Ms Dodds had something against me.
She watched me with narrow eyes, always on guard for me doing something against the rules. She didn't comment on my hair length, but did try to get me in trouble for dyeing it.
The magic clinging to her itched over my skin, burning faintly of acid. But beneath that, above the sensation, filling the air was a buzz.
Cloudy and indistinct, it made looking at her too long headache inducing. Flashes of leather that didn't match her jacket, a gleam of a whip that twined along the floor. Fangs gleamed and eyes glowed red.
I rubbed my eyes and looked away.
I was good enough at math to do alright in her class despite the headache the class was. I was… afraid of what she'd do if I wasn't passable.
I wasn't worried though. There was nothing to worry about. My hands were steady and I slept perfectly.
Poseidon-re'ore has been accused of a theft.
It was all fine, Triton knew how to handle it.
Keep your head down.
I wasn't going to make things more difficult, I was going to sit in school and behave.
Do not go near the ocean.
I could handle this, it was all okay.
Do not get in contact with any in the sea.
I was alone but it was alright, I knew how to handle things alone. I'd been alone for a long time.
Stay Safe.
This was the first time I had no one around me on my side, not even mom, but it was okay.
It was fine.
I was fine.
(I was not fine)
OO OO OO OO
Ms. Dodds made it her goal to keep an eye on me, so I made it my goal to behave perfectly. I didn't dare waterbend outside of my room, made sure to keep my school books with me, and didn't even snap at someone being rude to Grover just politely asked them to move.
Nancy took that as a challenge of course, more than able to notice the close eye Ms. Dodds kept on me. She took great delight in blaming just about everything on me.
She didn't like Grover, and because I defended Grover from her, didn't like me either. Also she was totally jealous of my amazing blue hair.
I clung to Triton's lessons for any semblance of sanity in this mess.
Cause I was fine .
"There will be times when you face opponents that you cannot beat with strength. They are greater than you, stronger, more powerful, and you will lose in a fair fight."
Triton's taught me a lot, and it was coming in handy right now.
"You will always have at least two options, perhaps more. But which you use will depend on the battle you need to fight."
I was going to handle this right. I was going to be okay. Triton had enough to worry about.
"If you can fight, if you must fight, then rile them up. An angry enemy is a dumb enemy, and nothing you do is off the table. Mock them, attack their pride, their honor, their hair. Drive them up a wall until they can't think through their rage."
I couldn't fight Ms. Dodds, she was a (terror) teacher.
"If you cannot fight, if you do not wish to fight, then you can defuse the situation. Be polite, respectful, deferential. Smile, nod along, be the kindest, sweetest, most well-behaved child you can be. You're young enough that your innocence may get you out of a fight on its own, weaponize that."
I smiled politely no matter what Nancy did. I used every bit of manners Triton taught me for Ms. Dodds.
"And there is a third option, one which you should always consider. You can run. Surviving is the same thing as winning, if you can live to fight another day, do so."
I wanted to run. I wanted to run all the way back home, to my mom's hugs, to Triton's comfort, to my friends' curiosity.
I wanted to go home .
But running wasn't an option, not this time.
So I smiled and nodded and pretended- I showed that everything was fine.
I acted like I always did, everything was alright.
(I wasn't alright)
OO OO OO OO
I dug for distractions, something to stop my hands from shaking- something that kept my chest from tightening-
I searched for something to drown myself in.
The ex-cursed book from the first semester was entirely in Latin, and I was not good enough at Latin to read it, especially since it didn't have spaces.
I asked Mr. Brunner and he called it "scriptio continua", which meant they didn't bother with spaces or punctuation.
The Ancients could fight me because why would they do that ?
The paper felt old and brittle, I was constantly afraid it would crumble in my hands. But it didn't look old. The Latin used implied it was old, very old.
I'd just need to get better at Latin to read it.
OO OO OO OO
I talked with Carl a lot these days. Figuring out how to turn him human again was a good (distraction) project.
