Chapter 6: Number Seven, To The Starting Line

Annabeth limped over to the castle steps and, with a pained grunt, sat down. She had a small flask in one hand, a cloth and a loose roll of bandages in the other, and a gash running across her shin. Fortunately, it wasn't deep, but it still hurt quite a bit. And what she was about to do was going to make it hurt a lot more.

"Here goes nothing..."

Putting down the bandages for a moment, Annabeth pulled open the top of the flask. After staring at the opening for a moment, she slowly brought it up next to the bleeding wound. She hesitated for a few seconds before pouring some of its contents out onto her leg.

The stinging pain in her shin multiplied tenfold. Annabeth let out just a moment of a scream before gritting her teeth and choking down the rest of it.

"Alright, alright," Annabeth muttered to herself as she grabbed the cloth and dabbed off the excess alcohol. Ignoring the pain from her leg, she took the bandages and wrapped them around the gash in her leg, wincing with every layer that she put over it.

"Annabeth?"

Annabeth looked behind her to see Zazie at the top of the steps, coming out of the entrance from the castle to the courtyard. She took one look at Annabeth's leg before hurrying down the stairs. "Oh gods, what happened to your leg?"

"Don't worry, I just had a small accident during training," Annabeth said, wincing again as she tied the bandages tight around her leg. "It's pretty early in the day. Shouldn't you be attending your studies?"

"I was, but I heard you screaming from my room," Zazie said. Had she really been that loud? Then again, it had hurt a lot. Zazie knelt down next to Annabeth's injured leg. "Could you remove the bandages for a moment?"

"Are you sure? I just got them on," Annabeth asked. Zazie nodded, and Annabeth unwrapped the bandages from around her leg, wincing as they fell off the wound.

"Oh, my. That's quite bad," Zazie muttered.

"It's not that deep, I think," Annabeth said. "If I take care of it properly, it should heal up by - "

"Be quiet," Zazie said, interrupting Annabeth as she raised her hands towards the gash on her leg. She closed her eyes, and soft white light gathered at her fingertips, illuminating the wound in a pale glow. Annabeth watched as the wound slowly stitched itself back together, mending broken skin and repairing flesh until it was nothing more than a strip of tender, pink skin over what was a bloody gash only a minute ago. "There. Does it still hurt?"

"It..." Annabeth moved the leg around for a moment. "It doesn't. Thank you, but you didn't need to - "

"Nonsense. It was the least I could do; after all, you're constantly training out here every day, all for the sake of becoming my protector," Zazie said with a smile. "But do you not know simple healing magic? I thought you would have been taught it by now."

"I... no, I haven't. Should I know it?" Annabeth asked, rubbing her now-healed leg. "To be honest, I hardly know anything about magic, besides what I've seen from you. Nobody knew how to use it back where I was from, or even what to use it for."

"You should know it. The sword is all well and good, and from what I've heard you're progressing well in that regard, but magic is infinitely more versatile and powerful than a blade once you learn to use it properly," Zazie explained, sitting next to Annabeth. "Of course, I still require years of study and practice before I'll be a competent mage, but I think I know enough to help you get started."

"Are you sure? Shouldn't you be getting back to your studies?" Annabeth asked. "I'm sure you have too much work for me to - "

"I chose you to be by my side, and no effort made to bring about your full potential is wasted. What sort of princess would I be if I didn't at least introduce you to the arcane arts? I'll ask Garland to introduce you to a proper combat mage, but for now, I can introduce you to the basics."

"Uh, well, if you say so," Annabeth said. "But like I said, I hardly know anything about magic. I'm not sure where to start. What even is it? How do I use it? All I was taught in the village was that it could do incredible things... and that's about it."

"Perhaps we could start from the very basics, then," Zazie said, standing up and stepping in front of Annabeth. "Magic is, at its core, the ability to alter and manipulate the world around us. It's fundamentally the same force that the gods used to forge this world and everything on it, only much smaller in scale. However, with proper practice and study, we can use magic for practically limitless applications."

Zazie raised her hand, and orange beads of light appeared at her fingertips. The lights grew brighter and brighter as they converged over her palm, merging into a hot glowing orange ball that was nearly too bright for Annabeth to look at directly.

