Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The seven had just left camp Jupiter, and they were gathered in the common area, about to discuss when time stopped. Literally. They Argo II stopped moving, they were just in the air, not moving in any direction. The only thing that was moving was them, and they didn't know why. It was strange, and something they'd never experienced before.
That was when a letter appeared in the middle of the room. They told Frank to read it, since he was the only one without adhd or dyslexia. It read:
Hello demigods, plus the satyr. Time has been stopped, and soon you will be taken to Olympus. Do not be alarmed, as this is for a purpose. You, and some others will be reading the books that we have created about your lives, mainly consisting of Percy, to help you all understand each other better. This is also for the gods to understand what you demigods actually feel and experience.
The Fates
They all started to talk about this immediately, but they saw a flash of light, and they were no longer on the ship.

Chapter Text

A huge flash of light appeared in Olympus, and seven demigods showed up. 

Athena was the first to talk, asking, “Hello, demigods, I assume you're here to read the books that were created?” 

Percy responded, “Yes, Lady Athena, we are here to read the books.”

Then another letter appeared in the middle of the throne room, and Annabeth picked it up, and passed it to Frank. 

“It says that some other demigods and also mortals will be brought to Olympus to also read the books.”

Right after, there was a bright flash of white light, and Nico,Will, Reyna,Thalia, Sally, Paul and Chiron all appeared,together with a letter, which Sally picked up. She said,”I guess I'll read the letter. 

Hello gods, demigods, and mortals. Most of you already know the situation, but to the newcomers, time has stopped so you can read the books we created about Percy Jackson, and the other 6s lives, and for you gods, this is so you can understand the struggles that demigods have.

  "So we’re reading books that were made about Percy and the others' lives?” Asked Sally. The gods and demigods who were there previously nodded. “Okay, well, hello gods of Olympus, and hello demigods. And Perseus Jackson where have you been? The campers had been looking for you for months, and they said they found you and I was yet to be updated!” And Percy replies, “Don’t worry mom, I was at a different camp, and the whole story is complicated. I’ll explain more later, and maybe, with some blue hot chocolate and blue popcorn?”

”Okay Percy, I trust you, and the hot chocolate and popcorn is a very good idea. Also, who are your new friends? I know Leo, Jason, and Piper already, but who are the other two?”

“I’m Hazel and he’s Frank.So you’re Percy’s mother?”

“Nice to meet you Hazel and Frank. You’re from the other camp right?”

”Yes, Frank and I are from the other camp.”

 After Paul introduced himself, a bright flash of light appeared once again. Some beanbags, enough for the campers, and two chairs for Sally and Paul, along with a copy of “The Lightning Thief”, were the appearance this time.

Athena picked up the book and spoke.

“I will be reading the books aloud for now.”

As the demigods settled in, putting all the beanbags together to create a nest of sorts, they all sat down, Nico sitting silently next to Hazel who had sat down first,with Frank plopping down next to her after Nico. Annabeth, and Grover all sat down, and Percy flopped in the middle of the two. Thalia, Jason,Piper, and Reyna sat behind them. Leo threw himself next to Annabeth, between her and Will, who was next to Nico. Sally and Paul set up their chairs behind Grover, to be close to Percy. While they were setting up the beanbags in the nest and sitting, the gods had their own side conversations, and Athena waited for everyone to be ready for her to then finally start reading.

“Chapter one, I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher. Child, what in the world is this title?”

“Well that's a direct chapter title if I've ever seen one. Also, you'll understand soon lady Athena, and almost everyone else in this room.” Said Percy in response.

After Percy finished speaking, Athena continued reading.

“ Look, I didn't want to be a half blood”

The gods only look at Percy with disappointment, and Thalia says, “Well that's one way to start a book. Percy, did you actually say that?”

“Yeah I actually did.”

“Boy, you should be honored to be the child of a god, especially when your father is the second strongest god, after me, of course.” Zeus said

“Yeah well, you'll understand why it sucks later, just wait.”

With that, and a sad look at Percy from Poseidon, Athena decided to keep reading, since no one else was talking.

