The Twins Of Poseidon

How Are We Going To Do This in one day?

The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot. 

"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed." 

"You knew it was a trap and you still sent us in there," I said furious. 

Ares gave me a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled black-smith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV." 

Percy shoved his shield at him. "You're a jerk." 

Annabeth and Grover caught their breath, I would have been surprised too but I was too mad. Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back. "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." The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, it read: KINDNESS INTER-NATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS. 

Percy said, "You're kidding." 

"If we wanted to ride with animals, or even one, we would've just asked you for a ride." I said.

 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 slung two blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed one to me and one to Percy. Inside mine was clothes for me and Annabeth, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, a bag of Double Stuf Oreos and a book. Percy had the same, minus the book, and clothes for him and Grover instead of me and Annabeth. 

Percy said, "We don't want your lousy—" 

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

I gritted my teeth. I knew I should not have argued with a God, especially the God of war but, in all fairness, he was the reason I was mad enough to snap at him. I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who'd served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us. Great, I thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow. I imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAWED TWINS BEAT UP DEFENSELESS BIKER.

"Before you go, you owe me and Percy one more thing," I told Ares, trying to keep my voice level. "You promised us information about our mother." 

"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead." The ground seemed to spin beneath me. 

"What do you mean?" Percy asked. 

"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?" Percy asked.

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

"Nobody's controlling us." I said.

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

I balled up my fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues." Percy said. 

"Who knew for a guy who had a relationship with the goddess of love, would be so scared of things that represented it." I shot. 

Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. "We'll meet again, Percy and Alex Jackson. Next time you're both in fights, watch your backs." He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.