Younger kids with an older self. kids with no younger self. The Seven.
Normal talking, telepathy
Sadly, I do not and probably never will own Percy Jackson and associates. I really, really wish I did, though.
There was silence for a moment while people glared at Ares while Ares glared at Percy, then Hestia stood up and clapped her hands, getting everybodies attention. "Dinner, then we can finish this book before bed, I believe?" She questioned Chris, who flushed at the attention from her.
"Yeah... there's only three chapters left." He said.
"I will read when we return." Chiron volunteered, and stepped forward to retrieve the book. He put it nearby where he'd been standing before he followed his students towards the dining hall.
"We will discuss your involvement, later." Zeus hissed at his son, before flashing out while everyone else walked, chatting amongst themselves about what they learned in the last chapter.
Nobody was really in the mood to stretch dinner out, they wanted to finish this book and sleep, so food was eaten quickly, and everybody was soon back in the Throne Room to read, watching Chiron expectantly.
Chapter Twenty: I Battle my Jerk Relative
Chiron read, and then paused. "I feel I must remind you, that a god can only fight you when you challenge them, but after that they are not bound by rules." He warned Percy, who grimaced and nodded.
Everybody ignored Ares glaring at Percy. It was very easy, considering he hadn't stopped glaring since before dinner.
(A Coast Guard... middle of the bay.)
"Thank goodness for small mercies." Sally muttered. They wouldn't have had time to really look at Percy and recognize him from the news, either.
(There was a... with distress calls.)
"Yeah, it was pretty bad." Piper winced.
"I think I read a report where they were trying to evacuate as many of the patients as they could out of the hospitals in the areas that were hardest hit, just in case of another quake. They had to air-lift most of them." Rachel said.
"Hey, you live in LA, don't you? You were alright during this, right?" Jason said suddenly, looking at his girlfriend in concern.
"The area I live in wasn't affected, but my dad and I had just gotten back in the city the night before so they could start filming a different scene, we were out for an early morning shoot." She grimaced. "It wasn't pretty." They'd planned on going surfing together after they were done for the day, whenever that ended up being. "We were alright, though. One of the cameramen was crushed under his equipment, but he recovered."
Percy winced. "Sorry." He apologized.
She snorted. "Don't be, your not the one that set the quakes off." She waved him off.
(They dropped us... to save more people.)
"I think I still have that somewhere." Percy muttered, and did a quick mental inventory of his cabin, and quest bag.
"You do, I actually packed it in your bag for the trip to Rome." Annabeth said with a small grin.
"Oh, thanks." He kissed her temple, and sat back. He was going to have to go through his bag again, then, because he didn't remember seeing it when he went through it the day before.
"You guys gather a lot of souvenirs on your trips, don't you?" Thalia asked, amused. Although, she supposed that she didn't really have much room to talk, considering she herself had a small collection of trinkets from places she'd visited as a Huntress. Percy and Annabeth both shrugged.
(Our clothes were... even mine.)
"Seriously?" A few asked in surprise. Had something happened to interfere with his powers?
"Wait..." Percy held up a hand and pointed to the book, hoping it would explain.
(When the Coast... to get soaked.)
"Ah, that makes sense." Percy shrugged and nodded.
(Sure enough, my... of us had hooves.)
The room burst out laughing. "Oh, I bet that would raise some eyebrows." Hermes chuckled.
"Wouldn't the Mist cover that up?" Paul asked, confused.
"It should, but sometimes its best not to take chances." Apollo smirked.
(After reaching dry... a beautiful sunrise.)
"It was beautiful." Annabeth admitted. "In a tragic sort of way." She grimaced.
(I felt as if I'd... seeing my mother.)
"Oh." Hera cooed a little at the depth of the relationship he had for his mother. (She freaked a few people out with her behavior). "Hades!" She snapped. "How could you use the boys mother like that!" She glared.
He stared at her for a few moments. "How about because I wanted my Helm back, and he was a trespasser in my territory?" He asked blankly, even though he knew that she wouldn't care about any of that.
"You do not use a person's mother against them!" Sure enough, she didn't care about his reasons.
Chiron sighed. "I'm just going to read." He muttered, and kept going, completely ignoring Hera as she tried to keep berating Hades.
("I don't believe it,"... all that way-")
"Not for nothing." Athena interjected, guessing what her daughter had been about to say.
"You learned a lot of valuable information." Poseidon agreed, much to her annoyance. And he'd been able to get in contact with his son. Maybe not directly, but he'd still been able to have somebody speak with him.
("It was a trick,"... worthy of Athena.")
"Excuse me?" Athena demanded.
"Mother!" Annabeth interrupted before she could continue on. "I knew what he was talking about. It was a good strategy, one that you would have been proud of any of us for coming up with." She rolled her eyes at how her mother was always defensive whenever it was Percy or his father talking. Not Triton, though, oddly enough.
("Hey," she warned... "Yeah. I get it.")
"It was a good strategy." Annabeth repeated herself. Even if she hated that it was used against her and her friends. She was glad that it was the three of them, though, because had those shoes been given to anybody else but a Son of Poseidon, the enemy would have succeeded.
("Well, I don't!"... "Would somebody-")
"Really, Grover? You haven't figured out yet what's going on?" Clarisse deadpanned.
Grover turned red. "I figured out a lot of it... I just hadn't thought about what it meant for the Bolt to be in a bag given to us by Ares." He defended himself.
("Percy..." Annabeth... not to hear her.)
"I wasn't ready to talk about it right then." Percy muttered when he saw the looks he got. It was very rare that he ever ignored Annabeth, at any time.
"Understandable." Most of the room muttered. He had just been forced to leave her in the Underworld, afterall.
"I still don't get it, though." Jason burst out. "She's right here. She's alive, how is that possible when she was left behind?"
"It all worked out." Percy said after a moment.
(If I talked... like a little kid.)
"Mama's boy." Ares muttered again. Percy just raised his eyebrows at him.
Hadn't they already established that he was proud of that?
("The prophecy... But it wasn't Hades.)
"Exactly." Hades muttered, still sore that he'd been thought a thief, but also being used to being blamed for things he hadn't done. Granted, being accused of stealing a symbol of power was new.
"Which begs the question, who is it?" Athena asked, frowning.
"I think we all know. The same person that gave him that bag." Poseidon sighed, glaring at Ares.
"In other words, you have yet to really face whoever the traitor is." Zeus reasoned, glaring around. He knew, but was refusing to believe, that it was Ares. Who else could it be?
(Hades didn't... the Big Three.)
Everybody on the council shuddered in fear and horror. "I don't think anybody really wants that." Hestia murmured, horrified at just the thought of it happening.
It would truly be the end of the world if those three fought.
(Someone else pulled... have caused it.")
"Just by existing." Percy muttered, still in disbelief over that.
"That's quite the plan, so simple, and yet..." Apollo shook his head.
"I think we all know somebody that would find a war like that to be wanted." Hermes said in agreement, glaring suspiciously at his half-brother, who raised an eyebrow at him and shot Zeus a weary glance.
(Grover shook... war that bad?")
