The Fate of Olympus | Reynabeth [✓]

21. Beautiful Boston Bench

Reyna sent Percy a Fleecy message telling him what had happened to Annabeth. She told him Annabeth was physically fine and would be back to Camp Jupiter soon.

After visiting Wellesley, they walked through Boston, but they were not keen on sticking around because of the Loki situation. From a certain point of view, a quest for knowledge that ended in ignorance could have been a warning not to challenge the gods' divine right to rule, but it only made Annabeth figure she did dislike the gods after all.

"I'm still kinda confused," said Reyna. "What exactly do you remember?"

"I remember the stuff that happened in my life," Annabeth said. "Like I remember who stole my memories. Every story and mythological name that I learned from studying is gone."

"But do you remember stuff like the prophecy for our quest?"

Annabeth closed her eyes and brought her hands to her forehead and retrieved the lines from her mind palace. "The prophecy says, 'You shall uncover abuse/ For which you'll find no excuse.' I agree that the gods have abused their power. But what abuse did we uncover?"
"Zeus and Loki conspired against you," said Reyna. "They took mythological knowledge from you. It means they think you pose a legitimate challenge to their rule."

"'Time and paradigms, like sands, they shift/ A mind in the present is your gift.'  I still think this is about mindfulness, which will help us see through the Mist. We can even manipulate Mist. We can't do it as well as a child of Hecate, but we can still do it to a lesser extent. 'Beware your strengthened fatal flaw/ Beware the splintered, spiteful Ra./ If you are rescued by a friend/ Then life was we know it shall end.'  I still don't know what those lines are about. They still have to come to pass."

Reyna said, "We were supposed to come here to see how the Mist changes our perceptions. You were going to see how we see Norse gods. Do you think they have a camp to train young Norse demigods?"

Annabeth scratched her head. "Maybe."

Reyna patted her Hunters of Artemis duffel bag. "I just want to get out of Boston. It's a weird feeling but—since we've already met two gods here..."

"You're right," said Annabeth. "Besides, the more I learn about myths, the more danger we'll be in because I'll be more obvious to monsters."

"I thought you said that you stayed safe because you knew a lot about myths."

"Our smell changes the most at the beginning of learning about mythology. The early learning stages are the most dangerous. After that, knowledge becomes a tool for us, not a weapon for them. Given that I believe that monsters exist, but I don't know any of them, I probably smell like a mortal who has a demigod friend."

Reyna laughed. Annabeth smiled. She loved Reya's laugh.

Reyna said, "Remember how Nerio told us that the Mist warps according to our preconceived notions? I don't think you have preconceived notions anymore. Maybe the Mist will have a harder time tricking you because you believe that all mythologies exist, but you don't have memory of specific names. You might be better equipped to see Norse gods than you were before."

~~~

Reyna and Annabeth visited Boston first. They weren't sure what they were supposed to be looking for. Nerio's message (BOSTON = Norse) was pretty vague. 

They came to a park. They sat underneath some slender trees and looked at planters full of thorns and brown grass.

"Hey, Reyna. Want a gift?" Annabeth asked.