Changing Fate
Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians+the characters is owned by Rick Riordan. If Rick was a teen girl hair of average height with green-grey eyes writing fan fiction... then I might actually own it. But sadly, no. So, are we clear now?
AN: Hey readers! Did you enjoy the last chapter? Thanks for sticking with this story for ten -now, eleven- chapters. I hope it's been worth it. Stuff will-probably- start making sense next chapter (I mean chapter 12). Because I know lots of people are confused about Percy...
Chapter 11: A fresh start
"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." Maria Robinson
Annnabeth's POV
Bleep, bleep, bleep.The screen of the phone lit up the dark room as the messages came through one by one, three more to add to all the others that backed up my inbox. I'd never received that many messages in the short space of a couple of hours before. Then again, I'd only had the cellphone for a fortnight. Bleep, bleep, another two messages. I sighed and sat up in the bed. I didn't know what time it was, the hour was hard to judge with the black blinds that blocked out all the light. I scrolled through the various text messages. One from Thalia, one from Rachel, another from Thalia, Rachel, Thalia,Rachel, Thalia, Thalia, Rachel, Thalia again. Gods, how much memory did they think my phone had? They were really desperate to contact me. I wasn't giving in though, no matter how many times they pleaded for me to come back. It was better for them. I was staying away for their own good.
There were two other messages at the bottom of the list, they didn't have Thalia or Rachel in the title so I actually looked at them. The first was from Sally Jackson, a voicemail. You could hear the strain in her voice, like she was holding back tears. Every word she said seemed to be an effort, like the tears were in her eyes and she had to fight to keep them from spilling over. I knew that feeling, I lived that feeling.
"Hello, Annabeth. This is Sally. I heard about... I heard the news. I just want to let you know that I know how you're feeling. I really hope that, even though P- he's gone, we can still keep in touch. Paul and I would like to have you over for dinner this Friday. Please come, I feel like you're someone who understands what I'm going through. This is hard but maybe if we stick together, we can work things out. I'm here for you. Call back soon."
I brought the phone away from my ear and blinked at the screen. I hadn't even thought about Sally. Percy's mom was surely doing it tougher than I was. She'd raised him, known him since he was a baby. She'd seen him grow from a toddler to a teenager to a hero. I'd been so wrapped up in my own grief that I hadn't thought Percy's death might affect others. I silently cursed myself. Once again, the ever-intelligent Annabeth had forgotten about everyone else. How typical.
I dialled her number quickly and it went straight to voice mail. I left a quick message explaining that I was sorry that I hadn't contacted her earlier, that I was glad she'd called and that I'd be happy to come to dinner with them.
I felt a pull towards Sally, she was so kind, she seemed so motherly. Maybe it was because I'd never really had a mother figure. I mean, sure, Athena was intelligent and all, but she wasn't quite a stable mother. She cared for her kids, but when your the Goddess of Wisdom you're busy. She had a lot of what Poseidon would call 'Godly Business.' Sally just seemed so caring and strong, the kind of person you knew would always be there even when times were tough. Maybe that's where Percy got it from. They were similar in ways I hadn't really noticed. Although he didn't know it, he could be a lot like his dad too. Not just in looks, but in the way he spoke and acted. Sometimes he just say random thing and he'd be the perfect image of Poseidon. He was also uniquely unlike either of his parents in some ways as well, he was his own person. I kept picturing his face and remembering things we used to do when we were younger, different events that had happened throughout the years we'd spent together. Not long after he'd arrived at camp he'd blown up the toilet block and everyone in the vicinity had ended up dripping except for him. There were so many little things I hadn't thought about for so long. That underwater kiss when we were dumped in the lake... It all seemed like it was a world away from this foreign bedroom. Everything of my old life seemed to be gone, my friends, Percy, the magic of it all. None of it was their fault.
I sighed for what seemed like the millionth time in two days and then scrolled down to the other message. It was from an unknown caller. The voice on the phone was male withan American accent but you could hear something else in his voice, an undertone that suggested he had spent some of his life speaking another language. Spanish, maybe?
