It All Started With a Toilet

By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx

AN: So, I got the idea of this... randomly. I realized I need a Chrisse story, and I thought I'd do one! I'm actually happy with this one, so yeah. I hope you guys will like it too, but if you don't... *shrugs* Oh well, I'm cool with it.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. The oh-so-amazing Rick Riordan does!

(WATCH OUT FOR MY HALLOWEEN STORY!)

I was nine years old when he first came to camp.

I remember that day like it was yesterday, but then again, I remember pretty much any day as if it just happened. It was a pretty normal day at camp—the weather was nice as usual, unlike the weather outside of camp, Luke was training to no end in the amphitheater, the newer kids were learning how to handle a sword, etc. Nothing extraordinary was really happening. It was just a regular Thursday.

News spread pretty quickly through camp, so by midday, all forty demigods who were lived there during the winter time knew that there was a new, unclaimed demigod who had stumbled into camp with his satyr.

Lovely. Surely, we needed yet another unclaimed kid who had to be shoved into the Hermes kids. Sometimes, I wondered if the gods even considered what they were doing when they seduced a mortal.

Oh. I just heard some thunder. Forget that last part.

Anyway, I currently was running to the Big House, where Chiron would most likely ask me to once again show the newbie the ropes at Camp Half-Blood. It was a fairly easy job, but there were some kids who were dead-set on believing that they were just mere mortals. I wish.

"You called for me, Chiron?" I breathed as I ran up to the porch.

The old centaur smiled warmly at me, while Mr. D simply chose to pretend I wasn't there, which I didn't mind at all. Next to him sat a satyr I recognized as Han, and a bulky Hispanic boy with spiky brown hair that looked about a couple of years older than me.

"Annabeth," Chiron introduced, gesturing to the boy, "this is Chris Rodriguez. He's the new half-blood, and I need you to show him around the camp."

I studied Chris, who waved at me, intently. Standing up, I guessed he would be a few inches short of Luke, which was pretty good since Luke was sixteen and Chris was probably twelve.

"Of course," I said finally, turning my attention back to Chiron. "C'mon, Chris, let's go see camp."

Showing the new kids around camp including showing them the amphitheater, the rock wall(which I found a little silly, because that was one of the first things you noticed at camp, but Chiron insisted on it), the arts and crafts room, the armory, and the cabins. Anything that wasn't included on the tour we usually passed on the way to another place in the tour. It usually took about thirty minutes to an hour, depending on how fascinated the new demigod was. Luckily for me, Chris stayed silent most of the tour, and just nodded when I pointed out things to him or explained the life of a half-blood.

"Well, that's the end of the tour," I said, sounding pretty bored. "I'll take you to the Hermes Cabin, and you can make yourself at home."

Chris nodded. "Thanks, I—"

"Well, well, well!" a familiar, husky voice yelled, with a hint of mocking laughter mixed in. I sighed, turning to the source of the voice. "If it isn't a newbie!"

"Clarisse," I said, annoyed, "what do you want?" She and her friends(actually siblings) sauntered over to us, and I rolled my eyes.

The rather large daughter of Ares smirked, pushing me aside. "Move it, Brain Child." I shot her an angry glare, brushing myself off. She looked Chris over critically. "Who's the pipsqueak?"

I raised an eyebrow. Chris was actually about the same height as Clarisse, and he was more on the stocky side. If he was a pipsqueak, then the Stoll brothers must be ants to Clarisse.

"Chris Rodriguez," I said, my tone carefully controlled. "Chris, meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

The boy looked at Clarisse and nodded, still not saying a word. A ghost of a smile covered his face, which I found a bit surprising. Most people either cowered in fear in front of Clarisse, or picked a fight with her. Little to no people wanted to be her friend.

Clarisse sneered at Chris, and automatically, I knew what was coming for him.

You see, another part of the tour is Clarisse's like… initiation for new kids. When we got back to the cabins, Clarisse was usually there, waiting to…

…dunk the new kid's head into a toilet.

There wasn't much I could do to stop her when she grabbed the new kid and dragged him or her into the bathroom, and I had to admit, it was pretty funny. So, I usually just stood back and let her.

"You know," Clarisse said, smirking at Chris, "we've got an initiation here for newbies."

"Oh, do you know?" Chris replied, a smirk forming on his own face. "Bring it on then."

I opened my mouth to intervene, simply because I felt a bit sorry for Chris, but before I could say anything, Clarisse had Chris in a headlock. Even I found that impressive. She dragged him towards the girls' bathroom, kicking and punching, and I sighed, trailing after her. This was going to be interesting.

