Chapter Title: My Sister Is A Very Stressed Woman
(A/N: Clarisse is a based woman, don't get me wrong. Yet, it's criminal that we only ever get to see her through the lens of anything and everything but the lens of a young woman who has stress from having to deal with younger siblings and now the added pressure of camp potentially no longer being safe and the guilt from the Stymphalian Bird attack that would have been disastrous had it not been for the intervention of Percy, Annabeth, and Colton.
With that out of the way, on with the chapter.)
Clarisse La Rue was a very stressed woman. Don't get her wrong, she loved being the head counselor of the Ares Cabin, and even if she wouldn't admit it, she outright adored her younger siblings, especially Sherman and Colton. But being the head counselor of a cabin of kids that either wanted to go and fight wars and kill people or in Colton's case, act like a loner who could secretly be a hunter of Artemis was no easy task. Far from it.
Her older sibling, Austin, had managed the Ares Cabin well in the years before he had left camp due to college and handed the position to Clarisse. He had no such problems managing the cabin seriously, and here she felt like she had way more responsibilities than just managing her siblings on her shoulders. Maybe Austin had similar issues and he just was smart enough to hide them effectively. (A/N: I am actually not referring to Austin Lake. Another one of my OCs, Austin Maxwell, takes the place of Luke as the host of Kronos in a different fanfic of mine. Here, he leaves camp a couple of weeks before Percy arrives, thus leaving Clarisse as the head councilor. Maybe I'll add him into the story in HOO or TOA. Dunno.)
Either way, she had a lot going on right now. Only Colton and Sherman saw it, the rest of her siblings were too busy basking in the rewards of their victory in the chariot races. As such, her favored siblings became an outlet for her to express her feelings and frustrations.
She had a lot on her mind. The guilt she had felt over not pressing Tantalus hard enough and insisting that patrols continue weighed heavily on her. She had even expressed such feelings back when the Apollo kids were treating her for her injuries.
The fact that Colton, who had been there in the right place at the right time, was being punished instead of rewarded for his valiant and desperate defense of the other campers, alongside Percy and Annabeth just felt wrong, and really further pissed her off.
WHY IS HE GETTING PUNISHED?! He was there when I couldn't be, she yelled internally at herself. It was madness that the man of the hour, her younger brother, was being treated like this by a man who had no business managing a camp of kids.
Oh, how she wished Chiron was back here. Fuck this stupid situation, Fuck Tantalus, Fuck that bitch Kronos, Fuck that traitor Luke, and most of all.. FUCK YOU ZEUS!
She wasn't the only one who was unhappy about how Colton was treated. Even as Tantalus continued about on with what was beginning to be seen by the other campers as his 'Nero-like' reign of the camp, Kayla Knowles was also pissed off at him over Colton.
She had been livid when she finally heard what Tantalus had said about Colton's brave action. That bitch! How dare he to that to my hero, she thought to herself. She may have been only thirteen, but even she could tell that this was the wrong way a soldier, even a soldier as old as her, should be rewarded.
She hated Tantalus.
Hated him with every fiber of her being. She wished that the centaur Clarisse, Colton, and the others had talked fondly of, Chiron, was here instead of Tantalus. Perhaps things would be much more stable, even with the urgency of the situation.
That brought her thoughts to the boy she couldn't stay from.. couldn't stop thinking about right now.. Colton. He was everything all the boys who had tried to claim her heart with their looks, wealth, and their totally atrocious behavior weren't. He was caring, not an asshole, and best of all, willing to put his life on the line to save others. I mean, who couldn't like a guy like that?
Either way, these were very strange times she was living in. As for Colton himself, he found himself having even more hatred for Tantalus. The minute he found out he was being punished for what he did, he nearly went apeshit, with both Sherman and Clarisse managing to calm him down after a while.
