I recently became obsessed with Percy Jackson, so I'm going to write a series about Annabeth! This book is about her time on the run with Luke and Thalia. -Icestar of AwesomeClan (or since we're doing Percy Jackson, Echo Hunter, Daughter of Athena, Legacy of Poseidon)
I heard footsteps thudding behind me as I whirled around, thinking of the quickest place to hide. Over there! I crept underneath a sheet of corrugated iron, clutching my hammer. Be ready to ambush them, a voice in my head said. I had recently learned that this voice was my mother, who was some sort of goddess. That was confusing, but I didn't dare argue when she gave me such valuable advice. I accidentally banged my head on the sheet, and there was a loud CLANG!
Now! A boy uncovered my hiding spot. A sandy-haired, blue-eyed boy. A monster in disguise. I thought. His friend, a girl who looked like a punk-rock person, stood there watching in concern with a shield that had a picture of Medusa's head on it. The eyes glowed eerily. Okay, that should have been be a Halloween decoration, not a shield. I swung my hammer at his face, waiting for my trusty old hammer to whack his face and explode him into a pile of ashy stuff.
"Whoa!" He dodged the hammer skillfully and grabbed my wrist. My hammer went skidding across the pavement. No! "No more monsters!" I screamed, kicking him in the legs. "GO AWAY!" I shouted, although that probably wasn't going to help. "It's okay!" He tried to get me to stop, but I was like a whirlwind, kicking, screaming, and thrashing around wildly. The punk girl's spear and terrifying shield were still at the ready, making me fight even harder against him. If I defeated him and ran, maybe I wouldn't have to face her. She terrified me.
"Thalia, put your shield away! You're scaring her!" he exclaimed. This "Thalia" person somehow turned her shield into a bracelet and let go of her spear. She walked over to me, holding my free hand. "Hey, little girl," Thalia said. "It's all right. We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke." Yeah, right.
"Monsters!" I wailed, hoping my mother would help me. There's nothing to help me, I realized. I have to help myself. "No," Luke promised. I trembled. I was still scared, cold, tired, and hungry. His eyes softened. "But we know about monsters," he said. "We fight them too." He held me in his arms, and I stopped kicking. His arms were warmer than my pink pajamas, and I felt safe. Like I finally fit in, and had a home. "Y-You're like me?" I asked suspiciously, but I couldn't help sounding hopeful. "Yeah," he promised. "We're... Well, it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"
Family. I hate mine, anyway. They thought I lied, and they also thought that I was a freak who was anything but normal. They got that part right, but it still hurt. I was about to cry, but I was able to choke out, "My family hates me. They don't want me. I ran away." I felt unwanted again, and a rush of fury boiled up inside of me. The joke's on my family, at least these nice people want me around!
Thalia put her hand on my shoulder. "What's your name, kiddo?" she asked, so we could change the subject. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I trusted them enough. But I'd already told them a lot about me, name or not, and they had told me theirs, so I replied, "Annabeth."
Luke grinned. "Nice name," he told me. "I tell you what, Annabeth. You're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you." I'd like living with Luke and Thalia. They're nice, and they actually think I'm useful!
My eyes widened. "You could?" I asked incredulously. "Oh, yeah." he answered earnestly. He pulled something from his belt. A bronze dagger, glowing in the dark, was in his hand. "How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon?" he asked. I smiled inwardly. Oh, yeah! Point 1: Annabeth vs Point 0: Monsters! "This is Celestial bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer."
I took the dagger. Wow, now I'm a real monster fighter! I looked at the dagger. Luke probably hadn't noticed, but there was an engraving written in Ancient Greek. It read 'Efkinitos'. That meant nimble in Greek. Whoa! How did I know that? I decided to call the blade Nimble, because it seemed like a weapon I would need to be nimble with to use.
"Knives are only for the bravest and quickest fighters," he said, jolting me from my thoughts. I listened carefully. I was smart enough to listen, because later it might come in handy.
