Writing this story is such a good way to end my Monday. I hope reading it is the same for you, because everyone hates Mondays. You always have to have something to cheer it up besides the fact that it's the end of the day.

Anyways, I have lots of good news!XD

Firstly, we are at over 100 pages in Word! WHOOO! Secondly, we are more than halfway through The Lightning Thief!

Thirdly...

15.

15 days.

I am going to freak.

I'd like to point out that it is not at all good for my emotions when the next series for the 39 Clues, Allegiant, and House of Hades come out in the same month. Very bad timing.

Well I'm going to stop being a fangirl for just a couple minutes so you can read this chapter. :)

"Okay," Grover murmured to Annabeth once the doors to the elevator closed without Percy there. "Now there's something wrong. I can smell it."

"Will you shut up, Grover?" Annabeth hissed. "I'm nervous enough; you don't have to add on."

His inhales drew in deeper and longer, and his chest puffed out a little more. "Smells like…like a Chihuahua."

The other people in the elevator began to send them looks and Annabeth elbowed him in the ribs.

"Calm down, Percy will be fine."

"Like an ugly Chihuahua."

Annabeth didn't scold him this time. She just stared at the numbers that beeped as they descended with each floor they passed. She caught her breath each time the number changed, hoping it would change again. She just wanted to reach the bottom without having to deal with another monster. She wasn't sure when another pain would flash through her—or how long it would last.

Finally, the elevator doors opened up and she immediately stepped out of them, wanting her foot to step onto ground floor. Grover followed her out and they waited off to the side to wait for Percy.

Before they reached that, though, the building rumbled and everyone gasped, wondering how that happened.

But Annabeth and Grover knew as they shared a look.

"I told you," Grover said.

"Oh, gods," she took his hand and they ran outside. "Let's go."

There was already a crowd forming outside, people gawking with their hands over their mouths as they pointed up at the floor she and Grover were just on.

Who knows what the mortals saw, but what Annabeth saw was nothing close to a Chihuahua. It was a chimera, with the head of a lion, its body a goat and instead of paws, it had hooves. And its tail was a giant snake—or serpent, Annabeth should correct.

It breathed fire and the snake was poisonous.

She saw a black dot in the midst of the fire. Something glinted against that dot, like a sword. Her breath caught in her throat; it was Percy. And, once again, he was in trouble.

She wasn't able to read this on the Amtrak. Percy was sitting next to her the entire time and there was no way she could read it without him doing so as well.

Annabeth was not reticent to scream out Percy's name as he tried to fight the chimera. He may be one of the Big Three's son, but that doesn't mean that he could take on this on his own.

She knew he couldn't hear her, but she wished he could, and so she sprinted back into the building. But the guards were evacuating everyone, and even when she tried to slip past them, the elevators had been shut down. Annabeth was frustrated, but Grover was there trying to calm her down.

"I've got my shoes! We can fly up there!"

"No, there are too many people here. They could see you and—it'd just be too dangerous."

Grover frowned. "You're right,"

Annabeth stepped back outside, her and Grover in the crowd once again, and she heard the chimera roar and cry. She hoped that meant Percy was winning.

As if on cue, everyone gasped and cried out.

There was that dot, flying down towards the air, plummeting right toward the river.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried out and suddenly, she couldn't breathe.

She was falling, or at least, it felt like she was. Her vision flipped upside down and her knees buckled and suddenly, she found herself sitting on the ground, her mind woozy, her vision swimming, and her voice still crying out his name from far away.

"Annabeth!" Percy's cry echoed.

"I'm here," she tried to respond. She blinked, and her vision turned dark, and in that split second, a flash erupted from behind her eyelids and she saw the desk and the letter.

What? She thought. Where am I? Her hands shook and she felt the ground, but saw the desk.

READ THE BOOKS CAREFULLY, it said.

"We didn't fight through Tartarus for nothing,"

I couldn't just...die. She heard Percy's voice.

"Annabeth?" Grover was saying. "Are you okay?"

"You have no faith," a strange voice said; one Annabeth didn't recognize. "You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward. Better you die now—much easier instead of at Greece. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart."

"Die," it said. "Die!"

Come down, little hero!

A one-way trip. A very hard fall, something else cackled.

"Father, help me," Percy's voice said.

"Annabeth!" His voice echoed again.

"Percy!" she cried out, and suddenly she was brought back to something hard clasping her shoulder and shaking her.

