Reincarnated

Chapter 5

Oh goody. (Note the sarcasm.) The trip to the museum is today. We're on the bus going there. And just like in the books, Nancy is throwing chunks of a sandwich at Grover. Peanut butter and ketchup, like who does that? Its an abomination. ADHD! Sorry.

Anyway, we were getting pelted by Nancy. Well, only Grover was. Nancy knew better to mess with me after tried to prank me earlier in the year. It resulted in her having ugly green hair for the rest of the month, courtesy of moi. I mixed a little something I made in the chemistry labs with her shampoo. 

"I'm going to kill her," Percy mumbled.

"It's okay. I like peanut butter," Grover tried. 

"In your hair? What about the ketchup? No, let's get her back but subtly," I stressed. 

Percy tried to get up but I pulled him down. "You're on probation remember. If anything happens you know who they will blame," I remind him.

We finally got off the bus and into the museum. Here goes nothing. Chiron - sorry, Mr. Brunner, was talking about the art on the stele in front of us when I hear a very loud "Will you shut up?" from Percy. Oh, dear. 

Mr. Brunner stopped his story. "Mr. Jackson, did you have a comment?" He asked.

"No," my brother replies, embarrassed. 

"Perhaps you could tell us what this picture represents?" Mr. Brunner asks.

"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?" Percy answers.

But Chiron -Mr. Brunner-  wasn't satisfied. "And he did this because...?"

C'mon Perce, you've got it! "Well... Kronos was the King god, and-" 

"God?" Mr. Brunner asked. 

"Titan," he corrected. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-" 

"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. Oh, get over it!

"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," he continued, "and the gods won." 

Some snickers from the group. What's so funny? Seriously, I don't get some people.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

 "And why, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

 "Busted," Grover muttered.

 "Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got in trouble too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. I don't get why she doesn't get in trouble in all of our classes.

Percy paused and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."

"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "How about you Miss Jackson?"

"Well, maybe you should not take what you learn at face value because they can cause you to make bad decisions," I say. Or if you're a demigod. I add in my mind.

"Not the answer I was expecting but full credit all the same. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doo-fuses. 

Grover, Percy and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner called Percy and me over. I knew that was coming.

We told Grover to keep going. Then we turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. Well, they didn't see everything but close enough.

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told us. 

"About the Titans?" Percy asked.

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it." 

"Oh." We said. Of course, I know what he meant. We are demigods and we are going to need this info to survive.

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you two."

Don't get too mad, Percy! Don't get too mad, Percy! Don't get too mad! I chanted in my head. I swear, Chiron was expecting too much from Percy right now. He was only a 12 year old, and he had no idea about the godly world. 

Percy mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele like he'd been at this girl's funeral. He probably had. 

He told us to go outside and eat our lunches.

 The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along FifthAvenue. Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. The weather had been really bad lately from the gods fighting. We'd had massive snowstorms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. 

Of course, this was all being caused by our father and uncle's fighting. The Drama Queen. I like Percy's nickname - off topic! Oops.

Anyway, nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. That devil. Or torturer. Take your pick. I mean, she is like the Greek equivalent of a devil. But the title the devil is reserved for Kronos. Gaea is like the devil's mentor and inspiration.

 Grover, Percy and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. 

"Detention?" Grover asked. 

"Nope," I stated factually.  Percy continued for me.

"Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off us sometimes. I mean-we're not geniuses." Percy stopped for a moment. "Actually, Diana's the genius. I'm not a genius."

"Percy! You are smart! Maybe not in the classroom or book smart, but you are still smart! You just are more street smart. I mean, if I didn't know you then who would I go to to find out how to get home from... LA or something?" I passionately defend him.

"I mean, if we didn't know each other, then we would be better off dead. I can't imagine a world without you." 

It was silent for a bit.

"Wow Perce, way to be cheesy." We all started laughing. 

It was only years later that I realised how much this conversation would stick with me. And how relevant it would be.