SERENDIPITY ~ A. Chase

xiv ~ Warpath's Dad Gets a Shower

"For all you know, it could've been Cassandra." Ares pointed out. Cassie was gonna kill him now. "But, 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' master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this . . ."

Ares took out a ski cap. All black like the ones criminals wore in movies. When he placed in on his motorcycle handle bar it transformed into a war helmet.

"The helm of darkness," Grover muttered.

"Exactly. 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 cried out.

Ares wasn't fazed. "Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say."

"You can watch your daughter's fist meet your face if you want." Cassie quipped ready to slap her dad.

Ares didn't say anything and almost looked regretful. Key word almost.

Percy pushed her back a little. He didn't want her getting involved and hurt.

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

"Yes and no. 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?" Ares clarified.

Percy didn't know how Ares knew that, but he was the war god. He had to know about weapons.

"Anyway, 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."

Cassie had to give it to her dad. It wasn't a terrible plan, but there was one problem.

"Wait, so you're bragging to us about doing all that. Getting the weapons and everything and you didn't think to keep them for yourself? Why send it to Hades? Why didn't your dumb butt come up with that." Cassie pointed out.

Annabeth wanted to slap her. Informing the god a better idea wasn't smart. And insulting them at the same time really wasn't helping.

Ares paused, as if someone was talking to him through a headset or maybe in his head. "Why didn't I . . . yeah . . . with that kind of firepower . . ."

He thought it over and Cassie scolded herself, sharing a nervous glance with Annabeth.

Finally, Ares shook whatever trance he was in off. "I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught red-handed, holding the thing."

Percy knew better. "You're lying. Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"

"Of course it was!" Smoke flooded out of his sunglasses, like his eyes had caught on fire.

"You didn't order the theft. 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." Cassie gapped in shock as Percy just revealed the entire conspiracy.

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

"We didn't say anything about dreams, dad." Cassie spoke, her tone laced with bitterness.