Percy speaking

Percy's thoughts

Adamos speaking

Adamos thoughts

Characters are owned by Rick

(Except Adamos he's mine)

Chapter 13

The Gods can be so needy

Once more I opened my eyes after falling unconscious from another near-death experience. I remembered landing in the river, but the view was different. All I could see was clear blue skies. The sound of waves gently breaking was a soothing rhythm that filled my ears. I opened and closed my hands, grasping handfuls of soft sand. The rays of sunlight felt warm on my skin and yet they never seemed too bright for my eyes. For a brief moment I thought that I had died, and this was heaven, but knowing my luck that wasn't what happened.

Finally getting tired of just staring at the peaceful blue expanse above me I raise my self onto my elbows, still mostly laying in the sand, and I look around. The beach stretched around the island. The crystal blue waters lapped near my feet. Behind me was a thick jungle that seemed to be in perpetual bloom, bright and beautiful colors that never seemed to fade. Then I saw a sight that I had seen recently. A familiar three-story beach side mansion took up most of that section of beach.

"I guess this means I'm not dead." I say as I get up and walk over to the mansion. I had the feeling that Adamos was there.

It didn't take me very long to reach the beach mansion, but I did take some time to admire the building. The smooth sea stone walls, the glass and metal rails on the balconies, the wooden patio built into the sand. It was an honest to gods dream house that I wished was mine. Walking around the expanse of the mansion I didn't find Adamos till I came to the back patio. He was laying in a long beach chair with a mattress top. He was wearing a pair of swim trunks and sunglasses and nothing else. His body was perfectly muscled while being a bit on the lean side and almost seemed like it was chiseled from stone. Next to him on his right was an empty beach chair, and in between was a cooler filled to the brim with a variety of drinks and ice. I walked over to him and stood just a bit of a ways away. I stood there staring at him, expecting him to say something but it seemed as if he didn't even register my presence in the slightest. I looked at the empty chair next to him and just shrugged my shoulders before making my self comfortable and grabbing a can of cherry coke from the cooler.

"You know if I didn't know better I would thing that you were a one and done kinda guy." Adamos said, finally breaking the silence as he took a sip of whatever he was drinking from a nondescript cup.

"One and done?" I question.

"Yeah. You have a habit of passing out after such," Adamos rolled his hand as he looked for the right words. "Strenuous activities."

"I don't pass out." I mumble, taking a sip of my cherry coke. "And its not all the time."

"Really?" Adamos challenged, his face full of amusement.

"Yeah, I mean I didn't pass out after Annabeth, Grover and I ambushed the furies or when I took Medusa from behind." I said

Adamos began to cough and pound on his chest after I finish talking. I gave him a questioning look.

"N-never mind you'll understand when you're older." Adamos waves me off.

I just shrug, not really understanding what he was talking about. We stay on that imaginary beach and just continue to drink in the pleasant atmosphere. It was quiet for a while until Adamos started to talk.

"So how do you think you did in that fight?" He asked.

I think about the fight with the chimera. I wasn't going to lie and say that I could have handled it. "I think that I need to study up on monsters and other things." I say.

"And why is that?"

I let out a sigh. "I forgot about the snake head and it bit me."

"And poisoned you. Don't forget the poison." Adamos pointed out.

"Yeah. That sucked, like so much. I mean like that was a deep pain and it just got worse." I say in exasperation. "But it's over, right? I mean I'm not hurting right now." I say as I stare at where the bite would have been on my real body.

"The poison was expunged from your veins so you should be fine. And hey another plus is your body is working on producing antibodies for the poison. So less of a chance at you dying. Maybe I should inject you with more poisons…" Adamos begins to mutter and list off plans and experiments he wanted to try.

"Woah, woah!" I say as I wave my hands in front of me to cut off his train of thought. "I would prefer if you didn't try to poison me on a regular basis, or any basis for that matter."

Adamos huffs. "Fine."

I nod at him, silently hoping he wouldn't poison me in the future just so I can have a resistance. "So are Grover and Annabeth okay?" I ask.

"They're fine. They made it out of the monument before the fight started. Now they're just being kept away by the police."

"The police?" I ask.

Adamos gives me a raised brow. "Yeah the police. A monument exploded. It wouldn't take more than a few seconds before someone called 911."

I had to resist the urge to face palm and just let out a sigh instead. "This quest is just nonstop problems."

Adamos chuckles as he finishes his drink and crushes the can. "Well as much as I love these little chats, I think that its best if you wake up. Can't have you eating up more time from my plan by missing the train."

"Alright just give me a second." I say and then down the rest of my cherry coke. It might not be real, but it was still delicious and felt perfectly chilled. "Alright I'm ready."

