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Richmond, Virginia

July 12, 2007

Annabeth was five when the door appeared. 

She was trying to fall asleep after a long, hard day. A day full of no one believing her about the spiders that came to her every night. She lay in bed, clutching the dagger that had been a gift from her mother, Athena, the night Annabeth was claimed. She waited for the spiders to come, full of dread. 

And come they did. 

But then, the door appeared. Old, oak, and standing unsupported in the center of her room. Without thinking, she ran toward it and pulled its brass knob open. 

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Night Vale, USA

2007

“Listeners, there is a child in the studio.” said the man in the recording booth. Annabeth had stumbled out of the old oak door into a radio station. She looked out the window, into a desert. Desert? She thought, in Virginia? 

“Ex-excuse me sir,” Annabeth said to the man, “where am I?” 

“Why, you’re in Night Vale, of course. What’s your name?”

“Um… Annabeth. Annabeth Chase.”

“Hello, Annabeth. I’m Cecil. The radio host.” He smiled at her. 

Cecil seemed nice, but he looked strange. Blond hair, three purple eyes. Three? What?? And… tattoos. Lots of them. They looked like… tentacles. Huh. Weird. 

“Are you lost?” Cecil asked. 

Am I? I can’t go back to my family. They hate me. Annabeth thought. 

“Yes.” Annabeth replied. 

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“Soooo… where are we going?” Annabeth asked. She and Cecil were in his car, driving through the small desert town of Night Vale, Cecil having finished his broadcast, which was very strange, in Annabeth’s opinion. 

“To my place,” Cecil replied, “I thought you could spend some time there until I figure out where you can stay.”

“I can’t stay with you? Like, you can’t adopt me?” 

Cecil considered that. “I guess… we could try that.”

Annabeth smiled. Even though the local radio host was a bit weird- and that was putting it mildly- he was too nice to be one of the monsters she had encountered while trying to run away from her family before. He didn’t seem like he was trying to kidnap her, either. Annabeth decided Cecil would make a great dad. 

“Ah, here we are!” he said, stopping the car. Cecil and Annabeth had pulled up to an apartment building, a bit worn. He got out, her following close behind. A late-night jogger across the street pointed at Annabeth and yelled “INTERLOPER!” before calmly walking on. What was THAT? Annabeth thought. This place is weird. 

She stepped into the apartment Cecil unlocked. “Sorry, it’s a bit small. And messy.” Cecil said. 

“It’s okay. Where will I be sleeping?” Annabeth asked. 

“Um… here on the couch. I guess. I could go talk to the City Council tomorrow, see if they’ll let me adopt you.” he replied. 

Annabeth was soon asleep on the couch, happy with her new, albeit strange, home.

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Cecil walked down to City Hall, thinking about the five-year-old girl, Annabeth, he had found. He wasn’t kidnapping her, per se, since she had come willingly. He Knew that she had a family. A dad. A stepmom. Her real mom was the goddess Athena. Normal stuff. The only thing Annabeth had brought with her were the clothes on her back and her glowing, bronze knife, so he would have to buy more clothes and stuff for her tomorrow. She had come through an old oak door. That was weird, even for Night Vale. 

When he arrived at City Hall, Cecil had to bleed on the door in order to get in. He came before the City Council and asked if he could adopt Annabeth Chase. The council roared and replied in perfect unison, “Yes. You may.” 

Cecil smiled. Annabeth was his daughter now, and he would treat her as such. 

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Night Vale, USA

June 15, 2012

Annabeth Palmer sat down in the school cafeteria next to her friend and adopted cousin, Janice.
Together, Annabeth and Janice were unstoppable. Janice, being a basketball player, was strong, but also smart. Annabeth, being a daughter of Athena(something everyone in Night Vale excepted) was extremely bright. They could probably kill librarians together, and would not hesitate to do so. However, they only saw each other away from their families, Janice’s mom, Abby, was Cecil’s sister, but they weren’t very close, and Cecil outright hated Steve Carlesburg, Janice’s stepdad.

