Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was a meeting on Olympus. All of the Olympians were present along with Persephone, Amphitrite, Triton and some heroes, when all of a sudden a note appeared. Athena picked up the note

" This is from the Fates" she said, her expression unreadable.

" Well read it then, daughter" Zeus said

" Dear gods, you will read books about your future so that you can learn from your mistakes. We will also send a group of demigods your way. They are the reason you are alive in the future so we expect you to treat them as equals. You will also be stripped of your godhood.

P.s. Enjoy

Sincerely Fates"

With that the gods shrank to human size and all around the hearth couches appeared, they went to sit on them. When everyone was sat a bright flash appered and there was a group of people standing. Instantly weapons were drawn but when a black haired girl raised her hand and commanded the people to hide them they obeyed. She walked to the front of the group.

" Why did you summon us" she asked

" We did not, it was the Fates who summoned you. Please introduce yourselfes and your godly parent" Hestia replied with a smile.

The grop looked at the girl expectedly and she nodded.

" Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena" said a blond girl smuggly and Athena looked at her daughter with interest

" Thalia Grace, lieutenant of hunters of Artemis and daughter of Zeus" Hera looked at her with sadness in her eyes

"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades" Persephone and Hades smiled at him, they could sense Persephone's blessing on the boy which meant that he was born to their lover

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Hades" Her parents smiled once again "Jason Grace, son of Zeus and Hera's champion" Gods and demigods from that time were shocked, Hera's champion ?

"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares" Ares looked at her with pride

"Frank Zhang, son of Ares" with that Ares grew even more proud

"Connor and Travis Stoll, sons of Hermes" two similar looking boys said in sync and Hermes smiled at them

"Chris Rodrigeus, son of Hermes" the said god smiled again

"Malcolm Pace, son of Athena" Athena looked at him and then looked back

"Castor and Pollux, sons of Dionysus" Dionysus looked at them with interest

"Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite" Aphrodite smiled at her

"Drew Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite"Aphrodite was happy that two of her children were so powerful and Heracles was subtly checking her out till he felt a glare on him and turned to see a black haired girl from before but now she looked terrifying with ocean blue eyes looking straight at him. A chill ran down his spine and he fixed his gaze on the floor

"Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus" Hephaestus looked up from his tinkering and smiled

"Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis"

"Alabastor Torrington, son of Hecate"

"Tyson, cyclops and a son of Poseidon" Poseidon and Theseus smiled at him through Theseus's smile was a little forced

"Grover Underwood, Lord of the wild" Dionysus looked at him with interest

"Chiron, trainer of heroes" demigods of ancient Greecelooked at him with respect while the future ones just rolled their eyes.

"Perseus Jackson-"

"Wait, you were named after me ?" Perseus asked

" Yes, my mother thought it would bring me luck"

"Didn't help much" Will snorted while looking at her with adoration and some of the demigods snickered.Percy rolled her eyes and elboved him lightly while also smiling.

"But that's a boys name" Heracles cut in

"Yeah, so what ?" she asked raising an eyebrow

"Anyway, I'm Percy Jackson, daughter of Poseidon" the room instantly became silent

"My daughter ?" Poseidon asked in awe while Amphitrite and Triton were looking at her with newfound interest. A new note appeared in Percy's hands

"Dear demigods you are here to read the books about Perseus Reah Penelope Jackson. Please sit with your parents. And yes Percy with biologycal ones" When she finished no one even moved an inch she pouted for a while and then nodded and went to sit with her father, stepmom and brothers. Only then did the demigods went to sit with their parents, Grover and Chiron sat with Dionysus and Ethan and Alabastor sat with Percy. Gods were shocked at the display of such leadership, how no one even seemed to do it on purpose but they listened and obeyed her comands.

" I will read first" Hestia said chearfully.

1 I Accidentally Vaporize My Maths Teacher

Chapter Text

1 I Accidentally Vaporize My Maths Teacher

"How do you accidentaly do that princess?" Leo asked

"See, the important thing is to not know what you are doing and then you just improvise, my young padawan (Star wars reference)" Percy said smuggly and Leo pulled out a notebook from his belt and wrote it down. Jason and Piper smiled at their boyfriend

Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.

