Chapter 14: I become dinner for a squid

"DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE"
Dumbledore said calmly

"So where the hell did that come from?"

They were back on their train, riding through the night towards Denver. Grover had sported some nature magic with his to heal Percy the best he could. He appreciated the fact that it had greatly reduced the pain in his arm, but he did wish that it didn't have to smell like wet mud.

Annabeth had a confused look on her face as well, something Percy had never seen on her before. "I… don't know."

"You don't know?" Grover said, his face turning into a grin. She gave him a sarcastic 'ha ha' look.

"Just because I'm Athena's daughter doesn't mean I know everything Grover," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"The bigger question is what is a monster from an entirely different pantheon doing attacking Greek demigods," Percy said. He glanced at Annabeth, "Have you come into contact with other pantheons before?"

She shook her head. "Not that I've heard of. They do exist though. Oh yes," she continued looking at Percy's confused face. "Just as the Greek pantheon, the Egyptian, Norse, and Indian have existed. Entire civilisations believed in them during their peak of power. But there haven't been any evidences post-mythological era to suggest that they still exist. Well, none until today at least. And definitely not in America. Stop grinning Grover." She glared at Grover's still prominent smile at the fact that the daughter of Athena didn't know something.

"But, why attack me?" Percy pressed.

"Could be the wrong place, wrong time," Annabeth replied. "Monsters, despite which pantheon, can sense demigods. Our blood has an aura that's too bright and appetising for any of them to pass up. This monster may have wandered off by accident and caught a whiff of you."

"But then why didn't it attack Percy earlier when we left the train?" Grover asked.

"I'm not sure," she replied, her face wrought with slight frustration. "I really wish I knew. It may have sensed Echinda earlier and decided to wait it out."

While a plausible theory, Percy didn't quite think so. That monster had somehow known that Percy would jump off into the water and was waiting for the moment when he and Annabeth would be far enough from the water to attack. Something large was at play, and judging by the look on Annabeth's face, she knew that as well.

The following afternoon, on June 14, seven days prior to the solstice, their train arrived in Denver. They hadn't eaten since the previous night on the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. With their last shower taken at Half-Blood Hill, Percy was certain their dishevelled appearance was noticeable.

Annabeth suggested, "Let's try to contact Chiron. I want to inform him about your conversation with the river spirit. And the encounter with the Chordeva."

Percy asked, "But we can't use phones, right?"

"I'm not referring to phones," Annabeth clarified.

They aimlessly walked through downtown for about thirty minutes, although Percy wasn't sure what Annabeth was searching for. The hot and dry air felt peculiar after the humidity of St. Louis. Wherever they turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be observing him, resembling a tidal wave ready to crash into the city.

Finally, they stumbled upon an empty self-service car wash. They headed towards the stall farthest from the street, remaining vigilant for patrol cars. Three teenagers loitering at a car wash without a car would surely raise suspicion among any competent police officer.

Percy inquired, "So, what exactly are we doing?" as Grover retrieved the spray gun.

"It costs seventy-five cents," Grover grumbled. "I only have two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me," she replied. "The dining car emptied my pockets."

Percy fished out his remaining change and handed Grover a quarter, leaving him with two nickels and one drachma from their encounter with Medusa.

"Excellent," Grover remarked. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection wouldn't be as strong, and my arm gets tired from pumping."

Percy questioned, "What are you talking about?"

Grover inserted the quarters and adjusted the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."

"You mean instant messaging?"

"Iris-messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."

"And you summon the goddess with a spray gun?"

Grover aimed the nozzle into the air, releasing a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to create a rainbow."

As if on cue, the late afternoon sunlight filtered through the vapour, creating a spectrum of colours.

Annabeth extended her palm to Percy. "Drachma, please."

He handed it over.

She raised the coin above her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."

She tossed the drachma into the rainbow, where it vanished in a golden shimmer.

"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then Percy found himself peering through the mist at strawberry fields, with the Long Island Sound visible in the distance. They appeared to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back turned to them at the railing was a sandy-haired guy wearing shorts and an orange tank top. He held a bronze sword and seemed to be intensely focused on something in the meadow below.

"Luke!" Percy called out.

Luke turned around, his eyes widening. Although it seemed like he was standing just three feet away from Percy, there was a screen of mist obstructing their view, allowing only a partial image to be seen in the rainbow.

"Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth with you? Thank the gods! Are you guys alright?"

"We... uh... we're fine," Annabeth stammered, frantically straightening her dirty T-shirt and attempting to brush loose strands of hair away from her face. "

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

"I'm right here," Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?"

Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement.

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

"I'll take care of it.'" Annabeth yelled back, looking very relieved to have an excuse to get out of sight. "Grover, come on!

"What?" Grover said. "But—"

"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she ordered.

Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle at Delphi, and then he handed Percy the spray gun and followed Annabeth.

As Percy continued to hold the spray gun and keep the rainbow going, he maintained his conversation with Luke.

Luke informed Percy that Chiron had to break up a fight at camp due to tensions arising from the leaked information about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. They suspected the same person who had summoned the hellhound was responsible for the leak. The campers were starting to take sides, and it was reminiscent of the Trojan War. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo were more or less backing Poseidon, while Athena was supporting Zeus.

Percy couldn't help but shudder at the thought of Clarisse's cabin siding with his father. Meanwhile, he heard Annabeth and another person arguing in the neighbouring stall, and the volume of the music suddenly decreased.

Luke asked about Percy's status and mentioned that Chiron would regret missing their meeting. Percy shared everything, including his dreams, feeling relieved to have a few minutes that made him feel like he was back at camp. However, as the beeper on the spray machine went off, he realized there was only one minute left before the water shut off.

Luke expressed his desire to be at camp but acknowledged that they couldn't do much from their current location. He mentioned that it must have been Hades who took the master bolt since he was present at Olympus during the winter solstice. Luke had seen Hades while chaperoning a field trip.

Percy raised the issue that Chiron had stated that gods couldn't directly take each other's magic items.

"That's true," Luke replied, appearing troubled. "But Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anyone else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? They'd have to be invisible."

There was a moment of silence before Luke seemed to realize what he had said.

"Oh, hey," he protested. "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."

Percy wondered if Annabeth would appreciate being described in such a way. In the neighbouring stall, the music abruptly stopped, followed by a man screaming, car doors slamming, and the Lincoln speeding away from the car wash.

Luke urged Percy to investigate what had happened and then asked about the shield. He wanted to know if they had been helpful to Percy.

"Oh yeah," Percy grinned. "Saved my life earlier."

The water shut off, causing the mist to evaporate.

"Take care of yourself out there in Denver," Luke called, his voice fading. "And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just—"

But the mist vanished, and Luke's image disappeared completely. Percy was left alone in the wet and empty car wash stall.

Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laughing, but their smiles faded when they saw Percy's expression. Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"

"Not much," Percy lied, his stomach feeling as empty as a Big Three cabin. "Come on, let's find some dinner."

A few minutes later, they were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around them, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas.

Finally, the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow sceptically. "Well?"

Percy said, "We, um, want to order dinner."

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

Grover's lower lip quivered. Percy was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger.

Percy was trying to think up a sob story for the waitress when a rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb.

All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather—but leather that looked like ... well, Caucasian human skin.

The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruellest, most brutal face Percy had ever seen— handsome, he guessed, but wicked—with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. The weird thing was, Percy felt like he'd seen his face somewhere before.

As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively, and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked them again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

The biker said, "It's on me." He slid into their booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window.

He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"

He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.

The biker looked at Percy. Percy couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades, but bad feelings started boiling in his stomach. Anger, resentment, bitterness. He wanted to hit a wall. He wanted to pick a fight with somebody. Who did this guy think he was?

He gave Percy a wicked grin. "So you're old Blowhard's kid, huh? Seaweed's little brother."

Percy should've been surprised, or scared, but instead, he felt like he was looking at his stepdad, Gabe. He wanted to rip this guy's head off. "What's it to you?"

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

The biker raised his hand.

"S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"

Then it struck Percy why this guy looked familiar. He had the same vicious sneer as some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood, the ones from cabin five.

"You're Clarisse's dad," he growled. "Ares, the god of war." On his finger, his ring shined, preparing to introduce Ares to the weapon of the Underworld.

Ares grinned and took off his shades, revealing his fiery, empty eye sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. The god's voice boomed as he addressed Percy. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."

"She was asking for it," Percy replied defiantly.

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know?" Ares chuckled. "What I'm here for—I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you."

The waitress returned, struggling under the weight of heaping trays filled with cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes.

Ares handed her a few gold drachmas, and she looked nervously at the unfamiliar coins. "But, these aren't..."

Ares casually retrieved his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"

The waitress swallowed her apprehension and quickly left with the gold.

Percy couldn't stay silent. "You can't do that," he told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife."

Ares laughed heartily. "Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there." Ares leaned in, his fiery eye sockets intensifying. "Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor."

