Chapter 6

A reunion no one really wanted

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(Danny's POV)

A Coast Guard boat picked us up, but they were too busy to keep us for long, or to wonder how four kids in street clothes had gotten out into the middle of the bay. There was a disaster to mop up. Their radios were jammed with distress calls.

When they dropped us off at the Santa Monica Pier I didn't even wait to be given anything but everyone else got towels around our shoulders and water bottles that said I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD!. While I was busy trying not to be sick and having a life crisis about almost dying of drowning, I didn't see that the coast guard sped off to save more people.

Our clothes were soaking wet. When the Coast Guard boat had appeared, I'd silently prayed that they would get us out of the damned sea. Somehow Percy willed himself to get soaked. I was also barefoot, because I'd given my shoes to Grover back in the underworld. Better the Coast Guard wonder why one of us was barefoot than wonder why one of us had hooves.

After reaching dry land, we stumbled down the beach I say we but I ran to get to the sweet land as quickly as possible, watching the city burn against a beautiful sunrise. I felt as if I'd just come back from the dead which I had. My backpack soaked. But Percy said that his was heavy with Zeus's master bolt. My heart was even heavier from seeing him so heart broken from just seeing his mother.

"I don't believe it," Annabeth said. "We went all that way-"

"It was a trick," Percy said. "A strategy worthy of Athena."

"Hey," she warned.

"Don't take your anger out on others." I said.

"You get it, don't you?" Percy said, looking between us.

She dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "Yeah. I get it."

"Well, I don't!" Grover complained. "Would somebody-"

"Percy ..." Annabeth said. "I'm sorry about your mother. I'm so sorry...."

I could just tell that he was pretending not to hear her and if we talked about his mother he was going to start crying like a little kid. And We all felt guilty that there wasn't any way to help save her from Hade's.

"The prophecy was right," Percy said. "You shall go west and face the god who has turned.' But it wasn't Hades. Hades didn't want war among the Big Three. Someone else pulled off the theft. Someone stole Zeus's master bolt, and Hades's helm, and framed me because I'm Poseidon's kid. Poseidon will get blamed by both sides. By sundown today, there will be a three way war. And I'll have caused it."

Grover shook his head, mystified. "But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?"

I stopped in my tracks, looking down at the beach. "Hey, isn't that the biker guy ah what his name again?" It took a quick second to think of his name but before I could say it I was interrupted.

"Ares." Percy spoke with some venom in his tone.

There he was, waiting for us, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the sand red.

"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see Percy. "You were supposed to die."

"You tricked him, you ass," I said. "You stole the helm and the master bolt and blamed it all on Percy."

Ares grinned. "Well, now, I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power that's a big no no. But you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands."

"Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice." Percy guessed.

The idea seemed to amuse him. "Doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this ..."

From his pocket he took out a ski cap the kind bank robbers wear-and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.

"The helm of darkness," Grover gasped.

"Exactly," Ares said. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three way slugfest going."

"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.

"It's clear to see that he doesn't care about family." I turned to Annabeth then to Percy. "They're just tools to him."

Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."

"You gave me the backpack in Denver," Percy said. "The master bolt was in there the whole time."

"Yes and no," Ares said. "It's probably too complicated for your little mortal brain to follow, but the backpack is the master bolt's sheath, just morphed a bit. The bolt is connected to it, sort of like that sword you got, kid. It always returns to your pocket, right?"

I wasn't sure how Ares knew about that, but I guess a god of war had to make it his business to know about weapons.

"Anyway," Ares continued, "I tinkered with the magic a bit, so the bolt would only return to the sheath once you reached the Underworld. You get close to Hades.... Bingo, you got mail. If you died along the way no loss. I still had the weapon."

"But why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" Percy continued. "Why send it to Hades?"

Ares got a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. "Why didn't I ... yeah ... with that kind of fire power ..."

He held the trance for one second ... two seconds....

I exchanged nervous looks with Grover and Annabeth. While Percy just stared Ares down.

Ares's face cleared. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught red handed, holding the thing."

"You're lying," Percy said. "Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"

"Of course it was!" Smoke drifted up from his sun-glasses, as if they were about to catch fire.

