Mystified (dropped)

Chapter 7

"How long has he been like this?" Elaine questioned. Jason sat in silence, eyes closed, unresponsive to everything around him. This boy had survived being struck by lightning, he shouldn't be dissolving from existence right now.

"It's only been a few minutes. We were just trying to regain his memories and then..."

A loud yawn interrupted Annabeth. Elaine looked over to see a blonde-haired boy. He leaned comfortably against some furniture and trying to stay awake as he nodded off to sleep.

"Are you the other one with memory loss?" He inquired in a tired voice.

Elaine nodded and worriedly gestured to Jason, "Is he going to be okay?"

"He should be." The boy yawned again.

Annabeth spoke up, "This is serious, Clovis. He might be in trouble."

"His condition is pretty serious, all right," Clovis said.

Then a miracle, Jason spoke up, "What happened?"

He looked at Elaine confused.

"How long—"

"Just a few minutes," Annabeth said. "But it was tense. You almost dissolved."

"Usually," Clovis said, "memories are lost for a good reason. They sink under the surface like dreams, and with a good sleep, I can bring them back. But this..."

"Lethe?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Clovis said. "Not even Lethe."

"Lethe?" Elaine and Jason asked in unison. She jumped, a little spooked by it.

Clovis pointed to the tree branch dripping milky drops above the fireplace. "The River Lethe in the Underworld. It dissolves your memories, wipes your mind clean permanently. That's the branch of a poplar tree from the Underworld, dipped into the Lethe. It's the symbol of my father, Hypnos. Lethe is not a place you want to go swimming."

Annabeth nodded. "Percy went there once. He told me it was powerful enough to wipe the mind of a Titan."

Jason peered at the branch as he asked, "But...that's not my problem?"

"No," Clovis agreed. "Your mind wasn't wiped, and your memories weren't buried. They've been stolen."

The fire crackled. Drops of Lethe water plinked into the tin cups on the mantel. One of the other Hypnos campers muttered in his sleep—something about a duck.

"Would- would the same apply to me?" Elaine asked.

Clovis became silent for a moment.

"I have no idea. Maybe, maybe not," He said. "From what we know, you both appeared at the same time so in all likelihood yes; you two are in the same boat on this."

"You said stolen," Jason interjected. "How?"

"A god," Clovis said. "Only a god would have that kind of power."

"We know that," said Jason. "It was Juno. But how did she do it, and why?"

Elaine perked up at the name. It sounded familiar.

Clovis scratched his neck. "Juno?"

"He means Hera," Annabeth said. "For some reason, Jason likes the Roman names."

"Hmm," Clovis said.

"What?" Jason asked. "Does that mean something?"

"Hmm," Clovis said again. It was like he fell asleep.