"Percy? Percy!"
I snapped out of my daydream with a sharp elbow to the ribs, which instantly made me snap my head to the source.
Grover's eyes met mine and he gestured to the front, just to see Mr. Brunner's patient but amused face staring at me.
"Are you alright Percy? Late night, hm?" He joked and I could hear the snickers and whispers of the class around me while my face got increasingly more red.
"U-uhm, no sir." I muttered and he smiled.
"No matter. Just answer the question. Who slew the demon Medusa?" He asked, gesturing to the frankly terrifying statue of the woman beside him.
You see, my Latin class was on a trip to a museum, a trip based around Ancient Greece to be specific. What Latin had to do with Socrates and feta cheese, I wasn't too sure.
I was excited too. History and Latin were the only things I was good at, and I loved Mr. Brunner like hell. The man was the only person who wasn't condescending, he never treated me like a special project that couldn't do anything right.
"Perseus?" It came out more like a question that a definite statement.
"Correct, Mr. Jackson. And what was Perseus?" He further inquired.
"A hero?"
"I suppose, yes. But be more specific. Who were his parents?"
"Danaë and Zeus?" A rumble of thunder sounded throughout the building suddenly.
"Correct. So what was Perseus?"
"A demigod."
Mr. Brunner's eyes twinkled as I answered, before swiftly moving on to the next poor student to interrogate.
Behind him though, was Miss Dodds, the substitute English teacher. She was wrinkly and skinny, but she always seemed to despise me. I figured it was my piss-poor literature skills and dyslexia, but she always seemed so intimidating.
She stared directly at me as Mr. Brunner spoke and all I could do was squirm and avoid eye contact, which proved really hard to do when she wouldn't stop looking at me.
The whole time I was trying to look away from her, I got an increasingly sinking feeling in my stomach. That feeling was never good.
It was the same feeling I got every time I was about to do something stupid that would wind up with me getting expelled, like the last eight schools I'd been to.
Something was about to happen.
___________________________________________
After another hour or two of Mr. Brunner doing his best to entertain the class on tour around the museum, we were taken to the lunch hall.
It was a little much in there to be honest, the interior designers were clearly trying way too hard to make it Greek, y'know?
All I'm saying is that I could do without the huge statue of a half-naked Zeus practically staring me down while I ate my shitty cheese sandwich.
"How're you finding it so far?" Grover asked, sitting down at the closest lunch table.
Grover was my skinny, weak, best (and only) friend I had, with curly, brown hair, a developing goatie and crutches to get around.
We were each other's only friends at Yancy Academy, nobody else really cared about either of us, but that was fine. Grover was all I needed.
I shrugged. "It's OK. But I gotta say, the only thing I'm getting from this trip is that Zeus was an asshole."
Thunder rumbled again, and Grover's demeanor suddenly got nervous. "Y-you don't mean that, haha. He's not all bad."
I shrugged again. "I guess. But honestly, I prefer Poseidon. He controls the sea and earthquakes, that's by far the best power, right? Hell, even Hades is cooler."
"I-if you say so." He gulped before changing the subject. "By the way, your welcome for helping you with Mr. Brunner."
I grinned. "Yeah, thanks. That was a little awkward though. Especially after, did you notice Miss Dodds staring at m-"
"Perseus Jackson." A shrill voice called from behind me. I turned around, and I instantly got that sinking feeling again.
Miss Dodds was peering at me, and gestured for me to get up. "We must talk. Follow me, boy."
I turned back to Grover wistfully, sending him a message with my eyes.
I'm fucked.
He looked at me sympathetically, shaking his head as he munched on his enchilada.
I got up and trailed behind her, fully aware of all the looks directed at me, and I did my best to stay composed.
"Whatchu do this time, Penis?" Nancy called out to me, with the incredibly inventive nickname she had for me.
She received no acknowledgement from Miss Dodds, only getting a harsh look from Mr. Brunner, which was thankfully enough to shut her up.
Miss Dodds opened the lunch door, inviting me to exit the hall into the corridor, and I sadly walked out.
