Cattle Prods
A/N Yeah, it's been a while. Sorry 'bout that.
This is one of the last few chapter ideas that I have that hasn't been altered by requests that I've gotten. So if you're wondering when I'll start writing your requests, I'll probably start that next chapter, or at the latest, the chapter after next. But I can never have enough ideas, so PLEASE keep sending them. Don't be afraid to request characters that I've already written, as long as you give me a new scenario as well. Heck, send me just a scenario and I can fill in the rest. I'm flexible.
Also, may I just say that I love you all? I can? Ok, then. I LOVE YOU ALL!
I was all worried that the last chapter wouldn't get as good of a response, because it was a little different than the others, with a little less comedy and a little more Paul-gets-involved. But I woke up the morning after I posted it and checked my email, and OH MY GODS. I about had a heart attack. I mean, I'm just starting out, and I'm used to getting more feedback with each chapter, but DAMN. That was a lot of feedback. SO THANK YOU AGAIN. Did I mention I love you?
Ahem. Ignoring that gross public display of affection, let's just get to the story. Shall we?
Set the winter after the Titan War.
Paul should know by now that if he's alone with Percy, something will happen.
Well, actually he does know that, and it's always on the forefront of his mind when he's with him. But now he's gonna have to work into his mind that things don't always happen when it's just the two of them. They can happen when they're surrounded by people, and in a public place. Like, say, a Starbucks.
Paul didn't normally go to Starbucks. They were expensive, the sizes were confusing, and the barista at the store closest to them was rude. Other than that though, they were fine. But he usually just got coffee from the teacher's lounge at Goode.
Unfortunately, the coffee machine had broken yesterday, leaving the teachers caffeine deprived and grumpy today. So when Paul had parked the car in front of the apartment building after school, Percy had hopped out of the passenger's seat and directed Paul down the sidewalk away from the door to their building and toward the corner, where a Starbucks was located. Paul, being exhausted, did not fight him.
"We could just make coffee at home, Percy," he offered, but Percy shook his head.
"You look like Hades, Paul. You'd fall asleep before the coffee was done," Percy said right before they went through the door. A rush of warm air hit Paul, and he suddenly didn't mind so much that he was there.
"Well I don't know what Hades looks like, so I'm hoping that's a compliment," Paul joked. Percy led him to a booth seat next to a window and went back to the counter to order, not even dignifying Paul with a response. Paul sat and in a few minutes, Percy was back next to him.
"It'll be done in a second," Percy said as he sat across from him. Paul nodded and rubbed his eyes.
When he opened them again, a pretty brunette barista was next to them with their order, eyeing Percy with interest. "Your order, sir," she said, addressing Percy. Percy looked up, surprised.
"That was quick," he told her as he fished his money out of his pocket.
She smiled, in a flirtatious way. "Slow day," she simpered as she put down the drinks. Paul took a fleeting look at the counter, seeing plenty of people who had been there before them and didn't yet have their order. He rolled his eyes at this girl's obvious attempt to flirt with Percy. He was pretty sure the baristas didn't usually deliver the order.
Percy wasn't buying it. "Uh huh," he said as he gave her the money. "Thanks," he said and turned back to the table. The girl's flirtatious smile melted into a dangerous scowl, and she turned away.
Paul smirked and shook his head. Percy, who was about to take a drink of his coffee, noticed and stopped. "What?"
"Nothing," Paul said and grabbed his drink. It was almost to his lips when it was suddenly yanked from his hand and slammed onto the table. The lid popped off because the cup was squeezed too hard, and the steaming liquid sloshed onto the table. One look at Percy's drink said the same had happened to him. Both had surprised and annoyed faces on and looked to the person who had done it.
Next to their table was a large muscular girl with stringy brown hair who looked like she had a permanent glare. She wore a brown army jacket over carpenter jeans, with a hint of an orange shirt underneath. Through one of her pants' many loops was a long… thing. It was probably a weapon, but he couldn't make it out. It was most likely the Mist covering it up, which was odd. He always tried to force himself to see through the Mist. Whatever it was, it sort of resembled a cattle prod at the moment.
