Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Lightning Thief

| Chapter XV || The Prankster and the Puppet |

*January 4 XXXX*

*Percy's Point of View*

***

Once we got back to the restaurant, I saw Ares in the parking lot, straddling his bike.

My eyes narrowed. I stomped over to him. "Seriously Ares? A prank? I'm on a quest! Any other time, sure, but right now is not the time!" I yelled, shoving the shield into his hands.

He had the nerve to laugh. "Relax cuz. What happened to 'go with the flow'? Now, about the Master Bolt. I'd like to speak to ya...privately," he said. Suddenly, a serious expression overtook his face.

I nodded and turned to Travis and Annabeth. They nodded back, allowing Ares and I to walk around to the back of the building without being followed.

Ares turned to me. "Perce... I've been havin' these weird dreams. I can't quite explain 'em. They come in random flashes, and ev'ry time I wake up, I feel sick. Like...sick. Gods aren't supposed to get this type of sick. And I keep blackin' out, too, and I don't know where I've been or what I've been doing. All I know is that this ain't no god. It's something...older. More powerful. It's comin' mostly from the west, near Los Angeles. Go there next. I'm countin' on ya to catch this guy cuz," he said. I knew he wasn't begging me. Ares never begged anyone for anything.

I was shocked. He sounded almost...scared. I've never heard of Ares being scared. I nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Warhead. I'll get to the bottom of this."

He gave me a grateful smile. "Oh, and by the way, Artemis sends her regards," he said before he vanished in a puff of red smoke, leaving behind the subtle scent of dried blood and the ringing of gunshots in his wake.

I went back to where Annabeth and Travis were waiting to see that Ares' bike was gone. They had looks of relief on their faces when they saw me.

Annabeth ran over and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I was shocked to say the least. "When the bike disappeared...I thought..." her voice faltered and she buried her face into my left shoulder.

I just wrapped my arms around her and reassured her that I was all right. After a few seconds it got awkward, because Travis came over as well, wrapping his arms around me as well as he pretended to sob into my right shoulder.

As soon as Travis got involved, Annabeth pulled away. Once Annabeth had let go, I felt really awkward, because she had left a sobbing Travis hanging onto me. He suddenly stopped and looked up and lopsided smirk on his face. "So...what did he say?" he asked.

I looked down. "I can't say exactly...sorry. It's confidential. But one thing is for sure. It isn't a god behind this. It's something more. I think it may be a titan, because that's what the gorgon said right before I decapitated her. To be specific, I think she said, 'the strongest shall rise again' or something. Anyways, Ares said that he can sense most of Whomever's power near Los Angeles, so we'll go there next," I told them.

Annabeth's eyes widened and she gasped. The two of us—Travis and I—looked at her as she did. "What? Do you know who it is?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No...it's probably nothing. Don't worry about it." She said, giving me a small smile.

I could tell that she didn't want to talk about it, so I dropped the subject. "Okay, tell us if you think of something." I said.

She nodded and I said, "Okay. We're going to Los Angeles!" I jumped in the air and we were off...

***

Published: Saturday, November 26, 2016

~CSP2708~