the lost seer | the heroes of olympus rewritten | book one

i | octavian

even before he nearly got mangled to death, octavian was having a real shitty day.

he woke up in the backseat of a schoolbus, beside a girl who looked as though she would rather be anywhere but here. that wasn't the shitty part. no, the shitty part was that he didn't know who she was. octavian sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking around.

a few dozen teenagers surrounded the seats in front and behind him, talking. they all looked....the same age as him? okay. he didn't know how old he was.

the bus rumbled along a smooth city street. out of the windows, buildings rolled by under a bright blue sky. octavian was sure he lived in the city....it just wasn't this city. he tried to think. what was the last thing he remembered?

the girl elbowed him. "hey."

she wore a short skirt, high heels, and a tank top, all in bright pink and white. her glossy black hair was styled in ringlets, and her face was done up perfectly. octavian supposed she was pretty, but he didn't particularly care about that.

"who are you?" he asked.

she cocked her head to the side, blinking at him. "what are you talking about, hun?"

"this.....this is some kind of mistake." octavian said. "i'm not supposed to be here."

the girl frowned. "what do you mean?-"

in the front of the bus, a teacher shouted, "alright, cupcakes, listen up!"

he was obviously a coach, with a baseball cap hanging low over his beady eyes. he had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd eaten something moldy. he wore a bright orange polo shirt, while his workout pants and nikes were perfect, spotless white. a whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. he would have been quite intimidating, if he hadn't been exactly five feet tall. his eyes scanned the room for troublemakers, his hand traveling to a baseball bat beside him.

then the coach's eyes fell on octavian, and his scowl deepened.

octavian suppressed the urge to scowl right back. he had a feeling the coach knew he wasn't supposed to be there, and octavian didn't fancy trying to explain to a violent man with a weapon that he had amnesia.

instead of beating the shit out of anyone, the coach simply looked away and cleared his throat. "we'll be back to campus in five minutes! stay with your partner and don't lose your worksheet. if any of you cause trouble on the remainder of this trip, i'm sending you right back to the museum of natural history the hard way." he picked up his baseball bat, hefting it over his shoulder. the threat was clear enough.

octavian turned to the girl beside him. "he's not...really going to hit us, right?"

she only shrugged. "i don't think hedge has ever done it before, but i've seen him come close."

"drew tanaka!" coach hedge yelled from the front. "what's going on back there?"

"nothing, coach!" she called back calmly.

octavian turned from the coach to drew to back again. "okay. can someone seriously tell me what's going on?"

drew sighed in exasperation. "jesus, did you hit your head at the museum or something? stop fucking with me."

"i'm not fucking with you!" octavian shot back. "i swear, i don't even know who the hell i am!"

"that's it. drew, octavian, you two stay behind after we get back!" coach hedge yelled from the front. the rest of the bus erupted in whispers, casting glances their way.

drew groaned, rolling her eyes. "gee, thanks, octavian."

"you're welcome." he replied, putting all his sarcasm into the words.