Heliophile - Apollo

1.13| Ana Hates Ares Who Has A Very Different Definition Of Humane

The war god was waiting for them in the diner parking lot. "Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed."

"You knew it was a trap," Ana said.

Ares gave them all a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled black-smith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

Percy shoved his shield at him. "You're a jerk." Ana, Luke, and Grover caught their breath.

Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back. "See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."

The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which the demigods could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia:  KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS. Percy looked at the war god dead in the face and said, "You're kidding."

Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job." He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Percy.

Inside were fresh clothes for all of them, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.

Percy said, "I don't want your lousy—"

"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving Percy his best red alert warning look. "Thanks a lot."

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

"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."

Percy looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."

"Kept. Why?"

"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."

"Nobody's controlling me."

He laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."

Percy balled up his fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. The four demigods felt a hot wind in their hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back." He moved to start his bike and then turned to Ana "and you. Are you sure you don't want to trade Sunshine for me? I can do a lot better than him."

Ana glared at him as her anger was magnified by Apollo's snarl "not a chance in Tartarus." Ana nodded her agreement with the Sun god.

Ares revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street. Luke was gobsmacked as he registered what Ares had said. He turned to Ana "do we currently have to worry about a pissed-off sun god?"

"No," Ana spoke. "He was pissed but he's not one to go after demigods when he's pissed. He'll just make Ares's life very hard." 

Luke snorted because he believed Lord Apollo would have no problem doing that. He then looked to the sky "go ahead Lord Apollo, but send me the pictures." 

Apollo snorted in Ana's head "I like him." Ana smiled at that but was shaken out of her thoughts by Grover. 

"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..." He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their checks, 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 said, "we need to hurry."