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Percy was stressed. So was everyone else.
Camp had gone from feeling like a summer camp to a war camp, which made sense, considering the Lord Of Time and ex-ruler of the universe was actively gunning for them.
Arts and crafts were cancelled, and so were the rest of the ‘extra’ subjects. Percy spent more and more time in the arena, drilling long after everyone else left. If it wasn’t for the cleaning harpies, he probably would’ve stayed up all night. Drilling until his limbs were numb was the only way to shut his brain up- the useless lump of sponge in his skull was full of Nico’s offer, anxiety about Kronos’ rising, and an anger he couldn’t seem to shake.
He spent every holiday at camp. Not that he wanted to- given the choice, he’d pick his mom and Paul any day of the week, but it wasn’t really up to him. Between him and Annabeth, they were shouldering the weight of an entire war.
Annabeth was insanely strong. She also couldn’t do it alone.
Despite everything, she still seemed to have a soft spot for Luke, and still seemed convinced that they could bring him around.
Percy had about ten near-death experiences to explain why that wouldn’t happen.
He wasn’t happy about Luke.
Annabeth wasn’t happy about Rachel.
Gods, no-one was happy about literally anything, and that alone was enough to send him into the woods to deal with a couple monsters that strayed out of their areas. It barely made a dent in his anxiety.
He had to take the long way back, looping around the Murder Ants, and decided he might as well stop at Half-Blood Hill.
It usually calmed him down. And he needed calming down.
When he made it, though, he wasn’t alone. Argos and his van were in the parking lot, and Clarisse was trudging up the hill in her XXL combat boots. He didn’t really want a fight- the snakes in the woods had been enough of a trial, thanks- so he got ready to vacate the hill at top speed.
Then he got a closer look.
Clarisse was crying.
Clarisse ‘I’ll impale you on my electric spear then roast you on the campfire’ La Rue was crying.
He was so shocked that for a second he just stared. That was when she noticed him. Well, fuck. Now he couldn’t duck out easily, and they both knew he’d seen her crying. That left him with one option.
Diplomacy.
He was so fucking dead- He was really bad at diplomacy. He had a tendency to rile things up instead of calming them down.
Like right that second, for instance.
‘Wow. You look like a mess.’ Percy said.
‘That is rich coming from you. What the hell do you want, Piss-stain?’
‘First of all, for you to come up with an insult you haven’t been using since we were twelve, and secondly, absolutely nothing. This is a public hill, Boarhead, no-one’s making you tolerate my presence.’
She gave him the finger. He gave her the loser sign, which was pretty much a declaration of war for the girl who never lost graciously.
‘Put your money where your mouth is. You, me, the arena, five minutes. Got it?’ Clarisse growled.
He made a show of rolling his shoulders. ‘Hmm, I dunno, I might’ve worn myself out earlier, what with war meetings and strategising and then kicking a bunch of monster ass out in the nastiest part of the woods…’
‘Screw you, I’ve been plenty busy as well and I beat I can still whoop your ass into next week.’
‘You’re on.’
-
If Percy was feeling generous, he might’ve described them as frenemies.
Unfortunately, they were trying to murder each other with pointy objects in the training arena, so generosity wasn’t really the order of the day.
It was a truce. Honestly? He wasn’t trying that hard to beat her, and he was pretty sure she wasn’t either. It was just practice. Both of them had been practice partners for too long- every swing met a parry and every stab met a dodge. Still, it did the trick. So at least Clarisse was good for something.
He told her as much when they sat down with some energy drinks.
Before the war, caffeine and sugar had been hard to come by in camp, unless you were a diabetic or doing one of the more physically intensive courses.
Now, though? Half the troops needed five-hour-energy just to keep them going through a war meeting. Percy included. As a bonus, he’d smuggled in a fuckton of blue soda, so he was set. Out of principle, he didn’t share his stash with Clarisse. She had her own contraband, anyway.
He chugged half the bottle in one go, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand; ‘Can I ask you something?’
She shrugged impatiently, which he took as a yes.
‘Every single month, since I arrived at camp, at least, you and Argos head out for a couple hours and you come back all cranky and sad.’
‘I do not.’ Clarisse bristled.
‘You’re literally proving my point, dude.’
‘You’re an annoying asshole.’
‘Takes one to know one.’
She crumpled her empty can in her fist like it was paper. ‘If I tell you, will you stop being such a nosy cunt?’
‘Scout’s honour.’ He replied, and did the scout hand thing just for emphasis.
Clarisse scoffed. ‘That’s the Star Trek hand signal, Jackass.’
‘Wow, you’re a secret nerd.’
‘You’ll be a secret corpse buried behind Zeus’ fist if you don’t shut the hell up. Do you want me to tell you, or not?’
He mimed zipping his lips. She sighed like he was her personal punishment from the gods. The feeling was very mutual, believe him.
‘I’m visiting my mom.’ Clarisse said stintedly.
‘Didn’t know you had one of those. You’ve been a year-rounder, like, the entire time I’ve known you.’
‘Obviously I have a mom- I just can’t see her that often.’
‘Why not?’
‘Fucking hell, I’ll get to that part if you give me a second.’
Percy rolled his eyes, but shut up. He was too curious to walk away now, even if she was crumpling her empty can like she wished it was his head.
Clarisse huffed. ‘I can’t see her that often ‘cuz she’s in jail. Has been for a while, and will be for a goddamn eternity.’
He didn’t know what he expected her to say-
Just not that.
‘Wow.’ He blinked. ‘That sucks, dude.’
‘Thanks, Captain Obvious.’ She made a face like she was constipated, which meant she was thinking. Then, to Percy’s surprise, she started talking again. ‘Mom was a soldier- that’s where she met Ares. She didn’t plan on quitting after she had me, so she went back out. She was reckless, though. Got hit by some shrapnel and wrecked her back. When she came home, she was in a shitton of pain and absolutely miserable, so when the friend we were staying with offered some painkillers, well… She didn’t say no.’
Percy gave her a sympathetic look.
Clarisse scoffed.
‘I can’t believe you’re making me tell you all this.’ She said.
‘Hey, I’m making you do fucking nada.’
‘Okay. Tell me to shut up, then.’
He didn’t, but he did give her a mocking ‘please continue’ gesture, which she responded to with a couple death threats and a maiming threat- classy as ever.
She cleared her throat. ‘So she got hooked on painkillers. Then a few more things. Then, before we knew it, we were moving in with her dealer boyfriend. She missed my dad, apparently. She missed feeling like she had a purpose, even if that purpose was a bunch of bloodshed and murder.’
‘I know something about addict stepdads.’ He reminded her.
‘Did yours slam doors all night, too?’
‘Yep. Reeked of booze and sweat, treated my mom and I like shit- the works.’
‘Couldn’t stand him. My mom couldn’t either- not really. She was just lonely and angry and looking for a distraction.’
Percy picked at a scab on his knee. ‘So she got arrested for something druggy?’
‘Kinda? I don’t remember much of it, honestly. I went to school, then I walked back to her boyfriend’s house, and when I got there it was crawling with cops. My mom and the guy argued all the fucking time- but it escalated, that time. Mom says she was too drugged up to remember everything. Maybe he cheated, or tried to break it off, or just got on her last nerve- I don’t know. I really don’t fucking know. What I do know is she hit him with a glass.’
Clarisse kicked a pebble as far away from them as she could while still seated, then was quiet for a while. Percy didn’t push. When she started back up again, she sounded exhausted.
‘She hit him, and it shattered, and it cut his neck. Cut his artery, technically- apparently, he was dead before she could even call 911. It was that quick.’ She snapped her fingers for emphasis. ‘A couple minutes of fighting, a stupid decision she made while she was feeling angry and violent and dumb…’
‘And she went down for it.’ He finished.
‘I don’t wanna be like her, Percy.’ Clarisse admitted. ‘I know I’m an asshole, I know I’m a scumbag, and I know I blow up all the time for the stupidest fucking reasons. But I don’t wanna miss out on the world for thirty years ‘cuz I was feeling pissy and lashed out.’
Percy thought back to the battles they fought together, and a lightbulb went off in his head.
‘You don’t take painkillers, do you?’ He asked.
She shook her head.
‘Yeah, I get it.’ He continued. ‘I can’t be around alcohol, or even drunk people- too many reminders, y’know?’
‘Amen to that.’
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a conch. Someone was calling an emergency meeting- though he was really beginning to think they should just tack on another couple daily meetings and save the conch guy the hassle of calling them all the time.
They stood up, and Clarisse went out of her way to barge into him.
Good. Things were getting way too chummy.