22Heya guys,
Cubicreates here,
I AM F***ING BACK
Sorry for the short hiatus but anyways here is the new chapter
Also Thank you so so much for the 180+ followers and 130+ favorites and the 14 reviews and the 10,000+ views You guys rock!
Quick chat before the story do read till end and also review about the last arc also the index will be automatically be updated before every chapter and it is not the final one yet
I LOVE YOU ALL
CHAPTER 3
I AM PERCY JACKSON
One week before Naruto's Arrival
In a boarding school in New York named Yancy Academy, we see a child with raven hair and sea green eyes sitting in a classroom, his name is Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson was not an ordinary student by any means, he was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Percy only had one best friend in the whole school, his name is Grover Underwood, Grover was crippled so quickly became a subject of bullying. Both Grover and Percy were best mates and also were roommates.
Due to the ADHD Percy could never focus on his studies whatsoever hence he was generally one of the poor scoring students but he hated one subject with passion and that was Mathematics, both the subject and its teacher. The teacher assigned to teach math was an old lady named Mrs. Dodds who in Percy's view was a total partial teacher who disliked him and Grover and was completely blind to the resident class bully Nancy Bobofit.
Both Percy and Grover were roommates. Percy was twelve and had black hair and sea green eyes while Grover had Caucasian skin color with curly short curly brown hair and brown eyes. But unfortunately his legs were crippled when he was little so he had to have crutches to help him walk. Yet that never stopped him when enchilada day came at the school cafeteria. He could not move any quicker.
Percy while in boarding school, he was still worried about his mother Sally Jackson who was married to his step-father Gabe Uligano, whom Percy called smelly Gabe. That man did nothing but troubled his mother and him. Sometimes he wondered why his mother married such a man.
Right now they were on a school trip heading towards the Metropolitan Museum of Art that was being led by the Latin teacher Mr Brunner. Mr Brunner was a middle aged man with scraggy thinning brown hair and beard and was confined to a wheelchair and always wore a tweed jacket.
Despite his appearance he was definitely one of Percy's favorite teachers. He told interesting stories in class and was always up for a joke. On rare occasions he even brought Roman and Greek armor and weapons. Because of this, it was easily one of the only classes that Percy did not fall asleep in. Also there was another reason that Mr. Burner was one teacher who took interest in him. So, in all he was Percy's favorite teacher. Percy also noticed one thing. Lately Grover had been quite panicky a lot of the time lately. He was either worried about something or he kept drinking way too much coffee.
As the bus entered the parking lot and the class began to hop out, "Come on everyone" Mr Brunner said as he managed to get himself out of the bus. "Stay together and don't wander off. Don't want you to get into any trouble now do we?" he said, glancing over towards Percy and Grover.
"Why did he look at us when he said that?" Percy asked while Grover just shrugged.
"We do have a bit of a reputation in school" he said to which Percy rolled his eyes before they followed Mr Brunner.
The class made their way into the museum as they walked past the giant pillars at the front of the museum and Percy couldn't help but notice how much Mr Brunner and surprisingly Grover's face lit up when they saw all the Greek and Roman artifacts.
Inside the Museum
The first stop on the little tour was to look at a bronze chariot that was enlaced with Ivory. Mr Brunner went on to explain how the chariot was used and that it was supposedly created by the Greek Gods Athena and Poseidon. Apparently it was Athena who created the chariot but it was Poseidon who supplied the horses.
"Keep up Jackson, Underwood" Mrs. Dodds said sweetly when the two noticed that the group had moved on while they were talking. She was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She joined just after Christmas break after their previous math teacher had a nervous breakdown.
She really did not like Percy for some odd reason and she constantly called on him to answer questions she knew he did not know.
For the next hour Mr Brunner took the class all over the museum. He explained the different armours Greeks and Romans used, different strategies that were used at certain battles such as Battle of Troy.
Meanwhile Percy and Grover were standing at the back of the group somewhat paying attention when the class bitch as Percy called her Nancy Bobofit began to throw a small piece of bread at Grover which stuck to him since they had peanut butter and jelly on them.
