Hello readers!

Welcome back to the final installment in the two-parter-turned-four-chapter-arc of this fanfiction of one shots.

And if you're as stumped by that sentence as I am, then congratulations! You have officially seen the inner workings of my mind at midnight :P Quick note from yours truly before we get to it: This chapter is the last full-length one of this arc, but there will be a small portion of the next one dedicated to wrapping things up in a nice neat bow. Think of this one as the cake, and the next one as icing on the cake :)

That's all the spoiler's you get today!

Only one shoutout today, and that's to asveerapaneni: welcome to the following!

And now, please enjoy the 15th Entry into the ever growing journal that is Leo's Logbook!

-Ardoa88

p.s. currently this is the largest chapter at 6,981 words!


Entry 15: Broken Vows and Broken Bones

Clarisse's day had gone from bad to worse, and she hadn't even finished her breakfast.

First it had been the warning notification from Chiron; Clarisse had woken up to find a neatly folded sheet of paper fastened to the corner of her bed. The letter, in it of itself, wasn't terribly surprising. The old centaur was rarely one to disturb his campers during the night unless the matter was of vital importance. However, the message written on the page was far more concerning. One of her cabinmates had been caught breaking the new curfew regulation; Chiron's memo stated, in no uncertain terms, that should another member of the Ares cabin be found out after hours, Cabin Nine would be regulated to kitchen duty for the rest of the month (of which there were a solid three weeks remaining).

The Daughter of Ares was already prepared to chew out the idiot- the name Mark Finnigan staring at her from the page- for being so stupid; not for breaking curfew, people did that all the time, but for being dumb enough to get caught by going to the infirmary after midnight. You had to be some kind of imbecile to get caught in such a simple manner. Clarisse knew her half-siblings weren't the sharpest blades in the armory, but reading that sentence in Chiron's message made her blood boil.

But before Clarisse could even think of the many ways in which to beat some sense into Mark's thick skull, Sherman-effing-Yang, of all people, had physically stood in the door to stop her from leaving the cabin. Then the fool went and declared his challenge for the Head Counselor position. Half of their cabinmates hadn't even been fully dressed when he'd issued the statement. Sherman was at least smarter than the average Ares kid, he knew that an open challenge in front of the rest of the cabin was a show of force (an attribute every kid of Cabin Five demanded in their Head Counselor), a bold declaration that almost ensured the current Cabin Leader would accept.

Not that Clarisse had any intention of declining in the first place. The Daughter of Ares knew she wouldn't be Head of Cabin Nine- a job that was basically being a glorified babysitter- forever, but she wasn't going to step down a moment before she wanted to. And she certainly wasn't about to let this half-brother take her place.

Sherman was a semi-decent fighter, Clarisse would give him that, but he was no leader. He could manhandle their half-siblings into obeying an order with the best of them, but had no clue how to compel them to keep that discipline if his back was turned. He wasn't even good at following in that manner. On the other hand, she had struck a balance between letting her cabinmates think they were doing what they wanted, when in reality they were doing what she commanded. And for that Clarisse not only had earned the respect of her half-sibling, but had set a standard in Cabin Five, one that Sherman would topple it in two days flat.

Clarisse rose to the challenge with only a brief hesitation at the sudden statement (challenges weren't rare, but the timing of this one had blindsided her), grinning like a wolf at the thought of pummeling Sherman into the ground and putting him back in his place. She even gave a sampling reminder of her strength by bodily shoving him out of her way while declaring nothing was happening until lunchtime- she didn't want him to pin his loss on sleepiness or a stomach ache.

Each cabin had their own way of selecting a new Head Counselor: for the Athena kids it was usually a battle of wits, for Aphrodite it devolved to a simple popularity contest, for Ares it was (surprise, surprise) a fight to draw first blood. News would spread and of course they were going to have an audience. She'd have to curb her temper so as not to embarass Sherman when she beat him. At least, not too badly.

So, yeah, her day was going just great so far.

