𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 | "you're the worst of my crimes. you fell hard, I thought 'good riddance.'"
In which June Grace no longer wants
to be the second choice.
OR
In whic...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
⇚♔✵♔⇛
017: Battling the War God [CONNOR]
⇚♔✵♔⇛
A COAST GUARD boat picked them up though they didn't stick around long enough to wonder how they'd ended up in the middle of the bay. There was a disaster that needed cleaning up.
They dropped them off at the Santa Monica Pier with towels around our shoulders and water bottles that said I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD! and sped off to save more people.They're clothes were soaking wet and it seemed that they were only walking in shame.
"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.
"You get it, don't you?"
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...."
"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?"
June tightened the towel around her shoulders. "Gee, let me think."
There he was, waiting for them, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its head-light turning the sand red.
"Hey, kid," Ares said, grinning at them. "You were supposed to die."
"You tricked me," Percy said. "You stole the helm and the master bolt."
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."
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 ..."
