Chapter 1
ANNABETH CHASE HAD ALWAYS BEEN WEIRD.
If it wasn’t due to her intense gray eyes, it was because of her ability to always blow up something when frustrated with her life.
Being weird, though, was something that was widely accepted in Annabeth’s life. Since she was seven years old, Annabeth has had to deal with the weirdness of being a demigod - only getting worse after meeting a certain son of Poseidon.
However, finding herself gifted with the ability to speak with snakes was something she would’ve never expected. You see, it was just a normal day at camp - well, as normal as a magical camp for half-gods could be.
Anyway, she had been teaching a class to some of the newcomers, and out of the blue, a garden snake had wiggled over to the group. Now, it was just her luck that one of the new campers - who, in true fashion, went on to be claimed by Apollo - noticed the snake first.
The boy let out a high-pitched screech, sounding eerily similar to a bird with the sound. The snake, which had been minding its own business, noticed the son of Apollo and began hissing at the snake.
The rest of the campers backed up, eyes wide as they watched the ferocious garden snake. Annabeth cursed in Greek, running a tired hand through her curls. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s just a little garden snake; I’ll get it, yeah?” She tried to reassure the boy, but she only got a scream in response. “Okay, great talk…”
She rolled her eyes, kneeling to pick up the snake. “Okay, here we go-!” She yelped when the snake bit her, and gritted her teeth, “Fuck!”
The snake stopped squirming, pausing in its fight to look at her. “…Speaker?”
Her mind stopped - if it could make a sound, she was sure it would’ve sounded like a scratched record player or chalk on the chalkboard. Sure, being a demigod meant that a lot of weird things happened to her, but snakes? It wasn’t like snakes were part of her mother’s domain, and thus, could talk to her.
The screaming camper seemed to fade into the background as she stared down at the snake, her gaze intense. Was this some sort of new monster? Was she having a mental breakdown, and experiencing talking snakes?
“Hello?” She asked, curious about what would happen. If it wasn’t just a one-time occurrence, then… “ Can you understand me?”
It almost looked like the snake gave her an exasperated look, that is, if snakes could have facial expressions. “ Obvioussssly,” it retorted, somehow magically rolling their black, beady eyes. “ I am not ssstupid, unlike birdssss.”
“You think birds are stupid?” She asked, honestly a little offended. Owls were her favorite animal, and they were anything but stupid.
“ Yesssss. They continually fly into invisible barrierssss, and have thosssse sssstupid legssss. They are nothing compared to snakesss.”
“Oh?” Sure, it might’ve been a little weird that she was talking to a snake, but being able to communicate with an animal? The things she could learn from them would be tremendous. And if she was being completely honest, it would be a little nice to brag into her siblings' faces that she was the only one to talk to snakes, and they would have to go off what she said.
(Never mind the fact that they could reach out to one of the satyrs to confirm if what she said was true.)
“ Yesss, we-!”
“Annabeth!” The familiar gallop of Chiron greeted her ears, and she looked up to see her mentor staring down at the scene with an unrecognizable face. “Come with me to the big house, I believe we have much to discuss.”
She glanced down at the snake, who seemed annoyed that they were interrupted but stood up, brushing the dirt off her knees from where she had been kneeling. “Uh, yeah.” The daughter of Athena followed the centaur, eyes catching the crying kid, who was being comforted by one of the Demeter kids.
She made her way into the house, giving Mr. D a respectful nod as she passed him on the porch. Once they were both in Chiron’s office, she sat down across from him, accepting the glass of water that he offered her. She took a tentative sip as she stared at the man. “I’m assuming you know something about my conversation with a talking snake?”
“Yes,” He replied, taking a sip out of his drink as well. “I believe I have an answer to your question. Though, I suppose I have something that might explain this whole ordeal better.” He reached into his desk, pulling out a letter. “An Owl delivered this to me a while ago, with specific instructions to give this to you when I believe it is right. I think talking snakes is the right occasion, yes?”
She accepted the letter, grabbing the letter opener that had been offered to her to break the wax seal. The familiar Greek alphabet greeted her eyes, and she breathed a small sigh of relief.
As you know, your father was adopted into the Chase Family at a young age. However, it is not your father I wish to talk about; it is your grandfather.
Born December 31st, 1926, Tom Riddle lived a lonely and cruel life. However, despite being treated awfully at the orphanage he grew up in, he used his upbringing as an excuse to act the way he did.
You see, Tom Riddle was a special boy. He could move things with his mind, and set objects on fire. He could hurt someone with just a thought. Tom Riddle was a wizard. Now, I know that you are familiar with magic, but this type of magic is different.
However, he had a gift that was rare - the ability to talk to snakes. Your grandfather was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, an influential man for his ideas and dark magic. He used his ability to make his way up the ladder and used his power to build an empire full of bigoted people.
14 years ago, there was a prophecy about his downfall, and in fear of his death, he went after his supposed demise: a one-year-old boy by the name of Harry Potter. He attempted to kill the boy, but his spell backfired on him, “killing” him instead.
He has returned, however, and knows about you, Annabeth. He has heard of your adventures and believes that you will be the trick to winning the war.
Go to the oracle, and hear her speak.
Your mother,
Athena.
She sat back, eyes wide as she stared at the letter. War? Another war? Seriously, what was her luck? She stood up with a tired sigh, handing the letter over to Chiron as she reluctantly made her way over to Rachel’s room.
Her knuckles rapped against the door, and the curly-haired redhead opened the door, speckles of paint splattered across her face and clothes. They both shared a look, and Rachel let out a groan of annoyance.
“Another one? What is it with you and Percy?” She opened the door more so Annabeth could come in, closing it behind the blonde once she was in the room.
“I think we’re legitimately cursed.” Annabeth deadpanned, flopping down on Rachel’s small couch. “We must have pissed off some god so much that we are just doomed for everything that goes wrong in this world.”
“Honestly…” Rachel shook her head, sitting back down on the stool she had been previously at - her painting almost glowing against her skin. “Alright, let’s get this over with - I don’t really want the paint I’m using right now to dry.”
The redhead closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath, and holding it for a few moments, before exhaling slowly. Annabeth sat up, cautiously calling out, “Rachel?”
“Great power and great despair, a girl born from powerful lines. Her choice is unclear, whether she meet her end on the field of her forefathers, or bring justice and peace for countless of others.”
Rachel gasped, snapping back from her mind. She winced, bringing a hand up to her forehead, rubbing it to try and appease the pain. “Gah, that one felt… weird.” She spat out, her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Weird, how?” Annabeth pushed, standing up from her seat to help Rachel up, leading her over to her bed. “Like, what level of weirdness are we rating it?”
“I don’t… I don’t even know,” Rachel pushed a piece of her hair out of her face, her bottom lip becoming victim to her teeth. “Something was just off, okay? I’ve given my fair share of weird prophecies, and none of them have given me this sort of feeling.”
Annabeth hummed, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked off in the distance, thinking about something. “Okay, um… Get some rest, Rachel, okay? I’ll have Chiron send up an Apollo kid to check you over.”
“M’kay…” Rachel’s voice was muffled by the pillow covering her face, giving Annabeth a clumsy wave of goodbye as the blonde left the room. Meeting back up with Chiron, Annabeth let out a deep sigh.
“Well?”
“Seems like I’m going on a quest.”