Chapter 18

Annabeth woke to a gentle breeze, she opened her eyes slowly, feeling a slight pain as she shielded them from the light seeping in through the canopy above, taking in her surroundings she realised that she was in the infirmary, back at Camp Half-Blood. She felt a dull pain on her forehead, her fingers traced a small cut there, the blonde looked to her right and saw a small glass of the golden nectar beside her, she reached over carefully and took a small drink from it, reminding her of the buttered popcorn she used to enjoy in San Francisco

"Annabeth?"

She turned her head the other way to see Clarisse sitting in the bed next to her own, her arm in a sling and skin covered in bruises and cuts

"Clarisse? Are you okay?" she asked, not sure how she got here or when Clarisse had gotten back from her own quest

"Me? Yer, I'm good" she gestured to her arm "You missed one hell of a fight" she joked

"Tityus? Is everyone okay? Percy? And Grover?" she sat up looking towards the other beds, scanning for any faces she may know

Clarisse nodded "Yer and the boys are fine, few of my siblings are a little banged up but alive, which is the main thing" she shifted so she faced Annabeth "Everyone is more concerned with you"

"Why how long have I been out?" she asked confused

"Not long, a couple of days, but no one knew how you got to the battle field" she said "We all thought you were still here at camp"

Annabeth thought for a moment, nobody had noticed that she was gone "Clarisse… I was taken"

"Taken?" she exclaimed

Annabeth relayed her story to the rest of the group in Mr D's study, everyone was unaware that she was taken by Enyo so Hades could try and use her against Percy. Percy had dropped his gaze, he had assumed that she was with Markos, he should never had doubted her. Annabeth finished her story looking up at all of their faces

"Where is Markos?" she asked confused, realising that she hadn't seen him since waking up, no one had even mention his name

Chiron stepped forward "A few students saw him leave in his truck, but no sign of him since"

"What? He was there… he saved me" she thought for a moment "He was injured, he might still be out there" her words began to race

"He was attacked by war wolves, and Hades…Hades" words failed her as she recalled the last thing she saw, Hades throwing her own blade into his side

"Annabeth" Percy knelt in front of her taking her hands which shook "We looked, when we found you, Lincoln and Craig stayed a while longer following a blood trail but they lost it"

Annabeth went quiet for a moment, all eyes were on her, she didn't know what to think, she excused herself from the room, almost rushing out of the door. She took a deep breath, she started walking, her mind was clouded with questions.

She knew where she was going she just didn't know why, she knew the place would be empty but still her feet carried her to the front door, It was unlocked, which wasn't unusual for Camp Half-Blood, she went inside

"Markos?" she whispered, but the cabin was empty, the punch bag still hung in the corner, she sat on the edge of his bed closing her eyes. Where was he?

She didn't know how long she sat there for, just staring at the wall but a sudden voice made her jump

"Annabeth?"

Clarisse stood in the door way "Thought I might find you here" the blonde stepped in the room, taking a look around "You know I didn't believe Grover when he said you had feelings for my brother"

Annabeth looked up at Clarisse "I.. no it wasn't… I didn't" she stumbled

"Annabeth" Clarisse captured her attention "There's something you need to know about Markos"

Annabeth waited for her to continue

"He killed someone, another Demi-God" Clarisse paused giving what she said a moment to sink in "Every head counselor of Ares cabin knows the risk of the Blood Curse, it's rare… really rare, but it happens. Markos was one of the unlucky ones, when he turned 16 the curse was triggered"

Annabeth dropped her eyes to the floor as she continued to listen

"He was in love with a Daughter of Demeter, her name was Cassie, the night of his sixteenth birthday he killed her, the curse took over and he took her life, he was devastated it took him 2 weeks to calm down enough to come out of his rage, he was found in the middle of the woods" Clarisse sighed as she continued Markos's story

"Chiron and Mr D decided it was best if it was kept quiet but you can't have secrets in a place like Camp Half-Blood, so he was moved to the far side of camp and he became distant, hiding away from everyone, his friends and family, Mr D even made a few forget, only certain people know what truly transpired that evening"

Annabeth's mind was running, he was a broken soul, so much had happened to him and nobody knew the suffering he had to go through, Clarisse placed a hand on Annabeth's shoulder

"I thought you should know" she started to walk out, before turning back "And by the way, I don't think he's dead, takes a lot to take one of us down and if I know Markos, he will be back" she walked out closing the door behind her.

Annabeth had no idea that Markos had killed another Demi-God, she had speculated when she was younger why the was a child of Ares living at the edge of the woods in seclusion but she would have never guessed that was the reason

Annabeth continued to sit there, if he wasn't dead then where the hell was he, was he ashamed? Did he want a clean break form Camp Half-Blood? The Demi-Gods? Her? She left a short while after closing the door, possibly forever.