Memory and Music

IT was about 8 in the morning when an alarm clock rang in the Demi-Titan cabin at camp, and Catalina Liakos had to force herself to open her eyes as she did every morning. At this point the actions were routine to her, but that didn't make them any less tedious, even if this morning wasn't tainted by her anemia pains which tended to slow things down quite a bit. She shuffled through her cabin, grabbing a set of clothes before heading to the showers to wash up and get dressed. She would need to be timely, but she was used to it.

From the time Lena had arrived at camp with her best friend, Charlie, things had been this way, not that they were all that much different from how they'd been at home ever since Charlie had gotten into the accident. While it'd been anticipated that Charlie may have difficulty adjusting, things seemed to work out rather smoothly. Lena had drawn out meticulous, intricate maps of the camp's grounds as well as illustrious maps of the surrounding Hamptons farm neighborhood that bordered camp to lessen Charlie's confusion upon awakening each morning, but it turned out that her work had been pretty pointless after their first couple of days there, when Charlie had discovered an old music store in town and had proceeded to make her way there every morning at 8:30 AM like clockwork. And so this is how Lena wound up following her there daily, for she'd caused a scene there after her confusion the first day, when Lena hadn't known where she'd gone and the shopkeeper was left with a confused girl who had only a leather-bound notebook as her guide to the world.

On this particular morning Lena shrugged on a lightweight oversized sweater over a tank top and a pair of faded denim capris, gladiator sandals and a gilded cream-colored headband in her dark black hair, which was tied haphazardly into a sloppy bun at the side of her head. She managed to grab two cups of hot chocolate (hers with extra milk) at the mess before heading off in the direction of town. It only took her maybe six minutes to walk there, but since she had a car to transport her from camp to home when necessary and had gotten her license early, she hopped in the archaic vehicle and took off towards town. She was there in less than two minutes, and she took her cup of cocoa with her into Strings and Things. It was clear that Charlie had been there for a bit by the intense piano notes that resonated through the shop's open door, signaling the end of her performance as Lena walked in to the jingle of a bell against the shop's door. She smiled at the store's owner and he nodded in her direction; he was a little man, maybe 60 years old, and he opened the shop religiously at 8:30 AM each morning and was always willing to let Charlie play there. After all, she was an incredible pianist, and her music was more of an advertisement for his store than a hindrance. At this point Charlie'd finished her lament and was sitting with her head cradled in her hands, making no motion as Lena entered and moved to stand beside her at the piano.

"Hey," she greeted her friend lightly, a hand brushing against her tense shoulder blade in a learned attempt to calm the other girl. It was almost second nature to Lena by now, and she knew just what to do so as not to disturb Charlie. "How are you?" she asked, as she did every morning. Surprisingly, her responses tended to vary depending on her reaction to Lena's letters, and it was always interesting to Lena to see what she said even while her usual devastation returned every morning.

((sorry, I took it upon myself to describe a few aspects of their routine and Charlie's tendencies. if there is anything you object to, tell me and I'll fix it! I don't think I determined anything too major, though!))

Charlie cracked her spine and Lena winced slightly, displeased by the sound. She'd always hated it when people did that, but she was used to that sort of thing from Charlie. She took a seat next to her friend on the piano's bench, her long fingers cupping her own paper coffee cup as she hoped silently that the cocoa would warm them. "I'm hungry," Catalina proclaimed upon being asked how she was, her eyes scrutinizing her as they did daily, searching for chips in the memory loss' armor, so to speak.

There had been a time when Lena had been bitter about her friend's injury, when Charlie was insecure about it beneath Lena's scrutiny and mournful attitude, but that time had been short and it was best left forgotten. Charlie needed her, and Lena always had a tiny flicker of hope that maybe their daily interaction would help her in the slightest. Regardless, Lena couldn't go more than a week without her best friend no matter how devastated she'd been over Charlie's memory loss, and at that point she vowed to stand by the other girl for as long as she was needed, just as Charlie had sat vigilantly at her bedside through most of her bouts of illness.

Speaking of Charlie, the girl sitting beside her had taken up playing the piano once more, with a more merry tune... probably something from a Disney movie. Lena wasn't the biggest fan of all of the movies that Charlie watched, but sometimes she'd give them a go. Sometimes Lena wondered whether Charlie watched the movies sheerly out of enjoyment or whether they helped her to recall her newer memories in bringing back those from her childhood. She'd never asked her, but then Charlie probably wouldn't know the answer to her question and Lena didn't need to freak her out unnecessarily. Sometimes Lena was too extrospective for her own good, and depending on the day, Charlie didn't always like to dwell upon the possibilities of her illness. Lena took another sip of her cocoa as Charlie finished playing her song, and she swallowed it carefully before speaking.

