Lost

3 | Third First Meeting

Annabeth jolted up when she heard a groan escape from Percy's lips. She had been sitting at the end of Percy's bed and was close to falling asleep herself. "Guh-" Percy gurgled, sitting up. He rubbed his eyes, and Annabeth hoped with all her heart that he was back to normal, even though that was incredibly unlikely.

Of course no one here was that lucky.

"So this is still happening," Percy groaned, running his hand through his hair. "I kinda hoped I'd wake up actually knowing who the hell I am. Stupid, huh?" Percy chuckled softly.

"No, I thought the same," Annabeth admitted. "Hey, we should go talk to Mr. D. He's the g-, er, um, he's an expert on madness, mind stuff like that. I have a feeling I know what happened to you, but... maybe he can fix it."

"How could he fix it?" Percy frowned.

"I-" Annabeth frowned, "You'll see. Let's just go."

Annabeth began to lead him to the Big House, Percy's eyes darting around in confusion and wonder at the scenery around him. Everyone stared at Annabeth and  Percy as they passed, word probably spreading about Percy's condition.

"What does c-h-b stand for?" Percy asked Annabeth, staring at one camper's shirt and then his own.

"Camp Half Blood," Annabeth blurted without thinking.

"Half Blood?" Percy raised his eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah. It's a very multi-racial place?" Annabeth frowned at the lie. Percy wasn't actually stupid enough to believe that, even if he had amnesia, right?

"Oh... okay," Percy blinked.

Annabeth looked back at her boyfriend. He looked so innocent, the pain in his eyes completely vanished. But if his pain was gone, was his love for Annabeth as well? And what if they were never able to fix this?

Would he have to learn to love Annabeth all over again? Would all their amazing moments throughout the past just... disappear? Their first time dancing together at Westover Hall? Or their first kiss at Mount Saint Helens? Them surviving together, talking about their hopes and dreams in fucking Tartarus?

Every single moment, the past five years of their lives - it would be lost.

But an even worse thought was... what if he never could love Annabeth again? There's no way they could go through all the trauma that just brought them closer all over again. It was impossible. What if he would never be able to find the room for Annabeth in his heart again?

But then again... so much pain would be lifted from his shoulders. Yes, there were so many amazing moments, but there were also so, so many awful ones. Smelly Gabe. Luke. Kronos. Tartarus. Gaea.

Maybe this was their chance to start their life anew. They could go to college, never deal with quests or prophecies again, just be regular mort-

"Annabeth! Hey, wait up!"

Annabeth froze at a voice calling for her behind her, causing Percy to abruptly run into her. He managed to quickly stumble straight back up though. Annabeth turned around to see Nico hurrying over to them.

"Hey, I need you," Nico said.

Annabeth didn't answer, just wrinkled her eyebrows and looked at Percy. Percy looked at Annabeth, then looked back at Nico, smiling and reaching out to shake the Italian's hand. "Percy Jackson, nice to meet you," Percy grinned.

Nico stared down at Percy's hand shaking his own with a blank expression on his face. He slowly looked up, making deadly eye contact with Percy. "What, is this some kind of joke or something?" Nico said, sounding incredibly done with it all.

"No one told you?" Annabeth narrowed her eyes.

"Oh my gods, seriously? No one told me about the 'what?'" Nico groaned.

Annabeth looked at Percy who happily had his hands stuffed in his pockets, then back at Nico who looked incredibly pissed off. "Percy has amnesia," Annabeth bit her lip, "He can't remember a thing."

Nico blinked, licking his lips and not saying a word, as if waiting for the perfect moment to answer. "Amne- again?" Nico tilted his head to the side.

"Again," Annabeth sighed.

After an incredibly long moment of silence, Percy decided to break it. At least that hadn't changed. "Uh, who are you?"

"Nico. Nico di Angelo," Nico said, pursing his lips. That was the third time he had introduced himself to Percy for the 'first time.'

"What did you need?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, uh... it can wait, I guess. This seems a bit more important," Nico said, not taking his eyes off Percy. It was hard to tell how Nico felt about the situation. Confused, annoyed, surprised. He had become a master at hiding his emotions.

"You sure?" Annabeth raised her eyebrow.

"Yeah, I- I'm going to get going," Nico said.

He turned around and began to walk away, but Percy's words stopped him. "It was nice meeting you," Percy said quickly, a smile on his face.

Nico froze, turning his head around to face Percy. "Yeah," Nico said cooley, "You... too."