Get ready for extreme AW!s with...
Chrisse.
Clarisse wasn't always the tough girl. She hid her feelings, bottled them inside to secure her own reputation as the girl you will kill you if you share her direct eye contact. The girl who knows no feelings but hate. They usually can't see the remorse, the happiness she can share with you if you let her.
Clarisse got jealous. She got frustrated. She got sad. She got all of the feeling every other human (or in her case, half) did. A list consisting of infinite emotions she refused to show in public, except alone in the bathroom in front of a mirror.
The only thing no one even expected Clarisse to even think about, much less feel, was compassion. But she did that day, that unfaithful day.
Clarisse emerged from the rocks unsteadily. It was late at night, nearly midnight, and the moon hung suspended high in the sky as if by a paper thin string. A cold, crisp wind swept her matted russet hair from her perspiring neck, leading it to billow out in a cloud of moldy dust that she had collected from the Labyrinth.
The daughter of Ares peered down the dark crevice. She wondered why she was even looking back in there. The palce was horrible, she was almost driven insane. But then, she remember the exact reason.
The Labyrinth was dark and quiet, and she was worried the maze had shifted and he was lost. She was about to, against all her will, climb back in and look for him again, when she heard a disturbing yell that echoed from below.
"Mary, go away, what do you want from me!" Chris Rodriquez yelled, his voice was small but terrified.
Clarisse felt a pang of sympathy- a feeling almost foreign to her heart.
"Chris, climb up, hurry. Before you get lost in that god-forsaken-"
"I-I-I..." he stuttered, faltering.
She reached a shaking hand down. Even if it was a Cyclops, she was willing to take the chance.
"Why sh-should... go away, Mary, I can help myself!" Chris protested.
"My name isn't Mary. It's Clarisse," she said calmly and patiently. "Grab my hand, and I'll get you out of there. Mary will never hurt you if you come up here."
There a moment of stunned silence.
"She won't?" he questioned, his tone easier.
"No, I promise. She can't get you up here."
Clarisse felt a cold, dirty hand securely close around hers, and the warmth that the Labyrinth had stolen from her seeped back through her fingers to her heart.
She held a spoon to his lips with a shaky wrist. The boy in front of her was still half-asleep, but his eyes flipped open when he caught sight of her hovering spoonful of nectar.
"Get that away from me!" Chris screamed, leaping backwards further into the cushion of his pillow, his eyes widened.
Clarisse sighed, frustrated. She kept reminding herself it was the Labyrinth's fault. She shook be frustrated with the maze, not its victim. Then her anger disappeared, surprising herself.
"It will make your ankle feel much better," she said smoothly, almost a whisper, that it hardly even projected across the basement. "You want the pain gone, don't you?"
"Y-yes..." he considered, his eyes raking her suspiciously. "What is it?"
"It's the nectar of the gods," she said. "It will heal you quicker than any enchantment."
"But, Mary-"
"My name isn't Mary!" Clarisse screamed at him. She couldn't take it anymore.
Chris's fearful expression melted, until it broke into a sob. Clarisse sank back in her chair, staring at him. It was the first time she had felt guilty about hurting someone. Guilty about making someone cry, scared. It felt horrible.
His sobs rang through the Big House like he was crying into a bullhorn.
She bent forward, and he recoiled, burying himself in the ratty, hand-me-down bed covers. Clarisse's bed covers.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I promise this will make you all better." Well.. not completely.
He stared at it hesitantly before closing his lips around the spoon and swallowing gingerly.
His expression brightened, like a child's on Christmas. "It tastes like... c-cookies."
Clarisse nodded, a smile on her face. "It's delicious, isn't it?"
He nodded eagerly. "Do you have any more?"
The look on his face was almost enough to convince her to give him another spoonful, but she didn't want to endanger him anymore.
"I can't, not yet," she said. "Too much of this stuff, and you'll burn to a crisp."
He gulped, and settled back into the covers again.
"We'll get through this, together, Chris," Clarisse said warmly. "You'll never be alone."
Chiron trotted up to her sullenly, kicking up dirt as he went. The arena was empty otherwise, besides Clarisse. Chris was in the watchful hands of Silena for now, and he was only napping. Clarisse always thought best when she was swinging her sword.
A pile of torn of battle dummies lay at her feet, fluff and old potato sacks with googley-eyes with four sticks as arms and legs.
Her sword clattered to the dirt carelessly as she reached up to take her helmet off of her head. Her hair was sticky and damp.
"Chiron? I'm practicing," she growled, throwing her helmet to the dirt. "I'm not in the right mood at the time, thank you."
Chiron continued to approach. The only difference was a smirk on his thousand year old face.
"I'm here to talk to you, child," the centaur said emotionless.
She froze. "About what?"
"Chris Rodriguez, of course."
"Silena, I don't know what to do," Clarisse muttered. "Chiron says we should just let the gods take care of Chris, and he knows they'll just kill him."
Silena Beauregard bit her lower lip, lipgloss now smudged on her teeth. "That might be the best thing."
Clarisse glared. "How is that the best thing? He still has a slim chance of-"
"Clarisse," she interrupted firmly. "Use logic. He's gone insane. Completely insane. The only way would be..."
