❛001❜

IVY WAS SAD to say that she was looking forward to her seventh grade field trip. ok, it was just to look at ancient art that she already knew all about. saying you're excited to look at pieces of old metal was pathetic. but the art wasn't the fun part of the trip, the trouble that the mortals caused was. (she liked to watch, not take part in it. that was for the stolls.) someone always ended up fighting, or getting detention for disturbing. 

she would never admit it. much less to annabeth, who would probably start ranting about architecture indefinitely. but a part of her also wanted to learn from this trip to the metropolitan museum of art. mostly it was because of chiron–disguised as mr brunner. given that she was very fond of her mentor and father figure.

chiron's incognito persona consisted of his motorized wheelchair to hide his–horsie–bottom half, thinning hair, scruffy beard, and coffee scented frayed tweed jacket. he looked like your regular middle-aged teacher. which was the whole point, maybe he should rethink his career choice and be a spy.

everything pointed to a fun trip. if someone hadn't ruined it.

just on the way to the museum, ivy's good mood was already ruined. first there was nancy bobofit, the freckled red-headed kleptomaniac girl who wouldn't stop hitting her friend grover with chunks of peanut butter-and ketchup sandwich.

(the sandwich combo was enough to make her vomit.)

grover was often seen as an easy target by mortals. he was emotional, being unable to hold back tears when frustrated. everyone thought he had been held back because of his acne and wispy beard, but satyrs didn't age like humans–not that anyone knew that. and part of his incognito persona was to be crippled. even when he almost blew it on enchilada day at the cafeteria.

"i'm going to fucking kill her," mumbled the unpleased voice of percy jackson.

the other thing that ruined ivy's mood. perseus achilles jackson (his goverment name annoyed him, so she used it.) a boy in her class with raven-colored hair, tan skin, and striking sea-green eyes. the first thing that came to ivy's mind when she saw him was, this guy's cute. that was completely ruined the second he opened his mouth.

ivy had met a lot of annoying people, but nobody got on her nerves more than percy jackson.

she understood that he wanted to defend grover. the daughter of aphrodite was fighting the urge to clock nancy with her heel herself. but the both of them were already on probation thanks to their constant fighting in class. the headmaster has threatened them with death-by-in-school-suspension if they caused any trouble on this trip.

ivy was sitting with her legs extended in a two-person seat on the left side of the bus. absentmindedly reading over her leather bound notebook. grover and percy were sharing the seat adjacent to her. making grover sit in the aisle seat, as a barrier between the two thirteen-year-olds.

grover attempted to calm percy down. "it's fine. i like peanut butter."

he dodged another piece of nancy's nasty sandwich.

"that's it." percy said, as he started to get up. grover yacked him back to his seat.

"we're already on probation, perseus." ivy announced, barely glancing up from the notebook resting on her lap. "and i'm not getting suspended because of your fuck ups."

percy turned towards her with a glare, all his anger towards nancy forgotten. yes, the red-haired girl got under his skin. but not like ivy fitzgerald did. with golden brown hair, slightly tan skin, intense cerulean blue eyes, and unwavering confidence; ivy strutted around yancy academy like she owned the place. he wasn't fooled by her princess-like looks and charm. percy saw the real ivy that grover didn't seem to see. a bratty rich girl with pretty privilege.

"i'm trying to defend grover, your supposed friend," he said through gritted teeth. "but maybe that's too lowly for the almighty princess."

ivy angrily snapped her book shut. lifting her eyes to meet percy's glare with her own. she could take just about any insult. but for percy to believe that she didn't care about her friends? that she wasn't going to take lightly. before ivy could insult him to hades, grover interrupted.

