Zero to Hero (Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty-Games and Puzzles

Annabeth's POV

N/A Just so you guys know, if you want faster updates from me, go read my original story: The Sunset Stone. I update that one once a week. And I'd love to see all of you commenting over there too. Thanks for all your support! If you want me to read your stories, message me, and I will try to find time for all of you! I love you guys!

"...wondering if you could tell me about Menoetius and Mnemosyne," I said quietly at my brother's side.

With his tongue between his teeth, Malcolm moved his remaining white knight to put Chiron's king in check. Chiron retaliated simply by taking the knight with a rook. 

"Oh come on, Chiron!" Malcolm complained, "I needed that knight!"

Chiron chuckled good naturedly, "Then you should have seen my rook before putting my king in check."

Malcolm moved his pawn, which had been sneaking passed Chiron's defensive line, to the last space on the board. He excitedly changed it for a queen, effectively putting the black king in check again. 

Predictably, Chiron moved his king to the side, out of the white queen's line of fire. And that move allowed Malcolm to lock the king in the back corner with his rook. Chiron moved the king sideways once. Malcolm smirked, sliding the bishop on the other side of the board left diagonal one space.

"Checkmate," Chiron conceded, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Just for the heck of it, Malcolm flicked the black king onto its side. "Yup, that's five to eight now, Chiron. Oh, hey Annabeth, did you say something?"

I blinked. I'd been watching the game so intently that I'd forgotten what I came over to talk about. "Yeah. Yes. The Titan of anger and the Titan of memory. Ring any bells?"

Malcolm stroked his chin. "Menoetius and Mnemosyne...well in the old stories, Mnemosyne was mostly on the gods' side. Menoetius got kicked into Tartarus, of course, after the Titan war. But both of them could get a person to do really terrible things. Menoetius could make you angry for no reason, and have you destroy a town, or murder your family, or something really dramatic like that."

"He was also in charge of giving us the emotions connected with our memories." Chiron put in, "When one recollected an experience, Menoetius could determine what emotion the person felt in regards to that memory. Wistful when remembering the death of a loved one, embarrassed when remembering how you wet your pants in first grade, furious when remembering an old insult."

"Yeah," Malcolm agreed, nodding. "And as for Mnemosyne, like I said, she was usually peaceful. But, I definitely would not have wanted to be on her bad side. While usually she was content bringing fond memories to the surface of human minds, she could also make you pretty miserable. She could make you forget who you were, she could make you think you were someone else, she could do the same to your family and friends, she could make you think they were your enemies."

I shivered. Why had those two names come up in that book? Which, incidentally, I had been unable to relocate since yesterday. I kept feeling like there was one huge chunk of information I was missing. Menoetius and Mnemosyne were all well and good, but what was the point? Where did they connect to all the weird elemental stuff that had been happening? And why did I believe so strongly that there was a connection at all? All logic told me it was chance, happenstance, that there was no correlation. But my gut told me that finding those two names in that book had been of great significance, and I couldn't shake the feeling that they were somehow the answer to all this.

I talked to Thalia later that day, and she found it highly interesting that I thought the Titans were somehow connected.