Chapter 14: To Our New Eternity

"What do you mean? How am I not qualified for this delivery?" Zoey asked, leaning forward towards the man at the other side of the counter. "It's just a few pieces of paper, right? It's not even going that far, just up to Vale!"

"It's not just 'a few pieces of paper'. This is important paperwork that ensures that the town continues to get the resources and funding that it needs to rebuild," the man behind the counter explained. "I need to make sure that this gets to Vale promptly and safely, and I'd like a fully-trained Courier to do that, not one that's still in training."

"Like I said, I'm basically fully qualified, minus a few tests here and there. And do you see any fully-trained Couriers around here?" Zoey asked, gesturing around the empty office. "Trust me, I've got the experience under my belt. I can get that stack of paper to Vale as quickly as you need me to."

"I'll be with her as well, if you're worried about your package being lost due to Grimm or bandit attacks," Annabeth said as she stepped up next to Zoey. She put her grip on the hilt of her sword, emphasizing its presence. "I'll make sure that we both get to Vale safely, along with those papers."

"Well... I guess I don't really have much other choice," the man muttered, reaching below his desk. He pulled out a small bundle of papers, as well as a stack of multicolored Lien cards. "Here's the package and the delivery fee. I expect it to be in the Vale council's hands by the end of the week."

"End of the week?" Annabeth asked, turning to Zoey. "How far is Vale from here?"

"Probably about... yeah, a week sounds right, assuming we can hitchhike a bit. That shouldn't be too hard, considering all the supply trucks going in and out of this place," Zoey said as she grabbed the papers and money, throwing the former into her pack and slipping the latter into her pocket. "Come on, let's head out. We've got a lot of daylight to burn."

Annabeth nodded, following Zoey out of the small office and into the streets. It had been a few days since the incident in the mountains, and Zoey's latest delivery had taken the two of them to Palebrook, a mining town further up along the mountain range. From what they had heard, the town had recently been damaged by a simultaneous bandit raid and Grimm onslaught, and while recovery seemed to be going well, there were still many repairs to be done. Hence, the package they had just picked up.

"Is this common?" Annabeth asked, looking over the buildings along the side of the street as they made their way to Palebrook's northern exit. Many of the buildings were either partly scorched or had large chunks gouged out of their walls, though many more looked as if they were recently repaired to fix such damage.

"What, you mean needing to argue to get a job?" Zoey asked. "Yeah, it's pretty common. Nobody trusts you unless you got that 'fully-trained' stamp on your license, I guess."

"If you want to avoid that, you should get yourself fully certified then," Annabeth said. "But no, I was talking about the state of this town. Are settlements usually attacked often?"

"Depends on where you live. Some backwater village in the middle of nowhere? You can expect Grimm to come by pretty often. But if you live in a place like Vale... well, nobody's attacking Vale," Zoey explained, looking around at the buildings. "Palebrook's kinda more towards the middle. Not big, but big enough that it shouldn't be targeted much. Heard that one big attack recently was an outlier, though."

"I see," Annabeth said as she nodded. It seemed that the creatures of Grimm were a larger, more persistent threat to the people here than those in the world Annabeth came from. Annabeth had already seen that firsthand, at Peakstone. Her initial thought was to attribute the greater danger to the inability of the people here to use magic, but that didn't seem right. Annabeth knew from those she had fought that the people of this world were no pushovers, and their technology seemed to more than make up for any lack of magical ability. So why -

Annabeth stopped. She sensed something off. Something faint, but present. As if there was a slight magical presence somewhere nearby. She couldn't tell where or what it was. In fact, she could hardly sense it at all, but for a moment, she thought she felt something in the ground below.

"Hey, come on!" Zoey shouted, interrupting Annabeth's thoughts. She looked up to see Zoey further down the street, waving back at her. "What're you standing around for? We need to find a truck to hitchhike with if we wanna make good time today!"

Maybe Annabeth was imagining things.

"Right, I'm coming."

