"What you see here, they are not fictions." Mr. Brunner said as the entire class from Yancy Academy looked at the Greek statutes. "They are not fantasies." Flora listened carefully, writing it down on her clipboard.
"What you see here are the truest and deepest parts of yourselves. Friends... the gods... the monsters, the heroes you see here in this room are reminders of what we are capable of." Brunner said. 'We.' He didn't mean the other hundreds of kids in the class. He meant Percy. At least, that's what Flora and Grover think.
"Now, on your worksheets, I want you to choose one of the subjects you see here and describe it." Flora quickly erased the drawing on her paper as Brunner continued to talk. "Not just how it looks... but how it makes you feel. Hmm? Okay, come on." Brunner clapped his hands, and everyone went in different directions.
But Flora? Nope, her and Grover motioned for Percy to follow them. He didn't follow them, though, of course. Flora gently elbowed Grover as they walked, which caused him to look over at her. "What's it say on the paper?" Flora asked.
"It's saying to write down what you see in the boxes." Grover explains, and Flora nods. "Okay.... thank you." She smiled slightly, and he returned the smile. They were about to continue walking until they heard a confused Percy say, "mom?" Out loud.
Grover and Flora shared a confused look before turning to look at Percy. "I'm right here, sweetie! Mommy's here!" Nancy Bobofit mocked. Her group of friends laughed, and Grover nudged Flora before they turned back around to look at the statutes.
After maybe ten or twenty minutes, everyone found themselves outside. Flora, Grover, and Percy were all sitting near a fountain eating their lunch as Grover talked. "There are all sorts of schools of thought about what drives that kind of bullying. Childhood trauma, feeling of inadequacy.... oh, thank you, Flora." Grover thanked Flora when she gave him her cookie.
"Look, I get that Nancy has issues, I'm just getting tired of her taking them out on me." Flora watched as Grover took Percy's cheese, and Percy took Grovers ham. She shrugged it off yet smiled slightly. "I feel like... maybe it's time to do something about it." Percy told the two.
"You could make an appointment to see Mr. Kane. He's really good at talking---" Percy cut Grover off mid sentence. "I was thinking more like shoving Nancy in the nearest dumpster." Flora quickly looked up from her food and shared a concerned look with Grover as Percy smiled.
"Oh..." Grover said. "Oh--- no. No, no, no, no, no, Percy, that's not what he meant. No, if there's one thing we know about bullies, it is that you should never, ever stand up to them." Flora told Percy. Percy just looked confused before he spoke, "That doesn't sound right."
"Look... I know this place is hard for people like us. But we're not gonna be here forever. There are better places out there." Grover explained, and Percy smiled something. Grovers' smile faded, though, when he got hit with a slice of cheese on the side of his face by Nancy, who only said, "Oops."
Grover groaned, Flora helped him clean his jacket, and Percy stood up and walked over to Nancy. "Percy." Grover called out. Percy put his hands out to Nancy. "No, don't!" Grover said. But then something weird happened. Like Nancy, just... flew? She flew into the fountain, and both Grover and Flora looked at each other. "That can't be good." Flora said, and Grover shook his head.
"Percy pushed me!" Nancy shouted. Flora then looked at Mrs. Dodds. "So, she's definitely not human, right?" Before Grover could answer, Mrs. Dodds turned into a Fury--- one of the many Furies from the underworld. "So she's not. Noted."
It only took a few minutes for Mrs. Dodds to evaporate. And when Percy woke up, he was greeted by Grover, Flora, and a few other classmates looking down at him. Some asked if he was dead or if he was okay. Clearly, he was alive and well, though, for now.
"Give him some room, please." Mr Brunner said. Flora put her hand out to help Percy. He took her hand but immediately let go when he got up. "What happened?" Percy asked. He looked around before looking at Mr Brunner. "Where's Mrs. Dodds?"
"I didn't do anything to him!" Nancg shouted as a teacher led her away. "Everyone, go back to your lunches. It's all right. Percy just needs a moment, that's all." Brunner quickly told the rest of the kids. He didn't mean Grover of Flora, though.
The rest of the classmates walked away, and Percy spoke. "I don't understand. Didn't anyone just see that? Where's Mrs. Dodds?" Brunner looked over at Flora and Grover. Grover looked down, Percy looked at the two, and Flora said, "Percy, there's no teacher here by that name." Percy looked at Brunner and then back to Grover, who shook his head.
"All right, class, let's move along. Let's go. Finish your lunch." Was the last thing they heard from Brunner before he left them.
