So here's chapter four, I'm so sorry for how late this is! I have EOG's and EOC's all this week and a little next week so its hard for me to update. Trust me this has taken me more that three days to write. On another note, I'd like to announce that I have finally mapped out where the rest of this story goes. Yaaay, we finally have a plot! I tried to make the dialogue as similar to the book as possible, but it's still changed around a bit. Sorry about that.

~o~

I woke up to Captain What's-his-name shaking my shoulder with much more force than necessary. I don't think he likes me that much. Oh well that's his fucking problem not mine. I quickly dismissed this from my mind because something the captain had said caught my immediate attention. We had arrived at the entrance.

Sea of Monsters here we come.

As I walked out of my temporary home, I passed the boiler room. Something there made me stop dead in my tracks. An Iris message was forming. At first I thought, hoped, it was Chris. Calling to tell me he was alright. The hope quickly vanished from my mind when I saw who was trying to contact me. It was the last person I wanted to hear from.

It was my Dad.

When I said the children of Ares were mean and violent and bloodthirsty. I was in no way describing my father. He was ten times worse. Cold, arrogant, war-crazy, and all over just filled to the brim with malice. As much as I hated to admit it, he terrified me. I knew that none of my brothers were scared of him, sure they weren't his best friends, but they didn't mentally cower in fear at the mere thought of their own father. Guilty as charged.

"Get over here, girl." He said, sneering at me. I quickly walked over to the Iris Message. Back straight, chin up, shoulders back. I reminded myself.

"Hi...Dad." I said, somehow managing not to stutter. He wasn't buying it. "I hear you let Jackson on the ship. You gonna let him steal this quest out form under you Clarisse?"

"No, I can handle this. He's just here as a passenger, nothing more." I said in one hurried breath. Then I heard a noise, it was small and barley noticeable. Almost like foot steps. But I was too preoccupied to let it bother me.

"I don't want excuses, little girl!" He yelled, practically growling. This was not going to end well.

"Y-yes, Dad," I mumbled. So much for seeming brave.

"You don't want to see me mad, do you?" What was this, his happy side? "No father." I said, a bit louder this time.

"No, father," He was mocking me. And it fucking stung. "You're pathetic. I should have let one of my sons take this quest." Way to rub salt in the wound Dad.

"I'll succeed, I promise!" Shit, my voice was trembling now. "I'll make you proud." I finished

"You'd better," He was warning me now. "You asked me for this quest, if you let that little fuck Jackson steal it form you-" Without thinking, I cut him off.

"But the Oracle said-" I hurriedly cut in. "I DON'T CARE WHAT IT FUCKING SAID!" He screamed, making the message physically move. I wonder if anybody could hear this right now. Gods I hoped not. "You will succeed. And if you don't..." Now his fist was raised, I flinched again'st my will, trying to suppress some of the memories.

"Do we have an understanding?" He was growling again. Before I could respond, he disconnected the message. I nodded anyways. As I came back to the situation at hand, I heard the alarm bells ring. I needed to go.

As I came up on the deck I saw Jackson and his little friends on the deck already. I also noticed how Jackson refused to look at me. What's his problem? I shrugged it off and grabbed the binoculars, from one of the officers, and I stared at the horizon line.

"At last. Captain, full steam ahead." Everything was going according to schedule, well except for the unwanted guests I was forced to take aboard. The only thing I needed to take care of now was Charybdis. That may be a bit more challenging with the way the weather was acting. It was humid and misty over the sea. I could see Charybdis off in the distance and I couldn't help the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. But now was know time for being nervous, because I could do this, I had no choice.

I began giving orders to the Captain to increase our speed when everybody's "favorite" brain child decided to speak up.

"Is that a Hurricane?" She asked. Huh, that's surprising I would have thought Princess would have known where we were.

"No, Charybdis." I said. I saw the color drain out of her face. "Are you insane?" Maybe a little, I thought to myself.

"It's the only way into the Sea of Monsters, we have to go straight through Charybdis and Scylla." I stated, pointing to the cliffs on the boats left side.

"What do you mean, the only way? The sea is huge! Just go around." Gods this kid is stupid. I rolled my eyes at him. "Do you actually know anything about Greek Mythology? If we sailed around, they would appear again and again until we went through."

Annabeth decided to speak up again. "And the Clashing Rocks? That's the other way in, Jason used it." I didn't tell her this, but I had not thought of that one. To late now I guess, we're already at the entrance.