"I can think of at least one person." Dionysus drawled, glancing at Ares with a glare.
Ares shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, but his nervousness at where this was going was clear. "It is my domain." He reminded the room. Warfare was in his nature. Although... he didn't really see the point in causing a war between the Big 3, that would be nothing but endless, meaningless death and carnage.
(I stopped in... "Gee, let me think.")
"Wait, he's there?" Apollo asked in disbelief. Why would Ares go there to find them?
"Yup." Percy said dryly.
"Is he mad?" Hermes asked himself, glancing at Ares in equal disbelief. This was basically telling anybody watching them that he was the culprit, or was at least complicit.
(There he was... the sand red.)
"Ares, you had best have a good explanation for all this." Zeus warned, glaring. The younger demigods may not immediately recognize the description, but the older ones and the council did.
Ares gulped. "I'm sure I do..." He tried to grin confidently.
("Hey, kid," Ares... pleased to see me.)
Annabeth snorted. "Probably because you escaped with the Bolt." She muttered, remembering the greedy look on his face when Percy asked him why he didn't just keep the thing.
"Either that, or because he wanted to kill Percy himself, and now he was going to." Grover grumbled.
"Yeah... Percy did get mouthy with him outside that diner." Annabeth agreed.
"What else is new?" Luke grumbled. Percy had gotten mouthy enough with Kronos of all Beings, compared to that, getting mouthy with Ares wasn't anything to write home about.
("You were supposed to die.")
Poseidon immediately growled and glared in warning. "If you touch my son..." He emphasized his point with a small earthquake, centralized around Ares' throne.
("You tricked me,"... master bolt.")
"We have a bad habit of accusing people without all the facts." Percy said sourly, derailing all the gods who were starting to get up confront Ares.
"But... if he didn't steal it, or have it stolen himself, than who did? And how did he get it?" Demeter asked, frustrated.
"It should be covered in this chapter." Annabeth sighed. At least the trip to the Underworld wasn't a complete waste, they'd found out there was more going on, at least.
(Ares grinned... a big no-no.)
"Doesn't stop others from taking them apparently, though." Annabeth muttered. She'd been quiet the entire time, mostly because her mind had been racing, trying to find answers for herself. She'd been making and discarding theories as she kept getting new information.
(But you're not... the winter solstice.")
Clarisse bristled at the suddenly suspicious looks she was getting from half of the council, while her younger self stared around with wide eyes, a little scared by the looks she was getting from the extremely powerful and immortal beings. "Don't look at me! I didn't take the things, I wouldn't have no matter who asked." She scowled. Her younger self nodded in agreement.
"Not even if that somebody was your father?" Poseidon asked her, eyebrow raised. He already knew who the original thief was, so he wasn't going to give her too hard a time. She glared and shook her head in response. Her younger self looked much more unsure of herself, though.
"It wasn't her." Percy said, tired of constantly having to deal with them jumping to conclusions at the first hint of something. If they would let the person read, they would all find out exactly who it was that much quicker.
(The idea seemed... the war effort.)
"War effort?" Athena asked in disbelief. "A war of that magnitude would be catastrophic!" She glared at him, unable to believe it.
Ares shifted uncomfortably. A war like that did seem pointless, and he wasn't sure why his older self was so eager for it when he couldn't imagine trying to start something like that right now. What could have happened in the few months between now and then?
(See, you've got... for killing you.)
"Consider all Naval vessels to be docked for good." Poseidon growled, infuriated with his nephew for both the disrespect, and his part in framing his son for this theft. Not to mention, talking so casually about his sons death!
Ares eyes widened at his uncle in disbelief. "Wha- You can't do that! That's interfering in my domain!" He protested.
Dionysus snorted. "Oh, so it's alright when I get completely cut off from mine, but when somebody even hints at interference with yours..." He muttered bitterly.
"I can, and I will. Do you want me to go further?" Poseidon thundered, glaring so darkly that everybody in the room quailed.
Percy cleared his throat. "Dad, I'm right here. I'm fine." He said quietly, the words calming his father down effectively enough, especially when Amphitrite wrapped an arm around his shoulders and both his sons 'wrapped' him in their presence.
(Corpse Breath... master bolt,)
"You can forget about using any undead soldiers at any time in the near future." Hades growled. "No matter what kind of debt they owe you as the losing party."
"Come on, you can't do that!" Ares tried to protest again, knowing full well that he could and would, no matter how much he protested.
"He can and will." Zeus glared, unable to believe his son was doing this.
(so Zeus'll be... looking for this...")
"Not anymore I won't be." Hades muttered, glaring suspiciously. Ares should know that he would be watching the boy at that very moment, just like the entire council would have been watching the entire quest.
Was he about to...?
(From his pocket... elaborate war helmet.)
Hades sucked in a breath and tightened his grip on his Helm, where it currently sat on his lap. "Ares..." He growled. For his part, Ares just gulped.
"I don't know why I would have it." He protested.
("The helm of darkness,"... who took this.)
"We still don't know who took it." Reyna said suddenly, speaking for the first time in a long while. "Somehow, Lord Ares got them, but we still don't know how he took them from."
"He couldn't have stolen them himself, but who was the original thief?" Gwen asked in agreement with her Praetor.
"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Jason sighed.
(Pretty soon, we... slugfest going.")
"And I thought Perseus was the one with a talent for understatement." Demeter said in disbelief, glaring at her nephew for what he was trying to start.
"That 'nice little slugfest' you want, could destroy the world." Poseidon growled, not at all pleased that Ares was trying to use him to start a war, especially not one of this magnitude.
"And for what?" Hestia asked. "You've always said that there was no point to meaningless war and fighting, what is the meaning behind this?" She demanded. "What is the point of trying to tear our family further apart?" She glared, startling everyone, especially when they saw the beginning of tears in her eyes. Sally was out of her seat immediately and at her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders while glaring at Ares.
"I don't know yet, none of this has happened yet." Ares grumbled, uncomfortable.
("But they're... Annabeth protested.)
"Those are the messiest kinds of fights." Hermes sighed, repeating something he'd once told Percy.
"Why can't my family just get along?" Hestia whispered to Sally sadly.
(Ares shrugged... I always say.")
"Ow!" Ares yelped, holding his head, where a shoe had just collided. He was surprised when he saw that it was Aphrodite, not Hestia.
She just glared without a word.
Hermes just rolled his eyes, knowing that he'd actually said first, Ares just stole it and started claiming to have always said it himself.
("You gave me... whole time.")
"Not exactly." Zeus muttered to himself, leaning forward, glaring at his son.
"No, if it had been, then you would have seen it when you opened it to take supplies out." Reyna denied the possibility. What Lord Zeus had said earlier about the bag possibly being the bolts sheath was much more likely.
("Yes and no,"... brain to follow,)
"Excuse me?" All the Greeks and Rachel immediately protested the slight to their intelligence.
Sally for her part, merely glared darkly.
"What?" Ares asked, not caring.
"Ares." Hestia warned, disappointed in him for his current attitude.
(but the backpack... morphed a bit.)