Nancy Bobofit was this horrid beast of a girl that had wild red frizzy hair and was a very butch and messy person. She was sweet one minute to the teachers and then a real bitch when the teacher had their back turned. She constantly teased a lot of the school kids, especially Percy and Grover because they were different from everyone else.
As the group made their way through the hallways of the museum Percy was looking at the mosaics and dishes that were against the wall or being held in special class cases so that they could not be touched or ruined in any way. He recognised some of them from the stories that Mr Brunner spoke about in class.
There was one with Jason sailing across the ocean in the Argos with the Argonauts. Another was of the Battle of Troy depicting the giant wooden horse the Greeks used to trick the Trojans which ultimately led to the Trojans demise.
The main one that was there was the biggest of them all and depicted the Twelve Labours of Hercules.
The first one was of Hercules, the demigod son of Zeus fighting against the Nemean Lion. It depicted his great and superior strength as he held the Nemean Lion up in the air with his hand wrapped around its throat with a giant club in his other hand.
They scanned through the other labors which included defeating the Erymanthian Boar, Capture the Cretan Bulls, Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons and the rest.
Then he moved on from their spot and they walked into a giant room at the center of the Museum with Mr Brunner wheeling himself over towards a shrine of sorts.
He gathered all of the students around a thirteen – foot - tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling everyone how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about their age. Grover and Percy somehow found themselves at the front of the class instead of the back where they usually remain and had to look interested in what Mr Brunner was saying.
Mr Brunner began to explain what the carvings on the sides meant and actually managed to catch Percy's attention because it was actually kind of interesting, but yet everyone else around them was talking and having their own conversations.
Yet when Percy told them to shut their traps, they got the evil eye from Mrs Dodd's.
However when Nancy Bobofit snickered about some of the statues being naked, Percy had enough and shouted at her to shut the hell up. Of course this caught everyone's attention as well as Mr Brunner's.
"Mr Jackson, do you have something you wish to say?" Mr Brunner asked, clasping his two hands together.
"No sir" Percy mumbled out while the others began to snicker at him.
"Well then perhaps you can tell me what is happening in the picture" he said motioning over to a picture on the stele that showed a man sitting on a throne with a child in his hands and his mouth wide open.
"Urm" Percy said starting off before getting a bit of confidence once he recognised the pictures.
"That's Kronos eating his kids."
"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied.
"And he did this because…?"
"Well…" Grover heard Percy say as his friend racked his brains to figure it out. "Kronos was the king god and..."-
"God?" Mr Brunner said frowning before Percy quickly corrected himself.
"Titan" he said, quickly correcting himself. "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. Then when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"
"Eeew!" said all the girls behind them, causing Percy, Grover and Mr Brunner to roll their eyes.
"Then there was a big fight and the gods won" Percy continued and finished the answer getting a nod of approval from Mr Brunner.
"That's correct," he said. "Then the world became ruled by the Twelve Olympians gods, with the most powerful being the three brothers Zeus, Poseidon and Hades" he said pointing towards three small figures.
"Ever since they overthrew their father they have been rivals ever since. "
"On many occasions the gods came down to earth and how should I put this" he said in thought before Percy spoke up.
"Hooked up because they couldn't keep it in their pants" he said, getting a round of laughter from everyone, even Mrs Dodd's and Mr Brunner.
"That is correct Mr Jackson. Can you tell me the correct term for these children?" he asked Naruto.
Percy thought for a second knowing he read about this as he racked his brains to find the answer.
"They were called demigods right? Part mortal and part god" Percy said, getting a nod from Mr Brunner.
"Can you perhaps name me some demigod heroes?" Mr Brunner asked, directing the question towards Percy again.
"Urm Hercules and Perseus were ones right? They were both sons of Zeus" he said, getting a nod of approval from Mr Brunner.
"Plus there was Theseus who was a son of Poseidon."
"That's correct, very good Mr Jackson. Good to see you were paying attention in class."
However they heard snickers coming from the class behind them and Nancy Bobofit saying "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 or name a demigod."
