Chapter 8 - Clarisse
Clarisse was a little jealous. Will was already well known at Camp as Apollo had nearly gone to war with Zeus when it was found out that he'd been trying to raise his son on Delos. It had taken a while for the full story to get out; that Will was born of the Icarus tree, so it was no real surprise that Apollo had tried to circumvent the Ancient Laws - he's never made it a secret that he still loved
Hyacinthus.
But Clarisse's jealousy stemmed more from the newbie. Percy Jackson had only just found out, officially, that she was a demigod. And on that same day, she'd found out that she had an 8 year old son with a man she'd never officially met....and she was okay with it? It was more than that though, she embraced it fully. She clearly adored Will already and Asclepius had been spotted around Camp several times in his younger form.
Clarisse's mother had enthusiastically participated in the activities that lead to Clarisse being introduced into her life, but she still acted like Clarisse was the worst thing that had ever happened to her. It's why she had left when so young.
So yeah, it was kinda crappy to see Will accepted so wholeheartedly by his mortal mother, but Selena had passed along that Percy actually remembered being Hyacinthus and Icarus - she even remembered drinking
from the River Lethe, which should have removed all her memories. But apparently seeing Apollo for the first time in this life had brought all the memories rushing forward....Clarisse supposed that with about 56 years of life experience, it wasn't too big of a shock, especially
when the majority of that time was in Sparta & Crete.
And to be honest, it was kind of hard to be truly bothered by it. Will was a sweet kid that a lot of camp refused to interact with as Apollo had already shown he'd take anything happening to Will just as badly as something happening to Percy. Annabeth made it look easy to hate
Will, but her hubris shone brightly anyway.
Clarisse watched as Percy entered the dining pavilion, with Will beside her and the kid was holding onto her leg as they walked. It was no doubt a little difficult for her to move but she made no show of it. She glanced over at the Apollo table and saw that while the majority of them (all older than Will) and apart from Kayla, they didn't seem to have an issue. But Kayla was also known to be quite
possessive, she seemed to think that it meant more than it actually did that Apollo had left the raising of his Will to his siblings, when the simple reason was that he'd been removed from Will, by force.
Percy directed Will to the food table and helped her son collect his food. Will was always a very healthy eater so Percy had to add some oiled vegetables and fatty meats, explaining to Will that those were just as important to a balanced meal when taken in the correct quantities.
She directed them both to the Poseidon table and laid down a chauterice board, both Will and Percy laying out a selection of food, Clarisse leaned forward, "Why are you sacrificing so much?"
Percy looked up with a slight frown, "You bring wrath upon you when you pick and choose the Gods. In my previous lives, we sacrificed to all of the Olympians. You can give slightly larger portions to your parents or patron, or the gods that you associate with more closely. As Hyacinthus I gave larger portions to Ares, as he was the Patron of
Sparta, Hestia as the Goddess of Hearth & Home and Apollo, as he was my love. As Icarus, I sacrificed more to Poseidon as my grandfather, Apollo as my love and Artemis, as she was the closest I had to a mother. As demigods, we also sacrificed to Tyche and Nike as they were the goddesses with the greatest effect on our battles and quests."
Clarisse spoke then, "Do you mean that we cause problems for ourselves when we don't sacrifice to the Gods?"
"Of course you do. You enter battle and don't think to thank Ares for the strength he gave you. Or to thank Tyche & Nike for surviving those battles. You don't thank Apollo and Artemis for making sure you hit true to aim. Why would they not be upset?" Percy asked.
"But Chiron's never mentioned that." Chris spoke softly.
"I don't know what's going on with Chiron. There' a lot he's not doing. Why is healing kept in the Apollo cabin when some of Demeter's children can look at a wound and tell you exactly what herb to put on it? And anyone can learn to clean and wrap a wound. Why is strategy kept strictly to the Athena cabin when both Ares and Aphrodite are war gods?" Percy's questions had a lot of people looking at each other in askance...she was right.
"Favouritism." Percy murmured. It drew everyone's attention back to her as she finished laying out the food sacrifice. "Chiron wasn't as bad when I was Hyacinthus, but he had a nasty habit of favouritism. The Zeus brats often attacked and violated the Aphrodite girls, and he
never punished them. There was an Aphrodite daughter I knew and she got so fed up with it that she started charmspeaking the Zeus boys to attack
monsters. She knew they'd die obviously, but Chiron wasn't going to bring any justice. He never did it for me either, so she tried her best for me then too."
Clarisse narrowed her eyes at the daughter of the sea, "What do you mean?"
"Do you really think that the West Wind's attention came from nowhere? When I was 14 years old, he sought me out. He wished bed me....when I said no, he took great offense to that. I remember being so scared of intimacy for so long. When I drew Apollo's attention, I worried that
he'd walk away when he couldn't bed me. But my Apollo genuinely wasn't interested. We were together for 3 years before either of us showed any real interest. The West Wind took great offense. He'd had to force me and I never went near him after of course, but I'd let Apollo near
me? Apollo's rage was a beautiful thing to behold." Percy smiled.
Lee cocked his head, "It was? Most people say that it's terrifying."
"Of course it is. But when it's to protect you? It's wonderful. Apollo and I went out in his Sun Chariot and he shot at and hit the West Wind 47 times.....he screamed and wailed and begged Apollo to stop. To me? Karma. He hadn't stopped when I screamed and begged. And that is
exactly why Apollo did it. Sparta made damn sure that rapists were persecuted. My father, King Amyclas, even made sure that everyone in Sparta knew not to sacrifice to the West Wind God. He grew so weak from it - it was glorious to watch."
Clarisse grinned, "I like you, newbie."
"No matter what, I am Spartan first and foremost. Violence in battle and warfare? That was never off putting to us - many a time, I welcomed Apollo home when he was covered in blood and viscera from his enemies. And I promise you that he was never turned away. My Apollo
was welcomed home and to our bed with open arms. As a good Spartan spouse would do." Percy informed.
Chris glanced around, "I think the Ares daughters would enjoy Sparta."
"Of course they would. Sparta was Ares city. It had to come from somewhere."
"Will you tell us more later?" Selena asked.
"Sure, later tonight." Percy smiled.