"This way!" Annabeth shouted, pulling the gray-haired girl by the wrist as the two hurried out of the village and into the woods as fast as their legs could carry them. She had no idea who the girl was, or why half the village had burst into flames; all she knew was that there were now men with swords raiding the village, killing everyone in sight while shouting about some girl they were looking for. Maybe that was this girl. Maybe if Annabeth ditched the girl, they would leave her alone.
Annabeth looked back at the girl's eyes. She saw desperation. Fear. She killed that previous thought.
"Where are we going?" the girl asked, taking heavy breaths between each word. She already seemed tired, barely keeping up with Annabeth's pace.
"The forest. We can... we can lose them in the trees," Annabeth replied, looking back to see if anyone was pursuing them. Fortunately, it seemed that nobody had spotted the two young girls fleeing into the woods. The rest of the village didn't have the same luck; Annabeth heard the screams and shouts of the other villagers as the band of raiders cut them down.
She recognized some of those screams.
Annabeth's other hand had a white-knuckled grip on the short sword she had taken from her father's forge. It was the only thing she had been able to grab before she had to flee the house. She didn't know where her father was. Maybe he was fighting off the raiders. Maybe he was dead.
"Who's there?!"
Annabeth stopped and the gray-haired girl crashed into her from behind, causing both of them to stumble forward. Further into the forest, she saw a torch's light piercing through the night, illuminating the forest. The man holding the torch had a sword in his other hand. Blood glistened on the blade.
"Please don't see us..."
The man's eyes locked with Annabeth. He looked past her at the gray-haired girl and grinned.
"Well, look what we have here. Everyone's out there raiding the village, and I get the princess of Arcadia out here, all to myself," the man said with a sneer as he raised his blade. "Maybe I should just ditch the others and take you to the client directly. That'll fetch me a pretty penny..."
It seemed the man was more interested in the gray-haired girl than in her. The Princess of Arcadia, he had called her. That title seemed important If Annabeth fled, the man might ignore her and go after the girl.
Annabeth looked back at the girl. She was terrified, her feet frozen in place.
"Get somewhere safe. I... I'll hold him off," Annabeth whispered, pushing the girl back before turning towards the man, raising her own blade in her shaking hands. What was she doing? A nine-year-old girl against an adult? The odds were less than slim... and all for a girl she didn't know.
And yet, Annabeth's feet stood firm.
"S - stay back!" Annabeth shouted. "Don't come any closer!"
"Or what? You'll put me down like the big bad bandit I am?" the man said with a chuckle. "I'm sorry to say, but I'm not quite in the mood to play with kids. Run along, or you'll get hurt."
"No!" Annabeth shouted, swinging her sword up at the bandit. He grinned, bringing up his own blade and blocking the strike with ease. Annabeth stumbled back from the recoil as her sword bounced off the bandit's.
"So that's your answer, huh? Don't say I didn't warn you," the bandit said, swinging his sword down towards Annabeth. She brought up her blade to block the attack, but the force behind the strike knocked her off balance, opening her up to a powerful kick to her stomach. Annabeth felt the wind leave her lungs as she tumbled back before slamming into a nearby tree.
"Gah!" Annabeth cried out in pain, clutching her stomach. Somehow, she had managed to keep her grip on her sword. Not that it mattered much; she doubted she could take much more before the bandit ran her through. Despite that, she pushed herself back onto her feet, raising her sword once again.
"Don't like killing kids much, but hey, you asked for it," the bandit said, walking up to Annabeth and raising his sword. An eerie glow enveloped him, and suddenly, it seemed as if he was moving at half of the speed he once was. What was once an overwhelming strike of his sword was now a slow, easily-anticipated descent of the blade, like a dandelion seed falling to the ground.
Annabeth ducked forward past the sword swing and cut into the bandit's legs.
