Chapter 10

June 15th. Percy Jackson had made no contribution to Camp Half-Blood in the past few days. He wasn’t heard from at all. Nor was Annabeth, or Grover Underwood. The weather had gotten much more stormy.

See, if Kayla could argue and say pathetic fallacy was stupid, now she felt stupid for arguing over such a thing. It wasn’t stupid. It was annoying and highly unsatisfactory. And true, most of all. Any day now and another war would be at their hands if Percy didn’t sort it all out.

Things were not going well. Kayla had been her typical self, so had mainly everyone else. The odd stressed person here and there, water nymphs complaining about all the noise of the rain in their ponds. They weren’t very used to it.

Things were getting used to around here, with the thunderstorms and what not. That was- until Kayla ended up hearing something she wasn’t supposed to. As soon as she did hear it she knew she was roped up into it all. How could she keep something like that a secret? She’d tell Malcolm. That was for sure. No one else.

Earlier that day~

“Right, it’s lunch finally. Been waiting way too long.” One of the Stoll twins huffed as he got up from his sitting position where he had been nagging Kayla on the floor, beside her sleeping bag.

“Wait for me,” Travis replied back to his brother, also standing up as he ruffled Kayla’s hair. “You coming, or you gonna keep trying to pluck the same feather out for a second hour?” Travis questioned as all other kids in the Hermes cabin started to disperse. Kayla shook her head.

“No, you go grab it all. I’m not hungry for now.”

“Suit yourself,” Smirked Connor, who walked off with a very happy smirk at the thought of food. Travis followed after an energetic wave. “Use the bunks while we’re gone, starting to feel bad for you!”

It ended up with just Kayla left in the Hermes cabin. Left to her own accord as she drew mindless doodles in the corner of her diary. Her wings flapped softly, subconsciously, as she occupied herself with more boredom than she already had.

That was, until she heard the opening of a door. Kayla in response stayed silent, and causally went to move away. Whoever it was wasn’t in earshot as Kayla was at the back of the cabin. She pushed her diary under one of the bunks, pausing as talking commenced. The one and only voice of Luke.

“Annabeth! Percy! Are you okay?”

He exclaimed. His words were followed with a run down on how camp was doing- which is when Kayla got intrigued and quietly shuffled behind a bed fully. Travis’ and Connor’s bunk. She heaved herself up onto the top one with her wings and arms quietly, making her face plant onto the mattress. She wiggled her legs up, then listened intently.

“How do you know?” Luke asked in a hushed whisper. Know what? Thought Kayla.

“We ran into Ares, and Grover got him talking and realized Ares knew who the thief was but was covering for them. So, who would Ares cover for other than…” Replied the assumed voice of Percy.

“His favourite daughter. Clarisse is the lightening thief.” Luke muttered somewhat confidently.

Kayla’s eyes widened. It sounded so… affirmative. Like he knew.

Clarisse? Kayla thought. Sure, Clarisse had her controversial points of views on Percy, maybe they did come off a little defensive when Kayla thought about it. But… something just didn’t add up.

“Chiron’s gotta arrest her, find out what she knows. There’s more to this than just the bolt, something bigger. Don’t ask me how I know, you just gotta trust me.” Percy spoke up again.

Arrest Clarisse. Right. Cause that would work. Kayla internally scoffed. Kayla listened intently to the words that were spoken. A bunch of crap on how their days were going. Well, they were alive atleast. Probably not for long.

Clarisse was the lightning thief. Was that right? Clarisse was quite open on he opinions on where that lightning bolt had dissapeared off to. And there wasn’t any pointers that lead to thinking Clarisse had took it. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

As Kayla went to listen in once again, hearing something about
Medusa, it went quiet, nothing but a swish of air being heard, which cut of Percy and Annabeths voice. It had been iris message, Kayla realised. Kayla furrowed her brows as she watched Luke intently. The way he scoffed, standing hid ground for a few seconds, before going to walk out the Hermes cabin doors once again.

Kayla waited a few minutes before deeming it safe to come down. She tried to delicately flutter down and off the side of Travis’s bed. Delicately-who was she kidding? She almost bust her knee open on the wooden floor. But that did not matter just then. She needed Malcolm.

“Pace! Pace where are you!” A voice screeched around camp, heading up to Arts and Crafts. Kayla’s. The tranquility of the Arts and Crafts hall was disrupted when she came barreling in. Sure enough, Pace looked up at her with a look of sheer awkwardness and embarrassment.

