."

Poseidon didn't believe that but decided not to comment.

he bull-man staggered around, trying . . . one horn and I pulled backward with all my might.

Ares scoffed. "That won't work kid. Even with the energy boost."

Percy got the urge laugh in his face, to tell him that it did work, but bit on the inside of his cheek to keep from commenting.

Everyone who was at camp eyed his. so that was how he got the horn. Most had thought. Clarisse just scoffed.

The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—snap!

Everyone eyed him in awe again. He shook his head. "Can we not talk about this right now. Maybe later." Everyone murmured something but they all eventually agreed. Though, reluctantly.

The bull-man screamed and flung me through . . . weapon the size of a knife.

Percy whined so no one could hear. His head was pounding and suddenly the lights were too bright and everything was too loud. He leaned his head back and shut his eyes, trying to ignore it.

The monster charged. Without thinking, . . . My head felt like it was splitting open.

Percy groaned, this time loud enough for people around the throne room to hear. Everyone looked over at him. "Percy, are you sure you're alright" Poseidon asked. Percy wanted to either nod or shake his head, but to much movement made him feel he was about to faint.

Poseidon looked at Apollo. They seemed to have a telepathic conversation before Apollo teleported next to him and placed a hand on the back of Percy's hair. He squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't remember concussions hurting this bad. Concussions? Where had that idea come from.

Apollo's hand glowed slightly. "Concussion." He stated. "But he didn't have one when we got here." Hazel said. 

Apollo opened his mouth to say something before a note appeared in is hand. He began to read it out loud.

Dear,

Gods, mortals, and everyone in between

It did say you were all sent here to read about the life of a demigod and to learn the future in hopes that some things could be changed. To put this to the full affect, the things felt in these books shall be felt in the current time. Please be watchful for injuries

Sincerely,

The Fates

Everyone looked around in wonder. Would it be just Percy or all of them. They were in no rush to find out.

"Can you heal this than?" Percy asked, though is was more like a single breath or a grunt. Apollo's hand glowed once more before he frowned and shook his head. "I assumed it will be healed once it's healed in books, or the chapter is over." Percy made a sound of acknowledgement but nothing else.

Apollo went back to his throne and picked up the book.

I was weak and scared and  . . . —I wasn’t going to let him go. 

Grover smiled thankfully to Percy.

The last thing I remember is collapsing . . . curled like a princess’s.

Percy and Annabeth blushed. Leo whistled "A princess? Thats the best description yet." Piper laughed. "Of course it was Annabeth too."

They both looked down at me, and the girl said, “He’s the one. He must be.”

Travis sniggered. "Yes Annie. He is in fact 'The one'" He teased. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Shut up."

“Silence, Annabeth,” the man said. “He’s still conscious. Bring him inside.”

Chiron smiled slightly at the memory of them so many years ago.

"Chapters over" Apollo said as he closed the book. Percy sighed in relief and stretched his arms and cracked his back and neck.

"I have concluded-" "Wow, big words." Thalia teased. "Shut up. Anyway," Percy said calmly, no ire behind it. "I have concluded that the pain is gone after the chapter, as Apollo said." Everyone nodded. 

"Who's next?" Apollo asked. Will opened his arm. "I will read, father." Apollo smiled and handed him the book.

Chapter Text

Will grabbed the book from his fathers hand and opened it to the right page.

I Play Pinochle With A Horse

Everyones eyes moved towards Dionysus. He looked around the room over his magazine,, shrugged and went back to flipping through pages and paying barely any mind.

I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.

Most people laughed and Grover let out an embarrassed bleat and Percy blushed slightly. Conner nudges Travis and whispers something in his ear they they both snicker before Will clears his throat and they both hit elbow to elbow but quieted down so he can read.

I must’ve woken up several times, but what . . . smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.

Athena raised a brow and looked at her daughter. "Why are you the one feeding the boy?" She asked. Apollo nodded in agreement.

Annabeth shrugged. "I wanted answers out of him." She made it obvious she was not elaborating further.

When she saw my eyes open, she asked, “What will happen at the summer solstice?”