"You didn't order the theft," Percy guessed, seeming confident. "Someone else sent a hero to steal the two items. Then, when Zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. But you didn't turn him over to Zeus. Something convinced you to let him go. You kept the items until another hero could come along and complete the delivery. That thing in the pit is ordering you around."

"I am the god of war! I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!"

I hesitated. "He didn't say anything about dreams?" Ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk. "So you are hiding something from Percy and the gods."

"Let's get back to the problem at hand, kid. You're alive. I can't have you taking that bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hard headed idiots to listen to you. So I've got to kill you. Nothing personal."

He snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than any I have ever seen. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at Percy with beady eyes as it lowered its razor sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.

Percy stepped into the surf. "Fight me yourself, Ares."

He laughed, but I heard a little edge to his laughter ... an uneasiness. "You've only got one talent, kid, running away. You ran from the Chimera. You ran from the Underworld. You don't have what it takes."

"He fought a chimera?" I snapped my head to get an answer from either Annabeth or Grover.

"Scared?" taunted Percy.

"In your adolescent dreams." But his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. "No direct involvement. Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."

Annabeth said, "Percy, run!"

"Really, how's he going to kill that thing?" I said looking at Annabeth." Give it a bath, Really I thought you were smarter than all of us combined."

The giant boar charged.

As the boar rushed him, he uncapped my pen and side stepped. Riptide appeared in his hands. I slashed upward. The boar's severed right tusk fell at my feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea.

"Wave!" he shouted,

Immediately, a wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket. The beast squealed once in terror. Then it was gone, swallowed by the sea.

He turned back to Ares. "Are you going to fight me now?" He asked. "Or are you going to hide behind another pet?"

Ares's face was purple with rage. "Watch it, kid. I could turn you into-"

"He's got a really bad case of wanting to die after we just escaped hell." I said to Grover. "Does he want to go back and see Charon?"

"It seems like it." Grover said.

"A cockroach," Percy said. "Or a tapeworm. Yeah, I'm sure. That'd save you from getting your godly hide whipped, wouldn't it?"

Flames danced along the top of his glasses. "Oh, man, you are really asking to be smashed into a grease spot."

"If I lose, turn me into anything you want. Take the bolt. If I win, the helm and the bolt are mine and you have to go away."

Ares sneered.

He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. "How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern like your pet stray?"

"Does he just have a grudge against me or something?" I said, throwing my hands in the air.

He showed him his sword.

"That's cool, dead boy," he said. "Classic it is." The baseball bat changed into a huge, two handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "Don't do this. He's a god."

"He's a coward," I told her.

She swallowed. "Wear this, at least. For luck."

She took off her necklace, with her five years' worth of camp beads and the ring from her father, and tied it around his neck.

"Reconciliation," she said. "Athena and Poseidon together."

"Here take this," taking off my poncho and making him put it on, leaving me in a long sleeve well worn grey plaid shirt. "It's my most prized possession I've got and it's helped me when fighting in the past attacks and other things."

"It's heavier than I expected." Lifting and twisting his body. "I also feel very light somehow?" Percy said, looking at me. "Thanks princess Danny."

Letting out a laugh. "After this quest I'll let you all call me that, ok."

"You got a deal. Princess."

"And take this," Grover said. He handed him a flattened tin can that he'd probably been saving in his pocket for a thousand miles. "The satyrs stand behind you."

"Grover ... I don't know what to say."

He patted him on the shoulder. And stuffed the tin can in his back pocket.

"You all done saying goodbye?" Ares came toward me, his black leather duster trailing behind him, his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, kid. My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have you got?"

A smaller ego, I thought, but I said nothing. Percy just moved to put his feet in the surf, backing into the water up to his ankles. Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength falls to wisdom sometimes.

He cleaved downward at his head, but he wasn't there because he disappeared into the air somehow.

"How is he doing that?" I ask either Annabeth or Grover.

"He's the son of Poseidon." Annabeth told me. "He can control the sea."

Looking back at the fight Percy went for slashes but Ares just twisted and went for a counter strike but was deflected off the end of his sword hilt.

He grinned. "Not bad, not bad."

