Hope you like it
last story for the lightning thief
moving on to the sea of monsters after this chapter
please help and give suggestions
remember I'm going in order so I can't go back so choose wisely on the first story for the sea of monsters
I'm about half way done with my other story's chapter
As your reading this I'm working on the next chapter for my other story
enjoy the chapter everyone ...I feel like I say that to much...eh whatever...
Chiron looked at the page.
"The note says
This is one of the moments that made me proud.
Poseidon
"Well this should be interesting." A camper said from the back.
"Okay, children, I'm starting now."
Jerk
The word sounded alien coming out of Chiron's mouth.
Everyone leaned forward, curious.
Annabeth was thinking on what this story was about.
A Coast Guard boat picked us up,
"Huh?" Most of the camper said that didn't know the story.
but they were too busy to keep us for long, or to wonder how three kids in street clothes had gotten out into the middle of the bay. There was a disaster to mop up. Their radios were jammed with distress dropped us off at the Santa Monica Pier with towels around our shoulders and water bottles that said I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD! and sped off to save more people.
Travis and Connor grinned," Free stuff!"
The rest of the Hermes campers cheered with them.
Many rolled their eyes.
Our clothes were sopping wet, even mine. When the Coast Guard boat had appeared, I'd silently prayed they wouldn't pick me out of the water and find me perfectly dry, which might've raised some eyebrows.
"That's still cool." Leo said.
So I'd willed myself to get soaked. Sure enough, my usual waterproof magic had abandoned me. I was also barefoot, because I'd given my shoes to Grover. Better the Coast Guard wonder why one of us was barefoot than wonder why one of us had hooves.
"Wouldn't the mist cover that?" Piper asked.
"Percy had a good idea, just go with it." Annabeth said.
After reaching dry land, we stumbled down the beach, watching the city burn against a beautiful sunrise. I felt as if I'd just come back from the dead—which I had. My backpack was heavy with Zeus's master bolt.
A lot of eyes widened at that.
My heart was even heavier from seeing my mother.
"I don't believe it," Annabeth said. "We went all that way—"
"It was a trick," I said. "A strategy worthy of Athena."
Every single Athena camper raised an eyebrow in unison.
"Hey," she warned.
"You get it, don't you?"
She dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "Yeah. I get it."
"Get what?" Piper asked.
"If it doesn't tell you then I'll tell you." Annabeth said gesturing to the book.
"Well, I don't!" Grover complained. "Would somebody—"
"Yes would somebody!" Travis yelled.
In the background Grover blushed slightly.
"Percy ..." Annabeth said. "I'm sorry about your mother. I'm so sorry..."
Everyone looked down sadly.
They knew she was alive but hearing about what happened to her...
I pretended not to hear her. If I talked about my mother, I was going to start crying like a little kid.
"Awwww. " the Aphrodite cabin cooed.
"Wimp." Clarisse said.
"The prophecy was right," I said. "You shall go west and face the god who has turned.' But it wasn't Hades.
Without thinking everyone turned to Nico.
Hades didn't want war among the Big Three. Someone else pulled off the theft. Someone stole Zeus's master bolt,
The newer campers and the lost hero trio's eyes went wide...
and Hades's helm,
...even wider.
and framed me because I'm Poseidon's kid. Poseidon will get blamed by both sides. By sundown today, there will be a three-way war. And I'll have caused it."
Grover shook his head, mystified. "But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?"
The campers shivered.
They knew the answer.
I stopped in my tracks, looking down the beach. "Gee, let me think."
Everyone leaned forward.
There he was, waiting for us, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the sand red.
Everyone at once turned to the Ares campers who just smirked.
"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see me. "You were supposed to die."
"Wow that was a nice hello." Leo snorted.
"Just you wait Ares." Annabeth whispered.
"You tricked me," I said. "You stole the helm and the master bolt."
"He didn't...?" Jason asked.
"He did." Thalia said.
"And to think he's our brother..."
Thalia and Jason looked slightly appalled.
"Hey what's wrong with my dad?" An Ares camper snarled.
"Well let me think for a moment...nah read Chiron."
The camper's nostrils flared.
Ares grinned. "Well, now, I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power—that's a big no-no. But you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands."
"Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice."
Suspicious looks from the new campers were directed at Clarisse.
"It wasn't me." Clarisse growled.
The idea seemed to amuse him. "Doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this ..."
Everyone leaned forward. . .
From his pocket he took out a ski cap—the kind bank robbers wear—and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.
