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Clarisse blows up everything

summary: Clarisse has a hard time talking about her feelings, ie. she refuses to talk about the time she almost kissed you which leads to you drifting away from each other. Then, just when you thought everything was back on track, she gets her quest and that complicates things because she chose Annabeth and Chris. But then Annabath and Percy leave camp, which means she was short a companion.

word count: 13k

pairing: clarisse la rue x apollo!reader

note: this story is set through season 1 and season 2 even though it includes a little book canon, it's a mix of both and i just needed to say how i loved ep 4 of s2, and i WILL write a part 2, I just need the rest of the season :>

When your mother brought you to the camp at the age of eleven, she said it was for the best and for your own safety. Here, you would learn how to fight and protect yourself from the dangers that half-bloods faced. The first few days were overwhelming; you didn’t know anyone and stayed with the Hermes cabin, waiting and hoping for your godly parent to claim you. Your prayers were quickly answered when Apollo claimed you, after which you moved to your new cabin. That’s when you started to feel more comfortable at camp, knowing that your family was there with you.

Then one day, you found yourself befriending Clarisse. There weren't many girls in the Ares cabin when she arrived, so she was happy to have a new friend. Over the years, the two of you became inseparable. Clarisse could count on one hand the number of real friends she had at camp – you. She didn’t include her siblings in this because it wasn’t the same for her. You, on the other hand, were very friendly. Your siblings were your closest friends, and you got on well with almost every camper, despite only staying during the summer.

“Did you hear, apparently some new kid just killed a minotaur,” Lee joined you on the archery field.

“A minotaur?”

He nodded.

“He’s in the infirmary with Chiron, and Michael and Will are keeping an eye on the kid. And they told me they saw the horn on his bedside table. Oh what are you practicing?” he asked, seeing your bow.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t get over the fact that he killed a minotaur. Like, on his own? On his first day?”

“I know right!”

“That’s insane, insanely impressive.”

Your conversation got cut short when you both heard rapid footsteps approaching. You turned around, and soon enough, you saw who it was. Clarisse.

“I’ll leave you two alone, see you tonight?” Lee started to walk away.

“See ya, keep me a place next to you at dinner.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Clarisse reached you just when Lee was out of sight.

“Did you hear that–,” Clarisse lashed out.

“I did,” you cut her. “It’s im–,”

“Impossible for it to be true!”

“Mh, not exactly what I was going to say,” you smiled, “I was going to say that it was impressive.”

“Yeah if it were true,” she rolled her eyes.

“Come on Clarisse, Lee told me Will and Michael saw the horn, that’s pretty solid evidence in my opinion.”

You knew how Clarisse felt. This new kid shows up and somehow without trying, he succeeded in killing a monster and that was glorious. And glory was something every demigod wanted. Clarisse has always wanted that opportunity to prove herself to her father, and to everyone who looked down on her or the Ares cabin in general.

“Let’s talk about something else,” Clarisse sat on the bench.

“Okay. I learned a new trick just now,” you smiled.

“With your bow?”

“With my bow,” you nodded. “Lee taught me a few weeks ago and I just couldn’t get it right which pissed me off a little bit, but I’ve been practicing on my own. It’s not perfect!”

“Oh come on, I know you’ll do great. You always do.”

“You’re just flattering me,” you shrugged it off.

But knowing she was being sincere made your heart flutter. That was a new development in your friendship, from your side at least. You don’t know when it started but, for a while now, every time you spent time with Clarisse, you’d feel flustered… in a good way.

“So what’s the trick?”

“Shooting multiple arrows at the same time.”

You explained to her the technicalities of the shot the best you could before taking your stand in front of the moving targets. The Apollo cabin was very serious about archery and you did a lot of adjusting to the place. You took a deep breath, and let your arrows fly. A cry of joy left your body when all the arrows perfectly hit the moving targets.

“Impressive,” Clarisse grinned.

“I know! Do you want to try?” you handed her your bow.

“That's a terrible idea.”

“Oh come on, you taught me how to use your spear, I can teach you how to use my bow,” you argued.

When Clarisse received her spear from her father, she was over the moon. She trained relentlessly with it, determined to become the best combatant possible and prove to her father that he hadn’t made a mistake in giving it to her. Then, last summer, she decided that it was time for you to learn how to fight with a new weapon. You excelled with the bow, and you knew how to fight with it. You were great at hand to hand combat but that skill was useless against monsters. You were an average fighter at best with a sword. You still remember when Clarisse first approached you with the idea.

“I don’t like holding a sword, it’s weird and what do I do with my other hand?” you had complained.

“What happens when you’re fighting a monster this close,” Clarisse stood right in front of you, “to you?”

“I’ll run to you,” you beamed. “You’re incredible with the spear, I don’t need to know how to use those.”

“Come on, I’m serious,” Clarisse frowned. “Just let me teach you.”

“But I’ve tried with the sword, it’s no use.”

“Here,” Clarisse handed you her spear.

Your eyes widened. She was handing her precious spear, that no one was ever allowed to even touch, to you.

“I’ll teach you how to use this then.”

So, last summer you learned how to use a spear and you were doing great according to Clarisse and you trusted her judgment. You still practiced fighting with it, but you were the most at ease with your bow. And ever since your father gifted you a brand new bow, you didn’t have the heart to fight with anything else.

At the end of last summer, there was a package from Olympus waiting for you at home. That was no ordinary bow. First, that one didn’t need arrows, whenever you pulled the string, an arrow would magically appear. Second, the arrows were incredibly steady because even when there were strong winds, it didn’t bulge from the trajectory. Third, your bow could turn into a spear. Maybe your father did look after his kids, because that definitely was a nod to you learning how to use one. Last, it was so easy to travel with because it came with an over-the-shoulder strap.

So here you were, trying to teach Clarisse how to use a bow, partly because you liked seeing her struggle a little bit, but also because it meant spending more time with her.

“No,” Clarisse stood up from the bench, “let’s go strategise for Capture the Flag instead.”

“Fine, but one day you will say yes to practising your archery skills with me.”

The new camper, Percy Jackson, was currently staying at the Hermes cabin. And Luke volunteered to show him around. They were going to different cabins to see if Percy had any special talent, and after the disaster with the Hephaestus cabin, they came to you. You were with a few of your siblings in the archery field.

“This is Percy,” Luke introduced him. “And Percy, this is the Apollo cabin.”

“Hey guys,” Percy waved.

Everyone waved and turned to Lee. He was your head counsellor after all, so he should be the one talking.

“I’m Lee, the Apollo head counsellor,” he shook Percy’s hand. “And this is y/n,” Lee pushed you forward. “She will be the one showing you how to shoot.”

“Why me? That’s your job,” you fake gasped.

“I have to go find Will,” Lee whispered to you, “Grace just told me he wasn’t doing really well and that is my priority right now.”

“Oh,” you frowned, “okay. Well, tell me if I can do anything after that.”

Will was the newest member of your family, and he wasn’t settling in that well. He didn’t talk to anyone except Lee. He mouthed a quick thank you before leaving in a hurry.

“What’s wrong,” Luke asked you.

“It’s— nothing to worry about for now. I hope,” you huffed. “Here Percy, you can take this bow,” you went to retrieve one of the practice bows campers used.

You took out your bow and explained to him how he should hold the bow and the arrow. You corrected his posture and showed him how to shoot once before giving him some space to shoot. Percy took his arrow and pointed toward the target and then he took his shot. The arrow flew toward the sky and everyone ducked.

“Should I try again?” Percy asked.

“No!” everyone shouted.

The day before Capture the Flag, Clarisse and you always ate together because she liked retracing all the steps of her plan. But tonight, she didn’t come after finishing your meal, so you left early to go find her. You walked around, when you saw shouting in the toilet. You walked there when you saw Clarisse’s siblings running out. You were about to ask them if they knew where Clarisse were when she walked out,

“Clarisse?” you called out for her.

She whipped her head around, clearly ready to fight anyone who would interrupt her, but when she saw you, she stopped in her tracks.

“Why are you… wet? Is that toilet water?”

