𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇, Clarisse la Rue

𝐱𝐢𝐢. a showdown interrupted by party ponies

STRENGTH
━━ act two, chapter twelve.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

NABI HADN'T SEEN LUKE FOR A WHILE, BUT SOMETHING HAD CHANGED. Maybe he was always so unnerving, hiding it behind a façade, or maybe his past self had been morphed and shaped into a perfect puppet for Kronos. She didn't really know... but there were parts of him she still recognised. They were there, but at the same time, not really.

   He had two thugs on either side of him that were bears — no, genuinely, giant grizzly bears that could walk and talk and everything — one of them grabbed Annabeth and Grover by their shirt collars.

   The other tried to grab Nabi and Tyson, but Tyson knocked him into a pile of luggage and roared at Luke.

   "Percy," Luke said calmly, "tell your giant to back down or I'll have Oreius bash your friends' heads together."

Oreius, one of the bears, grinned and raised Annabeth and Grover off the ground as they kicked and thrashed.

"What do you want, Luke?" Percy growled.

Luke smiled, the scar rippling on the side of his face. He gestured toward the end of the dock, and Nabi noticed a gigantic yacht in the port labelled: the Princess Andromeda.

"Why, Percy," Luke had a look in his eyes, menacing and smug, "I want to extend my hospitality, of course."

【 🦋 】

THE BEAR THUGS ROUNDED THEM UP ABOARD THE PRINCESS ANDROMEDA. They threw Nabi and her friends down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool, with sparkling fountains that sprayed into the air. A dozen of Luke's assorted goons — snake people, Laistrygonians, demigods in battle armour — had gathered to watch the so called 'hospitality.'

"And so, the Fleece," Luke mused, "where is it?"

He looked over to them, prodding Percy's shirt with the tip of his weapon, then poking Grover's jeans.

"Hey!" Grover yelled, "That's real goat fur under there!"

"Sorry, old friend." Luke smiled, "Just give me the Fleece and I'll leave you to return to your... little nature quest."

"Blaaahh!" Grover protested, "Some old friend!"

"Maybe you didn't hear me..." Luke's voice was dangerously calm, his gaze piercing, "Where—is—the—Fleece?"

"Not here." Percy said, and Nabi could hear a hint of smugness in his tone, "We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up."

  "You're lying. You couldn't have..." His eyes narrowed. Then he paused, his face contorting in rage as it dawned on him. "Clarisse?"

"That's right." Nabi nodded, glaring at him.

"You trusted..." Luke was infuriated, gritting his teeth as he turned to Percy, "You gave..."

"Yeah." Percy smirked.

   Luke bellowed, "Agrius!"