Alright everyone, so I know that I haven't updated in a while and I apologize for that. It's been hard for me with the move and seeing Eclipse (that'll be stuck in my head for a while) and the fact that I don't have the books with me to look them over for information is hard. If there's anything wrong with this chapter, then tell me when you guys READ AND REVIEW! PS: Thanks to littlemisspink951 to get me back in this. Thanks so much!

Disclaimer = I don't own Percy Jackson!

Chapter 11

I wasn't expecting that

Percy's Point of View

We've been running for what seemed like hours. But no one would stop, not for Annabeth. How could we stop, knowing that Annabeth had hardly any time left to live? Even though we were all exhausted and needed rest, no one stopped. "Percy, at some time, we need to stop. Annabeth's not going to get any better if we push ourselves," Grover had said once night had fallen and we were in a strange forest. My mind was telling me to continue but my heart said otherwise. It was telling me to stop, stop, STOP!

"Grover's right, Percy. We don't know what's ahead of us and we need to be in the best shape possible," Thalia answered, her eyes filled with exhaustion and determination. We had been at it for hours, just walking around and trying to find 'the city with no name'. Frankly, with not many leads, it was quite the challenge.

Looking at both of my friends, it appeared that we all needed to rest. Sighing, I stopped walking and looked at both of them. "Alright, we'll stop for today. But we need to rest in shifts. Who knows what's lurking out there..." I said as they both nodded and sat down on the mossy ground. The rustle of the leaves and the hooting of the owls just made the forest seemed mischievous. "I'll go first."

"You sure man?" Grover asked. Thalia seemed concerned about my staying up to guard them but seemed unable to argue. She was just too tired, like all of us.

"Yeah, I probably won't be able to sleep anyways. I'll just take the first shift and Thalia? You can take the next one, right?"

"Sure thing," Thalia answered before walking towards the nearby tree and started collecting a few branches. Grover followed her actions and started gathering firewood to create a large enough fire for all three of us. After a few minutes, the two finally got to sleep and I watched over them, reliving the last few hours in my mind. How could Annabeth have not told me what was going on? I knew she liked to keep her pain a secret but not to this extent. The way her forehead beaded with sweat at the effort of fighting to stay alive, her heavy breathing and her strength frightened me to a whole new extent. My poor Annabeth... She truly was a fighter.

Just as I watched the fire cackle, a large rustling in the nearby bushes made me look up and my body became rigid. What would pop out at us at such a time? The others never woke up at the sound, which worked with me. They should have their rest. Getting up from my sitting position, grabbed my pen from my pocket, uncapped Riptide and advanced slowly towards the moving bush. This was exactly like an old horror movie when the bushes rustle and a serial killer jumps up at you to kill you. But this time, the killer wouldn't kill me. I'd kill it.

Approaching the bushes slowly but carefully, the rustling became louder and louder with each passing second. Raising Riptide, something popped out of the shrub but all I thought that it was an attacker. I brought down Riptide onto the intruder but it was easily blocked. Looking down at the intruder, my mouth literally fell open.

"Clarisse?" She looked up to meet my eyes and her expression darkened.

"Yes, it's me, Seaweed Brain." My anger boiled over when she used Annabeth's nickname for me. Of course, she saw my change of features and her expression changed. "Sorry Jackson," She apologized and walked over to me.

"Clarisse, what are you doing here?" I asked once again, emphasizing every word. She walked over to the fire and sat down, waking everyone up at the same time.

"Percy, what is—" Thalia started asking but was interrupted when she saw Clarisse. Thalia's expression darkened and her face showed anger. "What are you doing here?" Thalia asked with as much venom as possible embedded in her words.

"Well, hello to you too Thalia. Nice to know we're still on good terms," Clarisse replied sarcastically as she looked at the fire crackling before her eyes. I didn't like the idea that Clarisse had come but what could I do? It's Clarisse for the Gods' sake. No one could boss her around.

