"What the hell happened?!" Percy exclaimed as Cressida woke up in the infirmary.
"Nothing," she groaned as she shifted on her back. "I used my powers. I got tired. No big deal."
"You usually don't end up in the infirmary when you use your powers," Percy said and she scoffed as she shifted onto her side, away from him.
"Since when do you care?"
"Gods, Cress, don't give me that, please. I screwed up, I know. I didn't mean to lie to you, but I'm still your friend. I still care about what happens to you even if you're angry at me."
She turned over to face him. "Why did you lie to me?"
Percy just took a deep breath. "Honestly, I have no idea. But I know that I hated it more than anything. I'm really sorry."
"I hate this," she exclaimed. "I hate fighting with you."
"I'm not exactly a fan of it either."
"I'd ask you to stop being so stupid that we keep ending up here, but that's like asking Kronos to stop wanting to destroy us."
Percy had to laugh at that as he reached out for her hand from where he sat next to her cot. "I'm sorry for lying. And I will find a way to make it up to you and all that, and feel free to hate me until then but, are you really ok? What happened that landed you here?"
She sighed. "I'm ok, but I can't tell you what happened."
Percy sat up straighter. "I know you're angry at me, but if you -"
"No, I mean, I literally can't tell you. I swore an oath. Unless you already know what it is, I can't tell you," she explained and he contorted his face in confusion.
"Because that wasn't a confusing statement at all."
She gave him a small smile. "To dumb it down for you, unless you want me to die for breaking an oath on the Styx, I can't tell you what I was doing. Though, if you found out from a different source that wasn't me, then I could tell you about it."
"Easy enough," Percy said and she seemed surprised that he would try to find out what happened to her so badly - then again, he was still on the hook for lying to her. "Who else knows what -"
"Lynn, you alive?" came a voice and Clarisse walked into the infirmary, followed by Will Solace, an Apollo camper, and Clarisse's scowl got deeper as her eyes landed on Percy.
"I'm fine La Rue. I told you," Cressida assured her as she rolled over and sat up, letting go of Percy's hand.
"Think you can manage another go?" Clarisse asked as she approached her cot.
"She needs to eat something first. No magic until she's had a full meal," Will ordered as he checked her temperature.
"I could do with some food," Cressida said as she went to stand only to wobble on her feet.
"Easy, Lynn," Clarisse said as she caught her, Will catching her other arm as Percy shot to his feet.
"Make that a very big meal. Did you eat today?" Will asked.
"Breakfast. My lunch date was cancelled."
Clarisse's eyes narrowed on Percy as if this was all his fault. "Get lost, Jackson. You're not needed here," she snapped.
"Cress-"
"I'll be fine, Percy," she promised. "I'll see you at dinner."
And reluctantly, Percy walked out of the infirmary.
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Cressida didn't show up to dinner, but she did come to breakfast the next morning, except Clarisse was sitting with her at her table, watching the girl like a hawk as she made sure Cressida ate everything on the two plates in front of her. Percy wished Clarisse wasn't there. He needed to talk to her about the dream he had - well not a dream. Rather it was an Iris message that showed Nico talking to a ghost. Nico was coming after Percy in hopes to bring back his sister. And he needed to tell her.
But he was distracted from that when Annabeth also broke the rules and joined him at his table to explain to him about the labyrinth and Clarisse's secret mission.
"It's a secret," Annabeth was saying," because she found Chris Rodriguez."
"The guy from the Hermes cabin?" Percy wondered, remembering when they'd overheard him talking on Luke's ship two years ago.
"Yeah," Annabeth said. "Last summer he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarisse's mom's house."
"What do you mean he just appeared?"
"He was wandering around the desert in fifty degrees, in full Greek armour, babbling about string."
"String," Percy repeated.
"He'd been driven completely insane. Clarisse brought him back to her mom's house to the mortals couldn't get to him. She tried to nurse him back to health and Chiron even came out to interview him, but nothing worked. Then they brought him here."
"Chris is here? At camp?"
Annabeth nodded. "The only people that know where are Grapes, Clarisse and Chiron."
"That's why she was in the infirmary," Percy muttered to himself.
"What?"
"I was in the infirmary yesterday to get some bandages and ambrosia, Cress was asleep on one of the cots. She said she used her powers and she got tired. If Chris went mad and Mr D isn't here, Cress would be his only hope at becoming sane again."
"But Chris has been here for months. Why isn't he better?" Annabeth wondered.
"It's the one thing she's never known how to do," Percy answered. "She can send you insane easily, but she said putting the pieces of someone's identity back together is a million times harder."
"Why wouldn't she tell us?" Annabeth wondered.
"She swore on the Styx. Whatever happened on Clarisse's mission and with Chris must've been really bad if she did that."
"Well yeah. I mean, Luke has his forces in the maze and they're trying to navigate it but -"
"Can I borrow your cap?" Percy blurted.
"What?"
"Your Yankees cap. Can I borrow it after breakfast?"
"Ok?" Annabeth said but it sounded more like a question. And for someone as smart as her, she failed to notice the way Percy was intently staring at Cressida as she stood from her table, Clarisse with a hand on her back as if she didn't trust that the girl wouldn't fall as they headed towards the woods.