Chapter 20
CLARISSE POV
(A/N Alright, some apologies may be in order. There was no post last sunday, for many reasons. One of the most prominent was that Chapter 19 was my last of the pre-written stuff, I hadn't actually written anything for this fic since I posted Chapter 12. Writer's block and being preoccupied with the CHB forum among other things got in the way. I am also beginning another fic, Bridger: A Star Wars Story (the name is bantha dung, I know, pls help) the first chapter of which should be up this wednesday. I'm still going to carry on with this, but I might start missing upload days. I will try my best to keep up to the schedule I've set myself. With that out of the way, onto the story!)
The period between sleep and awakeness was short, almost non-existent. One minute she was asleep, trapped in the nightmare about Polyphemus, the next she was awake, gasping and breathing heavily. Looking around, she saw Meg and Robin looking at her with concern, and Chris trying to calm her down.
"Deep breaths, you're not in the nightmare, you're with us, with friends." Slowly, Clarisse's eyes cleared and she sank back in her seat with a sigh. Chris waved off the concerned waitresses. "She's fine, just a nightmare." Lowering his voice, he continued. "PTSD from when she was young, could we get some water or something?" One waitress nodded and ran off to the server car, the other stayed and looked oddly at them, before seeming to run off. Chris was solely focused on her wellbeing, (which she was grateful for) and Robin looked plain confused. Meg seemed to be the only other who noticed the waitress's odd behaviour. Turning to Chris, she took a deep breath and began recapping her nightmare.
"At first it was memories, the usual stuff." They both winced, and Clarisse remembered all the times in Arizona when one had woken up and alerted the other, the hours they had wasted under torchlight talking about dreams. "Then it changed. It's him. Our foe. He was sitting in a cave, and he had-"
"For Styx's sake, girl. Are you ever going to tell your compatriots who you saw or are you just going to dance around the subject like a frightened animal?" Everyone looked up, and Meg saw that the trolley attendant was now replaced with an older woman, with black - but greying - hair tied up in a severe bun. She wore a grey business suit and trousers, and had a pair of silver-rimmed glasses balanced on the bridge of her nose. Peering past her, it seemed the entire train had frozen. She looked down on the group as if they had done something mildly distasteful. "Well? Or am I going to have to tell them myself?" Steeling herself, Clarisse decided to just get it out. At least then she wouldn't have to bear the burden alone.
"It's Polyphemus. He's got Eileithyia tied up in a cave on his island, and he's trying to marry her." She was met with varying reactions. Chris put the information he had prior together, and gave her a sympathetic look. Meg wore a puzzled expression on her face, and Robin was unfazed, if uncomfortable about the older woman standing with them, and he spoke his mind.
"Excuse me, but who are you, and what are you doing pressuring Clarisse?" For his credit, he was brave, but that bravery was going to get him transfigured into a cowpat if he didn't stop, evidenced by the way the goddess's eyebrows were flaring. (Clarisse was sure it was a goddess, and she had a fair idea who.) Thankfully, the immortal saw sense, and decided to not turn their companion into bovine faeces.
"You would have some sense not to talk like that to a goddess, boy." Knew it, Clarisse thought. "I am Hera, and I am here to assist in the return of my daughter." Meg spoke up at this, voicing their collective outrage.
"You put her in that position. You know what Polyphemus is like. Would you really risk the entire Olympian Council to stop Annabeth from giving birth? You still hold a grudge from seven years ago, just because she refused your favour?" At this Hera recoiled, seemingly to bring down all possible retribution, and Clarisse was sure Meg had gone too far, but at the last minute the goddess caught herself and instead looked down her nose at the girl.
"I may have been… overzealous in my actions." Hera paused, and Clarisse concluded that being a millenia-old immortal, admitting you were wrong to a sixteen year old girl may have been triflingly difficult. "But I ask you here, release my daughter. I do know what Polyphemus is like, and for him to have the powers of an immortal would be a terrible thing indeed. If you do…" Here she paused again, seemingly about to reveal something against her better judgement. "If you do, I shall no longer torment the woman. Annabeth and her offspring shall have no need to fear me."
"Oh, I don't think she feared you." Clarisse's words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "But it has been inconvenient for her, what with your cows leaving their dung in her path. We'll save Eileithyia, for Annabeth's sake. But first, how did she get captured by Polyphemus, anyways? Did you leave him to guard her, and then he double-crossed you?" Hera looked positively furious, and her companions were looking on with a mix of apprehension and horror. Miraculously, she again composed herself.
"I suppose it is only right you know. I sent Eileithyia away, I told her to not let Annabeth give birth. She went into the Sea of Monsters, and I did not fear. She could just return to Mt Olympus anytime she wanted. Alas, she strayed too far, and wandered too close. Polyphemus trapped her, and is now holding her hostage. He needs Zeus and my approvals, but if not - and we cannot allow this to happen - he can slay her and kill the world. If she dies, so will most unborns. It will be like the dark times, the age of the Titans. A few humans, the remainder a beaten bunch of primitives. I ask once more, free my daughter. I will let Annabeth deliver safely, one mother to another." With that, she glanced once more around the table, dissolved into smoke, and shot out the window.
(A/N Finally got this finished. I've been working on this chapter on and off for about a month now, and it's over. I managed to sit down and more concretely plan out the rest of the story. This isn't the last Deus Ex Machina I'm going to have to pull here, and I apologise for that. I was going to have Ares appear too, but that would be ridiculous, so that may or may not happen later. Remember, Bridger: A SWS comes out this Wednesday, so until then,
Vaya con Queso,
DamaSENDhimafriend
