Chapter 2

Percy

He woke up. His head was throbbing and his mouth felt dry. Perseus looked around. He was lying on a cot. There was a small table next to the cot with a reading lamp sitting on top providing the only light. He was in a small room that was maybe eight feet across and eight feet deep. The walls were made of solid stone with no windows. The only way in or out was through the heavy wooden door on the far side of the room.

"What happened?" he asked himself.

After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Perseus said, "Bobby!"

Perseus reached back and gently touched the source of the his head's throbbing pain. That look in Reyna's eyes had caught him so off-guard; he failed to notice Bobby slipping around behind him. That over-sized mountain of muscle must have hit him across the back of the head knocking him out.

He was angry with himself, but that would have to wait. First he needed to get out of here. It wouldn't be wise to wait for Reyna to show up. Especially since he didn't have any answers for her or himself.

He got up and walked over to the door. He gently tried opening it. It wouldn't help if there was a guard standing outside the door, and he alerted the guy by trying to force open the door. It was locked. No surprise there, he had been taken prisoner after all.

Perseus took another look around the room; searching for anything he could use to open the door. Nothing…the cot, lamp, and table were all to light. He couldn't use them to break open the door.

He felt something in his pocket. Reaching down he pulled out his pen that turned into a sword. That was strange.

"Why would they let me keep my sword?" he said curious.

He looked at his wrist. "Okay…they take my shield, but leave my sword."

He switched from curious to cautious. Now he wasn't sure that escape should be his priority. He had obviously gotten on Reyna's bad side, but what had she said, "Consul Lupa would decide what to do with me"? If that were true…maybe Reyna had left him with a weapon so he could escape.

Perseus had no idea what this "Consul Lupa" was like, but he was sure it wouldn't look good if he tried to escape.

Perseus told himself, "Better to sit tight and wait."

If Reyna, Bobby, or anyone else came trying to cause trouble…he had a way to protect himself.

Perseus sat down on the edge of the cot close to the door. He placed the pen against his left hand side. His body would conceal the pen from view, but leave it within easy reach. Perseus waited.

Perseus having time tried to figure out what he could.

He started with the only thing he could remember…his name. The first thing that came to mind when he thought about his name… "I don't like it".

The feeling was so strong he was certain that, "It might be my name, but it isn't what I'm called". He followed that train of thought for a moment. Try as he might that road led only to a major headache.

"Fine," he said after the pain subsided.

Next up his family. He started trying to think about his mother. Again nothing…he could feel a place in his mind where the memories were supposed to be but weren't. It felt almost like walking into an empty room, and recognizing that everything you kept there, that you cared for was just gone.

He could tell where something was supposed to be but wasn't. The more he reached for those lost "No not lost," he decided "Taken" memories the greater the pain became. He pushed harder this time, despite the pain, just trying to think of his mother brought a sense of peace of security. He endured as much as he could before he finally had to give way or risk passing out from the pain. He couldn't remember his mother but he knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, that he loved her and she him.

Letting the pain subside he moved onto thoughts of his father. There things were not only missing but confused. It was like standing in a hallway with three different doors to choose from. He opened them one at a time. All the rooms were of course empty, but each came with their on sense of familiarity.

Room number one awoke within him a sense of disgust and hatred, and it evoked the memory of a smell even fouler than those six-armed monsters back on the beach. Thinking about that room, he found himself smiling. He was suddenly grateful toward whoever took those particular memories.

Something about the second door was ominous. He instead decided to open the third door next. The third room felt like a recent edition so to speak. He felt as though he liked whoever belonged to this room, but nothing more. When he tried to press further the pain came back, and all he could think about were…"Blowfish?".

That just left room two. He found it strange that just the thought of whoever belonged to that room filled him with both dread and awe. A little fearful he pressed onward…once inside the sense of foreboding vanished. It was replaced by the warmth of a smile he couldn't remember. He was filled with pride just thinking about this person. He knew that this room belonged to his father. He decided to stop before he brought on the pain again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath…it was probably just his imagination, but he could smell the ocean.

Perseus took a second before moving on.

"Friends?" he said to himself. The second the word crossed his lips the pain returned. It was crippling. His breath came in ragged short spurts. He had to quickly focus on something, anything, else. He uncapped his pen. Trying to remember anything about it, or where he had gotten it. Surely you couldn't just buy a pen like this at a store. The word "Anaklusmos" hit him from out of nowhere. The sword's name was Anaklusmos…"Riptide". Again the pain ebbed away.

