Percy Jackson: Daughter of Shadows

19. Ares Traps Me in His Was Helmet

The trip to Olympus was anything but pleasant. To make matters worse, Percy and I were already in danger due to being forbidden children, throw in Thalia's fear of heights and you have the worst flight experience imaginable. My pegasus, Gido, talked cheerfully inside my head. Apparently, Percy had told Blackjack and the other pegasi about my claiming and had instructed them to try to comfort me. "Hey, it's not that bad, kid! There are, er, benefits to being a child of Hades! For one, you have a great chance of not getting killed by a jealous woman? If that helps?"  "Thanks, Gido" Annabeth seemed to think that this was sweet, as she was smiling at Percy, talking about what to do. 

   We got to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building right before the meeting had started. Zeus sat at the head of the table; lightning reflected in his eyes. Poseidon sat next to him in an abalone chair, holding his trident. Hera sat next to her husband, smiling at Percy and Annabeth. Aphrodite and Ares sat next to each other. Hephaestus sat next to Ares, Dionysus on his other side. Demeter was next to Poseidon, on a throne of wheat. Athena was next to her father, looking dangerously wise. Hermes, Apollo, and Artemis sat on Demeter's right. Hermes was on his phone, Apollo had iPods in, and Artemis looked nervous.  "Welcome, heroes-" "Artemis, that's enough of the formalities" Zeus said, his bolt lying on the table. "We all know why we're here" "The meeting?" Hermes said. "No, the girl" He pointed at me. "A forbidden child has been claimed. I vote we kill her where she stands" Poseidon rose from his seat, angry. "Have you gone mad? Why do you wish to kill the girl?" "She is Hades daughter; she was born against our oath-" "Which you have already broken! What is your problem? She has saved our children numerous times-" "She got lucky! She couldn't even save her own mother; how do we know tha-" 

    THUNK. My sword stuck out of Zeus's chest. I climbed onto the marble table, all of Olympus getting colder and darker. I yanked my sword out of Zeus's chest, tearing out his heart. Zeus burned away in a flash of lightning. The Master Bolt vibrated on the table and flew to my hand. Just then, a large helmet slammed on top of me. "Hephaestus, seal it!" Ares yelled, covering the hole. "What?" Hephaestus exclaimed, his brace clinking. "Seal my helmet shut! Or do you want to have a massacre?" Heat filled the helmet, the hole sealing shut. "Get the bottom too" I was trapped inside Ares war helmet. "Ares, why are you avoiding a massacre? I thought you enjoyed stupid acts of violence" Athena said. "Athena, if I let her out, we will all die" The entire throne room was silent. "Ares, why do you assume-" "Apollo, you tried to propose to Lilly, and when she turned you down and you tried to curse her, you couldn't tell prophecies for a week. When I first met her, she stabbed me five hundred times. When I met her again, she beat the hell out of me. The time after that, she killed me. And then she killed me again the next time we met. And now she's killed Zeus. Please use your brain" "Why? You don't use yours" Athena snarked. "Athena, you are the goddess of wisdom! Catch on! When a demigod kills a god, they get the gods domain, title, weapon, and powers. As of right now, Lilly Black is the Queen of the Gods, Goddess of the Heavens and Sky, and is in possession of the Master Bolt. Along with her original powers, she could make Olympus burn and destroy Kronos in seconds flat" "Um, Ares?" Percy asked. "What?" "Why are you preventing her from killing everyone here though?" Ares sighed. "As much as I enjoy murder and bloodshed, Lilly doesn't need to do that. Or have you not noticed that her hair is white, her energy and magic is completely spent, and the only thing driving her now is rage and sadness?" Ares knocked on the helmet. "Kid, if you promise not to go on a killing spree, I'll let you out" "Fine" He tore apart the helmet and set it on the ground. "Let me bring back Zeus before I go." 

  I brought Zeus back with a little help from Apollo. Thankfully, it was not a haiku about himself. Zeus appeared in his throne, a little dazed but mostly fine. "What did you-" "Shut up and listen. All of you" All of the gods fell silent. "You can say whatever the hell you want about me and my dad, I don't care, I hate him. But if you hurt my friends or get in my way-" My sword hung at my side, still dripping with Zeus's ichor. "Olympus will burn, and Kronos will not be the threat you will worry about" I climbed off the table and tried to walk out of Olympus. 

   I fell to the ground the second I got off the table. Ares shrunk down and caught me in a damsel carry. He set me down and turned to the gods. "I'm going to take her back to Camp Half-Blood, you all handle this, I'll be back with her in a bit" He grabbed my shoulder and Olympus disappeared behind us. 

  We arrived in my cabin; it had gotten incredibly dusty in two weeks. Ares set me down on the couch and handed me a thermos. "Don't worry, it's not poison. Try it, Aphrodite's special blend" I took a sip. "Thanks" Another thermos shimmered and appeared in Ares hand. "So, daughter of Hades, huh?" I nodded. "Well, you could do worse" "How?" "You could be like me, little cousin, and have Zeus for a father" "Touche" Ares laughed. He took a swig of his drink. "Want some?" "What is it, exactly?" "Eh, coffee and whiskey" "No thank you, I'll stick to my hot chocolate" "Whatever, your loss" "Yeah, my loss" He snickered and grinned. He looked into his thermos. "How you feel though?" I swirled the drink around. "Crappy? I don't know" "I think you do" "Why do you care?" Ares pulled off his shades. For once, his eyes weren't empty sockets with flames. He had bright red irises, along with a few tattoos. "Let's just say, I'm trying to fix my relationship with my kids, especially my daughters" "I'm sorry, what now?" Ares turned to me. "Kid, do you know what my first thought was when Eros and Harmonia were born?" "No" "My first thought, was that I wouldn't be my father. I didn't want to be like Zeus, showing favoritism, not giving a dam about my other kids, punishing them unfairly, the stuff I had to deal with. I can go ahead and say I failed in that department" He took another swig of the whiskey-coffee. "What you said to me in summer made me remember that. The words that Clarisse carved into my spear helped too" I snorted. "Sorry about that" "Nah, don't worry about it. My twin sister likes you; I couldn't hurt you if I tried" I spat out my drink. "I'm sorry, your sister?" "Twin, Lilly. Get it right," said someone. A tall tan woman came out of the hallway. She had red eyes like Ares, with a half-shaved head and piercings. She wore a leather jacket like Thalia's with activist pins, a white tank top, denim jeans, and combat boots. "Pleasure to meet you, Lilly. I'm Enyo, Goddess of Chaos and Discord. Also your patron goddess" "I'm sorry, my what now?" "Patron goddess. Ares, did you explain nothing to her?" "I was getting there!" "Hurry up!" Enyo sighed and sat down in a rocking chair. "So, daughter of Hades, ey? I happen to prefer him over my other relatives. Nothing to do with your feelings, of course" "Yeah, thanks for the clarification-" "Oh, look at the time!" Ares exclaimed, standing up. "We need to get to Olympus now." Enyo groaned. "Do we have to?" "You don't have to come" "I'm coming, you big jerk" "Mhm" Ares patted my shoulder. "I apologize for what you're about to see. Welcome to your first Olympus party."