Too Many Memories

I Bull-Ride A Hellhound

I Bull-Ride A Hellhound

A year had passed. Or on Percy's planet, six years. It was hell. I hated every second of it. I finally found my true Seaweed Brain, for him to be taken away just as quickly. My heart ached for him. Each morning I would wake up happy, ready to go greet Percy and tackle the day's problems, and then I remembered he was gone.

Many times my half-siblings would wake me up as I cried in my sleep, or they would wake up and find me sitting on my bunk, crying, holding a picture of him. It was terrible. They tried to comfort me, but it didn't help. Percy sent me notes from time to time, but they only made things worse.

Of course, I cherished the necklace he gave me. I knew it was for my safety, but it made it that much more special. He wanted me to be safe, of course I would wear it! But it was a constant reminder. With one smash I could easily see him, but I couldn't. It was for emergencies. As much as I wanted to use it, Percy would freak out and then when he found I did it because I wanted to see him, he would give me another and leave. So, why waste it?

The worst part though, was Thalia's death. We had another war, somehow Kronos came back. We defeated him, there was no doubt that we wouldn't, although I still don't know how. But in the process, Thalia was caught off guard by a manticore and suffered from a fatal wound. We did our best to save her, but it had been too late. Artemis lost yet another lieutenant. I had no idea if she had been recruited to Percy's team though. He didn't really tell me much, just that he loves me and wishes so badly that he could be there.

So anyway, on top of missing Percy I mourned Thalia. I don't know how my siblings put up with my meltdowns. Grover tried to help me, he knew how I felt. We had watched Thalia die twice, and we had both known Percy the longest. He didn't cry as much, Percy was his best friend, but do you see men crying over that stuff? No, not really. He did cry at first with Thalia, it's hard seeing your friend die for the second time, knowing that it was your job to protect them but you failed. I couldn't imagine how he felt, but I comforted him and made sure he didn't think it was his fault.

Chiron tried to coax me out and train. I helped with the archery classes every once in a while, I taught Ancient Greek to the new campers, but some things were too much. I didn't go to the arena a lot, I didn't go watch the canoe races, and I wasn't as aggressive at Capture the Flag. Sure, I was still good at each one, but the Athena cabin slowly became sloppy and our plans weren't as well made. We lost several games Capture the Flag. Percy had excelled at each one which made it harder. Reminders of him were everywhere.

I sighed as I walked to the sword-fighting arena. Chiron had threatened to have spiders put all around my cabin if I didn't get back in the swing of things. I shook my head at the memory and entered the arena, ducking immediately from a flying sword. It impaled itself in the side of the bleachers a centimeter from my ear. I glared at the owner of the sword--Connor Stoll--before yanking it out of the wall and stabbing it into the ground between his feet. Connor yelped and pulled the sword from the ground before carefully putting it away.

I rolled my eyes in amusement before moving to the center of the arena where Clarisse was teaching. Clarisse grinned when she saw me up and about but quickly hid it. I don't think anyone else saw her smile. Some things never change.

Clarisse and I taught the newer campers and the old-timers. We demonstrated techniques, she showed how to use a spear and javelin, I specialized in using a dagger. I actually found myself having fun. Sometimes you just need a good swordfight to cheer you up. Typical happy activity for a demigod. One of the only constants in our lives.

We continued fighting and I smiled the whole time. I was beginning to accept the fact that I wouldn't be able to see Percy every day, that Thalia wouldn't be there. She was in Elysium, I knew that. There is no way she couldn't. She sacrificed herself for her friends twice, why wouldn't she be with the heroes? Of course she was.