At this point I was pretty sure that I needed more power to remove the curse. The curse was more powerful than what I had.
Curse breaking basically split up into two methods.
Overpowering and dissecting.
Overpowering required a lot of power, but you could basically just… force the curse out. Sear it, burn it, purify it, all that.
Dissecting the curse was far less energy consuming.
The issue was, dissecting a curse required a lot of knowledge about the curse in question, such as how it was laid, what method was used, what was the purpose of the curse, how it's changed since being laid, and more.
The method of laying it and how it was laid, which were Very Different Things, were the most important parts as far as I could tell.
Curses could be slipped into other objects to sneak onto someone, they didn't just require waving your hands and chanting a spell. If you knew the way they laid the curse, you could mimic that for the easiest removal.
Knowing the method was vital.
There were four main methods of laying curses: Woven, Layered, Twisted, and Overwhelming. They built up the bones of curse casting, and even the variations outside of those four tended to reference them.
Woven curses required weaving the threads of the curses together, in a manner similar to a cloth.
Layered curses put multiple layers of magic on top of each other, each layer strengthening the curse and compressing it tight.
Twisted curses were done by twisting the person or object's own nature, changing it through small twists.
And of course, overwhelming curses simply forced their will on the subject. They were most common with Gods, since very little could resist Them and as such breaking them was… hard.
Once you knew the nature of the curse it was much simpler to pick it apart. It wasn't easy , and it was often time consuming to unwind the curse, but you could do it . You could pull at the threads of woven curses until they unraveled, peel up the layers one by one for layered curses, twist the twisted curses back to their original form, and slip under and yank the overwhelming ones.
I didn't know how exactly to tell the differences in curses, but I didn't think it was an overwhelming one. And layered didn't feel right.
That meant it was probably twisted or woven.
If I messed up the removal I could make it worse though. Twisting a woven curse could tighten it, and pulling a twisted one would do similar.
That meant I needed to use Overwhelming Power to deal with the curse, which was… a pain.
Especially for woven or twisted curses, those two thrived off of subtle work, making them time consuming to remove and very difficult to overpower.
Ugh.
Carl was a blessing during all of this, walking through the complicated subject with me and keeping me calm.
I didn't know what I would do without him.
On that note, I needed to figure out a way to keep him with me when I went places. He was only safe from Gabe last summer because Gabe didn't know about him for most of the summer.
OO OO OO OO
I spread out the medical kit and pulled out the book on healing. I wanted to improve my healing skills, for others that was. But getting better meant understanding the tools, and they were confusing.
I picked up the closest one, a soft seaweed. The book said it was treated seaweed, meant for binding wounds that you couldn't heal immediately. Basically a bandage.
The next item was a purification stone, something that helped get rid of bacteria or low level poisons.
There was also an antibacterial mix that was made of… a lot of stuff I didn't recognize. I probably needed to learn those too.
The slim shell knife was pretty, and useful for cutting the seaweed or helping with the wound.
There was a cool shell paste that would harden into a cast that I found pretty cool.
I didn't realize arachnid crabs made thread, but there was thread from them in the kit as well so… maybe there was a mythical kind?
Then there was also a jar of enchanted fish that would eat the dead skin if needed. The book didn't explain when that would be needed though, maybe something on the skin?
There were also a lot of things I did recognize, like tweezers, scissors (though made with shells), painkillers (made from fish with par-a-lytic toxin), and a thermometer (made of coral that was sensitive to changes in temperature).
Several items I wasn't sure if they were sea things or land things. Like the large soft blanket woven out of sea grasses and coral shielding (so soft). It kept in heat, but also had anemone puffs on one side that cooled rapidly when exposed to water.
The manual showed how all of it should be used. That combined with one of my other books meant that I theoretically knew how to use all of it.
It was helpful to know, for no particular reason.
Everything was fine after all.
OO OO OO OO
Mr. Brunner was acting… weird.
