Percy Jackson: the Winter Gamer

"Tell me you at least remember mrs Dotts, right?! Grover? Alexander?"

"N- no, it has been Ms Kerr the entire time", Grover laughed nervously, he was a bad lier, really bad. He gave Alexander a pointed look but he just couldn't bring himself to lie to his best friend, so he told him later, when they were alone, "I remember Mrs Dotts too. She was a monster, attracted to us"

"What? Why would she be attracted to us? We are just kids!"

"Because-", he opened his palm and concentrated, a miniature storm cloud appeared above his hand, raining down snow onto his palm, "we are special"

"Special? Like- like superheroes?", His eyes lit up with wonder. What kid didn't wish he was a superhero?

"Not quite, we are demigods. Yes, the greek gods are very real and they have kids with mortals sometimes, we are the result. I don't know a lot about it, I have only known for a very short time. Apparently, there is a summer camp on Long Island for children like us. I plan to go there myself after the school year has ended", Alexander explained, stopping his focus on the storm cloud, letting it disappear into the air.

"A summer camp? For… us? I would love to go there someday", he smiled, imagining a place where he truly belonged. Not with his mother or his friends but with those that were like him, "tell me more. What do you know?"

"Well- we are stronger than mortals, faster too, more durable, some more than others. ADHD is a given for us, we are in a constant battle mode. Our dyslexia comes from our mind being wired to read Ancient Greek. Some of us have amazing powers based on our parentage. My father is the north wind, the god of winter, so ice, snow, storms and the like are my powers, along with calmness inducement", he explained, though Percy stumbled when that last word was said.

"What is inducement?"

"Well, I don't quite know how to explain what inducement means but I can tell you what I mean, with my powers, I can make anyone calm", he scratched the back of his head.

"So that was you! Back when Nancy threw her sandwich at Grover- I was so livid, like I could just beat the shit out of her and suddenly, it didn't matter anymore", Percy looked at him with wide eyes, "that. Is. So. Awesome!"

"Yeah", Alexander chuckled nervously.

"Who is my dad, do you know?"

"I-", Alexander paused. Should he tell him? He knew it but… was it wise to- oh fuck being wise! He couldn't lie to his best friend. It had been all too long since he had a friend like Percy, back in third grade, James Pickersworth, he too had adhd and dyslexia, maybe he was a demigod too but he and his mother died in a car accident. It was traumatic and for the first year, he refused to set foot in anything with a motor but over time, he healed from that tragedy.

"Yes, I know who your father is", he said with hesitation, "it came to me in a dream"

He didn't want to tell Percy of the system, so he gave this little white lie.

"And you are sure this dream was right and not just- y'know, a dream?"

"As certain as I can be", he nodded, "you are the son of the sea god"

"Okeanus?"

"No, Okeanus was the sea titan, I'm talking about the GOD of the sea, y'know, one of the big three, big golden trident?", sometimes Percy could be so dense! Who in their right mind thought about Okeanus before Poseidon? 

"Right, Right, Poseidon, right?"

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"I wouldn't say his name, names have power, or I think so at least", he wasn't quite sure but it wasn't wise to tempt the chance, even if Percy was anything but wise. For all he knew, the gods might not care about their names being spoken but that rumbling said otherwise.

"Sure, so my dad is the ruler of the seas? Does that mean I have water powers?", he asked, grabbing a water bottle from his backpack, "how do I do this?"

"Well, I have found the best thing to do is close your eyes and think about what you want to happen, the clearer you visualise it, the better. Once you can do it perfectly with your eyes closed, you can move on to do it whilst your eyes are open", Alexander explained, "raise your hand over the open bottle and concentrate"

Percy did as he was instructed, raising his hand over the open bottle and closing his eyes. Slowly, a tendril of water rose from the bottle. It was shaky but a good start.

"Congratulations", he smiled.

Percy opened his eyes and lost concentration. The tendril hovered in air for a second more before it fell into the bottle again.

"That is so cool! We are demigods!"

"You told him?", Grover's voice came from behind them, he looked panicked.

"You knew too? Are you also a demigod?", Percy smiled like a doofus, not realising the gravity of this situation.

"No, he is a satyr, half goat, half man", Alexander looked nervously at Grover, "why shouldn't I have told him?"

"If he knows, he'll attract more monsters… this is bad, we have to get you two to camp ASAP" Grover paced in front of them, "Why Osborne always sixth grade? They never get past sixth grade… come, let's walk to mr Brunner's office, he will want to know about this"

"Mr Brunner, what does he-?"

"He is Chiron, y'know, trainer of heroes?", Alexander whispered in Percy's ear.

"Ah, okay"

They walked to 'Brunner's' office, where Grover explained the situation to Chiron.

"I understand, I will contact both of your mothers. They'll have to get here as fast as possible, every day counts", he picked up the telephone and duales Percy's mother's number, it went to voicemail.

"Mom is still at work, she'll only get back home in a few hours at the soonest", Percy told them.

"Well, I'll try again in a few hours then, now for mr Dorn's mother", he dialed his mother's number and she picked up quickly. A few minutes later he hung up and told Alexander to go pack his things, because his mother was on her way.

"Chiron, I saw Percy control water, could he be his son?" Grover asked.

As if on que, a glowing green trident formed over Percy's head whilst a conch shell and a snow cloud appeared above Alexander's.

"Percy, you have been claimed by Poseidon, earthshaker, stormbringer, father of horses and you, Alexabder have been claimed by Boreas, north wind, lord of winter, god of calmness", Brunner- no, Chiron said.

He had barely enough time to pack before his mother arrived to pick him up. They raced towards Long Island, every second counted. They passed strawberry fields and drove up right to a hill, where a lone pine tree stood, a name above its crown

[Thalia Grace]

"Be good, train a lot and listen to Chiron and the camp councillor", she told him as they hugged, "see you after the summer vacation"

Alexander walked past the camp border and towards the big house, you couldn't miss it. All around him were children of varying ages, all with names above their heads.

Who he found at the big house was a short man, with a belly and a red nose, above his head, in golden letters(as opposed to the normal blue ones) stood: {Dionysus}

That man was a god? He looked nothing like one.

Still, all the same, he kneeled before him, "my lord"

"Looks like our new camper has some sense behind those white eyes", he said to a satyr standing next to him, nervously, "tell me your name"

"Alexander Dorn, my lord"

"Right, Alec Dun, we will have you watch the orientation film and then one of the campers will show you around, who is your godly parent, boy?"

"Boreas sir", he wanted to say something about his wrongly stated name but thought better of it.

"Another straggler for cabin 11 then"

The film was long but clearly made for people with ADHD. When he walked out of the room where he had watched the film, he saw Grover dragging an unconscious Percy over the border, both covered in golden dust. It seems, they weren't as lucky as he was when it came to the monster attacks.