Spoiler alert. Anybody who hasn't read The Lost Hero, you have been warned.
Oh yeah. I'm always forgetting this…
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me
Jason Grace stared at the trees, trying to remember exactly where his old camp was.
It felt so familiar, and yet so strange, like trying to remember an old dream. He could have sworn that he'd been to this place many times before. He just couldn't recall what to do next.
Annabeth walked up behind him. It wasn't hard to sense the frustration rolling off of her in waves. Only a few weeks had passed since they all realized that Percy was in the Roman camp, but for her, it could have been years.
"Are you sure this is the place?" she demanded, her hand tightly gripping the celestial bronze knife she carried everywhere. Jason had once asked her why she had it all the time, but her eyes just got that stormy expression that warned him to back off.
"I'm not sure…" he said uncertainly. Leo patted him on the back.
"It's okay man." he said, stealthily giving Annabeth a pleading look that begged her to be patient, and to give Jason a break. "I'm sure you'll find it somehow."
Jason nodded in response to Leo, his attention focused on the land in front of him. It looked so…so….He took a few experimental steps forward, like he was expecting to find the answer right in front him. Suddenly, he swiveled around and crouched, yelling "Duck!"
A dark shape flew over everybody's head as they followed his lead, nearly too fast to comprehend. And then just like that, as fast as it appeared, it was gone, leaving just a rustling of leaves and green foliage that rained down on them.
Jason hesitantly looked up, and then turned around, searching the darkness for any other attacks.
"What was that about?" Piper whispered, her tone wary. He shrugged. "I'm not sure." he explained, looking back at his friends as they all began to stand back up. "But I think we're here."
As if on cue, a sudden entourage of war cries pierced the air. Jason drew his gladius; the weapon Hera had given him when his old one was destroyed. Annabeth leveled her knife, while Piper drew own blade and Leo summoned balls of flames in each hand.
The first warriors appeared from behind the trees. They were all dressed in classic Roman armor, with metal plates surrounding the body and a helmet that covered most of their faces. Jason raised his sword, ready to fight. But just as the lead soldiers were about to strike, they froze, their expressions shocked.
There was a second of uncomfortable silence. Then a girl in the back spoke up.
"Jason?" she called out, her voice shaky.
He turned to look at her. Seeing her face triggered a memory he hadn't known he had. And arm draped around her shoulder, blades clashing in midair, a friendly push…. Suddenly her name popped up in his head.
"Reyna?" he whispered, her name sparking a jumble of emotions to play around in his head. He heard Piper behind him letting out a quick huff of air, but it couldn't bother him at the moment.
"Reyna…who?"
The girl Jason remembered as Reyna studied him, her grey eyes flashing with unreadable emotions.
"Where have you been?" she said cautiously, her hands never relaxing over the spear she was aiming at his group. "Why didn't you respond to our calls?"
"I-I…" Jason didn't know how to reply. It wasn't like he could just up and say "Oh, our friendly god Juno stole them from me, along with another guy named Percy Jackson, and she won't return them until we defeat the giants, which, oh yeah, I doubt you even know about right now."
"What are we doing?" a boy in the front complained, taking off his helmet in disgust. "Why don't we just kill them and get over with it?"
Jason saw that Reyna was about answer angrily, ('Probably a newbie' Jason thought) but then Annabeth beat her too it. She gasped, her face flooding with color, her eyes shining with hope.
"Percy!" she cried, her knife dipping down to face the earth. The boy in the front frowned. Only then did Jason realize that he was the kid from the picture. Slightly different, yes, his hair was shorter and he was a bit taller, but there could be no other explanation.
"Annabeth?" Percy whispered uncertainly, her name sounding like a new word on his lips.
The demigods around him frowned.
"I thought you lost your memory." one of them accused.
Percy looked confused. His eyes stared longingly at Annabeth, like he wanted to remember her but couldn't. But that expression soon hardened. He pointed his blade directly at her, his voice rough. "How do I know you?" he demanded.
Jason could have sworn he saw a tear in Annabeth's eye. But she immediately blinked, and then it was gone.
"Kelp Head, its me." she whispered. Then, seeing as that gave Percy no explanation, she continued, her voice unsuccessfully hiding her emotions.
"Remember, Percy?" she said, "We met when we were twelve. You came to Camp Half Blood after you defeated the Minotaur and thought you lost your mom." She blinked away another set of tears.
"You are the Son of Poseidon, the god of the seas, one of the Big Three. You were the child of the previous prophecy, the one who defeated Kronos in Mount Olympus. The savior of New York." Now, unable to hold it any longer, miserable tears began streaming down her face. Jason, Leo, and Piper where shocked to silence. Annabeth never cried.
"We went on three quests together, and one time you ran away from camp to save me from Luke. You bathed in the River Styx, making you invulnerable except for your Achilles spot. Your favorite color is blue, your mother's name is Sally Jackson, and she's married to your step father, Paul Blofis." Then she paused to take a breath.
"I call you Seaweed Brain a lot." she whispered, almost too quiet to hear.
"And you really don't remember this?"
Percy looked remorseful. "I'm sorry." he said, his sword drooping toward the ground. "I can't."
Reyna looked back from Percy, to Annabeth, to me. She grimaced, like she had made a decision she didn't like.
"I hate to drop in on your reunion." she said, "but you're trespassing on our land."
