Had the inspiration for this at work! You'll see what I mean, possibly. It's taken me a long time a lot of editing. I hope you enjoy it! This story was voted up on my poll to be published/written. I struggled a lot, I've never really written Annabeth ever before ever, so it was a little bit difficult sticking my voice to hers and trying to still write in my style. It's more serious than Riordan's own style and I hope that doesn't distract from the characters. You're entering the story will a lot of backdrop and I hope that's okay! More dialogue will come, the story is actually completed.

I am by no means receiving any money from this story, whose characters are Rick Riordan's and only his. I am simply using them for personal, and other's, enjoyment. Thank you and enjoy!

She had awoken the previous year. Everything was different. She lived in California with her dad, her step-mother was far more forgiving and understanding, and Percy was not in her life. She figured that whatever curse this was, and whomever had cast it, had not intended on anyone waking up from it. It was some rude awakening or some battle to find herself, she, along with Camp and presumably anyone with any connection to the gods, had simply found themselves awake one morning with the completely knowledge that everything was wrong.

That had been an awkward morning in the Chase household. Her step-brothers, with whom she'd previously had gotten along with in that second life, skirted around her like she was some big bad wolf. Her step-mother was conflicted, but remained kind. Her father, however, urged her to return to camp and find out what had happened. Annabeth had left almost immediately that week. She booked a plane ticket and bade her life in California goodbye. She was tempted to remain and find out what had happened with the Romans, but that was Percy and Jason's territory. She stared at the entrance to New Rome, though, as she passed on her way to the airport.

She had simply woken up knowing that her life in California with her dad was not right. She had ran away at the age of seven, found by Luke and Thalia and had escaped to Camp Half-Blood. Thalia died and became a pine tree. Several years later, Annabeth met Percy. She tried contacting him through Iris Message, but it wouldn't go through. Nothing would, and so Annabeth assumed it was the curse that had been inflicted on everyone. Perhaps it was loosening, but she still couldn't contact camp. Or Percy.

It was strange having two lives in your head. Annabeth had been tempted, for a moment (approx. 1 Minute and 40 Seconds according to her brain, which then diverged into Medieval time units), to ignore the, then, new memories and return to a life of public high school and friends. She'd been on their soccer team. She was going to take surfing lessons in the summer with her friend Julie (Annabeth didn't really know Julie, not that Julie knew that). Her father had told the school it was a family emergency with her mother in New York and Annabeth may be gone for unknown amount of time. She was in the top 5% of her class, though, and they could simply forward the work for her to catch up on later.

She landed in New York and took the Grey Sisters to Camp. They were eerily quiet, although Annabeth didn't mind, preferring to stare out the window at the passing houses. They flickered by in an instant and it left her with a sour taste in her mouth when she compared the houses to her memories.

Camp. It was full of confused teenagers who were all in the same boat as her. Chiron had had no idea what was happening. That was a year ago. Annabeth was back in California. She had been for several months. She had caught up on schoolwork. She was back on the soccer team, venting her frustrations of this miserable life onto a deflate-able ball. She was back to living with her step-mother and her dad and her step-brothers. They had adjusted and they liked her. She drove them places and they hung out. They listened to music in the car.

The thing was, the monsters were gone. Wiped out. The gods were being annoyingly silent, probably trying to solve the problem. Her dad had bought her a new cell-phone as a gift (she'd thrown out the previous one after she regained her memories, a terrible mistake). She was awkward with it, her old and new memories colliding— one part of her wanted to chuck the thing into the ocean, the other loved having music always available. She went down to the beach every so often and thought of Percy.

This world was so surreal. It was like she was living in a dream. Annabeth now had an extensive knowledge of soccer, but had never once played it in her previous life.

Maybe we all died, she suggested to Thalia one day, and were reborn. But something got messed up, and now we all remember.

"And we all got reborn into the same life?"

Maybe, Annabeth had sighed. I don't know.

The conversation hadn't gone on much longer. If the gods couldn't figure it out, Annabeth and Thalia certainly could not.

