Chapter 12
POV: Annabeth
It's been three months since I fought in the pit. Three months and I've learned a lot. Not about myself, per say, but about past Avatars. I've been studying their lives in the hopes that it will teach me more about myself or that maybe it will let me communicate with them somehow. Ever since I woke up in the debris field, I've been unable to access my Avatar state. So far the books haven't helped with any of my problems but it was still nice to know what my past lives were like.
As I ride from town to town in the Earth republic with Thalia we always seem to arrive at a town in need of help.
Weather its bandits, oppressive rulers, or gangs. I always stop and try and help them. Just because I don't want people to know I'm the Avatar doesn't mean I'm going to let people suffer. So when the fighting starts I pick an element and use only that element in the fight.
I usually don't pick water because Thalia is better with it than I am and it's more useful to have two elements than just one.
Life was pretty good, though I would prefer if Thalia didn't start so many fights.
We would stop at a town, one of the few that doesn't seem to have any problems, and she would pick a fight with store owners, people at bars, anywhere she felt like. I keep asking her to stop it but she just shrugs.
"I like fighting." She'd say. "So I'm going to fight."
"One of these days that attitudes going to get you killed." I said as I turned to get back on my bike.
"Maybe." She responded. "But that day isn't today."
Huge Time Break!
POV Change!
POV: Rachel
"Two coming in on the left!" Leo shouted as he launched a fire ball at the right side of my head.
I ducked under it as it flew into an approaching equalist.
I then spun to my left and grabbed the arm of the other one and shocked him with the gauntlet.
He screamed in pain and fainted.
"Keep moving." I told Leo as I took off towards the town hall.
We were in a small town in the fire nation. Ever since Annabeth went missing two years ago we have beet traveling the world as a kind of surrogate Avatar. Our little group has expanded as well to include Jupiter's Benders. Their leader was close friends with Percy so they wound up joining our team.
So now Team Avatar, as we're commonly called, Includes Jason the air-bender, Reyna the fire-bender, Piper the water-bender, Hazel the earth bender, Percy, Leo, Grover, and me.
With me in the fire nation right now is Leo, Jason, and Piper. We are here because the government of this small town has been overrun by equalists and the benders of the town are no longer safe. We tried to be diplomatic at first but the equalists wouldn't relinquish control of the town.
So here we are, kicking equalist ass.
As I reach the front door of the town hall, Jason and Piper come sprinting out of a side street they had cleared out and met us.
"Let's move, before they get away." Jason said as he air-bent the door open.
We rushed in to find a bunch of old equalists with their hands raised in the air, clearly surrendering.
"You got us." One said bitterly. "But mark my words, one of these days the benders will fall."
I rolled my eyes as Piper water-bent handcuff of ice onto the prisoners and turned to bring them to the local jail with Jason.
I sat down on a nearby chair and sighed, relived that the fight was over. I hate having to hurt people if I don't have to.
"You ok?" Leo asked.
I nodded.
"You know I hate these thing." I told him. "I'll be fine.
"Not what I meant." Leo said. "I meant are you ok over all, you do know what today is right?"
'How could I forget?' I thought bitterly.
Today was the two year anniversary of when Annabeth disappeared.
We had looked for her, of course, but we couldn't find her anywhere and there were no reported sightings. All the others gave up hope of finding her after six months but I kept on looking. It wasn't until a year and a half passed that I accepted that I wasn't going to find her.
The others kept consoling me like she was dead. When I pointed out that she just left and didn't die they gave me a look of pity. They all thought she was dead. That someone recognized her and killed her.
I fought them on the idea of her being dead for months but now I just don't know. After two years someone should have recognized her. But no one has.
For a while we investigated into a rumor of a small group on motorcycles that kept popping up here and there in the Earth Republic, putting a stop to various gangs and bandits but we eventually gave up because the group sounded too quick to violence to be Annabeth and I didn't even know how she would be able to afford a motorcycle.
In the end I just had to accept that she was gone and wasn't coming back.
"I'm fine." I told Leo. "It's just another day."
We both knew it was a lie but it was also clear that I didn't want to talk about it.
So Leo nodded and left me to my thoughts.
'Where are you?' I found myself thinking. 'I don't care if you remember who you were. I don't need you to so long as you're here.'
Part of me thought this was a selfish request but at the same time I couldn't help it.
Every piece of me just wanted to see her again.
