Children of the Big Three Book 4: Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter One: Ah Shit, Here We Go again

"Mom, are we really going through this song and dance again?"

"Yes. Yes we are."

"Don't you think you owe enough money to the education system without-"

"You're going to school, Percy."

"But-"

"Okay bye son enjoy orientation!"

With that, Sally Jackson drove off. Percy sighed, and walked off toward the door of the school. The boy couldn't help but feel like this entire school thing was a waste of time. What could would knowing when Columbus sailed the ocean blue do when a hydra was trying to bite his face off? 1692, if you were wondering. Just as The Son of Poseidon opened the glass door, he felt something peg the back of his head, rather hard. He looked down to see a rock, which was definitely not there a moment ago, as it was a decently big rock. Percy looked around, but didn't see anyone who could have thrown it. He shrugged, and walked inside.

Upon entry, the Demi-God was slammed with noise. In the mix of people yelling, advertising clubs, and a couple kids crying, Percy spotted a girl, presumably a cheerleader from her outfit, handing out flyers and directing people to the auditorium. The boy shrugged once more, and walked over to her. Percy couldn't help but notice that this place was really hectic, and he started to see why some kids wanted to be homeschooled. When it was his turn to grab a flyer, he snapped back to reality. However, when he grabbed one, the cheerleader refused to let go, so in slight annoyance, Percy looked up to ask her what was up. That's when he got a good look at her face.

"oh no."

"Percy! Long time no see! How are ya doin?!"

"hi Kelli."

"Well, I'm sure we'll have time to catch up after the assemble. Come meet me in the music room after our performance, yeah? It's so good to see you! If you didn't show, I don't know what I'd do!" She then leaned in close to Percy, and whispered into his ear: "And I don't think we'd like to find out, now would we?"

Percy did his best to give a casual laugh, which didn't work in the slightest. "Uh, yeah! No problem Kelli. See you then!" The Son of Poseidon stammered out, then headed into the assemble room. Once inside, he was told to take a seat on the bleachers, so he did. He had a bit of a hard time paying attention to the cheerleader pyramid and the principal giving the typical: 'we're a family' speech. Partly because of the immense threat of an Empousa, and partly because some kid refused to stop pelting him with popcorn. The Demi-God bounced his leg up and down, as he tried to control his annoyance.

"Don't turn around, Percy.. Don't uncap Riptide, Percy.. You'll look like an idiot swinging a pen, Percy.." Percy muttered to himself under his own breath. Kelli was giving some motivational talk about now, but Percy was far too distracted about the threat of Popcorn Man to listen to whatever she was saying. It felt like literal hours, and in that time Popcorn Man seemed to get angry, because he started throwing it harder; and Percy refused to turn around because he had pride. Then he seemingly gave up, and Percy heard crunching from behind him. Oh yeah, and the thing ended, so The Son of Poseidon did as he was told and went into the music room out of fear of innocents being harmed. When he got there, the sight he was greeted with confused him. There was the blonde hair blue eyed Kelli, but there was also a younger, darker skinned girl there as well.