The Gift of the Lethe

Sweet Nostalgia and New Beginnings

Athena sweeps out of the room, leaving Pallas alone. She drifts over to the window and pushes herself up onto it, looking down at the land below. Olympus is lush and bright, the perfect picture. A little piece of Greece, far across the sea. At least she thinks it's across the sea, if she is remembering the world maps she was shown correctly.

She had never realized how vast the land was before, she always thought it was the seas that were endless and that there was only one large landmass. But so much has changed now, the entire world is known to mortals and immortals alike. Just outside of Athena's home, Olympus is quiet and peaceful, full of wildlife.

Of course, it's nothing like the wild place she can see nearby, with scattered structures all silver and gray. It has to be Artemis' home. Farther away, snatches of laughter and voices reach Pallas, drifting over from the bustling heart of Olympus, with the main palace at its center. Pallas itches to go down there and explore, she wasn't well acquainted with Olympus before she was reborn, so it's all new.

But she shouldn't go, daytime or not. Not until this entire situation is resolved. There is a soft touch at her elbow and Pallas turns slightly to look at Athena. She is holding a plate of ambrosia in her hands and she passes it to Pallas. Once the plate is out of Athena's hands, she hoists herself up onto the windowsill to lean against it on the opposite side so as to face Pallas.

Pallas extends the plate back to her and Athena plucks an ambrosia square from it and bites into it, gazing out at Olympus. Balancing the plate on her knees, Pallas takes her own piece from it. The taste is familiar like always, one of the characteristics of the godly food. While her memories had been taken from her, Pallas couldn't remember what this taste was.

But she knows it now. Honey cakes, with the slight hint of sea salt that they would always have whenever she would make them with Athena. She takes another bite of the ambrosia and glances down at the windowsill, frowning slightly. It's so easy to use it as a seat, but most windowsills aren't like that. Nor are they normally big enough to accommodate two people.

"Thene?" Athena's eyes flicker towards her and Athena tilts her head in question. "Why are these windowsills so easily used as seats? I love them, but it seems strange."

Athena laughs. "Did I tell you that Annabeth designed Olympus?"

A mix of thoughts rush through Pallas' head. Annabeth did what? How is this connected to her question? Did something happen to Olympus that would require it to be rebuilt? What did it use to look like, if this was redesigned recently? Pallas settles for saying none of them.

"You didn't. Did she really?"

"She did, after Olympus was destroyed in the Second Titan War."

Pallas chokes on her ambrosia square. "The what?"

Athena blinks. "Percy didn't tell you about that?"

"It was not in the training and history he gave me when I didn't have my memories back."

"Oh. I'll tell you the story later then. Annabeth was designing Olympus for the repairs, and she consulted me on my home. I wanted the windowsills to be wide enough to sit on. I don't know how well you remember that, but you always seemed to gravitate towards sitting next to windows and staring out of them, even in your father's palace." She hesitates. "After- after the spar, I took up the habit, so I wanted the window seats. Annabeth, however, is the one who chose to make them this large."Athena blinks and shakes her head, sliding off of her seat. "Before my father comes to disturb us, I want to show you something."

She extends her hand to Pallas. Despite her confusion, Pallas nevertheless takes her partner's hand and allows Athena to help her down from the windowsill. As Athena leads her through the hallways, Pallas keeps a hold of the plate of ambrosia, tucking it against her hip at one point so she could snag another square and pop it into her mouth.

Athena had laughed at that, reaching over for a piece of her own. They wind through hallways and down stairs, passing rooms Pallas hadn't seen before. She hadn't explored that much before, and even though Athena's home is among the smaller palaces on Olympus - she says palace for lack of a better word - there are still many rooms contained within it.

She had stayed to the main rooms, Athena's personal spaces. Most of the rooms they pass are bedrooms, all decorated completely differently, as if designed by people with different tastes. Athena smiles softly at Pallas' look of confusion.

"I'll explain the rooms later, they're something the entire cabin helped Annabeth with."

Pallas nods hesitantly. "Where are we going, Thene?"

Athena grins. "You'll find out soon enough, we're almost there."

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Where do you think they're going? What did you think of Pallas' reaction to hearing that there was a second war with the Titans? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out