Perseus made a note to himself… "Talking about or wondering if I have friends, good. Trying to remember friends, bad…very bad".

He didn't understand why whoever or whatever took his memories, but they must not have wanted him to think about whoever his friends might be.

Anyway he might not have recalled anything about any of his friends, but now he knew two things for certain. And if staring at his sword could jog his memory, if only slightly, maybe he had something else that could too.

He didn't have anything else in his pockets, and nothing about his orange t-shirt, faded jeans, and sneakers struck him as out of the ordinary. The designs on his shield had seemed familiar, but he hadn't had time or a reason to examine them earlier because of the fight. Now he wished all the more that they hadn't taken it while he was knocked out.

He reached up and scratched the back of his neck, and realized he did have something else. He pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads up and over his head. Each bead had a different design. To him the trident, maze, and building, with all the squiggly lines surrounding it, stood out the most.

The trident was very important to him even though he didn't understand why. Again he could smell the ocean in the air. He could even hear the waves rolling up on the beach. For some reason just thinking about the ocean put his mind at ease. It occurred to him that maybe he lived near the ocean. There was a slight pull in his gut, and he knew that the ocean was somewhere close. He could feel that it was just west of him.

The maze…no, "The Labyrinth", he blurted aloud. Labyrinth…labyrinth, he knew the word but couldn't place it. A story…there was a story about a labyrinth. If only he could remember it. Like everything else however, the information he needed eluded his grasp.

That left the bead with the building that was surrounded by the squiggly lines…


The sound of the tumblers being unlocked brought Perseus out of his thoughts. It had only been a few minutes since he decided to sit and wait, but those few minutes felt like hours. Perseus had quickly discovered he couldn't stand waiting.

The door slowly opened, and Perseus was stunned. He had prepared to face Reyna or Bobby coming with chains, whips, knives, and other various instruments of torture. Instead, there in the door stood a beautiful girl. She was average height with tan skin and flowing golden blonde hair. Her eyes were the color of sapphires and she had a brilliant white smile.

The girl spoke first, "I'm Gwendolyn Hudson…Tribune Medica of the First Legion. But everyone calls me Gwen. I'm here to examine you and to make sure that you are okay. And you are?"

The girl's smile and kind demeanor had taken him by complete surprise, and without giving it any thought Perseus replied, "I'm Percy."

"It's nice to meet you Percy. But I thought your name was Perseus?"

"It is, but…" Percy hesitated.

Why had he said Percy? He wondered, then he realized that when Gwendolyn said everyone called her "Gwen" it clicked. Like a piece of the puzzle falling into place. He knew he didn't go by Perseus…he just couldn't stand that name. So out of habit maybe…he had shortened it. Percy?… it just felt right.

"All my friends call me Percy." he replied.

"All your friends? Then why did you tell Reyna and Bobby your name was Perseus and not Percy?" Gwen asked puzzled.

A little irritated Percy replied, "Well it's just my opinion, but friends don't threaten you, at the tip of a sword, after you just saved their lives. Friends don't knock you out, and then drag you back to their camp. And friends certainly don't lock you up in a cramp little room, and leave you wondering when they are going to try and torture you for information."

Percy could see the surprise and shock in the girl's face as he told her that last bit. He couldn't be sure, but if her shock was genuine then maybe he could risk talking to her. It had to be better than his other plan, trying to fight his way out of where ever he was.

"Speaking of which," Gwen said "I want to thank you for intervening earlier. According to the recruits I treated, if not for your actions things would have been much worse."

"You see," Percy said smiling "that's how a friend treats you. And your welcome."

"I see your point, and I'm glad you feel that we could be friends. So Percy…are you injured or in any kind of pain? As the Tribune Medica it is my duty to see to any injuries you may have received during or before the fighting."

"Besides the lump your friend Bobby left on the back of my head I'm fine."

"What does Tribune Medica mean anyway? Are you like a doctor or something, Gwen?"

She walked over to examine the lump.

"I'm sort of a doctor. Tribune Medica means I am the chief healer of the First Legion. When our troops are injured in battle it is my job to coordinate our other healers. That way we can return the injured troops to full health as efficiently as is possible. But when we are in camp, like now, I merely tend to the injured or sick just as any of my healers would."

"Okay…" confused Percy asked "so is this like a boot camp? Were those six-armed guys some kind of super advanced training dummies then?"

"You could call it a boot camp for demigods."

Demigods? There was that word again. Reyna had called him a demigod. What was a demigod, and why did the word seem so familiar?

