chapter VII

🫧  Percy was used to anger.

He was more used to it than anything else, he knew that for a fact. He knew that he probably felt it too much for a kid with the amount of issues he had, but it's not like it was a switch in his mind he could just turn off. He was used to anger because he was used to dealing with bullies and putting up with people laughing at him as he tried to do something which should've come naturally.

But no share of anger he'd ever directed at bullies like Smelly Gabe, Clarisse or Nancy Bobofit could compare to how angry he felt at Ares. He hated being tricked and laughed at almost more than he hated being outwardly punched. It messed with his head.

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

"You knew it was a trap," Even just looking at Ares made his blood boil.

Ares gave him a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple
of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

He shoved his shield at him. "You're a jerk."

Daphne, Annabeth and Grover all caught their breath simultaneously.

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: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

"You're kidding." Percy deadpanned.

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 him.

Daphne peeked over his shoulder as he unzipped it. 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. Yummy.

Percy shook with anger. "I don't want your lousy-"

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

Daphne looked back at the diner, which had only 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 fry 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, Daphne thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow.

She imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER WITH NEW DELINQUENT MEMBER OF HIS GANG.

"You owe me one more thing," Percy told Ares before he could leave. It was obvious he was trying to keep his voice level. "You promised me information about my mother."

Daphne suddenly felt like she was interrupting a moment she shouldn't be. She didn't have time to ask him how his mom fit into all of this, but she didn't want to bring it up in case it was sensitive. And with the way his hands were shaking into fists, she knew she'd made the right choice.

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

The ground seemed to spin beneath him. "What? What the hell 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."

Minotaur? Daphnes head spun. Shower of gold? She had a lot to ask about. They had spent too much of their time on the Amtrak train talking about what Camp Half-Blood was like and how they managed to reach it that she hadn't dreamed about asking about Percy.

She felt selfish, guiltiness creeping up her throat. She'd only found out that Percy was the son of Poseidon after he'd plummeted into the ocean. She hadn't considered asking what lead him to the quest, too enamoured with discovering who her friends were again.

She promised herself that she'd take the time to learn about him, too. Maybe if they survived their quest, they could have a nice picnic.

"Kept. Why?"

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

"Nobody's controlling me." he insisted.

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

Percy balled up his fists and Daphne caught her breath, waiting for what he was going to say next. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. Even from beside Percy, Daphne felt a hot wind in her hair. "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.

Annabeth shook her head, "That wasn't smart, Percy."

"I don't care." he snapped. Daphne noticed that when he got angry, his ears turned red and his eyes somehow turned the darkest green she'd ever seen. Like the ocean at night, furious from the shore to the sky.

"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god." Annabeth said nervously.

"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..."

He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, 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."

Daphne wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. He so did this on purpose. How hard would it've been to wave his big hand and summon a bus?"

They ran across the street (after looking both ways to avoid the traffic, of course) and climbed in the back of the big rig, Annabeth closing the doors behind them.

The first thing that hit her was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter, and Daphne had a terrible sensitivity for terrible smells. She groaned and pulled her shirt over her nose, hoping that she hadn't stood in anything gross.

The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped his sword. The blade cast a faint bronze light over them, and Daphnes shirt fell down from her nose as she gaped at the sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals shed ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing she'd never learned the name of.

Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!

Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Daphne murmured. Tears came to her eyes and she almost burst into sobs looking at the horrible sight. She'd had the strongest sense of empathy that Annabeth had ever seen in a person, and she'd met the Aphrodite cabin. "Oh, my gods..."

"This is kindness?" Grover shook with anger. He was usually so calm, but being a satyr, this would've struck deep. "Humane zoo transport?"

He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, but just then the trucks engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and they were forced to sit or fall down.

They huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Daphne sniffled, trying to look through their backpack for anything to help the animals to no avail. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but Percy pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving.

Daphne searched around the back of the truck and found a water jug, moving to refill their bowls. Percy then used his sword to drag the mismatched food out of their cages, giving the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope.

Grover calmed the antelope down while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but they decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around. Daphne told Grover to promise the animals they'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for night.

Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened the bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one halfheartedly. Daphne tried to eat some, but could only stomach licking the cream.

"Hey," Annabeth started out of the silence. "I'm...sorry for freaking out back at the water park."

"It's not your fault." Daphne immediately replied, the comforting tone of understanding which she usually carried soft in her voice. "You don't have to apologize."

"It's just..." She shuddered. "Spiders."

"Because of the Arachne story," Percy guessed. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom
to a weaving contest, right?"

Annabeth nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things so much."

"We're a team, remember?" Percy said. "Besides, Daphne was awesome when she managed to keep them away from both of us. And Grover did the fancy flying."

Daphne thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" it made the rest of them laugh sleepily, like somebody had whispered a joke at a sleepover.

Annabeth pulled apart an Oreo and handed Daphne and Percy half, giving Daphne the one with the more cream. "In the Iris message ... did Luke really say nothing?"

Percy hesitated before he answered, as though he didn't want to cause a rift. "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree, and nobody would get lost in the woods."

In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions. But Percy saw Daphne shiver, as though this was a topic she was hoping wouldn't have come up.

Grover let out a mournful bray.

"I should've told you the truth from the beginning." his voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along."

"You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus."

He nodded glumly.

"And the other three half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp and the one who got lost..." Percy looked from Daphne to Annabeth. "That was you and Daphne, wasn't it? And Luke?"

Percy knew that Annabeth had made it to camp with Luke. He hadn't been told about Thalia, but he'd figured it out a while ago. It was hard not to.

She put down her Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia and Daphne were twelve, Luke was fourteen. They'd all run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were... amazing monster-fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us."

Daphne sniffled. Instead of grabbing hold of her hand, Annabeth sighed and rest her head against Daphnes arm.

"I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," Grover said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Daphne and Annabeth by themselves. I thought ... I thought I could lead all of them to safety. And then..." he broke off, looking at Daphne for help.

"A pack of hellhounds." she supplied. Under the bronze light of Percys sword, the bags under her eyes seemed deeper than ever. "They were supposed to drag us all down. We were fighting them, but...it was never going to work out."

"That's when you saved them." Percy realized."You told them to run."

"I knew I wouldn't be able to kill all the hounds." Daphne recounted with a scared sort of nostalgia. "I just needed to hold them off for a second, so Grover could find the satyr path again. They all wanted to stay back with me, but Luke and Thalia knew it had to be done. Grover had to get Thalia to camp, and Luke was always a better fighter. He had to drag Annabeth away from me."

"But you survived."

"I didn't expect to." she admitted."Would've died from the scratches anyway, if Medusa hadn't found me. I think...inside the statue, my wounds healed somehow."

Somehow, Percy knew she was right. Daphne had scars on her arms and blood matting her hair and skin, but other than a few deep remaining cuts, she was healed. Hellhounds did more damage than that.

"It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us." Grover whimpered."I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp after what happened to Daphne, and I took some wrong turns. Without her, it - I was thrown off. If I'd just been a little quicker ..."

"Stop it," Annabeth shook her head painfully. To stop his self degrading comments or stop the conversation as a whole, Percy couldn't tell. "No one blames you. Daphne doesn't blame you, and Thalia didn't blame you either."

"She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably, "Like Daphne did. Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."

"Because you wouldn't leave three other half-bloods behind?" Percy asked incredulously. "That's not fair."

"Percy's right," Annabeth agreed. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. Because if it weren't for you, Daphne and Thalia wouldn't have survived so long. We don't care what the council says."

Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy. And it's just Daphne's luck that I had to drag her down with me."

"You're not lame," Daphne insisted, ignoring the implication that she wasn't a powerful half-blood. She didn't disagree - she had no visible powers but her horrible luck. Monsters could smell her a mile away, usually. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met, Grover. But better than that, you have compassion. We needed that to survive as long as we did."

"Yeah," Percy nodded. "It's not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."

Daphne heard a deep, satisfied sigh and waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, she realized he'd fallen sleep.

