Chapter Text
Percy Jackson was born at midnight when the clock turned and the bells rang. He was born during the summer, yet despite the heat of the day, the night was plagued by a vicious thunderstorm.
Everyone was perplexed. It was summer. And in New York, at that. Nobody could comprehend how it could be raining, and so heavily as well. The weathermen were all having a field day, she was certain, trying to explain the strange weather. There were probably some people blaming it on global warming or some on mother nature. No one knew the real reason.
Everyone except for Sally Jackson, that is.
She knew, and she feared what it meant.
Her water had broken in the afternoon while she was eating her lunch, a guilty pleasure that was a pickle and peanut butter sandwich. Something she'd become quite fond of during the past few months. She felt the trickling and dread, as well as excitement filled her stomach and the water left it.
Now, the problem here was that Sally was early. Too early.
Her lover - her soulmate - had warned her that it was normal for his children to come out after only a month or three. That it would be a quick but painful affair.
Sally just hadn't expected it to be that quick.
She got pregnant at the end of May and was giving birth at the end of August. Much too soon. Though she did not look like she'd only been pregnant for those short months with her belly protruding as much as a full pregnancy usually did. Really, it was almost as if she was having twins with the way she looked.
Nevertheless, Sally knew what she had to do as she got in her car and drove to the nearest hospital, already dreading the pain her wonderful miracle was about to put her through.
It was ten hours of screaming, sobbing and cursing when she heard the doctor exclaim that the head was crowning and just a few more pushes, love. You can do it! Come on!
She threw her head back, pushed and let out the most bloodthirsty scream yet as she felt her baby leave her body. The crying was instant as was the clap of lightning outside the room's window.
A nurse, a particularly new one, she could tell by the sweat on his brow and his hesitancy during the labor, jumped at the noise and almost immediately whispered to the woman next to him who looked much older, much more experienced and who seemed done with his antics. Sally only heard flashes of the conversation but it went something like:
“What was that? Honestly, why is it raining in the summer?”
“...”
“....”
“I don't know, Paul. Shut up.”
By the time she'd stopped concentrating on their whispers, someone was in front of her. The woman, the kind one who had held her hand and let her squeeze the blood out of it as she gave birth, smiled warmly at her with a bundle of blankets and Sally's baby in her arms. One hand wrapped in bandages that Sally tried to ignore so she wouldn't be consumed with guilt in what should be a magical moment.
“Do you think you'll be able to hold him?” Sally nodded, a little desperately. The pain was second to her need to grab her son and look at him.
Another nurse, the one that had been berating the man who whispered about the storm, helped her sit up. By now, there was less thunder and just the soft pitter patter of the drizzling rain landing on the ground.
As soon as Sally was settled, she reached for her baby with greedy hands, terribly eager and didn't bother smiling or thanking the woman for handing him to her. Despite the fact that afterwards, she would apologize profusely to the nurse for being so rude and the nurse would throw her head back, and laugh, and say that Sally was tame compared to the expected snappiness that came after giving birth. But as of that moment, the thought of thanking someone for handing over her baby seemed like the most ridiculous idea in the world.
The moment she held him though, it was like all those thoughts, all those feelings simply evaporated into thin air as she was overcome with the amount of sheer joy and love she felt for her little bundle. The same bundle that had just caused an insurmountable and inexplicable agony. Despite that, she already knew she would do it a hundred times over for him.
There was not much thought in her mind except for the fact that he was absolutely beautiful.
The most beautiful baby she'd ever seen in her entire life, really.
It should've been an exaggeration, some motherly love and her forever existing maternal instinct that had always found every baby beautiful and unique, but that wasn't it.
Her son was a soft newborn pink with wasps of raven black hair on the top of his little head. His eyes were closed as he was sleeping and she wondered what colour they would be. If they would be a warm, chocolate brown like hers or something light and aquatic like his father’s. He had the smallest nose and tiny cupid shaped lips. His fingers and toes were all hidden but Sally was certain that they were just as small and just as adorable.
She was so terribly curious about where his soul-mark was though. Despite her hesitancy at seeing it, at maybe potentially recognizing the mark. And what it would mean for her son.
The world wasn't kind to demigods, especially one like him. She would certainly know especially after listening to all the stories her lover - soulmate - had recounted with a laugh as he held her in his arms; Odysseus and his ten years of hell, Heracles and his forced insanity that led to the death of his soulmate and his family, Medea who’d sacrificed so much for her soulmate just find out he had another, Achilles who went rotten and crazed after the death of Patroclus.
And Sally was terrified of what it meant. What she did know was that she was going to do her absolute best to make sure that he grew up as happy and as safe as he could be. No matter what.
For the first time in ten hours, the tears that left her eyes were one of joy and not pain. It felt magical to stare at the little baby she knew was going to be her biggest pride and joy in life.
“What are you going to name him?” The kind nurse asked. Sally looked up, a soft smile on her lips.
What would she name him?
He was going to be a hero. That's what her lover said and deep down, she could already see it.
But the heroes that her lover and his kind produced were never happy and their tales always ended in tragedy. Every single one.
Except for one.
“Perseus.” She said out loud, her throat sore and her words mumbled.
The nurse raised both her eyebrows. She heard the male nurse snort and get slapped on the shoulder by the one who was still beside him.
“ How unique.” She chuckled good naturedly. “Where did you get it from?”
“It's just from a happy story. One I've always been fond of.”
“Well, it is a good name. One befitting such a cute little baby.”
Sally smiled even wider, practically beaming.
“Yes. Yes, it is.”
Sally knew, right then and there, that she would make sure her son would never go a day without feeling safe and loved.
Little did she know the shock that would come when she finally saw his soul-mark.