"Can we go grab some breakfast? There's a little diner nearby, or we could head back to camp..."

Reginmundr had grown hungry and had found that the menu at camp was rather dissatisfying. He had decided instead to visit a restaurant nearby. Having no idea what it would look like through the Mist, he'd worn his full armor. They'd put him in a booth, and he took up most of the space on his side of it alone. He was not paying too close to his surroundings, and wished he could've brought Huginn and Muninn in with him to watch his back. Unfortunately, mortals always got so antsy around the little ravens, even when they weren't talking. Reggie thought many mortals were idiots, and sighed.

Hmm. .What to eat? He wondered, staring at the menu. He decided to order multiple plates of pancakes, and noticed they didn't have any mead. Damn shame. Instead, he ordered a chocolate milk. No Norseman would ever be caught saying he didn't like a good glass of chocolate milk. Reginmundr was so absorbed in his food he didn't really notice the attractive girls that walked in until they were being seated. When he did, he licked his fork off and used it to comb his beard a bit. Women liked a nice, combed beard, Reggie's mom would always say. He sat up straight with his chest out, such that he would look fittingly superior to the women.

Lena slid into the small booth opposite Charlotte, glancing from the look on the other girls' face to the waiter who watched her curiously from behind the counter.

"That's Luke," she spoke quickly, informing her friend of the boy's identity. "He's one of the locals here, but he only just started working here a few weeks ago. It seems like he has a sort of crush on you, but he's never really made a move." Catalina shrugged, giving her menu a fleeting glance over even though she already knew what she wanted to eat before scanning the rest of the restaurant, constantly aware of the presence of monsters and threats. Her eyes landed on a boy who was looking in her direction while combing his beard with a fork... how bizarre. From his attire to his physique and his mannerisms she determined that he was either a hobo or from camp, and even though he looked like he was maybe 28 or 30 he couldn't actually have been more than 18 years old and so she figured it was more likely that he was the latter. She watched him, aware that their gazes had locked for a moment, but she was interrupted when Luke came by to take their order. She ordered first,- an omelette filled with spinach and feta cheese as well as a plate of fruit- and she allowed Charlie to order before leaning into the table discreetly and speaking in a hushed tone.

"Don't look, but there's a guy over there who's definitely a demigod. He's scoping us out, he looks to be a bit like a Norseman. The weirdo is combing his beard with a fork, for crying out loud," Lena vouched, gauging Charlie's reaction. Some days she was more in tune with the demigod thing than others, and she hoped that today was one of those days. She didn't need to have a debate with Charlie in the middle of this tiny diner about the gods' existence.

After a few moments, Reggie remembered that it was seen as impolite to stare and to comb one's beard with their eating utensil. He sighed, blew the hairs off of the fork, and went back to eating again. He had a feeling both of the females were observing me, and wondered why. Obviously, he was the best potential mate in the room and therefore the alpha male, so it made sense that he warranted their attention. However, he had a feeling that Huginn would jump in to remind him that people of this era might find his choice in attire garish. He just couldn't find any comfort in the shirts that held so close to his skin. He would have preferred going shirtless. And, honestly, in such a warm climate he very well might have to. It was starting to get to be so warm he'd developed the feeling Sol might have taken over this area.

Reginmundr finished his pancakes and paid his bill. Once he'd done that, he got up and walked over to the girls he had noticed. He stood looking down at them and said, "Hello. My name is Reginmundr Odinson."

OOC: This post is worded weirdly because I wrote it in first person then switched it to third so if it changes tenses, that's why.

Lena rolled her eyes, laughing. This guy, while attractive, was definitely not her type- did she even have a type? Their food arrived and she took a few bites of her omelette before this kid walked up to their booth. He towered over them, boldly introducing himself and watching them. With a name like Reginmundr... he was most definitely Norse.

"Hello, Reginmundr Odinson," Lena spoke apprehensively, testing the words on her tongue. She pronounced his name correctly for the most part, while she did struggle a bit. She shot Charlie a look. Clearly, this guy was a little lost.

