❛016❜

A COAST GUARD picked them up, but they were too busy to keep them for long, or to wonder how four kids in street clothes had got 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 coat guard! and sped off to save more people.

their clothes were sopping wet, even percy's who was supposed to be waterproof. upon seeing him looking as much like a wet dog as she did, ivy didn't complain about her clothes getting wet. percy 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. ivy felt as if she'd just come back from the dead– which she had. her heart felt heavy, from thinking about how close she had been to her father again and from leaving percy's mother behind.

"i don't believe it," annabeth said. "we went all that way–"

"it was a trick," percy said. "a strategy worthy of athena."

"hey," the blonde warned.

ivy sighed tiredly. "annie, you get what he's saying, don't you?'

her best friend dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "yeah. i get it."

"well, i don't!" grover complained. "would somebody–"

"percy..." ivy said softly. "i'm sorry about your mother. i'm so sorry...."

the son of poseidon looked at her, his eyes showing all the pain he was feeling. ivy reach up and squeezed his arm. he didn't say anything, the brood on his face was permanent. the wound was too raw for him to talk about.

"the prophecy was right," percy said as she retracted her hand. "you shall go west and face the god who has turned. but it wasn't hades. hades didn't want war between the big three. someone else pulled off the theft. someone stole zeus's master bolt, and hades's helmet, 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. "but who would be that sneaky? who would want war that bad?"

percy stopped in my tracks, looking down the beach. "gee, let me think."

ivy followed his line of sight and scowled. "i can't believe my mom had that asshole for a boyfriend."

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

"hey, kid," ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see percy. the sentiment wasn't returned as the boy glared. "you were supposed to die."

"you tricked me," the son of poseidon said. "you stole the helmet 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."

ivy didn't like clarisses, but she didn't find her capable of doing this. stealing wasn't her thing.

the idea seemed to amuse the god. "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..."

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 helmet 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."

ivy scoffed but stayed silent. of course someone as obnoxious as ares would like watching his relatives fight. even if it means massive destruction.

"you gave me the backpack in denver," percy's anger sounded barely controlled. "the master bolt was in there the whole time."

"yes and no," ares said. "it's probably too complicated for your little mortal brain to follow, but the backpack is the master bolt's sheath, just morphed a bit. the bolt is connected to it, sort of like fitzgerald's knife or that sword you got, kid. it always returns to your pocket, right?"

ivy wasn't sure how ares knew about that, but it didn't come as a surprise. a god of war had to make it his business to know about weapons.

"anyway," ares continued, "i tinkered with the magic a bit, so the bolt would only return to the sheath once you reached the underworld. you get close to hades... bingo, you got mail. if you died along the way– no loss. i still had the weapon."

"but why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" percy asked. "why send it to hades?"

ares got a twitch in his jaw. for a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. "why didn't i... yeah... with that kind of fire-power..."

he held the trance for one second... two seconds...

ivy exchanged nervous looks with percy and annabeth.

ares's face cleared. "i didn't want the trouble. better to have you caught red handed, holding the thing."

the daughter of aphrodite narrowed her eyes. one common sort of power among her siblings, deception never worked on them so easily. "this wasn't your idea, was it? sending the bolt to the underworld... are you lying, lord ares?"

"of course i'm not! it was my idea!" smoke drifted up from his sunglasses, as if they were about to catch fire.

"you didn't order the theft," percy guessed. "someone else sent a hero to steal the two items. then, when zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. but you didn't turn him over to zeus. something convinced you to let him go. you kept the items until another hero could come along and complete the delivery. that thing in the pit is ordering you around."

she had to suppress a smug smirk. percy was smarter than he let himself be.

"i am the god of war! i take orders from no one! i don't have dreams!"

percy raised an eyebrow. "who said anything about dreams?"

ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk.

"let's get back to the problem at hand, kid. you're alive. i can't have you taking that bolt to olympus. you just might get those hard headed idiots to listen to you. so I've got to kill you. nothing personal."

the god snapped his fingers. the sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at camp half-blood. the beast pawed the sand, glaring at percy with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.

the black-haired boy stepped into the surf. "fight me yourself, ares."

he laughed, but ivy heard a little edge to his laughter... an uneasiness. "you've only got one talent, kid, running away. you ran from the chimera. you ran from the underworld. you don't have what it takes."

percy feighted pity. "scared?"

throughout the quest, ivy had learned to not underestimate percy. but fighting a god seemed way too likely to end up on his death.

"in your adolescent dreams." but ares's sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. "no direct involvement. sorry, kid. you're not at my level."

ivy said, "percy, run!"

the giant boar charged.

as the boar rushed percy, he uncapped his pen and sidestepped. riptide appeared in his hands. he slashed upward. the boar's severed right tusk fell at his feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea.

percy shouted, "wave!"

immediately, a wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket. the beast squealed once in terror. then it was gone, swallowed by the sea.

the son of poseidon turned back to ares with a steely look. "are you going to fight me now? or are you going to hide behind another pet pig?"

ares's face was purple with rage. "watch it, kid. i could turn you into–"

"a cockroach," he said. "or a tapeworm. yeah, i'm sure. that'd save you from getting your godly ass whipped, wouldn't it?"

flames danced along the top of his glasses. "oh, man, you are really asking to be smashed into a grease spot."

