The Gift of the Lethe

The Flip of the Hourglass

She hovers in the doorway, unsure of what she's doing here. How did she even get here? A young man steps into the room from another room, the strap of a bag slung over his shoulder. He frowns at her, brushing a strand of his shaggy black hair from his eyes.

"Pallas? I didn't expect you to just appear."

She blinks at him and touches the bracelet at her wrist. "I don't understand. What am I doing here? Who are you?"

"I'm your brother, Percy. My fiancée, Annabeth, should be back from class in a few minutes. Do you want me to stay until she gets here?"

Pallas frowns at the bag swinging against his side. "You look like you were planning on going somewhere."

He smirks, causing his green eyes to sparkle. "I think I can spare a few minutes."

She shakes her head. "Really, you don't have to."

Percy snorts. "How sure are you? You've lost all your memories, presumably, so you don't know what Annabeth looks like and you may not even know what to do here by yourself. Maybe you do, but I don't really want to test that, so I think I'll stay."

Pallas shrugs, a single shoulder rising. "Suit yourself."

Percy laughs again and settles onto the couch, setting his bag at his feet. He leans his head back against the cushions, staring at the ceiling for a moment. Then he looks at Pallas again.

"Are you going to stand there awkwardly or . . ."

She flushes and goes to sit on the couch beside him, twisting the bracelet on her wrist. The charms brush against each other, clinking softly. She stares down at them, touching each charm. The little plant provokes a frown from her.

"Percy?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know what this plant is?"

Pallas turns the charm toward him and he peers at it, frowning softly. "I think that's an olive branch? You might want to ask Annabeth to make sure though."

"Does Annabeth like plants?"

Percy stares at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. "No- Her- her mom invented olives."

Pallas frowns. "Who is her mom?"

Percy's voice softens as he speaks. "The goddess Athena."

Pallas flinches as there is a click from somewhere in the room and the door she had found herself at swings open. The girl pushing it open uses her other hand to pull a bag from over her shoulder, kicking the door shut behind her with her foot. She drops the bag onto the small table and swipes a curl of her blond hair from where it is drifting into her eyes. She frowns at them both.

"Percy? Shouldn't you be on your way to class?"

Percy shrugs. "I was keeping my sister company until you got back, but I will be going now. I'll see you later, wise girl."

He grabs his bag and starts for the door, pausing to kiss Annabeth on the cheek. She blushes and moves to playfully wack his arm as he slips past her, pulling open the door once more. With her cheeks still burning crimson, Annabeth turns to Pallas and walks over to steal Percy's spot on the couch.

"How are you doing? With the memory loss, I mean."

Pallas' brow furrows. "How do you know about that?"

"I already knew, you told-" Annabeth curses, shaking her head and muttering beneath her breath. "Damn you, Hera."

"Am I missing something?"

"Nothing that I'm allowed to tell you, sorry." Annabeth truly does look sorry, but there is also a hint of anger in her eyes.

"Okay . . . then can you tell me what this might be? Percy had an idea but he wasn't sure."

Pallas holds the charm up for Annabeth to look at. She squints, fingering the charm. "This is an olive branch. Did-" She shakes her head. "I like it."

Pallas twists the bracelet, skimming her fingers over the pearls that line it. She stops as one of the charms come into view. The spear. She fingers it, feeling the sharp point of the charm. She isn't quite sure how it doesn't injure her while she's wearing it, but it somehow doesn't. She tugs on it slightly, jerking back when the charm elongates into a full size weapon that almost pierces through her chest, if not for Annabeth grabbing the spear and pointing it away from her. She shivers at how close it was, a cold sweat trickling down her back. Annabeth frowns at her in concern.

"Are you alright?"

"I- think so? Just startled."

"If you're sure. I'm going to work on some of my schoolwork, you're free to read if you'd like, I also have some crafts stuff in the cupboards."

"What are you working on?"

Annabeth walks over to the table and flips open her bag, pulling out a laptop. "I'm designing some buildings at the moment, would you like to see?"

Pallas grins. "Sure!"

She moves to lean the spear against the wall for lack of other options, but it shrinks back down into a sharm. Shrugging, she goes to sit beside Annabeth at the table, peering over the older girl's shoulder at the blueprint presented on the screen.

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What did you think of this beginning to Pallas' quest? Do you think she'll figure out what she has to do? If so, when? How do you think she could figure it out? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out