Chapter Text
Percy woke with a start. Another dream. This time it was of a raining night. Smelly Gabe’s car lay crashed at the base of the hill, completely and utterly crushed. Thunder boomed above him, lightning struck with a loud bang. A number of loud screeches followed where ever he ventured in the dream. The feeling of being chased set his brain on fire. He couldn’t run from it, he couldn’t get away. The sound of hooves and guttural roars inched closer to him—until it was right behind him. That was when he woke up.
His mind raced as sweat dropped down his back. His hair was slick to his forehead. Slowly, he reached for his journal from under his mattress to document what he had seen. As his breathing slowed, Percy flipped through the pages to doodle images from the dream.
Percy used his journal as a way to get everything out of is brain. There were drawings, a few more detailed than others, sometimes he heard whispered phrases he would record, most of them had some sort of spelling error, but it was legible enough. While Percy a no artist, his drawings were good enough to look better than a five-year-old’s. His scribing habit was something he had picked up at a young age after a recommendation from his mom.
Most of the time when he drew, his mind would wander to other places. A few times he even put down stuff he never even dreamt or saw during the day. As he drew, hours passed by him. To him it was mere minutes. The pencil raced over the pages with haste. Often, he would get lost in his mind, causing him to lose track of the time.
Soon enough, a shining light came through the dorm window, the sun was bright this morning. It glowed through the soft rain outside. Percy was almost sure it would pick up soon, it had been storming terribly for a few weeks now.
Suddenly, Percy’s best friend Grover plopped down in front of him, almost hitting his head on the bed that was above.
“Morning, Perce! Did you sleep well? Or at all?” He asked, peering at the journal in his friend’s lap. Not getting enough rest seemed to be a habit of Percy’s
Quickly, the boy shut his archive of drawings with a shcmack! “Uhm, I think I got a few hours. I’m not totally sure.”
For some reason, Percy was really protective of his journal. Something told him that others shouldn’t look in it. His drawings were his—and his only. They weren’t for prying eyes.
“I guess a little’s better than nothing. Just make sure you sleep more tonight!” Grover said, cheerfully. “Our museum field trip is tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’ll try.” Percy yawed, wiping the weariness from his eyes. “I guess it’s time to get ready for the day. I’ll meet you at breakfast.”
“See you there! It’s french toast sticks today!” Grover left with the peppiest step he could manage with his forearm crutches. French toast was one of his favorites, so he’d likely already be eating when Percy arrived.
Percy sighed and placed the journal back under his the corner of his mattress. Today was like every other day. He flipped up his sheets and switched his sleep shirt for a graphic tee and worn jeans. As usual, he placed the necklace with two charms above his shirt. One charm depicted the sun, the other waves. It was a gift from someone in the family when he had been born. For some reason he always felt drawn to it. He wore it almost every day. Percy brushed his teeth and began to head for the food hall. He managed to avoid the posse of girls that would torment Grover and himself. As he silently walked, whispers began to start.
“No, I didn’t see that coming, Annie!”
“Here my son…”
“We have to get out!”
“…not my specialty.”
As Percy neared where Grover sat, the voices halted. Being around him was always calming. Grover gave off this vibe— or aura of forests and chirping birds in the morning. Percy sat down, Grover had already brought him a tray. He smiled at his friend and began a conversation, “Hey, can you help me out during study hall? I have an english test the period after and would appreciate the assist.”
“Yeah, sure! I don’t see why not I just have to-“ Grover began, as a piece of french toast flew into his hair, courtesy of a girl from Nancy Bobofit’s group of friends.
Percy seethed, he hated them with a passion. Not a day went by when they weren’t being harassed. When it was just him, he had no issue taking it, but Grover was his only friend at this place. Percy stood up to confront them, but Grover just put a hand on his shoulder. As another piece came flying towards them, Grover hopped up and caught it with his mouth, then fell to the ground—landing on his butt. He burst out with laughter, and Percy soon followed suit. He helped Grover up from the ground, the contagious laughter dying down.
“You okay, man?” Percy asked.
Grover just chuckled, “Yeah, dude! At least I got some extra food!”
They both began laughing again. “Yea—so what were we saying? Oh—yes! I will meet you in the library during study hall.” Just then, the bell rang with its usual loud tolls.
“I’ll see you later,” Percy said, and took his leave.
His first class was math with Mrs. Dodds. For some reason, she hated him with a fiery fury. She purposely asked him to do the more difficult problems in front of the class or picked on him when he couldn’t get the answer quite right. Percy despised her and her class.