"I'm Catalina, but you can call me Lena, and this is my friend Charlie. You're from camp, right? A norse demigod?" she asked him, attempting to be courteous. She wasn't sure if it was the best idea to facilitate conversation with the boy, but she couldn't see the harm in doing so. At least it'd be entertaining. Plus, maybe she could help him. If he shaved his beard and got his act together, he might actually be successful in making friends and forging his path in life. It was almost like he was from another era.

Reggie looked between the two girls, and realized he shouldn't have approached anyone without Huginn and Muninn. He didn't know what to say or how to act in public in modern-day America very well. "Hello, Lena. And. .Charlie?" Reggie said, questioningly.

He'd assumed Charlie was a man's name, and was confused by this. He realized that it was rude to call a woman a man, so did not comment on it. One of the girls asked about camp, and he nodded.

"Yes, I'm from Camp Half-Blood." He replied, smiling. "Son of Odin, if you couldn't tell." He said, chuckling a little. Then he looked over at the man-girl, and saw that she was viewing him with fear. It might have been his stature or his incredible muscles. With women, he could never tell. But as soon as he saw the fear in her eyes, he took a step back. He did not want to scare anyone, especially when he couldn't tell if they were a woman or a man. He checked about him for any signs of danger, in case it wasn't just him. He didn't see any obvious ones, and he calmed down. He realized his hand had gone to wear Gungnir was hidden underneath his overcloak, and let it fall back to his side. He looked at Charlie and said, slowly, "I'm not trying to scare you."

Lena watched him curiously, allowing Charlie to confirm her own name. He seemed relatively harmless, especially as he backed away in concern at Charlie's wary looks. "I wasn't sure, actually. Odin? That's an interesting parent. My dad's Prometheus, and Charlie's a daughter of Anput."

Lena was always quite good with dealing with people, and even while this boy was huge and husky and altogether sort of brutish, she had a feeling that he was trying his best and his intentions were sound. "You can sit down, if you want," Lena offered, sliding over. Hey, it couldn't hurt. She shot Charlie a look, smiling and giving a small shrug while hoping silently that the son of Odin wouldn't put her off too badly, especially when she'd woken up that morning with no knowledge that she was even a demigod. She skewered a few more pieces of omelette and fed herself. They weren't in a hurry, and at least their morning would be made slightly more interesting now. "Do you go by anything other than Reginmundr?" the girl asked, quirking an eyebrow with interest.

Reginmundr carefully sat across from the girls, watching his elbows carefully to make sure he didn't knock anything over. He looked at Lena. Names other than Reginmundr? Reginmundr was his name! . .After a few seconds, he remembered what some Americans had called him. Reggie. "Yes, some people call me Reggie." He said, the words not rolling off his tongue correctly. It was not a word he was used to. Reggie was trying hard to figure out the relationship between the two girls. He'd recently learned of a thing called a "lesbian." He wasn't sure if it was a disease. Huginn and Muninn had tried to explain it to him, but all he understood was that it meant women picking other women over men. With one of the girls named Charlie, he suspected they were infected. One was asking the other for cake, and he was confused. Why did she need the other girl's permission for cake?

Lena looked at Charlie amusedly, nudging her. "What am I, your mom?" she teased.


"I'm not going to tell you not to order cake, Charlie," she replied with amusement in her tone, nudging the other girl and grinning as she took another bite of her omelette. "I don't think I'm going to have any, though."

With her anemia, Lena tried to watch how she ate, because she found that eating too unhealthily tended to cause it to flare up. She needed to watch everything and eat in moderation, even if she did love sweets. Reginmundr looked confused at her question, and she eyed him.

"Okay, Reggie. Sorry if that was an odd question... are you new to camp? Where are you from?" she asked him curiously. He was bizarre, and she wondered if maybe he was foreign. He did have an accent, but she wasn't quite sure how new he was.

Reggie nodded, looking at Lena. "I came here not too long ago, when I was found by another child. Yes, Huginn and Muninn each then talked of how stupid they were for not telling me." At this, Reggie paused, and whistled a little. His two ravens flew in and landed on his shoulders. The mortals around them seemed incredibly unaware of the fact, and this made Reggie smile a bit. "These are my friends, Huginn, thought, and Muninn, memory." He said, and realized she had asked another question. " I was born in. ." He turned to Huginn, who hopped onto the table, and said just loud enough for Lena to hear,


Muninn hopped down next to Huginn, and cocked his head to the side, recalling thee memories of those times so long ago.


Huginn whacked Muninn with one of his wings, urging him to get on with it and tell the story faster.

