A/N (I recommend reading this): I'm going to MAKE THIS CLEAR. Just like I mention on my bio page about every other fanfiction I done: I DON'T OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIAN SERIES or AND THE KANE CHRONICLES OR IT'S CHARACTERS as the rights goes to Rick Riordan. Also I suggest you guys start paying attention to the Author notes and my warnings that I left on EVERY chapter of EVERY story.
Sorry if this chapter is too much like the book.
This is a The Tales of version of the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles crossover and takes place after 'The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus part of the series. So if you haven't read them yet read before reading this story as stuff that happened in them will be mentioned:
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Early Adventures
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Lightning Thief
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Sea of Monsters
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Titan's Curse
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Magical Labyrinth
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Stolen Chariot
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Sword of Hades
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Bronze Dragon
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Last Olympian
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Staff of Hermes
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Quest for Buford
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Son of Sobek
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Staff of Serapis
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Crown of Ptolemy
The Tales of Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle
Also if you haven't got the chance feel free to read:
The Tales of Classical Mythology
A crossover with The Tales of series with my dictionary on Greek/Roman Mythology where The Tales of Percy Jackson tells his version of stories behind famous names in Greek and Roman Mythology.
And if you are a fan of Stephen King:
The Tales of the Heroes of the Stand
Which is basically a crossover of The Tales of series with one of Stephen King's best novels The Stand.
Lastly, any one who wants to do a Demigods and Olympian reads story using 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon' is allowed as long as you inform me about it.
I Don't Know Who I Am But I Know What I'm Here For
Meg and I plummeted through the dark, our rope unspooling as we bounced off one rock then another, my clothing and skin getting brutally scraped away.
I did the natural thing. I screamed, "WHEEEEE!"
The rope snapped taut, giving me the Heimlich maneuver so violently I almost coughed up my appendix. Meg grunted with surprise and lost her grip on me. She fell deeper into the darkness. A heart beat later, a splash echoed from below.
I laughed, dangling in the void. "That was fun! Again!"
The knot unraveled at my waist, and I plunged into frigid water.
My delirious state probably saved me from drowning immediately. I felt no need to struggle, thrash, or gasp for breath. I floated down, vaguely amused by my predicament. The sips I had taken from Lethe and Mnemosyne battled my mind. I recall something about experience of drinking the two waters is different for each person-that what one person might be able to remember isn't the same for someone else. For example, I couldn't remember my name, which I found extremely funny, but I could recall the perfect clarity and yellow flecks in Python's serpentine eyes as he sank his fangs into my immortal biceps millennia ago.
Beneath the dark water, I shouldn't been able to see anything. Nevertheless, images floated in and out of my vision. Perhaps this was the effect of my eyeballs freezing.
I saw my father, Zeus, sitting in a patio chair by an infinity pool at the edge of a terrace. Beyond the pool, an azure sea stretched to the horizon. The scene would have been more fitting for Poseidon, but I knew this place, my mother's condo in Florida. (Yes, I had one of those moms who retired to Florida; what can you do?)
Leto knelt at Zeus' side, her hands clasped in prayer. Her bronze arms glowed against her white sundress. Her long golden hair zigzagged down her back in an elaborate ladder weave.
"Please, my lord!" she implored. "He is your son. He has learned his lesson!"
"Not yet" Zeus rumbled. "Oh, no. His real test is yet to come."
I laughed and waved. "Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!"
Since I was underwater and most likely hallucinating, my words should not have been audible. Nevertheless, Zeus glanced over and scowled.
The scene evaporated. I found myself facing a different immortal.
Floating before me was a dark goddess, her ebony hair rafting in the cold current, her dress billowing around her like volcanic smoke. Her face was delicate and sublime, her lipstick, eye shadow, and mascara all expertly done in shades of midnight. Her eyes gleamed with absolute hatred.
I found her presence delightful. "Hi, Styx!"
Her obsidian eyes narrowed. "You. Oath-breaker. Do not think I have forgotten."
"But I have!" I said. "Who am I again?"
In that moment, I was absolutely serious. I knew this was Styx, goddess of the Underworld's most important river. I knew she was the most powerful of all water nymphs, eldest daughter of the sea Titan Oceanus. I knew she hated me, which wasn't surprising, since she was also the goddess of hatred.
