Plot: What if Ares was actually grateful for Percy snapping him out of Kronos's mind control? What if he actually liked Percy?

Scene 1:

Ares let out a large roar as the pain in his ankle shot up to his body, he growled and roared and suddenly stilled as his mind quickly became a lot clearer than it had been in ages. He looked down at the little brat that had just stabbed him in the ankle.

HIM! The God of War!

And yet somehow this young son of old seaweed head and managed to stab him in the leg, sure he was only using like a small percentage of his power and skills against the brat, but still...an impressive accomplishment. He couldn't see any of his own children doing that. His own children were so simple, they just shouted and screamed and charged into battle. Which was great, but there was more to war than that. You needed skill! Brains! Power! Bravery! Cunning! And this kid had it all.

Ares recalled the kid standing up to him in the dinner, his own kids would never do that, they all trembled and cowered at the very sight of him. Not this Jackson kid, he wasn't so easily scared.

Ares couldn't help but consider that he might just like this kid.

Scene 2:

Percy was walking back to his cabin after having visited the pegasi in the stables, they were all surprisingly demanding when it came to food. He wasn't even sure why one of them wanted brown paper bags but who was he to question their dietary requirements?

Either way, it was on his way back that he realised that everyone was staring at him, causing him to stop. He looked around, all the other kids were gaping at him, the Ares children looked like they were somewhere in between having a heart attack and fainting on the floor whilst Chiron had turned deathly pale. He would quickly realise why when he felt a large hand grab his shoulder before a familiar voice spoke.

"You need to work on your situational awareness, punk,"

In a flash, Percy had his sword in his hand and swung right where Ares's hip would be. The God of War leapt over it, as easily as jumping over a piece of paper, all the while keeping his hand on Percy's shoulder before landing. He let out a large laugh before staring at Percy with approval.

"Not bad, kid, not bad," He grinned at him.

"What are you doing?!" Percy demanded.

"I'm here to see you," Ares said with a light squeeze of Percy's shoulder before he let go of it. "Heard you managed to get Dad his bolt back,"

"Yeah, and what about it?" Percy challenged. "Upset I stopped a war from happening?"

"Punk," Ares chuckled. "You don't get it, you can stop a dozen wars, but you can't stop them all. There are wars happening around the world that you don't even know about in countries that you've never heard over things that could be solved by sitting down and talking for an hour. Still, you did stop what would have been a pretty incredible war." He added disappointedly before grinning at Percy. "But I wouldn't worry, there'll be more wars to keep us both busy."

"What are you..."

"I actually came over here to thank you," Ares admitted, stunning Percy and everyone else in hearing distance.

"T...thank me?" Percy blurted out, staring at Ares as if he had just burst into dance.

"Yeah, to thank you," Ares confirmed. "Someone or something was messing with my head," He growled, a heavy presence suddenly appearing on everyone. A couple of campers even fell to their knees before Ares managed to reign in his aura. "Zeus won't tell me what it was, but he knows."

"He does, I told him," Percy nodded.

"You know who it was?" Ares stared intently at him.

"I'm not really supposed to spread it around but I'll give you a hint, he's currently in Tarturus right now." Percy told him.

"Hmm," Ares continued staring at him for a moment. "I've decided Jackson, I like you. You're going to be my new apprentice."

"I'm sorry, what?" Percy blinked before Ares pulled out a measuring tape that flew from his hand and suddenly began measuring every part of Percy, everything from his nose to his fingers and even his toes to his ankles.

"We got to get you some more weapons," Ares frowned. "The sword's good and all, but no way am I letting my apprentice have just one weapon. That'd be embarrassing."

"But Father," One of his kids interrupted. "What about us?"

"Yeah!" Clarisse cut in. "What about me?! I'm ten times the warrior that Prissy is!"

"Yeah right," Ares snorted. "You're a hundred times more trained than him and he still beat your ass, snapped that spear I gifted you as well, didn't he?" He asked, causing her to flush red. "Yeah, that's right, I know all about that. Not to mention that this boy fought me one on one and managed to beat me, do any of you want to try that?" He offered and his kids instantly quietened down. "Didn't think so," He snorted just as Dionysus appeared.

"And what's going on here?" He asked, seeing Ares in close proximity to Percy. "Ah, you're going to kill this one, are you? No great loss, I suppose, but you realise that Zeus is going to throw a fit." He drawled.

"I'm not killing him, he's my new apprentice," Ares replied.

"Stop telling people that," Percy said and was promptly ignored.

"That means none of your shit," Ares told Dionysus. "I'm watching the boy and that means I'm watching you," He warned.

'Huh,' Percy thought as he watched the two immortals stare at each other. 'Maybe this apprentice thing won't be so bad.'

Scene 3:

"Gotta say, you're doing good," Ares told Percy who was lying on the floor, panting and out of breath.

"Th...thanks...for noticing," Percy said, forcing himself to sit up just as Ares sat down next to him.

"It's a shame you were born when you were," Ares said. "You'd have done well if you had been born in Sparta. Would have been left out in the wild, would have learnt to survive, would have been trained to fight and then you would have gone to war, killing as many people as you could before you too would be cut down." He let out a deep sigh, obviously remembering what he considered better times.

"Yeah, well...we got Wi-fi now," Percy shrugged, causing Ares to snort.

"So kid, how's your home business going?"

"Home business?"

"That one," Ares tapped Percy's chest, right where his heart was. "Gotta keep the mind sharp and the heart strong, a warrior needs both those things to work at his best. I know your mother's alright, how are you on the lady front? Still hanging around with Athena's spawn?"

"I...well...Annabeth and I are..."

"She's alright for one of Athena's, but if you want a good time then it's Aphrodite's cabin that you should be looking towards," Ares grinned.

"I need an adult," Percy muttered.

"Oh, you want to try it with the goddess herself?" Ares asked, sounding impressed.

"What? That's not what I..."

"Don't worry about it, I'll set you up with her,"

"I just...wait what?!"