𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒 - luke castellan.

xvii, children hater

c h i l d r e n  h a t e r
venus.

━━━━━━━

"You left your shield? Like, forget it on the merry-go-round?" Annabeth asked. Ares looked at her and then leaned in. 

"Okay. The chirping was funny to me for a minute, but it is getting old," He said and Annabeth raised a brow.

"So do we have a deal, or am I killing the four of you so I can eat in peace?" He asked, angrily.

"Okay," Percy said. Ares smiled and leaned back in his seat.

"Great. One catch," He said, "I really do need that shield back, so I'm going to the satyr here and the planet here as collateral so you don't run off."

"It's Venus," Venus corrected.

"What? No!" Annabeth said but Grover agreed and Venus didn't have a choice.

"No way," Percy said as they looked at each other. "We don't split up again." 

"It's okay," Grover said, "If he wanted to kill us, we'd be dead by now." He said and looked at Ares.

"Can I just walk them to the door?" Grover asked. Ares sighed before gesturing with his hand. The four got up and walked towards the door.

"Okay, look. Don't engage with him. He'll wanna get you riled up, get in your head and you can't let him," Annabeth said to the two. 

"You don't have to explain to me, Annabeth. I know that," Venus said, crossing her arms.

"It's okay. Really. I know what I'm doing. Go. Get the shield," Grover said, "we'll be here when you get back." He said. They looked at each other before Annabeth and Percy left.

"I'm ordering a milkshake," Venus said and Grover nodded before walking back to Ares.

"Hi, can I get a strawberry milkshake?" Venus asked the lady. The lady nodded and prepared it before putting it in front of her. 

"You know... just put it on that man's bill," Venus said, pointing towards Ares. The lady nodded and smiled at the beautiful girl.

Venus smiled back and grabbed the glass, walking back to the table.

Grover and Venus sat next to each other, Grover looking at Ares who was laughing on his phone, and Venus staring at the ceiling as she leaned into the bench resting atop it. She closed her eyes, blurring out Grover's and Ares's conversations. 

She missed camp. 

She mostly missed the boy at camp. 

She didn't complain or let it show but she was desperately missing a good sleep in her comfortable bed, a steamy hot shower, and good food. 

Venus sat up, looking at Ares as he talked to Grover. "I hate kids. All of 'em. I hate my own kids. Eh, maybe less than other kids, but still not fond of them," Clarisse popped up in her mind.

" "Look what I made!" "What are butterflies for?" "My knee hurts." " He mocked and then groaned. 

"I love my job, but that night when everyone's kids show up for the winter solstice and I have to sit through their "presentation" That night is the worst night of the year, every year, by far." He said.

"This one in particular, it seems. Since one of those kids somehow walked off with the master bolt," Grover said. 

Ares scoffed, "says you. Who knows who actually took it," He said, "plenty of people hate my dad enough to try."

"Maybe. But not many people could pull it off," Grover said, leaning towards the table, his arms resting on it. "Someone Hades could've recruited for the job."

"Says you," Ares said and Venus tilted her head, observing him.

"And someone who could slip away long enough to do it without missed, bold enough to cross Zeus, stealthy enough to get their hands on--" Grover said but was cut off.

"En- Enough. Not everything is a puzzle that needs to be solved. You're as bad as my sister," Ares said and Grover leaned back but then they both looked at him at his last words.

"Was she always like that?" Grover asked.

"Who?" Ares asked.

"Your sister Athena," Venus spoke.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Always making things more complicated than they need to be so people will think she's smarter than you," Grover said. Ares stares at them as if he's about to explode and Venus gulped thinking he was mad. 

He slammed the table making them jump, "thank you! I can't be the only one who sees it, right?" He asked.

"No, not at all," Grover said.

"It certainly feels that way sometimes. And seriously, she's the smart one? Really? if she's so smart, explain the owl. She talks to it, like, all the time. This fat, nasty little feathered rodent. And it's like her best friend," Ares said, Venus rubbed her neck because she talks to little feathered doves and they are her best friends.

"And we're so sure that she's a genius and I, no owl, am not?" Ares asked. 

"Totally!" Grover agreed.

"It's like people only see what they wanna see and ignore anything at all that doesn't fit the story they like to tell themselves," Ares said.

"Exactly! Like you being the one to find the lightning thief and not her!" Grover said and Venus froze. She watched as Ares's expression fell and the dost connected in her mind. She hit Grover's leg softly under the table as she kept looking at Ares.

You're a genius, Grover.

"What did you mean by that?" Ares asked.

"By what?" Grover asked.

"Found the thief. We both know you're friend didn't steal the bolt," Ares said.

"Yeah, but Zeus thinks he did, which is kinda all that matters," Grover softly chuckled.

"Shut up," Ares said, looking at the table and the youngsters smiled.