Chapter 7- Strength Must Bow to Wisdom… And Toilet Water

I missed swim tryouts because Luke and I ended up training for hours. Over, though, dinner Celia told me it looked like a nice group, so I decided to try out the next day. Kerry was thrilled to see me, gym shorts and all. As predicted, I was a good swimmer. Though when I got out of the pool completely dry, she sent me back in, "You can't do that at a meet. Try thinking about getting wet."

I did. It took a second, but suddenly I felt my shorts clinging to my skin, and my hair flopped in front of my eyes. It wasn't as comfortable, but Kerry seemed pleased which, honestly, made it impossible to feel bad. She sent me to shower and I was glowing. (Well no, I was wet, but inside I was glowing.)

I turned the shower on high, letting the steam fill the locker room. The other guys on the team had already come and gone. I wouldn't usually consider locker rooms peaceful, but it was early enough in the year that it didn't yet stink, and the steady fall of water across my back grounded me. Especially once I realized that, for the first time since I'd gotten to school, I was completely alone. No Hermes kids. No classmates. No sea monsters. Just me.

I heard the sound of laughter, and a chill crept down my spine. Suddenly, I recalled why I'd never particularly liked locker rooms before. I'd had more than a few 'incidents' within them. And as much as I tried to tell myself that it was nothing, just some guys here for whatever reason…

I cut my shower short, stepping out and drying myself off. (Why was it that I always got wet when I showered but not when I swam?) I'd just managed to pull on my pants (thank the gods) when suddenly the shower curtain was pulled to the side.

I'll admit it; I shrieked like a girl. I'd like to see you keep your cool when someone walks in on you dressing! Especially if that someone was actually three someones, all big, burly, and, in the case of the middle one, a girl.

You know that old expression 'if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all?' Well that's how I feel about describing the Clarisse. Suffice it to say, she's big, and I don't have anything nice to say about her. I'd noticed her and her companions briefly enough at lunch when Chiron had to break up a fight between some of the Ares kids, but now that they stood over me, I had no doubt that they were trouble.

My hand went to my pocket, but I was wearing gym shorts, and they didn't have pockets. Besides, I wouldn't have been able to get Riptide anyways, because just then Clarisse's two goons grabbed both my arms and pulled. It was like they were one of those medieval torture machines designed to tear you in two. I struggled, kicking and flailing, but they were big and I… I was twelve. In the ocean, surrounded by water, I'd had no trouble fighting a full-grown sea-monster, but in the boy's locker room, alone and unarmed, I was nothing.

As Clarisse was quick to point out. "Look at the twerp. I think the sea monster took one look and swam off laughing!"

I didn't bother responding. You can't rationalize with bullies. Unfortunately, none of my fighting seemed to make an ounce of difference. The goons dragged me across the locker room without an ounce of difficulty.

"We have an initiation for newbies who think they're better than everyone else," Clarisse chortled. (Ugly word. Perfect for her.) "I hear you like water. I have a nice bowl of it for you to drink from."

My stomach sank. I realized what she intended to do. Suddenly I renewed my efforts to escape. They dragged me into one of the stalls and kicked the back of my legs. I fell to my knees, face right above the toilet, and then the goons stepped back, letting Clarisse finish the task. Good choice for them. The smell of sewage filled my nose, but there was only one thought in my head- I won't go in.

I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. For a second, I thought I was about to barf (as if this could get more embarrassing), but then I realized that it was the same sensation from before my tsunami. Suddenly panicked about doing something like that inside, I tried to temper it, but it was too late. The toilets exploded. We all fell backwards. One of Clarisse's goons hit his head on the stall, one slammed into the sink, smashing it. As for Clarisse and me, we landed next to each other on the ground, staring up as a barrage of water and sewage leapt from the toilet. I had the presence of mind to think-Dear gods, don't let me get wet.

Clarisse had no such godly favor; she was covered in black muck immediately. The smell was enough to make the goon who'd landed by the sink vomit. Personally, I thought I might do the same, but Clarisse's eyes were clear through the slime, and I knew I'd be dead if I stuck around. I jumped to my feet, , but because I'm, well, me, I had to make one more remark, "Try the girls' showers. They're friendlier."

She howled in anger and tried to stand. Unfortunately, she slipped and fell face-forward into the toilet of all things.

I took that as my opportunity to run.

Look, I'm not a coward? Troublemaker? Yeah. Problem child? Definitely. But a coward? Never. I therefore wasn't hiding at the bottom of the ocean when Annabeth found me. I was just…relaxing.

