all our broken skies, a kotlc + pjo/hoo fanfic

chapter three

Sophie wasn't sure how she felt about stairs before her memory was smashed to bits, but she definitely hated them now. She'd gone out and bought two milkshakes—chocolate and strawberry—per Gethen's begging; apparently, the only food he got was mostly bland and tasteless, plus some vitamins since he wasn't allowed outside.

She'd made the mistake of asking him if he wanted her to get a burger. Gethen's horrified stare and silence made the answer clear enough. He had to be the most extreme vegetarian she'd ever met. Those were his views, though, and Sophie was going to oppose them.

One of the bad things about losing your memory was that she couldn't remember anything that she liked. What if she had an allergy to strawberries or something? Gethen had given her a bored look when she'd asked, so he clearly didn't know. He'd told her to get him a strawberry milkshake and get a chocolate one for herself since, apparently, you couldn't go wrong with chocolate. Thankfully, he'd been right, but Sophie wasn't going to go around eating crazy foods until she knew if she had any allergies.

During their time in the storage unit, she'd dared to ask if there was anywhere nearby that might trigger her memory. Sophie had been getting mixed vibes from Gethen—he'd never stated whether or not he wanted her to get her memory back, but he wasn't just handing the information over. Still, he had given her the American Museum of Natural History, so that had to be something.

Too bad he didn't mention the two-and-a-half mile walk there, or the mountain of stairs waiting for her.

"I hate you," Sophie muttered under her breath, finally cresting the top of the hill. She got a few looks from strangers—some of them more what a weirdo and others closer to wow, she's cute. Sophie wasn't sure how she felt about either of those, only that they didn't matter. There was a mystery to solve, and she was going to solve it.

The air conditioning felt heavenly as she stepped inside the building, but it didn't hold her attention for long. The entryway was massive, and that was—

That was a dinosaur skeleton in the middle of the room.

Whoa. Sophie grinned a little as she stepped farther across the tiled floors, turning in place to get a good look at everything. There were, in fact, two skeletons, one of them smaller, the other one reaching almost to the top of the domed ceiling. Two massive columns flanked the entrances to the north, east, and west wings—as well as where she'd just come from—elaborate paintings covering the walls around them. On the stone above the help desks, quotes from Theodore Roosevelt were written.

Again, though, her attention returned to the dinosaurs. Something about them sparked her interested, seemed to call her to them. Familiarity pricked Sophie every time she looked at them. Maybe she'd been here before, or had been somewhere else where there were dinosaurs? It was infuriating to have so many questions but no one to answer them.

As Sophie gazed past the dinosaurs, her eyes locked with someone across the room. He had dark hair, the exact color undecipherable from here, but she could make his eyes out perfectly. Teal, like sea glass.

"It was nice to meet you, Sophie."

She instinctively raised a hand to her temple, confusion fluttering across her face.

"Who are you?" she murmured, lips moving of their own accord, panic pulsing through her. Something about her words felt off. No, everything felt off, like she was a cog in a machine that had been knocked out of place. Everything was still together, but something was...different. Something had changed, and Sophie couldn't tell what it was.

What the hell did they do to me?!

Sophie glanced back up, spotting them again...but it wasn't him. It was—same position, same dark hair—but it wasn't the person she'd seen, whoever's voice she'd heard. From here, she couldn't make out the color of his eyes in the slightest.