The War Princess and The Messenger Son

We take a Zebra to Vegas

Miley's POV

I woke up to animals growling in the truck with the top vent open, "Yo, who turned on the lights?" I heard Luke as I looked at the Iris message, "There's my beautiful wife!" I smiled and jumped up to sit beside Percy as he flailed about not to fall, "Hi, honey! How is camp?" Luke looked around where he was, "Chiron's holding camp together with both hands. Everyone thinks we're going to war, so the cabins are taking sides. Please tell me you're calling with good news. Like Miley is being brought back because everyone misses her and this is part of why they're freaking out." 

Percy spoke up, "We know who stole the bolt." Luke looked flabbergasted, "How do you know?" Annabeth nodded, "We ran into Ares, and Grover got him talking and realized Ares knew who the thief was but was covering for them. So, who would Ares cover for other than..." Luke interrupted, "His favorite daughter." Luke looked at me and I sighed, "Luke, I'm not a half-blood." 

Luke frowned, "What? What do you mean?" I rubbed my face, "I'm mortal, but my father is Ares and my mother is Aphrodite." Luke looked confused, "So you're technically a goddess?" I nodded, "Only if I want to be. I'll explain everything when I get back to you. I just now found out, please don't be mad." Luke snorted, "I'll only be mad if you have children with anyone other than me." I nodded, "Yeah, you're it for me, babe." 

Luke then looked upset, "That means that Clarisse is the lightning thief. She's the favorite half-blood daughter." Percy nodded, "Chiron's gotta arrest her, and find out what she knows." I sighed, "I don't know about this." Percy looked at me, "I know she's your sister, but there's more to this than just the bolt, something bigger," Annabeth and I gave Percy a look and he sounded urgent, "Don't ask me how I know, you just gotta trust me." 

Luke nodded, "Okay, I'm on it. So, Ares, huh? What was that like?" Percy shared a look with me, "Well, compared to Chimera and Miley almost drowning on Monday and Medusa on Sunday, could have been a lot worse." Annabeth looked at him, "Medusa was Saturday." Percy looked at her, "I thought Sunday." Annabeth shook her head, "No monsters on Sunday. Monday, Miley and you died in the river." 

Percy nodded, "Right. So, Medusa on Saturday." Luke interrupted, "Guys, what is this?" The two of them in unison, "What?" Luke grinned, "When did you turn into an old married couple," He then glared at Percy, "What is this about my wife almost dying?" Percy looked nervous, "Not to change the subject, but I'm gonna... We could use your advice on something. We're headed to Las Vegas to find your dad-" 

Annabeth cut off the connection and put the crystal in her jacket. Percy stared at her, "What was that about?" Annabeth frowned, "You can't ask Luke about his dad." Percy nodded, "Well, now I certainly can't." I sighed, "If you tell him we're going to see Hermes, he's gonna try to talk us out of it. You guys don't need that right now." Percy was confused, "They don't get along?" 

Annabeth sighed, "At all." Grover came over, "Okay, got some updates." The three of us stood up and looked at Grover as he continued, "The men driving this truck are not nice people. Traffickers." Annabeth shrugged, "We can do our best to help all these animals escape, but not if it means we're jeopardizing the quest." Grover shook his head, "Oh, no, no, no. They've already got a plan to get themselves out. And us, too. I mean, some of these guys, so smart. They were really only missing, like, one piece of the puzzle to get the cages unlocked." 

Percy looked at me, "What's that?" Grover smiled, "Thumbs." I snorted and covered my mouth, trying to hide my giggles. Grover smiled again, "But we're here now, so...all good." Annabeth asked, "And once the cages are open, they have a plan from there?" Grover nodded, "Yeah. Really elegant. I mean, these guys, they're-" I interrupted him, "Not to push aside your admiration for your friends, but we understand, Grover."