Chapter Text
THE FOOL
A C T I
T H E F O O L
C H A P T E R 1 / 3
2 0 1 8
N E W Y O R K C I T Y
Annabeth Chase was never one for romance. Of course, she had relationships, a fling here and there, but they never lasted. That’s the curse of the modern era, where everyone was made to believe that you could find The One with a simple swipe. For Annabeth being single was fine despite everyone in her environment giving her the feeling that should her Prince Charming not strut through the door on his beautiful mane within the next five minutes, it would be over and out for her at the young age of 21. It didn’t feel like she lived in the 21st Century. No, it felt like she was the protagonist of a Jane Austen novel set in 1803.
“Can I get you something to drink, sir?” The blonde smiled at the middle-aged man in his poorly sized business suit. A coy smile here and there, a little hint of arrogance and fluttering her eyelashes at the particularly thirsty ones. The things you do for money. Was it pathetic? Yes. Would the tipping jar be less filled if she didn’t use these pathetic methods? Absolutely.
“Oh, I’d like a martini, love,” the customer grinned back.
Oh, fuck right off she thought but plastered nothing but a polite smile before writing down his overly pretentious order. The urge to roll her eyes was right there but Annabeth couldn’t afford another lecture from Beckendorf, the head waiter was particularly strict when it came to customers. As you know, the customer is king. And the king is always right as he brought money to finance their livelihood. The young woman nodded and made her way to the bar to place the order.
“Mom! Did you see her hand? What’s wrong with it? What happened to that girl?”
Oh, kids. The mother hushed her little boy and turned red as she caught Annabeth’s eyes. Yes. The pinkie on her left hand had been significantly shorter since birth. Almost half as short as her right pinkie. Ah, children, never able to keep their mouths shut. Annabeth merely continued working. Just one more hour and she and her fellow friends and staff members would be free.
“Oh my god, I wanted to kill those guys at table three,” Piper rolled her eyes. Her usually friendly brown eyes now sparked with hatred.
“Instead of calling me or waiting for me to acknowledge them, one of them actually tried to grab my fucking wrist!”
“Welcome to the club, happens to me at least once a week,” Reyna muttered as she removed the black apron around her waist in the backroom. The Big House was a rather fancy Upper-middle-class restaurant despite the waiting staff consisting mostly of college kids. No matter the conditions and wealth, people were assholes. And rich assholes were the worst. One of the cooks, Hazel, entered the tiny, stuffy room.
“Damn guys, open a window or something,” the petite black woman flung her locs over her shoulder. Annabeth did as she said.
The conversation shifted to college and assignments. “Guess what. Being stuck with two people who don’t show up isn’t fun,” Piper groaned. How was she supposed to create a plaster cast of three sets of legs when two people decided not to cooperate?
“Well, you can use me as your model if your prof doesn’t mind or is too stupid to notice the difference. You’d only have to tackle my 25 pages about the shift in economic imbalances of household incomes from the past 20 years.” Reyna winked and changed into her t-shirt and cardigan. The native Puerto Rican was significantly taller and had longer legs than Piper’s groupmates.
Piper laughed dryly. “How about no?”
Annabeth loved listening to the shenanigans of her friends. It reminded her of a life outside of the pressures at home and the small mundane things that people didn’t appreciate. She swore not to take calm moments like these for granted.
“Well. You haven’t finished your story from earlier!” Reyna reminded Hazel.
“Good thought, Miss Ramirez Arellano-“
“It’s Ramírez de Arellano!”
“What’s with your new hot neighbor?” Piper continued wiggling her eyebrows in a way that made Annabeth laugh and Hazel frown.
“Frank is over thirty and divorced,” stated Hazel.
“And? Where’s the problem?”
“That’s a solid no from me with that age gap. He just brought some cupcakes over to introduce himself to the neighborhood. That’s all. Being Canadian and friendly.”
“But it’s Frank, not Mr. Zhang anymore,” Annabeth added to the round.
“How about you shut your damn mouth, Chase?”
The other three girls just giggled and snorted. “I mean how’s it looking in your love lives, bland and dry?” Hazel cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms, the grin on her lips revealing that she meant her comment in a joking manner.
Annabeth and Piper’s faces soured whereas Reyna joined Hazel with a cackle. “Well, guess who’s pissed now? How’s it looking with Captain America, Piper? Is he still not over you?”
Piper sighed. She broke up with her boyfriend, Jason because she didn’t reciprocate the same feelings and she felt awful for dragging him along. So, she decided right after his bar exam to pull the plug. According to Piper, seeing Jason cry was extremely hard. And hearing Jason cry over a phone call while you were trying to have a girl’s night, disturbing your Mindhunter spree on Netflix was even worse. The discomfort that was shared between the friends was something to never forget.
“I don’t think so,” the brunette sighed. “It’s been over half six months and he’s still asking me every day how I’m doing and once a week if I’m still single.”
Everyone winced. That was a bad sign. “His move will be a good start; I think the distance will help him. Perhaps California can heal him. At least I hope so. I really have a lucky hand at choosing the right people at the wrong time or just choosing the wrong people.”