However, I never did notice the cautious looks Mr. Brunner and Grover gave me as I left.
___________________________________________
BANG
The door slammed shut, leaving only myself and Miss Dodds in the corridor.
"Where is it, child?" She smiled in a sickly sweet type of way.
"Excuse me?" I scratched my head in confusion.
"DO NOT LIE TO ME, PERSEUS! WHERE IS THE BOLT?!" She screamed suddenly, and I jumped more than I'd care to admit.
"What bolt?! I haven't done anything!" I yelled back. I wasn't ready for how quick this would escalate.
"So you want to play ignorant, hm? That's fine. I'm sure Hades won't mind if I tear you to shreds!" She began to laugh hysterically as her skin began to peel off and her clothes burst off of her, revealing a scaly, winged creature similar to a gargoyle.
"WHAT THE F-" I didn't even have time to yell out, ducking under Miss Dodds' claws as she went for my head.
She quickly realised she'd failed to kill her prey - me - and turned around again to take another swipe at me, shooting a breath of fire towards me as she did so.
I rolled under it, finding myself directly underneath her, and with a sharp shot of terror, I realised I was exactly where she wanted me. She grinned awfully before raising her foot to stomp on my head, and all I could do was raise my hands and close my eyes, hoping for my death to be quick.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE
I opened my eyes after a few seconds, pleasantly surprised to see myself without a crushed head. I looked at where Miss Dodds was, only to find a pile of golden dust and a dull, glowing headdress, more like a helmet really.
With a sigh, shakingly, I got up and looked around, only to be met with rubble of fallen statues and broken off pieces of wall.
Before I could even really begin to process what just happened, Mr. Brunner and Grover burst through the door after me, which is really saying something about a man in a wheelchair and a kid in crutches.
"Perseus! What happened?! Where is Miss Dodds?!" Mr. Brunner yelled out, looking around at the destruction around us.
"Are you OK?! I never should have ket you go with her! I should have known!" Grover muttered the last part, sweating uncontrollably.
"I d-dunno!" I mumbled. "Miss Dodds became like a flying lizard or something and she was attacking me and she was breathing fire and she was gonna KILL me but I closed my and she was gone!"
I inhaled sharply, getting the oxygen I was missing out on while my mind went a trillion miles an hour.
Mr. Brunner turned to Grover with a concerned look, and they began to whisper amongst themselves, all while I awkwardly stood to the side, still trying to understand what the fuck was going on.
"Sounds like Alecto the Fury... Hades wants the boy."
"So what do we do? It's still too early to take him to camp, right?"
"If that impact we felt earlier was him, then I'd dare say that we left it too late to take him to camp."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, h-"
"Can you two stop talking about me, I'm right here! And while you're at it, can anybody tell me what the hell is going on?!" I interjected, and both of their heads snapped towards me.
Mr. Brunner shook his head before stroking his beard thoughtfully. "No... there's no time. Percy, I fear that since you've been attacked by one monster, more will follow. Grover, take him to the camp as soon as possible. Inform Sally Jackson on the way, if time permits."
Grover nodded and wasted no time in directing me to the nearest fire exit, not even giving me the chance to ask about what Mr. Brunner meant about my mother.
"Grover what the hell is going on, man?!" I asked again, shaking him off as he led me down the steps to the museum.
He looked at me fearfully. "Look, Percy, I'll explain it all later. I promise. But for now, you just have to roll with what I'm doing, OK?"
He seemed scared, and not like the typical Grover fear he usually had, more like absolute terror. I had no choice but to believe him, he wasn't this good of an actor.
"Taxi!" He yelled, flagging down the nearest one. He forced me in and hopped in after. "East 104th and 1st, thanks."
I looked at him surprised, not sure how he knew my address, but honestly, much stranger things had happened.
In the midst of all this craziness though, all I knew was one thing.
That sinking feeling never went away.
___________________________________________
With surprising agility for a guy with crutches, Grover shot up the stairs to my mom's apartment and burst open the door with a kick I didn't even know was possible for him.
