Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or Camp Half-Blood or mythology. Rick does. Well, at least the characters and Camp Half-Blood.
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Chapter 17
The Hermes cabin had a knack for smuggling stuff into camp whether it was Coca-Cola cans, or a TV, DVD player and some movies.
He wasn't sure how they managed to get that into camp, but Percy remembered this one movie he watched where the main characters were free-falling from the sky. They all looked calm and rode the wind like eagles. They didn't seem to register that they were hundreds of feet in the air.
Percy felt like he could do the same. But the truth? His only thought was: Aaaaaagggghhhh!
The river raced toward him at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from his lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of his vision.
And then: Flaaa-booom!
A whiteout of bubbles. He'd never fallen from such a height and figured he'd probably fall so hard that he would embed himself in a hundred feet of mud, but when he dared to open his eyes, he realized he was sinking very slowly, as if the water had cushioned his fall. He laughed nervously as he settled on the river bottom soundlessly.
Looking up he grimaced. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage beer bottles, old shoes and plastic bags swirled up all around him. It was disgusting.
He looked at the garbage floating by and snatched an old cigarette lighter.
Percy knew he stayed dry in the ocean, but he wanted to try something. He flicked the lighter. It sparked. A tiny flame appeared, right there at the bottom of the Mississippi. He grabbed a soggy hamburger wrapper out of the current and immediately the paper turned dry. He lit the paper on fire with the lighter. The flame burned, but as soon as he let go, the flame sputtered out. The wrapper turned back into a slimy rag.
"So cool," he muttered.
Even in the Sea of Monsters, he never really found the need to speak out loud underwater. For the first time he sounded older when he was submerged.
Percy, a voice said. The sound seemed to come from all sides, rippling through the water like dolphin sonar.
"Who's there?" he called aloud.
Through the gloom, the woman appeared. She was the colour of the water, like a ghost in the current, floating five feet in front of him. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like his used to be.
"Hello? Who are you?" he asked.
I'm a messenger, child. I'm here to give you a message from your father. Go to the beach in Santa Monica.
"What?"
It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, the kingdom of his brother, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, Percy, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence.
"My father? But, why Santa Monica?"
I cannot stay, brave one, the woman said. She reached out and he felt the current brush his face like a caress. You must go to Santa Monica! And, Percy, destroy the shoes. The curse holds more power than you think it does.
"What do you mean?" Percy asked. "How can the curse hold more power? The shoes—they are—"
She made one more attempt to speak, but the sound was gone. Her image melted away.
Percy cursed. He wanted to understand what she meant. How could a curse hold more power than dragging a body to Tartarus as soon as they got near the cavern? It would stop for nothing until the deed was done. It sounded pretty powerful to him.
He looked out into the mucky water and sent his dad a silent prayer. Thanks, he thought.
Then he kicked up through the muck and swam for the surface.
He came ashore next to a float McDonald's.
A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded him of downtown Manhattan; there were a lot of them bunched up together.
A little girl said, "Mama! That boy walked out of the river."
"That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.
"But he's dry!"
"That's nice, dear."
A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's 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."
Percy laughed in his head. If people saw him fall out of the Arch, they would have seen him landing in the Mississippi. That made no sense.
He tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.
"…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 believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities—"
Percy backed away, trying to keep his head down. He had a long way to go around the police perimeter. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere.
If the stupid mortals thought he was the one that set off the explosion, it wouldn't be good if they saw him.
He made it around halfway when someone cried from behind him, "Percy!"
He turned and saw both Annabeth and Thalia both trying to look angry but failing miserably.
"We can't leave you alone for five minutes!" exclaimed Annabeth. "What happened?"
"I sort of fell."
"Percy! Six hundred thirty feet?"
Behind them, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. I recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua—"
"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."
"I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw Percy. "There he is! That's the boy!"
He turned quickly and pulled Annabeth and Thalia after him. They disappeared into the crowd.
"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
Percy told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, his high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message.
"A summons from your dad?" Thalia asked. If he wasn't hallucinating, he could've sworn she looked jealous. "In Santa Monica?"
