The Origins of Night Owl
Well here this is my surprise! I have started a new story that I have decided will be exclusively for my blog here! I was inspired by the Supergirl and Arrow and hope to do justice to portraying a female superhero. I will try to update but between school and my other stories, the only thing I can promise is that I will try to update as much as I can. So with out further ado, one of my first stories that is centered around Annabeth!
Let me know what you think! I don't own anything in the PJO or Arrow/Supergirl world.
Chapter 1-
My name is Annabeth Chase. After an accident made me invincible, I had to become more then who I was. I am not the scared girl I was once before but now I am the woman who will exact justice for those who don't have a voice. Now, I am here to fight for my city and those who can't. This is my story.
Running through the city blocks is something that I have become accustomed too when I am always perpetually late. But being late has its consquences and I hope I don't find that out after running late for my meeting. We are having a conference call with an important investor for the company and as the senior consultant for my architecture firm; I really should not be late. But I am.
The company, C and F is a hugely successful even in my failing city. Due to the great divide between the wealthy and poor, we get a lot of extravagant houses or buildings to build for insane costs that our clients don't really seem to care about. It drives me insane that we build these gorgeous buildings for huge costs and our clients refuse to see that there are people who could really make use of the extra money that they want to spend. But of course, I can't express my frustrations because I would be fired and I enjoy my job. I like making things that are built to last forever. I don't have stability in my life so to be able to make things in that nature helps me cope with all of the turmoil in my life.
For most of my life, I have had people come and go. I never knew my father, supposedly he died when I was younger but my mother never talks about him. My mother never at home due to the fact that she had to provide for me on her own, but she gave me a privileged lifestyle that I am grateful for because it gave me opportunities that I wouldn't have otherwise. I just wish our relationship wasn't so one-sided but it's hard when your mother is distant and cold.
I am a block from my office building when my phone starts to ring. Panicked that it's the office and worried that I will be fired right then and there, I check the caller id and I am surprised to see that its my mother. Worried, I pick up.
"Mom?" I answer and my mother breathes a sigh of relief and responds.
"Oh thank god you picked up. Where are you?"
"Running late for work why?" I answer and my mother's voice sounds frantic as she quickly says.
"Annabeth, you need to come home now. It's the only way I can protect you."
"Protect me from what?"
As I approach my building, a black van suddenly pulls up to the sidewalk and screeches to a stop.
"Annabeth, what was that sound?" my mother worriedly asks.
"Mom, I have to go."
"Annabeth! No-." I hang up and try to walk quickly past the van, hoping they aren't what my mother was trying to protect me from.
Two men jump out of the car and move towards me quickly. Realizing that I am indeed the target, I try to run away, but I'm too slow and they grab my arms and drag me towards the van. No one witnesses the attack and no one comes to my defense as I scream my head off. A black bag is shoved onto my head and a hard blow follows it, causing me to lose consciousness.
"Annabeth!"
I don't know how long it has been when I come to but I awake abruptly to my mother's scream. Disorientated, I look around and see men and women in black clothing surrounding me. There is a pit of bubbly water and candles in front of me. My head hurts from the blow to it early and I painfully try to put pressure on it. I try to move but my arms are tied to a creaky chair. Frantically, I look around and see my mother held by two men on the other side of me. Her blonde hair, which is usually tight and perfect across her stern face is undone and down. Her grey stormy eyes that mirror mine are filled with pure fear and horror. Her clothes are torn and bruises cover her body.
"Mom, Are you ok? What's going on?" I ask worriedly and strain against the ropes on my wrists and legs. We might not be close but she is my mother and I still love her dearly and I know when she looks like she does, something is seriously wrong. My mom cries out to a figure behind me.
"Let her go, Zeus!"
The man she is screaming at suddenly comes on the other side of me and answers her plea.
"We had an agreement. You either join me again or I have to do drastic measures, Athena. Remember you were the one who chose to forget the family. You haven't lived to your true potential and this is your punishment. Your own daughter will pay for your crimes against us."
My mother screams and struggles against the men's grip, "What the hell do you expect me to do after you killed Frederick! I will NEVER go back! I took away her away so she will never know this life! But she knows nothing of what we do, Father! Please, let her go."
My head is spinning and I look up at my supposed grandfather. His face is traced with age marks and his eyes are an electric blue that brighten his face against his peppered hair. For twenty-three years, I have wondered why my mother was so distant, why I was never told about my family and of course what happened to the father I never knew. Millions of questions circle my mind as I turn toward my mother.
"What are you hiding from me?"
