STRENGTH
━━ act two, chapter nine.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

   THE WIND BLEW AS NABI WATCHED THE WAVES WHICH BROKE OVER THE PROW. The Queen Anne's Revenge was pretty darn fast, but that was probably because of Percy's crazy water powers.

Nabi leaned against the rail, her arms crossed with her head tucked low as they sailed through the night.

   Percy was quiet next to her, he seemed like he was wrapped up in his own head — Annabeth had tried helping with lookout earlier, but sailing didn't agree with her. After a few hours of rocking back and forth, she went below to lie in a hammock, her face a shade of green. Now, it was just the two of them.

"What are you thinking about?" Nabi asked.

He answered, "How much I miss Tyson. How much I'm worried about Grover."

Nabi muttered a sad agreement, her eyes still fixed on the water. Percy asked, "What about you? Is Clarisse...?"

"Alive," Nabi mumbled, "she's still alive."

Now that they were out of danger, with all the witches and guinea pigs and pirates out of the way, all Nabi could think about was how much she missed Clarisse.

She wanted so badly to just get her back, wherever she was, and squeeze the living daylights out of the girl. Then, probably scream at Clarisse for making her worry so much.

With all Nabi's thinking, it brought her to how Clarisse made her feel... odd, in ways that other people didn't.

And now that she had no clue how Clarisse was? Nabi's feelings were a huge mess. Sure, she obviously cared about all of her friends, but she cared about Clarisse just a little more.

   ...Maybe a lot more.

   Nabi closed her eyes for a moment and envisioned the way Clarisse's lips would curve into a smirk; the mirth in her brown eyes.

Her heart hurt.

Gods, Nabi wanted so badly to just find her and tell her... tell her what...?

Nabi watched the horizon. She focused on the monsters that they passed, a plume of water as tall as a skyscraper spewed into the moonlight; a row of green, reptilian spines slithered across the waves. Sometime after midnight, Annabeth came up on deck as they sailed past a smoking volcano island, the sea bubbling and steaming around the shore.

"One of the forges of Hephaestus," Annabeth said, "where he makes his metal monsters."

"Like the bronze bulls?" Percy asked.

She nodded. "Go around. Far around."

   Percy didn't need to be told twice. They steered clear of the island, and soon it was just a red patch of haze behind them. He turned to Annabeth. "The reason you hate cyclopes so much... the story about how Thalia really died. What happened?"

It was hard to see her expression in the dark. Nabi didn't know much about Thalia, but she knew the simple details — Luke, Thalia and Annabeth getting to camp with Grover as their satyr. That was it, really.

"You don't have to tell us," Nabi shrugged, "not if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine." Annabeth said, "The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused, took some wrong turns. You remember he told you that once?"

Percy nodded. Annabeth said, "Well, the worst wrong turn was into a cyclops' lair in Brooklyn."

"They've got cyclopes in Brooklyn?" He murmured.

   Nabi said, "You'd be surprised how many there are."

The other girl nodded, then explained that a cyclops had tricked all of them on their way to camp, made them split up through a maze of corridors in an old house using his voice — Nabi remembered the way Coach Hedge had been tricked that night she'd been rescued, how the monster mimicked his mother.

Annabeth brushed the hair out of her face, continuing with a shaky breath, "I remember finding the main room. There were bones all over the floor. And there were Thalia and Luke and Grover, tied up and gagged, hanging from the ceiling like smoked hams. The Cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the floor. I drew my knife, but he heard me..."

Nabi shivered. The way she told it — even now, six years later, it freaked her out. Percy asked, "What did you do?"

"I stabbed him in the foot."

They stared at her. Nabi said, "Really? You were seven years old and you stabbed a grown cyclops in the foot?"

"Oh, he would've killed me," Annabeth said, "but I surprised him. It gave me just enough time to run to Thalia and cut the ropes on her hands. She took it from there."

"Yeah, but still... that was pretty brave, Annabeth." Percy murmured.

Nabi nodded. "It takes a lot to be able to do that."

