Remembering

Chp 8: Newfound Power

The days went by relatively smoothly: everyone woke up at 7, ate breakfast at the mess hall, trained, then Percy and Annabeth did more of his remembering exercises. I'm pretty sure I improved a lot this past month: I remembered my mom, Sally, and many members of Camp Half-Blood. However, he struggled with specific memories, like dates with Annabeth and moments on quests.

This introspection consumed his thoughts during breakfast, so Percy barely noticed Jason plopping down at his side. The ex-praetor tapped his shoulder. "Wanna spar?"

Percy nodded. He and Jason had become quite close this last month: they had a lot more in common than he originally thought. Children of the Big Three, a persevering spirit, and the most obvious, losing their memories to Hera. They often helped each other out during these "remembering classes".

Percy was a good sparrer too. He had a swimmer's body, lean and agile, while Jason was stockier and stronger. Their matches were always interesting. He wield a sword called Riptide, while he had the gladius Juno gave him. It was as if she said, sorry for wiping your memory and kidnapping you...I can't help with that, but here's a sword! As soon as Jason found a good replacement, he was going to destroy this gladius.

They went back and forth before Percy dealt the final blow. Before Jason could comprehend what was going on, Percy turned his wrist, and his gladius went flying: Percy won. "Good game," Jason extended his arm, and Percy shook it heartily.

They sat down, chugging down water and wiping their faces with towels.

"How's your remembering stuff going?" Percy asked him.

"It's going pretty well. I remember more people now but not specific memories. Coming here really helped."

"Yeah...specific memories are hard - wait! You said coming to New Rome helped...Do you think if I called or IM'd some people at Camp Half-Blood...would it be easier for me too?"

"I mean, probably. Seeing people's faces makes it way easier."

"Hmm.." Maybe Annabeth could call some people? Like Grover, the Stolls, Clarisse...He looked to Jason to ask how many people he recognized now, but Jason's gaze was diverted. He gazed into the sunset at his girlfriend.

Piper was practicing with her dagger, brown skin shining under the sun. She tied her hair into a ponytail, the ends brushing the nape of her neck.

"Ahem."

Jason turned quickly to see Percy's teasing face. He blushed.

"I'm gonna go train with Frank now. You can..uhm..." he gestured in Piper's general direction. If Jason's face was pink before, it was crimson now.

Snickering, Percy leaped from the bench and ran to archery. Grabbing a bow and arrow, he joined Frank. Eyebrows furrowed in concentration, the 15-year old hit bulls' eye after bulls' eye.

"Mind if I join you?" Percy asked. Even after being in New Rome for a year, he didn't feel like he belonged, so he just drifted from group to group. Besides, Annabeth would come soon. Frank nodded and Percy followed his example, shooting arrow after arrow.

After 30 minutes or so, Reyna approached them as she finished her morning rounds.

"Hello, Percy. Hello, Frank." Frank smiled at her. "Percy, how's your training going?"

"It's going pretty well. Did you need to tell me something?"

"Nope, just visiting a friend."

Percy nodded. The praetor had been talking to him more lately, trying to know him better. It made Percy feel more welcome, which he always appreciated.

                                                                   ~

Annabeth walked down Temple Hill along the Little Tiber. The training grounds were near the stables, and Percy loved to be near water. As she crossed the river's bridge, Percy's figure became clearer and clearer. He was with two people...Frank and Reyna. Reyna. Her presence annoyed her to no end. Sure, Annabeth technically wasn't Percy's girlfriend anymore, but that didn't give Reyna a right to flirt with him! Well, she hadn't openly flirted with him yet, but Annabeth hated it all the same.

                                                                      ~

Reyna noticed Percy's armor strap was falling down his shoulder. "You're strap's loose." she remarked, fixing it. She tightened the armor but kept her hand on his shoulder.

                                                                     ~

Did she just-okay, Annabeth calm down. This is probably a big misunderstanding. But she's not taking her hand off!. Okay, give her 5 seconds. 1...2...3...4...

5.

Annabeth sprinted forward with reckless abandon. She reached Reyna, eyes fiery. She brought her hand back and slapped Reyna across the face.

"Argh! What was that for!?" Reyna held her angry red cheek.

"For FLIRTING with my boyfriend!" Annabeth raged. Percy and Frank inched back nervously.

"I was FIXING HIS ARMOR you moron!" Reyna lunged at her, landing a back fist on Annabeth's chest. By now, a crowd of campers gathered around them, chanting, "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

Reyna drew out her javelin, and Annabeth her dagger. Imperial gold against celestial bronze would be interesting. Bronze was perfect for monster killing, and could easily sink into skin. Gold was stronger, easier to deflect weapons. They circled each other, weapons drawn, stepping in time of the crowd's chanting. Reyna stepped in; Annabeth sidestepped. Annabeth lunged; Reyna parried.

Percy looked from side to side. He couldn't let this happen. One of them might get hurt, and it would be a terrible example for the campers. "Stop!" he yelled. "Stop that now!" His voice was drained out by everyone else's cries.

Campers were already placing bets on who would win. Now impatient, Reyna threw her javelin. It missed Annabeth's shoulder by an inch. It whizzed past her and landed in a tree trunk. Annabeth contemplated pulling it out, but she'd have her back turned. Instead, she reached forward, grazing Reyna's side.

"WOOHOO!" the crowd screamed wildly.

Reyna scowled and pulled out her javelin from the tree. She faced Annabeth once more, ignoring the pain on her left side.

Percy looked from side to side, trying to figure out how to stop this madness. Words were clearly to no avail, he couldn't think of a good plan, so he did what he did best: do the most dangerous thing possible. He ran in between Reyna and Annabeth, holding his hands out to stop them.

Kids, don't run in between a sparring match. Especially one between two demigods.

Percy closed his eyes, focusing on one thought and one thought only: stopping the match. He felt shock waves surging through his hands and up his arms. His body felt stronger, faster. He felt powerful. He opened his eyes to see scared and confused campers pointing to his hands.

They had water on them.

Well, the water wasn't on them, more like surrounding them in some kind of mini-tornado. The water from the Little Tiber shot up to his hands. Suddenly, Percy knew what to do. He stomped his foot on the ground, and the water from the river shot from his hands to Annabeth and Reyna. Both the girls fell rather ungracefully as the water washed over them in torrents.

This motion...it felt familiar...he remembered...

He remembered during the first week of camp, he caused the bathroom pipes to explode, pouring a waterfall of toilet water over Clarisse...He remembered he formed a wave to chase down Luke in the Sea of Monsters...He remembered he summoned water to explode Mt. St. Helens, right after Annabeth kissed him for the first time...the water held so many more memories than he realized.

He faintly heard Annabeth saying something to him, but he wasn't paying attention. This newfound power...this could be the missing piece of his memory.