Memories 34-37 + Skill 10

[divinewisdom]

Memory 34 / Significant Positive
Capture the Flag. (LT 116-124)
Cassandra, Day 270. Glass lotus candle holder made of mirror shards. Light to view. [unlimited]

That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual.

At last, it was time for capture the flag.

When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"

"Yeah."

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"

"Not always," he said. "But often."

"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do— repaint the flag?"

He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."

"Whose side are we on?"

He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."

The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support. Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.

Annabeth leaves Percy standing on the border of blue team territory and then runs off because poo on you Percy Jackson you'll slow us down. :'D He then gets attacked by Clarisse because he was a slight on Ares kids' honor, and while they're attacking him Luke and his siblings sneak around and get the flag! Blue team wins! Percy is like ANNABETH Y and she's like WELL I KNEW THEY WOULD ATTACK YOU OK and then they realize his wounds are healed and he feels just fine. . .and then a hellhound attacks and he REALLY gets injured, and....

"You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."

I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me.
Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers
gasped.

"Look, I—I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry...."

But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.

"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."

By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.

"My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Effects:
+100000 I WANT TO PLAY CAPTURE THE FLAG basically, that's it
oh also +100 to I AM A LEADER :D because she finds out she's the head of Athena cabin! Look at her go!
+20 I can make percy do what I want him to
-50 certainty that Athena and Poseidon kids are supposed to work together.
---

Memory 35 / Significant Neutral
We Get a Surprise on Miami Beach. (SM ch. 17)
Unicorn, Day 271. Memory-sharing stones. You+another person hold part of the stone to see the memory.

Annabeth pokes Percy awake after they've crashed onto Miami Beach. The hippocampi won't take them any farther because of how much pollution there is so close to people and cities, so they're on their own to get back home from here. They find out from Clarisse that her prophecy is actually really terrible sounding: "You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone, You shall find what you seek and make it your own, But despair for your life entombed within stone, And fail without friends, to fly home alone."

But then Percy has a stroke of genius and figures it out in a way that isn't so terrible! He sends Clarisse off alone in a taxi because without Percy and Annabeth, she would have failed. But since they haven't, then she has to go back to camp alone, or the Fleece will never make it in time. So she flies home alone on a plane! Genius! Except Annabeth is so skeptical because why would you trust Clarisse LaRue with a bag of dollar bills and the golden fleece, Percy please.

"Percy," Annabeth said, "that was so—"

"Generous?" Grover offered.

"Insane,"Annabeth corrected. "You're betting the lives of everybody at camp that Clarisse will get the Fleece safely back by tonight?"

"It's her quest," I said. "She deserves a chance."

"Percy is nice," Tyson said.

"Percy is too nice," Annabeth grumbled, but I couldn't help thinking that maybe, just maybe, she was a little impressed. I'd surprised her, anyway. And that wasn't easy to do.

"Come on," I told my friends. "Let's find another way home."

That's when I turned and found a sword's point at my throat.

"Hey, cuz," said Luke. "Welcome back to the States."

His bear-man thugs appeared on either of side of us. One grabbed Annabeth and Grover by their T-shirt collars. The other tried to grab Tyson, but Tyson knocked him into a pile of luggage and roared at Luke.

"Percy," Luke said calmly, "tell your giant to back down or I'll have Oreius bash your friends' heads together."

Oreius grinned and raised Annabeth and Grover off the ground, kicking and screaming.

"What do you want, Luke?" I growled.

He smiled, the scar rippling on the side of his face. He gestured toward the end of the dock, and I noticed what should've been obvious. The biggest boat in port was the Princess Andromeda.

"Why, Percy," Luke said, "I want to extend my hospitality, of course."

The bear twins herded us aboard the Princess Andromeda. They threw us down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool with sparkling fountains that sprayed into the air. A dozen of Luke's assorted goons—snake people, Laistrygonians, demigods in battle armor—had gathered to watch us get some "hospitality."

"And so, the Fleece," Luke mused. "Where is it?" He looked us over, prodding my shirt with the tip of his sword, poking Grover's jeans.

"Hey!" Grover yelled. "That's real goat fur under there!"

