Erased Memories

Grover Kills Ping Pong Balls

Grover Kills Ping Pong Balls

I woke up feeling great. Which, of course, meant something bad would happen soon. Needless to say I was tense.

By the time I started helping with training, I had been told by every member of my team to relax at least twice. Finally, Beckendorf, Luke, and Daedalus teamed up and threw me into the lake, knowing it would soothe me. I wasn't worried about Poseidon. He had probably guessed that I was the new Pontus and didn't think much of my obsession with water.

I sank down to the bottom of the lake and gathered my thoughts. There wasn't any bad thing that came to mind when I thought about it, other than another attack. Nothing bad that would happen at Camp would cause me to feel like this. To feel that something really bad would happen soon. Something caused by the enemy.

I cleared my head and kicked up to the surface. The water exploded outward from the force I caused, startling a nearby satyr. He trotted off, muttering Greek curses about ducks. Don't ask me why.

I saw Annabeth approaching and groaned inwardly. I knew the reason she was coming had to be because of the battle meeting, but did it have to be her?

I sighed and ran up to the Big House, staying as far away from Annabeth as possible. Sitting around the ping pong table was Chiron in his wheelchair form, Clarisse, Jake, Travis and Connor, Drew, Will, Pollux, Thalia, fake me, Nico, Annabeth, Katie, and the heads from the minor god's cabins. Grover was there as well.

Chiron got started right away. "Now that we know the extent of Tartarus's forces, we can plan. We need a strategy. I will let Annabeth take over for now."

She nodded. "I have a few ideas..." I tuned out from there. If they need me they'll tell me. I usually just go in and fight anyway. No need for a plan.

"... Sotirios? Hello?" Everyone was looking at me.

"Sorry. What was that?"

Annabeth sighed. "We know that you did something with the lake. I was also thinking that maybe your team could hide in the lake and then when there were enough monsters in the area, you jump out and attack."

"That could work. I'll also work on making weapons from the water." Murmurs of agreement floated around the table.

"Cheez-whiz!" Grover finally noticed the cheez-whiz. He scooped up crackers, ping pong balls and chowed down.

I laughed--it was just like that winter when we rescued Annabeth and Artemis. Grover realized it too and laughed along with me. Everyone else just looked at us funny.

The meeting continued on like that. We set up our plan for the next attack. There would be another, and we couldn't lead the attack. We had no idea where Tartarus would be. For now, we were sitting ducks.

My team would be hiding in the lake for the first few minutes of the battle. They would pretend to surrender and then we would burst from the lake, taking Tartarus by surprise. Right now, we would focus on our training and making of weapons and armor.

The meeting ended and I headed down to the lake. I grabbed Daedalus and had him help me by holding the weapons so they wouldn't break.

I created swords, daggers, spears, knives, any weapon you would see at Camp. I even made a few guns with ice bullets.

When I was done, Daedalus helped me carry the weapons to their cabins. We gave the guns to the Apollo campers, since they had good aim. We didn't think that the Hunters would appreciate them. Most of the other weapons went to the Hermes, Athena, and Ares cabins.

After that, Daedalus returned to helping the Athena children with their plans and inventions. I helped Luke with the sword fighting and also helped Silena train the Aphrodite campers.

A few hours later, I was relaxing in our cabin after a long and tiring day of training and avoiding people (mainly Annabeth). I was reading a book Chaos had given me about the void. And yes, I do read. I just don't choose to most of the time.

Slowly, the rest of the team joined me and we sat in silence, each of us with a book. Daedalus was the only one missing. He was probably still helping the children of Athena. Luke was gone too. He must've been practicing to blow off some steam. The silence didn't hold.

The door banged open. "Woah there, the world may be ending sooner than we thought. Kelp Head is reading a book." Thalia barged in and announced as soon as the door was closed.

"And Pinecone Face is as dramatic as her father." She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Shut up. So, how's training going?"

I groaned. "Boring, hard. You guys have no idea how to use a sword. Our weapon making is taking too long, and I feel like something bad is going to happen."

"I know the feeling." Thalia flopped down on a free couch. "So, how was training with Chaos?" She was obviously trying to fill the silence.

"Tough. Helpful. Annoying." I stuck my nose back in the book. Thalia snorted and took that as her dismissal. The door creaked shut behind her and the silence resumed.

A few more hours passed and Silena and Beckendorf left for a romantic walk on the beach. I tried to ignore the pain in my heart. Bianca and Zoë crashed in their beds. Nancy got on her computer, given to her by Chaos, and proceeded to hack some important organization. She wouldn't get in trouble, she's too smart to get caught. Eventually she passed out in her bed too.

I was just starting to worry about Luke and Daedalus when Luke came rushing in. He bent over, trying to catch his breath. I sat up, something must be bad.

"It's Daedalus." He huffed. "He's missing."