Author Note: I'll keep this brief. This is another apology. Sorry for the long due update. Also, this is somewhat important, but my writing style has evolved(?), and it may not look like the previous chapters. Also I apologise if there are plot holes or anything, it's been pretty long for me as well, not sure what I want my story to be. I'd prefer some input in this area if you'd want me to keep this up or revert.
It was awkward, to say in the least, for Clarisse at the cabin counsellor meeting. She'd just spent the night, in his cabin. Not even in the Poseidon cabin, in his shack, one that he built from his bare hands so he had his own personal home away from home. Sure, it was cramped but it was a home. She hoped, oh so much, that no one saw the spectacle, that was her going to Percy for shelter...and got more than what she bargained for.
Worse than that, she hoped that Percy wouldn't say anything about that night and this morning. With only a couple words, he could ruin her reputation if he wanted to. Perseus Jackson was reputed for being good willed and a man of the truth, so anything he says would be believed with hardly a second thought.
Her hands retreated under the table and her fingers began playing with one another in nervousness and worry about the idea of Percy ruining her life. She reasoned that Percy wouldn't do that, as stated before, he was good willed. It was his fault, all this happened because of him, if he hadn't come to Camp Half-Blood none of this bad stuff would have happened, she told herself that all the time, knowing they were lies. A lot of other kids around the camp has been saying that as well, that he was no hero and brought only danger and death. It only got worse after Annabeth, because not only did more people begin believing it, but even himself.
Over his time at Camp Half-Blood, he's seriously grown up, and not just physically. His personality has evolved into something solid, and somewhat scary. It wasn't just her that noticed this too. The physical change was noticeable to everybody, he'd been training day and night, sparring to the point that his swordsmanship skills without the water augmentation rivalled her own, then endurance runs around the lake became a very frequent occurrence that he's gathered a following and more and more campers joined in, of course trailing behind him a couple (a lot) of metres.
There were several ways people interpreted this change; some people feared him, some people got the hots for him, some people looked up to him; and some a combination of all three. Since Annabeth's death, he's turned into something else entirely. A word for it was yet to be established but it was definitely something else.
He wasn't darker, but not all for the light anymore. He was grey. He wasn't super kind like he was in the past, he was aggressive and angry at some points, and all of it couldn't be blamed on Tartarus, but she knew that it played a significant role in the forging of the Percy she knew today. She should know, she was there...
'Where is it?' Percy asked her angrily with riptide in hand, still dripping of both blood and water. He was soaking wet from the rain, but the blood, though not his, were from several villainous creatures he'd fought to "cleanse" this ship. 'I won't ask again.'
'Percy I really think you should-' Clarisse attempted to calm him down before she was interrupted.
'Perce! It's in here!' Came his centaur best friend, Grover. He was down the deck looking to an open bulkhead door. Percy didn't spare a second as he pushed past Clarisse. She wanted to stop him before he did anything reckless but his anger, his seething released a heating aura she's never before felt from the son of Poseidon. It was almost terrifying to stand in his presence, no less try to talk sense into him.
The whole ship was cold, but this one area, excluding the engine room, was the warmest. He could see it, the thing everyone had sacrificed to get a hold of, a golden box, containing a Titan. The little home for a big man, Kronos. Kronos, Percy thought that name with a hatred he'd never had before. If he could kill a Titan, how merciless he would be...
The plan was to bring Tartarus to a secure location in the outskirts of Camp Half-Blood, so that the Gods above could decide what they wanted to do with their deranged relative. Percy couldn't wait, he'd fought so hard, lost so much, to get this box, he just wanted it done and over with, now.
'Let's get this god damned box out of here,' Percy ordered as he entered the room through the bulkhead doors.
How rightfully chosen those words are...Grover thought as he followed suit. The warmth was chilling, after having been in the brisk air outside the sudden change in temperature made Grover's hair stand still, but Percy kept walking.
'Hey man, there's some bad stuff coming off of it,' Grover commented as he inched back a few.
