As soon as they arrived at the place where the God of War was, Ikki saw him for the first time.
He was the fourth God he encountered on his journey, and one that he didn't think was very important.
He was leaning against his "baby elephant-sized" black Harley Davidson motorcycle, with a flame-painted gas tank, shotgun holsters strapped to the sides of the bike. The seat was made of leather - leather that looked... like Caucasian human skin.
Ares was a huge, muscular man, with hair as black as oil shaved with a machine. He wore round red sunglasses. His features were handsome but in a cruel and brutal way. Something to be expected from a God of War; someone who had been in countless battles would naturally have scars.
He had a cruel sneer on his face. His clothing was what one would expect from a God of War - if he were wearing modern clothes - he was dressed in black jeans, combat boots, a black leather jacket, and a muscular red shirt. He also had a large hunting knife strapped to his thigh and wore a necklace made of a heavy padlock and thick chain.
Ikki looked at Ares calmly, activating his [Domain of the Monarch] to cool his mind from the anger that arose the moment he laid eyes on him. The god's influence tried to affect his mind, attempting to amplify hatred, anger, bitterness, and several other dark feelings...
The Gods had this ability, and due to their domains, they were often able to influence the minds of mortals. They could control not only the emotions of someone but also their minds, as they were quite connected, making their victims wish to obey them and/or possess hatred and attack like the God of War before them.
Emotions have been described as discreet and consistent responses to internal or external events that have a particular significance for the individual. They can be brief in duration and consist of a coordinated set of responses, which may include verbal, physiological, behavioral, and neural mechanisms.
The Gods can cause emotional abnormalities through their presence, where they can confuse the mind and feelings. Additionally, there are relationships among emotions, such as having positive or negative influences, with direct opposites existing. The contrast and categorization of emotions describe how they are thought to relate to one another.
He learned about this ability from the various encounters he had with the Gods, although many of them didn't have such influence through their presence, he could still feel this characteristic in their existence reflecting their domains...
It was the same thing he did through the manipulation of his own conscious presence; he brought good feelings to those around him through touch or his existence, something that was natural to him due to the [Body of Celestial Prohibition]. He just chose not to omit this characteristic because he knew it was good for the people he cared about. He just contained this power of influence a lot...
Fortunately, due to his innate ability, he easily ignored this divine influence coming from Ares, even though he was quite upset about it.
Blame his bad mood currently.
I mean, he had just discovered that his love was a lost cause, so one could imagine his current mood.
As soon as the God of War saw the group, he said with a sneer, "Well, well. You managed not to get killed. Besides, it looks like the brat who defeated Hercules has joined up with his little group again..."
He looked at Ikki when he said this. At that moment, Ikki's heart raced; the God of War was stunned.
Personally, the brat was even more beautiful; he almost fell into the "wrong" path just from seeing him. That's why his lover talked so much about him, the man seemed the embodiment of perfection! He almost felt the urge to take the brat for himself, but he knew his father would intervene and punish him with something horrible since the old man seemed to quite like his half-brother...
Hearing the words of the God of War, Percy retorted, "You knew it was a trap?"
Ares snapped out of his stupor caused by Ikki's appearance and gave a wicked smile. He looked at Percy and said maliciously, "I bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he caught a pair of stupid kids in the net... Too bad the brat who defeated Hercules saved you. By the way, you looked good on TV..."
Percy just shoved the shield toward Ares and said with a scowl, "You're an idiot..."
"Percy, sometimes your stupidity is incredible!..." Ikki thought, amused; he prepared himself in case the God of War attacked his friend for the lack of respect.
The moment he saw any sign of that, he would kill Ares in a second, even before the God of War could do anything.
At that moment, beside him, Annabeth and Grover stopped breathing.
Ares just gave a cruel, disdainful smile to Percy; he grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. The shield changed shape, transforming into a bulletproof vest. He hung it on his back.
"Do you see that truck over there?..." said the God of War, pointing to an eighteen-wheeler across the street. With a big mocking smile, he said, "That's your ride. It'll take you straight to Los Angeles, with a stop in Vegas."
The truck had a sign on the back, white on black: International Charity; Humanitarian Zoo Transport: Live Wild Animals.
Ikki took a casual look...
He was sure he could manage to get something better; unfortunately, he couldn't teleport to the Underworld via magic since he had never been there. But since his friends had worked hard to get a ride, he didn't want to ruin their efforts.
Percy looked at the truck impassively before saying, "No way!"
Ares snapped his fingers. The truck's rear door unlocked. He told Percy, "Free ride west, useless. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the service..."
He lifted a blue nylon backpack from his handlebars and tossed it to Percy. Inside were clean clothes for everyone in the group, twenty dollars in cash, a bag full of gold drachmas, and a pack of Oreo cookies.
Percy looked in an unfazed way and said categorically, "I don't want your crap..."
"Thank you, Lord Ares..." Grover interrupted, shooting Percy his best red alert look.
Percy gritted his teeth and said with disgust, "Thank you very much..."