Nico looked so angry that the people who were closest to him moved away ten feet.
"He's creepy." Leo whispered to Jason.
"The helm of darkness," Grover gasped.
"Exactly," Ares said. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going."
Almost every person sitting and listening to this looked appalled.
"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.
"Like he cares." Thalia snorted.
Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."
"That's so wrong." Leo said.
"You gave me the backpack in Denver," I said. "The master bolt was in there the whole time."
"Yes and no," Ares said. "It's probably too complicated for your little mortal brain to follow, but the backpack is the master bolt's sheath, just morphed a bit. The bolt is connected to it, sort of like that sword you got, kid. It always returns to your pocket, right?"
"How'd he know?" A new camper asked curious.
"He's the God of war, he would know about all the weapons." Annabeth said helpfully.
"Oh, okay."
I wasn't sure how Ares knew about that, but I guess a god of war had to make it his business to know about weapons.
Annabeth blushed when the crowd snickered on how they both had the same thought.
"Anyway," Ares continued, "I tinkered with the magic a bit, so the bolt would only return to the sheath once you reached the Underworld. You get close to Hades... Bingo, you got mail. If you died along the way—no loss. I still had the weapon."
"But why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" I said. "Why send it to Hades?"
"Good question." An Athena camper pondered.
Ares got a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. "Why didn't I ... yeah ... with that kind of firepower ..."
He held the trance for one second ... two seconds...
"That's weird." Malcom said,
The campers agreed.
Chiron knew what it meant but decided to just read it.
I exchanged nervous looks with Annabeth.
Ares's face cleared. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught redhanded, holding the thing."
Everyone grudgingly agreed.
"You're lying," I said. "Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"
"Of course it was!" Smoke drifted up from his sunglasses, as if they were about to catch fire.
"Oh he's pissed." Travis said.
""If his glasses caught fire would it hurt him I mean like for a second?" Connor asked.
Nobody answered that question.
"You didn't order the theft," I guessed. "Someone else sent a hero to steal the two items. Then, when Zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. But you didn't turn him over to Zeus. Something convinced you to let him go. You kept the items until another hero could come along and complete the delivery. That thing in the pit is ordering you around."
Silence rained down on the crowd.
The campers that when through the war took a breath.
"I am the god of war! I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!"
"Who said anything about dreams?" Nico asked.
There was a lot of shrugging.
I hesitated. "Who said anything about dreams?"
"Haha you think like Percy." Thalia teased Nico.
Nico shrugged.," It's better than some."
Was it Thalia's imagination or did Nico glance at the Stolls?
Ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk.
"Didn't work that well." Annabeth informed.
"Let's get back to the problem at hand, kid.
"Changing the subject." The Stolls sang.
You're alive. I can't have you taking that bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hardheaded idiots to listen to you. So I've got to kill you. Nothing personal."
"Yeah right." Leo snorted.
He didn't notice that some in the crowd paled...
... or that everyone was leaning forward.
He snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half- Blood. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at me with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.
I stepped into the surf. "Fight me yourself, Ares."
A shocked silence followed.
"Is he crazy? "Jason asked.
"Yes." Came from everyone that knew Percy.
"He just challenged a god..." Piper trailed off.
"It wasn't the last..." Annabeth said quietly.
He laughed, but I heard a little edge to his laughter ... an uneasiness.
An Ares camper snorted," Not likely."
"You've only got one talent, kid, running away. You ran from the Chimera. You ran from the Underworld. You don't have what it takes."
"Scared?"
"Is he trying to get killed?" Jason asked.
"Nope. He's being Percy." Grover said.
"In your adolescent dreams." But his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes.
"Correction he's really pissed." Travis said.
"No direct involvement. Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."
Annabeth said, "Percy, run!"
"Yes run!" The crowd that didn't know Percy shouted.
The giant boar charged.
But I was done running from monsters. Or Hades, or Ares, or anybody.
"Here come kick butt Percy!" Travis and Connor cheered.
As the boar rushed me, I uncapped my pen and sidestepped. Riptide appeared in my hands. I slashed upward. The boar's severed right tusk fell at my feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea.
I shouted, "Wave!"
"That's cheating!" Clarisse growled.
Immediately, a wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket. The beast squealed once in terror. Then it was gone, swallowed by the sea.
Everyone cheered.
I turned back to Ares. "Are you going to fight me now?" I asked. "Or are you going to hide behind another pet?"
"Ohhhhh!" The Hermes cabin chorused.