Before Annabeth could say anything, they passed another reporter doing a news break, and Percy almost froze in his tracks 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 authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago and the boy his believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."
They ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.
"First things first," Annabeth told them. "We've got to get out of town!"
Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. They got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train thundered west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind.
The next afternoon the train rolled into Denver. They hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. They hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and Percy was sure that was obvious.
"I don't understand, though," wondered Thalia. "Echidna is usually summoned by the Olympians, right?"
Annabeth nodded in agreement.
"That would mean my father summoned it to kill Percy," she concluded. "But killing him will only make things worse. And it's brought us a lot of trouble."
Percy thought about the Greyhound bus that Zeus blew up a few days prior.
"But the attack on the bus was Hades' plan," Annabeth said. "They couldn't be working together, could they? I mean, Zeus hasn't outright said it was Hades' fault, but, well… I don't know, Percy. Maybe Zeus and Hades are working together to kill you. That's the only logical explanation: the lightning didn't come until after Thalia and I were off the bus. Zeus wanted to kill you and you only."
"That wouldn't be fair, Annabeth," Thalia said. "Then my father dooms me to a painful death at Poseidon's hands. It just wouldn't be smart, and I'm sure Zeus has enough common sense not to try killing Percy. And besides, you saw the Fury on the bus, didn't you? The Fury was willing to kill me. They were asking for Percy, as if Hades wanted to personally torture him. The Fury wouldn't kill me if Hades and Zeus are working together."
"True," Annabeth sighed. "It's so confusing."
Percy felt confused too. There was something strange going on. Like there was a fourth force in the mix. But he couldn't grasp who it could be. None of the other gods would dare face the wrath of his father, would they? At the same time, no god would admit they were doing this.
He had a feeling that it was like the case with the empousa. Someone sent the creature after him and made it look like either Hades or Zeus sent them.
"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth suggested. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."
"We can't use phones, right?"
"I'm not talking about phones."
They wandered through downtown for about half an hour. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere they turned the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at him, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.
Finally they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. They veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping their eyes open for patrol cars. They were three adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his donuts would figure they were up to no good.
Thalia took out the spray gun. "It's seventy-five cents. I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"
She fished out her last bit of change and passed Thalia a quarter.
"Great," she grinned. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."
She fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST.
"Ah, Iris-messaging," Percy sighed. "Create a rainbow for the goddess of rainbows and you can message pretty much anyone."
Thalia pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. Later afternoon light filtered through the vapour and broke into colours. Percy flicked a drachma into the rainbow and thought, O goddess, accept our offering.
"Percy, you're supposed to pray before—"
"Trust me. I know what I'm doing."
The drachma disappeared in a golden shimmer.
"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.
"Why would you request Half-Blood Hill?" Percy asked incredulously. "You're supposed to request for Chiron if you want to talk to Chiron."
"Well, maybe we'll be lucky," Annabeth said.
"Doubt it."
The mist shimmered as an image appeared. Through the mist, Percy saw the strawberry fields of camp, and Long Island Sound in the distance. They seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to them at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.
"Luke!" Annabeth called.
He turned, eyes wide.
"Annabeth!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Percy, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"
"We're fine," Percy said affirmatively. "Where's Chiron?"
"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 Thalia all right?"
"I'm good," Thalia said, though she didn't turn the nozzle to see him. "I'm great, actually." She looked like she was nervous.
"What kind of issues are you talking about?" asked Annabeth.
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 if it!" Thalia yelled, looking very relieved to have an excuse to not be around Luke anymore. "Percy, come on!"
"What?" he said. "But—"
She gave Annabeth the nozzle. "We're the brawn, Annabeth is the brains. She can handle talking to Luke."
Before he could argue any more, she dragged him away. They made their way to the next stall where a guy in baggy pants and a loose white T-shirt was preparing to wash his car. Thalia immediately stormed up to the man and shouted, "Turn that music the hell down!"
He gave her a puzzled look. "What?"
"I said, turn the music down!"
The man laughed and turned back to the nozzle he was preparing to pull out. "Man, kids these days. Thinking they can do whatever they want. Punk ass bitch."
"Hey hey," Percy intervened. "What did you just say?"
