InsaneJournal

Who: Annabeth Chase and Thalia Grace
When: Friday afternoon
Where: Campus Quad
What: Showing Thalia the truth!
Rating: Low
Status: Complete when posted



Annabeth was an analytical person, but these dreams were something she wasn’t able to explain. Most days it drove her slightly insane to know that she didn’t have any answers. What she had accepted was that this was happening. It was hard to deny the dreams when objects showed up, and her friends were having the same dreams as she was. It wasn’t a coincidence. So, despite the fact that she couldn’t exactly explain what was going on, she knew that she could prove to Thalia that it actually was happening.

Sitting on a bench in the quad campus, Annabeth fiddled with her Yankees cap. She hadn’t used it much yet, but she had tried it to make sure that it worked. How embarrassing would it have been if she had talked about it and nothing happened? It certainly wasn’t going to do her cause any favors. The hat looked so normal, and yet, it did things she couldn’t explain. Again. Annabeth frowned a little at the hat. Maybe if she did a little more research she would understand it.

Lifting her eyes from the hat she glanced around looking for Thalia. Despite not really knowing her, she knew who she was looking for. The thought was a little unnerving, and she couldn’t deny that she wasn’t a bit nervous about meeting up with her. This girl had turned into a tree in her dreams. Annabeth had been close with her. Thalia had saved her life by giving her own. How was she supposed to handle this whole situation? Did she bring it up? It was obvious that Thalia was starting to come around to this whole idea of the dreams and other lives, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to accept she was a tree.

Sometimes the whole thing made her head hurt.

---

Thalia’s head hurt over all of this, too. She'd been so skeptical of the dreams everyone had talked about. The way they'd gone on and on, you'd think they were talking about something that had just happened, or part of some book they were trying to write. The descriptions were so vivid, and the experiences seemed so lived.

She mocked them right up to the point where she started having dreams that seemed to fall right in line with what other people were saying. Nothing about fighting demons or hunting for treasure, but about godly parents and magic and...and now people were getting things from their dreams, including tattoos and swords and apparently hats that made the wearer invisible.

Yeah, this one she wanted to see. She didn't know what she was going to do if this really worked, but she wanted to see it.

The quad was quiet now that it was summer, so it was easy to spot the blonde on the bench with the baseball cap.

“Hey,” she said as she approached. “Annabeth, right?”

---

Her head snapped up when she heard her name. The girl standing in front of her was definitely the girl from her dreams. Despite the fact that she’d already dreamed about Percy and Luke, it was still a shock to her. She smiled up at her and nodded. “Yeah, I’m Annabeth. You’re Thalia,” she said without question. Annabeth stood up, unsure of what exactly to do next. This was someone she felt like she knew, but didn’t really know at all. And she didn’t think that just putting the hat on was what she should be doing.

“I’m glad you decided to meet with me. I think that we can clear up some of this dream stuff today.” At least that was her hope. “I don’t know that we should be so out in the open with my hat, but maybe we can walk a little ways and find some place that not just anyone can see us.” Once the words were out of her mouth, she realized that it maybe sounded a little creepy, but she didn’t want just anyone watching them vanish and reappear any time they put the hat on.

She shrugged a little. “That is if you’re okay with that.”

---

“No, that’s cool.” Thalia had been about to suggest that anyway, although not for the same reasons. She wanted to remove any possibility that this was all a setup, like she’d believed Hazel’s jewel-popping-up-powers to be. If she could get Annabeth to turn invisible in a place where she couldn’t have prepared any sort of tricks, then...well, she supposed it would be easier to believe.

“Let’s go behind the sociology building,” she suggested. “Not a lot of people there right now.”

---

Nodding, Annabeth stood up. “That sounds good to me.” Annabeth knew that it wasn’t going to be easy to convince Thalia. She had seen enough how many times Thalia had outright scoffed at the idea that any of this could be real. “It sort of takes a second to get used to the idea that this hat makes a person invisible. When I first put it on, it was a little unnerving.” She smiled a little as she walked towards the sociology building with her. “Hazel and I have talked about how fun it will be to scare people. Percy is going to be the first person I scare.”