“That new kid,” Clarisse seethed.

“He did that?”

“It doesn’t matter, let’s just– let’s go.”

Clarisse was clearly mad, so you didn’t push it further and just followed her. She went to grab some clean clothes before going to the showers. You waited for her outside and when she was done, she told you how for tomorrow, everyone should stick to the plan even when she didn’t.

“What do you mean?” you wondered.

“Just don’t follow me tomorrow,” she warned you.

“This is very cryptic and I’m scared.”

“Don’t worry about me,” she reassured you. “Let’s go eat, I’m starving.”

“Okay.”

Clarisse walked slowly toward the dining pavilion, silently. Clarisse never talked much, since you two became friends it was always you who talked endlessly. Then again, you didn’t mind the silence whenever you were with Clarisse. It was nice, it was calming.

“Oh I forgot to tell you,” you gushed, “my mom sent me a letter a few days ago and long story short, I’ll be staying at camp at the end of summer.”

“Really,” Clarisse beamed.

You nodded enthusiastically. You never stayed at camp during the school year, but your mom had to be away, and she told you she’d feel better knowing you weren’t alone at home all year. So the only solution you had was to stay at camp. Mr. D knew and all the papers were done.

“We’re going to have so much fun, we’re finally going to be able to do all the fun things you’re always writing to me about. I can’t wait!” you cheered. “And I’ll have the whole year to annoy you into practicing with the bow.”

“You won’t convince me,” Clarisse rolled her eyes playfully. “And I think…” she paused for dramatic effect, “we’ll finally be able to do Capture the Flag on opposite teams, we’ll have plenty of occasions for that.”

“What!” you shot up. “Why would you do that to me?”

“It’ll be fun,” she smirked.

“For us to fight? Against each other?” you crossed your arms. “Do you want me to die?”

“It’s called friendly competition.”

“But we’ve never been on opposite teams, I don’t think I can fight you,” you admitted more seriously. “So it wouldn’t be fair.”

“We’ll just have to work on it.”

You talked about all the things you’ll be able to do, and all the things she’d be able to show you. Clarisse had all forgotten about that earlier interaction with Percy and she was much more talkative. Things were doing great.

Well, that didn’t last long. Because that Capture the Flag was disastrous for Clarisse. For one, she lost. Second, Percy broke her spear. Third, Percy got claimed as a son of Poseidon. Fourth, he got a quest. And that was a lot.

Clarisse stayed in her cabin for the first few days, you tried to talk to her but she refused to leave. You tried every day and then, four days after what happened she was the one who reached out. You were resting next to the lake when Clarisse came to sit next to you.

“Clarisse!” you threw yourself in her arms. “I was worried sick,” you back away a little.

But she kept her arms around you a while longer, so you stayed there, your arms wrapped tightly around her.

“Are you ok?” you asked.

“I am now,” she mumbled before letting you go.

“I— I heard about your spear… I’m sorry. I know how important it was to you.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does! Did you try repairing it?”

“I did. Wasn't successful.”

“Maybe we can try asking Charles to fix it?”

“Who?”

“Charles, Charles Beckendorf, the Hephaestus head counsellor.”

“Right. I don’t know if—”

“I’ll ask him, and he’s nice so I’m sure he’ll help,” you insisted. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”

Clarisse nodded slowly.

“Thank you,” she hesitated.

After that, you took the pieces of Clarisse’s spear and went to see Charles on your own. He was at the forge with some of his siblings when you approached him. He stopped working when he saw you and waved to you.

“My favourite Apollo camper,” Charles smiled.

“Liar,” you laughed, “I know you head counsellors have this thing going on so really, Lee is your favourite Apollo kid.”

“I lied to him,” he looked down at the spear and grimaced. “Is that Clarisse’s?”

“Yep,” you showed him the two pieces. “I know you and Clarisse don’t speak, ever. She’s…” you sighed, “not the nicest to you or anyone really, but she’s my friend and I want to help her.”

Charles took Clarisse’s spear and inspected it delicately. You held your breath.

“It was a gift from Ares,” you admitted quietly. “He doesn’t do gifts just because he wants to, you know, so for Clarisse to break it after having worked so hard for it is… it sucks.”

“I can fix it.”

“Really?”

“I’m not doing this for Clarisse,” he warned you. “I’m doing this for you, because you’re my friend. I can see how much it means to you.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” you gave him a tight hug.

After a few hours of work, Charles gave the spear to Lee who gave it to you when you came back to the cabin.

“Courtesy of the head counsellor from the Hephaestus cabin,” Lee smiled.

“Oh,” you gasped, “it looks brand new!”

“I still don’t get why you go to such lengths to help Clarisse of all people,” Kayla wondered.

“Because she’s my friend, I would do that for everyone.”

Which was true. And Kayla wasn’t wrong, Clarisse was mean to a lot of campers, but she wasn’t always like that. She has always been hot headed sure, and as she grew up, she also became a tiny bit more violent but you knew deep down, she acted that way to show her father that she was worth it, that she was an Ares kid and proud to be.

“It’s just… it’s hard to be on her side after that embush she planned on Percy,” Gracie explained. “I mean, we know she’s nice to you, but that’s about it. You’re like the only exception at camp,” she winked at you.

“Shut up,” you threw your cushion at her. “We’re just friends.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Gracie laughed.

“Oh come on stop it,” Michael chimed in, “it’s pretty obvious that you like her a little, as in a non platonic way.”

Your eyes widened. You knew about your tiny crush on Clarisse even though it was a very recent development, but now that Michael said it, was it that obvious?

“Please tell me you’re joking,” you worried. “Is it that obvious?”

The Apollo cabin had a lot of kids because your father didn’t know how to keep it in his pants. And all you saw was a sea of heads nodding. You groaned before falling back on your bed.

“ARG!” you shouted, “please just kill me at this rate. This sucks. Do you think everyone knows about this?”

“I don’t think anyone noticed,” Lee sat next to you, “except for us because you’re our sister.”

“I think Clarisse likes you too,” a tiny voice appeared on your left.

You turned your head and saw Will sitting next to Lee, and looking at you shyly.

“Whenever I see Clarisse with you, she always seems happier and more at ease than when she’s with… anyone else,” Will explained.

“I agree,” Lee smiled. “So don’t worry your little head too much about this. Now, go bring that dangerous spear to your lover,” he teased.

“Shut up!” you took another pillow before suffocating him with it. “I could’ve stayed there longer,” you threw the pillow away, “but I have to go and see Clarisse.”

You left with the spear in a hurry before Lee could get his revenge. You knocked on the Ares cabin door and waited. Mark opened the door. But before you could even get a word out of your mouth, Mark said.

“Clarisse isn’t there. She’s at the lake.”

“Oh, thanks,” you said before running away.

The lake was beautiful at night. The water was still, there weren’t any strong winds, the air was chill. Everything was just peaceful. And Clarisse was just sitting on one of the canoes. You walked quietly toward and jumped in.

“Hello sailor,” you smiled.

“What is wrong with you!” Clarisse stood up. “You scared me to death!”

“You usually hear just fine,” you sat in front of her, her spear on your lap.

Clarisse finally looked down and saw her spear in one piece. You expected her to grab it immediately but she just stared at it. She stared at it for a minute, and then two and she just couldn’t keep her eyes off of it.

“Clarisse?” you hesitated. “Are you—”

When she finally looked up, you finally saw why she wouldn’t look at you. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears. Just when you were about to talk, she grabbed your arm and pulled you into a tight embrace. Clarisse never initiated any type of physical contact, it was always you and she’d always just indulge you, even though secretly she loved it. You let your head rest on her shoulder, wrapping your arms around her.

“Thank you,” Clarisse whispered. “I– I don’t know what else to say.”

“I’m just glad it could be fixed.”

Clarisse let go of you, but she still stood close to you. She was staring at you, her tears had disappeared, you noticed. You two stood awfully close and she didn’t back away, her hands still holding on your shoulders. You were staring at her face when you watched her leaning in, her eyes looking down at your lips for a slip second. But you saw it. Maybe Will was right? But before this could go any further, Clarisse backed away, grabbing her spear.