Annabeth was up in a canoe and for a second I considered capsizing it. But that would be mean, and while I had no problem fighting back against bullies, I liked Annabeth. She was a good friend when not attacking me. Therefore I put on my big-boy pants and swam up to the surface to meet her.

She just shook her head, "Seriously Seaweed Brain? Mr. D is going to kill you, and that's if Clarisse doesn't get to you first!"

I cringed. I think I've said it enough times already, but you really need to understand how scary Annabeth looked when she was angry. In this case she didn't seem exactly angry, but I knew I'd been pretty stupid. In my defense, I hadn't meant to blow up the toilets and destroy the locker room. I just wasn't about to let Clarisse pick on me. Still, when had it ever mattered what I 'meant' to do?

"You know, I think I'm better off under water. Maybe I can go to Atlantis, figure out who my dad is, begin my life as an underwater outlaw…"

Despite herself, Annabeth laughed. Oh she rolled her eyes at me, but she laughed, "Poseidon has an extradition treaty with Chiron, or I'd recommend it."

Dang. International (intergodly?) cooperation was certainly not to the benefit of kids like me.

Only good thing? We made it to the Big House without running into Clarisse. Maybe she was still cleaning up. Or maybe she was plotting my murder. Whatever the case, I didn't die along the journey, which was a feat in itself. But when I got there and found Chiron in his wheelchair looking at me disappointed… that definitely wasn't a good moment.

"Look I didn't mean…" I began, but Chiron raised a hand, and shook his head.

"Come with me, Percy. Annabeth, you may wait here."

I'd hoped Annabeth might be able to come, as a witness or something, but of course she hadn't actually seen the event. So instead I was left with no defense, following a horse in a wheelchair, as I went meet with an alcoholic god who hated all half-bloods.

The cynical part of me decided that the whole situation was kind of funny. I was sure I'd be expelled now, and that would just prove to my mom that I really could get expelled from anywhere. Of course, she'd be disappointed in me, which would stink, and I'd have to leave all my new friends, which would stink more, and, oh, I'd probably get eaten by monsters within a week, but hey, I'd have proven my point.

I felt like crap. My shoulders sagged. My eyes stuck to the floor. There was no one to lay the blame on this time. No monster or foe. I'd messed up. I'd lost control. I'd exploded the bathroom. Good one Percy.

Mr. D looked almost sober, which probably wasn't a good thing. He sat at a small round table playing solitaire, and didn't look up immediately as we entered. Chiron pointed me to the one empty seat before rolling up next to Mr. D. I sat there fidgeting for a moment. When the director still didn't look up, Chiron cleared his throat, "Mr. D, you'll be glad to know we found Percy Jackson."

"Oh yeah, thrilled," Mr. D said not looking up. "So, did the harpies enjoy their meal?"

Chiron looked almost more exasperated with Mr. D than he was with me, and sighed, "No. Recall Zeus agreed that feeding students to harpies undermines our duty of care. Besides, we must speak to him first, to determine his side of the story."

That almost shocked me out of my seat. I don't know if anyone but my mom has ever asked my side of the story. Actually, I'd begun to think it was only something adults did in movies.

Mr. D finally looked up, and when his gaze set upon me, I thought I was about to lose my mind. I saw every horrible thing you can imagine- my test grades, my mom's dead body, burning cities. But then a second later he blinked, and I felt perfectly normal. It almost left me wondering if the visions themselves had been horrible hallucinations, which, from the grin on his face, was kind of the point.

I made a mental note then and there- Don't mess with Mr. D. He might have been an alcoholic god grounded to a school for half-bloods, but he was still a god. An Olympian god at that.

"So, you thought it would be funny to blow up my locker room, did you, Johnson."

"It's Jackson." Woops. So much for my decision not to antagonize Mr. D. "Ah… Sir?"

Mr. D just glared. "Well, Johannsen? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Look! It wasn't my fault. I mean it was but… That girl, Clarisse, and her goons just showed up, pulled me out of the shower, and dragged me across the bathroom. She wanted to give me a swirly and I wasn't about to let that happen!"

"So you exploded the toilets? How did you do that? Greek fire? Reverse-Molotov cocktail? Did you stab it?"

Did stabbing toilets usually make them explode? "No! I just thought about not going in and it was like the water responded to me. Look, I really didn't mean to break anything or hurt anyone… is the guy who hit his head…"

"Mark is angry, but unharmed. The same cannot be said for the sinks," Chiron admitted, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd wanted to stop them, not kill them. Still, Chiron looked troubled.

Meanwhile Mr. D actually looked interested. I won't say I had his undivided attention, but I had most of it. He squinted, like he was trying to see more than what was in front of him (or just needed glasses), "Who's your father?"