Ares's face was purple with rage. "Watch it, kid. I could turn you into—"
"A cockroach," I said. "Or a tapeworm. Yeah, I'm sure. That'd save you from getting your godly hide whipped, wouldn't it?"
"He's going to die." leo said.
Annabeth just smile.
"He's really good at annoying the gods I can say that." Jason said.
Flames danced along the top of his glasses. "Oh, man, you are really asking to be smashed into a grease spot."
"If I lose, turn me into anything you want. Take the bolt. If I win, the helm and the bolt are mine and you have to go away."
"He's risking a lot here." A camper in the back pointed out.
A lot of heads nodding.
Ares sneered.
He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. "How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"
I showed him my sword.
"Classic it is." Travis confirmed...
"That's cool, dead boy," he said. "Classic it is."
Travis face turned slightly disturbed.
The baseball bat changed into a huge, twohanded sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.
"Got to admit though that's a cool sword." Nico said.
"You're only saying that because there's a skull on it." Thalia said rolling her eyes.
"That's not true!" Nico protested.
It didn't help that he blushed red.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "Don't do this. He's a god."
"True." Leo said.
"He's a coward," I told her.
"Also true." Annabeth said.
She swallowed. "Wear this, at least. For luck."
She took off her necklace, with her five years' worth of camp beads and the ring from her father, and tied it around my neck.
"Awwww!" The Aphrodite cabin cooed and some other girls too.
"That's so cute!" Lacy squealed.
"Reconciliation," she said. "Athena and Poseidon together."
My face felt a little warm, but I managed a smile.
"He's blushing!" A Aphrodite campers squeaked.
"Thanks."
"And take this," Grover said. He handed me a flattened tin can that he'd probably been saving in his pocket for a thousand miles. "The satyrs stand behind you."
"Grover ... I don't know what to say."
"Me neither." Nico said.
"Hey it was a good gift." Grover protested.
"Whatever you say G-man."
He patted me on the shoulder. I stuffed the tin can in my back pocket.
"You all done saying good-bye?" Ares came toward me, his black leather duster trailing behind him, his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, kid. My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have you got?"
"Straighter teeth?" Leo said.
Everyone stared at him.
"Sorry first thing that popped up."
They stared a few seconds longer before turning to the book.
( Btw have u ever done that when a teacher or friend asked you something and you just blurted out the first thing that came to mind? I have...some times it's embarrassing...)
A smaller ego, I thought,
"That too." Leo said grinning.
but I said nothing. I kept my feet in the surf, backing into the water up to my ankles. I thought back to what Annabeth had said at the Denver diner, so long ago: Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to how to wisdom sometimes.
"So he does listen." Annabeth said.
"Only you he does." Thalia said.
Annabeth blushed red.
He cleaved downward at my head, but I wasn't there.
Everyone leaned forward. . .
My body thought for me. The water seemed to push me into the air and I catapulted over him,
All eyes were on the book.
slashing as I came down. But Ares was just as quick. He twisted, and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt.
He grinned. "Not bad, not bad."
"Not bad? That sounded epic!" Leo said excitedly.
( I just thought of something... what if Leo was addicted to kool-aid like Dakota?...)
He slashed again and I was forced to jump onto dry land. I tried to sidestep, to get back to the water, but Ares seemed to know what I wanted.
"He is the god of war." Annabeth said.
Everybody 'shhed' her.
Annabeth huffed.
He outmaneuvered me, pressing so hard I had to put all my concentration on not getting sliced into pieces. I kept backing away from the surf. I couldn't find any openings to attack. His sword had a reach several feet longer than Anaklusmos.
"Get in close!" A random camper yelled.
Get in close, Luke had told me once, back in our sword class. When you've got the shorter blade, get in close.
Said random camper blushed red after that sentence.
I stepped inside with a thrust, but Ares was waiting for that. He knocked my blade out of my hands and kicked me in the chest. I went airborne—twenty, maybe thirty feet. I would've broken my back if I hadn't crashed into the soft sand of a dune.
A lot a breaths let out in release.
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "Cops!"
Cue groaning.
"Oh come on!" Will yelled.
"He has the worst luck." Thalia said shaking her head.
I was seeing double. My chest felt like it had just been hit with a battering ram, but I managed to get to my feet.
"Come on Percy! Beat that loser!" Travis yelled.
Many thought he was either suicidal or really brave to call Ares a loser.
I couldn't look away from Ares for fear he'd slice me in half, but out of the corner of my eye I saw red lights flashing on the shoreline boulevard. Car doors were slamming.
"There, officer!" somebody yelled. "See?"