"No one does" Thalia says

If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:

"Take cover, kelp head is giving advice" Thalia cried out and everyone snickered.

"Excuse you, i give good advice" Percy said pouting

"Of course you do darling" Will said smiling. Poseidon glared at him, that was his daughter and she deserved better then a son of Apollo.

close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you

about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

"Yeah, that's a good one" Ethan commented while snuggling with Alabastor.

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time, it gets you

killed in painful, nasty ways.

The gods as well as demigods of the past looked confused at that statement, some gods were looking at their children questioningly. They grew even more confused at the sight of their children sad and deep in thought. Percy shrank into Tyson and he hugged her.

If you’re a normal kid, reading this because you think it’s fiction, great.

Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever

happened.

But if you recognize yourself in these pages – if you feel something

stirring inside – stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And

once you know that, it’s only a matter of time before they sense it too, and

they’ll come for you.

"Way to make as sound like a cult Percy" Hazel said

"We kinda are if you think about it" Percy said drawing chuckles from everyone.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

"You didn't warn us" all the demigods chorused

"You all were there before me so it was your job" she replied

"And you -" she pointed at Nico who was about to say something

"I was too busy saving your ass from a manticore, chéri ( darling in French)" Nico blushed at the nickname and Will chuckled.

My name is Percelia Jackson.

I’m twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at

Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.

Am I a troubled kid?

"Yes"everyone cried out

"Fucking traitors" Percy murmured, Ethan and Alabaster were laughing and moved closer to Percy and Tyson thus forming a cuddle pile.

The sea deities were amused at how friendly Percy was with everyone. Amphitrite and Triton barely hid their smiles.

Yeah. You could say that.

"See, you know it" Connor said with a smug smile. 

I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it,

The demigods frowned and Will and Nico just sighed

but things

really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field

trip to Manhattan – twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a

yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at

ancient Greek and Roman stuff.

"That sounds interesting in theory, but with everyone talking ? That will be torture for ADHD" Malcolm commented.

"Yes!!, that's why you are my favorite Athena kid Mal, cause you get it" Percy said

"That should be me"Annbeth exclaimed

"Annabeth you are a bitch and weren't you calling me a freak just a few hours ago" Percy replied not even looking at her. Annabeth then looked around but did not find any suppport.

Athena on the other hand was seething. Her children are not supposed to get along with a seaspawn.

I know – it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.

"That's just because you're stupid" Annabeth remarked smugly

"Shut up Wise girl"Clarisse replied. 

But Mr Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.

Mr Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had

thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always

smelled like coffee. You wouldn’t think he’d be cool, but he told stories and

jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of

Roman armour and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class was interesting.

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn’t

get in trouble.

"I feel like you just jinxed yourself Perce" Frank said

Boy, was I wrong.

There were some snickers at that

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade

school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a

Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn’t aiming for the school bus, but of

course I got expelled anyway. Even through it wasn’t supposed to work.

Ares smiled at the mention of war and everyone was cackling up

And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.

Everyone wheesed with laughter

"Please, you gotta tell us more stories" Travis said while Leo, Connor, Chris, Hermes and Apollo nodded

"Honestly, i think the sharks told me to do it" Percy smiled

"Why were they in captivity ?" Triton asked

This trip, I was determined to be good.

"As if !!" Thalia chuckled

All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly red-

headed kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend, Grover, in the back of the

Immedietly there were growls heard

"Hey, it's okay guys"

"Grover, G-man we talked about this. No it's fucking not" Percy said, now her pupils were slit and her voice carried accros the room like weighted blanket. Okay, now Aphrodite was intersted.

"Percy, you are siren speaking again" Drew said softly with a smile. That seemed to shake Percy up cause her pupils returned to normal.

"Gosh I'm sorry i didn't mean to " Percy said 

"It's alright sea star, we know" Nico said

Now Poseidon was also joined by Triton to glare at the two boys.

Zeus murmured something about Percy being to powerful but Poseidon tuned him out, his daughter, his little girl can siren speak. None of his children inherited this gift. Amphitrite was proud, why shouldn't she be. Her daughter can siren speak. Yes, her daughter, she could sense it. Triton tried to hide his smirk and failed this time.

head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got

frustrated. He must’ve been held back several grades, because he was the

only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On

top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the

rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He

walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don’t let that fool you. You

should’ve seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

"Thanks for the description Percy, I really feel the love" Grover pouted

"Anytime G-man" Percy smirked

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his

curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn’t do anything back to her because I

was already on probation.

