Chapter 6: Harmony

Boredom seemed to be my worst enemy at camp half-blood. Some campers said camp was never boring but I disagreed. I usually had nothing to do. Maybe I had that feeling because I didn't remember what it was like to lead a normal life. Camp was my normal life, and normal life was boring. Whether it involved swords or not. I had created a routine for myself and I was sick of it. But I couldn't break free, if there was a way I didn't know how to. I figured that normal kids had the same problem. Wake up, go to school, do homework and maybe have some fun and then go to sleep. Such a meaningless existence. Even though I didn't go to school or had homework it felt the same way, or at least I imagined it did.

The woods were calm that morning. I heard nothing at first. A few animals here and there. The noise I had never heard before was...music. It was a classical instrument, that was certain. It sounded like a violin in a way yet the sound was heavier, as if this was a way oversized violin. The sound of music was a beautiful one indeed. I hadn't heard much music at camp. I knew people often played instruments in the amphitheatre and around the camp-fire in the evenings. Both were places I avoided. I regretted that after hearing the soft and sweet tune coming from...somewhere. I tried to follow the sound but it was tough to make out where it was coming from. For a second I wondered if should follow it. I had heard about monsters trying to lure you in, maybe this was one of them. For some reason I didn't think so. Then again maybe that was what the monster wanted me to think...it was awfully confusing. Either way I had to follow the sound, the soft serene musical melody had made me curious of the musician. Eventually I found the source. A young woman playing the cello, or as referred to earlier, oversized violin. The woman played beautifully, she obviously had been playing for many years. The woman was blond yet her hair seemed to be shaded with many other colours as if she had coloured her hair many times. She was in her early twenties or that was my guess anyway. We were outside the borders of camp, the 'magical' protection of camp holding everything none-demigod out of camp. I didn't understand all about it I just knew that it was powered by the golden fleece. Some kind of magical ram hide which give nature a boost like taking fifty coffees after each other. Anyway since we were our of the border she could be...you know, normal. Or mortal as most demigods called the normal people. At first I thought it was diminishing. They had done great things, look at Ben and Jerry's, all human but their ice cream is divine! The sad thing was that spending so much time around the demigods, after awhile. I started calling them mortals too.

The girl was not a mortal though. How did I know? Well I spotted some of her other stuff and this included a bow with bronze arrows. As far as I knew mortals didn't carry those around with them. As she stopped playing for a while I stepped out of the bushes and decided to make a chat. Of course since she hadn't noticed me she jumped up and squeaked as soon as she saw me.
" Gods, please don't startle me like that. If you were a monster I would be dead now." She said.

"Luckily I'm just another demi. Sorry about scaring you by the way." I said. I didn't realize that she would be so jumpy. She probably had worse experiences in the woods than I did. After all she was older than any demigod I had ever met. Most demigods didn't live long you see. We live dangerous lives. Some get killed by monsters, others get killed in the mortal world, some got killed by other demigods or even gods. The demigod life was not one of fun and games. When you weren't fighting for your life you were training in case you had to. Some would probably love the way that sounds but...once it becomes reality. Not so fun any more.

"My name is Galia. What's yours friend?" She asked. Friend? So soon? Apparently I seemed like a nice guy, or maybe Galia was just a really nice person and called everyone friend. I expected the second option more than the first.

"I'm Angel, well that's what everyone calls me anyway." I said.

"Why? Are you such a guardian angel?" She asked chuckling a bit. Like everyone she found my temporary name funny. I knew my name already but I didn't want to use it. Not until I knew who that person was. Right now I didn't have the slightest idea what Michael was like. I guess now, I wished I never found out.

"Nah. I've got amnesia, but people are so attached to names that they needed to call me something." I said a bit annoyed.

"Well its a nice name. It suits you." She said. I didn't believe her. It did prove my theory about her being nice though. "So how is it? Not remembering your past?"

"It's a burden really. The past is like...who you are. How can you know who you are if you can't remember anything about your life?" I asked her. She was older, probably a lot wiser than me, I hoped she had some answers.

"The past is a burden too. Living without regrets might not be something to hate." She said. I guess she had a point but not one I could agree on.

"Yet forgetting about the things you have done and then not regretting them, is that truly I good thing?" I asked her.

"I suppose not. You're wrong about you're past shaping you though. The past influences you but the only thing that defines you as a person are your choices in the present. You could have been a horrible person before your amnesia but if you choose to change that now I wouldn't call you a bad person." She said. I wondered if she knew what Evie thought to know about me. I wasn't sure. What she said sounded awfully close to the supposed truth.

