Wildfires, Heroes of Olympus ₂

044, alcoholics come in clutch

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
PERSEUS         JACKSON

The next day that followed was relatively peaceful.

If you considered "needing to pass the Pillars of Hercules guarded by Hercules himself so they sent Finley, Jason, and Piper to talk to him, leading to Hercules giving the three a quest to retrieve the horn of Achelous, and obtaining the horn but refusing to give it Hercules because he didn't deserve something as precious as the cornucopia so they had to escape him by burying Hercules in food and get flown back to the ship by Jason" peaceful, then yeah. It was relatively peaceful.

Of course, Finley didn't agree so much. She kept muttering, "Never again. Never again," spitefully under her breath. Though Percy couldn't tell if that was because of her encounter with Hercules, or having to spend prolonged time with Jason and Piper.

Either way, Percy figured her sullen attitude was warranted. He wasn't quite the happiest fish in the sea, either.

Bad enough he'd been run out of Atlanta by evil sea gods. Then he had failed to stop a giant shrimp attack on the Argo II. Then the ichthyocentaurs, Chiron's brothers, hadn't even wanted to meet him.

After all that, they had arrived at the Pillars of Hercules, and Percy had to stay aboard the ship while Jason the Big Shot visited his half-brother. Hercules, the most famous demigod of all time, and Percy didn't get to meet him either.

Okay, sure, from what Finley said afterward, Hercules was a jerk, but still... Percy was getting kind of tired of staying aboard the ship and pacing the deck.

The open sea was supposed to be his territory. Percy was supposed to step up, take charge, and keep everybody safe. Instead, all the way across the Atlantic, he'd done pretty much nothing except make small talk with sharks and listen to Coach Hedge sing TV theme songs.

To make matters worse, Sylvie had confessed to him that she was actively losing her memory, and that wouldn't stop until she forgot everything entirely. Even Percy. Even herself.

Percy had immediately been a wreck. When Sylvie confessed her secret to the nine demigods, he had to try his hardest not to break down right there. Even then, he'd felt so miserable that his entire body had begun trembling, like an earthquake ruining the foundation of his very being. It didn't get any better when Leo sent Percy to do chores with Finley. She'd tried her best to bring his mood up, but he'd cut her off with an agonizing confession. "I can't lose Sylvie," and his brain was on a downward spiral from there.

Sylvie spent most of her time in her cabin, studying the bronze map she'd retrieved from Fort Sumter, or looking up information to both learn more history and rejog her failing memory.

Whenever Percy stopped by to see her, she was so lost in her head that the conversation went something like this:

Percy: "Hey, how's it going?"

Sylvie: "Uh, no thanks."

Percy: "Okay... have you eaten anything today?"

Sylvie: "I think Leo's on duty. Ask him."