Adamos just snaps his fingers and everything is engulfed in white.

Line Break

I open my eyes once more, but I wasn't greeted with a clear blue sky this time. Instead I could see the murky surface of the river moving about with the presence of a few paddle boats. The sun seemed to turn the water into a butterscotch color.I try to sit up but my hands sink deep into the silt that I was on top of. I try to draw on some of Adamos's earth powers and concentrate on the ground below me. My eyes narrow in focus until I feel a small tug in my gut and the ground beneath me hardens so that I can properly stand.

Once I get up properly my hand reaches out and rubs where the snake head bit my shoulder. It no longer burned and there were no wounds, not even any scarring. I then begin to brush off any of the silt that was still clinging to my clothes. I feel the dryness of my clothes as I brush them off and see a glint in the corner of my eye. Turning I see also at the bottom of the river was Riptide next to what looked like a large animal pelt.

"Probably a spoil from the chimera." I thought. I walk over to them and pull off my backpack, which I was wearing when I fell, and open it up. I assumed it was magic because even though I opened it underwater none of the water was pouring into the open bag. I first cap riptide and put it into my pocket, my hand brushes against something and I pull it out. It was the amulet that Adamos had made, that I used against Echidna and the Chimera.

I just shrug and put it into the bag before grabbing the chimera pelt and stuffing it in to the bag. Once I had that settled, I zipped that bag shut and put it back on my shoulders. I was about to set off when I heard what sounded like a woman's voice. "Percy." The voice strangely reminded me of my mother.

I whirl around to find the voice. "Hello? Who's there?" I shout.

The only thing that seemed present was a catfish. Then through the murky waters a woman takes form. Her body was transparent like the water around her, like a ghost in the water. She had long hair and though faint she had sea green eyes like me.

"W-who are you?" I ask.

"A messenger child, one sent by your father." She says.

"My father?" I ask.

"Yes. You must go the beach in Santa Monica. It is your father's will. You must go to Santa Monica before you delve into the Underworld. Please Percy you must. I can't stay for to long as the river is to foul for my presence." She pleaded.

I didn't know what to do. My father was suddenly summoning me in the middle of the quest. What would he say? What would I say? I had so many questions running through my head.

"Percy you need to agree to go. You can not ignore a summons from a god." Adamos said to me.

I looked back to the floating woman. "I-I promise."

The woman smiles and reaches out to me. I felt a gentle caress on the side of my face. "Thank you, Percy. And a word of warning, don't trust the gifts" She says, her voice and body fades into the water.

I stood there for a few moments, staring at where she once was. "What do you think she means by gifts?" I ask Adamos.

"Well a gift is something given to you and you were only given two things since this quest started."

"The sword and…" My eyes narrow at the thought. "the shoes."

I feel Adamos nod in agreement. "All this does is confirm what we already know, and now…"

"Now we know that Luke was trying to sabotage the quest somehow." I finish Adamos's thought. The third line of the prophecy rings in my head.

'you shall be betrayed by one who calls you friend'

I grit my teeth at the thought. Luke seemed like a nice guy, but it was all an act. He was trying to stop me from finding the bolt and getting my mother back.

"Would it be to much of a stretch to believe that he has something to do with stealing the bolt?" I ask.

"Not even. At this point he's the prime suspect. A son of Hermes, god of thieves, he was on Olympus when the bolt was taken. I don't know how he did it but it seems like he's our thief or at the very least a deeply involved accomplice."

So, can't we just tell the gods he's the thief and have him spill?"

"No, they would just see it as you trying to pass blame, but even if they believed you, he managed to steal a symbol of power from under their noses. It's not out of possibility to think that he would have an escape plan." Adamos explains. "The best course of action would be to find the bolt first."

I mentally groan. "Why can't it just be easy for once."

"Yeah well life's not fair."

"Aren't you the god of life?"

"Yeah, yeah. And I say it isn't always fair. So, if you have time to sass, then get that ass out of the river. We have a train to catch."

I didn't respond to Adamos except for a shake of my head. I then kicked up and swam to the shore. I came ashore after checking to see if there was anyone watching, but everyone seemed more focused on the emergency vehicles parked a block away around the arch. Police helicopters circled overhead.

I nearly froze when I heard a little girl shouting to her mother about the boy who came out of the river' but I relaxed when the mother just brushed it off and took her away to get a closer look at the ambulances. I walked away, trying to get far away from the scene, while also listening in on the chatter.

A news woman talked to her camera. "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but its still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."

I felt a surge of relief at the word survivors, I was dreading something might have happened to those people while I was fighting the two monsters.