"I guess so." I said. I leaned against a tree. I didn't really know what to think. How could I say that I wouldn't judge me on my past if I didn't even know my past. If I remembered that I did kill someone could I really forgive myself? I doubted it. "I'm going to leave you be Galia, thanks for the chat." I said.

"No problem Angel, any time." She smiled and me. I gave her a weak smile and walked off back towards camp.

It was lunch time, I should have been in the mess hall having lunch with the others but I was in the sword arena. I held Shadow-edge in my right hand and cut up random dummies. There didn't seem to be a point. Attacking a standing target who couldn't fight back wasn't a challenge. Any idiot could do that. I wished there was some kind of challenge but it was either a dummy or risking your life by fighting a monster. Of course I risked my life every time I went into the woods but I wasn't going there so that I could fight a monster. I wasn't a coward but looking for a fight was foolish. It was how the powerful got killed. If you look for fights all the time eventually you're going to come across someone or something that outclasses you and defeats you. The first monster I encountered in those woods nearly did me in and from what I knew hell hounds weren't all that. I figured the dummies were the best training I would get for now.

"Angel." I heard a voice behind me. I recognized it by the British accent. Luke Ford. He entered the arena with a bronze sword and missing his pinky from his bronze hand. I wondered what else he had hidden in there. And more importantly why he had a bronze hand in the first place. "I figured you'd be here." Luke said.

"How's that?" I asked as I continued slashing up a dummy.

"You seem to be at the places where you're least likely to run into anyone. And well most of us know that the sword arena is deserted during lunch time." I wondered if Luke had been keeping tabs on me. If he knew that I tried to be alone as much as I could he must have known what I had been doing the last few days.

"So why are you here?" If he knew I was here it meant that he came here because of that fact. Meaning he was here for me. Which was probably not a good thing.

"Had a good breakfast." He said joking a bit. I didn't laugh. I didn't know why I was being so hard on Luke, he had tried to help me. "Look, we fought that manticore in the woods right? You were good, so I was wondering if you were up for some sparring." Truth was that it sounded quite interesting testing my skill against Luke should be fun. I didn't think I'd have a chance though. He had been at camp for years so he must have had some good training.

"Okay." I said as I turned towards him. He had his sword and I had mine. My sword was about half a foot longer than his. I had more reach but that was about the only advantage that I had. Luke and I both stood ready. And when he nodded his head I attacked. I didn't hold back, I figured Luke would beat me easy so I might as well give it all I had. I struck from the top bringing my sword downwards. Luke blocked my attacked easy but I quickly brought back my sword and attacked his shins. He still caught my blade with his but it didn't seem so easy this time. I pulled my sword over my head and struck again, this time towards Luke's side. Luke blocked the attack with his bronze hand leaving me open for an attack. Now Luke attacked slashing down just like I had before. I doubted that I would be quick enough but I tried to raise my sword in defence. I held my arm on the flat side of the blade to make sure the blade wouldn't bounce into my face once Luke's attack hit. If I had been half a second later Luke's blade would have killed me, but I was just on time. So this was how Luke fought, defend until he found an opening. It was a pretty good way of fighting and it was one I could adapt to.

I had to get Luke on the offensive side, if I pulled him out of his comfort zone I could beat him. Or at least I figured I could. I kicked towards his shins. I hoped it would bring him off balance or something like this but he didn't even flinch, he was obviously used to worse. Instead he attacked me now. If he didn't attack he'd have to either take more of those kicks or take a step back, he didn't seem to be willing to do either. He attacked me from different sides but each time I was quick enough to block. That's until he caught my blade with his and twisted his arm disarming me. I had been doing pretty well but like that I lost. The tip his blade was right in front of my throat, I had to give in.

"You got me." I said. I had enjoyed sparring with Luke. It was better training than slashing the dummy. Luke lowered his sword and laughed a bit.

"Not bad at all. The way you fight...it reminds me of someone. You're so changeable, once you notice the way someone's fight you adapt. It's a very good skill to have." I wondered what Luke meant exactly. The way I fought reminded him of someone? Was that good or bad. Luke had moved to a bench on the side sitting down. I joined him and sat on the other side of the bench. "So I'm wondering Angel. When you fight, do you remember anything? I mean a giant part of fighting is instinct but no demigod can do this on just instinct." Luke said.