The girls were inseparable at school, though.

“Annabeth.” Janice said.

“Yeah?” Annabeth replied, a bit nervous at her cousin’s tone.

“Have you listened to your dad’s show today?”

“No… I’m always here before it starts, remember?”

“Oh… well-” Janice giggled “-it’s a bit interesting today.”

How is that out of the ordinary? Annabeth thought.

“Go on.” Annabeth said, propping her chin on her hands in front of her lunch. “I'm listening.”

“Weeeeeell….” Janice said, dragging out the word. “There’s a new guy in town. A scientist, I guess”

“How? I thought you couldn’t find Night Vale.”

“You did.”
“Not on purpose. I was five. And scared of the spiders at my-” Annabeth hesitated “-old house.”

Annabeth hated talking about her old life, pre-Night Vale. She hadn’t seen or thought about her old family in years. Cecil was her dad now. Not Frederick Chase. She hadn’t even thought about her cousin, Magnus, since 2007. She missed him.

“Well,” Janice said, interrupting Annabeth’s thoughts, “this guy and his team of scientists did.”

“Wait. There’s more?” Annabeth shrieked.

“Yeah. I don’t know how many, though.”

“Huh.” Annabeth said. “So was that all? Or…”

“No, that’s not all.” Janice smirked a bit.

“What is it, Janice.”

“I think your dad likes the guy.”

“What.”

“Yeah.”

Annabeth stared at the table blankly for a whole minute. She never once, in her five years in Night Vale, with all the weird shit she’d seen, she had never, ever, thought about her dad liking somebody. That was weird. She’d have to talk to her dad about that later. But for now, she ate her lunch with Janice.

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“Hey, Dad?” Annabeth called, plopping her bag down on the floor in her and her dad’s apartment. “Hi Annabeth! How was school?” Cecil said, coming into view. 

“We have to talk.”

“What do you mean, Do I like someone?” Cecil sputtered. 

“Well? Spill the tea, Dad.” 

“Um- I guess the new science guy is nice.”

Annabeth had to stifle a laugh. “Okay. I won’t push you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have homework to do.”

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Night Vale, USA
August 1, 2013

“Wh-where am I?” Annabeth cried, waking up with a start. “The library. You must be here for the Summer Reading Program.” said a girl. She looked to be maybe a year or two older than Annabeth.
“Who are you?” Annabeth asked.
“Tamika Flynn. And you are?”
“Annabeth.”
“Oooooooh. The radio host’s kid?”
“Yup. That’s me.”
“Well, kid, you’re gonna have to stick with us.” Tamika gestured toward the other kids. Suddenly, a growl rang out. “Run, Annabeth! Run! The librarians are coming!”
“The what?”
Tamika didn’t answer, she just grabbed Annabeth’s arm and ran.

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Tamika felt bad for Annabeth. She was only 11. Too young to suffer while fighting the librarians. Well, guess I have to keep her alive. Tamika thought, knowing that if the younger girl died, Cecil would be madder and sadder than he was during the broadcast on June 15, 2013. That had been… interesting to listen to. But if his daughter died, there was no telling what he’d do.

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As Annabeth ran, she pulled out her dagger, which thankfully had been with her when she woke up the library. She snuck up on a librarian, muttering, “I’m dyslexic, you piece of man-eating trash,” before stabbing it. “Woah,” said Tamika behind her, “that was badass. Where’d you get that knife?”
“Um-” Annabeth started, hesitant to say too much.
“Oh, crap! Look out!” Another one of the kids shouted. Annabeth ducked as Tamika hit a librarian with a copy of the unabridged Chronicles of Narnia.
“Is that an exit?” Annabeth asked, pointing to a door that had just appeared in the wall. But it wasn’t like that door from that night in 2007, or the ones that had been appearing around town. Instead, it was bright yellow.
Tamika grinned. “Looks like it.”

