The Choice Was Mine (I Didn't Think Enough)
"No! No!" He screams, falling to the ground. "No! I don't want-- I don't want to see them! Let me go mad again! Please! Please! I can't face them!" His shrieks turn into sobs, and he curls into fetal position.
"Please, I can't-- I can't look them in the eyes. Lee's dead! He's dead, 'Risse, and-- and it's my fault! I swore fealty, I betrayed you, betrayed all of you! Don't make me face them! I'll die! I'd rather die! You-- you should have left me, should have let me die."
(In his mind, he pictures Mary again. Pictures them rip her apart. Over. and over. and over.)
"I wish you'd left me."
Or: after Mr. D cures Chris' madness, Clarisse tries to get him to face the camp again.
Don't Wake Me Up (Crazy Is Better Than Remembering) - Chapter One
Where is he, where is she, why is it so dark, what is happening, why, why, WHY?
Who is Mary, where is she, what happened, why is there red, what happened, why, why, WHY?
Why is he laughing, what is he doing, make it stop, make it stop, the earth needs to stop, it’s moving it is healing him, Mary Mary please Mary wake up
Why is her shirt red, it was white, why is she bleeding it’s so so dark is it day, is it night?
String string rope thread string cord labyrinth minos, what is happening why are you taking me, stop stop MARY PLEASE (Wake up!)
And the scar was illuminated it looks evil, his eyes were going to glow gold, what is that ship, who is he, who is he, WHO IS HE
Please Mary, please wake up, why won’t you wake up, I have to find you, its so dark, so so dark, he’s horrible Mary, so horrible, why did you leave WHY DID I LEAVE?
Who is she it needs to stop she needs to stop she touching me feeding me he held me down, Mary its so dark, he’s so evil, where is the string the string what is going on
Why are my hands red, why are her hands red, Mary where are you, why are you red, WHY AREN’T YOU BREATHING
What is happening it’s so dark where am I I keep moving where are you Mary mary who is she Mary were are you the earth was healing him he’s so horrible the son of Poseidon why was he doing that what was happening he has the thread
Thread cord string rope I need it he told me to get it why don’t I have it what’s in my hands why does he need it who is he
Who am I who is she where are you Mary where am I where is he and the son of the sea he was terrible he was red what happened
What happened what happened you were screaming Mary Mary Mary Mary
Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary
Who is she, who is Mary
Mary?
Marcy, Mark, Marcie, Amy, Matt, Madge, Marge, Mack, Marie, Minnie, Minty, Mal- Mal- Mal- NO!- Mary???
Mary, Mary Mary, are you Mary,
Rhymes, there’s rhymes, Mary rhymes and red, and a white shirt and monsters why are there monsters what is going on
Monsters monsters monsters why do they exist what is it what why are they red why are they chasing me I can’t move my legs Mary is this what happened to you they’re chasing me, why aren’t they chasing you why aren’t you walking- running- why aren’t you leaving, why are you like this why are your arms like this, Mary please WAKE UP
No. Chris? Chris? Who is Chris? Chris, Chris, Chris?
Is he Chris?
He only remembers Mary.
~~
"Why is your answer to everything violence, Clarisse?" Silena asks, exasperated, tired from prying her away from Michael yet again.
"When I told Castellan I was scared of the thing in the showers he gave me a sword," Clarisse crosses her arms. Beckendorf chortles behind Silena, and behind Clarisse, Chris is making the loco sign with his hand.
A good day. But he doesn't want to remember the good days. He wants to go back to remembering Mary's torn apart body and nothing else, wants to go back to voices in his head, not the voices of his friends. He'd betrayed them. He doesn't deserve this.
~~
“Why the fuck do you even have an arrow that turns into a bouquet of roses in mid-flight!? And don’t say ‘aesthetic’!”
"Why the fuck wouldn't I? They're fun, aren't they, Will?"