"Sorry, old friend." Luke smiled. "Just give me the Fleece and I'll leave you to return to your, ah, little nature quest."

"Blaa-ha-ha!" Grover protested."Some old friend!"

"Maybe you didn't hear me." Luke's voice was dangerously calm. "Where—is—the—Fleece?"

"Not here," I said. I probably shouldn't have told him anything, but it felt good to throw the truth in his face. "We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up."

Luke's eyes narrowed. "You're lying. You couldn't have ..." His face reddened as a horrible possibility occurred to him. "Clarisse?"

I nodded.

"You trusted ... you gave ..."

"Yeah."

"Agrius!"

The bear giant flinched. "Y-yes?"

"Get below and prepare my steed. Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to the Miami Airport, fast.'"

"But, boss—"

"Do it!" Luke screamed. "Or I'll feed you to the drakon!"

The bear-man gulped and lumbered down the stairs. Luke paced in front of the swimming pool, cursing in Ancient Greek, gripping his sword so tight his knuckles turned white. The rest of Luke's crew looked uneasy. Maybe they'd never seen their boss so unhinged before. I started thinking ... If I could use Luke's anger, get him to talk so everybody could hear how crazy his plans were ...
I looked at the swimming pool, at the fountains spray-ing mist into the air, making a rainbow in the sunset. And suddenly I had an idea.

"You've been toying with us all along," I said. "You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."

Luke scowled. "Of course, you idiot! And you've messed everything up!"

"Traitor!" I dug my last gold drachma out of my pocket and threw it at Luke. As I expected, he dodged it easily.

The coin sailed into the spray of rainbow-colored water.

I hoped my prayer would be accepted in silence. I thought with all my heart: O goddess, accept my offering.

"You tricked all of us!" I yelled at Luke. "Even DIONYSUS at CAMP HALF-BLOOD!"

Behind Luke, the fountain began to shimmer, but I needed everyone's attention on me, so I uncapped Riptide.

Luke just sneered. "This is no time for heroics, Percy. Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."

"Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?"

"I did, of course," he snarled. "I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."

"Chiron had nothing to do with it?"

"Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts."

"You call it guts? Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?"

Luke raised his sword. "You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece ... once I was done with it."

That made me hesitate. Why would he let me take the Fleece? He must've been lying. But I couldn't afford to lose his attention.

"You were going to heal Kronos," I said.

"Yes! The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. But you haven't stopped us, Percy. You've only slowed us down a little."

"And so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods."

Luke gritted his teeth. "You know that! Why do you keep asking me?"

"Because I want everybody in the audience to hear you."

"What audience?"

Then his eyes narrowed. He looked behind him and his goons did the same. They gasped and stumbled back. Above the pool, shimmering in the rainbow mist, was an Iris-message vision of Dionysus, Tantalus, and the whole camp in the dining pavilion. They sat in stunned silence, watching us.

"Well," said Dionysus dryly, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."
"Mr. D, you heard him," I said. "You all heard Luke. The poisoning of the tree wasn't Chiron's fault."

Mr. D sighed. "I suppose not."

"The Iris-message could be a trick," Tantalus suggested, but his attention was mostly on his cheeseburger, which he was trying to corner with both hands.

"I fear not," Mr. D said, looking with distaste at Tantalus. "It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games." Tantalus grabbed the cheeseburger. It didn't bolt away from him. He lifted it from the plate and stared at it in amazement, as if it were the largest diamond in the world. "I got it!" he cackled.

"We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus," Mr. D announced. Tantalus looked stunned.

"What? But—"

"You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed." "No! But—Nooooooooooo!" As he dissolved into mist, his fingers clutched at the cheeseburger, trying to bring it to his mouth. But it was too late. He disappeared and the cheeseburger fell back onto its plate. The campers exploded into cheering.

Luke bellowed with rage. He slashed his sword through the fountain and the Iris-message dissolved, but the deed was done.

And then Luke is like WELL FINE BUT I'LL KILL YOU ALL INSTEAD and that's where the memory ends, with a bunch of soldiers surrounding them to try and kill them.

