Finding a list of those who'd died on our side wasn't too hard, Chiron had all of their names written down in a journal, pain in his eyes as he made a separate list for us. I forgot that he basically raised half of camp. When they died, it was like watching his own children dying.
"I'm sorry. You're like a dad for half of us and a magic uncle for the other half. We're family, and we don't thank you enough for everything you do." I tried to comfort him, smiling down at him in his chair.
"My dear child, you don't need to thank me." He told me, kind and humble. Maybe that was why the gods chose him to train their children.
"No, but I should. I've spent the last two years under your guidance and care. A thank you should have happened already." I replied, sticking the list in my pocket.
"Well, I have a lot to do to appease the ghost living in the lake, so I'll see you later."
We had the names of the campers who'd died, but now we needed the names of those fighting on the other side. Maybe there was some kind of magic I could get a Hecate kid to do for me. It beat having Nico visit the underworld.
It turned out that Alabaster could do just that and have it alert me to when it updated, at the cost of a handful of drachma and a six-pack of root beer, the latter of which cost me twenty dollars from the Stoll twins, ignoring whenever they may have gotten it.
"Here you go. Just don't touch the ink until it dries." He warned, handing over the list very carefully, giving me time to pinch the top of the paper before he let go.
"Well, have fun with that. And if anyone asks, you didn't get it from me, got it?" He was stern, and all I could do was nod.
"Good. See ya!" He waved, already heading back towards the Hecate cabin.
"Now we just need to build our memorial. Good thing we've got the best architect the world will ever know and a cabin full of kids who love building stuff.
"Best architect the world ever sees, huh? Weird, i figured I'd end up running a movie theater or restaurant." Nico joked, getting a jab to the side from Annabeth.
I felt bad looking at him. If Percy were the child of the prophecy, we'd be in Manhattan right now, defending the city. And things were too peaceful for me to think Thalia was the child. Did that mean we'd be waiting another year and a half to end this war?
"What are you thinking about?" Annabeth asked, looking to where my eyes had landed.
"About what kind of future we're working towards. I hope it's one we can be proud of."
Nico looked a little awkward at our little moment, turning away as Annabeth made me look at her.
"That's not fair, I get lost in your eyes." I mumbled, leaning down as she pulled my shirt, kissing me softly before she pulled away and laid her head on my shoulder.
"Alls fair in love and war, and this is a mix of both." She mumbled, wrapping her arms around me.
"Hey, so hate to break up this lovey-dovey stuff, but we got a memorial to build, remember?" Nico asked, still turned away from the two of us.
I didn't feel like letting go yet, turning my head to look at him.
"Nico, that doesn't just happen. Gotta make designs, plan it, and figure out where it's going. And this is a war. We can't just do it. Sparing the materials it would take to do it would leave us with considerably less than we need for what's coming." I told him, wondering why I was using big words. Or bigger than I normally would.
"Jeez, I get it. We'll get to it after the war." He grumbled under his breath, crossing his arms. Great. Between him and I, there were enough moody teenage angst to go around.
"Hey man, there's an old Playstation in the big house. Do you wanna go play some classics before they're considered classics?" I asked, watching him think it over as he pulled the apple he'd taken from breakfast out, bitting into it with a hum.
"I don't know what a Playstation is, but if it's like the Gameboy that Bianca gave me last time she visited, then I'm in." He told me, already having forgotten his annoyance with me.
"You go ahead, I'll catch up later with you." Annabeth told us, letting me go as she started towards the Athena cabin.
It took a few minutes to find and set up the Playstation on a tv that reminded me that we were still early in the twenty-first century.
"Just push the power button, and bam, we have Spiro the Dragon." I mumbled, the Playstation logo coming up before the game decided to run.
"That's so cool. I've been in the modern world for a while now, but stuff like this still seems like a miracle." Nico lit up, watching the cartoon dragon come up on screen.
"You're a son of Hades, and the thing you think is a miracle is tech over a decade old? Fair enough. I played this game when they remade it for the Playstation 7. Well, it was a remaster of a remake, but it was really fun." I told him, handing him the controller for now and taking a seat, leaning back in my chair and listening to the sounds of the game.
I pushed the button on my watch, looking at the scythe that was my symbol of power and divinity. I hadn't changed since I'd gotten it back from Zeus a summer ago, from my whispy facial hair to my long hair. I wondered if I was immortal yet or if I was just stagnant.
"Don't use that thing inside. You could hurt someone." Nico chastised, and even though he was right, I ignored him.
I thought about all the mistakes I made, the people who I'd saved, and the future I'd changed. If I could go back and keep it the same, I'd do it. I'd pretend to just be a normal demigod, I'd do it, saving everyone in secret.
I stretched, feeling the chair tipping back, clutching my scythe as a golden light enveloped me before it stopped, and it seemed like everything was okay, aside from being a little annoyed.
