"I'm not entirely sure we should do this" Percy said, anxiously

"It's the only way to solve our problem" Annabeth pressed

"Yeah, don't be scared" Nico's slightly taunting voice came

"I am not scared" Percy said as Annabeth held out her hand. Clasped in it were 3 sticks.

"Whoever pulls out the shortest has to wake the Ares cabin" She repeated the rules again to Nico and Percy. Waking the Ares cabin was not a job desired by many, the sons and daughters of the war god were not known for being morning people.

Percy drew a breath and reached for one stick, Nico did the same. They pulled at the same time as Annabeth held onto the last one.

Nico grinned as he looked at their sticks "Sorry, Perce"

Annabeth laughed "Go get them, tiger"

Percy threw his stick on the ground "Clarisse is gonna kill me"

"Let's not delay that, shall we?" Nico said, thumping him on the back "It's nearly 7. IF we don't hurry, Mr. D will have our heads"

Percy sighed as Nico steered him towards the cabins, Annabeth walking in front of them.

Percy Jackson would rather have taken on a Hydra.

He would have chosen to go one-on-one with Medusa.

Gladly would he have jumped into battle against a Minotaur.

Anything. He would have done just anything to avoid the task he was now facing. Gulping, he looked down at Clarisse as she slept; mouth slightly open and snoring. He cleared his throat quietly.

"Err.. Clarisse?"

The daughter of Ares let out something between a groan and a grumble and flipped positions on her bunk. Percy looked around hastily to see if any of the other Ares campers had woken. Nothing. They all still lay on their bunks, filling the cabin with snores and grunts and occasional talking (that made it seem that they were all dreaming of threatening the other campers).

Percy turned back to his target and reached for the edge of her blanket. He lightly tugged, shaking her slightly.

"Clarisse… Chiron says to get up"

Still nothing.

"Talk about sleeping like a rock" Percy muttered. Sighing, he glanced around at the cabin door, wondering if he should just leave and tell Chiron that waking up the Ares cabin was a job for someone much more qualified than him. One of the harpies perhaps.

Deciding that he would do exactly that, he turned back to readjust Clarisse's blanket. His mouth fell open and his eyes widened as Clarisse stared up at him, eyes bloodshot.

"clar-"

"!"

It only took Clarisse a second to do what Percy had been trying for minutes; to wake the entire Ares cabin.

"What the HELL is going on?"

"It's 7 a.m. in the morning!"

"Turn of that racket!"

"Who got Clarisse?"

Percy swallowed as Clarisse threw the covers back and stood up, glaring at him. Her hair was a tangled mess, her eyes were puffy, and she was in an old tracksuit. Seeing her like this frightened Percy even more than when she was in battle gear.

"Uh… rise and shine?" Percy smiled

"GET HIM!" Clarisse bellowed to her rising cabin mates.