family | pjo x vld crossover

chapter twelve

bree waited on percy and nico to wake up, when percy woke up, he wiped his glistening cheek and blinked. "where are we?" he asked sleepily. bree glanced out the window to look at the area. "well, it looks like we're at the border of ohio and pennsylvania." percy yawned. "how long was i sleep?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. "I'd say about eight hours." bree estimated. percy's blue eyes widened. "i think that's the longest i've ever slept!" he said with astonishment and a stupid smile on his face. "nice."

nico woke last as they stopped to get gas midway through ohio. there was a lot in ohio. bree loved the lights and buildings. they were huge. they reminded her of home. 

nico rubbed his eyes sleepily. "where are we?" "ohio." percy replied. bree had run inside the gas station to get snacks and drinks. nico's chaffeur didn't have other duties than driving around nico, so he gladly did. he was happy that the children of his master were such efficient demigods.

the radio was on, filling the air and taking over the silence as two people talked. "big time celebrity, tristan mclean, has taken time off of his acting career to spend more time with his daughter in new york," a woman announced. "his daughter, piper mclean, mother unknown, is attending a private school in new york." a man added. "recently, tristan posted a photo of his daughter and himself on his instagram captioned, "time to destress with tea #fatherdaughtertime #family"." the first woman added to his addition.

"is piper's dad that famous?" nico asked and percy nodded. "big time famous. mom loves his movies. she nearly died when i told her i was friends with piper." 

nico smiled slightly as the door opened and bree scrambled in. as they talked, the chaffeur got into the car. "sir, hurry!" bree commanded. "why?" nico asked. bree was breathless. "there was a man in the station! he chased me out the door."

percy found the man, and cursed. he knew that motorcycle and those sunglasses. the scars on his arms and face were burned into his memories. "it's that jerk nugget," he mumbled. nico looked bewildered by the insult until he saw their enemy. "it's ares."

their chaffeur sped down the road to evade the god of war and bloodlust. "why is ares after us?" percy asked quickly. bree was buckling in while she spoke, "he saw me, and i guess he sensed me. he yelled at me to leave."

"he cussed at me and told me to leave the quest alone, that i'd only make it worse. told me that i couldn't do it." she said and scrambled for a sword tucked away in her bag, wrapped in cloth, for safety.

"he did what?" nico fumed. he'd known the girl for a day, but no one talked to his sisters like that. suddenly, his rage left for a moment, then returned. most of his anger was influenced by the god. he would not be forced fed his feelings.

nico took a deep breath and thought happy thoughts, like his skeleton cat and will, and coffee dates with keith, his best friend. he was too old for this. percy felt it too, but he knew better than to rage. bree felt no anger, but the fear his harsh eyes under his sunglasses, from the knives on his sides, from his raw anger. now she doubted herself. could she do it? nico put his hand on hers. "we'll be fine." he reassured her. that was when she knew they'd be okay. the feeling did not linger as they heard the revving of a motorcycle engine. 

camp half-blood was met with fire catching for no sudden reason. treetops burned, and grass smoked, flames licking at shoes and heads. callista, the only child of poseidon in camp at the moment, threw sea water on the flames, but they only grew. terror spread, but ares' kids knew. "stop!" clarisse screamed. "you can't fight it!" callista did not yield. "this is my home! i will not leave it to become ashes!" she returned. "it's my dad!" clarisse bit back. "what?" "it's ares! are you deaf, kid?!" "well, no-" "he's angry. we've upset him," she explained. fear bit callista and spread its venom. "oh no...percy, bree, and nico…"