I sat on my bed reading a book when I heard a knock at my door. "Come in." I called.
Piper slipped through and hopped up on the bed next to me. "How are you doing?"
"I've been better." I replied. "I can't stand Hera. She hates Percy and I."
"All the more reason not to let this tear you apart. That's probably what she wants to happen, don't you think?"
"Then what do I do?"
"Wait. His memories will come back in time, they must. Defeating Gaia must be more important to Hera than yours and Percy's relationships."
"What about that other girl?" I asked. "Gwen?"
"What about her?"
"It's obvious she likes Percy, and that he at least partially likes her back."
"Are you sure you're not the daughter of Aphrodite?" Piper asked. I laughed. "Give it time," Piper continued. "He'll come around."
"I hope you're right."
"I am." Piper said confidently. I had a feeling she was charmspeaking to make me feel better, but I wasn't sure. We bid each other goodnight and I dozed off almost immediately after Piper left.
My dreams were terrifying. Images of Spiders flashed before me. I watched as Percy drowned; but Percy couldn't drown. Apparently, that didn't matter.
I woke with a start and glanced at my watch, 5:00. I felt rested enough, and the prospect of dreaming again didn't sound too enjoyable, so I decided I'd go train. We'd passed the training arena after dinner last night, so I knew where to go.
I slashed and hacked at the dummies as I thought about Percy and Gwen. I knew I shouldn't be mad at either of them, but I couldn't help it. Percy had no memories; and for Gwen, who wouldn't be attracted to Percy Jackson? I sure as hell was.
"Hey, erm, Annabeth, right?" I heard from over my shoulder. I knew it was Percy. I'd recognize his voice anywhere.
I turned to face him. Gods I missed him. My heart melted at the prospect of being alone with him.
"Hey, Seaweed Brain." I replied.
"Hazel and Frank told me some pretty cool stories about myself last night."
"You've done some pretty cool things."
"What else do you know about me?" Percy asked.
"Everything." I replied, stepping closer to him. "What do you want to know?"
"Tell me about the titan war."
So I did. I told him about Kronos, how he became invincible, his offer for immortality, the whole nine yards.
"I turned down immortality?" Percy asked.
"Mhm." I replied.
"Must've had a pretty good reason then. What was it?"
"I don't know, you never told me." That part was true, Percy never officially did tell me I was the reason he refused Zeus' offer, but I wanted him to figure that out on his own. I didn't want to force it on him, it would be too much.
At this time other Roman's had started to enter the arena. Apparently it was the norm to train at the break of day here.
"So," I asked, "want to spar?"
Percy smiled. "You do know I'm pretty much invincible, right?" Oh how I missed his overconfidence.
"That's alright," I smiled. "I know where to stab." His tone turned serious as he set his guard.
The clash of bronze and gold echoed across the valley. Heads were turning as we engaged in fast paced combat. I lunged at Percy, but he grabbed my dagger arm. I twisted and spun underneath riptide as the blade swiped across. Had I been standing straight up, I would've been cut in two at the breast. I leapt backwards, resetting myself. All eyes were on us. Percy slashed downwards from a high guard. I sidestepped as riptide slammed into the floor.
Percy was too slow to recover. I managed to get behind him, dagger on the small of his back. He immediately tensed up. I knew the feeling running through his body, he'd described it to me before.
"I surrender." he claimed, to the shock of the Roman's. Hazel and Frank had told me Percy was considered one of the best swordsmen at camp regardless of the curse of achilles. For a Greek to walk in and defeat him in combat was astonishing to them. Their faces were priceless.
I caught Piper out of the corner of my eye near the edge of the arena. She gave me an encouraging smile as if everything was going according to her plan.
"So, you really do know everything about me?" Percy asked.
"I really do." I told him. "Let's talk more over lunch later, I've got some stuff to take care of." I walked over to where Piper was and he headed back to the ship.
"That was amazing!" Piper exclaimed. Truthfully, it was. Not the fight, but being with Percy again. Feeling his presence so close to mine. Being able to touch him again, if only for a moment in the heat of battle. It was something. I could tell he was interested in the memories, but they just didn't seem to return. He'd have to rely on stories of his past to fill in the holes of his life. I pitied him for a moment. It must be tougher than I'm giving him credit for. Being uprooted to some random place, it must have been awful.
I returned to my room and sat at my desk, eager to work on some of the Olympus plans. Truthfully, I didn't have any pressing matters to take care of. I just couldn't hold my emotions together in his presence any longer. I began to sob. So close, yet so far. It was torture to be in the presence of my sole mate and have him look towards me as a stranger. Oh well, I'll get him back one day.