"And why Mr Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Mrs. Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"
Percy thought for a moment. It was an interesting question Mr Brunner had thrown at them but one he was completely unprepared for. So he just shrugged.
"I'm sorry sir but I really don't know."
"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit to both Mr Jackson. On that note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodd's, would you lead us back outside?"
Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."
Percy knew What was coming. He told Grover to keep going. Then He 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.
"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told him.
"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."
During Lunch
The class was gathered on the steps of the museum as they watched the traffic on both the roads and the walkways as most were out from work and heading out for lunch. Up in the sky it looked like a nasty storm was brewing since dark clouds were heading over the city.
Lately when Percy watched TV it spoke on the news that all around the world floods, hurricanes and huge storms were forming leaving many scientists confused about the strange weather patterns. Then you always had the guy with a giant sign around him saying 'End of the world is near'.
Percy and Grover sat on the edge of the fountain as they ate away at their lunches while "You get Detention again?" Grover asked looking at Percy
"Nah," he said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean –"I'm not a genius."
"Hmm okay" Grover said, shrugging. "Can I have your apple?" he said, getting another chuckle from Percy while he passed over the apple.
Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodd's wasn't seeing a thing.
The two began to chat quietly about the trip and what they might be doing over the summer when Nancy Bobofit walked up to them with some of her goons behind and decided to dump her lunch onto Grover.
"Oops" she said grinning with bits of cheetos stuck in her crooked teeth.
Percy was angry and jumped up and looked like he was about to hit her before Grover quickly grabbed and sat him back down.
"Don't. It's fine, I actually like peanut butter."
Percy, who did not look very convinced, sat back down but his eyes didn't look away from Nancy Bobofit.
That's when something very unexplained happened.
As Grover was sitting, Nancy suddenly fell into the water fountain making a loud and audible splash which caught the attention of everyone including the teachers with Mrs Dodd's making her way over.
"Mrs Dodds Percy just pushed me" she cried out but Percy was not listening. As he was trying to figure out what just happened.
"Mr Jackson comes with me now honey" Mrs Dodds said as she looked directly at Percy making him shake out of his thoughts.
"No Wait I pushed her" Grover said trying to stand up but without his crutches it made it a little difficult. Percy was a little stunned that Grover was trying to cover for him.
However Mrs Dodd's was not buying it and she then led Percy away back inside the museum where Percy was most likely going to get another scolding and another detention.
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, he 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.
Percy did the safe thing. He 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, He thought nervously. "It's not like she's going to hurt me."
Percy 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."
Percyy didn't know what she was talking about. All he could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy he'd been selling out of his dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized he got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away his grade. Or worse, they were going to make him read the book.
"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. 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 Percy. With a yelp, he dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. He snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit his 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. His knees were jelly. His hands were shaking so bad he almost dropped the sword. She snarled, "Die, honey!" And she flew straight at him.
Absolute terror ran through his body. Percy did the only thing that came naturally: he swung the sword. 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. Percy was alone.
There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but him. His hands were still trembling. His lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something. Had he imagined the whole thing?
When he got back out he was interrupted by Nancy Bobofit.
"Where have you idiots been? Mrs Kerr is about to take us back to the museum?" she said, sneering.
"W-Who the hell is Mrs Kerr?" Percy asked but all he got was Nancy rolling her eyes and walking away muttering idiot. Percy even noticed her previously wet clothes had now somehow dried themselves.
Confused, he then walked over to Grover and he gave them the same answer but he was stuttering slightly so they knew he was lying. So instead they turned their attention to Mr Brunner
He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson" he said.
"Urrrr okay" Percy muttered before handing them over and Mr Brunner putting it into his front pocket.
"Sir," Percy said, "where's Mrs. Dodd's?"
He stared at Percy blankly. "Who?"
"The math teacher"
"Percy there is no Mrs. Dodd's on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodd's at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright?"
"Say what" Percy said together, not quite believing what they just heard.
"You may have just got Mrs Kerr's name mixed up with someone else, perhaps an old teacher from a previous school. Don't worry about it" Mr Brunner said before wheeling off. "Come, it's time to get back into the museum."
