A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with the second chapter! I love all of you who reviewed the first chapter; your feedback really motivates me to write faster. Anyway, thanks much, and I hope you like this update.
The face soon conjoined itself to a body: a slender waist, swathed in satin, and an elegantly long pair of legs.
Percy stared. What was he seeing? Where was his car? Nico would be waiting, if this daydream – or whatever it was – took too long.
All was still a moment. Then other essentials joined the form before him; a pair of ears appeared from thin air, and long curtains of black hair slipped over the forehead.
In a blink, the body became a person – a woman. She wore a splendid gown, down to her toes and bathed with glitter. He rubbed his eyes and wondered if he'd missed something. He felt as if he'd seen her come together, piece by piece, but maybe he'd been blind all the time. Who could tell?
His neck swung anxiously from side to side, and he tried to gather his surroundings. White. Endless puffs of white, careening round him like crepe paper. Smoke or clouds? Air? He couldn't tell. No matter how hard he strained his eyes, he could not see beyond a few feet. It was too foggy.
Like a magic trick. Smoke and mirrors. Hallucinations.
He scratched his head and wondered if he was drunk himself. He couldn't remember having anything – they didn't keep alcohol in the house, really – but it was always possible. Or maybe he was suffering from exhaustion. Early-set dementia. Gods, he honestly didn't want to know what was wrong with him. He just wanted to get the hell of out this illusion, whatever it was, pick Nico up, and go home. When he remembered he'd be sleeping on the guest room's mattress, which sagged uncomfortably from lack of use, he grimaced. This was gonna be a long night.
He did a double take, for the face had changed shape. It was blank before, a shell of smooth skin and even features, but something had gone amiss. It took Percy a moment, but then he realized it was the mouth. It – she – was smiling! That couldn't be good. Smiling dreams usually signified insanity, didn't they?
"Hello, Percy. I'm glad you could join me." Her eyes opened, revealing an ordinary pair of brown eyes. They suited her, and Percy relaxed. At least they weren't red or something scary.
"I – I" he sputtered. Something about the way she spoke… she was a goddess. He knew it. One of the minor ones, whose name he didn't have the patience to learn. And oh man, the deities got so pissed when you didn't know they were. Still, in a way this was comforting as well. If she was a goddess, then this was a supernatural experience. He wasn't losing it. He hoped not, anyway.
Blinking at him, and smiling tightly, it was easier to make a judgment on her. She wasn't pretty exactly, maybe a little too stern, but she seemed polite enough. She hadn't threatened him or anything, yet.
"I'm glad too?" he said finally, for it seemed she was expecting a response. He tried to remind himself that he was a grown man. He could vote, could drive. Could drink and procreate without plan parenthood on his heels. He shouldn't feel so intimidated by one minor little god. It wasn't like she mattered, or anything, whoever she is.
The woman's face tilted ever-so-slightly to the left, her eyes narrowing. "Please be advised, I can your thoughts." She spun mocking circles with her hand, that little smile of gauze never leaving her lips. They were red, Percy noticed. Red as cherries – or blood. Oh gods… what if she stood for something dangerous? He really wasn't in the mood to fight tonight.
"You can relax, Percy," she said, sounding almost exasperated. "I am Mnemosyne."
She said that like it should be reassuring, but he didn't know what the Hades that meant. Even so, he nodded and forced a shaky smile, as if that took the load off his shoulders. "Oh, okay," he said, purposely avoiding her gaze.
She tossed him a cold stare, the smile long gone now. "Percy. I can hear your thoughts."
"Oh. Oh. Sorry," he muttered, abashed. Well. It wasn't like he had time to memorize each and every one of the gods out there. He had a daughter to raise, a team of water-prone young ones to stop from drowning. It took time. He raised his eyes to her and tried to smile apologetically.
"Fine," she sighed, "I am goddess of memory, and mother of the nine muses."
…But wasn't their father… Zeus? Percy balked. Hera would kick his ass if she found out he was buddy-buddy with one of Zeus's mistresses. At least, he figured she might want to.
"You can stop worrying," she said, eyes partially closed in frustration. "The gods are the ones who sent me. You've become an annoyance to them, Percy. Particularly in the past few months."
Now he was confused. Very confused. Maybe this was a dream or something after all. "An annoyance? Huh?" he frowned. "I – I haven't talked to any gods in ages! I saw my dad maybe, I don't know, a year ago or something. That was it!" Blood simmered in his ears, making them throb. Mnemosyne looked both amused and aggravated, as if the thorn in her side had suddenly begun to tap dance.
"Oh Percy, how ignorant you are. Mortals… I forget your short term memories." She clapped a hand over her shining mouth, giggled demurely, and then resumed her glaring. "It doesn't matter if you haven't had direct contact with the gods, they still know what you think. They still know when their one-time hero decides his life is no longer worthy."
He felt suddenly enraged, as if the padlock against his daily stresses had been lifted. They swarm out as a slew of muddy yellow, maggots of negativity like those in Pandora's box. "What – but that's nuts! It's – it's… ugh," he groaned and shook his head, cheeks blooming with lively splotches. "Those are just my thoughts," he said flatly, "what do they care?"
She shrugged almost lazily, an action he didn't expect from a god. "After spending these few minutes with you… I honestly don't know." One of her eyebrows lifted suggestively: a challenge. "But you are Poseidon's only child, I suppose," she said, "and as I said, you were once their hero. They keep a close eye on you."
"But still…. They're gods. What do they care about how content I am?"
Mnemosyne smiled softly, the mockery never leaving her eyes. "Perhaps they feel you aren't appreciating it enough. After all, you're alive, aren't you? You have a good life."
"But I…" All protests sounded childish to him, so he settled for a noncommittal shrug.
"It doesn't matter," she said, her voice louder than before. "Mostly, they're irritated that you complain so often. Tonight, when you wondered if the world really needed you in it, your father requested I pay you a visit. So here I am."
"M-my father?" he asked hoarsely, eyes wide.
"Yes. And I really don't have time for much more discussion, so let's get to it."
"Get – get to what?" he asked. She drew closer to him, her needle-like fingers outstretched. They were matched in height, though Percy imagined he was stronger than her. Then again, she did have godly powers on her side. …No, he thought sadly, there was no way he could take her. Whatever she was about to do, he was victim to it.
Her smile widened just as she reached him, revealing her pristinely white teeth. Without a word, she took her hands and clamped them against his cheeks. They were cold, a bit rubbery, but did not feel too unnatural otherwise. Still, after a moment of numbness in his jaw, he debated asking her to remove them. "What… what are you doing?" he finally asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"I am showing you memories, Percy," she explained. "Now close your eyes, please."
He didn't obey straight away. "Uh, I can visit my memories whenever I want actually…" he said, feeling uncomfortable. "All I have to do is, you know, remember."
She smiled and ruffled his hair, as if he were a rather stupid chimpanzee. "Oh, but these are not your memories Percy. These are alternate memories." She smiled at his perplexed expression. "Memories at a world without you. A world in which you were never born."
Percy barely had time to gape before she was choking him, her icy touch pressing too closely on his bones. He wanted to scream, tried to, but there was no space in his mouth for that. Finally, when he thought he would collapse from the sheer pain, he felt her slip away. Suddenly everything was too warm, and he was falling down and down. Darkness.
A/N: Oh yeah, I totally did steal this from "It's a Wonderful Life." If you haven't seen that movie, by the way, you're a loser. …Kidding. Really though, you should see it. It's the best movie ever made, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Reviews are always nice tokens of your reading : ).