“I’ll—” Clarisse hurried off the canoe, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And she was gone. And you weren’t. And you were now standing alone on the canoe. And what had just happened? You turned around, looked at your hands. The spear was gone. Clarisse had taken it. This wasn’t some bizarre dream. You slowly walked back to your cabin and when you opened the door, everyone was starting to get ready to go to sleep. You mindlessly walked to your bed, and took a change of clothes and left your cabin for the showers. You washed up and went back to your cabin, and Lee and Will were waiting for you by your bed.

“What happened?” Lee worried. “You just left without saying anything.”

“I–,” you frowned, “don’t know.”

“What do you mean?” Will asked.

“Well…” you sat down between your brothers, “I went to the Ares cabin, she wasn’t there because she was at the lake. So I joined her, and then she saw the spear and…” she cried, you thought, “she hugged me, and then…” you looked at Lee, “then I’m not sure,” you stated blankly.

“Are you okay?” Will frowned. “You look… sick?”

“I feel sick,” you agreed, “or maybe just confused?”

“What happened after the hug?” Gracie asked, she and your other siblings all sat around your bed, worried.

“Well…” you thought about it, “she… I think she was… about to kiss me?”

“WHAT!” Kayla yelped. “That’s great! Wait no, you’re not happy, what– what happened?”

“Mh,” you stalled, “well, we were staring at each other and we were close, and she… looked like she wanted to kiss me, but maybe I’m just crazy. But then I don’t think I am because then she just ran off!” you scoffed. “Like. Literally.”

You felt tears of frustration coming, so you just laid on your bed with your eyes closed.

“It doesn’t make any sense!” you shouted.

“y/n,” Lee patted your arm gently, “let’s just sleep it off, and I’m sure you’ll talk it out.”

“Yeah, you’re right…”

It turns out, Lee was not right because Clarisse never brought that subject back on the table. And when you tried, she just pretended nothing had happened. You tried to talk to her multiple times before giving up. Two can play at this game, if she continued to pretend nothing had happened, then you’d just ignore it too as well. You’d ignore the topic, and Clarisse altogether. You weren’t going to chase after her if she wasn’t ready to talk.

Apparently, that wasn’t an issue for Clarisse because soon enough, she befriended Silena, Aphrodite head counsellor. Lee was your informant about all of this.

“Mh,” you laughed bitterly, “I see she didn’t waste any time in replacing me.”

Lee did feel bad for you.

“It’s fine,” you held up your hand. “I’m perfectly fine.”

You weren’t fine. You loathed everything that was happening. You hated Clarisse, you hated Silena, you hated Clarisse’s stupid spear and how it was the cause of every problem you had as of right now. You held on your bow tightly, your jaw clenched.

“I can teach this class if you want, I—”

“I said it’s fine,” you put on a smile, “I don’t care.”

You did. But you had other priorities right now, so you left to teach your lesson with different campers. You tried to forget about the Clarisse situation, but that was all you could think about during the class. Despite telling Lee you were fine, he stayed and you were grateful for that. You needed the emotional support he provided.

“I’ll demonstrate the shot, and then you’ll do it,” you sighed.

You looked at the target dangling from the tree, moving with the wind and you had your arrow ready. But all you could think about was Clarisse and Silena, and the canoe and the spear when you should be focusing on the target. And you let your arrow fly.

When you saw it hit the target, relief washed over you, and you quickly turned to Lee because he was right, you weren’t in the right mindset to teach a class. But he wasn’t looking at you; he was staring at the tree with his mouth wide open.

“What are you looking at?” you asked, turning around as well and soon enough, your heart dropped.

The dummy hanging from the tree was decomposing. Not just falling apart, but… dying. The campers all took a step back from the tree and looked at you. You looked at Lee and he was staring at you now.

“Go, I’ll take care of this,” Lee stated. “Just, stay in the cabin for today and I’ll… talk to Chiron or Mr. D.”

“I can do it,” your voice faltered.

“I know you can, but I will take care of this as head counsellor, and as your brother. I have your back ok?”

You nodded, before leaving the archery field. Apollo kids usually get his music abilities, or his archery abilities or even his healing abilities. There is a variety of skills that Apollo children can get, but very few had his plague abilities. But all of you knew about it. So you weren’t surprised per say, but it was definitely disturbing.

You walked mindlessly until you reached the cabins, still slightly overwhelmed by what happened When you finally looked up, your gaze met Clarisse’s. The Ares cabin was right beside the Apollo one. And she wasn’t alone— there she was, with Silena and Chris from the Hermes cabin. They were all sitting in front of the Ares cabin, where there were benches and tables. When Clarisse saw your expression, she quickly stood up, ready to walk to you when you turned around and walked away to go to the infirmary.

You heard Clarisse called out for you, but you didn’t have the energy to talk to her. So you kept on going. Michael and Will were the only ones there.

“What brings you here, my dear sister?” Michael smiled, but then his smile dropped. “What’s wrong? Why are you making that face?”

“I killed a dummy.”

He frowned, confused.

“As in…” you hesitated, “disease killed sorta thing… with my bow.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

You threw yourself onto one of the beds.

“Lee said he was taking care of it, so that’s great.”

“You don’t look great.”

“Gee, thanks,” you glared at him. “I hate my life, it sucks! I don’t talk to Clarisse anymore because she refuses to communicate, but she seemed just fine talking to Silena and Chris,” you huffed. “I just gave I don't know what disease to that poor dummy, in front of everyone… How can my life be this bad when, not even a week ago, it was just fine. Great even, it doesn’t… The only good news we have is the fact that Percy came back and got Zeus' bolt back to him. And it doesn’t even have anything to do with me!”

“Well, maybe the celebration tonight for Percy, Annabeth and Grover’s success will change your state of mind,” Will tried.

Will, you baby brother, who over the last few days started to get more comfortable with his siblings was always trying to see the positive. You couldn’t contradict him.

“I hope so…”

Your spirits did not change. Turns out Luke betrayed the camp, and he was the one who stole the master bolt during the Olympus visit. That brought morale down, because Luke didn’t leave alone. A few campers who you were friends with left with Luke. But no one from the Apollo camp left, which was a relief. But it did make everyone forget about your little incident with the dummy so selfishly, you were a little glad.

The end of summer was approaching quickly, and you were rethinking your choice to stay the whole year. You didn’t want to spend a year ignoring Clarisse when she was right there with you. You couldn’t go home anyway, it was too late. And unfortunately, things with Clarisse didn’t get better. You didn’t talk, you didn’t reach out and she didn’t either. So that was that, six years of friendship just vanished like that.

It has been a few weeks now since Clarisse talked to you. Ever since the incident, she hasn’t tried to reach out to you and she hated it. Whenever she saw you, you were surrounded by your friends and family and she never had the courage to come up to you. Camp was emptier now that some of them left to go home. Clarisse was all alone.

“You know you can go talk to her instead of staring at her like that,” a tiny voice appeared next to Clarisse.

She turned around and saw a tiny head full of blond hair next to her.

“And you are?”

“Will,” he smiled. “Apollo cabin.”

“Oh. I wasn’t staring at your sister.”

“Right.”

“Why are you even talking to me?”

“I’m trying to help,” he explained. “Mostly my sister, because I don’t know you. But if I can also help you too, then that’ll be great.”

“I don’t need help.”

Will stayed silent for a while, so did Clarisse. Yet, neither one of them moved.

“Do you—” Will started, “are you in love with y/n?”

Clarisse’s eyes widened, and she sat there frozen.

“Because, you look at her the way my dad looked at Hyacinthus, his lover, one of his past lovers. I mean, in that one painting we have in our cabin at least,” he shrugged. “And I find it weird that you don’t talk to each other anymore when you still look at her like that.”

“I– I’m not– I don’t,” Clarisse stuttered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Alright,” Will stood up.

“Wait,” Clarisse frowned. “Did she say anything? Is that why you’re here?”