While he spoke he seemed to be talking to a woman in the background.
"Hey Uh... It's Annabelle right? Oh, damn, sorry, Annabeth. I know, Piper, I know. What? Fine. I'll read from the script, but I want you to know I sound like a robot when I read aloud. Ah, crap, I dropped the script. I think it fell under the table."
There was muffled cursing and scuffling on the other end as, presumably, they tried to find this script the guy dropped.
"Yes!" the guy from the phone cried, "I found it!"
A woman snapped a reply in the background.
"Shut up. Oh, right. Let me start again." The guy took a few deep breaths and began reading in a bored monologue, "Hello Annabeth, this is Leo Valdez from Zeus Enterprises. We specialize in building homes for and relocating demigods who no longer live in the safety of demigod camps such as Camp Half-Blood. Our architect has recently left to work in a different part of the company. The San Francisco office, to be specific. We were sent your collection of designs and we'd like to offer you a job at the New York company base. We think you are very talented and that your designs would be very applicable to our architectural concept." The man, Leo, paused. "Architectural concept? What architectural concept? Seriously, whoever wrote this is insane. Oh, that was you? Now I understand. Anyway, we would like to meet with you at your earliest convenience. Our offices are open from nine a.m. to six p.m. every week day. Just drop by the pre-recorded address at the end of the message. See ya!"
The cool voice of a woman came on after that, like the voices in elevators that announce which level you're on. The voice explained a bit about the company, what it was, where it was located.
I got excited just thinking about it. Even thought the people from 'Zeus Enterprises' seemed a bit disorganized, they seemed nice. I could see it all now, me doing what I'd always dreamed, changing the world. It seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up. I wasn't being selfish, I told myself. The past was the past. I'd done things I wasn't proud of. But from now on, I decided to take the opportunities before me. I wouldn't go to Zeus Enterprises for myself, I'd go for the future and I'd go for Percy. He wouldn't be happy if he saw me wasting my life. He'd done this for me, so, after all the trouble I'd caused, it was the least I could do to take this.
Thinking about Percy was usually depressing, but when I thought about it this way I felt energized. Maybe he didn't live on physically, but he could live on in spirit and in memory. I made a subconscious decision then, as I sat on the bed. Everything I did from now on would be for Percy. I'd build walls (quite literally), I'd break them down, I'd start new things and change old ones for Percy. That was what he deserved. If he couldn't be there to do it himself, I could do it in his spirit.
I hauled myself out from beneath the covers and walked to take a shower. The hot water washed away the trauma past few days. This was a fresh start. A chance to do better. I'd make up for it all. I wouldn't be Annabeth who'd left her friends behind and caused Percy's death. I'd be Annabeth who helped lots of people and designed amazing buildings, Annabeth who created a better life. I got dressed quickly, pulling on whatever I found stuffed in my duffel bag.
Surprisingly, it was quite light outside. Ethan's kitchen clock said it was eight-thirty. The big windows along the wall allowed the room to be bathed in tangerine light in the morning and evening. My rice bubbles (AN: that's what we call that type of cereal here in Australia. You know, the puffy rice stuff? I don't the equivalent in the US where Annabeth is.) looked like I'd drenched them in peach juice.
I ate them alone, Ethan didn't join me. I pondered while I crunched my cereal. It was strange staying in this apartment. It was strange seeing Ethan again. He'd definitely changed. There was something much more... human about him. He still seemed a bit cold, but it was like he was desperately trying to hold up a facade that was crumbling. Like he used to be covered in a sheet of ice that was slowly melting away because spring had come.
Each time I saw his face I was still a little stunned. After the events on Mt Olympus those years ago, I hadn't even thought that he might've survived. He'd been a hero, even if he had tried to kill us. What had happened to him in the almost five years since I'd last seen him? Ethan hadn't even tried to contact us. He'd never turned up at camp.I could understand why, in a way. Maybe he was ashamed because he'd fought against us for a while. I knew what it was like to be ashamed. Maybe he thought Camp Half-Blood didn't have much to offer him after the battle. He might've wanted to start again. I understood that too. In some ways, Ethan and I were similar. A little bit too similar.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
As usual the streets were bustling. Cars heading in every direction, just like people. It took the cab just over half an hour to reach our destination.
