Deadly Waters | Percy Jackson

20. Percy Battles His Jerk Relative

A Coast Guard boat picked them up, but they were too busy to keep the trio for long, or to wonder how three kids in street clothes had gotten out into the middle of the bay. There was a disaster to mop up. Their radios were jammed with distress calls.

They dropped them off at the Santa Monica Pier with towels around their shoulders and water bottles that said I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD! and sped off to save more people.

Their clothes were sopping wet, even Percy's. When the Coast Guard boat had appeared, he'd silently prayed they wouldn't pick him out of the water and find him perfectly dry, which might've raised some eyebrows. So, he'd willed himself to get soaked. Sure enough, his usual waterproof magic had abandoned him. He was also barefoot, because he'd given his shoes to Grover. Better the Coast Guard wonder why one of them was barefoot than wonder why one of them had hooves.

After reaching dry land, they stumbled down the beach, watching the city burn against a beautiful sunrise. Percy felt as if he'd just come back from the dead – which he had. My backpack was heavy with Zeus's master bolt. His heart was even heavier from seeing my mother.

He felt like his very soul had been left behind with Pez

"I don't believe it," Annabeth said. "We went all that way-"

"It was a trick," Percy said, livid. "A strategy worthy of Athena."

"Hey," she warned.

"You get it, don't you?"

She dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "Yeah. I get it."

"Well, I don't!" Grover complained. "Would somebody-"

"Percy . . ." Annabeth said. "I'm sorry about your mother. I'm so sorry . . ."

He pretended not to hear her. He could tell she had questions, but if he talked about his mother or Pez, he was going to start crying like a little kid.

"The prophecy was right," he said. "You shall go west and face the god who has turned. But it wasn't Hades. Hades didn't want war among the Big Three. Someone else pulled off the theft. Someone stole Zeus's master bolt, and Hades's helm, and framed me because I'm Poseidon's kid. Poseidon will get blamed by both sides. By sundown today, there will be a three-way war. And I'll have caused it."

Grover shook his head, mystified. He wisely avoid the topic Pez as well. "But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?"

Percy stopped in his tracks, looking down the beach. "Gee, let me think."

There he was, waiting for them, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminium baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the sand red.

"Hey, kid, you were supposed to die," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see the demigod. "I see your little stowaway is missing. Did you sacrifice her to save yourself?"

"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 impeding 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'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this . . ."