"Sorry ladies, tea time's over," she growled.
Percy groaned and ran his hand over his face. "Clarisse, what're you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same, Sea Brat. You're obviously not here for the right reasons," she snapped at him.
He looked at her incredulously. "I live feet from here. And in case you hadn't noticed, this is a coffee shop. The 'right reason' to be here, is to drink coffee. Which is what we were doing, before you showed up."
The girl put her hand on her weapon and glared at Percy. "If I hadn't shown up, you would've drank your drinks. And who knows what she put in them."
"Who's 'she'?" Percy asked, looking around.
Clarisse rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Your new girlfriend," she said mockingly and gestured to the barista who had delivered their drinks. Paul and Percy turned to look at the girl, who pretended she hadn't been staring at them and hurriedly began wiping down the counter closest to her.
Percy looked back at Clarisse. "What makes you think she put something in our drinks? And you never answered my question; what're you doing—"
Clarisse put a hand over Percy's mouth and shoved him over a foot so she could sit on the bench too. She was looking out the window at someone crossing the street, who was wearing a green apron over a black skirt and shirt. She looked like she was just coming to work, but Clarisse followed her every move.
Percy yanked her hand off of his mouth and glared at her. "For the love of the gods, would you just tell me what is going on?" he snapped at her.
Clarisse, without looking at Percy, grabbed his jaw and turned his head to look out the window at the girl. "I've been following her all day," she jerked his head back toward the barista, "and I think that's her apprentice. Tell me, Prissy, are they human?"
Percy pushed her arm away so that she wasn't gripping his jaw. He took a closer look at the girl Clarisse had been following—who was now walking in the door—and scowled.
"No," Percy admitted. "They're not."
Clarisse smirked and patted Percy's head—though it looked more like she was smacking him for all she was worth.
As Percy and Clarisse began to insult each other and bicker, Paul looked behind him at the two monster girls. They were talking in hushed tones, when suddenly the one from outside looked over at their table with a wicked grin. Her eyes flashed blood red for a moment, then flashed back to brown. Yeah, Paul was pretty sure they weren't human.
Then both barista/girl/monsters started staring at their table, both of their eyes bright red. Paul turned around in his seat and faced the two teens, who looked like they were about to get into a fist fight with each other. "Sorry to interrupt, but they're staring at us like we're their next meal," he whispered quickly.
They both snapped their heads toward the threat. Percy then leant across the table to Paul.
"Paul, run," he muttered, before standing up.
Luckily for Percy, the café was only filled with a cheerleading team and a few other patrons, otherwise his next diversion wouldn't have worked.
"Ah! A rat just ran across the counter!" he yelled. It was horrible acting, but it worked. The cheerleaders all simultaneously jumped up and shrieked before causing a mini stampede out of the store. Even if the other people in the store didn't want to leave, they had no choice as they were sucked into the wave of people going out the door.
And if Paul had been paying closer attention, he would've realized that he was supposed to follow the people. But it was too late now, because the brunette monster who had waited on them had now locked Percy, Clarisse and him inside. She then walked over to the new monster.
Paul looked around to see that the teens were no longer at the table, but in the middle of the room. Apparently during the chaos they had moved tables and chairs around so that they were by the walls and out of their way. Percy had Riptide out, and Clarisse was holding her weapon. Now, when Paul looked at it hard enough, he could see that it was a five-foot-long spear with a barbed tip that glowed red with electricity. Paul wondered if the Mist had been thicker with all of the other people there, keeping him from seeing her weapon until now.
The lead monster, who had a blonde bob and a perky smile, stood with her hands on her hips watching the teens. "It was, like, really nice of you to get the mortals out of here. It'll be soooo much easier to kill you without them getting in the way. Right, Carrie?"