Pained, my mother looks at me and says, "I never expected any of this to happen but it did and I will forever be sorry, Annabeth. I am part of the Olympian crime organization. Those major, violent crimes you see in the news and paper, that's them. My family and I are responsible for the major crimes of the last century and I was the top member, and I was in position to take over once Zeus, your grandfather, stepped down. I was planning to until I met your father and had you. When it was time to leave you and your father for my family, I couldn't and refused not be in your life. For my refusal, Zeus killed your father and I went into hiding with you. But two weeks ago, they found me and offered me my position without any hard feelings but I refused. So-."
"So for her crimes, you will be dipped into one of our families favorite punishments. In front of you is a powerful pit of water that was once from the ancient river in Greece called the River Styx. Our family is the ancestors of some demigods who got some of the water from the actual Styx and for centuries, we have used it as the ultimate punishment to our enemies. Legends says that only those with a pure heart can survive and become invincible like Achilles but most of the victims that we have put into the pit burst into flames. For your mother's crimes and refusal, I'm afraid you will have to take a dip."
My head hurts once again and my heart rate speeds up as the new wave of information hits me. My family is one of the biggest and deadliest crime families in the country. They have killed hundreds of people and are part of the reason why this city is in distress. My grandfather killed my father, and now I am going to die. Fear strikes me and I look at my mother.
"Mom! Do something!"
Tears stream down her eyes and she shakes her head as I am releases of my chains and forcibly pushed towards the stone pit ahead. The steam from the waters is visible and I start to struggle against my captors, eventually getting my wrist freed from one of them. This allows me to punch one and as he falls to the ground, I knee the other and run towards my mother. But my escape is short lived as Zeus hits me hard against the back and I collapse to the ground. Pain shoots up my body and I wince loudly in distress as Zeus grabs my arm and forces me up on my feet forcibly. The aches of my injuries hinder my ability to stand straight or fight back once again. Zeus pushes me closer to the pit and I look straight at my mother as I try to struggle against my grandfather.
"Zeus, please! Father!" My mother screams in agony and as my feet reach the edge of the pit, Zeus tells my mother.
"I thought you would have learned your lesson when I killed Frederick. But atlas, you haven't. Good bye Annabeth."
I catch one last look at my mother as Zeus pushes me off the edge and into the unknown waters. Darkness engulfs me and the warm water surrounds me. At first, it's peaceful but I know that the pain will come soon enough. Slowly, the heat of the water rises and soon enough, the heat is unbearable and I thrash against the strong current. The pressure and burning sensation against my body is too much to take and I almost think of giving into the pain when a voice calls out to me.
"I haven't seen such a pure heart, child. You are destined for greatness, and for that I will bestow my gifts onto you. But as all great things have, you too will have a weakness that will bring your death if discovered. Choose a spot wisely for it is your only lifeline. Hold on Annabeth, your journey is just beginning."
I realize the voice is the spirit of the great warrior Achilles. Suddenly, the burns intensives and light surrounds me. Remembering Achilles's words, I think of a spot where I will hide my supposed weakness. I remember an odd injury that I had when I was a kid that was under my armpit and focus all my energy on that spot. Slowly, the pain subsides and the darkness around me fades into clear water. My body feels rejuvenated, the best it's felt in years as I break through the surface of the water and breathe in the air that my lungs sang for. Gasping for the needed oxygen, I open my eyes and look around at the room around, realizing that I am still a captive to my grandfather. As I look, everyone is stunned and shocked.
"H-how, it can't be." Zeus stutters as my mother gasps happily and says.
"Annabeth?"
I turn towards my mother and notice that she is still help captive. Anger rises in my chest and I jump out of the pit and land in front of my mother and the men. One tries to punch me and my senses must be heightened as I anticipate his attack and stop his fist with mine. The rage of what these men, people who are supposed to be our family, have done to my mother and I consumes me and I squeeze my hand around his. He cries out in pain and I hear a crack as he slowly collapses in pain to the ground and I let go. I glare at his partner and grab his arm to flip him over my shoulder and across the room.
The newfound power that I have thrills and excites me. I never was fast or strong growing up as a kid. I would get beaten up in school or lose in gym class. But I always had a fire in me that I feel now in my chest. I was smart and cunning as a kid, which combined with these new abilities makes me almost unstoppable as I turn towards the others. Most have ran away in fear so now it's just my grandfather and I.
"This can't be. No one has survived."
I jump off the stonewalls of the pit and stand before Zeus, a horrible man and criminal with confidence as I answer, "Well I am not nobody."
