Nothing is mine.

Percy battles his great nemesis, the inflatable pink flamingo.

Strawberry Jelly

A faint breeze swept across the lake, stirring small ripples across the surface. Metea watched from within the water, her long cerulean hair trailing like ribbons across the lake.

'You should probably take cover.' Percy raised the bow and drew back the string, gripping the arrow tight between his thumb and forefinger. 'In theory, the chance of me hitting you is tiny, but that's what I'd have said about my cabin windows.'

Metea smiled and ducked below the water, her clear blues sparkling with humour.

He took careful aim at the giant pink inflatable flamingo ring, angling the bow to allow for the breeze, and released the shaft.

It flashed past the top of the flamingo's head and vanished into the water.

'Gods above,' Percy muttered. 'Why is this so hard? You literally just point the arrow and shoot, so why does it always fly off sideways?'

Metea rose from the lake, holding his arrow out in her slim hand. 'My lord.'

'Thanks, Metea.' He sighed. 'The only thing I'm having less success with than this is convincing nymphs to just use my name.'

She laughed and pointed back at the pier. 'Demeter's daughter approaches, my lord.'

'Katie,' Percy murmured. 'I'll come back and murder that flamingo later, then. Do you want me to take it away?'

Metea watched the giant pink inflatable drift across the lake. 'No, it's okay. As long as it doesn't sink.'

'If you change your mind and decide you don't want it, just pull the toggle and throw it onto the pier, I'll come and tidy it away.' He turned around and strode back over the surface, leaping up onto the pier.

Katie hovered at the far end of the dock, clawing her messy blonde hair back behind her ears and smoothing out her eyebrows. 'Hey Percy.'

'Heya Captain Crunch.' Percy offered her a grin and strode forward. 'Did you manage to murder Clarisse while I was away?'

'No.' A hint of red blossomed across her cheeks and she stuck her hands in the pockets of her ripped jeans. 'We've been trying to fix the arena you broke back when camp was attacked.'

'Oh. Yeah. That.' He chuckled. 'I should probably help, shouldn't I?'

'Did you eat breakfast yet?' A nervous little gleam shone in Katie's green eyes and she nibbled at her lip. ' I was just going to, but I thought I'd check and see if you were back first...'

'I actually haven't.' He waved the arrow. 'I had the terrible idea to try and keep learning how to do this and it's going about as well as it was before. But, you know, I haven't broken any more windows, so I suppose that's progress.'

'Where did you find that?' Katie pointed at the giant inflatable flamingo.

'Dionysus's unofficial party supplies cupboard, I think.' Percy laughed. 'Let me just ditch the bow and the only arrow I haven't lost or broken.'

She beamed. 'I made jelly!'

'Jelly?'

'Strawberry jelly. For breakfast.' Katie's gaze lingered as he tucked the bow inside the door of his cabin. 'Do you want to see your moonflowers? I kept the seeds from when they flowered before, so now there are twice as many! I—' she squirmed '—I thought you'd want me to grow more…'

Percy's smile faded at the thought of Calypso's lonely song somewhere so very far out to sea. 'Yes,' he murmured. 'I'd like to see them. After breakfast?'

She nodded. 'You can come by whenever, Percy. Any time.'

'What about in the middle of the night, Cheerio-leader?' He feigned stroking a long beard. 'What if… I snuck in and stole your strawberries?'

Katie flushed, the tips of her ears turning bright pink. 'It's not stealing if I don't mind, I said you could have as many as you wanted. But if you sneak in during the middle of the night, people are going to think things, so…'

Percy's heart sank a little. Oh Katie, I'm sorry.

She straightened her faded green hoodie, tugging at the hem. 'Breakfast?' Her green eyes were warm and soft as summer grass as she stared up at him. 'It's nice, I promise. It's sweet, but nice sweet, not horrible fake sweet.'

'Oh I'm not saying no,' he said. 'Just, don't let Blackjack hear, he's dead set on making sure he gets whatever diabetes is and he never shares anything with sugar in it. One day he's going to be so fat he won't be able to take off, but at least then maybe we can finally convince Clarisse to ride a pegasus.'

Katie giggled and grabbed his hand. 'Come on.'

Percy let her lead him through the cabins to the tables, little ripples of guilt tugging at his heart as her warm fingers slid through his.

