On the Road Again

Very sorry for this massive Delay, but I lost the flash drive that contained all three years' worth of chapters, including this chapter, and, like an idiot, I didn't save any of the docs to a second flash drive or to my computer, meaning that when I say I lost all my work, I lost all my work.

However, I'm smart, and I know how to solve problems like this. I won't tell you my method, for I fear it'll cause mass chaos throughout the Internet, but through painstaking effort I did recover all my work…technically speaking. It's all a bunch of jumbled messes that require extensive editing, but I got all my chapters back.

They're just really ugly now.

Anyway. So sorry for how long it's been.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or BL

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There was something about abandoned places that Percy liked. He couldn't explain it with words, but places like this were…soothing…to him. Calming. Being in an abandoned place brought a peace to the boy that only being on the Black Lagoon in the middle of the sea could match. It was places like this that made Percy reflect on things, especially the creations of man.

This waterpark had once been a thriving hotspot for fun and family. Teen boys would come here and try to impress the girls, and teen girls would come here to admire the boys. Moms and dads would bring their kids for a day of swimming in the sun. Elderly couples would come to enjoy the lazy river and enjoy spending their waning days with their spouses.

But now, as you looked at the park, you couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

The showing metal was all rusted. Grass was growing out of the concrete. Moss occupied the slides. The bright paints were dull, cracked, and chipping away. The fence surrounding the park was meant to stop trespassers, but even with the barbed wire on top of the fence, there were still shocks of graffiti about the park.

It was a great testament to the accomplishments of man, and the unyielding power of nature.

Human kind can clear out the forests and the trees and the grasslands to make way for parking lots and malls and buildings and all manner of things, but eventually, as enough time passes, the green would come back and reclaim what belonged to it.

To Percy, this park was a great reminder that man's time was limited. Whether they arrived from a space rock, or evolved from a fish or a monkey, or were put here by God or some other deity, their time here would come to an end, either by fire, smog, disease, or bullets, and nature would rebuild everything destroyed, and reclaim everything taken.

In sunken and wrecked ships, or any ship really, Percy could see into the history surrounding the vessel. Here at this waterpark, the same was not true, but still…he could hear faint laughter, and he could feel the old happiness that still clung to the old attractions.

Back to reality, however, the graffiti about the park indicated that there were ways in which vandals were getting inside to have their fun, meaning gaps in the fence somewhere, or other methods to get over the fence.

Annabeth, Percy, and Hedge collectively felt they did not have the time to go searching for holes in miles of fence line, so they went with an easier method: each of them vaulted over seven feet of twisted metal strips. It was easy, given the demigods' divine physiology and the satyr's own magical anatomy.

Now inside, they had a shield to look for.

"Where should we start?" Hedge grunted. "This place isn't small."

"No," Annabeth agreed. "Ares said he was on a date, and in a place like this, a date usually involves a love ride, and when it comes to waterparks, the love ride is usually in a dark tunnel with water. Percy, can you sense any large gatherings of water nearby?"

Percy nodded and pointed in the direction he felt the water.

Moments later, the trio arrived at the Thrill Ride O' Love. It was an empty bowl that led into a dark tunnel, with several Cupid statues lining the bowl. At the bottom of the bowl was a single boat, a gleaming shield nestled within.

Percy took a step forward, and had his ponytail yanked, which in turn yanked him backward. He glowered at Annabeth.

For her part, she ignored the venomous gaze being aimed at her, and walked over to on of the statues to examine it. Percy and Hedge waited for her to do her examination, which didn't take long given her ADHD mind making it possible for her to process every detail she saw with breathtaking speed. When she was done, she returned to the boys.

"What's the situation?" Hedge asked.

"A trap set by Hephaestus. The statues have his symbol on them, and they're positioned in a pattern. I suspect the shield is boobytrapped and setting off the trap will trigger the statues. The arrows are most likely connected to strands of celestial bronze, and all of them combined will form a net, effectively capturing whoever goes down there and messes with the shield."

"Plan of action?"

