The Lightning Thief [Book One]

I Want To Forget.

Ares was waiting for them like he had said. The god was leaning against his motorcycle casually with his arms crossed over his chest, his shotgun in a holster on his bike. It was dark out except for the street lamps, and the diner was still open, empty aside from a few people. On the trip back, Reagan had grown angry with every passing minute. Her dad had sent them right into a trap set by Hephaestus. He smiled coolly when he saw them and stood straight, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket as he walked over to meet them. The shield had grown to its full size again, and Reagan had angrily shoved the object into her dads chest.

"You set us up!" Reagan spat angrily.

Ares shrugged, turning the shield over in his hands like he was checking to make sure they didn't make any scratches in the metal. "I couldn't get caught in that trap. It would be scandalous," he said flatly. He didn't even seem in the slightest bit guilty for what they had gone through for him, didn't seem to care about his daughter whatsoever.

He whistled and turned, walking to his motorcycle and placing the large shield on the front of his ride proudly. Reagan stared him down with nothing but hatred in her eyes. She glared down at the pavement then, hands clenching into tight balls at her sides. Her gaze was unreadable with her hair covering her eyes.

"I hate you," she whispered after a moment, then louder. "I hate you!"

Her dad just shrugged again and got on his bike. "Use that hate for something useful now, runt," he advised truthfully. He stared her down before rolling his eyes and snapping his fingers again. "And that dagger of yours is pathetic. That ring should do better now." With that his motorcycle came to life, but Ares remembered something and pulled out a backpack, throwing it at Reagan.

"This truck will take you as far as Las Vegas. Oh, and Jackson?" Ares called out. "Hades got your mom down in the Underworld, waiting for you."

Then he was gone.

There was a large truck behind where he had been, the drivers inside the diner were eating. "That must be the ride he was talking about," Percy said, running over and forcing the large doors open a sliver, large enough for them to slip in.

Reagan was still standing there numbly with the backpack in her arms. Annabeth wanted to say something positive, but nothing came to mind. So as Grover and Percy climbed into the truck, Annabeth pulled Reagan with her into the truck. Percy closed the doors behind them, and they were all shocked at the sight they met. Animals were forced into variously sized cages. The lions mane was matted down, suckers and cotton candy sticking to it. His ribs poked out, like he hasn't eaten a proper meal in days. There was a bag of radishes in front of his cage and in front of the cage with a zebra was a few pounds of raw ground beef. Grover immediately began to whine, walking over and making sure the lion had the meat and the zebra had the radishes. The lion began to eat eagerly, biting into the meat hungrily and chewing.

Everyone began to settle down in silence. Grover was still taking care of the animals, and Percy was talking about the prophecy now, slowly going through each line. They were anxious to get to California now. It wasn't that long of a quest so far, but everything that had happened made it seem much longer. Reagan was sitting against the side, the backpack on her lap. She hadn't spoken or done anything at all. All Reagan did was stare down at her lap. Her shoulders felt even heavier then before. She thought that she'd be happy to finally know who her parent was, but it only ended up making her feel worse. She reached up, touching the simple silver ring on a basic chain necklace. She only wore the chain necklace and then the camp necklace with her five beads on the string.

For or a moment Reagan considered taking off the ring and seeing what Ares had done with it, but decided she wanted nothing to do with her real dad. Annabeth was watching Reagan curiously, wanting to be supportive but not wanting to seem intrusive. Eventually the recently claimed Demigod laid down with her back to everyone.