The Lotus Flower

Part Five

Annabeth PoV

It was happening again.

Percy had lost all his memories. And lost who he was in the process.

His sparkling green eyes and mischievous smirk was replaced by a firm mouth, pressed into a line, and cold eyes, glaring out at everyone without a hint of recognition.

Life was so unfair.

Piper gave Annabeth a hesitant smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. 

 She buried her face into Piper's shoulder, letting a sob slip free. Just one sob. She couldn't afford to have anymore.

Taking a shaky breath, Annabeth turned back to her Greek Book on Memory Loss, her eyes desperately scanning the pages for something. Anything.

The conch horn rang for dinner and Piper made to get up, before looking back at Annabeth.

'You coming?'

'I can't. Not until I fix this.'

'You can't fix everything, Annabeth.'

'Doesn't stop me from trying.'

Piper gave an exasperated sigh and walked out of the room. A involuntarily, unpractical part of her felt a little burst of anger, which was quickly extinguished when she popped her head back in the room, with a plate of barbeque in her  hands and a camp cup in her hands, trailed by Hazel and Aelia. 

'Hiya Annie!' Aelia said in her ridiculously high pitched voice. Despite herself, Annabeth felt her lips twitch. 'Don't call me that.'

Piper placed the plate of barbeque and cup in front of Annabeth. 'You need to eat.'

'I can't-' 

Aelia grabbed Annabeth's book. 'Now you can.'

'Hey-'

Hazel sat in front of Annabeth. 'Do we need to spoon feed you?'

To her surprise Annabeth laughed and began eating. She hadn't realised how starving she was until she scarfed the whole thing down. Next she reached for the cup, smiling sadly as she said, 'Blue Cherry Coke.'

There was a moment of silence as everyone thought about Percy and his love of all food blue. Then Aelia let out a forced laugh and tugged on her hair. 'Hey. Matching.' She said in a light tone, pointing to the Cherry Coke.

Aelia returned her gaze to Annabeth's book, her smile fading as she shoved a bit of blue hair behind her ear with more aggression then needed.

 Aelia waited until Annabeth had finished eating before handing Annabeth her book back and picking up another, a Latin book, Mens Imperium (Mind Control). She flicked back and forth through the pages before landing on a short chapter, that took less than half a page.

'Look.'

The page read:

The Lost Lotus (Chapter 28)

The Lost Lotus is believed to be an immortal Lotus Flower that was believed to be a flower with the power of Demeter, Hecate and Aphrodite. With the ability to control minds and emotions, whoever has the Lotus Flower is almost invincible. 'Only the spell of the Lotus can be reversed by the Lotus itself.'

'If this true...then...' Hazel whispered.

She didn't need to finish. It seemed like their next target would be that Lotus Flower.