"I assume that you'll mostly be learning combat magic, but all magic follows that simple principle of manipulation," Zazie explained further as beads of sweat rolled down her brow. Annabeth noticed her arm was trembling, as if she was having trouble holding the ball of orange light. "For example, I'm converting the magic energy stored in my body into heat and gathering it at a single point."

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked, looking from the ball to Zazie. "You don't look so well..."

"Don't worry about me. I should be capable of..." Zazie said before suddenly trailing off. She grit her teeth, closing her eyes for a moment before turning and casting the ball away. It seemed to defy gravity as it sailed across the courtyard and collided with the stone wall at the other end, exploding into a burst of flames before disappearing completely. "Sorry. I should be able to do much more than that. It appears that my abilities are still lacking..."

"That was..." Annabeth was still looking at where the ball had exploded in awe. She had only seen magic a few times, and the only other time she had seen it used in combat was when Zazie used it back in the woods, when they were escaping from Annabeth's village. What else could magic do? And how could she use it to better protect Zazie? Annabeth wanted to know more. "That was amazing. How can I do that?"

"First, you'll need a teacher. Like I said, I'll ask Garland to arrange an instructor to teach you combat-oriented magics," Zazie said, sitting back down next to Annabeth. "To be honest, though I have difficulty managing more intense techniques, the basics of magic came quite naturally to me, so it would be difficult for me to teach you the fundamentals. A proper instructor would be able to do much more for you."

"Are you able to at least get me started? Like, what would be the first steps?"

"Well, if I were to summarize it, the key to magic is proper visualization. When I use magic, I have a visual of what I want to achieve in my mind's eye, down to the last detail. From there, it's simply a matter of control, technique, and power."

"Visualization, huh?"

Annabeth closed her eyes and imagined a flame in her mind. She visualized the energy coursing through her body and gathering at a point in her fingertip, igniting a small spark out of nothing before coalescing into a flickering flame, no larger than one that would be on the end of a candle. Opening her eyes, Annabeth stared at the fire burning steadily over her hand, fed by nothing but a steady stream of magical energy.

How many times had she failed to achieve such a feat when she had started learning magic? How many before she had made her first flame? It seemed so long ago. Now, creating such a flame was as easy as drawing her blade.

"Hey, Annabeth!"

Annabeth snuffed out the flame as she turned to see Zazie emerging from the entrance of a building with a large, metal tower on its roof. She wasn't quite sure what the purpose of the tower was.

"You're finished, I'm guessing? What did you do in there?" Annabeth asked, looking up over the building then back down to Zazie. "You said you needed to send something, right? Is that place a post office of some kind?"

"Oh, right. You probably don't know what the CCT network is," Zazie muttered. Annabeth had heard Zazie say that term before, but she was right; Annabeth had no idea. "It's, uh, basically a big network that allows people to send messages really fast."

"How fast?"

"Pretty much instantly, no matter where the other person is. They've already got it by now."

"That's... wow," Annabeth muttered. The quickest way she knew of how to deliver a message was by horseback, which would take at least a few days to cross the kingdom. Instantly transmitting a message seemed unimaginable; but then again, so many things about this world seemed unimaginable as well. "You can really do that?"

"Yeah, it's easy. I could even do it on my scroll if I wanted to," Zazie said, taking out a small metal... tablet, of some sort. She pulled it open, revealing a screen of light that had various images and words on it. "As long as I have signal, anyways."

"What is that?" Annabeth asked. Zazie had called it a scroll, but she assumed it was not like the paper scrolls she was familiar with.

"It's, uh... well, it'd take a long time to explain, but it does a lot of things, including sending messages," Zazie said, putting the device away.

"If you could send a message from there, why did you need to use that building?" Annabeth asked. "Who were you sending it to?"

"A, uh... friend. In the Courier business. I needed to use it for, uh, reasons," Zazie said, looking past Annabeth for a moment. Annabeth turned to follow her gaze but saw nothing, so she turned back around. "Anyways, we've got a ship to catch, right? We should probably get going."