“ If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:”

And before Athena can continue, Nico says, “Oh no, Percy giving advice. Either this is relatively okay or it's the worst advice in the world. Also, my apologies, Lady Athena, please continue.” Percy only glared in response.

“Thank you child. Continuing, 

My advice is: Close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom and dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.”

“Wow Percy gave actually decent advice! This is revolutionary!” Thalia said. 

“Wooooow Thalia! Annabeth and I basically freed you from being a pine tree and this is how you treat me! I feel betrayed.” Percy said dramatically, holding his hands to his heart, pretending to be sad.

Athena started reading again, knowing that if she didn't, a huge line of comments would probably follow.

“ Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time it gets you killed in painful nasty ways. If you're a normal kid.… Dont say i didnt warn you.”

“Well that was an interesting bit, wasn't it? So I'm guessing this is stuff either you wrote, or you thought right kid?” Apollo asked. 

“Yup, this is stuff I actually wrote in this part. I'm pretty sure most of this is gonna be the journals I was keeping at the time.”

“You kept journals?!” Both Grover and Annabeth said in unison, heads turning to look at him, both almost yelling in surprise.

“Yeah, I kept some since it was good for the stress of being a demigod to vent, and also, you really influenced me too, wise girl, since you were all smart and stuff. Plus I thought it might help with dyslexia if I tried to really write.”

“Well I'm glad to know my daughter had a good influence on you. Now, shall I continue?”,but it was less of a question, and more of a way of saying she was going to read no matter what they wanted, so she continued on.

“My name is Percy Jackson. 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.”

Athena stopped there, knowing that someone would probably comment. 

“We all are Percy, we all are.” Leo said. 

“Is that really what all you kids are to mortals? Troubled kids?” Asked Poseidon. 

“Yes, unfortunately us demigods are usually called troubled kids if we grew up in the mortal world. Because of monster encounters that may happen, or things that may only happen to us because of our parents, we are all considered troubled.” Annabeth explained to the gods.”Now, can you please continue mom?”

“Yes.  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…Mr.Brunner, was this middle aged guy in a motorized wheel chair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket that always smelled like coffee.…put me to sleep”

Chiron looked over at Percy and gave a smile, from the other side of the beanbag nest, where he was in his motorized wheelchair form instead of being a centaur.

“ I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.

Boy, I was wrong.”

 “Percy, you basically jinxed yourself. That was really dumb of you.”Said Thalia, messing with him. “Hoping you won't get in trouble, means you get in trouble! You should know this seaweed brain!” Percy just flipped her off in response.

Athena continued, “ See bad things happen to me on field trips…Well, you get the idea. This trip I was determined to be good. All the way to the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redhead kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut-butter-and-ketchup sandwich.”

“Who is this bitch! I'm gonna kill her! Not only did she keep bullying Grover, but she also ate peanut butter with ketchup, of all things. She's a monster.” Annabeth said, controlling her anger.

“Calm down, wise girl, I deal with her, trust me. Please continue Lady Athena.”

“Thank you child, Grover was an easy target…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.”

“Grover, I can't believe you almost could have given yourself away too early because of enchiladas!” Thalia joked.

“It was very worth it, thank you very much.” Grover replied.

Athena kept reading, “ Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in Grover's curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation… ‘I'm going to kill her,’ I mumbled.Grover tried to calm me down, ‘its okay, I like peanut butter’ He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.…Mr.Brunner led the museum tour…Ms.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 right into your locker.”

“So let me guess, she was a monster?” Jason said.

Percy just replied, "You'll see in a few minutes.”

“ ...One time, after she'd made me erase all of the old match workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Ms.Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, ‘You're absolutely right’”

“Seriously Grover, you almost gave yourself away, again!” Thalia teased.

“Yeah, but I knew he would think it was a joke sooooo.”

“You're a terrible liar Grover, you know that.” Thalia replied jokingly.

Continuing with the story, Athena read again. 

“ 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 out louder than I meant it to… ‘Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?’… ‘That's Kronos eating his kids, right?’

“I hate having to remember this.”Said Hera, clearly not happy with the reminder of living in her fathers stomach. Athena continued,

“‘Yes,’Mr.Brunner said… ‘Kronos was the king god, and—’ ‘God?’

