𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐥𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐞

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

"𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐈 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐈𝐓?"
Clarisse questioned, staring at the girl in front of her.

Birdie couldn't tell if she was angry or found it funny. She could never tell with anyone, and with Clarisse it was so much harder.

"No! The others did, but- but I didn't" Birdie replied after a moment of silence.

Clarisse rolled her eyes.

"don't lie to me, Birdie"

Angry.

"I'm not lying!"

Birdie-Mae had always hated liars, and since the discovery of what Luke had done, liars became the thing she hated most in the world.

She would never lie. The only time she lied was to protect someone - or to convince someone her name was just Birdie and not Birdie-Mae.

"You're telling me you never thought it was me who stole it? Not for one minute?" Clarisse asked, crossing her arms.

Birdie was quiet for a few seconds, which was a mistake.

Clarisse scoffed.

"Was it because of Percy? Or was it because it just had to be the daughter of Ares? Because I just love my father so much?"

"No, Clar-"

"Tell me the truth."

Birdie didn't speak. She simply looked at Clarisse.

Clarisse looked back with a cold glare, the one she gave before any of this had happened. Birdie wished none of it had happened, so everything could be normal again.

Clarisse grew sick of the silence and went to leave. When she stepped past, Birdie spoke.

"I never thought it was you, tru- trust me" Birdie said, grabbing Clarisse's arm to bring her to a halt.

"Clarisse, come on" Birdie begged, her hand moving down to Clarisse's hand.

When their fingers met, Clarisse immediately tugged her hand away.

"Clarisse" Birdie gasped.

"I know what you think of me. It's the same for everyone. I'm not just some angry girl who needs her father to love her. I mean, I do want him to, and- and I am angry. But it's not just that."

This was the first time Clarisse did anything remotely close to opening up.

Birdie understood. She wanted Athena to love her, just as Clarisse wanted Ares to love her.

Birdie went to speak again but Clarisse stopped her.

"I don't need pity," she spat "and I don't need you to speak to me anymore."

With that, she left.

Birdie felt like she could die. Different from the previous feeling but it was still so familiar.

In that moment, all she wanted was Clarisse - and Clarisse wanted nothing to do with her. Simply because she hesitated.

Just before that, they were happy. But, of course, Birdie had to ruin it.

'They thought you stole the bolt.'

Idiot.

It was like she didn't want to be happy. Like she needed things to be bad. Like if anything was good, it was wrong.

Or it was all a vicious plan of Aphrodite.

Moments prior, they were smiling at each other.

Idiot.

"Birdie! Bird!" a voice called out.

It somehow sounded dusted and muffled.

Birdie turned to see a cloudy image of Grover..

...in a wedding dress.

This kind of thing was something that could only be formed with a dream, she thought.

Maybe she was dreaming.

Maybe it was all just a crazy dream.

Maybe the past year was just a dream.

Just a nightmare.

"What's going on?" Birdie asked, watching in amusement as the satyr attempted to pull up the baggy white dress.

"I don't have a lot of time and I really need to find Percy but-"

"Just tell me" Birdie snapped.

Usually, she would be fine with him stringing it along as long as he needed but she was in no mood.

"He has me trapped, Bird. You need to help. If Percy gets there, tell him" Grover said quickly.

He was right. He did not have a lot of time because as soon as he finished speaking, the image was gone.

She didn't get a chance to ask anything.

'Who has you?'

'Where are you?'

'Why are you in a dress?'

Nothing.

She waited to wake up. Her dreams always felt so real, maybe this was just another dream.

No.

This was real.

Of course, it had to be real.

Birdie had just gotten back to camp and this is what unfolded in her few hours of being there.

She was already so tired.

Her sister wasn't there yet. Annabeth was still doing something somewhere else, though Birdie didn't know what. Or where. Or if she was with anyone.

Without knowing it, she could have just let her younger sister follow death.

As the older sister, it must have been her job to protect Annabeth.
And she let her go alone.

Idiot.

She had made a lot of mistakes.

Not only in that day, but in the past year.

In her life.

Birdie walked out from the woods, making her way to cabin six - where she obviously did not belong.

She had grown to be less cowardly, but she was still afraid.

As she flopped down onto her bed, she remembered what Annabeth had said the year before, after Birdie had first spoken to Percy.

The little question was bizarre.

"Fine as in 'yeah, I'm fine' or fine as in 'damn, he's fine'?"

She laughed quietly to herself. All of her siblings showed no interest in her - she was happy for that in the moment.

She didn't have an idea of why that memory was brought into her head, but she was happy for it.

She felt calm then.

Now, she was always frantic.

Clarisse had given her a feeling of safe, like for once she could be protected instead of having to keep everyone else from danger, and now the feeling was ripped out.

The happy memory faded and Birdie was left alone again.

She still felt unsafe by herself - even more so.

Without Annabeth, or even a reminder that someone was there for her, she thought she was unsafe.

Birdie closed her eyes and silently begged for Annabeth to return soon.

She was no longer happy.