Lost

6 | Lies

New day, new hope.

Annabeth left the Athena cabin, and was immediately tackled with a hug. Annabeth's eyes widened, stumbling back under the weight of who had hugged her. Hazel Levesque. "Gods, Annabeth," Hazel said, not letting go. Annabeth laughed nervously.

Reyna walked over, pulling Hazel away. "We came as soon as we heard," Reyna said, looking at Annabeth sympathetically.

"This is awful," Frank said, shaking his head, "I mean, I can't even imagine how you're feeling right now!"

Annabeth looked down. She loved her friends, but she didn't enjoy all this sympathy. She didn't want to be treated like this, someone to pity and only look down on, people thinking, "That poor girl." She wasn't a charity project. She could handle herself, no matter how stupidly awful this was.

"Heh," Annabeth said, looking up and scratching the back of her head, "Nice to see you guys."

"Back at you," Jason smiled, holding hands with Piper, "Wish it could be under better circumstances though."

"Have you..." Hazel hesitated, "Have you been able to get through to him?"

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. "I don't know, we went in the water last night, he really seemed to enjoy it. And he had a glimpse of memory from before he lost his memory. To be honest, he's still his exact same self, just... happier."

"Happier?" Jason frowned. "He's always seemed super happy."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him, letting out a small sigh. "I already explained this to Chiron, but... well, you guys really don't understand. You have no idea of the charade he has going to keep a smile on his face, to mask his real self from the world. He's been through a hell ton. His abusive step-dad, Kronos, Gaea, Tartarus, death after death... he's so much freer now. He's not carrying the weight of the world single handedly on his shoulders."

"So you would rather have him without memories then his actual self?" Piper raised her eyebrow.

That one sentence seemed to light a spark in Annabeth that even she didn't know was there. She grit her teeth, clenching her fists. "You know what? You're all selfish! Every single one of you! You'd rather have Percy be your savior, there to save you butts all the time and forced to do the gods bidding then actually have him happy! Just let this last! Spare him the monster fights, the trauma, the wars!"

Everyone's looked at each other. "Annabeth-" Reyna started, but Annabeth yanked away.

"No! You're all awful people!" She said, whirling around and storming off.

It wasn't long before she ran into Percy himself though.

"Annabeth," He said, giving a very forced looking smile, "Hey."

Annabeth's expression softened. "Hey, Percy. Want to get some breakfast?"

"No, I- I need to go to the bathroom," He said, then dashed off before Annabeth could even respond.

Annabeth blinked, watching him disappear. "Okay."

-

Percy didn't in fact go to the bathroom. Frankly, he didn't even know where he was himself, just let his feet lead the way. Before he knew it, he was in the dark shadows of some sort of forest. He couldn't care less though.

Monsters... gods... wars... had Annabeth lied to him? Had she taken advantage of him?

He heard everything she had said. Absolutely everything.

He couldn't even fathom it. He trusted Annabeth, he felt a strong connection with her, she seemed so nice. He trusted her and that completely backfired, it was his downfall. Figured. Of course you shouldn't judge a book by its cover though. Annabeth was a liar. She lied to him. Liar. Lies...

He suddenly froze as he heard fast padding against the forest floor. Whoever it was was running. 'Monsters....' Annabeth said. Oh God. He began to slowly back away, unsure what to do. He was paralyzed with fear.

But what greeted him next was... surprising, to say the least. It was... a girl. She looked to be around his age, 18 or so, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't mesmerized by her beauty. Creamy white skin, dark, silky hair that tumbled over her shoulders, bright red lips...

She wore a black dress that flowed behind her, and Percy was able to make out a necklace that hung around her neck with two small, golden torches that crossed over each other. Her eyes widened with fear when she saw him, and she quickly hurried over.

"Percy!" She cried. She rushed over to him, flying into his arms and wasting no time to kiss him passionately, cupping his head in her hands. Percy found himself shocked at first, but soon found himself kissing her back, unable to resist.

It wasn't long before realization dawned on him though, and he shoved the strange girl off of him, stumbling backwards with wide eyes. Why did he do that?!

"Percy..." She said worriedly, eyes getting watery. "Oh Percy, what did they do to you?" She sounded horrified.

"What-what do you mean?" Percy narrowed his eyes, though he felt his guard begin to let down.

"We-we were so happy! Everything was so perfect, falling into place! But then they came. They raided our home, tried to burn it to ashes withna smile on their face. They're so twisted, evil. They failed, but they kidnapped you. Oh gods, I was so worried," She wasn't holding back on crying now, tears falling down her face.

She reached out and placed her hand on Percy's cheek. Except this time, Percy didn't flinch at the embrace, quite the contrary. He raised his hand and held her's there there. There was something about the girl that made Percy trust her, something alluring.

"Now I see," She said, her voice shallow, "They took your memory from you. Lied to you. Manipulated you. You... you don't know who I am."

"Who are you?" Percy asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he stared at her.

"Medea," She smiled, tilting her head to the side, "I love you, Percy. I'm your girlfriend."