This is my sequel to The Gambit and the third part in a trilogy. I have some big plans for this story. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rick Riordan.
Annabeth slowly looked down at Ares' shield. She shifted it in her grasp. The daughter of Athena had spent the last week working with Piper and Reyna to retrieve it. The plan was to get the shield and return it to Ares before the end of a week long deadline.
Plans never survived contact with the enemy. Despite the fact that the three demigods had found the shield and were on the way to deliver it, Ares started his war early. All of his children would be on a warpath, and there was no known way to calm them.
It would have been easy to deliver the shield to Ares and have him call off the war, but he had been kidnapped. Athena and Bellona had also been taken. The kidnappings were ordered by Ouranos. He was back and wanted revenge.
"Lord Zeus," Annabeth greeted as she walked towards the head Olympian. Zeus turned towards her. He looked tired from battle. Mount Olympus had been attacked by Ouranos' forces. The Empire Building was practically destroyed.
"Demigod," Zeus greeted. "I see that you retrieved the shield. It seems that it was a little too late."
"With all due respect sir," Percy began. Annabeth squeezed his hand tightly. "Ares started the war before the deadline was here. They would have made it back in time, but Atlas attacked them."
"His curse of holding up the sky is broken," Piper added.
"I suspected as much. Ouranos is much stronger than Athena anticipated he would be," Zeus muttered. "Where is the Roman?"
"Reyna took Blackjack and went back to Camp Jupiter to stabilize it," Annabeth answered. "We need to do the same for Camp Half-Blood."
"First," another voice interrupted. "We must discuss Circe's control of my Hunters."
"Lady Artemis," Annabeth greeted. "Thalia and Hylla were both under Circe's charmspeak. They had been liberated from it. The last I saw of them was at the temple. They were with the demititans."
"You met the demititans?" Artemis questioned.
"We did," Piper confirmed. "They gave us their box that held a piece of Kronos' blade. Reyna managed to open it."
"Rhea was correct then," Artemis said. "You said that the Roman was on the way to Camp Jupiter. Why would she leave herself so unguarded? Ouranos will target her immediately."
"I think Ouranos is overconfident," Annabeth said. "Atlas could have easily killed Reyna. All he did was injure her shoulder."
Annabeth didn't add that Reyna's right arm was practically useless. The praetor had been unable to clench her fist after a meeting with a soothsayer. She probably would not be able to move her arm with the shoulder injury.
"We've been outsmarted at every step," Artemis admitted.
"I find it hard to believe that someone could outsmart Athena," Percy commented.
"My mother also said that Ouranos would not rise till a few days after the deadline. How could she be wrong?" Annabeth asked.
"There is one person who can outsmart Athena," Artemis answered. "Her mother."
"Metis," Annabeth whispered.
"Metis is bitter that I had her turned into a fly and swallowed her. I was focused on the prophecy that said she would have a son stronger than me," Zeus explained. "We eventually returned her to her normal form, but she had to swear on the River Styx that she would never have another child."
"That's harsh," Percy said crossing his arm.
"Harsh but necessary," Artemis argued. "We know that she was the one who took Athena. Enyo lured Ares away from the throne room. We believe she worked with Atlas to subdue him. Bellona's location is unknown."
"I believe I know," Sally chimed in. She had been the one who had given them a ride to Mount Olympus after Guido had been shot down by lightning. "Bellona saved her daughter's life. She then engaged in a duel with Enyo before the two disappeared in a shower of light."
"We have to rescue them," Piper said.
"You will, but your camp comes first," Artemis said.
"It doesn't matter what we do there. Nothing will change if we don't rescue Ares, so he can end the war," Annabeth argued.
"You can prevent casualties by calming the children of Ares. Some of them may be fighting off the anger and can help. Go," Artemis ordered.
Annabeth nodded and handed the shield to Zeus. He took it silently. The daughter of Athena led her friends to Sally's van.
"You said that a minivan wasn't a good idea," Sally joked. She grabbed Percy's other hand tightly. "I told Paul that it would be a good investment. He complained it would make us look like a soccer family."
"Mom, we'll be fine," Percy promised. He looked embarrassed that his mother was worrying so much. Annabeth tightened her grip on his hand. He seemed to relax slightly.
The three demigods hurried inside Sally's van. Luckily, it had been untouched by the explosion and subsequent battle. Sally sat in the driver's seat. Her face was clearly worried.
Annabeth shared the same amount of worry. Ouranos had been confident enough to immediately strike Olympus. He had to be extremely powerful already. How much more powerful was he going to get?
"Would they keep Athena, Ares, and Bellona separate?" Percy questioned.
"It would be the smart thing to do," Annabeth answered. "We would have to divide our resources to rescue all three."
"We have a lot of resources at our disposal," Piper commented. She leaned forward. "You, without a doubt, want to go after your mother. You could go with the Hunter of Artemis."
"Reyna will want to rescue her mom. She can go with her sister and the Amazons," Percy added.
"I don't think Reyna is that willing to work with her sister," Annabeth commented. "I'm sure she will do it if she had to, but she won't like it."
"The other two camps can pool resources to rescue Ares," Percy said. He nodded his head.
"We can have the demititans help," Piper suggested.
"That leaves the question of trust," Annabeth said. Truthfully, she didn't know what to think of the demititans. They had four leaders. One of them was dead for being a traitor. The other had been accused and proved innocent, but it was hard to trust her.
"Sarah and Thorn have proven they are trustworthy," Piper said. "Alex is the only one I'm not sure on."
Annabeth sighed and leaned on Percy. She closed her eyes. Percy held her close. They sat in silence.
