Chapter 4 - Bad Teacher

I spent two more years with them. And it was wonderful not being woken up by a hammer to the head or a knife to the back, though Eris never made it simple either. Harmonia and Eris could never leave too far from the Empire State, but I had more than enough enjoyment from simply talking to them. Real conversation and the company of more than mindless drones was something I never had until I met them. It was the closest thing to what I could call home.

But eventually, Harmonia decided that I needed to go to school to learn…things. So, against Eris's violent opposition, I went to Yancy Academy, a private boarding school for troubled students in upstate New York. I'm not sure that I would call myself a troubled teen, but at least they are the most likely demographic to see through the mist. Most of them could remember me, even if they didn't go out of their way to interact with me.

It was there, or rather where I went after, that my life really began.

Our class went on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan to look at Ancient Greek and Roman stuff. I was a little on edge because The Empire State was so close, but I looked forward to the opportunity to see Eris and Harmonia again.

Unfortunately, neither of our chaperones nor the three classmates who actively paid attention to me were going to let me sneak off. The one time I wished for my invisibility.

Along the cramped bus ride of 28 rambunctious teens, I enjoyed relative peace, relative…

"Here, hide this for me." Nancy, a redheaded kleptomaniac girl, handed me a jacket, probably Grover's.

"No." I threw the jacket towards the front, back to its owner.

"Hey!" She punches me in the ribs, only to hurt her wrist.

"Thanks, Sem!" Grover said, popping his curly brown head up, before being glared down by one of our chauffeurs, Ms. Dodds, taking his crutches with him.

Ms.Dodds looked quite young and beautiful when she wasn't scowling, which was only when she looked at Nancy. Otherwise, she was small, mean, and always wore leather.

Mr. Brunner led the trip. He was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair with thinning hair, a scruffy beard, and an old frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.

You wouldn’t think he’d be anything other than a cool teacher, but he, like some of the other people at the school, wasn't human. I didn't know what exactly, though. The other students liked him because he told stories and jokes and let them goof around in class if they did all their work.
He guided us through towering hallways of art, mazes of marble statues, and glass cases. It was a genuine miracle that the idiots in the back didn't break anything.

Even more surprising to me was the Greek's fascination with nudity. Some of the boys gawked at Aphrodite's bust, while Mr. Brunner talked about how the Greeks carved small penises as a sign of wisdom. While large penises were a sign of oafishness.

"Mr.Brunner," I raised my hand. " Why don't we see small penises on some of the more kingly characters of the Greek, such as Zeus?"

He gave me a curious glance before answering. "I don't know. But perhaps it's because such images were meant to be honored rather than analyzed. So the artists carved them clothed."

"And why do we not see any art about slavery?" It was an integral part of early european societies.

"Because Mr.Homina…it is one thing to justify something…it is an entirely different matter to memorialize it. Any more questions?" He asks. "Alright, let's move on."

Mr. Brunner gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a large sphinx at the top and started telling us how it was a grave marker for a girl about our age. Some of the teens were talking over him when Percy, Grover's friend, told them to shut up. Then I heard Nancy cause some ruckus. I went to the back to see what the commotion was.

Percy was this freckled guy with curly, sandy brown hair. He had gotten hold of Nancy's jacket and was looking for something.

"Come on Nancy, this isn't funny. Where is it?"

"Of course it's not funny, dumb-ass, you took my jacket!" Nancy said.

"Is something wrong here?" I asked.

"Yeah, your girlfriend just stole money from Grover."

"So you're a liar and a loser now. And he's not my boyfriend." Nancy said to Percy. "I didn't take anything, he just accused me and stole my jacket."

"Percy, the money's not in her jacket. Please give it back to her. Nancy, hand them back their money."

"But-" Nancy said.

"Please Nancy."

She looked around at the other students and said, "No."

"Ok, Grover, how much money was it?"

"$50"

I take three twenties from my pocket and nimbly swap them for Nancy's jacket in Percy's hands. "Thanks for doing business."

Just as Nancy was about to interject, Ms. Dodds came over.

"Is something the matter here?" She asked.

"No, miss," I answered.

"Is that true, Ms. Nancy?"

"Yes, ma'am," Nancy answered after giving me a quick glance.

"Hmmm." Ms.Dodds gave us males the evil eye when she walked away.

The field trip continued on and I tried to restrain myself from answering questions until Nancy jabbed me in the ribs.

"Yes, Nancy?" I asked.

"Dammit, you're built like a fucking rock!" She held her elbow.

"Thank you? And sorry."

"Why did you give them money? It's not fun to steal things if you just give them right back. And you gave them an extra $10. And it was your money!"

"It's not fun or right for those with nothing to steal from those with nothing. You should steal from me instead."

"It's not stealing if you just give it up for free."

But it wasn't free. It cost me a mighty headache last night after magicking up a full grand. I still felt it. I myself can scarcely use more than $50 a day of made-up money. Something to do with economics and the party minting money needing to give it away for it to be usable. Just another quirk of my human-side abilities, of which there were many. For every one thing they could, there were ten other limitations.

"You're welcome. And I would appreciate it if you bought me lunch." I said.

The tour was paused for lunch outside on the front steps. Nancy stopped to fish some coins from the fountain and went with some of the other girls to buy food from the concessions. The guys went for the greasy food cart. And Ms. Dodds looked at the sky. She, as well as Mr. Brunner.

