A.N: Been a while. Whoops.

Chapter 4

Percy's feet vibrated from the hum of the powerful engine of the Greyhound bus navigating the streets of Manhattan. He took a second to look around the interior - sprawled out in the seat across the aisle was Luke, headphones in ear and using his backpack as a makeshift pillow while moving his foot to the rhythm. The driver was a large, jolly man with skin the color of cocoa, a bushy salt-and-pepper beard and smile lines around his kind eyes, the AC blasted on high to keep him from sweating in the sweltering August heat of New York. The rest of the bus was sparse, a few people on their way to work the evening shifts while others returned home from the morning shift, fatigue ingrained in their eyes and body language.

Percy had taken to people watching in order to pass time. He had always loved his city and the diversity of the humans within, each one an amalgamation of events and experiences which formed them in their own unique ways. Ever since learning he was immortal he had felt a distance between himself and mortals but being a relatively young god raised in their realm, he still felt a connection to them and an appreciation of their resilience. He could hear the thoughts of the mortals around him if he focused his attention on it. The woman in the front row bouncing her knee rapidly was anxious about her sick father, having received a call from the hospital that he had worsened. The smiling man in the back row had recently welcomed a newborn daughter into the world and was warmed by thoughts of love for his offspring. The driver was a few days away from retiring, having worked decades as a driver for various cities, with plans to move to Maine with his wife of 25 years to live in a quiet rural house, far from the noise and bustle of the city.

His golden eyes searched beyond the glass of the window, spotting a brown-gold eagle perched upon a traffic light swaying in the wind. The sharp glance of its eyes seemed to peer directly into Percy's, holding his gaze as the bus moved onward before spreading its large limbs and soaring away on the breeze. Keeping tabs, eh? Percy knew whose soul was beyond the window of the eagle's eyes. He was not surprised, the gods were everywhere and this quest was of utmost importance to them, finding Zeus's symbol of power was priority one of Olympus right now. Percy had his own reasons for finding the bolt, but it was not his main goal, just an added bonus. His time spent with his father and mother had honed his senses and abilities, he learned how to mask his presence and allowed his aura to give off that of a powerful demigod, so any peeping gods or prowling monsters would not be suspicious of an immortal riding a bus through the heart of Manhattan with a son of Hermes. Percy knew that the odds were against him, his task was one that seemed impossible but he was determined to see it through. His father and mother had educated him on the flawed ways of the gods and he could see it around him. He could hear the prayers that went up from the desperate mortals, pleading for any entity to assist them or give them guidance only to be met with silence from all the deities. The gods depended on the mortals for their power but did not care about them beyond being a source of entertainment and heroes, never saw fit to help them in their time of need. Percy vowed to be a different type of god. One who cared about humans and listened to their prayers with the intent to help. He was so lost in thought that he didn't see the eighteen-wheeler barreling towards them until it crashed right into his side of the bus with the deafening sound of metal crushing metal.

Percy was thrown from his seat as the bus rolled end over end. He regained enough of his senses to grab Luke as he tumbled around like clothes in a drier and shield him from further impact. When the bus finally stopped rolling it was upside down, every window shattered and smoke pluming from the damaged engine towards the sky. His teeth ached and his ears were ringing, the cuts from the thousand shards of glass already beginning to close as he mentally probed the mortals for thoughts. There were none. Luke was cut up and bruised, disoriented from his tumble, but the blessing of Kronos and Gaea along with his demigod blood made him extremely resilient.

"Are you okay," came the concerned voice of Percy, dusting glass off his shoulders.

Luke's entire body felt like a giant with a hammer had mistaken him for a nail, "Yeah, just peachy," came the demigod's sarcastic response. He brought his flask of nectar to his lips and took a small swig, relishing in the warm savory taste as he felt his cuts mend and soreness recede. Percy took hold of one of the ruined windows and ripped the metal frame from the bus, making a new door which they promptly walked through. Making their way around the decimated transport, they saw the front end of the heavy truck crumpled like an aluminum can as a tall, bald man hopped out of the driver's seat and immediately walked to the back of the trailer. He unlatched the doors and nine more men stepped out, all bald like him, holding clubs, axes, claymores, and spears. With each step they took towards the pair they grew in height until peaking at 13 feet, their teeth grew yellow and pointed as their faces shimmered to reveal a single large eye in the center of their foreheads.

