Impure's are the 'sister' species to ours. They're a branch of our species that are tainted in bad deeds and desires. Because of this, Impure's are unable to see the Pure's. Pure's are practically invisible to the eye of the Impure's, as our purity can not be seen by an Impure as they are blinded.
Annabeth was just as confused as the girl was.
Her history books had never said anything about special Impure's who could see them. No one here was supposed to see her. She was supposed to be invisible for crying out loud. In-vis-i-ble, you know, unable to be seen.
Yet, right when she had crossed through the Gate of the Impure into the abandoned house, a girl with choppy brown hair and eyes like a kaleidoscope was staring at her with startled eyes. Annabeth stared right back at her, probably with the same expression except more dumbfounded. The Impure were not supposed to see her!
Fudge cakes.
Annabeth looked down at the girl's clothes in curiosity. She was dressed similarly to Annabeth, which shouldn't have surprised Annabeth really as her history books had said they had adapted just like her world had, but Annabeth had almost thought they'd look…. Different. Her shirt, a white t-shirt with a plaid patterned jacket or coat over it, read 'In the memory of when I cared', which would never have been put on anything owned by a Pure. But despite that, the jeans and shoes seemed the same as the style back home, though for lounging. It was slightly unnerving, yet comforting.
Despite being unable to see or be influenced by us, the Impure have developed like us in some ways, such as clothing and shelter wise. They, however, wear jeans and t-shirts in public instead of just inside.
"Piper?"
The girl, Piper she guessed her name was, turned a little, yet didn't break eye contact. "Over here, Hazel. Uh, you might want to see this."
A girl with brown, curly hair that was barely contained in a hair band poked her head into the room and sighed in relief when she spotted Piper. She opened the door wider to allow herself to walk in, heading straight to the other girl. "There you are. I swear, this house is kind of creepy."
Hazel, Annabeth assumed her name was, didn't seem to notice Annabeth at all, instead stopping beside Piper, giving her a smile. The girl didn't seem to noticed and continued to stare at Annabeth in confusion, before looking back and forth between Annabeth and the girl who had just walked in.
"Yeah, I guess it kind of is," Piper said with a frown. She stared at Annabeth as if she had some kind of explanation, but Annabeth hadn't even said one word the whole time, too busy staring in wonder.
"Leo said you have completed your dare and can come back out now, but he's kind of disappointed that you weren't kidnapped by a ghost or something so he could become a hunter," Hazel said.
Piper hummed in agreement, finally turning her gaze towards the girl. "I bet he is."
Hazel gave her a small smile. "What was it you wanted me to see?"
"I'm surprised you didn't see her when you came in," Piper said, gesturing towards Annabeth and in reply, Annabeth took a step back, ready to run back into the Gate back to her world. This world was freaky. An Impure could see her, they dressed extremely similar to the Pure's, and were all in all just strange.
Hazel looked over to where Annabeth was standing, a small frown settling on her face as she glanced right over Annabeth as if she couldn't see her. That made Annabeth frown. If this Impure couldn't see her, did that mean the ratio was half and half? Half could see her and half couldn't?
"What are you talking about?"
"Can't you see the girl?"
Hazel glared playfully at Piper and gently punched her arm. "You're as bad as Leo, trying to scare me with all this ghost stuff. C'mon, Jase and Leo are outside and probably wanted hot chocolate right about now."
Piper opened her mouth as if about to argue, but then closed it again, her eyes finding Annabeth again and seeming to contemplate something. Then she smiled softly at Hazel. "You're too smart to fool, anyways. Uh, okay, just give me a moment. I want to look at something. Go ahead to my house, I'll catch up."
Hazel bit her lip, looking back to where Piper had pointed before almost worriedly before nodding and heading towards the door. "Don't take too long! Leo wants to watch a movie as soon as we get back to yours."
"'Kay."
When Hazel's footsteps faded away, Piper turned back to Annabeth, a determined look on her face that reminded Annabeth of one of her brother's when he was searching for something.
"Who are you? Why can't Hazel see you? Why can I see you?"
Wow, so many questions at one time.
"I-I don't know. You shouldn't be able to see me. My history book said…," Annabeth trailed off, pressing her lips together firmly. She shouldn't be talking about this, heck, she shouldn't even be there. This girl should not be increasing her curiosity to stay and see what happens, to get to know the girl. Annabeth should leave right now.
She didn't though, instead she took a deep breath. "I'm Annabeth."
Piper eyed her skeptically, before holding out her hand. "Piper."
Annabeth shook her hand, quickly letting go afterwards and trying to top her heart that was beating ruthlessly in her chest with nerves. She shouldn't be there, she shouldn't be there, she should not be there.