"You and I will go down there and do a further investigation, and Percy—you'll stay up here and provide lookout. Shoot at anything suspicious."

Percy nodded, a serious look on his face which really just made him look adorable.

Hedge and Annabeth leapt down and examined the boat, with the blonde finding what she was looking for.

"Here. A wire pulled taught. The slightest touch will probably snap it."

"Ideas?"

"I'll go back up and, on my signal, you grab the shield and run like hell."

"An excellent plan. What's the Backup Plan in case things go sideways?"

"If applicable, run down the tunnel as fast as you can and we'll meet up on the other side."

"If not applicable?"

"We'll improvise."

"Got it."

Annabeth rejoined Percy at the lip of the bowl and hollered out "Now!"

Hedge grabbed the shield and left a trail of fire in his wake. From there, really strange things happened. The Cupids didn't come to life and start firing arrows as one would expect, but instead a cement truck fell from somewhere above and smashed grill-first into the boat.

And it wasn't the only one.

Hedge vaulted the bowl, and three took off sprinting as cement trucks came cascading from above, all while the loudspeakers of the park were blaring the same two lines over and over again:

It's raining men!

Hallelujah!

Percy failed to correlate falling cement trucks to raining men, but he didn't have time to dwell on it, because if he got killed by a falling cement truck, Revy would go on a world-wide crusade against all cement trucks. The thought of Revy slo-mo walking away from a mountain of gathered machinery, all of it going up in smoke and flames, was so comical to Percy that he almost stumbled as a laugh came upon him.

However, Annabeth saw the break in his step out of the corner of her eye, and yanked his arm almost out of its socket.

The three of them vaulted the fence, even Hedge laden with the shield, and they all avoided the falling dangers.

Percy giggled.

"That was something," Hedge panted.

"Yeah," Annabeth exhaled. "Let's go get that ride West."

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Ares tossed the shield into the air, and it came down as a Kevlar vest, one that he slung over his shoulder. The god of war looked pale, a bead of sweat traveling down his temple. He seemed nervous—skittish, even.

He snapped his fingers, and the back of a truck unlocked. On the side of the truck was the label Kindness International. "There's your ride. And take this."

Ares threw Percy a blue nylon bag, none too gently. His part completed, the god revved his motorcycle, spun around and gunned away in a wheelie, spraying the trio with dirt. Percy had the sense to shield his face with the bag, and Annabeth her face with her arms. Hedge was licking himself clean.

"Let me see that," the blonde instructed Percy.

He grinned cheekily and held it out so it could be seen better.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and snagged it away from him. She unzipped it and rummaged inside, inspecting the contents. "Some snacks…a few changes of clothes…and—oh. That's lovely."

"What is?" the satyr.

"Ares provided Percy with some underwear."

Annabeth pulled out a package of Disney princess panties, the word "Percy" scribbled across the front in big red marker. The son of Poseidon frowned.

"I think they're a good look for you, honestly," Annabeth said. "The blue of Cinderella really compliments your hair, and the green of Ariel brings out your eyes. They're even in your size, too."

Percy frowned deeper. Then he pulled out a gun and took aim at the package. Before he could shoot a hole through Jasmine's face, Hedge snagged the package out of Annabeth's hand.

"That would have been a terrible waste of good food!" The satyr took a big bite out of plastic and cotton alike. "Gods, oo umahs ur ser raful."

"Don't speak with your mouth full, coach. You'll teach the little one bad habits."

Percy pouted at being referred to as the "little one." He wasn't that little.

Hedge swallowed. "I said you humans are so wasteful. You were about to shoot a hole through a perfectly good pair of edible panties."

Annabeth raised a brow. "Those are not edible panties."

"Not by humans anyway."

Hedge took another bite, relieving Aurora of her head.

The daughter of Athena shook her head. "Let's just get on with this."

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Hedge was about to blow a gasket, and so was Percy.

Inside the truck, not only did it reek of animal musk, waste, heat, and what was probably a disease or two, the animals were quite clearly not being treated with kindness. The zebra had a steak in front of it, the lion a bowl of grass, and the antelope neither, with all of them having an empty water bowl. The zebra had gum stuck in its mane, the lion was haggard and dirty, and the antelope had balloon string about its antlers.