"if i lose, turn me into anything you want. take the bolt. if i win, the helmet and the bolt are mine and you have to go away." percy looked so determined ivy didn't know if to applaud him for his bravery or face palm at his stupidity.

ares sneered. he swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. "how would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"

percy showed him his sword.

"that's cool, dead boy," the god said. "classic it is." the baseball bat changed into a huge, two-handed sword. the hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.

"percy," annabeth said. "don't do this. he's a god."

"he's a coward," he told her.

ivy tugged at the ends of her hair. "he's a lot of things, none of them nice. but that doesn't take away the godly."

the blonde sent her a glance when percy's determination didn't waver at their words, she swallowed. "wear this, at least. for luck."

annabeth took off her necklace, with her five years' worth of camp beads and the ring from her father, and tied it around percy's neck.

"reconciliation," she said. "athena and poseidon together."

percy managed the ghost of a smile. "thanks."

"and take this," grover said. he handed him a flattened tin can that he'd probably been saving in his pocket for a thousand miles. "the satyrs stand behind you."

"grover... i don't know what to say."

the satyr patted him on the shoulder. percy stuffed the tin can in his back pocket. he looked towards ivy expectantly, she stepped closer to him and took out her guitar pick.

ivy placed the golden pick on his hand. "count me as your head cheerleader, seaweed brain." she smiled as percy let out a weak laugh.

not thinking about it much, ivy threw her arms around his neck in a quick hug. as she pulled away, the daughter of aphrodite left a kiss on cheek so swift he almost missed it.

"why did you do that for?" percy asked with pink tainted cheeks.

ivy shrugged, pushing down her own blush. "gabriel says my hugs give him good luck before a performance. figured it'd work the same in this situation."

neither of them commented about the fleeting kiss.

"you all done saying goodbye?" ares came towards percy, his black leather duster trailing behind him, his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "i've been fighting for eternity, kid. my strength is unlimited and i cannot die. what have you got?"

a bigger brain, ivy thought, but she said nothing.

percy kept his feet in the surf, backing into the water up to his ankles. ares cleaved downward at his head, but he wasn't there.

the water seemed to push percy into the air and he catapulted over the god, slashing as he came down. but ares was just as quick. he twisted, and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt.

he grinned. "not bad, not bad."

the god slashed again and percy was forced to jump onto dry land. he tried to sidestep, to get back to the water, but ares seemed to know what he wanted. ares outmanoeuvred him, pressing so hard percy placed all his concentracion in not getting turned into fish strings. he kept backing away from the surf. ivy couldn't see any openings for percy to attack. the god's sword had a reach a metre longer than anaklusmos.

get in close, ivy wanted to scream. when you've got the shorter blade, get in close.

percy stepped inside with a thrust, but ares was waiting for that. he knocked percy's blade out of his hands and kicked him in the chest. ivy stifled a scream.

the son of poseidon went airborne– fifteen, maybe twenty metres. he would've broken my back if he hadn't crashed into the soft sand of a dune.

"percy!" annabeth yelled from beside her. "cops!"

ivy didn't want to look away from the fight, but she peeled her eyes away and turned around. red lights flashed on the shoreline boulevard. car doors were slamming. she cursed internally at whoever called the cops.

"there, officer!" somebody yelled. "see?"

a gruff cop voice: "looks like that kid on tv... what the hell..."

"that guy's armed," another cop said. "call for backup."

ivy turned back around as she saw percy roll to one side as ares's blade slashed the sand.

the black-haired boy ran for his sword, scooped it up, and launched a swipe at ares's face, only to find his blade deflected again.

percy stepped back towards the surf, forcing the god to follow.

"admit it, kid," ares told him. "you got no hope. i'm just toying with you."

ivy saw a second cop car pulling up, siren wailing. spectators, people who had been wandering the streets because of the earthquake, were starting to gather. among the crowd, she thought she saw a few who were walking with the strange, trotting gait of disguised satyrs. there were shimmering forms of spirits, too, as if the dead had risen from Hades to watch the battle. ivy heard the flap of leathery wings circling somewhere above.

more sirens.

percy stepped further into the water, but ares was fast. the tip of his blade ripped his sleeve, grazing his forearm.

a police voice on a megaphone said, "drop the guns! set them on the ground. now!"

guns? fucking where?

ivy looked at ares's weapon, and it seemed to be flickering; sometimes it looked like a shotgun, sometimes a two-handed sword. percy's was doing the same, flickering between riptide and a shotgun. this would definitely be the icing on top of the cake.

ares turned to glare at the spectators, which gave percy a moment to breathe. there were five police cars now, and a line of officers crouching behind them, pistols trained on the fight.