“Well… I mean you can always join team gals loving gals!” Reyna was the only person with bragging rights in the group as her relationship with Thalia Grace had been blossoming for over three years.
“I don’t think switching camps is that easy, unfortunately. And I’d rather enjoy my busy single college life for a second. Well… what about you Miss Chase?” Piper deflected.
“Let’s not go down that road.” Annabeth warned. She wasn’t interested in yet another talk about her non-existent love life. Why was it okay for Piper to reject love but for her it wasn’t? The thought about her friend’s messy breakup was immediately thrown out of her mind.
“Oh please. We’re concerned about you! You spew hatred towards men and women equally! And you obviously need to get laid.” Piper agreed with Reyna’s argument.
Annabeth rolled with her eyes and stuffed the white blouse from her uniform into her backpack. She’d have to iron the blouse and the skirt immediately at home. “I’m more than fine. Thank you, next.”
“First of all, leave Ariana out of this. And second, why don’t you visit that new fortune teller everyone’s been talking about?” Reyna suggested. Piper was interested but skepticism was clearly written on the faces of Annabeth and Hazel.
“A fortune teller? Smells like bullshit but that’s just me,” Hazel commented. As a New Orleanian she was used to the touristic ways and commercialization of African folklore and the diaspora. She had seen a good number of fortune tellers and their scams.
Annabeth nodded in agreement. “Honestly guys. I’m good. No need for some weirdo lighting up a candle and trying to scare you with some poker cards.”
“The Luke and Rachel fiascos really traumatized you, huh?” Piper’s frown was apparent.
Luke was Annabeth’s first ex that simply ghosted her after dating for a whole year, and Rachel was, unfortunately, the messiest on-off relationship Annabeth had to that date. The fights were legendary.
Annabeth’s mood soured. “No, I mean it seriously!” Reyna said.
“I mean I visited a fortune teller many moons ago and she said that I’d run into the love of my life and guess what happened literally a day after? I ran into Thalia after my daily jog! Did she nearly murder me because she was illegally doing some archery in the woods? Yes! But we’ve been in a happy relationship ever since.”
Annabeth had to admit that she was rather jealous of Reyna’s somewhat crazy love story. “But still. A fortune teller sounds fucking crazy and you know -”
Two bangs on the door disrupted Annabeth’s speech. “Are all of you decent?” Beckendorf’s muffled voice asked from outside.
“Yes!” the group of women answered. The tall head waiter entered the room.
“Alright people! Shifts for next week.” Beckendorf coordinated the plans next to Mr. Brunner, the owner. He showed them his phone. A second later and everyone got the plan in the group chat.
“Tuesday? Seriously?” Hazel groaned. She needed that day off to work on her jewelry project.
“You know that we can’t rely all too much on cokehead Dakota in the kitchen, Hazel. I’m sorry. But complain to Mr. Brunner for that.”
The rest of the group was rather pleased with their plans. Annabeth had the next two days off and could focus on her university assignments. “Alright guys! See you!”
The light of the day had been swallowed by darkness. The friends parted ways as every single one of them lived in a different part of Manhattan. Annabeth slowly walked through the artificially illuminated streets that weren’t as busy as during the day time. There were still a bunch of people chasing their activities and ignoring her in the grand scheme of things. A scent crawled into her nose. It was so intense that it made her stop and sneeze several times. It was a mixture of cinnamon, black pepper, jasmine, chili, and something else, something earthy scented.
“What?” Annabeth looked around her. She was confused. Where did this odd sent come from all of a sudden? She thought her mind was playing a game with her but no. The blonde caught movement from the corner of her eyes and a ray of light suddenly appeared behind her. The alley that was shared between two houses and their large garbage containers had a new presence. The dumpsters were gone. Instead there was a tent with a rolled-out red carpet in front of its entrance. Annabeth stared in awe. The imagery in front of her was so wrong. So out of place. So not New York City.
The tent was incredibly large and stretched throughout the entire alley. It had the shape of a circus tent, but it was draped in a deep violet velvet fabric. It looked expensive and custom made. Golden embroidery formed weird signs and letters on it. Annabeth only recognized Roman numbers, the zodiac signs and some runes and hieroglyphs here and there. “Come on! Enter!” demanded a voice from the inside. It was the rich voice of a woman. It sounded friendly; polite even. Annabeth turned around to see if the voice was directed at her. The street was empty apart from her. What? How…? Where are all the people? They were gone.
“Yes, I mean you, my dear.” The woman laughed.
Annabeth’s feet moved on their own. Did she mean to enter the tent or didn’t she? No matter, it was too late to change her mind. As she pulled the curtain open, she was greeted by yet another cloud of the weird spice mix, at least she didn’t sneeze this time. It was fairly dark inside. The lights from earlier were almost gone. Candles dimly lit the space. The tent looked like it was divided into two sections. The entrance where Annabeth stood was filled with all sorts of things. Treasure chests, suitcases, bookshelves which seemed like they would burst at any minute given, a mirror on each side, dozens of paintings, pictures and drawn signs on the wall. Different eras and periods were fighting against each other in one epic battle. It was so overwhelming to look at that Annabeth couldn’t focus on one thing at a time.