Will turned around. After that night at the lake, you stopped talking about it. There weren’t any updates on the situation.

“No,” he said simply. “She doesn’t talk about you anymore. But it’s just— you don’t look happy either and that’s weird.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s sad all the time, and you are the one who broke it off!”

“No I wasn’t. She stopped talking to me out of nowhere.”

“Did you try finding out why?” Will frowned.

“Well… no.”

“And you’re sure she’s the one who… stopped being friends?”

“Yes.”

Well, she knew it wasn’t entirely on you, but she wasn’t the one who ignored you. She did try to talk to you and pretend nothing had happened, but still. You were the one who cut all ties with her. She could try and fix things up, but she was scared. She still didn’t like thinking about what had happened at the lake because that meant she had to talk about how she felt, and she wasn’t ready for that yet.

“It’s too late to fix this now,” Clarisse admitted quietly.

“I still think it’s worth a shot,” Will told her kindly.

But she didn't know how to approach you. She didn’t know how to fix this mess she put herself in.

Ever since the end of the summer, things were doing rather well, minus the Clarisse thing. She’d say hi every time you were in the same room, and although you found it weird at first, you’d always answer. You were the last one out of the kitchen because it was Apollo’s cabin’s turn to do the kitchen cleaning duties and you volunteered to finish things up.

“Can we talk?”

You turned around and found Clarisse at the entrance.

“Mh, sure. I just have to finish tidying things up.”

“Here,” Clarisse walked up to you and took the box before putting it away.

“Thanks.”

After that you both left and walked back together to the cabins and sat in front of your cabin. It was already night time and no one was out at this hour.

“What did you want to talk about?” you fiddled with your fingers.

It has been over 4 months now since the lake. Or maybe more, you weren’t sure anymore.

“I don’t know if Lee told you but we, the head counsellors, had a meeting with Chiron and Mr. D,” Clarisse saw you frowning. “They told us not to tell anyone anything yet.”

“Why did you have a meeting?”

“Thalia’s tree has been poisoned.”

“What? Wh– How?”

“We don’t know, and there have been more attacks against the camp ever since the poisoning."

“Why hasn’t this been announced to everyone? I mean if the attacks are related to that, then we should prepare for it.”

“That’s what I told them, but maybe it’s not related and they don’t want to worry anyone for now.”

Well, that conversation didn’t go as you had thought. You were hoping Clarisse came to talk about that night, but maybe it was ancient history for her and she had moved on.

“So just. Don’t leave without your bow, and don’t go into the woods or around the border because it could be dangerous.”

“Okay,” you nodded.

“I’ll talk to Chiron about having campers patrolling the borders.”

“Are you going to volunteer to be in charge of the patrols?” you asked knowing what she was going to answer.

“I am the most qualified for it, I know how to fight and lead people, I–,” Clarisse started to argue.

“I know,” you said softly. “You don’t need to convince me. It’s just, you made it sound very dangerous.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“I know–”

“y/n!” Will shouted from behind you. “Lee wants to talk to you– oh Clarisse,” Will stopped in his tracks. “Hi.”

Clarisse smiled tightly and stood up from the bench.

“I’ll go. See you around.”

Will and you watched her leave and then he took Clarisse’s place.

“What was that about?” Will asked.

“Mh, let’s talk inside.”

Lee told you and the others exactly what Clarisse had told you a few minutes ago. They didn’t want the campers to worry, but most of the head counsellors agreed to tell their siblings. Better safe than sorry. Chiron and Mr. D had agreed to Clarisse’s idea of having groups of campers patrolling around camp, and not even a few days after that, Mr. D announced that Chiron would be leaving camp half-blood.

“Why would he leave when camp’s in danger like that?” someone wondered out loud.

“It doesn’t make sense,” someone else shouted.

Tension was high at camp, no one knew what to do or when Chiron would be back, if he ever did. Head counsellors, those who stayed at camp all year round at least, tried their best to take over. They led the patrols, they led the activities, they led Capture the Flag the best they could and everything went smoothly.

Whenever there was an attack, untrained campers had to stay confined to their cabins. That’s why a bunch of the Apollo kids were sitting all together.

“Wait,” you stood up, “where’s Will?”

“He was—,” Yan frowned. “He said he was going to see Lee right before the alarm rang.”

No one dared to move, not knowing what to do. Campers were forbidden to leave their cabins, but you weren’t about your youngest brother out there.

“y/n,” Gracie pleaded with her eyes.

“I’ll be right back.”

You took out your bow and left your cabin in a hurry. You could see people running around, with weapons and armor, and shields, and yet you couldn’t find your little brother anywhere.

“y/n!” Lee ran to you, worried. “What are you doing out here? What if the Stymphalian birds went to the cabins?”

“Where’s Will? He wasn’t with us and– and they said he went to look for you!”

Lee frowned.

“I haven’t seen him since this morning.”

“But— I’ll keep looking for him,” you decided.

“No, you go back, and I’ll look for him.”

“You can’t! You have to kill these fucking birds and we’re just—”

“y/n? What the hell are you doing out here?” Clarisse shouted.

She grabbed you by the arm and pulled you away from Lee, clearly walking toward your cabin.

“Clarisse, wait!” you tried to stop her but she was stronger than you. “Clarisse please! Will is gone. I don't know where he is.”

Clarisse stopped walking and finally turned around to face you.

“You don’t have to worry about me, I can fight these birds!”

“I know, that doesn’t mean I won’t be worried about you!”

“Clarisse, please let me go,” you begged.

“I can’t,” she muttered. “I’ll stay with you.”

“No, they need you to fight and lead them.”

Clarisse knew you were right, and the reasonable thing to do was to let you go because she knew you could fight against these birds, but she was scared. But she nodded reluctantly, knowing you couldn’t waste any more time.

“Be careful.”

“I will,” you promised.

You continued your search when you finally heard Will’s voice, crying not too far away. You ran as fast as you could toward his voice and froze– Will was outside the camp’s protective border. There was a Colchis Bull ready to charge toward Will.

“Will!” you screamed.

He whipped his head, with tears streaming down his face. He looked at you and stood and ran as fast as he could. But that won’t be enough, so you ran outside, hoping the bull would change target. But Will was still a kid, and he couldn’t outrun it so when you reached him, you threw yourself onto him to get you both out of the line of the bull. The bull charged into the camp but thanks to the barrier, it stayed out.

“What are you doing outside?” you exploded. “Do you have a death wish?”

“I lost– I had lost this,” he sobbed, showing you his bracelet. The one he got from his mom before he got to camp. One of the last items he had from his mother.

“You should’ve told us instead of venturing here all alone!”

Before he could explain himself, the bull charged at you again. You managed to push Will aside, but the bull slammed into you and sent you flying. You groaned, still laying on the ground.

“y/n!” Will ran to you. “You’re bleeding! Let me–.”

“No, let’s just go back inside camp,” you gathered all your strength and stood up. But you were lightheaded. The bull continued trying to run inside the camp, so while he was distracted, you had to seize this opportunity.

But just then, a flock of Stymphalian birds were flying to where you stood. You took out your bow, and started shooting at them, but they were just too many. Just when a bird was about to attack you from behind, an arrow shot it down.

“Alison?” you sighed happily. “What are you doing here? I thought you decided to graduate.”

“I did,” she approached you, “I heard camp was under attack.”

“Oh, that’s great. I’m so glad to see you,” you took her in your arms. “I missed you.”

“Me too,” she said monotonely. “Which is why I’m sorry.”

Before you could answer, she knocked you out with the end of bow. Will wasn’t as familiar with Alison, so he didn’t come up to her and thankfully, she didn’t see him. When he saw Alison attacking you, he ran away hoping to catch anyone. He was frantically running around camp, hoping to catch Lee or Michael because then, he could heal you but he saw no one.

“Will!” Clarisse’s voice boomed behind him. “What the hell! We were—.”

“Clarisse! y/n she’s hurt, she— I was outside and she came to me and then the bull and then the birds and then Alison,” he tried to explain it, but he was in shock and terrified.