Clarisse rolled her shoulder as she shoveled a spoonful of scrambled eggs into her mouth. In addition to all of this she'd woken up uncomfortably sore. There was no 'usual' practice for people with the gumption to keep improving, and she'd pushed herself especially hard yesterday. In a few hours it would feel more like a familiar workout ache, but for now she was ready to bite the hand off the next thing that poked her.

Her cabinmates knew this and had given her a good berth to eat in peace.

It was only after she'd chugged the rest of her coffee that Clarisse felt the presence of someone coming to stand behind her. Thumping the empty mug on the table, and knowing that this person was exceedingly lucky caffeine was a magic in its own right, the Daughter of Ares stabbed one of her remaining sausages with her knife.

"Whoever you are, and whatever you want, I suggest you ask someone else." She growled out.

"No, I'm pretty sure I want to ask you."

What was it today with people trying to ruin her morning? Clarisse's gripped the eating utensil hard enough for the metal to actually bend under the pressure. She cast a baleful eye over her shoulder, careful to tamp down on her quickly building aggravation. "What do you want, Barrera?"

Nyssa's look was dark enough to shadow travel from, the Daughter of Hephaestus' hands folded tightly across her chest. "We need to talk."

"So talk." Clarisse turned her back on the girl, ripping the sausage from the knife with her teeth.

Of all the campers in Camp Half-Blood, Nyssa Barrera was one of the few people Clarisse didn't actually despise (this particular list was small enough to be counted on one hand). Despite being a forge brat, Nyssa had a fiery streak in her; a ferocity that Clarisse rarely saw in the pipsqueaks outside of her own cabinmates. When she'd first arrived at the camp, Clarisse had given her the same treatment as the rest of the runts, but Nyssa had quickly asserted herself, refusing to be cowed by the burlier, more experienced Daughter of Ares. Throughout the years that fire only burned stronger and brighter.

In another life, Clarisse could actually see them being half-sisters.

In this life, she was still wondering what in Hades Nyssa wanted.

"Did you do it?" The other girl hadn't moved from where she stood, looming over Clarisse's breakfast.

"Nope." The answer came fast and easy. Seeing as Clarisse had absolutely no idea what Nyssa was referring to, she couldn't in any way be responsible for whatever had happened. "'S that it, then? I'm trying to enjoy my breakfast here and you're kind of ruining that." She finished off the first sausage and went to jab in at the next.

"Your siblings then. Did you send them after him? Why?"

Clarisse let out a long sigh, resting her hand back down on the table. She cast a glance at the enraged face of her interrogator and motioned to the bench. "Take a seat."

After a moment, the younger girl obliged, sitting stiffly besides Clarisse.

"Now," The Daughter of Ares turned so that she was angled towards Nyssa. "If you're trying to accuse me and my cabin of something that we didn't do?" Clarisse gestured between the both of them with the knife. "We're gonna have problems, you and I. And, to be frank, I have enough to worry about already without whatever issues you're trying to work through."

True to form, Nyssa's eyes only narrowed, completely unintimidated. "Oh we already have a problem, and when I find out who hurt my Cabin Leader, they're gonna wish they'd never laid a finger on Leo."

The name struck a chord with Clarisse, and it only took her a second to recall the runt with a death wish. Her brows drew together as she frowned at Nyssa. "Something happened to the pipsqueak?"

She had asked the question out of curiosity, of course.

Nyssa studied Clarisse's face for a long minute. Whatever she saw drained the tension from her posture and she slumped slightly. "So it really wasn't you." She said, more to herself than anything, and then, "We found him early this morning in the hanger. He'd been beaten up pretty badly, bruises, a couple of broken ribs. He'd even been restrained so he couldn't fight back. Tell me that doesn't sound exactly like something one of your siblings would do."

Defensive now, Clarisse noted, with that last line. Trying to justify her accusations. There was only one problem. "Well, whoever had beef with him, they weren't in Cabin Five. Y'all are still off limits for now, so I'd caution you against blaming the rest of my siblings. They can get testy when you accuse them of stuff they didn't do- more so than me."

Instead of taking the generously offered advice and leaving, Nyssa only frowned in confusion. "What do you mean we're 'off-limits'?"