As he wheeled away Percy stood there with dumbstruck looks on his face with only one thing coming to mind with everything that just happened.
"What the hell?"
It was weeks after the big incident with Mrs Dodds turning into some kind of flying monster and still everyone had denied the existence of Mrs Dodd's.
Percy spent days after the trip going from student to student trying to see if they knew anything about Mrs Dodd's but they would always look at them both as if they had gone insane. All said there had never been a Mrs Dodd's at Yancy Academy and that Mrs Kerr has always been the math teacher ever since winter break ended.
However there was one person who could not completely convince them and let him realize something was up.
Grover had always been a bad liar. When he lied he stuttered, his brow began to get a little sweaty and he always tried to avoid people's gazes. This is exactly what he did when they asked him about Mrs Dodd's. He would say that he did not know what they were talking about and that there was no one by the name of Mrs Dodd's at Yancy Academy but they knew he was lying.
Percy was struggling which was clearly evident since his grades went from a D's to F's.
Right now the two were in their dorm room trying their best to study for the upcoming Latin exam. Grover had gone for a walk so Naruto was able to use his shadow clones to help study for the upcoming exams. Percy meanwhile was only interested in learning and revising for Latin. He wanted to impress Mr Brunner and didn't want to fail after Mr Brunner had shown great interest in him, pushing him to be the best that he could be.
"Uhhh this is impossible" Percy groaned as he threw his Guide to Greek Mythology textbook against the wall. "I'm reading and reading but it's just not sticking. It goes in one ear and then out the other."
"How am I supposed to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon? It's exactly the same."
"Ahh I am going to see Mr. Burner" Percy growled out getting more and more frustrated and he did not want to fail this Latin class.
So there Percy was as they climbed the stairs of Yancy Academy as they neared the office to their Latin teacher Mr Brunner.
As the two walked along the corridors where all the teachers' offices were located, they saw all of them were dim and dark except for one. When he got closer they saw Mr Brunner's office still had its light on meaning he was in and the door was left slightly open. Percy was about to walk in when he overheard two voices.
One was easily recognisable as Mr Brunner's but surprising Percy Was that the other voice belonged to Grover.
Curiosity got the better of him before he leaned in slightly so that they could just about make out what they were saying.
"... worried about Percy, sir" they heard Grover say, surprising him. Usually it was the other way round and he worried about him.
"... 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 them," Mr. Brunner said. "We need Percy to mature more"
"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline—"
"Will have to be resolved without Percy, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can and we will keep him in the dark.
"Sir, he saw her..."
"Their imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."
"Mist?" Percy thought.
"But he has been asking questions. I don't know how much longer I can lie to them."
"You have to Grover. I know it's difficult and they have both become your friends during your time here but it will be safer."
"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."
"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—"
'THUD!'
Mr Brunner stopped talking when Percy accidently let his textbook slip from his hands causing a loud thud to echo through the hallway. He was paying such close attention to the conversation that he did not realize it was beginning to slip from his grasp.
"Damn," Percy thought. He quickly picked up the textbook before Percy stealthily but quickly ran back to their dorm room.
Back 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 and the two left but as the two walked a strange clopping sound echoed.
Back in the dorm room Grover walked in to see Percy reading his text books with Percy sitting at a desk.
"Hey Percy" Grover said walking in and heading over to his bed as he put his crutches down to the floor beside the bed.
"Hey G-man"
"Geez Perce you look awful. Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm just tired and this Latin exam is doing my head in."
The next afternoon, Percy was leaving the three-hour Latin exam very mentally exhausted. The test itself had been far more difficult than they thought. The words on the paper just kept swimming around for them both, getting more and more jumbled.
He was slightly worried Mr Brunner may have found out they were there last night listening to the conversation but both sighed when he just wanted to give them the results of their exams.
"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."
"Okay, sir," Percy mumbled.
"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner said, wheeling 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."
"Right," he 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," Percy blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me." Percy then picked up his backpack and walked out.
"Perhaps I was a little too hard on him," Mr Brunner said aloud.
Later on that day
Percy and Grover sat in the bus as it made its way to the bus terminal with many other kids from their school on board.