"this is a private matter!" ares bellowed. "be gone!"

he swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the patrol cars. the police barely had time to dive for cover before their vehicles exploded. the crowd behind them scattered, screaming.

ares roared with laughter. "now, little hero. let's add you to the barbecue."

he slashed. percy deflected his blade. the son of poseidon got close enough to strike, but his blow was knocked aside. the waves were hitting percy's back now. ares was up to his thighs, wading in after him.

ares came towards percy, grinning confidently. the black-haired boy lowered his blade, looking exhausted. ares raised his sword for the final blow. then percy jumped, rocketing straight over ares on a wave.

ivy cheered loudly. "take that, you ugly son of a bitch!"

"don't curse at gods, ivy." annabeth chided half-heartedly as she was cheering too, just without the cursing. the brunette rolled her eyes.

a two-metre wall of water smashed the god full in the face, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth full of seaweed. percy landed behind him with a splash and thrusted towards his head again. ares turned in time to raise his sword, but this time he was disoriented, he didn't anticipate the trick. the son of poseidon changed direction, lunged to the side and stabbed riptide straight down into the water, sending the point through the god's heel.

the roar that followed made hades's earthquake look like a minor event. the very sea was blasted back from ares, leaving a wet circle of sand fifteen metres wide.

ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flowed from a gash in the war god's boot. the expression on his face was beyond hatred. it was pain, shock, complete disbelief that he'd been wounded.

ivy blinked in stuntedness. once. twice. percy injured a god.

he limped towards percy, muttering ancient greek curses.

something stopped him.

it was as if a cloud covered the sun, but worse. light faded. sound and colour drained away. a cold, heavy presence passed over the beach, slowing time, dropping the temperature to freezing and making ivy feel like life was hopeless, fighting was useless.

the darkness lifted.

ares looked stunned.

police cars were burning behind them. the crowd of spectators had fled. ivy, annabeth, and grover could only stand on the beach, still in shock, watching as the water flooded back around ares's feet, his glowing golden ichor dissipating in the tide.

ares lowered his sword.

"you have made an enemy, godling," he told percy. "you have sealed your fate. every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. beware, perseus jackson. beware."

his body began to glow. ivy wasn't sure if percy knew the dangers of looking at a god's true form. ares was probably counting on it, she figured.

"percy!" ivy shouted with charm filled words. "don't watch!"

ivy turned away as the god ares revealed his true immortal form.

the light died.

when she looked back. ares was gone. the tide rolled out to reveal hades's bronze helmet of darkness. percy picked it up and walked towards the beach where they were standing.

but before he could get there, ivy heard the flapping of leathery wings. three evil-looking grandmothers with lace hats and fiery whips drifted down from the sky and landed in front of him.

the middle fury, the one who had been mrs dodds, stepped forward. her fangs were bared, but for once she didn't look threatening. she looked more disappointed, as if she'd been planning to have percy for supper, but had decided he might give her indigestion.

"we saw the whole thing," she hissed. "so... it truly was not you?"

percy tossed her the helmet, which she caught in surprise.

"return that to Lord Hades," he said. "tell him the truth. tell him to call off the war."

she hesitated, then ran a forked tongue over her green, leathery lips. "live well, percy jackson. become a true hero. because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again..."

she cackled, savouring the idea. then she and her sisters rose on their bat's wings, fluttered into the smoke-filled sky and disappeared.

percy joined grover, ivy, and annabeth. the daughter of aphrodite was sure her friends mirrored her expression of amazement.

"percy..." grover said. "that was so incredibly..."

"terrifying," said annabeth.

"cool," grover corrected.

"impressive," ivy added.

she couldn't think of anyone she knew that battled a god. not only surviving, but also winning.

"dd you guys feel that... whatever it was?" percy asked nervously.

they nodded uneasily.

"must've been the furies overhead," grover said.

ivy wasn't so sure. something had stopped ares from killing percy, and whatever could do that was a lot stronger than the furies.

she looked at annabeth and percy, an understanding passed between the three. they knew now what was in that pit, what had spoken from the entrance of tartarus.

percy reclaimed his backpack from grover and looked inside. the master bolt was still there. such a small thing almost caused the third world war.

"we have to get back to new york by tonight," percy said as he ran a hand down his face tiredly.

"that's impossible," annabeth said.

ivy sighed. "not really. i mean, we could–"

"fly." percy looked more scared of flying than fighting ares. go figure.

the daughter of athena stared at them. "fly, like, in an aeroplane, which percy was warned never to do lest zeus strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?"

"yeah," percy didn't look happy to agree. "pretty much exactly like that. come on."

ivy grinned up at him. "it's alright, percy. i'll let you hold my hand if you're scared."

"oh, fuck off, princess."

a speaks!

ayo one chapter left for tlt whattt. also ama is not my name it's my initials and given that it means love in spanish it's my biggest flex.
gabriel is a theater kid. period.

thoughts???