A gruff cop voice: "Looks like that kid on TV ... what the heck ..."
"Like I said worst luck ever." Thalia said.
"What are you guys sad about?" Katie asked the Stolls.
"Why did he get to have a national man hunt?" The complained.
Let just say a lot of eyes rolled.
"That guy's armed," another cop said. "Call for backup."
I rolled to one side as Ares's blade slashed the sand. I ran for my sword, scooped it up, and launched a swipe at Ares's face, only to find my blade deflected again.
"This is intense." Pollux said.
Ares seemed to know exactly what I was going to do the moment before I did it.
I stepped back toward the surf, forcing him to follow.
"Yeah get him!" Chiron yelled.
Everyone stared at him.
Chiron cleared his throat," moving on."
"Admit it, kid," Ares said. "You got no hope. I'm just toying with you."
My senses were working overtime. I now understood what Annabeth had said about ADHD keeping you alive in battle. I was wide awake, noticing every little detail. I could see where Ares was tensing. I could tell which way he would strike. At the same time, I was aware of Annabeth and Grover, thirty feet to my left. I saw a second cop car pulling up, siren wailing. Spectators, people who had been wandering the streets because of the earthquake, were starting to gather. Among the crowd, I thought I saw a few who were walking with the strange, trotting gait of disguised satyrs. There were shimmering forms of spirits, too, as if the dead had risen from Hades to watch the battle. I heard the flap of leathery wings circling somewhere above.
Complete silence.
"That's a lot to take in even if your ADHD." Annabeth said amazed.
"I think I know what the flapping wings are." Nico said darkly.
More sirens.
I stepped farther into the water, but Ares was fast. The tip of his blade ripped my sleeve and grazed my forearm.
The crowd winced as one.
A police voice on a megaphone said, "Drop the guns.' Set them on the ground. Now!"
"Guns?" Leo asked.
"The mist." Piper said.
Guns?
"I think like Percy!" Leo said grinning like an idiot.
( btw I love Leo. He's one of my favorite characters.)
I looked at Ares's weapon, and it seemed to be flickering; sometimes it looked like a shotgun, sometimes a two-handed sword. I didn't know what the humans were seeing in my hands, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't make them like me.
"Probably not with his luck." Nico said.
Ares turned to glare at our spectators, which gave me a moment to breathe. There were five police cars now, and a line of officers crouching behind them, pistols trained on us.
"This is a private matter!" Ares bellowed. "Be gone.'"
He swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the patrol cars. The police barely had time to dive for cover before their vehicles exploded. The crowd behind them scattered, screaming.
Many faces looked appalled.
though they wouldn't admit it some of the Ares campers did too.
( don't tell them I told you...)
Ares roared with laughter. "Now, little hero. Let's add you to the barbecue."
"No he won't." Annabeth growled.
The people closest to he edged away slowly.
He slashed. I deflected his blade. I got close enough to strike, tried to fake him out with a feint, but my blow was knocked aside. The waves were hitting me in the back now. Ares was up to his thighs, wading in after me.
"That is a really stupid idea." Malcom said.
I felt the rhythm of the sea, the waves growing larger as the tide rolled in, and suddenly I had an idea.
"Oh-no run! He has an idea!" Thalia yelled.
Some people jumped at her outburst.
Little waves, I thought. And the water behind me seemed to recede. I was holding back the tide by force of will, but tension was building, like carbonation behind a cork.
The Athena cabin was thinking hard.
Ares came toward, grinning confidently. I lowered my blade, as if I were too exhausted to go on.
Wait for it, I told the sea.
"Oh!" The whole of the Athena cabin shouted.
"What? "Travis asked eagerly.
A amper opened him mouth but Annabeth yelled," Don't ruin it!"
He closed his mouth and Travis pouted.
The pressure now was almost lifting me off my feet. Ares raised his sword. I released the tide and jumped, rocketing straight over Ares on a wave.
Everyone cheered.
A six-foot wall of water smashed him full in the face, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth full of seaweed.
Cue laughter and more cheering.
I landed behind him with a splash and feinted toward his head, as I'd done before. He turned in time to raise his sword, but this time he was disoriented, he didn't anticipate the trick. I changed direction, lunged to the side, and stabbed Riptide straight down into the water, sending the point through the god's heel.
Everyone's eyes widened and the crowd went silent.
"He actually..." Jason said mouth a gap.
Annabeth smiled.
There was a few more seconds of silence before the night erupted in cheers.