‘Titan,’ I corrected myself.”

Before any of the gods could really get angry at Percy's mistake, he defended himself. “Im sorry, for calling him a god. Genuinely. It was a mistake I made when I barely actually understood the stories. Now I know, and I won't make a mistake like that again.”

After the gods were clearly pleased with his apology for the mistake, Athena read more.

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

“When weren't they really?” Grover said, looking at Percy.

“Never. They were always doofuses.” Percy said, happy to be with Grover again after the “exchange” that Hera planned. 

Athena started reading again once everyone was quiet again.

“ 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.” Chiron glanced at Percy again, recognizing how much he actually observed.

“‘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.’

‘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, Percy Jackson.’ 

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard…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 hope you can do that now child, if not you have big problems.”

“Don’t worry Lady Athena, I have learned all of the names and how to spell them.”

“Only because I taught you, seaweed brain.” Said Annabeth, “ You’re lucky I exist.”

“Yeah, yeah, wise girl.” 

“Please continue reading now mother.”

“I will. 

I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr.Brunner took one lone sad look at the stele, like he’d been at this girl's funeral.”  

“You’re very observant Percy.” Chiron said, “It’s a good skill to have.”

“Thanks Chiron.”

”Have my children ever succeeded in pranking or robbing you? Considering you're very observant, I thought I should ask.” Hermes said.

“No, no one’s been able to prank or rob Percy ever since he got into camp. Your entire cabin hates him for it.” Responded Grover. Percy just looked at him when he said that. They had been able to prank him before, once , so it felt like an overstatement.(Even though all the other campers knew that it wasn't.)

“Well, that's disappointing. I would be mad at them, but clearly, based on the books, it's difficult for anyone to prank or rob him.” 

Athena then continued on with the reading, when she saw there were no more conversations.

“ He told me to go outside and eat my lunch…Wed had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires, from lightning strikes. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.”

Athena got interrupted by Percy this time.

“I was actually very wrong. It was just Zeus being mad at me for stealing the lighting bolt that he didn't actually have proof that I stole. Thanks for blaming that on me by the way. It was a very pleasant experience for a fucking twelve year old.” He said, sarcastically, with a fake smile on his face. For a few seconds after that, everyone just stayed silent. The words being important to be said, considering all of the gods were there to hear it, and understand it. 

After a minute, Athena deemed it a good time to keep reading, so she opened the book again, and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

“ Nobody else seemed to notice…’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.’ 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?’ I didn't have much of an appetite so I let him take it.”

“Wow, did the seaweed brain really just let someone else eat his food? That's never been seen before.” Annabeth said. Percy just responded by flipping her off lovingly.

“ I watched the string of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my moms apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat….I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.” 

While Athena read, Sally reached out and squeezed Percy's shoulder from behind, as to say she wasn't disappointed, and never was. 

“ 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… ‘Oops.’ She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray painted her face with liquid Cheetos.”

“Percy, why was this your description! I don’t want this image in my head!” Piper said, absolutely appalled at the description. Aphrodite had the same disgusted face, muttering and complaining under her breath. Hazel and Annabeth had the same expression as Piper, hating the image of someone spray painted with Cheetos. Everyone else was clearly bothered, but none of them as much as Aphrodite.

As

“ 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.”

“Grover! How did you not know that I was a son of Poseidon?”

“Honestly, I was just in denial, because if you were, I thought you would die immediately!”Grover replied. “I know it was dumb, but I didn’t wanna failllll!

“It’s okay Grover I was kidding! I knew you were 100% in denial about it. I was just messing with you G-man.”

Athena kept reading.

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

All of the campers, and Ares, and Aphrodite, and even Athena(but discreetly) all said a mix of “Thank you”s, “Finally”s, and “YES!”s. After the chorus of happiness ended, Athena continued reading. “ Ms.Dodds materialized next to us.”, and before Athena could even continue, Leo just screamed, "She's clearly a monster, so kill that woman!”. 

Percy responded, "Don't worry Leo, I do. The title did say that I vaporize her and also I was there and lived it.”