Percy couldn't believe his ears. "What favor could I do for a god?"

"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much," Ares explained. "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."

"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" Percy asked, bracing himself for Ares's wrath.

The fire in Ares's eye sockets blazed hotter. "Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley?" Ares threatened. "Because I don't feel like it. You've shown grit kid. Fighting the Minotaur with your bare hands. Fighting Underworld creatures before you even held a sword. The gods want you dead, and a god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. You gonna prove yourself, or bend over and let the rest of Olympus kill you because you're some pathetic kid of an all-powerful scumbag."

Percy clenched his fists, resisting the urge to engage in a fight. Ares's power was manipulating his anger, and Percy refused to give the god satisfaction.

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

Ares's fiery eyes projected images of bloodshed, smoke, and corpses on the battlefield. "I know all about your quest, punk. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally." Ares licked his lips, hunger evident in his voice. "If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful... Well, if I couldn't find it, you've got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your brother and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?" Percy asked, surprised.

"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately," Ares explained with a smug expression. "In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest."

"Thanks," Percy grumbled sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends."

"We're doing fine on our own."

"Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom."

"My mom?"

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

"What interrupted your date?" Percy asked. "Something scare you off?"

Ares bared his teeth, but Percy had seen his threatening look before on Clarisse. There was something false about it, almost like he was nervous.

"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."

Then Ares was gone.

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

Percy stared out the window. The motorcycle had disappeared.

Did Ares really know something about his mom, or was he just playing with him? Now that he was gone, all the anger had drained out of him. He realised Ares must love to mess with people's emotions. That was his power—cranking up the passions so badly, they clouded your ability to think.

"It's probably some kind of trick," he said. "Forget Ares. Let's just go."

"We can't," Annabeth said. "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."

He looked down at his cheeseburger, which suddenly didn't seem so appetising. "Why does he need us?"

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

"But this water park ... he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"

Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other.

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

As Percy, Annabeth, and Grover made their way through the abandoned water park, the atmosphere grew eerie. The sun was setting behind the mountains, casting long shadows over the dilapidated attractions. The sign, once reading "WATERLAND," had missing letters, leaving behind a cryptic "WAT R A D."

Approaching the main gate, they found it padlocked and topped with barbed wire. The desolation of the park was evident with empty pools, broken slides, and scattered remnants of old tickets and advertisements fluttering around. The place had a melancholic and unsettling feel, especially as darkness began to fall.

"Yeah, I can see Aphrodite loving this place," Percy muttered. "So how do we get in?"

"Climb over?" Grover suggested. He took a step back, took off his shoes to reveal his goat legs, and with a loud bleat, he jumped right over the fence with no problem. "You coming?"

Percy grinned. He took a few steps back, did a run-up and as soon as his feet left the ground, the wind lifted him right above the fence.

"Come on Annabeth," he smirked at them. "Slowing usdown."

Annabeth had to climb over the barbed wire the old-fashioned way. She glared at him, punching him in the arm. Hard.

"Worth it," he squeaked, trying not to let the pain show to preserve his dignity. She gave him a smirk as she carried on.

"I'll kill this girl one day and drop her from a six hundred feet cliff," he said to himself. That thought satisfied him.

The shadows grew long as they walked through the park, exploring the attractions. They came across AnkleBiterIsland, Head Over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit? Surprisingly, no monsters appeared, and an eerie silence hung in the air.

Then they stumbled upon an open souvenir shop. Shelves were still lined with merchandise: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and rows of clothes.

"Fresh clothes," Annabeth said, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.

"Yeah," Percy said, hesitating. "But you can't just—"

"Watch me."

She snatched an entire row of clothes off the racks and disappeared into the changing room. After a few minutes, she emerged wearing Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged. Soon, all three of them were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park.

They continued their search for the Tunnel of Love, the sense of anticipation growing as the darkness descended. Percy tried to distract himself from the eerie atmosphere by bringing up Ares and Aphrodite's relationship. "So, Ares and Aphrodite, they have a thing going?"

"That's old gossip, Percy," Annabeth told him.

"Three-thousand-year-old gossip. I thought you said your mother taught you about the myths."

"She tried to keep certain parts PG where possible," he replied. "The story between Ares and Aphrodite was a bit more obscurely taught by her."

"Yeah makes sense," she said. "Their hanky panky is one of the more embarrassing parts of Olympus."

"Though considering the stuff the other gods did," Grover added. "It's hard to really teach Greek Mythology as anything less than PG"

"What about Hephaestus?" Percy asked.