"I said, punk ass bitch." The man didn't even look sorry. He was about to.
Percy stepped forward to grab the man, but the man turned the water on and pointed it at him. Water sprayed all over him, but he didn't get wet. After a couple seconds, he regained his balance and began pushing the water back. The man, who had an amused look in his eyes before, began to look frightened.
"What the hell is this bullshit?" the man asked. He let go of the nozzle.
Thalia had climbed into his car and turned down the volume significantly.
The man rounded on her. "Hey, watchu think you're doing?"
"Turn the damn music off," she spat back.
"What your language you little piece of—"
Thalia let a blast of electricity loose, and it scorched the man's right hand. He stared at it in disbelief before screaming in terror. He hopped in his car, slammed the door, and as Thalia hopped out, he hit the accelerator and peeled out of the car wash.
Percy and Thalia watched the car speed away before turning to each other and laughing.
"That was awesome!" Percy exclaimed.
They high-fived.
When they turned the corner, and saw Annabeth's face, they both stopped laughing and turned deadly serious. She looked troubled.
"Annabeth, are you okay?" asked Percy. "What did Luke say?"
"I'll tell you at dinner," Annabeth decided. "Come on, let's go."
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 skeptically. "Well?"
Percy said, "We want to order dinner."
"You kids have money to pay for it?"
Percy searched for his money. He showed it to the waitress, who shrugged. She said, "Okay then. What do you three want to eat?"
"Double cheeseburger," Percy and Thalia chorused. "XL French fries. Onion rings and chocolate shakes."
Annabeth tried to contain her smile. "I'll have the same, thanks."
The waitress spun around and marched back toward the kitchen.
"Why do you have to like the exact same food?" the daughter of Athena sighed.
"It makes life easier if we eat together," said Thalia. "We both know exactly what we want, and it just so happens to be the exact same thing. Shake, fries and a cheeseburger."
"Besides, we have more pressing matters right now than what kind of food we like to eat," interrupted Percy. "What did Luke say to you at the car wash? You sounded—looked troubled, like something bad is going on at camp. What happened?"
Annabeth clasped her hands together. "Well, Luke said Chiron had to break up a fight. Spring break is here, and summer campers just got the word about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. The campers… they're starting to take sides. It's like most of the wars. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus. Hermes, well, the Stoll brothers and Luke are taking Poseidon's side, but the rest of the Hermes campers are taking Zeus' side. There are a few Aphrodite kids who favour Zeus, but Silena's managing to keep most of her brothers and sisters on Poseidon's side. Same with the Hephaestus, though it's more evenly split. Beckendorf thinks you had nothing to do with it."
"What?" Thalia said angrily. "If Percy stole it, why would he be trying to help us find it?"
Annabeth took a deep breath. "Luke said… he didn't want to take the other side, but he said if he was on Zeus' side, a good argument would be that—that Percy… you're leading us into a trap. You're leading us to death. You have the bolt and have made a deal with Hades to topple Zeus from the throne and make your dad and Hades the rulers of Olympus."
Percy didn't say a word. Was Luke… was he…?
Thalia looked down. "Listen, I—I should tell you two something. Well, mostly Percy but…"
"What is it?" asked Annabeth.
"It's the prophecy," she replied. "Percy, I don't think you've heard it. It goes: You shall go west, and face the god who has turned, to find what was stolen, and see it safely returned. You shall lose a close friend to an evil plan hatched, and fall to your death without your equal match. I mean, it doesn't rhyme to the dot, but it does sound quite similar. The Oracle of Delphi used to exist when there wasn't writing or anything but yeah. Just thought I'd put that out there."
"Well, going on what we have, Hades is the god who's turned," Annabeth said, though she looked a little conflicted now. "We'll find the bolt and return it safely. But after that it gets confusing. Losing a close friend… Does that mean that friend will die? And what kind of evil plan could hatch. That last one is really tricky."
"Why would I fall to my death?" Thalia asked worried. "If anything, Percy's the one falling from tall buildings. And, also, who is my equal match. Is that supposed to be a stupid love thing? Or does it mean in strength and power? When I thought about inviting you to the quest, Percy, Luke's words weren't the only thing I was thinking about. If the prophecy means strength and power, and I guess many interests, you're an equal match."
