CHAPTER NINE ━━ GASLIGHTING 𝟏𝟎𝟏 WITH THE GOD OF WAR

SHE FELT LIKE THERE WAS A TICKING TIME BOMB in her head as Eurydice, Grover and Annabeth watched from down below a helicopters circled the gateway arch Percy had just jumped off of. They had no idea whether or not he was still alive. They didn't even know if he had managed to jump into the water in time for Echidna and the Chimera to get to him. She felt the worry aching at her as she bite her nails out of habit.

There was smoke up above the gateway arch, and it was slightly destroyed from the fight with the monster and Echidna. She wasn't sure what had happened up there, but Percy wasn't anywhere in sight. And there was police and ambulances all around the place so the group, minus Percy had to stay behind as to not look suspicious. She ached to go and search for Percy, but that wasn't a smart decision right now.

Grover muttered nervously under the gaze of the there old ladies watching them out of the corner of their eyes. "They're looking at us." He sounded nervous. "What's wrong with that? They're just old ladies. Right?" Eurydice asked him in confusion. Grover sighed. "Well— they aren't just any old ladies Eurydice." He grimaced, trying to find a better way to explain this to her. The old ladies were watching them as they held sewing supplies in their hands. They stared right at the three of them intently, like they had done something to them personally.

It was a little creepy the way they stared at them, like they were waiting for something to happen. Annabeth and Grover shared a look. "Eurydice." Annabeth addressed the other girl. "Those are the fates." She paused significantly. "I'm sorry, the what?" She muttered in confusion. The old ladies stares intensified, continuing to wool their threads together aggressively. She faintly remembered a story her mom had told her.

A story about three women who represented the inescapable destiny of humanity, who personified birth, life and death. Those words were her mother's who had warned her of what roles the fates had played in every single greek hero's life. Orpheus had been warned by the fates not to go down to the Underworld, but he did it anyways. The fates controlled your destiny, and whether or not you would live or die.

She didn't realize that information was important until now. "You mean—" She stuttered. "The fates? Them?" Grover nodded. "Yes, the fates. The personifications of life and death itself." Eurydice swallowed. "And they're staring right at us." She could feel the fear built up in her stomach. Annabeth nodded. "Yeah." She muttered softly. "So we should probably get outta here, don't you think?" Grover asked as she stared out back at the ladies again.

They didn't look scary at all. Just judgemental and old. They didn't look like the three fates who would choose how you lived, and how you died. All according to their rules of destiny, what was supposed to mean. She still didn't understand why her mother had showed so much emphasis on them. But the fact they could choose how you lived out your destiny, if you lived or died happy or unhappy. It was a mortifying matter.

Grover looked down. trying to avoid the ladies eyes. Annabeth had a wounded look on her face as she glanced at the ladies nervously. They were sitting on a bench, just staring at them from behind the police caution tape. They had green, pink, and yellow colour schemes, wearing almost matching distinct outfits like they had just gotten back from old lady zumba. "Dude, they're looking right at us." Grover muttered, looking down at his feet. Annabeth breathed in shakily, not having heard him at first. "What?" She turned to him in confusion.

Eurydice winced, glancing at the other girl in worry. "Annabeth, are you sure you're okay?" She asked, her hand on her shoulder. The dark haired girl nodded slightly. "Yeah. yeah. I'm fine." She shook herself out of her haze. She frowned in worry for her, but she nodded. "Okay, I believe you." She said with a sigh. Annabeth finally looked away from the old women. "Come on, let's go find Percy." Grover winced. "Annabeth—"

Eurydice interrupted him. "He's alive. He has to be." Annabeth nodded in agreement. "She's right. He is." Grover didn't look like he believed them. "We know it." Annabeth muttered, her hand reaching out towards Eurydice. She took the other girl's hand gratefully and nodded. "We really do." Grover frowned but nodded. "Okay, let's go." He nodded as they got up to start searching for the missing piece in their group.