Surprisingly Grover was heading towards New York as well and was even on the same bus as them. Percy thought nothing of it and thought it was nothing more than a coincidence.
During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to Percy that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when they left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.
"What's got him so rattled?" Percy asked himself.
"So" Percy said. "Looking for kindly ones?"
Grover nearly jumped out of his seat and had a look that made him look like he was having a heart attack. "Wha—what do you mean?"
"Urm well I kind of overheard you and Mr Brunner talking the other night. What was that all about?" Percy asked.
Grover's eyes twitched. "How much did you hear?"
"Not much. What's the solstice deadline?" Percy asked like it was no big deal
"It was nothing. I was just telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you two were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodd's, and ..."
"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar" Percy said pointing towards Grover's ears. "Whenever you lie your ears go bright pink, just like they are now."
From his shirt pocket, Grover fished out a grubby business card. "Just take these, okay? In case you need me this summer.
The card was in fancy script, which was murder on Percy's dyslexic eyes, but they finally made out something like:
Grover Underwood
Keeper
Half-Blood Hill
Long Island, New York
(800) 009-0009
"Wow, fancy writing. Something the queen of England would have" Percy commented.
"Grover," Percy said, "What exactly are you trying to protect us from?"
However before Grover could answer there was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke began to pour out from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.
"Everyone out" the bus driver called out causing everyone to groan as he pulled over to the side of the road.
"Well this is a pain, '' Percy said as the duo stepped out onto the road. He looked around to see them on a country road.
"Hey, what are they staring at?" Percy said, getting Grover's attention. Percy pointed over to the side of the road and Grover saw what looked like an old fruit stand. There were a whole variety of fruits on it and were all very colorful giving it a very tropical look. However next to it were three old ladies sitting on rocking chairs sewing one humongous sock.
All three women looked very ancient in everyone's eyes, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.
However Percy could swear they were looking right at him.
"No no no no no" Grover muttered under his breath as a look of terror appeared on his face.
"Tell me they're not looking at you Percy. They are, aren't they?"
"Yeah. Weird, huh?" Percy said in a disbelieving tone. "You think those socks would fit me?"
"I think those socks might be for BigFoot by the looks of it" Percy continued.
"This isn't the time to joke. Come on, let's get back on the bus" Grover said, grabbing both boy's arms.
"Hey watch it" he said before an audible snip could be heard. They looked over to see the yarn that one of the elderly ladies had in her hands was now cut by a giant pair of scissors another was carrying.
"No no no" Grover kept muttering before he scuffled to the front of the bus and kicked it as hard as he could. Surprisingly 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. Good thinking kid" he said, giving Grover a pat on the back.
"Come on let's get back on the bus" Grover encourages dragging Percy with him.
When Percy looked back to where the elderly ladies were sitting they were surprised to see that the three old ladies had completely disappeared leaving no trace that they were even there.
"What the hell?" Percy thought in shock. "I saw them there. I know I did."
"Something is not right here. Whoever they were, they had Grover freak out big time. By that guess they must be more dangerous then they let on."
As everyone got back on the bus and retook their seats Grover was muttering quietly to himself but Percy who was sitting behind him could hear everything he was saying.
"This is not happening. This can't be like last time. I cannot fail this again. I already let Thalia down. I can't let them down too."
Percy looked at Grover and asked "Let who down? Who is this Thalia girl? You got a girlfriend we don't know about Grover?"
"No no," he said, waving his arms in front of him. "It's nothing but Percy, you have to be careful please. I can't protect you when you ask too many questions."
They both looked at him like he grew a second head. It was always them that protected him. Not that they didn't think he couldn't protect them but it just seemed very unlikely due to past experiences and Grover crippled legs.
"Grover, what the hell are you talking about?" Percy asked, getting a little scared and frustrated.
"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."
He looked at the boy mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers they would like best for their funeral, so he agreed since he figured if they declined he would just freak out some more and would start to draw attention to them.
The rest of the journey back was silent before they finally arrived at the bus terminal.
"I'm just going to the bathroom. You guys wait here" Grover said before he hopped off towards the bathroom.