"That's what I thought." Zeus said, leaning back and glaring at Ares. He was pleased that his theory was correct, but not so pleased with his sons involvement.
(The bolt is... your pocket, right?")
"Most of the time." Percy muttered. "And only when I actually have a pocket." He glared darkly, thinking about the one time he'd been attacked when he didn't have Riptide on him, and his shorts didn't have pockets.
(I wasn't sure... know about weapons.)
"Of course, wars can't be fought without good weapons." Ares shrugged, eyeing Aphrodite warily, and ignoring the glares or dark looks from the rest of his family and the demigods.
("Anyway," Ares... you got mail.)
"Except it wasn't supposed to go to Hades. It was supposed to go down into the Pit." Hermes realized.
"Ares didn't know that." Apollo commented.
"Somebody else is behind all this, Ares is being manipulated." Athena finally concluded, mind racing with battle strategies and possibilities. It was a strategy that she herself had proposed several times in the past...
"But who is powerful enough to manipulate a god?" Annabeth asked, scared. Luke didn't say anything, eager to hear how the rest of this played out so he could ensure the plan succeeded this time. He wasn't so sure, though, about actually carrying it out if it meant his discovery.
(If you died along... bolt for yourself?")
"Because he knows what I would do to him once I finally found it!" Zeus snarled, angry at the thought of Ares even considering keeping his Bolt. His glare never once left Ares face.
(I said. "Why send it to Hades?")
"That is a good question, not that it was supposed to even reach Hades." Rachel muttered. She never had gotten the full story about anything that happened leading up to the war.
"It was just the thing Kronos needed to make his come-back." Percy shrugged, and ignored Zeus' immediate denials. He'd still managed to make his come-back, but it took him longer than he'd hoped, and he still hadn't been at full strength.
(Ares got a twitch... inside his head.)
The Council all glanced around at each other. Concern, confusion, and apprehension visible on their faces.
This coupled with what happened to the questers at the edge of the Pit... they didn't like this.
They didn't like this at all.
("Why didn't I... yeah... with that kind of firepower...")
"That would be bad." Poseidon said after a moment of horrified silence. Percy quirked a grin at him for 'borrowing' his phrase, but didn't say anything. The god of war, with a weapon like that?
(He held the... looks with Annabeth.)
"I had no idea what was going on with him." Percy muttered, frowning.
"It was strange." Annabeth agreed. Not to mention very unnerving.
(Ares's face cleared... holding the thing.")
"It wasn't his idea." Somebody muttered.
Ares was becoming more and more agitated at the suggestion that something could be controlling him.
"There's only one Being this could be." Hades sighed.
"No, it is not." Zeus said immediately, glaring at Hades, just daring him to keep going with the idea. Hades just rolled his eyes. They could plan around him. Once he got his head out of the sand, he could join them in their planning.
("You're lying," I... idea, was it?")
"You're starting to put it together, aren't you?" Poseidon asked proudly.
"Yeah. I wasn't liking the picture I was getting, though." Percy grimaced. Anything that lived in Tartarus, and was still powerful to manipulate a god on the surface, wasn't anything he wanted to ever meet.
("Of course it was!"... the two items.)
"Or one item..." Thalia said suddenly, thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
"In the Iris message, Luke said somebody would have had to have been invisible." She said. "What if... the thief managed to get in and get the Bolt, but knew he wouldn't be able to just walk out with it, so he saw the Helm lying there, and decided it was perfect to help him get away without being detected." She reasoned. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luke grimace and nod slightly, letting her know she was right.
"The Bolt was the only thing they wanted..." Hades muttered. He narrowed his eyes at Ares. "You had the Helm, which meant you knew it had been stolen the entire time..." He growled, glaring darkly.
(Then, when Zeus... over to Zeus.)
Zeus growled again, louder this time, infuriated with the implication.
(Something convinced... you around.")
"Father..." Athena started to say.
"He is not coming back!" Zeus snapped before she could say anything else. Everyone else growled in frustration, knowing that the King would be proven wrong in time.
Hopefully it was soon, though, because they were getting tired of his denial.
"Do remember, brother. If you dare deny it and not act when the time comes..." Poseidon warned lowly, reminding the Council of his earlier threat to declare Zeus unfit to rule and take the throne from him.
While the gods spoke, the demigods discussed it among themselves. "You figured this out with very little information, if any at all." Thalia said, looking at Percy in surprise. She knew he was smart, but she didn't see him work things out like this often.
"Puzzles have always been one of his strong points." Annabeth said proudly, looking at Percy, who turned red.
("I am the god... have dreams!")
"Who said anything about dreams?" Apollo asked after a moment of shocked silence, deep in thought. He was sure he knew what was going on, now. It certainly made a few glimpses of the future make more sense now. The problem was... if he could get to Ares like this, he could get to any of them.
"I certainly didn't."
(I hesitated... about dreams?")
"Whoever this is, they're powerful." Athena murmured. "To be able to manipulate a god..." She shook her head. She, like everybody else, was pretty sure she knew who the culprit was, but she wasn't going to say anything for sure until it was confirmed without a doubt in the books.
She didn't want to have to deal with Zeus and his denial.
Not again.
Besides, she didn't like him yelling at her. She preferred it when he only yelled at Hermes or Apollo.
(Ares looked agitated... to listen to you.)
"Don't even try denying it, you're all too stubborn for your own good." Percy called, rolling his eyes when he saw them about to protest that claim from Ares.
Poseidon started laughing. "That is certainly true, isn't it?" He grinned while Amphitrite rolled her eyes, not quite sure how much of a good thing that was.
"Did you really expect to be able to hide the Bolt from Father forever?" Hephaestus sneered at his brother, who growled back, not willing to admit that he might get caught with it eventually.
(So I've got to kill you. Nothing personal.")
"If I had a Drachma for every time I heard that." Percy muttered with a grimace. Why did they always say it was nothing personal? When, generally speaking, it was always personal! Mostly because Percy made it a point to annoy them so much, it couldn't be anything but personal, but still.
(He snapped his... Camp Half-Blood.)
"Ha!" Ares shouted. "My sacred animal!" He bragged, pleased, and not seeing how the boy was going to survive this.
"...Is he expecting me to lose to a pig?" Percy questioned.
"Hey!" Clarisse warned. That was her fathers sacred animal, there. He shrugged.
"You don't even have the guts to do it yourself." Hades muttered in disgust.
(The beast pawed... yourself, Ares.")
Poseidon sucked in a breath. "Son... don't do anything reckless." He said, suddenly anxious. Percy made the challenge, so he couldn't even yell at Ares for it if anything happened to his son.
Percy grimaced. "Sorry, dad. I was just sick of it all." He smiled apologetically.
Poseidon sighed, but leaned forward in his throne, anyway. "At least he's in the water." Amphitrite patted him on the arm.
"Yeah, but he still doesn't know quite how he can use his powers." Poseidon was worried. His son only had two weeks of training!
(He laughed, but... have what it takes.")
"He also has two weeks of training at most." Chiron said blankly, looking up from the book to glare at Ares, cutting off all the angry protests from his students. He shot them a warning look, and they quieted down with grumbles.