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

"She likes bikers."

"Whatever."

"Hephaestus knows?"

"Oh sure," Annabeth said. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them. That's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like ..."

She stopped, looking straight ahead. "Like that."

In front of them was an empty pool that would've been awesome for skateboarding. It was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl.

Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side of them, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!

Grover crept toward the edge. "Guys, look."

Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze.

"This is too easy," he said. "So we just walk down there and get it?"

Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue.

"There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder ..."

"Grover," he said, "you smell any monsters?"

He sniffed the wind. His face furrowed in confusion. "There is something. But, it doesn't smell like a monster. But definitely something weird."

Percy took a step back, his mind racing at hundreds of miles per second. "This is far too easy. Ares wouldn't have sent us to do something as simple as this. He could've gotten it himself."

He looked at Annabeth. "Eta. What does it stand for?"

"Eta is H," Annabeth replied.

"H," Percy repeated, connecting the dots. "As in H for Hephaestus?"

Annabeth's eyes widened. She pointed at the pink scarf next to Ares's child "Aphrodite's scarf. Of course. A trap for Aphrodite and Ares. No wonder Ares ran away. For all his strength, he would never be able to outwit Hephaestus's machinery."

"Which means, it's a trap for us," Grover said.

"Grover, stay here," Percy told him. "You're the Red Baron. Anything goes wrong, gonna need you to pull some nature vines to grab us. Annabeth, come with me–"

"Are you kidding?" She looked at him as though he'd dropped from the moon. Her cheeks were bright red.

"What now?" he demanded.

"Me, go with you? Thrill Ride of Love. Are you serious?"

"Oh my god," Percy groaned, wishing he could drown himself in the water. "Who's going to see you!" Despite that, his face was burning as well.

"Save a girl from the mother of all monsters and in return she's scared to walk in a tunnel. Just my luck." He rolled his eyes at her immaturity. But as he walked down the side, she followed him, muttering about how boys always messed things up.

"Percy look," Annabeth said. He whirled on her, preparing to throw her in if she made another comment about the love theme. But she was pointing at something. He inched closer to see…

"A cobweb?" he said, puzzled.

"Look at where it connects to," she said, pointing behind him.

The thin spiral of web ran from the shield to the sides of the tunnel, where all the machinery was, controlling the flow of water. From there it followed to the Cupid statues above. It was near impossible to see considering how thin and fine it was but luckily with the lights from the tunnel, he could just about make out where it was headed.

"So that's the trap," Percy deduced. He turned to Annabeth,"Well miss architect daughter of Athena, what's the plan?"

"You see the cobweb near the shield. That's the main input point. The whole trap structure is designed towards the cobweb connection on the shield. It's a chain reaction. That one breaks, it causes the flow of water to reverse, opening the mirrors. I can only imagine what kind of things Hephaestus kept in there. And the statues above? Cupid statues. Hephaestus probably enchanted them with a payload that could trap Ares the moment he gets caught."

"So how do we get the shield without triggering the trap?"

"The cobweb," she said, pointing at it. "If we can somehow detach it from the shield without breaking it and triggering the chain reaction, we can get out without springing the trap."

She turned to Grover. "You got one of your aluminium cans?"

"Never leave home without them," Grover replied. He took one out of his pocket and threw it to Annabeth. She took out her knife, separating the main can from the lid. She threw the main can back to Grover, examining the lid.

"How's a can lid going to help?" Percy asked.

"You see the spikes on this lid?" She pointed to the sharp ridges on the circular disk. "They're just thin enough to unravel the strings of the cobweb."

"You think you can unknot a an extremely thin cobweb created by an Olympian god… with a tin can lid?"

"I'm the daughter of Athena," she said, walking towards the shield. "Keep an eye out for any other threats. Hephaestus will have more traps on the lookout."

She knelt down, inspecting the cobweb for a few seconds before carefully placing the ridges of the lid in the loops. Percy didn't understand how she could unknot the whole thing with just a few spikes, but he knew not to underestimate her.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the shield was free of the cobweb.

"Done," she said, her eyes shining with pride. He gave her an impressed smile.

"So, what was that earlier about just a tin can lid?" she said, her eyes glinting. Percy glared at her.

"Let's get out of here," he grumbled.

Naturally, because he was Percy Jackson, things went wrong immediately.

Behind them, a large roar sent Percy's back hairs upright. The water below them rippled violently as the boat shook.

And the cobweb broke.