Annabeth's eyes flew open, and she was back to reality, to New York, to Percy falling. She was sitting on the ground, the crowd of tourists around her, and Grover was that thing clasping her shoulder.

"What happened to you?" Grover asked.

Annabeth shook her head, her hands shaking as they ran through her curly hair. The thought snapped like two fingers in her head and she immediately twisted around and brought out her backpack, opening it up and taking out The Lightning Thief.

"What's that?" Grover asked.

But Annabeth didn't answer. She opened it up, flipping to where she marked the page. "Gotta know what happened…was that real?" she was mumbling to herself.

Grover continued to stare at the book, his eyebrows furrowing and his mouth opening a little more. He blinked, as if he were seeing things. "What—is that—what book is that, Annabeth?"

She still didn't respond, as her eyes scanned the lines that told her what happened to Percy. He couldn't be dead. There was no way!

Finally, Grover took the book from her hands and turned away, reading it.

Annabeth yelped and jumped to her feet. "Give that back, Grover!" She tried reaching around him to snatch it back, but he kept it out of her reach.

"Where did you get this?!" He asked fiercely. "How did you get this? It—it just said—how does this talk about Percy falling—like he just did?" He bleated and looked back at her, his hazel eyes wide and confused.

Annabeth stammered. She hadn't been prepared for any of this. The only thing she knew was that even though she had the books to guide her, she still would never be prepared.

"Tell me now," he said, and this made her even more surprised. He never yelled, he never got mad—this was Grover, who cried when you swatted a bug.

She swallowed. "I—I can't—"

"Annabeth," he said in a low and shaking voice. His chin wobbled. "What is going on?"

She started to cry as well and tears swelled up in her eyes. She exclaimed through the lump in her throat, "Why does everyone keep asking me?! Like I'm supposed to know! This was put on me! I have no idea what the heck is happening!" Annabeth wiped at her eyes and said under her breath, "Gods,"

"I—I'm sorry, Annabeth," He said and began to give her the book back. "But this…this is talking about something that happened." He began to shake his head. "I don't even know what to say…"

She took the book back and hugged it to her and took a deep breath. She couldn't breathe again, and she thought she was having another incident, so quickly, but then she realized it was because this was never supposed to happen. Which means this was the second chance to fix things because the first time it happened, the books weren't there. There were no lines to read, it was blind instinct, and she realized that that was what she needed to do. Not go along the book, but to do what she needed to do as a half-blood.

Annabeth sighed and looked back at Grover.

The letter said not to tell anyone, but she was the one who had written it in the first place. She was sure she'd understand in the future, because Grover was someone she could trust. And this was a desperate time to tell someone.

"All right," she breathed out hoarsely, "I'll tell you."

Grover blinked. "Let me get this straight, so you've been freaking out ever since Percy came here so you can follow and try to figure out what these books mean because if you don't, then the whole world and everyone in it could possibly die?"

Annabeth nodded.

"Oh, and let's not forget that the books came from the future. You, in the future, sent them to you—your younger self. And that's why you keep having those dreams, and why you keep having those pains, because of what keeps replaying from when time…rewound…in the…future?" Grover squinted one eye, suddenly lost in the words that tried to form a sentence.

Annabeth nodded again. "Yeah, that's right. Do you feel anything different? Anything weird, because right now, we're totally off the lines from the book." She could taste the fowl taste that lingered in her mouth.

Grover nodded numbly. "A little bit," he mumbled.

"I know it's hard to believe, Grover, but you have to trust me. Please, I need help with this." Annabeth put her head in her hands. "I feel like a crazy person just from reading these books."

Grover didn't respond at first. He stared into the crowd that stared at where Percy had fallen from the building. He was still nervous about that, but now his brain was twisted into confused knots just from thinking about this situation Annabeth has. It was worse, because now they had to think about both the quest, and this. It seemed as though the quest was nothing compared to this.

They sat against a wall away from the thick crowd expanding with each news broadcast.

He drew in a shaky deep breath. "Annabeth, I'd rather get peanut-butter-and-ketchup sandwiches thrown at me by Nancy Bobofit than try to figure out what this means."

Annabeth groaned softly and screwed her eyes shut. The cries and the exclaimed talks of the mortals saying that they saw a boy cause a freak explosion!

She couldn't listen to it anymore. Because they had no idea—no idea what really happens. They have no idea about what she's going through now.