"Boys!", bellowed the cyclops in the lead, "I told you there were demigods on that bus, in a thousand years the nose of Lobos has never lied!" His meaty fingers clenched his club tight as he gave a practice swing at the air in front of him, ruffling Percy's hair from 10 feet away.

The crowd of cyclopes cheered and stomped the ground with their feet, giving roars of ascent for the delicious meal in front of them. One of the cyclops in his excitement charged the wary duo with club raised overhead, bringing the tree-trunk sized weapon down where they stood as both dove in opposite directions. Percy locked eyes with Luke and smiled, "Yours or mine?".

Luke's face morphed into a devilish grin, "Mine," he declared as his mixed metal sword Backbiter appeared in his outstretched hand in a flash of golden light, a trick he learned from Percy. He charged towards the cyclops, taking advantage of his slow reaction and leaping on the club imbedded in the earth, running along it until he reached the head of the cyclops. He performed a front flip down the backside of the beast, impaling his sword into the base of his neck and dragging it down along the spine until he wrenched it out just above his rear. The cyclops collapsed onto all fours as his back leaked black blood. Luke cleaved his head from his shoulders in a mighty two-handed swing, holding his breath as the cyclops exploded into golden dust.

The cheering of the cyclopes turned to stunned silence as they witnessed their brother slain in less than five seconds at the hands of the golden-haired warrior. Silence turned to rage and a disorganized charge by the nine monsters towards the two warriors. The mortals that had bothered to linger around the crash now fled in horror, witnessing some unexplainable horror. Percy stomped his foot and the earth shook, tripping the charging cyclopes over themselves, giving him and Luke time to separate. Luke took off down the street with three cyclopes in tow, while Percy remained in place as the remaining six monsters formed a circle around him.

"You were supposed to be an easy meal, a quick death. Now you die slow," the one named Lobos growled. He held a large spear with the scalps of past demigods hanging from the shaft. The point came flying at Percy's chest only to hit air as he quickly sidestepped the jab and leaped up at Lobos, crushing his jaw with a flying uppercut. The cyclops reeled backwards as Percy crouched and jumped 15 feet in the air, snagging the spear from his grasp as he ascended, and then bringing it crashing back down point-first through the mouth of the beast until it embedded in the earth below. The force of the blow cracked the cyclops' spine and blood leaked from his lifeless mouth before he blew up in golden confetti. The cyclopes were shocked at the decimation of their fearless leader at the hands of the boy. They'd not seen a demigod this strong since Heracles.

The bloodlust did not allow their fear to cripple them. Two more charged at the raven-haired boy each swinging a greatsword horizontally at him. Percy launched himself off the ground and twisted his body to maneuver between both slashes as his scythe appeared in a flash of gold, slashing outward from his body midspan in a tornado of death for both monsters. Golden plumes of ash erupted around him as he landed on his feet, scythe held out before him in both hands, giving him the appearance of a deadly reaper. He dashed forward, using the base of his weapon to pole-vault above another cyclops and decapitate him with one clean sweep before reaching the ground.

A large double-sided axe sliced towards him, the brute force of the swing behind it enough to cleave a car in half. The clang of metal rang out as the axe was stopped in the crook of the scythe, the boy matching the strength of the swing without so much as a grunt much to the shock of the beast. With a twist of his weapon, Percy sent the axe flying out of the cyclops hands and impaled his heart with the spiked base of the scythe. The cloud of dust was so thick he didn't see the last cyclops attempt to impale him but he did feel the wind shift and flattened himself on the ground as the spear went over his head. He manipulated the earth below him, moving it like a conveyor belt to carry him to safety as he shot up to his feet. He saw the spear flying towards him and deflected it with his scythe, watching it cleave the wrecked bus in two. The final cyclops charged with hands raised to smash the boy but with a two-handed throw, the scythe tumbled through the air, the blade finding home in the chest of the barreling behemoth.

