Chapter Text
Three half-bloods and a satyr moved through a crowded dance floor. It was winter at Westover Hall. The school’s usual militaristic strictness had been evaporated by the atmosphere of the dance. Huddles of girls moved around in packs, leaving behind lone boys with ribbons in their hair and lipstick on their cheeks. Most of the guys were messing around with the red and black balloons, kicking them into each other’s faces and downing shots of punch.
The three half-bloods had just escaped the clutches of Ms Gottschalk and Dr Thorn. They had nearly been caught by the teachers had the spikey-haired girl and the satyr did not intervened. The group consisted of a Blonde-haired girl with calculating grey eyes, the spikey-haired girl with electric-blue eyes and a green-eyed, black-haired boy. The satyr was one rather young for his kind. His horns only just coming through.
“So, what’s the emergency?” The green-eyed boy asked.
The satyr took a deep breath before replying. “I’ve found three.”
“Three half-bloods!” The punk-like girl exclaimed. “Here?”
The Satyr didn’t respond immediately, instead he walked away, motioning the group to follow him. They found themselves at the edge of the hall.
“I’ve found three.” The satyr confirmed. “I have no idea who their parents could be, but all three have strong scents.”
The three demigods reeled at the information. Finding one half-blood was quite rare, two was really pushing it, but three, with large scents, was something almost unheard of.
“There is a brother and sister, eleven and thirteen respectively. The other one is also thirteen. His scent is something, rather confusing.” The satyr supplied.
“Confusing? What do you mean, Grover?” The blonde asked curiously.
The satyr now known as Grover, shifted his feet for a few seconds, seemingly trying to find a way of answering the question. “It’s difficult to explain but his scent is very strange, something I’ve never come across before, smells like marshmallows and burning wood.”
“Monster?” The green-eyed boy asked.
“No, a half-blood. Just strange.” Was the response. “They are running out of time, though. I need help.”
“Monsters?”
“One.” Grover started shifting his feet again. “This might be our last chance, whenever I try to get anywhere near them, he’s always there, blocking me. I think he only suspects, he’s not certain, just suspicious. We must move quickly.”
The satyr then looked to the blue-eyed girl for guidance. Seeing this, a flash of jealousy danced through the eyes of the boy, yet he quickly shrugged it off.
“Right.” The blue-eyed girl said. “These half-bloods are at the dance?”
Grover nodded.
“Then let’s dance.” She declared. “Who’s the monster?”
“Oh.” Grover looked around nervously. “You just met him. The vice-principle, Dr Thorn.
/\
After, making their way back onto the dancefloor, the group started looking around for the three half-bloods.
“There they are.” Grover pointed subtly towards three kids sitting down on the bleachers. “Bianca and Nico Di Angelo and Percy Jackson.”
The girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. The younger boy sitting beside her was obviously her younger brother. They both had dark silky hair and tanned skin, and they both seemed to use their hands a lot while they talked. The boy was shuffling a deck of what seemed like trading cards, while his sister was scolding him over something. The older boy was sat to the other side him. He had dark hair that was midway between brown and black, like it couldn’t decide whether to be the colour of charcoal or firewood. He had kind brown eyes that gave off a calming feel to them. Every now and then, the older boy would hand a card over to the younger boy, with a cheeky wink, glancing at the girl every so often, like one would for a naughty schoolboy making sure he doesn’t get caught selling sweets at the back of the class. Eventually, he got caught by the girl, who just looked at him while placing both hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. After, a brief standoff. The older boy stopped, causing the girl to go back to glancing around the hall nervously, like something would come out and attack them.
Back with the group, the blonde-haired girl spoke up. “Do they... I mean, have you told them yet?”
Grover just shook his head. “You know how it is Annabeth. Once they know their scent will triple.”
The green-eyed boy broke forward. “Let’s grab them and get out of here.” The blue-eyed girl pulled him back, subtly gesturing towards Dr Thorn who had suddenly gone over to stand by the three half-bloods. Nodding coldly, staring down the group.
“Just try to act normal, confuse him. Throw him off the scent. Don’t obviously look at them.” The blue-eyed girl commanded.
“How?”
“We are three powerful half-bloods. Our scents should throw him off. Act natural. Mingle. Do some dancing, just keep a subtle eye on them.”
Nodding in agreement, the three half-bloods and the satyr split up across the dance floor.
Over at the bleachers, noticing that the half-bloods were distracted, Dr Thorn made his move.
“Children, come with me.” Thorn commanded with his heavy French accent.
The three half-bloods all hesitated. Something felt off. Before they could react, Dr Thorn had snatched them up violently. Leaving behind Bianca’s cap and Nico’s trading cards.
Once they left the hall, the green-eyed boy and the girl named Annabeth both found the bleachers now empty.
In a split second, highly rash decision, the green-eyed boy ran off to look for the half-bloods alone, while Annabeth went to find the rest of the group, not noticing that her companion was not alongside her.
/\
Running down the dark hallway, the green-eyed boy heard painful grunts and scuffling. Immediately, he pulled the chord on a small bracelet on his wrist. One second there was a bracelet, the next a bronze sword. The blade of Bellerophon.
Running into the room at the end of the corridor, the green-eyed boy found the half-bloods in a dire situation. Both the brother and the sister were pinned to the wall by something the green-eyed boy could not make out. Their eyes held both fear and desperation, staring right at him. The other boy was lying in a heap, unconscious, on the floor.
The green-eyed boy moved forward into the room slowly, inching his way towards the siblings. Lowering his sword to make sure the two half-bloods didn’t mistake him for an enemy. “I’m not going to harm you guys. We need get you out of here.”
The siblings didn’t answer, they just continued to look at him in fear. The green-eyed boy had no idea that he was walking into a trap.
“My name’s Aiden. I can take you all somewhere safe. Away from here.” The now named Aiden cautiously said.
Again, the siblings didn’t respond. However, the girl kept looking between Aiden and somewhere off into the darkness of the room. Only then did he realise that they weren’t afraid of him, they were afraid of something else in the room.
With a large whip-like sound, a projectile flew across the room, embedding itself into the shoulder of Aiden. The boy screamed in agony as he was pinned to the wall by his shoulder joint.
“Aiden Foster, yes, it seems your impulsiveness really does blind your rationality.” Dr Thorn laughed out, a sound that unnerved the demigods.
Said demigod, started to groan in pain. The spike that had impaled his shoulder was laced, in what he quickly realised, was poison.
Moving out of the shadows, Dr Thorn revealed himself. He was still human enough, but his face was almost hauntingly ghoulish in nature. The light of Aiden’s sword reflecting his heterochromatic eyes.
“I must thank you, Aiden Foster. You have made my life much easier.” Thorn smirked out.
The boy tried to unpin himself from the wall, only to find three spikes impaled millimetres from the heads of the siblings and the unconscious boy. The spikes just seemed to come from thin air behind the monster.
“All of you are coming with me.” Thorn started before throwing the older boy over to the other half-bloods. “If you fail to comply, we can all witness just how accurate I can throw.”