Washing dishes with Percy and Annabeth was not fun, but it gave him an idea.. an idea courtesy of Annabeth. Percy had told her about strange dreams involving the satyr Grover Underwood, and something about him found 'it'.. something fleece related.
The minutes Annabeth put two and two together and told Percy that it was the Golden Fleece, he nearly dropped the plate he was cleaning. There was no way in the world that someone had found the Golden Fleece.
The more Percy talked though, it seemed apparent to Colton that this was for real. Its location, however, would not make it easy to get. The Golden Fleece was reportedly, from what Annabeth described based on what Percy said to be Grover's location, to be in Polyphemus' cave, located somewhere in the Sea Of Monsters, aka the Bermuda Triangle.
Talk about a tall task.
Percy and Annabeth then talked about getting Tantalus to give them permission to receive a prophecy and go on a quest, but Colton wasn't listening. This was.. perfect.
A quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. This was just the break they needed.
He had to find Clarisse.
- — - — - — - — -
His sister was as per usual, in a very agitated and annoyed mood when he found her, sitting on the steps of the Ares Cabin all by herself after just having come back from patrol.
"Still stressed out over the whole situation?" he asked, trying to not exacerbate the frustration and anxiety he knew Clarisse was feeling. She turned, looked up at him, and simply nodded without showing much expression on her face.
"Well.. turns out getting punished for what I did may have actually been a good thing, since I overheard some stuff from Jackson and Chase that I think you might want to hear.." Colton said, a smug smirk on his face. Clarisse perked up, looking up at her younger brother again with a more open and listening kind of look.
"Spill, Colt. I'm all ears. Because if it's good.." she said, trailing off because she hoped that whatever came out of Colton's mouth wasn't a waste of time.
"Oh trust me.. it is very good" he replied, looking more and more hopeful. He then proceeded to explain what he had overheard, about Annabeth making the connection that Grover apparently had discovered the location of the Golden Fleece and that it was apparently located in the Sea Of Monsters. Clarisse looked at him skeptically after being told all of this.
"And Jackson knows this how..?" she asked him, very interested now.
"Apparently, he has some sort of dream link connection with the satyr as far as I know. Past that, I have no clue.. but if Grover has found it, getting him and the fleece out of there could be the break we need.." Colton said, his eyes twinkling like bright diamonds.
Clarisse grew a smile on her face. "Indeed.. it could.. all we need to do is get him to let us get a prophecy and a quest.. and by us I mean me because seriously, I need the rest of you to guard camp and the others from Tantalus and the monsters.." she said, looking him dead in the eyes with a very serious look. "Got it?"
Colton could only nod in reply. He wanted to help his sister - go on the quest with her to get the Golden Fleece, he really did want to, but he knew she was right. So he could only nod in response, because there were no other options for him at that point.
"Here's the plan, Colton.. if Annabeth and Percy are going to try to put forth this idea, then I'm going to use what spot I have in Tantalus' good graces and get that quest - and get the Golden Fleece and Grover. While I'm gone, you'll be the one in charge.." she added after a few moments of silence, causing Colton to gulp. To be fair, he had never been a counselor of any sort in his life, and right now, with the situation already as tense as it was, his older sister was asking him to take a major step forward in responsibility.
Once again, he couldn't say "no" to her because the situation as it was had become one of those times where saying "no" was not an option at all. Plus, if this worked, they could save camp - well more Clarisse than the Ares Cabin, but still. They had to try.
So, like before, he just nodded which made Clarisse smile. "I knew you'd understand, Colt.." she said, before getting up and walking away from the cabin, as the sun began to set. "Now come on, time to get that prophecy."
- — - — - — - — -
Truth be told, he hasn't expected that his siblings would leave him on one of the stone benches surrounding the campfire all by himself when they reported to it at around 9:00 pm, meaning that when Kayla came, a smile ran across her face when she noticed it, and so she walked over and immediately plopped down.. right next to him, taking his hand in hers.