"can you two please not fight today? fighting each other would get you in trouble, just like fighting with nancy." grover said glancing between his two friends. he hated it when they fought, which was always.

ivy huffed but silently agreed as she settled her bubble of white anger. she looked towards percy for a form of agreement on his part. the dark haired boy just clenched his jaw and looked outside of the bus through the window. ivy took that as her sign truce, opening her notebook once again.

looking back at it, she should've let percy's anger run its course.

thankfully, chiron–sorry mr brunner–was leading the museum tour. unlike mortal tour guides, he actually knew what he was talking about.

he rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding them through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of black-figure pottery. ivy was saddened by how much of the ancient art has been lost, destroyed, or damaged by wars and time.

chiron gathered the seventh graders around a four-metre-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling them how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about their age. he explained the meanings on the carvings on the sides. ivy couldn't really hear what he had to say due to everybody talking around her but wasn't too bothered, she learned all about it at camp anyway.

standing close to her–much to her dismay–was percy, who seemed interested in the topic. every time he would tell the chatty kids to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, mrs dodds,–also known as the monster in disguise–would give him the evil eye.

(that makes three people with incognito personas, were they part of some shitty james bond movie?)

mrs dodds claimed to be a math teacher from georgia who always wore black leather jacket, even though she looked about fifty years old. she looked mean enough to ride a harley right into your locker (or your sleeping body, take your pick). she had come to yancy halfway through the year, when our last maths teacher conveniently had a nervous breakdown.

from her first day, mrs dodds loved nancy bobofit and figured percy was the devil spawn. she didn't like ivy either, making her just as hated as percy. mrs dodds would point her crooked finger at the two and say, "now, honey," with honey dripping from her voice. that was the tell tale for a month's worth of after-school detention.

mr brunner kept talking about greek funeral art.

at last, nancy bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele. that made percy snap, he turned around and said, "will you shut the fuck up?"

he clearly said it louder that he had intended it to be.

the whole group laughed, except for ivy who rolled her eyes unamused. mr brunner didn't seem to be either. he stopped his story.

"mr jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"

ivy had to hold back a snort at percy's red face as he said, "no, sir."

mr brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

ivy looked at the carving, she scoffed when she recognized it. it was an easy one. percy had to be dumber that she already thought he was to not know it.

"that's kronos eating his kids, right?" percy said.

the carving had much more history than that. knowing chiron, he won't be satisfied with his vague answer.

"yes," mr brunner said, unsatisfied like ivy expected. "and he did this because..."

"well.." percy shifted on his feet, appearing to think over chiron's words. "kronos was the king god, and–"

ivy grimaced at his words, zeus would not be taking that lightly.

"god?" mr brunner asked.

"titan," percy corrected himself. "and.. he didn't trust his kids, who were the god. 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–"

"eew!" interrupted one of the girls in the crowd. preach sister, ivy thought.

"–and so there was this big fight between the gods and the titans," percy continued, "and the gods won."

some snickers from the group. ivy was trying to figure out how in the hell did percy manage to sum up thousands of years of war into three flimsy sentences.

behind her, 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?"

it certainly does, ivy thought.

"busted," grover muttered.

"shut up," nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.

after a few seconds, percy shrugged. "i don't know, sir."

ivy clicked her tongue in annoyance. this caught the boy's attention, sending her a glare that she didn't hesitate to return.

after finding out of percy's demigod status, both annabeth and ivy had suspicions of him being the one of the prophecy. the daughter of aphrodite hadn't seen any palpable evidence, but chiron's persistence to protect percy was enough for the two girls.

"i see." mr brunner looked disappointed.

"well, half credit, mr jackson," mr brunner turned towards ivy. "ms fitzgerald would you like to share any other knowledge on the carving?"

said girl lifted her chin, sending percy a smug smirk. if ivy had anything over percy, she wasn't afraid to use it. it was petty, but she didn't care.

"zeus fed kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him–ergm–disgorge–" (annabeth's big words were sticking) "–his other five children. poseidon, hades, hestia, hera, and demeter. of course, because they ar-were immortal gods, they kept living and growing completely undigested in the titan's stomach. the gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in tartarus, the darkest part of the underworld." ivy said confidently.

chiron grinned, "very well, full credit to ms fitzgerald. on that happy note, it's time for lunch. mrs dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

the class drifted towards the exit, girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other and acting like doofuses.

ivy walked in front of grover, who followed her while pulling an ego-bruised percy along when mr brunner said, "mr jackson."

she turned to grover and urged him to keep going without percy. ivy knew what percy was getting, an awful pep talk that actually came from a good place but translated the wrong way. she had been at the end of them too many times for her not to identify one.

as grover and ivy made their way down the stairs to meet their classmates, ivy exclaimed, "he's bound to get angry."

grover shook his head, "you don't exactly help his case either, ivy. i mean if you tried to get along it would make the transition much easier."

ivy ignored his comment about the nauseating idea of building a friendship with percy jackson. he tried to get them to be friends at least daily. it never worked.

