Disclaimer:

I DO NOT own this series. That goes to the wonderful Rick Riordan and Hyperion Books. I am just borrowing the story and characters. I will say that the story lines will be written down because it makes it much easier to follow along and know the current placement, especially if it has been a while since reading the book. Also, this is not beta'd so there will most likely be a few mistakes, feel free to let me know. Enjoy!

Oh, this is also only my second story ever so please be gentle. I've been really enjoying getting to share how I would imagine characters would react to their tales and I hope to continue to do so.

Book

'thoughts'

"speech"

AN: I had the free time to write for once this semester! Woohoo! Enjoy the chapter and thanks to all y'all sticking with me.

I Battle My Jerk Relative

"Oh, really? What do you think you can do shrimp?" Ares sneers.

Percy chooses to ignore the War God and instead looks towards his friends showing varying expressions of shock and awe.

"No way… is this when?" Nico asked. He had heard so many stories about Percy during his short time at camp that he wasn't sure if he should believe half of them. Fighting a God, at twelve? Nico had doubts, but apparently this was one of the true ones.

Clarisse groaned heavily, Chris squeezing her hand. This was going to be rough, the feud between Prissy and her father was headache inducing.

"This is…"

"Gonna be…"

"AWESOME!" The Stolls cheered, seemingly not noticing the tense atmosphere of the room.

Poseidon and Sally were giving their son looks, but they were ignored as well. The only sign of his awareness was the slow rise of his shoulders.

Tyson was practically vibrating in his seat. Stories about Percy, to him, were the best and he could never get enough. Surprisingly this was one story he hadn't ever heard before.

Hera loudly cleared her throat, "Well, if you would let me start…"

A Coast Guard boat picked us up, 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 calls.

They 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.

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. 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.

"Nice quick thinking there." Hermes laughed at the image.

"I wasn't sure if the Mist would work in our favor that time." Percy grinned.

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. 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.

"I don't believe it," Annabeth said. "We went all that way—"

"It was a trick," I said. "A strategy worthy of Athena."

"Hey," she warned.

"You get it, don't you?"

She dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "Yeah. I get it."

"Well, I don't!" Grover complained. "Would somebody—"

"Percy ..." Annabeth said. "I'm sorry about your mother. I'm so sorry..."

Many were shocked at the lack of reaction from said Wisdom Goddess, but even she could see what the boy meant by his comment.

I pretended not to hear her. If I talked about my mother, I was going to start crying like a little kid.

"The prophecy was right," I said. "You shall go west and face the god who has turned.' But it wasn't Hades. Hades didn't want war among the Big Three. Someone else pulled off the theft. Someone stole Zeus's master bolt, and Hades' helm, 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."

"And there's your worst-case scenario brain working overtime." Rachel sighs.

"Well, this time all that would actually happen. Not to mention I would be readily killed by Zeus if it had ended up that way." Percy had to point out.

"Oh, good point."

Grover shook his head, mystified. "But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?"

I stopped in my tracks, looking down the beach. "Gee, let me think."

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.

"Ares… what are you doing?!" Zeus growls, his wife giving her son a similar look.

"How am I supposed to know!"

"Apparently, this is going to happen soon, so what else am I supposed to think?"

"Um, Lord Zeus?" Percy interjects softly, for once trying to be careful talking to the angered god.

He gets a huff in his direction.

"Um, well… I'm pretty sure I start understanding some things that actually explain some of your question in this interaction." The son of Poseidon says.

Zeus lets out a long sigh, "Very well. We must read this anyways, might as well get all the details."

That comment startles his brothers some. The pair were surprised to see the Thunderer bring logical when upset; such a thing was rare to see.

"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see me. "You were supposed to die."

Poseidon struggled to hold in his anger. He settled on glaring at his nephew who was quick to lower himself in his seat. Sally was in a similar rage and decided to smother her son into a hug instead.

"You tricked me," I said. "You stole the helm and the master bolt."

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."

The gods all seemed to notice the wording of that sentence. 'So, it's a demigod…'

The campers were having thoughts almost identical. It was clear what the War God meant; Luke had been getting his hands dirty.

"Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice."

"PRISSY!"

"Sorry! You were really the only kid of his I knew. And I'm just pissed off here, so rationality is not present."

"I'll accept it, but I'm pummeling you later."

"Fair."

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 ..."

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.

A rumble could be heard from Hades who was clutching his seat, knuckles white. The god was furious that this theft was so easily possible and apparently coming up so soon as well. Things just weren't looking well for the near future.

"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."

"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.

Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."

"That's the stupidest reason ever." Will mutters, the campers all nodding in agreement. They had all seen their fair share of dumb fights among family, demigod or otherwise.

"Yeah, family fighting's dumb…" Nico mutters remembering his arguments with Bianca and those with Percy.

"Sadly, he's not wrong that they are the bloodiest fights." Chris states, "Family knows best where to hurt you."

At that everyone could agree.

"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?"

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.

"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."

"So, you're definitely somehow working with father here." Zeus groans, nothing was making sense anymore. Everything was being changed and going to chaos so quickly.

"But why? I don't understand… I barely even listen to Father!" the War god yells to the room.

"Just keep reading, stuff starts to make sense in a bit." Percy said giving Hera a look to continue, which she didn't focus on and chose to read (because she could, not because some mortal spawn said so).

"But why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" I said. "Why send it to Hades?"

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...

"He's affecting you," Hestia whispered. "He's already that strong…"

For once, Ares looks deeply uncomfortable and afraid, hunched into his seat discomfort clear on his face. Suddenly he feels a large hand land on his shoulder squeezing it. Looking up he's shocked to see it's Hephaestus who's staring him, worry and concern clear.

Giving his brother a blank look, he looks away, but doesn't fight or move the hand away. They may not be close, but the support was appreciated.

"If he's already strong enough to affect gods… I don't even want to think about what that means for the future." Athena comments.

"Unfortunately, we don't have that choice if we want to better things than what the children and I have experienced." Chiron winced. It hurt to think about, they were still fixing things on Olympus and at camp, not to mention the losses.

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."

"You're lying," I said. "Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"

Poseidon ruffled his son's hair with a smile, "Clever boy."

The Stolls snorted with laughter.

"Why did I hear that like Jurassic Park?" Travis giggled.

"I did too." Connor joined.

That caused some of the others to let out some laughter as well.

Suddenly, there was a horrifying screeching sound, that scarily sounded like a velociraptor.

The entire group jumped high, all except Sally and Percy who were laughing hard, clutching their stomachs.

"What the heck, Prissy!" Clarisse yelled.

"Oh, that wasn't me!" Percy stuttered out pointing to his mother causing everybody's eyes to widen with shock.

"Sally?!"

The woman managed to catch her breath finally, "When Percy was little, he was obsessed with that movie. Well to be honest, we both were, and we would try and emulate the different dinosaurs whenever we were away from Gabe and could watch it."

"Yeah! Mom's really good at the loud cries of the dinos. I can get the cool chirps that the raptors can do though." Percy beamed with excitement.

"Just when we think you can get no cooler..."

"You and your mom prove us wrong." The Stolls grin.

"It was really funny when Percy was showing off in the park and ended up surrounded by birds from the sounds." Sally giggled at the memory.

That made the sea son blush as the kids laughed at the image.

It was Rachel who gasped loud, "Oh my gosh! You're basically a Disney Princess!"

"What?" Percy paused, "Oh my gods… I really am."

"How have we not thought of that earlier?" Thalia asked.

"Well, if you think about it, all of our lives are sort of Disney-esque." Nico shrugged.

"Oh gods, you're right." Annabeth exhaled.

"Percy's Ariel!" Will screamed.

"What? No! Just because she's from the sea doesn't mean I'm Ariel!"

"He's got a point. He's more Jasmine than Ariel." Grover snickered.

"How?" Chris had to question that conclusion.

"Well, he did sneak out of camp multiple times." The satyr started.

"Not to mention he has a big, scary beast that's actually a huge teddy bear." Nico added.

