𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇, Clarisse la Rue

𝐢𝐢. flaming freaking bulls are not cool

STRENGTH
━━ act two, chapter two.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

ON SOME MORNINGS, NABI WOULD WAKE UP TO ACHING MUSCLES AND A COUGHING FIT. They were slowly becoming more frequent over the past few months. She might have been overexerting herself during her last few training practices with Clarisse.

   "Damn," Connor said, sitting on his bed, as Nabi sat up from her own with a sour look on her face, "you alright?"

   "Just peachy..." Nabi grimaced at how painful her chest was as she cleared her throat, then coughing once more into her pyjama sleeve, "Gods— maybe I've got a cold..."

   Travis leaned against her bedframe, and shrugged, "A cold doesn't last that long."

   "Yeah," Nabi sighed, "might need to relax on the undead stuff... I don't know."

   She got up, scuffling her feet against the ground as she shivered — Nabi was always quite a cold person, but especially in the mornings, she'd feel a little chilly, even in the summer. Connor asked, "Are you on border patrol, today?"

   "Mhm," Nabi hummed, she opened one of her drawers to get some clothes out for her to wear — the typical camp shirt and some jeans, "I need to be quick, or else Clarisse'll take roll call and I'll be marked late."

   Ever since Thalia's tree had been poisoned by... well supposedly, Chiron, the camp borders had grown much weaker than before. The magic wasn't enough to keep all the monsters out; they needed a way to fend the lot of them off.

   Every camper knew the story behind the tree: six years ago, Grover, Annabeth, and Luke had came to Camp Half-Blood chased by an army of monsters.

When they got cornered on top of the hill, Thalia Grace, a daughter of Zeus who was also with them, had made her last stand to buy her friends enough time so that they could reach safety. As she was dying, her father took pity on her and changed her into a pine tree. Her spirit had reinforced the magic borders of the camp, protecting it from monsters. The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy.

   Except now, it wasn't.

   Anyone at camp could see how badly the tree had been harmed. The tree's condition was getting worse, too. Even from the bottom of the hill, you'd be able to spot the needles of Thalia's tree had turned yellow, as well as the large puncture mark in the centre of it that was the size of a bullet hole, oozing out a weird green sap.

Since someone needed to take action, once Clarisse had gotten back from a week in Arizona, she demanded to set up a border patrol to keep the camp protected. There was a rotation of the groups depending on the days, and of course, Clarisse had made sure Nabi was part of the same group she was in.

She just wished that border patrol wasn't so early in the morning...

   When she opened her drawer, Nabi was a little stunned to find a small slip of card, unassuming and with printed words. What it said was so shocking that Nabi almost let it fall from her hands:

   Thanatos has had his turn, and I can't afford to be left out! Come and find me at my fountain, my fair grandchild... oh, just the word makes me feel old. How funny! You'll understand how utterly hilarious that was when you meet me, Nabi. I hope you're prepared.