The Nature of a Demigod

Poker Face

[Y/N's POV]

Ares was waiting for us in the parking lot.

"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed." I threw the shield at him. He caught it easily.

"You set us up!" I yelled. "You knew it was a trap."

Ares smiled aggressively. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You two looked good on TV." He looked at Annabeth, then me and winked, nudging me with his elbow.

"You ass-" I lunged towards the war god but Percy grabbed my shirt from behind and held me back. I wanted so desperately to beat the life out of this guy for making a fool out of us.

Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.

Ares cackled like a grizzly bear. He spun the shield like a frisbee and it turned into a bulletproof vest. He put it over his shoulder.

"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."

"You gotta be kidding me!" I tried in vain to advance toward the war god, despite knowing I would likely be pulverized in an instant if I even tried to hit him.

The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back:

KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

Percy sputtered. "You're not serious?"

Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punks. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."

He grabbed a blue bag from his handlebars and tossed it to Percy. Ares looked at me and opened his arms welcoming the challenge seeing as I was now occupied. I was tempted to, but Annabeth grabbed my arm and succeeded in pulled me away. Ares cackled more, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Ah young love. It's such a mess." He laughed violently. My face burned.

Percy said, "I don't want your lousy-"

"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving me his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot."

I sighed deeply. This was a rough day so far. I looked back towards the diner from earlier. I never did get to eat. The place was pretty empty earlier, but the waitress was watching us out of the window. She looked nervous, and fearful. A cook came out from the kitchen and snapped a photo of us.

Fantastic. More news exposure.

"You owe us one more thing," I told Ares, trying to keep my calm, finding it easier with another person keeping me grounded. "You promised Percy information about his mom."

"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."

He all but dropped unconscious there. "What do you mean?"

"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."

"Kept. Why?"

"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."

"Nobody's controlling me."

He laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."

"You know, Ares, you're pretty full of yourself for a guy who hides form Cupid statues." I snarked.