The brunette, Carrie, smirked evilly. "Right Kelsi," she responded, then began morphing before everyone's eyes. The color drained from her skin until she was as white as chalk, her red eyes standing out in stark contrast. Fangs grew from her mouth, and Paul would've said she was a vampire if it weren't for her legs, which had changed as well. Her right leg was now bronze, and the left was the leg of a donkey. Paul thought back to his knowledge of Greek myths and realized the monster were empousai, servants of Hecate.
She quickly advanced on Clarisse, her steps making a clomp-clang-clomp-clang noise. With a running start and a hiss, Carrie launched herself at Clarisse.
Clarisse, not batting an eye, raised her spear so that it was chest level with the flying monster. With a zap, the spear went right through the girl, the tip protruding from her back. Angry and surprised, Carrie glared at Clarisse one last time before she dissolved into monster dust around the spear.
Percy raised his eyebrows appraisingly at Clarisse, then looked back to the remaining monster. "That was easy," Percy remarked.
And a little anticlimactic, Paul thought to himself.
"You idiots!" Kelsi shrieked. Paul snapped his head back to look at her. She had transformed as well, the difference between her and Carrie being that Kelsi's hair was on fire. "You think you're so strong, killing a young apprentice. Let's see you best me! I haven't been beaten for one hundred years!"
"Yeah, let's see," Percy said, and advanced on Kelsi. He swung his sword at her torso. As the sword made contact with her side, she burst into flames and was gone. Paul thought this strange, since he had seen Percy kill several monsters and none of them had done anything but turn into dust.
Percy didn't look happy with this result either. In the split second after the flames disappeared, he quickly spun around to face Clarisse again, just in time to see Kelsi roundhouse-kick her in the back of the head with her bronze leg.
Too late for him to do anything, Percy watched Clarisse crumple. He looked back up at Kelsi in fury, who simply looked back at him with a triumphant smirk. Clarisse and Percy had definitely not gotten along, but Paul could tell Percy did not wish her harm.
Kelsi walked away from Clarisse and toward Percy. "Problem, demigod?" She asked him with a saccharine smile. She paced slowly, walking back and forth in front of Percy but not close enough to be in harm's way. "I thought you were in the process of besting me?"
Again, Percy ran at her with his sword raised. She smirked at him evilly, no hint of fear or intimidation on her face. When he was about to run her through, she dissolved into flames once more. She reappeared by the counter, leaning against it with her elbow. She laughed, and Percy spun to glare at her.
"You can't get me," she taunted him. Percy growled and ran at her, and she cackled as he dove at her. Again, she disappeared. She reappeared a few feet behind Percy, and he swung around with Riptide to slash at her. She disappeared and showed up behind the counter.
"Tsk tsk," she patronized him. "Here I am, weaponless, winning a battle against the invulnerable hero of Olympus." She shook her head. "Pathetic."
Percy was glaring at his opponent, but suddenly his eyes lit up with mischief. He lowered his weapon to show he wasn't about to attack. "Well if you like, I'll give you time to get a weapon. I think I see a knife next to the coffee cake."
Kelsi frowned disbelievingly and cocked her head slightly. "You're lying. Why would you allow me to gain a weapon?"
Percy put on an innocent face and shrugged. "Well I'd feel a little better if I was beaten by an enemy with a weapon. You know, a pride thing."
Kelsi seemed to be buying it. She smirked a bit. "Wise of you to accept your fate, godling." She searched the desert display in front of her for the knife, but found nothing. "Erm. Where did you say it was?"
"Oh by the coffee cake. Behind you." Kelsi turned to look over her shoulder. "Not directly behind you. Back up a few feet, it's by the coffee machine." Kelsi turned and found it, then made her way toward it. As she grabbed it, Paul heard a faint hissing noise. It progressively grew louder as she turned around and brandished her new weapon. Her evil smirk told Paul she either didn't hear anything or was too excited by her impending victory to care.
Suddenly the two coffee machines behind her exploded, sending scalding water and bits of shrapnel at the monster. Her hair was extinguished and her face contorted into a mask of rage and surprise, and Percy made his move.
In three swift strides, Percy was upon her. Without waiting, he sliced from her left shoulder to her opposing hip. She dissolved without another snarky word, this time into the appropriate golden dust.