He spoke up with a cracked voice, “What, what, what? Whey- slow- slow, I’m studying-“

“It’s important!” She belted out.

Malcolm tugged her down to the seat next to him; her wings tucking up tightly.
“LukespoketoPercyandhesaidheknowsthatClarisseisthelighteningthief.”

“Slow down!” Luke took a breath, his eyes widening. “Elaborate,” He tried to edit his tone or voice. “What are you on about?”

Kayla took a breath, her eyes scouting the place for earwigs before trying to come off much more serene, “Luke was in the Hermes cabin and thought he was alone, but wasn’t cause I was in Travis’s bed, and he-“

“Why were you in Travis’s bed?”

“Cause he wasn’t in, and he said I could use it while I was writing my dairy. Anyway, and he was talking through an Iris message with Percy and Annabeth, and Percy said something to let Luke realise that apparently Clarisse is the lightening thief, and now she needs to be arrested to question her.”

A big breath.

Malcolm was quiet. A pin could’ve been heard dropping. “Sorry?” He then spoke. “She’s… the lightening thief? But I thought the entire point of Percy’s quest was to find the lightneing thief?”

“I dunno. Maybe they’re coming back?” Kayla replied.

“Well, unless there’s more things.. there usually is on quests.”

“Well.. the Iris connection got cut off pretty suddenly. No bye or anything. Maybe something happened? They got attacked? Hey- they did say something about Medusa.” Kayla shrugged, nodding.

“Medusa?” Malcolm asked, a little stunned. “That’d… be a good guess.”

“Oh no…” Kayla made a dramatic face, as if the color would drain from it any moment now. “I’ve got detention with her this evening. I need to tell Chiron what I heard-“

“No,” Malcolm cut her off. “Not now, you heard it, and you stay out of it. Hear? Out. You said Luke was gonna do that anyway. So.. let him. You.. pretend you heard nothing. You’re good at that. How many things do you know about random people?”

“Uh-“

“Exactly. This is just another one,” He explained, his voice quiet, almost a whisper.

“I only know everything from you-“

Malcolm used his pencil in his hand like some sort of mini sword to get his point across, shaking his head in finality. “It’d cause way too many problems.” He finished.

Kayla bit the inside of her cheek, settling into the wooden chair. “Fine,” she answered, studying him. “But if a war breaks out cause Clarisse actually had it this entire time, I’m not going down in history for it.” She warned. Malcolm rolled his eyes.

“You won’t.”

Later that day~

Kayla had a full hours detention infront of her, once again. Down at the Pegasus stables with Clarisse, who she hoped was already there and half done like last time. She didn’t know how to act. Having second thoughts about the entire lightning bolt thing. Clarisse.. what about if she actually did have the bolt? She was avoidant yesterday when it came to that topic, even thoigh she brung it up, wasn’t she? Kayla walked through the mudded path with less confidence in her stride than yesterday, entering the manure-smelling stables with Clarisse leaning against a stable door, arms crossed, glaring daggers.

“Uh, hi.” Kayla stopped in her tracks. Clarisse gave a big, sarcastic grin. Kayla found it unsettling.

“I wasn’t starting without your prissy ass here like yesterday. Wasn’t fair, and we like fair, don’t we?”

“No.”

Clarisse shoved a shovel into Kayla’s chest, which Kayla had no option but to accept. She bit the inside of her cheek, looking down at it before starting to walk further into the stables, picking one at the end.

And Clarisse followed her.

“Go.. do your own stable, La Rue.” She said with a grimace as she started to shovel the hay up, and Kayla did the manure.

“No, one at a time, probably get ’em done way quicker. And I’ve got plans. I do hay, you do manure. And where are your wings?”

Kayla swallowed, rolling her eyes back to the manure. Great. Kayla replied, “They’re away.”

It was quiet. A few whickers, hay being tossed around, the absoloutely disgusting squelch of manure as it was thrown into a wheel barrow. Kayla was dying. Though, sticking to one job had her tiring less easy. But Kayla was still dying. The smell, and the curiosity to outright ask if she had the bolt. Which, don’t test her, she would. But she knew she couldn’t. It would cause things in the long run. It seemed like the things she’d overheard was somewhat big. Getting in the middle could go many ways. Good or bad. She didn’t even want to fully think about it.

