Chapter Fifteen, We're on the High way to Hades
I stared at the truck with disbelief on my face. Beside me, Percy said, "You're kidding."
Ares snapped his fingers and the back door of the truck unlocked. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."
Ares threw a blue nylon backpack at Percy. Inside the bag were fresh clothes, twenty dollars, golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuff Oreos. Yum!
Of course, being the idiot that he is, Percy decided not to say thank-you and instead said, "I don't want your lousy-"
Grover cut Percy off before he could finish. "Thank you, Lord Ares. Thanks a lot."
Percy gritted his teeth but reluctantly slung the backpack over his shoulder. He turned to look at the diner. I looked back too.
The waitress who served us dinner was glancing over at us nervously through the window. She dragged a cook from the kitchen to the window and said something to him. The cook nodded and took a picture of us with a disposable camera.
Great. Another way for police to track us down.
"You owe me one more thing," Percy said to Ares. "You promised me information about my mother."
Again, I felt pity for Percy. He was so desperate about finding out anything he could about his mother.
"You sure you can handle the news? She's not dead." Ares said.
What do you mean, "she's not dead"?
"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." Ares said.
"Kept. Why?" Percy asked.
"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."
Who would take Percy's mom as a hostage? Zeus? Hades?
"Nobody's controlling me." Percy said.
Ares laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."
Percy balled his fists and glared. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."
Um, Percy? Shut up right now!
Ares' fire eyes glowed. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back." Ares rode down the street and disappeared from sight.
"That was not smart, Percy." I said.
"I don't care." Percy said. Stupid.
"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god." If Ares hated someone, he would curse them to make their battles much harder.
"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but..."
He pointed to the diner's register. There were two men paying for the check, both wearing black coveralls and a white logo on their backs that were the same on the truck.
"If we're taking the zoo express, we need to hurry." Grover said.
We dashed across the street and climbed into the truck, closing the doors behind us.
The smell was disgusting. It was overpowering.
It was really dark inside. Percy uncapped his sword and it cast a faint bronze light. As our eyes adjusted, we saw misery. There was one zebra, one lion, and one antelope in filthy metal cages.