"But I'm going to help." Grover added on.

She slowly raised her head and stared at him in awe. "Really?"

He nodded, and his chin wasn't trembling, and his voice was firm and full of truth when he said, "It's always been my job to be yours and Percy's and Thalia's and Luke's protector. But I will always be your friend, and I'm going to help you. Besides, if I help you, then we can both help Percy do what he's supposed to do."

Annabeth shook her head. "We can't tell him anything about this. It's all in his point-of-view. If he sees this, then he will be the one who ends up in a straight jacket."

Grover frowned. "I think that, by now, we should all be in straight jackets."

"It's the gods' fault."

Lightning and thunder crackled from the distance, where the strangest storm was brewing, because Zeus still didn't have his bolt.

Grover couldn't help but smile. "And we'll be able to help that guy." He looked up at the sky.

Annabeth nodded.

"So what happens next?" He asked.

Annabeth takes out the book and hands it to him. He opens it again, his eyes scanning the pages where Annabeth marked it.

"It's been getting worse. Like, just now, when I fell. It's like my brain is trying to get a hold of memories that I can't remember yet because it hasn't actually happened yet." She shakes her head. "It's so confusing,"

Grover bleated. "What!"

Annabeth looked over. "What?"

"The words—they, they're disappearing!" His eyes were wide and he began to point at the pages. "Look, it's all gone!" He flipped through the pages, looking at them all. "It's all gone, Annabeth. It's blank."

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth took the book and she looked at page…that still had the faded printed words on them. She was confused. "What do you mean? They're still there. I can see them,"

Grover blinked. "Then read me a sentence of Percy when he fell."

Annabeth flipped forward a couple pages and then read, "'Die, faithless one,' Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame toward my face. 'Father, help me,' I prayed. I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison coursing through my veins, I plummeted toward the river.'"

They were silent and then stared at each other with wide eyes.

"Holy gods of Olympus, Echidna?!" Grover exclaimed. "Percy has the worst luck in the world,"

"I don't think luck has anything to do with it." Annabeth said. "Luck didn't bring the books here; luck didn't bring Percy to camp." She frowned.

Grover looked at her, his eyes suddenly serious. "You think that this is all on purpose?"

Annabeth nods. "It has to be. The monsters, in the book, they don't seem as vicious, but in real life, they act faster, that's why we're not prepared for it."

"Maybe that's why I can't see what's on the pages," he frowns in frustration.

Annabeth shrugs. "I don't know. But I can still see them so I guess that's what counts. I'll still keep you updated."

"How, though? We can't talk without Percy hearing."

She frowns, but before she can reply, Grover gasps and says, "Ooh! I've been wanting to try this out. It's called an empathy link. So you can tell me through dreams."

Annabeth nodded. "Okay, that sounds good. So how do you make an empathy link?"

Grover waved it off. "I'll take care of it,"

Annabeth looked back at the ground, and so much pressure was off of her chest now that she told Grover. She felt so good, because she knew that she didn't have to go through this alone now. It was like when she was seven all over again.

A chill went through her and Grover asked what they had to do now.

"Well…" she took out the book and flipped through it, and then read to him what happened while Percy was underwater in the river.

Grover blinked hard. "That's…that's insane."

Annabeth frowned. What were these gifts that this messenger was telling him?

Then, faded in the background of overlapped voices of different reporters, she heard it. The cry of a little girl.

"Mama! That boy walked out of the river."

"Well, that's our cue to leave," Annabeth said immediately and pulled Grover up, returning his fake foot back on after it slipped from him standing.

"How do you know?"

"It says so in the book,"

"Oh…right," Grover said in uncertainty. "You're going to have to give me some time to get used to this…"

"It's okay; I still haven't caught its current." Annabeth said, and then she added on, "Listen, you can't tell Percy about anything. Don't even act differently and don't make him think that something else happened. He can't know a thing."

Grover nodded and then he looked forward and his eyes brightened. "Perrr-cy!"

Annabeth should've known Grover was going to be like this. He stared at Percy with big eyes and his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Like he was trying to read his mind and see if he knew about the books.

She could tell that Percy realized this too because he returned Grover a slightly dazed look, as if he himself was wondering if he was starting to grow horns instead, and that's what Grover was concentrated on.

And Grover talked slowly and in monotone, and then would obviously glance at Annabeth as if asking if he was right.

Annabeth would glare back.

