Percy's POV
The next day, Jun14, seven days before the solstice our train had almost reached Denver. And we were all stewing in our own thoughts.
We had managed to get seats in the far back of the train. And lucky for us there weren't any other passengers close by. Who knows what they would've done if they saw Y/n's unconscious body.
Grover was sitting in a seat to my left dozing off quietly with the occasional snort escaping his mouth. As soon as we had gotten on, he had been knocked out cold. The same couldn't be said for me.
I sat across from Y/n's unconscious form. Where we had laid him across a few seats so he could rest easier. We didn't know what to do with him or what was really going on, but we tried our best to make him comfortable. Annabeth stood next to me in my seat. Arms crossed as she gazed over at Y/n. A puzzling questioning look splayed across her face. She had asked me to recount my story. Maybe there was something I had missed something that could help us get Y/n back to full health. Or even just understand whatever was going on with him.
"I was protecting the other people from the Chimera. Putting myself between it and them. Doing my best to hold it off. And suddenly he was there." I continued, "Covered in shadows and darkness. It was like I could feel that raw power coming off of him. I've never seen him do anything like it."
Annabeth nodded.
"And you're sure you didn't see how he did it."
I shook my head.
"I wasn't paying attention. I just turned my head, and he was there. I don't know how he did it."
She nodded again. That same puzzling cold calculating expression washing over her as she turned back towards Y/n's body. Still cloaked in tendrils of darkness. Climbing up and down his skin sickeningly. Annabeth's cold expression never changed. It was really starting to annoy me. I could take her ridiculing me but the way she looked at Y/n angered me to know end.
"Do you have to do that?" I said sharply.
"What?"
"I mean you look at him like he's just some puzzle for you to solve." I said angrily, "Do you even see him as a person? Do you even realize that he really just almost died. Or are you too full of it to even care." It was a jaded comment, but I didn't really try to hide the edge in my tone.
"Of course, I care! What kind of a question is that?" She snapped back.
I let out a deep breath. "Sorry, that was a bit much."
I knew Annabeth wasn't that cold. I was just angry and downright flooded with worry for my friend. Taking it out on Annabeth was an easy way to vent. I might as well let it go and finish.
"Well anyways you know the rest." I spoke, "I got thrown out of the Arch landed in the river. Had the vision and made it back to you two. Y/n popped up next to us we ran to the train and here we are."
I turned back to her.
"Any of that help?"
My voice came out a bit more irritated than I wanted. I knew she was just trying to figure out what was happening. But I didn't see how retelling the story was going to help. I barely understood the Greek gods and half-bloods in general. But whatever was happening with Y/n was on a whole other lever of weird. Still though he was my friend. And if there was something I could do to help I would. Even if it meant working with Annabeth. Which probably wouldn't turn out well regardless of the situation.
But then again. She did say that our parents were able to work together at least once. And Y/n had said that he thought we would make a good team.
I looked back over at Annabeth. Hand held to her chin while deep in thought.
"Well, any ideas Sherlock?"
"I'm still not sure." She spoke. And I could clearly hear the irritation in her voice. Like she was on the verge of pushing a piece into place. But just couldn't make it fit. "It doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't make sense?"
She lowered her hand and pointed at Y/n across from us.
"Him." She said, "He doesn't make sense. His powers have to be linked to his godly parent. And whatever this shadowy tentacle stuff is has to be too. If I just could work out who they are. Maybe I could figure out a way to heal him."
I hated saying it. But Annabeth was definitely smarter than me. And sometimes it was hard to keep up with her.
"How would knowing his godly parent help you heal him?"
She looked over at me in annoyance.
"Think about it seaweed brain. You're a son of Poseidon. Therefore, you have a sped-up healing process in water. Most powerful half-bloods like you and Y/n have at least some minor healing factor like that."
I had never really considered that. I had only recently discovered my water born abilities. But I hadn't really thought about other demi-gods having a similar healing ability. Not many other campers seemed to have had one.
"If we knew who Y/n's parent is. Maybe we could aid the healing process. Speed it up. Like you with the water."
At least I was able to follow everything she had said so far.
"Okay so we just need to figure out who his parent is right?"
I looked over at her expectantly.
"So, who is it?"
A frustrated irritated look washed over her.
"I don't know okay! I've been thinking about it every way possible, and nothing makes sense to me. He doesn't make sense to me!"
Her voice rose as she grew more irritated. Clearly, she had spent many frustrated hours trying to figure this out. The anger on her face almost made me want to turn and high tail it to the next train car over.
"Calm down. Calm down. You don't need to get so worked up about it." I said. But apparently that was the wrong thing for me to say. Annabeth quickly responding back at me in anger.
"I'm perfectly calm!"