Annabeth ran to catch up with Zoey, and the two headed up to the town's entrance together.

The truck rumbled up the cliffside road, turning alongside the twists and turns of the path as it carried its cargo to the next town over, as well as two girls riding in the back. Annabeth felt the crate she was sitting on shake and rumble. Across from her, Zoey was sitting on a crate of her own, fiddling with her scroll. Besides the engine of the truck and the rushing of the wind, everything was fairly quiet.

How many times had Annabeth been in this situation? Many times. But this instance felt different somehow.

"Alright, I think I got our route mapped out," Zoey muttered. Annabeth looked over and saw a map opened up on her scroll. "The driver's taking us to the farming village of Agrina a few hours up, but his route goes off from ours at that point. It's not harvest season, so I doubt we'll be able to find another truck to hitch a ride with, but it'll be a while from then until our daylight runs out, so we can go by foot until the sun sets. Then, we'll set up camp somewhere for the night and go the rest of the way tomorrow morning."

"That sounds fine to me," Annabeth said. "That device is quite convenient. You can bring up maps, send messages, talk to others far away, and... well, I'm not sure what else it does, but it seems useful."

"It really is. And this is one of the older models too; the newer ones have a bunch of other features that put this to shame. Like, they can... well, I'd know if I had one," Zoey said, fiddling around with her scroll some more before looking up at Annabeth. "Maybe we should buy you one once we get to Vale. If you're gonna be doing stuff, you should learn how to use one."

"Really? How much would one cost? I can't imagine they're cheap, considering what they can do."

"Lemme think. They're, uh..." Zoey started to say before pausing. Annabeth could practically see the numbers churning in her head. "Well, maybe we'll get you a knockoff brand. Or maybe we'll hold off on that. Maybe we don't need two scrolls, since we're traveling together."

"I suppose it's fairly expensive, then," Annabeth said, and Zoey nodded. "In that case, don't feel obligated to purchase one for me. I can probably make due without one."

"Yeah, that's probably best for our budget," Zoey muttered, putting away her scroll. "I did have some money stashed away, but I, uh..."

"What is it?" Annabeth asked as Zoey trailed off.

"Like I said, I used to have a decent amount of money, but I kinda... used it to put that hit on you," Zoey said, looking away for a moment. "Sorry about that. Black Hand contracts are expensive, especially if you're hiring their elite guys."

"That... I guess that makes sense," Annabeth muttered. "Actually, where is that money now? If you've destroyed the Black Hand, then..."

"It's probably sitting in a bank account somewhere. Or multiple bank accounts, I guess. Good not to have all your assets in one place if you're a big underground assassin group," Zoey explained, rubbing her chin in thought. "Though now that I think about it, I doubt I got literally everyone in the Black Hand. Sure, I killed everyone in that base and got pretty much all of their best assassins, but there's some guys who were probably out on jobs and stuff like that. Maybe they'll just take those bank accounts for themselves."

"And you couldn't?"

"It's not like I dealt with their finances. I was an assassin, not an accountant. And besides, I left the Black Hand years ago, remember? Even if I did know their bank account passwords, they probably changed them since I left."

"I see. It's a shame to let all that money sit there, but I suppose there's nothing we can do about that."

"Yeah, not really."

The conversation died down, and the two were quiet for a while. Annabeth turned, looking out the side of the truck and watching the world go by. The road had been precariously carved along a flatter part of the mountainside, with steep cliffs above and below and only a metal guardrail to prevent vehicles from falling. However, the cliffs that posed such dangers also offered a grand view of the landscape, giving Annabeth a wide look at the forests and plains surrounding the mountains.

"Hey, Annabeth?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"I was, uh, kinda wondering. About Zazie. Your princess," Zoey said, pausing for a moment. "Am I really that much like her? You latched onto me pretty hard after I found you back in Mistral."

"In terms of appearance and voice, there's practically no difference. The two of you would be like twins, if not the same person," Annabeth said, thinking back to what she remembered of Zazie. "Though now that I've been able to get to know you better, I'll admit that there are quite a few differences as well."

