Tower of Secrets

Percy Jackson

The best part was when they found out I was fluent in Greek and almost fluent in Latin.

Ms. Romanoff had us climbing a rock wall. I was doing horrible compared to usual, but I knew most mortals hadn't learned to climb via a rock wall that moves, spits lava, tries to impale you with spikes, and shoot you with fire. Meaning? I had to tone it down. I figured that staying just ahead of Peter would be appropriate since he was a year younger than me. Ms. Romanoff and Peter seemed astounded that I beat him.

Which was weird. What was up with that? Come to think of it, Mr. Rogers looked pretty freaked out even after I took some weight off of what Pete had benchpressed. Peter Parker was serving as my standard as to what their level of normal was, so what gives?

I knew something was up before the day was done.

I ended up sparring with Ms. Romanoff first while Mr. Rogers took on Peter. I tried a move on her Chiron had just started showing me back at camp. When it didn't work out, I let out a string of words in Greek that shouldn't be repeated. They all turned to me, the fighting forgotten.

"Quid?" I asked, switching languages. Realizing I had switch to Latin and not English, I shook my head and repeated the question. "What?"

"What was that, Perce?" Peter laughed.

"I find that cussing in Greek is more fun than in English," I defended. "I was trying this move an old friend had just started teaching me before I left summer camp and it didn't really work out."

"So that's what that was," Ms. Romanoff smirked. "A valiant effort, I must say. I'll have to finish showing you how it's done later."

"Wait. You learned Greek cuss words?" Mr. Rogers asked, looking horrified.

I blushed a deep scarlet when he realized what he was thinking of me. "Not just the cuss words. I'm fluent. I've been trying my hand at Latin, too. I hope to be fluent by next summer."

"Two dead languages? Why?" Ms. Romanoff wondered.

"A lot of my friends know them. It's a good way to have a private conversation in public," I shrugged. Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Rogers shared a glance while Peter just stared at me, shocked. "Plus, the Greek isn't affected by my dyslexia, so I can read it easier than English."

"Color me impressed," Mr. Rogers whistled. "Okay, let's get back to it!"

With that, the fighting continued on and in a few minutes I decided to stop trying out unfamiliar and new moves and really kicked it into gear, beating my instructor in a matter of moments.

Mr. Rogers seemed to be able to beat Peter pretty easily in the hand to hand combat once he noticed we had finished. Peter and I traded partners and soon I was facing off against a blond giant.

Not literally of course, Mr. Rogers was much shorter than your average giant.

It was a barrage of punches and kicks and expert blocks and dodges. He managed to make my nose bleed, despite the fact that I had his fist bruised from making him punch concrete after a last second dodge and his swollen eye.

Once I noticed Ms. Romanoff start kicking Peter's butt (again, not literally), I went in for the kill myself (NOT LITERALLY, I DID NOT MURDER MY TEACHER. I refuse to have a repeat of the whole 'Mrs. Dodds' incident).

After all was done, Mr. Rogers handed my a Kleenex for my nose and even offered to throw it away since the only trash can I've seen in the tower was currently three floors above me. Although I will admit he acted a little desperate to get his hands on my bloody hanky, which creeped me out a little bit.

A little while later, Dr. Bruce and Tony showed up to sharpen our minds a little bit before Clint inevitably failed to show me how to use a bow and arrow properly. They took us to a lab and Tony ate some blueberries while Dr. Bruce tried to explain about the human structure.

When Tony took the floor, he started talking about technology and robots and kept making offhanded comments about what will defend against aliens and what won't. That one threw me for a curve.

Aliens? Are you freaking kidding me?

Peter and Dr. Bruce just accepted the alien comments without hesitation and I swear I saw Pete take some notes on the subject.

Aliens?

I decided not to ask and look like a fool. Odds were, Tony was being sarcastic and it was a running joke around the tower. But, the serious gleam in his eyes when he spoke told me otherwise. Something was up.

And it had something to do with aliens.

Less than two hours later, Clint was convinced I was cursed when it came to archery. I, on the other hand, was having the time of my life watching the arrows hit anywhere but the target. Several almost hit Clint. Peter soon wasn't allowed to be in the room while I practiced. Then it was decided that I wasn't allowed to hold a bow ever again.

I had no problem with that.

That night, while I was making Estelle dinner, I felt a presence enter my mind. I gasped as the presence tried to force back my attempts to keep it out. I spun around to find Wanda staring at me like her life depended on it. I kicked her out of my brain pretty quick once I knew who I was dealing with.

"How'd you do that?"

"It isn't nice to go prying into someone else's head," I deadpanned, turning back to feed my sister.

"I just had some questions."

"Then ask nicely instead of invading my space," I retorted.

"O-okay. We've all been wondering what the deal is with those monsters," she informed me. She paused. "Care to explain?"

I rubbed my temple and sighed. "How do I put this?" I decided to modify what Grover and Annabeth had taught me when I was still new to the whole 'demigod' thing. "Monsters exist. They don't die, they just reform in the pits of Tartarus--a very bad place, believe me. Anyways, certain people smell. Some smell more than others." I chuckled and turned to look her in the eyes. "When I learned that I had that smell, my friend compared it to Mickey D's. Only a special type of metal can hurt them. My sword is celestial bronze, actually. Nico has a stygian iron sword and my girlfriend has one made out of drakon bone. Some smell stronger than others. Lucky me, my scent is ridiculously powerful so I get attacked all the time meaning that I had to learn to fight them or else I would die. End of story, the end."

"Will your sister-"

"No, Estelle won't have to deal with monsters."

"How come we haven't-"

"Seen them before? A special thing called the Mist. Dunno how it works, but to most people my sword looks like a baseball bat and a hellhound looks like a poodle. Not sure why you guys seem to be able to see through it," I shrugged.

"Thanks. That's all, for now," she said as she turned away.

"Wanda," I scowled. She turned to me with a fearful gleam in her eyes. I sighed again, not understanding how I continually scared people on a daily bases. "Next time you want to know something, ask me."

She nodded and left me alone with my sister.