Perseus The Disgraced Archangel

What Do You Desire?

      The ride to Denver was boring. The most exciting thing to happen was Grover's shoe fell off. Other than that, it was eating and sleeping. Percy still had dreams about Perseus, which kept reassuring him that his theory was correct.

     One thing eluded him however. What happened to Zoë? She had just stopped appearing in his dreams. Another thing that happened is Annabeth is still thinking herself to be above him, when they are equals. (Though not really as he is an Archangel, and she is a demigoddess.)

     Percy started to work on his water powers. After the day of travelling, he was pretty good at it. He also worked on his Angel powers. He went down the cars of the train asking people what they desired. If he was able to grant it, he did.

     Anyways, the end of the train ride came in Denver. It was as far as they could afford to go. The sunlight was shining directly into their eyes as they got off the train. Percy looked back at "Well, I'm hungry. How about you guys?" He asked. The 2 agreed Albeit reluctantly for Annabeth.

     They walked around for about 2 hours looking for a place to eat, eventually finding a diner. They found a small table and sat down, waiting for a waiter/waitress to come take their order.

     Finally, a waitress came over and raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any money?" She asked. As she asked this, a very tough looking man entered. Instantly, everyone except the trio stood at attention. Arms bent slightly, feet together, back straight, the whole thing. The man waved his hand and everything went back to normal.

     The man walked over to the questers. He looked at the waitress who had just repeated her question. "It's on me." He said. The 4 ordered burgers, fries, and shakes. Once the waitress, who's name was Chloe, at least according to her name tag, had left, the man turned to the kids.

     The aura around him started to make Grover and Annabeth mad. Percy however was unaffected. This surprised the man. "Well, how are you little cousin?" The man asked.

     Percy internally smirked. "I don't know. How are you Ares?" Percy asked, emphasizing the man's name. This time, Ares was visibly shocked.

     Before the conversation could continue, the food arrived. The 4 ate, the questers savoring every bite, while Ares ate like a madman.

     When they had finished their food, the conversation resumed. "Alright. Down to business. I have a job for you."

     "We already have one." Percy said.

     "Yea, but this one will help you. Anyways, I need you to go get my shield." Ares said nonchalantly.

     Percy was confused. Surely Ares had other shields. Why would this one be any different? And couldn't he just summon it? He decided to find out.

     Percy looked at Ares in his flame filled eyes. As he saw them, he was reminded of Hestia's eyes, except for the fact that her's were calmer. Back to the point, he looked into Ares' eyes. "What do you desire?"

     Before Annabeth could use her 'superior knowledge' Ares stammered out an answer. "I- I- I want the biggest war ever."

     "Oh? And how would you do that?" Percy asked.

     "Frame Poseidon for stealing the Master Bolt and Hades' Helm of Darkness... Wait, why am I telling you this?" Ares said snapping out of the trance-like state he was in. Reacting quickly, Percy punched Ares in the head, effectively knocking him out.

     The realization of what he just said shook the members of the quest. It appeared that Percy had been right in his deduction about Ares from the beginning. The trio left some money as a tip and walked outside.

     The bike Ares had ridden to the diner was still there. A blue backpack was on the handlebars. Inside was money, Oreos, and just like you probably thought, Zeus' Master Bolt and Hades' Helm of Darkness.

     What followed next should not be done under any circumstances.

     If you were driving on the road from Denver to Las Vegas, you would've been able to see a 12 year old riding a motorcycle, with 2 12 year olds behind him. A blue backpack hanging from the handlebars.

     When the 3 finally rode into Las Vegas the next day, they decided to find a place to be able to comprehend what just happened and make a plan to decide what to do. Luckily, they found a hotel. The Lotus Casino.

     When the three got to their room, Percy went straight for a bed. Despite being an Archangel who didn't need much sleep, he was still in a 12 year old body, a body that was exhausted from driving a motorcycle for 10 hours straight. 

     While he laid there, Annabeth and Grover missed the whole point of even going to the hotel by going out to the arcade. Percy didn't however. He felt something was off, so he decided to investigate.

     He walked out of the room. He made his way to the 1st floor. As he neared the center of the 1st floor, which was the arcade, he felt calmer. He walked to the center of the arcade where a young girl with brown hair sat. She looked about 9 and was facing away from Percy.

     When he got closer to her, she turned around. Instead of eyes, she had pits full of fire. But not the ferocious one like Ares, but a homely one, like that in a fireplace on a cold winter day. Percy knew those flame filled eyes anywhere. It was Hestia.

     Percy smiled and sat next to her. "So, what are you doing here?" He asked.

     "Looking at all the people. They are so happy here." Hestia answered.

     "Aren't they trapped though? This is the lair of the Lotus eaters right?"

     "Not really no, they could leave whenever, they just choose not to."

     "Kind of like Hell." Percy muttered.

     "What was that?" Hestia asked.

     "In Hell, people are trapped by their own guilt, they can leave whenever, they just choose not to." Percy explained.

     Hestia nodded in understanding. They sat there for a few minutes before Hestia spoke again. "You might want to go get your friends." Hestia said.

     Percy was going to protest that he and Annabeth weren't friends, but decided against it. He walked through the arcade trying to find them. He found Grover at a game where you kill litterers and Annabeth at a game that closely resembled SimCity. (A/N.I do not own SimCity.)

     As they walked out people tried to stop them but the effort was useless. They 3 emerged on a busy street. Percy walked over to the newspaper dispenser thingy and read one after paying 50 cents. The date was right above an article on a nightclub being the Devil and working with police. June 20th. They had one day to complete their quest.