Ms. Dodds and him were threatening each other? I was confused. Was Mr. Brunner bad? He didn't have itchy curse feel, and also didn't look at me like he was plotting my death…
Mr. Brunner also changed up his lesson plans. In several ways.
Before we were just learning Latin and some Roman history, but now we were learning about the Greek Gods??? And he had us do sword fighting some days???
None of the swords felt right for me, but some felt… different. A buzz in my head, a tingle in my mouth, a hint of roses in the air. They weren't normal, there was something… more to them.
One in particular caught my attention every time, the one Mr. Brunner used.
It felt like Elei's trident.
Elei's trident was made in the ocean of her power, made of her . It was her power in a solid form, weaponized. Something that would give her a big boost in a fight, but was also a weakness if someone stole it from her.
The sword was like that, reflected the ocean, someone's essence, in a way that made me ache.
But I was supposed to act normal.
I was supposed to keep my head down.
So I pretended I didn't know he held someone's essence in hand. I pretended I didn't ache wondering who was in his hands.
I pasted a smile on my face and smiled and nodded and (pretended) everything was okay.
I couldn't fall apart, I was okay. Triton had a lot on his plate and I would not add to that.
OO OO OO OO
The pit yawned before me, as dark as the previous times I stood before it. Cold and hot, acid and smoke curled over me. But there was something else this time.
It wasn't just shifting sands, smooth like silk, spilling over me. Now there was… prickling tingles over my hands, dotted warmth like flickering sunlight, and numb tingles over my arms.
The sensations felt weird, uncomfortable almost, heavy yet light.
"-rry Master. I couldn't deliver it to you but- but I won't fail again, I swear it. I will find a way to get it to you-"
"Your failure has put back our plans by quite a bit," the voice that had always spoken whispered in rustling leaves and creaking branches. "I must now expend my energy to keep the wayward God under my control. And I do not have the energy to spare yet."
"I know. I- I'm sorry- I have no excuse. I failed you because of my own arrogance."
The voice murmured in a language like the stones in the ocean, ancient, steady, everlasting. He spoke in a language I knew from Triton, a language that on it's own ached of the Divine, of something More Than Human.
Triton called it Thalozan, the Ancient Tongue. It was distinct, clear in a way no other language had ever been to me.
I knew the odd word thanks to Triton, but nothing that the voice spoke was familiar to me.
"I will make arrangements," I flinched at the return of rustling leaves and creaking branches. "Return to your sleep."
"Yes, Master."
There was but a whisper before the other presence, something touched with softness and snake scales, vanished.
Faint murmurs echoed, dancing with sunlight and fallen leaves and dying breaths. They spoke in Thalozan, thrumming with Divine and Power.
And then there was silence.
"I see you've returned little one," called the familiar voice.
I jumped, breath catching as the weight of the beings attention fell on me.
"It's Percy," I reminded, stepping forward.
"Indeed," chuckled the voice, rumbling with fresh growth.
faint murmur spoke beneath it, warm and strong yet fluttering like the sun through the clouds. "Fainter than before- but how-"
The voice I knew, belonging to shifting sands and fallen leaves spoke up once more, "How-"
I woke up.
OO OO OO OO
Detention was so stupid.
I didn't do anything to deserve this one. Nancy blamed me for one of Ms. Dodd's calculators going missing, and it ended up in my bag.
I was pretty sure Nancy had a hand in that.
I had to clean Ms. Dodd's whole classroom, which uh… wasn't normal.
Usually I had to sit in the room, not move, and listen to a lecture for an hour. Ms. Dodds didn't go by the normal rules, and I wasn't sure if I liked that or not.
Sitting still for that long was torture, but cleaning was kinda miserable.
I stayed polite though! I wasn't gonna let Nancy ruin all my hard work at behaving. I was handling this.
I sprayed the desks and wiped them down, scrubbing at spots and double checking before moving on. It wasn't nearly as hard as cleaning the river, but it did require more physical work, and was tedious.