"No," Annabeth screamed. "We need to get out, quickly. Before the trap is engaged. We'll be broadcasted live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"

Percy urged the water to push them towards the rim faster. But then, the row of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic… things poured out.

Annabeth let out a shrill shriek of fear.

"Spiders!" Annabeth said. "Sp–sp–aaaaah!"

Percy had never seen her like this. She fell backward in terror and almost got overwhelmed by the spider robots before he pulled her up and dragged her back. The only other time he'd seen a look of fear that desperate was on his mother's face when he'd almost died in Montauk to Hades' servants.

Percy took one look at the spiders and knew he was in deep trouble. It was a trap designed for gods. And they weren't gods.

But what let out the large roar?

He glanced back and he almost passed out. In the darkness ahead, he saw two large glowing red eyes.

Staring right at him.

"Ah yes," the creatures rasped out. Each word was followed by a gush of cold air. "Percy Jackson. We've been waiting for your rebirth. The Asuras say hello."

"Who, what now?" Percy asked. Annabeth let out another scream as a spider came on her leg. Percy grabbed it and kicked it away.

Grover played his reed piper furiously. Behind him, a green vine extended towards Percy. But it wasn't long enough to reach him. In hindsight, he realised that he should've just used his agriculture thing to call the vine, but in that moment, he was more focused on getting Annabeth out of there.

The Tunnel of Love entrance was under the net. He could use it as an exit, except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders.

"Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called.

Water, he thought. Where does the ride's water come from?

Then he saw them: huge water pipes behind the mirrors, where the spiders had come from. And up above the net, next to one of the Cupids, a glass-windowed booth that must be the controller's station.

"Grover!" he yelled. "Get into that booth! Find the 'on' switch!"

"But—"

"Do it!" It was a crazy hope, but it was their only chance. The spiders were all over the prow of the boat now. Annabeth was screaming her head off.

Grover was in the controller's booth now, slamming away at the buttons.

"Five, four—"

Grover looked up at him hopelessly, raising his hands. He was letting him know that he'd pushed every button, but still, nothing was happening.

Percy closed his eyes and thought about waves, rushing water, and the Mississippi River. He felt a familiar tug in his gut. He tried to imagine that he was dragging the ocean all the way to Denver.

"Two, one, zero!"

Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. He pulled Annabeth into the seat next to him and fastened her seat belt just as the tidal wave slammed into our boat, over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing them completely but not capsizing us. The boat turned, lifted in the flood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool.

In a panic, he shot the boat right towards where he saw the glowing red eyes. The creature revealed itself in all its glory. Percy could describe it as an… extremely ugly, oversized squid with a very long tongue.

"Now you're mine!" it roared.

And in one large gulp, Percy, Annabeth and the boat were swallowed whole.

Author's Note: And that's the end of the book. Thank you, hope you all enjoyed it. XD. 6775 words, though, not bad. Especially since I've split the canon chapter into 2 separate ones. Not major changes in this chapter, but definitely huge ones in the next one as things go very differently. Let me know what you think. Not a big Author's Note today, I don't really much much else to say this chapter, so I'll leave my thoughts for the next chapter where things are a lot more exciting.

For the ever amazing reviews (I love every one of you that reviewed):

UU TWO: Yup, I am aware of this. I'm a Hindu myself and thus I am a part of the Indian Mythological Culture and decently knowledged in the legends so I'll not be distorting the legends for the sake of my own plot and will be careful with what I write. I won't deny that I may tweak a thing or two to make a better storyline but no actual major changes, so it'll be as mythological accurate as possible.

KashundraOtsutsuki: Some more mystery added to the mystery plot.

Anaklusmos404: You'll be seeing Egyptian. I haven't quite made up my mind on Norse just yet. I do want to implement it later on, I just need some time to think on how I'll implement it into the story properly so it doesn't feel like some forced unnecessary cheap add on to the story but actually builds the plot. So I can't give a definitive answer just yet.

Lord Kronos1950: Thanks :)

titus5: I think I'm quite far away from that title, but I do hope to reach there in due time. Annabeth will be getting some kind of upgrade but nothing too outlandish. I kind of like the way Rick presents Annabeth in HoO where she's the one with no powers but her intellect and wisdom are what make her stand out and on par with so many demigods on a higher caliber to the extent that even Jason was wary of her in the beginning. But yes, she'll be getting a slight upgrade, you'll have to wait till Sea of Monsters for that.

Tadachi mukusoki: Thank you, I'm glad more and more people are liking this story.

Jakob1234j: Alright no worries, I can definitively answer 4 of the questions, with a slight guess on the 3rd question.

