Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, would I be active daily on Snitchseeker? If I owned Percy Jackson, would I still be trying to find good Percy Jackson RPG's? All rights to JK Rowling and Rick Riordan!


Clara:

Well, we were here at the farthest port going east that we could think of: Storybrooke, Maine. I decided it would be best not to talk to some of the people here, they seemed like weirdos. Or maybe that was Renee's muttering about strangers.

We quickly went to the docks, but there were barely any boats there. Soon, though, a man came up. Renee quickly put her voice into action.

"May we please borrow your boat?" Thick charmspeak

"How did you even cross the barrier? And no you may not. I know what you are."

"We are just three lost girls on our way to England to see our mother, who is ailing."

"Lost girls. I knew it. Now, get out of my sight!"

The man's eyes were glowing. Wait, THE MAN'S EYES WERE GLOWING!

"Let us on the boat or I'll fight you."

"Leave now, Daughter of Ares, or you will never have that option again."

I screamed. "How do you know who we are?"

"Clarissa Jeanne Bradley, I know more about you than you ever will yourself. I know that you pretended Hannah was your sister, but she and her family left you behind. Renee Andromeda Sanderson, I know that the Sandersons were never real. You've always pretended to have a family, but you never did. You can join me, or you can walk away. It is your choice."

Somehow, we all knew what came next. We looked at each other with a look that meant, "RUN."

I was flying. Was I going at the speed of light? Suddenly I felt myself lifted by a sunbeam. Clarisse and Renee were flung on behind me. "Haha, thanks Dad!" I yelled. Renee was grinning and even Clarisse gave a small smile. We were free. But soon we would need to find a boat. We couldn't just rely on a sunbeam!

And then suddenly we were falling, crashing through the trees. I hoped we would land on some kind of sunlit beach, but instead we were in a dirty city.

I heard groans and realized I had landed on top of Renee. She glared at me, and I quickly stumbled off of her. But Clarisse was already on her feet, and what she saw made her grin. I looked around. We were on a port, at a harbor. And there were boats galore.

"Ha!" Renee said. "At this rate, we don't even need to steal a boat! We can just hop one!"

"Not a bad idea, Renee!"

"Thanks." She slipped her hand into mine. I remembered how it used to be, on days that Melissa and Allison didn't come to school, when it had been just the three of us. I wished Juniper were with us now.

"Team, let's move!" Clarisse yelled. Renee and I exchanged a glance. Did Clarisse just call us "team?"

I put my arm around Renee and smiled. Even in the mix of all this chaos, I still had a part of my old life. I had the best dad in the world. Speaking of dads….

"Clarisse, do you have a cellphone? I should contact the Bradleys and let them know what happened." Did I just call them, "the Bradleys?" I guess I had accepted this. And hey, I had never really looked like the Bradleys. I wondered if they had known all along about me.

"Didn't I tell you? We never carry phones, we could be traced. Stupid little newbie."

"Well, then, is there a pay phone anywhere? The Bradleys are probably worried sick about her. They're a family, something I've only found with Clara and Jade recently! I would be worried sick about her if we got separated!"

"You would, Renee?" Strange, I had always got the impression she didn't like me.

"Of course. You've always been so nice to me, even when I didn't repay that."

I hugged Renee. "Alright, alright, girls, stop the love fest. Clarissa, I'll find you a pay phone."

"Thanks."


The phone picked up on the third ring. "Hi, this is the Bradley residence, may I ask who's calling?"

Darn, it was Tony, the most annoying of my five brothers. "Tony, it's me, Clara. Is Mom home?"

I'm not surprised when he says, "There is no Clara here. Just me, I live alone. My name is Tony Stark and I live alone. Nobody can know my secret."

"Shut up, Iron Man," I hear from somewhere in the room, and I am relieved. "Clara is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Ross?"

"Clara, we've been so worried about you! Why didn't you call?"

"Other stuff happened. Can I talk to Mom or Dad?"

"Oh, of course. But….do you need help? Are you hurt? Do you want us to come get you?"

"No, let me just talk to Mom."

"Okay. It's good to hear your voice, Clara."

I heard a click as the phone was switched to Mom. "Clara! Oh honey, we've been so worried! What happened?"

"Mom….I know."

"Know….oh. Clara, what do you want me to say?"

"Mom, I guess I always knew. I'm blonde with blue eyes, and I've never needed glasses. Everyone in our family except Tony wears glasses, and you're all brunettes. And, well, you know."

"Really?"

"Yeah. So, I'm on a quest, something demigods get, you know. Glory and danger and all of that. I'll be home soon, I promise."

"Only eleven….you're so young, Clara."

"Mom, before I leave, who was my birth mother?"

"Apollo never said, dear, only that you would have extraordinary powers. I hope she's someone who would make you proud."

"Do my brothers know?" I thought of Tony and Steven and Ross and Dallas and David. Tony was eight, the youngest. David was twenty, the oldest. They had been my only family until Apollo, and they all cared so much. Even though Tony was an annoying jerk, I loved him. Ross and Dallas, the 15 year old twins, were my favorites, although Ross was the best brother. Steven was just….Steven, not really anything to me.

"Dave knows. We told him recently because we knew that your time might come soon. Do you want me to tell the others?"

"No, I will when I get back."

"Okay. Call soon, love."

"I will, I'll try."

"Okay."

I hung up, glad that my mother didn't know the danger I may really have been in. I wasn't even sure who I was anymore.

Renee and Clarisse, who had been waiting for me a little ways off, came up to me. "We should hurry. It's been a long day and we want to get to England without meeting more monsters. Are you ready?" Renee asked me.

"The main question is, are you? And is your charmspeak?"

"Yep."

Clarisse laughed. "Come on, you two."


The first boat we saw was the Andromeda Jean. Renee and I looked at each other. Yeah, okay, so my middle name was Jeanne, not Jean, but it was still a sign. "That one!" We exclaimed at the same time, exchanging a meaningful glance. In hindsight, we probably should have used something else, but Renee and I actually thought that some good could come out of it. We probably should have used something like the Cloud Star. But did we know?


A/N: So sorry I haven't been posting as much. I'll try to get a "Voldemort's Back!" or "Two Loves" chapter out soon, but no promises. I hope you liked it.