"Not to mention a deadline, and a quest to complete." Percy grumbled. He didn't run from fights. If he retreated, it was because he knew he was severely outmatched, or because that wasn't the time or place for a fight of that scale. He could be sure, though, that the opponent would search him out again eventually.
("Scared?")
"I don't get scared." Ares growled.
Percy raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. He knew that Ares was all talk. In fact, most of the gods seemed to be all talk.
("In your adolescent... of his eyes.)
"He's getting angry." Clarisse warned, knowing that was a tell-tale sign of her father losing his temper. In fact, you could generally tell a gods mood by looking at their eyes, no matter how good they were at hiding their emotions and appearing calm. Their eyes gave them away every time, especially when they did what her father did, and have his eyes looking like an aspect of their domain.
"Good, angry people make mistakes." Percy grinned sharply.
"He's still the god of war, Percy. He practically invented modern day fighting." Jason frowned, concerned.
"Perhaps... but he'd never met me before."
"Confident, are you?" Ares sneered. But... if he won, then why was the kid sitting here, alive?
("No direct involvement.)
"Which doesn't apply when you're being challenged." Chiron cut himself off to raise a questioning eyebrow at Ares, who looked uncomfortable again.
Why was he so reluctant to fight this kid?
(Sorry, kid. You're... said, "Percy, run!")
The demigods all snorted. "You really think Percy is going to run?" Clarisse asked dryly while rolling her eyes. Annabeth shrugged.
There were time she wished he would.
(The giant boar... or anybody.)
"Oh, boy." Annabeth muttered. "He's reached his limit."
"His limit?" Reyna asked, wary.
"Of just how much he'll take before snapping and doing something stupid about it." She sighed. "He usually comes out on top, though." She reassured everyone. She'd wondered why he was suddenly so eager to fight the war god.
"Usually?" Reyna asked again, not at all comforted by that. Annabeth shrugged.
(As the boar... and sidestepped.)
"Did you really expect a boar to be enough to take out one of Poseidon's kids?" Apollo asked Ares curiously.
Ares growled. "How am I supposed to know what's going through his head? None of this has happened to me yet!" He defended himself, hoping that argument would be enough to keep him from being punished.
(Riptide appeared... it like a blanket.)
Poseidon and Triton nodded in approval, of both his control and use of his powers at all, and smirked at Ares, who was grinding his teeth in frustration.
They wondered just what he could do once he got some actual training in how to use his powers.
(The beast squealed... by the sea.)
The crowd cheered while Ares glared darkly.
(I turned back... another pet pig?")
Everyone gasped, even those who knew Percy.
Sally sighed. "What have I told you about the trash talk?" She asked. He had a bad habit of doing that, the few times a local gang had tried to start something with him.
"Sorry, mom." He muttered while Annabeth rolled her eyes, knowing it only got worse from here.
"Are we finally going to get the full story behind their fight?" Katie asked Will, excited. Everyone knew the two of them fought, and Percy somehow won, but they didn't know any details. Everyone else who knew about it looked at each other in excitement while Percy rolled his eyes at them.
(Ares's face was... turn you into-")
"A weasel?" Leo asked.
"Prairie dog."
"Jackalope's are M'Ladies thing, but..."
"D already threatened the dolphin." The adults stared the demigods, dumbstruck that they were sitting there, trying to guess what Ares was going to threaten to turn him into.
Percy was trying to calm down long enough to stop them, but he just laughed harder with every new suggestion, while Ares was turning red.
Finally Annabeth stopped it with a laugh of her own, before they could start betting on it. "Sorry, guys. Percy's mouth struck again." They all groaned.
"We really need to take a break after this book." Hestia muttered to Sally, who agreed wholeheartedly.
("A cockroach,"... wouldn't it?")
"That's the easy way out." Hestia's eyes burned as she looked at him, daring him to take the easy way out. She always said that the easy way out was the cowards way out.
He was far too good at taking the easy way out, in her opinion.
(Flames danced along... Take the bolt.)
"My Bolt is not a bargaining tool!" Zeus yelled, angry that the boy would dare do such a thing.
Percy shot him a glare. "It's not like I was planning on letting him win. There would have been nothing I could do if I lost, anyway." He rolled his eyes.
(If I win, the... to go away.")
"You aren't keeping my Bolt, either!" Zeus thundered, glaring now. Hades kept silent on the matter of the boy claiming the helm, already knowing that the boy would get it back to him somehow. He'd known since he made the ultimatum in the Underworld, the Helm for the boys mother. Since she was here, he clearly gave it back to him.
Percy glared right back. "Why would I want to keep the dumb thing? Especially when returning it means you don't throw a temper tantrum and start WWIII?"
Chiron kept reading before Zeus or Ares could try anything stupid for the way the boy was talking to them, both here and in the book.
(Ares sneered... classic or modern?")
"What's the difference?" Somebody asked, confused.
"With a sword, or with a gun." Ares shrugged.
(I showed him... cool, dead boy,")
Poseidon and Sally growled at the nickname their son had just been called.
(he said. "Classic it... in its mouth.)
"Cool." Leo muttered, eyes lit up at the thought of recreating something like that.
Ares heard him and grinned.
("Percy," Annabeth... He's a god.")
"He's a coward." Percy muttered, repeating himself.
("He's a coward," I told her.)
Both Clarisse and her younger self were shocked. Clarisse more so than her older self, who was more resigned after her shock wore off. The Romans were aghast. They knew he was disrespectful, but to say something like that to Ares, and to his face... Suddenly they understood his attitude towards Mars a little more, especially his confused question of if they'd fought before.
"Excuse me?" Ares growled, glaring at Percy, who raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him before completely dismissing him. His growl deepened as he stood up, completely enraged at the way this punk dismissed him. Him!
"Frank, your up." Percy whispered. Frank grimaced and glared half-heartedly, but moved to be behind Percy's couch, holding his bow with the arrow pointed at the ground, but ready to raise and fire at a moment's notice. He really didn't want to shoot his father, Roman or Greek.
But he would.
Percy sighed and stood up himself, facing Ares. "You gonna try and prove me wrong? You can't even hear a little criticism without going off the rails." He declared, glaring himself, Riptide still capped, but in his hand.
"You're dead boy." Ares warned after a moment of glaring, eyeing both Percy and Frank behind him, Frank who was here to carry out the Fates orders to ensure no fighting.
Frank sighed, but decided to stay where he was, just in case. Percy just rolled his eyes. He was all talk, no bite.
"Read, Chiron." Hera ordered once she was sure Ares was calmed down enough, and before somebody else could say something else.
(She swallowed... around my neck.)
Athena was shocked. She knew they were dating now, but even back then...
Will wolf-whistled. It was tradition around camp, for people to exchange necklaces when they started dating, sort of like how sometimes high-school sweethearts would exchange class rings. Annabeth glared at him. "Not like that." She rolled her eyes.
"Not yet, anyway." Thalia teased with a grin.
("Reconciliation," she... Poseidon together.")
