The moment the water hit Alexa's skin, she knew she was in trouble. She struggled to even find the energy to reach out. Her arms felt like lead weights attached to her shoulders, harder to lift than Alexa would've thought possible. Her friends began to rise away from her as her body sank, struck by the curse that turned her limbs to stone and filled her stomach with bile and fear. Her life flashed before her eyes, all the people she had let down, all the people she was leaving behind. A trail of bubbles streamed from her mouth as water rushed into her lungs. Her vision began to tunnel, growing dark and fuzzy. She heard a snide, vaguely European sounding voice somewhere in the dark.
"Back already? Mortals always think they're invincible. Well come on, give me the coin and I can print your boarding pass."
Before the room even came into focus she felt pressure beneath her backside. The barely visible, blurry waiting room of DOA Productions disappeared as her head suddenly and violently broke the surface, a pair of arms, way too small to fully support her, dragged her back onto something large and rusty. Alexa groaned and opened one eye to find herself still half submerged, laying on a buoy kept there by the hands of a blonde girl and the teeth of a large, metal, scrambling dog.
Percy was thanking some…large gray thing just below the surface of the water. Alexa caught sight of a thick but streamline body, a white underbelly, and big black eyes, like a doll's eyes, before her consciousness faded entirely.
The next time she came to there were voices and a scratchy blanket. She was still on a hard surface, but this one, her smith's sensibilities were quick to inform her, was fiberglass rather than rusted metal. Not that it mattered much. Alexa rolled over onto her side and vomited, heaving up what little she had remaining of her breakfast, as well as the water she had swallowed.
"Ugh…it's on my shoes." Said a male voice above her.
"Yeah, that happens with a near drowning." Said an older male. He said something else but Alexa faded out again. The next thing she knew she was upright, being carried across some wooden dock.
"Alexa, I need you to eat this." Said a girl next to her ear.
"M-morgan…?" Alexa asked weakly.
"No…Annabeth." Whispered the voice before she crammed the soggy spongy cube into her mouth. Immediately a taste like overly salted ham flooded over Alexa's tongue and feeling returned to the muscles in her legs. Slowly she opened her eyes, finding herself precariously balanced on Luna's back, Percy and Grover on either side to keep her from toppling over. Annabeth had a bag of Ambrosia squares she was stuffing back into her pocket. That explained the ham.
"What happened…?" Alexa groaned.
"Percy's dad got us out of the underworld but dropped us in the pacific ocean." Grover explained.
"I sorta understood that part. But what about the bolt…?" Alexa asked.
"The whole thing was a set up." Percy muttered darkly as they stepped off the dock, the whole city of Los Angeles burning in front of them, it seemed.
"The real thief stole the bolt and Hades's helm in order to frame me and my dad. He wanted us to complete the delivery and get Hades blamed for stealing the bolt." Percy continued as he walked onto the beach.
"Who was the real thief then?" Alexa asked.
"Hey kid!" With those two little words Alexa felt irritation in the very base of her skull, slowly building into full blown anger.
"Him." Percy muttered, nodding forward at a thickly built man with a buzz cut, dressed in biker attire, leaning against a massive motorcycle. Alexa recognized him immediately.
"Ares." She muttered.
"In the flesh! But gotta say kid, you couldn't even get these three killed properly. I'm kinda impressed. Ticked, but impressed." Ares chuckled.
"You stole the bolt and the helm!" Annabeth accused. Ares chuckled and pulled out a black ski mask, the kind bank robbers usually wore. He set it between the handlebars of his bike where it morphed into a pitch black war helmet with a black plume.
"Not directly, stealing other symbols is a big no no. But I had help." Ares grinned.
"Who? Clarisse?" Percy asked. This actually got a laugh out of the war god. A laugh that quickly died when Alexa spoke.
"I doubt it. I don't think anyone in Cabin 5 did this. This isn't their style." Alexa muttered thoughtfully. "All of them are just like their dad, instant gratification. Yes they'd start a fight, but usually that involves a thrown punch, playing the long game like this…it doesn't fit. Honestly this whole set up feels more like if Annabeth's mom went full on super villain, someone else planned this."
"That thing in the pit!" Percy said at once, again cutting Ares off.
"What thing in the pit?" Alexa asked sharply.
"There was some…dark presence in a pit down in the underworld. It took over the enchantment on Luke's shoes and tried to drag us to it…it's what wanted the bolt. It's pulling the strings here!" Annabeth explained. Something about her statement tickled something in the back of Alexa's brain, something off, but before Alexa could explore it further her train of thought was derailed.
"I'm the god of war!" Ares fumed. "Nobody but nobody tells me what to do! No one pulls my strings! I don't even have dreams!"
The group shared a look before Percy asked the obvious question.
"Who said anything about dreams?" At Percy's question the god scowled.
"Whatever! The point is you brats ruined a perfectly good plan! Wethead Jr here was supposed to die in the underworld and get his daddy mad at Hades. The bolt in the underworld would've gotten Zeus's toga twisted and he'd declare war on corpse breath, and since tall dark and gruesome doesn't know where his hat is he would've been all too happy to fight the other two! It would've been the biggest war the world had seen!" He paused to snap his fingers. "Which means you gotta go. Throwing your corpse onto the boat ought to do the same job!"
As he spoke a massive boar burst from the sand. It charged the group, Alexa fell off Luna's back trying to get her sword out, but Percy was more than ready. He stepped forward, and sliced one of the hippo sized pig's tusks off. Unbalanced, it tried to correct for the shift in weight but only managed to wipe out, toppling over a sand dune and flying into the surf. The water seemed to grab it then. The pig let out one last squeal before it was dragged out to sea, no doubt to make some sharks very happy.
