The War God's Daughter

INTERLUDE I - Part 2

INTERLUDE I - Part 2:

- Where there's a time skip and Annabeth's journey as a full-fledged stalker continues-

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Annabeth Chase would like to think that she's a pretty reasonable person.

She's a daughter of Athena, for Zeus' sake. It should practically be a given that she's reasonable, especially when one would take into account her position as head in a cabin full of strategists and tacticians.

Despite Annabeth's young age, her siblings look up to her - trust her to lead and guide them. Even if her pride does get the better of her sometimes, she's self-aware enough to know that she's pretty damn good - one of the best in the camp, even.

(Nobody said Annabeth was humble on top of her long list of virtues. Nobody's perfect and well, feigning modesty isn't really a good look on her.)

(It just doesn't fit.)

Because you see, even if any Athena camper worth their salt can read a situation perfectly, only a few of her siblings know how to read people and even fewer innately understand how to use this knowledge to their own advantage.

And well- there's a reason Annabeth's favored more than her siblings and it isn't because she's the youngest out of all of them when she came into the camp.

(Analyzing situations and people are Annabeth's lifeblood - as instinctive to her as breathing was to every other person. Deciding on an action that would yield her the greatest results is child's play and a habit. It's a constant balancing act with a power like that. To be human enough - to see people not for what they were worth to her and how she can manipulate them like a master holding the strings, but as who they are, is a constant struggle she's still having trouble with.)

Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to apply when Amirah Collins was in the picture.

Despite the girl's insufferable taunts the other week, Annabeth can't bring herself to stop stalk- no damn it - observing the newest camper.

It isn't intentional. It isn't like the blonde actually likes the smug, knowing look on the girl's face whenever she catches Annabeth doing the deed or the teasing that follows after from the new camper's usual crowd (even Annabeth's siblings joining the bandwagon too, those traitors). Although she admits that she knows Amirah's schedule by chance and her feet do sometimes lead her to places the new camper often frequent in, her walks start with no particular goal in mind, for fuck's sake. It's purely coincidental that Annabeth sees the said camper all the fucking time and no one can blame her for watching once-

-once she realized how convoluted Amirah actually was.

It's subtle. One wouldn't notice it if they're not looking at the girl closely - not that Annabeth is, mind you, but a sharp eye like hers can't help noting how-

How Amirah Collins wears her personality like a mask - like it's just clothing she can actually put on then take off again, with no one being any wiser. She twists her personality depending on the person she's with and it goes far deeper than mere impression management.

(As much as Annabeth hates to admit it - even in the privacy of her mind, it could not be denied that she finds the show horribly, irrevocably fascinating. A puzzle she can look on for weeks, months or years and still wouldn't solve. Like a painting painted with millions of different contrasting meanings created into a bafflingly cohesive art that should make sense, but didn't.)