The Veiled Legacy | PJO - Book Two

one

ARIANA AND PERCY (WITHOUT MEMORIES)

Ariana had decided that she officially hated killing monsters; she was growing tired of it.

The snake haired ladies were starting to annoy Percy and her.

They should have died three days ago when he dropped a crate of bowling balls on them at the Napa Bargain Mart. They should have died two days ago when he ran over them with a police car in Martinez.

They definitely should have died this morning when Ariana forged some shadow figures to behead them in the park.

No matter how many times Percy or Ariana killed them and watched them crumble to powder, they just kept re-forming like large evil dust bunnies.

They couldn't even seem to outrun them.

They reached the top of the hill and caught Ariana caught breath. How long since they'd last killed them?

Maybe two hours. They never seemed to stay dead longer than that.

The past few days, the pair had hardly slept.

They had eaten whatever they could scrounge - vending machine gummi bears, stale bagels, even a Jack in the Crack burrito, which was a new personal low. Their clothes were torn, burnt and splattered with monster slime.

They'd only survived this long because the two snake-haired ladies - gorgons, they called themselves - couldn't seem to kill them either.

Their claws didn't cut Ariana's skin. Their teeth broke whenever they tried to bite her. And for some reason, that Ariana couldn't fathom, whenever one got too close to Percy, Ariana went on auto pilot and would effectively drown them before sending shadows after them.

The funny thing was, Ariana and Percy didn't even know one another. And to make things worse, neither of them could remember anything about themselves, Percy only remembered a name. - Annabeth.

Ariana had guessed whoever it was must've been special but whenever she asked Percy he would shrug and say he didn't know.

It was peculiar but she never pushed, it wasn't like she could've answered any of his questions.

But they couldn't keep going much longer. Soon they'd collapse from exhaustion, and then, as hard as they were to kill, she was pretty sure the gorgons would find a way.

Where to run?

Ariana scanned their surroundings. Under different circumstances, she might've enjoyed the view.

To her left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods and a few herds of cows. To her right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched west - a vast chequerboard of neighbourhoods, with several million people who probably did not want their morning interrupted by two monsters and a two filthy demigods.

Further west, San Francisco Bay glittered under a silvery haze. Past that, a wall of fog had swallowed most of San Francisco, leaving just the tops of skyscrapers and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.

A vague sadness weighed on Ariana's chest. Something told her she'd been to San Francisco before.

The city had some connection to who she was . The wolf had promised they would both regain their memory - if they succeeded in their journey.

Should they try to cross the bay?

It was tempting. Ariana could feel the power of the ocean just over the horizon. Water always revived Percy.

Salt water was the best. They'd discovered that two days ago when Percy had strangled a sea monster in the Carquinez Strait.

If they could reach the bay, they might be able to make a last stand. Maybe Percy could even drown the gorgons. But the shore was at least two miles away.