After a few moments, Clarisse couldn't take it anymore. She was desperate for answers, but that was obvious. She had gone to the Aphrodite cabin.
"What? What'd be the only way? I mean.. besides death."
Silena took a shaky breath, twisting her fingers around her necklace. "I... it seems the only way is to convince a god to change him back."
The idea seemed legit. But it seemed risky.
"Then that's what we'll do," Clarisse said, standing up. "We'll ask a god for help."
"No way, Clarisse!" Silena stood up with her friend, her arms flailing. "No god would agree to it. They'll just blast you to pieces."
Silena emphasized by using sound effects and body language.
"We have to, Silena. It's the only way."
Silena looked confused, and stricken. "He's only an enemy half-blood that got twisted up by the maze. Why do you care this much?"
Clarisse thought of an answer. It was like explaining how water tasted.
"I rescued him. He's my responsibility whether Chiron or the gods like it or not."
"How are we going to ask the gods?"
"We pray," Clarisse said. "We wait. We wait for a sign."
The next week, Clarisse prayed every minute of the day, and even in her dreams. She hoped she would have a dream every night, but they never came like she expected. She would wait longer than time if she had to. She would wait in the Underworld.
She stayed with Chris as much as she could. Caring for him, making sure he didn't go wandering around camp, that his pillow was propped precisely the right degree, that he ate and drank enough. And not once had the daughter of war lost her temper.
She sat in a wooden dining chair beside his bed, watching him breath in and out unevenly as he slept for his eighteenth hour that day. He was calm only when he slept, so she savored the silence and the peace. But at the same time, she longed for his presence. He gave her the feeling that someone really needed her, the feeling that she wasn't always a jerk.
A candle flickered on the rickety table that sat beside his bed, along with an empty plate that was only one fourth gone. This made her concerned. Is he eating enough? Am I doing this right?
In the distance, she heard the faint sound of the curfew conch blow like a trumpet. It billowed inside the door and down the halls of the old house, along with a cold wind.
Chris shivered slightly, and pulled the blankets tighter around himself. Clarisse took sympathy and laid her own blanket neatly on top of the covers already present. Instead, she pulled her arms inside her t-shirt and slung to her camouflage hunting jacket for support against the night breeze.
As she stared off into the dark corners of the room, she imagined the day that the gods would answer. Chris would find his sense of mind again, and they'd live happily after. She could almost imagine his voice without the high-pitched stuttering like she'd heard it yesterday.
She embraced her knees and chattered, her breath floating away in a cloud of foggy water vapor. She followed it with her eyes until it disappeared.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew open the door. It flew down the steps and rushed into the basement, whipping Chris's blankets and Clarisse's hair around with it. The candlelight snuffed out, smoke rising, being led out by the wind.
Chris jerked away, clutching the blankets protectively.
"M-Mary?" he asked quietly in a half groan.
Clarisse got up from her chair, and felt for the hot candle. She lit it once again with the lighter in her pocket, and shadows danced across the walls like it never blew out.
"Have a nice sleep, Chris?" Clarisse asked softly, approaching his bedside.
He recoiled, but then retracted slowly and uninsured. "Y-yes. Why is the sun not on?"
Clarisse smiled. "It's nighttime. It's when Apollo takes a break. When Artemis takes over the sky."
"Artemis? She takes over the sky? That isn't very good."
"No, it's very good. Without the moon rising, the planet would be pitch black."
Chris nodded slowly, but he still didn't understand.
"Mary, I'm c-c-cold-d," he chattered and stuttered at the same time.
"Okay," she said in a motherly tone. "I'll go-"
Clarisse was interrupted by the front door opening further, since it was blown open by the wind.
"Clarisse?" Silena called hesitantly from around the corner, her shadow appearing on the far wall.
Silena emerged from the doorway, her distinct shadow still lurking upon the wall. Her perfect hair was pulled back in a tight ballerina bun on the top of her head, but she still looked amazing even if she just got out of bed.
"Silena?" Clarisse said, surprised. "What're you doing here?"
Silena shrugged. "It's cold in here. I thought you could use some blankets..."
She held out a pile of freshly cleaned blankets, neatly folded in a pile that was nearly taller than her.
"Thanks," Clarisse took them from her and walked over to Chris.
"Who's that?" Chris asked urgently, jabbing a finger at Silena.
"That's your friend," she said. "She's nice."
Chris didn't reply, but watched silently as Clarisse stacked four more blankets on Chris and tucked him in. He was out in seconds.
Clarisse turned to Silena, who was standing in the corner, her hands wringing her necklace like she did when she was troubled.
Clarisse walked over and laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "What's the real reason you sneaked out after curfew, risking loss of beauty sleep?"
Silena tried to look confused, but totally failed at it and gave in.
"I... I got a dream, no more than thirty minutes ago. It was from my mother. A message."
Both of the girls' eyes widened simultaneously, and Clarisse's grip tightened.
"Well, what're you waiting for?" Clarisse said. "Tell me what your mom told you."
Silena sighed, and avoided her friend's gaze. "She said help would come, but only when we didn't need it."
