Rewriting the Future

Before anything else could happen, another flash of bright light exploded in the middle of the Hearth. I covered my eyes, in case it was a god appearing out of nowhere. When I felt it was safe to look, I opened my eyes. Standing there was Annabeth’s cousin, Magnus Chase and his girlfriend (or at least I thought they were female today), Alex Fierro and some other people.

“Magnus,” Annabeth exclaimed, rushing over to him and tackling him in a hug.

“Annabeth? What’s happening?” he asked, looking around. He had never been to camp so he definitely had no idea where he was.

“Hey, man. So, you remember the camp I talked about? Yeah, we’re here now. Oh and we’re in the past and here to read about my adventures?” I told him. Magnus’s eyes widened.

“Hey, Perce,” Leo said. I hummed in response.

“Mind telling us who these people are?” he continued.

“Oh, right. Everyone, this is Annabeth’s cousin Magnus and his friends. They come from the Norse Pantheon?” I introduced, phrasing that last part as a question. Magnus nodded. Some of the Gods eyed Magnus and his group.

“Alex Fierro. Child of Loki. I’m gender-fluid and today I go by she/her pronouns,” Alex said, stepping out of the group. Next to step out was Magnus, who swatted his girlfriend in the shoulder and muttered something to her.

“This ray of sunshine here is Magnus Chase, son of Frey as you already know,” she added.

“Everyone introduce themselves again,” Zeus sighed. Ares slumped in his throne. Introductions went round again as we all had to introduce ourselves again. From Magnus’s group was Magnus (of course), Alex, Blitz, Hearth and Sam. Once introductions were made, Everyone settled into their respective couches. The Gods summoned a couch for the new group.

“Everyone ready now?” Annabeth asked when we all finally settled down. Everyone nodded.

“Okay then,” she took a deep breath before reading.

I accidentally vaporise my pre-algebra

teacher Everyone turned to look at me, the silent question obvious in their eyes.

“How do you accidentally vaporise something?” Connor asked on behalf of everyone else.

“In my defence, I didn’t know she was a monster and she was attacking me. I just swung my sword and she vaporised,” I said, giving him a shrug.

Look, I didn’t want to be a halfblood. If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

“Wow, Kelp Head is actually giving good advice,” Thalia whistled appreciatively.

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

The demigods nodded, thinking about all the friends and comrades they lost in the war.

If you’re a normal kid, reading this because you think it’s fiction, great. ……My name is Percy Jackson.

“Really, I thought you were Annabeth?” Leo teased from the Hephaestus couch. He was tinkering with a few metal pieces in the shape of what looked like a metal dragon.

I’m twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid?

“Absolutely,” my friends chorused. Even Alex did. I crossed my arms and pouted, muttering something about how I hated them all.

Yeah. You could say that. I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, ...... heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.

“Sounds amazing,” Annabeth said while Athena gave a hum of appreciation.

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

They turned to glare at me.

“Dyslexia,” I reminded them.

But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes. Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair…..so he was the only teacher whose class didn’t put me to sleep.

Some of my friends were smiling, recognising the familiar description of Chiron.

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn’t get in trouble. Boy, was I wrong. See, bad things happen to me on field trips.…. I wasn’t aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.

“What were you aiming for anyway?” Travis asked.

“I don’t know, actually. I was just messing with it. I didn’t think that there was an actual cannon ball in it,” I replied.

And before that, at my fourth-grade school, …. our class took an unplanned swim.

“Before anyone says anything,” I began, “I blame the sharks. They asked me to hit the lever and I thought it was the teacher.” My family chuckled.

And the time before that . . . Well, you get the idea.

“No, tell us more,” Hermes, his kids and Apollo whined. I gave them a smirk, indicating that I would tell them more later.

This trip, I was determined to be good. …..chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.

“Gross,” Thalia said.

“No, no. They’re actually pretty good,” the Stoll replied. Thalia pulled a face while I wondered how anyone could like that.

Grover was an easy target. …. On top of all that, he was crippled.

“Thanks, Perce,” Grover grumbled.

“Love you too, G-Man,” I responded, shooting him a grin.

He had a note excusing him from PE ……You should’ve seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

Everyone was laughing at this point while I heard Grover muttering something about stupid Percy thoughts.

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich……The headmaster had threatened me with death

“What?” everyone interrupted, Poseidon and the sea family being the loudest. Percy gestured to Annabeth to keep reading.

by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip. “I’m going to kill her,” I mumbled

“Do it,” Ares and Clarisse encouraged.

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

“In your hair?” Frank asked while Grover grimaced.

He dodged another piece of Nancy’s lunch. …… In-school suspension would’ve been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.

“Ominous much?” Piper asked to which everyone responded with chuckles.

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.….. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

“Definitely a monster,” Will concluded, getting nods from everyone. Hades was beginning to get nervous. This monster sounded like one of his servants employees. But no way he sent her after a child, right?

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

“No, that's Nico,” Thalia remarked.

“Okay, Pine Cone Face,” Nico responded.