Clarisse laughed, pushing Chris's head down towards the toilet, then flushed it. She and her siblings laughed hysterically as Chris struggled, muffled screams escaping his mouth. I held back a snicker, covering my mouth with my hand.

After a few moments, Clarisse yanked his head back up, grinning, and Chris gasped for air, sputtering up toilet water. She threw him onto the ground and laughed.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, newb," Clarisse sneered, before walking off with her and her friends. As they passed by me, I scoffed, rolling my eyes, and walked over to Chris.

As I neared Chris, I noticed he had finished sputtering up water, and unlike most victims of Clarisse's initiation, he wasn't rubbing his mouth with his hands, as if trying to get the taste of the water out of his mouth. Instead, he just sat there, staring after the daughters of Ares, that little smile on his face.

"The boys' bathrooms to the left," I said, offering him my hand. With a grateful smile, Chris grabbed my hand, standing up. Without another word, he staggered off, hair still dripping toilet water, still smiling.

I shook my head as I walked out of the bathroom. "Weird kid," I muttered to myself.

A year later, at age thirteen, Chris Rodriguez still hadn't been claimed by his godly parent. Like every other unclaimed kid—which Camp Half-Blood had a plethora of—Chris was stuck living in the extremely cramped Hermes Cabin. I felt sorry for him and every other unclaimed kid; even though I'd never met her, at least Athena had had the decency to claim me as her daughter.

One thing I'd picked up on after a year of knowing Chris was that he could often be found staring at Clarisse, a goofy smile on his face.

Now, I might've been a ten year-old kid at the time, but even I knew that he had a crush on Clarisse. Silena Beauregard, one of Aphrodite's nicer daughters, had flat out declared it, which just proved my point even more.

Most of me thought Chris was crazy. Clarisse was rude, mean, and plain out disgusting. Only a complete lunatic would have a crush on someone like her.

Guess that makes Chris a complete lunatic.

Still, there was that part of me that felt sorry for Chris. If Clarisse ever found out about Chris's crush on her… well, let's just say, she would make the bathroom incident look like kid's play.

Luckily for Chris, Clarisse was about as intelligent as a piece of dirt. She didn't noticed any of his lovestruck stares, and she really didn't think much of his constant compliments. Still, all of us knew that sooner or later, Clarisse would find out about Chris's secret, and he's be royally screwed.

One could only hope that it'd take Clarisse a long time to realize his crush on her.

I was thirteen when Chris turned to the other side.

It was right before the summer of the Sea of Monsters—spring break, actually—and I was visiting Camp Half-Blood.

It'd been another long night for me; I'd kept tossing and turning restlessly, oddly finding myself staring out the window at the ocean. All my siblings were sleeping soundly, along with the other campers in different cabins. But of course, lucky me had insomnia that night.

Outside of my cabin, I heard something rustle, and I sat up in my bed, throwing off my covers. More rustling followed, and in my curiosity, I grabbed some flip flops and walked outside, hoping to find who was awake. It might've been a harpy, but I had a strange feeling it wasn't.

By the time I'd gotten out of the cabin, the figure was up by Thalia's tree with another person that was taller and bulkier. I ran towards Half-Blood Hill, trying to figure out who it was, though I sort of had an idea who it was already.

As I neared the two figures, I realized that I right—it was Clarisse and Chris, and they were arguing with each other. I hid behind a nearby tree, listening in on their conversation.

"You honestly think that Kronos will give you the attention you deserve?" Clarisse yelled angrily. "That's crazy, Chris! He's just going to use you!"

I nearly gasped, and my hand flew to my mouth. Yet another demigod was about ready to turn to Kronos's side because of

Chris narrowed his dark eyes at her and retorted, "Oh, like how the gods are using you? Kronos promised me power, Clarisse. Recognition. I wouldn't be crammed into some crowded cabin with twenty other kids, like I am at camp!"

"Instead, you'll be killed by Kronos the second he's done with you," Clarisse spat.

He stiffened. "You could come with me, Clarisse," Chris suggested, a small smile on his face. "You would be a war hero. When Kronos gains control, you would be one of his greatest warriors."

I had to admit, in Clarisse's perspective, that must've been tempting. The one thing Clarisse wanted was to be known as a great hero. She wanted to go down in history books.

"If you honestly think I'm going to come with you, then you're an idiot, Chris," Clarisse snarled.