“Please have a seat.” The woman was in the other section which was closed off by another set of heavy curtains. In the middle of the room was a robustly built old wooden antique table. On it was of course a crystal ball and more candles, surrounded by a deck of cards with a red and white diamond pattern. The chairs mirrored each other. Old and worn in, yet elegant and expensive.
Annabeth had a bad feeling but did what the woman asked her to do. She slumped into it with the uneasiness of an almost scared little girl. Where the feeling came from, she did not know. All her heart felt was distrust. “Welcome!”
The curtain had been torn away and the jovial woman stepped forward into the light. Oh my fucking god Annabeth thought and tried to suppress a snort. It had to be a joke. This weird fortune teller really had a knack for fulfilling every cliché. Her dark dress was of a weird flower pattern mixed with Greek and hieroglyphics. She wore big golden hoop earrings and had a red bandana wrapped around her head. Her body was beautiful, curvy and luscious. A high nose, dimples, and red lips turned into a grin that revealed some golden teeth and a canine that had been replaced by a jade stone.
But her eyes. The eyes were off. Annabeth couldn’t place her finger on it. They had such a light brown eye color that almost equaled the flame of a lighter. Annabeth had the feeling that the woman was older than she seemed. Her eyes had witnessed things.
“They call me Hestia,” she introduced herself. Her golden rings and bracelets clanged. “Lady Hestia of the Hearth, to be exact.”
“Alrighty then, Lady Hestia,” Annabeth merely raised an unimpressed blonde eyebrow. She had to admit. This strange Lady Hestia oozed a buoyant and vitalized aura. She took her seat in front of Annabeth and flung her perfect orange curls over her shoulder.
“I presume you are here to have your future told, my dear.” Lady Hestia picked up and shuffled the set of cards around her crystal ball at such a speed that it made Annabeth nearly nauseous.
“Not really. I should leave, it’s already late.” The gleam in Hestia’s eyes said No. You’re going to stay. Annabeth narrowed her eyes. A smirk appeared on the tanned face of the woman in front of her.
“But it was already foretold that you are supposed to be here!” Lady Hestia laughed.
“Everything had already been aligned and was set before you were born. Before I came to be. But don’t worry. We are going to have a great time.”
Lady Hestia winked, but Annabeth was still not into this whole thing. “Let us start easy by playing a simple card game. A warm up, so to speak.” She divided the cards into four piles and gave each one a little push.
“Let us remove the face cards to make it easier, if I may?” Annabeth’s voice failed to operate. The young college student had to admit that she was impressed by the speed and accuracy. It was abundantly clear that the fortune teller had a knack for card magic.
Another swift move and Lady Hestia removed the entire third row. 20 piles suddenly became 16. Then she arranged the cards again so that the gap was closed. “Think of a card please.”
“Okay.” Annabeth decided to play along. She was just not following her rules. She said no face cards, right? Lady Hestia’s smile seemed honest. Almost.
“Truly think this through. Close your eyes and open your inner ones.” Annabeth closed her eyes and was greeted by darkness. A card came to her mind. The queen of hearts. Easy.
“Have you made your decision?” Lady Hestia asked. Annabeth opened her eyes and nodded.
“Very well.” Lady Hestia’s hands hovered over the cards. It seemed like she could not decide which card to unveil. She chose the second card of the third row from Annabeth’s perspective. 8 of clubs. Now the corners of Annabeth’s mouth turned up.
“No, that is not it,” sighed the woman in front of her and uncovered the card next to it. 8 of spades. The urge to laugh was something Annabeth was trying to resist. The fortune teller unveiled the fourth card. 8 of diamonds. Annabeth bit her tongue. She was a 21-year-old trying to trick a trickster and it was way too funny for her.
“Did you really think I would fall for that cheap trick?” The smile turned sinister. The delighted mood was gone, and a coldness crawled up Annabeth’s neck.
“Next time… Try to set a trap that’s a little bit more creative, my dear.” The last card, which was the third card that Lady Hestia uncovered, was the queen of hearts.
“What?! But you said you removed the face cards?! How did you pull that off?!”
Lady Hestia’s laughter was smug. “You have the right to betray me, do I not have the right to betray you?” Annabeth felt her face turn red and she refused to meet her eyes.
“This shall remain a little secret of mine, my dear.”
“Alright. I’ve had enough of this bullshit and have better things to do.” Annabeth got up. Lady Hestia shuffled her cards and looked unimpressed at her outburst. Like a tired mother waiting for her child to calm down on her own.
“You are clearly frustrated.” said the fortune teller after taking a good look at Annabeth’s agitated face.
“Oh really?” The blonde muttered through her teeth. “I’m sorry Lady Hestia, but all of this-” Annabeth’s hands were all over the place. “Just isn’t something for me-”
“You are unhappy with the burden of your family. The high expectations of your mother and your father,” Lady Hestia disrupted her. Annabeth’s eyes widened.