He slashed again and he was forced to jump onto dry land. He tried to sidestep, to get back to the water, but Ares seemed to know what he wanted to do before he did it. He outmanoeuvred him, pressing so hard he put all of his concentration on not getting sliced into pieces. And kept backing away from the surf. Percy couldn't find any openings to attack. His sword had a reach several feet longer than Anaklusmos.

he stepped inside with a thrust, but Ares was waiting for that. He knocked his blade out of his hands and kicked him in the chest. And went airborne twenty, maybe thirty feet. He could of would've broken his back if he hadn't crashed into the soft sand of a dune.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "Cops!"

"He's going to get himself killed." Kneeling down to get my bat from the case it was in.

"You think you can do better." Annabeth said looking shocked by what I was going to do. "You'll die instead if you join."

"He saved my life not too long ago," trying to make myself sound braver than I was but I was so scared of what could happen. "Well are you going to help him?" I yelled at her.

Annabeth looked down and I could tell that I had just hurt her with my words but I would say my sorries if I made it out alive. I got my bat in hand and approached both of their fights ready to help but terrified of what would happen.

"There, officer!" somebody yelled. "See?"

A gruff cop voice: "Looks like that kid on TV ... what the heck ..."

"That guy's armed," another cop said. "Call for backup."

As Ares's blade slashed the sand. I just manage to pull Percy away from the strike.

"Danny?" Percy said, startled that he just got some help.

"Pay attention to the fight, ok get your sword back." I said keeping my eyes on Ares was too scared to even blink.

he ran for his sword, scooped it up, and launched a swipe at Ares's face, only to find his blade deflected again while I went for a swing to his knee only to sidestep it.

Ares seemed to know exactly what we were going to do the moment before we did it.

I fellow Percy stepped back toward the surf, forcing him to follow.

"Admit it, kid," Ares said. "You got no hope. I'm just toying with you and your friend. You're just embarrassing yourself."

I could see where Ares was tensing. I could tell which way he would strike. At the same time, I was aware of Annabeth and Grover, thirty feet to my left. I saw a second cop car pulling up, siren wailing. Spectators, people who had been wandering the streets because of the earthquake, were starting to gather. There were shimmering forms of spirits, too, as if the dead had risen from Hades to watch the battle. I heard the flap of leathery wings circling somewhere above.

More sirens.

Percy stepped farther into the water while I went to strike at him, but Ares was fast. The tip of his blade ripped my sleeve and grazed my forearm and left a long cut in my metal bat like it was made of paper.

A police voice on a megaphone said, "Drop the guns.' Set them on the ground. Now!"

Guns?

I looked at Ares's weapon, and it seemed to be flickering; sometimes it looked like a shotgun, sometimes a two handed sword. I didn't know what the humans were seeing in Percy's hands, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't make them like him.

Ares turned to glare at our spectators, which gave me a moment to breathe. There were five police cars now, and a line of officers crouching behind them, pistols trained on us.

"This is a private matter!" Ares bellowed. "Be gone.'"

While distracted I tried to go for a hit at his head only to be hit with his hilt cutting just above my right eye.

He swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the patrol cars. The police barely had time to

dive for cover before their vehicles exploded. The crowd behind them scattered, screaming.

Ares roared with laughter. "Now, little hero and friend. Let's add you to the barbecue."

He slashed at Percy but I deflected his blade but lost a chuck of the top of my bat. I got close enough to strike, tried to fake him out with a feint, but my blow was knocked aside. The waves were hitting me in the back now. Ares was up to his thighs, wading in after Percy and me.

I could tell that Percy felt the rhythm of the sea, the waves growing larger as the tide rolled in, and suddenly Percy seemed to have had an idea.

Ares came toward, grinning confidently. Percy lowered his blade, as if he were too exhausted to go on. Ares raised his sword to go for what looked like a really bad hit. So I stepped in front of Percy to block the attack with my left arm against my bat to brace for the force only for it to cleanly cut though sending flying back onto the beach. I tried to push myself up only to fall back down with pain, looking to where the pain started from. In between my finger on my left hand a thick line leading all the way to my shoulder filled with red pouring out from it and from where my elbow was a new elbow.

Too shocked to even scream, the world quickly started to go black with what I could hear was my name being from three people...

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(Chapter Started 01/10/23)

(Chapter Finished 04/10/23)