But I had no idea who I was or what I'd done to earn her animosity.
"Did you know I'm drowning right now?" This was so hilarious I started to giggle a stream of bubbles.
"I will have my due," Styx snarled. "You will PAY for your broken promises,"
"Okay!" I agreed. "How much?"
She hissed in annoyance. 'I can't even do this with you right now. Return to your foolish quest!"
The goddess vanished. Someone grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, yanked me out of the water, and dumped me on a hard stone surface.
My rescuer was a young girl of about twelve. Water dripped from her tattered green sheath dress. Bloody scratches covered her arms. Her jeans and red high-tops were shellacked with mud.
Most alarmingly, the rhinestones in the corners of her cat-eye glasses were not just glinting. They emitted their own pale light. I realized those small constellations hovering next to her eyes were the only reason I could see the girl at all.
"I feel like I know you," I croaked. "I want to say Peg. Or Megan?"
She frowned, looking almost as dangerous as the goddess Styx. "You're not kidding, are you?"
"Nope!" I gave her a cheerful smile, despite the fact that I was soaked and shivering. It occured to me that I was probably going into hypothermic shock. I remembered all the symptoms of that: shivering, dizziness, confusion, rapid heart rate, nausea, fatigue... Wow, I was batting a thousand.
Now if only I could remember my name. It ocured to me that I had two of them. Was one of them Lester? Oh, dear. How awful! THe other was something that began with an A.
Alfred? Hmm. No. That would make this young girl Batman, and that didn't feel right.
"My name is Meg," she offered.
"Yes! Yes, of course. Thanks. And I'm-"
"An idiot."
"Hmm No... Oh! That's a joke."
"Not really. But your name is Apollo."
"Right! And we're here for the Oracle of Trophonius."
She tilted her head, sending her left eye glass frame constellation into a higher astrological house. "You can't remember our names, but you remember that?"
"Strange isn't it?" I struggled to sit up. My fingers turned blue, which probably wasn't a good sign. "I remember the steps for petitioning the Oracle! First, we drink from the Springs of Lethe and Mnemosyne, which affects each petitioner different. Some might not remember their names but do remember their family, others not so much. But they always remember why they drank the waters so they can find their way to the oracle. I must have drank from the springs, right? That's why I feel so odd."
"Yeah." Meg wrung the water out of her skirt. "We need to keep moving or we'll freeze to death."
"Okay!" I accepted her help getting me to my feet. "After drinking from the springs, we descend into a cave. Oh! We're here! Then we go farther into the depths. Hmm. That way!"
In fact, there was only one way.
Fifty feet above us, a tiny slash of daylight glowed from the crevice we'd fallen through. The rope danged well out of reach. We would not be exiting the same way we entered. To our left rose a sheer face of rock. About halfway up the wall, a waterfall gushed from a fissure, spilling into a pool at our feet. To our right, the water formed a dark river and flowed out through a narrow tunnel. The ledge we were standing on wound alongside the river, just wide enough to walk on, assuming we didn't slip, fall in, and drown.
"Well, then!" I led the way, following the stream.
As the tunnel turned the rock sill narrowed. The ceiling lowered until I was almost crawling. Behind me, Meg breathed in shivering puffs, her exhales so loud they echoed over the babble of the river.
I found it difficult to walk and form rational thoughts at the same time. It was like playing syncopated rhythms on a drum set. My sticks needed to move in a completely different pattern than my feet on the bass and top hat pedals. One small mistake and my edgy jazz beat would turn into a leaden polka.
I stopped and turned to Meg. "Honey cakes?"
In the glowing rhinestone light of her glasses her expression was difficult to read. "I hope you're not calling me that."
"No, we need honey cakes. Did you bring them or did I?" I patted my soaking wet pockets. I felt noting but a set of car keyes and a wallet. I had a sword strapped to my belt. (That doesn't seem right? And why is it curved?) I had a quiver, a bow, and a ukulele on my back-Oh, a ukulele! Wonderful!-but I didn't think I would have stored pastries in a stringed instrument.