Percy was currently in telepathic contact with the zebra, as he was a son of the Father of Horses, and the zebra was close enough to the horse family to count as horse.

My lord, they plan on using me for bestiality porn, and Mr. White, the lion, for illegal gladiator fights, and Mrs. Prongs the antelope for food! Please help us.

Percy nodded. Got'cha.

He relayed the message to Annabeth, who then verbally relayed that message to Hedge because the satyr had yet to learn how to speak Mouth. When Annabeth was done, the good coach turned purple.

"THAT FUCKING DOES IT!"

The satyr's hand went right through the back of the trailer, right through the back of the cabin, and clamped tightly around the throat of one unsuspecting member of Kindness International. The truck swerved, and Annabeth acted. Her own arms ripped right through the trailer and cabin, only she gripped the steering wheel and the gearshift, and set the truck to neutral.

A risky maneuver at their speed, but they got lucky and instead of blowing the transmission, she set the truck to be unable to accelerate.

Long story short, those of Kindness Internal had their necks either snapped or their throats crushed, and the truck came to a complete stop without sustaining any compromising damage.

What about the bodies? Percy asked.

Annabeth looked at Hedge. "What are we going to do about the bodies?"

"Throw them in a ditch and let the buzzards have them."

"My plan exactly."

And so Annabeth and Hedge tossed the bodies into the ditch, and Hedge cast a piece of very mean nature magic upon the corpses that would ensure their vanishing into the stomachs of scavenger birds. After that, Percy freed the animals, and Hedge cast another spell, Satyr's Sanctuary, blessing the animals by way of providing food and water until they find a safe place to live.

What was the other spell called?

Annabeth translated, and Hedge answered, "Satyr's Roadkill Buffet."

Percy snickered, then he stopped. Couldn't you have cast Satyr's Sanctuary on us so that we got to Las Angeles alright?

Post-translation, Hedge said, "No. Nature magic only works on animals."

We're animals.

"Not that kind of animal, cupcake."

Is there a spell to get rid of trash, like litter and landfills?

After Annabeth translated, Hedge opened his mouth to answer…and then he shut his mouth. Then he opened it again and shut it. He wanted to say no, but truth be told, he didn't know. It made sense that there was a spell to destroy trash and litter, as pollution like that was something nature spirits actively rallied against, but in his hundred years of living, for the life of him, he couldn't think of a trash-destroying spell even though it made perfect sense that there would be one.

"If there is, I don't know about it."

Are you going to make a spell?

"If I have to. Probably based on death metal. Which will sound horrible on reed pipes."

Percy once again snickered at the thought of magic, and then he asked, Can I do magic?

"Most likely. As a son of Poseidon, you've got a hefty amount of power in you. Power is needed to perform magic. If you try to cast too powerful a spell with too little the power, you—"

"Blow up," Annabeth finished. She could still distinctly recall Grover trying to perform such a spell, and he went up in flames.

Granted, he took the monsters with him, but still.

Up in flames. Horrible way to die.

Hedge nodded. "You blow up."

Cool. Can I try some spells?

"Later," Annabeth yanked his ponytail. "Right now, we have a long way to go, and a short time to get there."

The daughter of Athena took the wheel, Hedge the seat closest to the door, and Percy nestled in between them. With nothing better to do, and since he was kinda tired after the fun run through the waterpark, the boy closed his eyes and took a catnap.

And he dreamed, because why not?

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Percy found himself standing on top of a large pond, and he was mesmerized by everything around him.

The water was a clear, crystal blue, so clean and pure he could see the sandy bottom below, and make out some rocks and pebbles. There was forest surrounding the pond, but there was a small bit of emerald grass, soft to the eye, between the two. The bark of the trees was a healthy brown, the foliage being a just as healthy green, all full and luscious. Snow-capped mountains towered in the distance, standing tall and majestic as they surveyed all the land. The sky above was rich with oxygen, dyed a wonderful deep blue that gently faded into lighter shades as you looked to the horizon. The air here was pure and unpolluted with even a hint of any kind of emission.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?"