"What did you do" Chris asked smirking

" Some kid was talking shit about my mom so I beat him up and hang him on a pole by his underwear" Peercy replied giving him a mischievous smirk

"Oh, and also i caught the headmaster with someone other than his wife in a compromising position. I'm scarred" she added and everyone laughed.

The headmaster had threatened me with death-

by-in-school-suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly

entertaining happened on this trip.

‘I’m going to kill her,’ I mumbled.

Grover tried to calm me down. ‘It’s okay. I like peanut butter.’

He dodged another piece of Nancy’s lunch.

‘That’s it.’ I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.

‘You’re already on probation,’ he reminded me. ‘You know who’ll get

blamed if anything happens.’

Looking back on it, I wish I’d decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.

In-school suspension would’ve been nothing compared to the mess I was

about to get myself into.

Mr Brunner led the museum tour.

He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey

galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-

orange pottery.

It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for thousands of years.

He gathered us around a four-metre-tall stone column with a big sphinx

on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a

girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying

to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting,

"Wow, Percy tries to learn something" Annabeth remarked

"Oh shut it, Percy is smart" Pollux said

"And she tutors other kids at camp" Castor added

but

everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up,

the other teacher chaperone, Mrs Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs Dodds was this little maths teacher from Georgia who always wore a

black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean

enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy

halfway through the year, when our last maths teacher had a nervous

breakdown( That might have been my fault ).

"Really !?" Leo asked

"Oh yeah, i was there. That was an impressive amount of sass Princess gave her" Piper smiled

"Would you stop with the princess nickname"Percy said

"Never" came a reply from Clarisse, Leo, Piper, Jason and Drew.

Nico looked at her questioningly and Percy nodded.

From her first day, Mrs Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was

devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, ‘Now,

honey,’ real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for

a month.

"A whole month ?!" Leo asked horrified

One time, after she’d made me erase answers out of old maths

workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn’t think Mrs Dodds was

human. He looked at me real serious and said, ‘You’re absolutely right.’

"Grover, at this point, are you even trying ?" Ethan asked. Grover blushed.

Mr Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the

stele, and I turned around and said, ‘Will you shut up?’

It came out louder than I meant it to.

"It always does" Clarisse commented

The whole group laughed. Mr Brunner stopped his story.

‘Ms. Jackson,’ he said, ‘did you have a comment?’

My face was totally red. I said, ‘No, sir.’

Mr Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. ‘Perhaps you’ll

tell us what this picture represents?’

"I bet you don't recognise it" Annabeth smiled smugly and everyone rolled their eyes.

"10 drachma says she does" came from Castor

"Sister is smart" Tyson added

I looked at the carving. ‘That’s Kronos eating his kids, right?’

Annabeth passed 10 drachma to Castor with a look that could kill and Tyson smiled with satisfaction and others just smirked.

"Why does it have to be that one ?" Demeter said looking annoyed

‘Yes,’ Mr Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. ‘And he did this

because...’

‘Well Kronos was the king titan, and he didn’t trust his kids, who were the

gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters –’

‘Eeew!’ said one of the girls behind me.

‘– and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans,’ I

continued, ‘and the gods won.’

"Did you just sum up a 10 year war in like two sentences" Ares asked dumbfounded

"Yes I did, it's a gift" Percy smirked.

Some snickers from the group.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, ‘Like we’re going to use

this in real life. Like it’s going to say on our job applications, “Please

explain why Kronos ate his kids”.’

‘And why, Ms. Jackson,’ Brunner said, ‘to paraphrase Miss Bobofit’s

excellent question, does this matter in real life?’

"Busted" Chris, Travis and Connor cheered

‘Busted,’ Grover muttered.

‘Shut up,’ Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got in trouble, too. Mr Brunner was the only one who

ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

Chiron chuckled at that

I thought about his question, and shrugged. ‘ Actions have consequences and eating loved ones ran in the family because Zeus also ate his first wife.’