"I'm not sure how any other phrasing would make it more clear." Clarisse chewed on a bit of her last sausage, seeing the confusion only grow on the other girls face. Hang on… did the runt… "He didn't tell you, did he?" Nyssa's blank stare was answer enough and Clarisse let out a bark of laughter. "And I thought I had trust issues. Your runt of a Cabin Leader came knocking on Cabin Five's door a few days ago, asked us to lay off the pestering until Annabeth and her posse left. I told him there'd be consequences later but the pipsqueak didn't seem to care."

From Nyssa's expression it was clear that this was all news to her.

"In any case, since you apparently didn't know, consider this your head start. Because let me tell you a few of my half-siblings will be gunning for your cabin once this ceasefire's over."

More than a few, actually. Clarisse remembered the outrage when she'd made the initial announcement. More than half of the cabin had been angered by the decision, their rage only quelled with the promise of payback tenfold in the future. Her promise hadn't satisfied everyone, though. One of the loudest protesters had been Mark, the younger demigod having fallen easily into the role of harassing new campers.

Which reminded her… Clarisse cast her gaze around the other Children of Ares, looking for the curfew offender. She spotted him sitting at the far end of their table, surrounded by some of the newer additions to the cabin. Sherman was there as well, the older demigod seeming almost bored by whatever small talk was currently filling the air between his siblings.

Unable to hold back a grumble, Clarisse stood up from the bench. "Speaking of problems I have to deal with…" She spared a moment to glance back at Nyssa. "Good luck with your search."

Without waiting for a response from the other demigod, Clarisse made her way over to the far end of the table. Over the din of the dining pavillion, it was hard to make out what they were talking about, but as she drew near, a comment from Mark had the others guaffing with amusement.

"-and the look on his face?" Mark continued, clearly enjoying the spotlight. "Dude was about to piss his pants he was so scared."

At that, Sherman's eyebrow rose skeptically. "You almost did too, if memory serves."

Mark's face reddened as his audience's chuckles morphed to include him. "Yeah- well next time you have to deal with a dragon breathing fire down your neck, then we'll see who's laughing."

"You say that like I wasn't there." Sherman's perplexed tone faded as his eyes slipped past Mark to meet the gaze of Clarisse. The moss green gaze hardened, narrowing slightly. "Something we can do for you, Cabin Head? Or have you come to surrender your position in a more private setting."

Still playing the tough-guy card, inciting her in front of his friends as a show of confidence.

Clarisse snorted. "Only when hell freezes over, Yang. No, I'm here for this dumbass." She clasped a hand on Mark's shoulder, squeezing tighter than necessary as her steely gaze bored into his own. "You and I need to have a little chat, Finnigan."

"What, and you can't say it here?" Mark countered, a challenge in his eyes. "First you tell us to back off the forge brats like cowards, and now you're too scared to talk in front of a crowd? Face it, La Rue, you're no longer fit to lead Cabin Five."

There was a tense silence at the table. And while the others didn't outright agree with it, neither did they try to deny Mark's sentiment. There was a hesitation to their gaze, one that suggested Sherman's challenge shouldn't have been as surprising as it was. Loyalty mattered in the Ares cabin. And it seemed like that was slipping through her fingers at an alarmingly fast rate. Clarisse grit her teeth in frustration. Here she was, fully prepared to offer up an ounce of concern for her half-brother over whatever injury had been deemed severe enough to warrant a trip to the med bay after curfew.

Maybe Mark was right, she was being too nice as of late.

A smile curled her lips as she let go of his shoulder; but there was nothing warm about the expression. "You're absolutely right, Finnigan. Why should I deny you the chance to embarrass yourself more in front of your peers. You don't mind people laughing at you, right? Just checking."

Mark's face changed from sneering confidence to horror in half a second, and Clarisse's cold grin only grew as he realized he'd made a fatal mistake.

"Now I know following orders is something you struggle with, but for the most part, you rarely manage to royally screw things up. So imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find this on my bed." And she pulled out the folded note from Chiron, letting the paper fall on the table. "I realize your head's emptier than a sheath without its sword, but it takes a special brand of stupid to get caught after curfew by going to the infirmary where everyone- or, aparenty not everyone- knows they report that kind of infraction to Chiron."