Her senior year had begun. Soccer had try-outs. She did it for old times' sake. Over the summer, she'd grown closer to the friends she'd abandoned for her old life. Closer being a relative term— she was not the Annabeth they remembered, though. Her old life was, momentarily, on hold. She had a half-schedule and an internship in the city. She was at lunch. Someone was saying something—.

"—that be fun?" Julie asked, looking around at their crowd of friends.

Annabeth smiled softly. She didn't talk much. They all assumed it had to do with her mother. A mother that was, currently and albeit unbeknownst to them, ignoring Annabeth. She'd spent six months and most of her junior year AWOL in New York City to deal with "family issues."

"Doll, I have five AP's and Cross Country every for two hours after school, I have no time to go on your dads boat," Nina said, staring Julie down with intense black eyes. Julie grinned. "It'll be a Saturday. Or Sunday."

"Church," said Emily.

Andrew pointed at Emily and nodded. "Same."

Annabeth shivered.

"So Saturday," Julie said, settling it. "3?"

Nina hesitated and then shrugged. "It's senior year, might as well get my fill of senioritis in early."

Emily said she'd ask her parents. So did Jaden, Sarah, Alex, and Danny.

Julie turned to Annabeth. "I can go," she said before the Asian girl could open her mouth. "I'm not busy."

"Believe it or not," joked Danny. Annabeth smiled and laughed. The boy frowned and scooted next to her.

"Well," she said, "I should get to class earlier. We have a test. I have a few questions for my professor." She removed herself from the lunch table and smiled at goodbye. It all left a sour taste in her mouth. Thalia appeared later, standing out in front of the school. She knew Annabeth had to pass it on her way home. The girl huffed and pulled into the parking lot. The 15 year old leapt into the car and turned to Annabeth. She turned down the radio and stared at the blonde 18 year old with intense blue eyes. Annabeth had never really noted the family resemblance between Percy and Thalia (and even Nico), but now that Percy was gone, it was far more noticeable. Mentally, in the back of her brain, facial constructions of the six siblings and children of Kronos popped up.

"You're living in a dream," Thalia said.

"It should be a dream," Annabeth remarked. She gripped the wheel tighter. "I want it to be."

"That's your problem."

"Probably."

"Annabeth."

"Thalia."

The hunter huffed. The gold light of another passing day flashed around them. Annabeth drove into a tunnel and they were stuffed into darkness.

"I wanted it to be a dream too, you know," Thalia said. Annabeth cut her off, shaking her head.

"Everyone did. We all did. I'm dealing, Thalia, I am. I just… it's hard. You know? Everyone I knew was replaced by everything I really knew, and then… now the fake first ones are the real ones. Everything is just confusing," she explained, her brow furrowed. They were five minutes from Annabeth's house.

"You can let me out on the corner," Thalia said softly.

The car stopped. Door opened. Door closed. Annabeth looked over. Thalia gave a miniature salute and disappeared down the street. The car went on. Parked. Keys. The door opened.

Dinner.

I'll be down in a moment, let me put my stuff upstairs.

Now her step-mother was genuinely worried. They'd had a long talk when Annabeth had come back the first time, the real first time, and had grown closer ever since. Until… the awakening. It'd been awkward. Her parents watched as she milled about the house, almost automatic. At first, it was understandable. But then it was worrisome. Chiron had said it was going to be the natural coping process. But where did coping end and depressed began? He compared the new memories to an amnesiac regaining old memories.

Annabeth she supposed she was kind of like that.

"How was school?"

"Same as usual," she replied.

A glance.

"You should go out," her father said, concerned.

"I am. This Saturday, with Julie and stuff. On her dad's boat," Annabeth said, finally looking up from her potatoes.

Another glance.

"I'm going to go upstairs, okay? I'm just, I'm not feeling well."

The rest of the week passed without incident. Danny kept flirting, she kept pushing. She had school, then soccer and then everyday she went home and sat in her room and listened to her music. Saturday came and so Annabeth was waiting for her dad to drive her to the Marina that Julie had said her dad's boat was docked at. The night previously, Annabeth discovered that her father was thinking about buying a boat. They arrived at the marina an hour early.