He entered the class room and immediately felt a malicious her aura. Mrs. Dodds gave off an odd vibe, fire and bats. He ignored it as always and sat at his desk. He tried his best to retain what he could, but most of it escaped him. Math was not his strong suit. In fact, school in its entirety was something he didn’t have a good track record with.
He turned to look at a poster for one second to copy down a formula, when “MR. JACKSON! I hope my class is more entertaining than the wall!” The older lady shouted.
Percy stammered, “Uh-um yeah of course Mrs. Dodds!” He panicked. For some reason, Mrs. Dodds made him nervous.
“You would do right by listening more. Do not let me catch you slacking again.” The woman turned back to the whiteboard as the class murmured and giggled about the interaction. Percy just hid his embarrassment and laid his head in his arms, his eyes peeking out as to not get yelled at again. Hopes for the class to end faster reached deaf ears and he tried his best to pay attention to the bitter old bat. The class stretched so long, it felt like forever.
Not soon enough, the bell rang and Percy ran out as fast as possible. When the woman screeched, “Mr. Jackson. Please stay…behind.”
Percy turned to face her, ready to be yelled at. Just then, Grover turned the corner, as he usually did, since they walked together class to class, even if they weren’t the same. Unknown to Percy, Grover shot a glare at the woman, and she returned it. “Be sure not to make the same mistake twice.” She let out with an eery edge and the two friends walked out.
“Oh my gods she is so creepy!” Grover let out, as soon as they left earshot.
Percy turned to him, silently acknowledging the ‘s’ Grover put on the word ‘gods’. He didn’t know he was a polytheist. He shrugged it off and replied, “Yea, she is awful. It’s like she picks on me for no reason!”
Grover nodded along as Percy ranted about his dislike and the issues of his math teacher. It was a spiel that wasn’t unfamiliar to his friend.
“She is so odd, like she reminds me of bats.” Percy spat out the last word, sounding more confused than anything.
Grover was about to reply, when he reached his next class, Latin. “See you during study hall!” Percy waved and kept walking until he reached his science class with Mx. Lancer.
They weren’t awful, but they weren’t amazing. Percy just barely passed their class with a seventy-one. The class went by as usual, he zoned out and scribbled a few doodles down and that was it. Everyday, the same thing happened, and Percy didn’t complain. It was an easy class. All his teacher did was point at stuff on a powerpoint and expect them to absorb all the information. It was, to say the least, a very boring hour. At least study hall was next and he got to talk to Grover.
The bell rang and he left for the library. It was very calming in there, even if he never went in to read. As he entered, the smell of pages and cinnamon flooded his senses. His friend as already sitting at one of the tables, waiting to go over the material. Percy made his way over and sat down, grateful he had someone that cared this much.
“Hey, man. Thanks for doin’ this.” Percy said.
Grover just grabbed his book out of his bag and said a small, “No problem!”
The two summarized what happened in the last chapter of The Outsiders. Percy of course, had been behind. The english teacher was one of those old men who thought having dyslexia was an excuse for being lazy. Grover coached Percy through the book, going over themes, main ideas, and vocabulary.
A storm began to pick up outside, berating the windows. When the first sound of thunder cracked, suddenly Percy got a flash of an image; a man frantic to find where something had gone? All he had gotten in that moment was his aura— strong and electric. Then—in a snap—he was back in the library.
“Woah, Perce, you okay?” Grover asked, “Looked like you left for a second there.”
Percy rubbed his eyes and gave his head a small shake, “Uhm yeah, all good. Sorry. Where were we?”
“All good. We were going over the themes in chapters eight and nine.” He explained.
The two got back to it, Percy having to ask for help on some aspects. Soon, the time ticked by and the librarian informed them the next class period was starting in a few minutes. They both packed up and walked to their next classes together. Next was Percy’s favorite period: Latin with Mr. Brunner.
Mr. Brunner was a long-term substitute for Mr. Manne, who had a mental breakdown and kept muttering about, “horse men.” Mr. Brunner’s aura was also very calming to Percy, much like Grovers. He was like summer camp and old books, and oddly enough; horses.
Percy entered the class and the teacher met him with his last test. In the top corner, in bright red, was a massive eighty-one. That was great! Compared to other classes he had, history was his highest grade. It was mostly because of Mr. Brunner’s support. However, while Percy was ecstatic, Mr. Brunner turned to him and said with a motivated tone, “It was good, but you can do better.”
Percy walked away, a little taken down by the comment, but it was fine. Mr. Brunner was just trying to push him farther. He took a seat at his desk and waited as the rest of the class filed in from the hall, fidgeting with his pen. Once everyone was in, Mr. Brunner turned to the class and asked,
“Now that we have finished the last unit, anyone care to review?”The teacher rolled his wheelchair before the class, he sat in front of his desk. Much like Percy, he was also fidgeting with a pen.
