Percy Jackson

Is it better or worse for us that there was a school dance happening at Westover Hall tonight?

I'm really hoping it's better, but if it's not, we're going to find out the hard way.

It's not like we really fit in to the military school vibe. Thalia has liberty spikes and it wearing a leather jacket and combat boots with her jumpsuit (which she was only wearing because Grover apparently gave a heads up that there would be a dance tonight). Annabeth is way too tan for living in Maine (because she lives in California), though she was in an actual dress that was appropriate for a school dance. because she's not delusional, she also had tan tights on and some shorts under the gray dress, because the chances of fighting monsters is at least a 50/50 shot, but with two children of the Big Three? Closer to 80/20.

Was I dressed for the occasion?

Sort of? If this wasn't a military school, it'd be perfect: I was just wearing a pair of black pants, black vans that I've had since I grew into my current shoe size, a plain shirt, and a jean jacket.

At a normal school dance, it's a pretty typical outfit. Nobody dresses up for dances.

At a military school? I was walking a fine line. So was Thalia.

"Excuse me," a woman said, stopping us in the hall. "Can I see your IDs? I don't recognize you children, and this dance is closed to students only."

"What do you mean you don't recognize us?" Thalia questioned, causing the teacher to look confused. "These two were in your class last year. You had me four years ago, Ms.... Belle."

The teacher did a double take, her eyes fogging over.

"Oh, right," she recalled something that never happened. "I'm so sorry, I work with son many students. Please forgive me. Have fun tonight."

And she let us go.

I leaned over to the daughter of Zeus. "What was what?"

"That?" Thalia asked. "What, Chiron hasn't taught you how to bend the Mist yet?"

Chiron knows how to bend the Mist?

I guess it makes sense— he has his wheelchair, and I've never thought about that works realistically, but...

Why would he teach Thalia how to bend the Mist and not me?

"He... No." I insisted. "I... Didn't even know that was something you could do."

"What did you think Charmspeak was, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked me as we rounded the corner into the schools main gym.

I shrugged.

"Persuasion? I knew that immortals could change the Mist, I just didn't realize we could, too. I guess it makes sense."

"You guess?" Annabeth repeated back, which I didn't appreciate. "I'm sure that when Chiron thinks you're ready, he'll show you. When he thinks you're good enough."

Dear reader: why did she feel the need to add the last sentence?

There was no use for pity, or for an argument right now, though, so I just bit my tongue and hummed.

"Alright, let's head in." I told the two of them. "Find Grover, try to keep a low profile, find the other demigods, and get out."

"Yes, sir," Annabeth commented sarcastically. "Is this your job now?"

Thalia punched her arm.

"He's just making a to-do list for all of us, he's not delegating jobs," the daughter of Zeus insisted. "You never say things to yourself? Sometimes it helps to say things out loud, be nice to him— you won't get to go to the party if you're an ass."

"I— sorry." Annabeth apologized. "Let's go."

Walking into the auditorium, we were once again stopped by a staff member, who asked for our school IDs.

Thankfully, Thalia was able to convince him to let us pass as well, though it took a little more work on our end— he didn't like our outfits.

Scanning the room, it was undoubtedly a middle school dance— way too many kids wearing too much perfume and cologne, with a mix of high school volunteers and staff members seeming to be working and supervising. The lights were dim, and the music was very loud.

"Where do you think—" Thalia started to ask.

"Thalia, Annie!" Grover found us long before we even could start to look for him. He trotted over, smiling. "Thank the gods, you—"

Turning to look at my boyfriend, I didn't even know what to do.

It's not like we haven't been separated for longer before— there was a whole month where I hadn't heard from him and thought he was dead after 8 months of only being able to talk like once a week.

But we weren't boyfriends when that happened.

Initially, he also seemed to not know what to do, because he stopped in his tracks, just... Looking at me.

And before I could even say anything, he ran (trotted?) and tackled me to the ground (which is impressive because I'm a bit taller and bigger than he is).

"You're here!" Grover said, the task of tonight completely forgotten as my ass hit the ground. Luckily, we were by the door, so there weren't too many people in the area. Grover cupped my face. "I was so worried that something happened, none of my messages were getting through to you. How did you find out about tonight?"

"I'm here," I promised him, placing my hands over his and trying for a smile. "I'll explain more later, but I couldn't accept or make messages, it was annoying. Thalia came over yesterday to tell me about the plan for today— my mom drove us here. Are things okay here? I'm sorry to make you worry."

"No, it's okay, I'm just glad you're okay," the satyr promised, giving me a kiss before standing and helping me get up— not letting my hand go once we were both standing. He took a breath. "I'm glad you're here."

"Okay, lovebirds, as sweet as it is to watch you guys reunite for the second time this year, we need to keep this PG-13." Annabeth insisted, and I hated that she was right. "How many demigods are we dealing with, Grover? You sounded... Worried about it."

