My eyes groggily blinked open. I tried to sit up but pain shot through my head. "Ow!" I hissed. Then I looked around. "What the…?" I was laying on a sandy white beach facing the ocean. The waves were beating against the shore in a smooth constant rhythm. The sun beat down warmly on my back, it must have been noon. Looking over my shoulder I saw that behind me stretched a line of trees leading into a thick coal black forest. Nothing else was around just the beach and the forest. The place looked abandoned, with no one in sight. The only sound was a few loud, annoying screeches from the seagulls. I forced myself to my feet and walked over to the water.
I gazed down at the reflection and jumped back trying to see who the boy in the water was. Realizing it was only me I looked back at my reflection. My hair was dark and shaggy with and odd gray streak running through it, and I had sea green eyes. My t-shirt was bright orange but ripped in shreds as if I had been attacked. "But by what?" I asked myself. I frowned at the water racking my brain trying to figure out what had happened and how I had gotten here. Where ever here was. "Okay," I told myself, "Start with the basics. My name is..." I stopped short. Dam! How in Hades could I forget my own name! Who am I? This was seriously freaking me out. I started pacing.
"My pockets!" I exclaimed. "There's got to be something in there." I furiously attacked my pockets but all I could come up with was a baggy of square food like things, a golden coin and a ballpoint pen. I pocketed the money and food stuff I could probably use that. Frustrated now, I tossed the pen as far as I could and watched it sink beneath the waves. The earth began to shake, trembling under my feet and the waves grew larger like a hungry beast waiting to attack. I backed away and turned to the woods. "I guess that's the only way I'm getting out of here." The beach and woods stretched as far as I could see an invisible line was the only thing that separated them.
As I walked into the woods a creepy felling of déjà vu hit me. I looked to my right and saw a huge mountain that immediately spelled danger. It was so familiar but I couldn't remember. I knew I had been here but with who and why I did not know. The why was important, I could tell. That mountain had some sort of importance it stood out like a flare from the others. Glancing around I tried to look for a sign of trails. Maybe people use this as a hiking place. I must have searched for hours before I gave up. I stopped by a river that was flowing rapidly towards the ocean. Disappointed without finding anything I sat down on a rock and ran my hand through my hair. "Name, name, name," I muttered.
Suddenly a strong wind blew through. "Go to the water." It whispered. I jumped up. "Who's there?" I called. "Go to the water." It said again. Cautiously I walked towards the river. It was surprisingly very deep. Acting on instinct I jumped in. Underwater was… strange, I could see without really seeing. Energy coursed through my veins and strength filled my muscles. It felt as if I belonged here. I saw a silvery light glowing faintly in the water. Curious I swam towards it. Through the darkness I saw a women. She was pretty and goddess like. She had an aurora to her that felt oddly familiar. I knew I had seen her before but her name slipped from my mind.
"Hello child." she spoke softly, "Lucky for me you weren't so far up river this time." She smiled. "You can breathe you know." Not sure if I could trust this stranger I hesitated. She motioned for me to go on and forced myself to take a breath. It actually felt natural to intentionally breath in the water. Surprisingly my lungs filled with air and the pounding in my head stopped.
"Who are you?" I asked. She smiled again but sadly.
"That I am afraid I cannot tell you. You will remember eventually. But I have come here for a reason."
"Can you tell me who I am? What happened to me?"
"That would be my purpose. The knowledge I can give you is…limited." She paused pursing her lips. "Your father Lord…" She stopped herself again. "Your father is worried, whether he knows of the goddess's plan or not, he does care for you. Remember that."
"Um… thanks. But who am I?"
"I can only tell you your name Percy."
"Percy," I said as that one piece of information flowed into my brain like water. "Percy… Jackson."
The goddess smiled again. "I am truly sorry, but you will regain your memory in time. That will be all I can tell you, Goodbye Peruses. What belongs to the sea will always return." She held out a pearl as she said that in a tone as if it was an old joke.
Then she vanished into the water. I swam up and burst to the surface. I jumped out onto the bank and walked back to my rock nearly scaring myself because not one part of me was wet I was perfectly dry. Whatever I was it wasn't human, as far as I knew no normal person could do what I'd just done. "Percy Jackson." I repeated to myself, I wouldn't forget that.
I'd decided to build a fire, it was getting cold with the sun down and someone might see it and help me. From where ever I was. The fire crackled reminding me of something that was on the tip of my tongue but I couldn't put a name to it. It was warming and reminded me of singing and friends. Just as I was settling down I heard a rustling sound from the other side of the river. But it stopped so quickly that I thought I'd imagined it. Dismissing it from my mind I laid down to sleep exhausted.