The energy, it was different, Clarisse could tell the moment she stepped through the door. It was much darker, she could sense how much it contrasted from the atmosphere in Camp Half-Blood. She refrains from using the word evil as much as she can, but there isn't much words to describe the aura that box was emitting.
'Hey yo Perce, I think we should wait for Chiron,' Clarisse nodded in agreement even though nobody was looking at her for her input. Percy was deep inside the rabbit hole at this point, all he could think of was grabbing this box and getting it all over with once and for all.
'Percy!' Grover shouted, but it was too late. Percy laid a hand on the box and he felt like all the energy was drained out of his body. His knees buckled and eventually fell onto them, his hand never detaching from the box. A burning sensation hit his hand as he hissed in pain, holding back a scream.
He couldn't acquire the will to remove his hand from the box, it was keeping him planted. He felt a two hands wrap around his wrist, pulling but he wouldn't budge. Grover looked up at the daughter of Ares
'Clarisse! Don't just stand there!' He shouted as he kept pulling. Clarisse, who was staring in shock, watching Percy writhe in pain as his palm was planted on the hull of Tartarus. She finally shook herself out of her trance and ran to the opposite side of Grover, wrapping her arms around Percy's chest and pulling.
It was getting increasingly difficult for Percy to hold back the pain, so he finally released the screams. The burning felt like dozens of hot knives searing through the palm of his hand and dragging along his wrist, up his forearm, and the longer his hand was planted, the farther is spread.
His screams echoed through and out of the room, far enough to reach the ears of Chiron and his centaur party who were rounding up the last of Luke's supporters.
Chiron couldn't think of a thing to do when he greet by the sight of Clarisse and Grover kneeling over Percy's unconscious form, his hand glowing red all the way to his biceps. Clarisse turned around to look at Chiron, her eyes in the midst of watering and her mouth opening and closing as she tried to explain what had happened but no sound could leave her lips.
The meeting occasionally reached her ears, but most of the meeting was actually spent sneaking glances at the Poseidon cabin counsellor at the other end of the table.
Besides she got the grasp of the meeting so she could steal glances at Percy as much as she wanted. The thought shook her out of her...daze? Visibly enough for Chiron to bring it up
'Everything all right Miss La Rue?' He asked, raising an eyebrow at this very un-Clarisse attitude. Her first reaction was to straighten her back against the chair and nod at him.
'Yes, everything is all right. Please continue,' she responded, bringing her hands from under the table and placing them flat on the table in a respectful manner to assure attentiveness. Chiron proceeded thankfully and the rest of the meeting was spent with her trying to divert all her energy from looking at Percy Jackson, no less trying not to think of him.
The meeting came to a close and everyone was dismissed. Clarisse was on her way to the cliff where most of the swordsmanship training took place...she needed to spar, badly. Unfortunately, she found herself behind Percy, who looked to be heading in the same direction as her. She was praying to every God and Goddess that he would stop to visit some Aphrodite girls or go to the eating hall. Today wasn't on her side when he arrived at the cliff and drew his signature pen from his pocket, unclipping it, and riptide sprung into his hand.
Clarisse was about to turn around and head to the archery range, she needed some training there anyways she reasoned with herself. She was stopped when a slender hand grabbed her shoulder and turned her back around.
'Reese, where ya going? Thought we were going to spar?' Jess' voice sung. She wasn't mistaken, today was the day that the two of them usually spar after the weekly counsellor meeting. Clarisse didn't know what to tell her, that she didn't want to spar because Percy was present? It'll only add onto the embarrassment of being caught this morning by her. 'Are you leaving because of Percy?' She asked, just barely whispering it.
Though she tried, it was enough for Percy's ridiculously honed senses to pick up, as Clarisse knew when he turned around at the sound of his name. He did not say anything, he just looked at her, with that hollow look in his eyes that he often bore in front of everybody.
She walked past her and picked up a sword from the rack and flourished it at Jess.
'We going to spar or what?' Clarisse challenged as she made her way up the cliff to the area where she usually sparred, which was just a couple metres from the edge. Jess followed her, picking up her own sword along the way.