Annabeth shook her head. She looked down at the ship's floor and muttered, "We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares..."

They let her talk it out as much as she wanted, silently watching the Hercules constellation rise in the night sky. After a while, Annabeth said, "Nabi?"

"Hm?"

"You've talked about how you met a cyclops once," The Athena girl asked, "was it on your way to camp too?"

"Well, it was technically before I was even trying to make it there." Nabi explained, "I was gonna die. This cyclops had been chasing me all day, but I got saved by Clarisse and a satyr named Coach Hedge."

"Why were you out on the streets?" Percy asked.

Nabi pursed her lips. Then, she took a breath and began explaining how she'd ran away from her aunt — how she lived on the streets alone for a while, lonely and scared.

   "What happened to him?" Annabeth said, "Your aunt's boyfriend?"

   Nabi had only ever told Clarisse about it. She hesitated for a moment, but mustered the courage to confess, "I killed him... right before she walked in."

   There was a short silence. Percy shook his head and said, "It was self defence, you were a kid that couldn't do anything."

   Even years after it had happened, Nabi still felt guilty. She still dreamed about it too, sometimes.

   "Yeah," Annabeth mumbled, "Percy's right, it wasn't your fault."

   "Thanks." Nabi said, "I'm... I'm glad I can trust you guys."

   Eventually, as they sailed past more stars, Annabeth noticed Nabi and Percy's tired faces. "Go below. You guys need some rest."

They nodded. Nabi followed Percy with heavy eyes, settling into a hammock. He managed to fall asleep fairly quickly, but Nabi couldn't.

   She stared at the ceiling, wallowing in her thoughts as the hours ticked by.

【 🦋 】

AFTER A WHILE, ANNABETH HURRIEDLY CAME DOWN AND TOLD THEM, "LAND... we're approaching the Island of the Sirens."

They made their way up to the deck, though Nabi could barely make out the supposed island ahead of them — just a dark spot in the mist.

"I want you guys to do me a favor," Annabeth said. "The sirens... we'll be in range of their singing soon."

Nabi remembered stories about the sirens. They sang so sweetly their voices enchanted sailors and lured them to their death.

"No problem." Percy assured her. "We can just stop up our ears. There's a big tub of candle wax below deck—"

"I want to hear them."

Both Nabi and Percy blinked, and at the same time asked, "Why?"

   "They say the sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you don't even realize." Annabeth said, "That's what's so enchanting. If you survive... you become wiser. I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?"

   Coming from most people, it would've made no sense. But Annabeth being who she was — well, if she could struggle through Ancient Greek architecture books and enjoy documentaries on the History Channel, Nabi guessed the Sirens would appeal to her too.

   But then Nabi thought... if she'd never get to experience what she desired most, then why not get a glimpse of it?

   "I wanna do it too." Nabi nodded. "I wanna see what it's like."

   "Really?" Percy gave her a surprised look.

   Nabi merely nodded again, and reluctantly, Percy helped the two girls with Annabeth's plan. As soon as the rocky coastline of the island came into view, he ordered the ropes to wrap around their waists, tying them to the foremast. Nabi hastily threw her bracelet to the side, almost forgetting to.

  "Don't untie us," Annabeth warned, "no matter what happens or how much we plead. We'll want to go straight over the edge and drown ourselves."

   "Are you guys trying to tempt me?" Percy said, sarcastically.

   Annabeth gave her own sarcastic laugh back, to which Nabi smiled at the stupid banter. Percy promised to keep them secure, then used some candle wax as earplugs to make sure he'd be fine himself.

   Then, Percy turned to the pilot's wheel, the ship getting closer; the silence becoming unnerving.

They approached the island, with jagged rocks that looked out of the fog. The Queen Anne's Revenge skirted around them. If they sailed any closer, those rocks would shred the hull like blender blades.

It was silent for too long.

Nabi thought that maybe they'd already passed the sirens, until all of a sudden, she heard it.

"Nabi, come over here."

Her breath hitched.

"Come closer, princess. Swim over here... you can live a life without any stupid curses. Don't you want that?"