But then again, she couldn't believe how much relief she was getting. First, she told Grover, and then she got to see Luke's face for a couple minutes. She felt better now—healed.

The car wash was loud, and Annabeth wanted everything to be silent so she could hear Luke and so that her headache would go away, but that wasn't what she was going to get without leaving Luke. But that wasn't the case. What with Grover still giving her those wide-eyed looks every time he spoke, and the loud music, and the fact that she looked like a mess in front of Luke just made her sick and she wanted to get out.

"Chiron had to—what's that noise?" Luke yelled.

"I'll take care of it!" Annabeth said abruptly and she began to leave. "Grover, come on!"

"What? But—"

"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she commanded and Grover just had to give up the nozzle with a grumble of how girls were so hard to understand. He followed Annabeth and with his back to Percy, he winked at Annabeth.

She rolled her eyes and continued to the next stall.

"Wasn't I good? Wow, this is amazing, I think I'm starting to get the hang of—"

Once they were out of Percy's sight, Annabeth turned on him.

"What is the matter with you?!" She hissed.

Grover blinked in hurt and confusion and he halted as Annabeth stopped right in front of him. "What—what do you mean?"

"You're so obvious! You look like a bug!" Annabeth continued. "Percy can tell something's up because of you!"

He frowned and looked up at her from under his eyebrows. "I'm sorry…" he said in a small voice.

She sighed—his pouting, goat face was enough to make her succumb. "It's fine, just talk like you would normally talk. Don't make him think there's something that we know that he doesn't."

Grover nodded. "Okay, I will,"

"And don't give me that look,"

He couldn't help but give a bashful grin.

She smirked and they walked into the next stall, the music from the intruder pounding beneath her feet. She wasn't sure if it was from that music, or the fact that she went off the book that caused the pain in her stomach. She figured it had nothing to do with the music.

Annabeth had read this in the book when coming on the train. She was able to get Grover alone to talk to him while Percy had dozed off.

When they walked in, she saw a middle-aged man with a beer belly and a beard, and he was beginning to pour water into a bucket. His off-tune voice screamed along with the music that blared from the Lincoln that had its windows down.

"Sir!" She yelled out to him. He couldn't hear her, so she yelled it louder and he looked at her.

"What do you want?!" His gruff voice snapped.

"Can you turn down your music, please?! It's so loud I can barely think!"

He chuckled bitterly. "That's expected, coming from a kid like you!"

Grover's eyes widened—this guy basically just told Annabeth she was a kid—and stupid! He glanced down at Annabeth, who had that stormy look in her eyes, her arms crossed. Oh, gods, he thought. It's about to go down.

"Turn down your music!" she yelled.

"I already told you no, kid! Now scram so I can wash my car!"

"That wasn't a question! It was a statement!"

"Yeah, well what are you going to do about it?!"

Annabeth was getting frustrated. Her head was pounding, and this horrid music wasn't making it any better. She huffed, her cheeks burning, and straightened as she walked quickly and steadily to the car and reached inside through the open window.

"Hey!" the guy dropped the hose and hurried to her, his beer belly jiggling, and he pointed a stubby finger at her. "Don't touch my car! Get out of there before I call the police!"

Annabeth reached to the radio and turned down the volume, the music dropping so dramatically that it left a ringing in her ears. But at least she could hear over it without struggle now. She turned towards the guy whose pudgy face was contorted into an angry expression.

"You punk!" he said. "That was my music—"

"You mean the music that proves that ugly, baboon-faced, pig-smelling guys like you can't sing? That's right, because that music was awful, and I had every right to turn it down because I could get the police to arrest you for being disrespectful to the public!"

He blinked hard, like he couldn't follow the words that she was saying. "Get out of here!" He finally yelled, and Annabeth could feel some spit spraying onto her face. He pointed his fat finger at her again. "If I see you around here again—"

Annabeth gritted her teeth and took his finger, twisting it and then slammed him up against his Lincoln. He screamed out in pain, but she didn't care.

Sure, she read the book.

But it didn't give any details to what she did.

This meant she could hurt him however she wanted.

Annabeth had to smile at the thought.

She took out her dagger and barely rose its point to his throat. His eyes widened, and he swallowed, his large Adam's apple bobbing up and down in fear and a strangled noise groaned from his mouth. Annabeth knew that the Mist changed the way her dagger looked to him, but who knows what he saw instead.

"Annabeth—!" Grover called out.