Grover motioned to the bleachers not far from us, where a handful of kids were sitting.

"The two kids at the end of the bleachers," he told us. "it's just them, but they're... Powerful."

"Big Three powerful?" Thalia questioned. "do we have more siblings?"

Grover sucked in a breath.

"I'm... Not sure. Because there's two of them, it's hard to tell. Their names are Nico and—"

It hit me like a freight train.

"Bianca." And I think I scared the shit out of my boyfriend by knowing the older sister's name.

Naturally, all of my friends just... Look at me. Because there's no reason why I should know that.

"...yeah. Nico and Bianca." Grover confirmed. "How do you... Know that?"

Debating how I wanted to word this, I opened my mouth, closed it again, and then took a breath. Looking over at the Italian(?) siblings, there was no mistake: it was the same kids I met a year and a half ago.

"Do you remember when we were in the Lotus Casino," I began. "and I told you guys that people were telling me wildly different dates? Like, anywhere from the 1700s to current times?"

"Yeah, that was why we left the casino in the first place." Grover remembered. "I'm terrified of that place."

I motioned to Nico and Bianca.

"They were in the casino," I explained. "You want to guess what year Nico told me it was when we were there?"

Nobody guessed.

"He said it was New Year's Eve," I told my friends. "Of 1940."

And, understandably so, nobody knew what to say.

"That... Makes sense, I guess," Grover figured. "I'm not that close to Nico, but Bianca and I had a few classes together. I just... Figured that because she's an orphan, she's missed a lot of school. We'll figure out how to deal with that once we're at camp. First, we need get the two of them and get to camp. There's... Definitely a monster here, but I can't sense where with how many smells there are."

"It's chill, we'll figure it out," Thalia insisted. "Let's go meet the little punks first."

Making our way across the Gymnasium, I was able to figure that Nico was making his sister play a game with him— myths and magic? It was similar to magic or Pokemon, but he'd told me the name of it when we met.

Myth...

Mythomagic! The game is called mythomagic.

"Grover, hello!" Bianca said as the four of us approached them. "Oh, your friends made it here! That's wonderful. Is this the uh..."she snapped, trying to think as she looked at me. "Fidan... The boyfriend! Is this..."

She paused.

"Wait a second," the demigod insisted. "I know you. You were... You were at the hotel, no?"

I nodded my head.

"I was at the hotel, very briefly, but we did talk." I confirmed, not remembering if I actually introduced myself of not when we met. I reached my right hand out, my left still holding Grover's. "My name is Percy, I don't know if I told you that last time. What brings you guys to Maine all the way from the hotel?"

"A guy in a suit picked us up!" Nico told me with way too much energy for what could be a kidnapping case. "He said that our Papa sent him because we needed to go to school and learn to be strong and then he said that the year started with a 2 now instead of a 1 now, which I thought was silly at first, but then I remembered that you were asking about the date and—"

"Nico," Bianca said, effectively shutting her brother up. "he doesn't need every detail. But he's correct, our father enrolled us at this academy."

"Your father?" Thalia questioned. "Do you know him?"

Bianca gave Thalia an odd look.

"Well, of course I know my father," she insisted. "We haven't seen him since before the casino, since our mother died, but we know him."

"I'm sorry to hear about your mom," I empathized. "I think she meant to ask if you know who he is— like, his name."

"Oh! Um... It starts with an H, I think?" She told us, thinking to herself. "I always called him Papa, but it'll come to me later. We're you all looking to play a game with my brother? It's not my thing, but he likes it when people play with him."

Looking down at Nico, I couldn't help but admire how happy he was for a child who'd lost his mother: he was smiling from ear to ear as soon as his older sister asked if anyone wanted to play with him.

"You know what, I'll make you a deal, Nico," I told the younger di Angelo sibling, crouching down closer to his level as he sat on the bleachers. "Let's get out of this lame dance, and we'll get you guys somewhere safe, and then I'll play a game with you, okay? I bet that Grover would love to play, too.

"I would?" Grover asked and I nudged him. "I mean, yeah! That sounds like a great idea."

"Get us somewhere safe?" Bianca questioned as her brother started to immediately pack his cards up. "What's that supposed to mean? Are we not safe here?"

"Well—" Grover started, because it's his job to explain this to kids.

"No, you're not." Thalia cut in, eyeing the teacher who almost didn't let us into the dance earlier— Dr. Thorn. "There's only one place that's safe for you that will also let you inside their premises— it's our job to get you there. If you want to stay here and die, be my guest."

"Thalia!" All three of us said, Annabeth nudging her.

"We're not safe?" Nico asked. "Are monsters going to attack us?"

Bianca groaned.

"Monsters aren't real, Nicollo, how many times do I have to tell you—"

"No, they're real," Grover promised the two demigods, rapidly tapping my shoulder. "We have to go, now. It's him, he's the—"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell us what you mean—"

"He means that if you don't start walking, you're going to die," I told Bianca, a bit more firmly. "We're going to New York— come on, we can walk and talk."

