Chapter 2 - The Assassins

Annabeth's POV:

Who are you?

Your worst nightmare!

I shivered as I tried to shook off the dream. I looked at the bruises and the red hand print on my arm. They were still fresh. I frowned as I noticed the lack of healing process. Why aren't they healing? The small piece of Ambrosia I took should be able to heal them by now. Then how come its not working?

"Are you coming?" I heard Thalia asked. Figuring that I could ask Chiron about this, I quickly ripped a small piece of my orange camp shirt and wrapped it around my arm, in the hopes of keeping it protected from any infection until I go to the infirmity. And that would be after the meeting.

Grabbing my knife, I quickly followed after Thalia & my siblings out the door. The dream was still clear in my head. Like a movie that kept playing on reply over and over again. It never blurred away. I still couldn't pinpoint who the voice belonged to but I was sure that I had heard it somewhere before. It sounded so familiar but yet so strange.

"Are you still thinking about that dream?" Malcolm asked snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah. Yeah I am." I nodded my head in response as we walked to the pavilion. "The voice belonged to a male... It was filled with hatred.. and.. and anger. It-It was meant for me. He said about how he's coming back and.. how he blamed me for something I did. What could have I done to piss off a guy like that?" I asked with a frown, looking at my brother.

"I don't know. But maybe Apollo can help you with this. He deals with prophecies, right? I'm sure he does dream readings too." He suggested. I nodded at his advice. Apollo would be the best option right now. His power of domain also includes prophecies. So If I go to him, he might be able to help me with this. Feeling physical pain during a demigod dream isn't quite normal. Besides even Rachel goes to him whenever she needed help with her prophetic dreams.

"Your right, I should go to him." I said as we reached the pavilion.

"Good." He muttered before moving to Athena's table to sit with his siblings while I headed towards the Immortal's table. I didn't wanted to sit on my mother's table. She wasn't my mother anymore. Not after what she did to my baby.

"Who do you think we're meeting today?" Thalia whispered in my ear as we both made ourselves comfortable on the Immortal's table. There were 12 of us. Malcolm was also gifted with immortality since he was Athena's cabin leader. I gave up that position when I lost Percy and my baby. Everyone in the camp was aware of my broken heart over Percy's disappearance but none of them knew about the baby. After Zeus's declaration of Percy's banishment my mother took me back to one of her temples. It's funny how she told everyone that she was taking me back to camp, but instead she was planning to make my life a living hell. There, at her temples, she induced me in a dreamless sleep and used her powers to kill my baby. It turns out the gods never really wanted my baby to be born, especially Zeus, who was afraid that Percy's child might be more powerful than him, so they killed it. I didn't even know if it was a boy or a girl.

Just after that, Zeus also erased everyone's memory. No-one in the camp knew that I was ever pregnant. Or that the hero they believe to have been disappeared was not only gone because of their lack of ignorance and Jacob's lying but through my betrayal and Zeus's planning. With no evidence or proof, I couldn't tell anyone the truth. Not even Thalia or Malcolm. It was all gone. The only thing I had left of Percy was gone too. And it was all my fault. I killed my own baby!

"Annie?" I snapped out of my thoughts as I looked at Thalia in alert.

"What?" I asked, quickly wiping the small tear that managed to fell on my cheek. Luckily, Thalia didn't see it.

"Who do you think we're meeting today?" She repeated the question.

"Oh.. um.. I don't know. I have no idea." I mumbled as I looked down. Technically since I'm Athena's kid, I'm supposed to know everything but even then, I still have no idea. Of course that's the time when the gods decided to flash in. We all immediately looked away.

Suddenly everyone scrambled on to their knees to greet the gods. I stayed in my seat, refusing to bow down to the greedy gods even when I received my mother's glares. I wouldn't bow down to them anymore. I have nothing to loose. Beside this routine has been going on for past 600 years. I doubt they'll do anything to me than just simple glares.

"We are here to discuss a very important matter." My mother started as she finished glaring at me. "I'm sure you all have heard about Gaea's uprising?" Every head in the pavilion nodded. It was true. Few months ago Nico had reported how the walls of Tartarus were shaking violently. The increased number of monster attacks was a dead giveaway of an uprising. "Since we're short on heroes and most of you are young and still learning, we've called help from an army."

"An army?" Clarisse questioned with curiosity flickering in her eyes, "What army?"

"A very powerful army!" Aphrodite exclaimed with a dreamy look in her eyes. I could see that my mother didn't like being interrupted so she glared at both of them.

"Yes, a very powerful army..." Zeus took over as he saw his daughter on the verge of shouting. "They're coming here on Earth for a small recruitment program. Since we're their first link to their greek culture, they have agreed to help us in our war against Gaea. They'll be here for about six months."

"Who are they recruiting?" Thalia asked.

"Demigods... humans... or us gods." That's new.