But she was talking to the man: "Listen to me, you smelly-breathed oaf. I am not a punk, or a kid, or am I stupid. I just wanted your music down because it was so loud! And you were such a selfish idiot that you couldn't do that. Now, I suggest you start taking us 'kids' seriously, keep your music down, and find somewhere else to wash your car."

Right when she took away her dagger, the man jumped into his car and immediately turned off the music completely. Annabeth stepped closer, raising her dagger a little, but he screamed in terror, closed his car door, and then drove off.

"Well," Grover said as he stepped up next to her, watching the Lincoln's tires squeal off. "You sure showed him,"

Annabeth sheathed her dagger and smiled proudly. "I sure did."

They shared a look and began to laugh as they turned back to the other stall where Percy was talking to Luke.

"Remember," Annabeth whispered to Grover, "just act normally."

Grover nodded, and they stepped into the next stall laughing, as they approached Percy.

Angry Ares—that should be his nickname. At least, his nickname whenever he's around Percy. Annabeth figured this would be the situation because Percy didn't get along with anyone. If he had crowned Clarisse Queen of the Bathrooms, then Ares was about to be crowned the King of all Urinals.

Annabeth's blood boiled with each word that Ares spoke, with each breath he took. And each time he moved, she flinched like she was ready to hit back, but, unfortunately, no fist made contact with any face.

"I need you to do me a favor." Ares was saying.

This made Annabeth's brain rewind and blink hard. She realized that she had to pay attention to what he was saying, because no god came up to a half-blood for a favor—or admitted for help. And when they came up to Percy, then that meant that this was a serious problem.

"What favor could I do for a god?" Percy asked, almost bitterly, but that was expected when talking to Ares.

"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself." Ares shrugged. "It's 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 got interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to go fetch it for me."

Annabeth could sense that they were heading right into a trap. Ares wasn't ever one to forget his shield, even if he and Aphrodite were interrupted.

"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" Percy snapped.

Annabeth was about to add on a smug, "Yeah," but bit her tongue back. Something told her that she didn't want to mess with Ares right now. She figured that when his eyes glows a fiercer red.

"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley?"

Annabeth wondered if Mrs. Dodds or Ares had ever conversed over their hatred towards Percy before. Or if that's how the one Fury would get along with the god of war.

"A god is giving you a chance to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" When Ares leaned forward, Annabeth had to resist the urge to lean further back. "Or will you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."

"We're not interested," Percy said. "We've already got a quest."

Ares scoffed. "You don't know what you're up against, punk. It's not just this quest you've gotta worry about."

"What do you mean?"

Annabeth looked over at Percy, and he was confused, his eyes slightly in a daze. That was how she knew that Ares was saying something off the books. This made her heart jolt a little, because that meant that he probably knew about the books.

"I know all about your little quest, punk." Ares said, but Annabeth zoned out. She began to think that maybe the gods had helped her set this up in the future. That meant that they were probably secretly helping her out, which would mean that they were on her and Grover's side. Her eyes landed on the table as the gears worked in her head.

"Your father and I go way back," Ares was saying. "After all, I'm the one who told him about my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

Annabeth began to piece it together in her head about this quest, the one they were really living in now—not the one that involved the books. Ares had told Poseidon that Hades had stolen the bolt, and she scoffed a little. How could she not have thought about it?! Ares is the god of war, after all—he was starting a war!

But then she wondered if Ares had anything to do with that dream of Luke—who was also supposedly planning to "destroy Olympus", though Annabeth wouldn't allow herself to believe it.

And then her thoughts led her back to the books. Do the gods know about them?

Annabeth looked up at Ares, whose eyes seem to be blazing at her.

"Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you some things you need to know—maybe about your mom."

"My mom?" Percy's voice cracked with hopefulness.

Ares grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west of Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."

Tunnel of Love? Annabeth had to laugh. Sometimes he and Aphrodite made it just a little too easy.

"You're lucky 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."

And then Angry Ares was gone, taking his motorcycle with him. Annabeth stared out the window, taking in the twist that has now interrupted their quest for just a little bit longer.

"Ares sought you out, Percy," Grover said, "this is not good."

"It's probably just some kind of trick." Percy said as he stared down at his cheeseburger without an appetite. "Forget Ares. Let's just go."

"We can't," Annabeth said as she looked at Percy. The words began to blurt out of her mouth, but she wasn't surprised that they came out easily. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent."