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As all the kids from the Summer Reading Program walked through the door, Annabeth realized that this was completely different from the door she had come from into Night Vale. This door, instead of leading straight to somewhere in the town, it lead to a series of twisting corridors, full of mirrors and different, shifting colors. She shivered, thinking of her dad’s fear of mirrors. Eventually, one of the kids said, “Look! A door! Maybe it leads back home!” Tamika, the group's elected leader, opened the door to find… the outside of the library. Annabeth immediately ran to the radio station at full speed.

“Dad! Dad! I’m okay!” she shouted, bursting into the recording booth, ignoring the ‘on air’ sign.
“Annabeth? You’re okay!” Cecil shouted, hugging her tightly, then proceeding to report this on the radio. He sent the listeners to the weather report, which today was ‘You and I Belong’ by Simone Felice. He asked all the Scared Dad Questions™ like, “Where were you?” “What happened?” “What do you need?” “Are you hurt?” Annabeth said she was fine, a bit scratched, that she had made new friends, and everything else.

That night, Annabeth fell asleep, happy to be home and safe with her dad, knowing that whatever happened, they would have each other.

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Night Vale, USA

June 15, 2014

Annabeth ran through the chaos, watching for the StrexCorp employees. She was clutching her dagger in her hand, having trained for a year now, after the Summer Reading Program incident. She knew the goal: overthrow Strex, hopefully get everyone in the desert otherworld back home. Annabeth stabbed an employee, running faster. One person shouted, “Believe in a Smiling God!”
“No! Fuck you!” she shouted, calling for her comrade and friend, Tamika, to finish the job. Tamika shot a copy of Les Misérables with a slingshot. Suddenly, there was a deep rumbling, and an old oak door opened. Annabeth stopped, wondering if her dad’s boyfriend Carlos, was coming back. Keep fighting, she told herself, he’ll be ok.

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Grover knew she was here somewhere. The demigod he was sent to find. The girl that had been missing for seven years. Not even the gods could find her. Annabeth Chase. Chiron said it was Athena who had finally gotten a mark on her lost daughter’s location. The town of Night Vale, she had said, in… Nevada? Arizona? New Mexico? We aren’t sure. All I know is my daughter’s there.

He had to find Annabeth.

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Annabeth watched the final Strex Corp employee disappear through the doors. She had heard her dad report it all over the radio. Dana Cardinal being elected mayor, the fighting, his phone calls with his boyfriend. He never could keep his mouth shut. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her.

“Are you Annabeth? Annabeth Chase? I’ve been sent to find you.” said the new boy. To find her. Maybe he was sent by her old family. Maybe they had found her, after seven fucking years. Or maybe- she shut down the thought. The Greek gods hadn’t contacted her since 2007.

“Yes. That’s me. But that’s not my name.” Annabeth said to the boy, sheathing her knife and crossing her arms.

“Oh. Um. W-what is it, then? Did you change it when you ran away?” he replied, obviously confused.

“No- well, I guess kind of? I got adopted, so my last name changed. Annabeth Palmer, at your service.”

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Grover shook Annabeth’s hand, introducing himself. When he told her he was from Camp Half-Blood, a camp for the children of the gods, she grimaced.

“I didn’t know there was a camp for people like me. Maybe I should’ve gone there.” Annabeth said, wiping what looked like sweat and blood from her forehead.

“Are you hurt? I know some first aid and-”

“No, I’m fine. You should’ve seen me after the librarians.”

“The what?” Grover stuttered. This place is strange. Fighting librarians? What did they do to you?
Seeing his face, Annabeth laughed and said “Yeah, it’s a bit weird, but when you’ve lived here for seven years, like I have, you get used to it. You should talk to my dad sometime. Weirdest guy I’ve ever met.” she said affectionately. “Speaking of my dad, I should go talk to him about this. But I will warn you, he’s going through it.”

“Yeah, a major battle will do that to you.”

