It's been two months since I asked you what was happening to Annabeth. I said I'd update once I received an answer, but that never happened, which is why I will now be updating the story. For everyone who is too lazy to go back like three chapters to remember where the story left off, Here's the very end of the last main chapter again
We eventually found Piper on the roof of cabin one. Jason was nowhere to be seen, so we decided to join her. "Hey Piper, can we come up?" Annabeth asked "Sure, Jason is busy with some formalities, something about when he made Frank the new praetor in the house of Hades. She tossed down a rope ladder and we climbed up onto the roof. "So, what is it?" Piper asked. "I can tell there's something you're worried about" "worried is an understatement" Annabeth commented "I know it's usually the other way around, but there's something I don't know that you might." "Well, what is it?" Annabeth took a few deep breaths before starting "I don't remember the night leading up to yesterday. I remember the evening, laying in my bed and reading, and the next thing I know I wake up in cabin 3. And according to Percy, I did some weird stuff. Tell her Percy." I explained how Annabeth had acted like a child, and also about how her voice had changed in the lake and Annabeth added that she also had a memory gap for that. She also explained how she had felt after the celebration. All the while, Piper was listening carefully. Annabeth ended with "And since you basically lived as a mortal until less than a year ago, we thought maybe you've heard of something like that before"
And now onto the new Chapter
She thought about it for a while. Annabeth waited impatiently, fidgeting with the black ring on her middle finger. She used to have one made of plastic, but that got lost below Rome so Hazel had made a new one out of obsidian. It was obsidian from this world, because none of us wanted anything from Tartarus around her finger. Finally, Piper seemed to have come to a conclusion.
"Ok, first of all, seven year old Annabeth sounds hella cute" "She was. But now back to topic. What does your mortal knowledge have for us?" "Right sorry. I guess the closest thing I got to what you described is a TV show I used to watch. I could only watch the first few episodes though, before my dad sent me to the wilderness school. What was the name again? Something about states. Oh, right. It was 'United states of Tara' I don't remember it that well, but I know it was about a girl, Tara, who had different personalities or 'alters' living in her head who would occasionally come out and take control of the body. I always thought such a thing was only possible in fiction." "Well, you also thought that this" I raised my hand and a jet of water shot out of the lake towards us and almost soaked Piper, but I made it stop just in time "was only possible in fiction, didn't you." "Fair point. Now, I assume you're interested in the specifics of the disorder. Annabeth, does Leo's prototype phone already have internet access?" "Yes, but it's not very fast. Like, it's enough for googleing stuff, but don't try to watch YouPipe or something." She handed her phone to Piper. "YouPipe? Oh, you mean YouTube." "Sorry, it's not like I had internet access in the past ten years." But Piper was already busy looking something up on Annabeth's phone. "Ok, the condition Tara has is named 'Dissociative identity disorder' and the main requirements for it to form are an unstable connection to a caregiver" "I didn't ever see my dad for over five years, so I guess that counts as unstable" "And trauma before the age of seven to nine" "Well, if anyone here has had lots of childhood trauma, then it's me"
Annabeth
"Well then. Annabeth Chase, I, Piper Mclean, a random kid who just did thirty seconds of Google research, hereby diagnose with Dissociative identity disorder" A disorder. That sounded bad. Then I remembered that some disorders aren't that bad. I already had ADHD and that was usually an advantage, so what was one more disorder. I just needed a moment to process that information. In a way, I was even relieved. What I had was known and it even had a name. But I was also confused. I was feeling so many different things at once that some probably came from my "alters". When I was ready, Piper continued. "In the show, the alters mostly just caused trouble, but I assume it doesn't have to be this way. And again, I only watched like three episodes. I'm sure you'll figure everything out. I have a feeling you're quite a bit more clever than Tara was." "I am" I said and I felt like my voice was a bit more child-like than it was normally. Maybe it had to do with the fact that this conversation was so similar to one of the earliest conversations I remembered. It was a happy memory, the day Luke and Thalia had found me, though knowing that Luke would turn to the dark side a few years later kind of ruined it for me.
Ok, I had people in my head. I've seen weirder things. I almost died once from a weirdness overdose. Calm down. Everything is going to be fine. It was a good thing I had faced so many seemingly impossible situations that I was already used to telling myself that everything was going to be fine. And usually, it ended up fine. Sometimes, a little inconvenience like walking through Tartarus got in the way, but I survived that, so people in my head should not be too much of a problem, especially with Percy by my side. "You'll help me with this, right?" I asked him. What if he wouldn't. What if he'd turn away from me, like so many before him. Who would even want to be with someone who had multiple people in her head. "Of course I will. When have I ever not been there when you needed help? School related stuff doesn't count. As long as- well, you'll be fine, I'll be by your side. Always. Unless I have to pee or something" I decided that that was close enough to always. "Piper, what about you?" "You're my best friend Annabeth, even though you did ruin my nonexistent relationship with Jason. Of course I'll stick by your side, whatever may happen. Remember, I'm here for you" That sentence, 'I'm here for you' might sound trivial, but it's actually so powerful, especially at a point where you're emotionally weak, like in the temple of fear or right now after receiving this quite frankly not professional diagnosis.
So, there you have it. Dissociative identity Disorder. From now on, I'll try to post regularly again.