🦉 Annabeth 🦉

A stray lock of brown hair slips out of my hood. I tuck it back in quickly as I survey the cafe around me.

After leaving camp, I went back to Dad's. It didn't work out.

Three days in a monster attacked, almost killing Bobby. Dad and Helen didn't yell or kick me out afterwards, which made it worse.

I put them in danger, the one thing Helen had feared when I was younger. I couldn't let them get hurt. So I left.

A teenaged boy put a steaming mug in front of me.

"Thanks, but I didn't order anything."

"On the house. You look like you could use it."

I look up at him and give him a small smile. He throws me a crooked grin before hustling back to the kitchen. I watch the door swing behind him as someone slides into my booth.

"Hecate." I greet coldly.

She inclines her head toward me. "Annabeth."

"Alexandra." I correct her. It's started raining outside, turning the sky a dark grey.

"Pardon me?"

I stare out at the grey sky, the same shade as my eyes. "My name isn't Annabeth anymore. It's Alexandra."

Hecate leans forward, lacing her fingers together in interest. Her eyes sparkle with curiosity.

"May I ask why?"

I keep my eyes trained on the cafe window, watching the steady rain hit the glass and dribble down.

"Annabeth is the girl who stayed at camp. Alexandra is a fresh start."

She hummed in understanding but I still looked outside. She says nothing except to order a small coffee. Once it comes, I look back at her.

"What do you want Hecate?"

My question was met with a knowing look. "I still await your decision."

I hide my hands under the table and curl them into fists.

"And what is it that you want from me exactly?" I ask, my voice trembling. "I've given my life, my love, my passion, all of it for you selfish Gods"

Hecate narrowed her eyes with distaste. "I would hold your tongue, Daughter of Athena."

"Why? When you clearly need me more than I need you." I raised my voice, heat flushed my face.

"I needed Annabeth Chase, not Alexandra no-name," Hecate replied coolly.

"What is it? What is so important that you can't get another demigod to do it?" I demanded. the rain outside was now pounding on the sidewalk, bouncing off the pavement in little droplets.

Hecate leaned back against her chair, sipping her coffee leisurely. "The intricacies of temporal travel are too complex to unpack in one conversation."

"Temp- are you talking about time travel?"

Hecate nods, her focus solely on me. She set down her mug and leaned in close enough for me to smell her. The scent of slightly overcooked marshmallows and frankincense wafted into my nose, slightly sweet and earthy hidden beneath acrid smoke. And something else...

"I am sure that you are aware of the existence of Witches and Wizards in our world." She stated

I gape like a fish out of water. "I mean, I've heard rumours..."

"Well, those rumours are true. But that is unimportant right now." 

"A secret world of magic is unimportant-"

She waved me off dismissively and carried on. "I need you to join their magical society..."

"Why-"

"In 1998, after the end of the last war-"

"The last what now?" I interrupt, my head still reeling with all this new information.

Hecate sighed exasperatedly. "No matter. I am sending you to Scotland as an exchange student."

I blinked to make sure I had heard her right.

"To where? As what?"

"Really, I thought you were a Daughter of Athena, not Aphrodite." She said, clearly unimpressed.

I lean back in my chair and cross my arms defensively. "What makes you think I'm going to agree to this?"

"Because this will not be the same as the other times you have gone on a quest."

"How?"

"Because, Annabeth Chase, I will grant you a single wish."

Before I could say anything, she scraped her chair across the floor and moved towards the door.

"Hey!" I get up quickly and follow her out of the cafe, leaving our drinks behind. Small drops of water soaked the cuffs of my jeans as I ran through the puddles that had formed while I was inside. "You can't drop a bomb like that and then just leave!"

Hecate turned around to face me with a raised eyebrow. Her aura seemed to grow a fragment colder as if she were considering smiting me on the spot.

"You clearly seem uninterested in what I have to say, why waste my breath?"

The rain spatted onto my jumper, slowly soaking it. I measured my words carefully, knowing that I was on thin ice. "What did you mean by wish?"

"Exactly what I said. Whatever your heart desires, name it and it's yours." Hecate stated.

I hesitated. "Even a new life?"

At that, she raised a brow.

"I thought you had given up on being Annabeth."

"That's not what I mean," I answered.

"Clarify for me then." She responded.

"I mean you wipe my memory, change my appearance and remove my life as a demigod." I looked at her in the eyes.

"Daughter of Athena-"

"That's exactly what I don't want to be anymore!" I cut her off angrily.

She was silent for a moment. I was almost afraid that I had overstepped my bounds and she was thinking of the best way to smite me.

"Do you know what you are asking?" She finally said.

I crossed my arms and suppressed a shiver, my jacket now soaked. "Do you really care?"

Hecate regarded me evenly for a moment before turning her head.

"I suppose I don't." She sniffed. I tried not to be offended.

"Details can be worked out later," I continued, shivering slightly. "Tell me what you need me to do now."

With a small nod, she led me back into the diner.