"I have to go. I have to get home and see my mom and Grover is freaking me out" Percy thought and then went to the side of the street and waved his arm. As soon as he did, a taxi pulled up.
Jackson Residence
Once the taxi drive was over and the two boys feeling slightly bad about leaving Grover behind, Percy especially arrived at East One-hundred-and-fourth and First. There stood a relatively decent looking apartment complex.
Percy walked inside the apartment complex and made his way up the stairs lugging their bags behind them. Once they got to their floor they went to the front door and Percy opened it with his key. He was treated to a pretty stomach churning sight.
Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television was blaring with ESPN yet no one was actually watching it since Gabe and his buddies were more focused with playing their card game.
Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet, the place looked like it had not been cleaned in a good while. That was a shame since both new Sally could be a bit of a neat freak when she wanted but with Gabe as one of the tenants, the cleanliness would never last.
When he entered the living room Gave looked up from the cards in his hands and scowled slightly.
"She's still working," Gabe said, sitting back down at his seat. "You got any cash"
"No I don't have any" Percy said but Gabe didn't look like he believed him.
"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "You probably paid twenty. You got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof; he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"
"Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."
"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.
"Fine," Percy said. He dug a wad of dollars out of his pocket and threw the money on the table and it fluttered towards Gabe. "I hope you lose."
The two boys then turned their backs to the table and headed towards Percy's room.
They heard Gabe tell him not to act so snooty and call him brain boy, obviously taking a jab at the two for both being dyslexic and having ADHD. They could also hear Gabe's friends pass wind and small chuckles to be heard. It made both boys want to vomit and Naruto think about how pigs were better mannered than them.
When they got to Percy's room it had magazines and stale beer littered around as they put the bags down.
"Percy you hear?" Sally Jackson's voice rang out before she appeared in the doorway of the room.
"Percy" she said before he enveloped him in a big hug. "You have grown so much since I last saw you."
"Well come and sit down and tell me how everything went."
So the two did but they purposely left out Mrs Dodd's debacle and the weird old ladies mainly because they doubted she would have believed them. That and they didn't want her to send them to a psych ward.
"Did something scare you?" Sally asked, looking at the chocked up Percy.
"No, Mom" Percy said, continuing to lie and not wanting to make his mom worried.
"Well alright then" she said but Naruto had a feeling the conversation was not quite over yet.
"I have a surprise for you," she said looking at Percy. "We're going to the beach."
Percy's eyes widened. "Montauk?"
"Three days, same cabin" she said.
"When do we leave?"
"Right when I get changed."
It was then that Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"
Percy growled at Gabe
"I was on my way, honey," Sally told Gabe, trying to diffuse the situation. "We were just talking about the trip."
Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"
"We were but don't worry about your dip. I'll make a seven layer dip just for you. That should last you all the weekend. That way you won't even need me to be here."
Gabe's eyes softened slightly but Percy knew he was not happy about it.
"This better be coming out of your clothes budget"
"It is, don't worry."
"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."
"We'll be very careful."
"Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip …".
It was a little while later that Percy was loading up the car with Sally getting behind the driver's wheel. Gabe had bothered to come out and see his car off much to Sally and Percy's surprise
The car drove off and now the duo were making their way to Montauk.
At the Beach
Once they got there, they started unpacking in the cabin they had rented. Percy always liked going there since it gave him a sense of familiarity in the beach and oceans. He and his mother come here annually.
They were currently sitting around a small fire, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows.
"Mom…what was my father like?" Percy asked with some courage.
"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes." She fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag.
"I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."
Percy looked a little sad at that.
"How old was I?" Percy asked. "I mean ... when he left?"
She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at 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." She replied.
"Are you going to send me away again?" Percy 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?" but he regretted the words as soon as they were out.
Her eyes welled with tears. She took his hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."
"Because I'm not normal," Percy suddenly 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?" Percy asked though when he locked eyes with her, all the memories of weird shit happening to him had surfaced.
"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," She said to Percy. "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 and apparently it is a place you both need to go to."
"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in his 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 ..." Percy trailed off as he saw the tears in his mom's eyes.