Triton grinned at that, while Poseidon sighed and Athena looked like she might be sick. She glanced at Triton, though, and saw the hopeful grin on his face, and swallowed.
"Yeah, like that will ever happen." Aphrodite muttered, glancing at Athena herself. Athena was far too proud for that.
(My face felt... a thousand miles.)
Nobody could help it when they started laughing.
Grover blushed. "I honestly forgot about it until that moment. I don't even know how it stayed in my pocket until that moment, especially since we actually changed clothes in the Casino." He said with a small laugh.
"Probably for the same reason that backpack showed up on my back after I threw it in the trash.
("The satyrs stand behind you.")
Hermes frowned at Grover and Percy thoughtfully. Then he nodded slowly as he came to a decision.
Yes... the Satyrs would stand behind him.
("Grover... I don't... my back pocket.)
Some of the girls were a little teary eyed at the exchange between the two and Percy, while Poseidon and Sally were grateful for the two standing behind their son.
"Done saying goodbye, punk?" Ares sneered, trying to get back to the action.
"Don't ruin the moment!" Aphrodite yelled at him, throwing a high heel, which hit him in the eye.
Chiron ignored his yelps of pain, and kept reading.
("You all done... have you got?")
"Humility?"
"A smaller ego."
"Patience."
"Us." The demigods all chimed in, causing Percy to turn bright red and hide his face in Annabeth's hair.
Frank sighed and readied his bow again when he heard the comments towards Ares' arrogance.
"That is a lot of big talk, Ares." Poseidon raised his eyebrow at his nephew. "It has not been eternity, and your strength is not unlimited. Defeat also does not equal being killed." His eyes narrowed, knowing that Ares would not hesitate to kill Percy, while Percy would be struggling to even wound the war god.
He didn't really like his sons chances, but at the same time...
(A smaller ego... I said nothing.)
"For once." Annabeth deadpanned.
"Hey, I can keep quiet sometimes!" Percy defended himself.
"Sometimes. A very rare, sometimes." Thalia informed the room, staring at Percy dryly. He just shrugged.
"Not my fault they're all emotionally sensitive and can't take some criticism." He muttered.
(I kept my feet... to wisdom sometimes.)
"Spoken like a true daughter of Athena." Ares sneered. He was more than brute force, battle strategy was part of his domain, no matter what Athena liked to say on the matter.
"There is intelligence, and then there is wisdom." Annabeth said. It had taken her a while, but she'd spent enough time with Percy to know the difference, now. Being intelligent did not mean you were wise. Ares gave her a considering look.
(He cleaved... I wasn't there.)
"Best place to be." Luke shook his head with a grin. At least, it was when there was something big, heavy, and sharp being swung in that direction.
The rest of the demigods shouted in agreement while Ares growled in frustration at how this fight wasn't over in one hit.
(My body thought for me.)
Ares nodded sourly. "Good battle instincts." He muttered.
(The water seemed... just as quick.)
"Of course." Ares shrugged, grinning smugly. He was probably actually slowing down to see what the brat could do before killing him. He glanced at the boy, sitting there alive and laughing with his fellow demigods, and his mood soured.
How had the boy survived?
It never crossed his mind that he could have lost.
(He twisted, and... bad, not bad.")
Poseidon frowned while everyone else glared or booed at Ares. Ares was just toying with him right now... the only good thing was that Ares wasn't taking this fight seriously, which could lead to him making mistakes that could very well save Percy's life.
While that could only be a good thing right now, he didn't like it that Ares was dismissing his son so easily.
(He slashed... onto dry land.)
"Not good!"
"Get back in the water!" A few demigods tried to advise.
Percy just quirked a grin at him while Poseidon paled slightly. His son was good, and he had no doubt that his son was now fully capable of defeating Ares in a fight on his own without assistance or advantages like being in his natural element. But at this early stage in his training... he wasn't so sure if he could pull it off on dry land. He needed to get back in the water, he could use every advantage he could possibly get right now.
(I tried to sidestep... what I wanted.)
Ares scoffed. "Of course, what else would a son of Poseidon try to do when they are so clearly outmatched?" He rolled his eyes. Besides, children of the sea were strongest in the water, he probably wanted the kid to fight him on his own power, and not with the power provided by being in his fathers domain.
Poseidon growled, but there was nothing he could do about it. There was no yelling at Ares for doing something that any fighter would do, his book-self wouldn't be able to intervene either since Percy initiated the challenge, and even set the terms for what the winner would get out of it.
(He outmaneuvered... openings to attack.)
"He was everywhere." Percy shuddered slightly at the feeling of being so outmatched. He'd found a way, though, he'd pulled through like he always managed to.
(Some day, the Fates would decide they were done with him, and he would stop finding a way out of situations like this.)
Ares smirked, pleased with himself. He was slightly surprised, though that the brat had admitted something like that.
(His sword had... get in close.)
"Which is what makes knife fighters so dangerous, but also disadvantaged." Luke muttered the rest of what he'd told Percy, who had asked him about Annabeth's knife. Annabeth shrugged.
"Good advice." Hermes smiled at his son, pleased that he'd been such a good teacher, but still confused on just where everything went wrong with him.
(I stepped inside... in the chest.)
"Percy!" A few people gasped and yelled in shock. Ares smirked, smelling victory.
"I was fine. The sand was soft enough." Percy grimaced. Although, it still hurt like crazy. Luckily, he managed to get back into the water, that helped. Ares frowned at the reminder of their surroundings.
(I went airborne... yelled. "Cops!")
"That's going to complicate things." Leo grimaced.
"No... not necessarily. This might actually help clear things up so that Percy's not being hunted anymore." Piper reasoned.
"Depending on what the police are seeing through the Mist." Reyna reminded the two of them. The Mist wasn't always helpful in that regard, just look at what the people on that bus in New Jersey thought they saw.
"That's true..." Jason muttered. "Either way, the police are getting themselves in way over their heads by being there." And who knew how Ares might react to them trying to interfere. He hoped that they all survived this... they were just trying to do their jobs, after all.
(I was seeing... to my feet.)
"Concussion... possible cracked or broken ribs. Certainly bruised." Will diagnosed from the quick description of how much pain Percy was in and where it was centered.
Apollo nodded at his son in approval.
(I couldn't look... yelled. "See?")
"How could he not?" Travis muttered with a snort.
"It's kind of hard to miss." Connor agreed.
"Why have you two been so quiet?" Luke asked, suspicious of his younger brothers silence. They just grinned innocently, making him even more suspicious and wary.
(A gruff cop voice:... "Call for backup.")
"This could get messy." Rachel grimaced. She was thinking about the news report she remembered hearing... was this that situation?
"It did." Percy frowned. He didn't remember whether or not there were any fatalities among the police.
(I rolled to... slashed the sand.)
"Good reflexes." Ares couldn't help but to analyze the fight, even though it was already taking longer than he thought it would to squash the boy.
Percy just raised an eyebrow at him.
(I ran for my... before I did it.)
Annabeth grimaced. "You were telegraphing, really bad." She informed Percy, who nodded his understanding. He figured he probably was, Luke had gotten on him about that when he got back from this quest.
