Remember Me

Chapter Two

After a few seconds of awkward silence between Annabeth and Percy and uncomfortable shuffling in the crowd, Reyna broke the silence once again.
"Well, as there seems to be much to discuss, we shall prepare a welcome feast. Centurions!"
As Reyna gave orders to a group of ten Roman officers, Annabeth studied Percy. He looked exactly the same as he had all those months ago when they were together.
She was positive that the memories weren't fake like Piper's had been. Altering the minds of two demigods, Hera could do. But giving an entire camp altered memories seemed like too much, even for the queen of the heavens.
"The food and tables should be prepared in about twenty minutes," Reyna said, jolting Annabeth out of her thoughts. "In the meantime, I'm sure some of my centurions would be happy to give you a tour of the camp."
"Actually, I was wondering if I could have some alone time to... think," Annabeth said, hoping that wouldn't raise any suspicion.
"Of course," the praetor smiled warmly, but her eyes told Annabeth that she would be paying close attention to where she went. "If you follow that path you'll find yourself in the Garden of Bacchus. I find that it's a nice place to clear your head."
Annabeth followed Reyna's gaze and saw a small dirt path leading gradually upwards.
"Thank you," Annabeth said.
"No problem, um..."
"Annabeth," she smiled.
The praetor nodded. "It was nice to meet you. I'll send someone to come get you once the feast has been prepared."
Annabeth thanked Reyna once more, then headed off towards the Garden of Bacchus.
When she reached the top of the hill, her breath caught in her throat. Below her was an entire Roman city. Given her passion for architecture, she couldn't help but appreciate the beautiful houses, fountains, and temples. With the sun setting, the whole town was cast in orange light, making it even more beautiful. She stood in awe for a few minutes until she remembered why she was there.
She sat down on the bench to her right.
What was she supposed to do? She couldn't bear living on the same ship as her boyfriend while they sailed to the Ancient Lands without him even knowing who she was. But she couldn't just expect him to believe everything she told him and return things to how they used to be, either. What if he had found someone else? There had been a girl next to Percy in the forum with cinnamon-colored hair and chocolate skin. She looked younger than him, maybe thirteen or fourteen but could they be...? No. She shook the thought out of her head. She had seen from the girl's body language that she and Percy weren't like that. They were close, but nothing more than friends. Reyna, on the other hand, had seemed to be eyeing Percy an awful lot, a hungry look in her eyes. Was it possible that they were--
Annabeth's thoughts were interrupted by the snapping of a twig behind her. She whirled around, her hand instinctively going to her knife.
Percy put his hands up in alarm. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, um, it's fine." She wasn't sure what else to say, and it scared her. She couldn't remember a time when she had nothing to say to Percy.
"Annabeth, right?"
She hated that. She hated hearing him say her name as if for the first time, as if he hadn't known her for all those years.
"Yeah," was all she could manage.
He sat next to her on the bench. She wanted nothing more than for him to hug her and tell her that he did remember her and he loved her and would never leave her again, but she knew it wouldn't happen.
"Look, I just wanted to apologize for what happened back there," he said. She noticed that his cheeks were slightly pink. She had always teased him about how easily he got embarrassed, but really she found it adorable.
"It's not your fault Hera erased your memory," Just saying the name of her least favorite goddess made her want to get up and punch something. Seeing as Percy was the "something" nearest to her, she forced herself to regain her composure.
"I know I just... I don't know. I feel bad that you had to find out that way."
Annabeth didn't respond. 'It's okay' didn't exactly work.
"You were my, um... my girlfriend, weren't you?" He said after a few seconds.
She gave a small laugh with no humor in it. "No duh, Seaweed Brain."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh... nothing. I called you that a lot before..." She waved vaguely, indicating his disappearance and hoping Percy understood what she meant.
"Ah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. He often did that when he was uncomfortable. It struck Annabeth that she knew almost everything about him, but he was practically meeting her for the first time.
"So, you really don't remember anything, huh?"
"Well, that's not totally true." He seemed glad to have something to talk about. "I fight differently than the Romans do. I know all the gods and monsters by their Greek names. I have no idea why, but anything blue makes me happy." Annabeth smiled at that one. "And... I wasn't sure why before, but anything lemon scented calmed me down. Then when you hugged me I realized that was--"
"--my shampoo." Annabeth finished. So maybe he hadn't forgotten everything about her. She found it slightly strange that the one thing he remembered was what kind of shampoo she used, but hey, it was a start.
"What's camp like? Camp Halfblood, I mean." He seemed almost hesitant to ask, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"It's amazing. The whole place smells like strawberries because of the fields. We sell them to help fund the camp. The first thing you see is the pine tree. It... it used to be our friend Thalia, but that's a long story. Anyways, once you're past the tree, you're inside the property line. At the top of another hill, across from the one with Thalia's tree, there's the Big House. Then there are the strawberry fields, by the stables and the arena. We used to go there all the time to practice. The cabins are just north of all of that. There used to be just twelve, but after the Second Titan War, you made the gods promise to recognize all of their children, so we've been building new cabins for the children of the minor gods ever since. The mess hall and the lake are close to the cabins. You love the lake being the son of the sea god and everything, and we go there all the time ever since..." She faltered. Should she tell him about their underwater kiss? She didn't want to overwhelm him with information.
She glanced over at Percy and noticed a small smile creeping onto his face.
"What?" she said, not sure if he was laughing at her.
"We kissed. In the lake." His eyes stayed on an indiscernible point on the horizon, but she could tell he was excited for remembering something.
"Yes! Yeah... do you remember anything else?" she prompted.
His face fell. "Nothing. It's like I know the memories are there, but they're completely out of my reach."
"You'll get there," she said, only partially believing it herself.
The sound of leaves crunching announced the arrival of one of the centurions Annabeth recognized from early. He was tall and large, but with a babyish face. He was evidently Asian, maybe Chinese? He didn't strike Annabeth as the type of person who would be a leader, but she knew better than to judge a book by its cover.
"Hey guys, um, everything's been set up in the forum, so..." he trailed off.
"Thanks, Frank," Percy said. "We'll be down in a sec."
Frank nodded and went back the way he had come.
"He doesn't talk much," Annabeth noted.
"He just needs to warm up to you. And he's a totally awesome fighter. He can turn into animals."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow.
"Some gift from his ancestors, but he's a child of Mars."
Annabeth's eyebrow rose even higher.
"Wasn't expecting that, but I guess you never know," she said.
He smiled at her.
"What is it now?" she said, subconsciously rolling her eyes.
"Nothing," he stood, still grinning. "I can see why I liked you."
And with that, he followed Frank down the path.

A/N: Okay yay this part is a little longer than last time. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be posting parts daily, it depends on my schedule but stay tuned for more!