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chapter xxxi.
( sea of monsters )
❝ the light's kin! ❞
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dedicated to my dear friend
kv0the_kingki11er who sacrificed her innocence and received spoiler after spoiler to help me with this chapter.
I'VE COME TO THE CONCLUSION: I hate the Princess Andromeda.
Luke's stupid bear-twins herded us aboard the yacht, throwing us down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool with sparkling fountains. A dozen of Luke's army—snake women, Laistrygonians, demigods in battle armour—had gathered to watch us be killed.
I was going to shout a profanity at Luke when I saw someone among the demigods that made me fall short.
My voice rasped against my throat. "J-Jay?"
He was there. I hadn't recognised him at first, but now that I see him, I don't know why I hadn't realised it was him sooner. His face was covered behind a Greek hoplite helmet, but I knew that nose and those eyes. "What ...?" I couldn't speak. I couldn't ... no ...
Luke gave me a twisted smile, "I love family reunions," he said bitterly. "Claire, Jay, why don't you tell each other what's happened over these ten days?"
I stood up and tried to make my way towards him, but one of the other demigods stepped in front of him, glaring down at me. I swallowed the lump in the throat. "Jay ... wh-why?"
He didn't say anything. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to shout at him and the world as to why everything was so unfair, but I couldn't. All I could feel was this gaping hole where Jay had stabbed me in the back, and it was painful—unbearably painful.
Luke chuckled slightly. I turned to glare at him. I was angry at him. "What did you do? What did you do?!"
Luke only stepped closer and knelt down in front of me. He placed a hand on my shoulder. I shoved it away. He only smiled. "And so, Claire," he mused. "The Fleece. Where is it?"
I didn't say anything, and Luke narrowed his eyes. He prodded the point of his sword at my shoulder. "Now, Claire, we're friends," his voice was dangerously clam. "Perhaps you didn't hear me. I said: Where—is—the—Fleece?"
"Not here," Percy spoke up, and Luke spun towards him. "We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up."
Luke clenched his fists. "You're lying. You couldn't have..." his fave reddened as a horrible possibility occurred to him. "Clarisse?"
Percy nodded.
"You trusted ... you gave ..."
"Yeah."
"Agrius!"
The bear-man flinched. "Y-yes?"
"Get below and prepare my steed. Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to Miami Airport, fast!"
"But, boss—"
"Do it!" he screamed. "Or I'll feed you to the drakon!"
Agrius gulped and sped down the stairs. Luke paced in front of the swimming pool, cursing in Ancient Greek and gripping his sword so tight his knuckles were ghostly white.
The rest of Luke's crew looked uneasy. I glanced over at Jay, who was watching him with a tense stare.
Percy narrowed his eyes, "You've been toying with us all along," he said. "You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."
Luke scowled, "Of course, you idiot! And you've messed everything up!"
"Traitor!" Percy threw a drachma at Luke. I don't understand what the point of that was, since he ducked away and it landed in the water. "You tricked all of us! Even DIONYSUS at CAMP HALF-BLOOD!"
I then realised. Genius! The fountain behind Luke began to shimmer. Percy uncapped Riptide, and everyone's attention remained on him.
Luke sneered. "This is no time for heroics, Percy. Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."
I decided to help. I stood up and made my way over to Percy, standing beside him. Luke narrowed his eyes at me. "Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?" I asked him.
"I did, of course," he snarled. "I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."
"Chiron had nothing to do with it?"
"Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts!"
Percy frowned, "You call it guts? Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?"
I could see in the corner of my eye Jay shifting uncomfortably.
Luke raised his sword. "You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece ... once I was done with it."
I hesitated. The way he said it ... it sounded desperate, like he didn't want to poison Thalia, but instead he had to. I hated the flare of hope that sparked in my chest.
"You were going to heal Kronos," Percy said.
"Yes! The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. But you haven't stopped us, Percy. You've only slowed us down a little."
"And so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods."
Luke gritted his teeth. "You know that! Why do you keep asking me?"
"Because I want everybody in our audience to hear you."
"What audience?"
His eyes narrowed as he realised. He spun around and his goons did the same. They gasped and stumbled back. Above the pool, shimmering in a rainbow mist, was an Iris-message version of Dionysus, Tantalus and the whole camp in the dining pavilion. They sat in stunned silence, watching us.
"Well," said Dionysus dryly, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."
"Mr D, you heard him," said Percy. "You all heard Luke. The poisoning of Thalia's tree wasn't Chiron's fault."