"How does he do that?" Percy marveled. Daphne gazed at him through the bronze light. She hadn't met anyone quite like him before. He was angry and stressed and frightened, but kinder than he knew.

"I don't know," Annabeth whispered. "But that was really a nice thing you told him."

"I meant it."

If Daphne valued anything, it was genuine kindness.

They rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at Daphne hopefully. Her heart ached as she had to resist the urge to reach into the cage and pet his dirty mane. The turnips beneath her were uncomfortable.

Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts. Daphne studied the different beads with a sad kind of jealousy.

"That pine-tree bead," Percy finally said. "Is that from your first year?"

She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing.

"Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress- now that was a weird summer..."

"I can't believe I missed it." Daphne whispered mournfully. "All those summers...all those memories."

"You'll make more." Annabeth promised fiercely. "When we get you to camp, it'll be like no time passed."

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Anyway, I bet those other years aren't as cracked up as they seemed to be. What do you think they'll put on it this year when we get back?"

Daphne grinned at the idea of getting her first bead. "Maybe I'll tell everyone about you going back on your bet about the jellybean. If they put it on the bead, you'll never get to forget."

Was it her, or was the bumpy truck suddenly becoming more comforting than annoying? She snuggled down into the turnips, resting her head on top of Annabeths.

"That doesn't count." Percy complained. "You didn't guess, you saw. It's an unfair bet."

"Annabeth?" Daphne asked sleepily.

"Do you seriously have to ask me what side I'm on?" she smiled. "You should've just given her the jellybean, Percy."

"I'll get that jellybean." Daphne muttered. Seconds later, she was asleep.

Maybe it had something to do with snuggling into Annabeths hair, but Daphne didn't have any nightmares that night. Instead, she was almost relaxed in her dream. She was sipping a warm drink while sitting on one of those skiing trams, peacefully looking over the side at the people below.

She had no idea why. Daphne hated the cold, and she'd never really desired to go ice skating. Although there was a light drizzle of snow around her, she didn't feel cold. If anything, she was actually quite toasty. The drink in her hand was a little stale, but it was better than nightmares about Medusa's eyes, she supposed.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Daphne jumped and dropped her drink, but because it was a dream, it just floated in the air before her. She turned to the person who had interrupted her peace in annoyance, who was sitting beside her on the skating tram.

It was a woman, and even beneath her multiple scarves and large skiing glasses Daphne could tell she was beautiful. Daphne blinked at her. Somehow, she managed to make it look stylish. Her coat was form hugging and a lovely baby blue. Golden hair was tied into two plaits behind her, with pretty matching ribbons tied at the bottom of each - but if she tried to focus on the colour of her hair too much, it would shift between all sorts of browns and reds. "Uh, yeah, I guess. If you like skiing."

"Do you?" the woman pressed her.

"Not really," she said honestly. She didn't see any reason to lie to this woman. If she was in her dreams and hadn't killed her yet, she didn't think she would be a threat to her. Unless she was the goddess of skiing. "I prefer springtime over the cold."

But the woman just smiled at her, and everything in Daphne felt warm. She suddenly knew that whenever this woman was smiling, the world was a good place. "What a lovely answer. I happen to love springtime, too."

Behind them on the ski tram, there was a couple arguing. One of the people must've dropped their ski poles, and his girlfriend was shouting at him about it.

The woman beside Daphne tutted. Daphne looked at her cluelessly and watched as a pink manicured hand swung out from beneath her stylish coat and made a swish sort of motion in the air. When Daphne looked back at the couple again, they were cuddling in quiet harmony. She thought she saw the girl whisper an apology, and her boyfriend kiss it away.

Daphne couldn't help it: she smiled.

The beautiful woman sighed in content. "Oh, yes. Yes, you'll do perfect for me, darling."

Daphne looked up at her in confusion. "Pardon?"

Her glossy lips stretched into a stellar smile. "I mean, you're perfect for my plans with you, sweetheart."

"Your plans with me?" she frowned. The woman sighed again, not in frustration, and Daphne felt a smooth sort of breeze overcoming her. It felt like rose petals were gracing her cheeks. Her sigh was almost soothing, almost comforting. Daphne found no reason to be afraid. She was sure that the woman's plans could be nothing but beautiful.

