Eventide
part one: civil

ch. six: beginning


She shot up with a gasp, her vision clearing. Everything that had just happened came back to her in an instant, from descending the steps to whatever had just happened. A trip down Memory Lane, she supposed.

"Hi," a voice said by her ear. She whirled around. Percy crouched next to her, expression soft. She looked around. Her friends were piled on the floor, sometimes stirring but not completely waking.

It was terrifying, a little bit, to see her friends like that. Almost as if... almost as if they were dead, unresponsive to the world around them. She shook her head and looked around, seeing nothing. Literally. She was seeing nothing.

"Oh, my gods," she said out loud, her voice small in the large space. Oh, my gods, she repeated in her mind. What. Just what.

"The Void," Percy murmured, next to her. "Everything and nothing, I guess. I know a lot more now," he added. "I was gifted with knowledge of, uh, the universe, I guess."

"Oh," came her answer. She sat back, a bit stunned. Never in her life had she dreamed of the moment in when Percy would be smarter than her. Percy Jackson, classic idiot, street smart, and sweet boyfriend. For a second, she wondered what her twelve-year old self would've done if she knew this would happen.

"What just happened?" she asked carefully. Percy considered this quietly.

"See, the Void has a lot of power. So when you enter it, your brain just kind of goes, Holy crap, so much power, I can't handle this, 9-1-1." She smiled at the small joke.

"Because it's overwhelming." He nodded. "-and so therefore, the more powerful you are, the easier it is?"

"Yeah. Chaos kind of, um, updated my status. I'm not really at the demigod level anymore, I guess." She raised an eyebrow. Thinking back on it, she had noticed something different about him. She had assumed it was because of Tartarus, which had definitely thrown her off.

"She called you commander once," she noted. Percy blushed.

"Well, that's where I am in the Fellowship. They were right, then. Our family. About me being a leader, destined for greatness, blah, blah. Doesn't make much of a difference to me. I want food right now, not power."

Boys. She rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder. He let out a sound of protest, but it was a bit too loud. Luke sat up, pressing his hands to his temples as he took in his surroundings. His mouth dropped open, so wide she could see his back teeth. Ew.

"Wait, Percy," she said. A thought struck her as she watched him. "So I'm pretty powerful?" He rolled his eyes at her this time, grinning.

"Technicalities. Besides, they were dead. That's not very good for you." She laughed at this, then felt a bit guilty for laughing at that. The others finally decided to wake up, all of them groaning or looking confused. She could relate to that.

Her head decided it was then to start pounding. She reached back and massaged her neck, pressing her hands against her skull trying to remain steady. Annabeth stared at the "floor", if it was one, her heart beating wildly underneath her fingers. When she looked up, there was no one else besides them. No Chaos.

"What just happened?" Luke slurred. She touched his shoulder, feeling him tense before relaxing. She shrugged herself. Even after Percy explained it, well, she had to admit some of it didn't quite make sense. Ish.

What just happened? A voice whispered. She could feel it - ancient, quiet, and powerful - resonating from her toes to the ends of her hair. She thought the voice of Gaea was like this, except this one was a thousand times more powerful.

What just happened, you ask? This is the Void, where all things came to existence after I arose. What happened was that there was such a sheer amount of energy that it was too much for your brain to handle. Wait a minute. If this was the Void, then that meant the voice was-

"Chaos," she said aloud. Bianca blinked wearily, staring at her like she'd grown another head. Ethan growled, looking quite irritated.

Yes, Annabeth Chase. I am Chaos. Of course, please pardon the circumstances. Where you are standing right now has a bit of negative energy, which caused you all to experience more negative memories.

Negative energy. Positive energy. How interesting. Percy looked like this was a normal occurrence - which it could have been. He'd been here for weeks, actually. Of course, they all had, but he'd been going to the temple for weeks.

"Oh-kay," Silena said. She pointed a finger at the air. "So tell me, Chaos. Why are we here again?"