Effects:
- Because she already remembers what happens next, she's not as worried about getting out of it. Instead, it's more about how crazy Luke seems between one memory and another, as if something is going completely wrong with him. This isn't something she's really talked about before, the idea that something is going on with Luke, so this is a bigger thing than most of this memory.
- Also she knows that Thalia comes back to life so that's kind of like ??? I thought she was a tree ok ? what's going on??
+30 admiration for Percy and some pretty interesting plots
-400 desire to be friends with Luke (which makes the lingering attachment to him and the lack of closure of his plotline because of amnesia very painful :c)
+200 Percy why
+20 Percy is adorable
+30 grudging respect for Clarisse. THIS IS GOOD since she remembers Monster Donut, and therefore remembers Clarisse helping them, apparently this is an "all of them together" quest ok. Cool. Points for Clarisse are up.
---

Memory 36 / Trivial Neutral
We shop for Water Beds. (LT 266-282)
Eliza's Brother Nick, Day 272. Sticky candy wrapper. Lick it. [1/3 that's gross]

The trio -- Grover, Percy, Annabeth -- head towards Santa Monica, CA in the back of a taxi that they paid for with immortal infinite money (yeah!!). Annabeth hides the fact that the hole in Percy's dream is Tartarus and that the person could be Kronos because she doesn't want to worry him and doesn't want to explain. When they get there, Percy disappears underwater (worrying Annabeth and Grover because PERCY PLEASE), and then comes back with gifts, which Annabeth mistrusts, because "there's no such thing as a free lunch."

As they move towards where they think they're supposed to be going, they run into some "bad dudes" who attempt to mug them. Percy confuses them by swinging his sword at them -- and because they're fully mortal, it passes through harmlessly and completely confuses them. The three kids run from the gang, straight into CRUSTY'S WATER BED PALACE. Which then....attempts to stretch Grover and Annabeth to six feet tall by pulling at their arms and legs with magical ropes attached to the beds. :')

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Don't mind her," I told Procrustes. "She's impossible."

The giant laughed. "All my customers are. Never six feet exactly. So inconsiderate. And then they complain about the fitting."

"What do you do if they're longer than six feet?"

"Oh, that happens all the time. It's a simple fix."

He let go of my neck, but before I could react, he reached behind a nearby sales desk and brought out a huge double-bladed brass axe. He said, "I just center the subject as best I can and lop off whatever hangs over on either end."

"Ah," I said, swallowing hard. "Sensible."

"I'm so glad to come across an intelligent customer!"

The ropes were really stretching my friends now. Annabeth was turning pale. Grover made gurgling sounds, like a strangled goose.

"So, Crusty ..." I said, trying to keep my voice light. I glanced at the sales tag on the valentine-shaped Honeymoon Special. "Does this one really have dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion?"

"Absolutely. Try it out."

"Yeah, maybe I will. But would it work even for a big guy like you? No waves at all?"

"Guaranteed."

"No way."

"Way."

"Show me."

He sat down eagerly on the bed, patted the mattress. "No waves. See?"

I snapped my fingers. "Ergo."

Ropes lashed around Crusty and flattened him against the mattress. "Hey!" he yelled.

"Center him just right," I said.

The ropes readjusted themselves at my command. Crusty's whole head stuck out the top. His feet stuck out the bottom. "No!" he said. "Wait! This is just a demo."

I uncapped Riptide. "A few simple adjustments ..."

I had no qualms about what I was about to do. If Crusty were human, I couldn't hurt him anyway. If he was a monster, he deserved to turn into dust for a while.

"You drive a hard bargain," he told me. "I'll give you thirty percent off on selected floor models.'"

"I think I'll start with the top." I raised my sword.

"No money down! No interest for six months!"
I swung the sword. Crusty stopped making offers.

I cut the ropes on the other beds. Annabeth and Grover got to their feet, groaning and wincing and cursing me a lot.

"You look taller," I said.

"Very funny," Annabeth said. "Be faster next time."

I looked at the bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, and another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters —"The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!" Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes' souls. "We are always looking for new talent!" DOA's address was right underneath with a map.

"Come on," I told my friends.

"Give us a minute," Grover complained. "We were almost stretched to death.'"

"Then you're ready for the Underworld," I said. "It's only a block from here."

