Heroes with Wands

Chapter 2

Annabeth

Turns out Paul changed foreign class to Greek class for Percy and I to make it easier on us. We wouldn't stand a chance in Spanish or French. We could barely read and write English.

Somebody named Mr. Hyette taught Greek class. He wasn't here the first three days of school I was there, so we had a subsitute. I was excited to see what we were really gonna learn in his class. The sub taught us stuff that was so pathetic, it made Percy laugh right in the guy's face.

I sat next to Percy as Mr. Hyette said, "Good morning class. I'm sorry I'm just here now, I had a bit of a personal problem. Let's get started."

Mr. Hyette was very young, with dark hair and bright grey eyes. He was handsome, too. Something about him seemed...familiar. I leaned into Percy. "Does he seem familiar to you?"

Percy shrugged. "Not really. Then again, I'm not the smartest."

My suspicians rose higher when Mr. Hyette gave out a pop quiz on the city-states of Ancient Greece. When he sat down, he didn't stop tapping his foot or looking around. Then he kept standing and sitting, like he had to keep moving.

And then, after the quiz, when he was asking what the subsitute had taught us, he was reading from the note the sub left him. He read aloud, but he had to keep reading things over and spoke 'Greek islands' like 'Greek I's-lands.'

Then I realized what I'd seen familiar. ADHD and dyslexia, I thought. Mr Hyette is a demigod. I told Percy, and his eyes widened.

"Now," Mr. Hyette said. "I'm going to say a name of a god or goddess, and whoever I call on is going to tell me all they know about them. Ready?" We nodded. Mr. Hyette's eyes landed on me. "Annabeth Chase. I've heard a lot about you. Tell me about...hm...Athena?"

I flinched. My mother. "Athena is the patron goddess of Athens," I said through gritted teeth. "She's the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, also crafts. Her symbols are the owl and the olive tree. She's a maiden goddess. It's said that she created the first spiders." I shivered at that part. "The Parthenon was built for her, destroyed by the Romans, who called her Minerva. They also took her greatest statue, the Athena Parthenos."

Mr. Hyette said thinly, "Very good. Next, let me see.....Percy Jackson. Who was Poseidon?"

Percy tensed up almost instantly. "Poseidon's the god of the sea, horses, and earthquakes. His symbol is the trident. He battled Athena for patron of Athens and lost. His brothers are Zeus and Hades, his parents Kronos and Rhea. He created horses. His underwater kingdom was called Atlantis, and his wife was named Amphitrite. His Roman form was Neptune."

Mr. Hyette smiled, continuing the process with other students. Percy breathed, "That was strange. Annabeth, you were right, as usual."

"Good thing you said that, because I would've kicked your ass if you didn't," I muttered back.

"Great job, class!" Mr. Hyette said. "I think Percy and Annabeth gave the most details." He winked. "I've heard a lot about you two. From a camp director, I think?"

Before I knew it, a smile lit up on my face. Chiron. He was practically like a second father to me. I hadn't seen him for ages. Percy smiled and nodded.

"Now, there's something else I'd like to teach you," Mr. Hyette continued, "The Greeks were very big on battle. They one almost every war between the Persians, plus the Trojan War. That was because--?"

A girl raised her hand. "The Ancient Greeks prayed to the gods Ares and Athena for good luck and help during battle. They built triremes and had excellent weapons. In the Trojan war, a half-human half-god Achilles fought."