Chapter IV: Percy

After the council meeting, Rayne and Hazel had left anxiously to start packing for our quest tomorrow. Having no worldly possessions other than my new Legion t-shirt and my jeans, I didn't have the need to pack. So instead, I gave myself the grand tour of the camp. The big house was well big, that's really the only way to explain it. It towered over everything else, with its beautiful marble work and elegant Roman style pillars. The twelve Roman gods of Olympus stood around the outer walls like guardians. The king and queen of the gods stood guard over the doorway. Zeus or rather Jupiter, stood with anger etched in his face with his hideous shield, with the face of medusa, her snakes coiled around the face of the shield. In his right hand, he held his mighty lightning bolt.

I stared at the god for what seemed like days, it seemed to jar a memory, unfortunately, it only was only unrelated ideas. Like when you begin to put a puzzle together, and you really don't have much of anything yet. That's how it felt. The phrase "lightning thief" came to my mind. I pushed and pushed, but I once again came up empty.

Giving up, I walked to inspect the other statues. Hera stood proud and tall with what looked like a goat skinned cloak over her shoulders. I felt a pang in my gut, but kept walking. Hermes, with his winged shoes, Hephaestus with his long beard, Aphrodite looking beautiful as ever, Ares in full battle gear, Artemis with her loyal wolf companion curled at her feet, Apollo and his lyre, Dionysus with grape vines around his ankles, Athena with an owl on her shoulder, Demeter looking extremely peaceful, and finally I made my way to my father, Poseidon. I felt compelled to call the gods by their original Greek names. I felt as if my brain had been wired for Greek mythology and not Roman.

I knelt at the foot of my father's statue, knowing he probably couldn't hear me, but I hoped that just by speaking it out loud, that it would help clear my mind. "Who am I?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

You are my son, Percy Jackson.

The voice seemed to come from abyss and echoed around me; it scared me nonetheless. I frantically looked around to see where the voice had come from, but I couldn't find a source. I half expected to see Poseidon standing behind me. I frowned disappointed.

Don't be disappointed my child. I am always with you, even though at times when you cannot see me, or don't remember my face. You have not lost your way nor have you staggered far from your destined path. You have already proven me wrong, on countless occasions. I am proud to have you as my son.

I felt a rustle of warm air whistle around me, the smell of the sea over powered me. I bowed my head and embraced the feeling. It felt like home. I felt my conscious slowly slipping away, I remembered myself sitting on the bottom bunk of a cabin… where? I had been up late thinking of the events that had taken place that day. I could hear the snores of another person next to me, and I saw a huge lump. Tyson, my mind screamed at me. Tyson, my Cyclops half-brother. Although, I couldn't remember any other memories of him, I knew that he was someone close to me. It was nice to know that I had someone out there that was family.

The vision changed, and I saw myself standing in front of the whole council of Olympus. Every god that I had just saw in statue form, now sat in their monstrous thrones. Another boy stood to my left, who had immensely bright sky blue eyes and blonde hair. He had a certain confidence about him. He met my eyes, and I met his. Jason, I whispered and judging by the way his mouth moved, I think he said my name, but I couldn't ponder that very long. I felt a surge of power, as if I had just been sapped by lightning flow through my body.

And I opened my eyes. Not much time had seemed to have passed, and I was still kneeling at the feet of my father's statue. Weird dream, I thought. My head ached. I stood, my legs threatening to give out on me and send me plummeting towards the ground. My stomach ached and I realized I hadn't eaten since… I couldn't remember when. Judging by the sun, it was around four o'clock in the afternoon. I decided that I'd have about an hour to go before dinner time, so I went to further explore the camp.

The camp itself was sort of horseshoe shaped. The main big house stood in the center of the horseshoe; to the right were about two dozen roman style buildings, each with a different statue of a god in front of its entrance. To the left was a large training ground, large stone pillars stood around its perimeter. The center of the horseshoe was a lake.