"…an adolescent boy," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to be…"

I didn't stop to listen and just picked up my pace and keeping my head down.

"Hey Percy, your famous." Adamos chuckles.

I was about to retort when I heard a familiar bleating voice. "Perrr-cy!"

I turned and was tackle hugged by Grover with Annabeth on his heels. She wore an expression of anger but I could see faint traces of relief at my safety.

"We thought that you went to Hades the hard way!" Grover cried out.

Annabeth however wasn't sharing the sentiment. "We can't even leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"

I sheepishly rub the back of my head and chuckle. "I, uh, fought two monsters and then fell."

"WHAT?" They both nearly screamed.

Before Annabeth could start interrogating me a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple paramedics came out with a woman strapped into a stretcher. I recognized her as the mother of the little boy in the Arch. She was saying "And this huge fire breathing dog—"

"Okay ma'am," The paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is okay, and the medication will kick in soon."

"I'm not crazy!" She shouted. "This boy was fighting a giant monster and then they both fell out the hole." She said and then she saw me. "There he is. That's the boy!"

At that I grabbed Annabeth and Grover and dragged them into the crowd.

After we were a far enough distance away, I let go of their hands and slowed down to a brisk walking pace and headed back to where the bus would pick us up.

"All right Percy. Spill." Annabeth demanded. "What happened after we left."

At that I began to tell Annabeth and Grover about what happened. I left out a few details like the amulet and Adamos making the plan, and my suspicion of Luke, but I did tell them about the message to go to Santa Monica.

"Whoa," Said Grover. "We need to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."

Before Annabeth could say anything, we passed another reporter and I nearly stumbled when he said "Percy Jackson. That's right Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by the authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago and the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."

We picked up our pace and made our way through the crowd. "Ok so first things first." I said to Grover. "We need to get out of here." Both of them agreed with me and we somehow made our way back to the Amtrak station. We boarded the train and set off west. The skyline of St. Louis growing smaller and smaller.

Line Break

It had been an entire day before our train rolled into Denver in the afternoon and we had spent most of our time sleeping or just exploring the train. Annabeth had been a bit weird and was occasionally glancing at me every time she thought I wasn't looking and it was making me feel a bit self-conscious. It had also been an entire day since we had eaten and even longer since any of us had taken a shower and I think it was becoming obvious at this point.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"We can't use phones, right?" I asked.

"I'm not talking about phones." Annabeth said.

We then walked around Denver for about a half-hour before we found what Annabeth was talking about. We came across an empty car wash. We went to the farthest stall from the street, keeping a look out for any cops that could show up.

"So, what are you doing?" I asked.

"It's seventy-five cents," Grover grumbled. "I only have two quarters. Either of you got any change."

Annabeth and I both dug into our pockets for any change that we might have had. Annabeth came up empty, but I had a quarter, which I handed to Grover. He then deposited the money into the machine and set it to fine mist.

"So, would you care to explain what you're doing?" I ask.

"I-M'ing." Grover simply stated.

"Iris messaging. It's sending a video call by using magic and rainbows." Adamos explained as I was confused.

"Iris messaging," Annabeth corrected Grover only to add onto Adamos's explanation. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she isn't to busy, she'll carry messages for demigods."

"So, your gonna summon a goddess with a spray gun?" I say with a raised brow.

Grover pointed the nozzle into the air, and it let out a fine mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."

Sure enough, when the light hit the mist a rainbow appeared within the vapor. Annabeth held out her hand. "Drachma please." Which I then handed to her.

"O' Iris. Goddess of the rainbow, accept our offering." She then tossed the coin into the rainbow, where it disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-Blood hill."

For a moment nothing happened. Then the mist morphed and the view of strawberry fields and the hills of the camp came to view. Our view was from the porch of the big house. Standing to his back to us was a guy with sandy hair and a sword at his waist, staring at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" Annabeth shouted with excitement. I however had to force a smile at him.

Luke turned around, his eyes wide, before a grin spread across his face. "Thank the gods you are all okay. How are you all doing?"

"We're… uh… fine." Annabeth stammered. She was hopelessly trying to straighten out her messy shirt and hair.

"Where's Chiron?" I asked.

Luke's smile faded. "He's down at the cabins. We're having issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"

"Like you actually care." I couldn't help but mentally scoff.

"I'm right here." Grover said as he came into Luke's view. "What kind of issues?"

Then a large car pulled into the car wash with its stereo pumped up to the max, playing hip-hop. As the car pulled in the stall next to us the sub woofers were playing so loudly that it was making the pavement shake.

"Seriously!" Adamos exclaimed. "No one needs their music this loud." Though I barely heard him over the music.