"Did you follow us?" Thalia asked, her voice rising with anger. It was extremely frightening to see her this mad, especially when Clarisse was here. Both of them could pummel me into grits when they're this mad.

"So what if I did? You gonna make me leave?" Clarisse asked while standing up and walking up to Thalia. Both of them were having a stare-off contest. This wasn't going very well... Grover just stood there, looking at both of them, then at me. His eyes practically screamed LET'S GET OUT OF HERE! Frankly, I wanted to do the same but it was dangerous. Thalia and Clarisse's eyes were almost burning with fiery rage. "I doubt you could do that," Clarisse retorted with a slight grin on that angry face of hers.

"Don't tempt me, La Rue," Thalia replied, inching forward just enough for their noses to practically touch. The air was heating up with the intensity of their stares.

Suddenly, my vision changed and it wasn't Thalia staring Clarisse down. It was Annabeth. Her glassy eyes stared Clarisse down and, even though there was a height difference, Annabeth was one heck of a fighter. But something changed. Her face was beaded with sweat and her stomach seemed to be bleeding. Annabeth turned to face me and something changed once again. Her eyes didn't hold fear, they were in pain and held weakness. "Percy... help me..." She whispered before Annabeth disappeared and was replaced by Thalia. Annabeth hardly had enough time left.

They needed to stop this bickering now.

"Stop this!" I shouted at them and tried to get in the middle of their stare fest—trust me, it wasn't the smartest idea at a time like this. Even though I had entered their vision point, Thalia and Clarisse would not look at me. "Guys, this is not the time to fight! Annabeth doesn't have much time left and you guys are fighting?" At the mention of Annabeth, both girls looked at me and their eyes saddened deeply. "If you want to fight, then do it after we've saved Annabeth. But now, she needs us to be in top shape." They both knew that Annabeth was first priority. Annabeth wasn't just a friend but a sister to most.

Both of them looked at one another for one second and they both sighed at the same time, creeping me out completely. It was bad already when they were both angry at one another but when they followed each other's actions to perfection; now that was scary. "Fine," Thalia answered as she crossed her arms in defeat. She was never one to give up, even in a small fight like this.

"Whatever," Clarisse retorted angrily.

"Alright, so let's get some rest. I'll take first shift while you guys sleep," I answered but no one seemed to answer. Were they trying to ignore me and do their own way or were they going to do as I said? I hope it would be that second option...

"Um... guys?" We all turned around to see Grover looking at the dark forest. "I don't think that we're going to get any sleep right now," Grover said as a few monsters came out of the trees. Suddenly, we came face to face with three hellhounds and a fury. This wasn't our week...

"Guys, get ready!" I yelled at them but they had already gotten out their weapons and shields. The demons approached us and soon, we attacked. The Fury went down easily but the hellhounds were another problem. If there was just one, it would have been an easier fight but now, there were three. Grover and Thalia were attacking one as Clarisse and I each had to face a hellhound on our own. As the hellhound tried to claw and bite me, a thought came to mind. Annabeth's invisibility cap. I still had it in my pocket. Using it in battle might be handy...

Grabbing the hat from my backpack, I put it on and in mere minutes, my whole body was invisible. The hellhound looked around and tried to find me but with no luck. Jumping on its back, the hellhound tried to shake me off but I held on tightly. This brought back the memory of the hellhound that attacked us on the first day of the quest. Annabeth had done the same thing as I had: jumped on its back and tried to kill it. And she had succeeded.

This time, no one will get hurt because of these damn dogs!

Lifting Riptide in the air, I brought it down in the middle of its neck and he whimpered in pain before disappearing in a puff of black smoke. Looking around, I could see that Thalia and Grover were dealing with their hellhounds easily as Clarisse had a little bit of trouble with hers. The hellhound clawed at Clarisse as she laid on the floor and swung at it with precision. She had gotten a few good shots at it but she couldn't do anything else. There were trees all around her and the hellhound was looming over her, its teeth sharp and its claws inches away from Clarisse.