Question 1: So domains are basically representations of specific elements (wind, sea, sky, earth etc.) or aspects (wisdom, hunting, music, mortality etc.). A god isn't just the "controller" of the domain, they are the domain. So Zeus doesn't just control the sky, he is the sky. Same with Poseidon, he doesn't just control the seas and oceans, he is the sea, the tides, the ocean, the waves etc. Their physical form is referred to a godly personality of their domain, hence giving them actual form and their own personality. For a god to be powerful and exist, they need proper flow of energy to sustain their essence. This flow of energy comes from worship and prayers. The more people that believe in those gods, the more people that pray to them, the more powerful they get. So the example of Ra vs Apollo, it isn't a constant percentile of the amount of control they have over their domain. Some time periods it could be Apollo who has more control because the Greeks have more worship and numbers. Other time periods, it could be Ra because the Egyptians are more prominent in numbers and worship. Divine essence and energy are more complex than just simple numbers of control, it's dependent on numerous different methods of maintaining power. Woship, prayer, sacrifices, belief etc. It's a bit complicated to understand but that's the basic gist of it. It's also a part of the reason why domains are split. Poseidon may be the god of the seas, but he's not the only water being because water is such a large domain. There's many immortal water beings such as Amphitrite who represents some of the sea animals and saltwater. There's Kymopoleia who is the violent sea and storm. Each water deity has their own specific domain but they're all under the umbrella of Poseidon so they give him a better control over the sea and in return, he empowers their abilities. The best example for this is the domain of war. War is a broad aspect. There's Ares who personifies conflict, battle and rivalries. Athena represents strategy, tactics and warfare. And there's Enyo who personifies destruction, carnage and bloodlust.

Question 2: Kronos does still have his time abilities as shown in PJO lore. Neither Zeus, nor Poseidon, no Hades took that domain, that aspect remained with Kronos as his essense was disintegrated and sent to Tartarus. And Percy can't 'take' that domain because the Ancient Laws dictate that for a domain to be claimed, the being must be divine, meaning they need to be a God.

Question 3: This is a bit of a guess from me but yes I do believe that demigods would have longer lifespans should they not get killed. The best way of describing this is the city of Rome in Camp Jupiter because it shows that there are very old demigods, far older than Annabeth had ever seen that lived in the city. Based on that theory, I'd assume that Demititans do have longer lifespans, but that's more of a guesswork theory from me.

Question 4: So the amount of control a demigod has over their godly parent's domain is dependent on how much the god gives the child, and also how much they loved the mortal they had the child with. A good example is the distinction between Frank and Percy. Frank's ancestor, Periclymenus, was the grandson of Poseidon, but he didn't receive the normal sea abilities that demigod children of Poseidon do. His gift was a different aspect of Poseidon, the power of shape-shifting. And that's because Poseidon wanted him to be special, to have a different powered ability. Whereas with Percy, Poseidon gave him gifts over the sea, the storms and earthshaking, communication with aquatic animals etc. And then, if you look in the Greek myths, there's Theseus (this one there's a lot of debate about, but I'm using it for this question), who mainly got inhuman strength from Poseidon and the ability to breathe underwater. Not the rest of the abilities that Percy has. A demigod/demititan is a half blood. Half human, half immortal. The godly aspect of their blood connects their body, mind and soul to their godly parent and that connection is what gives them access to their godly parent's abilities.

Question 5: Yes he will, very later on. Don't want to spoil too much just right now.

Hope this helps clear up things for you. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Alex3600: Yes true true. But you'll see what I mean by it for Percy later on.

Redd133: Thank you. Yes I didn't want to make his connection to Poseidon as something that didn't make sense so I thought using Sally to bridge it was the best way. There'll be more to expand on with Percy and Poseidon later in Titan's Curse and one of the extra books I'm writing.

Walter: The New Mythologies won't make sense for a while, it's part of the mystery plot I'm building.

Death Fury: Thank you :)

Guest: "Interesting development here! A monster from Indian Mythology? I definitely wasn't expecting that! Are there going to be more monsters and brings from other mythologies showing up? I look forward to seeing more of this great story! Keep up the great work and stay safe from the coronavirus!"

Yes there will be. Some sooner than others, each one more confusing and more mysterious than the other. Glad you're enjoying it, hope you're staying safe as well.

And that's it for this chapter people. My exams starting in 10 days and they'll be going till 20th June, so updates might be a little bit slow, but I'll do my best wherever possible. See you around

SpiritsOfTheWorld