She didn’t know why she was telling her all of this, but she wasn’t one for walking in awkward silence. Luckily, they weren’t far from the building and they were there faster than she had even realized. Walking around to the side of the building, a spot she knew wasn’t easily seen by just anyone, she turned to look at Thalia.

“Are you ready for this?”

---

No, Thalia wasn't ready for this, but she also wasn't someone who would readily admit being scared of the unknown. Besides, she needed to see this. She felt as if she'd been a fog, catching only snippets of what lay beyond even as the other people around her seemed to see more clearly. Time to see if there was really something beyond the haze, or if it was all just smoke and mirrors.

“Let's see it,” she said.

---

Annabeth smiled at her and nodded. “Okay, here goes nothing,”she said as she raised the hat to her head. Before putting it on, though, she made sure to glance around to double check that they were alone. She didn’t really want just anyone seeing this. WIth a deep breath she placed the hat on her head, and promptly vanished from sight. Despite the fact that she couldn’t see it happening, Annabeth still felt very weird about it. She imagined that’s how most people felt when they saw her just vanish in front of them.

Now that she wasn’t visible, Annabeth walked around behind Thalia. She waited a minute or two and then took the hat off. “Pretty weird, huh?” She held the hat tightly in her hands and waited for a reaction. She knew that if she needed to escape she just had to put the hat back on and she would be gone.

---

When it really came right down to it, Thalia wasn’t really surprised it worked. Maybe it was because she’d already seen jewels popping up around Hazel. Maybe it was because of the dreams she’d been getting, where of course magic and power existed, and people could turn invisible because demigods. Maybe it was because everyone else had already talked so much about it, it was hard to believe that it could be one giant hoax.

Still, when Annabeth disappeared from sight, she let out a very crude exclamation - and an even cruder one when Annabeth reappeared behind her.

“Are you ser -”

She broke off in favour of just gaping.

---

Annabeth just stared at her, expecting this sort of reaction. Who wouldn't react like this to someone disappearing and reappearing in front of them? “I'm afraid I am serious about this. I wouldn't really joke about a hat that makes me invisible.” The last thing she wanted was for someone to think she was crazy. She had too much going for her.

“It took some getting used to the first couple of times.” She shrugged as she looked down at the hat. “My mother, well Athena, gave it to me for my twelfth birthday. Sort of strange since the gods don't really pay attention to us unless they need us to walk to our deaths.”

---
“Right,” Thalia said blankly, because she was still having trouble processing the fact that there was a hat that made people invisible and it had been given to the girl in front of her by a freaking goddess.

“So your mom’s Athena.”

Because of course that was a thing. What was her life?

***
“Yeah. Being a child of Athena is a little weird. I mean, being a child of any god is weird, but being a child of Athena means I'm technically not born. We are considered brain children,” she explained. That thought still unnerved her. It made her feel not real, and she certainly didn't like that feeling.

Annabeth sighed. “Basically, she had a thing with my dad and then decided a great gift to remember her by would be a child. She just left me there with him. He tried to get her to take me back.” That still stung, and it hit too close to home for her. Annabeth was a little too forthcoming with the information, but she did it in hopes that it would help Thalia understand.

“Have you started to dream?”

---

Somehow, Thalia didn't think Annabeth was talking about the dreams where she was at a BBQ buffet and woke up before she could eat anything.

“I dreamed I met my father,” she admitted in a low voice, still fighting against accepting this madness. “Except he wasn't a politician, he was Zeus and can I try your hat?”

Because it was a hat that made people invisible. What the hell?

***

It wasn’t hard to note the skepticism in Thalia’s voice when she spoke. “Zeus is sort of a big deal,” she said with a nod. Annabeth knew having Zeus as her dad was a pretty big deal. A much bigger deal than having Athena as her mother. Her brows arched up when she asked about trying the hat. She hadn’t exactly let anyone use it yet.

“As long as you promise not to run off with it,” she joked. Well, she was sort of joking. She really didn’t want her hat to run off without her. But, she sort of trusted Thalia. Even if she didn’t exactly know her in this life.

Annabeth knew that she did in her dreams, so why would this be any different? “Here,” she said, extending her hand out to give her the hat.

---

Thalia did run off, but not for long. She needed to see that this worked for herself, and she needed to test it on someone who wasn't the person who'd told her about this.