“How did you-”
“The head of a tech company as a father and a demanding lawyer as a mother. Frederick and Athena Chase.” Annabeth’s mouth jaw dropped a little bit. How did she know all of this?
“But that isn’t even the large part of your frustration, is it not?” Lady Hestia’s smirk was warm on the surface, but it subtly sparked with sadism. She enjoyed herself all too well.
“The reason why you are truly frustrated is because your friends are right.” A flame gleamed in the eyes of the fortune teller and hypnotized Annabeth.
“Love. You miss it and desperately need it. You cry during romantic movies, you secretly read cheap erotic romance novels on your phone in hopes that no one’s watching. You truly believe the words of others. Should you not find a suitable lover before the age of 25 and it will be over for you. You want the one and only one for you, and you’d rather wait for decades than to sell yourself to the cheapest bidder. But that, my dear Annabeth Chase, is where you are wrong. This is where I can help you.” Lady Hestia’s hand rested on the table with the palms up.
“Let me take a look at your future, my dear. I hope I can bring you some good news. Some change to relieve the burden of your maiden heart. Your blindness to see the world between the worlds is very cute, young girl.” Annabeth fell down to the chair. She was speechless, she was flabbergasted. She was embarrassed. This was too unreal. This was a fever dream. This was Annabeth’s mind playing a trick on herself.
“I am not frustrated, and I don’t need a relationship,” Annabeth replied and sounded a little too aggressive in her own defense.
Lady Hestia’s slim fingers opened an old golden box on her table. Annabeth was startled. Had this tiny chest always been on the table? “In that case let me simply clear your mind, Annabeth.” The redhead had a weird accent Annabeth couldn’t place and the way she said her name made Annabeth feel very weird.
Old cards were lifted out of their cage and Annabeth admitted her defeat. The cards looked like they were the most valuable items in the entire tent. The edges were golden, and they were double the size of the regular playing cards. Lady Hestia separated them into four rows with five cards. 20 in total. Annabeth caught a glimpse into the little box. The fortune teller had not picked up all her cards, a large amount remained where they were.
The backs of the cards varied. They were either yellow with fine golden stripes or of a rich purple. The most compelling detail was the large piercing eye. Glowing red directly pointed at you. Watching your every move. Judging the final decision. The word Lady was written above the eye, the word Hestia below it. “Past, present and future united,” smiled the mysterious woman.
“The past brought you here, the present makes you stay, but the future…” Her hands wandered over the ocean of cards.
“Lies here for you. Ready to be uncovered. Find the way to your desire, my dear child. The ways to your true potential. What is important is that you may pick only one card. The right card. Do not make hasty your decision, Annabeth Chase. Focus and think through it. Let your intuition guide you but only settle for a card once your mind has validated your choice.”
Gold. Purple. Gold. Purple. Gold. Four rows. There were too many cards and Annabeth was only supposed to pick one of them? Make one choice? Weren’t tarot reads made up by several cards that were supposed to guide one? Annabeth’s hand was hovering over the cards. Which one? Which one? Which one? Gold or purple. Purple or gold. Her hand came to a halt.
Hestia’s eyes glowed of an unnatural red. Yes. The correct choice. The grin of unnatural evil. Her teeth glistened in the dim light and the corners of her mouth stretched so far up her cheeks it seemed like the fortune teller had put on a mask of the mischievous. A true Glasgow Smile. Annabeth had the feeling that the wind howling outside was trying to break into the tent. The ground rattled, was it an earthquake? Or was it her heartbeat pumping so loud and fast that it nearly deafened her? Annabeth was pretty sure that she heard thunder cracking outside somewhere in the distance and its echo rumbling through the streets. It was like she had sealed her future. Signed a deal with the devil. Swore the highest oath. Made an unbreakable vow.
With a staggering breath Annabeth’s hand lowered itself to the third card of the third row. It was a similar position to where the queen of hearts had been earlier. Her fingertips hovered over the card and nearly backtracked. An electric shock made its way from the card to her fingers and passed throughout her entire body. It was too late. Annabeth had made her choice. The card was glued to her fingers and there was no escape.
“That is your choice, Annabeth Chase?” Her voice sounded so dark, so old all of a sudden. Like the air had been sucked out of her entire being and the pressed words were all that could leave Lady Hestia’s mouth.
“Yes.” Annabeth didn’t know why she was so nervous.
“Very well!” Lady Hestia clapped her hands in delight. “Uncover it.”
The voice had a very demanding tone. Firmly, Annabeth grabbed the card with the golden back and turned it around. She gasped. What? It said Le Mat on the lower half.
“Le mat. The fool. You have made your decision. You have sealed your future.”
Annabeth took a good look at the card. The background was blurred but she was sure it was some body of water. A young man was depicted. He looked like the lovechild between Casanova and Jack Sparrow. His pitch-black wavy hair fell to his shoulders and looked to be captured by an unseen breeze. He wore a wide blouse that was way too big for him but revealed his tanned collar bone and a little bit of his chest. A brown belt transitioned into a weird set of pants. They had a weird red and blue diamond pattern that looked absolutely hideous on its own but made his legs seem muscular. One hand rested on his hip while the other hand was raising a sword to the sky.