If you are to join the Fellowship, Silena, you cannot simply be any other demigod. Where would the fun be in that? A gust of air drifted around them, like a giant, collected sigh. Perseus here hasn't told you anything, apparently. Thank you, Perseus.

Percy gave the air a thumbs up. "You got it."

At any rate, each one of you will be gifted powers to a certain extent. If you want the details, know that it is not my choice what position you are offered. The Void itself chooses, singling out your soul and whispering to me what your role is.

In the Fellowship, the Void chose Perseus as the commander, the most powerful - At this, Percy blushed and ducked his head, waving a hand in dismissal. - You could be chosen as a footsoldier or as a commander. You shall see in due time.

A glowing white orb appeared, nearing her and stopping in front of her chest. Heat radiated off of it, and she took a step backwards cautiously, but it followed.

Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. It would do you well to choose a different domain than that of your bloodline. You are knowledgeable enough already.

"Hecate," she said. She'd always been interested in magic, in what defied science and logic. Hogwarts, here I come. The orb seemed to change colors, growing hotter and brighter, turning a dark purple before completely disappearing into her chest.

She could feel it. It was warm, sort of like drinking something hot and feeling it run down her throat and into her stomach. Then it turned freezing cold, and power surged through her body. She blinked a couple of times, a buzzing sounding in her head that echoed throughout her. She could feel raw energy pooling at her fingertips, warming them. It was a sensation like no other.

Annabeth flexed her hand, grinning. She must've looked so excited then, judging by the looks on the others' faces. Luke let out a soft laugh.

Hail, Chaos murmured. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena... ah, how interesting. And commander of the Fellowship.

Silence. More silence. She blinked.

"What?" she asked. Percy grinned, running over and picking her up to spin her in a fast circle. She still didn't quite believe it, but that was kind of it. All of a sudden, she was the commander of a Fellowship and would be leading a bunch of people in an army. Okay.

She could totally deal with that.

The rest passed by in a blur. Bianca, along with the others for some unknown reason, was appointed as second-in-command. No, wait, Ethan had been appointed to the role of lieutenant, which meant he'd work under the second-in-command. He was actually pretty happy about that.

Bianca had decided to control the powers of the earth, very much like her sister, Hazel. Annabeth had almost sighed in relief at this, because Bianca didn't seem like the type of person who would enjoy having powers over death, unlike her moody, temperamental brother Nico. Silena and Ethan both had control over emotions, Silena with more of her mother's domain of love and Ethan with balance and revenge. Beckendorf, unsurprisingly enough, had stuck with Hephaestus, the shy, buff guy enjoying working with metal.

Luke, unexpectedly, had chosen to control his father's domain - Hermes himself. It was weird, seeing when she was younger, he'd always talked about how he hated his dad, how he didn't want to be of the Hermes bloodline, but maybe things had changed.

Her heart warmed at the thought. Maybe he had changed. She wasn't quite ready to forgive him, not completely, but he was slowly starting to show her that he was still her Luke, the one she had loved.

The grass, brittle, crunched softly beneath her sneakers as she walked. Annabeth was exploring, which was doing no harm at all. She didn't know where she was going, though she had an inkling of where her mind wanted her to go.

Somewhere where she could be alone. Where she couldn't see anyone. She had a feeling that her powers were being barely held back by her sheer willpower, and she wanted to test them out. Her feet led her to a building, a black dome, whose doors opened right before her. She let out a breath. It was a training arena. Training time for her, it seemed. She forgot about everything; forgot about Castor, about the others, about being commander. No, it was time to work.

On one side of the place, there was a basic gym of sorts with futuristic technology. The machines, styled in the same way found on Earth, looked more updated. She guessed time flowed differently here; although Chaos had also gifted them with knowledge of the universe, the creator had told them the knowledge would come slowly, and only when needed. They were provided with the basics - creation of the universe, a little about the Void, about the Primeval gods - little things like that.

On another side, there was a more demigod-esque place. The walls had plenty of hooks on them, all holding a weapon or shield of sorts. Racks of swords and daggers stood out. Targets lined the blank walls.