It was storming out but Percy were sound asleep and was having a weird dream:
It was storming on the beach, and three beautiful animals, a white horse, a golden eagle, and pitch black raven were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. Well the raven was not doing much. It just hovered in midair, watching the two fight and only with a mild look of interest. Of course it would attack at certain times. 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. The raven then decided to claw at the eagle a bit before doing the same to the horse. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.
Percy ran toward them, knowing they had to stop them from killing each other, but the problem was that he was running in slow motion. He knew he would be too late. He saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, while the raven decided to help out its flying companion. Percy had enough and screamed, "No!"
Thankfully it was just a dream and they woke up with a start like it was a nightmare. Outside, it really was storming; the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse, eagle, or raven on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery. Though everyone once in a while they saw that the lightning was covered in black fire or sometimes they also saw steaming hot water fly up into the sky, but it was a sickly black color. This shit NEVER happens!
With the next thunderclap, Percy's mom awoke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."
Percy 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, he heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made his hair stand on end.
Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.
Mrs. Jackson 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.
"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you two thinking?"
Mrs. Jackson looked at them in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come. Percy was too shocked at the moment to register that however. Because, instead of normal legs, Grover had legs that were like an animal's, sort of like a donkey or maybe a goat.
"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"
"Ο Δίας και οι άλλοι θεοί!" ("Oh Zeus and other gods") Grover yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"
"You mean the Kindly One you blabbed about or the old crones who are the Fates?" Percy shouted above the noise, making his mom widen her eyes in horror.
She grabbed her purse, tossed Percy a rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. All 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. That would explain how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.
"Yep…we have entered the Twilight Zone." Percy mumbled. "But what is coming after us?" He never got an answer because Grover quickly got in the car, not hearing him. He sighed and got in, going with the flow.
The group tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the windshield. The boys honestly didn't know how Percy's mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.
"So, you and my mom... know each other?" Percy asked, not able to stay silent
Grover's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind them. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."
"Watching me?"
"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."
"Um ... what are you, exactly?" Percy asked.
"That doesn't matter right now."
"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"
Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"
"Goat!" Grover cried.
"What?"
Once getting himself under control, Grover helped the poor guy out. "Percy, I am a Satyr...a being that is Half human and Half goat."
"Huh? But ... .you would mean Mr. Brunner's myths?"
"Yes"
"Wait, so all that Mr. Brunner taught us was actually preparing us for this stuff?"
"Pretty much." Grover said.
"Great…" Percy replied sarcastically. "Just what we need. Freaky monsters coming after us."
"Not only that, but those three old ladies were the Fates and not myths and neither was Mrs. Dodds." Grover told them.
"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!" Percy exclaimed.
"Of course."
"Ok, so what was the point of hiding the fact that she was real?" Percy asked.
"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."
"Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?" Percy asked.
The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.
"Percy," his mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you two to safety."
"Safety from what? Who's after us?" Percy asked.
"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."
"Grover!"
"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?" Grover replied.
"What, you mean Hades?" Percy replied and the ground shook a bit and Grover nodded a little panicked.
While the boys were trying to wrap their heads around all this madness, Percy's mom made a hard left. They swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and 'Pick your own Strawberries' signs on white picket fences.
"Where are we going?" Percy asked.
"The summer camp I told you about." His mother's voice was tight; she was trying for Percy's sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."
"The place you didn't want me to go to."
"Please, dear," his mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."
"Because some old ladies cut yarn?" Percy asked and Grover sighed.
"Man…if you paid attention in class why is that bad." Grover said. "When they cut the yarn…that means someone is going to die! And the fact they appeared in front of you two, they only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."
"Whoa-you said 'you'!" Percy freaked.
"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'" Grover replied.
"Yeah, you meant me!" Percy said.
"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."
"Boys!" Percy's mom said. She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and they got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.
"The hell was that!" Percy freaked.
"We're almost there," Mrs. Jackson said, ignoring his question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."
Percy was thinking about the blades Mr. Brunner had thrown to them. Before he could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom, and the car exploded. It was an odd feeling being blown up, like you were, weightless, crushed, burned, and being hosed down all at the same time.
