Clover POV

I walked into the bathroom and closed the door, the bag of drachmas in my hand. Once I knew the door was locked, I exhaled and turned toward the shower.

I know what you're thinking. What are you doing in the bathroom with a bag of drachmas?

To take make a call. Duh.

I sat down on the edge of the tub and turned on the water. I flipped the lever and the water started coming through the shower head. I stood and twisted the settings on the shower head. Instead coming down like rain, the water turned to small water droplets of mist. A rainbow appeared.

It was the special setting for Iris Messages. Why Leo put it in the shower head, I have no clue...

I took a deep breath and tossed one of the drachmas into the mist. It disappeared and I stated,

"Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Rick Riordan." The rainbow shimmered and I saw Rick, frying eggs in a frying pan. I could almost smell them. Then, it reminded me that I was hungry... But I couldn't step away now.

"Rick?" I asked. He turned quickly, almost whacking himself with the frying pan. When he realized it was me, he face turned quizzical.

"Clover? How are you-"

"Rick, there's no time. It's a long story that I shouldn't get into. I need your help." I said, cutting him off. Rick set down the frying pan on the stove, turned off the burner, then grabbed a kitchen chair. He placed it in front of the Iris Message and took a seat. He opened his hands and said,

"How can I help you?" I took a deep breath and asked,

"Is there a way I can step into the story without having it fall apart?" Rick hesitated, twiddling his thumbs in deep thought. Then he sighed,

"No Clover... I'm sorry." I looked at the tiled floor.

"No, it's okay." I said, fingering my bandages. Rick leaned forward, studying me.

"Clover, what happened to your neck and arms?" I looked down at the bandage I was messing with. The guilt came flooding back.

"I-I tried to kill myself..." I looked up at him sadly. "I would rather die than leave him." Rick stared at me with disbelief.

"You almost killed yourself?" He asked, completely shocked. I nodded sadly,

"Yes sir, I did... Leo saved me..." Rick leaned back in his chair. He studied me closer,

"You really do love him, don't you?" He asked. I bit my lip and nodded, not willing to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry Rick... I knew I shouldn't have gotten into this much trouble..." I started to cry again. I didn't want to, but there was no other way to get it out. Rick looked down at the floor then sighed,

"Clover, you leave me no other choice... I'm going to have to remove you from the story completely." I shot my head up, the tears still running down my face, and stared wide eyed at him.

"What? I-I can't just leave. Leo will be so worried..." Rick sighed and stood up.

"That's the hard part," he held out his hand, as if gesturing me to step through the Iris Message, "Come on. I need your help now." I stared at him, completely confused.

"W-what am I doing...?" I asked, standing up and placing the drachmas in my back pocket. Rick just gesture me forward, his hand still outstretched.

"Step through the Iris Message." I stared at him, completely dumbfounded,

"B-but I can't. It's just a video call." Rick chuckled,

"Not with me on one end. Come on." I stood up uneasily, and was about to step through, when I realized something.

"Wait! Let me do something real fast!" I hurriedly said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out one of my normal mechanical pencils. I tore some toilet paper off the roll and folded it. Then, I began to write.

After a minute or so, I finished. I stuck the toilet paper letter in the mirror and reached into a drawer. I pulled out a bag of ambrosia and stuffed it into my pocket. I faced Rick,

"Alright. I'm ready." He stretched out his hand and so did I. Right as my hand was about to go through the water, my hand began to feel warm. My body began to pass through the Iris Messages, but as my head was about to go through, I screamed. I quickly pulled away, the warm feeling disappearing and grasped at my neck.

My necklace was glowing red hot.

I pulled at it to come off, but it couldn't. It began to cool down, but I still tried to keep it away from my healing cut.

"Clover? What happened?" Rick asked, totally confused. I reached behind my neck and opened the clasp. The necklace fell into my hand and I stared at it.

"N-nothing," I stammered, placing the piece of jewelry in my pocket. I took a deep breath, "Alright, I'm going, whether you like it or not." Rick probably had no idea what I was talking about, but I stepped toward the Iris Message. I stepped through water and the warm feeling spread through my body. The feeling began to turn burning hot. It was as if I had just ate the bag of ambrosia in my back pocket... but I didn't... My breath was getting ripped from my lungs, sending panic signals to my brain.

Rick gripped my hand, pulled me through and I fell onto the kitchen floor. My clothes were steaming. I gasped and coughed, the air refreshing me. Rick knelt next to me,

"Are you alright?" he asked. I took another deep breath and nodded. The floor was cold and it felt good against my warm skin. I looked down at my arms and realized the part of my bandage had come off. The cuts were starting to heal, thanks to the ambrosia, but they still were painful.

The horrible scars stood out like the moon on a dark night. They were scabbed over and made you depressed when you looked at them. I was lucky to have them as they were, since I had only tried to kill myself a few hours ago. Each cut brought back painful memories and sorrow. Deep sorrow. Deep cuts. Each cut was a memory I wanted erased. Compared to the number of cuts I had (which was thirty six in total) meant that I had a lot. The last one that I had made, the one on my neck, represented my saddest memory.

I had to leave Leo.

Forever.

So that is what I did. I decided that if I were to leave, I would do it.

Then and there.

Rick picked up the bandage and wrapped it can around my arm. I was glad he didn't ask a lot of questions. I didn't want the guilt to become worse. He put a hand on my shoulder,

"Clover, I need your help with something very serious." I swallowed, unsure what I was going into, and nodded.

"Of course sir. What do you need help with?" Rick stood up, holding out his hand, and I took it. He pulled me up.

"Clover, I need your wisdom about the world I created. We need to write a book."