"Okay, time to make a plan" "For what?" "Getting the sand" "Right, that thing" "I'm getting this feeling that you're not taking this seriously" "Oh, no, this is a very serious topic" "Having a place to have fun would make everyone happy, and happy people don't bully anyone" "I don't think it's really that simple but sure, we can try." "Finally" "So, what's the plan?" "Firstly, how long do we stay here?" "Until tomorrow morning at the latest" "Good. Then I'd say we wait until everyone is sleeping, you consider telling me to go to sleep but then remember my arguments as to why I don't need to do that and decide to let me stay awake" "sure, that's going to happen" "Thanks" "Wait, that was-" "Once everyone is asleep, we sneak out and go to the river. You use the water to pull up the wet sand and we carry that to the sandbox and drop it. After that, you just have to get the water out" "And what is your part in that? Because everything related to the water and sand will be my job because I'm the only one here who has water powers" "I also have an important job. I walk next to you and lead the conversation" "Oh, sure, a very important part of the operation. We can't do anything without your entertainment." A wide smile spread on her face. "You like that, don't you? Being important" "Yes. It means I won't die" "You won't die just because people find you unimportant" "Do you know how many times I almost died and only survived because other people – people I was important to – protected me, because I sure as Hades don't, I couldn't keep track. My point is: my life is dangerous. My will to live isn't enough; other people need to also want me alive. I mean usually I can defend myself…" She slashed the air with her dagger again "…, but not always. That's why being important is so relevant to me" "Don't you worry Annie, I'll always make sure to protect you, even if you're not directly important during a specific situation. I do that because I love all of you" "Aww, thanks. You just showed me something, how about I show you something now?" "And what would that something be?" "A part of the inner world." "Did you find a way to make that work with dreams?" I remembered Annabeth had suggested something like this on our birthday. "No, Annabeth put it on the computer." "Right, she told me about it earlier today, but didn't show me" "But I'll show you" "Do you know how blender even works?" "Not really, but Annabeth made it into a simple little game, and I know how that works" She opened up the laptop and started the game. "Okay, you can walk around using these buttons here, and this one is for going up, more specifically jumping and climbing" "Okay. Then I'd say you show me around" "Okay, this is the cockpit. It's based on a sopwith camel because of our dad. I heard he likes those planes." "He even owns one" "Good for him. Now here's the way to the big tree." "Let me guess, this is related to Thalia? I think Annabeth told me about it before" "Well, it looks like her, so probably yes" "Probably?" "Look, I didn't make this world. No one of us chose to make things the way they are, they just are" "Except for the law of nature thing" "Except for that. Well, I did make one thing and it's this tree house" She showed me a little house, sitting on one of the branches of the tree (the branches were really big. Like the trunk size of an oak tree). It was about three meters in size, with a ladder leading into it. Annie went up the ladder and through the trap door. "Annabeth got it wrong, it's actually a bit bigger, but I mean she only saw it once so I can't really blame her. I wonder if she built the tunnel to the main house. It would be behind the bookshelf, but I have to figure out a way to actually push it. Maybe if I just run against it… Hey, it's working. So, the tunnel is there, let's see if it works." Annie was able to walk through the tunnel, but it ended in a door, behind which was just darkness. "Right, Annabeth couldn't go further than this because no one had invited her into the big house yet" "Does it work like in camp half-blood?" "I don't know, how does it work there?" "No one except demigods and probably also satyrs can get into camp without someone from inside specifically inviting them. That's how the border keeps monsters out." "Sometimes I wish the border was just a little bit bigger" "Big enough to protect Thalia? Is that what you mean" "Mhm" "She's back now, remember?" "Right, we met her on the way to our dad. I forgot about that" "Okay, I told you how the border works, is that how the house works?" "Pretty much. There's probably a reason why we made this rule, but whatever it was, I'm pretty sure it wasn't something I can remember" I tried to figure out what would prompt such a response. Likely some sort of attack in a closed of space that had left Annabeth (or whoever else was fronting at the time) thinking "If that monster/person had needed my permission to enter, none of this would have happened" From what I had heard, DID often revolved about creating something that a child thinks it needs or that would make it feel safer, like a fearless adventurer from a movie the child watched a lot could for example become an alter. Don't ask me how I know this, Annabeth probably told me at some point, and she knew it from I don't know, she just knows stuff.
