Misery Loves Company

An Encounter Better Off Forgotten

Percy wasn't fond of the Underworld, not because of the distant screams or overall dark atmosphere, but simply because he'd been there far too often.

For a place that was supposed to be for the dead, he - a notably living person - seemed to be able to treat it as a check-in, check-out motel given just how many quests had led him there.

Maybe he'd like it better if he could have gone for a stroll through Elysium or the Isle of the Blessed. But no, instead he had to stumble along the outskirts of the Stygian marsh. Which was not a pleasant experience when the bottom of his jeans were now coated in muck and the skeletal trees were home to many monsters. Add to that, he had developed a migraine a few hours back, his connection to water running in overdrive next to the literal mixing pot of all five of the Underworld rivers.

Only to be met with a Titaness when they finally finished their trek through the sulphur-scented marsh. They'd followed the winding path of the Lethe and the pull in Percy's gut that guided them towards the small water body that he had assumed was the Pool of Memory.

The good news was Percy had been correct in tracking the location of Mnemosyne's Pool, but the bad news...Percy didn't have a great track record with Titans.

"You're not dead." Mnemosyne frowned at the demigods as they stumbled inside the arched entrance of the temple. The darkness of the realm seemed to swirl around the structure, as though attempting to dim the comparatively bright grey walls.

The Titaness herself had a stern face as she inspected them, her eyes swirling with iridescent colours and her dark hair splayed across her shoulders.

" I tried the whole 'being dead' thing but it didn't stick." Leo shrugged. Percy was forever impressed by the son of Hephaestus' ability to make light of his own death.

"Yes," The Goddess of Memory's eyes flashed golden as if a lightbulb had lit behind her eyes. "You stood before the judges at six-forty-four a.m on the morning of Gaea's awakening."

Leo raised an eyebrow, "How'd you know that?"

"I remember ." She scowled at them, "You mortals never remember anything, it's miserable."

Percy didn't really think that he should be blamed for his memory loss when it was the Queen of Gods who had decided to meddle but he chose not to express that aloud. .

"Maybe you can help us then?" Annabeth suggested, "We've come to ask for a few drops of your Pool of Memory, it will help us remember won't it?"

Mnemosyne's whole demeanour darkened. "You are not departed souls bound for Elysium. You will not drink from my waters."

"Actually, we don't want to drink from the pool," Percy pointed out, "Just, you know, want to take a few drops..."

"If not to drink, what would you use it for?" The Goddess asked but there was a harsh ice of indifference in her tone that said their answer would not change her own. She sat herself on the rim of the cauldron in the room's centre, one hand dipped into the silvery water inside .

"The Ambassador of the Gods is missing," Annabeth said, "A prophecy guided us here so that we might give some of the water from your pool to Phobos to help us find Nico."

"Ah, the Prince." Mnemosyne acknowledged. Percy distantly wondered if anyone - other than maybe the fish - in his father's domain called him prince. Then he immediately slated that train of thought because Gods he'd hate that. "I'll admit he has grown on me."

"So you'll help us?" Leo promoted and Percy groaned aloud when the Titaness' face only grew darker.

"No," Her eyes flared brightly, "I might not dislike the boy these days, but he still carries the mark of the Lethe. And I do not help those who do not remember."