The 'Zeus Enterprises' building was an old, grey, stone building. The tall windows and intricate detail looked a little out of place in the hectic business district. Where everything else was all glass and height and revolving doors, this place was shorter with a slate roof and big red double doors. It was my kind of place. I walked up the worn stone steps and through the double doors. The reception had a high white ceiling with plaster clouds dotted around it. A petite, pretty brunette sat at a desk in front of a mural that depicted storm clouds. As I watched, the clouds moved, rolling and shifting to form different patterns. Sometimes the sun would peep out from behind the clouds or lightning would flash across the painted sky. It was mesmerizing and dizzying at the same time.
"Don't look for too long." the girl at the desk said. "It's not healthy."
I looked at her. She had dark brown hair with a choppy fringe that hung around her almost-black eyes.
"Okay." my head pounded a little and I had to blink a few times to regain my balance.
"Are you here to see Leo and Piper about the job?"
"Uh... yes."
"Level three." the woman pointed to the elevator in the corner of the room. "First door on the right. Tell them Eila (AN: Pronounced Eye-lar) you up."
"Thanks."
The elevator was quiet apart from the tinny music that played annoyingly.
The office was just where Eila said it would be. Before I even entered the room I could hear loud yelling.
"No, I didn't say that!" a familiar male voice yelled.
"But you meant it!" A woman screamed.
"That was not what I meant!"
"You think you can joke about it, Valdez, but it's not funny!"
"I wasn't joking, just stating the truth."
"You're always joking! You just can't be serious!"
"I can too!" he protested.
"Yeah, right."
"Why are you getting so worked up about this?" Asked the guy, who I recognized was Leo.
"Why am I getting worked up about this? Why? Fine, I'll tell you. Because I though he loved me, I thought he actually cared. But, of course, he didn't. Why would he? He left. He went running back to his old girlfriend. Because she's prettier, because she's smarter, because she's better than me. That's why I'm worked up. Happy?" the woman shouted. There was silence for a moment.
"Oh." said Leo.
"Yeah, Leo, that's right, Oh." Her voice was quieter now, the kind of menacing quiet that said 'if you dare say another word I will find a way to make you die a slow, horrible death'.
I stood stock still in the carpeted corridor, unsure of what to do. The elevator pinged behind me and two people stepped out. I turned to see a middle aged man in a tracksuit holding a club and a young man with sandy blonde hair. I jolted, the younger of the two looked uncannily like Luke. He was pale and skinny with shining blue eyes. After I got over the initial shock, I realized he wasn't as similar as I'd thought. His eyes were a different blue and he was a little more lanky.
"You must be the new architect." he spoke imperiously, like he thought he was better than everyone, he annoyed me immediately, "I am Octavian. My ancestor was the great Apollo. I have the gift of being able to divine the future from the entrails of animals."
The other guy snorted. "You mean you look at the stuffing from teddy-bears to make round about prophecies that may or may not be correct."
"They are correct!"
"Yeah, sure, then why did you get kicked out of your job as augur at Camp Jupiter?"
"I was not kicked out. They refused to have a quest for the Sibylline books, so I left."
"Oh, yeah? I heard they replaced you with a harpy."
Octavian went very red in the face
"Gossip." he huffed.
"I could understand why they'd want to replace you..." I muttered.
"What?"
I smiled sweetly, "Pardon,Octagon?"
"Did you just call me Octagon? It's Octavian!"
"Of course it is, Octagon." I replied, smiling widely in an effort the keep the smirk off my face.
The other guy snickered.
"Don't mind him. He's always had problems." said the older guy, holding a hand out to shake mine. "I'm Gleeson Hedge, former protector, now I've got to keep this bunch of idiots in line."