—
There was nobody out there that liked Percy. This was not a speculation or a belief, it was a fact. Other than his mother, who was the only person that could stand him, nobody had ever looked at him with anything other than disdain.
He hadn't noticed it when he was young but at twelve years old, it was impossible to ignore. Ever since he was a toddler, it was like the adults either avoided him with hateful glances or went out of their way to be cruel or difficult. The children had always bullied and tormented him. The kinder ones simply pretended that he didn't exist. Whether it be with words or fists, he'd usually end his days in his bed, crying and wondering what was so wrong with him that everyone just knew and picked on him because of it.
It only got worse when Percy's mother had married a man she'd known for only a short few months before his seventh birthday.
Gabe Ugliano had been nice in the beginning. The first few times Percy had seen him, he'd been sporting an arrogant grin with a lollipop for Percy in one hand and a cigarette in the other. At the start, he'd sit Percy on his lap, ruffle his hair and compliment his mother on what a sweet boy he was. He never noticed the look of relief on his mother's face. In private, he'd tell Percy that he couldn’t wait to live with him. But at the time, he hadn't seen it for the threat it was.
Gabe was the second person that he thought actually tolerated him and he would regularly daydream about having a mother and father that would take him to get ice-cream and watch movies with. It didn't matter that sometimes he'd get a scary look on his face like a rabid dog or that he never smelled pleasant, even after his one hour long showers. Percy was willing to let it all go to finally have a father.
Until they got married.
It was as if a switch had flipped and suddenly, Gabe would sneer when he saw him and make cutting remarks. Never around his mother, which didn't mean much since she was always at work.
It had been a gradual start from cruel words to cruel actions and soon Percy was actively lying to his mother about where the bruises were coming from in fear of Gabe hurting his mother. He never did notice the matching bruises on her.
The treatment at home and the treatment from the outside world had Percy feeling insane. At some point, he deduced that there was something gravely wrong with him. Maybe it was his face, the way he spoke or even the way he breathed. Just something about him that had everybody treating him like a broken toy. Even when he was quiet, he was always doing something wrong and he was somehow always blamed for every single thing that he just so happened to be around during the time of the incident.
It was a blessing, when after seven years of seven different schools, Percy’s mother had finally decided to send him to a boarding school. A private school for troubled kids to be exact. Which he was.
Of course, he'd undoubtedly miss his mother, her hugs and kind words, but the thought of being away from his cold home and even colder family to be sent to someplace new was exhilarating.
He'd spent his entire life in New York, only ever occasionally taking a trip to a cabin in Montauk and seeing someplace vaguely different had him practically salivating at the mouth.
It didn't help that on his first day he tripped down a flight of stairs in front of half the student body and was the laughing stock for a week.
Nobody liked Percy. That was to be expected. Even at the new boarding school which had him feeling even worse than he thought. Despite the fact that he wasn't very shocked about it. It still stung and left his heart feeling more bruised and aching than before.
Well, everyone except for two people.
A pretty large amount considering his usual track record.
The first one had been a boy named Grover. Percy was pretty sure he had something that made it harder for him to walk since he was always limping. That combined with his particularly whimpering personality had the other children smelling his vulnerability off of him and targeting him by their cruel pranks and cutting insults.
Now, for the first time in his life, he wasn't everybody's number one enemy and main target. Actually, kids at Yancy tended to just ignore him.
Honestly, Percy should have just turned a blind eye to what they were doing to Grover. After all, nobody had ever helped him or stood up for him. And if they had, he was certain it wouldn't have ended well for them.
But he knew how it felt which was why when a redhead with pigmented freckles, the colour of hot cheetos, dunked diet coke on top of Grover's head in the first trimester, he'd grabbed his water bottle and threw it at her fat head.
After that, he'd started being bullied again. But for the first time, he wasn't alone. And it made all the difference.
Grover had come up to him and thanked him, looking up and down nervously and wringing his fingers. Percy had smiled and told him that it was nothing and from that day on they stayed together.
It felt like Yancy was a godsend. Even with the cruel kids and mean teachers. He had one friend and one of the teachers even liked him!
He went by Mr. Brunner and he was in a wheelchair. Percy had wondered vaguely why all the people that liked him weren't able to walk. Not that it was that big of a deal really.
Mr. Brunner was their Latin teacher. He didn't look like any fun with his thinning hair, scruffy beard and frayed tweed jacket that always reeked of coffee. But he did such a good job of teaching, with the whole class interacting with him. Which was surprising considering that alphas usually were not usually very patient. Truly, he was the favourite teacher at Yancy. It also helped that Percy already had a vague knowledge of mythology, since the myths were his bedtime stories. So his classes weren't as hard as the others thanks to his dyslexia and addiction.
Despite all the bad things at Yancy, one being a particular teacher who had it out for him more than the others ever had and the students who tried at every chance to dunk his head in a toilet. Life was almost as perfect as it could be for someone like him.
Which was why he shouldn't have been so surprised when it all tumbled down.
It had been a field trip which was always a little torturous. Twenty eight horrible children with exhausted teachers in a small yellow bus ready to get down and terrorize whatever place they were being sent to.
This time though, Mr. Brunner was leading the field trip so Percy had hopes. Despite it being a museum, which he'd always found boring.
Bad things always happened to Percy on field trips. It was like he was a jinx who ruined every fun experience. Like at his fifth grade school where he went to a Saratoga battlefield and had an accident with a war cannon. He hadn't been aiming for the bus of course, but he hit it anyway. Or during fourth grade when they took a behind the scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool where Percy had hit the wrong level on the catwalk and the class took an unplanned swim.
This time though, he was positive that he was going to break the jinx.
He was wrong, of course.
