Chapter 16, Act I - A God Tries to Buy Us Cheeseburgers.

The next afternoon, the train arrived at our final stop, Denver. Fortunately, I've been keeping us rather well-fed, so while we couldn't afford food from the dining car, I could just summon us food. But I could tell Percy and Annabeth were tired of home cooked food. I'll try not to be offended.

"Let's try to contact Chiron." Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit." She told Percy. "We can't use phones, right?" Percy asked, confused. "She's not talking about a phone, Perce. We have a method of communication called Iris messaging, where you can essentially video call someone through a rainbow." I tried to explain. I'll be honest, I don't think there was a better way to explain that.

Annabeth nodded, fishing around in her bag for a drachma as we walked around. We found a do-it-yourself car wash, and went to the stall furthest from the street, and Annabeth asked if any of us had cash.

Grover took out the spray gun. "I've only got two quarters. It's seventy-five cents." He grumbled. Percy fished out a quarter, and I gestured for them to stop. "Guys. Put on your thinking caps for a second. We have two hydrokinetics here. If we're looking to create a rainbow, we can do this." I waved my hand, and water rose from a puddle on the ground, and I placed it inside a large bowl I'd taken from Medusa's place, propping up my dagger in there to use as a reflective surface.

I used some of my photokinesis, light reflecting off of the dagger, and before long, we had our rainbow. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." Annabeth said, tossing a drachma into the rainbow. "Half-Blood Hill." She requested. I raised a brow at her broad request, but ignored it as Luke shimmered into view, from the porch of the Big House.

"Luke!" Percy called out. Luke turned to face us, and a grin split his face. "Percy!" He greets. "Is that Annabeth, too? Niko and Grover, as well? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?" He asks worriedly.

"We're...uh...fine," Annabeth stammered out. She was blushing, straightening her shirt, and trying to comb loose hair out of her face. Before she could embarrass herself further, I cut in. "Is Chiron there?" I asked him bluntly.

"He's down at the cabins. We're having some issues here with the campers. Is everything cool with you?" He asked. "What kind of issues?" Grover asked, frowning. Unfortunately, a large car pulled in, music blaring at dangerous levels. I flinched, but tried to mask it quickly.

"Chiron had to—" Luke frowned at getting cut off by the asshole's music. "What is that noise?" He shouted. "I'll take care of it! Grover, come here!" She shouted, dragging the poor satyr with her.

"Chiron had to break up a fight. Things are pretty tense here, you two. Word leaked about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how. Probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan war again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus." Luke told us.

I frowned. He had signaled to me before that he didn't summon the hellhound, meaning another spy. Not Silena Beauregard, I knew that much. She needed blackmail to be a spy. Maybe some nameless unclaimed that wasn't mentioned in the books? It could be Chris Rodriguez or Ethan Nakamura, though Ethan only joined the cause for justice.

I was shaken from my thoughts when the music's volume decreased in the next stall over. "So, what's your status? Chiron will be sorry he missed you." Luke asked. Percy filled him in about Medusa, the train, and his fight with the Chimera, as well as his summons to Santa Monica.

I chipped in to talk about the encounter with the Furies, and my fight with Echidna. "I wish I could be there. We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen...it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him." He insisted. I stayed quiet.

"But Chiron said gods can't take each other's magic items directly." Percy pointed out. "That's true," Luke said, looking troubled. "Still, Hades has the Helm. To get in there and steal the bolt, you'd have to be invisible." Percy gave me a questioning look, but I only glared at Luke, and the son of Hermes looked guiltily back at me as he realized his implications.

"Niko, I didn't mean it like that, and you know it. Annabeth wouldn't steal the bolt. She's not the type." He amends. In the stall next to us, there was a scream of terror, and the car veered out of the wash.

"You'd better go see what that was," Luke said. "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good." "Oh...uh, yeah!" Percy lied. "Yeah, they've come in handy." "Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?" Percy could only nod.

"Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver," Luke called, his voice getting fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be better this time. Nobody's gonna turn into a tree." He said lightly, swiping through the message. Annabeth and Grover rounded the corner, smiling and laughing, until they saw Percy's face.

"What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?" She asked. "Not much." Percy lied again. "Come on. Let's go find dinner. Maybe we can find something that's not home cooked, no offense to Niko." He said, sending me an apologetic smile. I shrugged.

A few minutes later, we were in a booth in a bustling diner. Finally, a waitress came over. "Well?" She asked, a brow raised.

"We, uh, we want to order dinner?" Percy said. It sounded more like a question. "You kids have money to pay for it?" She asked us. Personally, as a member of the Hermes cabin, it'd be a personal offense to say you didn't have money. My time at Yancy made it super easy to get money. The middle school was chock-full of snobby rich kids I didn't really mind stealing from.

I was about to offer some of my stash from stuff I'd stolen, and stuff I'd got from System-provided quests, before I heard a motorbike roar.

It honestly looked like some dude was trying too hard to be masculine in order to try and fail to look cool and manly. Disgustingly enough, what would normally be leather was instead human skin. The guy on the bike was unbelievably buff and pretty tall, too. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt, black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, his hair in a crew cut, and his face was scarred.

He looked like Clarisse if she was a dude who got into way too many bar fights. People rose as he entered the diner, until he waved his hand, and they sat down, almost like clockwork. He slid into the booth with us, and the waitress repeated her question. "You kids have money to pay for it?"

"It's on me." The biker said. After a few moments of silence, he snapped his fingers. "You still here, sister?" He asked sharply. She turned back around, and marched back to the kitchen. The System notified me of a blocked mental intrusion.