He tried his hardest not to blush, but failed, much to the amusement of the other campers. It was for a lack of a better word.. embarrassing. Yet at the same time, he honestly liked it having her with him, each of them holding hands. It was weird, and he didn't know why. Either way, there wasn't time to dwell on it right now. He had to stick to Clarisse's plan.
They had to get that quest.
Lee was trying hard - very hard - to cheer everyone up that night honestly, but it just wasn't bringing everyone's spirits up. Colton had to admit, just this once, he appreciated the effort.
Even so, only Tantalus clapped after the last song had finished, seeming to be the only person - other than Kayla and every camper who was staring at both Colton and her - having a good time. "Well that was lovely!"
Lee shot a withering glare at Tantalus as he led his other siblings minus Kayla to sit back down. Evidently, he didn't like that coming from Tantalus at all and Colton couldn't blame him.
"Now then!" Tantalus stated. "Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."
Colton rolled his eyes and he heard a low growl emit from Kayla next to him. Looking at her, she was also glaring fiercely at Tantalus. Both of them seemingly felt the same way. What did he have for them this time?
Before Tantalus could say anything, Percy and Annabeth suddenly stood up, catching everyone's attention except Clarisse and Colton, who for those that paid attention to those two, simply gave each other a knowing, determined look.
"Sir" Percy said firmly, and everyone leaned forward to listen.
Almost everyone, that is. Both Clarisse and Colton mentally prepared themselves. They both knew it was time to get phase one of their plan underway. It was no longer time to plan, now it was game time.
"Oh? Kitchen boy has something to say?" Tantalus asked in a mocking tone, causing some of Colton's siblings to snicker, though him and Clarisse just held their laughter inside themselves. Although it was amusing to see Jackson get knocked down a peg right now, there was no time for such things.
"We have an idea to save camp.." Percy began, and Colton and Clarisse waited, keeping themselves patient for the right moment.
"Indeed.." Tantalus said, more ignorantly than anything else. "Well, if it had anything to do with chariots-"
"The Golden Fleece" Percy interrupted. "We know where it is."
Kayla was surprised by this, and turned to look at Colton, but the way he looked at his sister with a knowing smirk on his face told her that he already knew about this. How, she did not know.
"The fleece can heal anything" Annabeth continued. "It made an entire land fertile and stopped all sickness. It was one of the most wanted ancient treasures ever. The fleece can save the camp. I'm certain of it."
Tantalus' response simply made Colton nod at Clarisse. Time to act now.
"Nonsense" Tantalus replied dismissively. "We don't need saving. Besides, the Sea Of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."
Clarisse and Colton stood up, surprising everyone again.
"With all due respect, sir.." Clarisse began. "We had been attacked by two Colchis Bulls which got inside the barrier due to the tree being poisoned before your arrival.. we were attacked by different types of monsters before then that were able to get past the barrier to the tree being sickly, which due to the fact that it ties in with the barrier, made it weaker."
"She's right.." Colton added, taking secret satisfaction in the fact that they were about to use Tantalus' own job against him. "That tree is tied to the barrier around the camp. That barrier goes down, the monsters are able to get in freely, and soon poof, no more campers and you would be out of a job and back in the Fields Of Punishment. It's that simple."
Those twin sets of reasons from Clarisse and Colton seemed to make Tantalus understand, because he started to seem deep in thought. Percy, however, kept going.. just as the duo hoped he would. Indeed, no one even noticed the slight smiles that developed on either of the two's faces as Percy talked.
"I would know where to look.." he said sternly, to which Annabeth looked at him confused and whispered something to him. Both Colton and Clarisse looked at each other, confused. Colton hadn't heard anything about this, so he and Clarisse were both caught by surprise.
"Thirty, thirty-one, seventy-five, twelve."
It took him a few seconds, but Colton recognized exactly what those numbers were. Coordinates, of course, he thought to himself. Turning to Clarisse after having turned his head away, he simply and quietly mouthed "coordinates" to her and after a couple of seconds, his sister nodded, understanding now what those numbers were completely.