“To start, which generation directly predated the titan’s?” Mr. Brunner looked over the sea of students and paused over a girl eagerly raising her hand. “Yes, Keeley?”
The girl replied quickly, “That would be the primordials!”
“Correct! Now, which generation came after them?” He looked over the kids once again, and his eyes laid on Percy, who hadn’t raised his hand. “Mr. Jackson, why don’t you answer?”
“That was the gods…right?” He stammered.
“Quite correct! And can you tell me how the gods conquered over the titans?”
Percy paused for a second, “They had a big war right? The gods banded together and befriends some monsters and nymphs and stuff and fought the titans.”
Chiron tilted his head, “In a summarized version, yes! Thank you Percy.”
Percy just nodded and scribbled little notes into his journal. He listened along to the class, giving himself some leeway to zone out since it was mostly just review on the last few weeks. By mistake, Percy zoned out a little too far, and found himself in a day dream. It wasn’t totally new to him, he’s had day dreams during class, but he didn’t particularly like to. They didn’t happen very often anyways. Percy looked around as the scene around him moved, a woman with green mist around her. A blonde. A guy with a scar. A camp. Then, after one particular hard push back, Percy found himself in his seat. The bell rang with a familiar ring and he left for his last class.
With his last class, he simply ignored everything. Percy just thought about what he had seen. His hands itched to write it down. He tried his best to listen to what was happening, but it was a hopeless endeavor. Percy sat there, counting the seconds before he was let out of class. Then, he could get to his journal and scribe all that had happened. Each small tick the clock made was torture. Finally, the last bell tolled and he was let out. He rushed to the dorm-; wait Grover. Percy needed to wait for him. It was the least he could do for his friend.
He waited outside Grover’s last class: Science. Percy sat there for a few minutes, but he never walked out. That was weird. He went up to his teacher and asked where he might be. She said he had asked to go talk to Mr. Brunner for the last few minutes of class. Why did he go there? Grover didn’t even have his class. He had the other Latin teacher Ms. Henry. Percy walked there to go greet him, and to walk him to their dorm then dinner. As he rounded the corner, he overheard the two talking.
“He like…I don’t know left his body for a second while we were studying. I can’t explain it.” Grover explained.
Mr. Brunner sighed, “We might have to take him to camp sooner than I thought. For now we’ll just let him be oblivious. I’m sure that was just the usual demigod dreams.”
“No, sir! It was different!” Grover insisted, but Mr. Brunner simply shook his head and told him he was overreacting.
“He was awake. Like, totally conscious—then,” Grover made a pop sound this his mouth, “his eyes glassed over and before I could react he was back.”
The teacher hummed in thought, and replied, “Despite this, we will keep him in the dark. If he knows, it makes it that much easier for monsters to locate him.”
Grover sighed in defeat and turned to leave, at that moment Percy panicked and grasped at what to do.
Without thought, he turned the corner and said, “Hey Grover. What’s up?” He tried to say nonchalantly, but failed very hard.
What had that been about? Monsters? Grover was hiding something, not to mention hiding something with Mr. Brunner, Percy’s latin teacher. Was he talking about what had happened in the library? Whatever it was, Percy was sure his best friend had a reason. He was probably just concerned for him. The two had been friends for quite a bit now.
Grover was just as flustered as his friend, “Uhm hi Percy, nothing. Just talking to Mr. Brunner! My grades in there aren’t very good right now.”
Percy silently noted his lie and said, “You don’t have his class?”
“Uhm, uh I’m thinking about transferring! Yeah! I hear he’s great!” Grover panicked, “Why don’t we head to dinner?”
“Yeah, uh, sure. Can we stop by the dorm first? I need to grab my…journal.” Percy asked, suspicious. Why was Grover, his only friend, lying to him? He hadn’t ever before.
The two walked back to their dorm and Percy quickly grabbed his journal and a pen and they left for dinner. After they both grabbed trays and sat, Percy flipped to the next empty page and began leisurely doodling what he had seen. An electric man, the blonde girl, the camp (and a symbol he saw on a shirt), the green mist lady, and he wrote down what he had heard that day. Even though the drawing boy was hunched over the journal, putting forth effort to keep the doodles to himself, Grover looked on with curiosity, despite trying to hide the pages, his friend still got a peak at what had been on the page. The other boy’s face quickly paled.
“Um. Percy. Where did you see that symbol.” Grover pointed to the pegasus inside a laurel crown.
Percy glance at him then at the page, “Saw it in a dream, why?” It was the truth, just slightly bent. It was a day-dream, but specifics didn’t matter much.