"Like what?" Zoey asked, leaning back. "I mean, besides the obvious. Like, I doubt she was a mailwoman or a gun-toting assassin or anything like that."

"Indeed, she wasn't. I suppose the largest difference would be how you carry yourself. As royalty, she had an air of formality in both her speech and her body language. She was polite and carried herself diligently, as if she was carefully measuring every word or action."

"Huh. Sounds kinda stuffy, if you ask me. Then again, I guess you gotta be pretty formal as a princess," Zoey said. "Now that I think about it, I think some of that formalness got rubbed off onto you."

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno how to describe it, but you've got a way of speaking. I've heard people from richer families and nobility speak kinda like that, so I'm guessing that's where you came from, or it got rubbed off onto you via your princess."

"Unfortunately, I was only a peasant. The daughter of a village blacksmith. I suppose that means the latter would be correct."

"Right. Thought so," Zoey said. She looked over herself, then back to Annabeth. "But man, that's a pretty big coincidence. The fact that you landed in front of the one person who looks and sounds exactly like your princess, I mean."

"I... suppose it is," Annabeth muttered. "Though one could also call it fate or destiny."

"Do you believe in that kinda stuff?"

"I do. Zazie could see what was to come for humanity and the world; how could that be possible if fate did not exist?" Annabeth asked. Actually, now that she thought about it, just because Zazie had seen something didn't mean it would happen. While the end of the world had come to pass, the fate that Zoey would have suffered seemed to have changed upon Annabeth's arrival. That future hadn't been set in stone. "Though that doesn't mean we can't change our fate if we try."

"Yeah, well, I dunno about all this fate and destiny stuff, even if we can change it. Seems too rigid for me," Zoey said, taking her scroll out again and fiddling with it. "I'd rather not be able to know what's in store for me. It's nice to have a little surprise, for better or worse. Like you, for example."

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? Some sort of magic-wielding knight out of a fairy tale drops into my life out of the blue, without explanation, and that all ends up with, well... us ending up here I guess," Zoey said, pointing at Annabeth. "There's no way I could've predicted that. If the world's got more surprises for me like that in the future, I think I'd rather not know about them beforehand. Makes things more exciting, you know?"

"I guess that's a way of looking at it. Though I could probably use less excitement, considering how hectic my travels with you have been."

"Yeah, you got a point there."

The conversation died down, and the truck continued on down the road.

Annabeth slowly stirred the ladle through the soup, using her other hand to hold the pot steady over the campfire. An enticing fragrance wafted up to her nose, and she took a moment to savor it before dipping the ladle into the soup. Then, she pulled it out and brought it up to her mouth, blowing on it to cool it down before taking a tentative sip. Perfect.

"Dinner's ready!" Annabeth called as she turned to the tent set up close by. As she took the pot off the campfire, she heard a small commotion from inside the tent just before Zoey emerged.

"Alright, it's a little messy, but everything's set up in there. We should be good to settle down for the night," Zoey said, making her way over by the fire and sitting down. She sniffed the air and licked her lips. "After dinner, of course. Man, that smells good! Thanks for getting that ready."

"I didn't do much. These... dry soup packets, you said they were? They did most of the work," Annabeth said. She scooped soup from the pot and poured it into one of the two bowls she had set aside before handing said bowl to Zoey. "Being able to make rich soup from such light packages is quite convenient."

"Man, I take a lot of these things you think of as 'convenient' for granted. There's a lotta things I wanna show you. Maybe when we get to Vale," Zoey said, grabbing a spoon and taking in a mouthful of soup. And then another. "Tastes as good as it smells."

"I'm glad to hear it," Annabeth said, pouring soup into her own bowl. She put the pot back over the fire to keep it warm before grabbing her bowl and a spoon and sitting by Zoey. Then, she started on her soup. As Zoey said, it tasted good.