I wandered through what I guessed to be the cabins for the Legion warriors, until I found my own cabin. I glanced at my father's statue before entering. The cabin was plain and tasteless. The floors were bare and cold and the walls were pretty much the same. The only color in the room was the sea green comforters that lay perfectly made on the half a dozen bunk beds that were pushed up against the walls. On the floor, I noticed was a trident, the logo of my father. At the end of the cabin there a stone fireplace, the embers roaring with excitement, as if they were glad to finally have someone to keep them company. I could have sworn that there was a little girl sitting on the ground next to the fire, but I must have imagined it, because the next time I looked she was gone.

I walked through the cabin, examining every little detail that I possibly good, hoping that there was someone that was just going to pop out and say: "hi, I'm your brother!" but it was no good. There was no one, and there hadn't been anyone in this cabin for maybe fifty years. I sighed, and threw myself down on the bed nearest me. Truly exhausted, my head still dully pounding, I dozed off for what felt like a few seconds, but realized it was hours later when I woke.

"Percy, hi" I heard a voice to my far left say. I tensed, but quickly relaxed as I realized that it was just Hazel. She sat on the floor next to one of the bunks. Her hair was tightly braided down her back, and wore a plain black t-shirt, and khaki shorts. "I saw you sleep through dinner, so I saved you some. Usually, you'd be out of luck, but I know you're going to need to be at your best for our quest." She handed me a plate and an empty coffee mug, which had been sitting on the bed next to her.

"Thanks Hazel," I took the food, gratefully. I don't think I've ever eaten something so delicious in my life. That could also be due largely to the fact that I couldn't remember ever eating anything, but that's beyond the point. Hazel had brought me two large slices of pepperoni pizza. I finished the pizza and looked at my empty mug. For some reason, the thought of blue Pepsi popped into my mind. Almost instantly, my mug filled with a blue liquid. I drank thirstily. I don't know why I made it blue, but something inside me told me to do it.

After eating, I felt a little bit better, but still extremely tired. Hazel noticed this and nodded. She stood and grabbed a plain black shoulder bag off of the floor that was sitting next to her. "You'll probably need this. I packed you a change of clothes and other necessities," and she handed it to me.

"Thanks Hazel, for everything," I smiled. I could tell that Hazel was going to be a good friend, I was unsure about Rayne.

"Don't mention it," she smiled. The light of the fire seemed to illuminate and dance off of her eyes. She smiled awkwardly. "Well, I should probably go… we're leaving at dawn tomorrow."

After Hazel left, an overpowering feeling of being alone washed over me. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to sleep anytime soon, despite my fatigue. I noticed a mirror placed above the fire place, which I hadn't really paid much attention to. I cautiously walked up to it, taking in my features. The first thing I noticed was my eyes. They were sea green, and I could almost see the sea crashing behind my pupils. I noticed prominent dark circles below my eyes, which stood out against my pale skin. My hair looked someone took a mop and placed it on my head and dyed it black. It was a mess. I also noticed a very faint streak of gray in my hair.

I noticed that I had a necklace around my neck with four different beads. I inspected each of them, one at a time. The first one was a black gemstone; on the front of the stone, in the same sea green as my eyes was a trident. The second was different than the others, a golden fleece stood glimmering in the light. I tried to remember the meaning, but all I could remember was a story about Jason and how he came to own the Golden Fleece. Not really helpful. The third one had a maze drawn on the front in red paint. Etched into the rock was the Greek Delta, Δ. The fourth and final bead was of the Empire State Building, surrounded by names. I read them out loud, hoping that it would help me remember my previous life, but it was no good.

My shirt was a standard issue of the Legion camp, and my jeans were tattered and looked like they'd seen a war. I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out the pen that contained Riptide. I cautiously uncapped it and watched it grow into a three foot long bronze sword. It glittered dangerously. I remembered during my test to become a member of the Legion, I remembered thinking I was a goner, but my foes sword just bounced off of me, disarming him. My head ached as I remembered this. I stood examining my sword for what seemed like forever.

I decided to take a chance, just to be sure that I wasn't delusional. I held Riptide steadily in my right hand and put the blade of my sword in my left hand. I squeezed as hard as I could, but all I felt was an annoying pressure in my palm. I unclenched my hand, quickly realizing that there was absolutely no blood on my hand. I dropped Riptide to my side and carefully inspected my left palm. There was no sign of the blade penetrating my skin, anywhere. It was as if I was made of stone. I couldn't be hurt.