Mark's face was beet red with embarrassment or rage, possibly both, but Clarisse wasn't done talking.

"Next time you go and get yourself injured after hours, kindly lick your wounds in private." The older girl paused in thought. "Or if it's bad enough, find a place to die quietly that won't get the rest of the cabin put on KP for the remainder of the month. Got it? Good, I'm so glad we had this chat. Sherman-" the demigod in question glanced up at being addressed. Clarisse turned around, speaking over her shoulder as she left. "I'll see your ass over at the arena at eleven. Don't be late."

She made her way towards the arena, intending to get in a bout of practice before the match. But Clarisse found her mind lingering on the conversation she'd interrupted. Why would Mark be at the camp borders past lights out? There was no other way to explain his comment about the dragon: Peleus was delegated to guarding Thalia's Tree, and he was the only dragon in the camp aside from-

Her feet scuffed in the dirt as Clarisse came to a halt in front of the armory's opened doors.

She stood there for the better part of two minutes, in front of the racks of practice weapons and shields, silently staring. Other campers passed around her to grab blunted swords and axes for the upcoming practice session, none making a comment on how she'd stopped in the middle of foot traffic. They knew better than to interrupt the Daughter of Ares when she had such a look of intense concentration to her thoughts. Clarisse might not have been as intelligent as Annabeth, but the Daughter of Ares was hardly as stupid as Percy: she knew what two plus two equaled. Huffing softly to herself, Clarisse ended her statue imitation, walking over the the rack of spears and snatching a thick shafted one from the back shelves.

She needed to make lunchtime's challenge far more interesting than her brothers anticipated.


It was getting harder and harder to pretend that Leo was okay. Nyssa and Jake had come to the decision not to tell their half-siblings about his condition (yet), instead informing them all that Leo had given everyone the day off to rest. The occupants of Cabin Nine had been overjoyed at the announcement; a good many of them celebrating by immediately flopping back into their bunks and pulling the covers over their heads. Others had gone off to work on their sadly neglected side projects to the resumed chorus of snoring, looking forwards to spending the day tinkering with something other than the ship.

But then a few of them had visited the Bunker to grab supplies. When they got back, Harley had mentioned that Leo wasn't in the hanger, curiously asking after the Cabin Leaders whereabouts. Nyssa had tried to stutter out an answer only for Jake to come to her rescue, saying Leo was spending the day with Jason and Piper. The answer seemed to satisfy their younger brother, and no more questions had been raised; but as the day wore on, some of their siblings became more attuned to the lack of sarcastic commentary and poor jokes Leo would provide on the rare days when they weren't working.

All of that coupled with the fact that it wasn't even time for lunch yet had Nyssa doubtful she and Jake would be able to find the culprit before Leo woke up and told them himself. Which… Nyssa flicked her gaze over towards the medical tent as she walked back from the ring of cabins, might not be for a while still.

She had visited after breakfast, of course, only to find her younger brother still unresponsive, a cool compress placed on his forehead to stave off his feverish brow. Victoria had come over, the Daughter of Apollo having replaced Will sometime that morning, and told Nyssa that Leo might be out of it for a few more hours.

Well, it had been a few hours since then, and so Nyssa and Jake were making their way through the camp back towards the infirmary. As they walked across the empty fields, Nyssa couldn't help but feel like something was off. They were passing by the empty volleyball courts when she identified the reason for the unease. She began casting her gaze around the camp as they walked, noting a distinct lack of presence in the usual hang out areas. Nyssa was about to comment as much to Jake when she saw where everyone had gone and disappeared to. There was a sizable crowd forming around the arena, children from every cabin hovering around the fringes of what Nyssa could only assume was a full set of stands; among them were some of her own half-siblings, Nyssa noticed, spotting Harley's curly hair trying to force his way though the crowd.

"I wonder what's going on over there?"

Jake hummed as he let his gaze wander to where she was looking. "Oh, you didn't hear? Apparently Clarisse was challenged for her position as Head of Cabin Five. You want to go watch?"