“Death Breath.”

“Tree Girl”

“Stop!” I interrupted, knowing dam well that they’re nickname arguments could go on forever. They both looked at each other with mischievous glints in their eyes before turning to me and shouting.

“Kelp Head!” Oh that’s it.

“Zombie Boy and Grace!” I shouted at them, sticking out my tongue. Thalia was fuming. She hated it whenever someone used her last name. They opened their mouths to respond but were interrupted by Annabeth who had realised that we weren’t going to stop and decided to continue reading.

She would point her crooked finger at me and say,.......“You’re absolutely right.”

“Dude, it’s like you’re not even trying,” Jason remarked and Grover blushed.

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. ….. It came out louder than I meant it to.

“Of course it did, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth sighed.

The whole group laughed.…..“Perhaps you’ll tell us what this picture represents?”

“Ten Drachma it’s one of Hercules’s tasks,” Hermes commented.

“Ten Drachma it’s the one of Kronos eating his kids,” Apollo challenged back. Some of the original Olympians shuddered.

I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. “That’s Kronos eating his kids, right?”

“Pay up,” Apollo exclaimed. Hermes groaned but handed him a bag of Drachma. The original Olympians groaned.

“It’s always that one,” I heard Dad remark.

“Yes,” Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied…… “Kronos was the king god, and—”

“God??” Zeus scowled. I opened my mouth to respond. My father gave me a look that seemed to say ‘not now, Perseus’ so I closed my mouth.

“Peace, brother. Percy was twelve at the time with almost no knowledge of the mythological world,” my father said before I could sass Zeus.

“God?” Mr. Brunner asked. ……“Eeew!” said one of the girls behind me.

“Try actually being swallowed,” Hera muttered under her breath.

“—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans,” I continued, “and the gods won.”

“One of the worst wars ever,” Hades gawked, “and you sum it up as ‘and the gods won’. ”

“Well, how would you have said it?” I sassed back. Hades seemed to think about it before shrugging.

Some snickers from the group.…… which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan’s stomach.

“Worst part of our lives,” Hades muttered under his breath.

“I mean, we didn’t have to put up with Zeus and his thundering at that time,” Dad said. I let out a laugh. Apollo was trying to cover up his snickering (key word being ‘trying’) while Hermes was full on giggling (think of epic Hermes’s giggling). At this point, Zeus was practically fuming and Athena and Hera looked offended. Even Hades and Atremis managed a smile.

The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it’s time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?”

“Happy note?” Dad questioned. I shurugged. 

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.

“Boys are doofuses,” Thalia said, earning an approving look from Artemis.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, “Mr. Jackson.”....... I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.”

“And that’s what he got,” Grover said, shooting me a grin. I felt myself blush as Dad pulled me into a side hug. I felt my siblings eyes on me, probably trying to size me up. I mean, I get it. Some random kid shows up and suddenly he’s your dad’s favourite child. I would definitely pick a fight with that guy.

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard……. I had never made above a C– in my life.

Athena looked scandalized.

No—he didn’t expect me to be as good;..... like he’d been at this girl’s funeral.

“He probably was,” Annabeth remarked.

He told me to go outside and eat my lunch…… I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.

Some of the gods glared at Dad and Zeus.

“What in Tartarus are you two squabbling over now?” Hera interrogated them. Zeus stared at his shoes while Dad became oddly interested in the floor. Thankfully, Annabeth kept reading.

Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady’s purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn’t seeing a thing.

Everyone turned to Hermes.

"What? Not every klepto kid is mine,” he exclaimed.

Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others…..“Can I have your apple?”

Everyone burst into peals of laughter while Grover blushed.

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

“No way Kelp Head didn’t have an appetite,” Thalia said. I stuck my tongue out at her.

I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, …… A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.

Leo had a maniacal look in his eyes, already summoning blueprint paper from his magic toolbelt.

I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends……A wave roared in my ears.

My family let out cheers and whoops.

I don’t remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain,......“A month erasing workbooks.”

“Never guess your punishment,” Hermes and his kids chorused.

That wasn’t the right thing to say……. Grover looked at me desperately.

“It’s okay man,” I told him, “Thanks for trying, though.”

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

“Ha! You think like baby Percy!” Connor exclaimed.

“Honey,” Mrs. Dodds barked at me. “Now.” Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I’ll-kill-you-later stare.

My friends shuddered.

“Guys, I’m not that scary,” I said.

“Dude, you’re terrifying. Especially when you give people your deluxe I’ll-kill-you-later stare,” Leo said while the rest of my friends nodded along. No way I was that scary.

Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn’t there……She’s going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.

“Never guess your punishment,” Hermes and his kids repeated, practically shouting at baby me.

But apparently that wasn’t the plan….. Except for us, the gallery was empty.

“That’s not good,” Will commented.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. ……I did the safe thing. I said, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Wow, Percy did the safe thing for once,” Leo called out.

“That was probably the first and last time in my demigod career,” I told him, grinning and I felt Dad tense next to me.