"I'll be back," he dad said, grabbing his things. "Go look around. I don't want to leave the car on for so long."

They got out of the car. Annabeth grabbed her bag and smiled at her dad briefly before he disappeared behind the gas tanks. She wore a white flowy tank top and some shorts. She had flip-flops on and a large floppy hat. Her sunglasses were round and large and she thought for a moment that, if Percy could see her, he'd say she looked like she had lived in California all her life. She certainly looked it. She began walking down the dock and ended up all the way at the end of it by a small shack that said Gas Dock. There was an open flag, but the window closest to her was shut. She walked as far from it as she could and slid her flip-flops off, dipping her feet into the Pacific.

"Well, you're not a boat."

That voice.

A pause.

"Are… you alright?"

She whipped around. "I'm fine."

Percy stepped back, but looked unimpressed. "Well, okay, if you say so. Ugh, waiting for someone to pick you up?"

"Meeting friends," she replied, breathlessly. Percy didn't appear to remember. But he was alive! That was good, it was what she had at least been hoping.

He sat down next to her and she wanted to cry and throw her arms around him and then throw him into the ocean. Not that it would hurt him. He didn't touch the water, but he folded his legs crisscross apple-sauce and leaned back on his hands. They looked out over the water.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking over and taking in every detail. He was certainly tanner, more so than she could ever wish to become. His hair was windblown and cropped short. He wore a white tank and a pair of shorts. No shoes, though that was usual when Percy was by water. Or even boats.

"Oh, I work here. My dad owns the marina."

She tried not to show her shock, and instead looked away over the water. It was sparkling and rough from all the boats. "What do you do?" She had to call Chiron.

"Lots of things. Mostly I fix boats. But I also work the gas dock," he said, gesturing to the hut behind him. "Not a lot of people come here though, you know, from land."

"Oh, okay. My dad is thinking about buying a boat."

Percy nodded. "Yeah, I know the guy. Willy or something. He's neat."

"Why's he selling?"

"Money, probably, for a bigger boat."

"Oh okay. You from around here?" Annabeth asked, her voice suddenly tight. She can't look over at Percy, for fear of wanting to cry, but also because she hopes that she can keep him speaking. She is afraid that if she looks over, it would have been her imagination the entire time.

"No, New York. But we moved here when I was younger," Percy replied. He paused. "You?"

"I'm from here, but I recently visited New York."

"Oh, okay. You like it? What part?"

"Annabeth!"

The blonde haired girl and the dark haired boy turned toward the voice. Julie, with her black hair blowing in the sudden wind, waved at her. Behind the girl was Danny and Nina behind her. Danny was frowning at something, but Nina looked like a pleased puppy that had just been given a treat for no reason after they had unknowingly done something wrong. Annabeth waved and stood up, Percy standing with her as he realized their conversation was probably over. She walked toward her friends, the dark haired boy trailing behind her.

"Hey, we saw your dad. He said you were down here!" Julie exclaimed. She turned her dark eyes on Percy. "Who's this?"

Percy reached forward to shake her hand. Annabeth held her breath— maybe this wasn't Percy and simply a look-a-like. She needed confirmation. "Call me P," he said, with a smile. Julie grinned, eyes shifting between Annabeth and Percy. Danny had stepped around Julie and stood next to Annabeth. Nina bounded around the dock looking for ducks.

"I'm Julie, friend of Annabeth's. You two know each other?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Before Annabeth could say anything, Percy said, "Not really, we just met. She was sitting on the docks and I thought I'd keep her company." He turned to look at Annabeth. He looked completely confused. "You looked really familiar."

That moment a boat pulled up to the gas dock. Percy bade them farewell and then hurried off to tie the boat in. He waved at Annabeth, a huge grin on his goofy face. He proceeded to trip over one of the hoses that was connected to the gas pump and fell flat on his chest. Annabeth burst out laughing, "Are you okay?"

