A God Demands A Job Done

The following afternoon on June 14th, a whole week before the solstice, the train finally rolled into Denver.

The four of them hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car as they made their way through Kansas. Not only are they hungry, but Lykos in particular desperately wanted a shower, which they haven't had since leaving Camp Half-Blood.

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

"We can't use phones, right?" Percy asked, remembering that using one would attract monsters to them.

"She wasn't talking about phones." Lykos told him as he went into his backpack and pulled out a gold drachma.

They have wandered through downtown Denver for half an hour already, Annabeth looking around for something.

The air was pretty hot and dry in comparison to the humidity of St. Louis, making Lykos take off his black denim jacket and carry it through a strap of his backpack. And everywhere they turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed as though they were looming over them.

Finally, they found an empty do it yourself car wash and veered toward a stall that was the farthest from the street, keeping their eyes and ears open for patrol cars as to police officers, seeing four young people hanging out in a car wash without a car smells of something suspicious.

"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked as Grover took out the spray gun and Lykos handed Annabeth the drachma he took out.

"It's seventy five cents." Grover grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me." She replied. "The dining car wiped me out."

"Here." Lykos said as he gave Grover the necessary quarter.

"Excellent." The satyr said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked, feeling like the only one who doesn't know what they're doing.

"Iris messaging." Lykos told him as Grover fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST.

"Irs messaging?" Percy repeated, not understanding what he meant.

"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 or half-bloods." Annabeth explained.

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?" Percy questioned.

Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."

Thankfully, the late afternoon light filtered through the vapour and had broken out into colours.

Annabeth then raised the drachma Lykos gave her over her head, saying "O goddess, accept our offering."

She then threw the drachma into the rainbow, making it disappear in a gold shimmer.

"Half-Blood Hill." Annabeth then requested.

At first, nothing happened.

Then they were looking through the mist at strawberry fields and the Long Island Sound in the distance. It also seemed like they were on the porch of the Big House. And standing there with his back to them at the railing was Luke, based on the person's sandy blonde hair and shorts and orange tank top. He also seemed to be holding a sword and was staring intently at something down at the meadow.

"Luke!" Lykos called

He turned, eyes wide.

"Lykos! Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're… uh… fine." Annabeth stammered. She tried straightening her dirty shirt and tried combing the loose strands of hair out of her face. "We thought - Chiron - I mean -"

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

"I'm right here." Grover said, holding the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of sight. "What kind of issues?"

At that moment, a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned up to maximum hip hop, which got on Lykos' nerves instantly. And as the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated to the point that it shook the pavement.

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

"I'll take care of it!" Annabeth yelled back, looking relieved to be out of his sight. "Grover, come on!"

"What? But -"

"Give Lykos and Percy the nozzle and come on!" She ordered him.

Grover then muttered about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle before he handed Percy the spray gun and followed after Annabeth.

Percy readjusted the hose so that the rainbow kept going and that they could still see Luke.

"Chiron had to break up a fight." Luke shouted over the music. "Things are pretty tense here, guys. Word leaked out about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how - probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."

This reminded Lykos that there was still someone at camp that clearly had to have stolen the master bolt, and maybe even the Helm of Darkness. He's still going to need more clues, since most of the year rounders are suspects.

In the next stall, he and Percy heard Annabeth arguing with someone and the music's volume decreased significantly.

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

And so they explained a lot, even their dreams and Lykos' suspicion that Hades may be innocent.

They talked until the beeper went off on the spray machine, meaning they only had one more minute before the water shuts off.

"I wish I could be there." Luke said. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen… it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him."

"But the gods can't take each other's symbol of power directly." Lykos pointed out.

"That's true." Luke said, looking troubled. "Still… Hades has the Helm of Darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."

All three were silent with Lykos frowning at Luke with what he's implying.

"Oh, hey." Luke protested upon seeing his frown. "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."

The music then stopped completely in the next stall and a man screamed in terror before car doors slammed shut and the Lincoln peeled out of the car wash.

"You'd better go see what that was." Luke said. "Listen, Percy, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good."

"Oh… uh, yeah." Percy lied, trying not to sound guilty, which Lykos couldn't blame him for. "Yeah, they've come in handy."

"Really?" Luke grinned. "They fit and everything?"

The water then shut off and the mist started evaporating.

"Well, take care of yourselves out there in Denver." Luke said, his voice getting fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just -"

The mist was gone before he could finish his sentence and his image faded into nothing, leaving Lykos and Percy alone in a wet and empty car wash stall.

Annabeth and Grover appeared around the corner, laughing, though they stopped when they saw the looks on Lykos and Percy's faces.

Annabeth's smile faded as she said "What happened? What did Luke say?"

"Not much other than that camp is going through its own Trojan War." Lykos told her.

"Come on, let's find some dinner." Percy said, wanting to move on.

A few minutes afterwards, they sat at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. Around them were families eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas.

A waitress finally came over to them, though she raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Well?"

