Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

In Mount Othrys, a meeting was taking place with the Titans. In the middle of the meeting, a flash of light went so quickly and the Titans went defensive to protect themselves from the unknown. 

Rhea who saw the letter first said, " There is a letter that appeared."

Kronos nodded to Rhea to take the note, which she did and opened it. She started to read the note allowed.

“𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤,

𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕠, ℝ𝕙𝕖𝕒 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤𝕠𝕟. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕒 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤.

𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕜,

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤.”

Once Rhea finished reading the letter, the books appeared the same way as the letter. Once Thetis caught the books and put it down, they all skimmed through the covers. 

“Who would like to read?” Rhea asked gently.

“I will!” Prometheus said.

Kronos changed the room into a comfortable area as he realised that they would be reading for a while. Prometheus took the first book and opened to the first chapter.

Only the bean bags and picture more bean bags spread around in the room:

Chapter Text

Before Rhea could start, a glass ball came tumbling down and Oceanus caught it before it could break.

I Accidentally Vaporize My Maths Teacher

"Why is the Title weird?" Kronos asks.

Everyone shrugged their shoulders.

Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.

"What's a half-blood?" Themis asks.

"A half-blood is a child of a mortal and a God or a mortal and a Titan." The glass ball answered.

If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:

"She's going to give us advice." Prometheus said.

close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. Being a half-blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

"Oh." Rhea said sympathetically.

If you’re a normal kid, reading this because you think it’s fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages — if you feel something stirring inside — stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it’s only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they’ll come for you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. My name is Rhea Persephone Jackson.

"She's named after me!!" Rhea squealed.

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?

Yeah. You could say that.

"So she's problematic." Prometheus said.

I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan —

"What is Manhattan?" Kronos inquired confused.

"It is a country in the other end of the world." The glass ball answer.

twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. I know — it sounds amazing. Most Yancy field trips were. But Mr. Brunner,

"Who is Mr. Brunner?" Questioned Kronos.

our Latin teacher,

"Ok." Kronos says bored.

"What is Latin?" Coeus asks.

"Latin is a language that you speak in." The glass ball replied.

was leading this trip, so I had even more hopes .

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn’t think he’d be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn’t put me to sleep. I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn’t get in trouble.

"She jinxed herself." Kronos spoke.

Boy, was I wrong.

"Told you." Kronos said smugly.

"No one asked you." Themis said.

Rhea glared at both of them.

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn’t aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.

And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that…Well, you get the idea.

Every immature Titans started to laugh while rolling on the floor.

"Nooooo, we want more!!" Prometheus wined.

This trip, I was determined to be good. All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly,
redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich. Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated.

He must’ve been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don’t let that fool you. You should’ve seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

"Huh." Phoebe muttered.

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn’t do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

“I’m going to kill her,” I mumbled.
Grover tried to calm me down. “It’s okay. I like peanut butter.”

"In your hair?" Eos said disgusted.

He dodged another piece of Nancy’s lunch.

“That’s it.” I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.

“You’re already on probation,” he reminded me. “You know who’ll get
blamed if anything happens.”

Looking back on it, I wish I’d decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would’ve been nothing compared to the mess

"What mess?" Rhea enquired nervously.

No one answered as they didn't know.

I was about to get myself into . Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.

It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three
thousand years.

"Even longer." Kronos said while pouting.

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides.

I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone , Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye. Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley

"What's a Harley?" A Titan asks.

"A Harley is a vehicle that is used to take you places." The glass ball replied.

right into your locker.

She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, “Now, honey,” real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. One time, after she’d made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn’t think Mrs. Dodds was human.

He looked at me, real serious, and said, “You’re absolutely right.”

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, “Will you shut up?”

"It came louder then it meant to." Hyperion spoke.

It came out louder

"Knew it." Hyperion said again.

than I meant it to. The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

“Miss Jackson,” he said, “did you have a comment?”

My face was totally red. I said, “No, sir.”

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. “Perhaps you’ll tell us what this picture represents?”

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

"What, why would I i do that!?!?" Kronos cried out.

