Absolute Mortality

Chapter 1

A/N: So I decided I needed more Percabeth and Caleo in my life, but I had a difficult time finding my fill. So I decided to write one myself. Please review and tell me what you think of this first chapter. It'll get more interesting in the future.

Also, there is a limit of four characters per story, but there are going to be more than just the four stated character POV's. We'll see Nico's POV as well and maybe a couple of others.

Percy

I stared straight into my father's eyes. They were bright green, the same as mine. He had shaggy black hair, also the same as mine. His face was chiseled. His eyes were surrounded by sun crinkles that showed he smiled a lot. He had a deep tan. He was just a couple of inches taller than me.

"Dad—" I started to say.

"No. I'm sorry, Percy, but there isn't any other way," my dad said.

"There has to be another school around here."

"There isn't," he said with a sad tone. "I hate this as much as you do—"

"Sure," I snapped.

"Percy, I'm on your side. I believe you, whether your old principal did or not."

I didn't say anything.

"Your mother and I loathe the idea of sending you off to boarding school. The idea of not being able to see you every day makes me nauseous."

I cracked a smile. I couldn't stay mad at him, especially when he spewed excellent points. "Well," I said. "I am pretty amazing."

My dad smiled too. He stepped forward and pulled me into a hug before I could object. Reluctantly, I returned it.

"What am I going to do without your constant sarcasm?" he said.

"I wouldn't call it constant," I said.

"So, you're going to go willingly then?" he asked. "I'm not going to have knock you unconscious and drop you there?"

"Oh, and I'm the sarcastic one."

"CHB starts up in a month. We'll get you the required things."

"A month, huh? Plenty of time to get in my fill of sarcastic comments. And CHB?"

"I don't know what it stands for," he admitted.

"Central Hub for Boys?" I guessed.

"It's not an all boys school," he said.

"Really?" I said. He must have read my facial expression because he gave me a knowing look.

"You don't have to look too excited about that."

"I most certainly do." I'd been to an all boys school before. I was not a fan. It was right around when I'd hit puberty, and I couldn't really do anything about my sudden interest in romance without making a major lifestyle change.

I was excited when I'd learned that I'd be going back to an all gender school, but was disappointed because I loathed every girl there. There was always something about any girl I'd set my eyes on just to be quickly turned away. They were either narcissistic or shallow or just plain annoying. And the few girls I actually did like were already dating someone else.

You may think I'm shallow, but I'm not. Multiple of the girls that I actually liked weren't extremely attractive. And I never turned down a date with someone whose personality I hadn't yet formed an opinion, regardless of their looks. Unfortunately, I wasn't asked out often. But I was fine with that, as every date I've ever been on ended horribly. All three of them.

You may also be thinking, Why even bother with girls? When the right one comes along, you'll know. Blah blah blah. Hey, I'm a teenage boy and teenage boys look to fraternize with teenage girls.

"Percy?" my dad asked.

"What? Sorry," I said, having been lost in my thoughts.

"I was saying, you'll probably need your own phone, so you can contact us while you're away."

"Oh," I said surprised. "Er, yeah. I'd be fine with that."

He gave a small chuckle. "We can figure out everything you'll need later. Right now we need to get you officially enrolled at CHB."

As much as I dreaded the idea of leaving home, I still didn't allow myself to sulk around for the rest of the Summer. I went about my business as if nothing were changing so that I enjoyed my last month with my parents.

In the last week of summer, my dad took me to get a phone. I'd assumed he'd just get me a basic flip phone or something meant specifically for calls and nothing else. But in the off chance he was being generous, I did my research on smartphones on my laptop.

When he did tell me that I could have a smartphone, I didn't hesitate to ask for the Samsung Galaxy S1. An Android was clearly the only choice.

I've got a laptop and now a smartphone. That must mean I'm spoiled, right? Well, not really. My parents don't buy me expensive things unless there's a valid reason to do so. They got me my laptop when I started middle school so I could finish online assignments given to me, and it was Christmas.

So maybe I'm a tiny bit spoiled, but trust me. I don't have a whole lot of expensive things.

How can my parents just afford to buy me things like that? Well I'm not going to say we're rich, but we are pretty set. My mom is a published author. She's written three books that have each sold decently well and she's working on another one.

I don't know a whole lot about literature and what constitutes a good book, but I can say I enjoyed reading them. They're officially the only three books I've ever read.

My father is a fisherman. But not your average fisherman. He has an entire crew on his boat and he occasionally goes out hunting for whales or other large animals, within legal boundaries of course. And shark bones sell for a pretty hefty amount of money.

He doesn't go on the water often. His license has pretty strict parameters due to there being quite a few endangered species out there. So he spent a good deal of time at the lake fishing. At least once a week we'd eat the fish he caught and they were absolutely delicious.

The day after I got my new phone, my mother took me to the store to get my school supplies. They were pretty basic things: pencils, paper, backpack, folders, etc. She also got me a suitcase so I'd be able to pack all of my clothes.

The day before I was supposed to leave for CHB I'd gotten packed and was lying on my bed fiddling with my phone. I'd customized it to my liking. I noticed how many tiny things you were able to decide with an Android. You couldn't do a quarter of the things you can do with an Android with an iPhone.

I was just installing a little hack that'd get me free apps and in app purchases when my father walked in.

"You ready for tomorrow?" he asked tentatively.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said.

"That's good." He took a brief pause. "Hey, I had something I wanted to give you as a going away gift."

"Isn't this my going away gift?" I asked and held up my phone.

"No, that was just a gift. This," he said while reaching in his pocket, "is your going away gift." He drew out a large blue pocket knife and handed it to me.

I flipped it open and examined it. The entire thing is made of stainless steel, but the handle had been died a crisp ocean blue. Right at the base of the blade a little trident was engraved. Underneath it were the letters, 'POJ.'