Beautiful, she realized. "Aphrodite!"

Aphrodite smiled gently. "Hello, my darling Daphne."

Daphne swung her legs on the ski lift. She didn't question why Aphrodite had known her name yet Ares hadn't even heard of her.

She hesitated for a second. "Are you my mom?"

"Oh, my dear," she laughed and Daphne heard church bells. "no, I'm afraid I'm not. But I am so much more than that."

Daphne slumped, a little saddened by it. Her first visit from a God and it wasn't her mother. But what the hell was she talking about?

"I'm confused." Daphne said miserably. It seemed like the only thing she was lately. "What are your plans, and - well, why am I alive? Does that have something to do with you?"

"All excellent questions." Aphrodite pursed her rosebud lips, gazing off into the distance. Daphne was wondering how high this ski lift was. "I'm afraid I cannot answer any of them, though. All in due time, I promise you, my mourning dove."

"Can you tell me what you are to me?" Daphne asked. She couldn't stop staring at the goddess, which she was obviously very smug about. Daphne wondered if there was glitter in her hair, or if it was just naturally that glossy and shiny. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Nobody would expect to see me here," Aphrodite beamed."It's far too...common, I suppose. The only hint of romance you have to squint for. And the cold - oh my, I much prefer the warmth of spring. And as for what I am to you..."

Aphrodite sighed, a perfect and pretty intake of breath which made the birds around them stare at her with awe. The bluebirds were humming a lovely tune to impress her, and the sun was surely refusing to set on her beauty as the moon tried to creepy into the sky to catch a glimpse of her. "My darling, there is so much you must learn. So much to discover and feel."

Aphrodite turned to Daphne with a blessed smile. "You will be one of my best, my darling. One day you will understand."

"Why is it your plans?" Daphne frowned, though Aphrodite could sense there was no hate behind her words. Just curiosity. "Why do you get to decide what happens to me?"

"You are owed to me," Aphrodite hummed, reaching forward and started plaiting Daphne's hair gently. Though her hair was so naturally curly she usually stopped people from touching it, Aphrodite's hands raked through it with skill sewn into her DNA. She didn't pull or tug, and it was almost comforting. "A gift, almost. Tribute. A dedication, perhaps."

Daphne blinked."Did my mom sell me?"

There it was again - that girlish laughter which sounded like the ring of blissful wedding bells. Although all logic told her it was a dream, Daphne was sure Aphrodite's perfume smelled like nutmeg. "Sell? Why, of course not, dove. Oh, so hard to explain. Such little time..."

"I can stay a bit longer." Daphne said hopefully, but her face was starting to droop.

Aphrodite shook her head. "You are to wake soon, dear." she looked at her with sympathy. "Mortals live too short of lives."

Daphne pretended like she didn't hear the last comment. "What was the point of this visit, Lady Aphrodite?"

Her lips crept into a delicate, lady-like smile. "I just wanted to be the first to catch a glimpse of my Story. My champion. You will put your namesake to shame, I am sure. You are my mourning dove, Daphne Everlark. Do not dwadle on why you still live. Try to enjoy it while you can, won't you?"

Daphne couldn't ask why, because as Aphrodite waved her hand once more, she was falling from the ski lift. A scream was ripping through her throat as she fell and saw Aphrodite checking her reflection in a small mirror. She was falling and falling and falling.

Until she woke up.

౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹ 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆
🌷🪷🌊

   ʚɞ   well, that's ONE mum option checked off the list. Does anybofy have any ideas of who she could be? (I promise you, you will never get it 🥰)

     ʚɞ   COMMENTS !!! Votes !!!! Praise 😼 AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY WALKER SCOBELL????

ʚɞ PS. Everything has a double meaning here. The colour of Aphrodite's ribbons, the colour of her hair - if you're upset that she doesn't have Percys' features, just wait! They just met, she isn't close enough to him yet.

guys this story is still based on the books but I couldn't NOT share this legendary photo??