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STRENGTH ✷ chapter five, ━━━━━ the traitor that lies amongst them. PUBLISHED. . . February 5th, 2024 EDITED . . . July 9th, 2025 REPUBLISHED . . . July 9th, 2025
"𝕮LARISSE IS THE LIGHTNING THIEF."
There was absolutely no way. Luke had to be joking.
The conversation continued, with all of them unaware that she was behind him. Percy said through the misty call, "Chiron's gotta arrest her, find out what she knows. There's more to this than just the bolt. Something bigger. Don't ask me how I know, you just gotta trust me."
"Okay, I'm on it." Luke nodded, agreeing to tell Chiron, "So, Ares, huh? What was—"
"Clarisse is not the lightning thief."
Luke, Percy and Annabeth all froze when they heard Nabi. Luke turned around, and their eyes met. An apprehension in the room had rose in the air like a storm was about to break. "Percy, Annabeth... I'm gonna have to hang up the Iris message early."
The call ended. Nabi and Luke stared each other down, neither of them willing to speak first. Finally, Luke dragged out a sigh and asked, "How much of that did you hear?"
"Just the wrongful accusation." Nabi said, her tone hard but steady. She repeated, "Clarisse is not the lightning thief."
"You're only saying that because she's your best friend." Luke scoffed.
"Which means I know her better than you do." Nabi remarked.
Luke didn't budge, still firm on the idea. "Which means you'd blindly ignore all the evidence."
"I'm not ignoring anything!" Nabi shook her head. "I'm denying your assumption because it's false. She'd never commit larceny to start a war. And what evidence?"
"Her father is the god of war." Luke said with a cold edge. "It's in her nature—"
"Clarisse isn't her father." Nabi scowled. "Don't ever compare her to him like that."
Luke raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "She is similar to him, though. She's quick to anger; big on fighting; all of that. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, sometimes."
"But she wouldn't do something as stupid as stealing the lightning bolt!" She cried out, exasperated. "Look, whoever it was must've been an idiot, someone dumb enough to—"
