The Hanging Tree | Percabeth

Percy

I was speed walking to school. I wanted to avoid Annabeth but I knew I couldn't. I was her guide and it would be cruel to leave her without guidance. I met her at the front of the building.

"Hey, Percy..." She blushed and sounded uncomfortable.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Instead of answering she turned to walk to the first period. I caught up with her and started making conversation.

"Piper is having a party tonight. Do you want to go with Rachel and me?" I asked.

"Sure, sounds fun." Her eyes didn't leave the floor and she looked... Heartbroken.

All-day she acted like that. I barely knew her but for some reason, it hurt me to see her like this. At lunch, she spoke so little that even Nico noticed. As we were leaving the cafeteria, Nico pulled Annabeth aside. I would ask her about it later but I learned the hard way to never interrupt Nico. She didn't show up to Greek mythology class and I started to get worried. I knew nothing would ever go on between them because Nico didn't swing that way, but it didn't stop me from worrying. Nico wasn't exactly... Sweet.

Mr D. excused class but not before calling me up to his desk. "Peter, I need your project idea."

"I'll have it for you by tomorrow."

"Today. I know you're stopping by camp."

"That was yesterday Mr D., I stopped by camp yesterday."

The wine god rolled his eyes, "Fine."

I walked around the school for a few minutes looking for Annabeth to

see if she was okay but I couldn't find her anywhere. I decided to text her.

You never came to class, you good?

Yeah, sorry. Our talk went on for a while. We ended up ditching school. I'll be there tomorrow.

Meet me at the Hanging Tree.

Okay.

I called my mother to tell her I'd be late. When I got to the tree Annabeth was already sitting in its branches, staring off into space.

"Annabeth." I tried to get her attention but she couldn't hear me. I sighed and climbed up next to her. I tapped her shoulder.

"Seaweed Brain!" Her eyes lit up and she tackled me in a hug almost falling out of the tree.

I frowned, "Did you just call me Seaweed Brain?"

She moved away from me, "Right, sorry. Why did you want to meet?"

"Mr D. wants us to tell him our project idea tomorrow."

Annabeth nodded slowly like she does whenever she's thinking hard. "We should do the feud between Athena and Poseidon, that was always my favourite."

I agreed and we started doing research. Thank goodness Annabeth brought her school stuff.

"What were you and Nico talking about?" I blurted.

Annabeth looked a little surprised, "Um... Can I trust you not to freak out?"

"Yeah."

"Leo overheard your conversation with Chiron and told me everything. I went to Nico to see if he could do anything to help my memory. He told me the Mist never affected him but he pretended it did so he could stay off Luke's trail. The reason he and I took so long is that he brought me to the Underworld to see his dad. He restored my memory. Zeus stole it so technically only Zeus could give it back but since Hades knows him so well, he could. Everything Leo heard was true. The reason Luke took our memories and messed with the Mist was that we figured out what he was up to," she paused to see if I was following then continued, "Hades gave Luke a second chance because of his sacrifice. Luke is going to kill you and me because he is scared we will ruin his plan again."

"That's... a lot," I said slowly, keeping my promise of not freaking out, "That explains why Chiron was so surprised when I didn't know who you were... Is there a way for me to remember my memories too?"

"Um... Yeah. If you confess your darkest secret to Hades he has the power to look inside your mind and pull forgotten memories forward."

I flinched, "Is that what you did?"

Annabeth nodded. That was a scary thought. She was so desperate to remember me that she confessed her most private thoughts to Hades. I've met the guy and he's not the warmest dude I've ever met.

We finished our project and I invited Annabeth over to dinner. My mother recognised her immediately and beamed. "Annabeth! You remember! Chiron called me and explained everything. It makes so much sense now!" She pulled Annabeth into a hug.

"Percy still doesn't have his. We are working on that part. I have a person we are seeing tomorrow." Annabeth shivered.

My mother was making a blue cake for dessert and chicken with rice for dinner. This was going to be an interesting night.

Why hadn't Luke taken my mother's memories too?