Anthízo, Percy Jackson

VII. the thought of him made her feel safe

IT ISN'T A VERY NORMAL OCCURRENCE FOR A GOD TO SHOW UP at camp jupiter, so needless to say karina was a little surprised to see the one and only war god standing in front of her.

she had noticed that the only person who wasn't kneeling, was none other than percy jackson. sword still in hand, and was glaring fiercely at the giant soldier. she rolled her eyes at his stupidity.

was he really that dumb?

"you're ares?" percy said. "what do you want?"

a collective gasp went up from two hundred campers and an elephant. karina wanted to say something to excuse percy and placate the god, but had no idea what to say. she was afraid the war god would blast percy with that extra-large M16.

instead, the god bared his brilliant white teeth.

"you've got spunk, demigod," he said. "ares is my greek form. but to these followers, to the children of rome, i am mars-patron of the empire, divine father of romulus and remus."

"we've met," percy said. "we. . .we had a fight. . ."

karina gave a look of confusion and the god scratched his chin, as if trying to recall. "i fight a lot of people. but i assure you-you've never fought me as mars. if you had, you'd be dead. now, kneel, as befits a child of rome, before you try my patience."

around mars's feet, the ground boiled in a circle of flame.

"percy," karina hissed. "just kneel down before mars drop kicks you to tartarus."

percy clearly didn't like it, but he knelt.

mars scanned the crowd. "romans, lend me your ears!"

he laughed-a good, hearty bellow, so infectious it almost made her smile, though she was still stiff with fear. "i've always wanted to say that. i come to olympus with a message. jupiter doesn't like us communicating directly with mortals, especially nowadays, but he had allowed this exception, as you romans have always been my special people. i'm only permitted to speak for a few minutes, so listen up."

he pointed to gwen. "this one should be dead, yet she's not. the monsters you fight no longer return to tartarus when they are slain. some mortals who died long ago are now walking the earth again."

when he said that, karina's mind immediately went to her father. what if he was alive again? she knew there was a slim chance of that being true, but it still sent shivers down her spine.

"thanatos has been chained," mars announced. "the doors of death have been forced open, and no one is policing them-at least, not impartially. gaea allows our enemies to pour forth into the world of mortals. her sons the giants are mustering armies against you-armies that you will not be able to kill. unless death is unleashed to return to his duties, you will be overrun. you must find thanatos and free him from the giants. only he can reverse the tide."

mars looked around, and noticed everyone was still silently kneeling. "oh, you can get up now. any questions?"

reyna rose uneasily, grabbing karina's arm and pulling her up with her. they approached the god, followed by octavian, who was bowing and scraping like a champion groveler. karina raised an eyebrow at his actions.

"lord mars," reyna said. "we are honored."

"it's an honor to have you here," karina said nervously.

"beyond honored," said octavian. "so far beyond honored-"

karina sighed. "give it a rest, octavian." after she said that mars smirked at her, which took her by surprise. she thought he was about to blast her out into the sky by interrupting his praise.