"Not a thing. It's just like I know what to do. It's not something I have to think about or that I know. It just pops into my head when the moment arrives. I always figured it were those natural fighting sense you were talking about." Luke made me wonder where I had learned how to fight. If what he said was true then I had to have learned from someone.

"Well, not worth worrying about now." Luke said. "I don't know about you Angel but I'm knackered." Luke yawned and stretched his body.

"Knackered?" Now that was something I never heard before. I figured it meant tired...but it sounded weird.

"What too British for you?" Luke said. I nearly laughed but controlled myself.

"Well you're in America, tired is tired, not knackered." I couldn't pronounce it the way Luke did. It sounded even weirder when I said it.

"Bloody hell ol'chap. Let me speak my language." Luke said going all out British. I could always hear his British accent but hearing him with his full accent cracked me up.

"I'll leave you alone." I said still laughing a bit.

"You better." Luke said. "Anyway I'm getting kinda tired, think I'll head back to the cabin." Luke said putting the emphasis on tired. "I'll see you around mate." He waved his hand as he walked off. I didn't stay long before walking away myself. Camp was living up again unlike during any of the meal times. When the campers ate camp itself was almost deserted. My favourite times of the day. It was rare for someone to truly prefer being alone. Most people just said that they did to cover up that they felt alone. But I truly felt better alone in the dark. I guess that made me a weird kid, not really something I cared about.

I was near the Hermes cabin. Only about ten feet away from it. The campers had come flowing back in giant waves. Ten minutes ago I was alone now I could hear the noise of the Hermes cabin over any other sound. I tried to block out all sounds, but one broke through. The sound of someone calling me. Not by the name I had taken at camp but by my supposed real name.

"MICHAEL!" It was Evie. She screamed in a voice with a mix of anger and extreme pain. A mix that happened a lot. Pain and anger were close like love and hate. Those who angered you hurt you. Those you say you hate often are those closest to you. It was weird but it was how it worked. Many people said that in order to truly hate someone you have to love them. It was a statement I never agreed with. I hated many people over the years and loved very few. But when I look back now, I see the wisdom in those words. Those that I said I hated, they had taken something from me and I would do everything to make them pay. But that wasn't hate. I experienced hate when I fought with my friends. So in the end when you look back and see your entire life the person that angered you most is the one that you love most. Funny how that works. Evie had no love for me, nor did she hate me. I didn't really understand what she thought of me. All she ever called me was a murderer but she must have seen more than that. After all the only thing I knew about Evie was that she knew me better than anyone. She had lived my past, understood why I did what I did. And I doubted that after knowing what I had been through she always believed I was just a dirty killer. No, I was a murderer but not because I was mentally fucked up or because I was mad. It was something that I had been turned into. And my entire life it was something that I tried to change. Evie looked horrible. She was pale, had dark rings underneath her eyes and her eyes had red lines in them. As if she hadn't slept for days. I knew it had to do with my memories. It was something that we could have expected. The human/demigod brain couldn't handle having to separate lines of memories. I suspected Evie to start having trouble knowing which memories were hers and which were mine. If she continued keeping both memories they would eventually flow together or the migraine's would start to seriously effect her brain until something would be seriously damaged. "The visions. They're killing me!" She screamed in pain grabbing her head. "What did you do to me!" She screamed at me. It was a logical reaction. She blamed me for pain I didn't cause, not directly anyway. I wasn't the one that placed the memories inside her head but they were my memories. In her position, I would blame me too. Of course at the time that wasn't wisdom I possessed. I stood there helpless not knowing how to help her.

"Maybe you should lie down." I said. Not that it would help. If she lay down the pain wouldn't leave she just wouldn't have to worry about standing any more. It was a thing she was hardly doing now. She was wobbling and held my shoulder in order not to fall.

"No I'm good." Evie said now. She opened her eyes and her hand left my shoulders. For a second she seemed fine until another shock of pain entered her head. Her eyes pinched together, the sound of her scream came across loudly and her knee's couldn't hold her weight any more. I caught her in time. She didn't want my help but she was in too much pain to decline.

"Look, you have to get rid of those memories. You obviously can't handle having two sets of memories." The question was of course if her bringing me into that coma sleep thing and returning me my memories would erase them from her mind at least the feeling that they were here memories. What was left of them inside her brain was something a scholar would have to tackle sometime.

"Okay then, I guess I don't have much choice." Evie said when she regained her senses a bit. She stood on her own again and started leading the way. "I need a few things, I'll get Luke to fetch them." She said without doubt. "So...you ready to remember who you are?"