Lost Memories

And Then There Were Two

When I woke up the next morning, it was later than I'd expected. I was one of the only ones in the dining pavilion for breakfast, as everyone else had already eaten and begun their activities for the day. Since I was the only one in the Poseidon cabin, I had chosen my own activities—none. Today, I was going to try to talk to Mr. D and Annabeth and figure out what Mnemosyne's next move would be. Mr. D had said that Mnemosyne was trying to weaken Camp Half-Blood—if anyone knew about that and would tell me, it was Annabeth.

I met up with Mr. D first on the porch of the Big House. He was playing pinochle with two other invisible players since Chiron was teaching an archery lesson.

"Ah, Percival, just in time. You can join us for pinochle," he said, not sounding particularly happy about it.

I sat and picked up some cards, not really paying attention to the game. "Tell me everything. What has Mnemosyne been doing? What did she say?"

Mr. D sighed and reminded me to bid, so I did. "I already told you what she said. There isn't much to it. She wanted my help in taking down Zeus in exchange for making me forget you too, that way you couldn't come to me for help and you wouldn't be able to stop her."

"So she did this because I'm a threat? She must have some sort of weakness that I specifically can exploit," I said.

"No." Mr. D said.

"No?"

"No. She has the same weaknesses as every immortal. She will be harder to defeat than Kronos—his use of a mortal host that bathed in the River Styx that left him invincible except for one spot left him very vulnerable if that spot was hit, as you know. Mnemosyne has no use for a mortal host. She is in her fully powered state, she will not be weak," Dionysus explained.

"So she's like Hyperion or Atlas. I defeated Atlas with Artemis's help and I killed Hyperion with Grover's help. I've fought regular titans. I can take her," I said.

"But you had help every time. You alone are dangerous, but with your friends, you're a force to be reckoned with. That is why she did this to you. You've proven to be a threat to anyone who has issues with my family, but she knows it was only because of your friends. Your friends are the difference between her plan being possible and impossible. This time, if you end up fighting alongside the campers here, they will not listen to you. They will look to Annie Bell or some of the other senior campers. They will not let you do what you must. They will kill first and ask questions later. They won't let you force her to give back their memories first, and I can assure you, killing her will not return them. You'll have to get her to do it while she is still alive."

I rolled Riptide between my fingers, thinking. "So, if there is a big fight, I'll have to make sure I'm the one to fight her. I think I can do that. And I think I can convince Annabeth to listen to me."

"This is your fight, I can't tell you what to do. And I don't want to."

I ignored his useless words. "What has she done to weaken camp?"

"You may have noticed that despite all the new cabins there aren't many new campers. Mnemosyne has been sending monsters after the demigods and their satyr guides, and few have been able to make it here safely. When she's not sabotaging new recruits, she sends monsters to patrol the borders, trying to find a way in and to lie in wait for satyrs and demigods that have somehow made it this far. Other times, she interferes with the magical borders, allowing monsters to come in and attack."

A roar coming from Thalia's tree interrupted the calm morning.

"Like now," Mr. D said. "If you really want to gain Annabeth's trust and get her to listen to you, I suggest you go help. But I do expect you to come back and finish our game of pinochle that you are losing spectacularly. I do so enjoy winning."