Sparring was often "not-fun" against children from either the cabin of Athena or the cabin of Ares, mainly due to the fact that they are almost unmatched in combat. Which is why nobody really wants to spar with them; hence they sparred with each other. Between the clashing of their swords, she often stole glances at Percy, who too was sparring with a child of Ares, Alex. Alex was definitely one of the more gifted swordsmen of the camp, on top of his natural ability to wield a weapon being the son of Ares. Even he was struggling greatly against Percy's powerful blows. With every third clash there was a spark, and with every second blow it sent Alex staggering, and with every single blow Alex never got the opportunity to strike back and had to rush to defence.
Clarisse almost pitied him, but eventually their clashing came to a close when Alex voted himself out of it and went to spar with someone else. It was a rinse and repeat process from then on, Clarisse had lost count of how many people had sparred with him. Her glances were halted when she received a swift slap against her cheek with the flat side of the blade that belonged to Jess.
'Hey!' Clarisse yelped, swatting Jess's blade away.
'Hey what? You're the one that keeps telling me' she poised her sword 'pay attention to this' then pointed at Percy 'and not this.'
Clarisse couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows as she let the annoyance hit her in the face. She threw her own words back at her, it was true nonetheless. There were points when they were sixteen that Jess started paying more attention to boys rather than the sword in front of her during sparring sessions, and other sessions in general. Now it seems the roles have been reversed.
It didn't matter much now because Percy had stopped sparring and had left the cliff. She watched, discreetly, as he took the path down to the lakeside that the cliff overlooked. Clarisse choice this moment, when Percy had finally left her line of sight, to parry Jess' incoming strike and slide across her blade with force until it fell to the ground, and now had her own sword raised up against her face. She grinned as she gave her cheek a little tap and withdrew.
Clarisse was tired, she had sweat dripping down from her auburn locks to the sides of her face. I guess there was benefit of being a legal adult at Camp Half-Blood as we didn't have to wear armour when sparring or to any combat sessions. Obviously because we're responsible adults and know our limits and how not to fu-, mess up.
She grabbed the hem of her orange shirt and bent down to wipe the sweat off of her cheeks and forehead. For guys, its simple isn't it, they can just wipe their faces without any consideration to their exposed chests, not that people like Jess minded. Girls on the other hand, have to be careful when attempting such a thing because we'll reveal skin, undergarments, and parts of our chests. All of which are things that arouse hormonal, hot-blooded, teenage boys, and are stigmatised for obvious reasons in today's world.
'Done so quick?' Jess taunted 'Queen of Ares' cabin can't last long against her princess?'
Clarisse could only smile as she got down on her knee to untie and re-tie her shoelaces. A habit she got into because often after her sparring, she'd find her shoes get untied randomly later.
'Or is Hermia rushing to see her Lysander...' Jess teased, knowing she was poking a bear. Clarisse reacted by turning around, still kneeled with her hands on her laces, eyes becoming slits as she glared at her half-sister.
Only to make it worse, this time they weren't alone, and now Clarisse could feel the eyes on her. She tried her best to ignore them and finish tying her shoe laces. Jess was only teasing her, and embarrassing her, it's not often you can one-up the Queen Bitch that is Clarrise La Rue, so when the opportunity present itself, take it.
Two can play at this game...Clarrise thought as a grin overtook her shock.
'Maybe I am, but it took a love potion for a boy to love you Helena,' she said smoothly as she stood and walked away, leaving a stunned and reddening Jessica atop the cliff. Clarisse could've sworn she heard a man go burn on her way out.
Paying attention in those drama classes finally paid off, after all A Midsummer Nights Dream was possibly the only play she could remember, so she was in luck.
Her thoughts were at a halt when she realised that she was actually heading to the beach, taking the same path she saw Percy take a couple minutes ago. She wasn't serious when she didn't deny it to Jess, but clearly her body didn't get the memo and decided to follow through.
It was pretty much too late as soon as her feet hit the bottom. She could see Percy, lying down on the ground with his knees up. Riptide was lodged in the dirt behind him, the hilt sticking up towards the sky. She remembered what it was like to surprise Percy, it didn't go well for most people, especially people he's used to being enemies with.
