FOTIA - percy jackson

𝟎𝟏𝟔; what happens in vegas, stays in vegas

He glimpsed at Loralai, who was staring at the diner, which only had a couple of customers now.

The waitress who'd served them dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt them. She dragged the cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of them.

Great, Loralai thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow. Percy swiftly caught onto what was happening, frowning as he imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAWS BEAT UP DEFENSELESS BIKER.

"You owe me one more thing," Percy told Ares, trying to keep his voice level. "You promised me information about my mother."

The war god got onto his motorcycle. "You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started the bike then declared, "She's not dead." The ground seemed to spin beneath Percy as his eyes glittered with hope. Loralai bit her lip, Percy definitely couldn't handle that, even if he thought he could.

"What do you mean?" Percy's question came out smaller and more high-pitched than he intended. "I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur right before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept," Ares reiterated.

"Kept. Why?"

Chuckling, Ares said, "You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else." Percy puffed out his chest. "Nobody's controlling me." The god laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."

Percy balled his fists, Loralai could tell he was about to say something stupid. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares," he said, "for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. Percy felt a hot wind breeze his hair. This fire wasn't like Loralai's. It was filled with rage, power, and fear. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."

He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.

Loralai pursed her lips nervously. "Now Mr. Harley Dick-inson is gonna make our quest even harder," she muttered. "Good one, seaweed brain." Percy tossed his arms in the air. "I don't care, lava." She made a face at the nickname, he hadn't used it in awhile.

Annabeth backed up her best friend, "You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god."

"Hey, guys," Grover spoke up. "I hate to interrupt, but..."

He pointed a finger towards the diner. At the cash register, the last two customers were paying their bill, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.

"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover told them, "we need to hurry."

Nobody liked it, but they had no better option. Besides, they'd seen enough of Denver. The mountains were beautiful, but their water parks suck. The group ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big lorry, closing the doors behind them.

The first thing that hit Loralai was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter. The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped Anaklusmos.

Loralai wanted to make fire sprout from her hands or something for an alternate light source, but she figured she wasn't exactly in the right mindset to do so. She'd have to work on controlling it when she got back to camp... and... her cabin! How could she forget? Caliz would be in her cabin, she'd finally have space and an outlet to figure out her strengths and weaknesses.

She imagined the distraught on Oliver's face when he figured out that he lost the bet. For a moment, she wanted to IM them right then and there, but that kind of thing... she'd need to see it in person. She smiled just thinking about it.