"I need to go," Annabeth blurted out, surprising both herself and Piper, who blinked at the sudden outburst. Before she could comment, Annabeth ran for the door and out of the house, right through on of the teenagers waiting outside with Hazel.
Annabeth gasped sharply, intense pain rushing through her and making her blink as darkness appeared at the edge of her vision. Her insides, her skin, everything felt as if it was being ripped apart, slowly as if so she could feel every agonizing second of it.
Impure's also cannot touch, feel, or hear a Pure as a Pure's genes will let their atoms pass right through the Impure's, though with breathtaking pain. This also would allow Pure's to live among Impure's if it were not for their atmosphere and food that also taints them.
Annabeth blinked away the pain, getting back up from the ground shakily. She hadn't even noticed she had fallen, nor the stinging of her knees from having collided with something hard and scratchy. She stumbled away towards the side of the abandoned house as she heard the teen she had literally walked through say, "brr, did anyone else feel that? It's getting really cold."
Why didn't she go back through the Gate?
Stupid.
Annabeth gasped again, regaining her bearings after a moment as she reached the side of the house and leaned against it.
That had really hurt.
She heard the front door of the house opening, then a voice Annabeth recognized as Piper's saying something Annabeth couldn't quite understand, and when Annabeth peeked around the corner, she caught sight of her group walking away, Piper turning around a moment afterwards to look back at the house, and Annabeth, stupidly she might add, didn't bother to hide.
Piper spotted her and frowned again, but a muscular, broad blonde with glasses said something to her and she looked away again.
Annabeth let out a sigh, deciding what she was going to do next.
I am absolutely insane.
Annabeth found herself across the street, sneaking into Piper's household behind the muscular blonde with glasses, who luckily also couldn't see her. She felt weird standing behind him and trying to sneak in without them noticing, yet being so close to them. It was a bit rattling, but she put that aside and darted to hide under the stairs.
Why she was sneaking around and being utterly creepy while invisible was beyond Annabeth. Piper just… interested her so much because she could fricking see her. Piper could see her in a world full of people who couldn't, and naturally Annabeth wanted to know more.
But why she was acting on that curiosity was completely beyond her.
She should go back to the Gate, or at least go explore elsewhere and leave this mystery for another day, for someone else.
Annabeth did neither, instead peaking out from behind the stairs as the group made their way past her, into a room with several couches and a large, square thing on one of the walls.
Impure's have dark devices called 'television'. It feeds their inhumanity with massacres, sexual desires, and other dark parts of themselves, fueled by their genes.
She squinted at the television curiously, when the teen she had run through, with black, curly hair and overall looked like an elf, jumped up excitedly, as if he had to keep moving or he'd just about drop down and never move again.
"I got the hot chocolate!" He said, before rushing into the kitchen.
"Wait, Leo! Agh," Piper looked blonde beside her. "Jason, can you go help him? He might burn down the house."
Jason gave her an amused look before following the elf named Leo.
Annabeth decided it was time to leave when Piper fell back onto a leather couch next to Hazel, the girl from earlier. There was nothing else to see. Nothing that should interest Annabeth, anyway.
Annabeth carefully stepped out of her hiding place, thankful that Piper was facing away from her so she didn't have to worry about being hidden. Only about being quiet enough.
Annabeth gave the door a fleeting glance, wondering if she would be able to dart over to the door fast enough without making any sound, but deciding it would be too much of a risk. There were too many possibilities of making noise and Annabeth wanted to leave unnoticed.
Slowly, Annabeth moved her other foot forward, preparing herself for the slightest of squeaks, but there wasn't one, so she continued with the next step. And the next step. And the next, and the next, and the next, until she reached the door, quietly attempting to open the door and winced when a sound outside echoed through the doorway and into the living room.
"Oh hey, I thought we closed the front door..," Hazel's voice said, just loud enough for Annabeth to hear. In a panic, Annabeth threw herself out the door and landed in a bush next to the steps, cursing herself. She rolled out of the bush, trying to ignore the stinging that the contact with the bush made, and held her breath as someone approached the front door slowly, as if not wanting to approach it too fast and scare something away.
She thought she was either going to give herself away by gasping for breath or die from holding her breath too long when who ever had been there shut the door and then she did gasped, holding a hand to her chest and breathing heavily. Getting out of the bush hesitantly, Annabeth glanced back at the front door. It was time to go back home. To her own world, with it's own quirks, to her own 'normal'. She'd had enough for today.
Impure's are dangerous, but only reside in their world. Do not engage if you ever find yourself on the other side.
"I can't believe you snuck out and didn't bother to bring me along!"
Annabeth rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, that would go over well. It's like calling to the guards and saying 'Oh look-y here! We're trying to go to the other side! Catch us!'"