They ran out towards the pier leading out of the arch. They ignored the concerned looks of passersby. Adults pointed at them in confusion as police officers watched them rush by in suspicion. She hoped the Mist would properly do its job and lead the mortals into not thinking they were fugitives running away from the law or something like that. They took turns yelling out Percy's name as they walked down the road. "Percy!" Annabeth yelled as they ran down the railing near separating them from the river. "Percy!" Grover yelled, running behind them as they could hear helicopters flying in the distance.

Who knew unintentionally destroying the Gateway Arch in St. Louis would do a thing like this. They walked out further down the pier. "Percy! Where are you!" Eurydice screamed out for her best friend. "If you come back I'll give you all the blue candy I've got! I swear!" Grover stared at her in confusion. "You stash blue candy?" He asked. She nodded. "Among other things. Like my mom's sugar cookies." Grover's licked his lips. "Mm, rightfully. Those cookies are to die for." He smiled at the memory of her mom's cookies.

They reached the edge of the pier when they saw Percy. His hair was wet, and his clothing was entirely soaked in water. As he climbed up from the railing and jumped back onto the ground. She smiled in pure relief. "Percy." She muttered softly, almost in disbelief as he awkwardly waved at them. "Hi." He put his hand up and down, in an awkward hand wave that was just so him. She had never been so grateful to see his stupid face.

The group walked towards him slowly as he tried to defend himself against what he had done by at the monument. "Look, I'm sorry about shoving you in the stairwell. Even hearing myself say that sounds really bad. But- I just— I knew you'd never agree, and there wasn't enough time—" He started to ramble. She couldn't be more greatly to hear him rambling again. She'd hear him ramble for the rest of her life if it meant he'd still be here.  "And I'm really sorry for scaring you guys that wasn't cool—"

He was interrupted by the two girls running out to him and hugging him tightly. She could feel the blonde stiffen in surprise, before he relaxed in their arms. Annabeth's other arm not hugging Percy held Eurydice's hand tightly. No words were exchanged between the three of them for a moment. Grover cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, You're not as dead as we thought you'd be." Annabeth let go of Percy awkwardly, as Eurydice hit him in the arm.

Eurydice glared at the blonde slightly. "Never, ever. Ever. Scare us like that ever again, Perseus. I swear to all of the gods." She stated at him intensely. "We thought you died!" She hit his arm again. He grimaced in pain slightly, then he laughed. "Surprise." He grinned. "You're an idiot." She said fondly, hitting his arm softer this time. Grover turned to him in absolute confusion. "I always love a good reunion, but seriously. What happened?" He asked Percy in confusion.

Percy nodded. "Well, short version. We need to go to Santa Monica." She stared at him in confusion. "Santa Monica?" She was clearly lost. "What, like now?" Grover asked him in confusion. Percy nodded again. "My father's gonna meet me there. He's gonna help us." Eurydice sighed in relief. "Really?" Percy smiled slightly. "Yep, really." Grover winced. "Okay. uh. Just one problem with this plan." He said. "The police think that we crashed Amtrak train and then did that." He motioned back out towards the chaos back at the Gateway Arch.

There was now black smoke coming out from the tall circular building the satyr pointed at. "Th- The cops are after us?" Percy blinked. Grover nodded. "Yeah." Eurydice blanked out for a second. "That's... that's not good. Do you think it's gonna go on our permanent records?" She rambled slightly in confusion. "Oh my god. You don't think my mom is seeing any of this right—" She started to freak out. Annabeth patted her shoulder gently. "Hey, we don't have to worry about that right now. Let's just focus on getting to Santa Monica and seeing Percy's dad." She said to the brunette.

Eurydice nodded slightly at that. "Yeah, you're right. We shouldn't freak out... We're fugitives now. Fugitives don't freak out." Annabeth winces again, patting her back again comfortingly as Eurydice breathed in shakily. "Isn't that whole  thing gonna make it hard for us to get on a train?" Percy asked. "Or a bus. Or really anything you need tickets for?" He questioned.

The group was quiet for a moment. Eurydice blinked. "Percy, I think that's the entire point of having the police after us." Percy answered dumbly. "Oh." He muttered.

