Chapter Text
I was never normal. I was too strange to be weird as well.
I guess that's just what I am, strange.
I'm Percy Jackson, a 12 year old who goes to a private school in New York. "Private" in the sense of "you're different from 'normal' kids." I'm definitely not going to deny that fact, my ADHD and dyslexia makes it hard to read and focus. But I wouldn't say that's the only strange thing about me.
For years I've had dreams about experiences that weren't mine. Never long enough to learn anything important. A glimpse of a tall man behind a desk, a glass ball with a shining symbol inside, a voice in a language that I was always able to make out (but never to understand). Of course, you could just push these off as dreams but getting them almost every night makes it pattern.
Sure I could also mention my heterochromia; my right eye ever so slightly darker than my left, which almost looks like it shines red in the sunlight. The fact my feet are ever so warm, the ache in my body while in the sun, the calmness I have when in the dark. Tinier things that might slip under a radar.
What does any of this mean? I don't know.
What I do know is that today is the trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where my teacher, Mr. Brunner, plans to show us ancient Greek and Roman items. Mr. Brunner was this older fellow, short hair and a scruffy white beard. He always smelt like coffee and every so slightly like horses. He was probably the best teacher I had.
He was always entertaining, he held tournament days, which he would come in yelling "What ho!" with an amazing bronze sword and challenge each of us to name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshiped. He told stories (not myths, he always claimed) as he was there to experience them, and not reading them from a book (which never quite matched up with what he was saying, like he knew more about the topic).
Despite all of Mr. Brunner's pros, he had plenty of cons. For example, my best friend, Grover, was currently being pelted with a peanut-butter-and-ketchup sandwich. Which no way could you ever convince me to eat that, and even less to enjoy it landing it Grover's hair. Nancy Bobofit, the girl bullying Grover, was probably the worst person at the school. Nancy was this ginger-haired girl with freckles that matched her bright orange hair, only to be finished with a nasty attitude. She knew Grover was an easy target.
Grover was disabled, he brought a cane to school, and even had an excuse note to excuse him from P.E for life. Yet, I wasn't all that convinced with how he ran on enchilada day in the cafeteria. Grover had the curliest hair (which made Nancy's sandwich throwing less appreciated), and was the only kid who had a beard (if you could call it that…) and acne.
Even with all of this, Ms. Dodds' our pre-algebra teacher did nothing to stop Nancy. She was this young adult from Georgia who wore a leather jacket no matter the weather, and her hair always done in a high ponytail. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley straight into your locker. Despite how mean she was to me, I kinda respected her.
Every time I would get a question wrong she would harden her gaze and say, "Perseus, its about due time you start understanding, isn't it?" She was the only teacher who ever used my full name.
When we arrived, all twenty-eight of us slowly piled out of the bus, kids surrounding themselves with their clique. I stuck next to Grover, and closer to Mr. Brunner in the front and the furthest away from Ms. Dodds in the back. Mr. Brunner made the tour somewhat bearable, the ancient history of Romans always more entertaining to me, however the Greek history… Always left a longing in my chest.
No matter how interesting Mr. Brunner spoke, or how hard I tried to listen, Nancy in the back was always too loud and disrespectful to everything we learned. Snickering when someone failed in their quest, or joking gasping when a poor maiden was cheated on by a hero. I started to get angry.
So angry in fact I whipped my head around and whispered, "Will you be quiet?" Apparently, it wasn't as much as a whisper but more such as I spoke it somewhat normally. Which was just loud enough for Mr. Brunner to hear.
Mr. Brunner stopped and turned towards me, "Do you have something to add, Mr. Jackson?"
"No sir…" I felt my face flush.
Mr. Brunner pointed to a painting with a gorgeous golden frame with skulls on it, and asked, "Perhaps you can tell us who's in this picture then."
I sighed in relief because I did recognize them. "That's Lord Hades' family: Lord Hades himself, his wife Persephone, his daughter Melinoë, and…" I stumbled over the last person. Mr. Brunner raised an eyebrow. I sighed and spoke firmly, "That's Hades' son, Zagreus."
I hope Mr. Brunner only thought of my stumble because I forgot his name. Zagreus was interesting to me. Ever since I was younger, when my mom first told me stories of the underworld, the adventures of Zagreus interested me the most. Mostly because I felt like I knew the stories by heart, I even corrected my mom on some of the book's incorrect statements (to the best of my knowledge, she merely raised an eyebrow).
Mr. Brunner snapped me back to reality. "If you remember our lesson over Zagreus," I nodded, because it was my favorite lesson, "Can you explain why Zagreus wanted to go to the surface and why he failed?"