"Ow! You little shit!" the bandit shouted, his speech slurred as his words were pulled over twice the time they were meant for. Annabeth looked past him to see the gray-haired girl with her hands pointed towards him, the same eerie glow wrapped around her fingers. Her eyes were squeezed nearly shut as she concentrated.
"Magic," Annabeth muttered. She had never seen it before. Nobody in the village could use it. But now wasn't the time to stare in awe. The girl had given her an opportunity, and she needed to take it.
"I'll kill you!" the bandit roared, turning towards the gray-haired girl. The girl cried out in fear and stumbled back, tripping over a root and dropping her hands. No longer was her strange magic slowing down the bandit, and he was free to run towards the gray-haired girl, his sword raised to strike. However, in doing so, he exposed his back to Annabeth, and just before he swung his sword, Annabeth caught up to him and slashed at the back of his legs, bringing him to his knees. Then, she thrust her blade forward, sinking it deep into the man's back.
The man dropped his sword and brought his hands up to his chest, where the tip of Annabeth's sword was poking out. Then, he fell forward to the ground.
"There. That... that's over," Annabeth muttered. Her mind was still in an adrenaline-fueled overdrive, and she was having trouble thinking straight. She pulled her sword out of the bandit's corpse and turned to the gray-haired girl on the ground, extending her hand. "Come on. We need to go. There'll be more."
The gray-haired girl nodded. Annabeth pulled her up, and the two ran off into the woods.
Chapter 2: The Other Side of Eternity
Annabeth's head hurt. No, not just her head. Everything hurt.
Where... where am I?
She was lying on something soft. There was something covering her. Was she in bed?
What happened?
Annabeth ran through her memories. She had been with Zazie and the others. They went to battle at the pass. Then, Salem. And after that...
How... how am I alive? Am I alive?
Annabeth cracked open her eyes. She saw the wall of a tent, as well as the bed she was lying on. Well, not exactly a bed; it was some sort of thin, rubbery mattress.
"A cut of butter and a pinch of salt... then bring it to a boil before..."
That voice. Annabeth recognized that voice. She turned over to see pot sitting on some sort of flame-producing metal contraption. And crouching over that pot...
"Alright, once it's at a boil... add the pasta... but when does the cheese go in?"
She wasn't wearing her usual robes, instead opting for some sort of jacket made from a material that Annabeth didn't recognize. Her hair was cut short, ending just above her shoulders instead of flowing down her back. And with her back turned to Annabeth, her face wasn't visible. But Annabeth didn't need to see that. She recognized that voice and hair color and figure. How could she not?
"Zazie..."
Annabeth's voice came out as a whisper, her vocal cords surprisingly weak. Weak enough that Zazie hadn't heard her.
"Oh, did I leave the cheese in the bear bag? Drat! Stay right there, macaroni. I'm gonna go get that cheese for you!"
As Zazie made her way out of the tent, Annabeth sat up and was surprised when she felt every muscle in her body protest against her. Despite that, she pushed on, getting up on her feet and looking around.
Sword. Sword. Where's my sword? While Annabeth was capable of fighting without her blade, she made sure to keep it at her side whenever possible. Fortunately, it was only a few feet away, in the corner of the tent along with a pile of her other possessions, including her armor and the pendant Zazie had given her.
Where... where are we? What happened? Annabeth thought as she reached for her sword. Maybe Zazie has some answers about -
A scream rang out from outside the tent.
"Zazie!" Annabeth shouted, grabbing her sword. She had no time to don her armor, sprinting out of the tent in her undergarments and finding herself in the middle of an icey forest, her bare feet crushing the snow beneath her as the cold air lapped against her exposed skin. Looking around, she spotted Zazie in the distance, her back pressed against a tree with a bag hanging from a higher branch as two giant black bear-like creatures loomed over her. Before Annabeth had processed what the foe even was, she had already broken into a full sprint, her sword raised and ready to strike.