"Now, honey," Ms. Dodds started, apparently determined to give me the lecture regardless of what else was in my detention. "You know why you're here, yes?"
Ms. Dodds apparently excelled at torture, because the lecture that followed was nothing short of excruciating.
It started almost sweet, explaining how stealing was wrong and owning up to your thefts was important. Lying about it when you've been caught wasn't the right way to behave, but really it wasn't my fault. Clearly whatever adults had raised me didn't teach me better-
I swallowed hard, clutching the rag and resisting the urge to snap.
And on the note of stealing, stealing other people's work was just as wrong, and did I have something to tell her?
"No, ma'am."
The lecture continued until the room was spotless.
At the end of it I walked out, hands shaking and eyes burning, but it was fine.
(I was not fine)
OO OO OO OO
Water coiled over me, lit by a familiar red light. Walls arced above me, stone and shining mosaics and soft tapestries filling my vision.
I was back in Okeanus' palace.
I was back in my Metua's palace.
…
It would probably be best to just… stay there. My Metua probably didn't want me wandering around without anyone there.
But…
Wouldn't it be more responsible to go find someone? Or to… maybe take a look around? Get to know the palace?
It was just research…
I eyed the doorway ahead of me.
My Metua needed to be told I was there, definitely. That was totally the important thing here.
Yeah, I was… gonna look around.
This area of the palace was as pretty as the rest, glittering with murals and mosaics and draped in tapestries that flowed in the water. The windows were edged in delicate metallic swirls and I paused to stare out of one in fascination as a massive Wa'tepo sweeping past.
It's body was massive and I leaned out to see better, the scales catching the red light and shining brilliantly. It was awe inspiring.
"Back again I see."
I whipped around, swallowing as my gaze fell on Okeanus, on my Metua, once more.
"Ta- ah… hi?"
Dumb, stupid, idiot! I did not just say hi .
I quickly twisted my fingers into the proper motion of respect.
Okeanus' lips twitched, His sharp green eyes sweeping over me.
"What is your name, child? You have the… unfortunate habit of vanishing before answering."
I winced at that, currents twining around me and rippling strangely.
"Ah- I'm sorry."
He raised an eyebrow and I quickly continued.
"I'm Per-"
"Okeanus! Have you seen someone around here? I've narrowed the presence down-"
I resigned myself to being entirely unable to ever introduce myself to my Metua. Maybe He'd figure it out just from how much I looked like Him.
"Tethys, tan hereaen. The subject of your search is here."
Metua motioned to me as He spoke and I bit my lip.
He called Tethys-ran His love.
Of course He would, the two were written in the myths as loving each other so much that They were forced to divorce because They kept drowning the land when "making love" (whatever that meant).
He loved Tethys-ran.
Even if He'd fallen for my mom at one point, and she was the absolute most amazing mom ever and deserved the world, Okeanus would always love His wife more. Tethys-ran had been with Him from the very beginning, She was His partner, His love. My mom was mortal, a footnote in His life.
They just couldn't compare.
I recognized Tethys-ran as She came into view, Her tail a brilliant blue with luminescent silver frills. Her hair drifted around Her, glowing in the red light. A shining choker necklace made of the brightest sea serpent scales I'd ever seen glittered on Her neck.
She was the mermaid I'd seen in my first dream.
And on top of that- the currents swirling and tugging at me made way for a new presence, cool clean currents that blended with deep heavy currents that had settled over me.
"Oh!" She said, Her gaze on me. "You are the child I saw a few months ago. Tis not often we see a vanmo ouhamiki here."
I straightened and focused on Her, pulling my attention from the currents twining over me once more. I twisted my hand in the proper motion of respect once more.
She smiled, Her gaze curious.
"And who might you be?"
I opened my mouth, ready to introduce myself at last, but the currents seemed to disagree.