I looked over to Chiron for help, but he said nothing. I was left stammering, "We… we don't know. I'm unclaimed. Chiron said he might be a minor sea god because I can control water. And breath under it. And not got wet."

"Can you speak to horses?"

Chiron went rigidly still. "Mr. D, I don't think that is an appropriate question. As you well know…"

"No, no, let him answer. Well, Peter Johnson, can you speak to horses?"

I had no idea what kind of question that was. But I answered, "Um? No? I mean… does Chiron count?"

Mr. D snorted a laugh at that one, but then he went deadly serious, which almost made it scarier. "Well, see that you don't start to, or we'll have bigger problems. Minor sea god… if he really… Ah never mind. Not my problem. I'll let Zeus deal with Poseidon. As for you- what shall we do?"

"Let me go because it wasn't my fault and punish Clarisse for bullying?"

Mr. D rolled his eyes, "Right, and I'll wave my hand and make the world fair. Who do you think I am, Tyche? No… I was thinking turning you into a dolphin but clearly you shouldn't be let near water. Oh that's a good idea. We could not let you go near any water for a week, drink wine instead…"

"Mr. D, he is twelve. He cannot drink wine."

"In my day we all drank wine at twelve… well no, we didn't. I hadn't invented wine yet. But once I did… Well, Chiron, if you don't like my ideas you punish him."

And then he went back to playing solitaire, and it was as if we weren't even there.

Chiron must have been used to this kind of behavior, because he did not seem bothered. Instead he began wheeling out of the room, and I jumped to my feet, pleased to follow. Actually I was just pleased. I was fairly certain that I wouldn't be expelled, which was a first. It surprised me actually how happy I was to know I could stay.

Chiron did not say anything until we'd made it outside. There, on the porch of the big house, I could see everyone else preparing for dinner, laughing and chatting. I even spotted Clarisse and her goons with the other Ares kids, though they certainly weren't laughing.

"The locker room will be repaired by the morning. You will clean it by hand for the next week. No doubt once Ares House discovers this they will make the task unpleasant as possible. That shall be punishment enough."

A part of me wanted to say, 'That's not fair. I didn't do anything.' But it seemed pointless. After all, I had done something. I'd made a big mess, and now, I'd need to clean up even bigger ones. What really got to me was, "And let me guess, Clarisse gets off scot-free."

Chiron looked over at me, the expression on his face clear and warm. But his eyes had a serious look to them, and they made me feel childish for whining. "Percy, you have embarrassed Clarisse. There is no greater punishment for a child such as her. And no greater gift, if it may bring her humility in the future. As for you, you must learn control. And next time you must not run away. Had you remained, stood by your own actions, I could have turned a blind eye to it, but once I had to organize a search, I could not ignore what occurred. A hero must always stand by his deeds, good or ill, Percy. That is what gives their word strength."

"Yeah, well I'm not a hero," I muttered. I would have jammed my hands into my pockets, but I still didn't have any.

Chiron shook his head, and looked back out at camp… or perhaps he was looking at the sea. "Yes, Percy. You are, and not because of whoever your father may or may not be. There were upperclassmen on the beach yesterday, young men and women who have trained for years to fight monsters, but you did not look to others to solve your problems for you. You did not run away. Had you not responded as you did, Celia would most likely be dead."

I squirmed awkwardly. People had been saying for days now that I was a hero for dashing out to help Celia, but looking back on it, it had been a pretty stupid thing to do. Besides, "Celia saved me too. I almost got eaten."

Chiron smiled at me, "Heroes are made great by their deeds, but they are made good by their willingness to be accept the help and friendship of others. In this you are a greater hero than Clarisse shall ever be. Selflessness and friendship come far more naturally to you than control, but neither is more important. You must not let what happened today occur again. Remember that, Percy."

"I will." I meant it too. I didn't promise, because I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep that promise, but I had every intention of at least trying to keep in control next time. Though, I was partially convinced that it was my attempt to stop the eruption which had exaggerated it. But that was just my luck.

Chiron studied me a minute more, but then nodded, "Good. Now, I believe it is time for dinner. You may go."

I didn't want to stay there, but the thought of going to the dining hall wasn't too appealing either. No doubt everyone would be talking about me-again. And Clarisse might decide I seemed like a good offering to the gods…

Chiron must have read my mind, because he remarked, "I have no doubt that Clarisse will attempt to prove she has not been beaten, but not tonight. You have frightened her enough that she will not try anything rash. She will wait until the odds are on her side."

I didn't see how that was a good thing.