Clarisse was baffled. Why would we get help when we didn't need it? It didn't make any sense. In that case, the gods' help would be useless. Chris was done for, and it was all her fault.
It time that Clarisse cherished every moment with him. It was crucial, in fact. So, for the first time since the Labyrinth escape, she would be taking Chris Rodriguez outside.
She questioned if she made the right decision or not countless times. But, of course, she denied that anything would go wrong.
"Chris," she whispered. "Do you wanna go for a walk?"
He blinked from another nap. His golden brown eyes fluttered open. "Wha-what's a... a walk, Mary?"
She patted his hand. "It's what friends do all the time. Very fun."
He smiled, but it was crooked. "Walk."
She stood up from her kneel. "Okay. Just swing your legs over, and I'll help you to your feet."
He did as he was told. She laid her arm across the back of his shoulders and guided his shaky body to the door. Light poured in like shining liquid air.
"But Mary, what if I get hurt?"
"You can't get hurt here, remember?"
She helped him up the stairs. He was wobbly after weeks in bed, so she held his arms the entire way. They finally made it to the front porch of the Big House.
Chris was scared out of his mind.
His eyes darted around the strawberry field, swept the sky, and he never stopped screaming.
Clarisse was alarmed. She immediately regretted everything. It was all going so well.
"Shh..." she said as calm as she could manage. "Nothing will hurt you. No monsters here. No maze. No scary things."
He took a deep breath but was still shaky and jumpy. Clarisse took the high road and instead guided him to one of the deck chairs.
He settled into it gingerly, like it had tacks on the seat. Clarisse sat beside him and laid her arm on his for reassurance.
"M-Mary... walks... scary."
Clarisse smiled. "You have to get used to them. That's the fun of it, you see?"
"No... I don't see."
"Yes, you do see." Clarisse pointed to a formation of geese flying high in the sky. "They won;t hurt you. They're just flying past. They're looking for their friends."
"Their friends?" Chris said. "Like you and me?"
Clarisse nodded. "You've already found yours. You're lucky."
Chris looked amazed. "I am?"
"Very," she said. "You are my friend. My best friend. And I would change nothing about you, not even now."
Chris beamed. But then his eyes widened in speechless fear.
She looked to where he was pointing, thinking it was a satyr in the fields or something, but it was nothing like a satyr at all.
The air in front of them rippled like it was a sheet of water. Chris's hand was like vice around her forearm, and she stifled a cry.
The scent of grapes flooded their sense of smell, along with the smell of fresh wine. Clarisse finally caught on.
"Chris, close your eyes!" she screamed, but still reached over and shielded the bright flash of light from his sight.
It slowly died. It was dead quiet.
Clarisse peaked from under my arm expectantly. Sure thing, Dionysus stood in front of them in his usual tiger print Hawaiian shirt and shorts, his curly hair and beard sticking up all over the place. A circlet of grape vines wrapped around his forehead.
"D-Dionysus?" This time, Clarisse was the one to stutter.
"Of course, you delinquent," the wine god spat.
Chris's eyes were still shut tightly.
"You're back," she said. "But sooner than usual?"
He smiled sarcastically. "Yes. So fortunate for me."
Clarisse was disappointed it wasn't her father, and she was desperate to hide it.
"But... why?"
The wine god shrugged. "Apparently I'm supposed to... what was it?"
Clarisse gestured for him to continue.
"Ah, yes. I think I was supposed to bippity-boppity-boo on some kid."
The pavilion was empty. The fire was flickering a flirtatious hot pink. It was perfect.
"You know, I never knew the fire could change that color before," Chris said curiously, biting into a chocolate-covered cherry (courtesy of Silena's father).
"I didn't either," Clarisse said, having a pretty good idea was hot pink meant in fire language. She dared not speak it out loud. She'd turn pink herself. "But, forget the fire and its fire-ness."
"Is fire-ness a word?"
Clarisse laughed, leaning against his shoulder and resting her head. "No."
Chris turned to her. His dark brown hair and his golden brown eyes had flecks of pink in them both. He could've been a Playgirl model.
"Chocolate. Chocolate on your lips," he said, smirking wildly.
"Oh wow... they're just so amazing I don't even pay attention," Clarisse said, getting ready to lick it off.
"Lemme get that for you."
Clarisse pretended she didn't see people in the woods behind her. She was glad.
"You're right. Why waste a napkin?" she said.
"Just being green, right?"
She nodded a little too eagerly before leaning into her first kiss.
Okay, so Clarisse was a little un-Clarisse. So what? I had to make is cute somehow! :3
And, the winner for the next chapter is, according to votes...
Thalico!
Up next: Thinking Thalico
What pairing for chapter 4?
- (Insert canon character please, lol)/OC
- Thaluke
- Percabeth
- or Juniver?
Lemme know in a review? (:
Happy reading, you guys!
Oh, and since all of you are unhealthily obsessed with Thalia and Nico, here's an awesome fanfic you should seriously check out. It's called Shocked to Death by HuntressOfTheSky13. Intrigued?
All of HuntressOfTheSky13's stories are freaking amazing. You know you wanna read it.(: