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Ψ I Watch Μy Own Biography Ψ

PERCY

I have to admit, the closer we get to the Doors, the more nervous I feel.

What if I don't want my memories back? What if I can just start over?

Annabeth catches the look in my eye and seems to understand. She laces her fingers through mine and squeezes reassuringly. I smile. With anyone else who can sense my emotions like this, I would be nervous and try to get as far away from them as possible. But I have a feeling Annabeth and I have been through a lot together.

Finally we reach the summit of the hill and are arm's-reach from the Doors. Annabeth takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Her hand reaches for a pair of gleaming silver buttons next to the Doors, then stops. She looks at me. "You ready?"

"No," I reply honestly.

"Good. I'm not the only one." She lets out another breath, then hits the bottom button. It lights up in an almost-blinding white, and I hear a "ding!" I twist my head to see the Doors sliding open. It looks like a normal elevator - in fact, it reminds me of the elevator at the Empire State Building - but it makes me uneasy nonetheless.

I take deep breath and we step inside.

ΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨ

The doors slide closed behind us and the car starts descending almost immediately. Suddenly the doors seem to be sliding open again, and Annabeth yelps.

"Keep them closed!" Nico and I rush forward and press the doors together in an attempt to keep them shut. Soon, though, the elevator dings again, and they slide open, pushing us down onto the floor.

I look outside. "Woah."

The room the elevator leads into is at least the size of ten college campuses, sports fields and all, maybe a little bigger. Almost every square foot is occupied by a shelf of floating orbs. When I look closely at the orbs, I see faces, words, and numbers flashing in them. There are millions upon millions of orbs, all housing a person's memories.

The doors start to close again, and we scramble out of the car. Annabeth turns around slowly, taking in all the orbs. Nico's eyes widen as he starts toward a shelf to our right, scanning all the shelves on the way there. Annabeth and I exchange a look and hurry to catch up.

Nico's stopped in front of a shelf marked with a large, glowing letter "D" and I realize that all the shelves are marked with letters, A through Z. Nico starts down the row, inspecting all the orbs on his way.

Finally he stops in front of an orb with his face flashing on it. In fact, Annabeth and I are in it, too, along with hundreds of faces I don't recognize, some of them with silver tiaras, and I catch two adults with dark hair and olive-colored skin, just like Nico.

I see a tear slide down his cheek, and I finally see the name floating over the images.

Bianca Rosa di Angelo.

Annabeth gasps, "Oh, my gods," and without hesitation steps over to Nico, wrapping him in a sisterly hug.

We're all silent for a solid minute, then Nico draws a shaky breath and wipes his sleeve across his eyes. "Sorry."

Annabeth pulls back. "Why are you sorry?"

Nico looks at me, and it strikes me how young he looks: maybe nine or ten, even though I can tell he's at least thirteen. "We're here for Percy," he says, "not for me to drown in self-pity." He wipes his eyes again and starts back down the row to where we came in. Annabeth gives me a look, silently telling me to give him his space and that I'll find out soon enough.