Chapter Text
Santiago Febus, Santi to close friends, knew that he wasn't a normal kid in the slightest, I mean, he has leopard ears, tails, and fur on his arms for gods sake! He didn't know why people couldn't see it, he's been told that the fur looks like leopard print tattoos, and his ears and tail just aren't visible. It's so weird, both the leopard details and them not being visible to anyone else besides his dad, and Percy, one of his closest friends-maybe-crush. He also knew that his pops- not the one previously mentioned, his other one- was something important, his dad had told him so, he just couldn't put a pin in what he was. He got gifts from him every birthday, ranging from plushies when he was younger, which he still had, to jewelry like his grape cluster pendent or grape cluster earrings, his pops really liked grapes, and the color purple.
Another thing that set him apart from other kids, was the weird things that sometimes happened to him, like, for example, he could turn his water into grape juice. He isn't complaining about being able to do that though, it tastes really good. Also, sometimes Vines would just pop out of the ground around him, which, sure, that could be explained by natural causes, but still. His dad won't tell him what's wrong with him, just that he'll tell him in time, which makes him groan every time. Anyway, currently he's in Yancy Academy, to his utter dismay. It's a school for 'troubled kids', which, yeah he definitely is, but still! He hated that this school was the latest in the line of schools he got kicked out of.
One good thing, though, is that he goes to school with Percy, and Percy's friend Grover, who he finds a little weird but hey, who is he to judge? Oh yeah, Percy is also like him, a bit, having scales on his arms, chest, and neck, with gills on the side of his neck that needed water every so often. How he knew this? Years of being close friends, since they were 8, their parents had lived near each other, and they went to the same schools often. Anyway, getting side tracked!!
Santi is currently leaning back against a bench somewhere in Yancy academy, his tail flicking back and forth behind him as he breathes in some fresh air. Classes haven't started yet, so he's making the most of the time he has left before the classes do actually start. For a few moments, he sits like this, until he gets bored and reaches for his water bottle- having turned it into grape juice earlier- and drinks it. He sighs in contempt after finishing, and wipes his mouth. His ears flicker as he hears grass moving behind him, not getting a chance to turn and look before he feels arms wrap around him and he's pushed forward a little, letting out a yelp (he'd later deny this) while his tail flicks upwards.
He immediately turns and looks at the one who committed this war crime, who just so happens to be Percy. His ears dip a little, with a flush around his face as he fully registers that Percy's arms were around him. He shakes his head, instead calming down and raising an eyebrow at the other boy. "What was that for, Perce?!" He yells with indignation instead, which gets a laugh out of the blond, which, in turn, also gets a blush out of Santi- God he's smitten with this boy. His ears twitch with another rustle of the grass behind him, this time turning around in time to NOT be scared, seeing Grover approaching them looking mildly annoyed.
Grover half-heartedly glares at the blond, before he starts with "Percy! You can't just run off like that without warning! I got scared! Warn me next- Oh, hey Santi!" The boy stops whenever he notices the brunette with them, who also waves back with a soft smile. His tail flickers as Percy unwraps his arms around him, the blonde moving to sit next to him on the bench before snatching the water bottle from his hands and downs some grape juice. This causes Santi to yelp again, before snatching the bottle back and glaring at his friend with a "Dude!" That earns another chuckle from Percy, who just shrugged with that smirk on his face that makes Santi flush again. "What? I just wanted to." Percy says.
With a sigh, he shakes his head and looks down at his watch, noticing that classes are soon. He stands up, while also grabbing the back of Percy's shirt collar and lifting him up too, like a kitten, if that makes sense. "Come on, classes start soon." He says while also grinning at the indignation that Percy radiates from being picked up like that. With a nod to Grover, the boy starts walking off towards class, which Grover follows. It takes a few moments before Percy yelps and follows after them.
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Later that month, they went on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which, honestly, Santi is really interested in. Sure, his ADHD and dyslexia - something he and Percy share, funnily enough - doesn’t help him with learning about things he’s interested in, but still. He listened attentively as they walked around and were given information about the museum's Greek & Roman artifacts. He wasn’t paying attention to the students around them until he heard Percy whisper “Will you shut up?” causing him to turn and look at Percy, raising an eyebrow before he realized Nancy was talking, which made that comment understandable.
He listened attentively again whenever Mr. Brunner, their Latin teacher, who also turned to raise an eyebrow at Percy aswell, asked Percy about what they saw. Percy seemed to stare at the statue as if he recognized it, before responding "That's... Kronos eating his kids, right?" He had asked, to which Mr. Brunner replied, clearly not satisfied, "Yes, and he did this because....?" Percy started his response with "Well..." before stopping a bit to think. After a few seconds, Percy finally responded with "Kronos was the king god-" "God?" "Titan," Percy corrected, after Mr. Brunner had questioned. "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-"
Percy is interrupted again by an "Eww!" from one of the girls behind him, which annoyed Santiago, because he was actually trying to listen to what Percy was trying to say. He shot the girl a slight glare, before turning to Percy and listening intently. "-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the titans," Percy had continued, "and the gods won." He finally finished, and the group started snickering, along with Nancy Bobofit mumbling "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.'" Which earned more Snickers before Mr. Brunner interrupted them. "And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"
After that whole thing, Santiago worried a bit as he saw Percy get held back by Mr. Brunner, but he didn't want to intrude on the conversation, so he continued walking, especially with Percy telling them to. When Percy came back, he looked annoyed, but the brunette decided not to ask, as he didn't want to annoy Percy even more.
The class gathered outside, with Santiago, Grover, and Percy sitting on the edge of a fountain. Santiago himself wasn't really paying attention to what was happening around him, just eating and internally noting what he learned today. He paid attention again whenever he saw Nancy appear and dump her lunch into Grover's lap, which annoyed Santiago. He couldn't help but chuckle slightly whenever Nancy tripped on something- was that a vine? He thought he had that under control... Either way, He didn't get to question it further, as Percy stood up and stomped over to Nancy, getting ready to push her before- and he isn't crazy- the water seemed to pull out of the fountain and yank Nancy into the fountain. He stared at the scene in shock, wondering what the hell just happened- both the vine appearing and the water seemingly yanking Nancy.
He didn't get to fully register it before Mrs. Dodds suddenly appears and pull Percy to the side. Seriously, how did she do that? Grover and him tried to blame themsleves whenever Mrs. Dodds started to pull him away, but they got told to stay put. Now, Santiago, being one to not listen, unless its Greek stuff, followed them after some thinking. He wanted to know what they were going to talk about.
He gets lost a bit before actually finding where they were, and when he enters the room, the first thing he sees is Percy standing to the side with a... sword? Where the hell did he get that? As well as what looks to be a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, getting ready to leap at Percy. His ears and tail perk up at that, causing him to yell out "wait!" before he feels a tug on his stomach, not the one he'd feel when he changes water into his grape juice, but more intense. Suddenly, Vines burst from the floor, breaking it a bit, and rush towards the thing, stopping it and letting Percy slice through it with the sword. The hag seems to turn to golden dust, and they stand there for a few tense moments, wondering what the hell just happened.
Santiago shook his head, rushing towards Percy and tackling him into a hug. He was terrified for a moment there, keeping his grip on the other boy, while his tail also wraps around them.
"What the hell.. just happened?"
END CHAPTER 1