Clarisse was paralysed. She couldn’t say anything when all she wanted was to ask him where you were. Will continued to cry, shaking her.

“Will!” Lee shouted, and ran to them. “What happened? Are you hurt? Why are you crying? Clarisse?”

Clarisse finally came out of her trance when Lee called out for her.

“Where is she?”

“Who?” Lee frowned.

“She’s over there,” Will pointed down the hill.

“Please tell me you’re not talking about y/n,” Lee warned him.

Will could only nod. Lee swore under his breath before running after Clarisse.

“Go find Michael and tell him to wait for us at the infirmary!”

Clarisse had never run this fast in her life. She looked around, trying to find you and she found a patch of blood on the grass. She had her spear in hand, ready to fight off any monster she’d see, but there wasn’t anyone or anything.

“Clarisse,” Lee caught up to her. “Here!”

They found you laying on the ground, injured, bloody and unconscious. Clarisse threw her spear into Lee’s hands before dropping on her knees next to you. She cradled your face carefully on her lap.

“What should we do?” Clarisse shuddered.

“I’ll take her bow, you’ll have to carry her inside.”

Clarisse nodded but when she tried to off your bow, it was stuck on the strap. She tugged harder but it didn’t move. She looked at Lee for an explanation, but he was just as confused. Clarisse didn’t waste another minute, and stood and grabbed your arm before carrying you like a sack of potatoes.

When they reached the infirmary and Michael took care of you, Clarisse finally felt like she could breathe again. She sat outside the Big House, and waited. Will was still inside, and so were your siblings so she was all alone. And then she heard the door opening.

“How are you holding up?” Lee sat next to her.

“Fine. How is she?”

“Fine,” Lee sighed. “Will told us what happened. He– there was a bull who slammed into her, and then Al–,” he clenched his jaw. “Alison stabbed her in the back, metaphorically. And then she literally knocked her out with her bow.”

“And how’s Will?”

“He’s— not fine for sure. He thinks it’s his fault and he refuses to leave her side, and he’s helping Michael so that’s good,” Lee explained. He was still processing everything, between you being hurt and the betrayal of your older sister. “I wanted to thank you for helping her.”

“I didn’t do anything… I was too late.”

“But you were there, that’s all that matters.”

They sat there in silence.

“Why aren’t you inside?” Clarisse asked.

“Will isn’t the only one who blames himself for what happened,” Lee laughed bitterly. “I should’ve stayed with her, but—”

“But I dragged her away and you thought she’d be safe…”

“No, I knew she was going to be able to convince you to let her go.”

Clarisse frowned at that.

“Oh come on,” Lee smiled a little, “you could never say no to her.”

“How would you know?”

“Because she’s my sister, and we talk. A lot.”

“Oh.”

Clarisse never talked about anything important to her brothers or sisters. She only ever talked to you, and recently, she started opening up to Silena, but not about everything. She only felt comfortable with you and then, she ruined everything.

After a few hours outside, Will timidly went out to tell Clarisse and Lee that you were healing fine, and you just needed some rest. Everyone left except for Will, Lee and Clarisse. They all sat around your bed in total silence, watching you sleep. Lee quickly also fell asleep on his chair, and Will went to grab a blanket before putting it gently on his brother.

“Will, you should take some rest too.”

Will looked at Clarisse, fiddling with his hands and she saw him gasp.

“You’re hurt!”

Clarisse looked down, and indeed, a small chunk of her arms had been chewed off by one of the birds.

“Let me–”

“No,” Clarisse refused categorically. “I’ll take care of it later.”

“But–”

“I said it’s fine.”

“Clar–”

“Will, let it go.”

“It’s going to get—”

“I’m going to leave,” Clarisse stood up. “Let me know when she wakes up.”

Clarisse has been visiting you every day, and after a week, you finally woke up. Clarisse was spacing out, staring at the yellow blanket that covered you, and you just stared at her, without saying anything. You were admiring her, because it had been a while since you two were this close, physically. You couldn’t trust yourself to speak, so you just moved your fingers and that was enough to wake Clarisse.

“Hey,” she let out a sigh of relief.

“Hi,” you smiled.

“Let me grab you some water.”

After drinking a big glass of water, Clarisse helped you sit up. That’s when you noticed your bow attached to your left hand.

“Why is my bow here?”

“We couldn’t take it off,” she explained.

“What do you mean?” you put the bow on the ground.

“I mean, other people can’t take your bow if it’s on you. It’s magically linked to you, it’s what we concluded anyway.”

“Oh.”

“Do you remember what happened?” Clarisse frowned.

“You mean how Alison almost killed me, yes. How long have I been out?”

“A week. Will and Michael should be back soon.”

“Okay,” you nodded. “Anything new at camp? Was there any other attack?”

“Um, no other attacks” Clarisse puffed, “but we have a new activities director. He arrived a day after the last attack.”

“Oh,” you frowned. “Who is it?”

“Tantalus.”

“Tantalus,” you repeated. “As in the demigod king who was sent to the Fields of Punishment for trying to feed the gods human flesh?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” you nodded. “Have you been here long?” you dared to ask.

“N–”

“She has been here every day for a whole week,” Michael came into the room smiling.

You looked at Clarisse surprised and pleased with the information. Before you could tease her about it, Will came running.

“y/n!” Will cried, throwing himself onto the bed to give you a tight hug.

You hugged him back, glad to see he was doing fine.

“I missed you,” he said. “Everyone did, it was so weird without you. So never do that again!”

“I won’t.”

“I’m going to get the others, I will be right back!” Will shouted.

“Michael, aren’t you going to give your favourite sister a welcome back hug?” you smiled.

“I don’t know,” he pretended to think it over but he was already walking up to you. “It’s good to have you back,” he whispered before pulling away. “You’re going to spend the rest of the day giving out hugs at this rate,” he laughed, “did Clarisse also get one?” he said playfully.

Clarisse looked away clearly wishing she wasn’t here.

“She didn’t,” you stared at Clarisse expectantly. “I did almost die so I think I deserve it.”

You had a big smile on, watching her slowly walking up to you. It would be a weird hug if you stayed on the bed, so you stood up because you deserved a proper hug.

“Also, I get to decide when it’s over,” you said.

Clarisse could only nod before opening her arms. You went in and melted instantly. It should feel strange, because of how long it has been but it was the opposite. It just felt right, it felt familiar. You could’ve stayed there forever if it weren’t for your siblings storming in. And you had to let her go.

“Oh, you had us worried sick here,” Kayla ran to you.

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

They all came in for a group hug, even Michael who already had his own, but no one in the Apollo cabin could resist a family hug. It was against your DNA. And Clarisse just stood there awkwardly. That would never have happened with the Ares cabin, she thought to herself.

To celebrate your return, your cabin had chosen to sing your favourite songs around the campfire with everyone else around. It was so much fun. The Apollo cabin all loved singing and leading the activities around the campfire at night. It was a way to forget every problem of the day. Clarisse watched you sing and dance, and she prayed for this to never end.

Things got better with Clarisse after that. You started to talk again and you spent time together, but you could never go back to what it used to be before the lake. Clarisse made an effort, because she realised she couldn’t waste her time without you when there was probably a war being orchestrated. So she made an effort, and so did you.

“Are you stealing strawberries again?” Clarisse raised her eyebrow.

“No,” you said with your mouth full of fresh strawberries.

You had this bad habit of sitting around the strawberry field and eating until your stomach ached from it.

“Mr. D wouldn’t be happy if he knew,” she sat in front of you.

“Mr. D’s too busy agreeing with whatever bullshit Tantalus has planned for us to notice this,” you rolled your eyes. “Here,” you handed her a few.

“Do you want to know what he planned?”

“Something dangerous?” you guessed.

“He wants to bring chariot races back,” Clarisse smiled.

“You look happy about it,” you frowned.

“It sounds fun!”

“Yeah, if by fun you mean dangerous. And campers should be back in a few weeks, so if he wants everyone to participate…” you sighed. “You could get seriously hurt.”

“Don’t worry about me, that’s what training will be for and I’ll have plenty of time to train and be the best.”