Demeter raised a brow "How was he supposed to know when the solstice was?" she questioned. Annabeth shrugged. "I thought he was the prophecy child which, I thought meant that he knew all the information and everything." 

Apollo raised a brow and immediately interrupted Demeter from what she was saying. "Are you saying he is not the prophecy child?" He asked, almost suspicious. Annabeth shook her head and tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at the god. "No. Why?"

Apollo stared at her blankly. "Well, for starters, you said -and i quote-, "I thought he was the prophecy child", which insists that you thought but were wrong. Hence, him not being the prophecy child." Apollo pointed out.

She nodded and then shook her head. "Thats not what I meant. He's very obviously-" She got cut off and made a choking noise before shaking her head. "I'm assuming that's a spoiler."

Apollo nodded but seemed to get the message.

I managed to croak, “What?” . . . on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.

"Argus" Percy said. More to himself than anything.

When I finally came around for good, there was . . . tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.

Groaning, Pecry shook his head. "It doesn't even hurt that much, it's more uncomfortable than anything" he said quietly. Poseidon eyed him with worry but decided not to fuss over him. Too much.

On the table next to me was a tall drink . . .stuck through a maraschino cherry.

"Ambrosia." Apollo said, more to himself. He nodded as if accepting something.

My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.

"Don't drop it, you need it." Poseidon said.

Percy huffed and replied, "It said almost for a reason."

Will decided to start reading before some type of debate or argument started

“Careful,” a familiar voice said. . . . Not the goat boy.

"At least you wore your disguise" Thalia said.

Percy nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah, if you looked like normal you I would not have been able to handle it."

So maybe I’d had a . . . the tip splattered with dried blood.

Ares nodded. "Pretty good spoil of war."

Percy grimaced. Nice (well, nice-er) Ares was still weird, especially to him.

It hadn’t been a . . . Nothing should look beautiful.

Leo nodded in agreement. After all, he had felt the same when his own mom died.

“I’m sorry,” Grover sniffled. “I’m a failure. I’m—I’m the worst satyr in the world.”

Thalia threw a pillow at grover. He bleated and narrowed his eyes at her "What was that for?" 

Thalia crossed her arms and glared at Grover. "You saying you're the worst satyr in the world. Because you're not. You're the best satyr in the world."

Jason grimaced. "Don't let Coach Hedge hear you say that." They ignored him, but Clarisse nodded in agreement from her spot. 

"That was 8 years ago Thals" Grover argued back. "You better not still think that" She said (threatened). Grover gulped and nodded. 

He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. . . . Grover was a satyr.

Was this satyr really the best for his son? Poseidon wondered. If he couldn't even keep his own disguise, maybe he shouldn't have been the one with him. Though he supposed he should wait for the story to progress since his son seemed so fond of him.

I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I’d find tiny horns on his head.

Grover bleated and looked over at Percy. "You better not." Percy laughed softly and grinned sheepishly. "I won't, I won't." He reassured, though it didn't sound very reassuring.

But I was too miserable to care . . . have to live with…Smelly Gabe?

Poseidon scoffed and rolled his eyes. "As if that would be allowed to happen." Percy raised a brow at him and gave him a questioning look but didn't say anything.

"Don't worry, we would have a nice long talk with him before you had to do that" Thalia said. Almost all the demigods nodded their heads in agreement. 

Percy shook his head, though he had a fond smile on his face. "Most of you guys didn't know me or didn't like me at the time." 

They all laughed. Aphrodite made a sound of disgust from her throne. "Oh us, I can't imagine having to stay with such a disgusting man." Percy laughed softly and humorlessly and nodded. "Yeah, theres nothing good about it, believe me." She shot him a slight sympathetic look, but he guessed it was still about the 'clothing budget' thing.

No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army.

Everyone who had been at camp with him at the time laughed. "You could barely pass for your age, Prissy. Let alone seventeen" She teased. Annabeth chuckled and nodded. "Sorry Percy, but she's right." 

Percy shot them all a face betrayed look before a small smile broke through and he laughed. "Okay fine. Yes, maybe i was a little scrawny." "Scrawny is an understatement." Chris laughed.