Trying to not cause a scene by being too rushed, we managed to get out of the Gymnasium without getting spotted or stopped by Dr. Thorn.

The hallway proved to be a bit more of a bitch.

"Okay, if we go out—"

"Children, what are you doing out here?" Dr. Thorn asked as he seemingly just... Appeared across from us in the hallway. "you three just arrived— why leave so soon?"

"Dr. Thorn! Sir! Hello!" Grover yelped, stepping forward— something I recognized. It's how he used to react to Mrs. Dodds around me. "My friends and I were just helping the di Angelo's get back to their rooms— it's awfully dark outside, and it's dangerous to—"

And before any of us could react, a tail like that of a scorpion jumped out at Grover, stinging him in his leg and making him collapse.

"GROVER!" We all yelled, and I could feel a sting in my legs as I crouched down momentarily to make sure my boyfriend wasn't going to die of poison in 2 minutes.

"Oh, hush, children." Dr. Thorn said as Thalia knelt down next to me. "I don't need to hear the lies. Nico, Bianca— come with me. The General requires your attendance."

The general?

I know that nickname.

Thalia knelt down next to me.

"I'll take care of Grover," she promised. "You and Annabeth get the brats. All three of 'em."

"You—" I stood up, looking Dr. Thorn head on— who I was now realizing is the manticore. "Who is the General?"

He snarled.

"I thought you of all demigods would've known, Perseus Jackson," Dr. Thorn taunted. "or— oh. Thalia Grace?"

He paused.

"Oh, I see." He insisted. "Hm, interesting. Still, I think the General would be overjoyed to have more options beyond the runts."

"You're not touching them." I informed the monster.

"What do you mean I'm not—"

Slamming my forearm against the monsters throat, I uncapped Riptide to go through his tail as he tried to sting me.

"Y— Ow! Son on a bitch!" The manticore swore. "What..."

"These demigods are going to make it safely to Camp Half-Blood if I have to give my life in order for it to happen," I informed the manticore. "If you know so much, what happens when I die? Do you lose your job?"

He glanced over at the di Angelo's.

"Not for long."

I went to grab for my dagger, but before I could, an arrow lodged into the Manticore's head, and he crumbles to dust.

Bianca and Nico both definitely screamed.

Looking at where the arrow came from, a girl around 12 years old stood in the doorway of the school, ushering us to her.

"I had it under control," I told the girl, helping Thalia carry Grover as Annabeth ushered the di Angelo's outside. "You nearly shot me."

"Oh, I was inches away from your arm, child." She said as if she weren't younger than me. "Sorry to startle the lot of you— we've been tracking the Manticore for a while now."

"The Manticore?" Nico asked, the monsters name pulling him out of his fear induced crying. "the— the Manticore has an attack power of 300 and a +5 saving throw! It's... It's really powerful, but it's really... Really bad at defending long range attacks because it's... It's..."

"Because it's only defense is it's tail, yes, child." The girl said. "Where did you learn this information? I didn't realize it had a limited amount of power."

"I... I learned it from mythomagic!" Nico told her. "It's um... It's a really cool game and I play it a lot and the manticore is a rare card and I only have one, but it's more powerful than the Minotaur or the... The gorgon's, but Medusa is special so her attack power is really high and... They also have gods and—"

"Nico." Bianca interrupted, looking to the girl. "sorry, he gets carried away when people ask him about his favorite game."

The girl slowly nodded her head.

"I see, so somebody has created a game about battling one another using cards to symbolize different characters— an interesting way to educate the youth on our Pantheon." She said as I looked back to see a handful of young girls, all wearing the same thing this girl was wearing: athletic pants, some sort of hiking, hunting, or combat boots, and a silver parka.

I started to realize who she was.

"Well, I can't say it's any weirder than musicals or whatever silly things my brother is into now." She summarized, taking a moment to look at all of us individually before looking again at me. "And Perseus Jackson, how I have heard things about you from my brothers."

Is this going to be how I learn what my reputation with the gods is?

"Lady Artemis," I stuttered out. "may I ask which brothers? I haven't met your twin."

"Oh, no, but all the others," she assured me. "Very mixed reviews, I must say— Dionysus and Ares can never seem to agree on anything about you. I'm sure I'll have my own opinion, soon enough. Go bring your friend to my Lieutenant's tent— they'll be able to heal him."

I hadn't realized how cold she was towards me until she turned to Thalia.

"And Thalia Grace, my baby sister," I'm pretty sure Thalia wanted to vomit when she heard that. The goddess smiled. "what an honor to finally meet you. And you as well, Annabeth Chase. Come— let's get our two young demigods to camp. I have much I'd like to discuss with you two, and Bianca di Angelo, as well."