Annie then continued to show me the rest of the inner world, starting by going back through the tunnel into the tree house. "Okay, there's not much here, just a desk plus the stuff I need to survive; a bed, food, and a toilet. I mean, I could just go to the big house for that, but it'd be annoying to make that trip every time I need something, so I have everything here." "So, you need to eat in here?" "It's very realistic. We need to eat, sleep, and use the toilet. Why else would the mattresses and bathroom be there?" "Oh, idk, decoration maybe?" "Because toilets are so beautiful. No, it's necessary. It would also be too much work to make all of this just for fun. But maybe that's just my homeless-and-on-the-run-from-monsters attitude. In my life, every second and every bit of energy was valuable." "And that mindset stuck with you until today" "Yes. Life in the inner world is pretty safe and you get enough food, but still, trauma stays with you." "So, you're saying you made this yourself?" "I already told you that. I said I didn't make anything here except for the tree house, but that includes all the stuff inside it" "You built a working fridge and a bathroom with plumbing by yourself?" "Well, things are simpler in there. The fridge is just a box with some ice in it, and the pipes aren't from me. The design itself is also really simple, they have much more complicated stuff in the inner world. What I did make myself are the sink and the toilet bowl. I carved them out of stone myself" "Sounds like a lot of work" "The stone was very soft, not harder than blue cookies, by the way, those are really good, but it was still a good bit of work. I don't really know how the rest of this stuff works, maybe ask someone who's older. Maybe Chris, but he hasn't been here for very long. Only like a week or two" "I've met him about a month ago, and since the trauma that made him, it's been almost two" "Time is difficult there" that sentence had not been a good idea to say right now. I remembered a kind, silver colored face saying those same words, behind him was a blood red sky. "Who else could I ask" I didn't even care about the answer, I just needed a distraction. "I guess you could ask Thalce. He's one of the longest living system members that isn't a little. He's changed a lot, but his oldest form is almost as old as me, so he's been here for over nine years. Just, don't ask Annabeth. She doesn't know schist about the inner world because she's only been there for like three hours." "Well, she's probably getting some more hours right now" "Hopefully she learns some things" "Is there anything else you can show me?" "Of course there's more. I only showed you like two rooms." She continued to show me the big house, which looked less like a house and more like a child had thrown some building blocks onto the floor and glued them together. Despite this, there was still some structure to it, followed by the garden/farm and finally the water turbine at the cliff face. "You can't see it in the game, but this spins really quickly because all of this is filled with water." "Water is kind of my specialty and if pressure in that world works anything like it does in our world, that hole where the water comes out is creating an insane amount of power. Like, really dam powerful doesn't even do it justice. This is so much more pressure than the hoover dam holds."
"Then it's no wonder it supplies essentially the entire world with power. The grindstones for the farm take up just a tiny portion of the energy this thing produces. We have a lot more big machines that use the power of the wheel, Annabeth just doesn't know about them yet, so I can't show them to you, but I promise they exist and they are huge." "I can't wait to see them here. Or maybe even directly, Annabeth thinks it might be possible for me to enter the inner world via the dreamscape. We've shared dreams before, so the idea isn't that absurd. Also, as a demigod you kind of have to get used to the fact that when something seems ridiculous and/or unrealistic, it doesn't have to mean anything. I've once had my life saved by a titan who was also a godly janitor. My best friend during my seventh school year turned out to be fireproof, my brother and a cyclops" Annie flinched at that last word. "Don't worry, Tyson is a nice cyclops. He won't hurt you." "Okay. That's good. I've had some bad experiences with cyclopes." "Annabeth told me about that. I heard you stabbed him in the foot." "I did. It was really scary at the time but also really exciting. The biggest thing I've ever fought" I knew that that wasn't true for the system in general, but just for her it might be. "I heard you saved everyone there" "I did. I guess they kind of both died a bit later, but I still saved them" "One more question: Annabeth told me about this. If this happened during your time, why does she remember it?" "Good question. Sometimes the amnesia doesn't really work. Maybe a dream spilled over" "I actually know that she gets nightmares of that specific event. She told me that on our way to the island of Polyphemus, just like 'Hey, so, by the way, I have severe childhood trauma relating to the situation that we're about to encounter. Might have a flashback or something'. Back then, Annabeth didn't really care about trauma. She'd acknowledge that it made her more cautious about certain things, but that was pretty much it. No mention of flashbacks and the likes. And no cuddles for comfort. Except not from me for her. There was this one time though, almost a year earlier, where I was really scared and Annabeth comforted me." "You were scared of