The Path Of Glory (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

1. Chased By A Snake

The sun rose above Burlington in Vermont. It was a day in June. When the evening would come, children would go all over the country for the holidays. Well, not all children. At the Champlain Institute, nobody went away for the holidays. It was an orphanage for boys. The kids there were of all ages; some were there since their first moments in life, some for too little time to realize they hadn't a family to count on anymore.

Y/N L/N was of the first category. He was a twelve years old boy since yesterday, the third of June. Some would have considered him tall for his age, but not enough to stand out too much. He had dark messy hair with a reddish tinger and blue-grey eyes.

He finished making his bed and got out of his bedroom, going to the refectory for breakfast. As he walked along the corridors, a boy got out of his own room. He was named Ethan Moore and had lived at Champlain for two years now. He was rather small, pale, and with brown hair going down on his neck.

"Hey, Y/N, wait for me!"

Also, maybe it's good to tell that Ethan used crutches to walk. His knees bent weirdly as if every step hurt him. But appearances can be deceptive, and Ethan wasn't an exception to this rule. When it was fries in the refectory, he could run like a bolt of lightning.

Y/N and Ethan sat together and began eating. Suddenly, a piece of bread flew just next to Ethan's cheek, missing him just by little. Another came and got stuck in his hair. A third hit the back of Y/N's neck.

Just behind him, he heard someone sniggering. The bread-thrower was no other than Sean Davis. Long things short, he was a brute. Y/N glared at him, then shook his head. Really, I must stop throwing myself into trouble. I won't do him the pleasure to call a monitor. No, today, no waves from me.

"Y/N, come, we'll be late," Ethan said, surely saving Y/N from making a huge mistake.

"Yeah, you're right."

Y/N followed Ethan out the refectory, and they went to the sports field outside. It was an expense of clay actually; two basketball hoops were stuck in a corner, and there was a layout on the ground for the running track.

It was Mr. Atkins who taught this course. In addition to being the sports teacher, he was the new supervisor of the dorms since December; the former one had resumed his studies. Atkins was tall, and never changed his facial expression—always the same frown and gloomy gaze. He didn't seem to like Y/N at all. In other words, whenever something bad happened with him, Atkins was the first behind his back.

Y/N already couldn't count the number of times he had cleaned the whole refectory.

He began to warm with the other boys, doing laps, Ethan trotting on his crutches next to him.

Glancing at Mr. Atkins, Y/N thought of a joke. "You know what, Ethan? I don't think Mr. Atkins is human." He imitated the teacher, yet Ethan didn't laugh.

"You're entirely right," Ethan said. He looked dead serious.

The warm-up finished, and Ethan went to sit away. Mr. Atkins composed the teams. Of course, Y/N was in the same as Sean. After the fifth time that Sean lost the ball on purpose instead of passing it to him, Y/N blurt out, "Hey, idiot! You're blind or what?"

Maybe he had talked too fast. A second later, Sean was in front of him. Sean wasn't taller than him but certainly stronger. "What did you say?"

"I just politely pointed out to you I was unmarked and that a pass was most appropriate." Maybe Sean would be too dumb to see the sarcasm.

"You think I'm an idiot?"

That was surprising. Sean was able to understand irony.

Before Y/N could see it, Sean's fist hit his stomach, and he doubled over. Weirdly, it didn't hurt that much, but it was still a reflex to bend when hit there. Bad habits die hard.