Chapter 19

Waking up on the CSS Birmingham meant waking early. It also meant probably getting tipped out of bed due to strong waves and bad weather in early morning. As an old ship, everything creaked and groaned, even with what Ares had fixed up on it. Not one of the soldiers didn’t snore while sleeping.

Clarisse, too, snored in her sleep. Kayla had been looking forward to getting out of the confinement of her haunted cabin- sleeping somewhere that wouldn’t be haunted and full of whispering spirits all night. However the CSS Birmingham was just as haunted with Clarisse’s snoring. Luckily, Kayla had brought along a bunch of useless things. Why wouldn’t she have? Three tapes and the Walkman Clarisse had given her helped her sleep soundly if she managed to drown out the snores and focus on the music.

Along with that, she had brung a sketch book and pencils to draw, a back scratcher she had made herself from a short stick and a bit of culinary equipment she had stolen from the kitchens, that fit snug in the side of her backpack.

The useful things she had brung included her dagger that she kept for serious fights only. Yes, that meant… it was never used. She had found it at the bottom of the daggers box in the armoury, looking brand-new and expensive. A dark purple hilt detailed with swirly patterns that looked from an era of time that wasn’t hers. The blade of the sword was curved upwards slightly- making it even more threatening. If someone, or something, were to be stabbed with that thing- it wouldn’t be coming out without a bunch of guts following.

Kayla sat in bed, early morning, her Walkman still playing. Clarisse was on the opposite side of the Great Wall of Pillow they had between them, sound asleep. Kayla was awake simply because she was nervous to when Clarisse woke up and told her to go outside first thing. It was way too gloomy weathered for that.

She was surprised she was awake before Clarisse, who was still snoring like a cyclops. Despite the horrid sound, she looked insanely peaceful. Mouth agape, hands tucked into her chest to keep them nice and warm. Kayla huffed, sliding down to lay once more flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

Her stomach was met with an elbow.

“What in the-” Clarisse’s eyed had snapped open. She sat herself up, watching a wiggling Kayla regain her strength after having her stomach damn near impaled by Clarisse’s floppy arm. “My bad.” She grimaced, rubbing her eyes.

“You uh, you should get up, I need help with the sails.”

“Go… to… Tartarus.” Kayla grumbled dramtically as she curled up.

“…Come on.”

“A second.”

…

Kayla wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be doing at first.

All these guys, from what she found out, were not a big fan of her due to her dad- something about ‘unfair punishment’. Except that didn’t make sense because Thanatos didn’t choose if they were punished or where they went. He simply guided them to the underworld. They kept asking her if she could help Clarisse and make sure they got to Elysium, but she kept shaking her head and replying “No, I can’t do that.”

They didn’t seem to understand.

Clarisse had been the one to yell at them, telling them to keep their heads down and shut up as she ordered them to complete ten different tasks all at once.

Kayla had fled to the crowsnest after finally completing her tasks with all the sails. Considering the ship itself, the crowsnest probably couldn’t even be called that with how low it was. She had found a spyglass that had been abandoned in the dining area- using that to look at the horizon infront. Nothing  came into view. Just more and more water. The spyglass read “Semmes” on one side, yet looked nothing fancy. Tiny, actually.

“What are you doing?”

Kayla twisted her neck, placing the spyglass down. “Trying to see stuff.”

No answer. The blonde haired girl huffed, raising an eyebrow. “You’re not gonna see anything. We have another half a day, maybe a full one, even.”

“Oh my god…” Kayla groaned. “I’m starting to wish I let you leave me behind.” Clarisse glanced away, biting the inside of her cheek before looking back down. “There’s not much else that needs to be done by either of us. Not unless a storm hits.”

There was nothing much to be said. They both stayed silent. Eventually, Clarisse came to stand besides Kayla. “You can’t get a good view on this ship, you know. It wasn’t designed for being able to see for miles. It was designed to be low profile.”

“I know that,” She replied. “But there’s nothing better to do.”

Clarisse looked onto the horizon, her brows furrowed in unnecessary concentration. “Bout that necklace you got on? Is that the one you were talking about when you said your dad gave you necklace?”

“…Yeah, what about it?”

Clarisse smirked with a snicker, shaking her head away. “Kay, is your head empty? It’s probably not a normal necklace.”

Kayla gave her a dissaproving look, crossing her arms. The ship lurcher gently, and she quickly put her arms back on the bit of banister she had.

“Have you tried snapping the charm off or anything? I bet one hundred imaginary drachmas it turns into an actual scythe.”

“What? No. It’s shiny and new, just… jewellery.”

“You sound like an Aphrodite kid.” Kayla bristled. She was just like her mom in some ways, wasn’t she?
“

I know,” She admitted. “Still. Maybe I don’t even want a scythe, those things are giant.”

“Not always, they come in all different shapes and sizes. Lemme have a look at that one,” Clarisse turned. Kayla turned her body to Clarisse, holding it up. She took it in her hand gently, humming. “Try yanking it off, trust me. Usually, stuff like this given by the Gods to their kids means more than just a tiny bit of jewellery or whatever.” Kayla glanced down at it as Clarisse let it slipped from her hand and land back on her chest. She huffed, grasping it gently. “This better not be some cruel joke, La Rue.”

With that, she yanked it off. It came off rather easily, but that’s all Kayla could process before she stumbled over her own two feet at the sudden weight of iron in her grip. Clarisse blew out a surprised sound and caught her lower back, pushing her back up to steady her as she pretended to ignore the face full of feathers. “Careful, dork.”

“It’s a scythe.”

“Well, yeah, I told you it would be.”