Clarisse grinned from Ares's table, swallowing a bite of the towering bacon sandwich dripping ketchup onto the plate in front of her. 'Told you, flower-girl.' She licked the ketchup off her lips. 'Now you can try and feed him strawberry jelly, and do whatever other cute girl stuff that gets you going. Like hand-holding.'

Katie flushed bright pink and released Percy's fingers. 'Shut up, Clarisse.' Her green eyes flashed. 'Don't you have somewhere else to be.'

'I do.' Clarisse's sharp grin broadened. 'This idiot owes me a fight. Two fights, actually.'

Katie dropped down on the end of the Demeter table. 'Don't worry, Percy, mom won't mind.'

'I hope so.' Percy swung himself in beside her. 'She might curse me to never be able to eat strawberries again and then you'll have to eat them all yourself.'

'She won't curse you.'

'I'd save it, Sea-boy.' Clarisse shoved the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and chewed, swallowing in huge gulps. 'Or you'll just throw it all back up when I beat your ass.'

Percy snorted. 'You really want your fight?'

'I do.' She stood up, swiping ketchup and crumbs off her face. 'Plant-girl won't mind so long as you come and have breakfast with her after I've won. Maybe pat her on the head to make it up to her.'

Katie glowered at Clarisse. 'I'll beat you before Percy even gets the chance.'

Clarisse laughed. 'Bring it, Treehugger.'

'Alright.' Percy stood back up. 'I will beat Clarisse and then we'll have breakfast. Sound okay, Katie?'

'Very okay.' She glared at Clarisse. 'Aim for the head, maybe some blunt force trauma will fix something in there.'

"You can cheerio-leader for me.' He laughed as she flushed pink. 'I'm only joking. Clarisse is the one who needs cheerleaders to help her.'

'Oh yeah? I'm going to put you on the sand, Fish-face.' Clarisse cackled and jogged toward the arena. 'Give me thirty seconds to change,' she called over her shoulder. 'Or don't, I don't care, but Flower-girl will sulk if you catch me in my underwear.'

Katie growled under her breath. 'Stupid Clarisse.'

'It's a good thing I didn't take you with me,' Percy said, wandering after Clarisse. 'I ended up fighting Lamia in just a bra and a very torn hoodie.'

'You were wearing a bra?' A little giggle escaped Katie. 'I wish I'd seen that.'

'No, I meant she was.' Percy laughed. 'She could shapeshift and when she went from little harmless girl to much less harmless snake girl, her clothes tore.'

'But her bra didn't?' Katie frowned. 'That should've been the first thing to go.'

'Huh. You know what, you're right. I didn't really think about it, I was a bit busy trying not to get clawed or impaled.' He shrugged and offered a grin. 'Lucky me.'

'Unlucky, you mean.' Her lower lip crept out. 'Like you didn't want to see them really.'

'I'm not into snake girls.'

'You like nymphs,' Katie mumbled.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and paused at the edge of the fresh sand. 'Not like that, I don't. Well, maybe Calypso, a bit. You'd love her too, though, if you met her—' Percy's heart sank '—you can't not love her at least a little.'

Katie shrank beneath his arm. 'I looked after her flowers for you,' she whispered. 'They're soft and sweet and delicate, but very pretty.'

Percy winced, bitter cold waves of guilts clamouring in his gut. 'Strawberries are pretty sweet too, you know. And they have cute little white flowers.'

'Nobody thinks strawberry flowers are pretty that way,' she murmured. 'But thank you.'

It can't be me, Katie. Percy wrestled with the words hanging on the tip of his tongue. I'm sworn to stars.

'Oi!' Clarisse stepped out from behind a stack of stones, her bronze hoplon on her arm and her spear in her hand. The cloven red crest of the helm in the crook of her arm fluttered in the faint breeze coming in off the sea through the trees. 'Stop cuddling and get down here and get your ass beat.'

Percy gave Katie a gentle squeeze. 'I'm sorry,' he murmured, striding out across the sand.

'But never sorry enough,' she whispered. 'I know.'

He heard her leave with a soft sob.

Clarisse's grin vanished as Katie's footsteps faded. 'She doesn't get it, does she?'

'Get what?' Percy asked, narrowing his eyes.