The roar that followed made Hades's earthquake look like a minor event. The very sea was blasted back from Ares, leaving a wet circle of sand fifty feet wide.
"Wow someone's having a tantrum" Travis teased Clarisse.
She growled at him.
Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flowed from a gash in the war god's boot. The expression on his face was beyond hatred. It was pain, shock, complete disbelief that he'd been wounded.
"Probably was the first time that happened in a while. "Nico said.
He limped toward me, muttering ancient Greek curses.
Something stopped him.
Everyone leaned forward unconsciously.
It was as if a cloud covered the sun, but worse. Light faded. Sound and color drained away. A cold, heavy presence passed over the beach, slowing time, dropping the temperature to freezing, and making me feel like life was hopeless, fighting was useless.
The campers that knew what just happened paled.
Even the Stolls paled.
The darkness lifted.
Ares looked stunned.
So did most of the new campers.
Police cars were burning behind us. The crowd of spectators had fled. Annabeth and Grover stood on the beach, in shock, watching the water flood back around Ares's feet, his glowing golden ichor dissipating in the tide.
Ares lowered his sword. "You have made an enemy, godling," he told me. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware."
"That was so stupid." Jason said.
"You mean awesome!" Leo said
"He just got cursed."
Grover and Thalia flinched.
They knew how the curse effected Percy.
His body began to glow.
'''Percy!" Annabeth shouted. "Don't watch!"
The demigods without realizing it turn as well.
It was instinct.
I turned away as the god Ares revealed his true immortal form. I somehow knew that if I looked, I would disintegrate into ashes.
"Glad that didn't happen to me." Jason said.
"Me too." Piper said.
Jason looked at her.
She blushed.
The light died.
I looked back. Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal Hades's bronze helm of darkness. I picked it up and walked toward my friends. But before I got there, I heard the flapping of leathery wings. Three evil-looking grandmothers with lace hats and fiery whips drifted down from the sky and landed in front of me.
"So I was right." Nico said.
The middle Fury, the one who had been Mrs. Dodds, stepped forward. Her fangs were bared, but for once she didn't look threatening. She looked more disappointed, as if she'd been planning to have me for supper, but had decided I might give her indigestion.
Some laughed at the thought.
Others looked appalled.
"We saw the whole thing," she hissed. "So ... it truly was not you?"
I tossed her the helmet, which she caught in surprise.
"Her face was priceless." Annabeth said.
Grover nodded in agreement.
"Return that to Lord Hades," I said. "Tell him the truth. Tell him to call off the war."
She hesitated, then ran a forked tongue over her green, leathery lips. "Live well, Percy Jackson. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again ..."
"That as close as you get to a warm goodbye with her." Nico said.
Some shivered.
She cackled, savoring the idea. Then she and her sisters rose on their bats' wings, fluttered into the smoke-filled sky, and disappeared.
I joined Grover and Annabeth, who were staring at me in amazement.
"Well who wouldn't? "Annabeth said.
They excepted that statement.
"Percy ..." Grover said. "That was so incredibly ..."
"Terrifying," said Annabeth.
"Cool!" Grover corrected.
"I like Grover's better." Travis and Connor said in unison with huge grins on their faces.
Grover blushed.
I didn't feel terrified. I certainly didn't feel cool. I was tired and sore and completely drained of energy.
"Well he did just fight a god." Will said.
"Did you guys feel that... whatever it was?" I asked.
More paling though less than before.
They both nodded uneasily.
"Must've been the Furies overhead," Grover said.
But I wasn't so sure. Something had stopped Ares from killing me, and whatever could do that was a lot stronger than the Furies.
Many nodded making the new campers confused.
I looked at Annabeth, and an understanding passed between us. I knew now what was in that pit, what had spoken from the entrance of Tartarus.
Now the new campers understood and paled.
I reclaimed my backpack from Grover and looked inside. The master bolt was still there.
Such a small thing to almost cause World War III.
"It not small." Jason warned.
"We have to get back to New York," I said. "By tonight."
"That's impossible," Annabeth said, "unless we—"
"Fly," I agreed.
"Is he crazy?" Nico asked.
Everyone stared at him.
"Don't answer that."
She stared at me. "Fly, like, in an airplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?"
"Yeah," I said. "Pretty much exactly like that. Come on."
"Yep, he's insane." Nico confirmed.
"Well that's it." Chiron said," Time for bed."
Cue groaning and complaining.
I hope you like it
I'm working on the next chapter of my story as you read...well it depends on when your reading this...whatever...
anyway please review
see you =)