You knew Clarisse loved these activities, and you knew you would too if it weren’t for Tantalus’ ridiculous rules.

“Who will you be riding with?” you asked.

“Mark,” she said. “Are you riding?” Clarisse asked casually.

“Do you want me to?”

Clarisse stared at you for a moment before sighing.

“No,” she admitted quietly.

“Why?” you asked, but you knew why. She couldn’t watch you get hurt, and even less if it was because of her.

“You could get hurt and I can’t have that happen.”

You took a deep breath. Clarisse was always saying things like that, and then you were just supposed to assume it was friendly? Friends were obviously allowed to be worried about others safety, but with the context clues added, it just didn’t feel platonic.

“Even if I wanted to do the race, I don’t know if I’ll be able to,” you said.

“Why?”

“My dad came this morning, to see me or… more like to ask me something.”

“A quest?”

“No technically,” you sighed. “More like an errand, and I got authorisation to leave camp for whatever amount of time, until the thing for my dad is done.”

“What did he want?”

“Every year, my dad goes back to the place where Hyacinthus died and leaves flowers, hyacinths, to honour him. He can’t go this year, so he asked me to do it,” you explained. ‘I suppose he can’t bear the thought of Hyacinthus’s tomb being empty and unvisited."

“When are you leaving?” Clarisse frowned.

“In a few days.”

Clarisse grimaced.

“What? What’s wrong?” you worried.

“I–,” she hesitated. “I thought we could go to the lake next week.”

You held back a smile. That was an interesting development.

“The lake,” you smiled. “Like a date?”

She looked away, slightly embarrassed but she nodded.

“I mean, I want to talk about what happened last time.”

She was ready to finally talk about what had happened a few months ago.

“Really?” you faltered.

“Yes.”

“Well, we could do that when I'm back then. You’ll just have to wait, to build anticipation.”

“Right,” she let out a shaky laugh.

The rest of the day went on perfectly – you spent more time with Clarisse, you trained with her and then you rejoined your siblings to eat. You sat next to Lee and Will, they all talked about their day, and the hot topic was the chariot race and who would be riding them.

“Since y/n doesn’t know when she’ll be back,” Lee stated, “she’s not on the list.”

“That doesn’t reduce the list a lot.” Michael sighed.

“Well, I think there should be a girl and a boy,” you said.

“Agreed,” Kayla chimed in.

“And let’s let fate decide.”

Before going to the campfire, you all regrouped in your cabin and wrote every name on a piece of paper. There were two stacks of crumbled papers, and you picked the girl first.

“Kayla Knowles!” you shouted.

Cheers erupted and she took a bow. Then you picked the second name from the boys’ side.

“Lee Fletcher! Our very own head counsellor!”

More cheers erupted from everyone and it was decided, Lee and Kayla will be riding the chariots.

The quest handed to you by your father ended quicker than you’d have thought. Apollo had given you the place where to collect the right flowers to put on Hyacinthus’ grave. It wasn’t really a grave per say, it was just near the same spot where his lover died. It was something personal to Apollo.

“I hope you’re not too upset about me being here instead of dad,” you put the flowers down. “I’m sure he’ll come as soon as he’s… less busy with our current problems. Well, it was nice meeting you,” you smiled.

Since Apollo didn’t tell you anything else, you left. The trip back to camp was long, it took over five days for you to arrive there, so by the time you would be back at camp, more than a week would’ve gone by. You could only think about one thing and that was talking to Clarisse. You weren’t sure if it was really a date, or just a save-the-date to talk sort of thing, nevertheless you were looking forward to it. You were finally inside the cab to camp, and you were simply walking when you heard a big crash and a yellow cab appearing out of nowhere. The Gray Sisters.

“Annabeth?” you walked to her.

“y/n!” she hugged you.

“Percy, hi,” you waved to him and stopped. “Is that a Cyclops?” you tilted your head confused.

“Yes,” Annabeth answered. “Is camp alright?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I had this dream and the camp was on fire and it was burning down,” she frowned.

“There have been attacks against the camp,” you admitted.

“Attacks?” Percy joined in.

“Yes,” you looked at Annabeth, “Thalia’s tree has been poisoned, and the protective barrier has been weakening every day since, and more monster attacks have been happening.”

She looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but she turned around and looked behind you. Just as you were about to speak, you turned around and saw what she saw. Giant fireballs were being thrown where you stood.

“Run!” Annabeth shouted.

You ran as fast as you could, and then quickly took a shortcut by climbing up the side of the road.

You were running right behind Annabeth and you heard a crash way too close to you. You both turned around and a fireball was falling right on top of Percy when the Cyclops stood in front of him.

“Tyson, no!”

Percy turned around, worried, but he was fine. Cyclops were immune to fire after all.

“Cyclops are immune to fire,” Annabeth said. “He’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

Camp wasn’t far away, so you all kept running and you finally let out a breath of relief when you crossed the border. But that relief was short-lived because Tyson was stuck on the other side.

“I told you he can’t cross the border!” Annabeth told Percy.

Just then, another fireball hit the barrier, and disappeared. Percy took out his word, and stood in front of Tyson.

“Percy don’t,” Annabeth pleaded with him.

You had your bow ready when you saw the three Laistrygonian Giants running to you, but just as you were about to shoot, Annabeth took out her knife.

“Tyson! I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp.”

Percy grabbed Tyson’s arm and pulled him in, but he stood his ground, clearly afraid to get electrocuted again.

“Percy,” you warned him, “they’re right there!”

“Tyson! Just trust me, ok?”

But right then one of the giants tackled Tyson in. The three of you took a step back when he kicked Tyson away. Your bow would be useless so you had your spear ready, even though it had been a while since you used it. He raised his club, and just when you were about to throw the spear into him, another one landed in his chest. Clarisse’s spear. You heard the horn blowing, and the three of you turned around.

Clarisse arrived with some of your siblings. They were probably doing patrols around there.

“Ready. Load. Fire!”

And they all shot the two remaining giants outside the border as they ran away.

“Stand down,” Clarisse said as she walked down.

The rest of the campers all left. And when you spotted Kayla, you waved to her but quickly stopped when you noticed Clarisse’s hard glare.

“What are you doing here?” Clarisse looked at you.

“I was just outside when I bumped into them,” you explained.

“Are you hurt?” she grabbed your arm and looked you over.

“Nope, you killed it before anything could’ve happened.”

Clarisse nodded, satisfied with the outcome. And she went to grab her spear.

“Hey Clarisse,” Percy smiled.

“Shut up, Jackson.”

“Oh, you fixed your spear,” he pointed at it.

“Dont. Even.” she threatened him. “What are you two doing out here? All non-combatants are to shelter in their cabins during monster attacks,” she explained. “I will not be taking the blame for your dumb deaths. Clear the field and let the warriors work.”

Clarisse grabbed your hand and left with you. You waved them goodbye and complied.

“How many attacks have happened since I left?” you asked her.

“Too many,” she frowned, still walking really fast to rejoin the other campers she led. “You should go back to your cabin.”

When the attacks first started, you were on the field fighting against them. But leaving all non-combatants was a mistake because the monsters could easily reach them, so you volunteered to stay behind at the cabins in case anything happened.

You barged in your cabin and somehow, there were less campers than usual.

“You’re back!” Will ran to you.

“Where’s the rest of them?”

“On the field, there have been so many attacks that they needed more campers to fight,” he explained.

“I was gone for two weeks,” you mumbled.

“Yeah, I know. But the good news is you’re right on time for the chariot race tomorrow.”

Ever since Annabath and Percy came back, a lot has happened. Tyson got claimed by Poseidon, Percy was on lockdown, and the tracks were being prepared by every cabin for the race. It was hectic. You were standing beside Kayla and Lee who were preparing the chariot when you saw Percy and Annabath walking in.

“Isn’t he supposed to be in lockdown?” Michael said.

“Yeah, I wonder what they’re plotting,” you shrugged.