Gwen continuing said, "We train here to fight all sorts of monsters. And those Gegenees, you killed, weren't training dummies. They were real and very dangerous. They also shouldn't have been there."

Shouldn't have been there…demigods and monsters who were in a place they shouldn't have been. The more he heard the he more felt like he should know all of this.

"What do you mean? What are demigods, and what do you mean they shouldn't have been there?"

"You mean you don't know? After all you're a demigod. Reyna and Bobby told me you even carry a Celestial Bronze sword and a shield."

"No…I don't remember anything before being woken up by those monsters' stench. All I know is my name. Well that and I remembered the name of my sword a little while ago."

"Really? Why didn't you tell Reyna you couldn't remember anything?" Gwen asked concerned.

"I was going too, but when I saw that look in her eyes. I got the feeling it would be better if she thought I wasn't going to tell her anything. She was looking at me as though I had just tried to kill her, instead of saving her."

"She gave you that look. Well, I can't say that I blame you for keeping quiet." A serious tone entered Gwen's voice, "Whenever Reyna becomes completely unreasonable, she gets a look in her eyes that would make even Medusa cringe. Lately, she has been going around flashing that look more often than usual."

"Tell me about it." Percy said jokingly.

Missing the sarcasm Gwen explained, "It all has to do with the disappearance of Jason our Praetor. He's been gone for three days now." She paused, "He and Reyna…they were close. Anyway, Consul Lupa has ordered us not to search for him, and it's kind of put the whole camp on edge."

Well that explains why she was so crazy. He might not remember his past, but if it was his friend that was missing…he would do anything if he thought it would help find them. And apparently this wasn't just a friend of Reyna's. Suddenly he felt real lucky to just wake up. He was about to say something when his stomach abruptly interrupted growling its own concern.

Percy's blushed…he could see it was all Gwen could do to keep from laughing.

"Percy," said Gwen suppressing her giggles "when was the last time you ate?"

Percy still embarrassed replied, "Ummm…"

Gwen, still smiling, apologized "Sorry, I didn't mean to…how about we go get something to eat? We can keep talking and I can even show you some of the camp."

"That would be great, but aren't I kind of a prisoner? Won't you get in trouble for letting me out of here?"

"Maybe, but I doubt it. Besides you need to eat." Gwen winked, "Doctor's orders."

Gwen led him out of the room and down a hallway of doors which he assumed all opened into rooms similar to the one he had been in. At the end of the hall they turned and walked down a short corridor and out a door into the bright midday sun.

Percy drew in a sharp breath as he and Gwen emerged into the light.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Gwen.

"Yeah that room was pretty dark. The sunlight is hurting my eyes." Percy said reassuringly, "Just give me a second to get used to it."

It took his eyes a moment to adjust. Once they did he saw that he and Gwen were standing just off a wide street that ran to their left and right. Both ends of the street led to a wall that stood about fifteen feet tall and stretched all around the camp. The wall was made of a gray colored stone with guard posts placed at regular intervals along it. His vision was still fuzzy but he could make out the shapes of sentries moving along the parapets.

In front of him another wide street intersected with the one before them. On the opposite side and separated by the intersecting street were two long buildings that ran parallel to the road and ended about thirty feet shy of the wall.

Turning around he looked back at the building he had just exited. It was two stories tall and made of white marble. Adjoining it were several other buildings of the same size and the same blocky shape. Each of the buildings appeared to be built off of and behind ,one central larger, building. That building stood two stories above the rest and was made of the same kind of stone. Flying from the top of the buildings was the only adornment he could see anywhere. A purple and gold trimmed banner with a golden eagle centered above four golden letters: S.P.Q.R.

To his left stood another large four story building made of marble and flying the same banner. Just passed that were several smaller buildings of various sizes and lengths. On the right was more of the same minus a large imposing building. There was a set of long buildings that looked like the ones across the street only shorter. Obviously they were warehouses of some kind, and were the only wood constructed buildings he could see.

The buildings were all well maintained and in their own way beautiful, but the uniformity and lack of creativity seemed wrong. The whole place put him on edge. There was a harshness that on the surface a person wouldn't think to notice. Everything just seemed wrong and his instincts were screaming only one thing.

"I definitely shouldn't be here." he thought to himself.

Sarcastically he said to Gwen, "Are you sure this isn't a prison."

Suppressing another laugh Gwen replied, "No, no. It does have that kind of feel if you look at it from a certain point of view, but this place is designed to keep things out not keep them in."

Encouragingly Gwen said, "Now come on it's almost lunch time, and if we don't hurry over to the nearest commons area we might not find any seats."

