Percy Jackson: My Life is a Lie

That Voice...

  "Percy?" A hint of recognition swam into her eyes but faded as quickly as it appeared. "I'm sorry, I've never seen you before."  

My whole world shattered right in front of my eyes. My breath was taking out of me and it felt as if my heart stopped, right then and there. "W-What?" I stuttered, hoping I'd misheard.

It couldn't be...She should be able to...She should remember me.

There was a hint of recognition in her eyes! That wasn't a trick of the light...right?

This was just a dream wasn't it? A hallucination...This wasn't real. This was just some cruel joke. 

I clenched my fist, the veins protruding, trying to hold back myself from irrationally doing things. 

A cruel joke indeed...

But it isn't..., a voice whispered, jolting me out of my line of thoughts. The voice was eerily familiar. I vaguely recalled hearing that very same voice during my younger years.

But before I could continue with my new train of thoughts, Annabeth waved her hand in front of my face, effectively snapping me out of my trance. She pursed her lips and pointed behind me. "Umm...your...mom?" Her eyebrows dipped slightly. "She's calling you."  

I blinked and turned around. My mom was mouthing my name. I gave her a slight nod and raised my palm up, signalling her to wait. I also mouthed 'Sorry'. I didn't turn back to Annabeth until she gave a nod and started talking with Paul.

I didn't know whether what I was about was a good idea but decided to still go with the plan--if you could call it that. "By any chance, do you know any Thalia Grace, Nico di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Piper Mclean, Jason Grace or even a Grover Underwood?"

Annabeth's eyes widened in shock then narrowed, but she answered nevertheless. "Thalia went off a couple of years ago with an all-girl group. Nico and Hazel are visiting a camp at California. Frank's there as well. Piper and Jason are both here, but Jason rarely interacts with others much nowadays. He wouldn't even let Piper, his girlfriend, come near him." She furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation.

"Why?" I asked, a small spark of hope igniting in me. Maybe Jason was in the same boat as me. That was too much to hope for though...But hey, if you were in my position, would you be able t help it? No matter what happens I won't give up on this hope of mine. Even if it's just a spark--

"Nobody knows."

--And there goes my hope. Extinguished with all the other demigod-related thoughts I had. I let the possibility of me actually being in a coma enter my mind. It was possible. Maybe...Maybe it wasn't real. Maybe--

"Percy!" I froze. I angled my head to the left slightly and the one and only Jason Grace running towards me.

"Jason..." I mumbled, unable to process everything. I blinked and realized that his appearance differed. There were bags under his eyes, as if he didn't sleep for weeks. His skin was paler and he was thinner than before. His confident aura was gone. He was un-'Jason-like'.

"Do you...remember?" His eyes were searching; his fingers were twitching. He definitely anticipating bad news.

"Jason..." I furrowed my eyebrows. "You look different."

"Thank Jupiter!" He exclaimed, catching some campers' attention. "You remember!" He engulfed me in a bear hug.

I tried to escape but it was futile. "Jase," I asked, trying to squiggle out of the awkward position. "What's wrong with you."

He moved back and in his eyes swam sheer desperation. It slowly faded away and in place of it was resignation. He slumped down. "You don't remember...I thought..." He clenched his teeth. His voice sounded like broken glass

"Remember what, exactly?" I questioned him.

"The gods..." His voice drifted off. He seemed so lifeless...

"Jason, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned. 

Annabeth merely stood there watching our conversation with hesitant eyes.

"Everyone is the problem!" He screamed out, frustration seeped into his voice. The campers jumped in surprise at the sudden rise in volume and looked at us weirdly. "They don't remember a thing! THE ARGO 2, THE QUEST AND THE GODS! THEY--"

"You remembered." He paused and stared at me. I stared back with an unwavering gaze.

Annabeth, tired of being clueless, finally spoke up. "Okay, tell me what's going on. What do you guys mean by 'quest'? What the H--"

A voice interrupted her.

You shall not defeat me, Jackson. Not again...

"He...ra...?" She drifted off. Her face became scrunched up. "Uhh... did I just say 'Hera'? And hold on, where did that voice come from?" She looked at us, probably expecting an answer.

"It's the same voice that's been plaguing me for the past month..." Jason said, fear slightly obvious in his voice. I frowned that voice...It sounded like...

My arms fell limply to my sides. The breath was taken out of me and I could feel the blood draining from my face.

"Kronos...He's back.."