"I still don't get why you let her bully people," I muttered under my breath. Bullying… it wasn't cool. I'd seen some kids utterly destroyed by it. I was lucky enough to have a tough skin, but if I was utterly honest, I'd been hurt as well.

Chiron frowned, "Percy, here we try to provide demigods with some semblance of normality, but ultimately you must be stronger than your mortal peers. And the urge to fight back is a great deal more prevalent in the children of the gods. Unfortunate as it may be, many have learned how to fight in order to defend themselves from bullies. I do not feel right taking away such an opportunity. Not when I know that monsters shall do far more than throw sticks and stones."

I frowned. It still felt wrong, but I got what he meant. Or I at least understood that however wrong it was, it probably shouldn't change. Yeah, life wasn't fair. I was used to it.

"Now, dinner. I do believe we are having barbeque tonight."

We did have barbeque that night, and actually, it was kind of fun. Apparently Clarisse liked to target the unclaimed kids of Hermes House, so I found myself surrounded by kids who thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Ethan, a 7th grader, told me point blank, "She got what she deserved."

Of course Clarisse and the Ares kids sneered at me the whole time, and when I went to clean the bathroom the next day I found someone had taken poop, thrown it at the wall, and written 'You're dead'. I gagged as I cleaned it up, but honestly, I just felt bad for the idiot who'd decided to threaten me that way. They were the one who had to write in poop.

I found other surprises over the next week. Scorpions in the lockers. Rotting fish in the sink. But honestly, it wasn't that bad. School was, well, school, but I enjoyed swim practice, and would train with Luke or Annabeth whenever I got the chance. They seemed to be having less fun than me though. Probably because they were convinced Clarisse was going to try and kill me one of these days and were hoping they could somehow make sure I survived.

The opportunity for murder came my second weekend at AA, when we played capture the flag. Now, you've probably played capture the flag before in gym class. I know I would always be forced to play it when the gym teacher thought our games of dodgeball were getting too violent. Capture the flag was the peaceful gym game, right? Wrong.

Luke informed me that when AA played capture the flag… well it usually ended with at least a half-dozen kids in the infirmary. A few kids had even died playing it over the years, though, admittedly, a few kids had died during archery lessons as well. Still, capture the flag was the only time people actively tried to hurt each other. Technically we weren't allowed any 'intentional' maiming, but it was impossible to prove intent. Everyone was certain that Clarisse would use this as the opportunity to murder me and then claim it was an accident.

Personally I thought that as the head of Ares House, Clarisse had more important things to worry about than me, but Luke insisted she would find a way to win and kill me. That was just Clarisse.

Hermes House was on the Athena team. Though technically the youngest in Athena House, Annabeth had been at AA for longer than most everyone else, and no one doubted she was smart. It was clear to me that she was the one leading our team. That also explains why she was so intense about it. Saturday morning she caught me sitting, staring at the ocean and yelled at me for not getting ready… despite the game not starting for another 10 hours.

Finally, just before the game started (in case we had a spy), she told us the plan. I didn't like it one bit. "So I'm bait."

"No, you're a distraction. There's a difference," Annabeth told me, but considering her plan involved my death, I wasn't sure I saw the difference.

"Look, Clarisse hates you, but she loves to win as well. I think she's just as likely to go after the flag as she is to go after you. But if she sees you're trying to get her flag, she won't be able to think straight. The sheer audacity of it will make her throw away any plan to attack you. Meanwhile I sneak by and get the flag, and with fifty kids guarding our flag, it's not like anyone will get it."

Okay, I did see the sense to her plan, except, "But if you're focused on getting the flag you won't be able to help me. Your distraction won't work very well if I get slaughtered in a second."

Annabeth considered that for a moment. There must have been some sense in my words, because she called out, "Change of plans. Travis is in charge of the ground defense. Luke is going with Percy."

I sighed. Clearly that was the best I was going to get. At least Luke was the best fighter in the camp, and someone I actually trusted not to stab me in the back. Still, the two of us against the entire Ares cabin… I gulped. Hopefully Annabeth could run really fast and the game would end before we died.

The game began with the sounding of a horn.

Luke looked over at me, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Well, that's our cue." Then he took off running towards the border. Personally, when I followed after him, I wondered why Annabeth thought winning was worth murdering her two closest friend. Still I followed the plan, so what does that say about me?

We made it surprisingly deep into the other team's territory. I knew we had been spotted. (We'd made sure to be spotted). But they let us past, further confirming my theory that Clarisse wanted to enact her revenge personally. Finally I spotted the flag near a pile of rocks we called Zeus's fist.

