Indigo Eyes

Chapter 18

Percy was down a friend.

Cressida currently wanted nothing to do with Percy.

Tyson was nothing more than an innocent child that only wanted a friend - a brother - and she'd caught Percy saying, verbatim, behind Tyson's back, the words, "He's not my real brother. He's more like a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family. Like...a half-brother twice removed, or something."

Percy may have been a lot of things, but never, not once did Cressida think he could be mean. And it broke her heart that her first-ever friend proved her wrong.

She didn't care how Percy felt about the revelation, all she cared about was that Tyson wanted a friend and Percy was lying to him and making a fool of him.

Annabeth was on Percy's side, which was understandable with how Thalia died, it may not have been fair but it was understandable. What wasn't understandable was Annabeth calling him a monster. Yeah, technically he was a monster, but he didn't need to be called that when he had done nothing monstrous of the sort. And not when people were using it as an insult. She knew what that was like, everyone did the same thing to her before last summer. And both Percy and Annabeth, especially Annabeth knew that, but they still did it anyway. Which was why Cressida hadn't spoken a word to them since.

And the two liars had teamed up for the chariot races until they had an argument and Percy was left with Tyson as a partner while Annabeth went with her siblings and Cressida was reminded very painfully that she always did everything alone, especially since her brothers arrival to camp had been delayed because they were stopping at Olympus on the way there to deliver letters to Ariadne.

Between making her own chariot and nicking some of the Hermes cabin's toys that they were planning on using for the race, the only activity she had a chance to do was weapons training. And where Percy was paired with the Apollo cabin whom he thrashed easily and began wishing he was fighting some of the better fighters at camp, the gods answered his prayers when there was a mix-up on the schedule. And who walked into the arena but a very angry Cressida Lynn.

Another lesson Percy learnt. Be careful what you wish for.

A busted lip, broken wrist and countless bumps and bruises had Percy in the infirmary for the rest of the day. And she didn't even use her spear. Percy fought with a sword while she fought with her bare hands, and he didn't see a hint of guilt on her face (she was a better actress than she knew because it sort of tore her up on the inside to hurt him because for the last year, they'd been friends and even she couldn't erase it all in a single day, but she was trying). It almost felt as if they were starting all over again.

But where last time was technically her fault, this time it was all him.

"Oh, great," she sighed when she showed up for border patrol, a secret operation that Clarisse was running, organising campers on their off time.

"Cressida -"

"Don't talk to me unless it's about a monster attacking the border. I have no interest in anything you have to say," she interjected.

"I just want to-"

"Why did you act differently when it was me?" Cressida blurted and Percy blinked in confusion as he tried to process what she was saying.

"What?"

"I changed my mind. I am interested in your answer to one question. Tyson has one eye and technically, no mortal soul, that is the only difference between us. Both of us have crazy powers that we are in complete control of, so why are you insulting Tyson behind his back, and you didn't do the same to me?" she wondered as she came closer to him.