Chapter Text
(Apollo POV)
When I agreed to go to Meriwether College Prep, I expected a more normal type of school with classrooms full of work, like when Athena and I first created schooling
Although when Percy seemed more excited to go to this school, I shouldn't have been too surprised
This school was a nightmare… well, at least for me, as Percy seemed to love most of the classes
When I first had to sit down on a beanbag chair, I looked so out of place. This whole school was my worst nightmare, and my knowledge domain was giving me a migraine from most of the classes
Of course, every school had one annoying little bra- I mean, child
Matt Sloan was getting on my nerves. I was so close to smiting him, but Percy always managed to calm me down before I could do so
And then, of course, there was Tyson, who sadly didn't remember anything. I thought it was because he was too young; he might remember when he grows up a little, but I wasn't completely sure, not that I would ever say that out loud
I also lived with Percy, and now I share his room … I'm not sure what Sally thought, but she didn't seem to mind too much,
Anyway, Tyson was living with us now, too, in the spare room, which was where I was staying before, but I preferred being with Percy. Of course, even if I liked Tyson, I would always prefer Percy
I should probably say what's happened since we've been at Camp Half-Blood.
Well, Percy and I have been training a lot by the Hudson River, even if it was polluted. I helped Percy cleanse it a little, not that it did much, just enough so it's less disgusting in the area where we train
Percy has managed to control ice more easily now, which was a good thing, as it helped lots in the fight against Ares
Talking about Ares, he got the best punishment after Zeus found out he had to help Hephaestus out with any inventions for quite a while, which I'm sure he is now dreading, but payback is served cold
Percy had also grown more since last year; of course, I expected that as we were both in the forms of 13-year-olds currently, but Percy looked especially good to me, at least
We haven't gone back to camp since, but that was fine. We got regular updates from Will as he Iris messaged me every evening; it was adorable, and I always wondered why he got so attached to Percy and me, but I of course didn't mind
Anyway, back to today, it was the last day at school, and I awoke to Percy tossing and turning in his sleep
I bolted upright and started to shake him gently, trying to help him
—-
(Percy POV)
My nightmare started, and I almost immediately remembered this one: I was standing on a little beach in Florida, and I turned as I heard hooves, seeing Grover running for his life
He was clutching at something on his chest
The pouch with the pearl in I could tell he was trying to either get the pearl out or try to crush it in his pocket
Then I heard the bone-rattling growl that cut through the storm above Polyphemus…
Just as Grover tucked himself into a Bridal Boutique, he managed to hide behind a rack of dresses. I wasn't sure if he managed to get the pearl and crush it or not, but I hoped so, as there was a light blue glow and a few bubbles
Grover had vanished, and when Polyphemus barged into the store looking for him, he couldn't tell where. Instead, he looked at a mannequin dressed up, and then I woke up in a sweating mess
I looked over to my side to see Lester gently shaking me, trying to wake me. I almost instantly relaxed at his worried, almost panicked look
“Grover…” I said shakily, “he got the pearl” I smiled slightly but was still worried. I wasn't sure where the pearl would spit him out, or if it would even be nearby
And I had no clue how much would change now
“You're ok, Seashell”, I heard Lester's soothing voice
It calmed me instantly
I nod slightly and sit up “Yeah, I'm ok”
He smiles at that, a smile that could light up any room, quite literally if he wanted
That's when I heard a knock at the door “Boys? Last day of school, come on, you both should be excited you almost made it, Percy!” It was my mom, and that calmed me even more as I got out of bed and started to get ready for the day
As normal, I felt under my pillow and grabbed Anaklusmos and stuffed it in my pocket, pulling a shirt on only to glance over at Lester, who was staring at me
“Lester?” Nothing happened “Lester?”
“Apollo” I clicked my fingers in his face, and a small blush stared on his cheeks as he snapped out of whatever he was thinking about. I wasn't sure
I shrugged and pointed to his clothes, and it seemed he got the message as he quickly got ready and we both headed out of our room to grab breakfast
By the time we got there, Tyson was already eating, and we grabbed what was left
By the time we finished eating, my mom sat down at the table “Look, Percy..Lester, I got a message from Chiron last night…”
I knew what she was about to say, and I glanced at Apollo's slightly confused look
“He thinks… it might not be safe for you to come to camp just yet; we might have to postpone” My mom sounded regretful
But I looked at Apollo, and he knew what it was about now, and we had to go to camp. I wasn't sure, but it might be possible for Apollo to help the tree a little, if not suspend it from getting worse, or maybe even I could; it was technically a liquid that caused the tree to start dying, but I wasn't sure
As I kept thinking about ways to help save the tree or give us more time for the quest, the kitchen clock chimed the half hour
My mom looked at the three of us “Seven thirty, dear. You three should go; you don't want to be late”
We gathered our things and said goodbye, jogging slightly so we could catch the number two train
And I had a feeling Apollo was going to hate this day in particular compared to all the other days combined; after all, he complained about how dumb most of the classes were and how no one learnt anything, and if I remembered today at English class I knew Lester was going to freak out over that alone
That made me grin, and for a moment I forgot about my worries for Grover, just hoping he was at camp in the end
—-
(Apollo POV)
As I said before, this school was a nightmare; first, Percy and I didn't have the same timetable, but I ditched my own to go to his classes anyway. Eventually, they just gave me the same timetable, as the teachers were tired of me always being absent from certain classes
And English class was essentially the teachers permitting students to injure each other without any consequences when they left the whole school alone with no one to watch them
Of course, everyone passed even though I just sat with Percy and Tyson in the corner trying to pretend I wasn't in this school while Percy just smiled at me in amusement
That was until Sloan tried to pick on Tyson, which of course didn't work, seeing as Tyson was a two-metre-tall cyclops
Anyway, Sloan snuck up behind him and tried to give him a wedgie, but before he could do so, Percy controlled the water in the air around Sloan and made him freeze for enough time so Tyson could get away
Honestly, I admired Percy's abilities all the more as I willed the sun to burn him by the end of the lesson eventually
The next class after that was science, but that was an easy pass even though I hated it
the start of this year, I thought this class was the most similar to a normal school, but gods was I wrong
I mean mixing chemicals until we made something explode?!
Simple enough for Percy and Tyson to do easily anyway, although I stayed far away as the explosion went off
That was all fun and games, even if I didn't understand that was until after science class Percy dragged me and Tyson out of the school and headed straight for a taxi
“Can you take us to Delphi Strawberry Service, please?” Percy asked nicely
I was surprised Percy even remembered the mortal cover for camp; I sure didn't
As we were in the car going towards camp, Percy explained that he didn't want to bother with the dodgeball anyway, as all it would achieve is the police on our backs again
Plus, hopefully the Laistrygonians didn't eat any mortals, but I wouldn't mind if they ate Sloan