"M' fine!" he yelled, jumping up to his feet to help the boat. The owner was laughing and the two began talking.

Annabeth turned back to her friends with a grin on her face.

The boat ride had been spectacular. The sun was shining out and Annabeth's mood had been lifted graciously. She was, however, distracted by the thoughts of seeing Percy again. He was alive, this much now was certain. He had no memory of anything, much like everyone else had been, but for whatever reason this curse was still on him. Annabeth tried to think of reasons why, or perhaps why he would still not know and everyone else did. She was distracted by the sparkling cider and the looming clouds that threatened their sunny day. After two hours, Julie suggested they head back.

The ocean smelled of salt and the wind blew the smell of comfort into his face. She was reminded of Percy, who was standing on the dock way back two hours from now. He smelled of salt and sea water. His hair looked so different, cropped short but sticking up in the front. He was darker and his SPQR was still burned into his skin. Annabeth hoped that her dad bought the boat and she was have a reason to return to the dock as often as possible. He was certainly different. Percy had always been reserved, his sense of humor only coming out when he simply blurted it out. He didn't talk a lot— Annabeth did most of the talking almost all of the time.

The arrived back two more hours later, docking into Julie's dads slip. Percy was there suddenly, beckoning someone to throw him a line. Julie directed Annabeth and Jaden to throw the lines out, Percy catching them to pull in the boat. He tied up the boat and smiled, almost directly at Annabeth.

"Alright, everyone off!" Julie said. Annabeth watched Percy go down to the gas dock, writing stuff down and beginning to close up.

Julie stood next to Annabeth, the dock rocking beneath them. "Honey, we've been going here for years. Let me be honest with you, so many girls have tried to get with that boy. It ain't happening."

Annabeth frowned. "We'll see. He's cute."

"He's alright," said Danny behind Annabeth. The blonde girl gritted her teeth. In the second life, the cursed one, Annabeth had been active in her group of friends. She flirted with Danny, she had played soccer and practiced often with Nina. She had several clubs she'd been involved with. But after regaining her memories, along with all the things that made her a Daughter of Athena (Diverging thought— mental list of everything from the Athena Cabin that had been hers had appeared in her room), she'd returned to who she really was; she was Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena and Architect of Olympus. She had gone through the mystical Labyrinth and read Daedalus' personal notes. She'd fought in the battle of New York and had outwitted Circe. She wasn't some mediocre mortal who played soccer and went shopping on the weekends.

Except she had been. The entire world and all her memories had been crafted to fit that idea. She had soccer trophies and cleats from elementary school, despite the fact that Annabeth hadn't actually done it. It felt like she'd lived it, and perhaps, Chiron thought, they had. They'd relived all their lives and one day woke up knowing it was all wrong. Annabeth had relived all eighteen years of her life again, as a different person with parents who loved her and a seven year old who hadn't ran away because of mythical monsters. Her "friends" all had memories of her from middle and elementary school, with pictures and shared-laughs to prove it. For all intents and purposes, the life had been real.

For Annabeth, she preferred thinking that she'd simply been asleep for a very long time and now that she'd woken up the curse was taunting her with physical objects that she could see and touch and smell to say, 'hey, what if it was real? And your life as a demigod was all a lie?' But her father's words and the physical Camp had been enough to ensure her that she truly was what she thought she was. Half-human and half-god, in every sense of the words. As much as she tried, it wasn't something she could deny.

Still, the memories her "friends" had did not correspond with the Annabeth that had returned from New York after she had oh-so-suddenly left because of a mom that had always been very out of her life Annabeth's entire life returned, which wasn't necessarily a lie. They found a girl who was wickedly smart and did not enjoy shopping. She played soccer but only because she felt obligated to. Annabeth was quiet and poised and much focused. She dropped out of most of her clubs that'd she'd been in for three years. Her teasing was no longer relentless and she opted instead to sit and stare at walls with squinted eyes like she was thinking about something. They'd confronted her at lunch about their concerns— was she alright? What happened in New York? Is her mom okay?