Everyone shrugged their shoulders as they didn't know.

“Yes,” Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. “And he did this because…”

“Well…” I racked my brain to remember. “ Kronos was the king Titan, and he ate his because when he killed his father, Ouranus, he told Kronos that his children will slice him up, so he swallowed his children, but Rhea hid Zeus and he gave Kronos a cup of mustered and Nectar, and it made him throw up his sisters —”

"Oh." Kronos said while frowning.

“Eeew!” said one of the girls behind me.

“— and they had a war for 10 years ,” I continued, “and the gods won.”

Some snickers from the group.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, “Like we’re going to use
this in real life. Like it’s going to say on our job applications, ‘Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.’”

“And why, Miss Jackson,” Brunner said, “to paraphrase Miss Bobofit’s
excellent question, does this matter in real life?”

"Busted!" Prometheus said while chuckling.

“Busted,” Grover muttered.

Everyone was laughing at Prometheus.

"Ok, then... Let's continue." Prometheus said while being embarrassed.

“Shut up,” Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

I thought about his question, and answered. “Actions come with consequences.”

"Hmmm....." Kronos said while thinking.

“I see.” Mr. Brunner looked pleased. “Well, full credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and Nectar, 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.

"It's disgusting." Phoebe said disgusted.

Everyone agreed with Phoebe.

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?”

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

"Boys are doofuses." Phoebe says.

The men look offended.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, “Miss Jackson.”

I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner.

“Sir?”

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn’t let you go — intense brown eyes that could’ve been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

“You must learn the answer to my question,” Mr. Brunner told me.

“About the Titans?”

“About real life. And how your studies apply to it.”

“Oh.”

"Such a typical answer." Prometheus snorts.

“What you learn from me,” he said, “is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Rhea Jackson.”

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed upin a suit of Roman armor and shouted: “What ho!” and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.

But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia

"What is dyslexia?" Atlas asks.

"Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees." The glass ball replied.

"Oh." Rhea spoke in sympathy.

and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

What is attention deficit hyperactivity?" Atlas asks again.

"Attention deficit hyperactivity is also call ADHD is one of the most common mental disorders. Symptoms of ADHD include inattention (not being able to keep focus), hyperactivity (excess movement that is not fitting to the setting) and impulsivity (hasty acts that occur in the moment without thought)." The glass ball answered.

Everyone felt sorry for the demi-gods.

and I had never made above a C– in my life. No — he didn’t expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn’t learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he’d been at this girl’s funeral. He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I’d ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We’d had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. 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. Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn’t know we were from that school — the school for loser freaks

"Why does she think that?" Rhea asks rhetorically.

who couldn’t make it elsewhere.

“Detention?” Grover asked.

“Nah,” I said. “Not from Brunner. I just wish he’d lay off me sometimes. I mean — I’m not a genius.”

Rhea frowned.

Grover didn’t say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, “Can I have your apple?”

Everyone bursted with laughter.

I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom’s apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn’t seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She’d hug me and be glad to see me, but she’d be disappointed, too. She’d send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn’t be able to stand that sad look she’d give me.

All the Titans who was Gaea's children had wished for a better one.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends — I guess she’d gotten tired of stealing from the tourists — and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover’s lap.

“Oops.” She grinned at me with her crooked teeth.

Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

Everyone looked disgusted.

I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, “Count to ten, get control of your temper.” But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.

All the titan's who had the domains related to water, grinned.

I don’t remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, “Rhea pushed me!”

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.
Some of the kids were whispering:

“Did you see—”

“—the water—”

“—like it grabbed her—”

All the titan's who had grinned, grinned even harder.

I didn’t know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I’d done something she’d been waiting for all semester.

“Now, honey—”

“I know,” I grumbled. “A month erasing workbooks.”

"That's not the right thing to say!" Prometheus said while grinning mischievously.

That wasn’t the right thing to say.

Prometheus looked shocked.

“Come with me,” Mrs. Dodds said.

“Wait!” Grover yelped. “It was me. I pushed her.”

"He is such a good friend." Iapetus said.

