Brainwashed

Chapter 1

I woke up and looked around. I was lying in a forest with really tall trees surrounding me at every corner, and my back was wet from the dirt on the ground. It must have rained the night before; I couldn't exactly tell, because everything was blurry and unclear and a migraine pounded against my head like a drum. There was a voice nearby that kept on repeating two sounds over and over again, but I couldn't pinpoint what they were. Air Ski... Pear Sea... Parsley... I reluctantly shifted my head to the right and was hit by an unexpected burst of blonde hair looming over me. My vision cleared a little and I realized there was a girl about my age repeating those sounds and shaking me vigorously.

"PERCY! Percy, thank the gods you're alive..."

I looked at her like she had two heads. "What?"

She rolled her eyes like I had three heads. "Thank goodness you're ALIVE, Seaweed Brain. Don't you remember what happened?"

"Who's Percy? And who are you? And where the heck are we?"

The girl looked at me with an annoyed expression. "Seriously, Percy, you know we don't have time for joking around right now. We've got to head back to camp."

"Wait, what?" I backed away from her. "Okay, you clearly have the wrong guy because I'm not Percy, I'm..." My voice suddenly cracked.

Oh god. I don't even know my own name. No, impossible. Maybe my head just hurts and I need to take a nap or something...

The girl stepped forward, concerned. She threw me a look of confusion. "Percy, are you okay? You look like you just swallowed a raw fish or something..."

My head whirled around like the spinning of a hurricane. It didn't take long for me to drop unconscious on the dirt path.

The second time I woke up started out pretty similar to the first. Even through the blurriness, I could tell that I was lying on a soft bed of grass, and the girl from before was in front of me again. Only this time when my eyesight cleared, there were more people.

Way, way more people. Like a million eyes all staring at me like I was some sort of interesting artefact that the girl had picked up on her way here...wherever this was. One guy approached me a little closer, and crouched down beside me. "Percy, dude...you okay?"

"STOP CALLING ME PERCY!" I yelled in frustration. The guy stepped back quickly in shock, looking quietly down.

I breathed for a few minutes, panting from my anger. I looked back at the guy. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

I think I would've fainted again, if the girl from before didn't grab my arm and catch me. The guy had HOOVES. Like a goat. I looked around at the people around me. They all looked surprisingly more confused than I was. Taking it in, it was all too much. I was about to pinch myself, hoping that this was just a nightmare, when this guy who was half horse walked into the circle. Great, half goat, half horse, what now, a mermaid? The guy cocked an eyebrow at me and motioned for the others to leave, then approached me slowly. "Is everything alright, Percy?"

I was about to lose it. "For the LAST time-

"Chiron, I think Percy is the slightest bit ill," the girl interrupted. "He sort of suffered from a concussion while we were on a quest, so..."

"Look, I don't understand why everyone is calling me "Percy", okay? My name isn't Percy, it's..."

My mind entered a state of confusion again. No. How could this be happening?

The half-horse guy the girl called "Chiron" blinked at her, worried. "Annabeth, what sort of "concussion" was this?"

So her name is "Annabeth". The girl swallowed nervously, and whispered into Chiron's ear. Chiron's eyes widened, and he gestured towards me. "This is extremely serious, Annabeth. If what you tell is true, this "concussion" could lead to serious injury. In fact, I would say that Percy's lucky to be alive. Take him to the infirmary immediately. I'll meet you there."

I look at Annabeth, confused. "What? What concussion?"

She shook her head. "It's a pretty long story. I think that Chiron should take a look at you before I tell you anything." She ducked down her head as she led me to the infirmary. I saw her bite her lip behind her curtain of long blonde hair. Was she worried about me?

"Can you tell me just one thing then?"

"She looked up, a bit carefully. "What do you want to know?"

"Where am I?"

"Oh, you're at Camp Half-Blood. You don't recognize this place at all?"

"No."

"Oh."

It looks like the sun is setting by the time we get to the infirmary, and I'm absolutely exhausted from all this news. But I'm pretty sure that this is all just a dream, so I'm more than happy to settle into one of the hammocks at the infirmary. Maybe if I go to sleep in my dreams, I'll wake up in real life. And then I'll remember who I am again.

Guys are supposed to be tough. You know, the brawny, brave "I'm not scared of anything" kind of tough. But to be completely honest, when I woke up this morning, I almost cried.

I was still in the infirmary. Lying in the hammock. In the same world as half-horse-half-human people.

Chiron visited me first thing this morning, along with Annabeth and the half-goat guy. Honestly, I have no idea why those two were here, but Chiron didn't seem to be surprised. He crouched slowly beside my hammock.

"Good morning, Percy. How are you feeling?"

"Is my name really Percy?"

Chiron looked at me, concerned. "You mean this morning you still don't remember your name?"

I wanted to say that I did so badly, but I just didn't. "I can't remember who I am at all."

Chiron nodded slowly. "Well then, we'll start from there. Your name is indeed Percy, Perceus Jackson to be precise."

Something sounded vaguely familiar. "Perceus, as in that guy that killed the Medusa lady in the Greek myths?"

"Precisely."

Ok. So I'm named after a Greek hero. I can handle that, right?

"Alright. So Annabeth told me that this is Camp Half-Blood?"

"That is correct."

"So...why am I here?"

Chiron blinked a few times and turned to Annabeth. "You mean he doesn't-

"I have no idea."

"Did he mention his dad?"

"No."

Chiron turned back to me. "Do you have any knowledge of the Greek gods?"

What? "You mean like Zeus and Poseidon and Athena?"

"Yes."

"Well I remember some of the myths about them. Why?"

Chiron nodded. "You are at Camp Half-Blood to learn how to fight and defend yourself, to learn how to read Ancient Greek, the language you know best, and to stay protected from the monsters that Perceus and many other monsters have fought for many, many, many years. You are here because you are a half-blood: the child of a god and a human, the child of Poseidon, the god himself."

I thought that after I had seen the half-goat guy and Chiron, I would be able to handle anything else that was thrown at me here. But the fact that my dad was a Greek god was overwhelming. I think that I must have gone into shock for a few seconds, because Mr. Half-goat was tapping me on the arm. "Percy?"

I shook my head, coming back into the present. "I'm alright. Do you think you guys could...leave me for a few minutes please? I'm just trying to, um, process everything."

Chiron stood. "Of course. Send a message if you need us, Percy. Remember, we are always here to help." Gesturing for the other two to follow him, they exited the infirmary, leaving me with my thoughts.

Hey, this is Joyce Jennifer. I still don't know exactly where I'm going with this, so please, please, PLEASE feel free to rate and review.

Enjoy!

JJ