This week’s milestones are: I simply took what we reached last week and divided it by three.
I think they’re very achievable considering how much the novel has grown in just that week.
Hope you enjoy the Sunday chapter!
Chapter 17 Percy’s point of view: He did not seem bothered by my outburst, he just gave me a polite smile and, with a British accent, said: “Hello there Percy, it is nice to meet you.
I am William.
You are in fact correct.
I am currently wearing your clothes, I apologise for the fact, but your mother was the one that provided me with them.
You see, she found me in the park under some rather unfortunate circumstances.” I was surprised by the way he spoke, he sounded nothing like the child I was sure I was seeing.
By then my mom showed up, having heard us.
“Hello there Percy, welcome home!” She said warmly, going past the boy to hug me.
“This, as I’m sure you heard, is William.
He will be staying with us for a while.” My eyebrows rose and I couldn’t help but ask, my voice coming out slightly angry.
“What does Gabe think of that?” The way I said Gabe clearly said what I thought about him and his opinions.
My mom smiled at me, it was a happy smile.
“Gabe is gone, Percy.
He won’t be staying with us any longer, it will just be us from now on.” My heart did a double-beat at her words.
“Gone?
That piece of trash was finally out of our lives?!” I did my best not to jump in joy, but the smile that lit up my face clearly said what I was feeling anyway.
My mom laughed at seeing my happy smile.
I couldn’t help but throw another eye toward William.
He showed up and Gabe immediately left.
I gave him a smile and walked up to him with my hand out for a handshake for a proper introduction.
“Hello William, I’m Percy.
Nice to meet you!” Williams point of view: So this was Percy Jackson, the one who would become the most famous and strongest of demigods in history.
He looked a lot like a younger version of his movie-self, dark, slightly messy hair, those seagreen eyes, and a normal build.
I moved to shake his hand.
“Pleasure.
I’m sure we will get to know each other over the weekend.
Your mum tells me you go to Yancy Academy, do you like it there?” The question actually made him wince, making me feel bad for asking.
After removing his jacket while answering we started moving toward the kitchen and the connecting living room.
“To be honest, no, but I have a good friend there that makes it bearable, Grover.” My eyes met with Sally’s for a moment, she had told me about Percy’s heritage a few days after I had caused Gabe to leave.
I tried to honor her trust by never outright lying and trying to help them best I can.
“Friends have a way of making things better, at least the real ones.” Sally joined our conversation asking Percy how things had been at school lately.
After Percy’s deflection of her question our conversation settled into a nice rhythm.
Later that night after having dinner together and chatting, I told them some stories about London.
Percy and I were in his room getting ready for bed.
Percy suddenly turned to me, seeming to have decided to ask.
“What happened that made Gabe leave?” A direct question.
I decided to tell the truth, but not the whole truth, not yet, knowing the risks.
“He got fed up when Sally brought home another kid.
That piece of garbage threw a tantrum and told Sally it was him or “the kid”.
He left screaming after she refused to send me away.” All of it true, I was getting good at half-truths.
Percy looked at me with gratitude, despite not knowing just how involved I was in Gabe leaving.
“Thanks, man.
Even if it was just because of you and not your actions that caused it I owe you for getting Gabe away from my mom.” I knew that any answer other than acceptance would come off wrong, so I just nodded.
After I lay down on my mattress and him on his bed I asked.
“So what is your favourite subject?” He kept looking up toward the roof for a second thinking.
“I like the Latin lessons.
Mr.
Brunner is kinder than many of the other teachers, and focuses on interesting subjects: Greek and Roman mythology, classical culture and stuff like that.” My mind went to work on the timeline again while a small part led the conversation onwards.
“Yeah, those are interesting subjects, I have always loved Greek mythology myself.
What is the subject you hate the most, does it change or stay the same?” This time Percy didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Math, it is by far the worst.
I’ve always had a hard time with numbers, but on top of that our old teacher Mrs.
Dodds…” He trailed off.
“I mean our old teacher was a nightmare.” “Thank you, Percy” He had given me what I needed to be sure about the timeline.
My mind flashed through the coming events.
Percy leaves school with Grover accompanying him because he senses danger.
Percy sees the fates.
The trip to the cabin with his mum.
Grover showing up.
The car chase.
The Minotaur.
“William?” Percy asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Perhaps I’m not that good at multitasking yet…” “Sorry, I think I’m getting a bit tired and please call me Will.
