Blaze of Glory - a PJO fanfiction

12. Failure

Play With Fire - Sam Tinnesz

I don't know when I had fallen asleep, but I must've at some point, because I was so rudely awakened by Clarisse splashing water in my face.

"Wake up shorty," she said, hauling me off the hippocampus. I landed face first in the water.

"Hey! I'm not that short!" I spit salt water out of my mouth, treading water. "Besides, you're only like 2 inches taller than me, and you're done growing, so I don't wanna hear it from you."

"Ha! Imagine being 12," Clarisse shot back.

"Um... Clarisse," I said, noticing the empty water around us. "They're gone..." We looked at each other then at Percy and Annabeth who were already halfway to shore. "Shit-"

"Race you!" Clarisse cut me off, beginning the swim towards shore. I quickly followed. We quickly emerged from the water, being met with Annabeth giving us a glare.

"And where have you two been?" She asked with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently. I shook my head before walking off towards Percy.

We walked around on the docks a bit, before Annabeth spotted a newspaper stand. She picked one out, mouth falling open.

"June eighteenth! We've been away from camp for ten days!" I grabbed the paper from her, checking the date, and sure enough, she was right.

"That's impossible!" Clarisse said. I shook my head. It wasn't, time traveled differently in the sea of monsters, like all monstrous places.

Grover sank to his knees, "Thalia's tree must be almost dead. We have to get the fleece back tonight." Clarisse sunk down to sit beside him.

"How are we supposed to do that?" her voice trembled. My eyes widened, I'd never seen this kind of emotion from Clarisse. Grover, maybe. But Clarisse? Never. "We're hundreds of miles away. No money. No ride," she continued. "This is just like the Oracle said. It's your fault, Jackson! If you hadn't interfered–"

I put my hands over my ears, closing my eyes and shutting them out. I had however long they were arguing to think up a plan to take the fleece without hurting any of them, which meant I had to think fast. Now, I could just take it and run, but where would I run to? The Princess Andromeda wasn't docked yet, though I had seen it out on the water on the way in, and I couldn't swim to it, Percy would catch me as soon as I was in the water. So I couldn't run, I had to stall. I had to somehow make this my element instead of Percy's, but how?

If I created a circle of fire around me, none of the demigods could get to me, which meant that I could stall as long as I needed before Luke got here. Of course, Percy could put out the fire with water, which meant I had to incapacitate him without hurting him. I can't burn him, so light it is. I guess Percy will be twinning with his half-blind brother Polyphemus for a couple minutes.

Ok. I have my plan.

I pulled my hands off my ears, opening my eyes to see Percy holding a taxi. "Clarisse!" he yelled. "Come on. You're going to the airport. Annabeth, give her the fleece." Percy took the fleece- now a jacket- from Annabeth, stuffing the cash in the pocket. He held it out to Clarisse.

This is it, now or never.

Clarisse reached for the jacket, But I snatched it before she could even lay a finger on it. For a moment, everyone stood there still... Then, chaos erupted.

"What are you doing!?" Percy yelled. I stumbled backwards as he yelled. I reached my hand out as I stumbled, shining a light in his eyes. He yelped, turning away from my hand.