I'll be here forever

chapter 1

I swam to the edge of consciousness, feeling the sun warm my face, shining through my eyelids. I was lying against something warm, the grass tickling my arms.

I heard a groan, from someone that definitely wasn't me. I snapped awake, jerking forward. I swiveled around to see that what I had been lying against... was a person.

He was sprawled out on the ground. He had messy, dark hair, and he looked unusually lean and muscular. He groaned again, throwing an arm over his eyes to hide them from the sun, and I relaxed the tiniest bit.

Then he sat up slowly, opening his eyes and blinking a couple times. His eyes stared into mine for a moment; they were green, like the ocean. Eyes I could get lost in.

Then he scrambled backward and jumped to his feet, whipping around. I jumped up to my feet as well, adopting a similar defensive position as him. His eyes finally settled on me again, and I felt something, in the pit of my stomach. I knew I could trust him. I didn't know how, or why, but I could.

"What- who are you?" he shook his head, like he was trying to clear his thoughts.

I opened my mouth to answer, and found that I couldn't. Who was I?

I couldn't remember my name, where I was from, what had happened to me. To us. Hell, I didn't even remember what I looked like.

I stood there in stunned silence for a second, before gathering my wits again.

"Well, who are you?" I accused him, and I watched as his mouth opened and closed, like a fish. He relaxed, slowly adopting a more casual stance, and I did the same.

"I-I don't know," he ran his hands through his hair, almost subconsciously, and I found that it gave me butterflies.

Cut it out, my brain scolded me.

"I don't know either," I admitted, and he crossed his arms.

"So... what are we supposed to do?" he let out a short, incredulous laugh, and I shook my head.

"Do you remember anything? Anything at all?" I asked him, hoping he might have a better answer than I did. He shook his head, and my hopes plummeted once again. I slowly lowered myself back down to sitting with my legs crossed, and he did the same.

"Okay, well, our minds haven't been completely wiped. If they were, language and expression itself would be totally alien to us. We wouldn't be able to communicate at all, or even walk. These are all things that are learned. And I wouldn't know what plants were, or even dirt for that matter. There must be some way, some reason- why are you looking at me like that?" I interrupted myself. He had been staring at me intently, like he didn't totally understand the words I was saying but liked what it sounded like when I talked.

He blinked, leaning backward slightly.

"I don't- I don't know, I just... I felt like..." he shook his head and smiled sheepishly, "never mind. Sorry."

I rolled my eyes, but felt my cheeks get hot anyways.

"Anyways. We should probably choose names, or something," I bit the inside of my cheek anxiously.

"For you? Daisy," he said, an air of finality.

"Daisy? Why Daisy?" I laughed. I kind of liked it, actually.

"You have one in your hair," he pointed, and I turned red, reaching up and picking it out of my hair. He grinned, a crooked smile that made me feel something I couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Okay. I can live with Daisy," I reasoned, and his smile made it worth it.

"You should pick mine then. Better not be grass or anything."

"Damn, that was my first choice," I joked, and he shook his head.

"How about..." I wracked my brain, unable to come up with anything.

I was interrupted by a shrill voice from the trees.

"Percy Jackson!" it screeched, sounding like nails on a chalkboard, chilling my spine.

"I guess we can go with that," I shrugged, and he shot me a smile, helping me to my feet.

An empousa emerged from the trees. How I remembered what that was, I'm not sure, but I did. One donkey leg, one metal leg, hair on fire. Yup.

Judging by the look on Percy's face, he wasn't so lucky as to remember.

"Okay, what the fuck is that?" he breathed, instinctively reaching for his back pocket. He pulled out a pen and looked at it incredulously.

"A pen? What, are you going to aggressively write a letter to her?" I subconsciously reached for a dagger sheathed at my waist. Woah, when did that get there?

"Ha ha, we'll see who's laughing when she rips you apart first," he said, inspecting his pen. The empousa, like he predicted, lunged for me first, hissing. Percy rolled out of the way.

I unsheathed and slashed with my dagger, strangely knowing what to do instinctively. Behind her, I watched Percy stand there and fiddle with his pen.

"Are you going to help or what?" I called, barely deflecting her wickedly sharp nails away from my face.

"I'm working on it, jeez," he muttered.

Then he decided to uncap it.

His pen grew into a three foot long sword, glowing, made of the same bronze as my dagger.

"Woah," he laughed, eyeing it. The empousa left me alone and turned back to him, her fingernails razor sharp. She lunged at him.

"Shit! Leave me alone, stupid donkey cheerleader!" he yelped, slashing. I saw he was right; the empousa wore an, albeit ratty, cheerleaders uniform.

I watched his form and confidence change. First he was on the defensive, not knowing exactly what to do. Then he got more comfortable, and went on the offensive. Still, she held her own, until I jumped in the mix. Percy and I fought in tandem, like we had been fighting together our whole lives. We became an extension of each other, agreeing upon mutual trust, despite not knowing each other for longer than ten minutes.

Before long, I feinted left, tricking the empousa into jumping for me. She took the bait, snarling, and she lurched in my direction.

Please, Percy, please know what to do.

Her disgusting razor-sharp fingernails were an inch from my face when she froze, looking down at the sword sprouting from her stomach in surprise. Then she exploded into a fine gold dust, settling in the field and then blown away on the winds.