Chiron chuckled and gave Percy a sympathetic look. "I apologize Percy, but the rest are right. You would not have been able to get into the army or go for seventeen" Percy crossed his arms and huffed. Eventually everyone quieted and Will continued.

I’d do something. . . . supposed to protect you.”

Poseidon resisted the urge to nod in agreement. He was lucky Percy was alive or everyone would have felt his wrath.

“Did my mother ask . . . I recoiled at the taste,

Apollo and most of the other gods frowned. "Why would you recoil at the taste? It's supposed to taste fantastic." He said. "It was, but i was expecting something else." Apollo nodded, seeming to like that enough as an answer.

because I was expecting apple juice.  . . . ice cubes hadn’t even melted.

"Don't drink too much, you could burn from the inside out." Hermes stated. Percy nodded, but seemed slightly irritated. "Yeah, I know that now"

“Was it good?” . . . throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards.”

A lot of the demigods and some gods chuckled but didn't speak.

“That’s good,” he . . . I wasn’t going to let it go.

The demigods nodded their heads. "Especially don't let it go unsupervised around the Hermes kids." Annabeth said.

Said kids -Chris,Conner, and Travis- grinned or smirked. Hermes just smiled proudly at his kids. From the look, his kids beamed from the attention from their father.

As we came around the . . . wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.

Everyone from Camp Half-Blood puffed up their chests in pride and grinned. Everyone else, from Camp Jupiter, had a curious look on their faces, they had never been to Camp Half-Blood but they had seen the live feed from the ship but it got covered up. They wondered how it would look in real life.

Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across . . . got the feeling this guy could’ve out-gambled even my stepfather.

Dionysus perked up slightly because of the description of him. He scoffed. "Of course i could Perry." He seemed offended that Percy even considered otherwise.

“That’s Mr. D,” Grover murmured . . . would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. 

Annabeth raised her brow and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why did it ruin the look?"

"It'll explain." Percy said.

They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.

Annabeth blinked and then laughed and smirked. "I probably was." Athena smiled proudly, though Annabeth refused to look at her mom.

Some of the others chuckled. 

She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, You killed a minotaur! or Wow, you’re so awesome! or something like that.

The demigod and some gods laughed. Percy blushed slightly in embarrassment. The demigods because they knew Annabeth would never say that. The gods because they knew a spawn of Athena had a whole lot of pride and would probably never say that to someone else.

"I doubt one of Athenas kids would say something of the sorts" Demeter said. Hephaestus nodded. "Never an Athena spawn."

Instead she said, “You drool when you sleep.”

The demigods started laughing. Annabeth smirked. "A habit you -unfortunately- never grew out of." She shook her head but there was a fond expression on her face.

Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair . . . the ex–Mr. Brunner said.

More laughter. Chiron smiled and shook his head.

“I’m afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron.” . . . I’d hate to think I’ve wasted my time.”

Poseidon frowned at his son being called a waste of time. He opened his mouth to say something but instead, Nico spoke. "He was not a waste of time and if anyone believes that they can shove their opinion up their-" "Nico!" Will half yelled, half laughed. Nico put his hands up defensively. "Hey, i was only being honest". Almost everyone started laughing. Eventually they calmed down, though Nico still had a smug look on his face.

“House call?” . . . why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?” Mr. D snorted. “I asked the same question.”

Poseidon shot Dionysus a look while Dionysus pretended not to see.

Most to all of the demigods gave gave Percy a sympathetic look, knowing what it was like to be in a state of confusion and shock.

The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.

Hermes glared at Dionysus. Satyrs came from his son, Pan, and even tho he didn't know much of them on a very personal level, he loved his son and whats his, so he didn't appreciate Dionysus making the poor satyr flinch every time he got even close to them. 

Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know . . . Chiron said. “I’m afraid our usual orientation film won’t be sufficient.”

"Oh my gods!" Annabeth all but yelled. "Thats why you were so clueless! I thought you were acting dumb on purpose." She groaned and buried her hands in her face. Percy laughed. "Yep. I have yet to see it."

