Children of Divinity (A Percy Jackson Fanfic/BoyXBoy)

Chapter 10 Shaken

3 days since leaving camp half-blood (7 days until the summer solstice)

I saw a sign marking the end of Nevada and the beginning of California. I'm probably around 6 hours out from LA judging by the map I'd grabbed.

Dang! Aphrodite really was right, I do depend on my titanic abilities...A lot. I'd really forgotten how physically astounding being a titan really is. I'm not as enduring or strong as Atlas, or even nearly as fast as Hermes. Both of whom probably could've made the trip in about half or even a quarter of the time. but still...it's nice.

"Almost there," I muttered trying to motivate myself to go a bit faster. It is the home stretch after all. I still haven't heard from them, they were supposed to get off at Gateway Arch in Missouri. Which was about two hours away when I left, so by this point they should be relatively close to California too...hopefully. Annabeth said she'd look after Andrew, and I haven't felt anything from them yet. Which is a good thing I suppose, but even still being away from them does make me quite a bit nervous. Could be from me simply being so far away from Andrew for this long. Could be trust issues, could be the gods, honestly, it could be a multitude of different things. All of which are equally unsettling. Still, I should return Annabeth's faith in me and trust her, trust them. The faster I get whatever this thing is that Hephaestus made for me the faster I can back to them. So hurry up Jesse! Hurry up!

Andrew's POV

"I still can't believe he just left," I muttered Grover looked back at me.

"Dude it's been 3 days. Annabeth even told you everything she knew and gave you his message, whatever it means. Besides, Jesse is a titan, one of the originals too, pretty sure he'll be ok."

"I'm with Grover on this one Andrew," Percy said and even Annabeth nodded.

"He'll be ok. I'm more worried about our safety if I'm being honest. After the Chimera attack on Percy from Echidna, the message from the Nereid about going to the ocean before the Underworld...makes all this feel pretty ominous. I mean we got the pearls but still. All this does not feel good," Annabeth said and the other two nodded.

"Anyone else hungry? We got a little money left from the dog search," Grover asked after a while. It was settled the second he asked because anyone instantly nodded, myself included.

"Well, there's a diner right there, soo..." I said pointing to the sign and we collectively changed direction towards it.

"Nice bike," Percy said as we saw a motorcycle parked outside. Even I'll admit though that is a pretty awesome looking bike.

"Yeah, I wonder who its rider is...Whoever it is must be loaded," Percy said as we walked inside.

"Hello, take a seat and I'll be right with you four," a waitress and we did just that.

"I'm going to the restroom, I'll be back," I said getting up and walking toward the announced destination. "Huh?" Looking up at a small wall-mounted TV I saw a caption reading, 'Unknown source causes wildlife to flee across the US.'

Visually following the trail from the seeming start to the current finish. What's...ooooh! That must be Jesse! Maybe the wildlife are monsters? It'd make sense, he has proven to be a pretty powerful monster deterrent. Not that I blame the monsters. Most things, especially those with higher intelligence, don't like the idea of fighting a titan, even one like Jesse.

"So kiddies, how's the quest going?" A very rough voice asked as I saw a mammoth of a man with a buzz cut in a black jacket sit down at the booth across from Percy, Annabeth, and Grover.

"Ares," Annabeth said coldly, making the war god chuckle.

"Glad you recognized me. Be kinda insulting if you didn't." Ares replied and I stayed back by the bathroom. Yeeeaaahh no, I'm good staying here. Glancing back at the TV once more, the trail led all the way from New Jersey to California. He's already there? Holy crap that was fast! "You going to join boy or gawk at the TV and act like you don't know them?" The war god asked with his back still turned to me.

"I got distracted," I responded more confidently than I even remotely felt.

"Haven't heard that one before," Ares muttered sarcastically. I walked over and sat across from him. He seemed to be looking over through his red biker glasses then shook his head with a chuckle. "So you're that titan's lover boy huh? You don't seem like anything special to me. Speaking of, where is he?"

"Far away," I muttered, feeling annoyed by my own factual answer. Still, I felt more intimidated and scared than anything else. Ares looked me over once more and shook his head with a grin.

"I see. That's a shame, I would've liked to have fought him before Zeus puts out the kill order." A shiver ran down my spine after Ares said that. DAMN IT! I figured he'd be a heavy topic of conversation between the gods. Still, that comment was way too dark for my liking. And I hate it but unfortunately, he has a point. Zeus does have the final say on Olympus and just from history alone, the Lord of the sky's decision could honestly go either way.

"If you think he'd fight, you clearly don't know him. Jesse isn't like the other titans. He's gentle and kind," I replied coldly ane the war god's grin got even bigger.

"Pretty sure Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon would beg to differ. From what I heard Prometheus and Epimetheus would disagree too...' sides kid, those kind fight the hardest once you give them a reason to. That said, I can think of four reasons off the top of my head right now." He said looking from Annabeth to Grover, to Percy, and finally to me. "Unfortunately though I am not here for that. I'm here to lend you a hand once you go fetch something for me. Namely my shield from Waterland. You get that for me and I got some info for him," He said nodding to Percy. "And a ride further west," He finished after eating a fry from his huge combat knife. "Deal?'

"Deal," Percy nodded before the rest of us could respond. I don't fault him for that though, the guy had his mother taken. I'd go for any info that I could get on her too if I was in his spot.

"Good. And kid do me a favor. If that titan does manage to get back to you from LA, tell him I can't wait to meet him," Ares said with a dark grin from the door and we heard the roar of his bike as he left.

I jolted when I felt Annabeth's hand on my shoulder, and she shook her head as I glared at where the bike had been parked.

"He is the god of war Andrew, he's trying to get under your skin."

"Yeah well...he succeeded."

"Jesse will get back in one piece, I know he will," I whispered to myself after Annabeth had walked over to the other two. "I know it...He has to."

"C'mon we gotta get to Waterland," Percy called over and I nodded joining them.