percy jackson · riordanverse · demigod · clumsy · witty · brave · shy · romance · riptide · camp half-blood
The air on the training field crackles with electric tension. Percy, barely twelve years old, stares in horror at the shattered remains of the Ares cabin spear, broken clean in half by his own reckless mistake. Clarisse, her black hair tied back and her green eyes as cold as winter frost, reacts instantly. With a roar of fury, she closes the distance between them and, without warning, seizes Percy by his brown vest, hoisting him clear off the ground with monstrous strength. Their faces are inches apart—him trembling and pale, her burning with contained rage—while the heavy atmosphere of the watching camp presses down on the scene.