Tugging waters, whirling around my legs and chest and arms and head and pulling pulling pulling-
"I'm Percy Ja-"
I was swept away.
Images danced before me, currents sweeping me through the water, the air, the darkness and light.
Light spilled out of a Dark palace. Night slipped into a comfortable embrace. Day rose with a bright smile.
Gems and Crystals gleamed in a cave of deep dark water, no life to be seen.
A heavy gaze landed on me.
I woke up.
OO OO OO OO
We were going on a field trip!
I hated field trips!
Yay!
OO OO OO OO
I sat next to Grover on the bus, focusing on deep breaths and the fact that murder was frowned upon in all fifty states.
Murder was bad. It was illegal. It meant jail time-
Another sandwich piece got caught in Grover's hair.
Maybe murder wasn't that bad. I could always just go live with Triton.
"Don't," Grover muttered, hand on my arm. "You don't need to get in trouble with Ms. Dodds, she has it out for you."
I scowled, he was right but still.
My nerves were frayed after weeks of (not) being okay. There was so little I could do, all I had was my worry and my distractions and Carl.
I was reaching the end of my rope, but I was fine . Everything was fine . I wouldn't snap now. I just needed to hold it together a little longer.
"So why did she bring a sandwich if she was just gonna throw it all away."
"Ha," he snorted, patting my arm. "Just sit tight and look pretty and hope Ms. Dodds doesn't say anything."
I sniffed, flipping my hair back dramatically. "I'm always pretty."
"The prettiest," he soothed with a grin.
It was for the best that Grover kept me from lashing out. I promised Triton I would handle this. I promised to keep my head down and behave.
Maybe not to him, but he was a God, I was certain he knew about my promise regardless.
I tugged at my bracelet as another piece of Nancy's sandwich ended up in Grover's hair.
This was going to be a long field trip.
OO OO OO OO
I liked field trips in theory. The ones in movies were pretty cool, with fun activities and cool sights.
But unfortunately, my experience with field trips did not match up. From the empousai that attacked me at the one house, to the collapsed exhibit at the museum, to the civil war canon that one time, field tripsand me did not mix well.
But this one had Mr. Brunner and Ms. Dodds leading it, so it was possible it would go better. Ms. Dodds was terrifying and I doubted any mythological creatures would attack with her around. And Mr. Brunner knew how to make his lessons interesting, even if he was super suspicious.
So as Grover and I followed the group into the museum I tried to stay positive.
Ms. Dodds followed right behind us, her gaze burning into the back of my head and the itch crawling over my skin.
I kept a smile on my face as I studied the exhibits we passed, pretending to read the small signs in font too little for me to read with my dyslexia. Mr. Brunner at least was good at explaining everything.
He talked about everything from the statues to the frescoes to the mosaics to the pottery shards. It was all really interesting, though I had to say that Okeanus' palace was way cooler.
I took a deep breath as Mr. Brunner's voice was drowned out by the others talking over him once more. It was hard to hear him when they kept making fun of the statues! Ms. Dodds would probably get mad at me if I said anything though, so I tried to keep quiet.
Mr. Brunner moved on to talking about some funeral art, explaining the symbolism of the carvings and the significance it had in the culture and-
"It's just a naked guy on a wall," snickered Nancy.
My eye twitched and I couldn't resist hissing a reply to that.
"It's not just a naked guy on a wall," I snapped softly. "It's a stele , and Mr. Brunner just explained the 'naked guy' is a God that was worshiped by the girl whose grave the stele once stood on. If you would listen to his explanations instead of doing a jellyfish impression then you'd know that, Nancy."
The group laughed as Nancy flushed, glaring at me. Mr. Brunner paused in his story.
"Did you have a comment Mr. Jackson?"
My face grew warm and I resisted the urge to get frustrated at being the one called out when Nancy was making comments too.
"No sir, sorry for interrupting."
Mr. Brunner nodded slowly, then pointed to one of the pictures on the stele.