"Well, I can't blow them up with canons, but monsters I can." I said quickly. Not my best cover story but still, they bought it. "You are insane." Chase oh-so bluntly stated.

"Sit back and watch, Princess." I smirked while turning to the Captain. "Set course straight for Charybdis!" I ordered. The Captain looked increasingly nervous as he answered me.

"Aye, m'lady." That's when Mr. Head-up-his-ass spoke up yet again.

"Hey Clarisse, Charybdis swallows up the sea. That's the story isn't it?" Yes dumbass, it is. Glad your finally catching on.

"And then spits it back, yes."

"And Scylla?"

"She lives in the cliffs. We can't get to close or she'll pluck each of us off the ship.

"Then let's choose Scylla," Jackson oh-so-ignorantly said. "Then we all go below deck, and sail by. That way everybody's safe."

"We can't do that!" I insisted sharply. "When Scylla doesn't get easy prey, she'll pick the whole ship up. Anyways, she's to far up and I can't shoot her, the canons don't fire straight up. Charybdis, on the other hand, is an easy target, she just sits in the middle of her whirlpool. We just sail straight to her, train the guns, and blow her to Hades!" I said, with relish in my voice. Jackson looked like he almost believed me.

Throughout or conversion, Tyson that gods forsaken Cyclopes, was muttering about the engines. It was beginning to worry me, I could feel the deck heating up under me. I hoped the ship would last just a few more minutes. I needed it to last.

As we sailed closer, Charybdis kept getting louder and louder, until the only thing I could hear was the huge roar of the monster I was attempting to blow up. No pressure or anything.

That's something people don't understand about me, or the Ares kids in general. We get nervous and anxious about the same things as everyone else. Hell, we get scared when we fight monsters too. Not that we'll ever admit it. It's not that we don't feel it, it's that we are expected not to show it. Our father is fearless, and he expects us to uphold this image of him, being his kids and all. What's expected of us and who we are, are two totally different things.

"Annabeth is right. Engines no good." The Cyclopes said, as I tuned back into reality.

"What do you mean?" Princess asked. "Pressure. Pistons need fixing." Oh shit. We might not make it. Just then the ship lurched forward sharply as Charybdis began to suck in the ocean once again.

No time for the engines now, we had to act. "Full Reverse!" I screamed, desperately hoping to be heard by the crew over the noise. "Get us to firing range, ready the starboard canons!"

Thankfully the crew heard me as they began running around, trying to complete the instructions as quickly as possible. But it wasn't working. As fast as the ship was reversing, Charybdis was sucking us in faster. That's when one of the sailors ran to me, his Confederate uniform smoking.

"The boiler room, its overheating ma'am! She's gonna blow any second!" He panted out. Seriously how stupid were these sailors.

"Get down there and fix it then gods dammit!" I screamed.

"We can't, we're all being vaporized in the heat!" Well, fuck. I pounded the side of the ship with my fist in anger. "I only need a few minutes, only enough to get in range!" That's when everybody's favorite captain showed up.

"We're moving far too fast. Prepare for death." He said grimly. That's when the Cyclopes spoke up.

"No wait! Tyson can fix!" He said desperately pointing at himself, as if I didn't know he was Tyson. I looked at him unbelievably. "You?"

"Tyson's a Cyclopes. He's immune to fire and he knows mechanics." Chase said over the roars of Charybdis. That was enough information for me.

"Go!" I yelled at him. Then fucking Jackson had to try and intervene. Hades, he was stupid.

"Tyson, don't! Its way too dangerous!" He said grabbing his arm. Didn't he realize if Tyson didn't fix the engines, the ship would blow up? Tyson just patted his hand and said, "Only way. Tyson will fix it, be right back." And with that he ran to the engine room as the ship lurched again. Charybdis was in view now.

The monster was only about 500 yards away from the ship, she was barely visible through the smoke and water being thrown around in the spin of the whirlpool. As I looked at her more, I saw probably the most terrifying thing I had every seen. Charybdis looked like a huge black, coral reef with just about everything thrown into it. There were pieces of ships and dead see animals all thrown in between what I took to be her teeth. I saw all the water around us get swallowed in by her huge jaws, followed by the sea life that was unfortunate enough to get caught in her path. Then to my horror, I realized, that we were next.

"The captain then shouted to me that the guns were in place. "Fire!" I shouted at him. Three ear shattering blasts were fired at the monster's jaws. One gave her a chipped tooth, the other disappeared into her gut, and the other flew back at us, snapping the flag for Ares off its pole. Dad would not be happy about that.

