Invisible Scars

Chapter 1

Finally the war against Gaea was over. Hopefully nothing else old and ancient would stir and cause trouble because he was so done with it. After his memory was wiped and then falling into Tartarus with Annabeth and all the battles and fights against monsters he had been in, all he wanted to do was get a break.

He prayed to the gods that they'd hear it. I'm done, choose someone else to do your hero work. But he knew no matter how much he tried to deny it, he knew that if he had more quests and wars to fight in his life, it would be up to the fates and the gods to decide so he wouldn't have a choice regardless.

After being gone for almost a year, he was worried he was going to have to repeat the 10th grade, but Paul helped him with a rigorous catch up program so he would be allowed to enter the 11th grade. It was excruciating, but Annabeth also helped encourage him, giving him motivation like you don't want to seem stupid by being held back. Suuuuper supportive. He got through it needless to say and would be starting school that day.

Goode was alright. He did a better job at not getting in trouble, but seriously he didn't try to, just being a demigod got him into enough as it was. Unfortunately, Goode was going to be lonelier after Rachel transferred to the ladies academy for her deal she made with her father in exchange to help Percy in the Titan War. However, Percy made a few other friends Freshman year that he could potentially become closer with for the school year.

He thought about staying at camp year round, but his mom, Paul, and Annabeth all insisted that he go because it was important for his future, but the only future Percy could see at the moment was dying to some monster, maybe even back in Tartarus. He didn't need an education to die.

He could feel his heart race start to pick up and he knew that if he couldn't get his brain off this topic, he would probably have a panic attack in the middle of the hallway which would definitely cause more stares and whispers than what he had already as he tried to find his locker. It was to be expected. One can't just disappear for months and reappear to expect that people won't talk.

When he got to his locker he opened it to put some of his stuff away and when he was done, he reached to close it, but someone else slammed it shut. He jumped in surprise, his hand instinctively reaching into his pocket to grab Riptide and point it in pen form at the perpetrator.

"Woah calm down with that pen Percy," said Nathan, looking a bit scared at how fast Percy had pulled out the pen and had it at his throat. He muttered a curse in ancient greek before twirling the pen through his fingers and shoving it into his pocket. Percy has gotten more on edge since the war, especially after Tartarus, waiting for something to jump out at him or come after him at any given second.

"I'm sorry, you startled me so I used the closest thing I had to defend myself," Percy laughed it off.

"Anyways, so where were you?" Nathan asked. Percy knew that was coming and he's been trying to come up with a great cover story, but he wasn't really smart and it hurt his brain.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth," he laughed awkwardly.

"You can't just disappear for months without a trace and then say something like that!" Nathan scolded.

"Look Nate, I had some crazy family stuff going on, lots of drama, it was like a full scale war," Percy said. Technically that was true.

"That doesn't explain why left without a word," Nathan frowned, still demanding more from Percy.

"I guess that would have to do with my aunt. She sprung most of this stuff on me out of nowhere and I had to leave without getting a chance to say something. You know I'm not allowed to have a phone. It just happened so fast I couldn't do anything," Percy explained.