Chapter 13

Ellie’s POV:

6 days…
One hundred and forty-four hours…
eight thousand six hundred and forty minutes…

Six days was the longest I’ve ever been away from Percy. Though I missed him, I will admit I enjoyed learning about myself and exploring my relationship with Clarisse. I caught on to fighting fast with her as my teacher, especially with the reward system she has set.

Every time I followed her rules during training, did what I was supposed to, and got a hit on her, the more she would kiss my body, caress, and explore.

We found ourselves in the meadow every night, far from the cabins and wandering eyes, where Clarisse would peel my clothes off and make my body sing.

Today was different, though; she had to focus on her siblings. She put so much of her focus and attention on me; her siblings were lagging in their own training.

That’s how I found myself training with Luke.

I knew Clarisse wouldn’t be happy to find us together, but training was the only way to keep busy around here.

Today was hot, waking up tangled in my sheets was a nightmare even though I didn’t sweat being a daughter of Apollo the humidity in the air made me feel wet, so the outfit I picked to train in showed a lot of skin, to keep my clothes from sticking to my skin.

Luke and I started with hand-to-hand combat, then we moved on to fighting with daggers. We started slowly, moving faster and faster. I winced as he moved too fast for me to counter, and the blade met my arm.

“You’re slowing, maybe we need to take a break.” I frown and shake my head.

“No, let’s keep going. ” I demand, Luke raises a brow, giving me a look, and I sigh.

“A monster’s not gonna give me a moment to catch my breath.” I tell him, and he nods.

“Yeah, but there are no monsters after you right now. You can take a break.” I frown at his words.

“I need to be ready; everyone here has been training for years, and I need to work harder to catch up.” I tell him, his eyes soften as I turn to begging.” Please, Luke, I need to keep going.” I stress to him, and he shakes his head.

“What is this really about? Why are you pushing yourself past your limits? What are you so afraid of?” Luke asks, and I sigh, looking up with my hands resting on my waist.

“Percy could be dead, and I wouldn’t even know it.” I tell him.” We don’t have phones or TV’s, so I cant look out for him on the news… my mom’s dead, so she can’t tell me anything.” I shrug, holding the tears at bay.” He was always my protector, and now he’s gone… so I need to train, so I can start protecting myself.” Luke nods, his face sad and tense.

“Percy’s fine.” Luke whispers, and I frown.

“You don’t know th-” Luke cuts me off, stepping into my space.

“Percy’s fine, called camp through Iris.” I tense at his words.

“Wh-” I cut myself off and look down.

“He asked about you. I told him you were doing alright, focusing on training. I figured I’d leave it up to you to tell him about your relationship with Clarisse.” I nod my head in a daze at the news. I was relieved but upset. Percy called, and no one thought to tell me earlier?

“Why am I only hearing about this now? Why did he call?” I ask Luke, and he looks around before sighing.

“It was just a progress report. Look, I’m not supposed to talk about it.” I huff and step away from him, my jaw clenching.

“Im gonna go on a run.” I tell Luke, voice tense.

“It’s just about dinner.” He warns me, and I shake my head.

“Thanks, but Im not hungry.” I jog off, leaving the training area, and decide to go on a run through the woods to work on my stamina.

Why didn’t Percy call me if he could make calls all along? I jump over a log and land in a roll, before I countinue to run.

I could have told Chiron any progress they made. I push against the forest floor harder, angrier.

I slow to a stop, as I sort out my emotions. No, Im not angry…Im sad. Im so unbelievably sad, it feels like its consumming me. I want to be angry at Mom for not telling us about being demigods sooner, at Percy for leaving on this stupid quest without me, for my father’s lack of guidance in this hellstorm Percy and I woke up to.

My chin wobbles as I slowly sink to my knees. I cover my mouth with my hand, trying to smother the sobs that wrack my body, leaving me heaving and shaking. My tears leave me blinded, but I know it was getting darker, I know I missed dinner, and I know Clarisse would be worried and most likely angry that I didn’t eat.

When I did decide to leave the woods, I went to the lake, pulling my shoes off, I stood in the water and closed my eyes, trying to feel more connected to Percy.

I kneel down once more and lay my hand on the water, letting my hands move along the top as the wind moves the water like small waves.

“Bring him back to me.” I speak out loud, hoping Poseidon would hear.” I can’t lose him, so you need to bring him back. Please, please.” Tears don’t fall this time. I waited for a long while, knowing the god wouldn’t answer but still hoping.

When I head to camp, I sneaked into my cabin, seeing my siblings sleeping. I grabbed some pajamas and headed towards the showers.

I was walking towards the building, the light being dim, when I felt a hand wrap around my arm. With a gasp, I turn and send my fist towards the person’s face as hard as I could.

The person dodges and I sigh when I could just make out my girlfriend through the darkness.

“You scared me.” I say softly, my voice coming out a little hoarse from the sob fest I had in the woods.

“Where were you? You missed dinner. Why do you sound like that? Are you okay?” Clarisse fires off question after question, moving my wavy hair out of my face to cup my cheeks. I grab her arms with a soft smile.

“I was training, lost track of time.” I lie, and she frowns, eyeing my face; she sees through me. I pull away and walk towards the building. The room was cold, the night air making it chilly.

I place my clothes and towel down on a bench nearby before walking deeper into the showers to turn on the water.

I flinch as I head back to my clothes to see Clarisse sitting on the bench next to the pile. She watches me with concerned-filled eyes, and her frown only deepens when she sees me head on in the dim light.

“Your eyes are red, were you crying? Did someone hurt you? Tell me who fucking did it. Was it Luke? Marcus said he saw you two training together earlier. I swear to my father I will kill that son of a bitch.” Clarisse growls out, grabbing my arm that Luke sliced earlier, eyeing the wound that was already scabbing.” Did he do this, too?” Her face darkens.

I pull away from her and press my lips to hers, shutting her up. She hesitates before kissing me back, but soon it gets heated, her hands pulling me closer as mine cling to her, needing more contact. I pull away and slowly slip out of my clothes, giving the brunette a show, Clarisses eyes darken in hunger, and she follows after me as I take steps back towards the shower.

Clarisse slowly steps out of her clothes, and I eye her lithe form, brown clear skin, covered muscles. Her hips were small, her chest on the flatter side held perky tits, but it was her toned stomach that grabbed my attention, the outline of abs poke through, and my tongue poked out to lick my lips.

I gasp sharply as my back meets the freezing tiled wall, and Clarisse chuckles, blocking me in, pressing her chest against mine. I whine at the feeling of our warmth pressed together. She trailed her nose down my face, though I wanted her lips on mine, but right before she pressed her lips to mine, she trailed her lips to my pulse, pressing her lips against the skin there, not kissing. I frown as she places her forehead on my shoulder. Her arms wrap around me in a hug, and I tense.

“What happened?” She asks softly, and my heart swells. I wanted to ignore my emotions with sex, but she wasn’t going to let me.

“I miss my brother, I worry for him.” I tell her, running my hands down her back, laying my chin on her cheekbone, my other hand playing with her hair.

“He’ll make it back, hes stuborn.” I nod against her, and she kisses my shoulder.

“You don’t have to hide your emotions from me.” Clarisse whispers, and I sigh.

“Im sorry.” I tell her softly, and she pulls away and pecks my lips.

“You don’t have to apologize.” She tells me, this time I curl into her and she holds me, filling me with comfort.

(Edited)