I loved writing this, it was fun to show the changes and to adjust this chapter, which was great in the OG story, to make it better and to make it more consistent.

The next afternoon, June fourteenth, seven days before the solstice, the train rolled into Denver. Thanks to Aaron's pickpocketing and them not losing their bags they were actually moderately well fed however they still hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill. Aaron swore he could see waves of green smoking rising from their bodies.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him how our quest has gone so far, see if he has any advice."

"We can't use phones, right?"

"I can though, right?" They all looked at Aaron, remember that he was in fact human.

Annabeth shook her head. "No, you've got magic now so I am pretty sure that you can't... doesn't matter anyway since I'm not talking about phones."

As a group they wandered through downtown for about half an hour, looking for something that only Annabeth seemed to know about, though from the look in Grover's eyes it seemed that maybe he was in the know as well. The air was dry and hot, and there were mountains on every side of them making it feel like a giant cereal bowl.

Finally they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. they veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. They were four dirty looking, wary eyed hooligans armed with weapons, any cop would notice and run them down in a heartbeat.

"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked, as Grover took out the spray gun.

"It's seventy-five cents," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me," she said. "The dining car wiped me out."

Percy fished out my last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter, which left him about two nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place.

"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."

"What are you talking about?"

He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."

"Instant messaging?"

"Iris-messaging! Oh, I've wanted to do that since Alabaster mentioned it to me." Excited, Aaron turned to Percy. "Iris, the goddess of rainbows will allow a connection and visual message to be sent to others through a rainbow. It's pretty cool actually, but the same effect can be made through dream magic and fires, but I'm not skilled enough for either kind yet."

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"

Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."

Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors.

Annabeth held her palm. "Drachma, please." She raised the coin Percy gave her over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."

She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer.

"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then they was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. It was like being on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was a sandyhaired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" Percy called.

He turned, eyes wide. The connection was perfect, you could even see the beads of sweat on the boy's head, in complete detail. Aaron swore he could almost smell the warm strawberries that filled the air of the Camp along side judgement and cruelty and pettiness.

"Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're ... uh ... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "We thought-Chiron-I mean-"

"He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"

"I'm right here," Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?"

Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement.

"Chiron had to-what's that noise?" Luke yelled.

"I'll take care of it.'" Annabeth yelled back, looking very relieved to have an excuse to get out of sight. "Grover, come on!

"What?" Grover said. "But-"

"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she ordered.

Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle at Delphi, then he handed Percy the spray gun and followed Annabeth.

He readjusted the hose so he could keep the rainbow going and still see Luke.

"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted to me over the music. "Things are pretty tense here, Percy. Word leaked out 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 all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."

'How would they get into the Camp unless they were a halfblood? That means someone from Camp stole the Bolt and the Helm... but wait a minute.' Leaning forward, he frowned at Luke. "There isn't a standoff though, Percy swore on the River Styx that he didn't take the damn bolt. It stopped any conflict between them."

Luke's eyes widened, then something intense crossed them. So intense that it frightened Aaron, a look of something he just couldn't identify but passed almost immediately afterward. " I didn't know that, smart of you to do so Percy."

"It was Aaron's idea, he didn't want me smited for something I didn't do."

Luke just nodded, turning an assessing eye to Aaron for a minute. "So what's your status?" Luke asked. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you."

Percy told him pretty much everything, including his dreams.

'This is a mistake, there is something wrong here... Luke is the son of the God of Thieves, he is scarred from a quest and he is the greatest swordsmen in the last three hundred years. If anyone could steal them and get away with it, it would be him... I think he can control the Mist too, he certainly is strong willed enough for that.' Frowning, Aaron turned towards his brother and saw the borderline hero worship in his brother's eyes. 'He admires Luke too much, and I saw how Annabeth was about him. This isn't good. The only other person I'd suspect is Annabeth with her hat but I can't see her stealing from the gods, she is too loyal to her Mother.'

The beeper went off on the spray machine, a sign there only was a minute left of water, left Aaron smiling. He did not want to keep on talking to Luke.

"I wish I could be there," Luke told me. "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."

"But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly."

"That's true," Luke said, looking troubled. "Still ... Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."

They were all silent, until Luke seemed to realize what he'd said.

"Oh, hey," he protested. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never ... I mean, she's like a little sister to me."

It didn't matter that he made a mistake, the words did their job and Aaron knew that it was Luke who stole the Bolt.

In the stall next to us, the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln peeled out of the car 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 sounded guilty here "Yeah, they've come in handy."

"Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?"

The water shut off. The mist started to evaporate.

"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 will get turned into a pine tree if he just-"

But the mist was gone, and Luke's image faded to nothing.

Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laughing, but stopped when they saw my face. Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"

"Not much," He lied, looking desperately at Aaron to get him to be quiet. "Come on, let's find some dinner."

It didn't work. "He blamed you Annabeth, saying you'd have to be invisible to get into the Council room."

"What?" She said, recoiling. " He wouldn't, Luke wouldn't do that to me." Her voice was shaking, her eyes wide.

Aaron sighed and pulled her into a hug for a moment before pulling back and holding her shoulders. "I swear by Styx that is what he said." The rattling of the Styx's oath confirmed his words. "He stole it, Annabeth, I can tell." He held his hand out, stopping their collective arguments. It was a testament to their shock and respect of him that they stopped arguing. "He is a child of the God of Thieves, so he has preternatural stealing powers which could mask the power of the Bolt and Helm. He is incredibly skilled in combat and is old enough to hate the Gods, to see past the veil of the presumption of loyalty that comes from blood and he has been not only seriously injured from his quest but he lost Thalia to the gods." When he saw Annabeth glare at Grover, he sighed. "Alabaster told me, Grover just confirmed it. It doesn't matter though, you know I am right. He was in the best position to do this, by far, both in terms of skill and reasons to go against the gods."

Shaking Annabeth stuttered out her words, then stopped, looking up at him cold and calculating, the eyes of a war goddess. "Your probably not wrong, that's the worst part... I... I can't believe it, bit your right. He... he stole the Helm and the Masterbolt. I cannot believe I just said that."

"Come on, this is Luke we are talking about!" Grover said, sounding desperate. "He is the best of the best at Camp and our friend, are we really going to accuse him so... easily?"

Aaron sighed. "No, not easily. We are going to find proof or at least get him to swear at oath on it. That's the easy way to get it done. Should he really be innocent, then he should have no issues swearing that oath... " He sighed again, leaning in. "Listen, he blamed you Annabeth, or at least set the seeds for it. That alone is suspicious. We didn't even tell me about the Helm being stolen, or acted like we didn't know. The only person he could have been blaming was you. We can't worry about that now... we need to get some food, then we can let Percy call his mom. She deserves to know he is safe, if nothing else."

''''

Annabeth hated Aaron as they walked towards a gleaming chrome diner. For the first time in her life, she was questioning Luke and actually saw him as a threat, her brother in all but blood! She couldn't believe it but this mere mortal had challenged her love for Luke and had actually gotten her to realize how shallow it was. She hated him for it... to be honest though she also loved him for it. He cared, more then most, enough to be willing to strip of the bandage and cause a little bit of pain to save a ton of pain.

Then there was the fact that He got her to question her mother, something that terrified her by nature. He didn't even seem human, magical powers or not. He reminded her of her Older siblings, he had the same intensity in his eyes that all of her siblings and her mother had. That same wild, calculating look that startled so many people. He spoke like a child of Hermes, making his words as smooth as honey and twice as easy to swallow down. He was like a child of Apollo, warm and charismatic in an emotional way, or perhaps more like a child of Aphrodite, instinctively gifted with emotional issues...either way it was disarming to her.

She loathed how right he was, how often he challenged her way of thinking and was so logical she couldn't argue. If she couldn't all but feel the absence of divine blood in him she would think he was the son of a trickster god or Momus the god of Satire and Mockery.

She was uncomfortable around him and realized that if he was not controlled he would be very, very dangerous. If he turned to Luke's side, he would easily convince many to follow him. That could not be allowed...

And so she swore, as they approached the Diner, to keep her eyes on the boy and to never, ever fully trust him.

'''

A few minutes later, the group was sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner, Aaron pulling of the little money he had and trying desperately to ignore a fuming Percy, hurt Annabeth and sad Grover.

Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"

"We, um, want to order dinner."

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

"Yes we do actually, we are going to split two meals. The number six and the number fo-" Before he could finish, a loud rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb.

All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather-but leather that looked like ... well, Caucasian human skin.

The guy on the bike was hot, dressed in a red muscle shirt and large black duster. His body was rippling with muscles, head to boot clad toe. He radiated badass attitude, something helped by the many scars on his face that could be seen around his red tinted glasses.

As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

The biker said, "It's on me." He slid into the booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth and Aaron hard against the window.

He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"

He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.

Anger, resentment, bitterness swarmed around the guy in a thick musky, sexy cloud of magic even thicker then what Mr. D could manage at Camp. Aaron's skin felt like it was boiling from the contact, he tasted blood and wanted to taste more. Preferably from one of the many people he hated, which was to say most people. He leaned into the man ever so slightly, getting a funny look from the man, his body almost aching to draw in more of the freeing aura of power, the delicious rage inducing magic that augmented his weak sensitivity to the brim.