I paused for a minute, slowly responding, "Prince Zagreus wanted to see his mother." I mumbled under my breath "And to make his dad angry," (Mr. Brunner raised an amused eyebrow) "However, he was never able to stay long due to the certain type of blood he possesses."
I heard Nancy snicker in the back, "Percy is such a teacher's pet. Like why would we ever need to know this junk? Like its never going to ask us on a job application 'Why was Zagreus stuck in the underworld?'."
"And why, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner started, "To paraphrase Ms. Bobofit’s excellent question, does this matter in real life?"
Grover snickered, "Busted."
I saw Nancy turn completely red. I'm glad Mr. Brunner had such good hearing, he at least called her out on her stunts.
I looked back at the painting and stated, "Maybe the inevitability of death? That we should make the best of our life because it could always end tomorrow?"
Mr. Brunner smiled, "Full credit Percy, that's an excellent way to look at it. Zagreus was never close with his mother as he believed he was from Nyx herself. When he found out the truth he had gone against his father's orders and made his way to his mother, even battling Lord Hades. Even when he died, he simply reformed and tried again. It's been a long time since Prince Zagreus truly faded but his morals are still ones to look up to. On that note, Ms. Dodds do you mind leading us back outside?"
I looked at Ms. Dodds, she had a look of fond remembrance in her eyes, and I saw the faintest parts of a smile form on her lips. But that was clearly a trick of the light. As she left I looked at Mr. Brunner, who also had that same look of remembrance in his eyes, it wasn't as powerful as Ms. Dodds' was but it was there. I turned to leave before Mr. Brunner called my name, I told Grover to keep going.
I turned back to Mr. Brunner, locking eyes with him. His eyes that always seemed to know everything and had seen everything in the last (at least) 2000 years. He smiled at me, and I realized I wasn't in trouble and I let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding.
"That was an excellent way to look at Prince Zagreus' adventures, Percy. Where did you learn it?" Mr. Brunner asked, and I could tell he was genuine.
I rubbed my neck, "Zagreus was always my favorite figure in Greek mythology, I studied him a lot in my free time is all."
Mr. Brunner laughed, "Prince Zagreus was definitely the interesting fellow. You quite remind me of him sometimes, the love for his mother and the willingness to do anything to get his goal," My eyes widened, "But what do I know?"
Mr. Brunner looked at me, and I mean truly looked at me, "Zagreus isn't the only thing you should keep in mind, everything you learn from me is vitally important in your life, Percy." I could only nod.
"Now go eat lunch, I'll join you in just a second." Mr. Brunner concluded finally, letting his gaze fall over the painting again. I whispered a small thank you, and I swore I saw Mr. Brunner's ears twitch, but I left it at that and went back outside to join Grover by the fountain.
As I left I saw some boys pelting poor pigeons with crackers and Nancy trying to steal passerby's wallets. I sat next to Grover on the fountain, the furthest away from the group. Maybe, I hoped, Maybe they wouldn't assume we were with that group. I started to eat my lunch when Grover looked at me.
"Detention?" He asked, drinking his water.
I shook my head, "No, not from Mr. Brunner," He always had high hopes for me, he expected me to be the best in class. He even gone out of his way to make accommodations so I wouldn't get names like Chiron and Charon mixed up (which almost never worked but its the thought that counts!).
"I'm not sure how to live up to his expectations, he always expects the best from me," I muttered.
Grover looked at me for a minute and just simply asked, "Can I have your apple?" I laughed and handed him the apple, given I wasn't that hungry.
I looked up to the sky and a huge storm was coming in. No one else seemed to notice it, but it looked bad. I almost wished I grabbed an umbrella.
I gazed off towards the city. I really wanted to see my mom. I could hop in a taxi right now and head back up to my apartment and ignore this trip. It hadn't gotten bad yet so maybe we should cut our wins and leave it. But…She wouldn't allow that and she'd send me right back here. But gods was I ready to let this end already!
I looked down just in time to see Mr. Brunner finally come back outside and he parked his wheelchair by the ramp. His chair had a little umbrella and a small table so it really looked like a motorized cafe table. When I looked back to Grover, Nancy had just dumped her lunch in his lap.
"Oops," She laughed at him. Her face morphing into that evil grin I was so used to.
I heard my guidance counselor in my head, telling me to count to 5 and take a breath. But I was too angry and I heard a wave in my ears. Suddenly, as I blinked, Nancy was in the fountain. She glared up at me (I didn't know she could get even angrier) and yelled at me and Grover, even though it was just my fault. Well, I think? I don't remember pushing her at all. My hands tensed up.
"Percy pushed me!" She yelled and Ms. Dodds suddenly was behind me.
"Perseus, meet me inside." Ms. Dodds simply stated. I looked at her and back at Nancy, she was still soaking wet.