"jackson doesn't understand why chiron pushes him so hard. it's difficult to see the good meaning in his actions if he doesn't know it matters to his survival," ivy continued

grover nodded grimly in agreement but didn't say anything else as they reached the bottom of the stairs. ivy hoped he wasn't thinking about what happened with thalia.

the class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along fifth avenue. ivy noted percy catching up to them, a brooding look on his face. he did that a lot.

overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker that she had ever seen over the city. ivy's inside churned uncomfortably, at times like this she wished to be a clueless mortal. there was something going on up in olympus, but no matter how much she pestered chiron he wouldn't spill any information. ever since the winter solstice, the weather has been horrible all over new york state. snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lighting strikes. it all led to a conclusion that scared ivy, poseidon and zeus were fighting.

ivy glanced around the mortals, nobody seemed to notice anything. until she caught percy's eye, who was looking at her quizzically. she looked away quickly, her hair falling on her face to cover her expression. she couldn't risk percy suspecting her in any way, they already had mrs dodds to worry about.

after the weird eye situation, ivy swiftly made her way to the comfortable shade of a tree. it was away from the others. she liked to eat in peace, not with rowdy kids disturbing her lunch time. she would've eaten with grover, but percy had called dibs on her friend. and ivy refused to be anywhere near percy if she could help it. they weren't far away from her, sitting on the edge of the fountain. they seemed to have the same train of thought as her. the further away from the rest of the class, the better.

ivy took her old black backpack and placed it in her lap. she looked fondly at the pins from bands, musicians and random things. they were scattered all around it. the backpack, her notebook, and her knife were the few things she had left to remember her father. she convinced a child of hecate to charm the two items so they wouldn't be damaged by time and wear. most of the time, ivy wished she could run to his arms. he would hug her tight. sing her a lullaby to calm her. call her his little rockstar as he cheered her on while she threw a concert to her pillow pet collection. but that was wishful thinking. there was no dad to run back to. all she had now was camp.

chiron parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. he ate celery while he read a paperback novel. a red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.

ivy was about to take out her croissant from her backpack when she spotted nancy bobofit making her way towards percy and grover. shouldering her backpack, ivy followed nancy. nothing good came from the red-headed girl. just when they reached the fountain, nancy dumped her half-eaten lunch in grover's lap.

"oops." she grinned at percy with her crooked teeth. her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid cheetos. or given her a bad spray tan.

ivy insides bubbled in anger. it wasn't her fault she inherited her mother's temper. in the middle of reaching for her heel to whack the annoying girl in the head, the weirdest thing happened.

one moment nancy was standing in front of ivy. the next a hand made of water grabbed her, pulling her into the water. when ivy came to her senses, nancy was sitting on her ass in the fountain, screaming, "percy pushed me!"

mrs dodds materialized next to them. oh uh ivy thought.

some of the kids were whispering: "did you see–"

"–the water–"

"–like it grabber her–"

ivy's brain was trying–and failing–to process everything that was happening.

as soon as mrs dodds was sure poor little nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop (tacky.) mrs dodds turned to percy. the triumphant fire in her eyes expressed her delight on percy's doom. "now, honey–"

"i know," percy grumbled. "a month erasing textbooks."

if the stolls had taught her anything, it was that you never offer your own punishment.

"come with me," mrs dodds said.

panic raised inside of her. she didn't like percy by any means, but she didn't wish him–or anyone–dead.

"mrs dodds!" ivy interrupted on a whim. "it was me. i was the one that pushed nancy."

ivy felt percy's stunned stare at her side profile. he probably couldn't believe that she was trying to cover for him. but she wasn't. his life was what she was trying to save. ivy heard grover whimper quietly in despair, she wanted to reassured him that everything would be fine. even if it was dangerous to take on a monster without knowing which one it is, she had years of training. her chances of survival were much greater than percy's.

mrs dodds glared at ivy, who kept her face void of emotion or fear. her hands were in her jean pocket, gripping at the guitar pick that turned into her golden knife.