"Chiron is…What's that noise?" Luke yelled.

"I'll take care of it." Annabeth yelled back, though she looked relieved to get away from the message. "Grover, come on!"

"What?" Grover said. "But—"

"Just give Percy the nozzle and come on!" Annabeth ordered. Grover just muttered something about girls being harder to understand the oracle of Delphi and then he handed me the spray gun and left.

I readjusted the nozzle and then looked back to Luke.

"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted over the music." Things are pretty tense around here, Percy. Word got out about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. Were still not sure how, but it might have been the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound."

"So, you then." I mentally said.

"Now the campers are starting to take sides. Its shaping up to be like the Trojan war all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."

"That's a lot more support than I thought he would get." Adamos said.

"Why?"

"Aphrodite was never one to fight a war unless she had to. Ares, I understand, he probably just wants to go against Athena. And Apollo I was on the fence about. I was actually thinking Hephaestus would join dad."

As I was listening to Adamos's reasoning I heard Annabeth arguing with who ever was playing the music as the volume had reduced considerably.

"So what's your status?" Luke asked me. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you."

"Just tell him the bare essentials." Adamos said. So I only told Luke the barest details about my quest, while leaving out some of the more important things like my dreams. This seemed to be enough for him as he nodded as I talked.

"I wish I could be there," Luke told me. "We can't help much from here I'm afraid but listen… it had to be Hades who stole the bolt."

In my mind I couldn't help but think "Liar."

"He was at the winter solstice when it happened. I was chaperoning a field trip when it happened, and we saw him there."

"But gods can't steal each other's symbols of power. Chiron said its one of their most serious ancient laws." I said.

"That's true." Luke said, though he started to look troubled. "Still… Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."

We were both silent. Internally Adamos was ranting in my head. "Shit, shit, that's how he did it."

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"How he stole the bolt. And the answer to another mystery." When Adamos sensed I still didn't get it he started t explain. "Somehow Luke must have gotten his hands on the Helm of Darkness and used that to steal the master bolt."

"And the furies are looking for something of Hades. So that means the Helm of Darkness is missing." I think and my eyes widen at the realization.

Luke however thought that I was thinking something else. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never… I mean, she's like a little sister to me."

I was barely giving his words any thought though. Then in the stall next to us where Grover and Annabeth were, I heard the music shut off completely but was then followed by a scream of terror and the sound of screeching wheels as it rocketed out of the car wash.

"You'd better go and see what that was," Luke said. "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'd feel better if I knew you were making good use of them."

I had to force another smile onto my face. "Yeah, they have come in real handy."

"Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?" Then the water shut off and the mist began to evaporate. "All right Percy, just take care of your self in Denver," Luke called out as his voice grew fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be okay this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just—" Then the mist disappeared, and Luke's message went unheard.

Annabeth and Grover came around the corner laughing but stopped when they saw me. Annabeth gave me a curious gaze. "What happened Percy? What did Luke say?"

"Not much," I lied. "Just to do our best." I didn't want to worry them about the troubles at camp or the message to Grover. "Come on let's get something to eat. I'm starving."

After a few minutes more of searching we came across a diner that seemed like a decent place to eat. All around us people were eating dinners and drinking sodas and shakes. After what seemed like forever for my ADHD addled brain a waitress came over with her note book to take our orders. She raised her eyebrow skeptically.

"Well?" She said, with no attempt to hide her skepticism.

I said. "We would like to order."

"You kids have money to pay for it?" She asked.

Grover's lower lip quivered, and just from looking at him I was afraid that he would start bleating, or worse, eat the linoleum. Annabeth looked like she was about to pass out from hunger. I was about to dig through my backpack for some of the money I had left to show the waitress we could pay when a rumble shook the whole building. A massive motorcycle pulled up into the curb. As if someone had flipped a switch, all conversation in the diner stopped.
The headlight glowed a menacing red, the gas tank had flames painted on it and a shotgun holster on either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather but looked like it was from human skin.

The guy that was riding the monster of a machine looked like he would make some of the toughest men run for mama. He was dressed in a red muscle and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. His face was one of the cruelest and brutal faces I had ever seen. In a way it was handsome, I guess. On his face he wore a pair of wraps around sunglasses, but I could sense a violent power behind them.

Adamos's voice was tense and irate, it was almost to the point of growling as he spoke. "Ares."

As Ares walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All of the people in the diner rose in sync, as if hypnotized, but Ares waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down. Then as if nothing had happened, they all went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked and once again asked. "You kids have money to pay for it?"

"Its on me." Ares said as he slid into our booth and squished Annabeth into the wall. He looked back up to the waitress and said, "Are you still here?" He then snapped his fingers and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around and marched back to the kitchen.

