Indigo Eyes

Chapter 124

Something Percy always admired about Cressida was her fighting spirit. Even if she was knocked down, she got back up. Again and again and again. No matter how much pain she was in, no matter her injuries.

And she was just like that now as she drove her spear into a chink in the drakon's armour which only made it madder.

Percy and Annabeth were knocked off but Cressida's grip on her spear was iron-tight as Clarisse faced the monster by herself.

"ARES!" she shouted, in that strangely shrill voice. She levelled her spear and charged the drakon.

"No! WAIT!" Percy called from where he'd fallen but it was too late.

The monster looked down at her – almost in contempt – and spat poison directly in her face. She screamed and fell.

"Clarisse!" Annabeth yelled as she hauled herself up and ran for the fallen girl.

Cressida's grip finally loosened on her spear in shock and she was launched into the air before falling onto the asphalt.

While Cressida was getting the wind back into her lungs and cursing like a sailor for landing on her bad arm, Percy entertained the Drakon for a few seconds before he realised that he couldn't hurt it and then a flying chariot landed on Fifth Avenue. 

Then someone ran towards them. A girl's voice, shaken with grief, cried, "NO! Curse you, WHY?"

It made no sense. Clarisse was lying on the ground where she'd fallen. Her armour smoked with poison. Annabeth and the Ares campers were trying to unfasten her helmet. And kneeling next to them, her face blotchy with tears, was a girl in camp clothes. It was ... Clarisse.

Cressida was hugging her arm to her chest as she made her way over to where the fallen girl was lying.

"WHY?" the real Clarisse demanded, holding the other girl in her arms while the campers struggled to remove the poison-corroded helmet. Chris Rodriguez ran over from the flying chariot. He and Clarisse must've ridden it here from camp, chasing the Ares campers, who'd mistakenly been following the other girl, thinking she was Clarisse. But it still made no sense.

The drakon tugged its head from the brick wall and screamed in rage.

"Look out!" Chris warned.

Instead of going for Percy who was closest to the monster, the drakon lunged for the source of Chris' voice.

"Move!" Cressida urged as she tackled Chris with one arm, knocking him clear out of the way as the drakon snapped its jaws. Then It bared its fangs at the group of demigods.

The real Clarisse looked up at the drakon. Her face filled with absolute hate, similar to the look her father wore four years ago on a beach in Los Angeles.

"YOU WANT DEATH?" Clarisse screamed at the drakon. "WELL, COME ON!" She grabbed her spear from the fallen girl. With no armour or shield, she charged the drakon.

"Are you alright?" Chris asked a groaning Cressida as he helped her sit up.

"Poisoned knife wound. It's healing. I'll be fine," she said as they helped each other to their feet.

"Guess I owe you even more for saving my life," Chris said.

"So it would seem," Cressida replied as they simply watched Clarisse attack.

She leapt aside as the monster struck, pulverizing the ground in front of her. Then she jumped onto the creature's head. As it reared up, she drove her electric spear into its good eye with so much force it shattered the shaft, releasing all of the magic weapon's power. Electricity arced across the creature's head, causing its whole body to shudder. Clarisse jumped free, rolling safely to the sidewalk as smoke boiled from the drakon's mouth. The drakon's flesh dissolved, and it collapsed into a hollow scaly tunnel of armour.

Shit.

They'd never seen someone take down such a huge monster so quickly.

Clarisse didn't even care about her victory as she ran back to the wounded girl whose helmet they finally managed to remove.

And they all looked down at the dying face of Silena Beauregard.

"What were you thinking?" Clarisse cradled Silena's head in her lap.

Silena tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked. "Wouldn't ... listen. Cabin would ... only follow you."

"So you stole my armour," Clarisse said in disbelief. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol, you stole my armour and pretended to be me." She glared at her siblings. "And NONE of you noticed?"

The Ares campers developed a sudden interest in their combat boots. "Don't blame them," Silena said. "They wanted to ... to believe I was you."

"You stupid Aphrodite girl," Clarisse sobbed. "You charged a drakon? Why?"

"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.

"Oh my gods," Cressida gasped, her fingers covering her lips as Chris placed a hand on her shoulder, looking for any sort of support.

"You were the spy," Percy exhaled in disbelief.

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."

Annabeth looked like her world had ended, her face chalky and her eyes red. Gods above, because they needed things to get worse.

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. "Lynn, please tell me you can do something?!" Clarisse begged and Cressida knelt by her side.

"I can give her my strength. It can help her hold on a little longer until Will gets here," Cressida explained.

"Do it!"

"Cress-"

"No!" Silena said, cutting off Percy and stopping Cressida's actions before she muttered something else. "Charlie ..." Silena's eyes were a million miles away. "See Charlie ..."

She didn't speak again.

Clarisse held her and wept. Chris put a hand on her shoulder. 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 honour her."

Clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. "She was a hero, understand? A hero."

Everyone nodded.

"Come on, Clarisse," Percy said and she picked up a sword from one of her fallen siblings.

"Kronos is going to pay."

Cressida placed a hand on her back, understanding Clarisse's rage entirely. It was the same rage she felt with avenging Castor. "If it's the last thing we do."

And to work they went.