   "What do you mean?" Nabi swallowed a lump in her throat, but felt herself straining against the ropes at the sound of the sirens' singing. "Percy, let me go."

   The voices grew louder, the urge grew stronger.

Sometimes, the voices would overlap each other — Silena was whispering promises into her ears, then soon it was Connor and Travis' laughter.

"Nabi! Hurry up, come over! We're safe here... join us..."

"You have to let me go, Percy. They're over there." Nabi croaked, "Please."

When she couldn't hear Percy's response, she struggled against the ropes even more. Her arms burned, and her throat was dry, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

   "Would you like us to show you?"

   "Show me," Nabi pleaded, "please, show me."

   They sounded so alluring. Nabi cried and begged for Percy to untie her — she had to get out... she had to get out.

   That's when she saw it. As the ship got faster and they were close enough to the island...

   There was a kitchen. It was pretty, with sleek countertops and an island in the centre of it. But that wasn't what caught Nabi off guard. It was such an unexpected sight — an older version of Clarisse, one that had grown proudly past their years at Camp Half-Blood, was cooking eggs and bacon on the stove.

Clarisse still had scars from all the battles she'd fought, but they had faded with time. Her long, dark curls seemed like she had been too lazy to brush them when waking up, and she was wearing sweatpants with a pyjama top.

   She had a determined expression, which was cute, and a little funny, because of how serious she seemed doing such a mundane task.

   "Nabs," Clarisse called out, "I'm making scrambled eggs!"

   Nabi flinched when she heard her own voice.

   "You said you'd make them fried!" An older version of herself came into the kitchen, rubbing an eye sleepily, wearing pyjamas too. "You're such a liar."

   There wasn't much different about her, really. But she seemed way less stressed, more carefree than the real Nabi was feeling as she stared at them.

   Clarisse snorted, "Be grateful. If you were the one cooking, the place would've burned down."

   "Yeah, fair enough."

   Clarisse turned to wrap her arms around Nabi's waist. The older version of her, of course — it was just so weird seeing it.

"Have you brushed your teeth?" Clarisse teased, and her next words made the real version of Nabi pause in shock, "I'm not kissing you if you haven't."

Kiss her...?

"Didn't I just say you were a liar?" Nabi laughed, "I've got perfectly good breath, actually. Lean in and I'll show you."

   Clarisse just laughed — a delightful sound. Then, she leaned in... and ever so gently, their lips met.

   It was soft and simple and sweetness. It looked so normal, something that they'd done a million times before. Nabi smiled against her lips, wrapping her arms around Clarisse's neck to pull her in closer.

The realisation hit her like a truck, and she had to swallow down a gasp. Was this what she wanted? Oddly enough... she didn't even need to think about it.

She already knew the answer.

   "What time are you leaving?" Clarisse mumbled.

   Nabi shrugged. "In an hour. Annabeth wanted the meeting to start early... don't give me that look! We're almost finished with plans to remake the camp."

   "Yeah, yeah." Clarisse waved a hand dismissively, turning back to the stove. "I get it. Making the camp safer for future demigods and stuff."

   "Mhm."

   "Alright," Clarisse sighed, "remind me, who's coming tonight?"

   "Uhhh," Nabi blinked, then began counting everyone on her fingers, "Silena, the Stolls... oh, I'm bringing Percy and Annabeth with me back home. So technically, they're showing up early."

   "We don't have enough chairs." Clarisse grumbled.

   Nabi rolled her eyes. "We can all eat in the living room or something."

   "And risk dirtying the sofa?" Clarisse said, "No way. Our place has gotta stay clean."

   "You're only complaining because you claimed that Percy and Annabeth's place wasn't as cool as ours." Nabi poked her in the side, laughing.

   "Because it isn't."

   "Annabeth literally designed our living room!"

Clarisse just huffed, too busy putting the eggs and bacon onto their plates. They sat down and ate their food, talking without a care in the world.

   Nabi couldn't take her eyes off of the scene. It wasn't what she expected, but seeing it in front of her...