"That doesn't make sense, though," Annabeth frowned. "Why would he be saving you from heights? You're the daughter of Zeus."
Percy looked out the window in thought. Could it mean her falling into Tartarus? The third line made Percy feel scared. Would he die as he tried to save Thalia? Did the Fates cut his string?
Before they could discuss it more, a rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb.
All conversation in the dinner 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.
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 cruelest, most brutal face he'd ever seen. It was wicked with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that looked scarred from many, many fights.
He looked familiar.
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 brought out their food as the man approached their table. As she dropped it off, he slid into their booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window.
The waitress gaped at him.
He looked up and said, "You got a problem?"
"Um, no," she managed to say. "W-what would you like t-to eat?"
"Same as the kids." He dropped golden drachmas into her hand.
"Urn, these aren't…"
The man pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"
The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.
That's when Percy realized who the guy was. He had the same vicious look that the kids from cabin five had. He was Ares, the god of assholes.
"You can't do that," Percy told him angrily. "You can't just threaten people with a knife."
Ares grinned and took of his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. And unlike Hestia's eyes, his looked dangerous and deadly. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh? Listen, I can do whatever I want, punk. I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there."
"Yeah, I carry my own weapon." Percy pulled out his ballpoint pen. "I could uncap it right now. Let me just point it at your face."
Annabeth's eyes shot a warning. "Percy, don't—"
"'S okay, little niece. Long as he knows who's boss around here. Anyway, I got a little proposition for you."
"What favour could I do for a god?"
"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. 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 were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."
"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?"
The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter.
"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, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."
Percy wanted to punch the god, but he knew the god was waiting for that. Ares' power was causing his anger. He'd love it if he attacked. He didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"I don't need to prove my cowardice to a coward," Percy spat through gritted teeth.
Ares' fiery eyes made him see things he didn't want to see—blood and smoke and corpses on the battlefield.
"What did you just say?" the god growled.
"You know all about what the ancient Greeks said about you, god of war," Percy said. "There's a reason why Athena was regarded well across the Greek city states. Brain over brawn, nitwit. You're a coward because even with the slightest injury, you'll go crying up to your daddy and mommy, bawling like a baby. Remember the Trojan War?"
"Watch your tongue, punk," snarled the god of war. "You better listen to me because without my help, you'll never find the bolt. You'll never get to Hades in time. You might have money, but money can only get you so far. You got no wheels. Your friends don't have a clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe mortals will live to see another day. Remember this, demigod. No mortals equals no Camp Half-Blood. Your satyr buddy Grover will have died for nothing."
Percy hesitated.
Ares grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west and 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'd 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."
He snapped his fingers, and the world spun five times before it focused again. Ares was gone. Both Annabeth and Thalia looked confused, a little scared, and disbelieving.
"Not good," Thalia muttered. "I guess I was right about the prophecy. You are the one that's keeping us alive. But it's not necessarily a good thing."
"Yeah." Annabeth looked suspicious. "Ares said 'Your friends don't have a clue what you're up against.' Do you know something, Percy? Another secret you won't tell us."
Percy looked at his cheeseburger, which suddenly didn't seem so appetizing.
"I swear to the River Styx I'll tell you when we reach the Underworld and are out of harm's way," he said. Thunder rumbled in the sky.
"Why can't you tell us now?" asked Thalia.
"Truthfully, and I've learned the hard way not to hold back too often, if I tell you what I know, you will abandon the quest. You will abandon me, and the world will be destroyed as we know it. It's—it's that bad. You'll only understand once we reach the Underworld."
"It's really that bad?"
"I swear on my life that you will freak out, even in the Underworld."
Annabeth and Thalia looked at each other. "Us not knowing it won't hinder our progress? Are you sure about that?" asked Annabeth.
"You knowing would hinder it," Percy said darkly.
The two girls seemed all right with that answer. They shifted uncomfortably, and they had mistrusting looks on again. But Annabeth decided, "Let's go to the amusement park."
"Why?" asked Thalia. "Why does Ares need us?"
"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has, like Percy said. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."
