Guess who's back with another shitty chapter? *gets hit by a banana*

Hello my Rubies (can I call y'all that?)! What's up? How are you? I hope all my reader are doing good! Thank you for supporting me! Like, seriously! Also, gonna keep this short, because update!

Also, DWTD hit 221 reviews, 147 favourites and 251 follows! All thanks to you guys! *sends virtual hugs to everyone* You guys are so awesome istg I'm crying!

Disclaimer: Same old shit. I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Chapter 12: I Am Stupid:

Annabeth could not see the beast. It was already out of sight, but she hoped that she was on the right track. Well, her uncertainty was quite ridiculous. There were no twists and turns, just a straight, dingy narrow passageway. Obviously, she was on the right track.

But then she snorted. Sure, it was just a one-way path, but you could never tell with paranormal creatures. Creatures like that could teleport whenever they wanted and could appear out of nowhere. What if somebody was following her?

Shit. As much as she hated to admit it, thoughts like that scared her. She was already more than half-paranoid. Now is not the time to think about that Annabeth, she reminded herself continued running as fast her legs could take her. Just concentrate on what's ahead.

Wait. How was she even able to think rationally during such a crisis?

Pfft.

In the hurry, she had forgotten the fact that she was still clutching her good old bronze dagger (which seemed like her only ally during such circumstances). Under normal situations, she would've felt awkward, but that wasn't the time. To hell with awkwardness. She had much more important things to take care of.

Her palms were sweaty. Her legs were close enough to shaking. She couldn't even breathe properly. Yet she willed herself to run faster. This is the shit that happens when you decide to be lazy for most of your life and not exercise, she thought dryly.

Annabeth wasn't really sure why she was so worried about Percy. After all, he was a demon. He was, without any doubt, a million times more powerful than her, and she was sure that he could take care of himself without her help.

But something felt wrong. It was like a sudden change in the air, tingling her skin. It felt as if something terrible could happen if she didn't hurry. Now, Annabeth was no fortune-teller, but she trusted her intuition enough.

Percy would be angry at her, though. Definitely angry. Livid.

And that only shows how much he cares about me, his mate.

Wait, what?

A feeling of guilt rose inside her.

Now as she thought about it, Percy had already saved her life once. Sure, he was cocky, and he had wanted to rush things, but Annabeth was starting to feel that perhaps she had been too overdramatic. He had found her after who knows how many years. It was obvious that he had wanted to touch her.

How did things end up like this?

In the end, it was both of their faults.

But whatever. He had saved her life, and the least she could do was help (and not get herself killed while she was at it). Part of her felt ridiculous for simply rushing. She didn't even know properly if the beast went to attack him, or if Percy had summoned it. Could demons do that? Summon creatures from the underground? It made her realise how less she actually knew about him.

Heck, was the beast even headed at him?

That thought almost made her stop in her tracks. Holy shit! If the beast ends up going somewhere else, I'm going to scream. I repeat: How did things end up like this? Why does my life suck so much? What is life anymore?

She was supposed to be the smart one. The intelligent one. She was not the type of person who rushed into decisions. But it seemed that change in circumstances could lead to change in behaviour as well. In simple words, Annabeth realised how stupid her actions had been this entire time.

Stop thinking so much, idiot.

That was until she heard a howl few feet away from her, followed by a loud scream and a crash. Annabeth felt herself freeze unknowingly. Her body had started to tremble. Though she hated it, she had to admit that she was feeling terrified. Percy was right. She shouldn't have come. All this was messed up. But too late to back out.

She took a few seconds to catch her breath, letting out a few coughs. Let Percy be okay. Wincing slightly at the pain in her knees, she took off again in the direction of the scream. However, the sight in front of her was an unexpected one.

It only took her about a minute to reach the crime scene. And what she saw left her brain, putting it simply, confuzzled.

It seemed to be the darkest part of the alley. So dark, that Annabeth could hardly see the path, but she could still make out two distinct familiar figures. The beast was nowhere to be seen. Either it had disappeared, or it had not headed towards them after all.

After taking a few alert steps forward, she let out a quiet gasp.

The angel/Mr Fallen Angel was lying on the stony ground of the alleyway, and to say the least, it was quite the gruesome sight she had ever seen. Cuts and scratches marred his body. His eyes were closed, his lips bloody, his left cheek bleeding. And the most surprising thing that it was golden blood. Not red, but golden. As she took a closer look, she noticed that his entire body seemed to be covered in his golden blood. His wings were nowhere to be seen.