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"The truth... can be so very hard to determine..."
Flora looked down at her hands as the headmaster spoke to her, Percy, and Grover-- well... mainly to Percy. "But in this case, the truth seems very hard to deny."
She could feel Percy's eyes staring at her, as if he knew what she was thinking. "Mr. Jackson, a number of your classmates saw you, Mr. Underwood, and Ms. Gardiner arguing with Ms. Bobofit, yet you have offered no explanation for how she ended up in that fountain, other than, uh... I didn't touch Nancy."
The headmaster looked at Percy while Grover and Flora kept their heads down. "Now, isn't there anything else you'd like to say for yourself?" Grover looked over at Percy to see what he'd say.
"I didn't touch Nancy." Was all that came out of Percy's mouth. The headmaster sighed. "Okay. Mr. Underwood and Ms. Bobofit?" The two looked up.
"Do you two have anything to add?" They stayed quiet for a few seconds. When Grover was about to speak, Flora cut him off. "I do." Percy had quickly looked at her. "Go on." The headmaster told her.
Flora fidgeted with her hands before taking a deep breath. "Percy had told us earlier in the day that he wanted to get back at Nancy for all she'd done to us."
"Flora?"
Flora just ignored Percy calling her name. "And he isn't being truthful about what happened at the fountain."
"Flora!" Her head finally turned to look at Percy. "Excuse me." Percy looked over at the headmaster when he heard him speak. "Are you saying you saw Mr. Jackson assault Ms. Bobofit?"
Percy looked at Flora again. Flora looked down and then back to the headmaster. She hesitated before speaking, "Yes... I did."
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There was a knocking on Floras dorm. Over and over again. Flora got up from her bed and opened it. "Grover?"
"Something bad is happening. Something really, really, bad is happening." Grover said as he walked into Flora's room. "One of the monsters is after Percy... and you. Oh my god, I told Chiron you should stay at camp!"
"Grover--"
"I'm never gonna be able to go on my quest for Pan--"
"Grover!"
Grover finally stopped pacing and looked at Flora. "Grab your things. We'll go to Percy's... bring him to camp early. Chiron will understand. Okay?" Grover nodded.
"Okay."
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"Grover stop running--"
Grover ran up the stairs to the front door in the pouring rain and knocked as loud as he could, with Flora following him.
"Who's there?" They heard from inside the house. "Mrs. Jackson? It's Grover."
"And Flora! I'm here--"
Flora looked behind them and back at the door. "This is a little time sensitive. Could someone maybe open the door?"
Grover looked at Flora"s hand, taking note of the fact the rain washed off the makeup on her thumbs, so now you could see they were green.
Mrs. Jackson-- Sally, opened the door and looked at the two in front of her. "I asked to have the night. you guys said we could all leave in the morning."
"Sorry, we're early, but we didn't have any choice. Things have changed. This is all developing a lot faster than we anticipated." Grover spoke fast, and Flora looked at him nervously.
"Early?" They could hear Percy ask, and Sally looked over her shoulder at him. "You should have asked me before you---" Percy started speaking as Flora and Grover rushed inside, Sally closing the door behind them.
"Whatever it is you guys are gonna say, I don't wanna... hear it." Percy's eyes moved to Flora's thumb and lowered to Grover's legs. "Grover? Flora?"
"Percy." The two said at the same time before looking at Sally again. "Okay, so something's coming..." Grover started. "Grover? Flora?" Percy said again. "And we know that sounds really bad..." Flora says
"Grover? Flora?"
"But the important thing is not to panic." Grover said quickly to Sally, who was just staring at them. "I'm not panicking." She said to them. "Grover! Flora!"
"Great! We're also definitely not panicking. We feel very good about how we're doing so far--" Flora was saying. "Grover! Flora!" The two finally looked at Percy, "What?" They asked at the same time.
"Grover, why is there half a goat in your pants? And why--- why does Flora's thumbs have green paint on them?" Grover looked down. "Oh, it's..." Then they realized. "Oh! Oh, boy, she didn't tell you about...." The three looked at Sally.
"You didn't tell him about us?" Grover asked. "You two are early." She said with a sarcastic smile. Grover and Flora shared a look before looking at Percy. "So the important thing is not to panic..." Flora says as Percy looks them up and down.
"We'll continue this in the car. Let's go." Sally tells them.
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"My job had been to guide you to this moment, Flora is just a tag along--" "Hey!" Flora protested, and Grover glanced at her.