Huginn and Muninn said together,


Reggie nodded, as if this would explain everything to Lena. He was about to explain it to her in more depth when the other girl- Charlie, he remembered- fell over a servant and spilled water on her journal. Reggie slid out of his seat right away, checking to make sure she was alright. Though she seemed to not have any wounds, she had tears in her eyes, and Reggie was confused. Huginn and Muninn hopped onto his shoulders, and said in his ear:

Lena's eyes widened in surprise as the two ravens came swooping in, but she wasn't overly surprised. When you meet a strange Norse demigod, something like this is bound to happen. She listened to their tale, slightly disconcerted but interested nonetheless. Stuck in time? She struggled to understand the boy's true story. "When were you born?" she asked him, but she was drawn from her thoughtful reverie when Charlie got up- and somehow managed to topple over the waiter's tray of water, her journal becoming soaked. Tears sprung to the girl's eyes immediately and Lena got up, taking the journal in her hands and tearing out the ruined pages before they could soil the rest of the book. She set it down quickly and wrapped an arm around Charlie's shoulders.

"It's okay, Charlie. I'll fix it, I promise," she spoke softly, understanding her despair. It wasn't anything that hadn't happened before, but the tears of desperation never ceased to make Lena's gut twist with guilt. What'd happened to her was horrible; it wasn't fair. But there was nothing she could do about it, save for doing her best to make sure that Charlie was happy and lived to the best of her ability. Reggie stood watching them concernedly and for a fleeting second Lena almost felt protective over Charlie. Reggie wouldn't understand this. But that was stupid, and her gaze softened and she gave him a shrug. The waiter was dumbfounded, and he lingered for a moment before Lena told him that it was alright and he hesitantly walked off. They'd caused a bit of a scene, but it didn't matter.

Lena looked from the boy- slightly disturbed by the all-knowing abilities of his birds- to Charlie, who looked far more disturbed than she did. As much as she wanted to just leave, she figured that that wasn't going to be the best way to end this even though she wasn't sure she wanted anything to do with the guy standing before them after the bizarre shift of events. Still, she sat back down at the table, gesturing for Charlie to sit as she spread through the papers, shooting her a look to let her know that she would have to decide how to handle this. Lena assisted Charlie with her memory, but it wasn't her decision whether or not to tell some random demigod about her memory loss. Instead, she looked over the papers, attempting to decipher exactly what was on them so she could recopy them meticulously.

"I think we'll be okay," she spoke to Charlie, granting her a small smile. "They're not damaged too badly, and I know what to write like I know the back of my hand. I've done this a few times," she admitted, her fingers grazing over the damp ink. The cute waiter came by, cleaning up the glass and the spilled water, shooting guilty glances in their direction all the while. He asked Lena if they were okay and she nodded, smiling at him.

"We're fine; it's okay, really," she reassured him, making small talk before he finally walked away to attend to another table, shooting another fleeting, nervous glance at Charlie.

Reginmundr tentatively followed the girls in sitting at the table, unsure if he was still welcome. He had a feeling Huginn and Muninn made them uncomfortable, and he was glad. Anyone who took comfort in having an infinite wealth of knowledge was likely to abuse it. He had heard what Charlie had said, about the accident, and he looked at Muninn. Muninn knew what Reggie wanted. Reggie wanted to restore the girl's memories, and heal her forever. He didn't want her to have to suffer from it. Reggie looked over at Charlie. "I'm sorry that you've had to deal with that. I was frozen in ice for more than a thousand years. When I thawed... I couldn't remember anything. Then Muninn came up, and restored my memory. And Huginn gave me the ability to think again." He said, frowning a little at remembering all of this.

"Three or four, at the most," Lena replied with a shrug, looking sadly at her friend. She always felt guilty telling Charlie about certain things that she couldn't remember, particularly the bad memories, and she could never gauge how the other girl would react to the revelations. Usually; though, she would just nod stoically and take the information without too much fanfare, for which Lena was secretly grateful even while it disconcerted her. She grabbed the journal, flipping to its clean pages, and she began to copy the writing meticulously, grabbing Charlie's hand and gesturing for her to sit again.

She stopped abruptly when Reggie spoke, trying to analyze him. Trapped for thousands of years... and his memory restored? The words resonated in her mind. She stammered, incredulous.

"T-the ravens.. they restored your memory?" she asked, eyeing him carefully. While she was curious about his past and how long he'd been in modern society, she shut her mouth. This was more important. If the birds could restore memory, there was a chance it could work on Charlie. A chance, the prospect of one igniting the glimmer of hope that existed in her mind.