BLURRED | Annabeth Chase

XXVIII • επικοινωνώ

επικοινωνώ

communicate

• • •

There was something different about Annabeth; something had changed since the last time that Cameron had seen her. Which was good, of course, because she had been a wreck the last time they were together, but it scared him nonetheless. Her eyes were more grounded, looking every bit like the Annabeth that had disappeared.

But at this point, Cameron had bigger things to worry about, such as who the new trio of demigods were, and what their exact intentions with his family were. His family, and the two other people that they had picked up along the way.

To say that Cameron was starstruck in Hazel Levesque's presence was a drastic understatement; the girl was both the daughter of Hades and could control the Mist. She was insanely powerful, and could kill Cameron without even moving. And the other new member, Grover Underwood, was less popular, but Cameron had seen him around before, usually by either Percy and Annabeth's side, though he was not next to Annabeth now. He was quietly talking with Clarisse, who was still grunting in pain every few seconds due to her mostly healed but still fresh injury.

Cameron approached Annabeth, who was staring at the ocean with a wistful expression on her face. Cameron pretended not to know what that meant. "Are you okay?"

"You already asked me that," the demigod responded, the setting Sun making her hair look golden.

"Right, but I just wanted to make sure. I mean, you and Willow both disappeared, so I didn't know. . ."

Cameron was internally wincing at himself as he forced himself to end the sentence. Not that it mattered; nothing he said really made sense anymore.

"I was fine," Annabeth said, her voice almost emotionless. "She never even touched me."

"But isn't that strange?" Cameron pressed, regretting it as soon as he said it with the way Annabeth turned to face him, her face hard as steel. "I mean, it's great that you're not injured, but she had some next-level powers. Shouldn't you have gotten at least a little bit hurt?"

"It didn't seem like she wanted to kill me," Annabeth responded distantly, returning her vigilant gaze to the open ocean. "More like she just wanted me alone."

"Right," was all Cameron said.

There was a pregnant pause, and Cameron took the moment to dig his fingers deep into the sand, relishing in the coolness he found below the surface. It would be nice to be surrounding by that chill, to just let go and allow the sand to drag him deep beneath the ground--

"Oh shit," he said out loud, tearing his hand from the sand.

"What?" Annabeth asked, looking a little shocked at the sudden curse.

Cameron scrambled to his feet and took several steps from Annabeth. "It's Her. She can feel me here, and she's trying to reach me."

He tripped on his next step backwards, and Hazel was suddenly there to catch him. "Why would she try to reach you?" the girl asked.

Cameron exchanged looks with Clarisse and Drew, and it was clear what they wanted him to do, even if that meant completely betraying everyone's trust. He took in a shaky breath.

"Okay. So for the past two years, while everyone has been off hiding and forming their own 'Olympian' gangs, the four of us, Clarisse, Drew, Chris, and I, have been working undercover, serving as part of Her army."

Hazel immediately stepped away, causing Cameron to fall onto the sand. He could not blame her for the reaction; he most likely would have done the same thing.