For some reason, when she said that word, rodent, an image flashed through her. She saw a cage full of guinea pigs, all of them squealing at her. It was like a memory, like she'd seen it before, and then she saw herself eat a gummy that looked too much like ambrosia.

A shudder ran up her spine and she blinked, but when her eyes opened, she wasn't in that image—she was back at the diner. She was back at staring at Percy and Grover.

Percy's words brought her back to her senses: "Why does he need us?"

It took her a while to answer him, but after that image went through her head—so calmly and silently and not violently, which was strange—it brought away some of her headache as well. Like she had gained a memory.

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," she said slowly, as slowly as regaining her place back on earth, and not from her transcendent experience. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

Annabeth wasn't even surprised by how easily she was piecing this together without the book. It really was like she was reliving the quest. But two questions kept hanging in her head, reminding her that there were more loose ends to tie.

Firstly, did the gods know about the books that were troubling Grover and Annabeth?

And secondly, would Ares, for once, be generous enough to tell them the answer to that?

"But this water park…" Percy said, bringing her out of her thoughts again, "he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"

Annabeth and Grover shared a look. They knew—they knew that there were many things to be scared about right now. Even something for a war god to be scared about.

Annabeth says, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."

Annabeth could not believe she was doing this.

The Tunnel of Love.

With Percy!

It's so embarrassing!

Her cheeks burned as they walked down the side of the pool and found the boat with the shield and scarf in it. All around them were mirrors and everywhere she looked, her and Percy's red faces stared right back at her.

Percy picked up Aphrodite's scarf, and Annabeth's eyes were wondering around until she saw him staring at it dreamily, and his hands moved to where he was going to touch his face with it, and she pursed her lips, gritted her teeth and then snatched it away from him. He gave her a hurt and pouting look, but she just glared at him.

"Oh, no you don't. Stay away from that love magic." She ordered. Annabeth wouldn't ever dream about liking Percy that way, but it hurt her heart a little to think that even he fell for that kind of stuff.

"What?" he was naïve, and that made Annabeth want to slap him upside the head to shake out the kelp.

"Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here."

Annabeth saw the symbol a little too late. "Wait," the word blurted from her mouth.

"Too late."

She pointed out the Greek letter just as the erupting noise of metal-on-metal roared through the pavement.

"Guys!" Grover called and Annabeth looked up at him and his wide-eyed look. They weren't prepared for this, because she hadn't read the book and they hadn't joined through the empathy link.

Before she could say anything, the golden cables began to bind each other, and in her mind that had looked at architecture and Greek mythology her whole life, she could see the golden net forming itself.

"We have to get out," Percy said.

"Duh!" She responded. Seriously, he could be a Kelp Head a lot of times.

Percy grabbed the shield and they ran up the side of the pool towards Grover, who was trying to encourage them to hurry and holding open an exit for them to climb through. It was no use as the golden strands began to wrap themselves around his touch. In the corner of her eyes, she could see the black cameras appear from the Cupid's heads.

The symbol, Eta, meant 'H'.

Hephaestus.

And now they're going to be on TV. Although that might've been an appeasing thought in a normal life, but this wasn't normal TV. It was Olympus—with her mother, and Zeus, and Poseidon! If this video broadcasted to them, she would die of embarrassment—more than riding the Tunnel of Love with Percy.

This made her run faster towards the edge of the pool, where there was still one part of the net open for her and Percy to clamber through. She was so close, and the plans unfolded in her head—

Then those…things came out.

Those ugly, creepy, things.

Annabeth halted and screamed.

They clicked and made uglier noises as metal than they did as when they were real.

Spiders.

Oh, gods.

"Sp—sp—" And then she screamed. Screamed enough to make her own lungs rattle. She fell backwards and Percy had to pull her up and run back to the boat.

Those spiders came from everywhere like a giant wave. Their population didn't seem to stop and they continued to follow them, making clicking noises with their pincers, and completely surrounding them.

They had no choice but to climb into the boat and the spiders were right there with them. Percy began to kick at them, while Annabeth felt terror engulf her so much that she could feel the lump in her throat to where she couldn't even scream.

Soon, the spiders began to try to tie them down to the boat, and the countdown began for their show to the gods. Percy could easily break through the cobwebbed strands, but so many was just a little too much for them to handle.

Annabeth couldn't hear Percy when he yelled to Grover. All she could think about was the ringing noise in her ears, the clicking noises all around her, and the thought that those creepy little legs were crawling all around her.

