𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒 - luke castellan.

xxiii, gods have emails

g o d s  h a v e  e m a i l s
venus.

━━━━━━━

After a long conversation with Hades, they found out he didn't want the bolt, and never did. Percy figured out that the bolt was stolen from Kronos. Hades offered them sanctuary in return for the bolt. They used their pearls and now, they were standing in front of Ares.

"Single combat!" Percy yelled.

Ares chuckled, "What?"

"What?" The other three asked in unison.

"One-on-one," Percy said, "but I set the terms. If I draw first blood, I keep the bolt and you surrender the helm." He said and Ares laughed.

"Do you accept?" Percy asked.

"I mean, it's your funeral, kid. Although, just to be clear, no funeral," Ares said. "Any trace of you leaves a trace to my plan, and we can't have that,"

"It wasn't your plan, though, was it?" Percy asked. "It was Kronos. It was his idea to frame Poseidon's kid and steal Hades' helm and Zeus's bolt to start a war." Annabeth grabbed Grover's arm and turned him around.

"What?"

"Is that where he got to you, too?" Percy asked. "Through your dreams?"

"Gods, don't dream. young man," Ares said as The three teens walked to the side. "And no one tells the god of war how to start a fight!" He yelled.

"And after you die... say hi to your mommy for me," and that was enough to anger Percy.

Venus gasped, taking a step forward when she saw Ares pick Percy up and then throw him on the ground. She felt protective. Like an older sister. Her fist clenched when she saw him kick Percy in the stomach.

Annabeth nudged her arm and she turned to look and saw a giant wave creating. "I warned you," Percy panted, "if you're not careful... you'll find out... who I am," He said as he stood up, the wave becoming bigger by each second before it splashed Ares.

Ares grabbed his sword and then sat up, turning around when Percy ran to him, clashing his sword with Ares before slashing his leg. Venus smiled. Go, Percy. They ran to Percy, Venus hugging him before pulling away as Grover asked, "You okay?"

"You hurt?" Grover asked and Percy shook his head.

"And you thought you were just a kid," Annabeth smiled. Percy smiled before his smile dropped at Ares sarcastically clapping.

"Yay!" Ares exclaimed, sarcastically. "That was so cool! Wanna know what you really won today? An enemy for life. Congrats." He said before he started to turn.

"Don't look at his true form!" Grover yelled and then quickly looked away from the bright light. They heard a metallic thud and slowly looked at it, seeing Hades' helm.

"It's Hades' helm," Annabeth said. She walked towards it and picked it up. 

They watched as Percy walked away to the only house there. They followed him inside and saw Alecto -- or her sister.

"Hades sent you to retrieve it," Percy said. "That has been your quest all along," Percy took it from Annabeth and kept it on the table. She walked towards it and picked it up.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Living up to my end of the bargain," Percy said. "Tell Hades I expect him to do the same," he said to Alecto.

"Please," he continued after a while.

"Good luck on Olympus," Alecto smiled and walked away. "Perhaps there will still be a world left for your mother to return to."

"What does that mean "Good luck on..." " Grover asked before they turned to look at Percy, "Dude."

"No," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, no, fricking way," Venus said.

"I have to," Percy said.

"What for?" Annabeth asked. "The quest failed. We missed the deadline."

"This is bigger than the quest. Before we set off, Chiron told me that the last war on Olympus kicked off World War II down here," Percy said, "We have to get Zeus to call it off. Returning the bolt is the only way I can get his attention,"

"Percy, you don't want Zeus's attention!" Grover exclaimed.

"I gotta tell him about Kronos. Did you see how frightened Hades was about the idea of Kronos coming back?" He asked. "Zeus has to know," He said, "bringing him the bolt might be enough to get him to listen. You three gotta go to camp. Now that we know who Ares and Clarisse were working for, someone has to warn Chiron."

"He'll kill you," Annabeth said. "You understand that, right?"

"Either because he thinks you stole the bolt, or because you're the forbidden kid," Annabeth said. "Zeus will never let you leave Olympus alive."

"I'm done running from monsters. This is too important," Percy said, softly. "I have to try."

Grover and Venus watched as Annabeth took off her lucky charm necklace and walked towards Percy. She wore the necklace on him as Percy watched. Venus smiled, brightly, covering her mouth. My ship is sailing.

"Just for clarity, how sure are we you couldn't just explain everything in email?" Grover asked.

"Where's the glory in that?" Percy asked.

"Gods' have emails?" Venus asked.