Meg frowned. "You never said anything about honey cakes."
"But I just remembered! We need them for the snakes!"
"Snakes." Meg developed a facial tic that I did not think was related to hypothermia. "Why would there be snakes?"
"Good question! I just know we're supposed to have honey cakes to appease them. So... we forgot the cakes?"
"You never said anything about cakes!"
"Well, that's a shame. Anything we can substitute? Oreos perhaps?"
Meg shook her head. "No Oreos."
"Hmm. OKay. I guess we'll improvise."
She glanced apprehensively down the tunnel. "You show me how to improvise with snakes. I'll follow."
This sounded like a splendid idea. I strolled merrily onward, except where the tunnel's ceiling was too low. In those places, I squatted merrily onward.
I feel like Meg should be leading but I can't remember why. It's fun leading.
Despite slipping into the river a few times, whacking my head on a few stalactites and choking on acid smell of bat guano, I felt no distress. My legs seemed to float. My brain wobbled around in my skull, constantly rebalancing like like a gyroscope.
Things I could remember: I'd had a vision of Leto. She'd been trying to convince Zeus to forgive me. That was so sweet! I'd also had a vision of the goddess Styx. She'd been angry-hilarious! And for some reason, I could remember every note Stevie Ray Vaughan played on "Texas Flood." What a great song!
Things I don't remember: Didn't I have a twin sister? Was her name Lesterina? Alfreda? Neither of those sound right. Also, why was Zeus mad at me? Also why was Styx mad at me? Also, why do I have this sword strapped to my belt? Also, why was my sword curved? Also, who was this girl behind me with the glowing rhinestone glasses, and why didn't she have any honey cakes?
My thoughts may have been muddled, but my senses were as sharp as ever. From the tunnel ahead of us, wafts of warmer air brushed against my face. The sounds of the river dissipated, the echoes growing deeper and softer, as if the water were spreading out into a larger cavern. A new smell assaulted my nostrils-a scent drier and sourer than bat guano. Ah, yes... reptilian skin and excrement. Which reminds me...
I halted. "I know why!"
I grinned at Peggy-Megan-no, Meg.
She scowled. "You know why what?"
"Why snakes!" I said. "You asked me why we would find snakes, didn't you? Or was that someone else? Snakes are symbolic! They represent prophetic wisdom from deep in the earth, just as birds symbolize prophetic wisdom from the heavens."
"Uh-huh."
"So snakes are attracted to Oracles! Especially ones in caves!"
"Like that big snake monster we heard in the Labyrinth, Python?"
I found this reference vaguely unsettling. I'm pretty sure I'd known who Python was a few minutes ago. Now I was blanking. I flashed on the name Monty Python. Was that correct? I didn't think the monster and I had ever been on a first-name basis.
"Well, yes, I suppose it's like that," I said. "Anyway, the snakes should be right up ahead! That's why we need honey cakes. You have some, you said?"
"No, I-"
"Excellent!" I forged on.
As I'd suspected, the tunnel widened into a large chamber. A lake covered the entire area, perhaps sixty feet in diameter, except for a small island of rock in the center. Above us, a domed ceiling bristled with stalactites like black chandeliers. Covering the island and surface of the water was a writhing sheet of serpents, like spaghetti left too long in boiling water. Water moccasins. Why do I feel like I should be scared of them? They're lovely creatures. Thousands of them.
"Ta-da!" I exclaimed.
Meg did not seem to share my enthusiasm. She edged back into the tunnel. "Apollo... you need a zillion honey cakes for that many snakes."
"Oh, but you see, we need to get to that little island in the center. That's where we'll receive our prophecy."
"But if we go into that water, won't the snakes kill us?":
"Probably!" I grinned. "Let's find out!"
I jumped into the lake.
A/N: Sorry for the similarities to the original but I just love Apollo's childish behavior brought on by drinking the water of forget and memory. But I thought I should at least add that the possibility each experience from drinking from the two streams be different on what each person can or can't remember (with the exception of why) since memory can be tricky that way. As for Apollo forgetting his fear of snakes. Well that was obvious in the oiriginal, I just thought I pointed it out as part of Apollo's confusion.