Mr D sighed, "I suppose not."
"The Iris-message could be a trick," Tantalus suggested, but his attention was mostly on his cheeseburger which he was trying to corner.
"I fear not," said the wine god, looking at Tantalus in distaste. "It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games."
Tantalus grabbed the cheeseburger. It didn't bolt away from him. He lifted it from the plate with a gleeful smile. "I got it!" he cackled.
"We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus," Mr D announced.
Tantalus looked stunned. "What? But—"
"You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed."
"No! But—Nooooooooooo!"
The campers exploded into cheers as Tantalus disappeared. Luke bellowed with rage. He slashed his sword through the fountain and the Iris-message dissolved, but the deed was done. He turned to Percy with a murderous look.
"Kronos was right, Percy," he said. "You're an unreliable weapon. You need to be replaced."
The deck doors flew open, and a dozen more warriors poured out, making a circle around us. Luke smiled at us. "You'll never leave this boat alive."
Percy glared at all the monsters before rounding his gaze back at Luke. He gripped Riptide tighter in his hand, and I was sure that the whole ocean would explode just by the look on Percy's face. "One on one," he challenged. "What are you afraid of?"
Luke's gaze could match it. I felt my legs trembling as he moved his gaze to mine. I never thought he'd look at me like that ... like he hated the very existence of me. "Get out of the way, Claire," he snarled.
I wanted to. I wanted to run. But I glanced at Percy, and I remembered what I had said. So, I pulled out my dagger Apollo gave me last year. I couldn't use my bow for this fight, and I wasn't planning to. "No."
"Claire," Percy whispered. "Don't ..."
I ignored him. I matched Luke's glare with one of my own, feeling a lot braver now.
"Claire..." Luke's voice was vicious. "Get out of the way. Now."
"No," I said, stronger this time. "You won't hurt him Luke—you won't hurt any of them."
"Step away," he said. "Or I won't hesitate."
"Neither will I."
Luke gritted his teeth. He stepped forward, ready to slice me with his sword, but I held my hand up and he stopped. The anger wiped off his face and was replaced with a sudden one of fear. "Claire ..." his voice was a lot gentler now. "Claire ... don't ..."
"You hurt me, Luke," my voice trembled. "You hurt Annabeth, you hurt Grover, you hurt Thalia. But ... but you won't hurt anybody anymore."
"You don't have the guts," said Luke. "You wouldn't even dare."
"You wanna bet?" I seethed. I could feel tears forming in my eyes. I wanted to—I wanted to...
"Claire, please, listen to me," Luke said softly. "You deserve more than this. You don't need to do this. Come with me, and I can save you. We can destroy all those who ever hunted us. The gods, Olympus, your mother ... we'll be unstoppable," he took another step forward when he saw that I had hesitated. "You'll be unstoppable."
That was when it hit. "You don't want to save me," I realised. Luke faltered, a frown forming on his lips. "You never wanted to save me." I tried to stop the tear that was threatening to fall, but it did anyway, and I scoffed. The anger returned and I screamed. "I actually started to believe you! I actually thought—I thought, for a second that you ... that you ..." everything fell; my dagger, my heart, "that you still cared."
"Claire, I do care," Luke persisted. "I don't want you to die in the most horrible way."
"No!" I shouted. "You don't want me to die because you want to use me in your fight against the gods! I—I can't believe you!" I was sobbing now. "I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU WOULD JUST DIE!"
For a second, I thought Luke looked hurt. "You don't mean that," the smirk returned, but it was weaker this time.
"Yes," I spat. "Yes I do."
The rage returned to Luke's face. But I wasn't backing down this time. "I don't need you, Claire," he seethed. Luke turned to his warriors. "Kill them."
The demigods and monster all surged forward, but I shouted, "Come any closer and I'll burn you all to a crisp!"
They stopped, looking to Luke expectantly. He was heaving with anger, and so was I. I was warm, I was hot ...
Percy's eyes widened, "Claire ... Claire, you're steaming."
I realised he was right. I looked down at my hands, and they were glowing with gold. Steam drifted off from my skin, and the pale tone was slowly turning to a blistering red. It hurt ... it was starting to hurt ... "Ow!" I let out, clutching my hands and pulling them to my chest.
Percy rushed forward, "Claire!"
"No!" Annabeth cried out. "Don't touch her!"
I've never dealt burns before, not really. They didn't really effect me, for I had the sun in me, and the sun—or rather my father—consisted of fire just as much as he consisted of light. Light and heat were one and the same. And I was feeling it. I now understand what they mean when they say burns are one the most painful wounds ever.