"Anyways... it's always an emotional rollercoaster for a young demigod, so providing a support system is really--" Percy cut Grover off. "Who are you two?"
"We're Grover, and Flora. We're your best friends, and--"
"What are you?" Grover stayed silent, so Flora spoke up. "I'm a halfblood. I'm Demeter's kid." Flora lifted her hand up, and Percy looked her up and down before Grover spoke. "I'm a satyr. And I'm your protector."
"You're my protector?" Percy asked as if it was some kined of joke. "If Flora and I hadn't gotten you kicked out of school, you'd have never survived the night. And what's chasing us now would have found you there easily."
Percy looked forward, and Grover looked down. "I'm sorry." Flora could see Sally looked at Percy before she looked back at the road, and Flora looked out the window. "Usually, I can sense danger coming a mile away, but this time... well, none of us saw Dodds coming."
Percy quickly looked back at them. "So you two knew. That thing that Dodds turned into, you two saw it happen?" Percy asked, and Flora looked at him. "We saw some of it. And by the time we realized what she was... she was already gone. The mist kept her hidden from me and Grover until it was too late."
"Mist? What's a mist?"
"Harp made me watch that movie..." Flora said under her breath. "Who's harp?" Percy asks. "She's the kid of--" Grover cut her off. "We don't have time for that! The mist is the veil that hides the magical world from the human world. My legs. Flora's thumbs. Dodds' wings. Even Dodds' absence, but it isn't supposed to hide things from me. That never happens."
Percy looked forward once again. "Something powerful is at work here. The sooner we get you to camp, the better off you're..." Percy's head shot back to them again. "You didn't tell him about camp?" Flora asked Sally.
"Not yet, no."
Percy looked at Sally as Flora started to explain. "Camp is a safe place for half-bloods. A place where you can learn who you are and what the world is like on the other side of the Mist."
"Uh, it's not far, actually, just a little ways past the bend up there." Grover said while pointing somewhere. "Mom, what else haven't we talked about?" Sally looked over at Percy. "Umm, eyes on the road, Mrs. Jackson." Flora said nervously, and Sally looked at the road again.
"What else haven't you told me?" Before Sally could answer, they heard a noise. A very, very, very loud noise. Grover and Flora quickly looked behind them to see a Minotaur-- who just destroyed a street lamp.
"Is that the Minotaur?" Percy asked. Grover and Flora looked forward again as Grover started speaking. "Once the attacks start, they never let up. Okay? Dodds was just the beginning."
Flora nodded in agreement and finished Grover's saying for him, "He is next. He-- he is brutal. He is relentless."
"He is wearing underpants." Percy pointed out. Flora shared a look with Grover before they looked behind them again. "That's new...?" Flora says, and Grover nods. "Yup." His voice was high-pitched.
Grover looks to Percy again. "The Mythomagic cards were training. Everything has been training for what's still ahead of you." He tells Percy. "What's ahead of me?"
"Boys-- and Flo."
Percy looks at Sally. "Yeah?" He asks. "I'm actually 24, and Flora is 14." Flora elbows Grover and Percy looks back at them so confused. Grover just acts as if he didn't say a word. "Hold on, please." Sally tells the three.
The Minotaur got closer very fast. It slammed into the side of the car, and Grover yelled. At that moment, Flora wished she never begged to go on this quest because Sally had turned the wheel and slammed into the Minotaur.
The horn of the Minotaur broke the window in the driver's seat. There was a truck right in front of them, honking at them. Flora gained a lot more respect for Sally Jackson when she watched Sally take hold of the wheel and speed up, then swerve to the side so that the other car would hit the Minotaur.
She also lost some of said respect when the car crashed and her vision just went black.
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The rain fell harder, thunder rumbling. Flora had slowly started to wake up. "Oh god... I was wishing that was a nightmare..." she muttered to herself.
"Oh my god-- I thought you were--" Grover said, and Flora shook her head. "Just get us out of here."
Grover nodded as he started to kick the back windshield. It eventually popped out, and Grover crawled out the car. Flora tried to get out but her leg was stuck so she just told Percy to go first-- which he did.
"Grab my hand." Percy told her as he put his hand out. Flora looked up at him before hesitantly taking his hand. "On the count of three I'm gonna pull you out, okay? One--"
"Three!" Flora said as she winced in pain from her leg. Percy pulled her, helping her out the car. A stream of blood ran down her leg but she ignored it and covered it so they wouldn't see.
She helped Percy with Grover and they went to open the car door for Sally. "Is everyone okay?" Sally asks as she quickly gets out. "Yeah, I'm okay." Percy told her.