The day had already begun on a rough note when Nancy Bobofick threw a sandwich at Grover’s hair, who let out a goat-like yelp which landed them in the bathrooms of the museum almost immediately after getting off the bus.
“When I see Nancy again, I’m going to kill her.” Percy hissed, feeling an unhealthy amount of rage at the thought of her face. Grover let out a nervous chuckle. “No, please don’t.”
“Grover, there’s mayo stuck in your hair! And it won't-“ he grabbed a handful of soap and aggressively scratched at Grover’s curls to try and get it rinsed off, “come off! Ugh.”
Percy hated bullies. He’s always had to deal with bullies but he thinks that Nancy may have been one of the most antagonistic ones, right next to Riko Hiroshi who’d broken his leg on purpose during football practice in second grade and got away without any punishments.
She was relentless in her torment against Grover and he felt a newfound wave of disgust at all the other students who ignored him when he was being bullied.
“Percy,” he sighed out “It’s okay. Really, I can handle her. I don’t need you to get involved.” He was certain Grover was just lying to make him feel better. A few months ago, Percy would have done anything for someone like himself to defend him.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He grumbled and let out a whoop when he saw no more mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce or smoked turkey in his hair. Honestly, he thinks he just lost whatever ounce of respect he had left for her. This was a nice sandwich. The smell of it had his stomach rumbling. When it was nighttime when his mom was at work and his stepdad was hounding the kitchen and living room, he would have killed to have a sandwich like that.
They ended up having to run to where Professor Bruner said for them all to go. They made it just in time as he wheeled his wheelchair in.
Percy, Grover and the rest of his class were all standing in front of Greek statues already feeling the beginning of pure boredom leaking through.
Percy wrinkled his nose at the sight of the nude statues. Seriously, did clothes not exist in Ancient Greece?
Mr. Brunner began talking about ancient depictions of the Greek heroes and the gods. It would be interesting, if everybody wasn't speaking at the same time as him.
One of the three teachers that accompanied them, Mrs.Dodds, kept on giving him a sour look from above her thick scarf and scarred leather jacket as if he was the cause of all the noise.
Percy had never had a teacher that hated him as much as she did. He knew the moment she would crook her finger at him and smile in a sickly sweet way that he was bound to get after school detention. A usual occurrence that happened at least once a week.
One time, after she'd made Percy scrub the clean floor for three hours, he'd headed back to the room he shared with Grover and told him that she was the farthest thing from humans in the whole school.
The look Grover gave him kept him up that night.
“-represents, Mr.Jackson?” his head snapped up at Mr. Brunner and he felt his cheeks go red when he heard laughter around him.
“Uh, what was the question?” Mr. Brunner sighed and gave Percy a disappointed look that made him want the ground to swallow him whole.
“What does this picture represent?” He asked, pointing towards one of the pictures on the stele.
Percy felt a flush or relief when he actually managed to recognize it. “That's Kronos eating his kids, right?”
“Yes,” Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. “And he did this because..?”
“Well..” He racked his brain, desperately trying to remember from the countless bedtime stories his mother had read to him.
“Kronos was the, um, titan god-”
“Just titan, Percy. A titan and a god are two completely different things.” He corrected me.
“Right, and he ate his kids - who were the gods - but his wife hid one of the babies, Zeus, and then Zeus grew up and tricked his dad into vomiting out his brothers and sisters-”
“Ew!” Said one of the girls behind Percy. He did his best to remind himself that she wasn't saying that to him but about the story.
“-and so there was this huge war between the gods and the titan, and the gods won.” By the time he was finished, there was plenty of snickering throughout the group that he did his best to ignore, absent-mindedly rubbing at a scar on his wrist.
“Excellent, Percy. But, now tell me, why does this matter in real life?” Mr. Brunner questioned.
Amy Santiago, the smartest girl in his grade instantly raised her hand, practically jumping up and down. Thankfully, she took some of the attention off of Percy who was getting impossibly redder in the face.
“I don't know.” Mr. Brunner pursed his lips and turned back around. “Very well.” From behind him, he could hear Amy letting out a frustrated whine.
They continued like that for an hour, walking around the museum as Mr. Brunner did his best explaining a bunch of complex Greek myths while trying to keep them interesting enough to hold everybody's attention.
Eventually, Mrs. Dodds led them all outside for lunch where Nancy Bobofit was unsurprisingly without one and went off to a few of the more shy students to take theirs.
Percy scoffed with thinly veiled disgust, ignoring the warning look from Grover.
“Percy,” He began hesitantly, “I love you and all but maybe don't start another fight with Nancy?” Hearing the former words led to a warm feeling in his gut that did help untense his muscles. He rested his head against the wall, looking to the right to give his friend a small smile.
“Yeah, whatever.” Grover smiled back and began complaining about the terrible quality of the food they were being offered when an unfortunate familiar face popped up in front of him.
Above them in the sky, Percy heard the telltale sounds of a storm, and a huge one, making its way to New York.
She and her ugly gaggle gaggle of friends stood in front of the two boys, snickering like idiots before she dropped orange juice right onto Grover's white pants.
“Oops,” she giggled, showing off her missing front tooth from when she got punched by Ryan Smith.
Percy did try to keep his cool. Really, he did. He counted to ten in his head and when that didn't work he started counting backward from a hundred but he was so furious that his mind just blacked out.
Next thing he knew, Nancy was on the floor on the fountain in the middle of the terrace, screaming “Percy pushed me! Percy pushed me!”
Mrs. Dodds practically materialized next to Percy, grinning with glee as her long nails grabbed onto his elbow and dragged him up.
“Well sweety” She crooned, “come with me.”