She'll probably kill me for this afterwards, I thought while sighing. Running up to the hellhound, I jumped on its back and brought my sword deep within his neck in a matter of seconds, killing it instantly. Thalia and Grover disposed of theirs as Clarisse stared at me angrily but also graciously. "I had a handle on it, Jackson!" Clarisse screamed at me, still sitting there while she looked at me. Thalia and Grover walked over to us and wondered what all the commotion was.

"Don't be so proud," I said while extending my hand, hoping she would take it. Clarisse looked at it for a few minutes before taking my hand and lifting herself up. Wow... This was a step up for her. This might actually turn out to be a memorable moment for everyone.

Unfortunately, she pulled my arm towards her and whispered in my ear: "Next time you come between me and a hellhound, you're going to go up in black smoke like the dogs," before releasing me and walking up to Thalia and Grover. Well, so much for the beautiful moment... It was good while it lasted, I thought while walking towards my friends.

"Anyone hurt?" I asked while looking them over carefully.

"Nope, not even a scratch," Thalia said and Grover just shook his head. He never did like going off to battle. Grover'd rather be on the sidelines eating metal cans and playing his music. "What was up with Clarisse? She actually took your hand."

"Yeah, then nearly bit my head off because of it." Turning to Clarisse, I asked: "So, what are you going to do now? You obviously have to go back to camp."

"Who says I'm going back?" Great... she was going to make this difficult. How were we going to get her to go back to camp where it was safe? "You obviously need me on this quest and Annabeth's not going to get better if we just stand around here and argue about this. So, just shut up and don't argue," She mentioned before sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree. Thalia's hands bawled into fists as she wanted to rip Clarisse's head off. No one could speak to her like that, let alone get away with it. Grover seemed quite scared of Clarisse. Well, who wasn't?

For me, my head said that Clarisse had to go back to camp. But just as I looked at Clarisse, something happened to my vision once more. A weak and battered Annabeth who lay against the trunk of the tree and her eyes closed, replaced Clarisse. This made me realize something: I was seeing the same Annabeth from the infirmary. Annabeth's head turned towards me and her glassy eyes stared at me with pain. "Percy... hurry..." She whispered and disappeared just as quickly. Clarisse was now looking at me confused and slightly irritated.

"What are you looking at, Jackson? Got a problem?" She asked rudely. Shaking my head to try and remove the image of the battered girl that I love out of my head, I walked over to the fire and sat down opposite of Clarisse.

I knew this decision would kill me and others but it had to be done. Sighing, six words escaped my lips: "Fine, you can come with us." A gasp was heard from behind me.

"Percy, you can't be serious!" Thalia practically screeched at me. Grover, once again, stood speechless. But he was a smart man. No one would go up against these two women.

"What other options do we have?" I asked while turning towards my two friends. Unfortunately, Clarisse had a large grin on her face. She wanted this to happen. She wanted to be the hero as well. "We need all the strength we can get and she's got it. It'll just make our job easier." Thalia didn't seem to budge and I sighed once again. "Thalia, I hate to admit this but she has strength that can help us get through the challenges ahead," I replied and she seemed to just give up for the night, hoping that this nightmare would end soon. But it wouldn't. Not until Annabeth was alright once again.

Not until Annabeth was in my arms, safe from any dangers ahead.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed," Thalia responded grumpily as she lied down on the floor and closed her eyes, never looking at Clarisse. No one was happy about this but it had to be done. Clarisse was strong. She could help us immensely. And she'll help us face whatever is ahead.

Everyone went to bed without another word. I, on the other hand, stayed up ad watched the fire cackle. Annabeth never left my mind. I saw her in the fire, Annabeth's smiling face and her blond flowing hair that shined in the sunlight. Oh my gods... that girl was unbelievable. And she would be cured, even if it would kill me.

So, did you guys like it? Was it good? Not good? What did you think about Clarisse? Would you guys have wanted her NOT to be in this chapter? And will you think that Annabeth will survive? Tell me all of this in REVIEWS!

Bellacullenswan17

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