"So, you're old seaweed's kid, huh?" He asked Percy. "What's it to you?" Percy asked, anger flooding his features. I placed my hand on Percy's shoulder. "Percy, cool it. He's baiting you. This is Ares, the god of war." I warned him.

The two of them started talking, and the waitress arrived with trays of food just before Ares could tell us what he was here for. He offered the waitress drachma, and she hesitated. "But these aren't..." She stuttered. Ares pulled out a huge knife, and started cleaning his nails.

"Problem, sweetheart?" He asked her. A flame ignited in my chest. It wasn't even his control over emotions that got to me. Threatening some innocent waitress was enough. "Ares, that's enough. Ma'am, ignore him. Here you go." I said, passing her a wad of cash, that was probably way over what this was worth, still only making a small dent in what I had.

"You know, you didn't have to do that. This country's the best place since Sparta." The god chuckled as the waitress hurried off. "But that's irrelevant. I have a proposition. I need you to do me a favor. Without your little friend here." He says, pointing at me for the last part.

"Didn't Hera ever teach you that it's rude to point, or did you miss that? As the goddess of family, you'd think she'd teach basic manners, at least." I fired at him. "Ha! You've got spirit, punk, but don't worry, we can talk later." Ares said, smirking at me.

"What favor could I do for a god?" Percy asked. "Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little...date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me." Ares proposed.

"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" Percy asked.

"Why don't I turn you into prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."

"You're one to talk. Haven't you historically run back to mommy and daddy whenever you lost? Didn't you do exactly that when Hercules beat your ass?" I asked. He scoffed. "That was a fluke. And if you don't shut your mouth, kid, I might just decide to turn you into a polecat, send you to your mother. I'm sure she'd appreciate an addition to her collection of screwups." He snarled at me.

I didn't want to figure out if he was telling the truth, honestly. "We're not interested. We've already got a quest." Percy told him. "I know all about your quest, punk. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful..." He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry.

"Well...if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath." He finished.

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?" Percy asked, shock filling his voice. "Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest." Ares chuckled. Percy mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like a curse.

"Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends." Ares offered. "We're doing fine on our own." Percy insisted. "Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom." Ares smiled.

That got Percy's attention. "Percy, I saw what happened to your mother. I already know what he's holding over you. Your mother isn't dead. She's being held hostage by Hades, because of what the Furies told us on that bus at the beginning of the quest." I told him. Ares looked murderously at me.

He stood. "You're interfering far more than you should, punk. You should shut your mouth before I shut it for you." He growled at me. "You know the Ancient Laws, war god. You can't harm me unless I challenge you. Now, get out. We have our own quest." I told him calmly. "Ding!"

Physical alteration blocked!

I raised a brow. "That's real mature of you. What'd you try to turn me into? A raccoon? Oh, let me guess, a weasel! Regardless, what would Zeus think if he heard you were getting in our way?" I told him. He faltered.

"Fine. The rest of you punks, for being respectful enough, can have this. But if the Hecate spawn lays a hand on it, he's getting cursed into oblivion." He told my questmates, tossing them a blue duffle bag.

His skin started to glow, so I covered Percy's eyes, and closed my own. A moment later, Ares and his motorbike were gone. "Niko, you're seriously asking to get killed by Ares. Are you out of your mind?" Annabeth asked, as we left the diner.

"Ares can't touch me unless I challenge him. Regardless, can't you tell he was desperate? Percy, what did I tell Chiron, back at the Big House, about it not being Hades?" I reminded them. "Something along the lines of Hades having no reason to steal the bolt, and it was some other party wanting to weaken the gods?" Percy asked.

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You don't mean..." She trailed off. "Ares is working with whoever stole the bolt. He knows all about war, and he should know Hades has no reason to start a war, but he told Poseidon that Hades did it anyway. Ares would grow in ways Hades couldn't from war. He can summon soldiers from the losing sides of war, and order them around. Did you know that?" I asked them.

The three of them were in shock. "Are you sure you're not an Athena kid?" Annabeth asked me. I nodded. "I wish you were. My mother would be proud." She said proudly. I internally snorted. Right. Just because plot reasons stopped them from sniffing out the plot going on behind the scenes, it means I'm as good as an Athena kid. Right.

Percy hefted the bag. "Then why would he want to give us this? Why so desperate?" He asked skeptically. "Percy gets a point for asking the right questions. Ares is an expert on weapons, to include enchantments on weapons. If he was working with the thief to weaken the counsel, do you really think it was his idea to steal the bolt? Why would he weaken his family, and thus, himself?" I asked.

"Ares isn't the one in charge, so that means there's another god who wants this, who gains from this." Annabeth frowns. "You're so close. Don't think of gods. Think older." I told her. Her eyes were like quarters. "You don't mean..." She looked at me for confirmation.

"Titans. Annabeth, the Crooked One has been visiting the dreams of demigods for two years now, since I arrived at camp. I had offered a truce with him, where I wouldn't join him, but he'd agree to not mess with me, but the Fates already are fucking that up for me, so why not? Percy, that bag is the sheath to Zeus' bolt. But we need to get close to Hades' castle to activate it, I'd assume, since it would require some kind of trigger to summon the bolt. The Crooked One has some plan to get the bolt dragged to Tartarus, so he has that little bit more power." I told them.

They were shocked, but after a short while, I had them moving again. I used my stash to buy tickets to get us to Vegas, as I had a plan, once again.