Chapter 1- California With a Lost Cause of Amnesia (Percy)

Percy woke up with a strange taste in his mouth. He glanced around sleepily, almost like he was still dreaming. Wait, had he been dreaming? He jumped suddenly, and realized he was on...a bus? It wasn't a school bus; it was one of those busses you could take across the country. There were some adults on the bus, an old guy reading a book, a young lady using a laptop. Wait, what was he doing here? He tried to remember what had happened but nothing...

"Hey Percy." called a voice from behind him.

"What?" Percy nearly jumped at the voice. He didn't recognize it. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?

"Hey dude, what did you get for question 8?" the voice said, now over Percy's head.

Percy looked up to see an African American boy with startling blue eyes. He looked like he was 17 or so. Percy realized he couldn't remember his own age. He had somewhat pointed ears, and he had a smug look on his face like he'd just robbed a bank. His curly dark brown hair was neatly cut so it wasn't too long. Percy just stared at him blankly.

"Hey you okay? You don't look so good." He said.

"Who are you?" Percy said still puzzled.

"Okay very funny, now let me see your homework wise guy." He said mockingly.

"No seriously...who are you?" Percy guessed his face told the guy he wasn't joking.

"Okay, fine I'll play along. I'm Hugh you know, your best friend?" He said in a suspicious way. "How do you loose your memory by falling asleep for three hours?" He said jokingly.

"I...don't know." Percy replied. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember where, when, or who he was. He couldn't even remember his last name.

"Hey pal, you're not serious are you?" Hugh suddenly seemed worried. "Cause you know, it would be kinda bad if Green-"

"Excuse me boys," It was the young lady with the laptop, she looked charming but something in the back of Percy's mind said danger.

"Would...you," she said looking straight at Hugh, "be a dear and take this to someone who works here?" She had a slight country accent. She held out a white envelope.

Hugh suddenly shifted uncomfortably. His face turned serious and he looked cautiously at the lady.

"Um...I'd rather not, would you mind asking someone else?" Hugh stumbled with his words.

"Please Hun, you'd be doin' me a huge favor." She said, practically begging. "I sprained my ankle this mornin'." It didn't look to sprained to Percy. She had walked over just fine.

"Okay..." Hugh was really nervous, his hands were shaking. "Percy...be careful, I'll be right back." He said nervously. He got up and took the letter. He was wearing a gray pull over and he had a shiny gold watch on. He practically ran to find a staff member. Percy had a really bad feeling about this lady, but why should he be afraid of some lady who just asked for a favor? The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. It was like his brain was trying to access information that wasn't there. He instinctively reached for his pocket.

He expected her to do something, but she just walked back to her seat and sat down. She did glance over though, and for a second she almost seemed transparent, but he was probably just imagining things.

Hugh suddenly burst through the doors, finding everything just as he'd left it.

"Percy! Are you okay?" He said out of breath.

"Fine...I guess." Percy said his voice cracking. Why had he been so nervous? Then he noticed a guy, around Hugh's age, standing behind him. He had a LA Dodgers baseball cap on, and short bright red hair sticking out. He had a bit of a goatee and dark brown eyes. He had on a green shirt. Oh, and he had a pair of crutches.

"Hey man, I think we should get off at the next stop." Hugh said, his voice cracking. He peered around and said nervously.

"Wait, who's that?" Percy asked blankly. "The guy behind you-er." Percy had almost said 'with the crutches'. Thank goodness he still remembered manners.

"You know, he's uh, a friend of mine that's...tagging along? His name is Green." Hugh said the part about tagging along unsurely like he had made it up, but still what else was there to believe? They guy looked puzzled hearing Percy say that. Percy was starting to think Hugh was actually believing his amnesia story.

"You don't remember me? But we were just..." The guy looked hurt. Percy wanted to apologize but he didn't know why he couldn't remember anything, what use would it be to apologize? He wondered why he was named green, kind of funny in a way.

Hugh and Green decided to sit down; Green had nearly fallen when the bus hit a bump in the road. Percy realized he had no idea where they could be traveling, and from the looks of it they looked more liked they were most likely running away from home.

Percy looked out the window, a beautiful coastline stretched parallel to them. The sea was beautiful, it made him feel calm and relaxed...Santa Monica, Percy thought. It looked like Santa Monica waters, but wait...How did he know that? He tried to remember something-anything, but his mind just went blank. At least he knew where he was now, somewhere along the coast of California.

Percy fell asleep surprisingly. He dreamt about a goth looking girl with black hair. She had a silver glow around her. She looked worried and she said aloud to herself, 'Percy, where are you? If I don't find you soon Annabeth-' He woke up suddenly. Hugh was tapping his shoulder. The landscape had turned to a city. Who was that girl he saw in his dream? He wondered what she would have said if Hugh hadn't woken him up.

Suddenly, Percy felt nervous again. Something didn't feel right.

"Now stopping at Monterey, CA - Travelodge Bus Stop, Monterey, CA - Travelodge Bus Stop" A robotic voice recording was played loudly through the bus.

"We should get off, NOW" Hugh said, Green right behind him.