Ancient demigods looked horrified while Poseidon, Hades, Apollo and present demigods laughed 

‘I see.’ Mr Brunner looked disappointed. ‘ Full credit, Ms. Jackson.

Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made

him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan’s stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it’s time for lunch. Mrs Dodds, would you lead us back outside?’

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing

each other around and acting like doofuses.

"They always do" Artemis muttered

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr Brunner said, ‘Ms. Jackson.’

I knew that was coming.

I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned towards Mr Brunner. ‘Sir?’

Mr Brunner had this look that wouldn’t let you go – intense brown eyes

that could’ve been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

"You are really perceptive" Aphrodite mentioned while Drew and Clarisse gave her a knowing smile. That's all she needed.

‘You must learn the answer to my question,’ Mr Brunner told me.

‘About the Titans?’

‘About real life. And how your studies apply to it.’

‘Oh.’

‘What you learn from me,’ he said, ‘is vitally important. I expect you to

treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.’

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up

in a suit of Roman armour and shouted: ‘What ho!’ and challenged us,

sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and

Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they

worshipped.

"That sounds cool" Frank commented

"It was" Percy replied 

But Mr Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else,

despite the fact I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had

never made above a A- in my life. No – he didn’t expect me to be as good;

he expected me to be better. And I just couldn’t learn all those names and

facts, much less spell them correctly.

I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr Brunner took one

long sad look at the stele, like he’d been at this girl’s funeral.

He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.

The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch

the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I’d ever

seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something,

because the weather all across New York state had been weird since

Christmas. We’d had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from

lightning strikes. I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was a hurricane

blowing in.

"What are you two fighting about now" Hades exclaimed

"We don't know" the brothers answered

"If I had to guess, Zeus started it" Hera smirked

Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons

with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket

something from a lady’s bag, and, of course, Mrs Dodds wasn’t seeing a

thing.

Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We

thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn’t know we were from

that school – the school for loser freaks who couldn’t make it elsewhere.

"Percy ?" Will looked concerned

"I don't think like that now" Percy said and Will just sighed and put a mental pin on that

‘Detention?’ Grover asked.

‘Nah,’ I said. ‘Not from Brunner. I just wish he’d lay off me sometimes. I

mean – I’m not a genius.’

Grover didn’t say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was

going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better,

he said, ‘Can I have your apple?’

"Only you Grover" Everyone laughed

I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.

"Fuck you mean, you had no appetite" Thalia screamed

"Percy, you have a bigger appetite than Tyson" Pollux added

"You should eat more grains, child" Demeter said

"I'll keep that in mind, lady Demeter" Percy replied with a smile

I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought

about my mom’s apartment  my friends and Jose 's gang Bendita muerte, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn’t seen any of them since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She’d hug me and be glad to see me, but she’d be disappointed, too.

"You really care a lot about your mother" Hera smiled

"Of course I do" Percy said

"You were in a gang !?" Annabeth screamed

"Yes, yes I was Annabeth" Percy said looking nostalgic

"Actually, it wasn't just a gang. Bendita muerte was like an underground community that kept the whole Manhattan in line. Like you need help, revenge, shelter, protection, they are in your service" Leo piped up

"Yeah there was once an earthquake and they spent 48 hours straight digging through the ruins" Ethan added

"And how do you even know this ?" Annabeth said 

"You'll see" Percy smirked

She’d send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn’t be able to stand that sad look she’d give me. Jose, Teo, Julia, Luke, Stolls, Chris, Ethan, Alabaster, Leo and others would welcome me with open arms congratulate me on not yet getting kicked out and then give me a lecture about studying well at school.

"You knew them before camp" Malcolm asked

"Yes, they weren't in the gang but they were my friend group " Percy elaborated and Malcolm nodded

Mr Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp.

He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up

from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.

I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in

front of me with her ugly friends – I guess she’d gotten tired of stealing

from the tourists – and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover’s lap.

"That bitch !" Thalia growled 

‘Oops.’ She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were

orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

Aphrodite, Drew and Piper looked disgusted

I tried to stay cool. The school counsellor had told me a million times,

‘Count to ten, get control of your temper.’ But I was so mad my mind went

blank. A wave roared in my ears.

