It's two a.m again! TADA! I just got back from a crazy new years party and was like, 'great time to write a quick chapter of a story' so ya.

It's unedited.

But hec. It's 2017.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!


Chapter 3


"See!" Annabeth pulled the little black feather out of her pocket and jammed it in Piper's face.

Pipers eyes bugged and she plucked the thing delicately, holding it between her fingers. "So you saw him again?" she inquired intrigued. Fascinated by the little piece of evidence twirling in her fingertips.

Annabeth looked up to the cloud riddled sky while they walked down the sidewalk. Hopping over the cracks and enjoying the breezeless day.

"Well, not exactly." Annabeth confessed. "But I have more proof that he was there." she added before Piper could interject.

Piper passed back the soft feather with a withering look. "Beth, that's probably just some raven's feather than. Or a black bird."

"It couldn't of been!" Annabeth declared dramatically, her eyes wide and enthusiastic. "It was him! I turned my back for two seconds and BAM! My stuff is stolen!"

"Your stuff?" Piper asked curiously while fiddling with her bag. Her solid attention given to Annabeth.

"My water bottle, my knife and my bag of cheetos! Vanished! Poof! Gone! The only thing left was my notebook, bag, pencil aaand this mysterious black feather." Annabeth raised her eyebrow suggestively. Gesturing to the little sheening feather like it was a key to all her answers.

Piper chortled and waved off the idea. "You don't know that feather wasn't there before. Maybe you just didn't see it."

"But what about my missing stuff? A raven couldn't of carried it all off." Annabeth pointed out. Feeling like she was trying to make a sale to an unbudgeable customer.

Shrugging, Piper looked at her amused. "Than perhaps a raccoon. You know how they adore shiny things and are such pigs."

"Yes, but why would a raccoon take my water bottle? It just doesn't make any sense!" Annabeth rebuttaled while rubbing her temples. Hoping that her friend would just cave already.

"Maybe you lost it in the woods before your other stuff was taken." Piper suggested innocently. "Maybe you forgot it on a rock or something."

Annabeth sighed before looking at her friend seriously. "Pipes, it had to have been him. I would've heard a raccoon snuffling through my stuff. I was only two paces away from it when it was robbed. I couldn't imagine any other animal being quiet unless they knew that what they were doing was wrong!"

With a giggle, Piper's wings buzzed "Well, if you find the hunky fly boy, tell me. And you can say I told ya so and all that nonsense."

"I will." Annabeth huffed, carefully returning the feather to the pocket in her bag.

"Oh nevermind that anymore." Piper grinned at her with excitement dancing in her eyes. "What ave you brewed up for the Dodds?"

Annabeth winked mischievously. "All will be revealed upon the hour of justice." she proclaimed with a serious face while clasping her hands behind her back.

Piper groaned. "But beetthhh." she whined. "I wanna knoooowww."

"And you will my friend. But a General never reveals his plans of action until the time to strike is upon her!"

"Alright," Piper moaned while caving. "I'm curious as hell though."

Annabeth sent her a sideways glance. "Not as curious as I am about how it went last evening with that Jason fellow."

Piper hopped onto her tippy toes and let out a sudden gasp. "WELL! I almost completely forgot about it! How silly of me!" she gushed.

Annabeth just chuckled and looped arms with her friend. "What are you waiting for? Tell me everything!"

Adoringly, Piper lay her palm against her heart. "He was such a gentleman." she started gleefully. "So attentive and apologetic to what had happened. He paid for two drinks and insisted on walking me home."

Lightly Annabeth squeezed Piper's arm with a look of humor. "Sounds like a keeper, that's what."

"But that's not all!" Piper squealed quietly. "While he was walking me home we started talking about animals and pets and then we started talking about riding. And get this! He's just as big a horse fanatic as I am!"

"Really?" Annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise. Finding someone who loved horses just as much as Piper should've been hard because her love was undying.

"And he has his own paddock Annabeth! Five horses, he told me their names and types and what they like and absolutely everything!"

"Uncanny isn't it? It's like he's perfect for you."

"I know right! And that's not even the least of it. He's invited me over to go riding with him at his family's estate on Tuesday evening!"

"This Tuesday!"

"The very one." Piper sighed a little dreamily.

"Well well well, Prince charming wasn't very hard to find." Annabeth chortled as she hopped over a wide crack in the sidewalk. Her eyes set ahead on the perky street while imagining just how much stuttering Piper must've done. The drab appearance of Geneth girls school piercing the sky with its ancient stone structure.

Piper giggled as they neared the edge of the steps. Her face looking up at the old winding oak full of dark green leaves.

"I'm nervous as hell but I just can't wait." she smiled out with her cheeks dimpled.

Then her features turned downward and serious as she stopped and looked perplexed.

"Pipes?" Annabeth tilted her head to the side. "You all right?"

"I feel like I've forgotten something…. Oh bother…" she mumbled while tapping her chin in thought.

Snapping, she turned on her heels. "Right. Old Geneth needs another mark." she spoke as she scooped up a rock and fired it off at the sign.

The stone connected with the corner and ricocheted off, leaving a teeny little dent.