"Ooo-kay.." Tantalus muttered, being as dismissive and ignorant as ever of reality. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."
It took a stern look from Clarisse to keep Colton from launching himself at Tantalus over that one.
"They're sailing coordinates.." Percy shot back. "Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."
Annabeth got the hint then and there, and Clarisse couldn't help but just grin at her younger brother for being smarter than an Athena camper for once. She (Clarisse) may have helped homeschool the kid for parts of 3 straight years, but all of that was paying off now.
"30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!" Annabeth exclaimed, and that really got things going.
"Wait just a minute-" Tantalus started, but it was too late.
"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!" the other campers start chanting much to Tantalus' frustration, and to Clarisse and Colton's amusement.
The flames of the fire rose higher as the campers kept repeating the chant over and over. "It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted, but the other campers didn't listen. They kept repeating it over and over.
Finally, Tantalus seemed to have had enough. "Fine!" Tantalus shouted, looking very, very angry now. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"
The response from the other campers was instant.
"YES!"
"Very well," he agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying."
Colton and Clarisse smirked at each other, and it was only at that point that Kayla realized that the two had something planned that the others didn't know about. Suddenly, it seemed like when they put their minds to it, Ares kids could be very sneaky when it came to their plans. At least, these two showed it.
"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!" Tantalus announced. "And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious." Clarisse and Colton knew full well exactly who that person was, and they just didn't say anything, just kept smiles on their faces.. which Tantalus still hadn't noticed.
"The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest...Clarisse!"
The campfire glowed many different colors at the moment for some reason, but Colton didn't care. Phase one of Clarisse's plan was seemingly working to perfection.
The Ares cabin, except for Colton, started stomping and cheering, "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"
Clarisse pretended to look stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest swelled with pride, pride also from the fact that her plan was working. "I accept the quest!"
But, of course, as things looked like they were going flawlessly, Jackson had to open his mouth again and throw a wrench into it, much to Colton's annoyance. Seriously, that kid needed to learn when to shut up.
"Wait!" He shouted. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."
"Jackson.." said Colton. "For the love of the gods, don't do this to yourself." He put it far more calmly and nicely, despite his anger, than some of his younger siblings at that moment.
"Oh shut up Percy!" huffed Maximus, a red haired boy slightly taller than Colton from behind Clarisse. From behind himself, Colton could hear Sherman bellowing. "Sit down! You had your quest last summer!"
"Yeah! He just wants the spotlight again!" Benjamin roared.
Clarisse leveled a glare at Percy as well while saying, "I accept the quest. I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"
Colton just gave off a smug look at Percy while his siblings cheered behind him, and Percy's eyes widened. He just realized that me and Clarisse had planned what we did, he thought to himself.
Percy's face fell into a grimace, dejected, but soon other campers tried to argue. "That's not fair!" Malcolm yelled, placing a hand on his older sister's shoulder and glaring at Colton and the other Ares kids. Kayla just watched it all with bewilderment and intrigue. The more she hung around Colton Reynolds, the more she was finding out that he definitely broke the typical Ares kid stereotype.
"It's Annabeth's and Percy's idea!" Malcolm continued. "They should get to go on the quest!"
"Yeah! Last time I checked, the dream came to Percy, not you!" Travis joined in. "..and as we know Percy has a pretty strong track record with impossible quests."
Sherman wanted to open his mouth again, but Colton put out a hand in front of him, and Sherman understood, letting his older sibling do the talking.
"For your information, Travis.." Colton said, a calm collected look on his face. "One time does not equal a track record. He needs two or more to have one. Plus, it's a literal sea of monsters. Don't necessarily think that two young ones like Percy and Annabeth are going to make it very far. Heck, on my own, I likely wouldn't make it very far either. Besides, last time I checked, only one cabin is in this guy's good graces and it's the Ares Cabin."
