Heliophile - Apollo

1.12| Ares, The Asshole God Who Ran From A Water Park

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, the train rolled into Denver. The four of them hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. They also hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and Ana was sure that was obvious.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Ana said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"We can't use phones, right?

Luke chuckled "we're not talking about phones." They wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though Percy wasn't sure what the others were looking for.

The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere they turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at them, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.

Finally, they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. They veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping their eyes open for patrol cars. They were four adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure they were up to no good.

"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked as Grover took out the spray gun.

"It's seventy-five cents," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Ana?"

Ana sighed and twisted her hand and water poured out of the nozzle in an arc. Luke smiled as Ana held her palm out to Percy. "Drachma, please." He handed it over.

She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering." She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-Blood Hill," Ana requested.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then they were looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. They seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was a blonde girl in shorts and an orange tank top. She was holding a bronze dagger and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow. "Beth!" Luke called.

She turned, eyes wide. The four teens could swear she was standing three feet in front of them through a screen of mist, except they could only see the part of her that appeared in the rainbow. "Luke!" Her blushing face broke into a grin. "Is that Ana and Grover as well? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," Luke spoke. He looked confused though. "We thought—Chiron—I mean—"

"He's down at the cabins." Annabeth's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Are Grover and Ana all right?"

"I'm right here," Grover called as he stepped into Beth's line of vision.

"Same here," Ana spoke as she adjusted her position. "What kind of issues?"

"Chiron had to break up a fight," Beth to me over the music. "Things are pretty tense here, guys. Word leaked out about the Zeus—Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how—probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."

Ana and Luke looked at each other with worry. That was not good in any way shape or form. "So what's your status?" Beth asked the four. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you."

They told her pretty much everything, including the dreams. It felt so good to see her, to feel like they were back at camp even for a few minutes, that they didn't realize how long they had talked until Ana's hand cramped.

"I wish I could be there," Beth told them. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen ... it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was on a field trip and we saw him."