- o -

Okay . . . I got tired of waiting for the Son of Neptune to come out, so I decided to make my own version. I know a lot of people have done it . . . but I decided to join the group. I also think that it's cool to see what other people come up with when they have a – somewhat – similar idea to begin with. I actually came up with the idea for this story before The Lost Hero came out, and when I read it I was like: Rick Riordan totally stole my idea! That idea too involved Roman gods, but they were the bad guys. And Percy never went missing. And to keep things clear, I came up with my OC before I read The Lost Hero, then I read it and the idea became a whole lot cooler. Anyway, I'm kinda rambling on here so I'm just gonna do the disclaimer and get on with the story. Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan. He owns Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus. NOT ME!

Chapter One

All of a sudden, I could see. I could hear, touch, smell, and probably taste, although I didn't have any food.

I could do anything that a regular person could do.

Except for that one little glitch.

I couldn't remember anything.

I tried to remember my name, my age, my parents, my friends, even my eye color – but it didn't work. My last memory? The last thing that happened to me? Nothing.

The only thing that I seemed to remember was a feeling. Something that I had felt in my past. It was like being hugged and kissed by the girl I loved. It was certainly a good feeling.

A single image seemed to flash continuously in my mind. An eye. It wasn't all bloodshot or anything creepy like that. It was stormy gray and beautiful. It had a humorous twinkle in it, and looked very intelligent. I know what you're probably thinking. An eye? Seriously? Well, this wasn't any normal eye. I had some weird drawing to it. No, I wasn't in love with the eye. I had no idea how I knew it, but I was in love with the person that the eye belonged to.

But even that seemed unrealistic. I had no idea if that eye even belonged to anyone in the real world. I might've just imagined it.

All I knew was that I was sitting on a park bench, next to some girl around twelve. She had long, dark, reddish-brown hair, a deep tan, and big brown eyes. She wore a dirty t-shirt and ripped jeans, showing some nasty scabs and bruises on her legs. On her arm was an orange piece of cloth, like she was wounded, but I didn't see any blood. Looking down, I realized it was torn part of my shirt. So apparently we knew each other.

"Jason, are you okay?" Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. It was slightly hoarse, like she'd been yelling a lot.

I didn't know if I should respond, so I didn't say anything.

"Earth to Jason? Are you okay?" Jason? That wasn't my name . . . was it?

"Who-who's Jason?"

The brown-haired girl looked at me for a while before answering. "You. Did you stuff seaweed in your brain or something?" She suppressed a small grin. Seaweed Brain . . . that sounded familiar. How did it sound familiar? I felt like I'd heard it before . . .

"Who are you?"

"It's me, Hayley. I always have been, and I always will be. Are you okay?"

"I don't think so. I mean, I remember absolutely nothing, and that usually doesn't qualify as 'okay'."

She leaned back a little. "Fine, you got me. I'll admit, I actually though you had amnesia for a second."

"I do have amnesia! I'm not joking! And how do I know you?"

"You should know. You're my stepsister's," she scrunched up her nose in disgust, "boyfriend. You were anyway. Then you made the smartest move in your life – you broke up with her."

"Huh?"

Now Hayley started looking really concerned. "You-you really don't remember? At all?"

I looked her in the eye. Slowly, I shook my head. Hayley sighed. "Houston was right. He said that you wouldn't be yourself today. I-I just didn't know how much."

I cocked my head a bit. "Houston? Like, the city in Texas?"

Hayley laughed a little. "No, Houston, our friend. You know," she lowered her voice "the faun?"

"Faun? You mean satyr?"

"Uh, no, I mean the faun. Satyrs don't exist, Jason."

"Are you sure?"

She hesitated. "Y-yes. I'm sure."

"If you're sure then why did you pause?" Hayley rolled her eyes.

"At least you still act the same."

"Wait, satyrs – I mean – fauns are mythological creatures. Mythological creatures aren't real. They're mythological."

"You don't remember anything do you? They are real. All of the Roman gods, monsters, and heroes are real." That seemed to ring a bell, like I'd heard it before. I had no idea why, but my instinct told me that she was telling the truth.

Seeing me pause, Hayley continued. "If you had your memory, you would know that all too well."

"Why would I? Am I a reincarnation of Hephaestus?"

She laughed. "It's Vulcan, but no. You're one of the greatest heroes of all time!"

"I am? With this amnesia, I don't feel very heroic right now . . ."

Just then, some guy with crutches, cargo pants, a plain grey t-shirt, and one of those hip-hop hats with Elmo on it came by. "Come on you two, I found this clearing in the woods that we can stay in for the night. It has all this grass, and some soft leaves, and almost no twigs at all, and – are you guys okay?"

Hayley looked up at the Elmo dude, all traces of laughter washed away. "Houston, Jason has amnesia. You were right when you said that he wouldn't be himself."

Houston – as Hayley called him – seemed a little taken aback. "A-amnesia? I thought when Apollo gave me that vision he just meant that Jason would be, tired, or something…"

"Well, it's more than that."

"Yeah, but, amnesia? Are you sure he's not just trying to scare you?"

Hayley glanced over at me. "I don't think so. It seems pretty real."

"Are you sure?"

"I questioned him and stuff, but he seemed clueless."

"He's always like that."

I then decided to speak up. "Hey! I'm sitting right here!" Both of their faces turned to me.

"You okay, man?" Houston asked.

"No. Did you not hear Hayley? I have amnesia. Amnesia." I said, putting emphasis on the last word.

"I heard her just fine. Come on, Jason, if you really do forget everything, we'll have to explain it to you. You're also going to need rest. I'll show you the way to our campsite." Houston headed off.

How did I know that I should follow him? He and Hayley could be my worst enemies, for all I knew. What did I know? That my name was Jason… No. I knew that they called me Jason.

I continued pondering for what seemed like forever, but was really only a minute or two.

"Jason! Are you coming?"

Looking up, I began into the woods.

That was my first big mistake.

The end! JK… I'll post Ch. 2 in within a week… hopefully. This chapter had 1,043 words. Yay. Review and you'll get virtual cupcakes! = D Yum, who doesn't love cupcakes?

xXx