   Gods, she wanted nothing more.

   Then, the scene shimmered and changed into a battlefield, with people yelling and weapons clashing.

   "No, no... give it back to me!" Nabi cried, "Give it back to me!"

   She saw herself again.

   But this version of her was no longer the older one. It was just her regular self, soaring over the raging battlefield with her sword in hand. From below, she could make out faces.

Connor was lying somewhere, bloodied and lifeless.

Silena was screaming for help, unable to stand, her voice catching in her throat as a monster came closer.

There were others too, people that Nabi had known her whole life at the camp.

"I don't want this," Nabi sobbed, "Make it stop!"

Nabi landed on the ground and began stabbing through the enemies, slashing and hurling forward into battle. She fought like a whirlwind — a blur that wreaked havoc with each slice of her weapon; an unyielding force of nature.

Nabi watched the scene with bated breath, tears streaming down her face.

Hauntingly, Nabi — the version of her that had been soaring and slashing and doing everything she could — completely stopped. She turned to the real Nabi slowly like a hollow ghost, and looked straight into her eyes with a blank expression.

All of a sudden, a spear flew through the air.

It pierced through her chest, and her knees gave out. Her entire body was being engulfed by a harsh, white light as blood seeped through her clothes.

Right as she was about to collapse, the light consumed her, and the scene changed once more.

   "Please— stop. This isn't fair." Nabi choked, struggling to breathe through the sobbing, "Let me go!"

   Eventually, it was back to the same kitchen. Except Clarisse and herself weren't there anymore.

   Instead, it was...

   "Mom?" Nabi murmured.

   "All of that can't happen if you're here." Her mother said, sitting on the kitchen's island with a smile, "You just have to make your way over. C'mon, now."

   She needed to get out.

   "We're safe here, sweetheart," She promised, "I'm safe here. Why don't you take a look?"

   The image of her mother flickered, replaced by all of her friends huddled around the island as they piled their plates with food — smiling and laughing and filled with joy.

   Everyone was there, this time. Clarisse, Percy, Annabeth... everyone she loved, older and happier. Everyone except her. They were waiting for her.

   "C'mon." Clarisse said, turning to Nabi.

   Nabi could hear the fondness in which she spoke.

   Clarisse laughed. "Don't you want to come over?"

   "I do," Nabi rasped, "I really do."

"What are you waiting for?" Clarisse frowned. "...I love you, Nabi. Why won't you come over?"

"I..." Nabi choked out, "I love you too. I'm in love with you."

   "Then, why didn't you tell me about the curse?" The Ares girl's voice cracked, and she sounded so hurt — it was all Nabi's fault she was like this.

   Strings of pleads and begs came out of Nabi's mouth, barely coherent through her gasps for air.

   "I should've told you about the curse sooner," Nabi croaked, "I'm sorry for not telling you. I'm sorry for not realising— I'm so, so sorry—"

Thankfully, it came to an end as the Queen Anne's Revenge steered further away. Nabi felt herself go slack as the voices grew more distant.

   "Percy? Annabeth?" Nabi mumbled, dazed.

   When she blinked, Percy was untying the ropes, whilst Annabeth sat huddled in a blanket on the forward deck.

   Nabi wiped away the tears, confused and overwhelmed. "What... what happened?"

   "I forgot to disarm Annabeth," Percy said, and she could tell he felt horrible, "she jumped overboard, so I had to save her."

   Nabi turned to the other girl, concerned. In all of her haste to remove her bracelet, she hadn't reminded Percy and Annabeth about the dagger the Athena girl had. Slowly, she walked over to where she'd thrown the piece of jewellery and clasped it back on.

"It was my fault," Percy told her, "I—"

"Don't worry, it was equally mine for forgetting too. Besides, it was a mistake, Perce." Nabi said.

   All three of them paused for a moment to catch their breaths. Nabi asked, "You both okay?"

   "...I didn't realise." Annabeth murmured.

   "What?" Percy frowned.