"Not really. I'd rather go check on Leo than watch two people hit each other with sticks."

Jake raised his eyes to the sky. "C'mon, I doubt a five minute fight is gonna delay us seeing Leo wake up."

Five minutes, huh? Nyssa slowed her pace. "Think the challenger is that good?"

"What?" Jake laughed, the sounds bubbling up from his belly, "No way- La Rue's gonna wipe the floor with him in two minutes flat. I'm giving this Sherman guy the benefit of the doubt when I say five."

"So then, remind me why that's worth my time?"

"I dunno, Barrera." A dry voice came from behind her, "You spent just as long falsely accusing me this morning over breakfast."

Nyssa had to try really hard to not let her shoulders hunch up to ears defensively as she turned, hearing Jake say nervously, "H-Hey La Rue. Um, good luck out there."

Clarisse ignored him, draping her spear, Maimer, over her shoulder as her eyes bored into Nyssa's. To her surprise, there was no malice in the gaze, but rather… amusement? Or, satisfaction? Whatever emotion played out across her features it was one Nyssa was not expecting to see. A smile- a genuine one, as far as Nyssa could tell- turned Clarisse's lip upwards, even as her eyes remained hard.

"Trust me, Barerra, this is one fight you won't wanna miss." And with those parting words, the Daughter of Ares pushed between them, making sure to forcefully check Jake in the shoulder as she did, marching towards the quickly filling arena.

Nyssa spared a moment to watch her go, then shot a glance at Jake. "Did she seem… chipper, to you?"

Her half-brother shrugged, massaging his shoulder. "She's about to go into a fight- that usually tends to cheer up Ares' kids."

While she agreed, that hadn't seemed to be the case this time. Deciding to trust her gut instinct, Nyssa allowed her feet to carry her towards the arena, hearing Jake fall in step behind her a moment later. The spectators had taken up alternating cheers of "Cla-risse, Cla-risse, Cla-risse," and "Sher-man, Sher-man, Sher-man," portraying roughly a fifty-fifty split on the supporters. Nyssa forced her way to the front, ignoring the other camper's indignant gripes and groans.

They made it to the front just in time to see Clarisse raise a hand, quelling the rising chants. Her voice boomed in the silence.

"Alright, listen up!" Clarisse planted the butt of her spear in the dirt. "We all know why we're here so I won't bore you with the details. Whoever draws first blood will be the official Leader of Cabin Five-"

Her speech was cut off as the members of Ares Cabin roared, their chants for the favored victor ringing across the field. Clarisse let them carry on for a bit before holding up her hand again. When they didn't settle down immediately, her jaw ticked in annoyance.

"ENOUGH!" Despite the volume of the crowd, Clarisse proved she was louder, the stands once more falling into silence because of her. Taking a composing breath, Clarisse continued. "Now, since we seem to have a fair amount of onlookers with nothing better to do with their lives, I want you all to watch the fight closely. Maybe some of you will actually learn a thing or two."

A few ripples of laughter emanated from the Ares section of the stands as their current Cabin Leader took up her position across from the challenger. Throughout the introductory speech, Sherman had stood silently, the tip of his broadsword angled down at the dirt. The weapon itself was massive, a blood red hilted, two-handed blade that was almost as wide as his thigh. Next to it, Clarisse's spear looked like a toothpick.

When Clarisse finished talking he readied his stance, hoisting the goliath sword as if it weighed nothing.

They took up positions in the center of the ring, a patch of dirt with marks chalked in to represent the edges. Will Solace and two other camp medics were off on one side, undoubtedly prepared for however severe this 'first blood' turned out to be. In truth, there hadn't been a real need for them since Clarisse took over as Cabin Head, she was experienced enough to know how to defeat a challenger without doing extensive or lasting damage. From what Nyssa had heard from Jake, Ares' change of command ceremonies could get deadly: there was even one year when the challenger nearly severed his Cabin Head's left arm.

The tense quiet that filled the arena was palpable, the absence of sound only broken a moment later by the ring of a bell.