“Relax, Dad. I survived and here to prove it,” I shot in quick Atlantean. Dad looked surprised by my use of Atlantean. I grinned at my small victory - I had managed to distract Dad.

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket.….It’s not like she’s going to hurt me.

“Yeah right. I had this one teacher that taped my left hand down because it was ‘the natural way’ to write using your right hand,” Magnus commented. Some people gaped in shock while others acted like it was totally normal. I mean, since most of our teachers turned out to be monsters, I guess this would be counted as normal or even great in the demigod business.

I said, “I’ll—I’ll try harder, ma’am.” …….“It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.”

“Huh?” all my friends chorused. They were all practically at the edge of their seats, leaning forward.

I didn’t know what she was talking about. All I could think of was that the teachers must’ve found the illegal stash of candy I’d been selling out of my dorm room.

That seemed to lighten the mood as the Hermes cabin burst into giggles.

Or maybe they’d realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.

Now everyone was doubled over wheezing (except Annabeth and Athena who were glaring at me from where they sat) .

“Oh, Uncle P, your kid is amazing,” Apollo said through a series of laughs. My dad gave me a small smile.

“Well?” she demanded. …….She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

“You sent a Fury after my son?” Dad roared. I could feel the rage rolling off of him in waves. Hades sunk into his throne, trying to look as harmless as possible. I had to calm him down.

“It’s okay, Dad. I survived. If you need proof just look at me. Besides, it was a misunderstanding,” I told him in Atlantean. My use of Atlantean calmed him down. (Maybe he was surprised? Or maybe it was the fact that I spoke to him in his first language?) I felt his rage subside. He looked back at me.

“Did it hurt you?” he shot back in Atlantean. I could still see the rage storming behind his eyes. What he would do next depended on what I said.

“Not a scratch,” I replied, patting my limbs to emphasize on the fact that I still had all of them. I finally felt all his rage disappear. He stared at me for a while, assessing my condition before someone cleared their throat.

“Brother, if you and your son are done, perhaps we should keep reading?” Zeus asked. We both turned around to see everyone staring at us.

“Very well,” Dad said, giving me his ‘ we’ll talk about this later ’ look. I sighed and slumped in my seat.

Then things got even stranger…… I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.

Everyone turned to me.

“Naturally?” Alex questioned, raising one eyebrow.

“It just felt right,” I shrugged.

“Prissy, that’s not normal. Even for demigods. All combat skills are learnt, not inherited. Especially something so instinctive,” Clarisse told me. Athena began mumbling to herself. I just gave her another shrug and gestured to Annabeth to keep reading. I didn’t want any attention on me. (or at least as little of possible when people are reading a book series about you)

The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water……as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.

Everyone gaped at me.

“You killed a Fury in one hit?” Hades asked, wide eyed.

“And it was your first time even holding a sword,” he exclaimed. This seemed to make it worse. The crowd went wild. There were choruses of hows, gasps and people asking for tips. Athena’s mumbling grew louder. By now, I could make out the phrase ‘too much godly blood’ or something like that. That couldn't be good. I decided to focus on one thing at a time. There was noise everywhere.

“Quiet!” I shouted. I used the voice I remember Triton using in court before. Some couple was arguing about child custody or something and they kept insulting each other. It had gotten to the point where the couple’s families joined in the shouting match. I wanted to hide under the table but Dad assured me that Triton would handle it. After that, Triton shouted. My hands immediately flew to my ears. I recalled how loud he had been and tried to channel that in my voice.

It must have worked because the noise died down immediately and everyone turned to me.

“We can talk later. Right now, can we just finish this chapter?” I half pleaded, half commanded. Everyone settled down once more and Annabeth kept reading.

I was alone. ….“I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt.”

“Who?” almost everyone chorused.

I said, “Who?”

“Haha we all think like baby Perce,” Leo laughed.

“Our teacher. Duh!” I blinked.…..But he paused first, and he wouldn’t look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.

“G-man,” I started. “You’re great and all, but you seriously can't lie to save your life.”

“Yeah, Grover. Even Jay can lie better than that,” Travis commented. Jay was one of the youngest Hermes kids, only 8 years old.

“Not funny, man,” I told him. “This is serious.”…...He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. “Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip.

“Now that is how you lie,” Connor said.

As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?”

“That’s the end of the chapter,” Annabeth sighed.

“Let’s all take a break for lunch and come back in one hour. Then we can talk,” I announced.

Zeus looked like he wanted to protest but I shot him a glare. If it was as scary as what my friends said, it should be enough to make a god back down. Everyone dispersed, walking off in groups of two or threes. I was about to join Annabeth, who was chatting with Magnus and Alex, when I felt someone tugging my arm, dragging me away from them. Dad and Triton were firmly gripping on my arms, not allowing me to run. Mom and all my other siblings were behind them.

“Perseus, we need to talk.” He said. His voice told me that there would be no room for protests.

“Fine, I know a quiet place we can talk,” I groaned, leading them to the Poseidon cabin.