Percy pried his forehand off the driver's seat in front him as his mom called out to him. "Ugh…I am fine," He said.
He sighed in relief that they were not dead….not yet anyway then Percy noticed that Grover looked unconscious. "Grover!"
"Food…" He groaned.
Percy sweatdropped at that, yeah, he was going to be fine.
"Percy," his mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered, because when the lightning flashed, they saw a huge figure through the mud splashed window.
"Hello." Percy said surprised.
"Boys," Percy's mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car." She tried the driver's aid but all the mud was blocking their way out. "Passenger's side. Get out now and run to the big tree!" She yelled pointing to a large tree in the distance as they got out.
"What?" Percy replied, confused until the lightning flashed and a large pine tree in the distance appeared and that thing was huge!
"That's the property line," his mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."
"Mom, you're coming too."
Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.
"No!" Percy shouted. "You are coming with us. Help me carry Grover."
"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.
Percy placed Grover away and turned back to mom to see the creature coming towards them. It was huge! That and it seemed that it had fur on it!
"He doesn't want us," Mrs Jackson called out. "He just wants you two. Besides, I can't cross the property line."
"But..." Percy started to say.
"We don't have time. Go. Please."
This just made Percy mad and he went over to his mother and helped out all the way. "We're going together. Come on, Mom." .
"I told you-"
"Mom! I am not leaving you. Come on!"
As the creature was approaching Percy blinked owlishly, recognizing this creature from Mr. Brunner's class, "That's-"
"Pasiphae's son," his mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."
"But he's the Min—"
"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."
"That's one big bull!" He exclaimed
As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.
"Oops." Percy said.
"Percy," Percy's 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?".
"How do you know all this?" Percy asked
"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me." Mrs. Jackson said sadly.
"Keeping me near you? But-"
Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. He'd smelled them. The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.
The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of them. His mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said." He didn't want to split up, but he had the feeling she was right-it was their only chance.
Percy sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on him. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat. He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at Percy's chest.
The fear in his stomach made him want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. He could never outrun this thing. So he held his ground, and at the last moment, he jumped to the side. The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward him this time, toward his mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.
They had reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side he could see a valley, just as his mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. They would never make it. The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing his mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.
"Run, Percy!" she told him. "I can't go any farther. Run!"
But Percy just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told him to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.
"Mom!" She caught his eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"
Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before his eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply … gone.
"No!" Anger replaced Percy's fear.
Newfound strength burned in his limbs-the same rush of energy he had gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons. The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling his best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.
He couldn't allow that. He stripped off my red rain jacket. "Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"
"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward him, shaking his meaty fists. He had an idea-a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. He put his back to the big pine tree and waved his red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking he'd jump out of the way at the last moment. But it didn't happen like that.
The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab Percy whichever way he tried to dodge. Time slowed down. His legs tensed. He couldn't jump sideways, so he leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.
How did he do that? He didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked Percy's teeth out. The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake him. Percy locked his arms around his horns to keep from being thrown.
Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in Percy's eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned his nostrils. The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed Percy flat, but he was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.
Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. Percy wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way he was getting tossed around, if he opened my mouth he would bite my own tongue off. "Food!" Grover moaned.
The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. Percy thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. He got both hands around one horn and he pulled backward with all his might.
The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then-snap! The bull-man screamed and flung him through the air. He landed flat on his back in the grass. His head smacked against a rock. When he sat up, his vision was blurry, but he had a horn in his hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.
The monster charged. Without thinking, he rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, he drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage. The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate-not like his mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.
The monster was gone. The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. He smelled like livestock and his knees were shaking. His head felt like it was splitting open. He was weak and scared and trembling with grief he had just seen my mother vanish.
He wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing his help, so he managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. He was crying, calling for his mother, but he held on to Grover-he wasn't going to let him go.
The last thing he remembers is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above him, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.
They both looked down at him, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."
"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."
Please review tell what you loved of this new chapter and Starting of the Arc (The Lightning Thief Arc)
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