"You're going to need more than your research," I warned Annabeth. We were both in the Athena cabin. She was frantically going through her books and scrolls on the Labyrinth as if they held the secret answers she needed.
"Clarisse," Annabeth said. "I'm a daughter of Athena. I need a plan. The Labyrinth has to follow some sort of logic." I shook my head.
"The Labyrinth uses your mindset against you. Which means it will be illogical to spite you. The best plan is no plan." Annabeth sighed.
"Clarisse, I appreciate your help but you were alone. I can't just go into battle with no strategy. Maybe it will be easier with 4 people. It's harder to trick multiple people." I frowned.
"4 people on a quest, didn't you learn when five people went on the quest to save Artemis and only 3 returned?" Annabeth paused.
"Technically, Grover's coming on his own quest. He just happens to be traveling with us."
I rolled my eyes and smiled slightly at her. The labyrinth would have a tough time with Annabeth. I could see her yelling at whatever god controlled that hellish place and demanding that they make it make sense.
"Good luck, Annabeth. You'll need it."
"Clarisse, you need to get back to training." I ignored Chiron's voice to focus on force-feeding Chris. "Clarisse." He repeated more forcefully. I didn't look up.
Chiron put his hand on my shoulder. The old centaur was in his wheelchair form. He looked sad, a million years older than how he looked last year.
"Clarisse. When you were sick with the flu, you trained and practiced. We had to tie you to the cot to make you stop. What's different now?" I faced Chiron angrily.
"What's different! Chris is getting worse! It's been months and nothing is working! I have to be here for him!"
"Will, Castor, and Pollux have made Chris their priority. He's receiving the best care, Clarisse. We need our best fighter training again." I turned back to Chris.
"Don't waste your breath, punk. I'm one of the best. You'll do fine without me training for a few more weeks. I'm staying with Chris. He needs me more than the arena." The old centaur stared at me in surprise and left.
I returned to the arena within the week and Chris was moved back into the infirmary.
That punk was dead. After three years of dealing with Prissy, the punk was dead. And he had the nerve to let someone else kill him. Annabeth's eyes were puffy and red. Katie, Beckendorf, Silena, the Stolls, almost everyone had been crying and praying for days.
Contrary to popular belief, I was neither happy nor sad. I was numb. There were other things on my mind. The labyrinth, Chris, Luke. Percy's death was the cherry on top. I hadn't liked the guy but I could admit, begrudgingly, in my mind, that he didn't deserve to die. I was barely paying attention to Annabeth's speech until I heard her shout.
"He's right there!"
I should have known that the punk couldn't actually die.
"Oh by Ares' Chariot," My brother, Sherman, muttered. "He couldn't stay dead." I rolled my eyes.
"Come on. Let's not give the little celebrity more publicity. Back to training."
Recently, I've chosen to train alone. Whenever I train with my siblings or any other camper, they ask me a bunch of questions that I don't want to answer and are none of their business.
But when I walked into the arena, Quintus' stupid hound, Mrs. O'Leary, tried to rip me to shreds. I was able to wrestle her off but had to stand to the side of the arena to avoid her. With nothing else to do, I practiced my swordplay forms until the Sea-Prince walked in.
I watched Percy enter the field. Mrs. O'Leary tackled him. Apparently, even monsters loved Prissy.
"You're lucky she didn't bite your head off." I muttered. When Percy glanced at me, I explained. "Came here to practice yesterday. Dog tried to chew me up."
"She's an intelligent dog," Percy mocked. I rolled my eyes.
"Funny." I stalked towards them but the dog growled at me. I sneered at her.
"Stupid hellhound, she's not going to keep me from practicing." I expected Percy to leave me alone after that.
"I heard about Chris. I'm sorry." I wanted to snap Who didn't at him but since he was being civil, I tried to return the favor.
"Yeah, well. Sometimes things go wrong."
Never for you though; It seems.
"Heroes get hurt. They- They die."
Chris wasn't dead yet. But he would probably never get better.
"And the monsters just keep coming back."
I expected Percy to make fun of me. Instead he just said, "Chris was brave. I hope he gets better."
I narrowed my eyes at him. Never in a million years would I have done this but since I wasn't able to destroy the Labyrinth maybe Percy would be.
"If you find Daedalus, don't trust him. Don't ask him for help. Just kill him." He looked unsure but he had been in the maze. He had to understand. "Because anybody who can make something like the Labyrinth, Percy? That person is evil. Plain evil."
Percy stared at me for a moment. I didn't bother to try to figure out what he was thinking. I sheathed my sword and walked away.
"Practice time is over." I called to him. "From now on, its for real."
He was sane, healed, normal again. Mr. D had fixed him. I hadn't thought that the cranky old god had it in him. It had taken Chiron, Will, Pollux, Annabeth, and two of my brothers to hold me back from being in the room while Dionysus healed Chris. I appreciated them for being there especially since the Battle of the Labyrinth had just ended but I still wanted to punch them.
"Clarisse," Annabeth yelled, holding on to my arm. "He said no mortals can be in there and you want to be in there! How would that help Chris?" I ignored her.
"How do people go against you in wrestling!" Pollux yelled. "You're built like a freaking bull!"
"How is making her angrier helping?" Sherman yelled at him.
"You can stop restraining Charlotte now." A bored voice drawled. We all looked up. Dionysus was wearing his usual outfit, tiger-striped Hawaiian shirts and purple running shoes. He leaned lazily against the doorframe. "I'm done. She can go in."
Everyone let go of their grips on me and I rushed forward. I paused once I passed Mr. D and looked him in the eye. I didn't even care that there were tears in my eyes.
"Thank you." I whispered. Mr. D raised an eyebrow.
"Appreciation and gratitude. New emotions from you, Clarisse." I didn't even notice that she had called me by my actual name.
Chris' eyes were still closed. He was sleeping. I tried not to get hopeful. I had been let down before.
"Chris?" I cupped his cheek with the palm of my hand.
A glowing symbol appeared above his head. It was a staff, entwined with two serpents. A Caduceus.
"Hail Christopher Rodriguez," I whispered. "Son of Hermes." He opened his eyes and looked at me. And for the first time in months, in years, he saw my face.
"Clary."