There was no one around. By all regards, the flag was unguarded, but I didn't believe that for a second. Sure enough, once we stepped out from beneath the canopy of trees, I heard a noise and turned just fast enough to avoid being impaled. Then, we were surrounded.

Ares House was bigger than any of the others. I don't mean in terms of numbers- there actually weren't that many of them- but in terms of size. The youngest among them was only a year older than me, but he was a foot taller, wide as a linebacker, and showing the beginnings of a scruffy beard. The girls weren't much prettier; I'd seen smaller sumo-wrestlers. And of course, biggest and baddest of them all, Clarisse.

"Ah, Clarisse. We could smell you from a mile away. Still can't get that sewer smell out, can you?" Luke taunted. I turned to glare at him. Was it really wise to antagonize her more?

Her siblings weren't yet ready, but Clarisse lunged at me. She didn't fight with a sword, most Greeks didn't, but a big spear. I raised my shield to block it, and was shocked. Literally. Her spear was electric, and the current which ran up my arm caused me to howl in pain and drop my shield.

Luke tried to cover me while I picked my shield up, but the Ares kids were working together. Six of them kept Luke from helping me. When Clarisse attacked, Luke wasn't fast enough. I was nearly skewered. me. Abandoning the shield, I jumped to the side last minute, but her spear managed to graze my shoulder and gods, it hurt.

Somehow, the pain focused my mind. I was angry, angrier than I'd been when she first attacked me for sure. Clarisse was a bully, and she'd gotten what she deserved. If she wanted me to regret that… well, I would make her regret picking on me.

There was no water around, a bad thing for me, but I didn't care. I didn't need water to be a good fighter. For a week I'd trained with Luke, and I let that training guide me now. Riptide was shorted than her spear, but then, Riptide was shorter than Luke's sword as well. I'd learned how to get closer, so close that the longer weapon became useless. It was a terrifying thing to do. Human instinct told you to move away from the crazy person with the pointed weapon, but I had more than human instinct.

I stepped in closer, bringing Riptide up and to the side. She slammed against Clarisse's spear, sending it flying across the clearing. Lucky must have been on my side, because when it landed, it crashed, slamming into the rocks of Zeus's fist and shattering.

I held my breath. I wasn't frightened of Clarisse, not with her spear, and not now that I'd broken it. I was scared because when I looked over at the rocks, I realized the flag wasn't there. Annabeth must have grabbed it already, but she couldn't have gone far. If Clarisse noticed and called off the fight…

Clarisse grabbed my shield from where it had fallen and tried to smash my brains in with it. On the bright side, that meant she hadn't noticed her missing flag. Then again, it also meant I almost died. If Luke hadn't noticed and called out, "Duck!" My brain would have been mush. I managed to duck at just the right second, and the shield scraped the top of my hair.

Then I did something impulsive. The shield was right over me, and I knew Clarisse would try to smash it down. My best bet would have been to duck out to the side, catch her unaware with Riptide, or, better yet, just run away. But I didn't know how to pick my battles. Instead, I headbutted her in the gut.

It was like ramming your head into a solid steel wall. Luckily, she was as surprised by my stupidity as I was. She dropped my shield, stumbling backwards as I fell to the ground dazed. I blinked a few times. The whole world was spinning and my head really, really hurt. But the fight wasn't over. Clarisse took advantage of me while I was down and tried kicking me in the face. I rolled over, grabbing my shield and curling up like a ball beneath it.

When her foot hit the metal, it sounded like a loud gong followed by a string of swears. I peaked out from beneath my shell and saw her howling as she held her foot. I climbed to my feet, shield upon my left arm, Riptide tight in my hand, and approached her. Fury burned in her eyes, and she charged me with two knives from her boots. They glanced harmlessly off my shield, and I brought the tip of Riptide to her chest. "I win."

She didn't seem to care about the sword to her heart. I guess she knew I would never really kill her. She swung at me with her fists, but then the sound of a horn rang out across the woods.

"Ha! We win, loser. You never even got close to our flag," Clarisse spit in my face.

I couldn't help it. I smirked. "Are you sure about that? Why don't you try turning around?"

Clarisse thought I was fooling her, but one of the Ares kids who Luke had knocked to the ground heard me and looked then he howled, "It's gone!"

Clarisse spun, and howled in anger at the missing flag. She probably would have continued trying to kill me, but Chiron wasn't stupid, and came cantering into the clearing just then. I could tell Clarisse was considering accepting any punishment and murdering me anyways. I decided it was best not to tempt her, and moved away.

Though I'll be honest, I wasn't entirely mature about it. As I stepped away I murmured just loud enough for her to hear, "You really do still smell of sewage."