Children of Divinity (A Percy Jackson Fanfic/BoyXBoy)

Chapter 12 A Test Of Will

"Ah, glad you kiddos could make it back. Have fun?" Ares asked grinning as we sat down.

"It was a setup."

"Sure was. You guys came out of it ok though," Ares retorted, his gaze ending on me. "Worked fine for what I wanted."

"You wanted to see if I'd step up," I replied coldly.

"Which you did. It's good to know what your enemy values. Helps you predict their movement."

"I'm not the enemy Ares."

"Unless something comes poking at them," Ares said nodding to the general public outside. "Then we'd get to see the real you."

"I'm not hiding anything. No hidden malice, no hidden agenda, no hidden grudges, nothing. Quit goading me, I'm not going to fight you. Deliver on your promise to Percy and we can all be on our way."

God, I feel so out of character right now. I'm not naturally an alpha, and Ares is. Even still, I need to appear strong right now, strong and in control. Ares looked me over, me keeping my eyes locked on him.

"Hades has your mother, so she ain't dead. She's a hostage but not dead. As for your ride, look there,"
He said with a nod to a Kindness International truck parked. "Also here's a gift for your travels," Ares added as he put a backpack on the table and slid it towards us.

"If that's it, we should go," I said to the others and Ares shot me a grin.

"I guess your not a complete pushover after all eh Issusius?"

"It's Jesse, and no. I'm not."

"Glad to hear it, I suspect I'll be seeing you around Jesse," Ares said as we all stood up.

"Unfortunately," I retorted, feeling frustrated by the facts I knew were behind his words. "Oh and Ares?" I called over my shoulder and he looked at me feeling surprised by the fact I had more to say. "Don't test my patience again. I deserve more respect than that."

He blinked at me and clearly wanted to say something more, yet all that I saw was a loud gulp and fear-filled eyes. I kept pushing complete and utter terror into him, indirectly keeping him in the chair until we were on the truck and had left. I felt him wanting to fight me with all his might, every fiber of his being screaming to attack. And yet I don't think the war god had ever experienced what I just pushed upon him so suddenly.

"What happened to not pushing emotions into others?" Annabeth asked and I sighed as I leaned back against the wall of the truck. Despite her sarcastic question she thoroughly enjoyed that.

"It was a required show of strength. If I hadn't done that he probably would've messed with something else down the line to get my attention. He still might, but I'm less of an easy target down. I also don't want him messing with Andrew again. And threatening him outright is too risky a move right now."

"You also couldn't follow through even if you had threatened him. You said yourself you wouldn't fight."

"That too," I nodded in agreement with Percy's words.

"If you don't mind my asking Jesse, why is that?" Grover asked me blinking at him in return.

"Why won't I fight?"

"Yeah. I know you said you weren't a warrior, but I'm just wondering if it's something more?"

Sighing once more I got more comfortable against the wall of the truck. Pulling my knees into my chest and wrapping my arms around them, I looked at him.

"I don't want to fight anymore because once you do it's hard to get people to leave you alone. Granted I have a bit of a break cuz most things don't want to fight what I am anyway. But like, the Olympians for example. If I fought any of them for any reason I'd never catch a break. And I don't want to live my life like that. 'Sides none of this world's major factions involve me, so it's not my problem if they fight each other."

"You said you'd be there if we needed you though, you promised," Annabeth said. I looked at her, as did the others, them feeling apparently very surprised save for Andrew.

"I did and I will. But right now humanity is doing fine on its own. And as cold as this sounds, you demigods have things under control, even more so than the gods themselves in my opinion. You don't need me to step in."

"But didn't you say you needed to ally yourself with the heroes of this century? Doesn't that mean you've technically picked to be on our side?" Grover asked and I nodded.

"If by your side you mean the demigods then I guess yeah. I view it as simply being ready to jump in if stuff goes bad and it is above your pay grade. Rather than me actively participating alongside you guys."

"We're still headed to the Underworld, right? Or have the plans changed while I was gone?"

"Still the same plan," Andrew answered.

"Yeah, we gotta get this thing back," Grover added with clear annoyance.

"Hey, Jesse?" Annabeth called over after about an hour of silence, prompting me to look over at her.

"Yeah?"

"I get why you want to remain neutral. Truly I do...and wanting to be neutral doesn't make you a bad guy. In fact, Andrew was right you're very gentle, very kind. But even so, word to the wise? Even people like you tend to eventually get dragged into things as well. Albeit with more time, but the end result tends to be the same. And between you and me?" She said and glanced at the other three sleeping then back to me. "it's kinda Ironic in a morbid way. But, your greatest motivation for fighting is also your greatest weakness, us. The mortals. Andrew a bit more than the rest of us, but still."

"Are you suggesting I shouldn't care Annabeth?" 

She shook her head with a smile that was intended to convey sympathy and understanding. 

"No, I'm simply suggesting you reconsider what actions you are willing to take for what. To reconsider how much each thing you value actually means to you. You can't save everyone, so you gotta be able to pick your battles or you'll lose the war."