Grover just stared at his dinner for a second, thinking. He turned back to Percy and knew he was lying, but he didn’t let it show. “It looks cool! I like it.” He managed to chirp out. Grover nervously noted that for a future report.
“Thanks, man. So how’d your day go?” Percy smiled and shut his journal.
The two continued talking about small stuff like their day, grades, and making jokes. Soon enough, Percy had finished his dinner and was dead on his feet.
The weight of his lack of sleep had caught up to him. He turned to Grover and told him, “I’m going to turn in for tonight. I am so tired.”
“Yeah, go ahead, just actually go sleep. You need it.”
“Yeah, Yeah I got it. I’m running on nothing so you don’t need to worry about it.” Percy yawned for extra effect and went back to his dorm.
The walk there felt like an uphill battle. He fought the urge to just stay there and sleep on the hall floors. Despite his struggle, he made it back to his bed and veto’d changing.
He collapsed to the comfort of his bed, and promptly fell asleep. That night, in the dreamscape, he found himself before a tall, muscular girl in ancient armor. She raised a spear and he ducked under it, just for the scene to change. Now trees surrounded him, and a pink poodle sat on rock. He opened his mouth to question what was happening, then the scene shifted again to a tall, arched, building with a broken window. He felt himself jump out. As the wind blew past him, he inched closer and closer to the ground. Seconds before impact, he woke with a start.
Sweat dripped down his forehead and his breathing slowed. Was one night of dreamless sleep too much to ask?
Without anything to do, he reached for his journal to record what he had seen. But he reached for it, and it wasn’t there.
It wasn’t there!
It wasn’t under the corner of the mattress. Where was his journal?! Percy lifted the entire side of the mattress, but it wasn’t anywhere to be found. He began to panic. Did someone steal it? Had he misplaced it? That’s it! In his tiredness he had left it on the table! Percy leapt out of his bed and rushed, very quietly, to where he and Grover had eaten dinner. He wasn’t technically, allowed to be in the halls, but it wasn’t like there was a patrol during nights.
Percy arrived at his and Grover’s seat at the long table, his journal no where to be found. Not under the table, not on the seats, not even in the trash cans. And he checked. Now he was really starting to panic.
Percy began the trip back to the dorms; he was starting to get nervous about being out now. He tried his best to stay out of trouble. A light at the end of the corridor caught his eye, however. It was Mr. Brunner’s class.
Curiosity got the better of him as he walked towards his class room. He stopped right outside the room, just around the corner where he had eavesdropped on the teacher and his friend earlier. He listened to the two slightly muffled voices, just as before.
“This is concerning. Usually they don’t see this much.” He heard the gruff voice of Mr. Brunner say.
“Exactly! I was telling you…!” Grover began, getting quieter. “uh…sir.”
“We will just have to deal with it until the absolute last moment. His mother said that she wanted him to stay as long as possible.”
He heard Grover sigh, “Of course, I just don’t know how long that will be, and…I hate lying to him.”
Mr. Brunner replied after a short pause, “It has to be done. I will see you tomorrow.”
With that goodbye, Percy turned and sprinted down the hall as fast and quietly as possible. First, Percy had to focus on getting back to the dorm undetected. He ran down the hall, and took the closest turn that would take him back. He crashed into his bed, moments before Grover entered the room and checked on him. Percy laid as still as possible. He heard Grover sigh in relief and turn to go to his own bed.
Percy sat in his bed, motionless. Why was Grover showing the teacher his journal? He knew how cagey Percy was with the contents inside! Grover was his best friend, his only friend. Percy felt betrayed. But, Grover had been there for him. Had helped him with school. Laughed with him, was estranged with him. Grover had to have a reason, right?
Percy laid there for hours pondering his friend’s actions. Did friends really show teachers their stuff? Was it really excusable?
Eventually, the sun came up through the window and he pretended to sleep—everyday Grover would come up to his bed and make sure he got up. For some reason, something in his mind told him he shouldn’t tell Grover he heard Mr. Brunner and his conversation. Grover would come by and this day was no different. Percy felt Grover’s aura move towards him and plop down on his bed, along with something that didn’t belong to him—Percy’s journal.
“Time to get up! Also, guess what you left at dinner.” Grover said with a smirk.
Percy just smiled back at him and rubbed his eyes for extra effect, “Oh—my journal. Thanks, I never even noticed.”
“Yep! That’s what friends do!” Grover said, “Now you have to get up because we have a field trip to… the museum!”
Percy grinned and sat up, despite his lack of interest in the trip. This time he had to behave right; he couldn’t afford to get expelled again, his mom couldn’t afford it. He had been expelled five times in five years—hopefully this wasn’t number six.