“Wait!” Grover stood up, face red and eyes blazing with something Percy couldn't quite recognize. It looked like fear but why was Grover afraid? Sure, Mrs. Dodds did sometimes look at Percy like she was about to throw him in a fire and eat him with barbecue sauce but she wouldn't actually do anything to hurt him. She was just a teacher, after all. And an old one at that.
“It was me! I pushed Nancy in the fountain.”
“He did not!” Nancy said . “Shut up!” Grover snapped back. He was always so sweet and quiet and had never been rude before. Percy was taken aback. What had gotten into him?
“Dude, seriously, it's fine. I'll see you later, okay?” Grover whined and watched him go, a look of despair on his face.
Percy couldn't understand what was going on.
But he was about to.
Mrs. Dodds dragged him inside the museum, right where they had been at the beginning of the trip which was the Roman and Greek section.
Despite his previous thoughts, he couldn't help but feel in danger. Like something very bad was about to happen. But he just couldn't figure out what it was.
She let go of Percy and stood in front of him. She was making a strange noise at the back of her throat, almost like growling.
The pit in his stomach grew even deeper.
“You've been giving us problems, honey. Did you really think you could get away with it?” She hissed and maybe Percy was hallucinating but she seemed to be getting thinner, taller. Her hair was growing longer and her nails were getting sharper. There was a noise like bones cracking and he saw her face get impossibly longer and he saw the painful protruding of something coming out of her spine.
Thunder shook the building.
“We are not fools, Perseus Jackson.” She growled, her voice becoming even deeper and a lot louder than it should be.
She wasn't human. Percy had been right all those nights ago. And he had a sinking feeling in his gut that Grover had known all along.
She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws, and a mouth full of yellow and red stained fangs and she was about to slice Percy in ribbons.
As if things couldn't get any weirder, Mr. Brunner, who had been at least ten minutes away from them in the terrace, suddenly wheeled his chair into the doorway and without warning, threw a pen at Percy's face.
He flinched back and instinctively grabbed it just as Mrs. Dodds lunged at him.
With a yelp, he dodged her and absent-mindedly pressed at the ballpoint of the pen and had no time to react when it turned into a full fledged sword. She flew straight at him, screeching something horrible.
Percy was overcome with terror. In moments like these, people always wondered what they would do. Would he run away or would he stand still, frozen with fear like a deer caught in front of headlights? Percy didn't do either. Percy did what felt natural.
He swung the sword.
It passed cleanly through her body as she tried to sink her claws into his shoulders, her face a few centimeters away from him as it passed through her neck. It was as if she were made of sawdust and she was, for not a moment after there was a loud popping sound and suddenly, golden dust filled the room with the echoing of a dying screech.
When he looked at the doorway, breathing heavily, there was nobody.
Percy was alone.
And he'd just vaporized his pre-algebra teacher.
—---
Percy was standing in the middle of a field. There wasn't much to look at except for the wide expanse of land. There were a few trees, some were small, still barely grown but some of the others stemmed so high, their cores and bark so thick and ancient he could practically smell the old age off of it.
Another thing to note was the heavy wind blowing in his face that felt loud in his ears. There was dust flying in his eyes and around him that he did his best to evade with no prevail. There was nowhere to hide and every time he tried to walk towards the trees, young and old, they'd just get farther and farther.
Percy's heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird, and he could have sworn that he could hear it over the shouting wind.
The thick smell of ozone and oncoming rain filled the air. He could feel a sinking feeling in his gut, the one that said something bad was about to happen.
Almost as quickly as he blinked, the wind just stopped and the sky started to fill with black clouds, making angry noises.
“WHERE IS-” A loud booming voice, as deep as the core of the earth with the force of anger of every person on earth combined couldn't muster up.
But Percy never did hear the question that was being yelled at him from the clouds because suddenly, the land he was standing on disappeared and he fell into an abyss of darkness.
He tried to scream but no noise came out, he tried to flail around but he couldn't move, he tried to see but there was nothing there.
He just kept on falling, falling, falling.
“Hello, Perseus.”
“-cy! Percy! Wake up! We have to be in the exam hall in twenty minutes.” Grover shouted, shaking him awake.
It took Percy a moment to realize where he was and when he did, he frowned and shoved Grover's hands off of him.
“Yeah, I know.” He snapped, breathing a little too heavily.
Grover paused, something akin to hurt in his eyes. He looked as if he was about to say something but then he changed his mind and turned back around, muttering something about trying to find his tie.
Percy took in a long deep breath. He could feel the sweat running down his neck and he could feel the tremors in his hand.
If this had happened a few months ago, he probably would have been sitting on Grover's bed now, blabbing about what he had dreamt about.
But he couldn't make himself pretend like everything was fine.
Ever since Mrs. Dodds and the museum, everything in his life had gone from a regular amount of weird to abnormally strange.
The exact second he dusted off the black soot and walked back out to the terrace in a daze with a pen in his hand, everything had changed.
“I hope Mrs. Derr gave you all the detentions you deserve, Jackson!” Nancy laughed. Percy had been intent on ignoring her, his mind racing with panic but he paused, “Mrs. Derr?” He questioned. Who was that?
Nancy raised her eyebrows and let out a sharp cackle. “Our pre-algebra teacher, dingus.” and then in a quieter tone to her friends, “I told you guys there was something seriously wrong with him.” They all laughed and he walked past them, eagerly searching for Grover whom he found sitting underneath a tree in the farthest corner from the museum, chewing on his water bottle - something he only ever did when he was really anxious - and looking around the area nervously as if someone was going to pop out and steal him away.
“Grover!” Percy called out, waving his arms around like a maniac. His friend looked up, and, as if a switch had been flipped, his eyes lit up and he limped over to Percy as fast as he could, grabbing onto his shoulders the second he was close enough and pulling him into a short hug.