Pipes would've fainted had she been here.

Then she noticed a strange, weird mark on his neck. It was an ugly red, almost glowing in the darkness. It was some symbol that she couldn't make out. Had the mark always been there? It didn't look like a tattoo. The skin surrounding it was scratched and marred in a revolting manner.

Yet he still managed to look beautiful. Well, as beautiful as he could in his ghastly condition. (That didn't make much sense, but never mind).

But where was Percy?

Annabeth was sure she had seen him. She looked around, before noticing him huddled in a corner, his hands covering his eyes. He had a really bad wound on his shoulder. It seemed as if violent tremors were wrecking his body. A normal person would've thought that he was shivering, but Annabeth knew that was not the case.

When she walked closer to him tentatively, his gaze snapped up to meet hers. Her breath stopped. His red eyes looked broken and angry. She almost let out a whimper. What had happened to him? What had he done? Was he hurt?

"What are you doing here?" he snarled.

"I – I saw this monster... So, uh, I thought... I mean – I wanted to help. I thought it was going to, um, attack you, so, uh, yeah." Her voice kept getting weaker and weaker under the pressure of his intense gaze.

"Monster," he repeated slowly. "What monster?"

"I- I don't know." She gulped, unsure. "Didn't you see one? Didn't you summon one?"

"What?" his frown deepened. "No, I didn't." Clenching his jaw, he stood up slowly. "Whatever the matter, you shouldn't have come. Are you stupid? I warned you to not put yourself in unnecessary trouble."

I was worried about you, she wanted to say, but her voice seemed to stop working. "Are you hurt?" she asked quietly. YOU STUPID IDIOT! OF COURSE HE'S HURT. YOU HAVE SEEN HIS WOUND WITH YOUR OWN TWO EYES! WHY THE HECK ARE YOU EVEN ASKING SUCH A STU-

"It's not as bad as it seems."

"What happened to-" Annabeth trailed off as she glanced at Mr Fallen Angel.

"You don't want to know," his eyes darkened even further as he stared at the angel's seemingly lifeless body. "I think I have found out who his master was."

"Was?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," he turned to her with a sinister smirk. "I'm his new master."

-o-o-o-

The moment was quite anticlimactic. Percy had picked up the angel's motionless body and heaved him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. And then he had teleported all of them back to Annabeth's house.

Just like that.

Just. Like. That.

Repeat: anticlimactic.

Annabeth massaged her forehead lightly as she dropped herself on one of her sofas. So, basically, she had run up to Percy for nothing. The beast had seemed to just vanish. All that running, gone to waste!

She had described the beast to Percy after coming back.

"A hellhound," he'd said. "That's definitely a hellhound. Though I have no idea what one was doing out there. Because I surely didn't summon one."

Apparently he also had a pet hellhound back home. Annabeth shuddered at the thought. Demons and their weird pets.

Percy had taken the angel up to her bedroom, despite her initial protests. That angel was definitely to get blood all over her sheets (or ichor, Percy called it, the blood of the Heavenly ones). Then again, Annabeth was too tired to make a complaint, so she just let him be. It's going to be real trouble cleaning those bedsheets, she grumbled mentally.

Too many thoughts were running through her mind.

Percy had claimed that he was the angel's new master, yet he refused to explain the term specifically. He had ignored Annabeth's inquiries about the entire fight with the angel: what had happened? How had he become the new master? How had he defeated him? What was the strange mark?

And in the midst of all that shit, Annabeth (for the first time) felt like a dumb potato in a trash bin.

"This is like some cliché story," she muttered to herself. "A shitty story with a shitty plot written by a shitty author."

She needed coffee. Bad.

Part of her wanted to barge into her bedroom and demand to know what the fuck was going on. But Percy had 'strictly forbidden' her to enter her personal paradise. So, yeah. That was the reason she was sitting like a rag doll on her not-as-comfy-as-her-bed sofa.

Also, the angel's name was Jason. As she'd said earlier, Percy hadn't explained the stuff properly. It seemed that he now he shared a bond with the angel – she meant Jason – now that he'd become his master. Again, Annabeth had no clue what that meant.

She heard a few blood-curdling screams come from upstairs. Goosebumps ran down her body. I change my mind. I definitely do not want to know what's going on there. She feebly hoped that none of her neighbours notices the noises. If they did...

The sword-coin thing Jason had used as a weapon was still with her. Her dagger was stupidly hidden in a flower vase on one of the kitchen counters. As she got up to make herself a cup of caffeine, only one thought ran through her mind. You're useless. You only excel at studying. Other than that, you're no good. She unconsciously tightened her fists around her coffee mug.

