𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 || 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘹 𝘰𝘤

xᴠɪ - ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇꜱ ᴀ ɢᴏᴅ (ᴀɴᴅ ᴡɪɴꜱ??)

——PERCY BATTLES A GOD (AND WINS??)

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT," annabeth said, "we went all that fucking way—"

"it was a trick." lilith replied defeatedly. she couldn't believe it either.

they were watching the burning city in front of them from the beach. a coast guard boat had picked them up not long ago, and somehow didn't ask or question why a group of pre-teens in street clothes (maybe the other three, not lilith though. she held onto her cute outfit tightly and was determined to make it back to camp with it—she didn't get many clothes that weren't bright orange) got out into the middle of the bay.

they just dropped the kids off at the santa monica peter with towels wrapped around them and water bottles that said I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD! then they just sped off. lilith figured it was to save other people considering the chaos going on around them.

everyone's clothing was sopping wet—yes, even percy. honestly, lilith didn't even know how he did it. she had always seen him with completely dry during the quest, so seeing his clothes and even his hair stick to his body made her a little uncomfortable.

percy broke the silence, "a trick worthy of athena."

"hey!" annabeth yelled, she looked tired. they all were.

"you don't get it do you?"

annabeth clenched her fist and stared at the floor, "yea. i get it."

lilith couldn't imagine how percy was feeling at the moment. he was tricked. used by the gods. that was enough to make lilith's blood boil if that were her. and not only that, but he had been teased with the sight of his mother right before her death (metamorphosis?).

"well, i don't!" grover yelled, stomping around, "would somebody—"

lilith turned to percy, "i'm sorry about your mom. i'm so sorry..."

percy didn't reply to her comment, tears in his eyes looked like they were going to form any second. he instead said, "the prophecy was right. 'you shall go west and face the god who has turned', but it wasn't hades. hades didn't want war among the big three. someone else pulled off the theft. someone stole zeus' master bolt, and hades' helm, and framed me because i'm poseidon's kid. poseidon will get blamed by both sides. by sundown today, there will be a three way war. and i'll have caused it."

grover looked mystified, "but who would be that sneaky? who would want war that bad?"

percy stopped in his tracks, staring at something down at the beach. his fists clenched by his sides, "gee, let me think."

the sight of his black leather jacket, his sunglasses, the new aluminum baseball bat propped on his shoulder made lilith's blood boil. the engine of his motorcycle hummed next to him, it's headlight turning the sand ahead red. the same shade as human blood.

"hey, kid," ares spoke, seeming genuinely pleased, "you were supposed to die."

"you tricked me." percy spat, "you stole the helm and the master bolt."

"well, now," ares grinned, "i didn't steal them personally. gods taking each others symbols of power—that's a big no-no. but you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands."

"who did you use? clarisse? she was there at the winter solstice."

the idea seemed to amuse ares, "doesn't matter. the point is, kid, you're impending 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—"