That's when Will Solace of all people decided to speak up in favor of Clarisse, which Colton would admit, he did not see that coming. "It would be a little unfair to give this quest to Percy and Annabeth after they just got one last year," Will said. "Clarisse is strong and she cares about camp, I think she can do it!"
Colton smugly smirked. "See.." he said. "Even Will gets it." Clarisse simply gave Will a smile.
"Why not have all three of them go!" Katie from the Demeter cabin cried out, and the entire camp either erupted into laughter or complaints. They all knew that there would be no chance that would work out well. But as usual, Colton was one step ahead of them all. "True.. but the prophecy she gets could potentially dictate that could happen.." he said, knowing full well that Tantalus wouldn't like that.
Clarisse couldn't help but smirk. He may be different, but my little brother definitely thinks ahead, she thought to herself, for she knew he was right, and timed that remark well.
"Stop doing your stupid flower power, peace and love shit, Gardner," said one of the male Demeter campers.
"Well in that case, Percy and Annabeth got the dream so they should get the quest!" Katie huffed.
More arguments broke out.
"Well I don't care what Will says," Michael stated, "Clarisse would just fuck it up. Percy and Annabeth went to the underworld and came back alive- I think they can handle the sea of monsters."
Before Clarisse could say anything, Colton had turned his head to Kayla's brother and calmly said, "Wanna run that one by me again, Yew?"
Michael simply shut his mouth from then on.
The arguing almost degenerated into a full on food fight, but by this time, Tantalus had enough. "Silence you brats!"
Everyone froze, all except Colton, who simply plopped back down next to Kayla, who made him blush because she was looking very interested in him. "You're smarter than you look.. and I like it.." she whispered.
"Sit down.." Tantalus boomed. "..and I will tell you a ghost story."
Said story turned out to be a bit of an embellished version of his own story, which Colton tuned out. He was glad he only tuned back in right before the end though, because from the slight squeezing of her hand, Kayla could tell he was definitely pissed off by Tantalus implying that he would probably kill the campers for being disobedient to him. Clarisse could also tell, and she looked worried. At this point, it was only a matter of time before these two came to blows with each other.
It wasn't just the two of them that noticed. The rest of the campers did as well, and they felt worried too. Because it was definitely like when Tantalus had first come four days ago, because Colton never acted as mad as that before. Something had to give, and they didn't want to know how long it would be before the proverbial volcano in their ranks right now exploded.
"Clarisse, the oracle my dear, go on," Tantalus said. Clarisse looked sour, which was a rather unusual sight for people to see.
"But sir-" she started, and Colton sighed. In all honestly, he should have factored in the possibility that doing this would have made his elder sister look like the teacher's pet, which was not who Clarisse was. He didn't, and he felt like an idiot for not doing so.
"Go!" Tantalus bellowed, and Clarisse left for the Big House.
Colton's fury-filled face was glaring holes into Tantalus like Colton's own eyes were lasers, but it didn't stop Tantalus from looking squarely at Percy. "What about you, Percy Jackson? No more comments from our dishwasher."
Tantalus then turned to Colton, intending to say something to him, but one bout of eye contact with the angry kid and the new activities director was quickly looking the other way.
"Good. Okay then.. and let me remind everyone- no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries... well if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever."
Colton started moving his foot, scratching the dirt around it. For those campers that could see what he was doing, and not shocked and anxious about the future, the message was deadly clear.
"H E ' N."
"But it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well," Tantalus said tauntingly.
Colton held his anger in, trying not to snap. But it seemed like Tantalus was doing everything he could to make the campers snap at him. One thing was for sure, it took almost all of his siblings to drag him back up to the cabin, but he couldn't stop glaring holes at Tantalus.
(A/N: Seems like Colton's getting close to a boiling point with his fury and hatred towards Tantalus. Wonder how long it takes before he snaps. ;) )