“Oh, yeah that too. I was talking about the fact that his boyfriend, who he’s only dated for about a year, was just sealed in another plane of existence.”

“Excuse me. What.”

“Yup. Like I said, weird place.”

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Cecil took the news surprisingly well, all things considered. Annabeth introduced Grover, said what he was here for, asked if she could go. He said, “Yeah, sure, as long as I can drive you and your friend here. Where is this camp, anyway?” Grover, the poor kid looking hella confused, said it was in New York.

So that is how Annabeth ended up on a road trip with a new friend -who turned out to be part goat, by the way- and her dad. About a day later, they arrived. As Annabeth was gathering her stuff, she saw a boy who looked to be about her age, with black hair and green eyes, getting out of a car and saying to the person inside, “Bye! Love you, see you at the end of the summer!” in a British accent.

She walked up to the boy. “Um-hi.” Wow Annabeth, she thought, daughter of the goddess of wisdom, and that’s all you’ve got?

“Hello! What’s your name? I’m Percy!” He said, in that same accent.

“Annabeth. Who’s your godly parent? Is that normal to know?”

“No, I don’t know. You do?”

“I’m a daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom. I’ve known since I was five.”

“Huh. Guess I’ll find out soon, then.” Percy said. “Well, maybe we should head to that big blue house, then?”

“Uh, sure.”

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Annabeth had seen some strange things, so her new mentor being half horse wasn't that huge. Percy looked slightly amazed, but not blown away. There's a story there, Annabeth thought. 

Chiron led Percy to the Hermes cabin, where he and Annabeth parted ways before she went to the Athena cabin. 

"Annabeth, these are your siblings and cabinmates. Everyone, this is Annabeth. She's known about her parentage for a while now." Then Chiron bid them goodbye and left. 

"How long have you known?" One kid asked. This opened the floodgates to a shitload of kids asking their newfound sister about her life. At one point, one of them pointed at Annabeth's Night Vale Community Radio shirt she had been gifted by her dad, and said, "1) Where is Night Vale, and 2) You might want to change that."  

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Long Island, New York, USA

August 15, 2014

Annabeth was wrapping up her first summer at Camp Half-Blood. It had been eventful, but she'd made some new friends. But before she left, her friend Percy said he had something very important to tell her. 

"Percy? You had something to tell me?" Annabeth tentatively asked, walking up to Percy, who was standing on Half-Blood Hill, where Thalia Grace had died to protect her friends. 

"Oh-um. Hey, Annabeth. Yeah, I did. It's pretty weird, though." 

Annabeth had to suppress a laugh. Percy really had no idea how weird her life was. 

"Alright, Seaweed Brain, hit me with it."

"Ok, so. There are these... entities. Not quite gods, but powerful beings, I guess. Each one controls a different type of fear. There's the Web, the fear of being controlled, having no free will. It shows in spiders. There's the Eye, fear of being watched. The Lonley is the fear of being alone...."

Percy continued to explain the 15 Entities, and their servants, the avatars. Annabeth figured that Night Vale was most likely a- domain? Stronghold?- of the Spiral. 

When Percy was done explaining, Annabeth said, "So how do you know all this? Never really took you for a fan of the spooky, supernatural stuff."

"My dad, he works for this research place in London. It's called the Magnus Institute. They research the supernatural, and it turns out they serve the Eye. My dad is the Head Archivist- or the Archivist, I guess- so he's an avatar of the eye." 

"Huh. Thanks for telling me, but why did you?" 

"Well, uh, we got to know each other over the past few months, and I thought you should know."

After he said this, Annabeth noticed that her dad's car had pulled up. 

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain. See you next summer."

"Right back at ya, Wise Girl." 

Annabeth got in her dad's car, ready to go back home.

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Night Vale, USA

September 6, 2014

Annabeth had been home for about a month, and it felt good to be home, no matter how fun camp had been. She'd been missing Percy. 

That was, until he called her. 