"Get away from her!" Annabeth shouted, leaping towards the closer of the two creatures. She recognized them now; one of the innumerable black creatures spawned by the God of Darkness, made in the image of the bear and driven to attack humanity. Her sword cleaved through it from shoulder to hip, slicing it in half before letting it fall to the snow and disintegrate.
A sudden ache overcame Annabeth's body, and she lost balance for a moment before propping herself up on her sword. Her head was spinning. Her thoughts were muddled. Why were she and Zazie here? Was this the afterlife? No. Now wasn't the time. She still had one more foe in front of her.
Said foe struck Annabeth with the back of its paw, sending her tumbling across the snow before she came to a stop against a tree. With no armor to stop the impact, her ribs had taken the brunt of the damage. They hurt. Maybe something had broken. Annabeth couldn't tell. She grit her teeth to keep herself from screaming in pain as she pushed herself onto her feet.
Lost focus for a moment. Need to concentrate.
Annabeth's arms shivered. The cold was starting to seep through her skin like a poison, chilling her to the bone and causing her fingers to go numb. Despite that, she held the handle of her sword as tightly as she could. She needed to keep her grip on her sword, even if she could not feel herself doing so.
Annabeth brought up her sword. She felt rigid. Heavy. As if she weighed twice as much as she should.
Deal with the foe in front of you. You can think about everything else later.
The creature charged. It leaped forward, both of its paws ready to strike.
Parry. Knock your foe off balance.
Annabeth deflected the two-armed attack with the flat of her blade. It was a powerful strike, but not enough to make her give up any ground. On the other side, the creature's arms had been knocked to the side. It was exposed.
Then, when your foe is vulnerable... strike.
Two quick slashes tore through the creature's black hide. As it reeled back, Annabeth drew back her sword before stabbing it straight into the creature's stomach, piercing completely through to it's bone-plated back. The creature went limp, sliding off Annabeth's blade as it disintegrated into the air.
Both enemies down.
Annabeth let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and watched as it condensed into a cloud of vapor. She looked around. No other threats seemed to be around, so she sheathed her sword. Or, she tried to; after realizing that she had no sheath attached to her undergarments, she opted to just prop it up in the snow. Then, she turned to Zazie, who was still sitting against the tree. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at Annabeth.
Annabeth knelt down and embraced Zazie in a tight hug.
"I... I'm so glad you're alive, Zazie. That we're alive. I thought... after I saw that light, I thought that would be the end. That we would die with everyone else," Annabeth said as tears started to fall from her face. "Where are we? Have you seen any of the others?"
"Whoa, whoa, hold on," Zazie said, gently pushing Annabeth away. "I gotta thank you for the save, but I'm not too comfortable with all this touchy-feely stuff with someone I just met. And I gotta be honest, I've got no idea what you're going on about."
"Wh... what?" Annabeth stood up. "Wait, Zazie, you don't remember anything? The battle at the pass? Salem? The light that... the light that you saw in your vision?"
"Like I said, no idea what you're talking about," Zazie said, pushing herself to her feet and brushing herself off. "And why do you keep calling me Zazie? I should probably get you back to bed. I don't think you've fully recovered; you might still have hypothermia. Who knows how long you were lying in the snow before I found you?"
"I... I'm fine, Zazie. I..." Annabeth stopped. Her head was starting to ache. "Zazie... I..."
"Look, I don't know who this Zazie is, but it's not me. You're probably confusing me with someone else," Zazie said, extending her hand out to Annabeth. "My name's Zoey Ashtray, and I'm a Courier. Well, a Courier in training, anyway. I should probably thank you for that save, so uh, so what should I call my savior?"
"It's... Annabeth, but... Zazie... you... you..."
Annabeth wasn't sure whether it was the cold, the headache, the fatigue, a combination of the three, or something else. All she knew was that a moment later, she passed out.
A/N: And that's the second chapter! Annabeth wakes up in a strange situation with a familiar face by her side... but in this case, it may only be the face that's familiar.
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