What struck Annabeth was his handsome face. It seemed so real. So photorealistic despite the age of the card itself. His tanned face had a prominent jaw, a straight nose and high cheekbones. His lips were pulled into a grin. He looked at her somewhat mischievously. But, what really captured Annabeth was his beautiful sea-green eye. It was of a deep green and one that Annabeth had never seen before. It almost put her in a trance. The color was way too hypnotizing.
But it was one eye. One solely. The left one had been covered by a black piece of fabric that served as an eye patch. Despite that it hid a good part of his face, it didn’t turn Annabeth off. No, it actually captured her interest even further. On his head sat a brown triangle shaped hat made out of straw. Annabeth’s eyes wandered up. A word was engraved above the depiction. Or rather a name. PERSEVS.
“The Fool is called Perseus?” Annabeth questioned. She was confused and her eyebrows knitted together. Tarot wasn’t her thing, but she was sure that she never heard about a rule that cards had set names.
“This fool is called Perseus, yes indeed.” Lady Hestia nodded. She collected the remaining cards.
“Juvenile, some say careless, and a little bit naïve perhaps, but nonetheless an important part of your life. The Fool will guide you.”
That was supposed to be the answer to her dried-up love life? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was Annabeth’s partner going to be like that? Someone that probably wouldn’t mesh with her at all? Was she supposed to live her life to the fullest even if it meant to turn at the wrong corners? Lady Hestia followed the emotional change of the blonde.
“The card is left out for interpretation. Seek your journey and the truth and your part in it will unveil itself in time due, my child,” she truthfully answered.
“That is the end of the reading.” Annabeth looked up to her. You’ve got to be kidding me. All of this spiel for this?
“Can I perhaps do something else for you?” Lady Hestia tilted her head in a curious manner. Almost as if she was a cat cornering a mouse, excited to dive in for the final kill.
“No, that’s all.” Annabeth declined. The rush from earlier died down and left an emptiness inside of her. Her fingers were still tightly wrapped around the card, which started to heat up. Annabeth held the card out for Hestia, but the redhead shook her head at her and didn’t even try to hide her amusement.
“No, no,” she smiled. “It is your future after all. You might need him. Take good care of him.”
Annabeth’s eyes widened. Why? How? It was the day and age of the internet. Even if Annabeth was interested in doing more research into this tarot reading and fortune telling nonsense, she could always just google the cards and their meaning. “Okay…” she simply said.
“And your services…?”
“Everything is on the house, my dear. I got to meet you. That is my payment.” Lady Hestia’s smile could almost be considered honest if it hadn’t been for the lies reflected in her eyes.
Annabeth just nodded and decided to let the weird woman in front of her be. The weird force and heavy feeling that pressed Annabeth into the old chair were lifted. She had regained full consciousness and was in control of her body again. With a swift move, the blonde stood up and grabbed her backpack that was leaning against her chair.
“In that case…Goodnight.” Annabeth merely nodded and turned around to leave the tent.
“Goodnight,” replied Lady Hestia as Annabeth left her tent.
As soon as the cold November breeze hit Annabeth and her legs had gotten her two streets further, it dawned on her. The utter and complete bullshit of everything that had been said added to something else. She came to a stop.
How did this weird woman know me? The solution came to her quickly, as she tried to brush her sweaty fingers off her jeans only to realize that she had never put them on again. She still wore the black skirt and black tights underneath it as a part of her uniform. Around her waist, visible to read, was her name tag from The Big House.
“Of fucking course,” the blonde muttered. No magic, no fortune telling. Distraction and foul tricks only. Frederick and Athena Chase were very prominent figures and most people that have met Annabeth for the very first time said that she was a carbon copy of her mother. So, piecing the pieces together didn’t seem all too far-fetched. The young college student was filled with anger now. It wasn’t the humiliation of being deceived, it was the fact that she had lost a precious hour of the evening which she could have used to polish the last parts of her assignment or prepared her work uniform so that she wouldn’t have to bother to do that hastily on Tuesday. But no. Annabeth fell for the trap that had been that lunatic Lady Hestia.
Annabeth turned around. She had the urge to march right back to the tent like a small child and give that woman a good lecture on how to be a decent human being. Then again… she had other things to do. Better things to do.
The tarot card in her hands burned. She took a good look at it. Le mat. The Fool. Perseus. Her feet dragged her to the nearest garbage bin. “Fuck this,” she hissed and tossed the card away. The smiling fool fell into the rotting contents of the bin. Goodbye Perseus.
Life came back to the streets and continued as always in Manhattan. It was like nothing had changed. And Annabeth marched right back home.
“Insolent child, far too predictable,” Hestia said as her grim laughter filled the darkness of the tent. “You cannot escape the world between worlds, Annabeth Chase. A lesson to be learned over and over again, it seems.”
Her fingers, heavily weighted down by her many rings, glided into the box with her tarot cards. She picked the first one and flipped it. It was the very card that Annabeth Chase had just ignorantly discarded. The Fool greeted the wicked woman with a blank stare. Gone was his carefree grin. He angrily stared at Hestia with his one glowing sea-green eye. “I have told you I would give you another chance when the time was right, Perseus, now is your chance to prove yourself.”
