A new purpose (pjo/ HoO fanfic)

Merlin 1

Percy looked up at the dismal night sky, the moon glinting brightly. The bitterly cold wind blew threateningly in his face. He was in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a brutal darkness. Percy nervously walked to the sinister looking ruins, occasionally staggering over gnarled roots of the skeletal trees near by.
More paranoia rose with every uneven step he took.
Lightening flashed revealing every shade of grey on the ashy path.
The wind encouraged the trees to wave menacingly in an ominous dance, shadowing him in fear.

"What's happening to me!" Percy shouted to the sky. It's been a month since he left Hogwarts and He was falling apart.

the once strong leader was brought to his knees. He couldn't cry, something didn't seem right, like crying was part of another memory.

Day by day, his powers had started to drain away. He only has control over liquids now, and even that he couldn't understand. He felt like a vulnerable baby without a mother.

After stumbling along the covered path for hours, he finallly could see something off into the distance.

"Are you alright?"

The voices were back. Usually it was melodic and feminine but that voice was definitely a man.

"Sir?"

Gods, how he wished the voices would stop.

"Sir? Are you alright?" It wasn't until a hand touched his shoulder did he realise someone was actually talking to him.
Percy didn't bother replying, he just stared at the man.

The man was thin but tall. He wore baggy black trousers with the ends tucked into his mud covered boots. A red top that hung awkwardly off his shoulders was mostly covered by the tan jacket he wore. His hair was pretty much impossible to see against the black of night. He didn't miss the old fashioned hunting-spear gripped loosely in his hands either.

It was the spear that confused percy, but the mans eyes. They were sad and concerned, but aware and ready. If he really focused, under the pale ice of his eyes, he could see a liquid gold.

Percy may have suffered from memory loss but he knew magic when he saw it. Suddenly more alert, his eyes focused on his.

"Hello?" The man in red said waving a hand infront of Percy's face. "Are you lost?"

Slowly, percy turned his neck to look at the hand resting on his shoulder. The stranger, realising his
Mistake, gingerly took his hand away.

"My names Merlin" he tried to catch Percy's eyes. "Do you need help finding the citadels?"

Percy only nodded.
Watching him with caution, merlin motioned for percy to follow him back into the woods. "Come on, I know of a short cut"

I'm all honesty, percy had no idea what a citadel was, but if it was anything like a city, it was where he needed to be.

"So where did you come from?" Merlin asked him attempting to ease the tension.

Percy's step faltered as he thought about where he is from. He remembered some events blurrily. He remembered being on a bridge in his 16th birthday, what was doing though, was completely unknown to him.
He remembers travelling to Scotland to attend a school, but cannot think of what he studied.

"New York" he answered unsure but it made Merlin stop.

"New York?" He said thinking hard. "I've never heard of it, who's kingdom is it under?"

Alarm bells started ringing for percy, he doesn't remember anybody talking about a king.

"I don't know-" he was cut
Off suddenly by a loud growl by the bush.