Chapter Text
Look, I didn’t want to be a Half-Blood either.
When I look back on my life, I realize that none of us willingly asked for trauma or pain. It is the way this works. It only gets more complicated, believe me. I am Annabeth Chase, and this is my story.
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They say the worst memories are the hardest to remember. I was only seven when I learned that that statement was a lie. I still lie awake and have nightmares about the events following this day.
It was a rainy July night, and my family was getting on my nerves. I hid under my bed and grabbed my secret diary. When you are a Half-Blood, you can only do so much to let out your anger. Ever since I was little, my dad has taught me this trick. You pick out a blank notebook and journal to vent all of your anger and emotions on the page. Then, when you finish the book, you burn it, and It sometimes helps. I have done this process 4 times already, So I wanted to use that trick today.
I opened to the next blank page and started writing out everything:
Dear Diary,
Today sucked. I can’t believe I am stuck here with this stupid family. It wasn’t so bad when it was just me and my dad. I miss those days when we didn’t need to worry about anything because we always had each other.
But everything changed when my dad got remarried. They had two kids. My Step-mom treats me like I’m a freak, and my dad is too busy with work or in love to see the truth. Annabeth Chase is being ghosted out of her own family. I need to do something. I am going to plan my escape and find myself a new family.
- Annabeth Chase
I picked up an empty backpack and began to stuff it with my notebook and food, then shoved it under my bed so no one would see it. I ran to my dad’s workplace. I found a small box of disabled electronics, picked up my dad's old phone, and rummaged to find a battery and a charger. Then, I found a hammer for self-defense. After I succeeded, I found a sticky note on my father’s desk and wrote the phone number on it. I ran to my Parent’s room and looked for something … I found it! In his drawer! That is too easy, Dad. I thought.
I pick up the notebook, and I leave the note on the front page. That’s when I read it:
Dear Athena,
Why? Why do you do this to me? Why do you just leave me a child to care for on my own? I -
I slammed the book shut and then the drawer. I do a last backpack check and walk out of my old home. I didn’t look back.
---
I ran and kept running, feeling unwanted and unworthy. I waited in the Richmond Ironworks alleyway under a sheet of Iorn. I just waited, tears streaming down my face, still in my ratty pj’s. Any second. I thought. They’ll come looking for me. They never did.
I sat there and cried myself to sleep. I had been searching for someone to find shelter in and feel normal with. It never came. My mother is the Greek Goddess Athena. I am shaking, I thought, nobody cares. You are all alone. I fell asleep shaking and crying to myself.
I hate dreams. I always have. Demigod dreams are diffrent. I didn’t know it at the time, but Athena kids. We are different. We get glimpses of battle and war and even sometimes secret messages from our mother. These dreams begin to happen around the age of 5. Demigods, the Children of Athena specifically, have to grow up too fast. They see war and death. Most of all, they see strategy. It is similar to a time machine, but you can't change or intervene in anything.
The thing is, though, these dreams are viewed as special gifts from Athena. They are sacred to her, so we can only talk about them with the other children of Athena.
As soon as I fell asleep, I appeared in this white room. It was so bright it made my head hurt.
“Annabeth?”
“Mom?”
“Yes, it’s me, Athena. You have been hurt.” She assessed.
“It’s fine, just a little scratch,” I respond. I am hiding my face. I was still crying, and I didn’t want to meet my mother with tears. I had planned out meeting her many times in my head. I would yell at her for not staying with my dad and for leaving me alone with him and my step-mom even though they hated me.
“It’s more than that.” She smiled at me.
“Why?” My voice cracked, “Why did you leave us? Why did you leave me?”
She let out a long sigh. Then, she explained what she could.
“Do you ever get scared of crying?”
“What do you mean?”
“I have always loved you, Annabeth. Sometimes the Gods spend so much time on Olympus that they forget something very important.”
“What?”
“They forget about family.” She looks wistful. “I have always kept a close connection to my children in any way I can. Sometimes, spending time with our children is hard. It reminds us of the mistakes we made.” Silence
“I am sorry.”
“What for?”
“For not being good enough for you, for the Gods.”
“Annabeth, Dear. You are only seven! Give yourself time. One day, there will be a purpose for your life! It may not be as you planned but you will save the world someday, when you do I will be the proudest mother in the world though I may not show it immeadietly. Give it time. One day, a hero of the great prophecy will find you: a hero sired of the big three. When that day comes, you will prove yourself to be a worthy daughter of Athena. You will fight and learn, but most of all, you will learn what it means to be a Hero.”
As the dream faded and I woke up, I shivered behind the piece of metal, my face sore from crying. I hear noises coming from the front of the ally. It is two voices a girl and a guy. I accidentally kick the sheet of metal I was hiding under. I was crying again.
I thought you can’t be alone forever; no, toughen up! I scolded myself. The two people crouched in the shadows—a boy about fourteen and a girl about twelve. They were like me! I could sense it. The guy held a bronze knife. The girl had her spear and a shield. There was something about the shield that made me want to run. They both looked hungry. They were shaking, too, as if monsters had also chased them.
"Are you sure?" Said the girl to the guy.
He nodded. "Something down here. I sense it."
The other heroes crept forward right in front of my hiding place. She glanced at him. He began counting silently, and I slipped my hammer out of my bag. When he got to three, he lifted up the tin. But I was prepared.
"Whoa!" The guy said as I began swinging the hammer at him.
He grabbed my wrist, and the hammer skittered across the cement.
l fought and kicked. "No more monsters! Go away!"
"It's okay!" He struggled to hold me back. "Thalia put your shield up. You're scaring her."
Thalia tapped the shield, and it shrank into a silver bracelet. "Hey, it's all right," she said. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke."
"Monsters!"
"No," Luke promised. "But we know all about monsters. We fight them too."
Slowly, I stopped kicking and calmed down. I studied Luke and Thalia.
"You're like me?" I asked suspiciously.
"Yeah," Luke said. "We're . . . well, it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"
"My family hates me," I said, trying not to cry. "They don't want me. I ran away."
Thalia and Luke locked eyes. I knew they both related to what I was saying.
"What's your name, kiddo?" Thalia asked.
They seem trustworthy, I thought.
"Annabeth."
Luke smiled. "Nice name. I tell you what, Annabeth—you're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."
My eyes widened. "You could?"
"Oh, yeah." Luke turned his knife and offered her the handle. "How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon? This is Celestial bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer."
I grinned as I gripped the hilt.
"Knives are only for the bravest and quickest fighters," he explained. "They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal, and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever."
"I am!" I said, wiping tears from my face.
Thalia grinned. "We'd better get going, Annabeth. We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food."
"You're . . . you're not going to take me back to my family?" I asked with uncertainty. "Promise?"
Luke put his hand on her shoulder. "You're part of our family now. And I promise I won't let anything hurt you. I'm not going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"
I stopped My new family, I thought
"Deal!" I agreed happily.
"Now, come on," Thalia said. "We can't stay put for long!"