On yet another side, there was a small space for long-distance weapons. Bows and arrows, guns of all types, javelins - all there. Targets had been set up, blue tape marking the floor in different places to signify the shooting line.

And on what seemed to be yet another side, there was a small boxing ring and mats for hand-to-hand. Over there were punching bags as well, basically the place to beat the heck out of whatever she wanted. Annabeth grinned wickedly. Nothing like kicking the crap out of a punching bag or another opponent; she kept the violent thoughts to a minimum, though.

And finally, thank gods, there was a door. A door. It led to a separate room, she guessed, but for now, she would enjoy this one first. The first place she explored was the gym equipment part. It was different, each machine lined up in orderly rows and pitch black. The screens, if any, were blank.

She chose a treadmill, just to get warmed up before actually fighting. When she stepped on it, it buzzed, as if coming to life. The screen was still blank, but there were three of them - one in the middle and smaller screens on either side. Cautiously, she pressed her palm to the middle one on instinct; it sprang to life underneath her touch. Glowing red words appeared. ANNABETH CHASE - SEVENTEEN. TREADMILL. Machinery that knew what she wanted already. Sweet.

She kept herself at a low jog, enjoying the rhythm. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. She lost herself in it, breathing and staring at the screen. Sweat poured down her forehead, getting into her eyes. She wiped at her face, reaching back to take off the windbreaker she'd been so foolishly wearing.

It took fifteen more minutes before the treadmill suddenly stopped. Oh, right. She usually jogged for fifteen minutes as a warm-up. Maybe the machine had sensed it? ANNABETH CHASE - SEVENTEEN. TREADMILL. COMPLETE.

She moved onto the melee fighting, pulling out a stark white dagger that'd been attached to her belt. She slashed at the training dummies, pretending they were her enemies, because that was easy to get angry at and easy to remember that she'd had a lot. She still had a lot, anyway.

Another one bites the dust, she thought, satisfied, as she cut down the last dummy available. For a second, she wondered how long she'd been in here. She must have said it out loud, because there was a voice that responded with: "Oh, forty or so minutes."

It was actually Beckendorf. She hadn't noticed, but he'd been there with her, expect training with punching bags as he slammed into them with beefy hands. He offered her a slight smile and a wave.

"Oh. Thanks," she said. He nodded and pointed to the door that had been mocking her.

"You know what that is?" he grunted. She shrugged.

"I wanted to go... Wanna go with?" He followed her wordlessly. It was a double door, quite massive, obviously painted black like the rest of the decor here. She pushed inwards, and they stepped in a quiet room with nothing but a small stand and obstacles. An obstacle course? Before she could say anything, there was a mechanical voice.

ANNABETH CHASE and CHARLES BECKENDORF. Approach the stand. Please choose which level you would like to fight at. What? They followed instructions and approached the stand, where it showed holographic words.

LEVEL ONE
LEVEL TWO
LEVEL THREE
LEVEL FOUR

Beckendorf reached over and pressed LEVEL ONE. A whirring sound. The stand disappeared. The voice came back on.

Welcome to the holo. Level: ONE. People: TWO. Rules are: No weapons. This room is designed for you to extend your control over your powers. To stop fighting, yell pause. To continue, yell continue. To change levels, yell the level you wish to advance to. Ready. Three. Two. One. Begin.

There was barely enough time to process the words before she saw the first hologram. There were ten enemies, all holograms, equipped with weapons. An arrow blasted past her ear, and Beckendorf pulled her behind a barrel to block it.

"Thanks," she murmured. He nodded, gritting his teeth.

"Let's do this." They prepared themselves, counting down from three. Three. Two. One. And then they charged.

She took the left side, rolling behind obstacles and hiding behind walls. This was a real-life situation, designed to test them to their limits, she supposed. The enemies would attack ruthlessly. Gases would randomly erupt from the wall, fires would start, and things would blow up. Sometimes, water would appear out of nowhere.

"Annabeth, two o'clock!" She turned, and there is was, a holographic person bringing down a sword. She acted on instinct, holding out her hand and closing her eyes. The blow never came, and she opened her eyes to find a shimmering shield around her.