I stared at him, stunned. I couldn’t believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

“I don’t think so, Mr. Underwood,” she said.

“But—”

“You—will—stay—here.”

Grover looked at me desperately.

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

"They are good friends." Epimetheus said.

“Honey,” Mrs. Dodds barked at me. “Now.”

Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I’ll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn’t there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How’d she get there so fast?

"Shes probably part of the Greek world." Phoebe said.

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I’ve missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it.

The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. I wasn’t so sure. I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel. I looked back up.

Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She’s going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. But apparently that wasn’t the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods.

"That is so ironic. Phoebe said with glazing eyes.

She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Even without the noise, I would’ve been nervous. It’s weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…

“You’ve been giving us problems, honey,” she said.

I did the safe thing. I said, “Yes, ma’am.”

Everyone blinked twice.

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. “Did you really think you would get away with it?”

"Get away with what?" Kronos asks confused.

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She’s a teacher, I thought nervously. It’s not like she’s going to hurt me.

I said, “I’ll—I’ll try harder, ma’am.”

Thunder shook the building.

“We are not fools, Rhea Jackson,” Mrs. Dodds said. “It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.”

Everyone was so confused.

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. Or maybe they’d realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet

"What's the internet?" Eos asked.

"an electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world" the glass ball replied.

The answer made everyone even more confused.

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.

“Well?” she demanded.

“Ma’am, I don’t…”

“Your time is up,” she hissed.

"She didn't give enough time." Koios says with narrowed eyes.

Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn’t human. 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. Then things got even stranger. Mr. Brunner, who’d been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

“What ho, Rhea!” he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air,

"How's that going to help?" Selene demands.

but when it hit my hand, it wasn’t a pen anymore. It was a sword — Mr. Brunner’s bronze sword,

"Oh." Selene said while blushing.

which he always used on tournament day. Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.
My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the
sword.

She snarled, “Die, honey!”

And she flew straight at me. Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water.

Hisss! Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot,

"So that's why the chapter was called that." Phoebe says in realization.

leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me. I was alone. There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner wasn’t there. Nobody was there but me. My hands were still trembling. My lunch must’ve been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.

Prometheus bursted out laughing.

Had I imagined the whole thing?

I went back outside. It had started to rain. Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends.

When she saw me, she said, “I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt.”

"Who?" Rhea said.

I said, “Who?”

Rhea looked up surprised.

“Our teacher. Duh!”

I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.

He said, “Who?”

But he paused first, and he wouldn’t look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.

"He needs to learn how to lie properly." Prometheus says.

"Not now!" Kronos and Rhea said while glaring at him.

“Not funny, man,” I told him. “This is serious.”

Thunder boomed overhead. I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he’d never moved. I went over to him.

He looked up, a little distracted. “Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Miss Jackson.”

Everyone snorts.

I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding it.

“Sir,” I said, “where’s Mrs. Dodds?”

He stared at me blankly. “Who?”

“The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher.”

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. “Rhea, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip.

"Why is he lying when she saw it happen?" Tethys asked confused.

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

"Now that is a lie." Prometheus said.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"The chapters done!" Rhea said.

Chapter Text

I just want to say that Wattpad had deleted my books from there so I'll be only posting here, but my new account on Wattpad is Saphhire_ROse918, if anyone is wondering.

Chapter Text

Just after Kronos snatched the book from Rhea, earning her a glare, a flash of white light erupted, and the glass ball vanished as three men suddenly appeared. 

As they appeared a note came and Poseidon, to the Titans the man with sea-green eyes, took it and read:

“Dear Titans and Guests,

I have brought three more individuals to join your reading. Please state your names, parents, titles, and domains.

Happy readings,  

The Fates.”

“I am Poseidon, the god of the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses, king of Atlantis, son of Kronos and Rhea,” the man who had just read the note declared.

“I am Zeus, the god of sky, lighting and thunder. I am the king of the gods, son of Kronos and Rhea.”

Kronos looked shocked that his son took his throne.

“I am Hades, the god of the dead, king of the underworld. Son of Hades and Rhea.” The last man (a/n: not sure what to call them so I just put man instead) said.