A few minutes later, she could hear the sound of footsteps treading downstairs. She turned her head to see an extremely worn-out Percy running a hand through his hair. His eyes were back to their normal shade of sea-green. He sat down on the sofa beside her, not saying anything. Instead, he wrapped his arms around one of her cushions and buried his nose in it.

Cute, Annabeth thought lazily.

Then the sight of his shoulder caught her eye.

"How's your wound?" she asked slowly.

He scoffed. "I already told you. It's nothing. I'm fine. It'll heal." He spoke in abrupt curt sentences.

They both sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"Hey," Annabeth exclaimed suddenly. He hummed in response. "I'm... I'm sorry."

He tensed for a moment, before inclining his face towards her, such that his cheek was pressed against the soft velvet material of the cushion he was holding. There was a slight frown, but somehow he ended up looking adorable. Very adorable.

Holy shit Annabeth what are you even thinking!

"What for?" he said, his voice as soft as the cushion he was holding.

"For everything," Annabeth pursed her lips. "For every stupid thing I've done till now. Listen, I'm usually not like this, but you manage to bring out this other side of me. Like, you get me mad over the smallest of things, and then I end up reacting like an idiot. But I'm not saying it's entirely your fault, because honestly speaking, it's kind of mine as well, because logically thinking about it, it seems-" she rambled on, not noticing the smirk that now rested on his face.

"Whatever," she said finally. "I'm sorry for being a bitch. I mean, you've been very nice to me lately. And, um, you've also kinda helped my friend out. So. Yeah," she ended lamely.

"You're not a bitch," he laughed softly. "It's partly my fault as well. Because honestly speaking about it," he mimicked her, "you manage to bring out the other side me."

"I don't sound like that."

"I know. Acting was never one of my best talents."

"Liar."

"Oops," he laughed again.

He has a really nice laugh. Wait. Annabeth, what is wrong with you?!

He grinned at her all of a sudden. Annabeth felt her cheeks warm up. Of course. She had forgotten. He could sense her emotions.

"How's Jason?" she changed the topic.

"Sleeping," he answered. "Probably won't wake up until tomorrow."

"What?" Annabeth frowned. "Hey, you still haven't told me ho-"

"Can this wait till later?" he cut her off. "I'm really not in the mood right now, Annabeth."

"Oh, kay." There was silence once again. "Um, hey," she began again awkwardly.

"What now?"

"Should I remove that?"

"What?"

"That," she pointed towards the agate necklace.

He blinked at her. "This?" he fingered the agate rose as his eyes glazed over. "It's better if you don't."

The tone of his voice didn't make her question him further. They sat in silence, yet again. The tension was real.

"I'm tired," he mumbled after some time.

"Then sleep," Annabeth said seriously. "You should really take a nap right now." She took a sip of her coffee and licked her lips, not noticing that his eyes followed her every move. "We should talk once you wake up."

"Talk? About what?"

"I don't know, really. You don't much about me. I don't know much about you. Let's just get to know each other. Have a normal conversation, which we've never had. Also, wasn't there something you'd wanted to tell me about?" Annabeth smiled at him. "I'll even order pizza if you want," she joked. "We can also spend the night watching rom-com movies and having a makeover."

He smiled as well. Oh God somebody protect me from this- "How touching," he rubbed his eyes. "I guess you're right. I should rest," he blinked innocently at her. "Can I hold you?"

Annabeth froze. But she didn't drop her mug. That, all in itself was an amazing feat. "Pardon?"

"Can I hold you?" he repeated, his voice becoming wearier every time. "Please?"

Annabeth didn't even think twice. "Of course."

-o-o-o-

IMPORTANT!

It's been long, huh? Like, I always have these thoughts like, "Okay, I'll definitely update today!" But then some shit happens or I get lazy and the chapter gets delayed.

Also, another thing. I have just begun writing a story on Wattpad. So, like, I would appreciate a lot if you guys check it out. It's not a fanfic, so I can't really post it here. My Wattpad username is Kani_DazzlingRuby (with the underscore). So, like, I'm not forcing you guys or anything! It entirely depends on your wish! But I would really appreciate it if you guys check it out!

Again, no pressure!

Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Please R&R! (Bet y'all thought that was Mrs O'Leary. Lol nope.)

Q1: How old are you guys? I mean, I turned sixteen this May. What about you?

~ Kani