Athena continued, “ Some of the kids were whispering: ‘Did you see—’

‘ The water—’

‘— like it grabbed her—’... ‘Honey,’ Ms. Dodds barked at me. ‘ Now! ’ Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I’ll-kill-you-later stare.Then I turned to face Ms. 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?”

“Because she's a monster, 12 year old me. You run into a lot of those later.” All the other demigods nod in agreement.

“Since you talked, Percy why the fuck did you try to guess your punishment?! That's like, the dumbest possible thing you could do!” Said Jason. All of the other demigods all nodded in agreement.

“Yeah Percy, that was dumb of you.” Nico agreed.

“That's a rookie mistake, wait, what did you call him Annabeth?" Leo said.

“Seaweed brain, and yeah Percy, that was kinda stupid.”

“That’s a rookie mistake, seaweed brain. The nickname makes a whole lot of sense.”Leo said, once again.

“Okay, now that's not fair! I was a dumb twelve year old who didn't get a grade above a C- ever! I even said it in the book!” Athena kept reading when the teenagers stopped attacking Percy for his stupidity, and shut up.

“ I have moments like that a lot, where 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 space behind it…I looked back up. Mrs.Dodds had disappeared again.She was inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Before any of you talk, yes, we know she's a monster, everyone understands. 

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… She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling…Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…Shes 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…Or worse, they were going to make me read the book. Really child. This is what you thought was bad?”

“Yeah, I have dyslexia, and I think all of the demigods except Frank are also dyslexic, so it's hard for us to read books without a headache.”

“Well, I understand. Some of my children have told me of it being difficult to deal with. I shall continue reading so we can finish and take a break.

…Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, feathery 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… ‘What ho, Percy!’ he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.” All of the demigods were leaning forward listening, interested, and a few gods were as well. “Mrs.Dodds lunged at me… She snarled, ‘Die honey!’ And she flew straight at me… I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.”

“ First of all, Percy was scared in a fight. I never thought it possible. Secondly, how did swinging the sword come naturally? ” Thalia said.

“I'm just that good, pine tree. Also yes, I was scared. I was also TWELVE. And had no idea my teacher would turn into a MONSTER. Please continue Lady Athena before thalia can start talking again” Percy said, sticking his tongue out while looking at Thalia after, and Thalia copied the action. Annabeth just rolled her eyes at the scene, and muttered something about them being so alike that they hate each other. Athena read, “ The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hissss!...I was alone. There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me…When she saw me, she said, ‘I hope Mrs.Kerr whipped your butt.’ I said, ‘Who?’

 ‘Our teacher. Duh!”... ‘Not funny, man,’ I told him. ‘This is serious.’”

“Sorry I gaslighted you Percy!”

“Don’t worry about it G-man! I know it was just part of the job!”

“Im still sorry though!”

“Never thought you weren't G-man.” Percy bumped his shoulder against Grover.

Athena started to read again:

“ ... ‘Ah that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson.’ I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding it… ‘Percy, there is no Mrs.Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs.Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright? That was the end of the chapter everyone. Should we now take a 30 minute break?”

A chorus of “yes”s from the demigods followed, and everyone started talking to each other, the demigods looking for snacks, and the gods discussing things with each other.

Chapter Text

Chatter suddenly filled the room as the break started. 

“Guys, we should go get snacks!” Percy said, clearly feeling snacky, and needing to do something other than sit down since he's ADHD, and has been sitting down for about 30 minutes just listening to his embarrassing 12 year old self being read about by Athena.

The others agreed to get snacks and they all got up to look for some around Olympus, while the gods just discussed what they’d learned until now about demigods' lives.

The demigods and grover walked around until they found an area with tables filled with food, including diet coke, grapes and other fruits, pringles, lays, and cheetos.

“Who do you think got the pringles, lays and cheetos up here?” Leo asked the group.

“I think it was either Hermes, my dad, or Apollo." Replied Percy.

 Annabeth noticed that everyone had clearly forgotten about what happened before the whole book reading shenanigans started, but it was clearly positive in terms of dynamics, by what Annabeth saw.

The group walked back to the main area and sat on their beanbags again. 

The gods settled down, and Aphrodite picked up the book, as to say that she will be reading the next chapter.