Lost Memories

All That Glitters Is Imperial Gold

For the next few hours, Annabeth rested in the infirmary talking to Leo and Piper. Reyna was in one of the cabins taking a nap and I stood at the front of the ship, leaning on the railing and staring out at the water. The ship was moving steadily as we continued on our way out of the Sea of Monsters. Every once in a while I would see a strange sight that could only be found in the Sea of Monsters. One was a volcanic island like the forge of Hephaestus Annabeth and I had seen on our first trip through the Sea of Monsters. The weirdest was probably a tiny island the size of a ping pong table with five telekhines sitting in a circle playing cards. I didn't question it. I just willed the ship to sail far around it.

I tried not to think about Annabeth, but it wasn't working very well. Of course I was overjoyed that she was safe now, but it still felt like I was being stabbed by dozens of super-heated knives. She still had no memory of me besides the past two years, which was nothing like the seven years we'd really known each other for. And it was killing me.

I loved Annabeth. There was nothing I wouldn't do for her. I felt like I'd proven that in the past two years, despite her amnesia. I thought it at least earned me a chance. I thought she would at least entertain the notion of us being in a relationship. But every time I proved my feelings for her, she dismissed them like she couldn't believe she had ever cared for me.

What was I supposed to do now? All I knew was that Circe and Mnemosyne were the ones who did this to me, but I was no closer to defeating them and returning everyone's memories. I had no clue what to do. Circe wouldn't be stupid enough to stay on her island, and Mnemosyne was probably never there to begin with, so I had no idea where to find them. Even if I did, I had no idea how to stop them. As I'd just seen, Circe was a force to be reckoned with even without her magic. And Mnemosyne . . . she was a titan with the power over memory. She could easily make me forget who I was and be done with me.

Come to think of it, why hadn't she done that in the first place? Was she really so petty that she "wanted me to suffer," as she had put it? She'd rather ruin my life by making everyone forget me instead of making me forget everything and be done just like that?

I would never understand immortals.

~

Reyna and I were bouncing a ball back and forth on the deck of the ship when I sensed it. Something metallic down in the water next to us on our starboard side—no, more than one something. It felt magical.

We hadn't yet left the Sea of Monsters, but I could tell we were getting close. I wanted to keep going, but something was drawing me towards it.

I stood, stopping the ship. The ball bounced over to me and I caught it and threw it back without looking. I walked towards the railing of the ship and looked down. The ball ricocheted past me and over the railing of the ship and Reyna complained, "Percy!"

"There's something in the water," I said. "Do you see anything?"

Reyna pushed herself to her feet and joined me at the railing. "Maybe. Is something shining down there? Maybe kind of gold?"

I squinted. It did look like something gold was down there.

"Hey, why did we stop moving?" Leo said.

I turned, seeing him climbing the stairs along with Piper and Annabeth. Annabeth was looking much better and was putting a little bit of weight on her injured leg now. It wasn't completely healed yet, but it would be within a few more hours.

"Yeah, the sooner we get back to Camp Half-Blood the better," Piper said.

"Be right back," I said, and before anyone could ask any more questions, I dove into the water.

The cool seawater felt refreshing and immediately calmed me. I swam deeper, looking for the source of the strange feeling. As usual, neither the pressure nor the lack of light bothered me, and I was able to breathe perfectly.

About fifty feet below the surface, I found what I was looking for: a giant mound of imperial gold weapons.

~

After grabbing as many pilums, spathas, and gladius's I could carry, I shot back up to the surface of the water. I propelled myself into the air and onto the ship where Leo, Piper, Annabeth, and Reyna were all waiting for me. I dumped all the weapons on the deck and Reyna gasped.

"Are those . . ." She covered her mouth.

"The lost imperial gold weapons." I nodded. "It makes sense, we found the eagle staff on Circe's island. There are hundreds of them down there."

"Uh . . . what?" Leo said.

"It would take too long to explain, plus you wouldn't understand," Reyna said immediately, picking up one of the swords. "This is amazing."

"Look, we deserve more answers. You told me some of it, but not all. You're always keeping secrets from us," Piper said.

Annabeth stayed silent, but I could tell she agreed.

I locked eyes with Reyna and she gave me a small shrug and tip of her head. "Maybe someday," I said, "we'll tell you everything. I'd like to. Just not yet. For now, has anyone seen some sort of net I could use to get the rest?"

Leo said nothing, but reached into his tool belt and pulled out a net. "Thanks," I said, snatching it and jumping back into the water. I paddled back down to the pile of weapons and thought about how best to collect the weapons.

A few hippocampi swam by slowly, neighing at me. I got an idea.

Hey, would you guys help me with something? I asked them.

Of course, lord! the hippocampi replied.

With the help of the hippocampi, I was able to spread out the net as wide as it would go and load as many of the weapons into as possible. Then we carried it up to the surface of the water where I ordered a few ropes to grab the ends of the net and haul it onto the ship. Reyna nearly fainted at the sight of so many imperial gold weapons. The others had already gone back downstairs, resigned to the fact that we kept secrets from them. I silently willed the ship to continue on its course back to Camp Half-Blood.

"How do you think Camp Jupiter will like this?" I asked.

"First the eagle, now the weapons?" Reyna said, wide-eyed with happiness. "Percy, I could kiss you!" Reyna shouted.

Immediately, Reyna's face fell and I lowered my head. We both felt extremely awkward. Reyna cleared her throat, coughing. "Uh, thank you, Percy. These will be a great help to Camp Jupiter. When we get back to Camp Half-Blood we can figure out a way to get them to California."

"Yeah, sounds good," I said, running a hand through my hair.

"What's that?" Reyna asked, pointing off the port side.

I turned, looking where she was pointing. Off in the distance, I could see a misty, crowded beachside lined with stores with neon signs, palm trees, and a highway. The same place we'd emerged from the Sea of Monsters the first time.

"We're back." I smiled. "We're in Miami. We're finally out of the Sea of Monsters."