Her sadistic grin agitated the Fool even more, she spat the following words at him. “Do not blame me if it doesn’t work out. The ways of the future are wicked. Do not mess this up, I will not guide you, you will be all alone,” she warned him.
Perseus opened his mouth to scream but only muffled sounds made its way to the tent. Hestia laid the card flat on her palm and then blew on it. Now she could truly hear his screams. The layers of paint lifted from the card. Flake by flake, speck by speck, was carried by the air. The curtains of her tent lifted, and the particles vanished. The lights on the inside died completely. The only thing that remained were golden teeth and a pair of mischievous golden eyes that waited in anticipation.
*****
Annabeth finally got home. She checked her phone. It was 11:34 pm and she was the first one to arrive home. It was no surprise to her. It had been that way since freshman year ever since Malcolm had left the household for university. Her parents thrived through being busy with their work and her older brother rarely visited the expensive townhouse. He lived his own life far away on the West Coast and mostly didn’t bother to check in on the family. As cold as that sounded Annabeth could very much understand him.
As children they got along perfectly, but as soon as Malcolm started high school his demeanor changed from a carefree teen into an outright cynic to his final days of senior year. Their parents had planned out their entire lives. From when they would start at an expensive elementary school, to private middle and high schools that were filled with the same bland people to the paths they would etch in ivy league schools. Annabeth was pretty sure that her mother had noted down somewhere in her calendar to congratulate her on giving birth to her second child in 2035.
The only upside they had was that their parents tried to raise them as nanny free as possible. Their father was present in the lives of the two siblings before he had been promoted several times. But by then Annabeth and Malcolm had been fairly independent. Malcolm was interested in music and played several instruments but just when he realized he wanted to be a musician, their parents immediately intervened. So, he became a lawyer like their mother and left the world of music Malcolm went on to chase money instead of happiness.
When it was Annabeth’s turn to decide what she was doing in the future she had a significant fight with her parents. Annabeth loved drawing and the arts and was set on going to the art school of her dreams, her parents crushed her dream with a harsh veto. Annabeth was supposed to follow her parents, not the other way around. She came up with a way to combine both perspectives: study architecture. It had the design elements and something practical attached to it. With her mother still saying no, but her father’s protest slowly dwindling a bit, Annabeth felt encouraged to proceed.
Athena was dead set on engineering. She had more of a steady income in a true STEM field. Her double major in Urban Design and Architecture Studies and History still put a frown onto her mother’s face. Annabeth was a Harvard legacy and decided to waste her precious time at NYU. At least they didn’t have shouting matches anymore that lasted for hours. Not that Athena had the time to do that.
Annabeth microwaved some leftovers and rushed to her bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes. She removed her nametag and placed her blouse and skirt on the ironing board. Despite her parent’s wealth, she tried to live as independently as possible. Annabeth felt like she was indebted to them as they financed nearly everything. A reason for her to get out of the house with a job on a semi regular basis.
Annabeth ate her food straight out of the container and rinsed it out. Tomorrow would be full of courses and group project meetups she was not looking forward to.
A strange feeling overcame her as soon as she laid in bed. It wasn’t the feeling of being tired, it was the feeling of a deep burden that pressed her into the soft mattress. She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. Five…four…three…two…one. It helped. She fell asleep. But the turmoil followed her into the dreams. She dreamed about water. Dangerous waters. Being surrounded by it, not being able to swim away and get out of it. She was swallowed by it. She lost control. She was pulled into the depth of a light blue ocean that got darker the deeper she sank. Annabeth’s head turned around. A pair of sea-green eyes broke the darkness below her. She had the feeling that the individual was smiling. It didn’t matter. The eyes fell apart and turned into a soft green fog that spread throughout the darkness and took over her vision.
Annabeth’s vision turned black, but she could hear one thing. It was her mad laughter, Lady Hestia of the Hearth. The type of laughter that made one’s stomach turn and etched itself into one’s memory.
*****
Annabeth opened her eyes solely because she was getting blinded by light. It was bright outside. Too bright. Disoriented, she rolled to her left to grab her phone off her nightstand. Where the fuck are you?! Drew Tanaka, her groupmate, had sent her dozens of text messages. It’s crunch time and you’re seriously flaking? What the fuck is wrong with you Chase?! Cameron also decided to not show up! Thanks guys! “Oh shit!” the blonde screeched and threw the covers away.
It was 11:24 am and Annabeth had overslept. I’m so sorry! I’m on my way! Annabeth lied and chucked her phone back to her bed again, grabbed a pile of clothes from her wardrobe and ran into the bathroom to take the quickest shower in her life. Drew wasn’t the most cordial person. She was about her work and about her work only. She was demanding but an excellent partner that would treat you with the utmost respect if you delivered. Emphasis on if.
Annabeth ran into the kitchen, to grab a bite and was surprised to see her father sipping his coffee. The confusion was shared.
“Where’s mom?”
“Went to the office about two hours ago.” Of course.