A massive storm had been brewing for days. It wasn't raining, but it looked like it could flood the city at any moment. The static in the air was what really got to me. It felt…Tyrannical.

I sat down at the fountain where Percy and Grover were and closed my eyes, taking in the sounds of taxi cabs and the smell of smog. But I was awoken by Nancy tripping over my leg, spilling two lunches onto Grover's lap. Her face flushed red, almost blocking out her orange freckles.

I saw Percy stand up in anger, and he tried to calm himself, but I saw him instinctively reach out to the water as it grabbed Nancy and dragged her into the fountain. Everyone was stunned for a second, not that they saw the same thing as I did, the mist distorted the senses of mortals. I quickly got a shivering Nancy out of the water and ushered her inside the building. Hypothermia could set in early in New York's weather.

I brought her to the women's bathroom and gave her my coat.

"Put that back on! I'm fi- ACHEW"

"You're scrawny and quite frankly, weak Nancy. I'll go get a towel and a change of clothes for you from the gift shop. Get that off, my coat should cover you."

I jogged through the mostly empty, echoing halls towards the gift shop, but I spotted Ms. Dodds disappearing into the Greek and Roman section. Percy followed behind her.

I decided to follow them. I don't know why. Every time before that, I've done my best to stay away from the supernatural. But my curiosity was stronger than my caution.

Ms. Dodds was staring at a marble frieze of the Greek gods, making snarling noises. Percy stood a little ways away from her. And darted between pillars and statues until I was right under their noses, watching them through a reflection of a polished replica shield.

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," Percy squeaked.

Smart move, answering an unclear statement like that. But what is she on about?

"Did you really think you would get away with it?" She sneered.

"I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am." Cracks of thunder shook the building, shaking off dust.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson, it was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."

I had no idea what kind of shit the guy had gotten himself into, but I wanted to know before I did something.

"Well?" She demanded, cornering Percy towards me.

"Ma'am, I don't…"

"Your time is up," she hissed.

Her eyes began to glow like coals. Her nails stretched out into talons. Her jacket wilted into large, leathery wings that unfurled in a dreadful display. She definitely wasn't human. So based on the Greek stench, coal-black body, yellow fangs, and claws, I would say she was a Furiae. The guy must have made someone really pissed to have them send out an embodiment of curses at him.

Mr.Brunner, who should have been watching the students outside, wheeled himself into the doorway of the gallery with a pen in his hand.

"What ho, Percy!" He shouted and threw the pen through the air at Percy.

"Die, honey!" Ms. Dodds lunged at Percy.

Percy dodged her talons and caught the pen. But when it hit his hand, it wasn't a pen, but a sword, Mr. Brunner's bronze sword he sometimes used as a pointer.

Percy's hand shook with the sword as he stared at Ms.Dodds. And when she lunged at him again, he dogged once more and swung at her back, cleaving off her shoulder and wing.

She screeched in pain, but unfortunately wasn't critically wounded. She turned around and unfortunately Percy had gotten the sword stuck in a marble pillar.

And before she could rip him into shreds, I grabbed a javelin off the wall and threw it at her, piercing her other shoulder and pinning her to the column behind.

"Ahh!!!" She screamed, yellowish dust pouring out from her wound.

"Sem." Percy gasped.

"Thank me later."

Ms. Dodds struggled to remove the javelin and glared at me. "You…How did you do this? This is an ordinary spear. But you…I knew you were no ordinary boy."

"Surprise! You caught me." I walk around the pillar to stay clear of her very active talons.

I looked around and noticed that Mr. Brunner had disappeared.

"What's going on, Sem?" Percy asked me.

"Boy-"

"Please be quiet Ms. Dodds." I cut her off. "I don't know Percy, but you should head back."

"Yeah." He stumbled back out of the hall, holding his head.

I turned back to Ms.Dodds and caught her death stare.

"You will be punished for interfering." She rasped.

I sighed and pulled the javelin from the pillar, letting her fall down to the ground. Then I grabbed her head into my palm and focussed on the mysterious domain.

"Stop!" She cried, lashing her talons out. I had a significant reach advantage and she was weak, so her talons only lightly fell onto my arms and chest, tearing my shirt and leaving some light bloody lines.

And then she was gone, her and her amputated wing. The only things left of the fight were the marks on the pillar and yellow sulfur dust that vanished into the air when I walked past them. Mr. Brunner's pen/sword was gone.

I put the javelin back in its place and went to the gift shop, got what Nancy needed and a new shirt for myself. She was where I left her huddled in my coat, looking a little warmer than before.

"What happened?" She asked, seeing my new shirt.

"Here you go." I tossed her the towel and clothes.

"You're bleeding!" She grabbed my arm.

"I fought a lion for these," I said with a deadpan expression.

"Liar." She said angrily. "Just don't say anything."

She left, returned dressed, gave me her wet clothes, and refused to give me my jacket back.

We made it back to the others. Percy was sitting with Grover at the fountain, looking reasonably disturbed. Mr.Brunner sat reading a book under an umbrella-like nothing happened.

"I hope Ms.Kerr whooped Percy," Nancy said.

I was going to ask her who she was talking about, but I noticed another chaperone off to the side. She was purely a figment of mist, not human or otherwise.

"Listen to me, Nancy."

"Yes?"

"There is no Ms. Kerr."

"What do you mean, she's right-"

I put my thumb to her forehead.

"There. Is. No. Ms. Kerr." I reiterated.

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