Alexis Solstice Escapes To The Sea Of Monsters

Chapter 4: I Officially Meet Clarrise

"Hit the dirt!" Annabeth yelled.

Percy grabbed me and together we both dove on the ground. A huge BOOM echoed through the river. A flash of light and some smoke. The donut shop was gone now. 

Down the river was a weird-looking ship. It rode low in the water like a submarine. A flag waved from the top. A wild boar. The one that I made the earth swallow whole last year. Lining the deck were zombies in gray uniforms. Dead soldiers with shimmering faces only partially covered their skulls. It reminded me of when I lived in the Underworld. 

A Civil War battle cruiser. The CSS Birmingham. 

There Clarisse was in full Greek battle armor. 

"Losers," She sneered. "But I suppose I have to rescue you. Come on!" 

I haven't had a chance to fully interact with Clarisse yet. I knew she didn't like Percy and she almost tried to put his head in the toilet. She did glare at me a few times but nothing more. From the moment I stepped on board, all the dead sailors were staring at us. They looked at me first and bowed deeply for a moment. This has never happened before. Clarisse even looked confused that they stopped doing their tasks to bow for me. They approved of Annabeth because she told them she was from Virginia. Then they almost took an interest in Percy because of his last name but not so much when they heard he was from New York then walked away cursing the Yankees. Poor Tyson was terrified of them. He made Annabeth hold his hand through the door. Which she was not very happy about.

Everywhere he walked the dead sailors would stare and bow at us. "It's because you're here," Percy told me. "I bet if you weren't here then they'd just be staring."

Eventually, we were escorted to dinner. The captain's quarters were the size of a walk-in closet but still bigger than the other rooms. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, and dr peppers were served. "Tantalus expelled you two for all eternity," Clarisse pointed at Annabeth and Percy. "Mr. D said if any of you show your face at camp again, he'll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV."

"Who was Tantalus again?" I whispered to Annabeth. 

"New camp director," She answered. 

"Did they give you this ship?" Percy asked. 

"Of course not. My father did."

"Ares?"

She sneered. "You think your daddy is the only one with sea power? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. That's their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for a naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them. Won't you, Captian?"

"If it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am. Peace at last... we'll do anything." 

Tyson gulped in fear. 

"Clarisse," Annabeth said. "Luke might be after the Fleece too. We saw him. He has the coordinates and he's heading south. He has a cruise ship full of monsters-"

"Good! I'll blow him out of the water."

"You don't understand," Annabeth tried again. "We have to combine forces. Let us help you-"

"No!" Clarisse pounded on the table. "This is my quest, smart girl! Finally, I get to be the hero, and you two will not steal my chance. Even bringing her along to join you guys! She couldn't even escape from being kidnapped."

"I escaped my cage by myself!" I glared my eyes at her. "You try being shackled and chained. Your enemies know that you can't swim so they got that cruise ship just for me. Try having your blood-" I stopped myself. I didn't owe her an explanation of what happened. 

"I don't want your quest," I told her. She looked at me confused. "I think you can manage on your own. I have complete faith in you being able to help Thalia's tree to save the camp." You could tell that Clarisse never heard those words before. Her expression was unreadable. "Grover is our best friend. He's out there with the fleece. We can work together. You take the fleece to the camp and we get him. Two very different arrivals." 

"Clarisse," Percy spoke cautiously. "We all believe in you. Tantalus is using you. He doesn't care about the camp. He'd love to see it destroyed. He's setting you up to fail."

"No, I don't care what the Oracle-" She stopped herself. 

"What did the oracle tell you?" I asked. 

"Nothing!" She shut that idea down quickly. "All you need to know is that I'm finishing this quest. You guys won't help me but you can stay as guests to save Grover when we get there."

Percy and Annabeth were slightly amazed. No one could get through to Clarisse and somehow their best friend did just that. They all knew they'd be helping Clarisse but there was no use in verbally disagreeing. After eating we were shown where the hammocks were. Annabeth was in the restroom. Tyson was snoring on the makeshift bed on the floor. Percy sat down next to me on my hammock.

 "I don't want to ask if you're okay 'cause that seems kind of stupid," He admitted. "Everything happened so fast. I felt like we kind of needed a second to process this. We're not like Annabeth and Luke who are used to everything going so fast." 

"He knew you were alive and let me think you were dead," I whispered, leaning my head on his shoulder. He put his hand on mine. We both didn't know what to say or what to do. "I was worried he already killed you and it was too late," His voice cracked. 

"We're never going to leave each other again, after this," I slightly joked but was telling the truth. He laughed and nodded. "I'm telling my mom you're going to live with us. We have a spare room. It's yours now."

"I'll take a normal year of taking tests and learning anytime now," I admitted. 

"We should probably try to sleep now," Percy said after a moment of silence. "Yeah, 'cause who knows when we're gonna sleep again. Let me know how Grover is doing when you wake up," I said as I lifted my head off his shoulder. 

"I will. Goodnight, Princess," He teased me once more as he stood up and sat down on his hammock. 

"If you call me Princess and you try to save me. Does that make you Prince Charming?" 

Silence fell upon the two as Percy slightly smirked. "Well since you said it... I mean." 

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Goodnight.. wannabe Prince Charming."