"Now that I think about it, what sort of food have you had so far?" Zoey asked between mouthfuls of soup. "I know I took you to that seafood pub back in Wind Path, and we had pizza at that inn in Saguaro, but everything else has been pretty much camp cooking. That's not really, well, fine dining."

"I haven't minded so far. The meals I've had in this world have been surprisingly well made, even the ones you call 'camp cooking'," Annabeth said as she made her way through her own soup. "And do you remember that stranger I told you about before? She treated me to a drink while I was recovering. Beer, to be exact."

"Did you like it?"

"No. As it turns out, alcohol tastes the same from my world to this one, and I have a distaste for both variations."

"Yeah, I'm not too fond of it either. I guess it's an acquired taste, considering a lot of people practically live off the stuff," Zoey said, tilting the remaining contents of her bowl into her mouth. She got up and made her way over to the pot to pour herself a second helping. "Anyways, once we get to Vale, I'm gonna take you around to try a bunch of different stuff. There's an international food court in the Vale Central Mall. That'd be a good first stop."

"That sounds interesting. I'd like to see what sorts of food this world has to offer," Annabeth said as she finished up the soup in her bowl. She too got up for seconds. "And speaking of the future... what does that look like? What's next for us?"

"What's next? Lemme take a look," Zoey muttered, putting down her bowl for a moment as she took out and pulled open her scroll to view her map. "If we get up early tomorrow, we can be in the next town by noon. It's a big trading town since it's along a major river, so we've got a good chance of grabbing a ride up north. There's a few more towns and a lot more road along the way between there and Vale, but we can worry about that when we get there."

"Sorry, perhaps I should have made myself more clear. I was thinking more about the long term," Annabeth said, sitting back down next to Zoey. "What will we be doing from here? I assume you want to take your certification tests and become a fully-licensed Courier, but what then? Will we continue traveling the world and delivering packages like this? Or is there something more that we could be doing?"

"I... honestly, I'm not really sure what to say. I never really thought that far ahead; I've just kinda been coming up with things as I go," Zoey said as she stopped eating her soup for a moment. "I'm not really sure what I'd want to do. Other than being a normal Courier, I guess. But you could probably do something more than that, you know?"

"I... don't know, sorry. What do you mean?"

"You're strong, Annabeth. And kind. Honestly, you'd probably do really well as a Huntress if you wanted to go to Beacon or something."

"Beacon?"

"Huh, have I never told you about the academies? Basically, there's four big academies that train Huntsmen and Huntresses, one in each kingdom. Beacon's the one in Vale, so it's right where we're going," Zoey explained. "Heck, I'm pretty sure they're still doing the entrance tests. If you wanted, you could probably take that once we get up there and get into the next Beacon year."

"Maybe. But even if being a Huntress would fit me, I'm not sure if I would want to do it just yet," Annabeth said, looking up at Zoey. "What about you? Have you ever tried to apply?"

"Not really. With my Semblance and all, I, uh..."

"I understand. I won't push you if you don't want to, even if I do end up deciding to become a Huntress," Annabeth said. She watched as Zoey brought her bowl up to her mouth again and slurped up all the remaining soup.

"Alright. That was good. I guess I'll take care of cleaning, since you did the cooking," Zoey said as Annabeth finished her own soup. Zoey grabbed the pot and ladle, as well as Annabeth's bowl and her own. "There's a smaller pot in the tent. Could you grab that and boil some water so we have some fresh water for tomorrow morning?"

"Certainly," Annabeth said, nodding as she made her way back to the tent.

Annabeth sat by the crackling fire, watching it slowly burn itself out. Occasionally a spark would jump out from an errant flame, flying through the air before slowly settling to the ground and fading away. One spark. Two sparks. Annabeth counted them for a short time before losing track.

"Alright, I think I'll head in for the night," Zoey said. Annabeth turned and watched her climb into the tent before turning to Annabeth. "You're okay taking first watch?"

"I am." Annabeth was no stranger to long nights.