"Also, Percy's favorite prince is Aladdin." Annabeth grinned, sharing a secret.

"Annabeth! You swore you'd never share that!" Percy smothered his girlfriend with a pillow but was easily overpowered.

The group was caught with laughter once again at the view. Tyson could be seen smothering his giggles horribly while Grover's braying was the loudest of everybody.

"Oh! Does that mean Grover's Genie?" Thalia chuckled.

"I'll take it!" Grover jumped in before anybody could decide otherwise making the kids break out with laughter again.

The Gods and other adults could only watch and bask in the lightness of the room. Even those who weren't as fond of the children couldn't help but feel lighter. Hestia alone almost hurt to look at with how much she was glowing from the atmosphere.

As much as she could enjoy the moment, however begrudgingly, Hera cleared her throat and motioned that she was going to continue reading.

"Of course it was!" Smoke drifted up from his sunglasses, as if they were about to catch fire.

"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."

"Gods, Perce. You just think that up on the spot?" Chris wondered.

"Pretty much, but it was also kinda the only explanation that would've made sense. At least with what I was aware of so far." The son of Poseidon shrugged.

"I am the god of war! I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!"

"Dreams?" The gods all question.

"But I haven't been having dreams… at least not that I'm aware of." Ares added.

"So, we need to keep on that as well. Okay another thing for the list." Hestia sighed.

I hesitated. "Who said anything about dreams?"

Ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk.

"Let's get back to the problem at hand, kid. 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."

Poseidon growled, "This will not be happening in our future. Am I clear nephew?"

The War god gulped, "I, unfortunately can't promise that Uncle. If he challenges me then we fight."

"He's got a point Dad." Percy said. He remembered how he was quick to goad the god into a duel.

"Fine," the Earthshaker acquiesces. "Only if he challenges you."

Ares could only nod in agreement.

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."

"Of course you did." Both parents exhaled getting a sheepish look from their son.

"Well, I can't complain now, can I?" Poseidon joked nudging his boy.

"Sorry Dad." Said son winced earning a put-upon sigh.

"It's fine. I should have seen it coming."

He laughed, but I heard a little edge to his laughter ... an uneasiness. "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."

"You're wary, yet you still fall for his taunting?" Hera paused to criticize her son. Yes, he may be being influenced, but he should have better control to not fall to a mortal's level.

Ares just waved off his mother, he always ignored her nagging.

"Scared?"

"In your adolescent dreams." But his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. "No direct involvement. Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."

Annabeth said, "Percy, run!"

The giant boar charged.

But I was done running from monsters. Or Hades, or Ares, or anybody.

"Ooh, Percy's getting angry…" Grover teased.

"Brother gets strong when angry." Tyson beamed.

"Eh not always, Ty." Percy tried to reason with the cyclops.

"Aren't you guys on a beach?" Connor asked.

"Yup." The trio answers.

Both Chiron and Clarisse sigh, it was easy to see where this was going.

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!"

"Aw, look at little Percy having to yell out commands." Thalia ragged.

"I was new to the whole powers thing! I figured I make sure what I do at least actually happens; saying it just made sense for it to work." Percy defended.

"Okay, that's fair." The daughter of Zeus agrees, "Makes sense to do it that way. I can't remember the number of times I electrocuted myself."

"You can get electrocuted?"

"Yeah, it may not kill me, but it still hurts if hard enough."

"This is why we worried about the two of you fighting…" Annabeth groaned.

"Hey, you weren't even there when they destroyed a clearing in the forest." Grover chided.

"Destroyed a clearing?" Zeus and Poseidon queried simultaneously.

The two cousins just waved off their parents, which disturbed them greatly.

"Um, it's probably in the third book…" Nico muttered not wanting an argument to break out.

The brothers could only share a glance and begrudgingly nod and accept that reason.

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.

Some of the campers let our cheers; they were getting excited, what else could they do?

I turned back to Ares. "Are you going to fight me now?" I asked. "Or are you going to hide behind another pet?"

