god of war · fallen deity · road trip · mythological · tense · reckless · arrogant · poetic · coming of age · bully
The minivan shuddered along the highway, a tin can of divine discontent. My knuckles were bone-white on the wheel, every bump in the road a fresh insult to my mortal senses. In the back, the atmosphere was pure static. Ares, crammed into the body of a sulking thirteen-year-old and swathed in bandages, radiated a hatred so potent it fogged the windows. Next to him, Meg had folded her arms in exact, mocking symmetry, her gaze fixed on him with defiant glee. The asphalt stretched toward Camp Jupiter, an eternity away, paved with ridiculous mortal regulations that kept the God of War prisoner in a child's seat.