I heard the kids around me gasp.
"The water —"
"—Like it grabbed her—"
But I was too focused on the problem at hand.
"No! It was me! I pushed Nancy!" Grover stood up and stood between me and Ms. Dodds. Her gaze almost turned him to stone and he trembled under her glare.
"I don't think so Underwood. Perseus, inside, now." She stated again, this time no room for argument.
I patted Grover on the back, "Thanks for trying man," I muttered. I looked back at Ms. Dodds but she was already at the entrance of the museum. My counselor says its something to do with my ADHD, something like it misses stuff. I'm not too sure.
I heard Nancy slightly snicker and I looked back at her with my special I'll-kill-you-later stare. She stopped laughing. I smiled in success and ran to catch up with Ms. Dodds. When I got up there I looked at Grover one last time and saw him looking at Mr. Brunner and back at me. He was trying to get Mr. Brunner's attention for some reason, Ms. Dodds was mean—sure—but she wouldn't harm me. Right?
Ms. Dodds lured me further into the museum, and past the gift shop where I assumed I would be buying her a new shirt (which I couldn't do anyway because I was broke). But she finally stopped when we arrived back at the Greek section of the museum. Just for a second I saw her look back at the painting we were talking about just a few minutes ago. I couldn't make out what her gaze was this time.
"You've been giving us problems, Perseus," Ms. Dodds' voice reverberated off the walls. I shrunk.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am?" I went with the safe option, given I had no idea what she meant.
"Did you think you could get away with it?" She angrily stated, as she started to reach behind her.
I truly thought about what she could mean, was it the candy I was secretly selling out of my dorm room? Was it the fact I did not read the assigned book and stole the essay off the internet? Or was it just the fact that I was different than the other kids and needed more time on tests and needed text-to-speech software? I stayed silent.
"Confess now and you won't die a painful death." She offered.
I was scared. I started to back up slowly.
"Time is up!" She yelled, her skin and hair turned a beautiful shade of blue, her leather jacket now covering traditional Greek clothing, not to mention the massive wing that sprouted out of her back. She looked… familiar. But I wasn't going to ask her to find out when I saw the massive whip she had pulled out from behind her as well.
She lunged at me and I dodged to my right, almost tumbling and she flew past me. I heard a familiar voice from the doorway.
"What ho, Percy!" Mr. Brunner yelled from the door, and he threw a pen at me.
I dodged Ms. Dodds' attack again and grabbed the pen from the air, which was now Mr. Brunner's sword which he used on tournament days.
I had a thought, it wasn't mine, but my mouth supplied it anyway, "Meg, can't we talk about this?!"
Ms. Dodds almost instantly stilled in her approach. She looked in my eyes, with the light I was pretty sure was both red and the sea green that my mother adored so much. I held the sword in front of me, unsure of her next attack, or if I could even handle it with that whip of hers. I was shaking. Her eyes widened and she stood up out of her attack pose.
She looked at me, almost too deeply as she could almost see into my soul. Perhaps she really could. Her eyes narrowed and she simply… vanished. I dropped to my knees. I had no idea what had happened. The sword in my hand felt lighter and as I looked down it was simply a pen again. I must've been going crazy. I forced myself to get up and walk to the front.
Nancy met me at the door sneering, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whooped your butt."
"Who?" I asked, not really wanting to fight with her after what had just happened. She simply rolled her eyes and walked away.
I walked to Mr. Brunner who looked like he hadn't moved. I walked up to him and he barely glanced up at me before taking a second and looking at my entire person (probably to see if I had been hurt, my brain supplied), and decided it was okay.
"That would be my pen, Mr. Jackson, please remember to bring your own next time." Mr. Brunner smiled.
I looked down at the pen in my hands, the only line of defense I had against Ms. Dodds (Meg, my brain conflicted), and I really didn't want to give it up. I sighed and gave him back the pen.
"Sir, where is Ms. Dodds?" I muttered.
"Who?" He raised an eyebrow.
I just let it go with him, Mr. Brunner was hard to get any straight answer out of anyway. I made my way back to Grover I saw him sigh in relief as he saw I was okay. I looked at him, he was still sweating and glancing around.
"Grover," I asked and noted that he nearly jumped, "Where is Ms. Dodds?"
While my brain argued about how her name was Meg, and the other side said it was still Ms. Dodds, Grover took a second to respond. An unnatural second. And another.
"…Who?" He muttered at last, "We don't have a teacher named Ms. Dodds."
I noted the long second he took to reply, the fact he specifically stated 'teacher' and the unwillingness to answer.
"Are you okay, Percy?" Grover asked, genuinely worried. I nodded my head.
I had research to do when I got back to the dorms.