Title: A little birdy told me
Fandom: PJO/HoO
Warnings: Same-sex love, abuse, cutting, suicidal thoughts, blood, gore, attempted suicide, war, PTSD
Guys, very important note. I am not German. All facts from my story come from a World War II book and read, as well as research I have done. I won't start telling people to wear Swastika's, but please do not start a flame war in the comments or something about how "Evil Germans are," or how "I should repent for daring to wring 'Nazi' or 'Swastika'". Don't. Just don't.
Summary: Annabeth never talks to anyone. Not since the soldiers came. She writes a note, all her hopes are dreams on it, ties it to a bird, and watches it fly off. She is shocked when a response comes, Who is it?
Percy is a resistance nurse (He prefers a doctor) when one day and bird with a note attached shows up at his base. When he sends a note back, he is surprised when someone responded. Who is it?
Percabeth (World War II Au)
Characters: Percy Jackson, Frank Zhang, Leo Valdez, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, Hazel Levesque, Jason Grace, Annabeth Chase, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Thaila Grace, Luke Castellan, Bianca Di Angelo, Ethan Nakamura, Nico DiAngelo, Chiron, Selena Beauregard, Clarisse La Rue, Will Solace, Thanatos, Kronos, Hera, Piper McLean, Calypso Nightshade, Zoe Nightshade
The Day Before the Escape; Annabeth's side
A little birdy told me
Chapter Five
The feel of the chilly wind is what woke Annabeth up. It was cold, a freezing, biting cold, that rattled her bones. It kick-started her awake, and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She heard the sound of the bell ringing through the halls. She shivered, and pulled her blanket over her head, trying to keep the winter air from blowing over her. It whistled and howled, probably journeying into the room from the hole in their roof. The heater, meant to keep them warm, failed at its purpose as it buzzed uselessly in the corner. Annabeth's somewhat peaceful rest was interrupted by Silena.
"Rise and shine, sunshine!" Silena called out cheerfully, ripping the blanket from Annabeth. "Time to get up!" She chirped brightly. How could anyone function at this unholy hour? Annabeth groaned as she slid out of the bed and landed in a heap on the floor.
"Come on, Annabeth," Piper said to her, already making her bed. "We have hospital duty earlier than usual this morning," Annabeth groaned again.
"Why?" Annabeth asked groggily. And how do they expect us to know what the time is without a clock?
"New shipment of prisoners," Calypso told her, folding the rags they used as sheets on her bed. "I guess most of them are young enough too-". Calypso bit her lip and didn't finish her sentence. Annabeth shuddered, but this time, it wasn't from the cold. It was from the thought of having to clean up after another bloodbath. The thought of having to hear the wailing and screaming and crying. To have to see their faces of horror as they pleaded and begged for help. To have to see as they took their final breaths-
Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut as she pushed the images out of her mind. She again rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and surveyed the room. It looked the same as it had looked for the past month or two now. Maybe less, maybe more. Time blurred together here. There was nothing for her to use to brush her teeth in the morning or to take a shower. Both those things were done at night. She grabbed her bowl and spoon, using the hem of her shirt to polish both items.
They stood single file as always, Zoe next to her on one side, and Drew on the other. Annabeth was thankful for the time they spent together at breakfast before the both of them went off the train to bomb duty at a facility too far to walk. *add more*
It felt the same outside as it was inside, and Annabeth was grateful that she would have her apron and hospital uniform to keep warm.
It was still too chilly even with the uniform, but Annabeth's work kept her moving. She warmed up a little after a while, but Piper told her that her cheeks were red from the cold. Piper's and Calypso's faces had similar features.
"Maybe we should ask for linens to keep warm?" Calypso suggested.
"I doubt we would receive any. And if we did, we'd get the dirty, used ones," Piper snorted.
"Could it hurt so much to ask?" Annabeth asked. One slap later, Annabeth indeed knew how much it would hurt. Clutching her stinging cheek, she pulled her hand back and saw blood. Before, the sight would have made her feel queasy, but now, after seeing all the blood taken by the hospital, Annabeth no longer felt her stomach lurch, just weary exhaustion.