A sigh came from Chris's mouth. "Clarisse, please. I… I like you. I want you to come with me. We could be together. You could get everything you ever wanted."

My jaw nearly dropped. Chris finally admitted that he liked her, and it'd been three seconds, and he wasn't dead yet. I would consider that an accomplishment.

"What makes you think I would—"

Before she could complete her sentence, Chris smacked his lips onto Clarisse's and pulled her into a tight embrace. This time, my jaw dropped. If Clarisse didn't kill him after he let go, I would, for once, be truly surprised.

Following several moments of their make-out, Chris let her go, a sad smile on his face. Clarisse's jaw was agape, and she stood there, speechless.

"If you won't come with me," Chris said softly, "I guess this is goodbye, Clarisse. I hope we won't have to meet each other on the battlefield." And with that, he turned and ran out of the camp, leaving Clarisse still standing there.

After a few more seconds of just standing there, frozen, Clarisse's arm moved up and touched her lip. A ghost of a smile spread to her face, and she rolled her eyes. She began to walk back to her cabin, shaking her head.

And the last thing I heard her say was, "That idiot."

I was fifteen when I got my first quest.

Clarisse wouldn't do it—curse and thank her—and I was the only one suited to lead a quest to go into the Labyrinth. Part of me wished that she could go—after all, she was the one who had gone in there first—but I knew she would never leave Chris behind.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention. I was almost fifteen when Chris returned to camp.

He was insane—literally this time. From what I'd heard, Clarisse had run into him in the Labyrinth, and he'd been mumbling something about a string. Ariadne's string is what I guessed. Meaning, Luke had sent him into the Labyrinth to find Ariadne's string so they could invade Camp Half-Blood.

Lovely.

I walked into the stadium, brandishing my knife, when I noticed I wasn't alone. Clarisse was also in there, stabbing fiercely at the straw dummies. Her facial expression was pained, and she acted as if the straw dummy had killed her best friend or something.

"Clarisse?" I spoke up, slightly warily.

The daughter of Ares stopped in the middle of stabbing another dummy and looked at me. Her eyes were filled with pain. "Wise girl," she acknowledged.

The name 'Wise Girl' automatically made me think of Percy. Stupid son of Poseidon. Bringing a mortal girl into our world. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Are you okay?" I asked, trying not to make her too angry.

Clarisse's form stiffened, and she sliced off another dummy's head. "Just fine," she said through gritted teeth.

"This is about Chris, isn't it?" I guessed.

In a split second, she turned from slicing dummies' head off to glaring at me like I was her next target.

"I don't want to talk about it," was all she said, before turning back to cutting and hacking at the straw dummies.

"Look, I know how you feel," I reminded. "Luke. He betrayed me. He was like my older brother. I understand how you feel."

Once again, Clarisse turned and looked at me, a fierce look on her face. "Is Luke curled up into a bed right now? Did he have to go through the Labyrinth? Will he forever be haunted by that? No, he won't. You don't understand." Her voice was shaky, but angry all the more.

"He might not be," I said quietly, "and Chris may be, but I do think I understand where you are right now. You loved Chris before he turned on you. I loved Luke before he betrayed me. That's what's hurting you the most right now, not the fact that he doesn't even remember you."

Clarisse gritted her teeth, lowering her sword. "Do me a favor, Annabeth," she said. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she continued, "Don't trust Daedalus, okay? I don't care if he's your idol, just don't trust him. If you find him, kill him. Anyone that can create something like the Labyrinth? That person is evil. Just plain out evil. He doesn't deserve to live."

"Clarisse—" I tried, but she cut me off while sheathing her sword.

"Kronos has gone too far this time," she said, a steely look forming in her eyes. "I'm done with it. It's personal now."

Then, she walked away. [1]

It was the end of that summer when Chris and Clarisse started dating.

Mr. D had returned from finding the minor gods, bringing back even more bad news. The Battle of the Labyrinth was over, the Labyrinth had been destroyed, and Daedalus and many, many other demigods were dead. We'd won, but it was a shallow victory.

"It won't be enough," I heard Malcolm mutter from his desk. He was scribbling something down on a piece of paper, shaking his head. I could tell he was talking about our war forces. And he was definitely right. We'd already had a little amount of demigods to begin with, and after this battle, we'd lost even more.

I sighed, walking over to my bed. It was nearly ten o'clock, and I was about to call lights off when I noticing someone still sitting in the darkness. I narrowed my eyes to see to bulky figures—Clarisse and Chris.

