Percy Jackson Back in Time

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

A Coast Guard boat picked us up, but they were too busy to keep us 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 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. Before the Coast Guard boat could appear, I willed myself to get wet. Sure enough, my usual waterproof magic had abandoned me. I was also barefoot, because I'd given my 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 beautiful sunrise. Looking at the beautiful sunrise made me think of my mother. My heart felt heavy, it felt like is was slowly being crushed and ripped apart at the same time.

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

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

"Hey," she warned.

"I never said Athena did it, did i?"

She dropped her eyes, her anger fading.

"No, no you didnt."

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

I pretended not to hear her. If we started talking about my mother, I was going to cry, and that was a can of worms i didn’t want to open.

"The prophecy was right," I 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."

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.

“If you look to the right you will see a god who was responsible for stealing the bolt, and to the other side you will see nothing of importance, I hope you enjoyed the Percy Express and never come back. Thank you, that is all." I said jokingly to Grover making him roll his eyes, but he looked to the side anyway..

Ares stood there, 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 head-light turning the sand red.

"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see me. "You were supposed to die."

"You tricked me," I 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."

"Well, you might as well have."

He loooked at me in amusement.

"I guess thats true. But the whole 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 athim. 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.