Effects:
+50 Percy that was a silly trick please be faster
+30 admiration for Seaweed Brain
+20 wow we were so little this was such a silly plan
+20 just we were silly and little again because they WERE so easily tricked haha.
---

Skill 10 / Mundane
Basic Architecture Skills.
Dorian, Day 274. Full shot glasses of water, drink to receive.

One of Annabeth's favorite pastimes (and one that she is supremely gifted in) is architecture! These are the basics of drafting and simple knowledge of the craft -- what tools to use to create blueprints, how to draw to scale, how to read drafts and give definitions of architectural terms.

Basically this skill is the stepping stone to a lot more complex drawings, but for now think of her skill level as "baby's first blueprint in Vectorworks" type deal. (Or, How I Fumbled Around in a User Unfriendly Program Until I Made a House, if we're getting PJO chapter-titled about it.)

---
Memory 37 / Trivial Neutral
A fight in central park. (LO ch. 14)
The Child Personae, Day 276. Citrine candies, eat to receive. [1/5]

Percy is sleeping before the big battle, and wakes up so fast that he rams his head straight into Annabeth's shield. Oops.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lied. "What . . . what are you doing in armor? You should be resting."

"Oh, I'm fine," she said, though she still looked pale. She was barely moving her right arm. "That nectar and ambrosia fixed me up."

"Uh-huh. You can't seriously go out and fight."

She offered me her good hand and helped me up. Myhead was pounding. Outside, the sky was purple and red.

"You're going to need every person you have," she said. "I just looked in my shield. There's an army—"

"Heading south into Central Park," I said. "Yeah, I know."

I told her part of my dreams. I left out the vision of May Castellan, because it was too disturbing to talk about. I also left out Ethan's speculation about Luke fighting Kronos inside his body. I didn't want to get Annabeth's hopes up.

"Do you think Ethan suspects about your weak spot?" she asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "He didn't tell Kronos anything, but if he figures it out—"

"We can't let him."

"I'll bonk him on the head harder next time," I suggested."Any idea what surprise Kronos was talking about?"

She shook her head. "I didn't see anything in the shield, but I don't like surprises."

"Agreed."

"So," she said, "are you going to argue about me coming along?"

"Nah. You'd just beat me up."

She managed a laugh, which was good to hear. I grabbed my sword, and we went to rally the troops.

AND THEN THERE WAS A BATTLE. Annabeth is the head of the strategic troops, especially her own cabin -- but there's a giant who decides not to wait to walk around the reservoir and just walks straight through it...so Percy walks out to meet him! And they fight! And Annabeth leaves him because he's doing just fine and runs out to attack the army! And they think they're winning, but then....

"REEEEEET!" A huge pink creature soared over the reservoir—a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade nightmare blimp with wings.

"A sow!" Annabeth cried. "Take cover!"

The demigods scattered as the winged lady pig swooped down. Her wings were pink like a flamingo's, which matched her skin beautifully, but it was hard to think of her as cute when her hooves slammed into the ground, barely missing one of Annabeth's siblings. The pig stomped around and tore down half an acre of trees, belching a cloud of noxious gas. Then it took off again, circling around for another strike.

"Don't tell me that thing is from Greek mythology," I complained.

"Afraid so," Annabeth said. "The Clazmonian Sow. It terrorized Greek towns back in the day."

"Let me guess," I said. "Hercules beat it."

"Nope," Annabeth said. "As far as I know,no hero has ever beaten it."

"Perfect," I muttered.

And then Percy rides off on the gigantic sow while Annabeth and Grover -- who are both injured, Annabeth from a shoulder wound she took while defending Percy and Grover because he's sheer just tired from using magic -- help their tiny army of demigods push the enemy back out of the park. Central Park was mostly spared!

Effects:
+500 belief that she can continue on fighting while grievously injured!
• She already knows how she got that wound so clearly this is the next day. This is a piece of the puzzle that fits in, but she doesn't know how it ends!
+1000 wow Percy is amazing *o*
+100 Percy dere Percy dere ////
• Unlocked: knowledge of the Clazmonian Sow!
• Basically this memory just reinforces her belief in Percy and also her belief in herself! Also in her friends to be able to fight, which is something she already knew in Aather, but at home definitely.