Yes, its fine, Annabeth said. Just thinking about stuff, that's all.

Annabeth rarely said the word "stuff". That was how Julie knew something was wrong. The Annabeth she knew chose her words very carefully. She pulled her aside one day after Annabeth's car was put in the shop. She'd offered her a ride, and they'd gotten coffee. And then—.

"You're not acting normal."

I'm fine.

"It's like you're in a dream state," Julie said, coking her head and letting her dark black hair fall over her shoulder. She looked sympathetic. "What happened with your mom?"

Annabeth looked over at her and narrowed her eyes. She suddenly became that poised and focused girl that was ruthless in battle. She analyzed Julie, making the girl shift and grow uncomfortable. Then Annabeth sighed and the warrior fell away and sunk into the ground. "It's difficult to explain."

"Try. Please? I thought we had a closer relationship than this?"

Annabeth looked out the window of the car. They were still in the coffee shops parking lot, still sitting in the fading daylight. It was December, the weather was 70 degrees out and there was a light breeze. Annabeth felt so surreal. In her memories, she'd always been closer to Julie. They'd been, apparently, friends since second grade. They had had play dates and sleep overs where they did their nails. Annabeth had been, naturally, afraid of spiders; Julie killed the spiders for Annabeth. They got to freshman year and moved from club soccer to high school soccer, both becoming varsity members of the team upon their second semester of their sophomore year, Nina following her junior year.

They had their group of friends. But Annabeth's real life was, of course, real and thus it had taken priority in her life. As it would. She didn't really remember the soccer practices or having a best friend to sleep-over with. She knew almost nailing Luke with a hammer, pun intended, and the threat of monsters and the loss of a best friend who'd been turned into a tree was real. But Julie was, now, a friend who she was now ignoring.

It wasn't fair to Julie, who'd been swept into Annabeth's life and curse. It only proved Chiron's theory. Annabeth wondered sometimes who these people had been in the first world.

"We do," Annabeth said. It wasn't a lie, Julie become some sort of accomplice to Annabeth. Accomplice wasn't the word— perhaps friend was. Annabeth couldn't just forget everything in her memories. As much as her real life took priority, old habits die hard.

"We do, Jules. But the thing is… it is complicated. My mom and her family. They're big. They fight a lot. I got swept up in some mistakes with family and it just… I haven't really seen my mom you know? And I saw her there and she just ignored me. She's been ignoring me."

Julie was biting her lip. "Hasn't she always been distant?"

"She always insisted that my dad raise me, sure," Annabeth supplied, judging how far she could take her lie and half-truth. "But I knew her. I talked to her. She got me an architecture job for when I graduate—." Not true, necessarily, given that Annabeth already had the job. But technically she was hoping everything would be resolved in a year. (Her mind diverged onto possible solutions or plans or even reasons.) "—and I'm hoping that she'll just talk to me. I spent six months there and nothing was solved and I got the brunt of everything, kind of. There's a lot of extended family."

"You're lying," Julie sniffed. Her voice on the verge of tears.

Annabeth wanted to throw her head in the dirt, but she shook her head. "I'm not," she said through her teeth.

"You've never mentioned any of them before. Get out of the car."

"Fine, you know what!? Screw the gods, fuck them! I'm done!" Annabeth shouted. "You know what, Julie, I'll let you know what's going on. I know you're smart. You know about demigods and the Greek gods and all that shit. My mom? Yeah, her names Athena. I'm her daughter, I'm a demigod. I have gone on countless quests—."

And Annabeth told her everything. The curse, the truth, the new life. The monsters were gone, and the gods were silent. She'd gone back after the awakening, that's what they called it she explained, to the camp where she'd grown up. It wasn't here at all, here was barely a set of memories and a curse.

Julie remained silent. "You're not even human. You say human like you aren't one."

"Half-human," Annabeth said with a scowl. "and Half-god."

"Wow."

"You think I'm lying."

"I don't."

Annabeth looked at Julie. She seemed slightly afraid, as Annabeth supposed one would when one heard that the Greek gods were real, but seemed to be taking the information well.

