262On August 19th, I'll have been on fanfiction for a year. Wow… I've been working on a new story lately, and I'll post the first chapter on that day! One problem, I'm having trouble thinking of a title. I'll put a list of ideas at the end of this chapter, so PLEASE tell me which one you like best. Thanks guys!
I know this chapter is short, and nothing really happens. I'm sorry about that. I ended up losing it twice because of blackouts, then a third time when my cousin got my laptop wet. I wanted to quickly update, so I quickly wrote something.
Kallie
The City-State of Athens
"Tell me more. You must know more than that!" the girl's master exclaimed. His hands were clenched into tight fists, and the girl winced as she realized his nails were digging into the palm of his hand. He was frustrated, and the young girl never liked making her master angry.
"I don't know, sir. I haven't seen her for years."
"Do you know anything about Malcolm then?" he asked hopefully.
She shook her head. "No, sir."
The slave girl watched as her master paced back and forth across the room. Over five years ago, he had lost his oldest son and only daughter, and she knew that she was his only hope of finding one of them. She tried to remember something about his daughter that could help.
"She still had her necklace when I last saw her," she said.
He looked at her with sad eyes. "Do you know if she is alive?" he asked.
As her master, who had been so kind to her, was hurting, and she couldn't do anything about it. "No, sir," she whispered, her guilt evident in her deep blue eyes. "I don't know."
He looked so lost and unsure of what to do. He stared blankly into space. Neither of them knew what the pirate had done to his daughter five years ago. He knew, however, that she was most likely dead.
Just a few weeks after sailing towards Poseidon's island, watching it grow larger before my eyes, I was leaving it. I stared at the colossal stone building that had been my refuge. I wasn't just leaving behind the kingdom of Poseidon; I was leaving behind my false identity. From now on, I was no longer Princess Thalia. I was Annabeth Chase.
"Do you have any hint where they could be?" Percy asked. His hands never left the steering wheel and his eyes were glued to the never-changing view of the dark waves.
"No," I shook my head, though I wasn't sure if he could see when it was so dark.
I never liked being out in the ocean. Even before my home was attacked and I was forced on a ship, I had always been the type to hang back while all my friends played in the water. It had felt so dangerous.
But for some reason, being with Percy made it feel safer.
"We'll search all of Greece then," he said. "All of the world if we have to."
I leaned over the edge of the ship, staring down at the ocean. "I don't know if I'll be able to recognize them anymore. It's been years since I've last seen them." With a heavy sigh, I added, "They probably can't even recognize me."
Percy didn't reply. Maybe he didn't hear what I had said, or maybe he just didn't know what to say. When he finally did say something, he acted like he had completely forgotten about what I had told him. He probably didn't hear me after all.
"Are you sure it was a good idea not leaving Rachel a sign to show her we're safe? She's going to be worried when she wakes up and you're not there."
"I'm sure. This way, if anyone asks her where we are, she can truthfully say that she doesn't know. Besides, we don't know that she would be the one to find the sign. Who knows, maybe someone else would end up finding it. Then we'd be in huge trouble."
It was too dark to see the stone castle now, but I looked back at the direction where it should be.
I hardly got to say a goodbye. Maybe that was for the best. I wasn't exactly good at it anyway.
As I was quickly packing all of my most important belongings, I had been trying to ignore Rachel's soft breathing as she slept. But I couldn't take it. "I'll see you soon, Rachel," I whispered so she wouldn't wake up. I took one last look at her sleeping face before I left.
"I'm coming, Daddy," I whispered. "Kallie, Bobby, Matthew, Mom, all of you." I clutched onto my silver owl, letting the heat from my hands warm it up. "I promise I'll find you."
I squinted due to the blazing light shining in my face, waking me up. I stood up and ended up grabbing onto the side of the boat, realizing I wasn't on land.
For a moment, I panicked, thinking that I was back on the pirate ship from five years ago. But that would make no sense. I would be trapped in a dark and musty cabin, and the sun couldn't have woken me up.
"I see you're awake," Percy said. His hands were still glued to the ship's wheel. He had dark bags under his eyes, making it obvious that he hadn't slept all night.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I asked. The wind was picking up though, and he couldn't have heard me over the moaning and whistling. I repeated myself, but shouting.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" I yelled.
He didn't say anything in response, but he pointed at the direction they were headed, and I ran over to the end of the ship to see where he was pointing. When I saw, I couldn't help it, I gasped in excitement. Our search was finally beginning.
The ship was approaching land so quickly that it felt almost as if the land was pulling us towards it. At first, it was only a spot of green, but soon, I could see a stretch of sand, and even make out individual trees.
I turned back around to see Percy, staring intently at the land. He wouldn't be able to hear me over the wind, but I said it anyway. "Thank you, Percy," I whispered.
So here are my title ideas for my new story:
No Strings Attached
Epiphany
Light in the Darkness
Learn to Love
Lesson 626: How to Love
Tell me which one you like best in your review! And guess which other PJO/HOO character's going to join the adventure in the next chapter ;)