Like the firing of a piston, Clarisse exploded from her stance, lunging forward in a clear thrust at Sherman's defenses. The crowd yelled with surprise at the Daughter of Ares' incredible speed, and even Nyssa felt her mouth drop in awe. Cheers followed shortly after when Sherman deflected the blow, dodging out of the way as a second and third jab followed closely behind the first.

Nyssa wasn't really rooting for either of them to win, this was a Cabin Five matter, after all. But as she watched she couldn't help but be impressed at the finesse of each strike and counterstrike. Watching the two Children of Ares maneuver through an intricate battle dance was a clear reminder of why Ares campers were undisputed masters on the battlefield (despite what the Athena kids had to say).

As the match progressed, Sherman tried to retaliate, but despite his clear skill with the sword, Clarisse's reach with Maimer was too great a distance for him to cover. Every swing came up short, the older demigod easily dancing out of the arc of the blade, rebuffing a few of the blows with an expression of contempt on her face. Contrastingly, Sherman's cheeks were growing steadily redder with pent up rage, the challenger's frustration of always being out of reach clearly fueling his attacks which came faster and harder.

There was a moment in which Sherman seemed to have finally breached Clarisse's guard, the broadsword arcing diagonally down toward her shoulder. His supporters in the crowd went wild as they saw what was probably the end of the match. But at the last moment, Clarisse angled the butt of her spear so that the blow skimmed off the polished metal end of Maimer and into the ground. At the same time, the crackle of electricity originating from the spear filled the air and a short shock of sparks zinged up Sherman's blade. He yelped, jumping back and just barely raising his guard to defend against Clarisse's follow up.

When she retracted her weapon again, Sherman's face twisted into a snarl. "You bitch!"

Clarisse only smiled.

She's toying with him. Nyssa realized, with only a hint of unease. That move could've ended the fight if she'd used the sharpened spear tip to counter when Sherman stumbled, but instead she had just prodded her half-brother with her weapon's power in a way that drew no blood, but was sure to provoke her opponent.

Enraged now, Sherman's attacked with a renewed fervor, swings steadily growing wild and erratic. Narrowing her eyes, Clarisse managed to avoid them all, moving with a grace and agility possessed by only the best fighters in the camp. On one particularly bad overstep, she flashed the butt of her spear up and around, solidly smacking Sherman in the cheek. The boy's head snapped to the side, but when he whipped it back around, Nyssa saw that the blow hadn't broken the skin: no blood. Clarisse rolled beneath another swing, coming up behind her opponent near the edge of the arena and using the blunted end to poke Sherman none too gently in the back, the younger demigod stumbling a step forward before catching his balance.

It was clear that Clarisse had already won the fight, the spectators no longer cheering for Sherman despite their initial support. Now the Children of Ares jeered with every missed strike, laughing as Clarisse stood back patiently while Sherman swung to face her. Her face turned towards the stands, back partially angled away from Sherman, mouth moving as she made some comment to her challenger that was swallowed up by the noise around Nyssa.

Whatever she'd said was the final straw for Sherman, the boy letting out a roar as he lunged forwards. The ground beneath his feet splintered from the sheer force of his head-on rush, the Son of Ares covering the ten feet between him and Clarisse in a single, swift bound.

Nyssa gasped with the rest of the crowd, seeing that there was no way to defend from the attack. Clarisse had relaxed her posture, half turned away when she'd made the comment. And as formidable as she was with the spear, the sheer force behind Sherman's blow would snap the shaft in an instant.

But Clarisse hadn't stopped smiling.

If asked later what she had seen, Nyssa would be unable to describe it. At first it looked like Clarrisse was going to try and defend in the same manner she'd used throughout the fight. But then, in the time it took for Nyssa to blink, Clarisse had managed to expertly hooked her spear in the crook of Sherman's arm. The Daughter of Ares had apparently moved towards her opponent's headlong rush. Nyssa blinked again in surprise and was instantly grateful her eyes had been closed as a sickening CRACK filled the air.

Sherman's cry of pain was the only thing filling the sudden silence that had fallen over the arena. But Clarisse still wasn't done, twirling the spear above her head to then swing it around the smack into the back of one of his knees, bringing Sherman to a kneel at her feet.

