Healing Power

A Coast Guard boat picked them up, but they were too busy to keep the kids for long, or to wonder how three kids in street clothes had gotten out into the middle of the bay. There was a disaster to mop up. Their radios were jammed with distress calls.

They dropped the demigods off at the Santa Monica Pier with towels around their shoulders and water bottles that said I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD! and sped off to save more people.

Their clothes were sopping wet. When the Coast Guard boat had appeared, Percy'd silently prayed they wouldn't pick him out of the water and find him perfectly dry, which might've raised some eyebrows. So he'd willed himself to get soaked. Sure enough, his usual waterproof magic had abandoned him. He was also barefoot, because he'd given his shoes to Grover. Better the Coast Guard wondered why one of them was barefoot than wonder why one had hooves.

After reaching dry land, they stumbled down the beach, watching the city burn against a beautiful sunrise. It felt as if they'd just come back from the dead-which they ACTUALLY had. Percy's backpack was heavy with Zeus's master bolt. His heart was even heavier from seeing his mother.

"I don't believe it," Annabeth said. "We went all that way-"

"It was a trick," Percy said. "A strategy worthy of Athena."

"Hey," she warned.

"You get it, don't you?"

She dropped her eyes, her anger fading. "Yeah. I get it."

"Well, I don't!" Grover complained. "Would somebody-"

"Percy ..." Annabeth said. "I'm sorry about your mother. I'm so sorry...."

"The prophecy was right," Percy said. "You shall go west and face the god who has turned.' But it wasn't Hades. Hades didn't want war among the Big Three. Someone else pulled off the theft. Someone stole Zeus's master bolt, and Hades's helm, and framed me because I'm Poseidon's kid. Poseidon will get blamed by both sides. By sundown today, there will be a three-way war. And I'll have caused it."

Grover shook his head, mystified. "But who would be that sneaky? Who would want war that bad?"

Percy stopped in my tracks, looking down the beach. "Gee, let me think."

"...It isn't him. There's a spy in camp," Y/N said looking forward, "I can feel it in my gut.".

And there he was, waiting for them, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the sand red.

"Hey, kid," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see Percy. "You were supposed to die."

"You tricked me," he said. "You stole the helm and the master bolt."

Ares grinned. "Well, now, I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power-that's a big no-no. But you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands."

"Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice."

The idea seemed to amuse him. "Doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this ..."

Y/N thought about it when they continued talking to each other. That's right, who would it be? It wouldn't be Clarisse for sure because she might be good at fighting but strategies and making a plan work? A plan kept from everyone else? No, she would need help in that. It wasn't her. It's someone else. She tried her best not to think about the one person she admired a lot but she couldn't help it. There's a high chance that it's from a certain person who gifted them with a pair of flying shoes.

From his pocket Ares took out a ski cap-the kind bank robbers wear-and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet.

"The helm of darkness," Grover gasped.

"Exactly," Ares said. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going."

"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.

Ares shrugged. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."

"You gave me the backpack in Denver," Percy said. "The master bolt was in there the whole time."

"Yes and no," Ares said. "It's probably too complicated for your little mortal brain to follow, but the backpack is the master bolt's sheath, just morphed a bit. The bolt is connected to it, sort of like that sword you got, kid. It always returns to your pocket, right?"

Percy wasn't sure how Ares knew about that, but a god of war had to make it his business to know about weapons, right?

"Anyway," Ares continued, "I tinkered with the magic a bit, so the bolt would only return to the sheath once you reached the Underworld. You get close to Hades.... Bingo, you got mail. If you died along the way-no loss. I still had the weapon."

"But why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" he asked. "Why send it to Hades?"

Ares got a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it was almost as if he were listening to another voice, deep inside his head. "Why didn't I ... yeah ... with that kind of firepower ..."

He held the trance for one second ... two seconds.... Percy exchanged nervous looks with Annabeth.

Ares's face cleared. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught red-handed, holding the thing."

