Ch.16

A bubble appeared around me after asking for help, I slowly floated up following the pearl bubbles.

A Coast Guard boat picked us up, but they were too busy to keep us for long, or to wonder how three kids and a grown woman 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 us off at the Santa Monica Pier with towels around our shoulders and water

bottles that said I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD! and sped off to save more people.

Our clothes were sopping wet, even mine and Percys. When the Coast Guard boat had appeared I'd willed myself to get soaked. Sure enough, my usual waterproof magic abandoned me. Percy was also barefoot, because he'd given his shoes to Grover. Better the Coast Guard wonder why one of us was barefoot than wonder why one of us had hooves.

After reaching dry land, we stumbled down the beach, watching the city burn against a

beautiful sunrise. My backpack was heavy with Zeus's master bolt.

"It was a trick," Percy said.

"A good one too, but we saved mom and that's all that really matters right," I said while hugging her.

"Why did you come to the underworld of all places?" Our mom yelled at us.

It took a minute to explain all the whys and whats that had happened, with me blaming Chiron mainly for not believing me.

"Well at least you all are safe." Mom said while hugging us, even Grover.

"I-I missed you mom," Percy said as he started to cry.

"It's ok honey, I'm here now."

I decided to interrupt, as much as I was glad to have her back we needed to move.

The prophecy was right," I said. "You shall go west and face the god who has turned.' But it

wasn't Hades. Someone else pulled off the theft. Someone stole Zeus's master bolt, and Hades's helm, and framed me and Percy because we're Poseidon's kids. Poseidon will get blamed by both sides. By sundown today, there will be a three-way war. And we'll have caused it."

Grover shook his head, mystified. "But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?"

I stopped in my tracks, looking down the beach. "Gee, let me think."

There he was, waiting for us, 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, kids," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see us. "You were supposed to die."

"You tricked us," I said. "Who'd you have steal the helm and the master bolt?"

Ares grinned. "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." Percy asked.

The idea seemed to amuse him. "Doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've both got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you guys. 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 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!" Percy protested.

Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives

fight, I always say."

"Why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" I said. "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 firepower ..."

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

I smirked, I knew this would happen as it's what sparked the fight in the books.

"Percy take the pack with mom and get out of here, I'll hold him off." I whispered.

"No man I can't leave you here."

"Then who's gonna protect mom?"

"Fine, don't die."

"We are right next to the water, I'm not dying anytime soon." I said while turning to Ares

Ares's face cleared. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught redhanded, holding

the thing."

"You're lying," I said. "Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"

"Of course it was!" Smoke drifted up from his sunglasses, as if they were about to catch fire.

"You didn't order the theft," I 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."

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

I smiled. "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 two are alive. I can't have you taking that bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hardheaded idiots to listen to you. So I've got to kill you all. Nothing personal."

He 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 HalfBlood.The beast pawed the sand, glaring at me with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.

I stepped into the surf. "Fight me yourself, Ares."

He laughed, but I heard a little edge to his laughter ... an uneasiness. "You've only got one talent, kid, running away. You ran from the Underworld. You even have your brother running right now. You don't have what it takes."

"Scared? Because you should know, I didn't run from Hades." I said specifically calling my uncles name so he could watch.

"In your adolescent dreams." But his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. "No direct involvement.Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."

The giant boar charged.

As the boar rushed me, I swiped my thumb on my new ring and my axe appeared in my hand as I sidestepped. Extending the axe and slamming it on the boars head splitting it, causing blood to spray and coat me.

I turned back to Ares. "Are you going to fight me now?" I asked. "Or are you going to hide

behind another pet?"

Ares's face was purple with rage. "Watch it, kid. I could turn you into—"

"A cockroach," I said. "Or a tapeworm. Yeah, I'm sure. That'd save you from getting your

godly hide 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."

"Is that the best you got? You sound like a middle schooler which means a lot because, well I'm in middle school."

Ares sneered.

He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. "How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"

I showed him my axe.

