Chapter 7 – Trouble

"Oh Blondie, if you really wanted to touch me, you could have just said so." I glared at his hooded face as I kicked him in his private parts before rolling off him and getting up. I looked at Liam who was glaring at me for touching a men. "Ouch, Blondie! That hurts!" I groaned at his voice.

"Come here." Liam commanded. I obeyed without any question. I was scared. Liam isn't going to let me go today. I glared at Alpha as I saw him get up while whining about his pain. Stupid cry baby!

"Jesus! How much do you weight?! I was nearly crushed. And why the hell did you punch my poor balls? Now I can't have any babies!" I curled up my fist in irritation. I wanted to kill him. Rip his hood off and use it to strangle him!

"Shut up!" Liam yelled as he harshly pulled me behind him and got closer to the limping assassin. "Stay away from my wife!" He threatened. I could have sworn I saw Alpha smirk. But it was only for a second.

"Hey, I didn't do anything. She was the one who toppled into me." I glared at him while Liam glared at me.

"I did not!" I lied as I ignored Liam's glare and got into Alpha's face. "I wouldn't even touch you."

"Yes, you did!"

"No, I did not!"

"Yes, You did you cheeky little Lier. You teleported on top of me. "

"Don't call me a Lier!"

"Why shouldn't I? You lie."

"No, I don't!"

"LIER LIER LIER LIER LIER LI—"Before he could continue any longer, I pulled my knees up and kicked him back in his private parts.

"FUCK!" I smirked as he hit the floor in pain. Powerful or not, every men's balls are his weakness. "AH! You're so dead, Blondie!"

"Bite me."

"Why you little-"

"STOP IT!" a voice yelled. We both stopped as we looked to our sides to see Mystic coming towards us, with her hood still up. I glanced at Liam who was, like usual, fuming at the scene. I'm so dead. "Stop acting like little kids! You're adults. Grow up."

"She kicked me in the balls!" Alpha protested as he got up. He wouldn't shut up would he?

"Because you were irritating me!" I defended.

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" The women screamed again. "You!" She pointed at me. "Go back to the camp fire. And you!" She turned to her commander. "Stop being so stubborn. Go back to the cabin."

"But she—"

"NOW!" I jumped as she screamed out the last bit. Gosh, she acts like a mother hen. I glared at the male assassin as Liam dragged me away from what I now know as the beach. What were they doing at the beach?

Mystic / Zoe Nightshade's POV:

I scowled as I watched the son of Zeus drag Annabeth away, quite harshly.

"That's not fair! She kicked me in the balls!" I heard Percy protest next to me. I slapped his arm in return. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"For being an idiot!" I replied. "I told you to stay away from her till I figure out this pendent problem."

"Hey! She was the one who teleported on top of me!"

"I don't care!" I said loudly just as Luke and Kara walked in.

"Hey guys." Kara greeted.

"Wow… Did something happened here?" Luke pointed out as he and Kara had heard my screaming.

"Please don't tell me it's Annabeth again." Kara pleaded before she looked at our faces. All the members in Chaos's army has the ability to see through each other's hoods. "It's Annabeth isn't it? Oh god, what did you do now, bro?" She asked turning to Percy accusingly, who looked at her in shock.

"Oh for Chaos's sakes, why is everyone keep thinking that I am the one who did something?!" We all raised our eye brows at his question. "Fine! Blame me! AGH!" He screamed before walking off… Boys.

"Did you figure out the pendent problem?" Luke asked me, ignoring the fact that his best friend has just stormed out in anger.

"No, I didn't." I confessed.

"You do know that Percy can't tell her his true identity until she's free from the pendent. We can't risk Liam hearing Annabeth's thoughts."

"Why can't we just take Annabeth and leave this place? The gods are powerful enough to fight this war by themselves… They're just being lazy. We have more important stuff to do." Kara asked bluntly. I rubbed my forehead as I remembered she didn't know anything about Percy's past.

"Annabeth is more important to Percy than any other work, Kara. We can't take her until she's free from that pendant's magic. It's one of the ancient artifacts that Chaos kept hidden in the Universe. Its spells aren't easy to break. I'm still shocked that the gods have this pendant. I thought it was lost when Gaea fell." I said as Luke nodded.