She snapped as she clenched her fists. I backed up slightly as I held up my hands in defense.
"Yeah, yeah I can see that. Just take a deep breath. And we'll figure it out. Just chill."
She sat back down on the seat next to me. Grunting in exasperation as she unclenched her bared fists. I continued hesitantly.
"You really don't have any ideas?"
She sighed. The anger slowly leaving her voice as she seemed to calm down a bit.
"I have a few. But not many good ones. After Aunty Em's before we came to the Arch I talked with him about it. He said he never knew his mom or who she was. And didn't really have a desire to seek her out." She continued. "But I still presented him with a few of my ideas."
I looked over now intrigued to see where she was going.
"We already decided that it couldn't be any of the five main goddesses. But Demeter still remains a very viable option. But his dark tentacle magic kind of throws a wrench in that conclusion any way's."
I nodded.
"I thought maybe a minor nature goddess. But he's too powerful for that to be true. And again, his shadow magic whatever it's called doesn't help that idea." She explained. "Speaking of which. After you told us about what happened. I turned to possibly Thanatos or Hades. Both gods of death and darkness. Which do fit. I mean just look at him." She gestured over to Y/n.
And I felt inclined to agree. Just from here it was like I could feel the lifelessness the emptiness radiating off of him. It was like his body was devoid of any light or life. It was chilling how still he looked. I shook my head as Annabeth continued.
"But Y/n's father was mortal so neither of them work either." She sighed. "Recently I branched out to other immortal beings. The Titans were the first to come to mind."
"Titans?" I asked.
The name sounded familiar. I remembered Mr. Brunor I mean Chiron mentioning something about them in one of his Latin classes.
"Come on Percy. Try and keep up here." she said. "The Titans were the original immortals. Before the gods the Titans reigned over the earth. Well until Zeus dethroned his father Kronos but that's a story for another time."
That voice from the pit filled my mind. I had only ever heard it in dreams. But its memory was brought back to me. I tried to refocus as Annabeth continued.
"Well anyways. There aren't really any Titans of directly nature. But there are a few that could work with the dark side of Y/n. Moros for example was a titan of doom and death. But again Y/n's father was mortal."
I nodded.
"Anyhow there aren't really any Titans that fit Y/n. Besides there all tied up in their own prisons or too faded to have kids. So, the possibility of a demi-titan is pretty low." She continued. "And then there's possibilities beyond that. It's almost impossible but I decided to consider them.
I turned back towards her.
"Who?"
"The Primordial's. The very first beings to ever come into existence."
I felt a shiver run up my back as she said it. Just saying that name made the room fill with an air of power and darkness.
"It's near impossible that they would ever have a half-blood child, but I still thought about it. Concerning Y/n's nature and plant side I immediately went to Gaia. The primordial goddesses of the earth. Which fits well for obvious reasons. But that doesn't help with the death shadow magic side of him. So, I thought of Nyx the primordial goddess of night. Which I think could definitely work with that side of him. But once again neither fit both categories." she sighed. "And after that I ran out of ideas."
I nodded as I opened my mouth to respond.
"Well that just seemed like a long-winded way of saying you have no idea who it is."
Annabeth turned back towards me with renewed frustration flooding her face.
"Not helping." She said through gritted teeth.
I put my hands up defensively.
"Hey, it's not like I have any more of an idea than you. I only barely understood everything you just told me."
Annabeth rubbed her face in exhaustion. The weariness and the fatigue slowly getting to her.
"It doesn't make sense. It's like there's two sides of Y/n. Both facilitating their power over him. But no matter what I think. Of theirs no being in the entire Greek pantheon that works. Nothing fits. And I don't get what's going on." She sighed. "I'm missing something. And whatever it is I swear I'm gonna find it!"
I sighed. No matter how smart Annabeth was she wasn't going to solve this. At least not yet. Not until she found what this "thing" was she said she was missing.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. We'll figure it out eventually." I said, "Besides whatever that shadow stuff is around him seems to be working. His wounds have already started closing up." I was trying to sound upbeat and positive to cheer Annabeth up. I couldn't tell if it worked but she nodded so I took that as confirmation that I had at least succeeded a little.
"We should probably get some rest then. It won't be long before we make it into the city." She said.
I nodded but neither of us moved to get comfortable. It seemed we both didn't feel like resting. So as the train continued to roll forward. And Grover continued to snore, and Annabeth kept pondering to herself. I sat and watched the unconscious form of my friend. Shadows clawing up his skin burrowing into his wounds. It looked horrible. But whatever it was. It was keeping him alive. But that didn't stop the worry, fear, and concern from filling my body. He was my friend, and I wouldn't let him die. But even as those horrible negative emotions filled me. Through it all I couldn't help but feel a sense of curiosity. An intrigue at the mystery that was Y/n's lineage. Who could his parent be? What were we missing?