I remembered the story of Achilles, son of Thetis and Peleus. In the story, Achilles was foretold to die from an arrow in the foot; his mother of course, didn't want to lose her child. So, she dipped young Achilles into the river Styx, giving him invincibility everywhere, except in his one weak spot; his "Achilles Heel." His mother had held him by his foot, and the river had not washed over him in that spot, it was told that it was the one thing holding onto his mortality. After many battles, Achilles was killed by an arrow to the heel.

The small of my back grew tingly and goosebumps rose on my arms. I shivered, even though it wasn't cold outside. Could I possibly have bathed in the river Styx and became invulnerable? If so, what was my Achilles Heel? How could I possibly protect such vulnerability without knowing where it is? I concentrated as hard as I could, trying to remember this important piece of information. I subconsciously rubbed my back. It felt as if a jolt of lightning ran through my body. I realized what I had to protect, and I also realized that the blonde girl, Annabeth, was what was keeping me mortal.

That night I dreamt of Annabeth. She was in a dark cell, her wrists and ankles bound by what looked like vines. Her face was smeared with mud. Her stormy gray eyes were puffy and red like she had been crying recently. She moaned in pain. I noticed a dark puddle surrounding her ankle. I tried to rush to her side, but I felt that I too, was restrained by vines.

"Silly boy, you cannot save her. She will just be the next step to assure my awakening and the downfall of your gods." I heard a voice from somewhere to my right. I saw a figure growing out of the dirt out of my peripheral vision, but I couldn't make out who or what it was. Gaia, my mind seemed to scream at me.

I pulled and fought against my restraints and then I felt myself toppling head over heels. I found myself sitting in a familiar meadow. I knew that I had been there before, but I couldn't place a name. As with everything in my life recently, I couldn't remember. In the middle of the meadow, knelt a man, scratch that. Half man, half goat. I think satyr was the name for them. The satyr had large horns on the crest of his head, tangled in curly brown hair. He had a thick long goatee. He was playing a sad melody on a flute looking instrument.

"Percy!" the satyr cheered enthusiastically, almost dropping his flute. "I've been trying to reach you for weeks! Everyone has been looking for you! Annabeth has been going insane with worry! Oh wait 'till I tell her! Listen, where are you? We'll come and get you and bring you home!"

I couldn't remember who this satyr is. I did feel a deep connection with him though. "Who are you?" I asked bluntly. My head ached and the satyr looked as if someone had just destroyed a whole forest.

"I'm Grover Underwood, don't you remember me? I was the one that brought you to camp Half-Blood," he picked up a tin can off of the ground and began to chew on it. He looked like he was about to cry because I didn't remember him.

"I don't even remember who I am," I whispered quietly. I reached out to comfort the poor satyr, but he flinched away.

"Just tell me where you are Percy, we'll come and find you…" the connection or whatever it was seemed to be fading. It now just sounded like a old radio. "Hurry…"

But the connection was already broken. I woke up; sweat was dripping off of my body, as if I had just ran a mile. My head was dully pounding. I looked around me to see that the sun was just barely visible. I decided that this was all the sleep that I was going to get. I took a quick shower and changed into a new Legion t-shirt and a new pair of jeans that had mysteriously been laid out for me, along with a gray hooded sweatshirt and a black beanie hat. I dressed, grabbed the bag that Hazel had brought me last night and then walked out into the overcast and chilly morning. I knew that I wouldn't be returning to the Legion camp for a long time.

A/N: Well, here's chapter four! If you're reading this, let me know what you think and the best way to do that is by... dun, dun, dun... REVIEWING. So please do so! Because reviews make me super happy and be like: =D !

Key to the gods (as appearing in the story):

(Roman : Greek)

Neptune : Poseidon

Apollo : Apollo

Vulcan : Hephaestus

Minerva : Athena

Mars : Ares

Mercury : Hermes

Venus : Aphrodite

Terra : Gaia (Earth)

Uranus : Ouranos (Sky)

Jupiter : Zeus

Juno : Hera