Damn You, Lava!
Summary: Camp Half Blood's volcanic climbing wall, ah, erupted. Chiron, concerned for the campers' safety, decided that they should attempt to live normal (or as close to normal as possible) lives until the camp had been restored. Recently, Annabeth's family had moved to Manhattan, so Annabeth decided to live with them for a few weeks; little did she know that her temporary home was infested with small, eight-legged invertebrates.
Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan, end of.
Screaming campers were hurried out of their cabins, out of camp. Children rubbed their eyes as they reluctantly left their beds, confused as to what was happening. Burning embers fell from the ashen sky.
As children of Apollo tended to the wounded, Chiron called for all cabin counsellors to meet by Thalia's Tree. "Before any of you ask, I have no idea how the lava wall exploded. Are all the campers out of the camp and safe?"
"Yeah, but the 'safe' part doesn't apply to everyone. Those injuries were pretty serious," Percy replied, beads of sweat trickling down his neck. Chiron muttered a curse in Ancient Greek and shook his head slowly. After a moment of silence passed, Chiron asked, "What do you propose we do? I don't think the Romans will appreciate a hundred teenagers turning up on their doorstep without any notice, despite how kind one of their praetors is." Heads turned to face Annabeth, who appeared to be dismissing an idea.
"Wise Girl, what is it?"
Annabeth shook her head before saying, "Perhaps the campers could try to live a semi-normal life for a month or two. They could stay with their mortal parents, and possibly take in a few others. But they'll still be prone to monster attacks..."
"Eh, seems good enough to me. All in favour..?" Clarisse raised her hand, along with every other senior camper. Chiron nodded and announced the plan.
. . .
Annabeth trembled. What if I'm not welcome? Does Susan still hate my guts? Heck, is this even the right address? She looked down at the letter her father wrote to her last week, stating that the Chase family had moved to Manhattan and their house address. After a few hours of searching for her dad's house, she found one with an address that matched the one on the sheet. Before her stood a relatively small brick house with a white porch and a chimney.
It was roughly three in the morning; knocking on somebody's door at this hour is surely going to annoy them. Nonetheless, Annabeth knocked thrice. She heard footsteps from above. The door opened.
"Who are you?" (A/N: Bobby and Matthew might know Annabeth in Rick Riordan's books, but in this fan-fiction, they don't. In this story, she hasn't seen the Chases – with the exception of Frederick – since she was seven. Please try to imagine this.)
"Uh, I'm..." Annabeth's voice faltered as somebody gasped.
"Annabeth, pumpkin, is that you?" Frederick Chase stammered, reaching out to touch his daughter. Annabeth nodded as her father pulled her into a warm hug. A tear rolled down Annabeth's cheek. "Bobby, Matthew, this is Annabeth; your sister."
. . .
Susan Chase gathered her family into the living room, where they talked for a couple of hours. Throughout their conversation, she had her arms around her twin sons, as if protecting them from any potential dangers Annabeth could have brought with her. I'm not a wild animal, Susan, Annabeth thought.
"Well, Annabeth, it's good to see you! I'll show you to your room. Boys, back to bed," Susan smiled as she guided Annabeth up the stairs and into a spare bedroom. Matthew and Bobby followed them after protesting.
Annabeth looked at her new bedroom. It wasn't small, yet it wasn't large, either. A readily-made bed stood in the corner of the room. Susan closed the door and said, "Hope you like it here, Annabeth. Goodness, it's been years! I'd just like to set few rules: you're a little too young for boys and alcohol, so none of that, please. Also, don't go freaking out the boys. Freddie missed you, dear."
"It's like nothing's ever changed. Let me just say a few things. I'm 18. One-eight years of age. I'm legally allowed to drink, but I won't. If I freak the twins out, I apologise. You shouldn't need to worry about my love-life, Susan. Understood?" Annabeth snapped, sitting down on the bed. Her step-mother nodded and left her in peace.
Annabeth lied down and stared at the ceiling, wondering if it would collapse or not...
. . . A week later . . .
She hadn't slept in a week, and Annabeth regretted it. All of her actions were slow, her vision blurry. Athena was surely ashamed, but Annabeth knew her mother would understand. Despite how un-alert her senses were, Annabeth didn't fail to freak when she saw something she feared.
A shriek left Annabeth's mouth as she stumbled backwards. She edged away from a dark creature on her bedroom wall. Calm down, Annabeth, it's just a spider...
Annabeth spotted another spider near her hand. She panicked and screamed. Then she saw another dreaded invertebrate; they appeared to be multiplying rapidly. She felt like she was even years old once more.
Memories of her early childhood, quests and Tartarus flooded Annabeth's brain. Arachne's voice of pure vengeance echoed in Annabeth's head. She tried to contain her fears, but she simply couldn't. Annabeth let out a loud, blood curling scream.
Seconds later, Frederick, Susan, Bobby and Matthew stood by Annabeth, trying to stop her from writhing on the floor. Her father picked her up and carried her out of the house as Susan called pest control, along with an ambulance.
The Chase family drove off towards a psychiatric hospital.
. . .
Percy was walking home from the grocery store when something caught his eye – and ear. An ambulance that belonged to a psychiatric hospital was stuck in traffic, and from within came deafening cries. Percy recognised those screams. He sprinted towards his mother's apartment, dropped of the groceries and left towards the ambulance, without saying goodbye to his confused mother.
When he reached the road with the ambulance, Percy ran towards the cries, angering the already-annoyed drivers and passengers within the delayed cars. When he reached the ambulance, his eyes met with a pair of intense brown ones; those eyes belonged to none other than Frederick Chase. A man asked, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" from inside the ambulance, but Frederick ignored him and opened the door, allowing Percy to get into the vehicle.
. . .
Abruptly the voices faded. The hisses of her step-mother and Arachne escaped her ears. Other than the outraged yells of the doctors, Annabeth could only hear one thing: "She's gone, Wise Girl. Arachne's not here – she's not going to hurt you. She won't touch you; ever."
All of this inconvenience would never have happened if it weren't for that stupid climbing wall, Annabeth thought. Percy dried her tears and held her close, shooing her fears far away. Right now, I could have been at Camp Half Blood, sparring with Percy, acting sane, but no.
Damn you, lava...
Huzzah, a one-shot. I'm sorry for not writing anything recently, but I have my excuses.
So, basically, in this story, Annabeth last saw her father when she was 14 (during The Titan's Curse) and the rest of her family when she was 7. I have briefly explained this already, but it didn't make much sense. PM me if you still don't understand why Bobby and Matthew didn't know who Annabeth was.
Until next time, goodbye!
- Holly