The door opened to see three fat, disgusting, old men playing poker in my living room, headed by my filthy stepfather, Gabe Ugliano. He got over his shock the quickest and shot up out of his seat.
"Do you mind not breaking my door?!Why the fuck are you here, brat? Shouldn't you be in school right now? Or did they also realise how much of a pathetic shrimp you are?" He sneered, but I ignored him, stepping inside the apartment with Grover urgently.
"Where's my mom?!" I yelled quickly, and Gabe sneered again.
"Why? She's clearly busy being my personal servant right now, probably getting the beers for our poker game. She's an obedient woman, you know." He grinned his ugly grin and I resisted all urges to beat him down, just looking around feverishly.
"Percy?!" A soft, kind, familiar voice called from behind me suddenly, making me jump a little with all my nerves on high-alert.
I turned around with a big smile to meet the eyes of my mother, Sally Jackson, the best woman to ever walk this planet. Her shocked expression was quickly replaced with joy, as we darted towards each other and hugged on to the other as tight as possible.
Gabe was trying to speak up, but we both ignored him, content in our embrace.
"Why're you here?" She whispered in my ear, and in all honesty, I did not have an answer. Thankfully though, Grover came in clutch.
"Miss Jackson?" He got her attention, and her demeanor instantly changed. "They know about him."
Her face changed to one of horror, I could have sworn I heard her heartbeat with the way she looked. "N-no! It's still too early!"
Grover nodded. "I know. But there was an incident. He needs to go."
She stood completely still for a second before wiping the sweat off her brow and grabbing her keys from the bowl next to the door. "Gabe, I'll be back in a couple of hours, I promise. Grover, Percy, let's go!"
She ran out of the apartment, despite Gabe's protests, and both Grover and I followed her, surprised at the burst of energy and vigour that appeared in her.
___________________________________________
"Where are we going exactly?!" I yelled out, taking my mom out of her trance she was in whilst she drived.
"Camp." Grover answered.
"Camp? Whats that? And why did Miss Dodds look like that? She evaporated into gold dust! Am I going crazy?" I blurted out a bunch of questions, clearly taking my mother and Grover off guard.
After some hesitation, my mom sighed before speaking. "I suppose you deserve the truth Percy. Well, it all starts with your father. Who he is. What he is."
"You know those stories of Greek mythology I would tell you as a kid? Well, they're real. The monsters, the heroes, the Olympians, all of it. And your father, Percy, was an Olympian." She closed her eyes.
"That makes you a half-blood Percy, a demigod. A hero. And monsters love the smell of half-bloods. That's why you've had so many dangerous experiences with things you could've sworn only you saw. Because they're monsters, covered by the Mist. That's why we've had to change schools so often."
As she dumped this truckload of information on me, all I could do was stare up at her in shock, truly wondering if this was some stupid joke or something.
"O-olympian?! Half-blood?! Mist?! Monsters?!" My mind was so overloaded, I couldn't even make proper sentences.
Grover nodded. "Yup. Trust me, it'll all make sense. Once we get to camp, Chiron will explain it all way better than I ever could."
"What exactly is 'Camp'?! Where is it?! Why're we going?!" Another fusillade of questions came out.
"Camp Half-Blood, Percy. It's a safe place from monsters for future heroes to train and live. You were always meant to go there, but this was a little earli-"
"MOM, WATCH OUT!" I shouted, just in time for her to narrowly swerve the car out of the way of a dead cow hurtling towards us. From where? I really didn't know.
"Shit... they're onto us." I heard my mother curse, which was almost as surprising as anything else that had happened so far.
"We've got to move! Through the forest!" Grover yelled, and my mom nodded affirmatively.
"But it's dark! And what was that?! Who's after us?!" I shouted in terror.
"MOOOOO!" A noise that sounded eerily similar to a demonic cow echoed from what seemed like a couple hundred feet away, and I felt my blood run cold.
"The fuck?!" My mom muttered, quickly parking and getting out of the car with Grover doing the exact same, leaving me to scramble with my seat belt.