"Hey?" Percy said.

"Percy! I've missed you! How's it been?"

"Good. I'm just wondering if I could talk to you about this podcast I listen to? I think you'd like it."

"Yeah sure. Hit me with it, Seaweed Brain."

"Okay, so! My dads have these friends they used to work with, and they run this cool podcast called What the Ghost! They-they look at supernatural sightings, and one of them used to run a ghost hunting YouTube channel. Recently, they put out this episode about a town in the American southwest. There was this account from a university that had a professor go missing who supposedly went to the town! It was so cool!"

"Um-what was the town called?"

"Oh, uh, Night Vale."

Unfortunetly for Annabeth, she had chosen that moment to take a sip of water. 

Which she spewed everywhere. 

"Wise Girl? You good? It sounds like you spit something out."

"No, no Percy. I'm good. Just... I problaby should have mentioned that I live in Night Vale, huh."

There was stunned silence, presumably as Percy took that in. 

"Well. Thanks for telling me? I really don't know what to do with that information."

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After the call ended, Percy ran downstairs.

"Hey, dads!" At this Jon and Martin looked up. "Remember that What the Ghost episode about Night Vale? Turns out, my friend Annabeth lives there! How crazy is that?"

After a pause, Jon said, "That's... interesting, kiddo. Do you mind if I tell Georgie and Melanie?"

"Not at all! I want them to know!"

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London, England

October 13, 2014

Percy grabbed his luggage and headed towards the car. His dads were going to fly with him to his friend, Annabeth's town in America, where he would be staying with her and her dad. 

"You ready, kiddo?" His dad Martin said.

"Yup! I'm so excited!"

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Night Vale, USA

October 14, 2014

Annabeth was nervous. What would happen to Percy in a place like Night Vale. Sure, the two of them had survived angry gods, a dangerous quest, and plenty of monsters, but her town was a whole other level. And he'd be staying at her place. So, so much could go wrong. 

She saw a car pull up in front of her apartment, and Percy and a man Annabeth had never seen got out. They walked up to the front of the building and went inside. 

Soon, she heard a knock on the door. 

"Hello, Percy." 

"Hey, Annabeth! This is my dad. He came to drop me off."

The man held out his hand, and Annabeth shook it. 

"Alright, Percy," he said, "don't get into trouble. Call us if you need anything."

"Love you!" 

After Percy's dad left, Annabeth said, "Well, how would you like a tour?"

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"To your left, you'll see the dog park. Do not approach it." Annabeth told Percy. 

Naturally, Percy being Percy, ran directly toward it. 

"Hey! I meant that! The dog park is very dangerous."

"Why?" Percy snorted, "it's a dog park. What's so dangerous about it?"

"Well, first off, the hooded figures will kill you. And second, it leads to another plane of existence, which is nearly impossible to escape."

That got Percy to stop. "Oh." was all he said.

"Anyway, a quick tip, Seaweed Brain, is that everyone in this town is a tad strange. Except, ironically, Tad Strange."

She gestured over to a man dressed in a white shirt, a tie, and black slacks.

"He moved here from Oregon a couple years ago. No one knows how he found us, but he's normal."

Annabeth finished showing Percy around. She showed him the radio station, where they popped in for a quick chat with her dad, the sand wastes, Old Town, and everything else. One thing she avoided, though, was the lab next to the pizza place. Percy didn't know why, and Annabeth wouldn't tell him. 

Overall, Night Vale seemed pretty normal. 

Percy had no idea what was coming. 

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Chapter 10

Long Island, New York, USA

June 15, 2015

“Hey, Percy!” Annabeth shouted, running up Half-Blood Hill. “How was the rest of your year?”

“It was good. Yours?” 

“...Hectic. But you know how it is in Night Vale.”

“Yeah.”

“Are your dads doing ok?”

“Yup! They’re actually getting married soon.” 

“Awww. Good for them!”

Annabeth’s phone rang. The caller ID told her it was her dad. 