Held in her hands- around the length of her torso to her neck- was a dazzling scythe. A long, black hilt that somehow seemed so natural to hold. Balanced. The edge of the scythe was a dark grey, that shone no matter what angle it was at. Almost like a mirror.  The point was needle sharp- nightmarish. Nightmare fuel.

“Holy Hades!” Clarisse stuttered her words out in a mess as she stepped back from helping Kayla, making sure she was out of reach. “Stygian Iron. Can kill monsters and mortals.  That thing is gonna absorb the soul of anything it touches. That’s… for very serious battles.” Clarisse took some wary steps closer once more, peering over cautiously.

Well… if Clarisse la Rue was cautious of a weapon, Kayla should probably be terrified. “You should put that away before you kill the wrong person.” Clarisse scratched her neck, looking around and most definitely repeating, ‘me’ in her head.

“Did the daughter of Ares, obsessed with bloodshed, just tell me to put a deadly weapon away?”

“That thing is no joke. I don’t even know any other demi-god who owns a weapon made out of Stygian Iron. I mean, come on, it’s not like you’ve ever fought with a scythe before either. So… please don’t have me be your first accidental victim.”

“Who said it would be accidental?” She twisted the scythe in her hand confidently, admiring it. Dark, deathly, but pretty. She couldn’t help but love it, like it spoke to her. Why had she been so naive as to only just find this out?

Clarisse retreated once again, a hand on her dagger sheath. “Play time is over, Kayla. Let’s leave that to kill the big bad monsters we might run into, okay? Not your crew mates or captain.”

Kayla’s finger ran along the edge of the blade gently. Damn, this thing was hot, she thought. “I shall name you… Fluffy.”

“That is the least fluffiest thing I have ever seen in my life. Put it away.”

“Hang on, let me get used to her.”

“Kayla…”

She stood with a smile on her face as she ran her eyes over the scythe for the tenth time. Not enough. “How do I…” She mumbled, flipping it over in her grip. She lifted it up to see the top, where nothing but a flat surface at the top of the hilt was. She figured to turn it upside down and bash it on the wood. It  turned into nothing. Clarisse flinched, a distressed look on her face.

“Oh, there.” Kayla smiled. Once more, it lay delicately as nothing but a silver charm on a necklace. Clarisse groaned, un-tensing her shoulders.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, Kayla.”

…

“So,” Kayla threw a bit of beef jerky into her mouth, leaning forward on a high table. Clarisse stood opposite her, leaning against the wall with a bag of peanuts. “Thankyou for teaching me I have a cool weapon at all times.”

“You’re not welcome.” She spoke as she stuffed another handful of salted peanuts into her mouth. “And Fluffy is a dogs name, too.”

“But it’s ironic.” She pushed her wings down to create more space in the small room they sat in.

“It’s also stupid, Graves. Give it a proper name.”

“What, like how you gave your spear a proper name? Maimer?”

Clarisse threw a handful of peanuts at Kayla’s face. “People called that thing Lamer behind your back, idiot.”

“That was not lame! It was a gift from my dad, and that stupid Jackson…” Clarisse trailed off, placing her food down. Kayla noted the genuine saddened rage in her expression.

“Is it true it’s the only gift he’s ever given you?” She asked, standing up a little more straight.

The girl huffed, nodding. “Yes. I’m lucky, none of us ever recieve anything from Ares, me and my brothers,” She admitted, glancing down at the bag of peanuts before looking directly at Kayla. “It’s why you should be grateful. You got not only a necklace that turns into a goddamn Stygian Iron scythe, but a book on how to control your powers? What, that you don’t even care about? And that note you threw in the bin. Please.”

From what Kayla could gather, Clarisse would never do such things as to ignore her father’s gifts. 

“But he doesn’t care, Clarisse. He did all that and i’ve still never met him.” Clarisse scowled, “He’s busy, doesn’t mean he doesn’t care.”

“You want his approval,” Kayla pointed out. “I see it differently. I don’t want my father to approve of me and be all buddy-buddy with me, I want him to realise i’m gonna be way harder to win over than a stupid set of gifts. So yes, I’m not entirely happy that I wore this necklace and that I like it, cause he’s gonna think i’m settling. The last thing I want it his approval. The last thing I want is to see him, now. I used to be so desperate to be claimed. Everyone knows that. Stuck in the Hermes cabin for three years, then I’m claimed, and nothing has ever been more off-centered than it is now. My claiming doesn’t feel like me. Most people hate me and for some reason my world is all dark now. Did I strike you as a dark person? Do I? Before this, I heard people had bets on me being claimed by Apollo, or Iris! My cabin is depressing as ever and I can’t sleep in it at night without thinking im going insane hearing voices! So yes, I’ll be ungrateful. Happily.”

Clarisse had gone to rip her throat out at her first words. Claiming Clarisse La Rue wanted something so confidently? How dare she. Then, with more explanation, she settled with a grimace on her lips. Snarling like a dog. How badly she wanted to pounce, but the girl was right, she had a right to think like that- “I still appreciate his gifts.”

“Well, let’s say i appreciate my dads gifts too,” She shrugged. “Just in the most unappreciative way possible.”

“The Gods don’t care,” Kayla continued. “And if they do, they don’t show it.”

Silence. Nothing but waves crashing into the CSS Birmingham. Kayla waited for her reply, though all she got was another eye roll as Clarisse slouched, finally walking past the table and snatching up her peanuts. “I’m getting changed. And you should still rethink your scythe’s name.”

Please vote!! I hope anyone who reads is enjoying this so far. Don’t be afraid to give constructive criticism<3

Im also curious if anyone knows Kayla’s fatal flaw yet?? It’s not a proper fatal flaw ever mentioned in the books, yet it most certainly could be one and is definitely related to alot of other flaws😝 plus it definitely fits her and will become a big part in the books for alot of decisions, big or small.