in which an orphan learns she isn't really an orphan, and naomi must face the fact that she's descended from gods she never thought existed, and the fates have big plans for her.
[percy jackson x female oc x annabeth chase]
[book 1 of 2]
[the light...
Naomi struggled to her feet to see out of the chariot. The drakon stared down at the warrior before it—almost in contempt—and spat poison directly in her face.
"NO!" Naomi screamed.
The blue-eyed warrior fell.
"Clarisse!" Annabeth jumped off the monster's back and ran to help as the other Ares campers tried to defend the fallen warrior.
Naomi lost control of her shadows yet again, exhaustion and shock rendering her powerless as she threw herself out of the charioteer-less chariot. She ran to the warrior's side.
Her heart thundered in her chest as she felt the too-familiar feeling of death intensify in her stomach.
No, she thought. No, no, no, no.
At the edge of her vision, she saw a flying chariot land on Fifth Avenue.
Then someone ran toward them. A girl's voice, shaken with grief, cried, "NO! Curse you, WHY?"
Naomi's hands shook as she held the girl in her arms. Annabeth and the other Ares campers tried to unfasten her helmet. Her armor smoked with the drakon's poison. Naomi barely registered the girl kneeling next to them, her face blotchy with tears.
Clarisse.
"WHY?" she demanded.
Chris Rodriguez ran over from the flying chariot. He and Clarisse must've ridden it there from camp, chasing the Ares campers, who'd mistakenly been following the other girl, thinking she was Clarisse.
Wanting to believe it was her.
"Look out!" Chris warned.
In her peripheral, Naomi saw the drakon whirl toward the sound of Chris's voice. It bared its fangs at the group of demigods.
The real Clarisse looked up at the drakon. Her face filled with absolute hate. Naomi had seen a look that intense only once before. Her father Ares had worn the same expression when Percy had fought him in single combat.
"YOU WANT DEATH?" Clarisse screamed at the drakon. "WELL, COME ON!"
She grabbed her spear from the fallen girl. With no armor or shield, she charged the drakon.
Naomi barely registered the fight itself. It might have lasted a second or an hour, she couldn't tell. That feeling in her stomach was all-consuming. It left her nauseous and completely drained.
Finally, Annabeth managed to remove the girl's helmet, but Naomi already knew whose face would be behind it. She couldn't stop the tears from falling.
"Silena," she croaked.
Silena's eyes were unfocused, but she found Naomi's hand with her own and held on as tight as she could, which wasn't tight at all. "Nay."
"I'm here," Naomi all but whimpered. "I'm right here."
Clarisse knelt on Silena's other side, her eyes glistening with tears. "What were you thinking?"
Silena tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked. "Wouldn't... listen. Cabin would... only follow you."
"So you stole my armor," Clarisse said in disbelief. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol, you stole my armor and pretended to be me." She glared at her siblings. "And NONE of you noticed?"
"Don't blame them," Silena said. "They wanted to... to believe I was you."
"All my fault," Silena said, a tear streaking the side of her face. "The drakon, Charlie's death... camp endangered—"
"Stop it!" Clarisse said. "That's not true."
Silena opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm—the mark of Kronos.
"You were the spy," Percy realized.
Silena tried to nod. "Before—before I liked Charlie, Luke was nice to me. He was so—charming. Handsome. Later, I wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. He promised... he promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt. He told me he wouldn't hurt—Charlie. He lied to me."
Behind them, the battle raged. They hardly noticed.
Clarisse scowled at her cabin mates. "Go, help the centaurs. Protect the doors. GO!"
They scrambled off to join the fight.
Silena took a heavy, painful breath. "Forgive me."
"You're not dying," Clarisse insisted. "Tell her she's not dying, Naomi."
Even if Naomi could have gotten the words out of her clogged throat, what would she say? She could feel Death himself looming over Silena, ready to take her away.
Tears fell as she leaned down, pressing a kiss to the forehead of the girl who was her sister in every way but blood. "It's okay," she whispered. "You died a hero. You'll go to Elysium. You'll be happy there. You'll see—" Her voice broke, but she pushed through. "You'll see Charlie again."
"Charlie..." Silena's eyes were a million miles away. "See Charlie..."
She didn't speak again.
Clarisse wept. Chris put a hand on her shoulder. Naomi couldn't do anything but stare down into Silena's lifeless eyes, wondering when the world had suddenly shifted from just bad to downright cruel.
Finally, Annabeth closed Silena's eyes.
"We have to fight." Annabeth's voice was brittle. "She gave her life to help us. We have to honor her."
Clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. "She was a hero, understand. A hero."
Percy nodded. "Come on, Clarisse."
The daughter of Ares picked up a sword from one of her fallen siblings. "Kronos is going to pay."
❊
did i cry writing this? yeah. what about it?
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