"We want to order dinner." Lykos told her.

"You four have money to pay for it?"

Grover's lower lip quivered and Annabeth looked like she would pass out from hunger.

Lykos was about to explain themselves when a rumble shook the whole building.

This was thanks to a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant pulling up to the curb.

All conversation in the diner abruptly stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared a sickly red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it and a shotgun holster on either side, with actual shotguns. And what disturbed Lykos was that the seat was leather, yet it looked like Caucasian human skin.

The bike rider made pro wrestlers look like wimps. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans with a black leather duster. He also had a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. The biker also wore red wraparound shades on the cruellest, most brutal face Lykos had ever seen. He was handsome, yet wicked with an oily back crew cut and cheeks that were scarre from too many fights to count.

Lykos knew right away who it was, and he wasn't excited about greeting him.

The biker walked into the diner, causing a hot, dry wind to blow through the place, making everyone rise up, like they were hypnotised, though he just waved his hand dismissively and they all sat back down again.

Everyone was back to their conversations.

The waitress blinked, like someone pressed the rewind button on her brain. She then asked the four again "You four have money to pay for it?"

"It's on me." The biker said, sliding into their booth, which was too small for him, actually crowding both Grover and Annabeth against the window.

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

He pointed at her, making her stiffen before she turned as though she was spun around and then marched to the kitchen.

The biker then looked at both Lykos and Percy. They couldn't see his eyes, but they felt bad feelings boiling within their stomachs. Anger, resentment and bitterness. Lykos felt a desire to smash his face in a brick wall.

The biker gave the two a wicked grin. "So you two are old Seaweed and Arty's kids, huh?"

"Yeah. You got a problem with that?" Lykos retorted, not at all afraid to talk back, though Annabeth flashed him a warning with her eyes."

"Lykos, this is -"

The biker raised his hand.

"S'okay. I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you two remember who's the boss. You two know who I am?" He sneered.

"I knew right away, Ares." Lykos said, making Percy realise this as well.

"So you did inherit more than Arty's eyes. I was shocked to learn that she spread her legs out for a man and had a child, though she should've done that for me." Ares remarked, making Lykos clench his fists to keep himself from striking the God of War.

"My mom's happily married to my dad. And she doesn't spread her legs out, unlike your girlfriend." Lykos gritted through his teeth.

"Ares…. You're Clarisse's dad." Percy recollected.

This made Ares grin and take off his shades. Where his eyes should be, there was instead fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions.

"That's right, little cousin. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."

"She was asking for it."

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

The waitress came back with heaping trays of food, ranging from cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings and chocolate shakes.

Ares then handed her a few gold drachmas.

She looked at said coins nervously. "But these aren't -"

Ares pulled out his huge knife and cleaned his fingernails, intimidating her.

"Problem, sweetheart?"

The waitress just swallowed and left with the gold.

"You can't do that." Percy told him "You can't just threaten people with a knife."

At this, Ares laughed.

"Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you and Arty's kid to do me a favour."

"And what would this favour be?" Lykos asked with a raised eyebrow.

"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 two to fetch it for me."

"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" Percy said, making the fire in Ares' eye sockets glow 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 yourselves, Percy Jackson and Lykos Alexander. Will you prove yourselves to be cowards?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so Seaweed can protect you."

Lykos desperately wanted to gut Ares so badly that he had to use a wheelchair to get anywhere, but he held himself back, knowing that this anger was caused by Ares. He doesn't deserve the satisfaction.

"We aren't interested, we're already in the middle of a quest." He told the God of War.

Ares' fiery eyes made him see things that he didn't want to - nothing but blood and smoke among corpses on a battlefield.

"I know all about your quest, punks. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful…." He licked his lips, clearly hungry about the power of the master bolt, making Lykos very suspicious of him. "Well… if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Seaweed and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

Lykos' eyes narrowed at him. This just might explain that boar in the dream with the screech owl. Perhaps he did this to stoke the idea of a war among the gods. And maybe he helped the thief steal the master bolt, and perhaps the Helm of Darkness as well.

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

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

"Thanks." Lykos and Percy grumbled in unison.

"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." Percy said, making Lykos' eyes roll.

"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?" Percy asked in shock.

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

"Let me guess, your girlfriend's husband scared you off?" Lykos questioned.

Ares bared his teeth, trying to look threatening, but was really trying to hide the fact that 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."

Ares then snapped his fingers and in the blink of an eye, he and his bike disappeared.

"Not good." Grover said nervously. "Ares sought you two out. This is not good."

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

"Unfortunately, we can't, Percy." Lykos said, knowing they have no choice really. "I may hate Ares but to ignore a god would mean bad luck and fortune. He ain't kidding about turning you into a rodent and running you over." He then ate some fries and a burger, as well as downing a chocolate shake.

"Why does he need us?" Percy asked.

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains." Annabeth replied. "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?"

"Simply, to avoid being embarrassed in front of the other Olympians." Lykos said after he finished his food, leaving the other three to wonder what he meant.