Percy reached his hand out and the scythe wrenched itself from the body and flew back to his waiting grasp, as the final explosion of dust went off. He looked down the street and saw Luke walking towards him, a coat of golden dust on his clothes and hair, his sword gone from sight. Percy looked at the wreck of the bus and his heart felt a pang for the mortals who were needlessly slain. If even one of them had survived, he could have healed them, but they all belonged to Hades now. He walked to the bus and retrieved his and Luke's bags before he put his hand on the ground and the earth swallowed the wrecks of both cars, as well as the remaining weapons of the cyclopes. No point in causing more traffic than necessary.

Luke looked at the perfectly replaced earth and spoke, "Unfortunate, the loss of life and the loss of our ride." Percy chuckled half-heartedly in response before he started to focus his energy, "Watch this, I've been practicing," with a wave of his hand a gleaming silver Camaro appeared on the pavement and roared to life. Luke's face morphed into a beaming grin, "I am so driving."

They drove uninterrupted for a long distance, with Percy using his powers over time to speed up the car as it crossed half the country. They stopped in Denver, as per the instructions of Kronos, to pick up the package from Ares. They went into the diner and took a seat in a corner booth.

"Remember, Percy, we have to keep our cool. He doesn't know that you are a god or that we work for Kronos, hell he doesn't even know who he is working for. He just wants to start the biggest war in history," Luke spoke in a hushed voice so that the other customers wouldn't eavesdrop.

Percy nodded his head, "I can play nice for now. The sooner we get the weapon and get out of here, the better."

As the God of War walked into the building, the effects of his aura became apparent in the mortal guests, Percy as a god himself was unaffected and the blessings of their patrons left Luke free of anger as well. Ares made his way over to the table and dropped a backpack on the table, shaking their plates and cups. He slid his large frame into the booth and began picking his nails with a large hunting knife.

"The chosen demigods! Not gonna lie, you two don't look like much. A son of that delivery boy and an unclaimed demigod. Probably a minor god or a nymph by the looks of you," Ares bellowed out his sunglasses flaring red as he sized them up and down, "I wanted to talk to you personally, see it as a heads-up. Zeus isn't happy. He has promised to rain down pain unimaginable upon the world if you are unsuccessful. Devastation that would make WW2 look like a Nerf fight. He has already accused Poseidon of stealing his weapon, along with a few colluding gods. Olympus is on the edge of civil war."

Percy and Luke shared a glance. Kronos's plan has worked perfectly in spreading mistrust among the gods and sowing the seeds of unrest. The young god spoke up, "Rest assured, Lord Ares, we will be successful in our mission. You have nothing to worry about."

"Oh, I am not worried. I'm never worried, kid. The more fighting there is, the more powerful I get. I'm kinda hoping a monster eats you in the desert or something just for the spectacle. However, I think it'd be best if you make it to necro-breath out there. So this backpack has a few extra supplies to aid you on your journey," He smirked and rose from the table, "Don't say I never did anything for you." He made his way toward the exit, pushing open the door and as he walked through the frame, he simply ceased to exist in the area.

Luke and Percy stepped outside and walked to their Camaro. The son of Hermes ran a hand through his hair, "Gods, I hate that guy. Such a tool," his exasperation was shared by Percy, who began rifling through the backpack on the trunk of the car. He sensed the spell that would bring the Master Bolt to them upon reaching the Underworld, as well as a few other items. He pulled out two watches, a blue one and a red one, he pressed the button on the red one and a celestial bronze shield painted red spiraled out. It depicted scenes of war and death, the rim of the shield lit up with fire and a dragon head in the center blew a stream of flames out.

Luke pushed the blue watch, watching as an identical dragon headed shield popped out, but painted blue and shot blasts of frost out, along as a ring of ice on the edge. "He is a tool but he does give some pretty good gifts," Luke's tone was impressed, even if he still wanted to gut Ares just for being himself.

"We should get moving, we need to make it to Los Angeles sooner rather than later," Percy called as he entered the car and turned the ignition. Luke hopped in the passenger side as they peeled out of the parking lot, leaving scorched earth and the scent of burning rubber.

Across the parking lot, a black Challenger sparked to life, engine silent as the night. The man behind the wheel watched as the silver car manned by the two boys departed, his solid black eyes following their path. He pressed the gas following his potential prey with an amused smirk on his face.

AN: Leave me your thoughts and any suggestions. Thanks for sticking around, if you have.