"Besides, while Annabeth has that pendant, she can never truly be Percy's. She might not realize it but the pendant is creating fake feelings inside her for Liam. Right now all she cares about how her life is a curse but when the time comes… the time when she will be asked if she wants to free herself, she will refuse. And I mean it, Kara. She will refuse. No matter how much she claims to be in love with Percy. She. Will. Refuse. The magic in the pendent will force her. And that's the time we lose her." Luke stated firmly.

"Does bro knows about this?"

"Yes, he does. He was the one who told us. He saw it. I'm sure, right now he must be with her."

"Isn't there any way to overcome this pendant's magic?" Kara asked.

"It's a pendant made of magic and love. Many souls have died to fuel its core. It's a matter of Will, Kara." I admitted. "Not only Percy would have to use his powers but also use his love for Annabeth to break it. The same goes for Annabeth. If her will is strong and if her feelings are true for Percy, the pendant's magic might break. But even then the chances are very low."

"And I have a very bad feeling that Percy is planning to do this forcibly. No matter what." Luke stated as I nodded. No matter what. After all, he's not the same anymore.

Back to Annabeth's POV:

As I watched the campers sing, I couldn't help but remember the old times when Percy was here. Those times were fun.

"Stay here." Liam ordered as he left the campfire, possibly after one of the Aphrodite girls who were eyeing him earlier. Luckily, so far, Liam hasn't growled at me. Or hit me. Or done any of his usual behaviors. I thought after my match with Alpha, he would be really angry. But he's not. Or maybe acting like he's not. I don't know. Whatever the case, I'm 100 % sure that he's definitely going to do something harsh to me tonight.

I was glad that the grumpy assassin is not here. I'm really not in the mood for another fight. I was just starring at the bright camp fire is when I felt my tummy rumble again. Gods, I really need to eat something. As if someone had heard my thoughts, an apple was forced into my sight by someone. I looked up at the person to discover that it was none other than Alpha grinning down at me.

"Hungry? Have it. It's for you." He grinned as he pushed the apple in my face. I pushed it away and glared at him.

"Why are you here for? I thought the mother hen made it clear that you should be back in your cabin." I asked ignoring my rumbling tummy. I refused to take any food from his hands. I don't trust him.

"Yeah, well, I don't follow orders." He sassed only to be stopped by my tummy growling. Stupid tummy. "Listen, why don't you have this apple and stop your tummy from growling? People say that you get more angry when you're hungry."

"I told you I don't want to have your stupid apple." I said looking away. Okay, maybe I really wanted that apple.

"Fine, I'll just leave it here and let someone else have it." He said as he dropped the apple beside me on the cushion pillow. "By the way, you're sleeping in my cabin tonight. Whether you like it or not." I scowled at him as he gave me a lop-sided grin. "I like you, Blondie." He laughed as he left my side and walked around the camp fire towards Clarisse's side. He was still in my view. Behind the flames. Grinning at me. I so wanted to slap that grin off his hooded face. Agh!

As I heard one of Apollo's kid singing, my eyes landed on the apple that was sitting beside me. Should I take it? I haven't eaten anything during the dinner and besides, my tummy is literally growling right now. Maybe I should eat it. It's harmless, right? Deciding that it was safe, I picked up the apple and bit my teeth into it. Yum. It tasted like heaven. Within seconds, all I had in my hands was its core. I threw it away and looked up towards the assassin hoping he was looking the other way. But unfornately, he was not. He was smirking. Right at me. Great.

I looked away and relaxed my head on my knees. Closing my eyes and humming to the tunes. The warmth filling me up and making me sleepy. That's the time I felt my pendent burn. Liam's calling me again. Feeling too tired to teleport, I left the camp fire on foot. I could tell that Liam was in Aphrodite's cabin. So as I passed Poseidon's cabin, a numb feeling came over my arms. They suddenly felt so heavy. To my bad luck, the path to Aphrodite's cabin has led me far away from the campfire where everyone was. Around me was just parts of forest that I was in earlier. As soon as I tried to walk a little faster, I felt my vision blur. Somehow I just wanted to drop dead and sleep. The numbing was growing. Before I could do anything, I had hit the ground, quite hard. Parts of my hair flying onto my face as I tried to get over this dizzy feeling. My vision blurring in and out of focus. As I lay there, thinking what's happening to me, I saw some kind of dark figure bending down over me. I couldn't make out who it was.

"You really should have accepted my offer when I asked you nicely." I felt fear enter me. I tried to focus my vision on him but I was losing my senses. "Don't worry, Blondie. You're in safe hands." Alpha? Before I could dwell on anything, darkness took over me and I knew no more.