"Again!" I screamed. As the gunners reloaded I knew it was hopeless. I had underestimated the monsters power. Shit. I thought. Then, suddenly, the deck began cooling down. Holy shit the Cyclopes did it.

"Tyson did it!" Princess said. No shit we didn't notice. "Wait, we need to stay as close as possibly." I said

"We'll die! We need to move!" Jackson screamed at me. Fuck no Perseus, it ain't gonna go down like that. Then, I remembered that this was not the place to get into a fist fight. Lives were on the line here.

Miraculously, The Cyclopes was able to keep the CSS Brimingham from drifting any closer to the monster. But we sure as hell weren't moving back, and I knew we couldn't keep this up forever. Suddenly, the sea went silent as Charybdis' mouth closed. Then just when I was about to let my guard down, the mouth opened again, and we were right where we started.

The ship was thrown backward on a huge wave, at least fifty feet. It was amazing how the ship hadn't capsized by now. The next thing I knew a sailor rammed into me, nearly taking both of us overboard. "Watch it!" I yelled, as I managed to maneuver us away from the railing of the ship.

"The engine, it's gonna blow!" The sailor yelled at no one in particular. That's when "Mother Theresa" decided to jump into overly protective brother mode.

"Is Tyson okay? Where is he?" Jeez Jackson, did you lose your kid in a store or something? "He's still down there, somehow he's still holding it together." The sailor panted out.

"We have to leave. It's time to abandon ship." The captain said in his overly depressing voice. Seriously this guy was laying it on a bit thick.

"No way!" I yelled. I was so close. I just needed time. "We have to, Miss La Rue. The hull is splitting apart, we haven't got a choi-" The captain never finished his sentence as he was lifted in the air.

Scylla had caught him.

"It's Scylla!" A random sailor screamed. No shit Sherlock. Percy un-capped his dumb sword nobody knows the name of, and tried, but failed, to slice off Scylla's heads. "Everyone get below deck!" He yelled over Charybdis and screaming sailors. Here he goes playing hero again. And he seriously wonders why I hate him.

I rolled my eyes. "We can't do that, its in flames." I said, as I drew me own sword. That's when Blondie decided to actually start thinking again. "Everyone get to the lifeboats! Quickly!" She said.

I rolled my eyes again, it seemed to be a very prominent trend with me.

"No that won't work, they'll never clear the cliffs, we'll be eaten." I never said it was a good idea. "We have to try at least, Percy give me the thermos!" That girl can't stand to be proven wrong.

"But I can't leave Tyson." He is such a Drama Queen. He just needs to learn when to cut his losses, however painful it may be. Meanwhile Jackson and his little girlfriend seemed to be having a "couple fight".

"Perseus Jackson, get in the boat, we need to get them ready!" With that me and some sailors began uncovering one of the life boats, trying to avoid Scylla to the best of our abilities.

"No I'm not leaving Tyson!" He said, and began running to the boiler room. "You can't survive down there, you'll be burned alive!" Before Jackson could reply, he was snatched by his back-pack by Scylla. Scylla had grabbed him right as everyone had gotten in the life boat, and it was being lowered down. Annabeth screamed at him. But I doubt he could hear with the wind howling in his ears. Then to my surprise, and his stupidity, he cut off Scylla's head an began falling back towards the sea just as the life boat had almost meet the ocean. That's when the ship blew up.

And that's when I flew out of the boat.


I knew I was in pretty deep shit when I woke up in the middle of the ocean in a life boat. By myself. Which is what confused me because I was pretty sure I'd flown out of the life boat when the ship exploded. Then I remembered. After I had gotten thrown into the ocean, the second life boat, full of dead confederates, had gotten dropped onto the water. Half of them had gotten caught by Scylla on the way down. So when they saw me in the water, the remaining five pulled me onto the boat. But I couldn't for the life of me remember what had happened after that. My guess is that Scylla picked them off, and I just got lucky. And now I was floating in the middle of the ocean with nothing but the covering for the boat, an oar, and my sword.

Count the small blessings I suppose.

I ended up making a shitty looking sail out of the covering. It would have to do. As for the oar I put that off to the side, in case worst-came-to-worst. As for my sword, it was basically useless right now, so that went off to the side too. With my pitiful inventory taken, I searched for something productive to do. Finding none, I decided to sleep and see what the hell would happen next. With that I climbed under the weak bit of shade given by the sail, and laid my jacket over my exposed face and shoulders. I knew I couldn't afford being exposed in the sun for a long time, especially since I sunburned way to easily.