"Perhaps you could tell us what this picture represents?"
I pushed up on my tiptoes to get a better look then brightened as I recognized it. "That's the Titan King Kronos, the Titan of Time and Agriculture, eating His kids, the Gods."
Mr. Brunner nodded, but made a motion with his hand, "And he did this because…"
I bounced on my heels, a smile curling over my lips despite my best efforts. "He got a prophecy that said His child would overthrow Him, so He ate His kids to prevent it. But His wife, Rhea the Titaness of Motherhood, gave Him a rock instead of His youngest, Zeus. Then when Zeus grew up, He tricked Kronos into throwing up-"
"Gross!" A few kids muttered.
"-His other kids by feeding Him… uh mustard and wine, or maybe Nectar, mixed together. Then the Gods got together and ended up overthrowing Him. They cut Him into a bunch of tiny pieces and threw them into Tartarus."
Behind me Nancy Bobfit grumbled, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's gonna say on our job applications: 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids'."
"And why, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner started, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"
Grover snickered softly, "Busted."
"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face an even brighter red than her hair.
That seemed like another mark in the "Mr. Brunner wasn't a human" category seeing how I could barely hear Nancy and I was right next to her.
But that was exactly the sort of question Triton liked to ask me, so I had an answer.
"Because we can learn from the mistakes of the past to improve ourselves in the present," I declared. "And it's also just interesting."
Mr. Brunner nodded, though there was a small frown on his face.
"That's very nearly correct, Mr. Jackson. Full credit. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine or nectar, it's debated which it was. This made him disgorge his other five children-"
"How come?" a student asked in confusion.
"Mustard is a known emetic-"
"A what?" I muttered to Grover.
"An emetic is something that induces vomiting," Mr. Brunner clarified. "Mustard is a known substance that can induce vomiting, most specifically black mustard seeds. Thus, it is the most likely substance used."
Wait, nothing says they used mustard?" asked one kid.
Mr. Brunner sighed, "Some myths state that Zeus was given a potion meant to induce vomiting, and we have depictions of Him acting as a cupbearer to Kronos to free His siblings. With our knowledge of the medicine of the time and the culture, we can extrapolate that it is likely the drink itself was nectar or wine, holy drinks, and the potion included mustard."
The students mumbled their understanding.
"Continuing, the children, who were immortal Gods, were thrown up thanks to the mixture. The Gods then defeated Their Father, sliced Him to pieces with His own scythe, then scattered His remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld."
The students stared wide eyed.
"On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Ms. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"
The class drifted off, following Ms. Dodds as she led the way. Some of the kids were holding their stomachs, most of the guys were shoving each other and acting dumb.
"Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner called, stopping me from following. I nudged Grover onward as he paused next to me.
"Sir?"
Mr. Brunner looked at me solemnly with an ancient gaze, his eyes far too old to fit in his face.
"You must learn the answer to my question," he said seriously.
I frowned, I knew the answer to the question. Triton had taught me about the Godly world, especially the sea. What I didn't know was why Mr. Brunner cared.
I wished I could talk to Triton, he would know what to do.
"Yes, sir," I said in lieu of an actual answer.
"What you learn from me," he continued, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Perseus Jackson."
I wanted to get angry at that. I didn't know who he was, what he was, yet he was holding me to an impossible standard. And he was lying to me still, hiding… whatever he was. Was he a threat? Was he a friend? Triton had thought he wouldn't hurt be but-
He was a better teacher than most I'd had, but that didn't change the fact that I struggled. It didn't change the fact that he wasn't human, that he was something else and was watching me.
I glared at the ground and nodded, leaving when he told me to.
He stared up at the stele mournfully as I left, and I wondered if he'd killed the girl.
OO OO OO OO
I stepped outside to find Grover waiting for me by the door, so I paused to take a deep breath and get my emotions under control. I didn't need to do anything stupid.
Nancy glared at me from the fountain, and a storm was forming above. Lightning crackled in the distance.