"You're lying," he said. "Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"

"Of course it was!" Smoke drifted up from his sunglasses, as if they were about to catch fire.

"You didn't order the theft," Percy guessed. "Someone else sent a hero to steal the two items. Then, when Zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. But you didn't turn him over to Zeus. Something convinced you to let him go. You kept the items until another hero could come along and complete the delivery. That thing in the pit is ordering you around."

"I am the god of war! I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!"

"Who said anything about dreams?"

Ares looked agitated, but he tried to cover it with a smirk.

"Let's get back to the problem at hand, kid. You're alive. I can't have you taking that bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hardheaded idiots to listen to you. So I've got to kill you. Nothing personal."

He snapped his fingers. The sand exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half-Blood. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at him with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.

Percy stepped into the surf. "Fight me yourself, Ares."

He laughed, but Percy heard a little edge to his laughter ... an uneasiness. "You've only got one talent, kid, running away. You ran from the Chimera. You ran from the Underworld. You don't have what it takes."

"Scared?"

"In your adolescent dreams." But his sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. "No direct involvement. Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."

Annabeth said, "Percy, run!"

As the boar rushed towards him, Percy uncapped his pen and sidestepped. Riptide appeared in his hands. He slashed upward. The boar's severed right tusk fell at his feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea.

He shouted, "Wave!"

Immediately, a wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket. The beast squealed once in terror. Then it was gone, swallowed by the sea.

He turned back to Ares. "Are you going to fight me now?" Percy asked. "Or are you going to hide behind another pet?"

Ares's face was purple with rage. "Watch it, kid. I could turn you into-"

"A cockroach," I said. "Or a tapeworm. Yeah, I'm sure. That'd save you from getting your godly hide whipped, wouldn't it?"

Flames danced along the top of his glasses. "Oh, man, you are really asking to be smashed into a grease spot."

"If I lose, turn me into anything you want. Take the bolt. If I win, the helm and the bolt are mine and you have to go away."

"What are you saying?" Y/N said, panicking.

Ares sneered.

He swung the baseball bat off his shoulder. "How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"

Percy showed him his sword.

"That's cool, dead boy," Ares said. "Classic it is." The baseball bat changed into a huge, two-handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "Don't do this. He's a god."

"He's a coward," he told her.

She swallowed. "Wear this, at least. For luck."

She took off her necklace, with her five years' worth of camp beads and the ring from her father, and tied it around his neck.

"Reconciliation," she said. "Athena and Poseidon together."

Percy face felt a little warm, but he managed a smile. "Thanks."

"And take this," Grover said. He handed him a flattened tin can that he'd probably been saving in his pocket for a thousand miles. "The satyrs stand behind you."

"Grover ... I don't know what to say."

He patted him on the shoulder. He stuffed the tin can in his back pocket.

Y/N silently walked to him and looked at his face. She took his hand and held it for a moment. She was checking on his health and his heart...was racing. "Look, I don't have anything but.." she took off her necklace that Harris offered her, "I'm sure they would all stand by you." She tied it around his neck and said, "Come back in one piece and you'll get to hear me sing."

Percy's face brightened momentarily. His heart started calming down. "Thank you, Y/N...for always being there. I know we just met but I mean it."

"You all done saying good-bye?" Ares came toward him, his black leather duster trailing behind him, his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, kid. My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have you got?"

[ TIME SKIP ]

Police cars were burning behind them. The crowd of spectators had fled. Annabeth, Y/N and Grover stood on the beach, in shock, watching the water flood back around Ares's feet, his glowing golden ichor dissipating in the tide.

Ares lowered his sword.

"You have made an enemy, godling," he told me. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware."

His body began to glow.

'''Percy!" Annabeth shouted. "Don't watch!"

He turned away as the god Ares revealed his true immortal form.

The light died.

When he looked back. Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal Hades's bronze helm of darkness. Percy picked it up and walked toward his friends.