"Are you alright?" Grover whispered as he helped Alexa up. Her legs were shaking so badly she could barely stand, let alone fight. She winced slightly and grabbed onto Luna's neck for support. Percy stepped between their group and the god.
"No more pigs. I want to fight you! Winner take all!" Percy announced, pointing the tip of his sword at Ares.
"What? Percy, are you out of your mind?" Alexa yelped.
"Welcome to dealing with Seaweed Brain." Annabeth muttered.
"You should listen to your friends, kid. I'm the god of war! I have more fighting experience than you can ever hope to have! What makes you think you're anywhere on my level?" Ares laughed.
"I don't, but you want a quick solution and a chance to fight. So here it is! First to draw blood or ichor wins! If I win I take both the helm and the bolt. If you win, you get to kill me and keep them both for the upcoming war. Imagine what you could do, a war against the gods with two of the most powerful divine weapons." As Percy talks a look of malicious glee begins to form on Ares's face. By the time Percy's proposal was finished Ares was practically salivating at the idea.
"Fine. You get your wish kid!" He pulled a shotgun from one of the slings on his bike "Modern or classic?"
Percy held up his sword and Ares grinned. The gun in his hand rippled and reformed itself, growing into a double edged greatsword, with a human skull on the guard clutching a ruby between its teeth.
"Whatever happens," Grover said, giving Percy's shoulder a squeeze and passing him a crushed tin can. "The satyrs stand by you."
Alexa sucked in a breath and let it out. Suddenly she had a lot of empathy for Jazz, dealing with her when she did something reckless.
"You're insane for doing this," She announced hotly, drawingall eyes to her. "But a person needs to be a little crazy to beat a god one on one. So go kick some war god butt!"
Luna added to her statement by stepping forward and giving the boy a lick across the face. Percy grinned and nodded.
"Be careful, Seaweed Brain." Was all Annabeth said.
Percy nodded and stepped away from them. He took only a few steps before the battle began. In the first few seconds Percy only just barely blocked a decapitation, bringing his sword up just in time. Ares was impossibly fast, slashing and hacking, each blow making the son of the sea god back up. One jab with the sword nearly gored Percy, but the god followed it up by planting a boot in his stomach, sending him hurtling backwards and through a sand dune.
The surf washed over Percy's hand and suddenly he was back in the fight, keeping pace with Ares much to everyone's surprise. He practically skated through the waves, dipping out of reach when the god slashed, surging forward to attack in turn only to be countered and driven back into the waves.
Their fight, however, had drawn mortal attention. Three cop cars had pulled onto the beach and several of the boys in blue came spilling out, guns drawn on the fighting pair.
"On the ground!" Cried one of the cops "Drop the guns! Hands on your heads!"
"This doesn't concern you!" Barked Ares "Get lost!"
With a wave of his hand ten foot tall red flames blazed up from the sand and rushed like a serpent around their group. As it passed through one of the cruisers the car exploded. The two officers from within dove for cover, but Alexa could only just see them through the flames.
Percy tried to capitalize on the distraction, taking a swipe at Ares's forearm, but the god caught it on the edge of his blade and used his sword to shove Percy backwards. Percy seemed to be tiring, doing everything he could to block Ares's strikes. Alexa gritted her teeth. She hated watching from the sidelines! She hated watching a friend fighting for their life and knowing she was powerless to help. She tested her legs and found they were still about as weak as a newborn calfskin. Slowly, taking more effort than she could ever remember it taking, she pulled the charm free of her bracelet, sending the blade straight down into the sand on her left side, her fingers too weak to even hold it!
She looked down in dismay, and nearly missed what happened next. Taking one final step backwards into the surf, suddenly, Percy leaped. A massive wave surged behind him, propelling him upwards and knocking Ares off balance. The war god spluttered and cursed as the wave of water blasted into his eyes, his nose, his mouth. Percy landed directly behind the stunned war god and brought his blade down. The howl of pain and rage shook the beach as golden Ichor spilled from the gash Percy had made in the war god's heel.
The back hand that Ares delivered sent Percy all the way back to their group. Ares hobbled after him, a gold trail left in the sand, his eyes full of fury. That was when a shadow fell over the group, like something massive had stood up to block the sun, its gaze staring down on them all. A cold chill washed over all six of them, but Ares paused to tilt his head as if he were listening to something. The shadow passed and Ares growled.
"You win the battle, you little punk, but don't ever think you won the war. You bear the curse of Ares now! One day when you need it the most, your blade will fail you! Mark my words!" As he spoke, Ares's body had begun to glow.
"Look away!" Alexa squawking, covering her face with her arm. Luna responded by covering the kids' faces with her wing and forcing them down. As the god of war took his true divine form heat and force rolled over the beach. When they opened their eyes the red flames had disappeared and all that was left was the black war helm and the yellow backpack. Percy picked up both, just as another shadow, three this time, fell over the beach. The Furies landed with three soft thuds.
"You saw that?" Percy asked dryly.
"The whole thing, we caught up to you when you reached the beach." One of the Furies confirmed. Percy nodded and tossed it the Helm of Darkness. The Fury seemed surprised, but caught it instinctively.
"Return that to Hades and tell him everything you saw. Tell him he'd better keep his end of the bargain." Percy said.
"Live a good life, Perseus Jackson." The Fury said with a fanged grin. "Because if you ever fall into my grasp again…" She let the threat linger before taking flight with her sisters, leaving three demigods, a satyr, and a robotic dog on what had once been a perfectly nice beach to answer police questions.
"Can anyone else not believe that just happened?" Alexa groaned.