How Do You Say Gods- Sea of Monsters

13: ANNABETH TRIES TO SWIM HOME

Again, Magnus reading this chapter is a pure accident. Isn't life funny?

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Jason had been imagining a plethora of reactions if everyone knew this. Interrogations left and right of what he didn't remember mostly. Unlike Percy, he wasn't thrown in here with any friends for a reminder of why he shouldn't go digging around in his head to understand. Thalia and Nico now had ammunition at the ready to demand if he knew anymore about Circe's island, the son of Poseidon not in the know before must have been the only thing stopping them.

The only one who said anything about it was Percy, giving him a sympathetic grin. "You should have said something, we could have made an amnesia club. Alex could make shirts in case we forget all of this again."

Alex sized the two up like he was mentally taking their measurements while Magnus got up to offer and take the book with one last curious look at him, but not a pester on his lips. Nico was barely acting like he heard as he was listening intently to Will talking about scurvy like he still only had pirates on the brain instead of ousting the rest of his oddities, like knowledge of that other camp.

Thalia sighed in exasperation that of course her friend was making light of this while still watching Jason a bit, but in the same way she had since the beginning. She was frowning from him to Percy and back, but whatever connection she was trying to draw didn't seem to be adding up. At least she didn't cry out to him being an enemy.

Will did have some questions about this, but he'd promised himself to stay out of it. What Nico's 'trip' had to do with Jason, and now most likely Percy's memory loss he couldn't fathom, but he just didn't care right now as Nico was finally just chatting and laughing with him still about pirates as they swapped stories of all the different legends on their favorites. Will had loved Captain Hook in every incarnation and was just getting into the finer details of a myth over Peter Pan being based on Apollo when Magnus started reading and the two reluctantly came to a stop.

Magnus hadn't even noticed the opportunity to have a chat with Alex if he'd wanted, he'd caught sight of the chapter title and felt a sense of foreboding wash over him. Did she and Percy have a fight? Did something try to drown her? He tried to start reading and felt everybody's undivided attention shift to him in concern for what she got up to.

"She doesn't turn into a motivational blue fish does she?" Alex asked, once more leaning over his shoulder and seeming to rest pretty comfortably there. Not quite touching, but for some reason the space felt like no bother.

Will snorted beside him and started humming an odd tune about just keep swimming. Nico didn't get the joke, but he smiled for seeing Will smiling while doing it anyways.

I'd finally found something I was really good at.

"Technically controlling sea ships seems to be inherited from your dad, again, not you specifically," Alex corrected.

"Why are you like this?" Percy sighed as he killed his buzz.

"Keeping things in perspective," he shrugged without remorse. "You've still got skateboarding, annoying Annabeth, a talent for pissing off gods, and housing food like nobody's business all to yourself."

"Fair trade," Percy grinned again at once.

...the wind in my face, the waves breaking over the prow.

Will was still guiltlessly watching Nico instead of the book, mostly, and couldn't stop smiling at the way he was still smiling. It finally happened though as he was so often prone to doing, Nico glanced at Percy and then back to the door with such an obvious shift. Guilt? Something along those lines? Will wanted to ask so badly what that was about, but then Nico did it again and actually bit his lip to stop himself smiling and relaxed instead, one last snicker escaping like he was still imagining a guinea pig doing all this. Will lounged back with a smile of his own at least he wasn't dwelling so much on whatever that had been.