"Lead the way." Percy said smiling.

They walked across the street and as they passed one of the long warehouses turned and made a right down onto a smaller side street. Near the end of the building was an opening. A familiar if somewhat unpleasant smell floated through the air. Percy paused and listened to the baying of horses and the clopping of hooves on wood.

Looking over at Gwen he said, "These long buildings are stables?"

"Only about a quarter of the building. The rest of the building is a storehouse for various supplies, weaponry, and armor."

"So what kind of horses do you keep?" He asked knowing that he probably wouldn't know one type of horse from another. Even if he had his memories.

Gwen's response was short but thoughtful, "Pegasi."

"Pegasus?…sure why not." he thought.

Looking over his left shoulder, "What are these smaller buildings?"

"Those are the barracks."

"There are a lot of them. How many demigods live at this camp?"

"Well four of the barracks are empty. Our camp is built to hold about three hundred and twenty troops, but we only have about two hundred and fifty or so here."


"Okay, we're here."

They had arrived at the end of the barracks. The commons area was a small open air pavilion. It had two long tables that could seat about ten to twelve people each. In the center was a large burning basin setting a top a pedestal two and a half feet tall. There were two other tables one located at each end of the pavilion. The table closest to the barracks looked to be loaded down with food. The one furthest from where they stood was on a slightly raised platform. It, like the other tables, was empty but unlike the other two it had six chairs instead of the single long benches that surrounded the other tables.

Gwen and Percy walked over to the buffet table. On either end of the table were a pair of pedestals. One held a water basin complete with faucet, and the other held plates, cups, and utensils. Just as Percy began to wash his hands a horn of some kind trumpeted.

"What's that?" Percy asked.

Gwen looked over at him from the plate pedestal.

"That's the call to lunch. In about fifteen minutes most of the others will begin to arrive."

Skeptically Percy said, "Two hundred and fifty guys are all going to show up here to eat? Where will they all sit?"

This time Gwen did laugh, "This pavilion is just for one century and their centurion. There are sixteen common areas, and one additional pavilion located inside the Praetorium."

"What's the Praetorium?"

"Oh, that's the legion commander's house. You know the large building next to the Principia."

Getting a little frustrated Percy said, "I have no idea what the Principia is either." Brightening he continued, "It will probably be easier if every time you go to tell me something you just assume I don't know what it means."

"I can do that, but it's weird." she paused, "Demigods are all naturally geared toward Latin and battle. Like earlier this morning…despite the fact that you have no memories your instincts and reflexes took over when you fought. And most of us are dyslexic too. When we try reading anything that's not written in Latin the words seem to just float off of the page."

"So I can read Latin? None of the buildings had any labels on them from what I saw."

"True…but speaking Latin should come even easier for you than reading it. Principia means command building by the way. It's the big building the Valetudinarium, our hospital, is built into it."

"Okay, so why didn't we eat over there if it was right next door? Was the menu better over here or something?" Percy asked, clearly confused.

"The menu is the same for everyone. I just thought it would be easier for you if we ate over here. This commons area is assigned to the training century you helped this morning. Also the Praetorium's pavilion is where the officers, like Reyna and maybe Bobby, will be eating. Not to mention Consul Lupa will be there, and I rather not have you meeting her only to have a fight break out before she can hear about your memory."

To Percy the atmosphere, that had been so pleasant since Gwen had first walked through the door smiling, grew heavy. This whole time he had enjoyed talking to her. Even the parts he didn't understand had been nice. Yet he hadn't completely trusted her. Sure he told her as much as he knew, but that was only because he hadn't come up with any thing short of fighting as a second option. She had told him that she probably wouldn't get in trouble for letting him outside, but probably and won't were two different things. And now she was even going so far as to keep him from running into the very people that had threatened him.

Percy wasn't sure how he should apologize so instead he asked…"Where is the meat? Has it not been brought out yet?"

His newest question appeared to have caught Gwen off guard.

Gwen hesitated as if trying to decide the best way to answer… "Percy we rarely eat meat. There is always a small variety available when we sit down for dinner but that's it."

Percy's jaw dropped…It was his turn to be stunned.

Percy stammered, "Wh…What do you mean…you don't eat meat?" near speechless he blurted, "Everybody eats meat!"

Gwen's eyes grew wide, and she staggered back a step nearly dropping her plate. An outside observer would have thought Percy had just slapped her.

Neither spoke and after a brief pause Gwen turned back to the buffet table. Once she filled up her plate she turned back to Percy and said…

"After you're done filling up your plate walk over to the fire basin and scrape off some of your food as a tribute to the gods."

