Hello, you lovely, wonderful, long-suffering people! I'm really sorry for not updating anything in ages! I've been really busy with working to get into this early college program. I've been in and out of the emergency room a bunch. I'm also working on this giant story thing that maybe I'll finish by the end of the year. And I've been wiring my fingers off and my brain to mush trying to finish a novella for a writing competition. Excuses excuses. I swear I haven't forgotten you guys, and I'm gonna try really hard to update more and stuff.
Oh yeah, and I still don't own anything.
Without further ado, *drumroll* the next chapter!
Annabeth's POV
The owls deposited her on the feather-covered floor of an old, decrepit bell tower. They gathered around her expectantly.
One brown horned owl, bigger than the rest, stepped forward. "From the moment they are hatched, every owl chick is told the story of how the wizards captured the Great Owl and so enslaved all her children to do their bidding—" he said in a strangely familiar voice.
Annabeth raised her to interrupt, "how can I understand you?"
"Magic works in mysterious ways."
"That isn't actually answering my question."
"Don't question the will of the Mighty Owl."
"Don't you mean great?"
"I mean what I mean, nothing more or less than the will of the Stupendous Owl."
"You just called her something different. Again."
He chose to ignore her and continue monologuing. "From the moment they are hatched, every owl chick is told of the great prophecy," Annabeth moaned internally. Not another great prophecy! I have enough on my plate! ? "Of the great hero who will find the Extraordinary Owl—"
"You just—"
"Stop questioning the Incredible Owl!"
"Stop changing her title!"
"The Omnipotent Owl is all-powerful! She is all—"
"Isn't that bit redundant?" She asked, not even bothering to question how an all-powerful beings gets captured by wizards.
"Shut up and let me prophesies!"
Annabeth raised her hands in defense, "fine, fine. Prophesies away. Don't blame me if your history books are questioned on their accuracy years from now."
The owl ruffled his feathers in an annoyance and continued, "of the mighty hero who will seek the Remarkable Owl and free us all from wizard-kinds' cruel tyranny!" He finished proudly.
The assembled owls hooted in approval. Annabeth supposed they couldn't really clap.
"And you think I'm this stupendous hero?" She asked, more than a little incredulous.
"You are indeed the extraordinary hero who will rescue us from the wizards' captivity."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Are you not the daughter of our creator, Lord Athena?"
"You mean Lady Athena?"
"I've heard it both ways."
"Really?"
"Are you not the daughter of our creator, the Great Athena?"
"I am." She said slowly.
"Did you not retrieve the Athena Parthenos from Rome and bring peace to all your people?"
"How do you know about that?" She asked, disturbed by the thought that owls had been stalking her her whole life.
"Did you not retrieve the Athena Parthenos from—"
"I did! I did!" She shouted, mainly to stop him from repeating himself any more.
"Are you not wearing pants?"
"What does that have to do with anything!"
"Are you not wearing pants?"
"I'm wearing pants, can't you see them?"
"Are you not male?"
"I'm a girl! I am clearly female!" She resisted the urge to shove her chest in his beak.
"Are you not female?" He said in the exact same voice.
"But you just changed—"
"Don't question the mighty prophecy!"
"The one you just changed?"
"That's the one!"
"Right..."
"You are without a doubt the omnipotent hero come to liberate us all!" The owl proclaimed, Annabeth didn't have it in her to tell him that she was not, in fact, remotely omnipotent.
"Have ever thought about whether or not you really want to be liberated?"
"Uh, no, the stupendous prophecy clearly states that—"
"But is freedom what you want? Don't the wizard feed you and care for you when you're sick?"
"They do, but they also send us out to deliver mail in all kinds of dreadful weather, they make us work even we're old or and on our holy days."
Annabeth decided she really didn't want to know what owls considered sacred. "Then what you really want is a workers' union."
Frank's POV
It's not that he didn't trust Hazel, he just didn't trust those twins not to make a move on her. So when everyone else split into groups for shopping and such, he created the 'follow Hazel' group immediately went after her.
He was about to interfere, and maybe behead them, when Hazel ordered them to get out of the street. He'd known her long enough to recognize that voice, it was the 'we're in mortal danger' voice he'd hoped to never hear again.
He turned into a giant tortoise and hid in his shell while riches rained down everywhere, nearly crushing plenty of panicking wizards who were saved in the nick of time by a brownish streak. The streak, who turned out to be Hazel on top of Arion, stopped and Hazel climbed off to talk to the twins. She was in the middle of an animated conversation with them when the streets started flooding and the goblins showed up. They seemed very angry, but as soon as they saw Hazel, they started bowing to her and kissing her feet.
It was all very surreal.
His feeling of being in a extremely bizarre dream only increased when he saw a flock of owls fly over head, carrying a girl whom he recognized as Annabeth by her firm orders for them to put her down or else.
He watched the goblins worship Hazel a little longer, then, when he was sure they weren't going to do anything besides offer her endless riches, he turned into an owl and flew in the direction he'd seen the owls heading in. He eventually tracked them down to an old, long-since forgotten bell tower,
When he flew in, he found Annabeth discussing how to organize strikes, fair wages and hours, and the number of sick days and vacation days that should be allowed per year.
"We must make our demands known to the wizarding community in a peaceful, yet firm way, so they'll know we won't take no for an answer." Annabeth said to a brown horned owl before turning to Frank, "you turn back into a human now, we all know it's you."
"How?" He asked after turning back into himself.
"Only you can look that confused as an owl." She explained with a smile. She turned back to the owl, who had just finished writing something down, "spread the word, we strike at dawn in two weeks."
It hooted in reply and nodded at two owls behind them. They flew forward with a pineapple and handed it to Annabeth. The owl hooted again and shook his feathers.
"Thank you," she said, tucking the fruit under one arm, "stay in touch, Shawn. It was great meeting all of you. Frank, could you carry me to the others?"
"Sure," he still didn't know what was going on, but he turned into a giant eagle and grabbed her arms with his talons.
"Don't tell anyone about this. We're sworn to secrecy in the name of the Supreme Owl." She told him on the way back.
He nodded. She'd better explain all of this at some point.
I swear it wont be a million years before the next chapter!
–XOXO your friendly neighborhood kumquat