"And of course you bait him more… Percy…" Sally sighed.

"Sorry mom. You know I'm not great when mad."

"I know, honey."

"To be fair he did lose you all over again, ma'am." Nico reasoned.

"You're not wrong." The mother exhaled. "And I've told you to call me Sally, sweetheart."

"I blame his 40s upbringing Sally." Thalia grinned nudging her cousin.

"Hey! They're called manners Sparky!" the Ghost King yelled.

"Which you seem to only have around Sally."

"Well, my mom is the best." Percy puffed up.

At that the sea son got sounds of agreement and nods causing his mother to blush yet fight a wide smile.

Poseidon was beaming at the children and his ex-lover. He knew she was amazing, had since the moment he met her. Being able to see how connected and maternal she was with the campers was a gift. He so rarely got to check in on his children; he definitely wished to raise Perseus with Sally, but alas the laws forbid it.

Aphrodite was internally squealing. It was beautiful to see this type of love, familial love was always so much stronger than romantic and to see it in person? Even better.

Hera was just as surprised, as the Goddess of Motherhood it was refreshing to see such strong maternal care, even if it came from a mortal woman.

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?"

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."

"Betting with my bolt, boy?" Zeus snarled.

"There was no real other way I'd be able to get the helm from Ares. I figured if I had something of equal worth then maybe he would at least debate the offer." Percy shrugged much too nonchalant for his parents to be comfortable with.

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.

"That's cool, dead boy," he said. "Classic it is." The baseball bat changed into a huge, two-handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "Don't do this. He's a god."

"He's a coward," I told her.

"You want to say that to my face, shrimp?!" The god bellowed rage growing.

"Gladly." Percy smirked.

The campers didn't react, too used to Percy's devil-may-care attitude to gods he disliked. His reaction angered some of the gods; others were caught between worry and impressed at his daring.

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.

"Reconciliation," she said. "Athena and Poseidon together."

My face felt a little warm, but I managed a smile. "Thanks."

"Putting the moves on early aren't ya, Annie?" Thalia ribbed the daughter of Athena.

"Thalia!" the girl flushes bright, as well as her boyfriend.

Aphrodite had her hands pressed tight against her mouth preventing her squeals.

"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."

"Way to make it seem like he was gonna die guys." Chris muttered.

"Well… it was a possibility as much as we hoped it wouldn't end that way." Annabeth sighed.

"Grover ... I don't know what to say."

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?"

"A smaller ego." Nico snarked causing Percy to snort loud, he remembered what he had thought back then.

A smaller ego, I thought, but I said nothing.

Nico shared a smile with his cousin while the pair ignored the War God's enraged look.

Hera gave her son a look when it seemed as if he was going to charge the two dmeigods.

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.

"You do listen to me!" Annabeth beamed.

"Of course, Wise Girl."

He cleaved downward at my head, but I wasn't there.

"Huh?" Connor was confused.

His brother came to his rescue, "Oh! The water! That makes you faster?"

"Mhmm, can be quite helpful." Percy nodded.

"Man, I can't get over how many powers you have." Chris shook his head amazed.

"I don't think any of us can." Thalia agreed, "I mean, out of the three of us I have the least. And I'm the oldest!"

"Well…" The boys drawled.

"Technically! We don't count Nico's weird time bubble situation and I chose to become a Huntress."

"Well, based on the spoiled youngest child metaphor, that is Percy."

"Hey!" said boy yells, "I don't control what powers I get! It's not my fault!"

"You're not wrong, Water Boy."

"Shut it, Death Breath!"

My body thought for me. The water seemed to push me into the air and I catapulted over him, 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.

The Sea God could feel his pride building as the fight is described. He knew his son was born to be amazing, prophecy or not. To hear his boy holding his own against a god, a war god no less? He was a proud papa.

He grinned. "Not bad, not bad."

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 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, Luke had told me once, back in our sword class. When you've got the shorter blade, get in close.

"Some of the best advice I've ever been given. Not as nice to think about anymore huh?" Percy muttered.