The challenger panted heavily, broadsword having fallen from his grasp as one hand reached across his body to clutch at the other arm which was hanging limply and at a nauseating angle that was in no way natural. Will and the healers moved forward with an urgency only to pull up short when Clarisse raised a hand in their direction. Her eyes were harder than steel as she stared at them, and it was then that Nyssa realized the fight wasn't officially over.

Clarsse's maneuver still hadn't managed to draw any blood.

Then Clarisse raised the tip of her spear to hover a few inches away from the base of her half-brother's neck, and a second gasp hushed through the crowd, uncertain murmurs running and then freezing equally fast. The deadly weapon that had slayed the drakon in the war against Kronos, so close to a jugular, made everyone catch their breath. Someone somewhere whimpered a little.

Nyssa wasn't close to the Daughter of Ares in any sense of the word, but she knew Clarisse enough to say that the girl wouldn't just kill someone in cold blood. Especially not one of her half-siblings.

"I- I yield." The two words dragged their way from Sherman's throat, the instinctive tears from pain leaking from his eyes. The Son of Ares kept his voice steady despite his agony, though it was thickening his tone as he said bitterly. "You win."

Clarisse scoffed at that. "It's not over until one of us draws first blood, Yang." And with alarming speed she proceeded to stab Maimer's spear tip down-

-and into Sherman's exposed foot. The spearhead pierced through his shoe and the Son of Ares cried out for a second time, upper torso folding over his knee as Clarisse stepped away, leaving her spear quivering like a flag of conquest. Will and the others moved forwards again, but Clarisse shot them another dark look that warned them away from interfering.

"Don't go anywhere yet." Clarisse announced to the onlookers, causing several to freeze in their tracks. The burly girl leisurely started strolling over to the side of the arena where two wooden practice swords were propped against a water fountain. "There's one more piece of business we need to settle here and now." She made her way back to the center of the arena before barking out, "Finnigan! Get your ass over here."

At the command, another Son of Ares made his way hesitantly down to the field, casting a nervous gaze to his half-brother who was still on his knees, due to fear or due to the spear sticking out of his boot, Nyssa couldn't tell. She frowned in confusion along with the other onlookers, wondering what the girl was doing now. Clarisse motioned for him to stand next to her, and then called out two more names.

"Barerra, Mason, you too."

Nyssa felt Jake start beside her and found herself blinking in surprise. Clarisse shifted her gaze slightly, meeting their eyes and jerking her head in a 'come on' motion. She had the same look as earlier, that satisfied confidence radiating from her.

Taking a breath, Nyssa too ka step forward.

Jake's hand was on her arm in the next second. "Nys, are you crazy?" He hissed.

Clarisse's words returned to the forefront of Nyssa's mind: "Trust me, Barerra, this is one fight you won't wanna miss." The Daughter of Ares had clearly wanted them here for a reason. Looks like they were about to find out why.

"You want to tell her no?" Nyssa countered, "After seeing that?" And she tore her arm from his grip, making her way to the field without waiting to see if Jake was coming. He did after a half second, footsteps hurried to catch up and look like he hadn't thought about defying the Head of Cabin Five. They came to a stop, standing next to Clarisse opposite of Finnigan, the other boy shooting them a curious look.

Clarisse nodded at them, then turned back to her audience. "A couple of days ago- I made a promise to a certain pipsqueak from Cabin Nine."

That got Nyssa's attention, and the attention of her half-siblings in the crowd who likely had no idea Leo had dared cross the terrifying fighter that had just decimated a powerful foe. On the other side of her, Finnigan's face paled slightly and she saw his throat bob with a nervous swallow.

"It doesn't matter what I promised or why I did it, the fact of the matter is that I gave him my word, and that of my cabin, that we would uphold our end of the deal. As Head Counselor of Ares Cabin, I take these things very seriously. Whereas these two," Clarisse jerked a thumb over in the direction of Finnigan and Sherman, "have proven to me that they do not: seeing as they decided to go and break that promise."