"They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever." he was saying. I beamed.
Yeah, I guess I am pretty clever! "I am clever!" I declared, hoping my mother would hear and be proud of me. Thalia laughed and ruffled my hair. "We'd better get going, Annabeth," Thalia said. "We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food. My smile wavered. What if they bring me to my family?
"You're…you're not going to take me back to my family? Promise?" I felt sad. They didn't know how bad it was there. What if they brought me back because they thought I'd be happy there? Luke rested his hand on my shoulder. Luke seemed to have a sudden rage, and I could tell it was at our parents and our family, and that we only had each other. "You're part of our family now. And I promise I'm not going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?" Luke asked kindly. "Deal!" I promised happily. I felt giddy. I clutched my new dagger. I needed to learn how to use it. Maybe once we reached the safe house, I'd train on my own.
Thalia was positively beaming at Luke, approving our deal. "Now, come on. We can't stay put for long!" she said. We decided to rest. I grabbed some wood, and we started a fire. Thalia was gazing off into the skies, muttering something under her breath. I strained to hear, and eventually I figured what she was saying. "Dad, I don't know why you're doing this, but help us. I honestly don't know what I ever did to deserve this mess, but I'll try to get out of this." Her voice sounded resentful, and she looked weary, as if she wanted nothing more to be normal. I felt myself drifting off to sleep, and I snuggled with Thalia for warmth. I grabbed a couple of baby blankets that were my old ones when I still lived with my dad, and passed Thalia one. Luke was guarding, scribbling something in a notebook.
It's better than being alone, I suppose. I yawned. As you can guess, I fell asleep to the sound of Luke's scribbling and Thalia's snores.
Thalia was shaking my shoulder. "Is it my turn on watch?" I asked blearily, rubbing my eyes. "Yeah." Thalia replied. "We think you can handle it." "Okay." I plopped down, looking for something to do while I was watching. Looking around wildly, I found a few sticks nearby. Okay, what can I make out of a few sticks?
Maybe a bow and arrows. And then I can get my spare pair of socks to use as gloves! The stick had a natural curve, and the others were perfectly straight. Thank you, whoever did this! I started shaving away at the bark, using my dagger. Pretty soon I had a smooth bow, with a tight white string tied from one end to the other. I started on the arrows, making the tips very sharp and the rest of the arrow a little bit thinner. When Luke woke up, he was surprised to see a set of wooden arrows and a bow, and me sitting there, cleaning my dagger with some water from a puddle nearby.
Luke's eyes widened. "Annabeth!" he exclaimed. "Yeah?" I looked up from my dagger. "This is amazing! How did you make it?" "I carved it with my knife!" I said happily. "Do you want it? I think it would work better than a golf club." "I'll definitely use it!" Luke said. All the commotion made Thalia wake up. "Hey stupid, I'm trying to-" Her electric blue eyes fell upon the bow. "Oh-my-gods!" Luke grinned. "You two go back to sleep. I'll keep guard for the rest of the night." "Yeah!" Thalia said. "And then when you pass out on the way to the safe house, we can drag you there." she added sarcastically.
"Hey, why don't we just go now?" I piped up. "That's genius, Annabeth! Since it's night, the monsters will be sleeping and no one will follow us. Who's stupid enough to go for a stroll at one in the morning?" Luke seemed to love the idea. "Um, us?" the Sarcasm Queen, aka Thalia said. Luke didn't reply, so we just followed him off into the darkness.
How was that for a first chappie? I actually had the idea this morning when I was reading the Titan's Curse, and I tried to imagine everything from Annabeth's view. I'm using my PJO persona for this series to sign off, and I might be in the book at some point! (although this time I'll probably die later xD) -Echo Kale, Daughter of Athena, Legacy of Poseidon or Icestar of AwesomeClan (I almost typed in Icesatyr :P)