"You are going to be once I find a way to kill you. Once I do, you better watch out. No one survives my punishments and lives."
This angers me and I stride towards him.
"Not if I kill you first. I think you should be the one looking out for me."
"You are going to pay for this, Annabeth."
Suddenly, my mother cries out in pain and slowly falls to the ground. I turn quickly and run towards her, the motion being faster then I imagined. As I pick up her body gently, I feel my mother's body as being sweaty and pale. I scream at Zeus.
"What the hell did you do?"
"I always have insurance for rare cases like this. It's never happened but if it did, my men are instructed to find away to exact my demands. My men used a rare poison that becomes lethal when touched. Those men are already dead and sacrificed themselves by putting the poison on their hands and touching your mother once you survived the pit. The poison doesn't affect you due to your new abilities but there is no way to save your mother now. And besides Athena, did you really think I would let you live? No one takes sides on the family and survives."
His laugh fills the room and the anger and grief bubble inside me as I shout at him, "I'm going to kill you, I swear it Zeus!"
He laughs harder and says, " We will see who survives my darling granddaughter!"
My mother draws back my attention to her as she whispers weakly, "I-I'm sorry. I wish-hed I could have been better to you. Yo-u will do-o great thing-gs Anna-beth. You wi-ll be a-a hero. I-."
Slowly her eyes close and tears fill my eyes as I realize that in the course of how many hours that my life was flipped upside down, my mother is now gone. Holding her in my arms, grief threatens to release a beast that I can't contain as I turn to fight with Zeus. As I look, I see that he escaped while my mother was fighting for life and the weight of letting him get away with this and his other crimes does not sit well with me. Tears brim my eyes as I pick up my mother's body and carry her to the pit that gave me impossible abilities that I still can't comprehend. Slowly, I push her body into the waters and eventually, her body burst into flames. Tears, heat, and steam from the water cloud my vision as I watch the last of my family burn away. When her body has vanished into the waters of the pit, I say my last goodbyes silently to myself.
"I'm going to be the person you wanted me to be mom. I love you."
I wipe my hand across my face to stop more tears from coming and exit the hell that left my mother dead and myself with powers I don't understand.
A couple of hours later, as I roam through the rainy, wet park, I try to decide what I should do. I am most likely fired from my job unless I can think of a good reason for me not showing up, which I probably can seeing as my mother is dead. Other then that, I don't have the slightest idea on how to find Zeus or how to be this supposed hero that my mother thinks I am. I might be super strong or whatever but I have no idea how far my abilities go and what are my weakness besides my hidden one in my armpit. I don't have any training in fighting or crime fighting and if I am going to do this, I am going to do it right. This city needs to get rid of the poison that my grandfather inflicts on it and I have to be much better at what I do in order to do that.
As I walk around the park, the raining lightly hitting the ground, I notice a group of men huddled around by the restroom area. One notices me and asks the others.
"Larry, I thought we were ordering the prostitute later tonight?"
"Yah I don't know who the hell this chick but if she is here for that then I'm not complaining."
These guys don't want to mess with me right now but I smirk anyway and respond, "Well as much as that would be fun, I'm afraid I'm not here for that."
"Aw c'mon you slut. Let me see what's underneath your clothes." The other men snicker as the pervert starts to walk towards me. As he gets closer, he sticks out his hand to stroke my shoulder but before he can even lay a finger on me, I grab his wrist and twist, breaking it in three places and then throwing him to the ground.
Immediately, the other men's demeanor change and they take out their knife and guns.
"You do you think you are! We own this park."
"Well it's a very nice park but it might need some cleaning up, starting with getting you assholes."
This pisses them off and one of men run at me. Quickly, I punch him square in the jaw and gut, making him crumple to the ground. As their friend lies in agony, the other men realize that they are in trouble.
"So how are we going to do this boys? Hmm?" I smile and before they can respond, I charge towards the group of six men. Energy and strength fill my lungs and for a moment I forget about the recent events and focus on my body and it's power. I smack one's gun out of their hand and then judo flips his body into his friend before turning around and slamming my elbow into the man behind me.
With three more, I find an iron pipe and spin it before whacking the two of them together. As they fall to the ground, the last survivor charges me.
Anger wells up inside my chest and before he can even fathom what is happening, my fist collides with his stomach as I grabs his arm and slams his back hard onto the concrete. The man moans in pain and I stand over his gross, pale body.
"Wh-who are you?" He says nervously and I smile.
"You'll find out later but for now, I'm the justice that you deserve."