An hour later, our train rolled into Denver. And the first thing we did was buy a body bag. Well not actually.
We couldn't keep carrying around Y/n's unconscious body, so we managed to pool enough money to buy a hockey bag. It was pretty big, but it was still a tight fit. But it worked.
After that was taken care of Annabeth thought we should try and contact Chiron. It was my first time using an Iris message. But it didn't really work out. I got to talk with Luke though. Which cheered me up a bit to hear his encouragement.
Once we had finished, we were all feeling pretty hungry. And it wasn't long before we found ourselves sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around us, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas. The three of us all sat on one side of the booth and on the other we had laid out Y/n in the body bag-I mean hockey bag.
Finally, the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"
"Uh. We wanted to get some food please." Annabeth said.
"You kids have money to pay for it?"
Grover's lower lip quivered. I was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger.
I was trying to think up a sob story for the waitress when a rumble shook the whole building: a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb.
All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather-but leather that looked like . . . well, Caucasian human skin.
The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face I'd ever seen-handsome, I guess but wicked-with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. The weird thing was, I felt like I'd seen his face somewhere before.
As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"
The biker said, "It's on me." He slid into our booth on Y/n's side. Pushing the hockey bag back a bit.
He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"
He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around then marched back toward kitchen.
The biker looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades but bad feelings started boiling in my stomach. Anger, resentment, bitterness. I wanted to hit a wall. I wanted to pick a fight with somebody. Who did this guy think he was?
He gave me a wicked grin. "So you're old barnacle beards kid huh?"
I should've been surprised, or scared, but instead I felt like I was looking at my stepdad, Gabe. I wanted to rip the guy's head off. "What's it to you?"
"Percy this is-" Annabeth tried to say.
"S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am don't you, little cousin.
Then it struck me why this guy looked familiar. He had the same vicious sneer as some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood the ones from cabin five.
"You're Clarisse's dad," I said. "Ares, god of war."
Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."
"She was asking for it."
"Probably deserved. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? But I heard you were in town. So, I got a little proposition for you."
The waitress came back with heaping trays of food-cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes.
Ares handed her a few gold drachmas.
She looked nervously at the coins. "But these aren't . . ."
Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"
The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.
"You can't do that." I told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife."
Ares laughed. "Are you kidding? I love this county. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there." He looked down at the hockey bag next to him. Even now I could feel that sense of emptiness and lifelessness radiating off of Y/n. Ares chuckled to himself. As he looked down at him. "You might get hurt."
I glared back at him. An intense deathly stare.
"Do not touch him."
Grover and Annabeth looked between me and Ares nervously. But he merely turned back to me in amusement.
"Easy big guy. I didn't come here for him. Though I'm sure I'll be seeing him at Olympus very soon. The punk can't hide forever."
I didn't know what he was talking about. And I didn't really care I just wanted him out of here as fast as possible.
"Your proposition?" I offered.
"Oh yeah I need a favor from you."
"What favor could I do for a god?"
"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little . . . date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."
"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?"
The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter.
"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."
I wanted to punch this guy, but somehow, I knew he was waiting for that. Ares's power was causing my anger. He'd love it if I attacked. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"We're not interested," I said. "We've already got a quest."
Ares's fiery eyes made me see things I didn't want to see-blood and smoke and corpses on the battlefield. "I know all about your quest, punk. When that item was first stolen. Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful . . ." He licked his lips as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry. "Wel . . . if I couldn't find it, you go no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."
"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"
"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way you got me to thank for your little quest."
"Thanks," I grumbled.
"Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way, I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends."
"We're doing fine on our own."
"Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Not to mention your half dead friend over here." He chuckled again. "Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom."
"My mom?"
He grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."
"What interrupted your date?" I asked. "Something scare you off?"
Ares bared his teeth, but I'd seen his threatening look before on Clarisse. There was something false about it, almost like he was nervous.
"You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."
After that I must have fainted, or fallen into a trance, because when I opened my eyes again, Ares was gone. I might've thought the conversation had been a dream, but Annabeth and Grover's expressions told me otherwise.
"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good."
I stared out the window. The motorcycle had dissapeared.
Did Ares really know something about my mom, or was he just playing with me? Now that he was gone all the anger had drained out of me. I realized Ares must love to mess with people's emotions. That was his power-cranking up the passions so badly, they clouded your ability to think.
"It's probably some kind of trick," I said. "Forget Ares. Let's just go."
"We can't," Annabeth said. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent."
I looked down at my cheeseburger, which suddenly didn't seem so appetizing. "Why does he need us?"
"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."
"But this water park . . . he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"
Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other. Annabeth said, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."