[AW] The Road Not Taken

[Annabeth]

If there is one thing Annabeth despised, it was being idle. From the moment she fell mud stained and weak upon the floors of the hospital all she had been allowed to do was "rest." At the moment, the healers were only concerned with Anna's physical well-being. They couldn't possibly know what all that free time would do to her mentally. From the moment Anna had been enslaved, she had been careful not to think overlong about anything at all. She kept herself occupied with backbreaking chores, braiding manes, and badgering other slaves into staying alive. Her old life didn't enter into the equation and sometimes, if she was really dedicated, she could even pretend that this wasn't even slavery! That the despair on her dearest Eliza's face wasn't real and Anna could just smile their worries away.

Left alone with her thoughts and memories, Anna was desperately distracting herself by counting all the leaves she could see. It was a prodigious task as the hospital seemed to be made entirely from trees and vines. The ceiling was a tight mesh of branches adorned with leaves that kept even a single drop of water from landing on the patients below. A few sported flowers (which Anna had already counted) that released a soothing scent into the air and somewhat masked the smell of antiseptic. The walls and floors confused the simple farm girl as she couldn't figure out if they were made of planks or if somehow the tree had grown them flat? Perhaps it had something to do with this magic stuff she kept hearing about. Regardless, Anna was entirely preoccupied and unprepared for the melodic, slightly pained, voice which rose from the cushions to her right.

"Seventy-seven...!" Anna blurted out as she turned toward her companion and began to blush furiously, "There, there are seventy seven leaves in that half of the room..." She finished lamely, her counting abruptly startled out of her thoughts and into the air. 

Embarrassed, Anna tucked her nose into one of the crevices between her pillows and peeked at the mare spread out next to her. Flowers, amethyst and sapphire, were strewn across her mane and wings, adorning her like a fairy queen. It made Anna's own dull, sun bleached coat and brittle tresses seem even dingier in comparison. Even Anna's horns had withered to dry twigs due to malnutrition. That was alright though. Annabeth was used to being the less attractive one.

Anna recovered from her outburst with a sheepish smile as relief suffused her limbs. Counting leaves was alright and all, but talking to another patient was sure to be much more distracting. "I umm, I'm not quite sure actually." She responded to the unanswered question. Her tones had recovered from the worst of little use, but they were still a little rough around the edges. Clearing her throat, Anna continued, "I was shipwrecked and somehow made it into this place with all the trees and muddy ground?" She referenced the swamp, though she didn't know it's name, "Then I think I was probably dying, but a mare led me here. At least I think... I haven't seen her since and she might have been a part of my imagination..." Brow squinched, Anna tried to remember. "There were a bunch of lilies too and I think she was making them grow..." These memories were safe, not painful, so it was ok to try to recall them. 

Anna's eyes refocused on the mare next to her and she started as she remembered her manners. "Oh! My name is Annabeth, by the by. Though most folks just call me Anna." It felt good to smile after so long.

@Florentine