Ugh, but-

She couldn’t sit there and do that… it would- it would annoy her. She was too nosy for that. Come on. She could find her way around this without mentioning anything about the girl infront of her. She could. She would.

“So, Uh,” She started, clearing her throat and slinging a shovel of manure into the wheel barrow. “Percy is actually alive.”

“What you on about?” She rolled her eyes, before dead eyeing the girl.

“Jackson, is alive, and with Annabeth. And um, I just know this cause they Iris messaged Luke while I was in the cabin, and they were just chatting.” She shrugged, leaning on her shovel.

“Chatting? On a quest? Are they mad?” Clarisse answered, looking over at her. When realising she was leaning on her shovel, she kicked it, and Kayla tried to act like she hadn’t just stumbled, instead going back to working.

“Apparently, I guess. And they uh, they have no clue who’s got the bolt.” She trailed off.

“It’ll be him, if he’s saying that, I swear to the gods…” Clarisse replied, finishing up with the hay in that stable and moving onto the other one when Kayla followed a few seconds later.

“Yeah, you really think it’s him? No one else?” Kayla asked, starting on yet more manure.

Clarisse gave her a confused side glance, raking out more hay from that stable. “Who else, stupid? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing! I’m just saying, like, y’know, do you think? Cause personally, I don’t, but, some people might. I’m just tryna gather different views.” Kayla counted, shrugging.

Clarisse huffed, looking at Kayla with a look of thought before going back to the hay. “Hm, well, no. Can’t think of anyone. No one stupid enough to steal Zeus’s master bolt. Not even the Stoll brothers would do that.” She replied, sighing.

“You think it’s stupid to steal it?” She asked, stopping with her manure scooping again.

“Ofcourse I do,” She scoffed, giving a dirty look as she snapped her head back to Kayla, as if the question was stupid. “What good would it do? Stealing it, putting everyone in danger, causing a quarrel with Zeuz himself? Whoever it is is pratically asking for the worst death by a lightening strike imaginable.” She spat.

“Yeah! Right, exactly,” Kayla agreed quickly. Too deep. Enemy territory. Back off. “That’s exactly it, I’m glad I got your inpu-“

“Hang on,” Clarisse paused with her arms full of hay, turning back to Kayla once again after picking it up.
“That’s what you wanted? Was that a test to see which side I’m on or something? If I’d have taken it?” She accused, taking a step closer. Oh no. No, no, no.

“What?!” She chuckled. “Why would i- no, no, cause you already think it’s Percy, so-“

Kayla grunted as she was pushed back by the chest forcefully.

Clarisse dropped her hay on the floor. If it didn’t weigh nothing, it probably would’ve gone straight through the wood.
“Listen here, you bratty little devil, I’m a daughter of Ares, God of War, and I am not dense enough as to steal Zeus’s lightening bolt. Hear me? I should kick your ass for even thinking that. You’re so stupid. Did anyone ever tell you that? Could be anyone. And I swear on the river Styx, it was not me.” Clarisse bristled, like a hell hound foaming at the mouth as she inclined on Kayla, currently against a stable half-wall.

Kayla swallowed, eyes wide. She rubbed her chest- which felt weirdly sore. She was winded at best. “Got it, loud and clear.” She stammered. Clarisse swore on the river Styx.

Kayla was in the middle of this. Kayla was not supposed to be in the middle of what she said she’d keep out of, funnily enough. Currently sinking deeper into quick sand the more she stared into Clarisse’s eyes that looked more like a representation of death than Kayla could ever stand for in her life. She swore she saw a flash of red in them.

Clarisse backed off slowly, not before pounding her hand against the wall next to Kayla’s head. “And why did you even wanna know if it was me?”

A few seconds passed.

“Tell me!” She screeched. Kayla sucked her flinch up and transferred it through eyes that almost popped out of her sockets, her words escaping her before she finally blabbered out a response.

“Uh-hu-uh- the… the Iris Message, said something about… they think you’re the one with the bolt, and, something about arresting you for questions when they tell Chiron.”

The thing she heard after that she expected to sound somewhat like a bird screech. Maybe a bit of a roar, or a growl. But no. All she heard was a mumble of a response. “What?”

—

a/n
Please vote!!
I don’t even know what possessed me to come back to this, but I sometimes get the urge to finish it just for me. In the process of the next chapter. I’m going to bulk up chapters before publishing next (I think anyway.) *Possible spelling mistakes??