UNFORGIVEN¹ PERCY JACKSON

015

Ares was walking towards them, fast, and the three walked behind Percy as he made his way over to Ares, his sword in hand.

Percy pointed his sword directly at Ares, "Single combat!" he yelled

Ares scoffed, "What?"

"What?" The three kids repeated, as they exchanged glances. There's no way he's this insane to challenge a god.

"One on one, but I set the terms. If I draw first blood, I keep the bolt and you surrender the helm." Percy said as Ares started to laugh, "Do you accept?"

Ares' laughter continued for a moment before he spoke, "I mean, it's your funeral kid." His face turned serious, wiping off his amusement, "Although, just to be clear, no funeral. Any trace of you leaves a trace of my plan, and we can't do that."

"It wasn't your plan, though, was it?" Percy shook his head, as he lowered Riptide slightly, "It was Kronos. It was his idea to frame Poseidon's kid, and steal Hades' helm, and Zeus' bolt to start a war."

Annabeth and Evelyn turned to Grover in confusion, "What?" Annabeth whispered.

Percy started taking small steps towards Ares, "is that where he got to you, too?" The three kids moved bit to the side, understanding what was coming. "Through your dreams?"

Ares' anger was rising. "Gods don't dream, little man." He raised his voice, "And no one tells the god of war how to start a fight." He yelled as a smile overtook his face. "And after you die... Say hi to your mommy for me."

Ares walked quickly towards Percy as the two charged at one another. Evelyn inhaled sharply as she watched the two clashed swords, and she reached for Annabeth's hand, squeezing it.

Evelyn watched every move of Percy; he dodged, he swung, he blocked, everything. Ares slashed his sword at Percy, but he dodged it as Ares threw Percy's sword out of the way, leaving him unarmed.

Ares gripped onto Percy's flannel, and flipped him onto the sand. Evelyn and Grover tried to step towards them but Annabeth stopped them, "Wait."

Percy tried to get up again but Ares kicked him straight into a puddle.

Evelyn noticed a big wave was starting to form, "I warned you," Percy spoke, pushing himself up. "If you're not careful, you'll find out..." Thunder rumbled as the wave grew bigger and bigger, "Who I am."

The wave grew in size as it reached Ares, completely drowning him and knocking him off his feet. The water retreated as Percy charged at Ares, the moment he stood up. The two began clashing swords again as Percy sliced Ares' calf. Gold blood, Ichor, spilled out of his wound as the three watching let out a sigh of relief, and they rushed over to Percy.

"You okay? You hurt?" Grover asked and Percy shook his head at both questions.

Annabeth smiled, "And you thought you were just a kid."

Evelyn hummed, "You did it." she gave him a small smile.

Suddenly Ares clapped loudly, as he stood up, "Yay! That was so cool." He used his sword to steady himself, "Wanna know what you really won today?" He started to glow gold, his true form coming out, "An enemy for life. Congrats."

"Don't look at his true form!" Grover shouted as all of them averted their eyes. They heard something like metal dropping onto the sand, as they turned their heads back. Hades' helm.

"It's Hades' helm." Evelyn said as she and Annabeth stepped forward with Annabeth picking it up from the ground.

Silence passed between them when Percy turned around, a cabin grabbing his attention as he began walking away from them to the cabin.

The other three stood still, before Evelyn walked after Percy, Annabeth and Grover right behind her.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Evelyn, Annabeth and Grover reached the front of the door, and they saw Percy already in the cabin. He wasn't alone in there, as Alecto was there as well.

They stepped in to go beside Percy, as they caught his words, "Hades sent you to retrieve it. That's been your quest all along."

Percy turned to Annabeth, and grabbed the helm out of her hands and placed it on the table. "What are you doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Living up to my end of the bargain." Percy answered, looking back at Alecto, "Tell Hades I expect him to do the same." he said as Alecto grabbed the helm, looking at it to make sure it's the real thing. "Please."

Alecto smiled, "Good luck on Olympus," She walked away from the kids and made her way to the door, "Perhaps there will still be a world left for your mother to return to." And with that, she left the four there.

"What does that mean, good luck on..." Grover trailed off, as the three realized what she meant, "Dude."

Annabeth shook her head, "No"

"I have to."

"What for?" Evelyn furrowed her brows, "The quest failed, and we missed the deadline. We can't-"

"This is bigger than the quest." Percy cut her off, "Before we set off, Chiron told me the last war on Olympus kicked off World War II down here. We have to get Zeus to call it off. Returning the bolt is the only way I can get his attention."

Grover shook his head, "Percy you don't want Zeus' attention."

"I gotta tell him about Kronos." Percy insisted, "Did you see how frightened Hades was about the idea of Kronos coming back? Zeus has to know. Bringing him the bolt might be enough to get him to listen. You three gotta go to camp. Now that we know who Ares and Clarisse were working for, someone has to warn Chiron."

"He'll kill you." Evelyn said, interrupting him, "You have to understand that. Whether it's because he still thinks you stole the bolt, or because you're a forbidden kid, Zeus' will not let you leave Olympus alive."

"I'm done running from monsters," Percy stated, looking Evelyn dead in the eye, "This is too important. I have to try."

Evelyn sighed, she knew there was no convincing him. She reached for her hand and took off her anemone ring. According to Aphrodite, it was her mortal mother's ring. It was her most cherished item; the only thing that connected Evelyn to both of her mothers.

She stepped closer to Percy, "Knowing you,"  she whispered to him and took his hand, "you're gonna need all the luck you can get." Evelyn slid the ring onto his middle finger, as Percy kept his eyes on her the whole time, even when she stepped back.

For a daughter of Aphrodite, it would be pretty dumb for her to not recognize her feelings for Percy. It seems she has gotten attached to him, just like how she was with Annabeth and Grover.

Grover spoke up, "Just for clarity, how sure are we you couldn't just explained everything in an email."

"Where's the glory in that?"

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

I can't believe its the final episode already :(