Kronos then turned to the second chapter and started to read.

Three old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death

Everyone looked confused while Zeus, Poseidon and Hades looked slightly pale.

I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. 

Poseidon was glaring at the book.

For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr — a perky blond woman whom I’d never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip — had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas. Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, 

“That is a good idea.” Hades said begrudgingly.

Poseidon smirked at Hades. Hades glared at Poseidon.

just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.It got so I almost believed them — Mrs. Dodds had never existed. Almost. 

“It's Grover isn't it.” Themis said in an irritable voice.

But Grover couldn’t fool me. 

“Knew it.” Themis said again, annoyed for the girl.

Everyone glared a her for interrupting.

When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn’t exist. But I knew he was lying. 

Zeus started to realize who the Satyr was and glared at the book so hard that it would light up in fire.

Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum. 

“She’s very observant,” Mnemosyne pointed out.  

“Thank you for telling us; we really didn’t know,” Rhea replied sarcastically.  

Everyone promptly snorted in response.

I didn’t have much time to think about it during the days,

Rhea looked sadly at the book.

but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat. 

Poseidon glared at Hades so hard that he shivered.

The freak weather continued, which didn’t help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year. I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs

Poseidon sighed disappointed in himself.

I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. 

Zeus started to snicker.  

“What does it mean?” Rhea asked.  

“It means ‘old drunk,’” Hades informed them.  

Everyone erupted into laughter.

I wasn’t even sure what it meant, but it sounded good. The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy. Fine, I told myself. Just fine. I was homesick. 

Rhea wore a look of longing for children until she suddenly remembered that she had children in the future.

I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties. And yet … there were things I’d miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. 

Poseidon thought of his place in Atlantis.

I’d miss Grover, who’d been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he’d survive next year without me. I’d miss Latin class, too — Mr. Brunner’s crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well. As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn’t forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn’t sure why, but I’d started to believe him.

Poseidon nodded in approval.

The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. 

Everyone started to laugh at the comparison.

There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? 

Poseidon started to feel sorry for Rhea Jackson.

Forget it. I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.

“Oh. The poor girl.” Rhea said sympathetically.

I remembered Mr. Brunner’s serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Rhea Jackson. I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. I’d never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. 

“That is a good idea.” Dione said.

At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn’t want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn’t tried. I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner’s door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. 

A voice that was definitely Grover’s said “…worried about Rhea, sir.”

Everyone shared glances.

I froze. I’m not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.

“I would totally do that.” Oceanus said.

I inched closer.

“…alone this summer,” Grover was saying. “I mean, a Kindly One

“What's a Kindly One?” Hecate asks.

“A kindly one is another name for a Fury, they are torturers of souls. (a/n: not sure if I worded it right)

Everyone shared looks.

in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too —”

“We would only make matters worse by rushing her,” Mr. Brunner said. “We need the girl to mature more.”

Poseidon snorts in amusement.

“But she may not have time. The summer solstice deadline —”

“Will have to be resolved without her, Grover. Let her enjoy her ignorance while she still can.”

Poseidon huffed in offense for Rhea

“Sir, he saw her.…”

“Her imagination,” Mr. Brunner insisted. “The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that.”

“This is going to drive her even more mad.” Rhea said worriedly.

“Sir, I…I can’t fail in my duties again.” Grover’s voice was choked with emotion. “You know what that would mean.”

“You haven’t failed, Grover,” Mr. Brunner said kindly. “I should have seen her for what she was.

Zeus realized that he was talking about Thalia and glared at Hades. Hades shrank in his chair pale.

Now let’s just worry about keeping Rhea alive until next fall —”

“I'm going to have a talk with Chiron.” Poseidon said with a glare at the book.

The mythology book dropped out of my hand

“First rule is you don't give your position away.” Prometheus said with a panicked face.

and hit the floor with a thud. Remember the first rule. 

Prometheus' eyes went wide.

Poseidon glared at Prometheus.

My brain said immediately after it dropped. Mr. Brunner went silent. My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall. A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner’s office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer’s bow. 