Until finally, she heard it—her own scream, but it sounded like it was in a distance.

But then she heard the word, "Zero!" right as a burst of water rushed through her ears and suddenly she was soaking wet, causing her scream to stop. She felt Percy pull her into the seat and buckle her in and the wave pounded against their boat, sweeping them away. She could feel the lights and cameras on them.

Annabeth started to breathe heavily, finally pulling herself together, and she looked at Percy, whose green eyes was staring at the water, and she could tell he was trying to concentrate.

Concentrating on making her sick! They whirled around in circles, and suddenly, they were in complete darkness, and they fell through the Tunnel of Love. Annabeth lunged over and she gripped Percy, whose arms were holding her too, and their screams echoed against each other.

The boat rocked and rattled and plunged down small hills through the ride and then suddenly, they emerged from the ride and into the cool night.

Then they had another problem—there were two boats piled up against a locked gate, which still meant no exit.

"Unfasten your seatbelt," Percy told Annabeth.

"Are you crazy?" She snapped back.

"Unless you want to get smashed to death." Percy said as he strapped on Ares' shield. "We're going to have to jump for it."

She looked ahead, seeing what he meant, and her hand instinctively shot out and gripped his. Like a muscle memory that had done that action so many times before, even though she really hadn't—she really hadn't remembered anything.

"On my mark," Percy said.

"No! On my mark!" She countered back, because she was not going to let a Seaweed Brain like him plan her to her death.

"What?"

"Simple physics!" She tried explaining the thoughts that were coursing through her head, the equations, the numbers, and the time. It was all simple.

"Fine!" Percy shouted exasperatedly. "On your mark!"

She waited, holding her breath for a couple seconds. And then…finally! After she shouted out the cue to jump, next thing she knew, they were flying through the air, and before they could hit the ground, something caught them from the back of their shirts. But they still fell, and ended up somewhat-slowed-crash-landed to the ground.

Annabeth and Percy shared a look, a look of thanks to each other. Because without the other, neither of them would be alive.

They helped Grover, changing him from Noo-Noo the whale, back to Grover the satyr. Annabeth was helping Grover clean off and straighten up as he gave her a forced look, as if asking: Was that really supposed to happen?

Annabeth didn't know, so all she could do was press her lips together and shrug. They turned back to Percy, who was staring at those cameras that were now pointed on them.

It was all silent, and she could almost imagine all the looks from Olympus staring back at them. She wondered what they thought—what they were saying. She hoped her mother wasn't watching, because this is disrespectful to her in so many ways.

"Show's over!" he yelled to them. "Thank you! Good night!"

As if the Cupid's knew what he was saying, they turned back to their original positions, the camera's disappearing, the spotlights turning off, and the whole park going dark.

Percy turned back to Grover and Annabeth. By the look on his face, he knew it too. He knew that they had been tricked, by a certain god. Annabeth felt so stupid again—Ares came up to them for a reason, came up to the supposed "lightning thief" for a purpose. They were his game pieces, being fooled in front of the gods.

"We need to have a little talk with Ares."

Ares was already out the doors of Olympus, smirking as his footsteps made soft sounds against the floors. They had stepped right into it—but he had to give the props to Hephaestus. Boy, those spiders would've been a hackle to work with.

"B-But—!" Hephaestus spluttered. "That was…Aphrodite and-and Ares!"

"Hephaestus," Zeus thundered. "Enough of this nonsense! We have more important things to do other than worry about your love life!"

"Please, darling, you're embarrassing yourself," Aphrodite cooed.

Hephaestus growled. "I will prove it! I will prove that you're cheating on me!" And with that, he turned and walked away.

"Honestly, I have to thank him," Athena said as she straightened in her throne. "He proved how foolish Percy really is," she smirked.

Apollo shakes his head. "More like it proves how much our children are different from us. Having your own daughter help him,"

Athena flustered. "That is not true!"

"And neither are you," Poseidon told Athena. "My son is not foolish, and he is not the thief."

"Oh, really?" Athena scoffed. "Then how do you not know he was there trying to steal Ares' shield?"

That was when Ares walked out of the throne room. They couldn't find out about his plan.

Poseidon didn't say anything except press his lips firmly together and give Zeus a hard stare.

Zeus' glare slowly turned away.

Ares smirked. He was doing a fine job.

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