"Still, you were doing pretty good for only knowing how to sword-fight for a few weeks." Grover said, trying to cheer him up. Percy gave him a lopsided grin.
(I stepped back... toying with you.")
"Unfortunately, boy, he's right." Persephone shrugged.
"Maybe. But I wasn't going down quietly." Percy grinned ferally while Annabeth rolled her eyes.
(My senses were... every little detail.)
"It's a rush, isn't it?" Clarisse asked with a grin. Chris sighed beside her, fondly but with exasperation. The other demigods all cheered in agreement.
Were they all adrenaline junkies to an extent? Yes.
(I could see... would strike.)
There were raised eyebrows. "And now Ares is telegraphing, too." Poseidon said in amusement.
There were chuckles around the room while Ares turned red in embarrassment and gritted his teeth.
(At the same... starting to gather.)
Sally scoffed for a moment. "Of course, lets all run towards the danger, instead of away like a smart person would." She muttered in disbelief.
"Why is it that people are drawn towards loud noises and disasters, instead of having the sense to get away?" Percy wondered out loud. It happened all the time, people would stand around and gawk at something, no matter how dangerous it was to be standing there. All it did was get in the way of the police or other emergency responders.
"Mortals." Dionysus muttered, rolling his eyes.
"I thought they were being evacuated?" Rachel asked Jason.
"They were. One of the evacuation points was at the docks, they were probably on their way there when they heard the commotion." Jason shrugged, not really sure.
(Among the crowd... of disguised satyrs.)
"Hmm... that far west and in the city, it's probably Fawns, actually." Reyna said in distaste. "They were probably begging on the streets when the quake hit."
"Begging?" Grover asked, frowning. What did she mean, why would Fawns be begging on the streets? Didn't they live at and work for the Roman camp?
"Yeah... Fawns are useless. We barely tolerate them in New Rome." Reyna waved off, much to the Greeks confusion and horror. The Satyr's were their protectors, they were the ones who brought them to safety. In times of trouble, the Satyrs were always there to help in any way they could... they would have lost the war if it weren't for the Satyr's being able to rally the nature spirits. Hermes growled at the way the Roman girl talked about his sons descendants.
(There were shimmering... somewhere above.)
"Everyone is there to watch this." Luke muttered. Even the gods were probably watching from Olympus.
"This was a big fight." Percy shrugged. "If I won, the war was averted. If Ares won... who knows what could have happened." He shuddered. Although, he was sure Zeus would have gotten the Bolt back from him one way or the other, and he would have known the truth of what happened, that Poseidon had nothing to do with the theft.
(More sirens... grazed my forearm.)
"First blood." The demigods all murmured, causing Percy to make an annoyed sound.
"First blood doesn't mean the end of a fight." He muttered. Annabeth just grinned at him while Mrs. O'Leary licked his arm.
"At least he's back in the water now." Annabeth reasoned to everybody else. Even better, he was in the ocean itself, salt water always worked better than fresh did.
(A police voice... the ground. Now!")
"Guns?" Paul echoed, confused.
"The Mist." Nearly everybody said at the same time.
"Ah." He gave them all strange looks, but didn't comment further.
(Guns?
I looked... them like me.)
"Probably not..."
"Hopefully they know how to read the room." The demigods muttered, agreeing with Percy completely. Whatever the police were seeing through the Mist, probably wouldn't endear themselves to him at all.
(Ares turned to... moment to breathe.)
"Which was exactly what I needed." Percy admitted. "I couldn't have taken much more." He'd been reaching his limit quickly, and the relentless pounding meant he was losing balance, and couldn't think of a way to get out of that mess.
Ares scowled at himself, furious with himself for allowing the boy a chance to regroup. That was one of the most amateur mistakes he could have possibly made!
(There were five... the patrol cars.)
Everyone gasped. "Ares!" Hera yelled, furious that he would treat the mortals so callously. And when they were just doing their jobs!
"What?" Ares asked, bored and uncaring. "I doubt any of them died." He waved off, causing her glare to deepen.
(The police barely... scattered, screaming.)
Sally sighed. "And that is why you don't go towards the danger, or stand around and gawk like a bunch of idiots." She muttered, a little embarrassed for the mortal population at that moment.
"Nobody died, did they?" Chris asked, shaky, despite what Ares said earlier. The war gods attitude didn't exactly instill confidence about survivors.
"I don't think so..." Percy said slowly. If any of the officers had died, surly they wouldn't have been so accommodating for the three of them? At the very least, they wouldn't have been so lax that Ares got away, would they?
"Nobody died." Annabeth answered when he looked at her in question. Everybody sighed in relief.
(Ares roared with laughter.)
Ares got more dark looks at his clear enjoyment of the mortals' terror.
Clarisse shuddered, remembered her older brothers and the fear they reveled in.
("Now, little... the barbecue.")
"How 'bout we don't?" Percy suggested. "I like that plan, better." He nodded. He'd had quite enough being barbecued in his life, thank you very much.
"You don't get to decide." Ares growled.
Percy grinned. "And yet, here I am." He ran his hands through the air to indicate his entire body, sitting there. Alive. On the couch with his girlfriend. Clearly not barbecued. Ares' growl deepened.
(He slashed. I... in after me.)
Poseidon grinned suddenly. "Big mistake." He said smugly. His children were strongest in the ocean. Percy just won this fight, even against Ares, assuming he used the water properly, of course.
He had no doubt that he could, and would.
Ares just scowled, knowing what his uncle was thinking.
(I felt the rhythm.. I had an idea.)
"Oh?" Poseidon was suddenly on the edge of his seat, gazing between Percy and the book intently. "This should be interesting." He grinned, while Ares gulped, wondering what the sea-spawn could be planning, especially so close to (in) the ocean.
Annabeth and Grover didn't help his mood by starting to cackle. "Oh, it was good!" She promised Poseidon, but refused to elaborate, so Chiron kept reading before Poseidon could demand it of him.
(Little waves, I... to recede.)
"Ah..." Poseidon said as he realized what his son was doing. He was going to let pressure build up and then release it... hopefully at the right moment. "Nice, son." He praised. Good application, and hopefully it would show that he had good control over his powers, as well.
Percy grinned at the praise from his father, something he didn't get often. Not that his father didn't praise him for good work, but more because he didn't see his father often, and when he did, they were usually surrounded by other Olympians.
(I was holding... behind a cork.)
Poseidon grinned in anticipation while everyone else realized what was about to happen, and Ares groaned before shielding his eyes, cursing.
This fight was lost.
(Ares came forward... to go on.)
"Wow... Ares must really be sure of himself if he fell for something like that. A son of Poseidon, standing in the ocean, exhausted?" Athena mocked the war god, causing him to growl and glare at her.
"I was wondering what was going on." Annabeth muttered, even she had almost fallen for it, until she saw the look on Percy's face, and noticed the water receding, and then just 'sitting' there.
(Wait for it, I... me off my feet.)
Poseidon whistled, impressed with his level of control. "That's going to be explosive when you finally let it go." He grinned at Ares, who was gritting his teeth and growling.