"That would probably be a good idea," Annabeth said. Zazie had managed to get a delivery job back in Wind Path; she was supposed to deliver a package of old books overseas, to a kingdom called Vacuo. Like always, Annabeth had no idea what that kingdom was or what it was like, but from what Zazie had told her, it mostly consisted of harsh deserts, coastal settlements, and roving tribes of nomads and bandits. Not the safest-sounding area, but -

"Hello? Annabeth?"

"Ah, sorry. I'm just thinking," Annabeth said, snapping out of her thoughts. "You're right, it would be best to not be late for our trip overseas."

"Yeah, exactly. Now let's go."

Annabeth nodded, following Zazie down to the docks.

The ships of this world were strange. More metal than wood. No mast or sail. And yet, they moved across the water faster than any ship Annabeth had ever been on. The cool sea breeze blowing across her face was proof of that. How did these ships even work? She would have to ask Zazie. She would know.

Annabeth looked up at the ocean. It wasn't quite sunset yet, but the sun was slowly making its way towards the horizon, tinting the waters just a slight amount of orange. The waves were slight, and the surface of the ocean was mostly calm. That was good. Though judging by how the ship had handled so far, she didn't doubt that it could handle harsher waters.

Footsteps from behind. Annabeth turned to see Zazie walking to her. There were a few other passengers on deck, though none were particularly close to them.

"What are you doing out here, Zazie?" Annabeth asked. "I thought you said you would be resting below deck."

"I was, but I thought I'd get some sunlight while I could. Plus, the ocean air is pretty nice, you know? It's got a salty taste to it," Zazie said, coming up next to Annabeth and leaning against the ship's railing. "I like to come out and stay on deck whenever I'm on a boat. Better than staying cooped up below deck."

"Right, I suppose it would be."

There was a moment of quiet. The ship bobbed up and down slightly.

"You... call me that name sometimes," Zazie said, breaking the silence. "Zazie, I mean."

"I do. That's... the name I remember you by. Even if you might not remember it."

"Why?" Zazie asked as she turned to Annabeth. "What makes you so sure that I'm this... Zazie?"

"You look and sound exactly like the Zazie in my memories. There's no mistaking it. You've changed somewhat from your new memories, but I saw that selflessness you showed back in the mountains. When you saved me, and later that village. That's the same selflessness that I was shown all those years ago, when I was saved by you," Annabeth explained. "And you are of noble birth, are you not? It seems that remains a constant, despite what may have happened between then and now."

"Selflessness... I see," Zazie muttered. Annabeth thought she heard a faint chuckle. "Noble birth, you said? What was the old... what was I back then?"

"You were the Crown Princess of Arcadia, and heir to the throne. And a great mage as well. Better than most others in the court, including me," Annabeth said, leaning on the railing next to Zazie. "But most importantly, you were a savior. You reached out and helped so many, including me. You foresaw the end and tried to save the world itself... though considering that I'm here now, I don't think that went so well."

"Alright... okay, maybe I can buy that," Zazie said. "But what's this stuff about mages and magic? You showed me some back then, but I still can't tell if you're pulling my leg or not."

"I showed you before, didn't I? I created a flame in my hand."

"That could've just been a semblance. Or hidden Dust."

"I also healed myself in the tent."

"That... maybe that could be some advanced aura technique. I've heard of really skilled huntsmen fixing themselves up with their aura."

"Well..." Annabeth thought for a moment. "What would it take for me to convince you?"

"I dunno. Do something cool, I guess."

"Hm. Most of what I learned was combat magic, so I don't know much of the more esoteric techniques, but..." Annabeth muttered as she extended her hand over the railing. She drew magic energy from her body into her arm, compressing it at the tips of her fingers as she aimed towards the water.

Burst.

With that thought, the concentrated energy shot out from Annabeth's fingers, exploding against the ocean and gouging through some of the nearby waves. The impact sent seawater splashing nearly all the way back up to the deck before it settled back down and the waves reformed like nothing had happened.

"Dust is elemental energy, right? I tried to not use anything elemental for that," Annabeth explained as she looked back at Zazie. Zazie's gaze was still towards the water, her mouth hanging open slightly. "Zazie?"

"Wow. Imagine what that could do if..." Zazie said before trailing off. She looked back up at Annabeth. "Alright, I'll believe you for now. I'm still not sure what to make of it, but you don't sound like you're lying about all this, and if what you did was really magic, I don't think you're delusional either."