The radio station changed every few minutes. Sally's nervousness was easy to see. Her nervous habit formed after Percy had been taken by Hera. She would change the radio station every time a song ended.
Piper was looking out the window. She looked tired. Annabeth was as well. A good night of rest had not come during the entire quest.
"I'm worried about how bad Camp Jupiter is," Percy said after awhile. "The Romans love war. Do you think they set up gladiator fights?"
Annabeth wanted to tell her boyfriend what a silly idea it was. She found herself laughing instead. It was a ridiculous thing to think, but she could see it happening.
"Imagine the look on Reyna's face," Piper added. The three started laughing. Sally even smiled. They all fell silent after a few moments.
"Why don't you sleep?" Percy whispered in Annabeth's ear. He pulled her closer. The daughter of Athena closed her eyes tighter. She slowly fell into a peaceful sleep. That sleep didn't last long.
Annabeth's eyes snapped open as she felt the van quickly stop. Piper was out of the van in a second and running up the hill.
"What's going on?" Annabeth asked quickly sitting up.
"We pulled up, and there was a scream," Percy answered. He quickly got out of the van. Then, he peeked backed in. "Thanks mom."
"Go," Sally said. "Be careful."'
"We will," Annabeth promised. She jumped out of the van and raced up the hill. Percy was a step behind her. Her heart dropped as she reached the top of the hill.
Camp Half-Blood was in chaos. She could see children of Ares in a battle formation. They were greatly outnumbered, but hatred was on their side. They did not have control of their actions. The other demigods did not want to hurt their comrades and would not attack as viciously.
"What are we going to do?" Percy asked. He looked around at some of the cabins which were on fire.
"I could try charmspeaking them," Piper suggested.
"Come on," Annabeth said. She led the two towards the demigods. Chiron was the first one to notice them. He hurried to their side.
"You two made it back safely," Chiron greeted.
"We had the shield," Annabeth said.
"There will be time to talk about this later," Chiron promised. He turned back towards the children of Ares. "We must talk them down. Clarisse is nowhere to be found."
"I'll find her," Annabeth promised.
"Should I try to use charmspeak?" Piper asked.
"I think that will only make the situation worse," Chiron replied. "They have not attacked since the last bout. I expect that they will snap any second now. Clarisse, if she is in control of herself, can convince her siblings to calm down."
Annabeth nodded. She looked around and found her eyes focusing on the Ares cabin. The daughter of Athena ran towards it. She stepped inside.
No one was in the cabin. It was filled with weapons and armor. Where was Clarisse? Annabeth bit her lip and backed out of the cabin. She looked around trying to find a sign of the daughter of war.
All of the cabin doors were closed except for Percy's. That was normal though. Another glanced around showed that a cabin door was slightly opened. It belonged to the Nemesis' cabin.
Annabeth jogged towards the cabin. She opened the door and stared as she saw Clarisse. The daughter of Ares turned towards her. One of her hands was gripping a knife.
"Calm down," Annabeth began. Clarisse glared at her with red eyes. Her face was twisted in hate. Annabeth kept a hand to her own sword. She was ready to dodge at a moment's notice.
"Where is my father?" Clarisse questioned. There was barely disguised pain in her voice.
"We think he was taken by Atlas," Annabeth answered. "You need to calm your siblings down."
"I can have my revenge after that?" Clarisse asked.
"Revenge on who?" Annabeth asked. She didn't receive an answer. Clarisse walked out of the cabin. Annabeth slowly followed.
Clarisse walked towards her siblings. She pushed past all of the campers. Her siblings looked at her and nodded. They were twitching.
"How do you want us to take them down?" one of the boys asked.
"We are not going to take them down," Clarisse growled. "You are all going to stand down."
"Stand down?" another boy demanded. "We can't just stand down! Their parents have attacked and insulted father!"
"Then, we let him deal with it," Clarisse spat. "He never helps us fight our battles. Why would he wants us to fight his?"
"This is about loyalty," one children of Ares called.
"This is about revenge for all of the things they've said and done!" another yelled. Clarisse glanced back at Chiron and shook her head.
Annabeth slowly walked towards the children of Ares. She knew it wasn't the best time to deliver the news, but there was a possibility it would calm things down.
"You need to contain your rage," Annabeth began. She dodged a spear that was thrown near her head.
"A daughter of Athena is telling us what to do?" a child of Ares demanded. "You are the worst of the culprits!"
"Ouranos has risen!" Annabeth yelled. Everyone fell silent. "He attacked Olympus and kidnapped Ares. He also took my mother and Bellona. We must calm ourselves to find them."
"All of you need to calm down!" Clarisse yelled. "Go back to the cabin."
"We're done taking orders from you," one of the boys said.
"Don't," Annabeth whispered.
"Attack!" the boy yelled. The children of Ares rushed forward. Two rushed towards Annabeth. Clarisse jumped to her defense.
"Any bright ideas?" Clarisse asked.
"We have to subdue them," Annabeth answered.
"After this, we are finding my father, so I can get revenge," Clarisse said.
"On Atlas?" Annabeth questioned.
"Yes. Now, are you going to help me with this?" Clarisse demanded as she caught a blow on her spear.
"How did you manage to ignore the call of war?" Annabeth wondered. She dodged a sword and knocked the child of Ares out.
"I focused on revenge," Clarisse answered. She took a step back from the fight. "It hurts, but I will live."
"Revenge never leads to anything good," Annabeth warned.
"I hate to break this to you wise girl," Clarisse said. "Revenge is what makes the world go around. Bad things happen because someone wants revenge. That's fine by me because I'm ready for the consequences. Are you?"