"But this water park…" Percy licked his lips. "He acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"
Annabeth took a bite out of her cheeseburger, chewed and swallowed. "I have an idea, but we'll have to find out."
The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time they found the water park. The sign read WAT R A D, but Percy figured it was called WATERLAND.
The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and ads fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy.
"Why would Ares bring Aphrodite here?" Percy asked.
"I don't know." Thalia tugged at the padlock. "So how do we get in?"
Percy pulled out Riptide, slashed the padlock in half, and slammed the gate open with his shoulder. He gestured for the other to enter. "Ladies first."
The shadows grew long as they walked through the park, checking out the attractions. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit?
No monsters came to get them. Nothing made the slightest noise.
They found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of—
"Clothes," Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes."
"Yeah," Percy said. "But you can't just—"
"Watch me."
She snatched an entire row of stuff off the racks and disappeared into the changing room.
A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. Her backpack looked like it was stuffed with more goodies.
"You look ridiculous," Percy said.
"And your clothes smell like the Mississippi," she countered.
He remembered the filth of the river and shivered. "Eh, what the hell," he shrugged.
Soon all three of them were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park.
They continued searching for the Tunnel of Love.
When they found it, Percy first thought it looked like a pretty cool place to skateboard. The empty pool was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl.
But around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side from 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!
Percy crept toward the edge and looked down.
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' shield—a polished circle of bronze.
What here would spook a god? Percy mused.
Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue. "There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder…"
Percy took a good look at the pool. There were pipes that led out into it. Was that where water came from? He looked up and saw a glass-windowed booth next to one of the Cupids. It looked like the controller's station. He had an idea.
"Thalia," he said. "Do you and Annabeth want to go down there?"
"Sure," Thalia said. "Annabeth, come on."
"Wait, Thalia," Percy called out. "One thing before you go… I need the shoes Luke gave you—the flying ones."
She looked hesitant. "Why?"
"Just a feeling. I'll be the backup. Skies aren't usually my thing, but I'll give it a shot. And up there…" He pointed to the controller's station. "I can help you from up there in case something goes wrong."
"Better try not to make things go wrong, then," Annabeth muttered.
Thalia fished the shoes out of her bag and gave them to Percy. He quickly put them on, leaving his shoes on the concrete ground at the edge of the pool. At first, he only lifted two inches off the ground, just to get a feel for how it worked. By the time the two girls got near the boat, he was hovering over the empty pool without any problems. He didn't care how high he was—it was fun, other than the fact that it felt like something was about to go very wrong.
Percy flew closer to the controller's station.
"Wait," Annabeth said.
"Too late," said Thalia.
"There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is a trap."
Noise erupted below him, and he realized the pool was turning like one giant machine.
Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. They shot at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net.
"Let's go!"
Thalia and Annabeth both ran up toward the net. Thalia blasted electricity at the net, and for a moment, a hole opened up. But just as quickly as it had disappeared, threads wove together quickly to repair the damage. Thalia halted just before smashing into the net.
Percy cursed. No wonder Ares was so freaked out. It was a trap laid by Hephaestus. Of course Ares would be scared of getting publicly humiliated again.
The Cupids' heads popped open. Out came video cameras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding Annabeth and Thalia with illumination, and 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 his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"
Ten seconds passed in panic. Percy saw the pipes, but Thalia and Annabeth needed to get to the boat.
"Thalia!" he shouted. "Annabeth! Get to the boat! Get to the boat!"
They were halfway when Annabeth looked behind her and screamed.
Percy flew down in a panic.
Crawling out of a place he couldn't see, an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies scuttled at the two girls, as if about to attack them.
"Spiders!" Annabeth cried out. "Sp-sp-aaaah!"
She fell backward in terror and almost got overwhelmed by the spider robots before Thalia blasted them away with her zappy powers. She grabbed Annabeth's arms and dragged her back toward the boat.
The robot spiders looked like they were in the millions. There were so many of them surrounding Thalia and Annabeth. They came from every direction, flooding the center of the pool, completely surrounding them.
It was a trap meant for gods. If he didn't do something, they could be seriously hurt. Or worse.
