Powerful | REWRITE

꓄ꃅꋪꍟꍟ ꂦ꒒ꀸ ꒒ꍏꀸꀤꍟꌗ ꓄ꋪꀤꍟꌗ ꓄ꂦ ꀘꈤꀤ꓄ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꌗꂦꉓꀘꌗ ꂦꎇ ꀸꍟꍏ꓄ꃅ

I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr - a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip - had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.

The gods were already on edge after everything they had read about Percy's strange experiences, but this was the tipping point.

"Twenty-four/seven hallucinations? Poor girl-that's beyond cruel," Athena muttered, her mind racing with thoughts of how Percy must have felt. "No wonder she's questioning her sanity. They're complete fools for gaslighting her like this."

"More like a 24/7 nightmare," Apollo added, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's one thing to have strange experiences, but for everyone to pretend it's normal? That's seriously messed up."

Zeus frowned. "First, they try to make her believe Mrs. Dodds never existed, and now they're all acting like this Mrs. Kerr has been there the entire time? What kind of twisted game are they playing with my niece?"

Poseidon shook his head, his voice tight with anger. "It's not just a game, brother. They're gaslighting her-making her question her reality, isolating her from the truth. And the worst part? Percy has no one to turn to... except her mortal mother."

Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.

It got so I almost believed them - Mrs. Dodds had never existed. Almost.

"She shouldn't have to second-guess herself like this," Hera said, shaking her head. "It's infuriating that they're making her feel like she's losing her mind."

"They're trying to break her spirit," Athena added sharply. "If they can make her believe she's crazy, they think she'll stop asking questions."

"Still," Apollo said, his voice quieter, "having everyone look at her like she's insane must be eating away at her. No wonder she's starting to doubt if Mrs. Dodds was even real."

But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then
claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.

Poseidon shook his head, fury simmering in his eyes. "Of course that bastard knew!"

"He's not even a good friend," Loki scoffed. "Even I wouldn't pull something like that, and-"

"Loki, please. Just shut up," Thor interrupted firmly.

"Fuck you," Loki muttered under his breath.

Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.

I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.

"Because something did happen, darling," Athena said sharply. "But with a fake friend and an even faker teacher, both working to make sure you never discover who you truly are."

"This, of course," Hades added with a grim tone, "is not a good sign. Not at all."

The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.