"You believe me already?" Annabeth asked. "It's quite a lot to process so quickly."

"Sure, why not? Is that bad?"

"Well... I suppose that's not a bad thing. I just wasn't expecting you to accept it so quickly," Annabeth said. She paused for a moment. "There remains the matter of what we should do now. You're being hunted by assassins from the Black Hand, correct?"

"It seems that way. But as long as I've got you and your magic, you'll keep me safe, right? After all, that's what you said before."

"Yes, that's what I swore to you. But we should be looking further than the next immediate threat," Annabeth said. The Zazie in her memories always looked past the most imminent danger, towards the greater problems and conflicts that lurked further beyond. Perhaps this Zazie was not as forward-thinking. "Unless you believe that I alone will be able to take on the entirety of the Black Hand. I am many things, but infallible is not one of them, despite my efforts. We need a stronger solution."

"A stronger solution, huh?" Zazie asked, rubbing her chin in thought. She looked away for a moment. "You know, I've heard of a place called, uh... Valus. It's just past the eastern border of Vacuo, around the mountains in the south of Vale. From what I've been told, there's a lot of supernatural stuff that happens around there. Psychics, fortune tellers, and people who believe and seek out higher powers all gather there."

"Why bring this up?"

"If what you say is true and I'm some powerful mage and princess, well, having those powers would be really nice, right? Especially if I'm going up against the Black Hand," Zazie explained with a smile, turning back to Annabeth. "Maybe that place has something to do with magic, and someone there will know how to make me... magical, I dunno."

"I see. It's as good of a lead as any."

"Right. I'll just need you to protect me on the way there."

Annabeth nodded. Of course she would. The prospect of Zazie regaining her powers - and perhaps her memories as well - was something Annabeth could not pass up. Perhaps, even in this new world, she could be with the Zazie she knew once again.

"Well, I'm gonna head back below deck," Zazie said, stepping away from the railing. "They're probably gonna serve dinner soon, so you might wanna head down too."

"I understand," Annabeth said, looking out over the ocean. "I'd like to stay up here for some more time, but I'll join you shortly."

"Alright. See you below."

Zazie walked away, and Annabeth continued staring over the water, watching the sun slowly set towards the horizon.

The room was dark. Annabeth rolled over on her mattress. Normally, she was both a light sleeper and a light waker, able to conk out in minutes and wake up at the slightest noise or irregularity. It was something she picked up from her training; she took every minute of rest she could get, and had to be ready for any threat that came regardless of whether she was resting or not. However, this particular night, she was having trouble sleeping for one specific reason.

As it turned out, this world's Zazie snored. Loudly.

Annabeth turned over once again, trying to ignore the sounds erupting from the girl sleeping across the room. The Zazie she knew before slept as quietly as a rock, and though she had slept with others who snored, none had done so quite as loudly as Zazie was doing now. Oh, well, not much she could do about it at the moment. Her mind turned to other things.

Just a few more days until the ship made landfall. Then, they could make their way towards the place that Zazie mentioned. Valus. That was the name. Then, maybe things could be more like back then, even in this strange new world.

There was a buzzing sound from across the room. Annabeth looked over and saw a flash of light next to where Zazie was sleeping. Was that her... scroll, was it? Zazie's snoring stopped as she reached out and grabbed the device.

"Urgh... what is it?" Zazie muttered, slowly sitting up and opening the scroll. She looked up at Annabeth. "Oh, you're already awake?"

"Yes, I... couldn't sleep," Annabeth said, sitting up as well. "I - "

Annabeth felt something. She wasn't sure what it was. But something was off. She looked around the bedroom. Still dark, barely lit up via the moonlight shining through the window. Zazie still looked half-asleep, her gaze wandering over to the door. The floor tilted to and fro as the waves gently rocked the ship. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Annabeth still couldn't shake the feeling. She looked over at her sword, which was resting in its sheath by the wall next to -

Bang!

