Remember Me

Chapter Six

Percy's POV

As he and Annabeth raced up the stairs, Percy cursed himself over and over in his mind.

Why did he wait so long to apologize? He hadn't meant to say the things he had during their argument. He should've told her right away that he hadn't meant to say "just because you're here" the way he had, that the emphasis was completely unintentional.

It wasn't her fault that he felt like he didn't belong there. As soon as he'd gotten on the ship, he felt out of place. Hazel and Frank were like family to him, but after uncovering things about his past, he wasn't sure if he belonged with them. He barely knew anything about Leo, Jason, and Piper. He knew he had some connection to Annabeth, but it frustrated him beyond belief that he couldn't remember anything about that connection.

Annabeth was just trying to help. Percy had told her to think about what it was like for him, but he should have been thinking about what it was like for her. Her boyfriend who she'd known for gods know how long had disappeared for months, and when she finally found him he couldn't even match a name to her face.

He didn't even know where that had come from, anyway. It was unlike him to ask people to 'think about him'.

They emerged from the stairs to find Piper hopelessly outnumbered by wind spirits.

Instinctively, Percy uncapped Riptide and started to run towards her, but Annabeth held him back.

"Are you crazy? We have to help her!" he shouted above the wind.

"Look!" Annabeth said. He turned towards the scene again and saw what she was talking about.

Piper's dagger lay at her feet. Both hands were clutching her throat as she tried desperately to breathe. Her face was gradually turning blue.

"Where the hell is Jason when you need him?" Annabeth muttered, and Percy became very aware of how close to him she was standing. "Okay, you run downstairs and get Jason, I'll try to drag Piper out of that cluster and keep the venti off for as long as possible. Just hurry."

"But--" Percy started to say. He didn't doubt Annabeth's fighting skills, but he wasn't sure she'd be able to breathe in the wind any better than Piper could.

"Go!" she interrupted, unsheathing her dagger. Percy was hit with a massive wave of déjà vu, knowing that he'd seen her do that hundreds of times before. He knew instantly that she would be able to fend for herself until he got back.

He put the cap back on Riptide and dashed back down the stairs, stopping in the hallway and realizing that he had no idea which room was Jason's.

"Jason!" he shouted, hoping that he was closeby.

Jason appeared a door down on Percy's left, rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong?" he said.

Percy, who was still out of breath from sprinting and being near the venti, could only manage: "Wind spirits. Piper. Above deck. Now." before he ran back up the stairs.

He heard Jason curse behind him and follow Percy, flipping his coin as he ran.

Back outside, Annabeth had managed to get Piper out of the swirling cloud of wind spirits. She was slashing at them with her knife, but it was useless. The celestial bronze passed through them like they were, well, air.

When she saw Jason and Percy, she ran towards them, dragging a half-conscious Piper with her.

Jason surveyed the scene, then closed his eyes and stood still.

Percy gave Annabeth a look that said What the heck is he doing?

"Summoning Tempest. Just give him a second," she said.

Percy had no idea what this meant, but seconds later a wind spirit in the shape of a horse zoomed past him, barely skimming his arm, and stopped next to Jason. Unlike the others, this one seemed in control, but just as dangerous, if not even more so.

Jason mounted the horse with ease, spear in hand, and charged into the storm. Percy couldn't see what he was doing, but in seconds the horde was gone. Jason brought his horse to a stop by Piper and stumbled down. Fending off the venti had clearly taken its toll.

"Are you okay?" he asked Piper, completely overlooking his own state.
Piper responded by fainting.

"I'm gonna go..." he gestured weakly towards the stairs.

"Yeah, go ahead man," Percy said, clapping him on the back.

Soon enough, Annabeth and Percy were alone. Again. Honestly, Percy was surprised that this had occurred three times already before a day had passed. The rest of the crew was probably allowing for this, knowing they had unfinished business.

So finish that business, he told himself.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. What was he supposed to say? Sorry for being an asshole and blaming you for my amnesia, now can you help me get more of my memory back?

Yeah, that'll go well, he thought bitterly.

Before he could think of how to start, Annabeth spoke.

"Look, I shouldn't have gone off on you like that," she said, and the guilt in her voice was enough to make Percy want to hug her.

Percy felt his ears turn red. What? No. I'm not gonna hug her. She probably still hates me.

"I'm sor--"

"You went off on me?" Percy interrupted. "No, if anyone should be apologizing, I should. You didn't even do anything. And even if you had, at least I can see where you're coming from. I yelled at you for no reason, and I shouldn't have. So I'm sorry. In a totally non-sarcastic way." When they had argued, they had definitely yelled a few majorly sarcastic apologies at each other.

The corner of Annabeth's mouth twitched. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have expected you to remember that much in a day."

Percy shook his head. "No, it was--"

"Both of our faults?" Annabeth said, smiling.

Percy smiled back. "Okay."

He held his arms out for a hug. Looking back on it, he wasn't sure why he did it. It just seemed like the right thing to do. She hesitated slightly, then accepted. Percy was instantly reminded of their first embrace in the forum of Camp Jupiter. Annabeth must have thought of this too, because she pulled away awkwardly.

"I can take next watch," Percy said, breaking the silence before it got too awkward. "You should get some sleep."

Annabeth nodded gratefully. Before she turned to go, she said: "I can help you with some more of your memories in the morning, if you want."

"Yeah, okay," Percy said. The thought of spending more time with Annabeth made him smile for some reason.

"Goodnight," she said, her voice soft, and turned back towards the stairs. Why did his stomach do flips when she said that?

"Night," he said, and walked to the edge of the ship, watching the stars move slowly above him as the ship flew onward.

A/N: Ok so this chapter ended a bit more peacefully than last time haha.
Let me know in the comments what you think!
I think there's gonna be two more chapters to this story, about this length.
Hope you're all doing well!