Blood Of The Hero

Chapter 1

"Percy? Percy!"

I snapped out of my daydream with a sharp elbow to the ribs, which instantly made me snap my head to the source.

Grover's eyes met mine and he gestured to the front, just to see Mr. Brunner's patient but amused face staring at me.

"Are you alright Percy? Late night, hm?" He joked and I could hear the snickers and whispers of the class around me while my face got increasingly more red.

"U-uhm, no sir." I muttered and he smiled.

"No matter. Just answer the question. Who slew the demon Medusa?" He asked, gesturing to the frankly terrifying statue of the woman beside him.

You see, my Latin class was on a trip to a museum, a trip based around Ancient Greece to be specific. What Latin had to do with Socrates and feta cheese, I wasn't too sure.

I was excited too. History and Latin were the only things I was good at, and I loved Mr. Brunner like hell. The man was the only person who wasn't condescending, he never treated me like a special project that couldn't do anything right.

"Perseus?" It came out more like a question that a definite statement.

"Correct, Mr. Jackson. And what was Perseus?" He further inquired.

"A hero?"

"I suppose, yes. But be more specific. Who were his parents?"

"Danaë and Zeus?" A rumble of thunder sounded throughout the building suddenly.

"Correct. So what was Perseus?"

"A demigod."

Mr. Brunner's eyes twinkled as I answered, before swiftly moving on to the next poor student to interrogate.

Behind him though, was Miss Dodds, the substitute English teacher. She was wrinkly and skinny, but she always seemed to despise me. I figured it was my piss-poor literature skills and dyslexia, but she always seemed so intimidating.

She stared directly at me as Mr. Brunner spoke and all I could do was squirm and avoid eye contact, which proved really hard to do when she wouldn't stop looking at me.

The whole time I was trying to look away from her, I got an increasingly sinking feeling in my stomach. That feeling was never good.

It was the same feeling I got every time I was about to do something stupid that would wind up with me getting expelled, like the last eight schools I'd been to.

Something was about to happen.
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After another hour or two of Mr. Brunner doing his best to entertain the class on tour around the museum, we were taken to the lunch hall.

It was a little much in there to be honest, the interior designers were clearly trying way too hard to make it Greek, y'know?

All I'm saying is that I could do without the huge statue of a half-naked Zeus practically staring me down while I ate my shitty cheese sandwich.

"How're you finding it so far?" Grover asked, sitting down at the closest lunch table.

Grover was my skinny, weak, best (and only) friend I had, with curly, brown hair, a developing goatie and crutches to get around.

We were each other's only friends at Yancy Academy, nobody else really cared about either of us, but that was fine. Grover was all I needed.

I shrugged. "It's OK. But I gotta say, the only thing I'm getting from this trip is that Zeus was an asshole."