"That's cool, dead boy," he 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.

Ares came toward me, 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?"

"If I lose, turn me into anything you want. Take the bolt. If I win, the helm and the bolt are

mine and you have to go away."

"As if you could win."

I kept my feet in the surf, backing into the water up to my ankles. Ares has strength. That's all he has. I willed all the souls I could into the axe even the two boss souls and I could feel the change. The axe sang for blood, it felt like it was made for my hands now. Glinting in the sun I knew it would easily destroy him.

He cleaved downward at my head, but I wasn't there.

The water seemed to push me into the air and I catapulted over him, slashing as I 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." As his sword rung from the strength behind my hit.

He slashed again and I was forced to jump onto dry land. He started pressing me so hard I had to use go back to the short version of my axe.

Jumping forward I thrust while willing it to expand again, Ares hadn't expected that. I pushed him back with the point of the axe impailing him, it wasn't deep as the point wasn't long.

Jumping back I called to the water, feeling a tug in my gut a huge seven foot wave hit Ares.

The wave destracted Ares enough that when I charged in this time he didn't even see me. He turned in time to raise his sword, but this time he was disoriented, he didn't anticipate the trick. I changed direction, lunged to the side.

His arm hit the ground. 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 fifty feet 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.

In the corner of my eye I could see a crowd growing with cops.

"There, officer!" somebody yelled. "See?"

A gruff cop voice: "Looks like that kid on TV ... what the heck ..."

"That guy's armed," another cop said. "Call for backup."

I could see where Ares was tensing. I could tell which way he would strike. At the same time, I saw a second cop car pulling up,

siren wailing. Spectators, people who had been wandering the streets because it's the beach, were starting to gather. Among the crowd, I thought I 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. I heard the flap of leathery wings circling somewhere above.

More sirens.

I stepped farther into the water, but Ares was fast even while one handed. The tip of his blade ripped my sleeve and

grazed my forearm.

A police voice on a megaphone said, "Drop the guns.' Set them on the ground. Now!"

I looked at Ares's weapon, and it seemed to be flickering; sometimes it looked like a shotgun, sometimes a two-handed sword. I didn't know what the humans were seeing in my hands, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't make them like me.

Ares turned to glare at our spectators. There were five police cars now, and a line of officers crouching behind them, pistols trained on us.

"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. I deflected his blade. I got close enough to strike, tried to fake him out with a

feint, but my blow was knocked aside, but it gave me time to punch him in the face. The waves were hitting me in the back now. Ares was up to his thighs, wading in after me.

He limped toward me, muttering ancient Greek curses.

Something stopped him.

It was as if a cloud covered the sun, but worse. Light faded. Sound and color drained away. A cold, heavy presence passed over the beach, slowing time, dropping the temperature to freezing, and making me feel like life was hopeless, fighting was useless.

The darkness lifted.

Ares looked stunned.

"You have made an enemy, godling," he told me. "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, Adrian Jackson. Beware."

His body began to glow. I knew what that ment.

I turned away.

I turned away as the god Ares revealed his true immortal form.

The light died.

I looked back. Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal Hades's bronze helm of

darkness. I picked it up and turned to leave.

But before I could, I 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 me.

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 me for supper, but had decided I might give her indigestion.

"We saw the whole thing," she hissed. "So ... it truly was not you?"

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

"Return that to Lord Hades," I said. "Tell him the truth. Tell him his personal quest to me is complete."

She hesitated, then ran a forked tongue over her green, leathery lips. "Live well, Adrian

Jackson. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you or your brother ever come into my clutches again ..."

She cackled, savoring the idea. Then she and her sisters rose on their bats' wings, fluttered

into the smoke-filled sky, and disappeared.

_____________________________________________

Did you all enjoy the fight? I put my all into it and I felt it turned out great.

We are getting super close to the end of this arc and a huuuuge change that I'm stupid excited for... So excited I may write another chap.

Well tell me what you all thought.