Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were dropped off at the Santa Monica Pier by the coast guard with towels draped over their shoulders and water bottles.
It wasn't until Percy had connected the dots did they realize that they had been set up by Ares, god of war. He had framed Percy as the lightning thief.
"Percy," Annabeth said solemnly. "I'm sorry about..."
Percy shook his head, not wanting to discuss his feelings. "The prophecy was right," he said. "'You shall fail to save what matters most in the end'."
"You had to leave your mom," Grover pointed out.
The raven haired boy's cheeks flushed. "Yeah, yeah, my mom. But, we also left Bronte and Cooper. We couldn't save them." He felt selfish to think about Bronte more than his mom. They were very much alike in some ways. Always sacrificing themselves for him.
"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see him. He was waiting for them in his black leather duster and sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the sand red. "You were supposed to die."
"You tricked me," Percy said. "You stole the helm and the master bolt."
Ares grinned. "Well, now, I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power—that's a big no-no. But you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands."
"Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice."
The idea seemed to amuse him. "Doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impending the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus will be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this..."
From his pocket he took out a ski cap–the kind bank robbers wear–and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.
"The helm of darkness," Grover gasped.
"Exactly," Ares said. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going."
"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.
Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."
The war god then took a second to look between the three kids. His brows furrowed as he used his finger to count how many of them there were. "Hm, wait a second. Missing two of your party members, now are we? Oh, I hope Hades didn't get to them," he said sarcastically, biting his fingernails nervously. "Sparky will be missed. Rest in peace." He then made a cross on his chest and looked up at the sky.