He knew it was considered a mortal insult to refuse something from a god, but he didn't want anything that Ares had touched. Percy slung the backpack over his shoulder still reluctantly. He knew that his anger was caused by the God of War's presence, but he still felt a tiny urge to punch him in the nose.
Ares reminded him of all the bullies he had ever faced: Nancy Bobofit, Clarisse, Gabe the Smelly, mocking teachers - all the idiots who called him stupid in school or laughed at him when he was expelled.
The God of War ignored Percy and looked at Ikki; behind his sunglasses, the fire glimmered, and with a cruel smile on his lips, he said, "By the way, that was quite a fight, brat. I'd love to have a fight against you; your battle against Hercules made my blood boil..."
Hearing Ares's words, Annabeth and Grover tensed up. Even Percy was on alert. Although he admitted it would be amazing to see Ares get his ass kicked...
"Such a pity that we are on an important mission. I would also love to have a fight against you, Ares..." said Ikki calmly, with an indecipherable glint in his eyes.
If an accident were to happen in the middle of the fight, everyone could only imagine that Ares lacked sufficient skill. Moreover, to avoid causing unnecessary problems, he would not kill the God of War; perhaps he would cut off an arm or a leg, maybe all of his limbs. Besides turning him into a bloody pulp, perhaps "accidentally" he might destroy some internal organs with one or two punches, break several bones, causing light damage where Ares might survive with a lot of "luck."
Ares felt a shiver down his spine, and a chill in his heart upon noticing the glint in Ikki's eyes; the God of War felt fear. Chills ran through his body, and he tried to calm the persistent fear in his heart. He felt the presence of death so close... It seemed like she was breathing down his neck, as if he would die at any moment.
Even he, who had faced countless battles and seen death numerous times, as a God of War, felt fear. Despite the fear, Ares was excited; only a powerful opponent could scare someone with just a look. And only someone powerful would make his blood boil; after all, he was the God of War—fear was something easily rendered irrelevant.
Ares gave a bloodthirsty smile, his glasses melting away. Revealing the orbits of his eyes ablaze, he lamented, "What a pity, our fight will have to wait..."
Annabeth and Grover breathed a sigh of relief in their minds. Percy was still considering punching Ares in the face; it was too tempting. But since he didn't want to give the God of War what he desired, he resisted the temptation.
The God of War climbed onto his motorcycle.
Seeing this, Percy, a bit lower than his normal voice, said with a tremor at the end, "You owe me one more thing. You promised me information about my mom..."
"Are you sure you can handle the news?..." said Ares, revving the motorcycle's throttle. Without waiting for a response from Poseidon's son, he continued, "She's not dead..."
Ikki, who was just learning about this matter now, was very surprised! He had been prepared to fight his way through the underworld to save his best friend's mother, but she was alive?! It meant that his presence hadn't altered this part of the story, which he barely remembered the details of.
That was good.
He felt a weight lift off his shoulders.
At least it was good news...
Hearing the words of the God of War, Percy felt the world spin beneath him. He asked Ares urgently, "What do you mean?"
Ares snapped his fingers and adjusted his sunglasses. Before casually saying, "I mean she was taken by the Fury before she died. She was turned into a rain of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being held captive."
"Captured. Why?..."
The God of War looked at Percy, a cruel smile on his face. He said, "You need to study war, you worthless little thing. Hostages. You capture someone to control someone else..."
Percy scowled and declared categorically, "No one is controlling me...."
Ares laughed. With a condescending smile, he looked at Percy and said, "Oh, really? We'll see each other around, kid."
Poseidon's son clenched his fists. He looked at the God of War and said sarcastically, "You're quite full of yourself, Mr. Ares, for a guy who runs away from Cupid statues."
Behind Ares's sunglasses, fire glowed. Percy felt a warm wind tousle his hair.
"We will meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back..." said Ares, giving a "friendly" warning.
He gave one last look to Ikki, who had remained silent, watching the conversation between Percy and Ares, and said, "We'll fight next time..."
Leaving his final words, he revved the Harley and roared down Delancy Street.
As soon as Ares disappeared from the group's sight, Annabeth looked at Percy and said critically, "That wasn't very smart, Percy..."
"I don't care." Percy replied; he didn't mind if what he had done was anything but intelligent; he simply didn't like Ares.
"You don't want a god as an enemy. Especially this god..." said Annabeth, narrowing her eyes.
"I don't think it matters much; we have better things to do than argue over Ares..." Ikki said to the two. Now that the God of War had vanished from sight, that powerful influence trying to amplify his emotions was gone. He wanted to finish this mission once and for all. He wanted time to think and resolve the issues in his heart, which he was currently avoiding.
There was much to do.
"Yes. Putting aside Percy's stupidity, we have a mission to finish..." said Annabeth, sending one last critical look at Percy. She decided to let that subject drop.
"Hey, guys..." Grover interrupted. "I hate to interrupt, but..."
He pointed in the direction of the restaurant. At the register, the last two customers were paying their bills—two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on the back that matched the one on the International Charity truck.
"If we're going to catch the zoo express... we need to hurry." Grover said urgently.
The group quickly crossed the street and climbed into the back of the huge vehicle, shutting the door behind them.