Saving Thalia's Tree

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Y/n's POV

"Squirt, wake up!" Clarisse demanded and splashed some water in my face to get me up. After everything we had been through, after everything I had done, I thought Clarisse would finally give up with that stupid nickname. But she hadn't. And I was tired of it.

"My name is not Squirt!" I exclaim and get to my feet, clenching my fist. A wave of water then emerged from the ocean and came down on Clarisse, sending her straight into the sand and soaking her from head to toe. "I am tired of you making fun of me all the time. What kind of issues do you have where you feel the need to put down everyone around you? I just saved your life back there! The least you could do is be thankful."

"I-" Clarisse paused for a moment. "Thank you, Y/n. I appreciate everything you've done for me. And I will stop calling you Squirt, even though I find it funny."

"Thank you," I breathe out and extend my hand towards her. Clarisse accepted it, allowing me to pull her up, and with my powers, I sucked all the water from her clothes, making her dry. "Now, where are we?"

"Miami I think," Percy replied and glanced at a newspaper on the beach. "It's June 18th. We've been away from camp for ten days!"

"Thalia's tree must be almost dead!" Grover wailed. "We have to get the Fleece back tonight!"

"How are we supposed to do that? We're hundreds of miles away. No money. No ride. This is just like the Oracle said. It's your fault, Jackson! If you hadn't interfered-"

Annabeth cut Clarisse off. "Percy's fault?! Clarisse, how can you say that? You are the biggest-"

"Stop it," Percy intervened. "Clarisse, what did the Oracle tell you exactly?"

"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,
You shall find what you seek and make it your own.
But despair for your life entombed within stone,
And fail without friends, to fly home with one you condone."

"Ouch," Grover mumbled.

"Not ouch. Quite the opposite actually," Percy opposed. "Does anyone have cash?"

"You mean the green paper?" Tyson questioned and pulled out an airtight bag of cash from his saddle pack. "I thought it was a feed bag for Rainbow. Found it floating in sea, but only paper inside. Sorry."

"There's enough here for two plane tickets," Percy counted. "Clarisse, you and Y/n need to deliver the Fleece back to Camp."

"Are you joking? Zeus said that if I was ever in the air again, he'd blast me out of the sky," I recall. "No offense, Percy, but your ideas suck. They always do."

"It's what Clarisse's quest said. 'Fly home with one you condone'," Percy recited. "Y/n, up until now, you and Clarisse have been sworn enemies. But now you respect each other. It's exactly what the prophecy says! You have to do this."

"Fine," I give in and turn to Clarisse. "You up for one last trip?"

"I think I can tolerate you for another few hours," Clarisse confessed.

"Great. Here," Percy offered and handed the money to Clarisse and the Fleece to me. Immediately, the Fleece warped into a jacket, which I slung over my shoulders. "Get back to Camp and do what we set out to do. Heal Thalia's tree. The rest of us will meet you back there as soon as we can."

"Thank you, Jackson," Clarisse told him and waved down a taxi. "You coming, Y/n?"

"Right behind you," I confirm. "But uh, how am I supposed to avoid being struck out of the sky?"

"Pray to Zeus," Annabeth suggested. "Hopefully he'll see that you're trying to help the camp and will take pity on you."

"So my only chance is to hope Zeus, the lord of the sky, takes pity on me? I'm gonna need to pray to Tyche too," I admit and spare my friends one last glance. "I'll see you guys back at Camp."

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