Blessings from Khaos

|As You Captured My Soul With Your Gaze|

The back door of the limo opened and Árēs stepped out with his sword already drawn.

"Not so fast now, are you, punk?" he could hear his brother saying.

"Ares," Perseus growled. Hermês made a mental note to have Kheirôn teach them how to use the proper enunciation of their names. Well, if they wanted to invoke their names then it would be best to properly pronounce them. It worked on Leaneíras occasionally, but for the most part, she'd been trying to avoid saying names because that makes them real and she was still holding onto her arguments of aliens.

"At ease, people." His brother said, snapping his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground. Hermês could feel his amusement. "This is a friendly meeting. Of course I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

Hermês bit back a snort. That was because Aphrodítē liked to deal with her own enemies. Father had done his best to try to keep her away from battle. They would never admit to being frightened or disturbed by what she was capable when she pushed to strike back with the full might of her power.

'Twas... awe inspiring in a rather disturbing manner.

He had never be able to look at crickets the same way again.

"What lady?" Thalia asked.

"Well, well. I heard you were back."

Hermês glanced out through the window just in time to see Árēs lower his sword and push Perseus away.

"Thalia, daughter of Ζεύς," Árēs mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."

"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in the car?"

Árēs smiled, enjoying the attention. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoë and Bianca. Considering the occasional arguments that Artemis and Aphrodítē got into on the occasion, well no. She wouldn't want to see them. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Árēs," Zoë said. Hermês snorted. As if she was being given a choice. He wondered if he was the one to say so would it change things? She was his aunt regardless of the fact that all of her siblings including his Mother turned their backs on her.

Hēraklēs was not even her khaos-mate and she broke all her vows to the Garden for him.

"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."

Árēs snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. "You were saying, goat boy?"

"Go on," Perseus told them, a bit nervously. "I'll handle this."

"You heard the boy," Árēs said, a mocking tone to his voice. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."

Hermês bit back a laugh before Árēs opened the door.

"Get inside, punk," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

Understatement.

Hermês tapped the divider, turning the window one way as the boy climbed in. Drew was sitting beside her Mother, glaring out the window with her arms crossed and a deep, petulant pout.

Percy peeked into the car and his jaw actually dropped.

Drew scoffed, rolling her eyes.

If Hermês tilted his head and squinted a bit, he could see the way that Aphrodítē's features shifted the longer that he looked at her.