Percy went to talk to Chris while he was whipping down his chariot and then Clarisse came in. You stared at them, and then you watched as Clarisse took a step closer to Chris. She was talking to him, whispering something to him, too close for your liking. You sighed, irritated. Then she backed away and talked to Percy before Tantalus came in.

Something about Percy being allowed to compete, but you zoned out of that conversation long ago. You just sat there, next to your siblings who were cleaning up the chariot.

“y/n!” Lee slapped your arm gently.

“What?” you lashed out. “I’m sorry,” you let out a frustrated sigh. “What the hell happened when I was gone between Clarisse and Chris?”

“Nothing,” Lee said.

“He has been patrolling with us,” Kayla admitted.

“And?”

“And,” Kayla hesitated, “they seem friendly. They’re friends.”

“Ok,” you nodded.

You did see them, Silena, Clarisse and Chris, talking a few months back. It shouldn't feel weird now, but she never talked to you about them. You didn’t know why you were so upset over it. When Tantalus left, Silena ran to the tracks to greet Clarisse with a hug, and then she waved to Chris happily. They all turned their heads to look at you.

“They’re friends,” you echoed what Kayla said earlier. “Do you need me to do anything?” you turned to Lee. “Please, let me do something.”

“We already— can you help me bring something, I forgot it in the cabin.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

You two left, leaving the rest of your siblings to finish things up.

“Did something happen with Clarisse?” Lee asked when you two were out of reach.

“No,” you hesitated. “I mean, not technically,” you saw him tilt his head. “Before I left, Clarisse told me she wanted to talk about what happened that night, when she almost kissed me. She didn’t say it like, just,” you tried to remember what she said. “She said something about wanting to go back to the lake, and I jokingly said ‘haha, like a date?’ and she nodded, and then she said something along the lines of ‘to talk about last time’ and,” you sighed, “I mean we didn’t talk about it, and I was ready to let that go, but she was the one who brought this up. And she wouldn’t have asked me to go to the lake to tell me ‘oh let’s never talk about this thing, I’ve moved on with Chris or Silena’, right?”

“This is a lot of information,” Lee admitted.

“I know,” you looked down, “also, I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier.”

“It’s ok,” he rubbed your shoulder. “I think you're the only person at camp who really knows who Clarisse is and how she thinks and how she feels. When we have head counsellor meetings, Clarisse does stay with Silena and it’s only a recent development,” he added, “and whenever they talk, I hear them, and it’s always about unimportant things.”

“Like what?”

“I—,” he dragged on the vowel, “couldn’t tell you, I legitimately don’t remember. And Clarisse is always only listening, she never shares anything with her and I doubt she’d go sharing anything with Chris, but you’d have to ask Kayla. She’s the one staying with them when there are monster attacks.”

“So you’re saying I overreacted earlier.”

“I’m saying you shouldn’t worry that much because it’s pretty clear to me that she loves you even though she doesn’t want to say it.”

“It’s just— it doesn’t feel real and, it’s all speculation because she never said it to me.”

“Are you blind?” Lee laughed.

“What?” you huffed.

“She may not say it, but she’s constantly showing her love to you. She may not be good with words. You are, you are a daughter of Apollo, the god of poetry, so obviously you’d think that words are everything. But Clarisse is an Ares kid, you told me yourself how she always has to prove herself by showing it, by fighting and winning. Action means more to her just like how words mean everything to you.”

Lee was right, you realised. Your mind went through every interaction you ever had with Clarisse and Lee was right. She always showed you how she loved you, and appreciated your friendship through her actions. Clarisse was so insistent on teaching you how to use a spear so you’d be safe whenever she wasn’t there. She always made sure she would be able to protect you during Capture the Flag. She always picked the biggest strawberries for you to eat.

“Are you ok?” Lee asked you gently.

“Much better thanks to you,” you smiled.

“You’re demigod, and gods’ love stories are messy and hard, but I’m sure you’ll be the exception with Clarisse.”

“Ok, now you’re just trying to jinx this,” you joked.

“Ok, let’s go back now.”

“Wait, your thing we haven’t even reached the cabin yet,” you frowned.

“Yeah, that was just an excuse to talk to you alone because I didn’t know if you wanted to talk in front of everyone or not. And I know you needed to talk.”

“Don’t say that,” you felt tears coming up, “I will cry and they’ll know something’s wrong.”

“Yeah you’re right, if Clarisse knew I made you cry she’d kill me,” he joked.

But it was too late, you were crying. He knew you so well, and you couldn’t imagine your life without him.

“Dry your tears up or I’ll start crying too,” Lee warned you.

“Ok,” you nodded, “but I need you to know that you’re my best friend and I love you and thank you for taking care of me now.”

“I love you too,” he reassured you. “Now let’s go before they start to get worried.”

You walked back, and you followed Lee to the chariot. Every rider was putting on their armour and putting on the final piece of their chariot together. Kayla was ready, and held her bow in her hands and she looked around and broke into a smile when she spotted you.

“I was getting worried here, Michael was ready to jump in to fill your place.”

“I’m going to get ready, be right back. And tell Michael to chill.”

“Are you ok? We were really worried about you earlier,” Kayla turned to face you.

“I’m fine, honestly. I’m going to join the others, and hold up the signs we made for you.”

“I can’t wait to see!”

You walked away when someone else rushed toward you and grabbed your arm.

“Clarisse?”

She didn’t answer, and kept walking away to have some privacy.

“What’s wrong?” you asked.

“Have you been crying?” she frowned.

But you couldn’t answer her because she had finally stopped and turned around to face you. When you joined Kayla, you saw a lot of them in their armour, but Clarisse looked like she came out of a movie. How could she look that pretty when she was going to do a chariot race?

“I—” you said stupidly. “What did you say?”

“I said, did you cry?” she articulated slowly, “your eyes are puffy and slightly red. You look like you just cried.”

“No, it's— I didn’t get much sleep last night and my eyes were irritated. You look really pretty dressed like that,” you smiled.

Clarisse looked away, trying to contain her smile.

“Also, don’t be careless out there,” you warned her, “because Tantalus and Mr. D aren’t going to protect any of you, which is insane, but that’s not the subject. Just— don’t get hurt, ok?”

“Gotta look presentable for our date right?” she gave you a hesitant smile.

You froze, with your mouth slightly opened.

“Unless you changed your mind and that’s fine,” Clarisse quickly shrugged. “I–”

“No, I didn’t change my mind. Not at all. I just thought you’d forgotten because of how busy we’ve been at camp. Or how busy you have been. With the patrols and the race, and you know…”

“I haven’t.”

“Great,” you chirped. “I can’t wait.”

“Clarisse let’s go!” Mark shouted behind.

“Go, I’ll be cheering you, but don’t tell Lee or Kayla,” you whispered to her.

And you left quickly. At the same time, Lee came out with his armour on.

“Hey, good luck out there,” you said.

“Thanks. Any last minute advice on how to win?”

“Stay clear of Clarisse’s chariot, she won’t hesitate to eliminate either of you to win.”

“If you were with me, that wouldn’t have been a problem,” Lee laughed.

“Ha ha,” you rolled your eyes. “Be careful ok?”

It was easy to spot where the Apollo cabin stood because of the amount of campers, you ran to the spot they left for you next to Will. You were very close to the tracks, so you could see very well when every chariot rolled in. Everyone was screaming, shouting and encouraging their siblings.

“Charioteers… to your mark!” Tantalus announced. “First team thrice around the tracks wins. Weapons allowed, dirty tricks encouraged.”

You and Michael stared at each other, this wasn’t going to end well.

“Killing not so much, but things happen, et cetera et cetera.”

Cheers erupted and then everyone turned to their left and watched as the Poseidon chariot came in. The chariot looked incredible. Then Clarisse raised a fist in the air, shouting “Glory to Ares” to which her siblings all shouted back at her. And it went on for every cabin, then Lee and Kayla enthusiastically shouted “Honour to Apollo.”

“Charioteers, attend to your mark!” Tantalus said.

Just as the horn was being blown, you watched as Clarisse took the spear in Mark’s hands and knocked one of the riders and cut the pips of the Hephaestus chariot.

