We ran as fast as we could. Trying to find a shelter while you're in the middle of the woods isn't exactly easy when your being pursued by very hungry Cyclops.
"Clarisse, distract them for me!" Percy yelled at me.
"You don't give me orders, Jackson!" I yelled back. Despite that, I gripped my spear and turned around.
"Hey! You big punks! Over here!" The Cyclops had obviously heard me because they were now lumbering towards me, their toothy grins becoming as large as their ugly faces. My eyes widened as I realized that they were quite fast.
"Ugh. Jackson! You better have a plan or I swear I will kick your ass so hard, you won't be able to sit for a weak!" I yell.
"I'm still working on that!" he yells back.
"Work faster!" I scream when the big Cyclops starts throwing boulders at me.
"Throw your spear at it!" He finally says.
"What?"
"Just do it!" I could see that Percy was running out of energy. Typical Jackson. I thought, but throw my spear anyway. It hits the smaller Cyclops square in the chest and the monster crumbles to dust immediately.
"Well that was easy." I say to myself.
"Don't let your guard down yet, there's still the other one!" yells Percy, panic still in his voice.
"I'm not an idiot, Jackson! I know what I'm doing!" My temper rising, I grip my spear and turn towards the sound of his voice. Though what I see is not Percy, standing in front of me is a huge Cyclops who's probably already thinking about his late night snack with some salsa.
"Percy!" I scream. "Where are you?!" Gods, this is so not a convenient time for you to disappear, idiot.
"Clarisse, calm down, it's me." I can hear his soothing voice, but the disturbing part is that it's coming from the Cyclops mouth. I stumble, but raise my sword to slash his leg. The Cyclops must have predicted my move because he manages to send me flying with a small slap of his hand. My head it's the ground with a thud and the last thing I see before slipping into unconsciousness is Percy stabbing that monster in the back.
"Clarisse, wake up. Wake up!" A voice urges me and my eyes crack open. Percy's face is hovering over me and I can see relief spreading.
"Jackson?" my vision was a bit hazy.
"You got a pretty bad beating, you know?" he tried helping me sit up, but I waved him off.
"I just got thrown by a Cyclops, big deal." I said, but my grunting wasn't exactly helping my case. A fire was crackling by his side and he had a pack of ambrosia squares out.
"Here, " he said, handing me a square. "Eat." I took it and popped it in my mouth like a sweet.
"So..." I said. "you killed him?"
"Uh, yeah." he nodded.
"So, where are we going next?" I asked, pulling a map from my bag.
"Well, Chicago is still a while away and there's a motel a few miles by foot. We can stop there, tomorrow to sleep." he says, pointing at a spot on the map.
"It doesn't seem too far away. We can make it there by tomorrow afternoon." he pulls out two sandwiches from his bag and hands me one.
"Where were you when he... punched me?" I asked, staring at my sandwich.
"I had to make my way around the trees for him not to see me. I'm sorry." he said.
"Big deal, it's not exactly the first time a Cyclops hits me anyway." I chuckled, remembering the time I was sent on a quest to get the fleece. My mood darkened as I thought of Ichneutae. I didn't usually let people see how much it bothered me that he had died at the hands Scylla.
I swallowed what was left of my sandwich after me and Percy had talked about the plan for tomorrow. We had been chosen by Chiron to get Persephone's crown. She had somehow managed to get it stolen by someone and had asked Chiron for some help, since she was too lazy to get it herself.
"Well, good night." I said, lying on my head on my bag. My back facing Percy.
"Sure, 'night." he said, lying down and pulling his jacket over himself.
"Hey, you know it wasn't your fault. What happened to Ichneutae, I mean." he told me after a few minutes. My eyes shot open.
"I don't like talking about it, Jackson." I replied, icily.
"They say talking helps people." he tried.
"Yeah, well we aren't exactly normal, Percy!" he spat at him, turning around on my back and glared at him.
"But that doesn't mean some things can't hurt us." he said, looking at me in the eye.
"It doesn't take just a few monsters and a satyr to hurt me, okay?!" and I turn, my back facing him again.
Soon enough, I'm asleep and dreaming.
I'm in the woods, alone and out of the shadows comes Percy.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. It's me, Percy." his voice is soothing and I lower my sword.
"What's going on?" I ask, confused.
"My... You're so oblivious, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, so innocent..." he chuckles. "No wonder Ichneutae was so easy for Scylla to catch when such a weak girl was next to him." he says.
"What are you talking about? I'm not weak! I'm strong! Ares blessed me, I'm his best child!" I start screaming at him.
"Oh, that's what you think? Ares doesn't care about you, he thinks you're a wimp!" Percy's laughing at me. "You're not even strong enough to hold me back!"
"What are you talking about?" I ask, but then his face morphs into that of a Cyclops and he becomes taller and taller. He laughs and raises a huge boulder over my head.
"PERCY! NO!" I scream as the boulder comes down on my head.
"Clarisse! Wake up, wake up!" my eyes shoot open as Percy shakes me awake. I breathe heavily as tears come rolling down my face.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm here, it's okay." he rocks me in his arms while I'm shaking. I hug him and start sobbing in his jacket. Years of regret and guilt are washed away in the form of tears, soaking Percy's jacket.