He punctuated his words by thumping his club against the palm of his hand. I noticed hooves protruding from beneath the hem of his track-pants, he was a satyr.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Hedge. I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."
"Have we finished our introductions now?" asked Octavian impatiently.
"Yes, it was lovely to meet you both. Gleeson Hedge, protector, and Octagon, weather forecaster."
"What? I'm not a weather forecaster!"
"So you can't see what the weather's going to be like? You mustn't be a very good fortune teller, then."
"I can, but-"
"Then you're a weather forecaster. Shall we go in?"
Octavian seemed incredibly annoyed. I allowed myself a little smirk as I opened up the door.
The room was fairly large, with a long table running down the centre. There were five chairs around the table, one at the head and four others along the sides of the table. A woman with hair the colour of melting chocolate and eyes that were a curious bluish-green was sitting in one of the chairs and looked up as we walked in. The other person was a man who couldn't have been much younger than me. He had an elfish face with sparkling brown eyes.
"Hey." he said with that interesting voice of his "I'm Leo."
"Hello, Leo. You were the one who called me, right?"
"Yep, that's me. This is Piper." he motioned to her.
She stood up. "Nice to meet you, Annabeth."
"Likewise." I don't know what compelled me to, but I hugged her I whispered in her ear, "I know what it's like to have someone you love leave you."
As she came away she looked at me with a mixture of admiration and interest. Nobody else batted an eyelid, they hadn't heard me.
Leo clapped his hands together. "So, should we get to it?"
"Get to what?" asked Piper.
"You must have asked Annabeth here for a reason. Or did you just want to check she wasn't an axe murderer?"
Piper rolled her eyes, but playfully. They seemed to be good friends because she didn't seem to be able to stay angry at him for long.
"She had to meet us. And the Coach."
"Coach?"
"We call Gleeson 'Coach Hedge' because when we met him he was pretending to be a coach at our school."
"Long story?" I asked.
"Yep."
"We should get down to business." Octavian called from behind us, "I'm sure you want to tell Annabeth you entire history. But I think I'll die of boredom before you finish."
I turned to him, "Not if I kill you first, Octagon."
Leo cackled, "I love this girl already."
Octavian fumed, clenching his fists at his sides.
"I hate to admit it, but Octavian's right, we should explain a bit more about your job." said Piper. She motioned to the chairs and everyone took a seat. Coach Hedge produced a stack of papers.
"Do we have to read all that out?" I questioned. "Perhaps then Octavian really would die. Thanks gods, we'd be free."
"Don't worry." said Leo. "I'll give you the shortened version. Basically, it says as long as you work here, you get free coffee on Fridays, use of a company car, reasonable pay, stale biscuits in meetings and the right to mock Octavian to your hearts content."
"Hey!"
"So," said Piper, "will you take the job?"
I looked around at the eager smiles on the people face.
"I believe," I said slowly, drawing out the suspense, "That this is the start of a great friendship."
AN: See, told you it'd be longer!
I am super an annoyed, because I've lost my notebook that had all my chapter ideas for Changing Fate in it. I had all plan it all again just before I wrote is chapter ):
In a way it was good, though, because it made me rethink a whole bunch of stuff. I'm thinking that this story will have 24-25 chapters (currently, we're at 11, as you know.) then I might right one or two epilogues, just because I have ideas for two different ones, but I can't incorporate them into one because they're set at different times.
I have the scrap of paper I wrote my ideas on in front of me and I'm reading description sentence I wrote for chapter 23 and I am almost dying of excitement. That's a little sad, isn't it? You know, because I'm the author and all and I know exactly what's going to happen. ahh, i totally wish I could just skip straight to that chapter, but that'd kind of ruin the plot...
Happy reading (and writing for the authors out there...)
Please give me feedback! I want 45 reviews! Please... ):
They help me write! Truly!
Bye
P.S. I probably won't be able to update for a week, since I'm going on holidays and I won't have Internet. But I will be writing and,hopefully, I'll have a nice little chapter for you next week, 'kay?