` ❀ 𝒮he will never let you down . ݁ ꒱

— The orange sky of late afternoon hangs over Camp Half-Blood, casting a warm, soft light over the trees and field where the game of Flag Chase is about to begin. You have always struggled with these competitions, especially those involving physical combat and strategy. Your kindness and kind heart are no match for the aggressiveness of battle. But today, Clarisse La Rue is by your side.

She is everything you are not: strong, intimidating, fierce. And, strangely enough, absolutely in love with you. Clarisse never understood how it happened. She, a brute daughter of Ares, always used to solving things with force and anger, was completely devoted to you, a girl as sweet as a princess. Sometimes, she caught herself looking at you, wondering how she could have fallen so deeply for someone so different from her.

You and Clarisse are hiding near a large tree, watching the battlefield unfold before you. She stands beside you, her spear gripped tightly in one hand, her gaze alert and watchful. Clarisse seems always ready to strike, her muscles tensed and her chin held high, as if she’s shielding you from the entire world.

— "Are you sure you want to do this?" — Clarisse asks, turning to look at you. Her voice, normally hard and full of command, sounds strangely soft, almost worried. —

You shrug, a little hesitantly. — "I'm not very good at these things... but with you here, I think I'm more confident." —

The answer makes Clarisse's heart race for a second, which takes her by surprise. She tries to hide the smile that threatens to appear, but the blush on her cheeks is visible - something she would never let show in front of anyone else.

— “I’ll take care of you." — she says, firmly this time, like she’s making a promise. She’s not sure how to say it, but protecting you is the most important thing to her right now. More important even than winning the game — and for a daughter of Ares, that’s quite an admission. —