That was going to go right in his face, wasn't it?
(Ares raised his... Ares on a wave.)
The demigods cheered and hollered, while Ares braced himself for what he knew was coming, with gritted teeth.
"You are letting your anger cloud your judgement." Hestia said, narrowing her eyes, not at all happy with him right now, but also not quite able to stop from giving advice or trying to help him.
"That happens too much." Athena muttered. Hothead that he was, after all.
(A six-foot wall... full of seaweed.)
The Greeks' cheers grew louder while the Romans stared at Percy in shock. His confused words after the war game flitted through their minds, 'We've met, we... we had a fight...' Reyna gulped, suddenly glad that she'd heeded Nico's warnings to Hazel, not to make an enemy of Percy Jackson.
Ares growls grew louder, until he suddenly disappeared from the Throne Room altogether. A few moments later, explosions could be heard from the training courtyard, and loud crashes of steel against steel.
Hermes whistled. "He always was a sore loser." He muttered, to the Council's general agreement.
(I landed behind... the god's heel.)
There was an awed silence, before the demigods broke out into even louder cheers, some even jumped Percy, hugging him and slapping him on the back in congratulations.
The council stared at him in shock, even though they'd already guessed that Ares would somehow lose.
He's powerful... too powerful. Zeus thought, paranoia creeping back in.
That's my boy. Poseidon grinned.
(The roar that... a minor event.)
"Except that Ares didn't actually cause two major earthquakes." Annabeth muttered. He'd just blasted the sea back and shook the ground in the immediate area. That was it, it probably only felt so bad because they were right there.
"True." Percy said dryly.
(The very sea was... fifty feet wide.)
"Whoa. He's mad." Hermes muttered, honestly impressed that the boy had managed to push Ares to this point. At the same time, though, he was well known as a hothead, so it wasn't actually all that impressive. Still, he usually had better control than this.
(Ichor, the golden... beyond hatred.)
"It was terrifying." Annabeth shuddered at the memory. She'd barely resisted bolting in the other direction when she saw that look on his face... she knew Grover had taken more then a few steps back.
"Agreed." Grover shivered.
"Oh, come on. I'm sure you've seen worse from Percy over the years." Thalia frowned.
"We have, but not at that time." Annabeth rolled her eyes.
It was at this moment that Ares chose to come back, panting lightly from the short, very fast-paced workout he'd just put himself through, and pure rage fueled adrenaline. Everybody chose not to comment.
(It was pain... been wounded.)
"Probably more because it was a barely trained demigod that wounded him, more then it was being wounded at all." Hermes offered.
"Yeah, he's been wounded plenty of times over the years." Apollo agreed.
"Who do you think gave him those scars?" Poseidon grinned at his nephew, who scowled and traced a hand over the scar running down his face with a deeper scowl.
"Really?" Percy asked. Poseidon nodded in agreement, but refused to elaborate. The other demigods eyed Poseidon in awe, while Clarisse looked at her father uncertainly.
(He limped toward... Greek curses.)
"Ares..." Poseidon growled in warning. They all knew that Percy won, as soon as he drew blood. It was one of the few restrictions of these battles. The god was unrestricted in how much damage they dealt, but if they were injured, the fight was generally considered to be over, just due to the sheer difference in power, skill, and experience.
He was sure that this fight would go much, much differently if Percy were to fight Ares now, but at this point in time... drawing blood was enough to declare the victor.
"What?" Ares asked, trying to sound innocent, and failing.
(Something stopped him.)
"I hope that's a good something." Poseidon muttered, frowning. There wasn't much that could stop Ares in a mood like this.
"It wasn't." Percy muttered.
(It was as if... beach, slowing time,)
Chiron stopped reading to stare at those words while the rest of the council sucked in a collective breath.
For him to be influencing gods, and now making his presence felt like this...?
"That means nothing. The boy is not used to feeling the presence of more powerful beings like us, he is exaggerating this." Zeus immediately insisted, although he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself right at this moment.
"Oh gods..." Clarisse muttered, horrified. Just what could be doing something like this?
(dropping the... fighting was useless.)
"Zeus... that is father's aura. You know this, stop trying to deny it." Poseidon commanded of his younger brother, who shook his head and continued denying it. He would deny it for as long as he could, most likely.
Percy wouldn't be at all surprised if he continued trying to deny it even after Luke was revealed to be the traitor.
(The darkness lifted... had fled.)
"Finally." Sally muttered. Honestly, why hang around somewhere that you know is dangerous? She didn't understand people sometimes.
(Annabeth and... in shock,)
The rest of the room still mirrored the shock they felt at the time. Most of the room had no idea what that presence was, only that it made the Council nervous, and the other half were still trying to wrap their heads around the fact that he was powerful enough to exert that kind of control and manipulation from within the Pit.
Sure, most of them had accepted that Kronos returned to wage his war on them again, but... they hadn't thought he could already be that powerful.
(watching the water... he told me.)
"You know, one of these days you might want to try making friends." Thalia deadpanned.
Percy blinked at her, then looked around at all the demigods surrounding them on couches, or on the floor quietly keeping their hands occupied with some personal project or game or other. He looked at her and blinked again, tilting his head.
She huffed a laugh. "Friends that are powerful enough to kill you with a finger should they choose to." She muttered, rolling her eyes.
"I have plenty of friends among the gods." Percy dismissed. Hermes and Apollo liked him well enough, and there was Hestia and his dad... plus a few minor gods and goddesses.
("You have sealed... Jackson. Beware.")
"You can't handle losing, so you curse the potential prophecy child?" Apollo asked, incredulous. Was he serious? He had to know that Percy was the Prophecy Child, he was the only known child of the Big 3 at that time.
"Are you kidding me right now?" Hermes echoed his disbelief.
Poseidon was growling, lowly, while everyone else was just stunned.
Hestia frowned. "Ares. You continue letting your temper get the better of you." She said, disappointed. "It must stop." She finished with a stern glare. He shrank back into his throne.
"You fought the entire war, under a curse like that?" Clarisse asked, incredulous. She hadn't known her father did that. Percy shrugged. Truthfully, he was only really affected by said curse on the few times he'd even remembered it, or thought about it for a few seconds. Of course, there had been bad timing more than once in that regard...
The Romans were stunned.
"I forgot about that..." Percy muttered, suddenly glad that he hadn't come across that particular Arai while down there. The rest of the Seven just stared at him in disbelief. How had he survived everything he had...?
(His body began... into ashes.)
Jason looked uncomfortable, but didn't say anything. After all, nobody had been able to explain why he'd survived seeing Hera in her true form, but he had a theory.
What if, the stronger the demigod, the greater their chances of surviving something like that? Big 3 demigods were usually the most powerful, with him and Percy arguably being the strongest of this generation. After all, the Mist protected demigods, too, from seeing things that they weren't able to handle. But the stronger demigods were usually able to handle seeing more than their weaker companions.
Unfortunately, he had no precedent to base his theory on, everyone in the past who'd seen the gods true forms had been turned to ash before people figured out that looking was a bad idea, and nobody had been stupid enough to test their luck, not even the Big 3 kids.
