Hey guys, I suppose you could call this a 'kicking my muse and wondering when they were going to wake up' fic.
Anyway, massive apologies for my ridiculously long hiatus, I hope to be back soon!
Ginny Weasley and Annabeth Chase were never supposed know of the others existance.
They both played important rolls in their respective stories, and both fought for justice and under great oppression. They were queens among lords and kings among knights, and clever and strong and worthy.
They were all these things, but, quite simply, the fates had not decreed that they, as two utterly separate beings, should have no need to meet.
Life, it seemed, had other plans.
Annabeth's car broke down in a small town outside of New York. Hissing in frustration and and grumbling, she paid for a dingy room in a rough looking motel. After dumping her bag and other odds and ends on the end of her bed, she marched into the bar that sat quietly across the highway, planning on finding a phone (she'd dropped hers in the toilet of her hotel in Nebraska) in order to call up Percy. They'd decided on the more mortal approach since an awkward moment involving a secretary, a string of pepper shakers and a long winded story that involved magic pickles and off smelling milk.
Annabeth pushed the door open and walked into the dark interior, the sweet of alcohol and the acrid of cigarettes mingled together in the air. Across from where she entered was a long bar, backed with a wall of wines and whiskey. Tall tables stood throughout the rooms, the walls decorated with dark pictures of cowboys and old movie posters. Over to the side some of the usuals were throwing darts at a dart board, talking amongst themselves, passing her a small smile as she passed the threshold. Other than them a barmaid with bright red hair polished beer glasses by the taps, a vacant expression on her face.
Annabeth walked over to her. "Hey, do you have a phone?"
The girl looked over at her, frowning. "Yes, don't you?" She had a British accent, but Annabeth couldn't put a finger on from exactly where.
Annabeth blinked. "Uh, no."
"That's very odd."
Annabeth gestured in the general direction of the hotel she was staying at. "I'm staying at the Mermaid."
The girl raised her eyes understandably. "Ah. Gotcha. We've got a phone by the toilet. Fancy a drink?"
Annabethlooked longingly at the wine bottle that held her preference. "Just one, I suppose."
"So, you here in the middle of no where for any particular reason?"
"My car broke down," Annabeth relayed, sighing.
The girl smiled. "That seems like a reasonable excuse. Where are you headed?"
"Home, Long Island."
The girl ginned. "Long Island? Awesome."
"Yeah I live there with my...uh, my boyfriend."
"Cute," The barmaid said. "My boyfriend is currently working in New York. Told him I'd take a road trip. Ended up working here, trying to kill some time before he can acknowledge my existence."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Undercover? Impressive."
The girl snorted. "Don't tell him that, his heads big enough as it is. I'm Ginny, by the way. Short for Ginevra, not Virginia, just so you know."
"Annabeth," The blonde relayed, shaking her hand and accepting the drink, pushing over some money. "Short for nothing."
"So," Ginny said, pouring herself a drink and leaning over the bar. "Tell me about yourself. Everyone around here does the same thing, or does something interesting and then leaves."
"Well," Annabeth sipped her drink. "There's a lot to tell."
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Witches and wizards, hey?" Annabeth asked, her drink forgotten in front of her.
"Demigods and monsters?"
The bar had slowly filled up as they talked. Annabeth had made her phone call and the pub was now loud with the rowdy voices of stupor desiring men and women.
"And this Harry of yours, he seems...self sacrificing," Annabeth said.
Ginny nodded, half rolling her eyes. "He once broke up with me, just to keep me safe."
Annabeth shuddered. "Sounds exactly like the dumb thing Percy would do...he once, uh, well, made a pretty massive sacrifice for me."
Ginny shook her head, pouring a beer. "Boys."
Annabeth nodded, picking up her drink. "Boys."
And the two smiled at each other, a sad sort of, you're nice, and despite what I want, we'll never meet again.
And Annabeth payed her bill and waved goodbye, a wistful smile on her lips as she voiced her farewell.
And Ginny made no move of hiding her already gnawing nostalgia for a girl she had not the chance to miss yet. Despite her initial mindset, her trip had been grey, dull, typical. She met this girl, learnt about this world, and they would never speak again.
Annabeth crossed the street and entered the Mermaid. She brushed passed two young men with intense expressions, a a young girl who looked like she was on the threshold of a new adventure and a family, with a teenage girl who's smile was a permanent lie painted on her face, as they lived from their car and in motels, running from and towards and caught in between.
And Annabeth felt the enormity of the world, for perhaps the first time in her life. There were other worlds, and a thrill ran down her spine as she thought of an entirely new society, a different set of laws, customs, beliefs.
And there was this girl she had met, with red hair and a fiery personality, who she would think about from time to time, with a small, sad, unguarded smile on her face.
Because these two girls were the same side of different coins, twin stars from different galaxies, the fossils that lay separated by oceans and time.
Perhaps, in a different life, sisters.