"What do you mean by they're coming to earth?" Nico piped up from beside me. "Are you trying to say that they can travel through space?"

"Travel through space? Is that even possible?" Jason added in with confusion over his face.

"Yeah, who exactly are these people? And how can they help us?" I nodded my head at Thalia's question. All three of them made quite valid points. As far as I knew the Olympians can't travel through universe. You know... flash in and flash out from planet to planet ... then how come this unknown army could?

"The army belongs to the greatest god who rules above us all - Lord Chaos." Zeus answered just as the whole camp erupted in shouts.

"WHO?"

"Impossible!"

"But he faded!"

"I thought he was just a myth?" The last one came from Malcolm who I sent a glare to. Every Athena kid knows that the creator of Universe exists. It's a fact. Even the gods had claimed it. So it was kind of stupid for him to say that.

"SILENCE!" Zeus screamed. I could clearly see he hated the fact that someone was more powerful than him. After all he's a greedy bastard.

As if he heard my thoughts, he looked at me with a glare. I just smirked back. Screw his lightning bolt.

"Yes, Lord Chaos does exist. And it's an honour to be in his army. We wanted all of you to give a fair chance so we exchanged the deal. Lord Chaos gets recruits in exchange for his help in the upcoming battle." Apollo continued.

"And what if he didn't find any suitable recruits here?" I asked politely. I didn't wanted to speak but I was curious, besides Apollo voted against Percy's banishment so I don't have anything against him. "What if we don't fit in his army's criteria? Would he still help us?" The gods pondered on my question. Looks like they didn't think of that. Unfortunately that's the time when a lightning striked above us. We all looked up to find a very shady, dark thunderstorm looming over Camp Half blood. I frowned as I saw more lightning. How's that even possible? Just few moments ago it was clear blue skies and now suddenly this.

"They're here" I heard Aphrodite mutter as she looked at the sky in thought. But my eyes were averted downwards right behind the gods where a black portal had opened up through the air. A man in his thirties stepped out. Everyone turned their heads around to see the man. He was mostly dressed in Black cargo pants, a tight black t-shirt that clearly shows way more muscles than it should and black combat boots. But what surprised me more was his eyes. They were twinkling just like the stars. Infact as I looked closer at the unknown man, I could see that his image was flickering for few seconds before it finally formed in a solid shape. I wonder what's that about. As if reading my thoughts, he looked at me with a pity smile. I starred at him in return. Why was he looking at me in pity?

As if the man's weird behaviour wasn't strange enough, I found that he wasn't alone. He was flagged by six other people who looked about 18, with the finest and fittest bodies I've ever seen. 3 boys and 3 girls by looking at their posture. I could clearly hear Aphrodite's gasp and her children's squeals. It's very typical of them.

Like the man, the six teenagers were dressed in the similar fashion but the girls had skinny jeans, tank tops and black Heeled boots instead. Not to mention the black capes they were wearing with black hoods attached. Unfortunately, all six of them had their faces covered.

"Ah, Zeus!" The man addressed as he came closer to the gods while the other six followed after him. "Sorry about my late arrival. Things got pretty tight with someone." The man said, implying the last bit at one of the dark figures standing behind him who I could have swore looked guilty and angry at the same time. It was one of the boys. The formation of a fist was a dead give away to who he was referring too. To be honest. They looked the same with their hoods on. If only they could take their hoods off...

"Lord Chaos." The gods said as they all bend down to pay respect to the creator. I staggered a bit. This man was Lord Chaos? The being who created the universe? But he looked so young for a million years old God. Heck even Zeus couldn't pull that body off even he had lived for thousands of years. According to Hera, Zeus still has his belly flap. I wonder how women even like him with his vast size. He looks like a big fat pumpkin to me. Always on his periods! Seriously, Zeus and his girly tantrums.

It was at that moment when I caught one of the girls behind Lord Chaos chuckling. It was quiet and barely noticeable but somehow I could hear it. It's as if she's standing right beside me. Everyone's focus was still on Lord Chaos. Maybe they didn't hear it?

"Zeus, I'm sure you have told the demigods about us." The creator of the universe asked politely.

"Yes, milord. We're thankful that you are helping us with this war. I'm sure your army will be sufficient enough." Zeus said, getting too sweet. "But might I ask, why do you only have 6 people with you? Where's the rest of the army?"

"These are my personal assassins, Zeus. They overlook the recruitment for this sector. The rest of the army will be here when they're needed. As for now, my assassins are enough."