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UNLESS SOMEONE WOULD HITCHHIKE them anytime soon, they were stuck with walking down a highway leading to who knows where. She wasn't even entirely sure where they were going. She was notoriously bad with directions, so she was hoping that the others had some idea of where they should be going. Percy said something to the group as they continued walking down the barren road. "Hey, guys. I think this quest might be harder than we thought." Eurydice gave him an unimpressed look. "We almost died like two hours ago—" Grover and Annabeth looked just as done with the blonde.

He interrupted her. "Anyways! I've been thinking. I didn't steal the master bolt. You guys didn't steal the master bolt. We're pretty sure Eury's Dad has the master bolt, but he couldn't have stolen it himself." Eurydice winced slightly. "So, you think it's an inside job?" She muttered in confusion. He shrugged. "No, but I mean. We don't even know who actually stole the thing." He pointed out. "Or why, or how deep this goes." She gave him a look. "So you think it's an inside job."

By the looks on the other's faces, Percy was slowly starting to realize they all already knew that. And that Eurydice was just musing him. "Oh, I'm the last person to realize this, aren't I?" Percy muttered. The others nodded. "Yeah." Annabeth said. "Yep." Grover said, popping the p. Percy nodded. "Okay... so, maybe when we started my head wasn't fully in this. But since the river..." he trailed off as they continued walking. "It all feels different somehow." He sounded oddly happy. "He saved me." He said, referring to his Dad.

Eurydice wished she could say the same about hers. She dreaded meeting him. She knew he was looking for her, and that he won't kill her. But who knows if he wasn't a good person like she wanted to believe he was. She wouldn't say it out-loud, but she wanted a good dad too. Percy had his Dad who saved him, and what has hers done for her so far? Nothing, other than kidnapping her best friend's mother and apparently having stolen the master bolt.

Percy smiled, and she didn't really want to rain on his parade by talking about her feelings. "My dad.. I guess I just never really thought that's something he'd do for me." He was pleasantly surprised. "So, maybe I gotta take things more seriously now." In the distance they heard the sound of an engine running loudly. She blinked in confusion as she looked back, the others did so a few seconds later.

"Car." Grover muttered. She could only guess that the vehicle was something with a motor, considering how loud it was. She blinked in confusion as she watched it surge up the road. Annabeth shook her head. "That's not a car, it's a bike. Just let it pass. Come on." She ushered them group to continue walking, Eurydice stood behind for a second curiously before following the others. They crouched down to hide behind the cement surrounding the road, so the motorcycle didn't spot them.

Percy continued his rambling. "I'm saying. We're not just trying to retrieve the thing. I think we might need to be detectives here too." Eurydice smiled slightly. "I do like playing detective." She said with a small smile. "I know you do." Percy grinned slightly. Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Right, yeah." She sighed. Percy stared at her. "Why are you being weird with me again? I thought we weren't doing that anymore." He sounded so confused. "I'm not being weird." Annabeth insisted. "Yes, you are." Percy said.

Percy frowned. "You've been weird since we left the Arch." He pointed out. He then seemed to take Annabeth's silence the wrong way. "Oh." He muttered dumbly again. "I get it. It doesn't have to be a thing, you know. That you hugged me." Okay, now Eurydice was completely lost.

Annabeth sighed deeply. "Oh, boy." Percy tried to save himself from whatever this was. "I mean, we're like friends now. Like Eurydice and I, we hug all the time. Right?" He looked to her for reassurance. "Uhhh..." Eurydice grimaced. "Okay, now I'm lost." She muttered with a narrow of her eyebrows. Annabeth shook her head at them. "No, that's not it. We saw the fates." She said.

Eurydice nodded slightly. "Yeah, those... creepy old ladies. They were holding balls of yarn and scissors." She muttered in confusion. "Back at the Arch. We saw the fates, and I saw Atropos cut a piece of thread." Annabeth muttered, sounded troubled. Percy meanwhile was even more confused, turning to Grover for an answer. "And that's bad or...?" He questioned. "The Fates weave the life strand of every living thing. When you see a string cut—" Annabeth finished for him. "It means one of us is going to die." She finished.