"What are you waiting for?!" Luke shouted. "Get them!"
The monsters and demigods rushed forward. Annabeth, Percy, Tyson and Grover all came in closer, looking all around them with a sudden fear. They got their weapons out, and Percy swung his sword in his hand, ready for a fight.
"Claire, get back!" he shouted at me, but I couldn't move.
It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt—It felt as if I was boiling from the inside. I was a cauldron, ready to burst. "I-I can't," I managed. Even my throat felt like it was on fire.
"Claire?" Annabeth breathed, worried. "Claire, what's happening?"
Luke seemed to just notice the problem too. "She's overheating," he stated. "Claire, Claire, listen to me—"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed at him. "You did this!" I couldn't open my eyes, it hurt too much. All I could do was stumble. "You did this..."
"Claire," I could hear Percy step towards me. "Claire, what's happening. Claire ... it's okay..."
"Don't ..." I shook my head. It hurt. "Don't ... don't ..."
"Guys, better figure this out now, they're closing in..." Grover let out.
"Claire!" Annabeth cried out. "Claire, snap out of it! You can snap out of it!"
Hearing their voices made something in me switch. I pushed myself to open my eyes. I can't describe how much they hurt ... but I ignored it, realising that my friends were in danger. I met their gazes, and they all stared at me with a sudden fear. They stepped back, wide-eyed. Tyson and Grover quivered.
I don't know what they saw, but I found myself scared as well just by the looks on their faces.
Claire.
I jumped at the voice in my head. I knew it immediately. It was my fathers.
Claire, I know you're scared. I know you're in pain. But listen to me. This is meant to happen, this was what was always meant to happen.
I realise what he meant. I met Percy's eyes. He frowned, the fear disappearing as he recognised the look. "Claire ..." he breathed, shaking his head. "No..."
It's okay. All you have to do is let go. Let it all go, Claire. Let yourself free, Light's Kin.
The monsters started to charge, and so I closed my eyes and threw my arms out. I just heard Percy shout, "NO!"
Annabeth screamed, "EVERYONE DUCK!"
My ears rang. I couldn't hear, I couldn't see. Everything was yellow and orange and white. Light and heat overcame me, blinding my thoughts and my conscience. I couldn't feel—my nerves were burnt away. I don't know what pain I could be in now, but I'm glad that I was given some sort of mercy in this moment.
You're brave, my child, Apollo said. I'm proud of you.
The light disappeared, and I hit the ground. Around me, the monsters had turned to dust, while some of the demigods who hadn't been smart enough to duck away were on the ground, burnt so terribly that their armour had melted into their skin.
Luke had been blasted away. He was groaning from where he lied by the fountain, still trying to regain his surroundings. I tried to look for Jay, but I couldn't move.
Taking the chance, my friends ran towards me. Percy and Annabeth dropped down on their knees, Annabeth already had tears in her eyes. She saw something I couldn't.
"Oh, my god, Claire," her voice trembled. "Why ... gods ..." she couldn't get her words out, her fingers hovering over my skin as if she was afraid to touch something.
"What is it?" I managed to ask. "I don't know ... I can't ... I can't feel anything."
Percy pursed his lips, glancing at Annabeth, Grover and Tyson before shaking his hand and forcing a smile on his face. "It's nothing, Claire, don't worry. You're okay."
"Am I?" I don't believe him.
He swallowed hard. "Yeah, you are."
It was hard to breathe. I tried to look at my friends, but I couldn't see them ... they were getting further and further away. I wanted to cry. "I'm not okay," I said.
"Yes, yes you are," I feel Percy is trying to convince himself for then he is trying to convince me, so I shake my head.
"It's okay," I tell him. "This ... this was what was meant to happen, right? I was meant to die ... my purpose ... that was my purpose ... I saved you guys, didn't I? I saved you..."
Annabeth nodded, "Yes, yes you did," she was crying. "You saved us all."
I think I smiled, I don't know. "That's ... that's good." Fear spiked. "What ... what's going to happen? Will ... will I be waiting there? At the D.O.A? Will I? For how long...?"
Percy leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of my face. His eyes were red. "Hey, hey, listen to me ... you'll be fine. It's going to be fine."
I wonder if I was crying, "I ... I don't want to die."
"You're not going to die," said Percy. "I won't. I promised I wouldn't let you die, remember?"
"Yeah ..." I think I laughed. "Yeah, you di..."
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