Thankfully, Hermes hadn't heard his commentary and was imagining Luke's prowess as an instructor.

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.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "Cops!"

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.

"Man, I remember how that winded me; definitely had bruises." Percy commented.

"You seemed fine though?" Grover wondered.

"Trust me, I wasn't. I felt like collapsing when this was over."

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 ..."

"That guy's armed," another cop said. "Call for backup."

"Man, I would be so overwhelmed by like everything. How do you even stand it, Perce?" Will asked; he was an archer he rarely was on the front lines.

"Um, I don't know how it is for everyone else, but if a lot is happening at once thing seem slower to me. A lot of my fighting is instinct, but taking everything in? My brain seems to slow down and get a full picture. I probably talk about it at some point in these books." The Jackson boy tried to explain.

"It's probably a good mix of adrenaline and ADHD." Annabeth hypothesized, "You do have a worse case of ADHD than other campers, so maybe that explains some of it."

"Who knows? At this point whatever helps me in a fight I'll take it."

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.

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.

Poseidon looked to his son eyes brimming with delight only to see a cheeky smirk on the boy's face. Just what did that look mean? Clearly the boy was planning something… and it seemed like the prideful war god was falling for it.

"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.

"Well, you were right Wise Girl." Percy nudged his girlfriend.

"Of course I was," she agreed with a faux haughty sniff.

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.

"Oh gods, I'm getting a headache just trying to picture all of that." Chris rubbed his eyes in pain.

"Me too, I didn't even think I could get headaches." Apollo grunted.

More sirens.

I stepped farther into the water, but Ares was fast. The tip of his blade ripped my sleeve and grazed my forearm.

"Were you hit?" Someone wondered.

"No, just the shirt."

"Holy crap, your luck."

A police voice on a megaphone said, "Drop the guns.' Set them on the ground. Now!"

Guns?

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.

"The Mist is amazing." Thalia smiled.

"It is, but would it hurt to help me out a little bit more?" Percy whined.

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.

"ARES!" Hera stopped her reading.

"What? They're interrupting!" The War God complained.

"We don't just attack mortals! So uncivilized." The mother chided.

Her son just carried on with his glaring at Percy.

Ares roared with laughter. "Now, little hero. Let's add you to the barbecue."

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.

"Why am I being stupid enough to follow the punk?" the god asked.

"Because your pride clouds your judgement." Athena elucidates.

"Oh shut it, Bird Brain."

I felt the rhythm of the sea, the waves growing larger as the tide rolled in, and suddenly I had an idea. 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.

Poseidon let out a sharp bark of laughter. He had figured out his son's strategy; it was one he himself loved to use as well.

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. 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.

"Ha ha!" the Sea God cheers.

"Go brother!" Tyson joins in.

A six-foot wall of water smashed him full in the face, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth full of seaweed. 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.

"Oh my…"

"Gods." The Stolls exhale awe clear and aimed at Percy who was an odd mix of smug and embarrassed at the situation.

"WHAT?!" Ares bellowed, "I LOST TO THE SHRIMP!?"

"Don't start moaning about it now, the boy won fair and square. It's not his fault you were arrogant and underestimating him." Surprisingly it was Athena that stated this. Although she could not complain about the boy having a sound strategy against a stronger opponent.

Even Hera couldn't complain about the loss. She had reread the paragraph one again to herself and she couldn't refute anything. The demigod had beaten her son.

"That's my boy!" For once it was Sally who celebrated Percy's win.

Although Poseidon had lofted his son onto his shoulders and was parading him around the room as he cheered. Tyson could be seen jumping up and down in his seat causing Grover to bounce around, but he was smiling as well.

It took a while, but the group managed to settle somewhat; a few were still pretty high off of the win but were anxious for the rest of the story.

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.

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.

He limped toward me, muttering ancient Greek curses.

Something stopped him.

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.

"Does that mean Father was watching the entire time? Or just letting go of Ares?" Hades questioned.

"I don't know." Zeus said, "And that's what worries me."

"Well, I'm glad they really are accepting that Kronos is back." Percy muttered to Annabeth.

