Life of an Average Fangirl

4

"Powers? What powers?" I asked, confused.

Piper took my hand and led me all the way to the Hebe cabin, 18.

"Whoa! I have siblings?" my eyes widened. I hadn't even heard of a powerful child of Hebe I the series, so it hadn't occurred to me that I had powers, or siblings.

"Not a lot of siblings," Piper rubbed the back of her neck. "Maybe like... two?"

"Two?" I raised an eyebrow.

Piper explained to me then that many children of Hebe had the power to age themselves down or up, so they'd disguise themselves as adults and venture off into the mortal world.

"Wait, so I could have this power?" I asked, confused.

"Sure," Piper shrugged. "I mean, Hebe's kids have a whole list of powers they may or may not get. We just have to test for a few and see if they, well... show themselves on their own!"

— — — time skip... first comment gets to name it — — —

We went to the training area, where we were met by Will, Annabeth, and Percy. 

"We're here to help," Annabeth smiled at me. Great! She warmed up to me!

"And I'm here to patch you up in case anything goes horribly wrong," Will added. I paled and looked at Piper.

"Oh, please, Will," Piper laughed. "I don't think any of Hebe's powers are going to get Adrienne hurt."

"I'm here because Annabeth's here," Percy chimed in. "Also, because there's nothing to do."

"Okay, Adrienne, first thing you have to do is take a deep breath and close your eyes." Piper said. I relaxed my shoulders and did just that. 

"Now what?" I asked. Piper set a small potted plant in front of me. This time, Annabeth spoke.

"Imagine yourself draining the youth from this plant, or just aging it up a few years."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "That's kind of... evil, don't ya think?"

"Don't worry, if you have these powers, you can age it down again as well." Annabeth reassured me.

I hadn't felt it at first but I was starting to get a little scared. If it turned out I had powers, would that mean I was dangerous? Could I accidentally hurt someone, or worse?

I held both hands out in front of me and concentrated, trying to make the plant age. Approximately four and a half minutes later (I counted), nothing had happened.

I felt kind of useless. Annabeth and Piper didn't look defeated, though. Percy got up from the bench he was sitting on.

"I have an idea, Adrienne," he started. Annabeth looked surprised. "Oh, shut up," he grinned. "I'm smart too."

I gestured for him to continue. "Instead of trying to drain the plant's youth, why don't you try to look at it like taking some of the plant's youth and putting it into yourself?"

"Like aging me down?" I asked. He nodded.

Annabeth looked at him approvingly. "I didn't think of that," she said. "Good job."

Percy looked satisfied.

And so, I tried again. I let my whole body relax, put both arms out towards the plant, and almost asked it - not that it could communicate - to borrow some youth. It kind of felt like the plant let me, and so, as I felt a warm breeze take over me, I opened my eyes.

Why was everyone so... tall?"

"Oh my gods..." Annabeth whispered. Piper crouched down to come to my eye level, which was a lot shorter than I thought. 

"Adrienne?" Piper asked me. 

"Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow. My voice came out extremely high pitched. I screamed at my own voice and then screamed at the sound of my scream. Percy stifled a giggle.

I took a look at my hands and noticed they were a lot smaller, and chubbier. 

"How old were you before, if I might ask?" Will wondered.

"17," I replied, crossing my little arms.

"It appears that you are now biologically six years old," Will tried to stop himself from laughing.

I screamed again.

Annabeth crouched down to look at the plant I had taken youth from. The leaves were shriveled, but not dead. "Well, Adrienne, the good news is that it worked!"

"Great," I deadpanned. "Now put me back."

"You're gonna have to do that yourself," Percy smiled sheepishly. "Just put the same amount of youth you took back into the plant."

"Right, easy - peasy," I scoffed. I closed my eyes and put my arms out again, letting the warm breeze come back to me. It felt really nice, but I knew I had to let go. When I opened my eyes, everyone seemed the normal height. 

"Great, it worked," I smiled at everyone. My voice came out older, almost more mature. I scowled and looked closely at the plant I had given the youth back to. It looked younger, like a sprout, instead of the plant it had been before that. 

I groaned.

"Why do you sound thirty?" Will muttered under his breath.

Annabeth looked me up and down before whispering something to Piper.

I heard it.

"I AM THIRTY?!?"

— — — 

We spent a bit getting me back to 17 years old, and after we succeeded, Annabeth thought it would be a good idea to see if I had any powers that would be useful in battle.

"Some children of Hebe have healing powers," she explained. "So would it be okay if I made like a tiny scratch with my sword on your palm?"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "You want to cut my palm open?" I asked hesitantly.

"No!" She defended. "Okay, yes, but you can eat ambrosia to heal it instantly, remember?"

"Oh," I replied. "Right. Greek magic is awesome."

I held my palm out for her and she quickly swiped with her dagger. 

I winced, watching the blood pool in the crease. It wasn't excruciatingly painful, but it hurt enough.

"Focus your energy into trying to heal your wound," Annabeth said. "Close your eyes and breathe, just like when you used your hebekinesis-"

I opened my eyes and stared at her. "Hebekinesis? Really?"

"It's the official term for it," she shrugged. "Anyways, just do the same thing as before."

"Okay, here goes..." I shut my eyes and inhaled.

A few minutes passed, and my palm still hurt. I looked at it to see that nothing had changed. 

Then, I realized I was holding something in my left hand. It looked like... a lemon square?"

I held it out in my left palm. Annabeth gasped. "Did you just... create ambrosia from nothing?"

I gawked at the godly food that had seemingly just appeared. "Um... looks like it."

I nibbled on a corner of it and the cut in my right palm closed up instantly.

"Cool," I said in awe.

"Come on," Annabeth said, gesturing for me to follow. "Let's go meet your siblings."