(The light died... toward my friends.)
"At least he left it behind, and upheld that part of the bargain." Somebody muttered, causing Ares to bristle. Because say what else you wanted about him, but he kept his word.
(But before I... and fiery whips)
"I am never going to look at Grandma the same way again." Will muttered, shuddering. Honestly, what was with Percy's descriptions?
"What now?"
"They weren't there to fight us that time." Percy promised quietly.
(drifted down... me for supper,)
"She probably was." Nico said helpfully.
Percy sighed and shot him a dark look at the reminder (again!) of how much Alecto hated him. The kid just grinned.
(but had decided... her indigestion.)
That got a few chuckles out of people, and the last of the tension finally went away, now that the danger was passed, and they just had to figure out how to get to New York in time.
"Why can't all monsters think the same?" Percy asked wistfully. Fewer of them might come after him that way.
("We saw the... in surprise.)
"Oh!" Apollo said suddenly. "That's how Sally is here, and not dead!" He grinned in satisfaction at finally having the mystery solved.
"What do you mean?" Athena asked snidely, not at all happy that he seemed to have (once again!) figured something out before her.
"Don't you remember?" He looked around, seeing that the Council was split roughly half-and-half for those who'd figured it out, and those who were still confused on that point.
"Hades said that he would let her go, if he returned the Helm." Hermes reminded the room. "He just tossed it to Alecto, who would have taken it back to her master. With the helm returned, he would have honored his earlier promise to let her return home." Hades shrugged, but nodded in agreement.
He kept his promises, after all.
("Return that to... off the war.")
"Gladly." Hades purred, pleased with the outcome.
Like he said before, the last thing he needed was a war.
(She hesitated... clutches again...")
Nico and Hades eyebrows shot up. "What the-"
"Did she just..."
"Well... I had just returned her masters Helm..." Percy shrugged, not at all sure what just happened, either. One thing he did know, having a threat like that over his head was a very good reason to stay on the 'right path'.
"Yes... that would be as close to a 'thank you' as you will ever get, I think." Hades said wryly, shaking his head.
(She cackled, savoring the idea.)
Percy shuddered at the idea. He was never going anywhere near her again if he could help it.
(Then she and... was so incredibly...")
"Awesome!" The Stoll brothers all chimed in at the same time.
"Amazing."
"Stupid?"
"I don't even know where to start..."
"You think the two of you can have a spar while we're here, so we can see it for ourselves?" The demigods burst into chatter, finishing Grover's sentence in their own ways.
Percy just laughed. "I'm pretty sure that a spar between us would be a lot better than that was." He rolled his eyes. His attempts to fight Ares back then were pathetic compared to what he could do now, Ares had nothing on a Titan, and he'd fought plenty of those over the years.
"Fight!" Most of the Greeks yelled, excited by that idea.
Percy glanced at Ares, who was glaring at him, and sighed. "We'll see." He said instead of what he really wanted to say.
("Terrifying," said... Grover corrected.)
The demigods cheered again in agreement with Grover, although the girls agreed more with Annabeth... Except for Clarisse, of course.
(I didn't feel... drained of energy.)
"I just wanted to sleep." Percy grumbled. He was barely staying on his feet as it was at that point. He'd certainly been too tired to be feeling anything other than exhausted. He'd hoped to sleep on the plane, but he'd underestimated how on edge he would be, considering Zeus might have knocked it out of the sky at any moment.
"Understandable, considering everything that happened in the past day, and using your powers in a way you never have before. That's going to be exhausting for a while until you get used to using them." Poseidon smiled softly at his son, who grinned back.
("Did you guys... nodded uneasily.)
"It felt horrible." Annabeth shuddered at the memory of it. The first time she came face-to-face with Kronos, she'd known exactly who it was. She could never forget that Aura.
("Must've been... Grover said.)
Grover sighed. "Wishful thinking." He said wistfully. They all knew it wasn't the Furies, though.
Hades slowly closed his mouth, he couldn't berate the Satyr about it after he just said that, now could he?
(But I wasn't so... than the Furies.)
"Oh, he is." Percy said darkly. "He's much stronger than anybody here."
"It is not him!" Zeus hissed. They barely defeated him the first time, he had no idea how they were supposed to do it again if it was him, especially with the others all saying that they'd weakened over the years as less and less people worshiped them.
"You can't deny it forever." Percy deadpanned with a glare.
(I looked at... of Tartarus.)
"I almost wished I could have remained ignorant." Percy muttered with a scowl.
"I think it's best you didn't." Will grimaced. "At least we were able to start preparing, even if Zeus refused to believe anything was happening." The others who fought the Titan War nodded in agreement. Percy had told Chiron what happened, and Chiron stepped up training, even if he hadn't said just what it was for. Not right away, anyway.
"It is not him. There's something else down there." Zeus insisted again, glaring at the demigods. By now, Percy was starting to lose it. It had been annoying at first, now it was starting to go past irritating.
(I reclaimed my... World War III.)
"Small?!" Zeus demanded. That was his Master Bolt! One of the most powerful weapons in the world!
"Yup." Percy popped the 'p' childishly, raising an eyebrow in the process.
("We have to... "By tonight.")
"But the only way to do that is..." Katie trailed off in horrified realization.
"Yup." Percy grumbled, while Annabeth winced. She was never flying with Percy again, ever. She was fairly certain she'd never fly with so much turbulence again, as what they encountered during that flight.
"But..."
"We had the Master Bolt." Grover shrugged.
"That doesn't mean nothing will happen." Luke pointed out.
"It was a risk we had to take." Annabeth said grimly.
("That's impossible,"... a nuclear bomb?")
"Well, when you put it like that, that sounds like a perfect idea!" Rachel said, as sarcastically as she could possibly manage.
"Didn't it?" Percy asked her, equally sarcastic.
"Ugh... You guys are crazy." Chris groaned.
"Why, thank you." Both Rachel and Percy grinned at him, making him groan again and bang his head against the couch behind him. Sally breathed out shakily, afraid, but hopeful that since her son was here, and he'd made it home...
("Yeah," I said... Come on.")
Chiron slowly closed the book, keeping his finger in the spot he just stopped. "That's the chapter." He said, uneasy. Hopefully Zeus would show enough restraint to not blow the plane carrying his Master Bolt out of the sky.
"You're crazy." Leo said simply, echoing Chris, and Percy shrugged.
"We had to get back quickly." He said.
"I will read next." Hades said suddenly, and retrieved the book from his half-sibling, who smiled at him. There was a reason why Chiron was everyone's favorite, alongside Hestia, even if it was grudging in some cases.
Chapter twenty-one: I Settle my Tab
So... Hestia had a mini-breakdown. Part of her domain is family, and nearly every decision she has made, for centuries, has been made to keep her family together, and keep conflict within the family to a minimum. So for Ares to be making plans specifically to pit the Big 3 against each other like that, I imagine would be difficult for her to handle. At least in WWII, Zeus and Poseidon were working together, that would not have been the case here.