“Hang on. I gotta take this.”

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Percy moved away to let Annabeth take her call. He knew she had something going on at home, and he didn’t want to intrude. Percy had been to Night Vale once, and it had been… interesting. The people had been weird, but he was used to that. He was homeschooled because one of his dads was an eldritch being of knowledge, for the gods’ sake. But Night Vale was even weirder. 

Annabeth walked back over. 

“Everything good?” Percy asked her.

“Yeah. It’s fine. Great, actually.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not right now. We should check in with Chiron.”

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Chapter 11

December 20th, 2015

Long Island, New York

“So.” Annabeth said, walking up to Percy. “New quest, huh?” 

“Yeah,” he said, “I’m… kinda nervous? I mean, two new demigods? In one place? This can’t be good.”

“You’re right. At least we have Thalia now.”

“Yeah I guess.”

The two of them walked away to go meet up with Thalia. After all, Percy thought, what could go wrong?

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Everything went wrong. Annabeth was separated from her best friends, no way to contact her dads. When she saw Luke in need, she didn’t recognize him and thought he was just a boy about to die. So she did what any good hero would do. She helped him. Then he trapped her underneath Atlas's mountain. Bitch boy. So, here she was, away from everyone she cared about. Hopefully she could make it out of this. 

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“No, Papa, I’ll be fine. I’m just going on a quest to find my friend. No, really I’m going to be ok.” Percy said to his dad over the phone. “Yes, I am aware Dad could hypothetically smite the monsters for me. No, I don’t need him to. Love you.” He turned to Thalia. “Sorry about that. My parents can be worrisome sometimes.”

“Smite people? I didn’t know Poseidon could do that.” She said. 

“No he can’t, but my adopted dad can.” Thalia looked at Percy in bewilderment. 

“What the fuck?”

“Oh, you should ask Annabeth about her adopted parents when we get her back. Actually, her town in general.” This brought both of them back down to earth. 

Thalia grinned with determination. “Let’s go get our friend.” 

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Annabeth was in hell. So it seemed, anyway. She told Luke that he was a monster, a horrible person, etc, but he wouldn’t fucking listen. Again, he was a little bitch boy. She worried about the new demigods. Were they ok? Did they get settled in? Had they found out who their godly parent was? 

And more importantly right now, could she get out of this? Alive?

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Mount Olympus, New York

December 31st, 2015

Annabeth cornered Percy during the party on Olympus. 

“Hey, Seaweed Brain. Thanks for saving my ass.”

“Don’t give me all the credit. Thalia did a lot of work too.”

“Well. I’ll thank her later. She’s busy right now. I wanted to thank you, dipshit.”

“Oh. Um. You’re welcome?” Percy was glad Annabeth was ok, and really, really, glad she hadn’t joined the Hunters of Artiemis. And his conversation with Athena had left him confused. What had she meant?

“Will you be flying home soon?” Annabeth asked Percy, bringing him back down to earth.

“Oh, yeah. My dads’ wedding is soon.”  

“Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Tell them congrats from me.” 

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The drive back to Night Vale was stressful for Annabeth. Nico Di Angelo was missing, running off after his sister’s death. There was some sort of investigation into her, because apparently she was reported as missing by her biological dad a few months after she went to Night Vale. A few months for the real world, anyway.

“Good year at camp, kiddo?” Cecil asked her.

“Oh. Well, it was….. Interesting. I got to hold up the sky for a bit.”

“How was it?”

“Heavy. And really tiring.”

“That explains your hair.”

Annabeth tugged at the new grey streak in her hair. “Percy has one too. He had to hold the sky for a few minutes.”

“Hm.”

Annabeth stared at her dad. Hm? Hm was his only response? It really showed how desensitized Night Vale was. But she loved her town, no matter how messy. 

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Hellooooooo, i'm on vacation, so updates for my fics will be tricky. If you're here from any other socials, i don't have accsses to those rn :)

-Juno