"Miss Jackson, we aren't too far from the entrance!" Grover yelled, and despite the darkness, I could see my mom nodding, sprinting off with Grover, gesturing for me to do the same.
"Seriously, what are we running from!" I wasn't asking anymore, this was all getting too real.
"No... time to... explain!" Grover paused between each word to pant heavily as he sprinted. Suddenly though, the sound of heavy, crashing footsteps appeared, getting louder with each passing second.
"Shit! It's found us!" My mom yelled, and Grover cried out in fear.
As soon as the words left her mouth though, a dimly-lit, wooden and old looking gate came up in view through the trees, with words too small to be read inscribed at the top.
"Yes! Camp!" Grover laughed, but his joy was quickly cut short.
BANG
A boulder flung through the air above us, landing a few feet in front. "MOOOOOOOO!"
At this point, I couldn't resist turning around, despite my mother's best efforts to stop me. And I wish I hadn't.
I locked eyes with a creature, a beast so big and muscular that it looked like it was on steroids. It had red, demonic eyes, tattered shorts like the Hulk, and the head of a cow.
I was literally face-to-face with the Minotaur.
"MOOOOO!" It screamed again, and I felt myself running with a lot more vigour, terror running through my bones.
"It's too close! We're finished!" Grover cried, but it seemed my mom had other ideas.
"No. We aren't. Grover, get Percy to camp. I'll distract it." She refused to look into my scared eyes, leaving no time for argument as she swivelled around and ran straight towards the monster.
"MOM!" I screamed, but Grover wouldn't allow me to follow her, dragging my arm as he ran.
"We have to get to Camp, Percy!" He shouted, but I ignored him, my eyes locked on to the relatively miniscule frame of my mother doing her best to deter the Minotaur, throwing rocks, making noise, anything.
It was working too, she gave us enough time to make it to the gate that Grover was so adamant about, but just before I crossed it, I watched the monster grab onto her torso, lifting her high above the ground.
"MOM!" I screamed again, finding the strength within me to shrug off Grover's tight grip, darting down the pathway and towards the bull monster.
"Percy! Come back!" Grover tried to protest, but I was too filled with rage to listen.
My screaming managed to catch the attention of both the Minotaur and my mother, but before I could get anywhere near either of them, my mom began to cry, her jet black hair covering her blue eyes while she sobbed.
"Percy! I love y-!"
Before she could even finish her sentence, her body began to dissolve into gold dust, like Miss Dodds, and I felt time freeze as my heart beat uncontrollably.
"MOM!" I roared, running towards where her body was, and even the Minotaur seemed surprised as to where her body disappeared to.
Before I could even begin to mourn the death of my mother, the Minotaur saw the opportunity it had, raising it's leg to cave my skull in, the same way Miss Dodds had, and that's the exact moment I lost all conscious movement.
Without even thinking, I moved my hands up to stop it, and surprisingly enough, I wasn't instantly crushed, instead holding the leg in place.
I didn't give the beast any time to recover from its shock though, sticking my right hand out quickly, and for whatever reason, a tall weapon appeared. I didn't have any time or thought to what it actually was, but it had three prongs, I knew that much.
Viciously enough, I stabbed the weapon through the Minotaur's other leg, leading it to roar in pain before collapsing backwards, back to the ground.
"ARGH!" I yelled out, stabbing the weapon into the ground before me, and the ground began to shake horribly, before opening up and effectively swallowing the monster whole, leaving a pile of gold dust and a horn in it's place.
Before I could have a chance to process what I did, I felt my knees get weak and my head get light, collapsing instantly.
The last things I heard before completely becoming unconscious were the cries of Grover, yelling my name.
"PERCY!"
__________________________________________
AN:
Word Count: 3,251
Overall Word Count: 3,251
Tell me what you think about my writing so far, I can't lie, I thought this chapter was a little dodgy since I'm basically just rewriting the original book but I tried my best.
Just for future reference, Percy is 15 in this, and so is Annabeth. Clarisse and Luke would be 18 or so and Grover would be 30.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and see you next chapter!