"It'll give us a head start on planning and preventing events that's for sure." The daughter of Athena agreed.

The darkness lifted.

Ares looked stunned.

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."

"You're such a sore loser that you curse the boy? Really?" Hephaestus reprimanded his brother.

"Well, he shouldn't have challenged me!"

"I hate to say it, but for Ares, that is actually pretty mild." Aphrodite reasoned; she may not agree with the curse, but it was generous compared to previous curses from the war god.

"Has it ever impacted you, Perseus?" Poseidon asked his son.

"Only once that I'm aware of. I've never really fought for success, mostly just survival." Percy shrugged. To him the curse wasn't really bad; he only hated it because without it, maybe Zoe could have lived.

"Either way, after we get through these books there will be no cursing of the children, no matter how enraged we may be. As of right now we have a common enemy and need everybody as prepared and available as we can get." The Sea God stated meaning clear in the eyes he was boring into his nephew's face.

Ares just gave a short nod, eyes blazing with fury. He had no desire to invoke his uncle's wrath.

His body began to glow.

''Percy!" Annabeth shouted. "Don't watch!"

I turned away as the god Ares revealed his true immortal form. I somehow knew that if I looked, I would disintegrate into ashes.

The light died.

I looked back. Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal Hades' 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.

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.

"We saw the whole thing," she hissed. "So ... it truly was not you?"

I tossed her the helmet, which she caught in surprise.

Hades had to release an exhale as his helm was returned. The thought of it missing and in the hands of someone who'd misuse it was uncomfortable.

"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..."

She cackled, savoring the idea. Then she and her sisters rose on their bats' wings, fluttered into the smoke-filled sky, and disappeared.

"I'd say that's good motivation to always fight for what's right, wouldn't ya say?" Connor asked his brother.

"Why yes brother-mine, I'd much rather be a true hero than Fury food." Travis said faking a posh air.

"It's one of the easier options I've been given, that's for sure." Percy chuckles.

I joined Grover and Annabeth, who were staring at me in amazement.

"Percy ..." Grover said. "That was so incredibly ..."

"Terrifying," said Annabeth.

"Cool!" Grover corrected.

I didn't feel terrified. I certainly didn't feel cool. I was tired and sore and completely drained of energy.

"Gods yeah, I was wiped. I was so ready to just fall asleep on that beach for a week." Percy moaned.

"Did you guys feel that... whatever it was?" I asked.

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.

"It's both amazing and worrying that you are sensitive enough to tell the difference nephew." Hades shuddered.

"Yeah, I don't like that I am either. It's not fun."

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.

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.

"We have to get back to New York," I said. "By tonight."

"That's impossible," Annabeth said, "unless we—"

"Fly," I agreed.

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."

"Oh man that's gutsy Percy." Clarisse commented.

"It didn't feel that way, but it was the only possible choice we could make. I figured Zeus wouldn't zap me out of the sky if I was carrying his bolt." Percy shivered at the memory.

"The only nice part about that entire flight was when we had to drag Seaweed Brain here onto the plane since he was seconds away from a panic attack." Annabeth giggled.

"Hey! You two weren't much better than me! Pardon me for worrying about my uncle being so ready to kill me just for being off the ground." Percy grumbled crossing his arms.

"I'm actually with Percy on this one, I'm not a big fan of being off ground either so this wasn't fun for me too." Grover added.

"Oh, just let it go already we need to keep going. We're almost done with the book." Thalia waved the three quiet.

"Well." Hera sighed, "Who will read next then?"

It was Hades who motioned for the book.

"I'll take a turn sister."

The Underworld Lord opened to the next chapter and began.

AN: And that's the chapter. Thanks for waiting on this update. I wish I could update more often, but life is swamped. As it is I believe I will be updating once a month minimum. Anyway, we're getting close to the ending of this book! I'm not 100% sure if I will be starting the second book immediately after this or focusing on another project to give my brain a break from this series. I'll let y'all know what I decide.

As always reviews are appreciated or PM if you prefer. See y'all next time!