𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑 • PERCY JACKSON

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏: 𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐄𝐖𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐘

On the back of the photo was a short pair of sentences that read:

Hope you're doing well. I miss you guys everyday!

-With love,
Eris Lewis.

8/ 1/ 06

Eris didn't send anymore photos or even a letter after that.

   He didn't know how she got his address but chose not to think about it

    Annabeth had sent Percy multiple letters and photos over the summer but Eris had only sent this one photo.

    It had been a year already so he could only hope Eris was just at camp already.

    Briefly he wondered what she had been up to all year in the Underworld maybe she—

    No, he didn't want to think about it.

   Though he's only been on one quest and hopefully his only quest ever, the Underworld was by far the most frightening place he had ever experienced. Who would want to think about literal hell?

   Percy was about to close his notebook when Matt Sloan reached over and ripped the photo out of the rings.

   "Hey!" Percy snapped.

Percy hated Matt Sloan with a burning passion. Matt was rich white guys who thought that just because they were big and rich that they could walk over everyone.

For a brief moment he was worried Matt would see Cerberus and notice he was a three-head dog-monster hybrid but then he remembered the mist would probably make Matt only see Cerberus as a over large one-headed dog.

Sloan looked over the photo with wide eyes, "Whose this? She's pretty for a black girl at least. There's no way in hell she's your—"

Percy's urge to punch him only felt stronger, "Give it back!"

Sloan passed it to his new friends who muttered in agreement as they eyed Eris' photo like she was some sort of object, his friends were kids who were there visiting their school for a tour. He almost felt like ripping out his hair when they tore up Eris' photo and let it flutter to the ground.

The one piece of evidence that Eris was alive was gone.

     "These guys are moving here next year," Sloan bragged, "I bet they can pay the tuition, too, unlike your dumb friend."

    "He's not dumb." Percy growled.

"You're such a loser, Jackson. Good thing I'm gonna put you out of your misery next period."

  His fist clenched as he watched Matt's followers step all over the ripped up photo of Eris as they walked away but he had promised Chiron he wouldn't hurt mortals.

   But still that racist comment Matt had made made Percy very tempted to break his promise.

    The bell rang.

    As Tyson and Percy were leaving class, a girl's voice whispered, "Percy!"

    He looked around the locker area, but nobody was paying him any attention.