Percy Jackson - Cursed to Forget

The Cruel Will of the Fates

Percy's POV

Walking around the streets of New York is jarring. After not having been here for months, having just fought another war and defeating one of the oldest beings alive in a duel, walking the same streets that I have walked since I was a child has been the most difficult thing so far. It all seems quite peaceful, which is weird because it's New York, but watching people going about their day, blissfully unaware that everything they have ever known would have been reduced to rubble had my duel with Gaea gone differently. I am envious. As I'm walking along contemplating everything I reach the door of a familiar building, the apartment block didn't have many floors, but looking at it was like staring down the mansion of night right before you walk in the front door. I steeled my nerves and then stepped inside, got in the elevator and walked up to an apartment door, then, I knocked and there was no turning back now. I hadn't seen my family for months, stolen away from them and had my memory erased, then thrust into another world ending scenario seeing things that not even most immortals would see in the lives. I hadn't spoken to them much either, little phone calls here and there and an Iris message or two just so i could see their faces but every time was cut short. I waited for a moment until I heard shuffling behind the door and my mum call out, "just a moment!" I looked down and smiled at the sound of her voice. Still looking down I saw the door open and then it went silent. I slowly looked up and pressed my lips into a thin smile, "hi mum," was all I could manage.

She stood there completely unmoving, overwhelmed and cover come with disbelief. She reached out, ever so slowly, hands shaking and gently touched my cheek. It seemed like if she touched to hard I would break and disappear again. I reached up and grabbed her hand and held there. At that moment she lunged forward and wrapped her arms so tightly around my neck I thought my head would pop off. I did the same, reaching around to hold my mother as she cried into my chest. We must've been standing there for a while because Paul stuck his head around the corner, "who was at the do," he stopped midsentence. I looked up from hugging my mum and saw that his jaw was flat on the floor. "Hi Paul, been a while," I said with a smile. Picking his jaw up he walked around the corner and laughed, wasn't much but it did sound like he was delirious, "yeah, a while," he said as he hugged both mum and I. We all just stood there for gods know how long, wordless, the only sound was my mother's muffled sobs. Eventually she calmed down enough her breaths evened out. She let go of my neck, then pulled me along into the living room, pushed me into a chair, sat across from me, looked me dead in the eyes and said, "explain." So that was exactly what I did, I explained everything from the moment I woke up in the wolf house. Well, everything except Tartarus and what Gaea had said to me. As soon as I started Paul sat down next to my mum and placed a glass of water in front of me, I think he knew it was going to be a long story. 

When I was finished I could tell mum wanted to storm up to Olympus and tell each and every god off for making me go through it. She was so angry she was turning Paul's fingers white in her vice grip. He either didn't care or head lost the feeling in his hand, either way he didn't look happy either, but mostly he was just trying to calm mum down. After we tamed the beast that was my mother we all settled down and they explained what they had been doing in time I was abroad. Paul was still teaching, although he did have some time off because his step son had gone missing. Mum spent most of her time trying to write a new book, but she hadn't got very far. When she wasn't doing that, she was talking with Annabeth. "Speaking of which, where is my dear Annabeth?" she asked. 

"She's up on Olympus, still at the celebrations. I left without telling everyone so they could relax up there, plus there was something I need to talk about with you both about." I replied, saying that kind of dampened the mood a little bit and I could see the distress appearing on their faces. "But that can wait until later, right now I just want to spend time with my family," I continued with a small smile. It wasn't a fake one, but I really hated not telling them the truth right away, doing so would just ruin the time we have left together. They were only mortal, so we didn't have much left. "Well, that aside, how long are you planning on staying here Percy?" Paul asked, and the look of horror on mum's face as she looked at him, clearly thinking, 'why would you ask such a stupid question, my Percy is never leaving again', it was honestly quite amusing and a smile tugged at the side of my lips. He looked at her and laughed, "yes I know it sounds horrible but we both know what these kinds of things require afterwards, Percy will have a lot of things to follow up on." He was right, everyone may be celebrating now, but in a few days they will be doing the ceremonies for the dead, something that I would have to be apart of, after all, those demigods lost their lives because I wasn't able to stop Gaea in time and it was my nose bleed that let her rise. "I know I know, it's just that we only just got him back and every time he leaves it seems as if something goes wrong, is it bad just to want to spend some time with my son without him having to go save the world while in portal peril?" mum asked in a defeated tone. Hearing her say that hurt, since the next time I leave will be the last time they ever see me, even if they won't remember who I am. "It's alright mum, I won't have to leave for a couple days, so until then we can do what ever you like." She brightened up a little after that but still worried about me leaving again.