“Hey! You're okay? What happened to Mrs. Do-Derr?” He made a strange noise in the back of his throat like a sheep.
Percy frowned, “Okay, seriously, who the hell is Mrs. Derr and why is everyone talking about her? What about-” He swallowed roughly, “Mrs. Dodds?”
He'd been expecting a completely different situation than the one he was currently dealing with. He'd imagined that there would be cops outside, ready to take him to jail and he would be forced to go to an adult prison because his crime was so severe and they would room him with Larry the Cannibal and at night when he was asleep, Larry would eat off his fingers and toes and dip them in mustard.
Not whatever this was.
Grover looked around nervously and let go of Percy to adjust the collar of his polo on his neck.
“W-Who?”
Percy had been convinced that everyone in the whole had decided to play a big, fat, so not hilarious prank on him. Maybe he was being narcissistic to admit this but if anyone was going to be the victim of such a large scale prank, it was probably going to be him.
But then, on the way to the transport, he saw a perky blonde woman who wore way too much eyeliner get on the bus with them, giving him a dark look as if he'd thrown her mother in the garbage dispenser.
He'd even been desperate enough to go to Mr. Brunner who'd given him a concerned look as if he was a stepped on cockroach that was twitching on his back.
“Percy,” Mr. Brunner said, “there is no Mrs. Dodds. There never has been.”
Percy clenched his fists in his lap and jerked his head in an unsteady nod.
“My boy, did you hit your head on the field trip?”
“No,” He hissed, uncharacteristically cold. Mr. Brunner gave him a stern look before calmly asking for his pen back which he threw onto the table and stormed out.
Honestly, Percy almost believed it. After all, it had been months and no one had fussed up. Had he just gone insane? Is what he would have thought if Grover wasn't such a terrible liar.
Anytime Percy would mention Mrs. Dodds, Grover would suddenly get fidgety and his words would get jumbled up and then he'd suddenly have something very important to do and he just had to leave.
Percy definitely wasn't crazy but this also definitely wasn't a prank. But then what was going on?
He tried not to think about it too much because it gave him a headache. Instead, he thought about the tornadoes and the storms that had been plaguing New York. Which usually gave him a stomach ache instead.
The whole situation had made Percy hesitant around Grover, and snappy. If Percy was dealing with himself, he probably would have punched him by now. But his friend seemed eaten up with guilt, or pity or something in his eyes that made Percy squirm and so he would just take the attitude and the passive-aggressiveness in stride as if he deserved it. Which only served to make Percy feel worse about everything.
It had been a complicated few months, and he was glad to be going home in only a few days. He just had to get past his exams - that he would most definitely be failing - first.
And for the first time in his life, he had almost made it through a whole school year.
If only he hadn't called Mr. Nicoll an old sot when he asked why Percy didn't read for his spelling test. He didn't even know what it meant. He'd just repeated what he'd heard a British teacher call him once.
But it was okay. He didn't really care and despite his friendship with Grover, he was eager to leave the nightmare that was Yancy Academy.
Sure, he would miss his classes with Mr. Brunner, and making fun of Nancy, and hanging out with Grover but it was for the better. That didn't make his heart sting any less.
Percy got ready and left the dorm around the same time as Grover, who avoided eye contact. They went their separate ways to their final exam.
Percy didn't do as bad as he thought he would but he was certain he would just barely pass. That's all he'd been trying to do for years so it wasn't as if he was all that disappointed.
He remembered a teacher, a kind old man who'd tried to push him so hard that Percy had ended up snapping and crying in the middle of the class.
He doesn't remember the professor's name but he remembered how he'd taken Percy to his office, sat him down and told him that he was hard on him because he could see all the wasted potential in Percy and that if he really tried, he could be one of the best students.
Percy had been adamant that he was lying. Gabe had never hidden how stupid he thought his stepson was and his mother had never tried to push him, content with c's and d's.
But the teacher had insisted and he'd given Percy a book called Dead poet's society.
Percy had told him that he could barely read. The man had smiled kindly and told him to read at his own pace and that one day, he would understand.
He had yet to start reading it. Maybe it was his sentimentality but he wanted to save it for when he thought the old man might be right, when Percy had really proven himself.
There was none of that tough love anywhere else and Percy was certain that the man was just trying to make him feel better. But still, he'd tried and he hoped that wherever that teacher was, that he knew that Percy had tried to give it his all.
A few days had passed since the exams and since his strange nightmare.
Percy had grown a strange fascination with watching the storms from afar, which worried Grover, he could tell.
“D'you think you did good?” Grover asked from his bed, after an hour of silence.
Percy shrugged, staring at the ceiling and seeing a mix of colours. “I guess.”
He was content to just drift off to sleep until a question popped up in his mind.
“Hey, Grover?” Percy whispered into the darkness.
“Yeah?” Grover whispered back.
“Will I ever see you again?” It had been something he'd thought about a lot recently. Despite their rocky relationship and the secrets he knew Grover was keeping from him, the other boy was still his only friend and it would hurt like crazy if he lost that.
“Nothing could keep me away. Not even your terrible spelling.” He could hear the smile in his best friend's voice and ignored the sting from the latter sentence. Instead, he blindly threw a pillow in Grover's direction and laughed brightly, for the first time in a while, when he heard him yelp.
There was another moment of silence. “Wanna go on the same bus tomorrow?” Grover asked.
“I live in the complete opposite direction of your barn.”
“Farm.” Grover corrected. “But I don't mind. I wanna meet your mom anyways and you should totally come over during the summer! I bet you'd love it.” Despite his words, Grover didn't sound very confident.
Percy made a face at the thought of being stuck on a farm for longer than a few hours. He'd always hated them; the smell, the animals - other than horses and even sometimes they got on his nerves - the stupid accents all farmers seemed to have, the way all cows looked at him like he was eating a juicy steak in front of them every hour of the day.