The door to the room crashed open. Annabeth caught a glint of metal flashing through the air and instinctively reached up, snatching a knife out of the air just inches from her neck. The second knife flew past Annabeth's head as she ducked to the side, embedding itself into the wall behind her. Annabeth was instantly alert, diving off the bed and grabbing her sword as she cast a barrier over her body. A third knife flew towards Annabeth, but she was ready this time, easily cutting it out of the air. She looked up at her assailant, but with most of the room in the dark, she couldn't see much other than a vaguely male figure standing in the doorway. Her eyes glanced over at Zazie, who was still sitting on the bed. Protecting her was the top priority. That would probably be easier if she was awake.

"Zazie, get back!" Annabeth shouted as she charged the assassin, knocking another knife out of the air with the flat of her blade as she closed the distance. She swung her blade towards the assassin's torso, but he jumped back into the hallway and threw a pair of knives, forcing Annabeth to dodge them both as he retreated into the ship's hallways and disappeared..

"What was that?" Annabeth heard Zazie ask. She looked over to see her standing up from her bed. "Was that an assassin?"

"From the Black Hand, I assume," Annabeth said. She looked back out into the hallway, but the figure had not resurfaced. "Find somewhere safe. I'll go after him."

"Uh... okay," Zazie said as Annabeth made her way into the hallway. The moonlight from a row of broadside windows was enough to keep it from being completely pitch-black, but it was still quite dark below deck. Annabeth proceeded slowly, watching for movement from any doors and corners leading into the hallway. A cool breeze blew in from an open window further down the corridor, causing Annabeth to shiver slightly.

Wait, an open window?

The window next to Annabeth shattered inward as the assassin crashed into the hallway, catching Annabeth off guard and tackling her to the ground. Before she could get up, the assassin mounted her stomach, pinning her down as he raised yet another knife. It was too close for Annabeth to use her sword properly, so she grabbed the assassin's wrist as he stabbed down, stopping the attack before raising her sword and smashing its hilt into the side of the assassin's head.

Get off, Annabeth thought as she concentrated magical energy into her palm, placing it against the assassin's chest. She released the energy in a single powerful burst, knocking the assassin off of her and back down the hallway, where he tumbled to the ground. Quickly pushing herself up, she raised her sword and charged, hoping to close the distance before the assassin could recover.

Something felt off again. Annabeth couldn't tell what. But she hesitated. Then, she saw it. A glint of light in the assassin's hand as he was rising to his feet. Another knife. It was getting... brighter?

A sudden movement. Annabeth's instincts screamed for her to dodge to the side, and she did, just as something blew past her head so quickly that she hadn't even seen it. Behind her, she heard the sound of wood and metal rupturing.

If that had hit me...

As the assassin got back to his feet, he pulled out another knife. It started glowing. Annabeth charged and thrust her sword towards the assassin, but he leaped back and threw the glowing knife. Once again, Annabeth couldn't even see the knife fly through the air; the only indications that it had been thrown was the magic barrier around her body shattering, the sound of the wooden floor splintering behind her, and a sudden pain along her left leg. Looking down, she saw a long cut along her thigh that was already starting to bleed.

Whatever that was, it was strong enough to shatter my barrier. If he landed a clean hit...

Ignoring the pain for now, Annabeth rushed forward again. The knives this man was throwing were too strong for her to withstand; she had to end the fight before he could land another one. As she got in range, she swung her sword once again, but the assassin once again dodged back down the hallway, tossing another knife at Annabeth. This one hadn't been glowing like the others, and Annabeth had no trouble ducking out of the way, but she was no closer to landing an attack on her foe. He always danced just out of the reach of her sword.

Well, Annabeth hadn't learned combat magic for nothing. She preferred the blade, but she recognized when she had to use her other tools.

Hopefully this is enough, Annabeth thought as she concentrated magic energy into her free hand while her sword batted away another knife. She pointed her finger at the assassin and a bolt of lightning shot across the corridor, striking the assassin squarely in the chest and knocking him back. As he tried to get up, Annabeth gathered more energy and struck him with another bolt, blowing him back further and sending him tumbling to the ground.

"Who hired you?!" Annabeth shouted, bringing her sword back up as she approached the fallen assassin. "Who wants to kill Zazie? Answer me!"

