❦𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓮❦ - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷

𝒳𝒱. 𝒟𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝒟𝑒𝓃𝓋𝑒𝓇... 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒜𝓇𝑒𝓈

𝒜 few minutes later, they were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around them, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas.

Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"

"We, um," Percy hesitated. "We want to order dinner."

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

Grover's lower lip quivered. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger. Zoe looked bone-dead tired, although that may have been from lack of caffeine rather than lack of sleep and food. Percy had a 'deep in thought' face on.

Without warning, a rumble shook the whole building. A motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb. All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlights glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather-but it looked like... well, it looked like Caucasian human skin.

The guy on the bike would have made pro wrestlers run for their Mamas. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face Zoe had ever seen-handsome, but wicked-with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. Zoe immediately recognized him as Ares.

As he walked into the diner, a hot dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but Ares waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked them again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

Ares said, "It's on me." 

He slid into their booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against Zoe, who was against the window.

He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"

He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back towards the kitchen.

Ares looked at Percy. Zoe could feel the bad feelings rolling off of Ares in waves. Anger, resentment, bitterness. She clenched her teeth and glared at the table.

He gave Percy a wicked grin. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

"What's it to you?"

Annabeth flashed him a warning look. "Percy this is-"

Ares raised his hand.

"S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"

"You're Clarisse's dad," Percy said. "Ares, god of war."

The god grinned and took off his glasses. Where his eyes should have been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."

"She was asking for it."

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for-I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you."

The waitress came back with heaping trays of food-cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes.

Ares handed her a few gold drachmas.

She looked nervously at the coins. "But these aren't..."

Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"