Annabeth walked through New Rome with the ghost of his hand in hers. She knew it wouldn't be wise if they stayed like that any longer. But somehow it still hurts.
A chocolate muffin from Bombilo's Coffee shop in her hand, she walked to the garden of Bachus. Reyna was right, it was nice there, with flowers spilling from the beds and winding marble columns. The Fountain spouted streams of crystal clear water and the sky was perfectly clear, without a single cloud in sight.
She finished the muffin and scrunched up the wrapper.
That's when she heard an unfamiliar sound, the scritching and scratching on lead on paper. It was a sound that she hadn't heard in a while. The sound could almost be drowned out by the water behind her, but she heard it anyway.
She got up, tucking the ball of rolled-up parchment into her pocket, and turned to the other side of the fountain.
And sitting there, was a girl, holding up a sketchpad that covered her face and entire upper body. Scattered by her was an assortment of colored pens. Gel pens?! Who even uses that kind of thing these days? A nub of eraser, –Annabeth would probably be shocked if the tiny thing could still erase– and 2 very short pencils. With chewed on ends, Annabeth observed. A plastic tape ruler and a small pencil sharpener were also seen.
The girl was obviously focused on wherever she was doing on the paper because she didn't notice Annabeth for a whole 3 seconds.
The girl flipped a page with inconvenience and started something new. And at that moment when she struggled to flip the paper was how their eyes met. Hard gray steel into Bronze and blue.
The girl flipped another page. And Annabeth didn't know what to say. It was her first time in a long time to make a completely new friend and not be on the threat of immediate danger in the process. She wished for something to bond over, like a monster needing slaying or a world needing saving.
But alas, her life remained at that moment, completely and utterly mundane.
"What are you drawing?" she asked, quickly hiding her awkwardness and panic under a veil of commanding and confidence. The girl looked up with shock and disbelief and turned back to her drawing. Annabeth carefully pushed some of the girl's haphazardly placed utensils and sat down, leaving a gap of about a yard between them.
The girl peeked out from the sketchpad and looked at Annabeth again, Annabeth felt weirdly proud that someone was looking at her but at the same time, confused.
More silence and pencil scratches.
"You know, the weather's really nice today, the flowers are blooming." the girl said suddenly, Annabeth didn't know how to respond.
"Back where I came from, there wasn't a lot of greenery, it got depressing at times," she said,
"Oh... at least it's there now?" Annabeth answered, unsure. The girl didn't answer and glanced at her. Annabeth thrived on logic and plans, direct answers, and clear directions. She got philosophical at times but really, she was just simply asking questions that no one had the answer to. The girl peeked at her again.
The girl stepped away from her spot on the fountain and looked at her drawing from afar, she tilted her head at both angles. It was the first time that Annabeth would see the girl without anything to block her face. The girl was petite, with a heart-shaped face and straight Copper hair. But her hair wasn't red, it was literally the exact same shade as real copper sheets, heck, it even glistens like the metal! The hair was neat and fell down the girl's shoulders in a fluid sheet. It fell a few inches above waist length and had faded turquoise on the ends. Almost as if, it was oxidizing.
Her heart-shaped lips were the shade of the pink azalea flowers that grew in pots on Percy's Manhattan apartment's fire escape. Freckles dotted her face in constellations of bronze and silver. And her one blue and one bronze eyes stood out even more. Annabeth noticed a silver monocle worn on the girl's blue eye.
"I like your hair." Annabeth blurted out before she could catch herself,
"And eyes," she stammered out, crimson rising to her cheeks. The girl looked equally flustered as she sat down again. Annabeth was so distracted looking at the girl that she only got a peek at the drawing. More sounds of erasing and redrawing ensued as the girl kept working on the drawing. Often glancing at her and looking down again.
"Do you like architecture?" Annabeth asked, trying to ease the tension.
"I do, though it's more of a hobby." the girl answered, much to Annabeth's glee.
"Have you been to the hover dam?" Annabeth asked,
"No, although I do wish to." the girl answered,
"I think looking at its blueprints would be interesting." the girl elaborated, Annabeth's eyes glinted. She finally found someone of her same caliber or at least close. She hasn't been able to find anyone interested in architecture as much as she.
"The architecture of New Rome is amazing," Annabeth said, she had so much to say.
"It truly is, that's why I even stayed, well a part of the reason anyways." the girl said, which gave Annabeth more questions. Annabeth opened her mouth to ask, but the girl stopped her with a look of panic.
"It's nothing." she stammered, Annabeth didn't ask. More silence was unused between the both of them, But Annabeth felt something different about it.
"Do you really want to see, I suppose it wouldn't be that bad." the girl muttered, more to herself than Annabeth, her eyes unsure.
"Yeah! I-I mean, yes, I would love to see it." Annabeth answered more enthusiastically than she intended. Annabeth and the girl both turned Scarlet.
"Okay... " the girl said, hesitantly as she fumbled with the paper. Tearing it off the spiral spine with a determination to not look Annabeth in the eye.
As the girl removed the paper, Annabeth looked around. The afternoon sky was dimming.
Had the afternoon really passed by that quickly?
The sunset was beautiful at that moment. From where Annabeth was, the sky bled with pinks, oranges, and gold, cascading behind the little buildings that were New Rome. It highlighted the girl's silhouette, bringing out her pink cheeks. Something familiar yet foreign blossomed in her chest.
Annabeth was handed the paper. The drawing confirmed Annabeth's earlier suspicions. The girl had drawn her, and in incredible detail too. The paper had no signs of clear pencil lines, and the definition would be that of an extremely HD photo. It bore no color, yet it had life. Annabeth was not expecting it to be so good. It was just, she couldn't explain it in words. She looked at the drawing and found no signature. She looked up from the paper.
And the girl was gone.
And that was the moment that Annabeth realized,
She forgot to ask the girl for her name.
Annabeth walked down the hill, humming a light tune that she didn't know the name of. Her chest felt a lot lighter. She didn't know why but she let an easy smile graced her lips.
I would come back for her tomorrow and I would ask for her name.
"I swear on River Styx."
She didn't know why she made an unbreakable vow, but she felt determined. Determined to know the girl that gave her deja vu and butterflies.
Stars broke out into the evening sky.
What do you think? Annabeth might be a bit OOC, haha. Please comment, vote, and perhaps gimme a follow? PLEASE COMMENT, I love comments! Thank you for reading, this might get taken down later for re-editing and get reuploaded, not the surest though. Gimme feedback. I love you Eggrolls and srry for not updating more. (Also, if you have theories, plez share!) Thank you all again!
~ Alllis_da_human <33
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Dead Aurelia
FanficDead is Aurelia, she bled to death. Gone is Aurea, she drowned in flames. Alive is May, but she isn't sure. (All unoriginal characters and settings belong to JK Rowling and Rick Riordan.)
