The Remembrance of Chaos (PJO)

Chapter 4

"I think I recognize your name," Percy said, chewing his lip in thought. Artemis . . . maybe she was a friend, or she just had the same name as another. Unfortunately, Percy's obstinate amnesia refused to let even a thought come back.

"Same with yours," Artemis said. "Was it 'Perseus'?"

Percy stared at her with shock; she definitely knew him in her past life. "That's correct," Percy said. "Although I only told you Percy."

"Interesting," Artemis said thoughtfully. "I probably knew you."

Interesting indeed. "Are there any other people who have been brainwashed?" Percy asked.

"Not that I know of, no," Artemis said, obviously a little distracted. She caught herself. "what do you mean, 'brainwashed'?"

Percy pondered on whether on not he should tell Artemis about his theory. Once again, he decided to listen to his instincts, which had led him correct so far. "Anything End has said to me so far has been . . . very suspicious," Percy said. "She always hesitates a bit too long, and one time she lied to my face."

"Huh, I hadn't thought of that . . . but it makes sense," Artemis finished quickly, looking at Percy's face.

"How so?"

"Just this feeling . . . I don't have any real evidence though."

"I didn't have any at the starting, either," Percy said. "I followed my instincts."

"What you're saying doesn't sound very true," Artemis started. "But I can almost feel my instincts trusting you. You're the first male I came close to—I somehow feel distrustful of them."

At those words, Percy smiled at her. But he froze, looking at the door.

"What?" Artemis asked, noticing the change in behavior. She looked where his attention had shifted.

A figure darted from the door, presumably reporting to somebody what they had heard. Percy locked eyes with Artemis and decided on their course of action. As one, they chased the figure.

Once they opened the door, they were unsure where to go. Percy cased the empty area carefully, seeing the figure move around the corner. He began following the figure through the twists and turns, Artemis hot on his heels. 

"What's our plan?" Percy asked.

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked. "Just kill him."

"We can't just go and terminate the poor guy!"

"Fine," Artemis conceded. "We can just knock him unconscious."

"And then what?" Percy asked. They were slowly gaining on him, and Percy could now clearly see it was a male with a strong frame, panting heavily while Percy and Artemis didn't even break a sweat.

"Lock him up in a room?" Artemis suggested.

"Then we have to look after him!" 

"Look, how about we capture him, then we decide on what to do," Artemis said.

"That sounds like a good plan," Percy agreed. "Do you have any powers you could stop him with? He's starting to draw closer to the throne room."

Indeed, he was. Only a few minutes more, and they would be in trouble. Fortunately, the hallways were still empty, something Percy was thankful for.

"I don't think I have any, but I will try," Artemis said. She then closed her eyes in concentration, dodging obstacles at the same time. Percy was shocked; he definitely counted that as a power.

A few twists and turns later, Artemis opened her eyes. "I definitely have some powers, but they're blocked," She said, frustrated.

"Not all of them."

"Which one?"

Percy looked at her incredulously. "Y'know, the full time you had closed your eyes."

"I didn't know eyelids were special," Artemis said sarcastically.

"How long do you think your eyes were closed?"

"A minute? I don't know."

"At least for five minutes, and you dodged multiple objects subconsciously, as well as turning through different hallways," Percy said.

"Really?"

"Really," Percy confirmed.

"That's nice and all, but we're too late." Artemis pointed to the eavesdropper, who was now slipping into the throne room.

"Darn it!" Percy cursed. He looked around, trying to see if they could somehow escape. He grabbed Artemis' hand, and pulled her through a different hallway, disappearing from sight a moment before the man came out, with End in tow.

"Here's the plan," Percy started, running as fast as he could, through random hallways, Artemis following him again. "We run a bit, then slow down to a walk if we see anybody. If they find us—which will happen, don't worry—we pretend we were just talking to each other."

"How will that work?" Artemis asked. "End already has evidence that we've foiled her plan. At first sight, she'll kill us. If you don't know what that means-"

"I've figured out her strategy, though," Percy said, ignoring the jab. "There's a high chance she'll believe us, because of two things: I think we're hated here—or at least me—since everyone glares at me when I pass by, so End could think the man is lying and only making his story up to drive us out; and, even if she knows we know about her plan, we still can't do anything, since she took away our memories."

Artemis pondered upon this, trying to find the meaning in Percy's long and detailed speech. 

"Did I talk too much?" Percy asked after Artemis didn't respond. "Here, let me shorten it . . ."

" . . . I understood you, but it was a bit too long."

"That's the manipulative brain of End for you."

Artemis snorted. "So true. What's our plan for getting our memories back?"

She wanted to think about that now? "Let's cross that long bridge the we get there," Percy said. "For now, let's focus on not dying, as you put it."

"It's true!"

Percy relented, not wanting to get into a friendly argument right there and then. After all, their lives were in danger. Without warning, Percy started slowing down to a walk, catching Artemis by surprise. She dodged his body at the last second.

"What was that for?" Artemis asked.

"I was stopping."

"Well, give me a warning next time . . ."

Before Percy could respond—which would inevitably spark another argument—they heard the plodding of many shoes coming their way. They both immediately went into character, amicably chatting.

They were faced so, that Percy had a clear vantage point from where End would come from. When he saw a strand of clothing, he took a deep breath.

I hope I didn't mess up with this plan.

A/N-I hope all of you are having a good day, please star the story if you like it, and have a wonderful week!