Clarisse's POV

I sunk myself into the passenger seat and watched in the rearview mirror as Annabeth wedged in next to Percy. Rolling my eyes, I pretended like it didn't bother me. As the car started rumbling away from camp, I leaned against the headrest and forced all of my leftover feelings into a tiny corner of my mind. If I ignored them, they'd go away. Right?


The town we pulled into, Hazy Point, immediately put me on edge. There was an over abundance of cookie cutter vacation houses, the kind with huge, ocean view windows and three stories that I used to hopelessly dream about staying in when I was little. Quaint shopping centers with mom and pop pizza shops and frozen yogurt parlors dotted the area, along with a sandy seashore stretching endlessly on the left of us.
Every square inch of it made me sick.

Despite the lazy appearance of the town, the road that webbed through it was anything but. Cars drove much too fast, making pedestrians play a guessing game of "Will We Be Roadkill Or Not."

Our car pulled over to the sidewalk, and I groaned and slammed the back of my head into the seat before getting out and shutting the door with more force than necessary. I watched as Argus pulled away to who knows where and took a deep breath. I was stuck in this hellhole now.

We started walking down to the seashore, crossing streets in a hurry. Screw jaywalking, the faster I got out of this place the better, and right about now I didn't have the patience to wait for the little man to blink on the sign.

As we were crossing one crosswalk, a car zipped by me, too close for comfort. I jumped about a foot in the air and quickly shook it off, but as I reached the other sidewalk, my head started spinning. I stopped where I was, frozen, overwhelmed suddenly by everything around me.

I felt a warm hand around my wrist. Percy was standing over me, his grip gentle and comforting. My heart dropped into my stomach but my breathing steadied, and my head grew clearer. His eyebrows were raised concernedly, and I gave a weak, hesitant nod before forcing myself to tear away from his grip. As I walked away, my legs felt like they were unattached to the rest of my body. My brain was at war with itself, one half screaming and aching to turn and walk back to him, but the other half forced my muscles into movement.

Grains of sand danced around my feet as the soles of my shoes sunk and dug themselves out. Even I had to admit, the water looked peaceful and harmless. This wasn't going to be so bad, I assured myself. Confidence regained, I looked to the others.

Percy stepped into the water, closing his eyes and concentrating. I caught myself admiring how at ease he seemed, like the water peeled away all the troubles he had and replaced them with pure serenity. He motioned us towards him and pointed, without opening his eyes, towards a random spot of ocean.

"Congratulations, you found water!" It felt good to hear the sarcasm in my voice again. It was time to get back to being Clarisse, the tough daughter of Ares with a vicious right hook and an even meaner attitude. No son of Poseidon was going to change me.

Percy turned towards me with an expression that was half playful and half... Something else more intense. It wasn't angry or hurt, more like he was trying to understand me with just a glance.

"Very funny. Anyways, there's something there that shouldn't be." With that, he moved towards where he had pointed. The water was cold, but I charged in after him anyway. The three of us swam in the same direction, Grover with big awkward strokes and Annabeth with what looked like a frantic doggy paddle. I desperately fought the urge to laugh. By the time we had caught up with Percy, a small hill led up to a point where I could stand with the water lapping at my chin.

"Ok, Perce, you got us here. Now where is the thing?" Grover cried with halted breaths. I felt a small pang of sympathy, after all, swimming with goat legs and hooves must be near impossible.

"It's around here somewhere, I swear. I felt something weird, I can't explain it." He frowned. "It's like... It's like it's right below-" Suddenly, the sand under my feet swirled away, giving out and opening into a swirling vortex.

I screamed for a split second before I was pulled underwater and into a round pipe on the ocean floor. Incredible suction pulled me closer into the churning blackness. It reminded me painfully of Charybdis, and I struggled to find something to hold onto. My lungs burned for oxygen as I managed to grab onto the edge of the hole. I heard nothing but the waves rushing above my head as I thrashed around. A rock sliced my palm, and scarlet eerily wafted upwards from my hand. I cringed at the deep cut and the stinging pain of the salt water, and fought desperately against the suction of the pipe. Everything looked so peaceful and blue, but my mind was racing.

The murkiness parted as Percy swam towards me. I desperately clung on as what little oxygen I held in my lungs escaped in tiny bubbles, merrily and ironically dancing towards the air above. My head started pounding and I barely saw Percy, but somehow, he kept swimming to me. He seemed unaffected by the suction and a determined and terrified look filled his eyes.

Lights popped in my brain and salt water burned my nose and throat. Weakened and on the verge of drowning, my fingers let go of the edge. I almost didn't notice that the Charybdis like hole had stopped pulling me towards it, and just as black started invading my vision, a strong arm wrapped around my waist and pushed off the now calm ocean floor. Everything blurred and my eyes fluttered shut. I was going to die.

Percy pushed me above the waves, and I felt myself spasm. The oxygen was like icy knives against my skin, but the pain was welcome. Air filled my lungs, and with a gasp, my eyes sprung open. Spluttering and terrified, for once I let tears fall when they wanted to.

My limbs felt tingly and my throat burned with every blessed breath. My vision focused and I found what I was looking for. I threw my shivering arms around Percy's neck, coughing and sobbing. I clung to him like he was the only thing that kept me alive. In all reality, he was, and had been for a long time, but right now, I was finally ready to start showing it.

Percy's POV

I used my powers to dry Clarisse and myself as Annabeth and Grover stayed behind in the water to finish off... Whatever it was. As I made my way out of the ocean, I felt Clarisse's already weak and trembling form go limp with unconsciousness. I noticed my arms were shaking as I carried her. We reached the shore and I lay her down on the sand.

I had never felt fear like I had when I saw her get sucked under water. Now, watching her lay motionless on the beach, the pit of fear in my stomach multiplied like a virus. I had never seen her look so vulnerable. I took her hand and squeezed it, needing to reassure myself that she was here next to me, still breathing.

Silent minutes ticked by, my insides turning with every second, but finally, her eyes opened. She propped herself up on her side, letting go of my hand in the process, and coughed violently. It was a painful, scratchy sound. When there was no more water left in her lungs, she slowly sat up.

I knew the best thing for her was to let her body reboot on its own accord, so I sat by and watched as she gradually got some strength back.

"What the hell?" Those were the first words she spoke. Her voice was strained and slightly breathless, but Clarisse attitude was still there, barely. Every inch of me broke apart with relief, and a wide grin split my face.

"Congratulations, you found water." I quoted her. She looked into my eyes and a smile just barely appeared.

"Shut up, Jackson." She said before reaching her hands to the sides of my head and pulling our lips together. I sat shocked for a second before kissing her back, shifting onto my knees to get closer to her.

Kissing Clarisse cleared my mind for the first time in weeks. It opened up my senses, and an blinding wave of happiness swept over me. For once in a long time, I didn't feel overwhelmed by everything. I wrapped my arms around her waist and smiled. After a few more moments, she pulled away.

"Thanks for not letting me die." She said in a small voice.

"I'd be too bored without you to fight with." She rolled her eyes but smirked anyway.