Ares turned in my direction and his gaze locked onto me. As looked at me all sorts of bad feelings began to burn within me. I felt angry, bitter, I felt like punching this guy in his stupid face, but as soon as the feelings came, they were soothed, like I had been dipped into a cool pool of water.

"Ares is the god of war and bloodshed. His mere presence will incite you to be aggressive." Adamos said but I could feel that he was restraining his own fury, even if his voice was calm and even.

At this I looked at my two companions. Grover was extremely tense, and his mouth was formed into what was almost a snarl, but he looked more constipated than anything else. Annabeth seemed to be faring better, but her nails were dug so deep into the table I was sure the pieces were chipped off.

I looked back at the god of war and he gave me a wicked grin. "So, your old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

"What's it to you?" I asked as I kept my composure, showing that he wasn't getting to me. This seemed to work as Ares barely raised a brow at how calm I was, but then returned that wicked grin.

Annabeth's eyes flashed me a warning. "Percy, this is—"

Ares just raised his hand to silence her. "S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember whose boss. You know who I am, little cousin."

"You're that whiny bitch baby that I vividly remember showing whose top dog, by planting my foot somewhere between your lungs and colon." Adamos couldn't help but mock in my mind.

"Your Clarisse's dad." I said. "Ares, god of war."

Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should have been, there was only fire in the sockets. It felt menacing and threatening, a vast difference than when I had looked at Adamos's eyes and felt a mix of fun loving and relaxing feelings.

"That's right punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."

"That and a few of your other children." I say with a bit of a smirk. "But they were asking for it."

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids battles. But that's not what I came here for. I actually have a proposition for you." Ares said.

Then the waitress came back with a large tray of burgers, onion rings, fries, and sodas. Ares handed her a few drachmas. She looked nervously at the coins. "But these aren't—"

Ares pulled out his knife and started to clean the dirt from under his nails. "Problem, sweetheart?" The waitress swallowed and quickly left with the gold.

"You can't do that," I told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife." I felt Adamos shake his head at the situation, whether it was from me trying to tell Ares what he shouldn't do or just at Ares for being Ares, maybe it was both.

Ares laughed at my statement." Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a little favor."

"What favor could I do a god?" I ask.

"Something that a god doesn't have the time to do himself. Its nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little… date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted and I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me." Ares explained.

"And why can't you just get it yourself?" I questioned.

The fires in his eyes seemed to intensify. "Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself kid. That is what you 'heroes'," He said the word heroes like it was a joke, "to prove that your not a coward, that your worthy of love from daddy dearest."

I wanted to punch him in the face, my anger was rising only to be cooled down by Adamos. Ares was trying to provoke me into attacking him, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him see that he got to me.

"Percy you need to accept. Refusing a gods request will only make this quest harder." Adamos said in disappointment. "As much as I hate this, we don't have a choice."

"Fine," I grit my teeth at having to give in to this guy. "I'll get back your shield."

Ares clapped his hands together. The clap sounded like a boom that rung in my ears, Annabeth and Grover were also wincing from it, but Ares seemed to either not notice nor care. "Now was that so hard. And since I'm feeling so generous, I'll even get you a ride west if you bring it back. Help you get to old Corpse breathe faster."

"Wait how do you kn—" I started to say but Ares cut me off.

"Know about your quest? Kid when the bolt was stolen Zeus sent out his best to track it down: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. And if I couldn't find a weapon that powerful…" Ares licked his lips at the idea. "Anyways… If I couldn't find it then you got no chance. But I'm willing to believe in you. I mean I was the one who told your dad about my suspicions of that Boney bastard."

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"

"Sure did." He said with a smirk.

"Framing some one to start a war."

"Oldest trick in the book."

"In a way you have me to thank for this little quest." Ares's face still held the proud smirk.

"Thanks." I grumble sarcastically.

"Your welcome." Ares said, ignoring my sarcasm. "Now get going, I want my shield back ASAP. You'll find the park a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the tunnel of love ride."

"What interrupted your date?" I ask. "Something scare you off?"

Ares bared his teeth at me in a snarl. I had seen this look from Clarisse, but this looked fake, as if he was more nervous than threatening. "You're lucky that you met me punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."

After that I blinked, and Ares was gone. Annabeth and Grover's eyes though were a bit glazed over, but they snapped out of it rather quickly.

"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out Percy. This is not good." He was trembling in his seat.

"Alright let's get this over with." I say with a sigh before eating enough of my food that I was satisfied. Grover and Annabeth both did the same. "You two don't have to come with. He asked me to get the shield for him." I say as I look at the two. The looked horrible and tired. I knew I didn't look much better but as night time was rolling around, I was starting to feel a bit better. Thank you, night domain.

