Percy's POV
We trekked back to the diner where Ares was waiting for us, leaning on his bike. I didn't even need to get close to him to be angry.
"Nice fight kid. You used my shield well." He said smugly. "You knew they were there, didn't you?" He barked out a laugh. "Maybe. Then again, maybe not. What's it matter? You came out just fine and you got a pretty cool souvenir." He pointed at my new snake ring. "You set us up." He shrugged. I huffed and tossed him the shield. He caught it and it turned into a black bullet proof vest. "Did you have fun, keeping what's rightfully mine from me?" Ares asked. "Did you enjoy watching us fight?" I shot back. "Damn right." He smirked. "Well, ya got your answer."
He grunted and snapped his finger. I could hear a latch undo itself and followed the sound to a truck with 'Kindness International' printed on the side of it.
"That's the ride?" I asked incredulously. "Don't be ungrateful brat." He snarled and tossed me a blue book bag. Inside was some nectar, ambrosia and double stuffed Oreos. He didn't even say anything after that. He just disappeared. "Are all the gods assholes?" I asked. "No, they're not and you shouldn't call any of them asshole." Annabeth said. "Let's just get in before the drivers come out." She said. I grumbled and pulled the doors open. Inside smelled like Gabe had turned into a pig.
Inside are three animals. An albino lion, a zebra and an antelope. A balloon string is tied to one of the antelopes antlers and there's gum stuck to the lion's mane. All the food is placed in the wrong cages too.
"Sheesh. So much for 'kindness'." I mumbled. I knew Grover was about ready to blow gasket, but not right now as I could see two men in 'Kindness International' uniforms coming out of the diner. I snatched the other two, tossed them into the back of the truck and jumped in myself before yanking the doors closed. The latch magically locked behind us. "What was that for?" Annabeth asked in annoyance. "The drivers were on their way. Needed to act fast." I shrugged. She huffed, but nodded in understanding.
"This is disgusting." Grover muttered in anger. I didn't say anything. I wanted to comfort him, but when he got like this it's better to just let him get it out his system. "Lord! M'lord." I frowned in confusion and looked at the zebra. "Are you talking to me?" I asked. Grover and Annabeth looked at me funny. "Yes! I knew it would work!" He exclaimed excitedly. "How the hell...." I muttered. "Well, zebras are pretty close to the horses. Since your father created horses, it makes sense you can understand them." Annabeth considered.
"Oh, that's cool. So uh, what'd you need?" I asked. "Please! You have to help us!" I frowned. "Grover, what can we do to help them?" I asked. "At this point. Nothing. We can't just open the door and let the out." He said. "Best we can do is give them the right food and wait for the truck to stop. I can send them home then." I nodded. "Welp, you heard the saytr." I shrugged sadly. The zebra whined sadly. We gave them the right food, I removed the gum from the lions mane, ignoring his snapping at me.
I then used my matter manipulation to make the air around us cleaner and turn the chains into extra food for them. Annabeth did a double take at that.
"Woah, woah. Since when could you do that?" She asked. "A while." I answered vaguely. "How long is 'a while'?" She pried. 'Sheesh, why is she so nosey?' I asked myself. "She seems to be a daughter of Athena. They always wanna know everything about everything. They feel like it's owed to them." The zebra answered. 'Didn't really expect a reply, but thanks I guess.' I said back. "Since before I met you. So don't worry about it." I said, trying not to sound rude. No doubt I did, but I'll just chalk that up to her being way too curious for her own good and not liking being denied information.
After a few hours, Grover and the animals fell asleep. Now it was just Annabeth and I awake. I doubt she could see in the darkness, but I could see everything as if I were still standing under the summer sun. I eyed the blonde, she was playing with her necklace that had some beads on it. There are five beads and a ring on it.
"Does the necklace mean anything?" I asked randomly. Annabeth jumped. "Jesus, I didn't know you were still awake." I huffed out a chuckle. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." I said. "Yes. They mean something." She answered. "Cool. Will I be getting one after this quest is done?" She nodded. "Yea. All campers get a necklace after a year of attending camp or after something major happens." She said.
"Oh. That's pretty cool." I said. My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket. It was Lola.
Hey baby. Heard you're in some trouble. Hope you're ok, come see me whe your done
😘😘
I'll be sure to see you when this is over. Keep your panties on in the mean time, yea? I don't need my mom looking at my messages and seeing your goods again.
I'll try baby~
You know how I get
Yes, I unfortunately do.
I then went on to a different chat. I still had a bunch of people to text back that I've been ignoring. Not intentionally, obviously. Just been pretty busy. Yet again, obviously. I decided to text Juliet, cause she's the most clingy.
Hey, babe. Sorry for no contact. Been a bit busy.
She didn't answer so I assumed she wasn't available. She is a pretty busy person with her cheerleading practice, Kung Fu lessons and killing zombies. She might be busy so I left her chat and moved on to Brielle.
Please tell me someone told you what I was doing.
Desperate? Yes, but even with all my powers Brielle is one scary bitch and her dad is worse.
Yo ass lucky they did.
Oh thank fuck.
Sorry for no contact, dealing with all powerful children is a bit nerve wracking.
Don't I fucking know it. Who's at home with ma?
Supposed to be M.J and Cat. Don't know if they left.
I'll be heading over there after I finish this job then. Catch ya later sexy.
Yea, don't kill Gabe. I wanna do that personally.
Can I hurt him?
Go nuts.
Luv ya
Back at'cha
Thank the gods she wasn't pissed.
"How'd you meet your girlfriends?" This time I jumped. I completely forgot Annabeth was awake. "For fucks sake, I thought you were asleep." She gave me a look. "Your phone buzzed and you started ignoring me." She said. "Oh. Sorry about that." I chuckled sheepishly, but it seemed like she didn't care. "So?" She pressed. I shrugged. "That's a lot of different stories. It depends on which one your talking about. Some kinda domino into each other and others are completely separate." I responded.
"Just pick one." She said. I shrugged. "Um, Eva's meeting is pretty normal. Met her at school after I had all my powers. She wants to be a witch and believes in magic. I mean, obviously it's real, but she's more so going on the 'crazy people' side of it." I said. "She saw me using my vampire powers and wanted me to change her. Still wants me to." I said. "Vampires aren't real though." Annabeth stated. "Aren't that?" I asked. "No they're not." I raised an eyebrow. "Ya know, if you told me that the Greek gods were real about a year ago, I'd believe you. Wanna know why?" I asked. She nodded.
"Because I had already been through a bunch of stuff dealing with super powered beings. I have an open mind so there's nothing that can surprise me. Nothing that can catch me off guard. You should do the same."