Gwen spun on her heels walked over to the basin and did just what she had told Percy, muttering something under her breath as she finished, and sat down.

Suddenly Percy found that while he was still hungry he had lost his appetite. He wasn't sure what exactly was so offensive about what he had said, but obviously Gwen had taken it pretty hard. Here he was lost with no memories of anything useful. Stuck in the middle of a boot camp, that despite what she said definitely felt more like a prison, and he had just managed to upset the one person that he had met so far that might want to actually help him.

"Gods, I'm an idiot." He thought.

Quickly he filled his plate…too lost in what he should say to try and apologize, to pay the food any real attention. Absently he walked over to the basin and made an offering while silently praying to anyone that might help.

The aroma coming from the basin drifted up to Percy's nose, though thinking back on that smell he could never truly describe it, the pleasantness of it calmed him. It might not have solved his problems, but for the moment he took any comfort he seemed to encounter and was grateful.

Stepping away from the basin his anxiety returned, but was more insubstantial than before. He sat down beside Gwen and began to eat quietly. Just then the recruits, as Gwen had promised, started pouring into the pavilion.

They certainly were in a hurry barely stopping to wash-up at the fountain before hurriedly filling their plates and scraping off their sacrifices into the basin. In fact it wasn't until they had seated themselves at the long tables that they seemed to notice the two guests sitting at the head table.

Remembering that these were the ones whom earlier he had saved; it occurred to Percy that perhaps someone might come up to talk or at least thank him. That surely would help break up the tension that he had inadvertently placed between him and Gwen.

This proved to be a false hope. As he looked at the few faces looking up at the two of them. They each would look from him over to Gwen then quickly away, either down at the plates in front of them or the other direction altogether. Obviously they weren't about to approach while a superior was in a foul mood.

And so the meal proceeded in silence. And about an hour later another trumpet sounded, but this time Percy needed no explanation as to the horn's meaning.

Breaking the silence Percy said, "So…I guess the meal's over. What now?"

Silently Gwen rose and stepped away from the table as everyone else departed back to their duties or to resume training.

Once they were alone Percy began to apologize, "Gwen, whatev…".

She cut him off, "Follow me. I will escort you back to the Valetudinarium."

And with that she was off.

Percy fell into line and followed. He sensed that anything he said or tried to say would only upset her further. So quietly he walked. Again the thought of escaping leapt to forefront of his mind. But as earlier and perhaps more so he realized that fighting his way out would be useless. He would have to wait for an opportunity to sneak off, hide, and from the looks of it wait for a shifting of the guard. That way he could hope to avoid a fight.

Percy looked up lost in thought. They had reached the Vale…, whatever Gwen had called it. This time there were a few others around, but they kept their distance. Obviously cautious because they maintained a defensive posture and even stiffened as his gaze turned toward them. Unlike Gwen, or the others he had seen so far, they were wearing ordinary clothes mostly purple t-shirts with a mix of jeans or shorts. One girl even had on a pair of flip-flops.

Seeing something familiar, non-threatening, or unimposing Percy smiled. If people walked around in street clothes then it wasn't hopeless to think he might find a time when they dropped their guard and he could slip-out and escape. Most importantly it proved that these campers weren't just soldiers in training, but in some way normal kids.

So he continued on as Gwen led him back to the tiny dim lit room. She opened the door directed him inside, and after he sat on the cot, told him.

"I have to lock the door. Then report your condition to Lupa. I suggest you get some rest while you can. It may take some time before you are brought before her. She has many duties, and is patient but prudent about completing them."

Some small amount of concern entered her voice as she continued, "Lupa may make you wait Percy. Her patience at times can be limitless. Particularly when, as she says, 'deciding between pup or prey', but make no mistake she will see you when she is ready. It might be pleasant or unsettling…usually it's both. Try not to let it get to you."

Percy kept the small smile from his face but not his eyes… "Thanks Gwen".

Gwen must have seen the smile touch his eyes because she blushed and quickly turned away to close the door. Then just as the door was nearly shut she stopped and looked back at Percy.

"And Percy…"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to look too shocked when you meet Lupa."

She shut the door and Percy sat wondering what that meant as the tumblers fell into place.

Percy placed both hands behind his head and laid back into the pillow. He knew he should be concerned about what Gwen had said about this Lupa, and in particular the last part about not looking shocked. However in those last moments, as he was falling asleep, all that came to his mind was how cute Gwen was when she blushed, and there too came a pang of guilt. Finally after that last thought sleep took him.