something? Really" I realized that to Annie, I probably seemed very strong and completely fearless. After all, I was more than twice her age. "Yes, everyone is afraid sometimes. And that's okay" "Do you want to tell me what you were afraid of?" "It was a thunderstorm. Zeus had just gotten his master bolt back and was probably pretty reckless with it. Pair that with the fact that he hates me and would really like me dead (even though I deserved a prize from him for returning his favorite toy) and the fact that I was still a bit traumatized from my first quest, and you'll understand how scared I was. I was alone with Annabeth, so she gave me a hug. She later, and by that I mean over four years later, told me how much she liked that because at that point, she had just developed a huge crush on me, so she was seeking out all types of contact with me. That also led to an interesting conversation with my mom on why you can have the urge to hug someone and still be ace. It's the difference between sensual and sexual attraction. One is touch in general, the other one you're not old enough for." "Don't worry, I didn't want to know in the first place. I am familiar with the general concept, and that is disturbing enough already. Next topic please" "I think we were talking about how I wanted to see the inner world. Do you think it's possible" "Why would I know?" "I just thought maybe you know because you've lived in the inner world for years" "Do you think this world is a simulation?" "I have no idea, what does that have to do with the topic at hand?" "Nothing, I just thought you'd know because you've lived in this world for years. Don't assume I know everything about a world down to how it's very existence precisely functions just because I live there" "Fine, maybe someone else knows. Or we just try it out" "Trying without planning. That tends to almost get me killed, but I don't think this is particularly dangerous, so I guess go ahead." "I think it's gonna be a while until we manage to do. Me finding Annabeth's dreams isn't always successful, and neither is her entering the inner world, so getting the two things to work seamlessly together has a chance of maybe… never mind, I suck at math. It's not very likely. On the other hand, me surviving isn't very likely either, but I'm still standing, so maybe I'm just really lucky. On the other hand, if I was lucky, I'd be able to find Annabeth's dreams every time"
"Stop analyzing so much, you're gonna make Annabeth jealous. Well, maybe not jealous, because jealous means that you see someone having something that you want, but in this case it would be Annabeth seeing someone do something that she considers her job. I think that's a different thing than jealous, but I don't know what the word would be" "Honestly, no idea. But now you're analyzing a bit too much" "But when I do it, it's okay" "Why the Hades is that?" "Because I'm also a child of Athena. I was born to analyze" "I got outsmarted by a seven year old. I think that's a new one" "The demigod life is full of surprises" "How is that related to me being a demigod?" "You being a demigod leads to being friends with demigods. Being friends with demigods leads to having friends with a lot of trauma. Friends with trauma leads to friends with DID. Friends with DID leads to talking to me" "And you've outsmarted me once again" "No I haven't. Outsmarting is something you do when arguing or fighting. I just answered your question." "Fine. Sorry, I don't have the brainpower for this conversation" Okay, Annabeth wasn't really a fan of societies rules (like not making the other person in a conversation feel stupid), so she pretty much said whatever she wanted to, but this was something different. "So, this is what unfiltered child of Athena sounds like" "Why would I filter anything? I grew up on the streets, I had bigger problems than talking the correct way. I had to survive and being polite usually doesn't help with that." I tried to imagine seven year old Annabeth talking in a way that would get her street rep. The thought was rather surreal. "What's so funny?" "I'm just trying to envision you as a stereotypical gangster" "I wasn't that kind of homeless person. Though I do remember a picture we took a few weeks ago" "When you say a few weeks ago, what exactly do you mean by that?" "A few weeks before Thalia…" "Didn't die?" "Exactly. So, I thought it would be funny to pose as a gangster, and Thalia made a photo of it with a schisty old polaroid camera. The picture probably still exists somewhere" "Okay, I've got to see that picture" "Maybe it's in the stack we looked at on Tuesday" "Could be. Annabeth digitalized all of it, so in theory, I can look at it on her laptop, I just don't know where she saved it. I don't know a lot about this laptop in general. I think it has like its own Daedalus operating system that only children of Athena can understand" "I understand enough to use the communication app" "The what?" "It's a program that helps us communicate with each other." She showed me how it worked. "And where'd you get that? I've never heard of such a program" "Annabeth made it herself" Have I ever mentioned how much I love that girl? Her abilities regularly blow my mind. "That's… great. I like it. You know, such genius needs to be protected." "If you want to protect Annabeth, you'll have to protect me as well" "Well, dam Annie. I guess you'll have to be protected then" "Yay" "You like being protected, don't you" "If I'm not protected, it kind of leads to my life being in danger, so I like it when people protect me" "Makes sense. I'll protect all of you if you want." "I want"