Chaos Rising |BOOK 2| Harry Potter x PJO |Alexandra Marine|

BONUS: THE DAY SHE LOST THEM ALL

"Where's Lee?" I asked Chiron. "He should be here- I asked that son of a gorgon to stop his arrows-"

Chiron's expression worried me and I stopped.

"Chiron?" I asked. "Where the hell is Lee Fletcher?"

The dining pavilion went silent at once.

"Chiron?" I asked one more time in disbelief. "Please don't tell me..."

"Lee Fletcher gave his life to the Battle of the Labyrinth a few weeks ago."

I took a sharp breath and closed my eyes. I pursed my lips and stood up from the Athena table. "Alright," I whispered. "Okay." I grit my teeth and walked away from the pavilion.

My mind was too slow to register anything else. We started out as four people- Theseus Young, Adam Worth, Lee Fletcher and I. Now only I remained.

Only me.

My head felt dizzy. A ton of anger showered on me. I closed my eyes and there he was, sprawled on the ground, blood flowing from his heart, an arrow sprouting from every part of his body. I screamed in horror and opened my eyes. In a fit of fury, I punched at the only thing in front of me- a wooden arrow target. My arm went right through the thick wood and came back smoothly, only leaving behind a few cuts and bleeding scratched on palm.

***

The senior counselors had gathered around the Ping-Pong table as Percy, Chiron and I entered.

Clarisse was still in full battle gear. Her electric spear was strapped to her back. She had her boar-shaped helmet under one arm and a knife at her belt.

She was in the midst of yelling at Michael Yew, the new head counselor for Apollo, which looked kind of funny since Clarisse was a foot taller. Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer. Michael stood four feet six, with another two feet of attitude.

"It's our loot!" he yelled, standing on his tiptoes so he could get in Clarisse's face. "If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver!"

Around the table, people were trying not to laugh—the Stoll brothers, Pollux from the Dionysus cabin, Katie Gardner from Demeter. Even Jake Mason, the hastily appointed new counselor from Hephaestus, managed a faint smile. Only Silena Beauregard didn't pay any attention. She sat beside Clarisse and stared vacantly at the Ping-Pong net. Her eyes were red and puffy. A cup of hot chocolate sat untouched in front of her. It seemed unfair that she had to be here. I couldn't believe Clarisse and Michael standing over her, arguing about something as stupid as loot, when she'd just lost Beckendorf.

"STOP IT!" I yelled. "What are you guys doing?"

Clarisse glowered at me. "Tell Michael not to be a selfish jerk."

"Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael said.

"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!" Clarisse shouted. "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin."

"What are you talking about?" Percy demanded.

Pollux cleared his throat. "Clarisse has refused to speak to any of us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days."

"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully.

"What issue?" I asked.

Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?"

Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters—"