"So you're old Seaweed's k- you like my aura that much? Your a bit of a sadist aren't you?" The man said to Aaron, who nodded a little.

Percy actually growled out. "What's it to you?"

Annabeth's eyes flashed a warning. "Percy, this is-"

The biker raised his hand.

"S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"

"You're Clarisse's dad," Percy said to the obvious god. "Ares, god of war."

Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. Aaron may or may not have been caught staring at them, amazed and horrified in equal measure. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."

"She was asking for it."

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for-I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you."

The waitress came back with heaping trays of food-cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes.

Ares handed her a few gold drachmas.

She looked nervously at the coins. "But, these aren't..."

Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"

'What a douche, handsome but still. What a douche.'

The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.

"You can't do that," Percy told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife."

Ares laughed. "Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta." Aaron agreed, remembering his statements about Sparta all the way back to the van leaving the camp. " Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor."

"He's got a point." Aaron purred. "I just scolded them all for having so little collectively in terms of arms."

"Did you really?" Ares said, looking impressed. "Very nice, your a smart kid."

"I get that a lot... now how can we help the God of War? What service could we mere mortals offers, in case you are unaware for some reason we are already on a quest."

"Oh I am aware," Ares smirked, leaning in towards Aaron. "As for what I need... well 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, who would adore you by the way. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" Percy snarked, like an idiot.

The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter.

"Why don't I turn you into a 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?"

Irritation finally sparked where only passion had been before. "Stop it, both of you." Aaron wanted to punch himself in the mouth when those words escaped him, but knew it was Ares' aura getting to him. "Percy we are not allowed to not help him. Lord Ares, you would have has on a second quest whilst on a quest to literally save the world from endless...war..." His eyes widened slightly but he buried it, realizing that this had to be the God who turned. 'I was right, it's not Hades. He's the only God we've seen so far. Face the God who turned indeed... but how did he turn?' Gulping down some chocolate shake, he turned back to the God fully. "Even you, the god of war, cannot want endless war. There would be no rest, no progress, only endless death."

The smirk he received made it very clear that he would love nothing less. "Of course I wouldn't and I know everything about your quest." He turned back to Percy, sneering ever so slightly. 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."

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"

"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."

"Thanks," I grumbled.

"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."

"We're doing fine on our own."

Sighing, he turned to Percy. " We really aren't Percy, even with pickpocketing I only found enough to feed us on the train and here. We don't have enough to go to L.A. I don't have to like it but he's right."

The God of War smirked, turning his hot gaze onto Percy. "The kid's smarter then all of you put together and he's pure mortal. The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."

"What interrupted your date?" Dumb and defiant, Percy asked. "Something scare you off?"

Ares bared his teeth, but it rang false, something nervous etched into his expression.

"You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."

The world suddenly shifted into Darkness but when it returned, Ares was gone

"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good."

"It's probably some kind of trick," Percy said. "Forget Ares. Let's just go."

"We can't," Annabeth said. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent."

"Percy, please, even if you hate him we need his help. Suck it up and do it, then we can ignore him all we like later." Aaron almost pleaded with his brother, desperate to get him to obey the honestly simple command of the handsome douche god. "He is incredibly powerful, you can't feel it but with my talisman pumping magic into my body I could. He is stronger by far then Mr. D. Or at least the portion we met, you get the point either way. He is not to be trifled with."

"Why does he need us?"

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said, blaspheming a temperamental god. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

"But this water park ... he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"

Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other. Aaron shivered personally, thinking of the raw power or danger that had to be present to make such a potent force run away from anything. Not too many things popped up, then his eyes widened.

Annabeth said, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."

Aaron made a bold statement, hoping to get lucky. "It might actually be not all that dangerous, He was famous for losing in divine battles. It might be something we can handle... I hope." He knew how unlikely it was. "I wish we could call your mom first, but we don't have time. Let's finishing eating then get started on Ares' quest. He gave us this food and paid for it, the least we could do it finish it."

"Wait... why didn't we tell him about the Helm or Luke?" Grover asked. "Wouldn't it had been smart to do that, to at clear the air or get Luke to fess up if he did this?"

Aaron frowned. "You'd think so, but for one I am glad we didn't... " he leaned in close, whispering. " I think he's the god who turned... it's not Hades, and he's the only god we've met. I think he might be part of it, he would get power from the endless war and... well... you get the idea."

Even Percy looked horrified. "You think he... how do you keep doing that, those weird leaps in thought?"

"I like riddles and I read a lot of fantasy, you get used to seeing patterns. I like knowing how things are going to happen so... well, I think ahead. Anyway keep it under your hat, we can report it all to Hades when things go down. Just be good for now... and be quiet."

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

A lot of changes in this chapter... I loved it.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.