I opened the nearest door and slipped inside. A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, 

“Definitely Chiron.” Poseidon said with a blank expression.

like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on. A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. “Nothing,” he murmured.

“My nerves haven’t been right since the winter solstice.”

“Mine neither,” Grover said. “But I could have sworn…”

“Go back to the dorm,” Mr. Brunner told him. “You’ve got a long day of exams tomorrow.”

Everyone looked confused but didn't say anything.

“Don’t remind me.”

The lights went out in Mr. Brunner’s office. I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm. Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he’d been there all night.

“So he doesn't know how to lie but can do this.” Selene said.

“Hey,” he said, bleary-eyed. “Are you going to be ready for this test?”

I didn’t answer.

“You look awful.” He frowned. “Is everything okay?”

“Just…tired.”

I turned so he couldn’t read my expression, 

“It won't work.” Zeus said.

Poseidon side-eyes Zeus.

and started getting ready for bed. I didn’t understand what I’d heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I’d imagined the whole thing. But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.

*****

The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour 

Everyone looked horrified.

Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I’d misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.

For a moment, I was worried he’d found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn’t seem to be the problem.

Nancy made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.

Poseidon glared at the book so hard.

I mumbled, “Okay, sir.”

“I mean…” Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn’t sure what to say. “This isn’t the right place for you. It was only a matter of time.”

My eyes stung. Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn’t handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.

“Right,” I said, trembling.

“No, no,” Mr. Brunner said. “Oh, confound it all. What I’m trying to say…you’re not normal, Rhea. That’s nothing to be —”

“Thanks,” I blurted. “Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.”

“Rhea —”

Poseidon got out a paper and a pen and started to write things down for him to do.

But I was already gone.

*****

On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies. 

Everyone shouted in offense until Poseidon said, “She didn't know us then.’

They asked me what I’d be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city. What I didn’t tell them was that I’d have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I’d go to school in the fall.

“That's not normal.” Poseidon said furrowing his eyebrows in a confused way.

“Oh,” one of the girls said. “That’s cool.”

They went back to their conversation as if I’d never existed. 

Poseidon glared at the book and huffed.

The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn’t have to. He’d booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city. During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he’d always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I’d always assumed he was worried about getting teased. 

Rhea squealed at the friendship.

I said, “Looking for Kindly Ones?”

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. 

Everyone snickered.

“Wha — what do you mean?”

I confessed about eavesdropping 

“You do not confess.” Prometheus said ‘stressing’.

on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.

Grover’s eye twitched. “How much did you hear?”

“Oh…not much. What’s the summer solstice deadline?”

He winced. “Look, Rhea … I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers …”

Everyone gave out groans.

“Grover —”

“And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and…”

“Grover, you’re a really, really bad liar.”

“He really is.” Hades said agreeing.

His ears turned pink. From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. 

“Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.”

The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes,

Poseidon grumbled along the lines: Dionysus needs to change it.

but I finally made out something like:

Grover Underwood

Keeper

Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800) 009-0009

Everyone, but Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, gave each other confused looks

“What’s Half —”

“Don’t say it aloud!” 

The Titans all looked more confused.

But then realized that names have power

he yelped. “That’s my, um…summer address.”

My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I’d never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.

“He doesn't have a mansion.” They all said at the same time.

“Okay,” I said glumly. “So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion.”

He nodded. “Or…or if you need me.”

“Why would I need you?”

Rhea tutted in disapproval.

It came out harsher than I meant it to.

Rhea looked better but still tutted.

Grover blushed right down to his Adam’s apple. “Look, Rhea, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you.”

I stared at him. All year long, I’d gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I’d lost sleep worrying that he’d get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.

“When you put it like that…” Hades said trailing off.

“Grover,” I said, “what exactly are you protecting me from?”

“Please tell us, we want to know as well, “ Hyperion said.

There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway. After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we’d all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else. We were on a stretch of country road — no place you’d notice if you didn’t break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand. The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice.

There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I’d ever seen. I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses. The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.

Poseidon slightly looked pale at the description of the Fates.

I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.