"What are they doing out there?" I muttered to myself.

Their mouths were open, large smiles on their faces. Chris seemed happier then ever, and strangely enough, so did Clarisse. They were holding hands, and after a few moments of studying their words, I realized that they were singing a silly campfire song.

I smiled. After all they'd been through, Clarisse and Chris deserved to be happy together. And to see Clarisse singing as if no one was there… well, I absolutely had to smile at that.

Now if only Percy and I could get somewhere like they did.

I was sixteen when Percy disappeared.

I wasn't taking it very well at all—not well at all, actually. On the outside, I was still Annabeth, the headstrong daughter of the Athena, but on the inside, I felt like I was falling apart. And when Jason said that he might not remember who he even was… That was my breaking point.

I don't remember crying that much, but I just felt completely numbed by this. I stayed at camp instead of going to look for him—after all, they needed someone to go over Leo's blueprints for the Argo II.

What I did the most was train. I found myself always at the arena, angrily slashing dummies' heads off, muttering to myself like I was a crazy person.

It reminded me of Clarisse during the summer of the Labyrinth.

On a pretty average day, I was once again at the arena, ruthlessly killing the straw dummies', when I heard a familiar voice say, "Well, this looks familiar."

I turned around to see Clarisse standing in the entrance of the arena, her arms crossed, smirking. "Clarisse," I said curtly.

"Miss Princess," Clarisse replied. She looked at the straw that lay around my feet, an amused expression on her face. "What did those dummies ever do to you?"

I sighed. "Look, I don't have time for—"

"It's hard, isn't it?" she interrupted, walking over to where the dummies were.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Excuse me?"

"It hurts," she continued. "It hurts to know that he might not remember you."

I winced, stabbing a dummy in the chest. "Can we not bring this up?"

"I know you feel," Clarisse said, her voice calm. "I was there. He didn't remember me. Didn't recognize me. It sucked, you know?"

"Is this supposed to be helping me?"

"Chris came out of it," she said. "Prissy will too. He'll remember you, okay? Relax."

"Mr. D healed Chris," I pointed out, all of the sudden feeling nervous and angry and just scared. "Percy won't have someone to heal him."

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Look, Wise girl, my point is, you'll be fine. Prissy will be fine. Blah, blah, blah. Just accept that, because this is the one and only time that I will help you when it comes to relationships."

I was twenty-two years old when Clarisse and Chris had a daughter.

She was an adorable little baby who looked more like her dad than her mom. She had little tufts of black hair and brown eyes, both of which she'd inherited from her dad. Her name was Silena, or Lena, as Percy liked to call her.

"She's beautiful, guys," I said softly, cradling the baby in my arms.

The couple smiled at each other, then in unison said, "Thanks,"

"Well, Clarisse," Percy spoke up, grinning, "how does it feel to be a mommy?"

Surprisingly, the daughter of Ares smiled. "Good, actually. It's about time she got out of there."

"Aw, are you getting soft?"

Clarisse glared at my fiancé. "I may be a mother now, but I can still kick your sorry butt any day."

Percy laughed. "I'll keep you to your word, Clarisse,"

After a few more minutes of useless bantering, Chris nudged Clarisse, clearing his throat. "Clarisse,"

The daughter of Ares looked up at her husband, looking slightly confused. He gestured his head towards us, and Clarisse nodded in understanding. Then, the two turned to us.

"Will you two be Lena's godparents?" Chris asked, a smile on his face.

My eyes widened, and I turned to Percy, who looked as surprised as I was. "Us?" I said, my voice filled with shock.

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. As much as I hate to say it, you guys are our…" She cringed. "You guys are our closest friends. But don't let that get to your head."

I turned to Percy once again, who grinned, then turned back to Chris and Clarisse. "We'd love to be Lena's godparents," I said, smiling.

So, that's pretty much Clarisse and Chris's story, from my perspective, at least. They went from Clarisse dunking his head into a toilet, to getting married and having a beautiful daughter together.

Of course, as incredibly corny it is, they lived happily ever after.

And, to think, it all started with a toilet.

Fin.

AN: Well, that's the story!

[1]: Ahem, based off of Rick's Percy and Clarisse scene from BotL. I really like the line, "Practice time is over. From now on, it's for real."

That single line sums up BotL. From this book on, it IS the real thing. The war's coming, and everyone's stressed. I think that one line sums up everything. It's really amazing.

Well, hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!

Number of Words: 4000