"Tch..." the assassin grunted. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out, some sort of bag. Before Annabeth could move to strike him down, the assassin threw the bag to the ground, and it suddenly exploded into a cloud of smoke and dust, blinding Annabeth as she stumbled back in surprise.

No answers, huh? Annabeth thought, gathering energy into her palm and unleashing a gust of wind that blew the smoke and dust away. She brought up her sword, ready to deflect yet another knife, but only saw a glimpse of the assassin's feet as he escaped up a nearby stairwell. Annabeth gave chase, taking the steps two at a time as she tried to catch up to the assassin.

"Get back here!" Annabeth shouted as the stairs gave way to the open deck. In the moonlight, she spotted the assassin running further down the deck. Where was he going? They were on a ship. There were only so many places one could run off to. So where? She charged magical energy in her hand once again, ready to zap him a third time. Then, before she could, she watched as he... jumped off the side of the boat.

"What?! " Annabeth shouted, running to the side of the boat and looking down. Instead of seeing the assassin splashing down into the waves, she saw a small boat parked by the side of the ship. There was a mechanical whirring as the small boat suddenly pulled away from the ship, with the assassin on it. Annabeth let loose the energy and fired a lightning bolt towards the boat, but her aim was off, and the bolt ended up harmlessly striking the waves beside the boat as it sped off.

BANG!

There was a loud sound as the boat exploded. A great fireball illuminated the surrounding ocean and consumed the boat; Annabeth had to look away for a moment as the light and heat reached up to the deck. Then, as she looked back, she saw nothing more than charred fragments of what was once a boat drifting through the water before being swallowed by waves.

What just... what just happened?

"Annabeth!" Annabeth heard Zazie shout. She turned to see Zazie climbing up onto the deck. "What happened? Are you okay? Did you get him?"

"He... I don't think he'll be a threat anymore," Annabeth said, looking back at where the boat was. "I pushed him back and he was getting away on a boat, but... it exploded for some reason. I'm not sure why."

"Well, maybe it had a faulty engine or something? We should probably just consider ourselves lucky," Zazie said. Her gaze went downwards, and Annabeth followed it to her bleeding leg. "Wait, you're hurt! Can you - "

"Don't worry, this isn't much. His attack only grazed me," Annabeth said. She knelt down and put a hand over the cut across her leg, concentrating magical energy over the wound as it started to mend itself. "The assassin fought mostly by throwing knives. He could throw them with incredible force sometimes, but he never managed a clean hit, so I'm fine."

"Throwing knives?" Zazie asked. "Wait... did they glow before he threw them?"

"They did, but only when he was throwing them quite hard," Annabeth said, wincing as she felt the flesh and skin knitting back together over the cut. "How do you know about that?"

"I, uh..." Zazie paused for a moment and looked out over the side, towards where the boat had exploded. "I did some research into the Black Hand after I found out they were the ones who were after me. If I'm correct, the assassin you fought was Cutter Gray, one of the organization's top assassins."

"Top assassins?" Annabeth asked. "He didn't seem quite so strong to me."

"A top assassin isn't necessarily the best fighter, though being good in combat naturally comes with the job. What's important is that an assassin is able to get in, assassinate the target, and get out. He may be good at that, but once you messed up his attempt at killing me and proved too much for him to handle, he had to retreat."

"I see," Annabeth said. She looked around the deck. "Now what? Is this place still safe? What if there's a second assassin?"

"Honestly... I doubt it. If there were, they would have taken advantage of the commotion Cutter made, or helped him get away. We should be safe for now, I think."

"If you say so," Annabeth said. She was still wary, but if Zazie said things were safe, she was inclined to believe her.

"What matters more is that we know that the Black Hand's top assassins are coming after me. I guess whoever's after me really wants me dead, huh?" Zazie said with a sigh. She looked back at Annabeth, and there was a smile on her face. "But that just means we need to be that much more cautious. I can count on you to keep protecting me, right?"

"Of course."

"Good!" Zazie said as she made her way back down below deck. "Come on, it's late. We should probably get back to bed."

Annabeth nodded as she followed Zazie back to their room.

A/N: And that's chapter 6! The two girls set out towards a destination, and Annabeth has her first run-in with the Black Hand! What'll happen next? Stay tuned!

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