She hadn't processed it properly at first, but now that she had. Eurydice was properly worried. Percy was entirely clueless. "We're all gonna die, eventually." He said like it was obvious. Annabeth sighed. "I mean, soon. It's a warning." She told them. "An omen." Eurydice winced. "Like that isn't terrifying at all." She muttered sarcastically. Percy wasn't convinced at all. "Okay. guys. We need to talk about this whole fate thing. Three old ladies with a ball of yarn can't know what's gonna happen." He was clearly in denial if anything.

The motor from earlier seemed to be getting louder, Eurydice stared out at the road slightly in confusion. The bike was rumbling loudly, like it was right next to them. Percy's voice droned on in the background. "What I choose to do changes what's gonna happen, and I can choose to do anything I.... want." All of a sudden the motor's engine stopped, and the others looked out of their hiding spot in confusion.

They could hear the low voice of an older man calling out to them. "Need some help?" The four of them stood up to look at the man in the motorcycle. Grover peeked his head up at the man in the leather jacket. "Beg, pardon?" He muttered in confusion. "I asked if you could use some help." The older man's voice boomed loudly at them. The man was wearing a long leather jacket, and was on top of a large motorbike.

Grover turned his head to look at the three demigods with him. "Uh, nope. No, we're— we're good. Appreciate you asking, though. So long." He muttered awkwardly. trying to get the man to leave them be. But he didn't seem interested in leaving right away. The quartet's heads poked back down of their hiding spot as the older man spoke again. "You don't seem too good." He pointed out. Annabeth spoke this time. "We don't want anything from you." She said. The man just laughed loudly.

She poked her head out slightly to look at him again. "You sure?" He asked the kids. "Because you guys are so behind schedule." He chuckled again. The others heads began to poke out again as they stood up this time to face the man. He wore a helmet on his head and had stubble on his face. The leather jacket he wore looked all worn out, form being used for so long. "I mean, summer solstice is just a few days away."

She stared at the man questioningly. "And as much as I'd love to see a good war pop off, as your big cousin. I feel like, maybe I wanna give you two a hand." Eurydice immediately blinked in confusion. "Huh?" Percy was confused as well. "Cousin?" He muttered in confusion. Annabeth seemed to realize who they were taking to. "Ares." Oh wow, this was Clarisse's Dad? Sometimes she forgets that they're all technically related. She grimaces at the thought.

Ares chuckled. "You must be Athena's kid." He looked at the girl. "Always gotta be the wisest one in the bunch." Annabeth looked at him. "Why would you help us? How do you even know about what we're doing out here?" She asked him. Ares huffed. "Because, I'm doing exactly the same thing as you." The other four shared a look of suspicion. "Zeus sent all of his kids out looking for the master bolt, too." Ares said.

Ares seemed to be annoyed by their suspicion, so he just cut to the chase. "Listen, dummies. I'm hungry. There's a halfway decent diner up the road if you want my help, you'll meet me down there. But don't dawdle." He shook his head at them. "Won't wait forever." The man said as he put his sunglasses back on and drove out down the road with his loud motorcycle.

Percy looked very concerned. "So that's my cousin?" Eurydice had to hid a grimace. "I can't believe we're technically related to him. Even if we don't technically have the same DNA..." She trailed off, not wanting to think about it anymore. "What kind of family is this?" He asked.

Percy sounded completely lost. "This is so weird." Percy muttered uncomfortably. "I know." Eurydice nodded in agreement, just as weirded out. Annabeth sighed. "Come on, we should go." They started walking out to the diner Ares said he'd meet them at.

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Five minutes later they were in front of the diner that Ares said he'd meet them at. The four of them walked in hesitantly. The bell chimed at the door as the four filed into the diner. They could hear Ares loud laughter coming from his booth in the diner immediately. "Guess this is the right place." Percy muttered as the three of them walked over to the god. The man stopped laughing and gave them a look of acknowledgment.

The man was clearly busy with doing something on his face. "Gimme a second." He muttered. "I'm just starting a fight on Twitter here." She sat down hesitantly. "Twitter?" She muttered in confusion. No wonder twitter's such a dumpster fire, and the only