"You have anger issues ?" Amphitrite inquired

"Yes, I got better at controlling it but I was a hella violent 12 year old θετή μαμά" Percy answered with a smile

Amphitrite was really happy to be called stepmom

"That is an understatement" Travis and Connor chuckled

"Oh shut it" Percy pouted

I don’t remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was

sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, ‘Percy pushed me!’

"That was absolutely deserved" Thalia nodded

"She had that coming" Clarisse agreed

Mrs Dodds materialized next to us.

"I think we all can agree that this is a monster" Frank said 

"Definitely" everyone agreed

"I thought that monster you fought on the hill was your first one" Pollux said

"No it was actually Mrs Dodds " Percy answered

Some of the kids were whispering: ‘Did you see –’

‘– the water –’

‘– like it grabbed her –’

I didn’t know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in

trouble again.

"It's incredible, you were able to use your powers without even meaning to" Triton looked proud

As soon as Mrs Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to

get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs Dodds turned on me.

There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I’d done something she’d

been waiting for all semester. ‘Now, honey –’

‘I know,’ I grumbled. ‘A month erasing textbooks.’

"We taught you better then this, never guess your punshment Percy" Stolls and Chris faked disappointment

"Sorry not sorry" Percy shrugged while grinning

That wasn’t the right thing to say.

‘Come with me,’ Mrs Dodds said.

‘Wait!’ Grover yelped. ‘It was me. I pushed her.’

"That was very brave of you Grover" Percy said

"It didn't do any good through" Grover answered

I stared at him, stunned. I couldn’t believe he was trying to cover for me.

Mrs Dodds scared Grover to death.

She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

‘I don’t think so, Mr Underwood,’ she said.

‘But –’

‘You – will– stay – here.’

Grover looked at me desperately.

‘It’s okay, man,’ I told him. ‘Thanks for trying.’

‘Honey,’ Mrs Dodds barked at me. ‘Now.’

Nancy Bobofit smirked.

I gave her my deluxe I’ll-kill-you-later stare.

All demigods shivered

"Dam, I almost feel bad for her" Thalia murmured 

"It can't be that bad" Heracles exclaimed

"She is a literal female copy of Poseidon with lady Amphitrite's character, her glare is inherited from the two of them and upgraded. Also she is a legacy of Aphrodite who inherited mostly her war aspect. I saw monsters turn to ash from her glare alone" Drew remarked

That seemed to shut him up. Poseidon, Amphitrite, Triton and Aphrodite were proud.

I then turned to face Mrs

Dodds, but she wasn’t there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way

at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.

How’d she get there so fast?

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something,

and the next thing I know I’ve missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell

out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The

school counsellor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain

misinterpreting things.

"That's not it" Theseus sighed

I wasn’t so sure.

"You have good instincts, kid" Ares remarked

"Thank you" Percy said

I went after Mrs Dodds.

Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale,

cutting his eyes between me and Mr Brunner, like he wanted Mr Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr Brunner was absorbed in his novel.

"Who is this Mr Brunner ?" Triton asked

"You'll see soon enough Tri" Percy replied with a smile

I looked back up. Mrs Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside

the building, at the end of the entrance hall.

Okay, I thought. She’s going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the

gift shop.

But apparently that wasn’t the plan.

"Of course not" Annabeth said

I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her,

we were back in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for us, the gallery was empty.

Poseidon and Amphitrite started getting worried 

Mrs Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of

the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like

growling.

Even without the noise, I would’ve been nervous. It’s weird being alone

with a teacher, especially Mrs Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...

"She probably did" Nico said

"Oh yeah, for sure" Percy replied

‘You’ve been giving us problems, honey,’ she said.

I did the safe thing. I said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’

"You know how to do the safe thing !?" Thalia said

"That was a moment of enlightment" Percy smirked

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. ‘Did you really think you

would get away with it?’

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.

She’s a teacher, I thought nervously. It’s not like she’s going to hurt me.

"You sweet summer child" Hazel said

I said, ‘I’ll – I’ll try harder, ma’am.’

Thunder shook the building.

‘We are not fools, Percy Jackson,’ Mrs Dodds said. ‘It was only a matter

of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.’

I didn’t know what she was talking about.