When one heard a voice behind them, typically they flinched and whipped around, jumping out of their skin with a shriek, reaching for weapons if they had any or some were nearby. Percy experienced none of these things. Instead, at hearing the voice, he felt nothing but calm.

He even felt comforted.

Percy turned around and saw a woman in an old-style dress, the color of fresh soil, a veil over her face. Percy noted how even though her eyes were closed, she still had a melancholy look on her face, one of wistfulness, nostalgia, and sadness. Looking deeper, Percy thought he saw bitterness and resentment as well.

"There was a time in which all the world looked like this. Beautiful. Vibrant. Clean. Alive." The woman's mouth didn't move, but her voice was clear. "The early men that lived here respected their home. They only took what they needed and gave back what they took. Men today take more than they need and give back either too little or nothing at all. I will not allow this much longer, my child."

The woman was firm in her claim, and Percy swallowed, for he could feel inside of just how much business this woman meant.

"I want you to know, Percy, that I love you very much."

Then, with all of his questions unanswered, he fell through the pond.

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The gunslinging boy did have experience with dreams like this. It was how he learned of the secret world around him. The story of the Minotaur, the Labyrinth, the Titans, the various gods and monsters, and more. Usually though, there was one weird instance, and then he woke up. This time, after the talk with the mystery woman, he did not wake up, and instead found himself in a cold, dark place, a place that he recognized as an oceanic shelf.

Percy could feel the condensed sand under his bare feet, and he could see the inky black that just dropped straight down. As a child of the sea, he had no fear of it. No creature could scare him, not a shark, not a squid, not a whale, not even the mythological monsters of the sea could bring fear to him. But here, Percy knew this was not just the sea.

This was, somehow yet somehow not, his father's domain.

Percy swallowed, swearing that he could feel something down there looking up at him.

Then the water warmed considerably, brightening quickly, changing from this cold place to a location of welcoming and light. Above, the rays of the sun could be seen, the dazzling light refracting through waves dancing across the tan bottom.

Percy heard a distant neigh, and he blinked when a woman who looked so much like his mother he almost shot her for the insult of not being his mother came riding in from the distance on a giant seahorse.

"Percy Jackson," she greeted warmly. "I am a naiad, one of many in your father's service. He wants you to know that you have made him very proud, and he is very pleased with your progress, and he has the utmost confidence in your ability to advert war. I've also been instructed to instruct you to go to the beach of Santa Monica, and to wade into the water. There is something you need there, and it will be given to you when you arrive. Fare the well, and safe travels, Prince of the Sea."

The naiad made her giant seahorse spin around and…gallop…away.

The spray of bubbles obscured Percy's vision and tickled him relentlessly.

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His eyes popped wide open.

"You pissed yourself, cupcake."

Percy's eyes shifted to his crotch, and he brought a hand there. He was dry.

"Ha! Got'cha."

Percy glowered at the satyr, which only made Hedge chortle.

"Have a nice nap?" Annabeth asked.

Percy nodded in the affirmative, and what followed was an interesting situation of having to tell Annabeth to go to Santa Monica while she was trying to drive with her eyes on the road. The communication was managed eventually, and the quest was soon heading for the beach.

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I'm calling it here because after so many days of working on getting all my chapters back, and having to rewrite this from scratch, I'm moving on to another story.

Transcendence, most likely.

Things that happened this chapter that are worthy of note: the waterpark trap involved raining cement trucks, not a bronze net. Ares is scared of something. Hedge ate a package of girl's underwear. Percy had a dream about a woman, a dark place somewhere in the ocean, and got the instruction to go to Santa Monica.

Poll on profile about what happens to Annabeth. Choices are:

She dies.

She goes with Percy to Roanapur.

Or she stays at Camp Half-Blood.

Poll ends when the next chapter of whatever story is up, which could be anywhere from a few days, to three weeks.

Fav, Follow, and Review please!