Wait… what? Nyssa's eyes widened and she turned to stare at Clarisse. Did she mean that… that these were the people who had hurt Leo?

Something dark coiled in Nyssa's gut as she shifted her gaze at Clarisse's half-brothers.

"Not only did they disobey my direct order, but they failed to cover up their insubordination with any ounce of intelligence. Finnigan was treated for burns inflicted by a certain metal dragon, and Yang thought I wouldn't notice when he raided our cabin's stash of ambrosia." Clarisse pulled a face. "And here I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, thinking he'd been practicing more. Something he clearly needs." She spared a moment to glance over at her defeated sibling before continuing. "Therefore, I've decided to settle this matter here and now, in the good old-fashioned Ares way. Since their cabin leader is currently unavailable to attend the match, these two will be taking his place."

She proceeded to hand both Nyssa and Jake a stiff wooden practice sword. Nyssa looked down at the weapon with no small amount of confusion, seeing Jake do the same in her periphery.

"I know better than anyone that you can't take back the blow of a good punch- or spear-" A whimper from where Sherman still crouched punctuated Clarisse's words. "So the best I can do is give my blessing from the whole of Cabin Nine to return the favor Finnigan gave your Cabin Leader. The match will end when the wronged party is fully satisfied."

Clarisse started making her way to the edge of the arena where Sherman was, yanking her spear out of where it was still firmly planted in his foot, then nodding to Will and his team. Given the official go ahead, they jumped into action, rushing forwards to usher the wounded demigod from the field. Clarisse raised her eyes to the three still in the ring, one brow quirking in expectation.

"Well? You may begin."

Finnigan seemed to fully understand what was going on only just then, turning with eyes wide with disbelief. "W-wait- two on one? That's not a fair fight!"

"You're right, it isn't." Clarisse's tone brokered no argument, but Finnigan still tried.

"I don't even get a weapon?"

The next words out of Clarisse's mouth were so cold Nyssa wouldn't be surprised if hell itself froze over. "Did you give Leo one?"

Finnigan swallowed hard, turning back to face twin unsympathetic looks from the Children of Hephaestus. There was a naked fear in his eyes, the same fear Nyssa imagined Leo had felt when he had been tied down and beaten by these lowlifes. Good, Nyssa thought mercilessly as she and Jake advanced on the bastard that dared to lay a hand on her little brother, fear was a good place to start.


Fin! Thanks for reading!

Before we get to the final things, I want to wish all of you wonderful readers with the best of wellness in these troubling times. Please understand that tough times don't last, but tough people do- extend a helping hand to your fellow neighbor or friend during this time of struggle and we'll all get through this pandemic.

Final things:

First, to pinkskyplanet: I don't know what I did to deserve such a consistent reviewer but I thank you regardless :) It fills me with no small amount of pride to know that you continue to enjoy my humble story. Thank you for reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :D

Secondly, to Guest (Ch.14): I'm guessing both of those reviews were yours ;) Thank you for your enthusiasm. As I was writing this chapter I realized I had built up the payback quite a bit, I can only hope I satisfied (some) of that in this chapter (the rest will come in that half-chapter wrap up i mentioned at the beginning). I'm glad the style and imagery is translating well- sometimes I find it hard to gauge if I'm going overboard or not, hahaha :P And yes, Leo needs a hug and maybe a good slap upside the head. How dare he think that what happened to him was in any way his fault... even if he did provoke them just a liiiitle bit. Thanks again for taking the time to leave some comments!

Lastly, to Woahthere: One, I love your guest nickname! Made me laugh when I read it :) And really?! Thank you! I do enjoy the half-sibling relationship between those two. Even if it's completely just my own headcannon since their names are some of the only ones on riordanwiki :P I'm glad you're enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it! Thanks for the review :)

As usual, if you enjoyed something (or if you hated something) please don't hesitate to drop a comment below. Getting a notification from fanfiction that a new review popped up is one of the best parts of my day (read life) at the moment. It makes me indescribably happy to hear people are enjoying my writing, so don't be a stranger :)

Until next time, enjoy your coronacation! And stay healthy!

-Ardoa88