Magic. This was it. That feeling of power she'd felt earlier. They'd been avoiding the holograms, still unsteady with their powers, but now she felt in control, like she'd tapped into a source. She held out her hand, and a blast of energy shot from it, dissolving the hologram into beams of light.

Her partner seemed to be getting the hang of it as well. He was pulling a Leo Valdez, shooting fireballs and using unconventional materials. Of course, minus the insults. They were getting the upper hand, moving towards each other so they could fight together. She kicked the back of his knees as he came closer, and a dagger plunged into the air where he would have been. In turn, he blasted something behind her.

Annabeth was laughing, almost. She loved fighting. There was something about it, something about having someone's back and feeling blood singing through her veins, something about slashing the enemy and feeling nothing short of triumph.

Soon enough, they were left panting in the room alone. Beckendorf caught his breath, probably about to yell out for Level Two when something made a plopping sound against the cement floor. Plop. Plop. She narrowed her eyes. Why did it smell like-

Acid dripped and fell from the ceiling. They were running, trying to avoid it. It hurt whenever it came in contact with her skin, burning like a hot pan would. She hissed.

"Holy Hephaestus!" Beckendorf's voice echoed. She whirled around, trying to analyze it. It was then she realized exactly what the holo chamber was for.

It was to prepare them. It was to push them, to test their strength and to give them the unexpected. This was real war, replicated. The most important part, because they had to be prepared for war at all times. This was nature, mankind, everything that was an obstacle piled up in here.

She panicked. For once, she didn't know what to do. Acid rain. Acid rain. Gods.

Then Beckendorf was next to her, gently shaking her shoulders. His brown eyes were full of pain and determination. No. They would not give up.

"Annabeth," he said. His voice rumbled deep in his throat. "We gotta keep going. Come on. Think." Think. The thought struck a chord in her, and she snapped out of her daze. Think.

The instructions replayed in her mind. This room is designed for you to extend your control over your powers. If it was, then that was why they were there. The chamber probably adjusted to fit their personalities, and it had thrown them off, the acid. But it was also adjusted to fit their powers, giving them a challenge they could beat.

It does not hurt, she told herself. She took a deep breath. With every second that passed, the rain poured down harder. It was still light, but it would be very heavy until they'd managed to beat it.

"Okay," she said. "We're going to combine our powers. I want you to get all the firepower you have - let's stand in the middle here - and I'm going to get all the magic I have in me. And at three, we're going to let it loose in some sort of shield. It'll either block the rain, destroy it, or stop the source of it."

He nodded. "Gotcha. One."

"Two."

"Three." They let loose a stream of energy towards the ceiling. Fire and magic mixed together, and suddenly, it was a form of glowing, hot mass that hit the ceiling with an echoing thud. She was tired, suddenly, but there, gasping for air, she realized they'd did it.

They'd worked together, they'd used their powers, and they'd beat the threat. He yelled out a pause to the chamber, and there was a silence as they both reveled in their powers. They'd did it. They'd really did it.

Energy pulsed with her blood. And she knew it then that they could do anything at all if they just worked together. Sure, they were powerful enough alone, but if there was a whole army of them... She was slowly starting to understand Chaos. Slowly but surely. Her chest heaved as she took in breath after breath, her palms hot and sweaty.

Behind them, someone clapped. Clap. Clap. Clap. A voice floated over towards them, and she turned to see none other than Chaos.

"See," Chaos said. "You are very powerful indeed, Beckendorf, Chase. I can see why Perseus would have chosen you to join the Fellowship, yes?"

And Annabeth couldn't help but smile back.


3,303. This chapter might seem weird; I introduced you to powers they have/training/extent of the Fellowship. If two people can create this raw energy, imagine a whole army. Acid rain seems strange, but it's bad. Impressive, once you think about it.

I wanted to add development, throw some Charlie in. We'll see more of the others.

Yay/nay? I wanna know - based on the Eventide alone, how old do you think I am?

achieving elysium