“Don’t you have some classes right now?” Frederick checked his wristwatch.
“Uh yeah,” Annabeth made before stealing an apple and preparing some toast. Seeing her father threw her off, but time slipping away made her focus again.
“You don’t oversleep. None of you ever did.” he stated factually and raised a dark blond eyebrow. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”
It was the pretense of caring. The pretense of being a father figure. Frederick only cared about what the public, employees and fellow fortune 500 CEOs could wind up knowing. Bad press was press after all, yes. Good old PR talk. But bad press could destroy important business deals and reputations for years to come.
“Nothing. Just didn’t sleep very well.”
It was clear that he didn’t believe her, but he also didn’t feel the need to pressure his daughter. Key difference to Athena. “Well in that case go to class. I hate to see money wasted.” Annabeth ignored the boiling rage that was bubbling up, called an Uber and waited outside. She’d rather be greeted by the coldness of the street rather than face the coldness at home.
*****
Annabeth took her seat next to Lee Fletcher in her Greek Architecture class. Heads had turned to the door for five seconds before everyone decided to pay attention to Dr. Thorn again. Their usually rather stern professor didn’t even care as long as Annabeth didn’t create that much noise. It wasn’t high school after all. “What’s going on?” Lee turned to her.
“I’ve never seen Drew so pissed before.” As if summoned, Drew turned around to Annabeth to give her the dirtiest look. Annabeth only mustered an apologizing frown before the Japanese student focused on the more important matters in front of her.
“I simply overslept,” hissed Annabeth as she unpacked.
“Miss Chase, you’ve already created enough turmoil. It would be better to focus on the studies at hand. I sincerely hope that you won’t turn out to be one of the many students in here that come crying to my office for some extra credit.” Ah, there was Dr. Thorn’s snark. Rumors and snickering. Annabeth blushed, nonetheless.
She grabbed her laptop and opened it. Her gray eyes widened. She was barely able to contain the loud gasp from escaping her mouth. No, no, no! No, that’s impossible?! How in the…?! “What’s that?” asked Lee and pointed to her laptop.
Resting on her screen was a card. Not just any card. A tarot card. It was a very particular tarot card. It was the Fool. He was grinning again at her like he had the previous night in Hestia’s tent. His sea-green eye appeared to be even more vibrant than before. More details and intricacies caught Annabeth’s eye, but the blonde pushed the aesthetic analysis out of her head. How did the card manage to find her way into her laptop? How did it make its way to her backpack?
Annabeth remembered tossing that card into a pile of stinking junk clearly. She was playing the scenario over and over again. Did she throw it away or didn’t she? Did she have the intention of throwing it away and mixed it up somehow? Annabeth definitely had the laptop in her backpack yesterday. She went directly from her last class to her part-time job. Was her mind playing tricks on her?
“It looks interesting. I like the enlightenment aesthetic. The 18th Century and earlier times really had some wonderful art pieces including brilliant architectural structures. I wish the designs from centuries ago would make a comeback. These post-modern structures we’re constantly spoon fed are so ugly and so empty. They really do feel tiring,” her classmate sighed. A true history nerd. Annabeth grabbed the card and chucked it into her backpack. The Fool was swallowed by the darkness all but his uncovered eye.
“Oh, that’s just a gift,” she lamely lied. “But yeah, I agree with you. Old aesthetics are pleasing and all.”
Dr. Thorn turned to her for the third time. Annabeth decided to shut up for the remainder of the lecture. After that she had to practically ass kiss Drew to forgive her. What a time to be alive.
*****
Annabeth met up with Piper and Silena Beauregard for a quick lunch. Silena was a friend Annabeth had made ages ago back in her summer camp days. Coincidentally, Silena was also dating head waiter Beckendorf, who did his masters in Mechatronics and Robotics. An inseparable dream team since the last year of camp ages ago.
Silena lured Piper into a conversation about ethical fashion and sustainability whereas Annabeth was downing a Caesar salad and chugging a smoothie. A smoothie which almost slipped through her hands due to her shorter pinkie. At least she didn’t spill anything. Her poor breakfast, which made her haste, left its mark.
“Jesus, Annabeth,” Silena threw her dark hair over the shoulder. “Slow down! You’ll choke!”
Her French accent and her concern were certainly adorable. Annabeth could see why Beckendorf had fallen for a grace like Silena. Truly beautiful on the inside and out.
Annabeth nodded but continued to eat like she hadn’t had a proper meal in years. Silena sighed and carried on with the conversation. Annabeth’s mind was still clouded. Was she hallucinating? No, she was sure she wasn’t. Was she on drugs? The only thing she recently took was an edible that made her vomit buckets because her friends had the brilliant idea of screwing up the ratios. And that had been over a month ago.
“Uhm… guys?” She received the attention from her bickering friends.
“Do you ever get that feeling where you’re absolutely one hundred percent an event occurred a certain way but then it turns out that you’ve remembered it wrong? But you’re still sure that it happened the way you remembered it?”
“What? Like the Mandela effect?” Silena asked and turned to her.