"Okay." Sally said before groaning and turning on her flashlight. "This way!"
They walked up a hill. Grover and Flora stopped. "We're here. That's the boundary. No monsters can cross it." Flora pointed at the tree on the top of the hill before they turned around to Percy and Sally.
"Percy will be safe on the other side."
"Percy will be... but won't all of us be safe?" Percy asked confused as he looked to Sally. Sally stepped forward, in front of Grover. "Grover, I am entrusting you to protect my son, my only child."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Jackson, Percy will be totally safe at camp--"
"Swear it." Sally told him. "What's happening?" Percy asked. "Swear if, Grover! Keep him safe from anyone or anything that comes for him, that wants to do harm, that looks at him the wrong way. Do you understand me?"
"I swear!" Sally nodded. Everyone's head turned at the sound of the Minotaur roaring.
Sally then walked over to Percy, the light of the car reflecting on the side of her face. "I gotta go now, sweetheart." Sally says to Percy. "Go? What do you mean go?"
"I can't go with you." She said while shaking her hand. "Why can't you?" Percy asks her. "She's human, they're not allowed." Flora said and the two looked at her, which made her want to swallow her words. "Sorry..." she muttered as her and Grover backed up to give them some space.
"You're gonna need to be brave now. Remember what i taught you. Remember the stories I told you. Especially the stories, they will tell..."
"No. No way! Mom, I'm not leaving you!"
"Perseus! Listen to me." Sally stepped forward and cupped her sons face in her hands. Grover and Flora looked at eachother and then back at the two in front of them.
"You are not broken. You are singular. You're a miracle. And you are my son. Hold fast. Brave the storm. I love you." Their heads quickly turned at the sound of the Minotaur getting closer. "We need to move." Grover told them.
"Give me your coat." Sally tells Percy. "Why? What are you gonna do?" He asks while taking off the coat. "He smells half-blood, that's what he's tracking, yeah?" Sally asks while nodding to Flora's headband. Grover nods as Flora takes off her headband and hands it to Sally.
"So if he smells Flora and Percy in two directions at once, maybe I can confuse him. Buy us both a little time to get away." She says as she puts the headband in her pocket and the coat over her arm. "Mom, please don't."
"Hey, it'll be okay." Sally assured Percy. Both Percy and Sally had tears in their eyes. Of course, Flora remembered it all too well. Branches started cracking and all of a sudden, the Minotaur was in eye sight.
Sally kissed the top of Percy's head. "Go! Now!" She told the three before she ran towards the Minotaur. The three than took off towards the hill, holding Grover up so he wouldn't collapse. Even though Flora was limping a little as well.
After a minute, Grover fell down next to a rock and Flora quickly sat with him. Flora looked over her shoulder at Percy who was running forward a bit repeating "no" over and over again.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw Sally get knocked over by the Minotaur. "Mom!" The Minotaur just picked Sally up and she--- she evaporated? "That's not supposed to happen..." Flora muttered to herself.
Before they could stop him, Percy took out his sword and ran towards the Minotaur. But then he fell because of the Minotaur. Percy got up and striked at the Minotaurs horn. The Minotaur swung Percy and sent him flying. That's new.
Flora groaned as she watched Percy crawl towards his sword. But, the second she saw the Minotaur grab a rock and walk towards Percy, she grabbed the nearest stick she could find. Just before the Minotaur was able to slame the rock down onto Percy, Flora threw the stick and it hit the Minotaur in the eye.
It gave Percy enough time to get up and on the Minotaurs back, which probably wasn't a good idea because the Minotaur swung around trying to throw Percy off.
The Minotaur ran his back into the tree in an attempt to get Percy off, but it didn't work. Instead, as the Minotaur spun around, Percy tore off his horn and stabbed it into the head of the Minotaur.
It evaporated and Percy fell to the ground, that was the last thing seen before both Percy and Flora fainted.
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"Are they okay?"
"Alone?"
"How is that possible?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, Flora and him are okay."
"He must be the one." Annabeth had said. "Hush, Annabeth." Chiron said. "Harper, get away. You're gonna scare him." Chiron told the girl who was knelt down next to Percy and Flora.
Harper stood up and turned to Chiron. "Who's afraid of Harp?" One camper asked. "Yeah, who's afraid of little old me?" Harper joked and smiled.
"They're waking. Everyone, give them some space, please." Everyone moved out the way and Harper helped Flora.
"Welcome to camp, Percy Jackson. We've been expecting you."