Daylight

1. End of Beginning

"What you see here, they are not fictions." Mr. Brunner said as the entire class from Yancy Academy looked at the Greek statutes. "They are not fantasies." Flora listened carefully, writing it down on her clipboard.

"What you see here are the truest and deepest parts of yourselves. Friends... the gods... the monsters, the heroes you see here in this room are reminders of what we are capable of." Brunner said. 'We.' He didn't mean the other hundreds of kids in the class. He meant Percy. At least, that's what Flora and Grover think.

"Now, on your worksheets, I want you to choose one of the subjects you see here and describe it." Flora quickly erased the drawing on her paper as Brunner continued to talk. "Not just how it looks... but how it makes you feel. Hmm? Okay, come on." Brunner clapped his hands, and everyone went in different directions.

But Flora? Nope, her and Grover motioned for Percy to follow them. He didn't follow them, though, of course. Flora gently elbowed Grover as they walked, which caused him to look over at her. "What's it say on the paper?" Flora asked.

"It's saying to write down what you see in the boxes." Grover explains, and Flora nods. "Okay.... thank you." She smiled slightly, and he returned the smile. They were about to continue walking until they heard a confused Percy say, "mom?" Out loud.

Grover and Flora shared a confused look before turning to look at Percy. "I'm right here, sweetie! Mommy's here!" Nancy Bobofit mocked. Her group of friends laughed, and Grover nudged Flora before they turned back around to look at the statutes.

After maybe ten or twenty minutes, everyone found themselves outside. Flora, Grover, and Percy were all sitting near a fountain eating their lunch as Grover talked. "There are all sorts of schools of thought about what drives that kind of bullying. Childhood trauma, feeling of inadequacy.... oh, thank you, Flora." Grover thanked Flora when she gave him her cookie.

"Look, I get that Nancy has issues, I'm just getting tired of her taking them out on me." Flora watched as Grover took Percy's cheese, and Percy took Grovers ham. She shrugged it off yet smiled slightly. "I feel like... maybe it's time to do something about it." Percy told the two.

"You could make an appointment to see Mr. Kane. He's really good at talking---" Percy cut Grover off mid sentence. "I was thinking more like shoving Nancy in the nearest dumpster." Flora quickly looked up from her food and shared a concerned look with Grover as Percy smiled.

"Oh..." Grover said. "Oh--- no. No, no, no, no, no, Percy, that's not what he meant. No, if there's one thing we know about bullies, it is that you should never, ever stand up to them." Flora told Percy. Percy just looked confused before he spoke, "That doesn't sound right."

"Look... I know this place is hard for people like us. But we're not gonna be here forever. There are better places out there." Grover explained, and Percy smiled something. Grovers' smile faded, though, when he got hit with a slice of cheese on the side of his face by Nancy, who only said, "Oops."

Grover groaned, Flora helped him clean his jacket, and Percy stood up and walked over to Nancy. "Percy." Grover called out. Percy put his hands out to Nancy. "No, don't!" Grover said. But then something weird happened. Like Nancy, just... flew? She flew into the fountain, and both Grover and Flora looked at each other. "That can't be good." Flora said, and Grover shook his head.

"Percy pushed me!" Nancy shouted. Flora then looked at Mrs. Dodds. "So, she's definitely not human, right?" Before Grover could answer, Mrs. Dodds turned into a Fury--- one of the many Furies from the underworld. "So she's not. Noted."

It only took a few minutes for Mrs. Dodds to evaporate. And when Percy woke up, he was greeted by Grover, Flora, and a few other classmates looking down at him. Some asked if he was dead or if he was okay. Clearly, he was alive and well, though, for now.