“Grover?” I said. “Hey, Rhea—”

“Tell me they’re not looking at you. They are, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?”

“It's not the time.” Poseidon said paling. 

“Not funny, Rhea. Not funny at all.”

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors — gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.

“We’re getting on the bus,” he told me. 

“Come on.”

“What?” I said. “It’s a thousand degrees in there.”

“Just go onto the bus.” Poseidon said while being worried for his daughter.

“Come on!” 

He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back. Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, 

Poseidon looked even more pale and whimpered.

and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for — Sasquatch or Godzilla. At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life. The passengers cheered.

“Darn right!” yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. “Everybody back on board!”

Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I’d caught the flu. Grover didn’t look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

“Grover?”

“Yeah?”

“What are you not telling me?”

He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. “Rhea, what did you see back at the fruit stand?”

“You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They’re not like … Mrs. Dodds, are they?”

“They're so much worse.” Poseidon said with a hoarse voice 

His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. 

He said, “Just tell me what you saw.”

“The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn.”

Poseidon whimpered even more 

He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might’ve been crossing himself, but it wasn’t. It was something else, something almost — older.

He said, “You saw her snip the cord.”

“Yeah. So?” But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.

“This is not happening,” Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. “I don’t want this to be like the last time.”

“What happened last time?”

“Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth.”

Everyone except Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon looked confused, while the three of them exchanged knowing glances.

“What’s he talking about?” Hecate asked.

Everyone just shrugged in response while Zeus glared at the book.

“Grover,” I said, because he was really starting to scare me. “What are you talking about?”

“Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me.”

This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.

“Is this like a superstition or something?” I asked.

Everyone looked at the book expectedly for straight answers.

No answer.

“Of course there's no answer.” Eurynome said rolling her eyes in annoyance.

“Grover — that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?”

Poseidon looked so pale 

“How?” Iapetus asks.

“They are the Fates, when they come to see you and they cut a piece of string it means you are going to die.” Poseidon answered.

Everyone nodded, looking pale.

He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I’d like best on my coffin.

“The chapter is done.” Kronos says, while still being pale.

Chapter Text

I want to know which book you all want me to post 2 chapters of (but it will take some time to upload tho).

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This is a completely random question, there is no wrong or right answers.

I want to know which is your favourite story (not a one-shot) that I have written out (not in my books of ideas, only the published ones).

This is just a random question there will be a time where you have to stop answering (21 May is the deadline), there might be something that would come out of this but it is going to be a surprise. You cannot ask what the surprise is, as it won't be a surprise anymore.

You could guess but I will only answer "maybe" but please do not put an answer just because someone else has put and don't pressure others into writing what you want. I want this to be an honest one.

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Sorry if I haven't been posting, I'm busy at school (while learning a new language) and busy editing this book. To the previous question about which one is your favorite, it's was for know which one I'm going to be focusing on till the end of this month.

Plz do not ask me to update as it's making me a bit stressed.

I'm busy redoing everything (I've done the cast and prologue) I'm not going to be rushing as I want this to be perfect (not like a published book perfect, my kind of perfect)

I'm also using chat gpt to edit things so if u find anything that sound like ai, I'm using that one.

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Monday

• Pjo react to different dimensions (my books) 
• Rhea Jackson: Reborn Book 1 
• Reading The Books - Rose Potter and the Philosophers Stone

Tuesday 

• Rosebella Potter and the Lion King 
• Rose Potter and Philosopher's Stone 
• The Chosen and Hurricanes Book 2

Wednesday 

• Reading Alternate Universe 
• Yelena Potter …….. RTB

Thursday 

• Rhea Jackson and the Lightning Thief |RTB| 
• Reading The Books Pjo x Hp Book 1

Friday 

• Daisy Lily Potter Or Sally Jackson? Book 1 
• Euphemia Potter And The Philosophers Stone Pjo x Hp

Sunday 

• Persephone Jackson and the Lightning Thief 
• Liliana Lupin-Black and the Hunger Games Book 1

Whenever I get a chapter, I'll update it when that chapter is done. It might not be every Sunday to Friday but when I can get it out.