Some teachers can be nightmares, it feels like some people just want positions of power to lord it over others.” Percy nodded.
“Exactly!
I just wish the people who wanted to help people learn became teachers instead.
Like Mr Brunner.” “Yeah, I wish you better luck in the future Percy.
I have a feeling your future teachers will be better.
Is it okay with you if I turn off the reading lamp, I’m exhausted.” Percy just nodded.
I switched the light off from where I was lying and said.
“Good night Percy.” “Good night Will.” I had already decided I would not let Sally be taken.
Sure Percy might rescue her, but what if me being here changed something so she died instead?
No, I refused to let her die, refused to play into keeping everything like it was, just to keep my knowledge of the future intact.
Things would change anyway, so trying to keep “canon” was just going to make sure I would eventually run into a change I did not expect or prepare for anyway.
I would “stack the deck” best I could instead, but more importantly protect those I cared about.
Sally had become someone I cared about, her inherent good nature had made it impossible not to.
I pulled up my status screen to make sure I was truly prepared for what was coming.
Status of William Walker Demigod Wizard Lvl 6 200/600 exp Strength 15 Agility 17 Intelligence 16→27 Constitution 16 Magic 22→26 Spirit 26 Unspent stat points: 15→0 Titles: Monster Slayer (tier 1).
Gives +5% to all stats when fighting monsters, when equipped.
Passive buffs: None Active buffs: None Traits: 1.
Reborn mind and soul 2.
Fire affinity 3.
Wandlessly gifted 4.
Healthy body 5.
Vibration Sense 6.
Focus Affinity 7.
Demigod Physiology 8.
Demigod Soul I had finally spent my stat point, fully focused on the upcoming battle with the Minotaur.
Saving Sally was my goal, my only priority, apart from making sure Percy and I lived of course.
Intelligence was by far my most important stat for now, making easier and more efficient use of my magic, “faster thinking, faster everything”.
Magic for that pure power, the Minotaur was a monster with a lot of durability, and I did not have my wand.
Bringing it down would be hard.
I would have to be smart about it: 1.
Control its movement, making it stumble, using telekinesis to move stuff in its path, 2.
Setting fire to its fur, 3.
Trying to throw something sharp into its mouth, preferably through its brain, like Harry did with the Basilisk in canon.
I’d make sure to start keeping knives on me, anything easy to carry but sharp would be good as well.
For the moment satisfied with my plan I let sleep claim me.
Percy’s point of view: The weekend home had been great so far.
Gabe was gone, mom was happy and I think I had made a new friend.
“Will was an interesting dude.
He seemed way older than he looked, and apparently he looked older than he was.
He was not even eight years old yet, but I still felt like the younger of us!” I was having so much fun that I completely forgot about school and everything that had gone wrong there.
On Saturday, Will and I went alone to an arcade.
He convinced me, telling me how much fun he and his friends Tonks had last time.
He talked a lot about her, his mom Diana and someone named Alastor Moody, a very strange name.
As we were walking out the arcade some older kids came up to us.
The largest of the three of them, who appeared to be their leader, stepped in our path and said.
“Hey, you have to pay to walk past here.
Five bucks, each.” He crossed his arms as he said it, making him seem bigger somehow.
I was trying to figure out what to say, we had just spent our money at the arcade having nothing left, when Will spoke up.
“‘Ello there, guv’nor!
Lovely day, innit?” Sounding very unlike how he usually talked, like he was doing an extreme accent on purpose.
His answer seemed to confuse the three bullies, and his large smile made them even more confused.
Will waited politely for them to answer, when they didn’t he continued.
“We were just passing through.
You lads have a good day!” With that he just started walking straight ahead toward them.
The leader seemed to pull himself out of the confusion to put a hand on Will’s shoulder to stop him.
Will however just kept walking, the arm not slowing him down and just walked straight into the bully’s chest pushing the bully back and to the side like he had been hit by a tackle of someone much larger than himself.
I was shocked but hurriedly ran to keep up with Will who had still not stopped walking.
The three bullies were so shocked they just let me pass in the gap Will made.
Some other children nearby also looked on with surprised expressions.
As I caught up to Will I asked.
“How did you do that?
You just bulldozed him over!
He was almost twice your size.” Will leaned towards me like he would tell me his secret and whispered.
“Magic.” After the buildup I got slightly angry, but quickly pushed that away, he had just saved us a huge headache or even a beating.