"Thanks. It's nice to have someone watching my back like this," Zoey said. She took out her scroll, looking at it for a moment. "We'll be heading out at sunrise, so if we want to evenly divide the watch, you should wake me up at... one-thirty in the morning, I guess."

"Um... how will I know when that time comes?"

"Right. You know what, I'll set an alarm for myself then," Zoey said, fiddling with the scroll for a moment before putting it away. "Good night, Annabeth. See you early in the morning."

"Good night," Annabeth said, watching as Zoey closed the tent door. She turned back to the fire as it continued to crackle, occasionally disrupting the quietness that had settled in during the night. It would grow dimmer over time, but that was fine. Annabeth had gathered a small pile of firewood before dinner; if the fire grew too cold, she could simply throw a little more in to get it going again. Then again, it's not like she needed the fire. It was a surprisingly bright night, with the moon's light illuminating the sparse forest around the campsite.

The moon, huh? Annabeth looked up at the night sky and saw that strange shattered moon, accompanied by a field of stars. It wasn't the night sky that Annabeth knew from so long ago. Or was it? If she remembered correctly, Zazie said that she saved Annabeth with a spell that held her in stasis while humanity was cleansed from the world. But if that was the case, then... this was just the future of the world Annabeth was familiar with. How far in the future? How did humanity come to exist again, but without magic? And what happened to the moon? Annabeth wasn't sure. And unless she could somehow look into the past, she doubted she would ever find out. Maybe if Zazie was here. Maybe she'd know. But she was dead and gone, and that world with her.

Annabeth drew her sword from its sheath, holding it up and letting it catch the glow of the campfire. The princess that this blade was supposed to protect was dead. Long gone from this world. But that didn't mean it had no purpose anymore. Now, Annabeth had someone new to protect. No, not just her. She had someone new to be at her side as she explored this new, unfamiliar world. And maybe, as time passed, she would find more purposes for her blade to fulfill. More for Annabeth to protect.

A loud snore broke the quietness of the night. Annabeth turned towards the tent, and the snoring continued from within. It seemed that Zoey was already asleep. That was good. Both of them would need rest for all the traveling they would be doing the next day. However, she admitted that the snoring was almost obnoxiously loud. She'd have to get used to that. Annabeth smiled as she turned back to the fire.

What would tomorrow bring? Annabeth wasn't quite sure what the next day in this world would throw at her, much less anything beyond that. All she knew was that whatever came, she'd be facing it with Zoey at her side. Anything beyond that was unknown. Unfamiliar. Something else to discover in this strange new world.

And Annabeth was looking forward to it.

The End

A/N: And that's the final chapter of Chasing Eternity! The two girls move on with their lives, putting the past behind them as they head out towards the future. Only time can tell what trials they'll face in the future, but whatever they are, the two will face them together.

I've had a lot of ideas swimming around in my head that eventually became Chasing Eternity, and they've varied quite a lot. For example, in earlier iterations of what eventually became Journeys of a Mercenary, Mud was the one who found Annabeth, and they would end up going to Beacon together (that was before the story concept strayed away from Beacon). Other iterations included the entire story taking place in the era of the Gods, and Aqua being the one to find Annabeth. Fun fact: I actually had Annabeth's character concept in my head before we knew about the era of the Gods and what Salem did in the past. Back then, she was still a knight from a kingdom that had long since fallen, though not nearly as far back as the era of the Gods is supposed to be. As for Zoey, she was actually split off from a very early iteration of Mud, back in the story concept that involved Mud and Annabeth going to Beacon (in that iteration, Mud was supposed to end up being the reincarnation of the princess character that ended up being Zazie). Zoey's Semblance was also originally timestop/time manipulation, though I ended up ditching that.

Anyways, thank you for reading up to the end of the story! While I may add on some sort of epilogue or extra chapter if an idea for that pops into my head, the story I wanted to tell with Annabeth and Zoey has come to its conclusion, and I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks again for reading Chasing Eternity, and have a nice day!