Clarisse's mind was in conflict, questions shooting back and forth. Why are you going there? Don't you have something better to do than talk to waterboy over there? What's wrong with him? This internal conflict of hers was put to a halt when she finally reached the point where riptide was.
'Percy?' She called, gently, careful not to surprise him, yet it came out sounding like a call of worry.
Maybe I did go a little to hard on them today...Percy thought as he rubbed the back of his head on the way down the path, carefully watching his step as this path is notorious for the moss, and in turn, slipping victims.
As he reached the bottom, he flourished his sword a bit before throwing it tip first into the dirt, causing it to lodge itself upright.
If only I was this swift with a sword back then...Percy thought as he sat himself down on the ground facing the lake. He just took one gaze at the evanescent morning dawn before letting his back lower to the soft grass of the lakeside.
He had to thank his powers for cleansing his tear streaked face prior to reaching the Counsellor's Cabin. Focusing in the meetings had always been a struggle for him ever since it became a responsibility. He blames it on his being there next to useless because he has no other cabin members to manage or inform of events he would learn at the meeting, perks of being the son of one of the big three. It also had downsides, the loneliness.
Though it seemed that he wasn't the only one struggling to focus, with the exception of the Hermes cabin counsellor of course. Clarisse appeared to be in her own little world after one or two glances at him. Her face was too serious for it to be a happy daydream, but more like an unpleasant memory. Percy guessed that it was that she was reminded of this morning, or that she was a still a sworn rival to him and had taken back the apology she'd given him this morning and returned to being the relentless girl, now very much woman, that she used to be. Percy brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his temples
I'm looking too much into this aren't I...Percy thought, releasing a sigh. His senses were peaked when he heard a twig snap behind him, followed by soft footsteps on the grass. Footsteps clearly not trying to conceal themselves, thus eliminating them from being a threat, so he remained lying down.
Maybe it's just another one of those Aphrodite girls aching to ask me out knowing full well I'd reject them like their sisters...Percy thought, an annoyed expression plastering his face as he recalled the last occurrence. He quickly wiped it away, and shut his eyes to see if he could pull off acting like he was sleeping so that whoever it was would leave him alone.
'Percy?' The voice definitely one hadn't anticipated. He opened his eyes and found himself looking into familiar eyes with a beautiful shade of brown under the sunrise.
'That's my name,' he answered wittily. He didn't like making her stand so he nodded towards the ground next to him.
She got the message and she took her own seat right next to him.
'My name is Clarisse, I'm the daughter of Ares,' she held her hand out, waiting.
What am I doing...she thought. Percy just looked at her skeptically, wondering what she's up to just as much as she was. He took her hand in his and introduced himself as well
'Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon,' Clarisse was somewhat relieved that he played along, saving herself the embarrassment of engaging such an awkward situation.
'Whatcha doing all alone down here?' She asked innocently with genuine curiosity as their hands fell back to their sides. Percy skepticism didn't subside but found little reason or threat in playing her game.
'There's a special type of serenity being at the lakeside,' he answered, his eyes returning to the water.
'Being the son of Poseidon I can imagine why.'
Clarisse was enjoying this, talking with someone other than Jess and the Ares kids. Though she could never say it aloud...
'Why aren't you up there, sparring with the others?' As the question left his lips, the faint sound of swords clashing above them was no longer ignored.
'I reckon I've done my fair share of daily ass-kickings as The Daughter of Ares,' she boasted shamelessly 'I take it you know the feeling after what you did to Alex.'
'You saw that?' A hint of embarrassment in his tone.
'How could anyone up there not?' She said laughing 'Besides, you did us all a favour, Alex's ego needed a beating.'
With this, Percy joined in her laughter. The normality between them was foreign, it felt awkward yet it was okay. As if years of opposition and rivalry was thrown out the window.
A fresh start was what Clarisse's heart yearned for. It felt a little late but she finally felt like she's growing up, to lose a petty rivalry, and in place of it gain a relationship worth maintaining.