"At least my face isn't cold now," Annabeth said when she saw Calypso and Piper looking at her worriedly. Piper forced a laugh, though her expression remained concerned, and Calypso gave a hollow smile. All her life, Calypso had known how cruel the Nazi's were, but witnessing it first-hand, had taken a toll on her, for the worse. She'd hoped that the Nazi's would listen to her, but her wild dreams had been buried and forgotten. She didn't have anything to say, and she could feel Piper and Annabeth's stares aimed at her. And Annabeth knew she shouldn't be mad at Calypso since it wasn't her fault, but her status as a German protected her here. Calypso had been the one to ask the question, and Annabeth had received the punishment.
"It seems you have gained a sense of humor," Calypso said. "Where was this before?"
"It was there," Annabeth commented vaguely. "You just never noticed it,"
Piper smiled at her. "Well, I hope it will come to visit more often,"
"I hope so too," Annabeth replied, "Living in these barracks is getting quite taxing to my beloved sense of humor. Oh, how shall I live without thou, my love of my life- my beloved humor?"
The girls laughed softly at Annabeth and the trio continued with their antics.
"Oh, humor, art thou my love," Piper laughed loudly. "Please, my love, do not desert me,"
"Protect me, keep me," Calypso sang softly.
"Hold me close," Piper harmonized.
"Never let me go," Annabeth finished the song with tears forming in her eyes. The lullaby, Lilit (Lilith), the song her mother had used to sing her to sleep. The memory made her smile fondly, and the girls continued to do their work in peace.
After working for some time, however, something occurred to Annabeth. "Do you know that girl's name?" She asked Piper, turning towards her.
"What girl?" Came Calypso's question.
"The girl that's always with Ms. Hera. I've seen her around, and she eats with us sometimes, but I've never asked for her name,"
"Well, lunch is coming soon. You can ask her then," Piper told her. Annabeth nodded shortly.
Their table consisted of the usual people. Silena, Piper, Calypso, a few others she could not name, and the mystery girl. She always sat at the table with them, not making a peep unless it defended Ms. Hera, to which everyone at the table glared at her, and she slouched in her seat until all the eyes left her. Silena wasn't at their table when Annabeth arrived, so she assumed her supervisor had kept her longer than she should. Annabeth looked around for Thaila, but she was nowhere to be found. Perhaps she had found a different job that caused her to have a different lunchtime.
Bread of sawdust and mushy turnip soup in hand, Annabeth made her way over towards their table. The mystery girl was already there, and everyone was ignoring her, per usual. Annabeth felt ashamed of herself. How could she do such a thing to this poor girl? She was no different from them, forced to work in harsh conditions.
Annabeth sat, and the inhabitants of the table greeted her. Piper opened her mouth to speak to her, but Annabeth cut her off. She instead turned to the quiet girl, sitting at the edge of the table.
"What is your name?" She asked her, and the girl jumped, surprised and startled that Annabeth would be talking to her.
"Oh!" The girl looked down, dragging her feet through the mud. "I'm Hazel. Hazel Levesque," The other girls took this as an invitation to interrogate her.
"Why are you always with Ms. Hera?" Piper asked. "I don't think anyone likes her that much," Besides you, was the unspoken claim.
"Oh, I'm her...helper," Hazel said, her tone not really showing that she meant what she said.
"Helper," Calypso repeated incredulously, not believing what Hazel was telling them.
"Yes," Hazel confirmed more firmly.
Annabeth suspected there was a bit more work in the "helper" job, but she could tell Hazel didn't want to talk about it. They were eating their meal -or as much as they could eat- when Silena came up towards them, panting out of breath.
"Annabeth *wheeze* you know *another wheeze* Luke *more wheezing* right *final wheeze*?"
"Silena! Breathe" Calypso said, motioning for her to sit. Silena gladly accepted the bench spot and took deep breaths to calm herself before attempting to speak again.
"Annabeth, you and Drew know Luke, right?" Drew sat up, ridged.
"What about Luke?" She asked.
"He's..." Silena bit her lip. "He's been assigned a job,"
"Is that all?" Piper drawled, rolling her eyes. "We all work here, it's not a big deal," Annabeth bit her lip to avoid snapping at Piper. She didn't know Luke, didn't know how much he meant to Annabeth. Silena did not have that much strength.
"Yes, it is!" Silena snapped at her, and Piper recoiled in shock. "Sorry, I just-" Silena buried her head in her hands. "Poor Luke,"
"What happened?" Annabeth asked, now more worried for her friend than ever.
"They gave him the safe job," Silena whispered at last. Annabeth's stomach dropped. The safe job? They had that here? Annabeth didn't think that the Nazi's could be that cruel. Piper's hand was shaking, and Hazel's eyes were wide open. Another girl's mouth was hanging in shock.
A horrible thing, to be kept as a slave for sexual purposes. Safe job, they called it. Just do what we ask, and you'll survive, and your family will too. You won't have to do the grueling, hard, work in the fields. Annabeth would rather make bombs for the Nazis than have a safe job. The safe job...when had she last heard of the safe job?
5 years ago, 1938; Annabeth, age 8; Magnus, age 6
"Annabeth! Annabeth! Look!" Magnus was jumping up and down excitedly. "Look!" He said again, shoving a paper in his face. It was a drawing of her and him, standing in front of Annabeth's house, holding hands. It was sloppy, and it was far from being a Van Gough, but Annabeth loved it nonetheless.
"Magnus, this is amazing!" Annabeth cried out. "I'm putting it up in my room," Annabeth decided. Annabeth rummaged around in her drawers before producing a pin. She stuck the pin through the paper and then through the wall, effectively pinning the picture to her room wall. Annabeth stepped back to admire her work, and Magnus beamed at her proudly.
Magnus and his family were visiting Annabeth's family for the yearly get together. They lived very far from each other, and Magnus was always sleeping- the little boy he was couldn't stay awake that long for such a long trip- when he arrived. He had been sleeping, and Annabeth had been instructed to carry him up the stairs to the room he would be staying at. It took a shorter amount of time than it usually did, so Annabeth went downstairs to tell her parents and uncle, and aunt that she had finished with her task. She walked down the stairs quietly, as to not disturb her cousin upstairs.
"They were taken! Or killed!" Her mother was saying urgently.
"Athena, I'm sure you have no reason to worry," Her aunt, Natalie, soothed her sister softly. "I'm sure they're fine. Maybe they relocated,"
"That luxury is only reserved for the Slavs and the Germans!" Athena hissed back.
"Athena is right," Her uncle Frey said. "People are already resisting. Close to our house, only one town over, there was a massacre of Jews,"
"But love, we are not Jews," Her aunt said.
"Doesn't matter," There was a pause. "Soon, they'll come for us. I've already talked with Natalie about-"
"And I told you no!" Her aunt yelled. Then she whispered something much too quiet for Annabeth to hear.
"Well," Annabeth's father, Frederick, said. The sound of chairs scraping against the wood floor could be heard. Annabeth held her breath, leaning forward, hoping to catch another bit of the conversation. "We mustn't take drastic measures. We want to protect Annabeth and Magnus as much as possible and keep them away from this war,"
War. What war? As far as she knew, Germany and Russia were becoming Allies, hoping to join together for a better future. That did not mean that there was a war. Annabeth took a small step forward, and the floor below her creaked. The chatter downstairs stopped.
Annabeth emerged from her spot on the stairs, making it look as if she hadn't been listening to their conversation.
"Magnus is asleep in his room," She said smiling. "I missed Uncle Frey and Auntie Natalie!" She hugged them both and felt their bodies relax as they hugged her back.
"We missed you too, Malenʹkyy buzok," Little lilac. Named after the lilac tree she grew in their backyard. Annabeth smiled at the familiar nickname, all troubles about the war gone.
Until two days later.
The talk of war came from the housewives in the church. Annabeth and her family had just left service, when she heard the ladies mumbling rather loudly to each other.
"I heard that Hitler want to get rid of the Jews," One said, a wart adorning her nose.
"Get rid of the Jews! What nonsense. Why, without them, I'd hardly think we'd have this nice little village," another said. A hat of many feather sat primly on her head.
"Well, Stalin sure agrees with him. Their planning to share the Soviet Union and Germany between them!" shouted Ms. Warty
"Ridiculous," Fancy Hat said. Ms. Warty nodded to show that she agreed. Annabeth turned to her parents who had also been paying attention to the conversation.
"Mommy," She said, tugging on her mother's dress. "What were those two ladies talking about? Getting rid of the Jews?
Annabeth's mother turned to her fearfully. "It's-it's nothing to worry about sweetheart,"
"But Reyna is a Jew," Annabeth continued, ignoring her mother. "Are they going to take Reyna away?" Reyna was her best friend. They couldn't separate best friends, could they?
"Annabeth, I said that was enough!" Her mother reprimanded her. "I don't want to hear another word about it!" Her mouth snapped shut.
"Sorry Mommy," She said. Her mother's eyes softened.
"It's okay sweetheart. I just don't want you filling your head with these…ideas," She told her.
Annabeth nodded like she understood, but truly she didn't. But she trusted her mommy enough that she stopped listening whenever she heard talk about a war.
So, when Reyna was taken away a two years later, Annabeth was caught off guard.
Her friend was taken to their train station, awaiting departure. They were being taken someplace safe, according the Nazi that had moved into the village.
As Annabeth walked with Reyna, she caught wind of talk of a war. Instead of turning the other way, Annabeth decided to listen in. Two ladies chatted in hushed whispers that Annabeth could just barely make out.
-safe job," one of them was saying.
"The poor boy," The other one said.
"I can't believe no one said anything," The first one exclaimed, them lowered her voice as she noticed more people looking at her. "The safe job? It's not even that safe. It's just a fancy job title for being a whore,"
Annabeth stopped listening. Tears pricked her eyes. Is that what was going to happen to Reyna? But they had said boy…Even so, couldn't it happen to Reyna?
"Reyna," Annabeth said, turning to her life-long friend. "Promise that we'll be friends forever?"
"Forever," Reyna agreed. "You'll come visit someday?" Annabeth looked into her friends usually serious eyes now misty with tears.
"You're crying," She told her.
"You are too!" Reyna defended while wiping her eyes. The girls met in a tight hug.
"Here," Annabeth slipped a bracelet on Reyna's wrist. "I made it for you. So, you don't forget me,"
"I could never forget you Annabeth," Reyna insisted.
"Reyna! Come!" her sister Hylla called.
"I- "Reyna started nervously.
"You have to go Reyna. Stay with your family. We'll see each other again. I promise,"
Annabeth waved Reyna away until her train disappeared into the mountains.
When she arrived home, however, she wasn't at all in the same mood she had been before. At dinner, she sprang her surprise question on her parents.
"What's the safe job?" She asked them. Her mother chocked on her chicken.
"Why-why do you ask?" her father questioned nervously.
"I heard someone talking about it at the train station. So, what is it?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with now," Her mother told her, wiping the corners of her mouth with her napkin.
"Mother. I am not the same naïve little kid I used to be. I have a right to know what's going on," Annabeth said.
"Annabeth, you're not ready for the truth," Her father told her gently.
"Oh, yeah?" She scoffed. "Tell that to the ladies at the train station talking about the safe job whores," She emphasized the last word. Her parents flinched.
"You want to know what's going on? You want to be a grown-up?" Her mother said. "Fine. Sit, and become a 'grown-up',"
Annabeth didn't sleep well for three nights afterword's.
Present day; 1940, Annabeth, age 14, three completed months at concentration camp (For any of you wondering about dates, i.e., me and my beta reader xD)
It was dark when Annabeth finished her shift at the hospital. All she wanted to do now was sleep, even if the only bed that awaited her was stuffed with straw. When she lay down on the bed, however, she found that she couldn't sleep. She shut her eyes, hoping that sleep would come to her. It didn't.
As she tried in vain to get some rest, Annabeth heard a shuffling sound. She cracked her eyes open, just a bit, to see what was going on. Drew and Zoe were sneaking out of the barrack, heading to somewhere, maybe to escape. Annabeth waited until they had left, and promptly followed them.
She stopped them behind the washroom, out of sight from the guards up in the towers, and from the ones patrolling the grounds. Smart.
A figure in the dark was headed towards them. Annabeth wanted to run out and warn them, but she stayed rooted in her spot out of fear of being caught and punished.
"Percy, thank goodness," Drew said. "I was worried you'd been captured,"
Someone snorted. "Him? I doubt it," Thaila was there too? What was going on?
"It's nice to know how much you believe in me," 'Percy' snorted.
"We believe in you!" Zoe insisted.
"Thanks, Squirt," Percy said while ruffling Zoe's hair. She swatted at her hand.
"We're here for a reason guys," Thaila said, getting them back on track.
"You're right," Percy agreed. "Luke will add extra weight, so we have to make sure that we can transport him. We only have to make it the rendezvous point,"
"Supplies too," Drew added. "For injuries,"
"And food," Zoe cut in. "Food that doesn't rot or spoil and doesn't need to cook,"
Annabeth listened as something dawned on her.
They were breaking out Luke! And trying to escape! Thaila and Drew, Annabeth understood. Zoe, not so much, but the Percy kid was a complete mystery. Plus, how were they planning to take all this stuff with them the day of the escape?
"What I don't understand is- "Thaila started, but Annabeth decided at the very moment to revel herself to the group.
"-How you're planning to transport all this stop the day of the escape? That's bad planning on your part," She said, looking straight at Percy. He didn't look at all fazed by Annabeth's sudden appearance. Thaila, Zoe, and Drew did.
"Did you follow us here?" Drew hissed at her. "That was an extremely dangerous move,"
Annabeth snorted. "Says the person who did the same thing, and is plotting a way to escape. Which, by the way, I want in on,"
Annabeth had no idea what they were planning to do, besides the fact that it had something to do with Luke and escaping. She wanted to find a way for her entire barrack to escape, but that was stretching it. They might not even let her help them, and help was something they sorely needed.
This was a half-baked plan at best, and could take months of preparation beforehand before anyone could even attempt to try out the plan. There was even a chance that they might get caught and punished, or worse, killed.
Her friends obviously shared those thought because Thaila opened her mouth-probably to protest- but instead cut Thaila off and turned to face Annabeth. His eyes were looked like the sea swirling and clashing in his iris's. His eyes bore into her soul, and his voice was deeper than she had expected.
"And what can you offer?" He asked her simply, voice smooth velvet. Annabeth studied him, hoping to catch an emotion-any emotion-but she could see nothing.
Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him, but smirked at the challenge. "A better plan for one thing,"
Character: Nationality: Job:
Percy Jackson - Russian - Bomb-making
Rachel Elizabeth Dare - Russian - Oracle (travels to the Front (the front lines of the war)) and brings back news, good or bad
Chiron - Russian - Resistance Leader
Clarisse La Rue - Russian - Resistance Soldier
Will Solace - Russian - Resistance Nurse/Doctor
Thanatos - Russian - Resistance Leader
Annabeth Chase - Ukrainian - Hospital Duty
Hazel Levesque - Ukrainian - Mrs. Hera's helper
Piper McLean - Ukrainian - Hospital Duty
Thaila Grace - Polish - Bomb-making
Luke Castellan - Polish - Special Job (the one Percy was supposed to get)
Jason Grace - Polish - ?
Silena Beauregard - Polish - Cleaning Duty/Kitchen Duty
Ethan Nakamura - Greek - Kitchen Duty
Kronos - German - General for the Nazi's
Zoe Nightshade - German - Bomb-making
Calypso Nightshade - German - Hospital Duty
Octavian Simmons - German - Kitchen Duty (formerly said "Farmer", but I mean, come on)
Nico DiAngelo - Italian - Undercover resistance agent
Bianca Di Angelo - Italian - ?
Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano - Jewish - ?
Leo Valdez - Coming Soon
Frank Zhang - Coming Soon
The dates done do fuck me up like they done did. And the flashback took three DAYS. But Percy and Annabeth are meeting for the first time. And don't worry. The bird thing is coming. I feel like I've been leading you all on.
Do you guys want a Valentine's day one-shot? Also, any ideas for Leo and Frank job/nationality? So, next chapter will be 'The Day Before the Escape; Percy's Side' and then 'The Escape' parts one and two which together will be about 10,000+ words, making each chapter 5,000+ words. So, don't expect another update this month, but do expect two updates in March. I will be uploaded one-shots, so I won't be completely off the radar. I included the Person/Job/Nationality thing again, and I'll keep doing it until it's completed, and then maybe one more chapter after that so you know who's who.
-Desk