“Well, yes… and no. It isn’t really something the wide public mistakes. I… I threw something away… A piece of paperand then it mysteriously reappeared in my backpack. I think I’m going crazy...”
“Was it something important?” Piper questioned as she twisted the cap off her green smoothie.
Lady Hestia certainly made it seem like it was. Annabeth brushed that thought aside. “Just a piece of paper,” she lied.
“Hmm,” Silena thought loudly. “I think it’s just stress?”
“Stress?” Annabeth didn’t like that answer.
“Yes, stress,” her friend laughed. “Annabeth, you are in your junior year at university, trying to find internships and you are working part time as well. On top of all of your assignments. That is pretty stressful if I may say so. As honorable as it is to see you pull through with that, you’ve got me concerned. There’s only so much a body can take before it crashes. If you truly think I believe that you get your seven hours of sleep daily, you are mistaken.”
Piper shrugged. “Silena’s right. You might have misplaced the card. It’s just stress, Annie.”
“You belong in jail for calling me that, Piper.”
“But you still love me!” An evil grin. Annabeth sighed before she punched her shoulder. Hard. Piper screamed and punched her back. The situation didn’t break into a fight as Annabeth was laughing way too much and Piper went back to her preferred method of cussing her out. Silena was startled at first, then she laughed.
But her friends might have had a point. Annabeth was rushing to get home yesterday. Yesterday had been a pretty chaotic day in itself. Perhaps her mind was truly playing some games.
“Oh Annabeth,” the brunette Silena wiped a tear away and continued to laugh at the childish ways of her friends.
“Bold and brash Annabeth. Do not ever change your ways. I beg you.”
*****
Annabeth waited for the lectures to come to an end. The college student would be busy till the early evening unless she decided to skip some classes, which she wouldn’t. She had to find this Hestia fortune teller person. How on earth did she smuggle the card into her laptop? Annabeth was convinced that she had thrown the card away. The card was gone, it hadn’t been into her possession anymore.
Her friends did have a point. Her life was way too hectic and frenzied for someone of her young age. But she was convinced that her mind didn’t fail her. The weird encounter with that Lady Hestia woman, the weird games and talks… That fortune teller…that witch. She must have played another game with her to completely mind fuck her. Annabeth would run back to the alley and give that weird woman a lecture if it needed to be done. Coldness and annoying cyclists be damned.
Annabeth turned around to enter the street and came to a halt. Her eyes widened. “Huh?!”
The blonde ran to the alley. The same old three large dumpsters were placed there again, like they always were. Gone was the large luxurious purple tent. Gone was Lady Hestia of The Hearth. Annabeth’s heart dropped. She wanted to scream. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Who would set up a tent this size for who knows how many clients for one single day? Annabeth had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The stench of the alley got to her and she backed out of it. Annabeth looked around. The street was less busy than on its peak around midday, but there were still some people walking through here and there.
A man that Annabeth had seen multiple times crossing the street stopped to enter his house. “Excuse me, sir!” the blonde crossed the road and ran up the steps after him.
The man turned around, visibly surprised. “Yes? What can I do for you?”
“You live here, right?”
“Well, obviously.” He pointed to the keys that were stuck in the door.
Annabeth had no time for getting flustered over a stupid question. “When I walked through the street here yesterday evening there had been a tent between those two houses,” Annabeth pointed to the direction of the alley. “There was a fortune teller named Hestia giving out advice for free. Have you seen how she left? Did she have other clients?”
“A fortune teller? Do you mean that circus freak show that made its way to Queens?” The man raised a confused eyebrow and simply shook his head.
“Are you sure? There hasn’t been any attraction or strange woman roaming around lately?”
“Sorry, lady. That’s the only show in that direction that I know of. There hasn’t been a circus or a fortune teller. And certainly not in a dirty alley.”
Then the man turned around to enter his home and left Annabeth and her troubled thoughts alone.
Speechless once again, Annabeth grabbed her phone and texted Reyna. Hey, you talked about a fortune teller, right? It took a few minutes for Reyna to answer her. Yes and? Thought about going? ;) Annabeth rolled her eyes. I unfortunately was there already. Where are they located? Do you remember their name? Reyna sent her the address. They’re part of a circus show in Queens. Sorry, my bad, can’t remember the name. Something with Delphi perhaps? But let me know if they tell you something interesting :D Or do you need backup and want all of us to go?
Annabeth nearly growled. A passerby looked at her with large eyes and quickened his steps. Great. Everyone thinks I’m crazy, the blonde sighed. I’ll let you know. On my way home she texted. See you tomorrow! Reyna replied.
This Lady Hestia of The Hearth was a fraud. She was in no association with that circus in Queens. She came out to get a hold of her but why? Annabeth’s thoughts tried to come up with any possible excuse that wasn’t some flimsy mythological or magical bullshit. She came to no conclusion. The closest things that came to her mind were drugs or a hallucination, but the young woman was convinced that everything happened. The glowing card in her backpack was proof enough.
Everything is on the house, my dear. I got to meet you. That is my payment Annabeth remembered Lady Hestia’s words. That in itself was sketchy. Nothing comes for free after all.