"I've had that since I was around twelve," my dad said. "I never go anywhere without it. It's served me well over the years. Excellent for when I go fishing."

I was speechless. I'd never gotten a present this thoughtful before. Finally, I managed to say "These letters—"

"POJ. Yes, they're my initials. Poseidon Ogden Jackson."

"Your middle name is Ogden?" I said, trying not to laugh.

My father smiled. "Yes, it is. And in case you hadn't notice, POJ are your initials too. Perseus Otis Jackson. When your mother and I agreed to name you Percy, she insisted on keeping our initials the same."

"So that's why my middle name is a dog's name? Couldn't have thought of any other O's?" I smirked.

"Otis was your grandfather's middle name. Your mother insisted on a meaningful name that began with O. That was the only one that fit the bill."

I folded the knife and stuffed it in my pocket. I walked up to my father and gave him a hug.

"Thank you," I said.

"Since when did you get so sappy?" my dad asked.

I pulled away. "Since you got me a really meaningful gift. I love it."

He smiled.

After my mother nearly broke down into tears, I'd managed to say goodbye to her and me and my dad got into the car. CHB was located just on the outskirts of New York city. My dad assured me that it'd be hardly any different from public school as it was the only school in the general area. So anyone living near the school had no other alternatives.

I leaned my seat back and drifted off to sleep for the entirety of the two hour drive.

When I woke up, I was looking at a completely different sight than I'd expected. CHB consisted of two large brick buildings. One was eight stories high and closer to a square while the other was five stories high and very long. There was a very wide cement path leading in between them, in the center of which there was a fountain surrounded by benches. Students were all over the path, laughing and talking to one another.

The entrance to the school was a simple wooden archway with a sign that read 'CHB'. To the right of it was a really small building that I hadn't noticed before. It was almost like a very large toll both.

My dad pointed to the building and said, "Front office." I got my suitcase and backpack out of the trunk and then said my goodbyes. His car whirred to life and drove off and I headed to the front office.

As soon as I walked through the doors, the middle aged woman that sat behind the desk looked up.

"New student?" she asked. I read her nameplate. Her name was Nancy Clementine.

"Yes," I said. She immediately began typing away on her computer.

"What grade?"

"Junior," I answered. She typed some more.

"Full name?"

"Perseus Otis Jackson."

"Did you enroll online or in person?"

"Online."

"Alright, let's see here." She clicked a couple of buttons and the printer whirred to life. After a few seconds, she handed me a sheet of paper that was my class schedule.

She rifled around in her drawers and then drew out a small paperback book.

"This is your student manual," she said while handing me the book. "I'd suggest you look it over in your free time." She did some more typing and finally stood up to walk to the wall behind her where a bunch of keys were hung up on hooks. She looked through them for a couple of seconds and then drew one and handed it to me.

"The dormitories are in the taller building. You're on the fifth floor in room 218. I hope you enjoy your time at CHB."

I smiled at her. "Thanks." I was about to turn and leave when a question formed in my throat. "Er, what does CHB stand for?"

She knit her eyebrows and thought in silence for a couple of seconds. "I have no idea," she said at last.

"Wait, you're working here and you don't even know the full name of the school?"

"As far as I'm aware, only the founder knew what it stood for and he's been dead for half a century."

"Oh," I said. "Er, have a good day then."

"You too," she said as I left the building.

I stopped and looked around for a second until a boy walked up to me. He was tall with curly brown hair and a wispy beard. He had brown eyes and wore a friendly smile.

He held out his hand and I shook it. "I'm Grover Underwood," he said. "You're new here, right?"

"Percy Jackson," I said. "Yeah, I'm new."

"Would you like me to show you around?"

I looked at the two buildings and was about to say I think I can figure it out myself, before I caught myself. "Sure," I said, not wanting to be rude.

We walked to the fountain which was perfectly in the center of the two buildings and then stopped. "You've likely already figured out that that's the dormitories," he pointed to the taller building, "and our classes are held in the educational building." He pointed to the long building.

"Alright, so tour over?" I said.

Grover laughed. "No, there's still more to the school than just that." We walked down the path so we were in front of a large canopy that had dozens of benches underneath. There were a couple of stalls on either end.

"This is where we eat lunch," Grover said. "And those stalls are where we get our food. That one," he pointed to the nearest one on the left side "is completely free, but it tastes pretty bad. The other five offer a better variety, but you'll have to pay." He pointed to the rest of the stalls longingly.

We turned to the right and walked toward an assortment of different sports fields.

"This is where you can play sports in your free time," Grover said. "We occasionally have tournaments where the winning team gets a small cash prize."

"Where do they get the prize money?" I asked.

"There are entrance fees," Grover explained. "It's usually around ten bucks to form a team and five bucks to attend a game. Most of the money goes to funding the school, but there's still a good bit left up for grabs."

We turned back around and passed the lunch area as we headed past the end of the educational building. There was a building about half as tall as the educational one and about a third its length.

"That's the gym," Grover said. "There's just a bunch of exercise equipment in there."

We walked a little farther down and I noticed a quarter-mile track at the end of the gym. There were a couple of bleachers on each side of it. "That's the track," Grover said needlessly. "If you have P.E., you'll go there."

We returned to the fountain. "That's pretty much it," Grover said.

"Wait, what about the auditorium?" I asked.

"Auditorium?" Grover repeated, confused.

"You know, where plays are held and assemblies take place, all that."

"Oh," Grover said. "We don't have drama here, and we have our assemblies at the football bleachers. Speaking of which, we're having one tomorrow at ten AM. Regular classes don't start until Tuesday."

"Okay. Well thanks for the tour," I said. "I guess I'll see you around."

I waved and headed to my dormitory.