Reyna and Hylla walked with Annabeth and Thalia, almost keeping an eye on them, rather than protecting them. That was before Annabeth thought that actually, instead of protecting the princesses, Reyna and Hylla were protecting the crew.
They walked through the cabins and eventually walked up the steps to the Captain's Quarters. Reyna knocked hard on the door three times. "Okay, Cap. I brought the princesses." She called out.
After a few minutes of silence, the door suddenly swung wide open. There was Percy. Just standing there, his hair all messed up and his jacket unbuttoned. "Thanks, Rey. Hyl." He nodded at the two girls. They grinned at him before turning and leaving. As they left, Annabeth watched them giggling and whispering to each other. She turned back to see Percy with an exceptionally confused look on his handsome face. "Come on in, princesses." He moved aside and let them enter.
As soon as she entered, Thalia choked on what sounded like a hidden sob. Annabeth looked around and realised why. Everything was blue - his favourite colour. But, that wasn't the worst part - there were hundreds of papers pinned to the walls with small parts of Thalia's and Annabeth's seven-year-old selves drawn on them. Annabeth vaguely remembered Percy telling her that he was terrible at drawing. Mentally, she called him a liar, inspecting a detailed drawing of one of her curls. There were annotations on each drawing, giving further information, such as colour, springiness, and any descriptive phrases.
"Ah. You've noticed my memories." Percy said, noticing what had caught their attention.
"Excuse me?" Annabeth asked, confused.
"You are excused." He joked, his lips twitching up slightly into a brief smile. "I had amnesia. I had forgotten every memory I had before my tenth name-day." He turned to the Wall of Memories. "Sometimes, I have a random flash of a memory and draw it." He frowned slightly. "I only remember five people. Two men, a woman, and two girls. The girls are definitely rooted into my memory, they are the only ones I can definitely remember features of." He smiled, before dragging a finger down a drawing of a girl with long dark hair. "One girl had long dark hair, but cut it off when she... had to leave her home." He frowned. "I can't remember why she left. She had bright blue eyes. I think... I think we were related and she was my favourite... whatever it was we were to each other." He moved on to the drawing next to it, of a faceless girl with medium-length curls. He missed Thalia's tears and flushed face. He stroked the faceless girl's cheek and ran a finger along her curls. "The other girl, I think I knew her for a short time, because I remember less about her. She had golden hair, full of curls and ringlets. Her eyes were strange, I think. I... I think I came from a family full of people with blue and green eyes, so her gray eyes were different. I... can't remember much more about them. I wish I did, though." He still had his back to the two girls, and so missed their tears and stifled sobs of happiness and pity.
They quickly dried their eyes and puffed their cheeks in an attmept to counter their slightly puffy eyes. Annabeth glanced at Thalia, who was already looking at her in a pleading manner. Annabeth ducked her head and tried to steady her voice.
"Uh, P- Captain? I think I may be able to fill you in. Well, Thalia and I will." She said, quietly.
Percy spun around, quickly. "I... I know the name 'Thalia'. She... she was the one with dark hair." His gaze turned and stayed on Thalia, who started crying. Tears running down her face, she started sobbing.
"You..." she attempted to talk while crying, "you're my cousin. And... you're my favourite, too." She grinned a shakey grin.
A huge flash of recognition went through his beautiful eyes and he gasped, his eyes watering. "Th...thalia? Thalia Grace?" He gasped, his voice breaking. She nodded. He started crying, but his expression didn't change. "P… Pinecone Face?"
This nickname sent Thalia into a fresh flood of tears. "P... Percy!" She sobbed. "Oh, Kelp Head, I missed you so much!"
Even with his tears running down his face, Annabeth still believed Percy to be the handsomest man she'd ever seen. "Please, Thals. Please, tell me what happened before my tenth name day. Then, I'll tell you all of my adventures since then." He begged.
"Of course, Perce." She agreed, like Annabeth, never wanting to see Percy's tears again.
Thalia recited as much of Percy's past as she could, sourcing letters sent between the cousins for information she didn't know. Occassionally, Percy's memory cooperated with them, and he corrected or added something with wide, happy eyes. As she did so, Annabeth looked around Percy's cabin. She saw a map of Greece and traced her finger over the islands of Helike and Histria, before tracing a travelling road between Olympia and Athens. Her eyes returned to Helike. The island on the map was crossed out, as if it had been scratched out.
Once Thalia had reached the part where Annabeth and Percy first met, Annabeth turned and continued the story. She repeated the line she'd said outside the Child's Area of the Athenian palace. Percy smiled when she recalled the event. "I remember that," he added, "that's why I probably looked slightly confused when you introduced yourself before." Annabeth grabbed his hand and smiled, before continuing on with every meeting they'd had.
At the end of their recital, Annabeth and Thalia waited patiently as Percy took in and processed all of the memories he'd forgotten.
He turned slowly and looked, with teary eyes, at Annabeth. "Wise Girl." He turned to Thalia. "Pinecone Face." Annabeth's eyes widened slightly, as Percy's face scrunched up and he started sobbing quietly, pulling both girls into a tight embrace. "My family." He whispered as he held them close to him.