“Sure, dude.” He was never stepping foot on that farm.
The next day, Percy had his bags all packed and ready. He hoped that he didn't lose anything.
Grover was ready as well but he was skittish, looking left and right, chewing on the strings of his hoodie, and muttering something about not being too late.
They walked down the stairs, past the kids they'd spent nine months with and having not known anything about them.
It wasn't some important milestone Percy was going to think back on in his life. He just wanted to get out of there and back home. He couldn't even believe he was saying that, what with Gabe there.
He certainly hadn't expected to see Mr. Brunner waiting at the bottom of the stairs, looking straight at him.
Maybe if Percy walked fast enough he could avoid him? He really didn't want to have to hear about how disappointed he was in Percy and how he was a terrible misfit who could do no good. For some reason, teachers loved cornering him and scolding him as it would change anything other than just make him feel terrible and frustrated for the rest of the day.
“Percy, my boy! Come here. I need to speak to you.” He let out a sigh and gave Grover a strained smile.
“Wait for me outside okay?” Grover smiled back and looked behind Percy at Mr. Brunner, nodding at him like some sort of soldier. It was strange but he didn't dwell on it. Grover, like most of the things in Percy's life, was quite strange.
“Percy,” Mr. Brunner smiled up at him in that kind way that made him want to actually study in his class. “I just want you to know that it is quite unfortunate that you will not be returning to Yancy next year,” He gave Percy a bit of a look as if to say why couldn't you just keep your mouth shut?
“I want you to know that despite your downs, I'm very proud of you, son. You've proven yourself to be a good student and a good person. It was an honor to teach you.”
Oh.
“Oh,” Percy blinked. He wasn't quite sure what to say. He had expected a scolding, not whatever..that was.
“Well, uh, thanks Mr. Brunner. I'll miss you too.” Mr. Brunner grinned. “Won't you all?” And rode away, but not before patting him gently on the back on the way and handing him that strange pen again with a twinkle in his eyes. It left him confused and questioning Mrs. Dodds existence all over again.
Percy took in a deep breath and turned around, walking out and meeting Grover at the entrance.
Grover looked up from where he was scribbling something on a piece of paper and smiled. “Here.” He shoved the paper into Percy's hand.
“This is the number of our farm. Call whenever you need me.” He looked a bit serious for a change. Percy nodded and put it in his pants pocket. He wasn't going to call and he was definitely going to lose that paper but what Grover didn't know, didn't hurt him. He wasn’t sure why he was so adamant on not going to Grover’s home but it definitely had something to do with how intent his friend was with getting him there.
They walked to the bus station in silence. Percy felt like he was missing something, the something that was making Grover so fidgety.
“Almost there,” He muttered, squeezing his legs together like he needed to go to the bathroom and then he stopped suddenly and turned to Percy, “Y'know, I have a great idea! What if you come and visit the farm now? And I can drop you off at your mom’s later?” That was a terrible idea.
They found their way to the bus station and sat down, side by side next to a man with his feet out and a woman with a Siamese cat in her arms dressed in a pink dress that she was rocking back and forth.
Percy forced a smile, “I’m not sure my mom would like that.” Don’t get him wrong, anything was better than having to see Gabe again, already he could feel the nerves in his stomach multiplying like they wanted to give him a heart attack just at the thought of the man but he also really just wanted to see his mother.
Percy missed her. He missed her warm hugs, her gentle smiles, her kind words, her comforting scent of parchment paper and cookies. No one had ever looked at him like they loved him except for her and he just wanted to be comforted after the strange months at Yancy. And anyways, Percy hated farms.
“Look, Grover I-“ Grover squealed, and was given a few dirty looks from the people around them. He groaned, “I can’t do this anymore!” He whispered miserably.
“I need to go to the bathroom really quickly! Sorry, one sec. I’ll be back.” and he jumped and bailed, waddling awkwardly.
Tires screeched and were in front of him in mere seconds. He stood up and got on, walking to the far back of the bus. Percy called dibs on the window seat when an elderly man tried to sit down.
The moment he sat down, he looked out and frowned at what he saw.
It was three elderly women, all identical with their wrinkly skin, sagging bodies, ashy hair of white streaked with grey and hollow, empty eyes, knitting. They were all missing eyes. He felt uncomfortable. And even more so when one of them looked straight at him, the rest soon followed and they all smiled, a sinister grin followed by black stained teeth.
The one in the middle held up a yellow string streaked with gold and snapped it in half. Percy looked away.
He did feel a bit bad for leaving Grover but he really hadn’t wanted to be around him anymore. He just wanted to go home. And anyways, the extra bus ride was just a hassle for his friend. He’s sure he probably didn’t even want Percy to come and just felt bad.
The ride was only an hour long enough for him to jam to the music from the woman with the blonde highlights with her walkman who’d taken the old man’s spot and had been jamming to Elvis Presley and ABBA for the whole thirty minutes. Despite the fact that it wasn’t his usual genre - he preferred music that was so loud and intense it made him forget how to think - he enjoyed it and had to fight off falling asleep when slipping through my fingers played.
Percy got off, almost falling off the steps on the bus, and walked as quickly as he could, home. It was almost night and that was when the worst of New York came out. He’d already made the mistake of being out late and he wasn’t privy to making it ever again.
Thankfully, he arrived at his dingy apartment building soon. There were a few men and women already out with cans of beer, cigarettes and drugs being passed back and forth. One of them, an older woman with severe acne on her face, eyed him up and down. He made sure to send a fierce glare her way and walked faster.