"Okay, no more scythe inside. If I had my hands free, I could have caught myself." I told Nico, the sounds of the game missing, looking over and finding him gone as well, the TV covered in dust and no sign the Playstation had been used since the nineties.
"Nico? Where'd you go?" I asked, holding my scythe defensively and searching the room before slowly making my way to the door.
There was no sign of him in the big house or outside, the camp full of life, although it seemed like no one was as happy as when we'd went to play video games.
"Hey, you seen Nico?" I asked a girl from the Aphrodite cabin, who looked at me like I was stupid.
She had a valley girl accent, and I swore I'd never seen her before, but anyone could recognize the smell of designer perfume she and her siblings wore. "That emo kid? He doesn't really stay at camp."
She walked away, leaving me confused and a little annoyed.
Finally, I saw a face I recognized, walking over to Chrion, who was giving an archery lesson at the time.
"Hey, you seen Nico anywhere? We were hanging out playing video games in the big house, and then I fell, and now I can't find him. I asked one of the Aphrodite girls, but she was acting weird."
I spoke quickly, weirded out and worried for Nico. He didn't have the same kind of experience most of the other campers did.
Chiron looked at me, and I remembered I was only wearing swim trunks. Maybe that's why the girl was so weirded out.
It wasn't until he pointed his bow at me that I became concerned, though I just crossed my arms over my heart and looked at him.
"Okay, I gotta admit I'm confused. One of us is on the wrong page here, so maybe we can talk about this?" I asked, looking up at him.
"I don't recognize you, child, and I know every half-blood who walks these grounds." He spoke, confusing the hell out of me.
"Okay, someone get Chiron a chill pill. He's clearly lost it." I called, and I could see in his eyes that he wasn't lying.
"Chiron, you're serious? Two years, and you don't recognize me?" I asked, kind of hurt, but I was beginning to put pieces together.
I felt the knife at my neck, my hands going limp. There was no way this was real.
Unfortunately, as she tied me up with magical rope, it turned out that it was very real, Annabeth didn't recognize me either, and no one was listening to me when I told them that they knew me.
My pride wouldn't let me be afraid, cracking jokes as I tried to break my bonds even when Clarisse volunteered to take the watch over me.
I was on my knees, my ankles and wrist both bound, trying to think my way out of this. How could everyone just forget me?
"I learned magic rope is a thing today. Guess next time I want to enjoy a lovely evening, I'll put it in the picnic basket." I laughed, feeling my watch. They'd taken both my bracelet and pen, but i guess my watch wasn't threatening enough.
"Do you ever shut up?" She asked, slamming her spear against my leg, sending electricity tingling comforting through my body.
"Not really, I like pissing off people as much as possible. That and spewing an endless well of Spider-Man facts." I told her, twisting my wrist around awkwardly trying to push the button on the side. If I could push it, I had only a few seconds to try and cut the rope.
"One more word, and I'll gut you punk." She warned, looking more threatening than I'd ever seen her before turning away from me.
I nodded, pressing the button on my watch and feeling the blade pressed against the rope around my legs.
Slowly, I began to cut, careful not to catch the eye of the daughter of Ares as the ropes fell to my divine weapon.
Even more slowly, I began to maneuver my weapon, careful not to hit her with the handle as I gripped the flat of the blade, making short work of my wrist ropes, jumping to my feet and running. If no one believed my words, they'd believe my actions.
"You stupid punk! I'm gonna flay you!" Clarisse screamed, sounding the alarm as she chased me.
"I swear, I'm not a bad guy! I don't work for Kronos!" I tried to argue, seeing a line of archers, covering my heart with my free hand before they shot me, the arrows splintering against my skin as I ran past the big house, past the archery range and the stables, right to the pier, standing on the edge.
"Stay back! Just stay back, all of you!" I screamed, waving my scythe around and feeling my world turning upside down. I never wanted to hurt anyone.
"Why can't you remember me? I've lived with you all for two years. Camp half-blood is the only home I've ever really known." I tried to appeal to their kindness, to the good people I knew were there.
"Please, if you guys can't remember, Iris message Artemis, see if Bianca or Zoe remembers me." Watching as a few of the older kids look at me like I was out of my mind.
Annabeth, my sweet Annabeth, the love of my life, stepped forward and was looking at me like I was a monster.
"That pen and bracelet, where'd you get them?" She asked as I dropped my scythe. Hopefully, a little goodwill would go a long way.
The only thing I could do was be truthful, staring into her eyes and seeing hatred.
"My parents. I inherited them from my parents."
"Liar!" She screamed, and I could see tears in her eyes before I felt a pain in my stomach, her dagger sticking out of me.
"You killed them. You deserve this." She told me, pulling the blade out with a squelching sound.
"A-Annie?" I managed to get out, falling back into the lake, feeling my heart breaking.
(Haha! Cliffhangers! Well, have a good day!)