Paul exhaled a sigh of relief. He never doubted his step-son's abilities, but seeing these fights put him on edge. Also, he was glad he could stop ducking behind this upturned table. His knees were hurting.
Percy walked back to Clarisse's prone form, and Paul joined him. "I guess we should wake her up," Percy muttered like he was unhappy about it.
"Probably," Paul replied. "I've heard that if someone gets knocked out, you should wake them up by putting bath salts under their nose. We don't have any of those, but maybe coffee would be—"
Paul stopped talking when Percy dropped the butt of his sword onto Clarisse's stomach. It bounced back up slightly and Percy grabbed the blade out of the air as Clarisse came to. She reflexively tightened her abs, rolled to the side and groaned.
"Or… I guess that works too," Paul said.
"Get up Boar Head, fights over," Percy informed Clarisse. She sat up and rubbed the back of her head, muttering obscenities about empousai and sons of Poseidon. She stopped when Percy offered his hand. She eyed it and its owner warily before taking it. He helped her up to a standing position and dropped her hand as soon as possible.
"Blondie?" Clarisse asked.
"Gone. Didn't know what hit her."
Clarisse grunted. "Probably because she was marveling at your awful technique," Clarisse said.
Percy just rolled his eyes. Then he addressed Paul. "You still want a coffee?" he asked him.
Paul shook his head. "Nope, this adrenalin rush will last me for a while."
He nodded. Then he looked back at Clarisse, looking as if he was about to say something that pained him. He sighed. "We have nectar and ambrosia at the apartment, do you need any?"
Clarisse looked affronted. "For this?" she asked, gesturing to her head where she had gotten kicked. She scoffed. "Please. I've wad horse," she said and stumbled. Paul raised his eyebrows worriedly at her misspoken words while Percy tried to contain his laughs. Paul had a feeling she needed a bit of godly help with her obvious concussion.
Before Paul could say anything to convince her to accept their offering of help, she walked (with a few stumbles) away to behind the counter. She grabbed the canister of whipped cream and sprayed it directly into her mouth. When she had gotten her fill, she slammed the can back down to the counter, wiped the excess cream from her lips with the back of her hand, and proceeded to leave.
"I've always wanted to do that," she told them as she left the café.
Paul watched her leave, then asked Percy, "Should we let her leave? She seems a little out of it."
Percy was still smiling at Clarisse's expense. He shook his head. "Nah, she'll be fine. Didn't you hear? She's 'wad horse'." Percy then started out the door, and Paul followed him.
When Percy was almost out the door, he stopped. "Hold on," Percy told him and went back to the counter. Paul watched bemusedly as he walked behind the counter. Was there another monster? Was the last one still alive somehow?
Percy grabbed the whipped cream canister and sprayed it directly into his mouth as well. Just like Clarisse, he slammed it back down and wiped his mouth before walking to the door again.
"Ok, we're good," Percy told him around his mouthful of whipped cream, but it sounded more like 'ohay, wuh guh'. Percy went out the door and Paul followed, leaving the café in disrepair for someone else to clean up.
A/N This one took a lot longer than I thought it would for two reasons. One, I completely deviated from my original plan for the chapter. Like, this is nothing like it was supposed to be. And two, it took a while to figure Clarisse out. I didn't want there to be too much hostility, or too much friendship. She's just hard for me to capture, I guess.
I'm gonna promote now. And for once, NOT FOR ME!
If you're looking for a sad Percabeth story with an interesting concept, go check out Tightrope by InnocentFighter. If you read it and don't—at the very least—pout, then you are stronger than me. I think I actually sniffled at one point, and I rarely get emotional about fanfics. If I sense a feel coming on, I just force myself to think "it's not real; if it really happened, Rick would tell us" and so on. It's a defense mechanism.
If only I had a Rick-proof defense mechanism; then I could live a stress free life.
Sorry if I'm babbling, it's late and I'm tired and my ADD is acting up.
Anywho, reviews are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I would love some!