Annabeth gave me a critical look. "We're coming with you. We're also apart of this quest and I don't even know if I could trust you alone. And not after the Arch." She said. Grover just sorta nodded in agreement.

I held my hands out in a placating manner. "Ok, jeez. We can go together. No need to bite my head off." I said. Annabeth's stare lessened but it wasn't fully gone. We then left the diner and began our walk west to the water park.

"Why do you think Ares needs us?" I ask as we were walking.

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength must bow to wisdom sometimes."

"And wisdom must bow to spirit and will." Adamos spoke aloud with confidence and conviction at the statement.

Annabeth gave a disbelieving look, a look that said, 'are you stupid?'. "That sounds stupid, like the kind of metaphorical garbage on a calendar."

"Well clearly you're too narrow minded to understand." Adamos said challengingly.

"Excuse me." Annabeth said heatedly.

"Look, forget it." I said, trying to salvage this conversation after i gain control. "Lets just discuss this water park. There has to be something there that's pretty bad if a god would rather run away than do it himself."

Annabeth cooled down but still had anger in her eyes. "We'll just have to find out when we get there." She spoke.

The sun was starting to dip behind the mountains by the time we made it to the water park. The place was trashed. The main gate was padlocked shut with barbed wire on top of the fence and the sign was missing a few letters. Inside Huge tubes and pipes jutted out of everywhere, leading to empty pools. Trash littered the ground. As night approached this place became creepier by the moment.

"If Ares brings his girlfriend here on a date," I said as I looked at the abandoned place. "I'd hate to see what she looks like."

"Percy can't you remember anything I teach you." Adamos said rhetorically.

"Percy, you should be more respectful." Annabeth warned.

"I thought you hated Ares?" I asked.

"He's still a god, and his girlfriend can be temperamental."

"And you don't want to insult her looks."

"Who is she? Echidna?" I say jokingly.

"No, Aphrodite," Grover said, a little dreamily. "Goddess of love."

"I thought she was married to Hephaestus." I said.

"What's your point?" He asked.

"Oh," I felt the need to change the subject. "So how are we getting in?"

"Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings and he flew over the fence, with an unintended somersault in mid air and landed. He dusted off his jeans, as if he planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?"

Annabeth started to climb the fence when I stopped her. "What are you doing?" I asked.

She gave me a look. "Isn't it obvious? I'm climbing over. Now help me hold down the barbed wire."

"Or," I said as I uncapped Riptide and slashed the lock. It looked pretty rusty after years of disuse, so it seemed breakable. "We can just go through the gate." I said as I pushed the gate open.

Annabeth just climbed down and walked past me with a blush on her face. The shadows seemed to grow as we walked through the water park. No monsters came to get us, heck there wasn't even any noise in the park. We passed by a bunch of stalls until we crossed a souvenir shop that was left open. The shelves were still lined with stuff like snow globes, pencils, and even clothes. At this Annabeth's face lit up.
"Clothes." She cheered. "Fresh clothes."

"Your really gonna wear this stuff?" I asked.

"I've been wearing this shirt for three days straight. Watch me." She then snatched a bunch of clothes off the rack and disappeared into the changing room. A few minutes later she came out wearing flower print shorts, a big red shirt with the parks logo on the front and surf shoes. A commemorative backpack was slung over her shoulders, stuffed with more things.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged and followed her lead. A few more minutes later he came out wearing something similar to Annabeth. "Hey Percy, aren't you going to change?" He asked.

"Yeah—no, I actually have spare changes of clothes that I brought with me in my magic pack." I say pointing to the backpack on my back.

"Wait couldn't you give us some then?" Grover said in disbelief.

I give both of them a once over. "Actually, I don't think were the same size, so no."

Grover deflated a bit but nodded. Both he and Annabeth were taller than me so my clothes wouldn't have fit them. We continued to look for the tunnel of love.

"So Ares and Aphrodite, they have a thing?" I asked. I only wanted break the silence as the silence was creeping me out a bit.

"That's old gossip, Percy, Three-thousand-year-old gossip." Annabeth told me.

"But what about her husband?"

"Well, you know," she said "Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus, so he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands and all but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"

While Annabeth was talking, I felt Adamos stiffen in my head. I noticed and began to question him. "What did you do?"

"What are you talking about?" He tries to sound nonchalant.

"Bullshit. You know something."