So I did what Mom would tell me to do if she had been here.
“Thanks.
I guess I owe you another.” Will shook his head.
“That was nothing, you still only owe me one.
I’ll collect when you are older and more powerful.” He said it with a wink, but something in me felt strange, I shook the feeling and we continued home.
Williams point of view: Percy had gone back to finish school, he only had two more weeks before his summer break.
I spent my days alone when Sally worked, practicing more using multiple knives with my telekinesis.
I wish I had magic to buy better and bigger weapons, but for now this would have to do.
When Sally came home in the evening, I had already made sure to cook for her, paying her back a bit for staying there.
The first time she had been shocked, but after assuring me I didn’t need to, and me insisting, she accepted the small help with gratitude.
I was mostly a meat focused chef, and Sally’s economy was not the best so we had to make do with some cheaper stuff than what I was used to from both lives, nonetheless it was a success.
I also made a note of truly paying Sally back for her kindness when I had the opportunity.
Getting rich was not really hard for someone with my memories and abilities.
That was not an option for now though, unless I wanted to start a career of crime or magic.
Time passed quickly and soon Percy would come home for summer break starting the chain of events that would bring us before the Minotaur.
I had tried to convince Sally to pull him out of school and bring him somewhere safe.
She had insisted he stay the year since there was no “active” threat.
I tried to convince her more than once but to no success, so we were stuck doing it the hard way.
I felt the vibrations from the door handle when Percy got home from school.
I was in the kitchen with Sally baking her famous blue cookies.
Well, I was watching, not wanting to mess anything up, but making sure to remember her recipe for later.
My memory had improved immensely from my extra stats combined with the mental exercises Moody had recommended when I asked about Occlumency.
I had a small mindpalace by now that I could increase as my mind improved with my Intelligence.
I called out.
“Welcome back, Percy!
Come join us in the kitchen.
We’re baking what you Americans would call blue cookies!” I felt and heard the drop of the bag and his quick steps.
Sally turned just as he entered and gave him a warm smile.
“Percy!” She went to hug him.
I gave him a friendly tap on the shoulder which he returned.
He seemed happy to see us but then seemed to remember.
“I gotta find a new school for next year…” They had been informed of that long before I came, but today seemed to reinforce that.
I decided to try to bring him out of his funk.
“Don’t think about that now.
We have blue “cookies” and Sally said something about a yearly trip to a beach cabin?” It worked.
Percy looked up and a huge smile broke on his face.
“So you are coming, great!
We will have so much fun!
I love the beach and the ocean.” We packed our newly made cookies and other essentials and left soon after.
A while later we arrived at a small cabin right on the ocean.
The sight was calm and beautiful, the beach and the ocean, with a cloudless sky, and the sun still high in the sky.
We unpacked quickly, settled in, ate some frozen pizzas before deciding to take a walk on the beach.
The way Percy lit up when he got close to the ocean made it clear just how much his heritage affected him.
I myself always loved the water, but I had always been more of a lakes guy.
We walked along the beach with our feet in the water as waves came.
It felt really good to be there, away from the noise of the city, the better air and the calm here was comforting.
I understood why Percy and Sally would come here every year, just to feel this.
The crashing waves produced countless overlapping vibrations my senses could pick up.
The calm and quiet made separating them, despite their number, feel easier than on a busy street.
Percy and Sally talked, I mostly listened feeling peaceful, complete.
I let my thoughts drift toward who my godly heritage could come from.
Was it one of the Olympians or one of the other gods?
The setting sun pulled me from my wandering thoughts.
We decided to make a campfire at the beach and stay longer.
Sally was telling Percy about his father.
Not wanting to interrupt, I stepped away for a bit to walk in the dark.
The darkness settled over me as I left the campfire.
As I walked I thought about what was coming, I hoped I was ready.
We went back to the cabin and Percy quickly fell asleep in an armchair, while we were all relaxing in comfortable positions.
An hour passed with Percy’s calm breathing.
Then the storm I knew was coming began.
With the crack of thunder, followed soon by the smattering of heavy raindrops falling on the roof.
I looked at Sally, and thought: “So it begins.” The door to the cabin burst open, the sound startling Percy awake.
Grover, or who I assumed was Grover, stood there looking panicked.
“Percy!
Thank the gods you’re okay!” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS arre131 Finally, some action is coming up next!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.