The Remembrance of Chaos (PJO)

Chapter 5

"Hello," End said, drawing nearer. This was it. The moment deciding well . . .his life. All Percy had to do was act casual. He had to pretend he didn't know anything about his past life, while actually knowing about his past life, only pretending to not know, since End should not know he knew.

A very confusing train of thought, indeed.

Percy pretended to look up in surprise from Artemis, while Artemis turned around. "Oh hello," Percy greeted. Artemis nodded her greetings as well. Percy thought they looked too casual, but couldn't say anything about it—it was too late.

"You've met each other?" End asked, glancing between them.

Presumably looking to see if we figured anything out, Percy thought.

"Yes," Percy said. "Apparently we were friends in our past life."

"Oh really?" End said, with a dangerous edge to her voice. "How do you know?"

Don't mess this up, Percy, He thought.

Percy forced a laugh. "It's funny actually," Percy said. "We gave each other our names, but then Artemis referred to me as 'Perseus', not 'Percy' as I had told her."

End then forced a laugh. "My, my, that is marvelous."

Try to be a bit more obvious, Percy thought sarcastically. It was obvious she wanted a bit more information before she decided on her course of action. Percy obliged.

"We were just talking about our positions," Percy said, looking at Artemis. "What was yours again? It has slipped out of my mind. I know mine, obviously, which is commander."  

Percy hoped she was told a position in the army, otherwise it would be game over.

"I'm second-in-command of the full army, right below you," Artemis said. Percy had to contain a sigh of relief; now all End had to do was accept their story. 

Percy felt a pang of worry when End studied their faces with scrutiny, hoping she was convinced.

"All right," End finally said. Percy mentally sighed in relief, trying not to show his emotions on his face. "I'll leave you two to get acquainted." End then walked away, not before staring at them one more time.

Percy and Artemis both weren't ready to start discussing. In a silent agreement, they started casually walking away, again chatting if they just had met each other.

I guessed correctly! Percy cheered in his mind. When Artemis smirked at him, he realized his eyes had lit up with joy. 

After a few minutes, they ended up in a long, deserted hallway. "Huh," Artemis said. "I guess that worked."

"It might have not," Percy warned. "We have to be more careful around End."

"Would talking in a hallway count as careful?"

"No, it would not," Percy relented. They quickly snuck into a room that was labeled H-Storage. It was filled with an array of weapons, from swords to maces to even slingshots. 

"Well, at least we know where to go if we need to resort to drastic measures," Percy joked.

Artemis smiled and pocketed a dagger. Percy thought this was a good idea and copied her, just in case. Heck, with his luck, it might even help defend himself from End, if things went sour.

"Back to business," Artemis said, sitting down on a crate that read: Bombs-CAUTION-Fragile. Percy eyed it warily and sat on the floor, preferring the cold, hard stone to danger. "How are we going to get our memories back?"