"The legend actually goes like this. After Hephaestus was born Hera asked me to babysit him for a bit while she went to do a few errands. Zeus didn't know I was watching him so when he found me with Hephaestus, he demanded I let him go and tried to take him away. He also accused me of doing other stuff behind his back with Hera just because I would often meet with her for social visits. Anyways in the issuing struggle I might have lost my grip and Zeus got Hephaestus, but he didn't have a good hold either and then he might have accidentally thrown… him… off… Olympus." Adamos said. His voice seemed to be getting quieter as he spoke.

I was speechless. That had to be one of the stupidest legends I had ever heard. Two gods fighting over a baby in a misunderstanding, accidentally throw the baby off of Olympus. It actually sounded a bit funny but for the life of me I couldn't find it humorous at all.

I was broken from my thoughts when Annabeth shook my shoulder. She was pointing at an attraction up ahead. Ahead of us was a large empty bowl that was at least fifty yard across. Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of cupid stood guard. On the opposite side was a tunnel that I figured the water would flow into when the pool was full. The sign read 'THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: This isn't your parents' tunnel of love'.

Grover crept to look over the edge. "Guys, look." He pointed to the center.

In the center of the bowl was a marooned two-seater heart shaped boat. In the seats was Ares's shield, a circle of polished bronze.

"This is just too easy." I said. "So we just go down and grab it?" I ask them.

Annabeth ran her fingers along one of the statues. "There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder…."

"An Eta?" Adamos said. "That must mean that this is one of Hephaestus's traps for Ares and Aphrodite."

"All right I'll go down and get it." I said.

"I'll go with you." Grover said.

"No, I'll do it. You stay up here in case I need backup." I said. When Grover seemed to deflate, I quickly added on. "I mean you seem to be pretty good with those shoes so come to my rescue f something happens okay?"

That seemed to do the trick as he straightened up. "Sure. But what could go wrong."

I dropped down into the bowl and Annabeth followed after me, her cheeks blushed as she stared at the sign.

"Why'd you follow me?" I asked.

"I couldn't let you do this alone, you'd probably find a way to mess it up." She said. Internally though I was face palming at Annabeth's attempts to lead.

We reached the boat. The shield was propped onto the seat and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. I kept looking around to see if there was any sort of trap that Hephaestus might have set. I didn't see any thing on the scarf, so I picked it up and looked at it. It shimmered pink and smelled great. I was about to put it into my pocket when Annabeth tried to snatch it away but failed.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Keeping you away from that. It's filled with love magic." Annabeth said.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Yeah well I'm keeping it." I said as I stuffed it into my pocket.

Once again Annabeth tried to grab it once more but tripped on a loose board that was sticking up from the floor of the boat. She fell forward and knocked the shield off the seat. Something glittered in the air from the remaining light the sun was giving. It looked like a cobweb but when I caught it I could see that it wasn't. It was a metal string so fine it was almost invisible.

At the same moment Adamos had the same thought. "Well shit."

Noise erupted all around us, like a thousand gears turning under the whole pool.

Grover yelled. "Guys!"

Up on the rim of the pool the cupid statues had drawn their bows and started to fire at each other from across the pool. Golden cables were trailing their arrows, and then anchoring to the ground. They crossed together to form a huge asterisk over the rim. Then the golden threads began to weave between each other, making a net.

"We have to get out!" I said.

"Duh!" Annabeth said as she got off the floor.

"Not the time Annabeth!" I shouted and then grabbed Ares's shield and put it on my arm. It would suck to go through this and not return with the shield.

"Come on!" Grover shouted. He was trying to hold the threads apart, but the threads began to wrap around his hands as he tried.

The cupids' heads popped open. Out came video camera's and spot lights rose out of the pool and blinded us. A loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute… fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight—"

"Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed. "I'm so stupid. Eta is H. He made this trap to catch Ares and Aphrodite. Now we're going to be broadcast to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"

"I think we have worse things to worry about than our self-image." I said as I pointed to the pipes that were in the wall of the bowl. Thousands of small metallic things began to crawl out of the openings.

Annabeth screamed It was an army of bronze mechanical spiders. I remembered when Adamos pranked the Athena cabin by putting a giant fake spider in front of their door and the couldn't leave for hours. Annabeth looked to be on the verge of a panic attack. She jumped onto the top of the seat of the love boat in the hopes of getting father away from the mechanical arachnids.

"Anyway, to stop these things?" I asked Adamos.

"These things were meant to trap a god, and you're not a god so I suggest not letting them bite you." Adamos said.

I began to use the shield to batter the spiders away and was a bout to yell at Annabeth to help me, but she was too far gone to do more than whimper and scream.

Grover was hovering above the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull different parts of the net loose, but to no avail.

"Percy if this ride has an entrance it must also have an exit. Try to find a way to get to it." Adamos instructed.