After that my track of time flew out the window, unfortunately it left my basic human needs behind. Including dehydration and hunger. I wasn't sure how long it had been since the explosion, it could have been hours, or days. Probably not weeks, I wouldn't be alive if that were the case. I knew I wasn't supposed to, but the sea water was looking really inviting right now. My tongue felt swollen and dry in my mouth and my stomach felt like it was twisting in on itself. In the back of my mind I vaguely wondered if Prissy and Blondie were okay. The thought didn't last long as I drifted back into a restless sleep.

I was back at Camp Half Blood, just on the outskirts of the woods. I couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu. I had been here before. Again'st my own will my feet began moving farther into the woods. Try as I might, my feet had a destination in mind and inevitably I had no choice but to succumb to it. The farther I walked the older the trees became. I knew these trees were ancient, there were no nymphs in them. No one to help me. The thought scared me, why I would I be needing help? I walked farther. Eventually I found myself following a small stream. It was leading me somewhere, and I still had no idea where. The stream had ended into a small body of water. I don't know why, but I was compelled to look at my reflection. In the water I saw a girl who was too tall for her age and built like a baseball player. I had long light brown hair in a poorly kept ponytail down my back. My eyes were a frightening fiery red. Except those weren't my eyes, and I knew why I was here.

Phobos smirked at me, his startlingly white teeth flashing in an evil smile. I didn't have time to wonder where Deimos was, he already had me by the neck. He shoved me down on the ground then instantly pulled me back up by my hair. And it fucking hurt.

"Hello Clarisse." He said my name with such disgust, I couldn't help but hate me too. "You're late." He snarled. 'Late for what?' I thought. He slapped me across the face, leaving a stinging mark across my cheek. Now I remembered. Initiation.

I groaned in pain as Phobos kicked me in the ribs. The blows just kept coming, bruising every part of me. And I was too weak to fight back, too afraid. They showed me my greatest fears. Every single one until they figured out which one would make me scream. They were trying to break me. And it was working. Before I knew what was happening Deimos had me around the neck with one hand. He slammed my back into a tree, where the bark left splinters on my back. With one final hit to my temple, I fell to the ground. Both of them laughing because I was to weak to move. I was a girl.

I woke up in a cold sweat, or at least what my dehydrated body could produce at the time. I shudder at the dream I remembered so vividly, it was a memory. One of many that I tried to forget, but for the life of me couldn't. Every moment, every initiation, was burned into my mind. A painful reminder of what awaited for me once I returned to Camp.

Initiation was something that was a tradition, of a sort, for my family, if I could even call them that. Women in my family were not respected because they were weak. They weren't as strong as men, and the couldn't fight as well as men. And that was what brought you respect. Women, to them, were useless. My demigod half-brothers weren't so bad most of the time. The could be super sexist at times but the never hurt me for the soul purpose of punishing me for being a female. My immortal brothers on the other hand, were a little old fashioned. They told me the only reason the did my initiation was because my father didn't want to waste his time with me. It happened on the first day every two months. Just enough time for me to gather my wits and push the memory aside, but never enough time for me to forget.

I was still breathing heavily and I hadn't heard the tremendous footsteps until they were right on top of me. I hadn't even realized I had hit land. I looked up and saw a Cyclopes, not friendly Bob-the-builder-Tyson kind of Cyclopes. But a real one. A 35 foot tall monster with a big milky eye smack dab in the middle of his grotesque face. He chuckled to himself when he saw me, and murmured something about a wedding dinner. Then he just laughed harder. It didn't even occur to me to use my sword before he grabbed me, his hand about the same length as my body.

"You're mine now demigod..." He laughed again.

Well, fuck.

~o~

Yay I'm finally finished! Sorry this took so long, as I said before I'm doing my end of year exams so I'll be busy for a couple more days. Anyways I probably need to explain the "initiation" bit of this. While I was reading Miscarriage, great story by the way, I was inspired to add an initiation of my own twist in this. But figured that Ares would be to proud to actually come to Camp Half Blood himself, he would send somebody else to do his bidding; hence Phobos and Deimos who don't like Clarisse anyways.

I hope you liked this, it actually turned out pretty long. And I'm sorry if it was boring, I'm almost done with the quest part of the story so never fear. Remember to review I love hearing what you have to say!