Percy, her best friend, pouted, which made Annabeth chuckle a little, not feeling sorry for a second. While she loved Percy, he was seriously the worst person to be inconspicuous with. He gets too excited and fidgety, and most of the time something breaks.
When Annabeth got home the night before, these two had been waiting for her, sitting on her bed innocently as if they were supposed to be there, when Annabeth clearly remembers telling them to go home and stay home. By then, it was late and she had forced them to go to sleep, despite their complaints and questions concerning where she had been. This morning she was bombarded with questions again, and she answered them honestly.
They were at school, sitting in the garden during lunch and waiting to go back to class. Ever since Annabeth had gotten back from the other side, the only thing on her mind was Piper, the Impure who could actually see her. Annabeth had brought her history book to lunch in hopes she'd get her mind off of the night before, but to no such luck. Percy demanded every single detail.
Annabeth fiddled with her history book again.
It wasn't actually a history book really- it was a copy of reports made by one of the scouts, who actively go back and forth between worlds so that they can keep updated with the Impure. All the famous scouters were in there, including the newest ones. Annabeth liked to read outside of her class, it fueled her curiosity.
When she looked back up, Percy's boyfriend, Nico, smiled amusedly at Percy's complaining, and kissed his cheek as if to comfort him and then turned back to the book he had been reading previously. Annabeth watched them interact for a second, fiddling with the history book on her lap absent-mindedly again, wondering how their relationship would be seen as in the Impure's world.
Some Impure's are heavily against relationships involving two people of the same 'gender'. Gender is the state of being male or female. A male and a male, or a female and a female, is looked down upon. They call it being 'gay' for males and 'lesbian' for females. Because of the harsh treatment some Impure's gave their fellow Impure, the Impure who were ridiculed for who they are hide themselves and blend in.
Annabeth shook her head. She didn't want her friends to go through that. To hide who you are…
"Whatever. Anyways, what did you see? Was it really different from our world? Do they really have those… what are they called…," Percy tilted his head, seeming to think hard. "You know, those metal things that function for their benefit…"
"Machines?"
Percy grinned and snapped his fingers. "Machines! Yeah, did they have a bunch of those?"
"Yeah, they did," Annabeth bit her lip, looking around at all of the others who were sitting around her. None of them were paying attention, nor close enough to overhear them, so she leaned in closer and whispered, "that's not the most interesting part, though."
Percy perked up even more and leaned forward too. Even Nico, who had probably been listening half-heartedly, closed his book and leaned closer so he could hear too. Annabeth found it amusing how similar the two were, even if Nico was quieter than Percy was. Both were always ready to hear a good story.
"What was the most interesting part?" Percy whispered loudly. As earlier stated, he wasn't very good with being secretive.
Annabeth and Nico both chuckled.
"You're the worst at whispering, amore," Nico stated, kissing his cheek again as Percy's face flushed red. He huffed as Nico played with a strand of his hair innocently, still staring at Annabeth and waiting for her to continue.
"You know what the history books say, right? That the Impure can't see us?" She whispers to them, and they both nod quietly. "Well yesterday, when I crossed over, this… girl saw me. Like she actually saw me and heard me."
Nico's eyes widened considerably and Percy gaped at her. "You're kidding!"
"Surely she saw something else?" Nico said. "The Impure can't see us because we're pure, does that mean that they're becoming pure?"
Annabeth shook her head. "I thought the same thing, but then the girl's friend came in and she couldn't see me."
Nico's eyes furrowed while Percy was still gaping at Annabeth. "Holy crap, we have to tell someone!"
Annabeth gave Percy a look and felt a wave of nerves and anger flush through her at the thought of not being able to see the other side ever again. "No. Not yet anyways, I'm still not even sure what happened. Do you think if I handed this over now that they'd let us know what happened?"
Percy frowned. "Okay, but then what are you going to do?"
Annabeth bit her lip again. "I'm going to go back out and investigate. Talk to the girl when she's alone, figure out why she can see me. Write reports and stuff. You know, like a scout."
"How can we help?" Nico said, not looking opposed to the idea at all. Instead he looked intrigued.
"You guys can do the desk work."
"What? I don't want to do desk work! Can I go with you, please?" Percy pleaded at the same time that Nico said, "That works."
Annabeth bit her lip, contemplating it before sighing. "Fine, you can come, but only a few times. I'm not going to take you every time, got it?"
Percy nodded, a slight frown still residing on his face, but he didn't say anything about how absolutely insane this was. How insane Annabeth was for wanting to do this. Instead he said, "When are you going next then?"
A bit surprised, Annabeth blinks and then takes in a deep breath. "Tonight. I'm going back tonight."