Just one or two more hours, then I could hide in my room and rest.
We started walking past the fountain, towards the stairs.
"Detention?" Grover asked as we reached the stairs. I glanced around to see if there was a ramp for him.
"Nah, not-"
"Whoops," Nancy drawled, bumping shoulders with Grover.
Bumping shoulders with Grover who was at the top of the steps.
Bumping shoulders with Grover who was falling .
Nancy snickered, stepping past the fountain.
Grover was falling.
Nancy was standing there with a smile .
Grover was falling down the stairs and he could break his neck and die and he was falling falling falling and how dare she how dare-
Red bled into my vision, red like blood, like Grover's blood, he was falling and there was red red red -
Nancy screamed and Grover cried out and he was f a l l i n g -
I blinked, Grover was soaked through and sitting at the bottom of the stairs.
I blinked, Nancy was crying in the fountain.
I blinked, the currents settled in my chest and the red was gone gone gone.
I'd lost control.
Oh no.
"The water-" I heard.
"It reached out-" they whispered.
"Did you see-" the gasped.
"Percy Pushed Me!" Nancy cried.
I swallowed and hurried down the stairs, the very wet stairs.
Grover coughed, rubbing his butt, his arm crutches on the ground. He didn't seem hurt though.
He fell- but didn't- did the water catch him- I didn't know what happened.
I wished I could've drowned Nancy.
I wished I'd managed to catch Grover.
I wished that I'd had better control.
My chest loosened as I helped him stand, handing him his arm crutches.
He was okay.
Thank Pontus.
But also curse Pontus for not letting me keep control.
"Now honey-" Ms. Dodds cooed, appearing beside me.
I swallowed down my rage and fear and rubbed my arms as the itch inched over them.
"Come with me," she said.
"Wait!" Grover yelped. "He- it wasn't him- I-"
Ms. Dodds looked down at him, "Go eat your lunch."
"I pushed her!"
"No you didn't."
"But-"
"You. Will. Stay. Here."
Grover shot me a worried look but I just shook my head, pulling my waterskin out of my bag and fingering my bracelet.
"Hold my bag?"
He nodded, taking it from me.
"Honey," Ms. Dodds called, standing at the top of the stairs. " Now ."
I didn't know how she reached the top so fast, but I was also unsurprised.
She wasn't human.
She'd never been human.
I followed her up the stairs, itching and buzzing and burning acid dancing over my skin. But the buzz was fading and the acid growing and the itch digging into me.
I hoped that wherever we were going we were alone. I didn't want to have to come up with an explanation.
She led the way deeper into the museum, always just within sight but just out of reach. The walk was silent until we reached the Greek and Roman section.
She stood before the big marble frieze of the Greek Gods, a low growl in her throat.
I swallowed.
"You've been giving us problems, honey ," She snarled.
The itch burned like acid, the buzzing nearly gone. A whip flickered across her, wings flaring and fangs gleaming. Then I blinked and she was the little old woman again.
I raised my chin, sliding my princely face on. I didn't want this, but I didn't have a choice.
"I'm sorry for any problems I've caused Ms. Dodds."
I fingered the lid of my waterskin, not daring to open it yet wishing it was opened.
"Did you really think you would get away with it? Or that a simple apology would pardon the crime?"
She looked angry, furious, acid burning and fangs flashing. Her eyes lit up red, then blinked dark hazel. Leather stretched over her skin, her arms. Her wings flared and I focused on her eyes.
don't understand," I said slowly. "What crime am I being accused of?"
Thunder boomed as the storm outside broke.
"We are not fools, Perseus Jackson," Ms. Dodds sneered. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."
I frowned. There was only one major crime that had occurred recently.
A theft.
The Theft.
The Theft leading to war .
My heart sank.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry. I- I don't think I did whatever you're accusing me of."
"Is that your final answer?"
