Chapter Text
Peter pulled open his locker, scanning the mess inside of it for his Chem books. Why was there a web shooter in there? He hastily hid it behind his backpack before anyone could see. He could see his English book, his Calculus, and his Algebra, but no, not his Chem-
The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood up, and two hands gave him a shove that sent him crashing right into his locker, banging his head against it. "Ow…" Peter groaned, clutching his nose in his hand.
"Sup, Penis? How's the floor smell?" Flash snarked from above him. "I hope-"
A voice sounded out from the end of the hallway. "What's going on?"
Peter looked up. Leaning against a locker was a guy that Peter had never seen in the school before, arms crossed. He was huge, like, really muscular, and the orange t-shirt that he was wearing showed it off. It read Camp Half Blood .
The guy strode confidently towards Peter, and he felt his heart speed up. Peter looked awful right now, awkwardly propped up against his locker, holding his bleeding nose. In truth, it wasn't that bad, but he knew that if a normal person got a nose bleed, it didn't just go away after thirty seconds like his had.
"Really, dude? Slamming people into metal lockers? You could get in serious trouble for that. Look, he's bleeding," the muscular dude said in a smooth voice, gesturing to Peter. The hallway had gone significantly quieter, and Peter didn't like it.
Flash's eyes widened. "Who are you?"
"My name's Percy. My girlfriend goes to this school, but she forgot her hat at my place," he explained, pulling a folded-up Yankees cap from his pocket. His eyes narrowed at Flash. "Now go away."
"Yeah, that's what I was doing anyways. Catch you around, Penis," Flash called as he walked away, obviously trying to get as far away from the guy, Percy, as fast as possible.
Percy squinted down the hall at Flash as he walked away. "Did he just call me-"
"No, uh, that's his….nickname for me," Peter explained, smirking slightly.
"Oh." Percy offered Peter his hand. "Well, if that's not your name, what is?"
"Uh- Peter Parker." He grabbed onto Percy's calloused hand, and pulled himself up to his feet. Percy smelled like the sea, but in the best way possible, like the ocean breeze that blows in your face if you find the perfect day.
Percy grimaced, looking at Peter's face. "Your nose looks pretty bad. I'll walk you down to the nurse's office."
"Oh, no, it's fine," Peter stuttered. Percy had a small cut on his cheek. It looked recent.
Percy chuckled. "I… also don't know where anything is in the school building. So we would both be doing each other a favor?"
"Oh, sure," Peter replied. He started walking down the hall, and Percy walked next to him. Peter noticed that his dark hair was damp, which was curious, because it was midday. When had he had time to take a shower? Was he one of the completely insane people who used the showers in the boy's locker room?
"The last time I had a nose bleed, I triggered the apocalypse", Percy recalled, smiling fondly.
Peter blinked. "Is that a joke, or…?"
"Hmm?" Percy looked over. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, man. Just had a small nosebleed in a bad place."
"So, you said you were returning your girlfriend's hat to her? What class is she in?" Peter questioned, still wondering what apocalypse Percy was referring to.
"Oh, yeah." Percy pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "This is her schedule. Right now she should be in… this class," Percy said, pointing at the sheet. Peter found the words Percy was pointing at. It read, Κ. Χάρινγκτον.
"Oh, Mr. Harrington? He's-" Peter read, at the same time Percy said, "Oh shoot, that's in Greek-"
Percy stared at Peter. "You can read that? You know Greek?"
"That's not in-" Peter looked at the paper once more, and nearly had a heart attack because holy shit it was Greek and he had just translated it flawlessly . "That's Greek. I don't speak-"
Frowning, Percy pulled a pen from his pocket. He uncapped it, and all of a sudden a glowing blade sprung from it. Peter's eyes widened as Percy waved it in front of his face. "This is a pen, right?" Percy asked.
Was this kid trying to Jedi-mind-trick him? "Um, no, that's a sword. How'd you get it into the school building? Who are you? What-" Peter's mind was racing. Why could he read Greek all of a sudden? To be fair, he had never tried to, but still, this didn't make sense. Maybe spiders can read Greek? Maybe he had these skills lying dormant for a long time, but he had never tried to use them. He should squint at some French and see if he can magically translate-
"Oh gods, I have to get Annabeth," Percy said, capping his sword. "I- you said you knew where this class was?" he asked, pointing at Κ. Χάρινγκτον again.
Peter's heart jackhammered against his ribs. "Y-yeah, follow me."
They walked down the hall, and Peter noticed Percy nervously tapping his finger on his thigh. Percy looked over at Peter, obviously confused. "How'd you survive this long?"
"Excuse me?" Peter asked, panicking. Did Percy know about Spider-Man? Maybe the Greek gave it away. He should've known that only spider people hallucinate about gold swords and read Greek.
Percy took in a deep breath. "Peter, do you have… parents?"
Oh, no. Why did Percy have to know that? Peter crossed his arms stubbornly. "I think I deserve to know what kind of Jedi mind tricks you were trying to do to me over there. Also, why do you have a sword?"
"Okay, you're probably going to think I'm crazy, but… " Percy cringed. "You know what, I'm going to wait until we get Annabeth."
Peter gestured to the door they were standing next to. "Right this way."
"Thanks, man," Percy said, and then he slipped inside.
Peter heard Percy say, "Annabeth, we have to go. There's a situation."
Mr. Harrington protested, "Now, wait a minute, she can't just-"
Then a female voice he had never heard before said, "Mr. Harrington, I'm sorry, but my family is in a tough situation right now, and I need to get home."
There was a moment of silence, and then Mr. Harrington said, "Here's a hall pass. You'll have to go down to the office, and ask for permission to leave."
"Thanks, Mr. Harrington." The sound of a chair squeaking came, and Peter turned away from the door, trying to make it look like he hadn't been eavesdropping.
The door opened, and a girl with blond hair that Peter had never seen before was ushered out of the room by Percy. "Seaweed Brain," the girl hissed, "this had better be important. I-" she looked to her right and noticed Peter standing there awkwardly. "Who is that?"
"That- he is the situation I told you about," Percy said. "Watch."
Percy grabbed the pen from his pocket. Peter noticed that the girl, presumably Annabeth, had the Yankee's hat clutched in her hands. Why didn't she put it on?
Peter's senses flared as Percy uncapped his sword and approached him. "See this sword? It's a sword, right?"
Peter gulped. "Ye-yeah? Was that a threat or something?"
"Ye gods, he's like Rachel!" Annabeth exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"Wha- no, he's not like Rachel, he's like us!" Percy touched the flat of the blade against Peter, causing Peter to jump back four feet.
"It didn't go through him. Oh gods, how is he still alive?" Annabeth was suddenly looking at Peter as if he were a very complex puzzle. "How old are you?"
"I'm sixteen! Now can someone tell me what is going on?" Peter asked. His brain was about to explode. Who was Rachel? What were Annabeth and Percy talking about?
Percy looked over at Annabeth, a worried expression on his face. "He read the Greek schedule that you gave me, too."
"I think we should discuss this somewhere else," Annabeth insisted, looking around nervously. "If he hasn't attracted any monsters by now, it's definitely going to start when he's aware of it."
Percy glanced at Peter apologetically. "You didn't have anything pressing to do at school today, right?"
Peter considered this. Should he go to who knows where with these two complete strangers with the sword-pen that may have an explanation for why he can read Greek all of a sudden, or should he stay and go to Spanish?
"Nope. Where to?"
Percy grinned, green eyes shining. "Camp Half-Blood."