Chapter Ten: Alexia's Eyes and  Drake The Idiot

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Breathing heavily, Alexia ran deeper into the woods, followed by curious stares from the nymphs and satyrs scattered in the woods.

After a few minutes of running, her leg started to throb, so she sank down and rested her back on a nearby tree, the light of the stars and moon beaming down at her from the dark night sky.

Shivering from the cold night wind, Alexia sniffed and forced herself not to cry.

She felt her heart throb painfully, a feeling of dread spreading through her body.

The golden eyed daughter of Demeter blinked a few times as she the image of her fellow campers formed in her mind.

She remembered the confused look on Drake and Gwen's faces, the calculating look on Fred's face as he frowned and the suspicious looks from both Chuck and Clark.

She knew what Clark and Chuck we're thinking.

They didn't trust her.

At that time, she felt a familiar feeling in her gut, forcing her to put on an emotionless face they threatened to break, but she held on....but not long enough.

Quickly, she had fled to the safety of the forest, leaving the others in the dust, on hopes of being alone and hiding the pain threatening to form in her face.

Just then, Alexia realized what the feeling in her gut was.... if was fear.

Fear that she'd disappoint them. Fear that they'd lose faith in her. Fear that she'd somehow become a burden to them.

She was afraid that they'd abandon her like the people in her past. Afraid that they'd discard her like trash, thinking that she was nothing but a burden to them, something useless and easily replaced.

She hated feeling this way.

Because now she felt worse.

They looked suspicious, like she'd betray them any minute, like she was some kind of bomb sent to them to ruin everything.

She felt worse than useless. She felt untrustworthy.

Suddenly, she felt something lightly tap her in the shoulder and she jolted to her feet, eyes wide and dagger drawn. Only to see a surprised Drake standing in front if her, his hands outstretched as if to tap her shoulder.

So it was him....

"Drake?", she muttered, surprised to see the dark haired boy there. "What are you---"

"Are you....", he paused, examining her face, "Crying?"

A blush spread across her face when she realized that a tear slipped from her eye without her permission.

Quickly, she wiped it with the back of her hand.

"N-No", she replied, causing her to mentally facepalm as she heard the edge in her own voice.

The brown-eyed boy raised an eyebrow at her statement, "Uh-huh", he said, not believing her. "You sure about that?"

"Y-Yeah", she replied, cursing herself for stuttering.

His face softened, "Alexia--"

Something inside her snapped, "I SAID I'M NOT CRYING GODDAMMIT!", she yelled, anger clear in her voice.

Drake looked taken aback at her sudden outburst, which cashed her to feel guilty.

"S-Sorry... I didn't mean---", she was cut off as Drake chuckled awkwardly.

"It's my fault, shouldn't have pushed you like that, sorry", he muttered, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I-It's okay...", she replied, before sitting back down under the tree, her dagger at her side. "It's just that...."

He sat down beside her and raised an eyebrow, urging her continue. "It's just what?''

She tried to form the words, but they wouldn't come out, instead she just shook her head and adjusted her gaze to the ground.

"It's nothing", she replied, sighing.

Drake chuckled, "Don't worry about it, I already know you have a crush on me"

At this, Alexia snorted, "Yeah, right"

He frowned, "You sound like a pig when you snort"

She rolled her eyes at his statement. "Atleast I don't look like one"

He huffed, "Oh please, you know I'm hot", he said, sending her a wink.

She burst out laughing, "Seriously Drake?!", she said, clutching her stomach as she laughed. "Go kiss a rock"

He smiled at this and glanced at the sky.

Noticing the smile on his lips Alexia raised an eyebrow. "Why are you smiling?"

He glanced at her and smirked, "I made you laugh"

She frowned, "Yeah, so?"

He shook his head and chuckled, "It's nothing"

Alexia raised an eyebrow at this, "Uh-huh...."

He smiled at her suspicious gaze, "It's just that I like you better when you smile"

She shrugged, "Well, at least my smile is better than yours", she replied, though she couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"It's just that you kinda look like an idiot when you smile", she replied, smirking.

"Oh please, my smile cause girls around the world to swoon!"

She snickered, "Another reason why I've lost faith in humanity"

He chuckled and winked, "You'll fall for me sooner or later"

She rolled her eyes, "That'll happen when you stop tripping on rocks"

He groaned in annoyance, "This again!?"