Annabeth's head jerked up to stare at Reyna, her gray eyes dark with fury. "This place is open for all demigods." she demanded, raising her knife again for emphasis. "We are no trespassers."
Reyna looked lazily at Jason's meager group. Jason cringed. The daughters of Aphrodite and Athena, as well as the sons of Hephaestus and Zeus against a fully trained, armed army? Might as well try to pit a dog against a giant.
"Take care of them Percy." she drawled. Then her eyes fixed on Jason. "Even the son of Jupiter."
Percy took a slow step toward him, ignoring the anguished "No!" that escaped Annabeth's lips. Jason raised his gladius, his eyes automatically searching for any signs of weakness he might have. To his disappointment, Percy appeared to have none.
Their blades clashed in midair. Jason jumped back as Percy took an experimental stab to his midsection. He responded with his own thrust, and then a sudden strike. Percy blocked just as quickly. Jason mentally cursed, remembering what Annabeth had told him about Percy's natural talent with a sword. To make matters worse, he was invulnerable too!
They continued fighting for a few minutes, both unable to find an opening in each others attacks, both struggling to locate each others weakness. Jason growled in frustration, sweat streaming down his face. How was he suppose to find Percy's Achilles spot if he couldn't do anything at all?
Suddenly, Percy froze mid strike. Jason cut down on his arm, but the blade just bounced right off the skin. He cursed.
Reyna looked down at Percy in disgust as he collapsed to the ground. "This is why the Greek empire fell." she muttered. Then she glared at Jason accusingly. "This is why you must die. You've been poisoned by them and their ways."
Annabeth rushed up to Percy, her eyes still streaming. To Jason's surprise, Piper stepped up. "What are you talking about?" she accused. "You knew about the Greek camp the whole time? And you never bothered to look for us?"
Reyna snorted. "Camp." she chuckled. "This is exactly how weak you guys are. Your haven is called a camp. Ours is called a-"
"-base." Percy said from the ground, surprising everyone. "Your place is called a base."
He stood up, then took a cap out of his pocket and touched the tip of his sword. To Jason's utter shock, it transformed from a lethal weapon to a harmless, drugstore pen.
Reyna's eyes flashed. "You dare insult us?" she cried, her blade immediately swiveling to point at Percy. He held up his arms in mock defeat.
"What are you gonna do, Reyna?" he taunted, unafraid. "Run me through? You know how well that went last time."
Reyna grimaced, and then lowered her sword. Percy turned around to stare at Jason. "You're Thalia's brother, aren't you?" he muttered, dazed.
Jason's eyebrows rose. "How do you know?"
Percy shrugged. "A dream." he replied nonchalantly. Then he looked at Annabeth, recognition flaring. He grinned. "I never thought I'd see the day that you cried over me." he chuckled.
Annabeth's mouth hung open like a broken hinge.
Then, to everybody's surprise, she punched him in the face.
"You stupid, lazy, Son of Poseidon!" she cried. "You did. I thought. You said. ARG!" She threw her hands up in defeat, and then tackled Percy in a bear hug. Jason heard Piper sigh from behind him.
Stupid Aphrodite love.
"You remember?" Annabeth whispered, hope trickling in her voice. Percy laughed, hugging her back. "Most of it." he proclaimed proudly. Then his brow furrowed. "Except…. there is something…."
"That's because you're not ready yet." a voice said from behind him. Everybody swiveled around. Jason's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Hera." Annabeth spat.
"Juno." Reyna breathed.
Leo, lost, looked between either groups. Shrugging, he said, "Jera!" and bowed to the goddess of marriages.
Hera's eyes flashed, but then she ignored him, turning her full attention to Percy. "You're not ready for what will happen next." she repeated.
Percy grimaced. "My friends will tell me what you're keeping from me." he countered, hugging Annabeth closer in the process.
Hera shook her head. "Your friends don't even know what you did." she said, glaring at Annabeth in the process. She shivered.
"It was your own secret to keep."
Jason, Leo, Piper, and even Annabeth looked at him. He stared at the group, particularly at Jason, Piper and Leo. His voice breaking, he whispered, "Crap…"
"And you guys," Hera proclaimed as she turned her full attention on the Roman base. "Leave these Greeks- and Roman- alone for an hour. They need to prepare for what's next."
Reyna nodded unhappily. "Yes milady." she whispered, glaring at Percy.
And then, with a slight twitch of her hand, the Roman army left, leaving behind a reunited pair, and three extremely confused demigods.
The minute the Romans left out of sight, however, the glow in Percy's eyes faded. He sank to the ground, clutching his head. Annabeth immediately knelt down in concern. "What's wrong Percy?" she said.
He glanced at her, saddened by something. "I'm sorry." he whispered, frustration evident. "I'm trying to remember other things Hera left out."
Jason walked carefully up to Percy, as if he were a ticking bomb. "I know how you feel." he sighed regretfully. Glancing back at where the Roman base left, he gestured, "This was probably my old home. But Hera stole my memories too."
"No, it's not that." Percy stared at the ground, as if it his memories would suddenly appear out of nowhere right in front of him. "It's just…
"I honestly still can't remember anything that happened in the last few years. I was bluffing when I said that I did. I did it so the Romans would leave.
"What is Hera hiding from me?"
Okay, so this is simply a one-shot. I don't plan on creating a full story out of this. Let's just leave that to Mr. Riordan. After all, he's the one getting paid…
Even so, do you like it? Please, rate and review!