He flew into the controller's room and started hitting random buttons. Nothing seemed to work. Thalia was struggling to get into the boat herself. Annabeth wasn't much help; she was too paralyzed to do much more than scream.
"Thirty, twenty-nine," called the loudspeaker.
The spiders began to spit out the strands of metal thread, trying to tie them down. There were so many of them. So many.
"Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called.
"Damn it!" Percy screamed. "Work you stupid machine!"
Why had he chosen to come up here? Why hadn't he gone down with them to fight the spiders? What stupid thing was he going to do next? Go to Olympus and say, 'Hey, Zeus. Your daughter is dead, but at least I got your master bolt for you!' That would be suicidal.
Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you, Ares had said.
Anger swelled in his chest.
"I don't need protection," growled the son of Poseidon. "I'll bring the ocean here."
He closed his eyes and thought about waves, rushing water, the Mississippi River. He felt a familiar tug in his gut. He remembered the uncontrollable whirlpool of Charybdis. He imagined he was bringing that chaos here to counter the spider chaos.
"Percy!" the distant shout came. "Help!"
"Three, two, one, zero!"
Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. Percy flew back out and watched as Thalia pulled Annabeth into one of the seats and fastened her seat belt. The tidal wave slammed into the boat, over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing them completely. Percy focused on the water and somehow could feel the boat's position just by sensing the water.
The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool's concrete wall with such force they burst.
Spotlights glared down at Thalia and Annabeth. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus.
Percy turned the boat's nose toward the tunnel, the one opening under the net, and sent it flying into the darkness.
He could sense the water and its path. He could feel the water in front of Annabeth and Thalia, splashing against the walls, painting a picture of the TUNNEL OF LOVE in his mind. He guided the boat as best as he could, trying to keep them away from the walls and smashing into stuff.
After a little while, he saw them rocket out of the tunnel toward the exit. If the ride had been in working order, they would've sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. But unfortunately for them, the Gates of Love were chained. Two boats were piled against the barricade: one submerged, the other crackled in half.
Annabeth and Thalia shouted something at each other before unfastening their seat belts. Percy knew what they were going to do as soon as they braced themselves. It was crazy, but it was the only they'd get out without getting flattened.
Their boat smashed into the pileup and they were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool, and down toward solid concrete.
Percy swooped down and grabbed both of them in midair.
He managed to halt their momentum a little bit, but there was too much. Thalia slipped from his grasp and she took a hard tumble, though Ares' shield did stop her from hurting herself too bad. Annabeth didn't slip from his grip. Her fingernails were digging into the back of his hand.
The two of them spiraled toward the ground and smashed into a photo-board. Percy hit the ground hard as Annabeth's elbow landed on his gut. She tumbled to the side as he felt the wind knocked out of him.
Whilst groaning on the ground, he heard Thalia shout, "Show's over! Thank you! Good night!"
The lights shut off. The park went quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into the Thrill Ride of Love's exit pool. Percy stood up and looked back at the ride. He growled. Ares was just like his kids, but even worse. He was just a giant bully—someone who made others do his dirty work, someone who put down others to make himself seem better when he was truly a coward.
Was this really what it had to take to get the master bolt?
Thalia hefted the shield on her arm and turned to him and Annabeth. "We need to have a little talk with Ares."
YAY! Another chapter. Fairly generic, like I promised. Updates might be slowing down a little bit in the future because I'm writing the future chapters in advance. So currently, I'm writing the 20th chapter. But I'm kind of hooked onto watching anime ATM. Ugh, I want to stop but I can't. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story. I'll get back to writing ASAP, but don't forget:
VOTE ON THE NEW POLL! I added a fourth option and it's been influenced by what I've been watching in anime, plus a bit of Hunger Games (just the general nation with surrounding districts idea), plus Percy Jackson, obviously, and a teensy, weensy bit of Ranger's Apprentice (the one with Halt and Willy Treaty). I'll still keep the option to continue writing this story, but as for right now, I'd prefer if you voted for one of the other three stories just because I already know a lot of you want me to continue this one.
Don't forget to vote. This is a democracy, so I will put the highest voted one on priority. Then, the next most voted as the next story if I feel like it is something I could write.
Thanks,
SharkAttack719