I don't PJO, HoO, or ToA, and its characters, all characters belong to Rick Riordan.
I only own the Original Characters.
They had managed to reach Denver by the following afternoon, and Genji couldn't stop thinking about how complicated his situation had just become. His job was to only watch and only interact when Percy slipped up; the problem was that in his short interaction with Percy, he was already sure that he wasn't the one who had stolen the Master Bolt. Now that he had helped him fight against Echidna and the Chimera, he was sure that the Olympians had taken note of his existence. He could only hope that his father wouldn't throw him under the bus.
He could hear the trio talking about how they needed to talk to someone; Chiron was the name he heard. They were looking for somewhere to call him, but how they were going to call him, he didn't know.
After wandering through the town they found a do-it-yourself car wash and they decided that they would use this place, he told them that he needed some time to himself and left to the other side of the car wash, so he could properly think about the events that happened.
He walked far enough away before he sighed and summoned his sword from his ring, then began looking at his sword as he started thinking about who could be the thief since it was pretty clear that Percy had nothing to do with it.
It was pretty clear that someone wanted Percy to be viewed as the guilty party, but who would benefit from that? Clearly, it wasn't Poseidon, because even without his lightning bolt, Zeus was still more powerful than the Sea God, especially since his father was seen as one of the most powerful gods who was not a primordial being, so Poseidon starting a war that could cost him everything that he holds dear seemed extremely unlikely.
It wasn't Hades either, or else he wouldn't have sent his Furies after the boy; but this had taken out all three members of the Big Three, so he turned his attention to the other Olympians.
The sisters also seemed unlikely to be behind this, so he started to think about his half-siblings and then he started to see a lot of potential suspects; first, there were Zeus' most powerful children, Athena and Apollo. These two were surprisingly very high on his list; both of them had already tried to overthrow their father once, and one of them was also turned mortal twice for disobeying him. He also didn't forget Athena's rivalry with Poseidon, because what better way to get rid of your rival than start a war between him and the most powerful god in your pantheon?
He then started going down his list and found his next suspect, his sister Artemis. She too could have had her reasons to try to overthrow Zeus; however, at the same time, he could also easily see her doing this to help her brother become King of the Gods. His father always told him how close the twins were, so maybe both she and Apollo could be behind this.
There was also his brother Ares; Ares enjoyed violence and chaos, and what better way to have all of this than a war of catastrophic proportions? But at the same time, Ares had never once tried to rebel against their father, and he couldn't see why he should do so now.
And so he started thinking about the least likely culprits; Hermes could have done this as one of his pranks, but then he would have stopped by now since he realizes that war could happen, Hephaestus likely doesn't care about position and power as long as everyone leaves him alone on his forge, Aphrodite would only start a war if someone insulted her beauty, and Dionysus would probably be in the same boat as Aphrodite sans the insult to the beauty part, he probably just wants this matter resolved quickly so he can go back to doing his own thing.
So that left him with only Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and Ares, as his real suspects, but now he needed to figure out which of these were the real ones behind all of this.
But now he needed more proof if he wanted to make any accusations against any of them.
He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't realize Percy had approached him until he shook his arm to get his attention.
"Hey Genji, hmm, are you alright?" he asked him with a little concern.
He merely nodded his head, and then he saw that Percy was looking at his sword with some interest.
"Want to take a look?" he asked, extending the Raitoningu no Hikari toward him.
Percy nodded his head, and so Genji allowed him to take the sword to examine it more closely.
Raitoningu no Hikari was the same size as an average daito sword, but instead of a curved blade like most katanas, its blade was straight and was also single-edged like a chokuto sword. The handle of the sword was the same as that of a katana, giving it a more peculiar look. The guard of his sword had the drawings of the sun, and the name of the blade was engraved on the blade of the sword.
He said, "It's a beautiful sword." and then gave it back to him.
He simply nodded his head.
Percy then proceeded to tell him what had happened while he was gone, including that they had spoken to someone named Luke, a guy they knew from their camp, and that now everyone at the camp knew about the whole Zeus and Poseidon situation, thanks to someone leaking the information. They now needed to find a place to eat.
They eventually found a place to eat; it was filled with families eating burgers and drinking soda. Genji seated himself beside Percy and watched the families interacting. He started wondering if all families were like that. Did they always do things like that? Did they always come to places like this? The closest thing he had seen that resembled this was when his parents came to see him on the weekends when they stayed the day with him.
After some time, a waitress finally came over to their table and asked what they wanted. Though judging by her expression, she didn't think they would actually pay. This was proven right when Percy said they would like to order a dinner, and she asked if they had money to pay for it.
Genji simply placed a hundred dollars on the table and told her to keep the change; but before she could get the money, a loud rumble shook the entire building.
Genji looked to see what caused the noise and saw a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant pull up to the curb; the motorcycle's headlight glared red, its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster was riveted to either side, complete with shotguns, and the seat seemed to be made of leather, though the leather seemed to be made of human skin.
The guy who was on the bike would've made a lot of other bikers run to their mothers' skirts; he was dressed in a red muscle shirt with black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He also wore red wraparound sunglasses, but it was his very presence that gave him away, as everyone inside the diner seemed to have their brains fried, which was evident by the blank looks on their faces.
He also had a handsome but cruel face, and his cheeks were covered in scars from numerous fights. His hair was greasy and black, with a crew cut. When he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew in, and it seemed like everyone got up as if they were hypnotized by him. However, he waved his hand dismissively, and everyone went back to their seats.