But before he got there, he heard the flapping of leathery wings. Three evil-looking grandmothers with lace hats and fiery whips drifted down from the sky and landed in front of them.

The middle Fury, the one who had been Mrs. Dodds, stepped forward. Her fangs were bared, but for once she didn't look threatening. She looked more disappointed, as if she'd been planning to have him for supper, but had decided he might give her indigestion.

"We saw the whole thing," she hissed. "So ... it truly was not you?"

Percy tossed her the helmet, which she caught in surprise. "Return that to Lord Hades," he said. "Tell him the truth. Tell him to call off the war."

She hesitated, then ran a forked tongue over her green, leathery lips. "Live well, Percy Jackson. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again ..."

She cackled, savoring the idea. Then she and her sisters rose on their bats' wings, fluttered into the smoke-filled sky, and disappeared.

"That's a weird way to say I wish you growth and flourishment in life," Y/N chuckled.

They were all staring at Percy in amazement.

"Percy ..." Grover said. "That was so incredibly ..."

"Terrifying," said Annabeth.

"Cool!" Grover corrected.

Percy didn't feel terrified. He certainly didn't feel cool. He was tired and sore and completely drained of energy. "Did you guys feel that... whatever it was?" He asked.

They nodded uneasily. "Must've been the Furies overhead," Grover said.

But Percy wasn't so sure. Something had stopped Ares from killing him, and whatever could do that was a lot stronger than the Furies. He looked at Annabeth, and an understanding passed between them. Percy knew now what was in that pit, what had spoken from the entrance of Tartarus.

He reclaimed his backpack from Grover and looked inside. The master bolt was still there. Such a small thing to almost cause World War III.

"We have to get back to New York," he said. "By tonight."

"That's impossible," Annabeth said, "unless we-"

"Fly," he agreed.

She stared at him. "Fly, like, in an airplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?"

"Yeah," he said. "Pretty much exactly like that. Come on."

"Word travels fast, and I think the gods know by know what went on," Y/N said.

Percy turned to her and smiled weakly, handing her back the necklace, "Don't forget your promise."

"I won't," Y/N said wearing it, "But for now, give me your hand."

"Wh-what?" Percy blushed a bit, looking momentarily at Annabeth's direction. He didn't want her to misunderstand whatever Y/N was planning on. Annabeth on the other hand was looking at her best friend with a smile, but...a concerning smile.

"I'm not taking it fully, it will be evenly distributed. Don't worry," Y/N said, smiling at Annabeth. She knew that she would be worried for her. Grover didn't have much idea of how far Y/N has learned but Annabeth did.

"Can you tell me what you guys are talking about?"

"Geez calm down Percy," Y/N chuckled, "I'm not asking for your hand in marriage."

Percy blushed and quickly held out his hand. Y/N took it for a moment and stayed quiet. She checked on his organs and it was all fine. He was okay, but his energy was...low. She smiled and closed her eyes.

He could feel something at that moment. Like a connection has formed, and he felt light...a bit better and stronger than before. Ofcourse, he still felt tired but it was a lot less now.

Y/N opened her eyes and asked, "How do you feel?"

"Better. Thanks,"

He tried removing his hand but she gripped it tight and said, "We are gonna have to walk like this till we reach Olympus." He looked at his friend, who was looking away at Grover. He gripped her hand with a smile and saw a blush form on her face. Grover had a strange look on his face. If it was some other time, he would've never thought of holding her hand and smile, but he was too tired to think about that. He just thought about how he wanted to protect her, and he did.

"Uh...and in the mean time I...will sing to you," Y/N said quickly, "We should go."

"I was promised a solo performance," Percy said, chuckling.

"Not really," she smirked, "I said you can hear me sing. I didn't say it was going to be solo."

Suddenly, Percy felt his mood dip down for a moment. But then he decided that there was going to be time left for that argument.

"Come on grandpa," Y/N laughed, "Stop being grumpy. The police are walking at us. I guess there's a bigger audience now."