"i don't think so, ms fitzgerald," she said,

"good thing i don't care what you think–"

"you–will–stay–here."

ivy looked at percy, desperate to pass on a message that even she wasn't sure what it was.

"it's–uh–it's okay," percy told her awkwardly, completely taken aback with her change of attitude. "thanks for trying. i guess."

ivy resisted rolling her eyes.

"honey," mrs dodds barked at percy. "now."

nancy bobofit smirked. ivy's was tempted to get her heel again.

percy gave nancy his deluxe stare. the one who was mostly reserved for ivy. said stare appeared to scare a lot of people, not ivy though. which she figured irked percy, another reason for his list of reasons titled why ivy fitzgerald is insufferable.

ivy turned to look at mrs dodds, but she wasn't there. she was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at percy to follow her. ivy gulped when she realized that she had materialized all the way there.

before ivy could think of another way to stop percy, he went after mrs dodds.

frantic over the thought of percy dying under grover's watch, ivy turned to grover, "we need to get chiron."

"i know! i know! but we can't give mrs dodds a reason to kill percy faster!" he looked around nervously, trying to figure something out.

ivy's eyes cutted between percy's departing figure and chiron. she had never wanted to yell at her mentor more than now. he was too absorbed in his novel to notice anything.

as she saw mrs dodds disappear with percy inside the museum, grover gripped ivy's arm and pulled her in chiron's direction.

"chi–i mean mr brunner!" grover exclaimed as they approached the old centaur.

chiron finally glanced up from his novel, a question bubbling in his thousand year old eyes. just as he opened his mouth to voice said questions ivy interrupted, "percy–mrs dodds–took him–gone senile–old centaur!"

his face dropped in realization, he patted his pockets searching for something. when he reached his left pocket he sighed in relief, taking a...ballpoint pen out of it?

ivy was about to snap at him to actually do something useful. but he wheeled at full force towards the museum entrance.

baffled, she questioned grover, "do you know what he's going to do? does he actually have a plan or something?"

"i–i–i don't know. oh, i'm such a failure. i let all of the demigods die!" he cried, burying his face in his hands mournfully.

"no," ivy said, slipping charmspeak in her words, "you are not a failure, grover. percy is not dying. and you did not let all the demigods die. calm down. breathe."

ivy's words washed over grover, he stopped crying. his breathing turned steady. "than-thank you," he said sniffly.

she smiled softly at him. ivy had always hated the burden grover put on himself because of what happened at half-blood hill.

just then, chiron rolled over to them with a painful expression on his face. ivy wondered how many demigods he had seen die in a situation like this.

"what happened? is he okay? what monster was it?" ivy question rapidly.

chiron glanced at the museum behind them, "not right now, dear. but know that he has killed the monster. i must put the mist at work if we want to keep him clueless, use your charmspeak if need be."

the plan didn't sound so good to her. how were they supposed to deny anything when he killed a monster? but she knew better than to question chiron. ivy was more glad that percy wasn't dead before anything.

without another word, grover and ivy went back to the fountain. sitting themselves on the edge of it. while ignoring nancy's complaining, a droplet of water hit her cheek. glancing up, ivy gulped as the rain got heavier and heavier.

ivy took her pink umbrella out of her backpack, and grover a museum map to cover themselves from the rain. the daughter of aphrodite pulled at the ends of her brown wavy hair. a nervous habit she could never get rid of, but better than picking at her nails.

she was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard nancy say, "i hope mrs kerr whipped your butt."

percy was standing there. unharmed and well. although he looked confused, "who?"

nancy didn't serve him an answer. this was even worse, the mist didn't seem to work on percy anymore. he was realizing he was a demigod.

"our teacher, obviously." ivy said, using a little of her charmspeak to convince percy.

he didn't look like he bought into the lie, or her charmspeak. ivy was emotionally drained already, so instead of picking an argument with percy. she rolled her eyes and walked away from the two boys.

thunder boomed overhead. ivy muttered a prayer, to no one in particular but wishing for everything to go back to normal.

a speaks!

first chapter i'm nervous um anyways enjoy i guess :)