All I could think of was that the teachers must’ve found the illegal stash

of candy I’d been selling out of my dorm room.

"We taught you well princess" Stolls said as Chris whipped an imaginary tear

Or maybe they’d realized I

got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the

book and now they were going to take away my grade.

"You didn't read the book !?" Athena and Annabeth cried out

"I have dyslexia and it was borring" Percy complained and the two huffed

Or worse, they were

going to make me read the book.

Nico and Will chuckled

‘Well?’ she demanded.

‘Ma’am, I don’t...’

‘Your time is up,’ she hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes

began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn’t human. She was a shrivelled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

Heracles, Perseus and Theseus paled

"HADES, YOU SENT A FURRY AFTER MY DAUGHTER !!!" Poseidon screamed and Hades melted into the couch

It was so loud Percy's hearing aid started to malfunction and she had to pull it out. She quickly fixed it and put it back in her ear.

"Father, it was a misunderstanding" Percy said but no one heard her because there was an earthquake. She stopped it before anyone got hurt.

"Calm down, will you. Uncle H did nothing wrong" Percy siren spoke, her voice carring all over the room. Even the gods were affected.

"Sit the fuck down"Percy said and Poseidon hesitantly sat back onto the couch. Hades relaxed a bit, he was shocked that his niece defended him. Poseidon was still giving him glares while Will and Nico were looking at Percy, smitten.

"What is that in your ear" Aphrodite looked concerned

"It's my hearing aid, I can't hear anything without it" Percy said

That shocked her godly family and they looked at her with pity.

Then things got even stranger.

Mr Brunner, who’d been out in front of the museum a minute before,

wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

"Who the fuck is this Brunner guy !" Ares said 

Percy just pointed at Chiron with a grin.

‘What ho, Percy!’ he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.

Mrs Dodds lunged at me.

Tension rate 100%

With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I

snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn’t a pen any more. It was a sword – Mr Brunner’s bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.

Mrs Dodds spun towards me with a murderous look in her eyes.

My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the

sword.

She snarled, ‘Die, honey!’

And she flew straight at me.

Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came

naturally: I swung the sword.

"That came naturally ?" Frank said

"I think it has everything to do with her being a legacy of Aphrodite" Drew said

The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if

she were made of water. Hisss!

Mrs Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow

powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulphur and

a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red

eyes were still watching me.

I was alone.

There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.

Mr Brunner wasn’t there. Nobody was there but me.

My hands were still trembling. My lunch must’ve been contaminated

with magic mushrooms or something.

"That was your first thought ?" Ethan said

Had I imagined the whole thing?

I went back outside.

It had started to rain.

Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head.

Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the

fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, ‘I hope Mrs Kerr whipped your butt.’

"Who ?" Triton said

Hestia chuckled

I said, ‘Who?’

Amphitrite smiled at how similar the two were.

‘Our teacher. Duh!’

I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs Kerr. I asked Nancy what she

was talking about.

She just rolled her eyes and turned away.

"The mist is very strong here" Alabastor said

"Mist ?" the gods looked confused

"Mist is the thing that keeps mortals from seeing you" Nico explained 

I asked Grover where Mrs Dodds was.

He said, ‘Who?’

But he paused first, and he wouldn’t look at me, so I thought he was

messing with me.

"Man you're a bad liar Grover" Connor said

"I got better" the satyr grumbled

‘Not funny, man,’ I told him. ‘This is serious.’

Thunder boomed overhead.

"Apparently father agrees with you" Apollo said

I saw Mr Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if

he’d never moved.

I went over to him.

He looked up, a little distracted. ‘Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring

your own writing utensil in the future, Ms. Jackson.’

"Now that's how you lie" Travis said

I handed it over. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding it.

‘Sir,’ I said, ‘where’s Mrs Dodds?’

He stared at me blankly. ‘Who?’

‘The other chaperone. Mrs Dodds. The maths teacher.’

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. ‘Percy, there is

no Mrs Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs

Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?’

"Wait, they gaslight you ?" Will looked angry

"Oh yeah, I thought I was crazy for like 3 month" Percy said

Right then a bright flash appeared and two more people stood.

Percy looked like she just got punched and then she stood up crashed into them, hugging them. From the force all three of them fell to the floor.