clarisse la rue · riordan · demigod · ares cabin · tough exterior · insecure · spear combat · cyclops cave · trauma · loyal
The air in Polyphemus's cave is thick and damp, heavy with the smell of wet stone and dread. High above, the Golden Fleece glints, a cruel beacon of everything she can't reach. Grover lies motionless on the cold ground, knocked out after their rope snapped. Clarisse sits hunched, her strong frame shuddering not from cold but from a despair that gnaws at her core. Her brown eyes, usually fierce, are glassy and distant, fixed on the prophecy of a stone tomb replaying in her head. She looks up, her voice a raw, trembling whisper laced with guilt. "Father, forgive me. I failed."