The Nature of a Demigod

Meet the Family

[Y/N's POV]

A big coast guard boat scooped us out of the water. Lucky enough, they didn't even bother to question why the four of us were out there in the first place. They were too busy to ask.

They dropped us off at the Santa Monica pier draped in towels and then raced off to save more people.

We were soaked, and the California beaches made me feel colder, being this close to the water. When they picked us out of the water, we scrambled to make Grover look normal again. As a result, Percy ended up barefoot.

It was decided that it was better that one of us with people feet be barefoot than watch the coast guard try to figure out Grover's deal on real time. My shoulders carried a large load coming from the lane of the dead. Percy looked like he'd just seen a ghost. Which he had.

I have no clue how we got Zeus' master bolt, but I had a feeling we were about to find out. Percy looked distraught. I put a soft hand on his shoulder. He must have been pained from seeing his mother and not being able to save her. I mean, we tried to, but Percy didn't want any of us to stay down there.

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

"There's no way we've had that the whole time..." I murmured. Honestly. There's no way we could have.

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

"Hey," Annabeth warned.

"You get it, don't you?" he asked

She dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "Yeah. I get it."

"Well, I don't!" Grover complained. "Would somebody mind explaining?!"

"Yeah we can't exactly read minds." I groaned. "Would either of you mind sharing with the class?"

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

"Yeah... Percy. We can go back and get her once this is all over. We can try." I croaked, my throat dry from accidentally swallowing salt water.

"The prophecy was right," he 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 threeway war. And I'll have caused it."

Grover shook his head dry. He was also confused. "But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?"

It clicked. I gasped and smacked myself on the forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?" I asked no one in particular.

"Maybe because you lack common sense?" Annabeth asked me.

"That might be the reason. Not sure." I replied with a smirk. Percy stopped in his tracks, glaring down the coast. "Gee, let me think." he said to Grover.

There was Ares. Waiting for us in his black leather jacket and his heavily tinted sunglasses, with a baseball bat in his shoulder. His blood red motorcycle was humming beside him, making me angry just looking at him.

"Hey, kids," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see us. "You were supposed to die."

[Percy's POV]

"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."