After running around and trying to get the attention of several people who couldn't see her, she returned to Annabeth and took off her hat. She was breathing hard and her eyes were wild.

“Jesus Christ,” she panted. “I can't believe this. This is really a thing.”

Wait. Did this mean that Annabeth was really a brain child of Athena? And Luke was really a son of Hermes? And her dad was really Zeus? “What in the actual fuck?”

***

Watching someone else put her hat on sort of made her nervous. She knew Thalia could leave and that would be that. She didn't have much choice, though, but to stand there and wait for her to show up again. Who knew how long she would be invisible.

Annabeth wouldn't admit how relieved she was when she popped up again. It really was weird to see. Her eyebrows raised and she smirked. “Pretty cool, huh?” It was nice to see that Thalia was more on board with these weird dreams now that she had experienced the hat herself. “It takes some getting used to.”

Was now the time to bring up the fact that Thalia had been on her dreams? She figured this may be the best time to tell her. “You've been in my dreams. You saved my life. My life and Luke’s.” She didn't mention the tree part.

---

Thalia handed back the hat, at least, though later on she wouldn't be able to remember if she had. Her mind was too blown.

“Yeah,” she said, still overwhelmed. In a way, it helped. When you were already surrounded by the unbelievable, what was one more weird thing? “The tree. You posted. But you said it might be just someone with my name.”

---

Annabeth tucked the hat under her arm for the time being. She couldn't exactly just put it back on. Well, she knew that she could, but it was probably not the best time for that. She was trying to have a somewhat serious conversation.

“Right. Yes. The tree. I wasn't sure if you remembered, and I didn't want to just throw that at you. I'm not sure I know many people who want to be told they turn into a tree to save their life,” she said with a shrug. “I didn't know at the time it was actually you. Seeing you, though, makes it real. The same thing happened with Luke, but he wasn't ready to hear it.”

---

“Remembered,” Thalia repeated. “Like it happened, and I just forgot.”

She dug her fingers into her hair, trying to find some stability in this wild and crazy conversation. “I'm pretty sure I'd remember being a tree!”

---

Oops. Annabeth made a face. “I meant you remembered what I wrote. Not that you remembered being a tree. I don't really remember being a demigod. I only know what my dreams tell me.” Thalia looked like she was about to lose it, and Annabeth wasn't sure what she should do with that.

“There seem to be a few of us that were all connected at some point. I don't think it was coincidence that I became friends with Percy. He and I are dreaming right alongside one another. He's dreaming his side and I'm dreaming mine.” Her cheeks turned a little pink when she started talking about Percy, but she ignored it.

“I also don't think running into Luke was coincidence.”

---

Oh god, Luke. Her ex-boyfriend who was currently on the run from shady people and was in some other girl’s dreams.

Annabeth wasn't far off from the truth: Thalia was close to losing it.

“Okay. Okay. So I believe this whole…” She waved a hand vaguely. “...thing. I just can't handle it right now.”

---

“That's okay. I don't think this is something that someone just accepts right away. I mean, I was pretty unsure at first. It wasn't really until Percy started talking about his dreams that I started accepting this as truth. Whatever truth means at this point for these dreams.” It just what it was.

“What bothers me is not being able to explain any of it. I like to know things. I like to know why things happen, and I can't figure this out. It's hard for me to just accept it.” Annabeth knew she was acting like this was no big deal, but it was.

“It doesn't go away.”

---

Thalia only half-listened to what Annabeth was saying because she was too busy with her own thoughts.

She took a step back, and then another. “Okay...I’m sure this will all make sense at one point, but not right now. I gotta go process this. Thanks. For the hat and everything.”

Now she had to go and freak out in private.

---

Was this what she had expected to happen? Annabeth couldn’t be sure, but she did know that she had to let Thalia process this in her own way. It’s not like they really knew each other. Even if Annabeth felt like she did. She only hoped that at some point they would be able to talk more about this. For now, she was willing to let it go.

“I understand. If you do need someone to talk to about your dreams or anything you can always talk to me. I just want you to know it’s an option.” Not that she wouldn’t have others to talk to. She didn’t want to follow her right away, so Annabeth waited until she couldn’t see Thalia anymore and then headed back home.