“That doesn’t look good,” Will chimed in.

It was hard to keep track of who was winning with all the sand flying through the air, and the flock of Stymphalian birds flying on top of the barrier didn’t help. Those birds just couldn’t keep away from camp it seemed. On the second lap of the race, you watched the Ares chariot passing the Hermes’ chariot which resulted in a combat between Mark and Tyson. Mark quickly fell off the chariot when Tyson released the weapon which made the Hermes chariot swerve to avoid hitting Mark, making them lose control and crash.

“Should we go and help them?” Will looked at you.

“We could get run over,” Michael said.

The Apollo cabin stood strong, they were right behind Clarisse and Percy who were fighting, when they swerved around the Hephaestus chariot and exploded shortly after which blew Lee and Kayla off their chariot.

“Fuck this,” you quickly stood and ran down, quickly followed by Will and Michael.

There were too many injured campers for you to sit around and do nothing. Michael and Will ran to the chariot to carry Lee and Kayla off the tracks while you went to check on the Hephaestus campers. There were some burns and scratches from the explosion, but nothing too serious.

“Maybe you should break Clarisse’s spear again,” Charles snarked.

“If only Chiron was there,” you mumbled. “It would’ve been more fun.”

“I know.”

“We should get all of you in the infirmary,” you suggested. “Can you—”

But your idea was cut short when the birds started to pass through the barrier and started attacking everyone. People were screaming, trying to protect themselves against the birds but no one had their weapon with them.

“Don’t panic!” Tantalus shouted through the giant horn, “we have a minor field hazard.”

“Minor field hazard my ass,” you seethed through your teeth.

“y/n!” Will ran to you.

“Will! You should go, it’s not safe here.”

“Lee can’t walk, the chariot landed on his leg and it’s really not pretty to look at.”

“I’ll be right there,” you turned to look at Charles.

“Go, we’ll be fine here, don't worry.”

You nodded and followed Will. Lee was sitting down, with scraps of the chariot digging into his leg.

“Why are you alone?” you looked around.

“I told Michael and Kayla to go find weapons to fight these,” he showed the birds.

“And leave you alone?” you shouted.

“It was useless to have three of us here defendless… like right now.”

Lee was right, because there were birds flying everywhere and a few of them were coming to you. You stood in front of your brothers, hoping they wouldn’t get injured, when you heard the sound of a sword killing them.

“Are you ok?” Clarisse grabbed your arm to help you get up.

“I’m fine,” you shrugged her off. “Will, help me get Lee to the infirmary.”

“There’s too many of them, you can’t seriously think you’ll outrun them,” Clarisse kept on holding your arm.

“Let me go,” you warned her.

Clarisse frowned, confused by your lashing but she didn’t let you go.

“I told you to be careful,” you yelled. “And then you get the chariot to explode which ultimately got Lee hurt. They could've died from that explosion!”

“I–”

But then Annabeth and Percy started playing Mariah Carey, and that made the birds fly away. Well, that was one thing you could get off of your mind for now. You left with Lee and Will for the Big House, where other injured campers went too. The Apollo cabin took care of the injuries the best they could, while the others went to a meeting with Mr. D and Tantalus.

“Go rest, I’ll stay there,” Michael told you. “It should be fine from now on.”

“Ok,” you sighed, “I’ll come back tomorrow to check on them,” you stared at Lee sleeping.

Clarisse was waiting for you outside of your cabin, sitting down on the steps in front of the door. She was picking on the grass when she heard footsteps approaching. She stood quickly, keeping her hands on her sides. She had taken off her armour.

“You’re hurt,” you stated, looking at the gash on her cheek.

She didn’t say anything.

“Come in,” you walked in your cabin, “let’s take care of that.”

She followed you, still not saying anything. She sat on your bed, waiting for you to come back with some supplies to clean up the wound and patch that up.

“So, what was the meeting about?” you asked her while cleaning her cheek.

“Thalia’s tree won’t hold up. The barrier will be gone in a week if nothing’s done.”

“Oh. So what’s their plan?”

“There was a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece.”

“And who’s leading it?” you finished patching her up and sat on the bed opposite to yours.

“Tantalus gave it to me,” she explained.

“Oh that’s great!” you smiled, happy for her, momentarily forgetting you were mad at her earlier.

“Annabeth and Chris are going with me,” she looked down at her hands.

“Oh.”

Neither of you said anything for a moment.

“I would’ve chosen you but you weren’t there and I wasn’t sure if you—”

“You don’t have to justify yourself,” you cut her off. Just…,” you huffed out a laugh, “didn’t you were that close with Chris,” you mumbled under your breath.

“I’m not.”

“Right,” you paused. “Would you have chosen me if I were in that room?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “If I could, I would’ve chosen you twice.”

“Mh… have you seen the Oracle yet?”

“No, I wanted to talk to you first.”

You nodded. Clarisse leading this quest meant that your date was never going to happen, it meant that she was going to spend a lot of time with Chris and Annabeth instead of you.

“Are you still mad at me for the chariot race?” her voice quavered.

“No… I was just scared for Lee. I'm sorry I yelled at you, it was uncalled for when you were helping us. And—,” you stopped. “You should go see the Oracle and start preparing for your quest.”

Clarisse nodded, she knew she couldn’t waste any time, yet she didn’t move.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to have our date,” she let out a small laugh.

“I guess we’ll just have to reschedule again…”

“When I come back,” she promised.

“When you come back,” you agreed.

In the morning, a few campers were called to the Big House by Tantalus and Mr. D including you. Michael and Kayla walked by your side, both as confused as you were. When you entered the Big House, a lot of campers were already there and among them there was Clarisse.

“What’s happening?” Kayla wondered out loud.

“I have no idea,” you mumbled.

Tantalus started to yap endlessly about the Percy and Annabeth situation.

“Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase,” Tantalus started to say, “will pay for deserting camp in our time of need. Clarisse!”

Clarisse kept looking down without moving.

“Clarisse!” Tantalus repeated which startled Clarisse.

“Mmh?” she looked at him.

“You have full authority to deliver justice to these outlaws, if you encounter them on your quest.”

Clarisse gave a small nod.

“Now,” Tantalus continued, “since Ms. Chase is dead to us, you must choose a replacement companion, or buddy… or quest mate or… she needs two of them right?”

Clarisse finally looked up to stare at you for a long time before looking at Tantalus.

“I will be leaving alone for this quest.”

“Clarisse!” you ran after her while she walked up the hill to Thalia’s tree.

But she didn’t stop, so you had to run to catch up to her. You put yourself in front of her, so she would have to stop walking.

“You’re not seriously thinking about going alone, right?”

“I am. Having anyone around would only slow me down.”

“A quest has to have three people.”

“I don’t need anyone. I can’t have anyone come with me when I don’t trust anyone here to have my back.”

“I–” you stopped.

But before you could continue, you both felt a change in the air. Someone was approaching, and when you saw Clarisse tense up and walking away from you you knew who it was. Ares. She knelt before her father.

“Lord Ares, Father, I am humbled by your presence.”

“Humble’s for losers. Get up.”

Clarisse stood up while you slowly walked up to them.

“Heard you snagged the Golden Fleece gig,” Ares said. “Looks like you’re two ding-dongs short of a quest.”

“Didn’t want any dead weight slowing me down,” Clarisse said confidently.

“A one-woman army, huh? Ready to burn it all down? Alright. I can help out with that.”

You stood firmly next to Clarisse.

“Lord Ares,” you acknowledge him.

“And who’s that?” Ares nodded to you.

You looked at Clarisse, but she kept her eyes on her father.

“That’s y/n, daughter of Apollo.”

“I thought you didn’t want any dead weight slowing you down,” Ares sized you up. “Are you going on that quest with my daughter?”

You looked at Clarisse, and this time she looked back at you. Even if you wanted to stay with Clarisse, you weren't sure if you could. Mr. D and Tantalus didn't know about this, and as a result, if you left, you could be expelled from camp. You would let Clarisse decide.

clarisse blows up everything act ii

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