"Tell me about your life."

Annabeth did. They started driving, finally leaving the parking lot after two hours. They arrived at Annabeth's house. They went upstairs and Annabeth kept talking. She told her all the quests, Percy, the Battle of New York, and growing up in Camp Half-Blood.

In the end, Julie said, "No wonder you're so smart."

"It's not quite like that, but yeah."

"Like do you think differently?"

A pause. "I don't think so. I know I can think two or three things at once, but for the longest time I thought that was normal."

"So does that mean you can do like history, AP lit, and calc all at once?"

"Theoretically, yeah."

"That's so cool."

"Julie, I'm glad that's what you focused on."

The girl laughed, although she sounded still uneasy. Annabeth was almost relieved— if Julie hadn't been worried or uneasy, Annabeth would have assumed she was a monster or something. Then again, all the monsters had been wiped out. (She couldn't let her guard down and her mind diverged to thinking about movements with her dagger). They talked a bit further and then Julie bade Annabeth farewell. Walk down the stairs. Door opened. A hug. Door closed. Annabeth brushed her teeth and went to bed.

School. Practice. Home.

"We should all go down to the dock to look at the new boat!"

Car doors open, a drive through the city, car doors slam. Annabeth's heart fluttered as they walked down the dock. Their new boat was in C-Dock. The gas dock was significantly further and a way's away. She excused her to explore and walked down. Percy was working. Her heart thumped.

He was just pushing a boat off as she walked down. He walked back into the shack and she heard the register open.

"You're not a boat," she said aloud as he walked out. He turned to her and grinned. He leaned against the shack and smiled, her heart thumping fast. She still had to tell Chiron she found him, even though for the moment she wanted him all to herself. There was still no explanation for his lack of memories, and even so she wasn't even sure the problem could be solved as easily as it had been for her. She needed someone to bounce ideas off of. And someone who had been alive for centuries was probably the person to do that with. Or something.

Maybe.

Probably.

Annabeth straightened.

"Hey, you're back! Dad buy the boat or are you going out with friends again?" He asked.

"Dad bought the boat," she said. It was silent.

"I know you from somewhere," he said, scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion. She pushed her shoulders back.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, something… about you. It's really familiar to me. I don't know why." He paused and then shrugged. "Either way, I'd like to get to know you." He grew red. "Not that… I mean… if you want, you're really pretty and stuff. I mean, like—."

She laughed, and was reminded of the Percy she met when she was twelve. She waved her hands in front of her. "No, no, I understand. Don't worry about it. I'd like that too."

They began to talk. School and how Percy got into boats and his life in San Francisco. He explained to her how his dad acquired the Marina and how ever since he was young he'd been around boats. Annabeth nudged around and got him to speak about his dad.

His names was Paul Blofis (Annabeth let out a sigh of relief) and his father, James Blofis, had died and passed his marina over to Paul. Paul, not wanting to sell something his father loved so much, moved from New York to here to take over. He was still a school teacher and had mostly left the Marina to itself— it functioned well, and there was no reason for him to change too much. He had met Percy's (though he apparently wanted to be called P) mom, Sally, while visiting New York again and they had fallen in love. Percy had only been five. They'd packed up and moved and had lived here ever since.

Percy was homeschooled, and he lived in a house "Riiiiight there," Percy said, pointing down the bay and toward a large house. It looked beautiful.

"That's… fancy," Annabeth said."

"Yeah, much better than a New York apartment, let me tell you," Percy replied. He told her about his friends, the few of them he had apparently, and how much he loved being by boats. The dock freaks me out, he told her, which made Annabeth frown and look away in confusion. Percy had always loved being by the water— docks and boats and sand especially.

She left when he brothers came to get her, waving Percy goodbye. She held out her hand though, "My name's Annabeth," she said.

He held out his and then hesitated. He grasped her hand and she felt her arm tingle. He paused before he said his name, "Percy," he replied.

She smiled and said goodbye, for now.

To Be Continued..