"Enough?! Oh please, they look nothing special!" I heard someone scream from the back. We all turned our heads to the brown-head boy with crystal blue eyes who looked too smug for his own good. Jacob. I mentally face-palmed at his outburst. He's just giving us more reasons to kill him. "With all due respect Lord Chaos, but how can they be enough?" He scoffed again, exaggerating the word 'lord'. "I bet I could take them down in seconds. They look like they don't know anything about war and being powerful." Somehow, at this comment the atmosphere around us was filled with tension. It was the very front boy behind Lord Chaos who made a slight movement of forming a fist. If I read it correctly, the guy was angry. All focused towards Jacob, while the air around us crackled with something dark. It was the same feeling that I had felt in my dream when I was tortured with that horrible pain. Is it possible that my dream could be related to Lord Chaos's army?

"I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself, Son of Zeus. My assassins don't like to be disrespected." Lord Chaos said in a deadly calm voice. I quickly noticed how the six hooded figure were radiating anger. Especially the boy at the very front.

"But-"

"W-we apologise for Jacob's foolishness my lord." Athena spoke up hesitantly, cutting Jacob off. "He didn't mean to disrespect you or your assassins."

"Its alright for now, Lady Athena. Make sure he doesn't say anything like this again. My son has a very bad temper. Especially when he has a deep hatred towards this place. Towards you and your camp." I frowned at the question. Hatred? Towards us? Hatred towards the gods was explainable since they're on everyone's hit list but towards the camp as well? That's rare. It was at that moment when I felt eyes on me. I looked around to spot the very front boy behind Lord Chaos looking at me. Well, technically his head was facing towards me but I couldn't tell if he was starring at me or not, due to his hood. But none the less, there was something dark in his gaze. I shivered as he continued starring at me but this time with a small smirk dancing on his lips that was visible from his dark hood.

"You have a son?" Zeus asked shockingly.

"Yes. He's the second most powerful being. Right after me." Lord Chaos said as he motioned the very front boy forward. "Gods, meet Alpha." The boy's lips formed into a smirk as everyone in the pavilion stared at him. It was few seconds later when Thalia moved forward and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Thalia. I'm one of the immortal campers and welcome to Camp Half-Blood." I could clearly see a proud smirk on Zeus's face. I scoffed at him before focusing on Thalia who still had her hand stuck out for a handshake.

"I don't need introductions, daughter of Zeus." I froze as his raspy voice made its way to my ears. I could never forget that voice. It had the same dark ringing into it that the voice in my dream had. The very same voice that gave me bruises and immense pain that I could still feel on my skin. Maybe it was my gasp that made him turn towards me with the same smirk dancing on his lips. It was as if he knew that I knew he was the man from my dream. I could feel my inside shivering in fear and my body flinching when his smirk continued to burn holes in me. By that time, Thalia had already moved back, assuming that the son of Lord Chaos wasn't interested in making friends.

I didn't know what I was supposed to do. It was clear he's the man from my dreams and by the look of his demeanour, he wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

"Alpha!" We both jumped at Lord Chaos's loud voice. I looked at the God of creation to find him starring at his son with a stern look. "Don't you dare." Instantly his son raised his hands up in a surrender manner.

I looked at both of them with my full focus. Each of them seemed to be giving a glare to each other. I was thankful to Lord Chaos. Anymore of that man's eyes on me would have sent me sinking down into the ground. The anger and the hatred behind that look was too much for me.

I looked around to see everyone in the pavilion starring intensely on the creation God and his son. Few minutes later, the tension in the air thinned and Lord Chaos turned back to the Olympians while his son threw me a glare. I could tell it was a glare. The way his mouth curving into a scowl, it has to be a glare!

"Ah, where was I?" Lord chaos started, clearly forgetting the fact that he literally staked his son out and had a glare match with him. "Oh yes, Alpha is the commander of my army. So he's the boss unless I'm here which is impossible. My existence here affects the mortal world in a bad way, therefore Alpha will be in charge and the other assassins will aid him." As he said this, everyone in the pavilion saw how his body image flickered like a bad TV reception. "They will explain you all the details and plans about the recruitment later on. We welcome both gods and demigods to try out." Once again, murmurs ran through between us before quieting down to whisperings. Nearly every god in the pavilion had their chest puffed out to portray their big Egos. Ares and Zeus seemed to be winning in the match. "As for now, I must go, but... remember Zeus, if anyone of you tried to force my people in revealing their identities or you harm them in any way, the deal's off." He warned looking at Zeus with eyes narrowed. I shared a look with Thalia who seemed to be thinking along the same line. Are we miss something here? Why is he warning Zeus? And why can't we know who these new allies are? Being the goddess of wisdom, I could say I was desperate to know the answers but on the other hand, I was kinda scared to anything that is related to Lord Chaos's son. The boy still seemed to be starring at me. Or maybe not?

"Yes my lord, I remember the terms." Zeus said with sarcasm hidden behind his voice. I watched as Lord Chaos nodded before looking at me. I looked at him in question before I heard a deep voice echo in my head.

You are very brave, daughter of Athena. Tell him the truth before it's too late. And with that the man disappeared into thin air leaving me with more questions than answers. Tell who?