He hated his apartment. Ever since he was a child, he and his mother had moved all around New York. This may have been their worst home yet. Of course, ever since Gabe every home had become just a house but this one had taken the cake for it welcomed all of his creepy friends who yelled at the tv all day with him and leered at his mom like she was on the cover of a filthy magazine. Gabe's friends around also made him meaner and he would purposely target Percy. One time he'd thrown his mom's infamous three layer dip and the ground and shoved Percy with it and told him to lick it. Percy had taken a bite out of the arm that had been holding him down instead which led to a prominent bruise on the full left side of his face. He didn't regret it.
He walked up the stairs, already dreading his return but he was grateful that Grover hadn't come along with him. He didn't need his friend to see that.
Gabe barely paid him any mind when he entered, just asked for whatever money he had on him and Percy hurried to his room, which stunk of body odor and trash. Gabe's natural scent. He wondered why anyone would possibly smell so strong - and so terrible - but his mother always shut that conversation down, calling him rude and uncouth though he could always see her hiding a smile.
He set his bag down, wrinkling his nose at the stench. Thankfully, it was only a few moments later his mother opened his door, eyes wide and excited. He ran to her and jumped in her arms.
It felt like coming home.
She was dressed in her work uniform, her hair was tied up in a tight ponytail and her ugly, plain wedding ring was noticeably absent. Her eyes were a light blue that contrasted to his dark, ember green.
“Percy!” She pressed a kiss to his forehead, both his cheeks, his chin, until he laughed and shoved her face away with a “Mom!”
She grinned, “Look at you, my big boy! You've gotten so big. You're almost my height now.” Which wasn't exactly a grand achievement considering that Sally Jackson reached five foot three.
They sat down on the bed and she took his hands in hers and pressed a kiss to his palm.
She'd always been the only one that had ever been happy to see him. And God, Percy had missed her so much. It was as though the floodgates had opened and he'd realized how strong the ache in his chest was now that it was gone.
She grinned like a Cheshire cat, holding up a plastic bag with various different sweets in it,“I've got some candy.”
—
Summer officially began that night when she told him the good news that they were going to go to Montauk for the weekend. It was the best place in the world because it was surrounded by the beach and lacked Gabe, who'd always hated anything to do with nature. He was a New Yorker through and through and although Percy wasn't fond of farms, or forests or mountains, he still found such beauty in the water.
Percy had fun for the first time in months. There was no Mrs. Dodds, none of Grover's strange behavior, no bullies and teachers looming around just waiting for him to screw up. It was just an endless sea of water and his mother.
The day felt perfect. The exact thing he'd wanted since he left home for Yancy.
Of course, everything was going to go wrong. And in a way he'd never expected.
They'd retired to the outskirts of the beach and were eating crappy pizza that was too oily and they were drinking fizzy soda that left Percy's throat aching. It was perfect. The smell of the sea, the cool air against his face as they sat on the sand. He loved this.
“So,” she began, wiping her fingers with a tissue, “You haven't said a peep about school. How's it been? Were the children bothering you? What about friends? Did you make any?” There was a usual answer to her usual questions; It's fine (it was terrible), No, they weren't (yes, they were), I tried (No, he didn't), No but I've made a few acquaintances (he hadn't).
This time though, things were different.
“Well, actually, I've been doing better in school.” She looked up, raising her eyebrows in surprise. He hated how it made him feel. He knew he was stupid but he didn't understand why it was so surprising that he could do good in school. “Oh, Percy, that's great!” She beamed and took a sip of her diet coke, brushing her hair away from her face.
The wind was coming in stronger and if Percy looked up, he'd see angry, dark grey clouds that let out furious slaps of thunder. His mother certainly noticed, for despite her carefree attitude, her shoulders were tense and she kept on glancing up as if she were worried about something.
“Yeah, I even made a friend.” He did his best to ignore her squeal and the emotion it evoked.
“Oh, my! Who are they? Are they nice? Do they treat you well?”
“Uh” lightning struck in the sky and for a moment the whole of Montauk was lit up.
From beside him, his mother gulped, squeezing the can in her hand extra tight.
“Yeah, he's super nice. A little weird.” He took the last bite of his pizza. “Actually, speaking of weirdness, I saw the strangest thing today.” Percy said.
Sally turned to look at him. “Oh?”
“Yeah, there were like three old ladies without eyes, mom. It was crazy. And they were knitting and they cut a string and were just staring straight at me. I'm pretty sure they were drug addicts-” Percy yelped when his mom grabbed his arm, tighter than she ever had. There was a look in her eyes, something panicked and crazed, something he'd never seen before.
It was an instant switch and one he hadn’t been expecting.
“Mom?”
“What do you mean?” She hissed. “Mom-”
“Percy!” She snapped. He felt an ache in his throat and he had to blink back tears at the harshness in her tone.
She grabbed him up and dragged him back to the cabin, practically running. Percy's mind was racing. What had he said wrong? What had he done to finally make his mother snap?
She slammed the door closed when they entered and Percy heard the beginning of the violent patter of rain and the shaking of thunder.
“No, no, no!” She muttered, digging around to look for something. Percy stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.
As if things couldn't get worse, the door opened and his mother gasped and grabbed his wrist, wrenching him behind her, an arm protectively shielding him.
“Percy!” A painfully familiar voice squeaked. Percy squeezed his eyes shut. What the hell was going on?
He opened them, “Grover?” His mother frowned. She'd been holding a silver knife, eyes ablaze and looked about ready to pounce. He’d never seen her like that and he wondered how she would act if he’d told her all of what Gabe had done. If she would still try to protect him.
“You know this person?” She frowned, looking at him.
“Yeah, he's my…friend.”
“Ms. Jackson, it's nice to meet you.” He smiled. Thunder struck and shook the cabin.