Annabeth clucked her tongue. "Not the best shot eh?"

"Ah, well, I'll just have to nail it on the way home." Piper shrugged as she joined Annabeth on the steps again.

-{:oOo:}-

Piper was coughing horrendously as she clapped the chalk out of the brushes. Half her body bent out the open window while the clouds of chalk billowed down like raining silt.

Annabeth leaned against the doorframe in amusement as her best friend pulled herself back in snuffing and wheezing.

"If Mrs. Dodds thinks that contaminating my lungs with filaments of chalk will help my cough during her class then she needs a good boot to the butt and her head looked at by a specialist." Piper complained with a sour expression as she tossed the brushes onto the thick wooden desk and dusted off her hands on her kilt.

Her hair was a little dusty up in its messy bun, whilst she had streaks of chalk on her kilt, tie, face and even her knee high socks.

With a nod of satisfaction, Annabeth brought her hands up to tie up her hair in a decent ponytail.

"Right." she announced while slinging her bag off her shoulder and using one of the student desks to plop it down on. "Let's get down to business shall we?" she undid the flap to reveal a goldmine of little black circular disks messy piled over eachother.

Piper picked one up skeptically. "What in the blazes are these?"

"Their the little song speakers that people have in greeting or birthday cards. Once you pull the paper tab halfway out on the side." Annabeth gestured to it with a pointed finger. "Then a song starts playing. Push the tab back in and it stops." she explained.

Pipers nose wrinkled in disappointment. "But what are we supposed to do with these?"

"Well." Annabeth continued. "If you pull the tab completely out, the song never stops. Now I've rigged them with some home made puddy. When we pull the tabs out the song won't start playing until the electrical current as burned through all the puddy. So if we hide these in enough places, those annoying pitchy birthday songs will start playing nonstop during class!"

Piper pinched her brows down. "But where did you get all of these?" she wondered.

"Curts Cards, the place downtown, went out of business. Everything in stock went to the dumpster in the back."

"So you dumpster dove." Piper shook her head while pinching the peak of her nose. "You're definitely not the elegant lady your mom wishes you to be."

"Oh pooh." Annabeth responded. "I did it for justice."

"That you did. Let's get to work than." Piper grinned with a shake of her head.

And they did.

They yanked out as many tabs as they could. Hiding them in drawers and on shelves. Taping them behind cabinets and under desks. Pushing them into the crannies of the grate and giggling while sticking them to the ceiling.

Finished. They sat back and admired their work. Imagining the frustration their snooty old teacher would face once the songs started playing.

Piper sighed as Annabeth scooped up her bag. "It's a shame we don't have next period in this classroom."

Annabeth patted her shoulder. "We can't afford to watch even if we wanted to Pipes. You know that a teacher always suspects the culprit to be in class."

"I know." she mumbled with a quirk of her lips. "But I do wish that we could watch at least one of our missions.

"All in due time Piper. All in due time. The end of the year doozy I'm planning we can watch. A final salute to this grungy school eh?"

"Really?" Piper squealed.

Annabeth nodded with a grin. "And I hope it's one they remember."

-{:oOo:}-

It was getting cloudy when Annabeth tried to sneak out.

Her mom was home and wanted to her to help take the wash in. Malcolm was off dithering around with his girlfriend. Probably downtown somewhere.

Finally after all her chores were done, she snatched a half empty box of crackers and pounded up to her room. Avoiding her mother's questioning eyes.

Intent driven, she filled her bag with the box of crackers, a dirty and crinkled notepad, a new pencil and a plastic water bottle filled to the brim. In a whiff she changed her outfit to a worn pair of skinny jeans, and a big button up shirt.

Lacing on her hiking shoes, she slung the bag over her shoulder before shrugging on a raincoat just in case. Silently, she opened the little square window of her room and crept out. Slinking along the edge and climbing down the drainpipe.

Then she was off, pedalling like a madman. Her wings rustling in excitement against the rubbery fabric of her coat.

She chained the bike with a clink and hopped into the woods eagerly. Feeling her lungs freshen from the smells.

Somehow, the forest seemed a little hostile with the lack of sunlight. The darkening clouded sky was threatening rain and making the normally inviting place murky and dank. Lacking distinctly was the sweet noise of birds calling out to each other, or even the welcoming sound of the leaves rippling in the breeze.

Tightening the raincoat around her shoulders for comfort, Annabeth braved forward. Pushing passed the brush and keeping her head high as she searched the ground for any source of evidence.

While she was trampling over rocks and pushing passed thorny brush, she held the box of crackers to her chest so she could have some sort of offering to whatever hungry animal she came across.

Spritely, she hopped over a gurgling stream, stopping only to admire the way the water moved quickly over the pebbles buried in the bottom.

By and by, at the base of a large rock protruding from the ground like a giant spearhead, she was met with the curious chatterings of a very familiar animal.

"You again!" Annabeth exclaimed as the raccoon looked up at her hopefully. Rubbing his greedy hands together and pacing back and forth while he eyed the box of crackers.

With an eyeroll, she opened up the package and nearly had her heart jumped out of her chest when the raccoon pounced on her leg and scratched his way up to her shoulder.