'You aren't the same as her. You're not going to go off and work in an office or at a school, or marry someone like Katie and have a bunch of kids.' She clapped her helm onto her head. 'To glory and immortality, strategos.'

A beautiful death. A little shiver swept through Percy with the memory of her raised spear upon Manhattan Bridge. But I can't die, not until I fall.

'She knows. But I'm still here and she's still here, and…' He glanced back over his shoulder at where Katie slumped over Demeter's table, her blonde hair covering her face, and gave Clarisse a helpless shrug. 'What am I meant to say?'

I can't fall. I promised.

'She'll be fine.' Clarisse prodded the sand with the butt of the spear. 'After we're gone.'

Percy mustered a grin. 'Where are you going, Clarisse?'

She raised her chin and drew herself up. 'Wherever you go, idiot.' Clarisse levelled the tip of her spear at his chest. 'But you owe me a fight first, so you better find a sword or I'm going to beat you black and blue.'

Percy pulled Anaklusmos from his pocket and spun it in his fingers, extending the slim pen into a bronze xiphos. 'Best of three?'

'Screw that.' Clarisse grinned. 'I'll beat you so bad you'll be done after one.'

He rolled his eyes. 'You couldn't beat a drum.'

The tip of the spear lanced at his chest, but he sidestepped, leaping the blade's edge as Clarisse spun and swept it at his legs. She advanced behind the hoplon, thrusting the spear forward at Percy's ribs in short sharp jabs, but he turned them aside on Anaklusmos, back-stepping and circling around in the sand.

'Come on, Clarisse, stop hiding behind that big hunk of bronze.' Percy flashed her a grin. 'You scared of me?'

Clarisse cackled. 'Percy used taunt…' She spun and hurled the hoplon at him.

He dived aside, rolling and leaping back to his feet, catching the spear point on Anaklusmos an inch from his stomach and shoving her back. 'It was super effective.'

She laughed and charged, both hands on the spear.

Percy breathed in the soft wash of the tide, letting its steady rhythm settle his heart and drawing the sea back into a tight fist within him; he ducked the first thrust and leapt away from the slash of the spear tip, flowing through the whirling blur of Clarisse's spear around behind her and stepping back as she twisted around.

The bronze head flashed forward.

Percy caught the haft in his free hand and wrenched it from her hands, tossing it over his shoulder. Clarisse drew the xiphos from her back and charged, attacking in short slashes. He parried them away, pushing her blade down each time and stepping back, drawing her after him in longer and longer swings, letting the sea within drag itself back, rising up into a towering wall of water.

Got you.

He leant back from her sword as she overextended and let the wave break, smashing her blade from her fingers and resting Anaklusmos on her collarbone with a small grin. 'Best of three?'

'Nah.' Clarisse lifted her helm from her head. 'I got what I wanted.'

'You wanted to lose? You feeling okay, War-girl?'

'I wanted to see how close I could get, that's all.' She pushed his blade off her shoulder with the back of her helm and swiped a trickle of sweat away off her forehead with her sleeve. 'It's like trying to catch water in your fingers. I chased you all around as fast as I could and never touched you, and when I made a mistake chasing…'

'Should have kept that hoplon.'

Clarisse threw her head back and laughed. 'I'd just have been slower and you'd have gotten around me when I got desperate and tried to get right up close with the shield.'

'The sea cannot be restrained,' Percy quipped.

'Go have breakfast with the vegetable psycho,' she retorted. 'I need a shower anyways.'

Percy slid Anaklusmos back into his pocket. 'Good fight.'

'I know.' A broad grin spread beneath Clarisse's sharp nose. 'You owe me another one, too.'

'Ask me when I'm about at camp and I'll beat you again.'

'When?' She paused over her hoplon. 'You heading off somewhere? Don't want to take a break for a bit first?'

'Can't stop, Clarisse,' he murmured. 'We have to make them all as proud of us as we are of them, and then one day we'll join them in Elysium without regret. Annabeth, your brothers, Michael, Bianca—' Percy glanced up at the fading pale crescent of the moon hovering over the sea '—Zoë.'

Clarisse smoothed the cloven crimson crest of her helm down with one hand. 'Yes, strategos,' she whispered.

AN: All the rest of my stuff, more chapters, more stories, update notifications, how to support me and read my original stuff is all on the other side of the linktree.

linktr . ee / mjbradley