Riptide by Annabeth Chase

Chapter Twelve: Thrill Ride o' Love

(The Lightning Thief pg 219-245 and Grover stays behind with Ares and manipulates information out of him like he does in episode five of the show)

When we finally arrived in Denver it was hard not to start feeling like this quest was impossible again. We had used up all our money, we were dirty and starving with no idea how to get across the Rockies. We had seven days left and no plan.

We made a quick call to camp to let them know how things were going and although I didn't think Percy had told us everything from his conversation with Luke, I didn't press it much. We decided to wander through the city to see if we could find anything that would be helpful but unfortunately, we found something that was the opposite of helpful, a god.

I had only seen the god of war a few times, but he was easy to recognize no matter what form he took. He always tried to look as intimidating as possible and today was no exception. He parked his massive bike and walked straight towards us.

"Need some help?" He asked us which was probably the last thing I had expected.

"Beg your pardon?" Grover asked, bowing slightly.

"I asked if you could use some help." Even though the answer was obviously yes, I didn't think we would want whatever help he was planning on offering.

"No thank you," Grover said cautiously. "We're good ... appreciate you asking though."

Unfortunately, Ares called the bluff, "You don't seem too good."

"We don't want anything from you," I stated, hoping he would drop it but assuming he wasn't going to.

"You sure?" Ares asked. "Cause time is running out and you have no way to continue traveling west. As much as I'd love to see you fail and start a good old fashioned war, I figured I might be able to help you out in exchange for a ... favor."

"What kind of favor?" Percy asked cautiously.

"Listen, dummies, you don't have any other options. I'm hungry, you're hungry. Let's get some food and talk it over."

Unfortunately, he was right, we didn't have a better option and as much as I disliked Ares, we needed the help. After exchanging a worried glance with my friends, we agreed and the four of us walked into the diner on the corner of the street.

Ares told the waitress he would be paying for our food, slid into the booth next to me, before rudely dismissing the waitress. Of course, his presence made all the anger and resentment I felt towards my dad or anyone else who had ever wronged me rise up until I wanted to burst and destroy them all but I took those feelings and shoved them back in a box (although probably not the right one since my stupid boxes got all messed up).

"So, you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?" Ares asked Percy.

To which Percy replied, "What's it to you?"

I thought Ares might vaporize Percy on the spot. I started to say, "Percy, this is —" but Ares cut me off with a wave of his hand. Normally getting interrupted wasn't something that bothered me too much but with Ares there I felt like it was worth starting a fight over.

"S'okay," he said, "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin."

"Ares, your Clarisse's dad," Percy said.

"That's right punk. Now let's discuss my bargain. I need a favor and you need a ride," Ares said.

"What kind of favor could we do for a god?" Percy asked.

"Eh, just something I don't want to do myself. I was on a date with my girlfriend when we got ... interrupted. I left my shield there and I need you idiots to go get it back." As Ares spoke, I felt like something was off, but I couldn't pin it down.