"Alrighty." she breathed in shock. Staring straight ahead with the fear that this animal might be more feral than he let on to be.

Instead of gashing his needlelike teeth into her cheek, he stuck his fur covered hand into the box and stuffed a salty cracker into his mouth. Chewing and smacking his mouth together so loudly that it was as if he were proclaiming to the world that he was eating.

"You're a Rascal." Annabeth sighed while barely being able to see the thing weighing down on her shoulder. "And you smell awful."

Rascal coon just kept chowing away, oblivious to her mutterings.

Small for a coon she thought while holding the box closer to her shoulder. Just a youngster.

Like a pig, he shoveled the rest of crackers into his mouth, raining crumbs from his sloppy snout to the forest floor.

Annabeth chuckled when he pressed his wet button nose against her cheek, asking for more obviously.

"No more, you." she smiled while tentatively giving a stroke to his fur. Chattering and squirming he back his way down her torso. His claws piercing her coat and scraping her skin.

"Ow!" she yelped when his claws needled through her jeans on onto her flesh.

Coon however wasn't finished in observing her.

With an inquisitive snuffle noise, he nosed his way onto her bag and under the flap. Digging through her stuff like a little bandit.

Annabeth stumbled a pace. "Get outta there!" she commanded with a scowl, flicking the bag in attempts to get him off.

With a spring he jumped to the ground and scampered up the large rock. Turning something over and over in his hands like it was his treasured prize.

"My compass!" Annabeth yelled when she saw her favorite piece in his black leathery hands. A blip spacing her heartbeat as the possibility of losing it became evident.

Glowering darkly she stalked towards him. "Give that back!"

But the raccoon took off. Hopping and zig zagging through the forest. With a growl, Annabeth followed roughly. Her wings vibrating with anger while she seethed at the little furry thing. Chasing after him in heated steps and barely missing tripping on the roots gnarled under a layer of rotting leaves. The burning anger in her chest keeping her balanced and on her feet.

"Give it back!" she shrieked again. Hot on the animal's heels as she weaved passed a fat trunked tree and ducked under some low branches, the leaves brushing against her silver rain jacket with a zip.

Her heart sank like a rock when the coon bounded up a massive oak. Her compass glinting in his mouth, and his fur rippling as he moved in panic.

Breathing heavily Annabeth kicked the tree's base, sweat glistening on her brow while she chewed her lip in aggravation. Anxiously she looked up at the tree, trying to spot where the devil panda's lair might be. But the foliage was thick. Thick and dark. And with the sky slowly breaking into a songful drizzle, splattering on the leaves of the forest, Annabeth could barely see anything passed the first layer of leaves.

"Bloody hell." she cursed through clenched teeth. "I'll get it back from that Bandit."

She didn't care if she had to fight blood tooth and claw. If she needed to toss that animal from the tallest branch then she would. She was getting that precious compass back. Even if it took all night. All week.

With defiance and adrenaline threading through her veins, Annabeth hooked her hands on the closest rough branch and painstakingly hauled herself up, steadying her legs on the branch with care. With a little leap she caught onto the second branch up, then the third. Making her way higher, closer to the stolen item. Closer to getting it back.

When her hand reached to grab the fourth branch at the peak of her jump, she missed. Miscalculating the distance between her and the branch in her excited frenzy.

Panic swelled in her lungs as she free fell towards the unforgiving forest floor. Screaming and desperately grabbing at anything to break her fall. Leaves being torn at with her clawing hands. Whizzing passed the other branches as gravity forced her to submit.

She didn't even remember hitting the ground.

She was out cold the moment she made contact.

It started to rain.

-{:oOo:}-

Pounding.

Her head was pounding. Every stoke of blood to her brain created a colorful blossom of pain. Fuzzy, everything was blurred and liquidly moving around as if the laws of physics had been abandoned.

Annabeth shifted with a painful groan. Feeling like she had a cellar full of straight alcohol and then got bounced around a fun house made of concrete.

Finally, like a lense being set, her vision cleared. Her tongue swabbed around her tongue dryly as she shifted again. Fabric surrounding her body in a comfortable layer.

There were no more leaves in the trees above her. In fact, there was no trees at all.

She was squinting at a ceiling made up of layered tree branches and a some black lustless garbage bags.

Light was flickering against the gritty area above. Light like a fire.

Confused Annabeth turned on her side, her muscles aching with every movement.

Fire.

A little bonfire on the floor composed of raw logs. Sparking and shivering in a warm glow. The wood burning trimmed with bright embers.

Beside the stone ringed fire… Annabeth sat up and stared in utter shock. Her heart rate speeding up and sending pain sharding through her head.

The boy. They guy she had been looking for.

Looking at her with an intense green gaze. His chiseled jaw set firmly while his arms were casually folded over his knees. He looked intrigued at her presence, as if he had just noticed that she was there.

His massive black wings folded majestically behind him. Trailing on the floor.

There, and as big as life.


Remember to review, it is new years. A totally new year. Maybe the first review you'll post this year... idk I'm tired, and a tad sugar highs so ya.