Poseidon looked over at Chiron and raised and eyebrow. "Why would the orientation film not have worked?" He asked Chiron. "Well," Chiron started. "We figured he was a child of the big three since seemed powerful and grover said he could smell it too. And also, he just lost his mother and i think there was already too much happening at once." 

Poseidon shook his head. "But the film should have explained things, no? That is the whole point isn't it?" Chiron nodded and looked down for a second. "Thinking of it now, we probably should have shown him." Poseidon nodded.

The rest of the seven looked at them weirdly. "You guys have an orientation film?" Hazel asked. Annabeth nodded. "It's for the new campers to get introduced to our world and camp and everything." Hazel nodded. Leo put his hand up. "Hold up." He gestured between him, Jason, and piper. "We didn't get the orientation film." Annabeth nodded again. "Yeah. We gave you a tour and stuff like normal but we explained stuff during the tour so you didn't need it."

This time, it was franks turn to pipe up. "So did Percy get it explained to him by Chiron during the tour?" Annabeth grimace and picked at her nails. "Well you see..." Percy cut her off before she could answer. "You'll find out." He gestured for will to continue.

“Orientation film?” I asked. “No,” Chiron decided. “Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover . . . “Wait,” I told Chiron. “You’re telling me there’s such a thing as God.”

The gods looked offended and opened their mouths to comment but Will continued reading before it could turn into a whole fiasco.

“Well, now,” Chiron said. “God—capital G . . . “Zeus,” I said. “Hera. Apollo. You mean them."

"Hah!" Apollo said. "I was mentioned." Artemis rolled her eyes. "So was our father and I doubt Percy necessarily likes him" Zeus gave Percy a distasteful look. Apollo stuck his tongue out at her. Artemis rolled her eyes and muttered something -probably insults- under her breath.

And there it was again—distant thunder on . . . before there was science.”

The demigods who had stayed at Camp Half-Blood for even a bit of time grimaced. They knew it was a bad subject for the gods. The gods however, looked irritated and angry, but also mixed with a slight grimace.

“Science!” Mr. D scoffed. “And tell me, Perseus Jackson”—I flinched when he said my real name, which . . . “Oh, you’d better,” Mr. D murmured. “Before one of them incinerates you.”

"Dionysus." Poseidon said with a hiss and a scowl. Dionysus sunk in his throne. "I didn't incinerate him, obviously." He gestured to where older Percy was sitting on a couch next to Poseidon's throne. Will cleared his throat to continue even though Poseidon was still glaring at Dionysus.

Grover said, “P-please, sir. He’s just lost his mother. He’s in shock.” . . . fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits.”

Dionysus grumbled something about how annoying his punishment is and others of the sorts.

“A wood nymph,” I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can . . . “A god. You.”

"Percy!" most of the demigods yelled. Percy winced slightly. "Okay! I know! I get it. 'Don't piss off or insult gods, Percy. That could get you killed." He said in a mocking tone. Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Maybe take your own advice?" She mock suggested. "I was mocking you guys." He said simply. She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else, though a smile fought on to her face no matter how hard she tried to hold it down.

Most of the gods were staring at him in shock. How can one be so careless with names, reckless with insults and doesn't care about insulting gods? It was hard to believe the boy had survived this long. And him mocking people warning him about insulting them. It was truly a miracle he was alive.

He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny . . . “And then they died.”

The gods looked speechless, as if they couldn't believe someone actually thought that they -gods- had died. 

The demigods laughed. "I love how you finish every story you tell with 'they won' or 'they died'" Chris said. Percy laughed. "Hey, if it works, it works."

“Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, . . . Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let’s meet the other campers.”

"And chapter done." Will said as he closed the book. Percy sighed and changed positions to lay down on the couch. "I'm so ready to sleep man." The demigods all made noises of agreement.

Hestia rose, bringing the attention to herself. "Okay, since you all are tired and it is getting late, we will read one more chapter and then I can show you all the guest rooms and you all can rest up. How does that sound?"

All the demigods collectively said things in between yeah and okay, sounds good and just noises of agreement. "Who's reading next?" Will asked. Chiron smiled and reached out. "I'll read it." Will smiled back and handed him the book. Chiron opened the book and flipped to the right page.