I looked around and then saw the tunnel. There had to be way out through there, but the problem was how to get to it. I looked around and then saw what could help.

"Fourteen, thirteen—" The loud speaker said.

"Grover!" I shouted. "Get into that booth! Find the ON switch."

"But—"

"Just do it!" I yelled. It was a crazy hope., but it was the only one I had. The spiders were swarming the boat and Annabeth was in no condition to help. Grover was now in the control station punching buttons.

"Five, four—"

Grover looked up at me and raised his hands. He had pushed every button, and nothing was happening.

I closed my eyes and tried to call the water to me.

"Think of the oceans Percy. The rivers, lakes, and all bodies of water. Call them to you." Adamos spoke in my head.

I followed his instructions and pictured rivers, and oceans. I felt a pull in my gut that got worse by the second, but I didn't stop. I could feel the water coming.

"Two, one, zero" The loud speaker shouted.

Water then exploded from the pipes and began to swirl around the boat in a whirlpool, then lifted it into the current. My eyes were narrowed, and my brow was crinkled in concentration. The current began to pick up the spiders and smash them together or short circuit them. I pulled Annabeth into the seat next to me as we spun in circles in the whirlpool. The pool was littered with bronze pieces.

I was focusing on the boat and was willing the currents to not capsize the boat. We kept on spinning until we were close enough to the golden threads that our heads almost scrapped the top. I didn't feel like getting a haircut, so I focused once more and the pull in my gut worsened before the boat sailed out of the whirl pool and into the dark tunnel.

Annabeth was holding onto me tight as we rocketed through winding turns and drops in the dark. I was also screaming but I could barely hear it with the roar of the water and Adamos shouting whee. I could see in the dark perfectly fine though and what I saw mad me blanche. We were almost out of the tunnel, but what scared me was the two boats in front of a locked gate that would have led to the exit pool.

"Get up!" I shouted at Annabeth.

"Are you crazy?!" She yelled back.

"Unless you want to get smashed to death, we're going to have to jump." My idea was simple. We just needed to jump at the right time and use the boat as a spring board to get over the gate and land in the pool.

Annabeth seemed to understand and stood up.

"Can you say when?"

"Just leave it to me."

"On my mark!"

"No! On my mark!"

"Is this really the time!" I argue.

"Just do what I say! Its simple physics. Force time the trajectory ang—"

"Fine!" I shout getting angry. She was really testing my patience. "Jump whenever you want!"

We waited as we rushed towards the gate.

"…. Now!" Adamos shouted in my mind. I then vaulted off the boat as it cracked against the gate. Annabeth had leapt a split second after me.

We were flying through the air before I landed in the exit pool, but I had to use my water powers to slow myself down or I would have hit my skull on the other end of the pool. Annabeth also made it over with maximum lift. However, it was too much lift as she sailed past the pool and towards the asphalt, only to be saved by Grover swooping in on his flying shoes, but Annabeth had the momentum and caused them to dive bomb and smash into a photo board. Grover's head went straight into the whole of the park's mascot Noo-Noo the whale. Annabeth just hit the board and tumbled to the ground.

I immediately crawled out of the pool and ran over to them, hoping they were ok.

"You ok?" I asked Annabeth as I helped her to her feet.

"Everything hurts." She groans out. I took that as a sign that she was ok. I went over to help Grover and once I saw how he landed Adamos broke out into laughter at how he landed. I couldn't help but chuckle as well as I got him out of the whale cutout.

I turned back to the Thrill Ride of Love. The cupid cameras were pointed at us as the spotlights swiveled to our direction.

"Like any great showman you must give a proper send off Percy." Adamos said and I could tell he had a huge grin on his face.

I spread my arms out. "Show's over." I shout. "Thank you! Good night!" I shout with a bow. The cupids then turn back to normal and the lights shut off. The park was once again quiet and abandoned, except for the faint trickle of water from the Thrill Ride of Love. I wondered what our ratings would be like before shoving the thought aside.

I had more important things to think about. I tightened the straps of the shield on my arm and turned to Grover and Annabeth. "Let's go have a talk with Ares."

A/N: Ok so this is now done. Hey there everyone, this is Captain Momentei here. Ahoy. First things first. I wrote the first chapter of a second story. It's a league of legends crossover with Percy Jackson. I got the inspiration from another story called Of Red Petals and Black Feathers by Unseen Lurker. I had a hard time choosing which champion to use but I went with Nautilus in the end. But never fear my peeps. This story is still the primary focus of mine. Anyways I would like you to check out my other story and write a review for both my stories. Constructive criticism is the basis for a good writer after all.

Momentei out