“Percy, we need to leave and get to camp!” His mother gasped. “Oh, you're one of them!”
Grover nodded, “I need to get him out of here, Ms. Jackson. Ze- He's mad.” He said pointedly looking up at the sky. Percy had never felt more confused before in his life.
She glanced back at him and pursed her lips.
“Both of you in the car, now.” Grover grabbed his wrist - why was everyone dragging him around today? - and they ran, barely able to see through the rain, to the car.
His mother was right behind them and they got in their seats.
Percy's mom started the car up faster than she ever had and began to drive out. He wondered how she could even see against all the heavy rain.
Grover turned to look at him, eyes wide, “Did you see them?”
“See who?” He yelled, barely able to hear him.
“The fates, Percy! Did you see the fates?”
The fates? Was Grover speaking about the ones from Greek mythology? Emphasis on the mythology because it wasn't real. They were just myths.
But I've always been able to understand fish and I've breathed underwater before. How normal is that? If I can do that can't the fates exist?
“I don't know!” He finally said. “I think so. I think I saw them.”
“No,” He whimpered and put his head in his hands, “Not again.”
“It's okay, boys. We're almost there.” She sounded surprisingly calm. “Where?” Percy, on the other hand, was not. He's never been so frustrated and terrified before and no one was answering any of his questions.
“Percy, listen very carefully. Your father was a very different man. He wasn't a man, Percy. He was a god. You're a demigod-”
“Like Jesus?”
Grover snorted. “No, like Theseus and Jason. The stories I've told you about. And there's a camp for children like you. Children of the gods.” She paused, but not long enough for him to be able to process the information he was being given. It was like all the missing puzzle pieces had been out of place. No wonder everyone thought he was a total freak. He was the son of a god. And from what his mother had told him, they were all notorious weirdos.
“Percy, I've…I've been selfish. I've kept you to myself because I couldn't bear to let you go and I'm sorry for that. I'm so sorry.” He didn't know what she was apologizing for but Percy didn't want her to. “Mom, it's okay-” There was a roar but it could have been mistaken for thunder except Grover looked up and the look on his face had his gut sinking into his stomach. Grover looked terrified.
“You shouldn't have told him yet. He knows. Now they know.” his head was about to explode from all this lack of information. Where they were purposely secretive because he felt like he was about to explode if they said one more thing that made absolutely no sense.
So much for a fun, perfect day.
The roar had felt so far away, so similar to that of the skies, the ground had shook from the storm but Percy supposed they should have expected that it wasn't all the storm. He just hadn't expected for the car to be picked up one moment and then thrown as far as whatever had grabbed them could throw.
Percy screamed, his heart pounding in his chest and he shut his eyes, praying to whoever was out there - his father, apparently - to keep them all safe. It was like a super dangerous, absolutely abhorrent roller coaster except no one had actually signed up for it.
As if someone had been listening, the car crashed, landing in a tree. There was a branch right in front of Percy that had struck through the glass. Other than hitting his head against the window, he was fine. Grover looked much worse for wear and his mother was already unbuckling her seat belt to get down.
What happened next wasn't something he could recall well. One moment they were in a tree, in the car. There was something in the distance, a man, a monster, taller than the statue of liberty wearing a red dress - or chiton, he assumed it was called - and the head of an angry bull.
He reeked as well, so strong that Percy could smell it through all the rain. It was something like blood and skin and wet fur and it was nauseating.
One moment they were running and that thing was chasing them, his large feet making the ground shake. There was a twisting feeling in Percy's stomach and the rain suddenly poured down even stronger and his muscles ached and his head hurt.
One moment, his mother was behind and when he looked back, she had paused.
“Percy!” She screamed, “I can't get through the borders! It doesn't allow mortals like me. You have to go! I'll distract him. ” His heart dropped. “Wait, no, Mom!” His tears mixed with the rain. From beside, Grover finally collapsed from the strain.
One moment, his mother was alive and the next she'd been squashed to dust when he grabbed her.
Percy couldn't even find it in himself to scream.
The monster looked straight at him and grinned. See, this was where his anger reigned its ugly head. His mother had just been killed. He couldn’t even process it, couldn’t comprehend or process anything except for one fact. He was going to kill that monster.
He squeezed his fist, took one look at Grover unconscious on the ground and ran straight for the monster, a plan already being constructed in his mind.
He wouldn't turn to ashes like his mother had, as weird as it was, he would make him pay.
The monster cackled and charged and for a moment, they were running straight towards each other until Percy veered left and grabbed onto a random tree, climbing it as quickly as he could and jumping straight onto the monster's back. It was rancid and stank and he was pretty sure he got a few cuts from the roughness of its skin.
He took the pen out of his pocket. The monster roared. Percy didn't think. Just like with Mrs. Dodds, he did what felt natural. He swung the sword.
It caught onto one of its horns and ripped it off, leaving the monster to screech and temporarily make him deaf. The second time he swung it was through his neck and he instantly disappeared and turned to dust and Percy fell straight onto the ground. There was a cracking noise when he landed and searing pain in his left arm.
Percy should have just laid down but he got up and ran. His whole body ached like never before and his mind was ablaze and everything was blurry.
He ran to Grover and did his best at dragging him with one hand to the borders of the camp.
Percy doesn't think he'll ever remember the events of that night perfectly. It was the beginning of the end. The day his torturous childhood ended and his nightmarish teenage years started.
He dragged Grover until he felt a tingle and somehow he knew that they were safely on the border.
Percy collapsed, ignoring the agonizing sting in his arm and the sharp pain in his chest. Percy's mother was gone. His life had just been flipped upside down.
It would take years to be flipped back.
“It's him.” A girl's voice said just as he closed his eyes and was taken to an endless darkness.