Her whip snapped across the ground, cracking it, not so much as scratching it. I blinked and her clawed feet dug into the ground. She stood in her combat boots on unblemished flooring.
"Yes, ma'am," I whispered, my hand twisting the lid.
The buzz was gone and acid burned .
Her eyes were red, her fingers flashed with talons, her wings snapped out. Her whip was there and gone, fire crackled over her, there was no fire. She screeched like a bat from Haides. She was a bat from Haides.
She was an Erinyes.
Uh oh.
I flicked the lid off my waterskin and Mr. Brunner wheeled through the doorway.
"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, tossing a pen through the air.
A sword landed in my hand.
Mr. Brunner was gone.
Ms. Dodds lunged with a whip and with empty claws.
"Die honey!"
I fell back on the instincts of hundreds of training sessions with Triton.
Water lashed out with my hand, a whip of my own coiling up her whip, over her claws, and pulled. She jerked mid air, wings flailing. The sword in my hand came down on her shoulder.
With a hiss it sliced through her, cutting right through her shoulder, her wings, her chest.
A scream burst out as her body exploded into gold powder.
I coughed, swiping at the powder, the air cleared slowly.
All that remained was a single claw nestled atop a powder covered floor.
OO OO OO OO
I walked to the entrance of the museum once more. The itch and acid was gone, replaced with a buzz shaking my bones.
The pen that was a sword that was a pen that was of the sea was clutched in my hand.
It was shaking, or I was shaking, or the buzz was shaking me.
That was the first monster that I'd actually fought. The empousai- that had been sheer panic. That wasn't a fight, that was survival.
This was a fight.
This was a fight to the death.
The empousai drowned before I knew what was happening.
Ms. Dodds died screaming to the sword in my hand.
Triton was going to be furious.
I was shaking.
I stopped at the door, swallowing back any noise I wanted to make.
I swallowed back the tears burning my eyes.
I swallowed back the sob caught in my throat.
I swallowed back the urge to scream and scream until someone listened .
I wanted to go home. I wanted Triton. I wanted my mom.
I didn't want to fight monsters. I didn't want there to be war. I didn't want to face Mr. Brunner. I didn't want to remember the blade slicing through flesh and leather and screaming screaming screaming.
I didn't want to deal with any of this.
I wanted home .
But there was war.
But there was school.
But I promised.
I hated this. I hated this. I hated this so so much.
I closed my eyes and remembered Triton. I closed my eyes and remembered Triton's lessons. I closed my eyes and opened them and pulled on the princely face he taught me.
I was shaking.
I had to be okay.
My breath was shaking, my chest was tight, my lungs weren't getting enough air.
I forced myself to breathe.
I stared at the doors and breathed .
I was okay.
Everything was okay.
Everything would be okay.
(I was not okay)
I swallowed once more, settled my expression, and opened the doors.
Grover was sitting by the fountain, still wet from the water. Nancy Bobofit was soaked from her swimming the fountain, grumbling to her friends.
She saw me and gave me an ugly grin.
I blinked. I tried to remember how to feel.
"I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt!"
I blinked. I frowned. I tilted my head.
"Who?"
The buzz shook me.
"Our teacher, duh ."
I frowned more. Our teacher was Ms. Dodds (was, was because I killed her ). Who was Mrs. Kerr?
The buzz ached.
Was this some sort of spell? Were they- they who? They someone? Mr. Brunner? Someone? Replaced Ms. Dodds?
I turned away from Nancy. I focused on Grover. I noted the lack of bone-rattling-buzz with him.
"Who's Mrs. Kerr?"
He faltered, looking away.
He sucked at lying.
"She's our teacher," he said.
I held back a scream. I held myself together.
"Nevermind."
I tucked my waterskin into my bag. I tucked the pen that was a sword that was a pen that was of the sea into my bag. I pulled out my lunch.
Mr. Brunner could have the sword back when he answered my questions. When he stopped l y i n g to me.
I hated field trips.