   Her eyes were the same color as the mist over the sirens' island. She shook her head. "How powerful the temptation would be."

   "Neither did I." Nabi said, staring at where they'd long left the sirens.

   Percy hesitated, before he said to Annabeth, "I saw the way you rebuilt Manhattan, and Luke and your parents."

   "You saw that?" The Athena girl blushed.

   "What Luke told you on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch..." Percy said, "that really got to you, huh?"

   She pulled the blanket around herself, and Nabi walked over to sit next to her on the deck. Annabeth mumbled, "My fatal flaw. That's what the sirens showed me — my fatal flaw is hubris."

   Percy blinked. "The brown stuff they spread on sandwiches?"

   "Are you thinking about hummus?" Nabi would've laughed if she wasn't so drained.

   Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No, Seaweed Brain. Hubris is worse."

   "What can be worse than hummus?" He retorted.

   "Hubris means deadly pride, Percy," Annabeth said, "thinking you can do things better than everybody else... even the gods. No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework."

   He murmured, "I'm listening."

   "I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did — that's why the fire's still burning. That's why Olympus is still around." Annabeth said, "But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, y'know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear all this down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?"

   Nabi stayed silent, but she didn't really feel the same. She thought back to Kronos' words in her dreams and shivered. Percy shrugged and told them, "No. Me running the world would be kind of a nightmare."

   Annabeth sighed. "Then you're lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw."

   "What is?" He asked.

   Annabeth just shrugged. "I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it... well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing."

   They lapsed into silence. Then Percy turned to Nabi, and asked, "Did you see yours? Your fatal flaw."

   "...No, I don't think so," Nabi muttered, "just things that the sirens knew would tempt me. I saw you guys, and a bunch of other people. It was... simple. An ordinary life without any danger and stuff."

   It was a future. It was unobtainable.

   Annabeth said, "Right before the sirens were out of earshot, you kept screaming apologies. You kept talking about a curse."

   Nabi's heart dropped to her stomach.

   "What else did I say?"

Percy said, "We only heard the last bit. That's when we got back onto the ship."

Nabi breathed a sigh of relief, and muttered, "I don't want to talk about it."

   They understood, and decided not to pry, but Annabeth opened up her blanket to wrap Nabi inside of it with her. Nabi put her head on the Athena girl's shoulder as they watched the ocean's waves.

   "So was it worth it?" Percy asked, "Do you feel... wiser?"

   "I'm not really sure." Nabi replied quietly.

   But now, at the very least, Nabi was sure of what she wanted... of who she wanted. In all honesty, it shouldn't have came as a surprise, but her mind was reeling.

   Clarisse was someone she'd known all her life. Nabi had spent years studying each and every part of Clarisse — her confidence and resilience, how she held her head high wherever she went; her softness behind closed doors, how her lips upturned into cheeky grins and the warmth that pooled from her eyes.

And despite learning the worst parts of her — of how much anger she really had and the pain she really dealt with — Nabi chose to continue loving her.

Really, she loved everything about her. She'd just never known how deep it ran through her veins.

   The ship continued onwards, yet Nabi's head was still stuck on one thing, and one thing only: SHE WAS IN LOVE WITH CLARISSE LA RUE.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

𝗥𝗜𝗞𝗔'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗦!

જ⁀➴ erm what a crazy ride guys am i right or am i right 😜 well how did u guys like this chapter ? this was smth i was soo excited to write when i was planning it in my drafts guys don't even get me started !! but now she knowwsss !! cray cray .

   i think it's so heartbreaking that nabi wants something so simple bcos imagining not even getting a chance to have it ?? bless ☹️ omg i didn't realise how close we were to finishing the sea of monsters no way ...

   okok so if u've seen my message board i've got another pjo wlw fic i'm releasing soon, and i wanted to tell u guys that 'strength' is still the no.1 priority !! i js wanted a side project for whenever i felt like writing smth else but it'll probs have slow updates ,, so yea 🫡 hope u guys check it out when it's published !! thank u sm for reading this chapter, i love u all & i'll see u in the next onee <33