OH, CHÉRIE!¹ percy jackson

016

❛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.