This included the waitress who asked again if they had the money to pay for the dinner, but before Genji could give her the money the biker said "It's on me" and slid into their booth.
The waitress seemed to be still processing his presence as she simply stood there gawking at him.
He looked at the demigods and realized that while Grover and Annabeth seemed to keep their emotions under control under this guy's influence possibly by already experiencing already the influence of his power, he realized that Percy was being easily affected by the biker's power, so Genji placed a hand on his shoulder and started to use his own powers to help Percy get a grip on his emotions.
The biker then looked at the waitress
He asked, "Are you still here?" as he pointed at her, and with that, she seemed to snap out of her trance and hurried back to the kitchen.
He looked at Percy. "So you're the old Seaweed's kid, huh?"
But before he could answer, Genji answered for him.
"Yes, he is Lord Ares; however, I assume you already knew that."
Ares then looked at him with a cruel smile, lowering his glasses and revealing his eyes, or at least where his eyes should be; however, there were empty sockets with miniature nuclear explosions happening inside them.
"And you must be the Godling that everyone was talking about. My mother nearly came down from Olympus to smite you, but our father stopped her from doing it, saying that you were his agent to make sure that the Master Bolt was retrieved."
So that meant that his father hadn't thrown him under the bus; that was a relief, but that didn't explain why Ares was here.
"So you're Clarisse's dad," Percy said. "Ares, the god of war."
Then Ares turned his attention to Percy before putting his glasses back on.
"Yeah, and you are the punk that broke her spear right?"
"She was asking for it."
"Probably. That's cool; I don't fight my children's fights for them. What I'm here for is that I realized you were in town and I decided to offer you a little proposition."
The waitress came back with heaped trays of food—cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes.
Before Ares could give her anything, Genji immediately handed her a hundred-dollar bill, and when she turned to him, he simply told her to keep the tip.
He never once took his eyes off Ares, who watched everything with an amused smile.
"Well, well, I didn't think you were going to be this considerate towards the mortals." He said.
"The last thing we need right now, Lord Ares, is unwanted attention; something that your presence is not helping." He answered him.
And he was right; some families were already giving them weird looks, and he even realized that some of them had started to get a little more aggravated, like some parents becoming a little less patient with their kids, siblings playing a little more rough. He simply hoped that this was all that Ares's presence would bring.
Ares then took out his knife and started to clean his fingernails; they seemed to be dirty with dry blood, and he looked at him as if challenging him to do something about it.
He rolled his eyes; it would take more than that to intimidate him.
"Why are you here, Lord Ares? Surely it's not just for a chat."
"Huh, you're very bold for a mere Godling," he said. "You may have defeated the Echidna, but I'm an Olympian; if I wanted, I could crush you like a bug, and it would take nothing from me." He said to him in a tone of both warning and mockery.
He narrowed his eyes on that.
"But answering your question, I'm here because I need a favor from these demigods; me and my girlfriend were on a date until we got interrupted and I left my shield behind, and I need them to fetch it for me."
"Why don't you fetch yourself?" Percy asked.
"Why didn't I turn you into a rat and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A God gave you the chance to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Are you going to prove yourself worthy, or are you only brave when your bodyguard is around to save you?"
He decided to intervene; he could feel Percy about to explode from anger thanks to Ares's powers, so he tightened his grip on Percy's shoulder, indicating that he would take over from here.
"Sorry, Lord Ares, but these demigods cannot help you; they are already on a quest to retrieve our father's weapon, remember?"
"Well, do you think that you will have better luck than us? The old man sent his best searchers after it – Apollo, Athena, and Artemis. And me, of course. We all came back empty-handed to Olympus. If we couldn't find it, you will be just as helpless." Ares continued, "And besides, your demigods only have their quest thanks to me."
"You?" Genji asked.
"Yeah, me and Poseidon go way back, I was the one who told him my suspicion on the old Corpse Breath." Ares responded "Blaming someone to start a war the oldest trick in the book, I recognized right away"
Genji simply nodded this was a new piece of information he would keep on his mind.
"So you guys get my shield back, and I'll help your demigods on their quest, and even provide some information on the kid's mother."
After he said that, Percy became far more interested in what Ares was saying.
He asked, "My mother?"
"That got your attention? The water park is a mile west of here; you can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love - you'll find it there."
Ares looked at Genji and seemed to remember something.
"And before I forget," Ares said, pointing at Genji, "this quest is only for the demigods, not for you."
"What interrupted your date?" Percy asked Ares. "Did something scare you off?"
Ares bared his teeth at Percy, but he also seemed nervous.
"You're lucky you met me, kid. The others aren't as forgiving as I am with rudeness. I'll be back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me, Percy Jackson. And you, Godling—I don't want you interfering in this quest. Understand?"
Genji simply nodded his understanding.
And with that, Ares disappeared as if he had never been there in the first place.
The moment they were sure that Ares was no longer around, Genji finally removed his hand from Percy's shoulder and released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. It seemed to have protected Percy from Ares's influence; it was more taxing than he had originally thought. He didn't even hear what the demigods were talking about; he only focused on the food in front of him. It wasn't his grandmother's cooking, but it would work.
Percy nudged him to get his attention; Genji looked at him.
"We decided that we were going to get Ares' stupid shield; are you going to be okay for a while?" Percy asked him.
Genji simply gave him a thumbs-up and said, "But first you all need to eat something; you guys seem ready to pass out at any moment."
They all ate in silence after that; Genji could only hope that this shield wouldn't be too difficult to obtain.
Any Constructive Criticism is welcome