The two half-bloods continued bickering like this as stars beaming from above them, but their conversation about Drake being an idiot stopped when Alexia's stomach rumbled, indicating that she was hungry.

Together, they had rushed to the dining pavilion, offered a part of their meal to the gods, ate as fast as they could and joined the rest of the camp at the campfire, where they sang songs and ate roasted marshmallows.

As she stared at the flickering dully colored flames of the campfire,Alexia couldn't help but grin as she rembered the smile on Drake's face and the way he had tried to lift her spirits.

It made him cute, in an way.

Gwen suddenly sat down beside her and greeted her with a shy smile, "Hey"

Alexia smiled back, unsure what she was doing there,"Hey"

Gwen followed her gaze to the fire, a sad expression on her face. "It's been rough on the camp"

She couldn't help but be confused, "What do you mean, Gwen?"

Sighing, the red-haired girl gazed at the fire, the sad color of the fire reflecting in her green eyes. "Twenty years ago, a great evil force --Gaea, the earth mother, awakened. She opened the doors of death, causing nobody to die. But seven half-bloods (with the help of others ) stopped her from taking over the world"

"Why are you telling me this?", Gwen ignored her and continued.

"Fifteen years later, I had arrived at camp. There were a lot of us then, but then campers went missing. And then Chiron sent out half-bloods to look for them.... without any luck .... but then Clark came...."

"He was the first to return?", Alexia asked, suddenly, her legs throbbed as she remembered that the night before his return, her legs were pinned down by a tree.

Gwen nodded, "He came the day after you did... which could be a coincidence but you never know.... then you started screaming like a possessed person....then the dream you had.... something wasn't right"

"What do you mean?", Alexia asked, chewing her lip anxiously.

"I feel like the whole 'Resurrecting' plan is just a part of their plan... I think that something bigger is going on.....", she looked up to the brunette, a curious glint in her green eyes. "And I think it has something to do with you"

Alexia choked on her s'more. "M-Me?!", she blurted out, surprised.

Gwen nodded shyly, "Yes you. On your first day, you weren't just chased by one cyclops, a whole army of dracanae, hellhounds and manticores came after you! That has never happened before.... well, except for Thalia Grace.... but that's bacause of who she was...."

Dracanae? Hellhound? Manticore? Thalia Grace?

Her mind whirled, but she tried to listen, as Gwen continued.

"I was just thinking.... maybe there's something about you that they want. I mean, why else would they bring an army after you? And your eyes.... it's weird seeing someone with golden eyes"

"I get that a lot", she replied, remembering Chuck and Clark's suspicious stares. It made her feel like some kind of freak.

"Have you always had them?"

"Yeah.... I guess so"

"Hmmmm.....", Gwen said, pausing for a minute. Then she snapped her fingers. "Could this be the reason for your eyes?"

She pointed at Alexia's stomach, "Demeter did say there was something inside you..... do you think she meant a baby?"

Alexia's ears turned pink, "Hey!"

"Kidding!", Gwen said chuckling, "But seriously, do you think the reason they're after you is because of the.... thing inside you? Whatever that is....."

The daughter if Demeter thought about if for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Maybe... "

Then, Alexia raised her eyes at Gwen, "You're pretty good at making connections"

Gwen smiled shyly, "Thanks", she said, before a few of her cabin mates called after her.

She turned her attention to them, said goodbye and joined her cabinmates as they sang a strange song about armor.

Alexia watched her go and was quiet for a moment, before she averted her gaze to the dark night sky, wondering what was Demeter talking about, and what would be in store for them during the quest.

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Author's Note:

Yay! I updated!

*falls on the floor because I'm exhausted*

*facepalms because chapter is weird and crappy*

*steals your food because I can*

*gets chased by a dinosaur I found under your house*

*Makes all this up because I'm bored*

*Chucky stabs me with a knife*

*Dies*

*Resurects cause me is to Fab to die*

.......

Wow.... this is one weird author's note

Oh, and a happy birthday to Frank Zhang and Grover!

🙆🙆🎁🎁🎉🎉🎂🎂

(It's June 5 in my place)

Which is the reason I updated. In honor of our favorite Chinese Canadian Baby Man and the one and only Enchiladas eating G-man!

Frank: -_-

Grover: :D

Anyway guys, gotta go now. Lots of other books to forget to update and lots of other readers to enrage!

See you next time I update!

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