We walked fifteen minutes up the road and came to a diner. We were about to go in but I opened my mouth.
"I still don't think this is a good idea." I said.
"He's our only solution right now." Annabeth said.
"There are multiple cars here I'm sure there's at least two cars with keys inside." I said. The kids gave me an 'are you serious' look and Annabeth opened the door. We entered. We heard Ares laughing.
"Guess this is the right place." Missy said. We walked towards where Ares was sitting. I went left from Ares as rest of them went right. I stood next to the kids. Missy was closest to me then Annabeth, Percy and then Grover. Luke was standing next to Grover.
"Gimmie a second, I’m just starting a fight on Twitter here." Ares excused himself. "Nothing makes me happier than a good old-fashioned, burn-it-down fight." He typed on his phone a few seconds. "Ah. Okay, done." He put away his phone. "So your quest" he stopped and then continued."is going to fail. Ask me how I know."
"It isn’t gonna fail." Percy and I said at the same time. Ares scoffed.
"Sure it is." He pulled out his phone again. "For starters"
"Percy was always troubled, but I never thought he was capable of something like this." A man from screen said. Who the fuck is that?
"Wh…Who’s that?" Grover asked.
"My stepdad. What’s he doing?" Percy answered. Ew.
"And in addition to the destruction at the Gateway Arch-" the reporter asked.
"What’s he doing?" Percy asked angrily.
"Wait for it." Ares said.
"…you believe he may also have had something to do with your wife’s disappearance?" The reporter asked.
"A kid that messed up?" Percy's stepdad asked. "What wouldn’t he do?"
"What?" Percy explained.
"Wild, right?" Ares said. "The FBI is already spreading your picture around."
"It’s a Camaro. I really… We really loved that car." The stepdad started whimpering. "So much. Cut." Then he started sobbing. What a dick.
"I’m gonna kill him." Percy said.
"I'll help you." I said.
"I knew I was gonna like you two." Ares said. "But safe to say, the chances of you six idiots hitchhiking the rest of the way to L.A. without getting arrested are slim to none." Ares said.
"You can go fuck yourself. Aren't you also trying to find the thief?" I said. Annabeth nodded.
"If you’re supposed to be looking for the master bolt too, shouldn’t you be out there looking for it?" Annabeth asked.
"Hm. There’s no fear in you, is there?" Ares asked.
"It's funny you haven't already realized that you asshole." I said. Ares just smirked at that.
"You have a lot of gods on your heels right now. I wouldn't be crossing the line that much." Ares said.
"Be my guest. Cause I stand behind everything I wrote. I'm not afraid of anything or anybody." Ares just smirked at that.
"I wish I had more kids like you. Maybe I'd like them more." He looked me up and down. "You're old enough to carry my child. I might come visit you one time." He licked his lips. Oh he will die first. I don't know how but he will. Luke put his hands on the table and came face to face with Ares.
"Talk to my girlfriend like that one more time. You'll become the first god to die." Luke said. Well that's hot.
"If you don't get your act together she might get bored." Ares said to Luke. He then moved away from Luke. "Doesn’t matter. Whether the bolt’s retrieved or not, Zeus is going to war with Poseidon." Ares said.
"No. The Oracle said if we return the bolt, there wouldn’t be a war." Percy said.
"Is that what she said? Or is that what Chiron said she meant?" Ares asked. Percy opened his mouth but them closed it. "Yeah. You’re new to the family, young one, so let me fill you in on how we work." He sighed and then continued. "See, years before I was born, my grandpa Kronos ate my aunts and uncles. Yeah. Then my dad made him puke them back up, then chopped him into a million pieces and chucked ’em into a bottomless pit, so that kinda set the tone right outta the gate." He finished the story and then continued. "Olympians fight. We betray. We backstab. We will push anyone down a flight of stairs to get ahead. And that’s why I love my family so much. My dad knows he’s not getting this bolt back with quests or goose chases. He knows there’s a war coming. And in reality, I think he’s okay with that. I think he feels it’s just time for a war, so we’re gonna have a war." He the inhaled deeply. "Isn’t that great?"
"We’re completing this quest. We’re stopping this war." Percy said.
"You said you can help. Can you?" Miss asked.
"Okay, so here it is. There’s an amusement park up the road. I left my shield there. You get me my shield back, and I’ll get you to the Underworld by lunch tomorrow with a plan to invade Hades’s palace." Ares said.
"You left your shield? Like, forgot it on the merry-go-round?" Annabeth asked.
"Okay. The chirping was funny to me for a minute, but it is getting old. So do we have a deal, or am I killing all six of you so I can eat in peace?" Ares asked as he slammed his hands on the table. I opened my mouth to say something but Percy cut me off.
"Okay." Percy said.
"Great. One catch." He said before he continued. "I really do need that shield back, so I’m gonna keep the satyr and the Hephaestus kid here as collateral so you don’t run off." Ares said.
"What? No." Percy and Missy said at the same time.
"Okay." Grover said.
"No way." Annabeth said.
"We don’t split up again." Percy said.
"It’s okay." Grover said.
"No it's not." Missy exclaimed.
"If he wanted to kill us, we’d be dead by now." Grover said.
"Can we just walk them to the door?" Grover asked. They all went to the door I stayed a little behind.
"I find a single hair missing from their head. You are going to die a painful death." I said slowly. Ares just smirked.
"Sweetheart, you really do know the way to a man's heart." I pulled out my dagger and stabbed him in the stomach.
"Consider this a warning." I said as I pulled the dagger out and went to the others
"You ready to go?" Luke asked me as I came.
"Yeah let's get this over with."