"No! You know why, Mikey? Because I just had to spend three hours removing thorns from Clarisse!" Will always was a very cross eight year old. Especially since he'd been unclaimed at the time. Poor Will. If Chris was a better person, Will would have been the reason he turned to Kronos, but Chris had always been selfish.
"She wasn't meant to get in the way! I was trying to send them to Jake, Henri helped me make them." Michael looked so petulent and childish. Gods, he must have only been... 11 here? Five long, long years. He hadn't even reached four feet tall yet.
"That's not better!" Will's voice is squeaky, and he looks so annoyed right now. Chris remembers this. Lee had refused to hand out ambrosia, and Clarisse hadn't sat for a week. Her revenge had been swift, and Mikey's running futile.
Michael grumbles, crossing his arms. "Not trying to injure him, you worrywart. I was trying to see if he wanted to go into the city with me."
~~
“Don’t go sucking my oranges!” Chris remembers this one easily. Michael had stolen all of Clarisse's oranges, and she had been furious. They were even younger here-- nine, maybe?
“You couldn’t think of anything better to say? Eating? Taking?” Michael taunts, juggling the last three.
"Fuck off, you-- you--"
"Aww, cat got your tongue?"
Clarisse lunged. Michael cackled, sprinting ahead of her. Chris looks away. He knows what's going to come right after this. Michael is going to sprint up onto Lee's shoulders, and Clarisse is going to accidentally tackle him trying to get Michael. Lee had been furious, and punishment swift. Clarisse and Mikey had had to clean the Hermes cabin by hand every week for months after that. Although, at least, that had been the key to bonding Clarisse and Michael together in anger, if not friendship.
~~
Before that still, back to when Clarisse had first arrived at camp. Clarisse had been eight, and Will five. Chris had been at camp since birth (yet never claimed), and Silena had been a weekend camper on and off since she was five. Mikey came every once in a while for supplies, and Beckendorf was still unclaimed. He'd been excited to meet a new camper-- always was. At eight, Chris was one of the youngest year rounders, and the only one of his age. Silena was only weekends, and Beckendorf was always so studious. He'd mellow out eventually, but until then, Chris' closest friend had been Travis, which sucked, because they always had Connor. And Connor was a fucking talkative six year old. Sometimes Chris just wants to walk down to the gas station and not deal with getting kicked out because of Connor's insane questions.
So he's excited to meet the new camper, until Lee warns him that Clarisse isn't "a big talker" which sounds fine, and then Froggy adds "unless you count with her fists. That girl is violent. Ares through and through."
And that's. Well. Claimed already? No way someone that strong wants to spend time with Chris.
So 3 days later when she's out of the infirmary, and partners with him for capture the flag, he's over the moon. That is, until Chris realises she tied his shoelaces together. Fuckhead.
They'd been friends ever since though.
~~
"Stop" he moans, "stop it. I don't want it. Don't make me remember."
He hears a quiet chuckle, but tries to retreat into his head again. He can't get better. Doesn't want to. Not after what he did to camp. To his best friends.
"Please," he moans, his voice hoarse, "please just let me die."
With that, there's a crack, and he's forced to open his eyes.
"Well we can't have that. No more little demigods dying this week."
He's peering up into the face of Dionysus. "Please, please let me go mad again. I don't deserve this."
And Mr. D doesn't even hesitate, "no can do, nephew mine. Your dad cashed in a pretty big favor for this one," at this, he snorts, "like I wasn't going to do it anyway. But what Hermes doesn't;t know won't hurt him."
Chris' mouth is dry. "Hermes? He's-- he's my dad?"
At this, Mr. D rolls his eyes, snapping his fingers again. "Course, kid." He looks to the ceiling, as if to say look what I have to put up with, but with a snap of fingers, Chris realises there's a symbol over his head. What the fuck.
Then, Mr. D says, "Now go back to sleep-- you'll be tired, and I want a drink."
Chris' eyes close. He wants to be mad. But he isn't. How is he going to-- to face camp?
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