The sun was sinking behind the mountains when they reached the water park.

Based on the sign, the park was called WATERLAND, though some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D.

The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire, so climbing was out of the equation. Inside, huge dry water slides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, all leading to empty pools.

Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt.

And with night coming on, the place just looked sad and creepy.

"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date, I'd hate to see what she looks like." Percy said as he looked up at the barbed wire. Lykos decided to see if he could open the padlock that closed the gate with his hunting knife.

"Percy." Annabeth warned. "Be more respectful."

"Why? I thought you hated Ares."

"He's still a god, Percy. And knowing his girlfriend, she is very temperamental when it comes to people questioning her looks." Lykos said as he kept going at the padlock.

"Yeah, you don't want to insult her looks." Grover backed him up.

"Who is she? Echidna?"

"No, Aphrodite." Grover said dreamily. "Goddess of Love."

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

"So what? You know what the gods are like." Lykos reminded him as he finally unlocked the gate.

"Oh." Percy said.

"As I hinted at, Hephaestus must've set something up to try and embarrass his cheating wife and her boyfriend." Lykos added.

As the four walked through Waterland, they saw the shadows growing long as they checked the attractions out. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit?

So far, no monsters came, but that wasn't what they were worried about.

They then came across a souvenir shop that was left open. Merchandise still filled the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards and racks of -

"Clothes." Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes."

"So you're stealing, is that it?" Lykos remarked.

"Watch me, Wolf Boy." Annabeth snapped back at him.

She snatched a whole row of stuff and had disappeared into the changing room.

A few minutes later, she came back out in Waterland flower print shorts, a big red Waterland t-shirt and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. She also had a Waterland backpack slung over her shoulder, stuffed with who knows what.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged before he and Percy joined and were decked out in Waterland merch. Lykos didn't as he'd rather be in his more practical clothes. Plus, he liked his denim jacket.

After that, the four of them continued searching for the Tunnel of Love.

"So Ares and Aphrodite…" Percy said, like he was trying to keep his mind off the growing darkness. "...they have a thing going?"

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

"What about Aphrodite's husband?"

"Hephaestus? Well, he got crippled when he was a baby, so much so he got thrown off Mount Olympus by Hera after she gave birth to him. So he isn't really all that handsome. Despite being clever with his hands as a blacksmith, Aphrodite is all about brawn and good looks, hence her cheating on her husband with Ares." Lykos explained.

"It's Zeus that threw him off Mount Olympus." Annabeth tried correcting him.

"No, it's Hera. She just created that false rumour." Lykos told her.

"Does Hephaestus know?" Percy asked.

"Oh sure." Annabeth nodded. "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 be perfect for skateboarding. It was at least fifty yards across and was shaped like a bowl.

Around the rim were a dozen bronze statues of Cupid standing guard with wings spread and bows at the ready to fire. Opposing the four was a tunnel that opened up, which was where the water flowed into when the pool was full. There was a sign above it that read THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!

Lykos knew that those Cupids had to be part of whatever Hephaestus set up.

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

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

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

"Obviously not. This is a trap by an Olympian blacksmith." Lykos reminded him as Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue.

"There's a Greek letter carved here." She said. "Eta. Yeah, this is definitely his handiwork."

"I'm going down there." Percy said. "Lykos, you stay up here, just in case we need your bow and arrows."

"Okay." Lykos nodded and formed his silver bow from his ring and loaded an arrow.

"I'll go with you." Grover then told Percy, though he didn't sound enthusiastic.

"No." Percy told him. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ace, remember? I'll be counting on you and Lykos for backup, in case something goes wrong."

Grover's chest puffed up a little. "Sure. But what could go wrong? We are dealing with Hephaestus' work, after all."

"I don't know. Just a feeling. Annabeth, come with me -"

"Are you kidding?" She looked at Percy as though he dropped from the moon and her cheeks were bright red.

"What's the problem now?" Percy groaned.

"Me, go with you to the… the 'Thrill Ride of Love'? How embarrassing is that? What if someone saw me?" She replied.

"Wow, you haven't even gone on a first date, you two." Lykos joked, making the two even more embarrassed and making their faces blush so much that they looked like strawberry people.

"Fine." Percy groaned. "I'll do it myself."

He started going down the side of the pool when Annabeth followed him, muttering to Lykos to not say a word and that boys always messed things up.

The two reached the boat and saw that while the shield was propped on one seat, the one next to it was a lady's silk scarf. And Percy also noticed something that he hadn't up top: mirrors were all around the rim, facing the spot he and Annabeth are in.

It's easy to see why Ares and Aphrodite chose this place for their date.

Percy then picked the scarf up, seeing it shimmer pink and it had an indescribable perfume. He smiled, looking dreamy and would've rubbed the scarf against his cheek if it weren't for Annabeth ripping it out of his hand and stuffing it in her pocket

"Oh, no you don't. Stay away from that love magic."

"What?"

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

However, when Percy touched the shield, his hand also broke through something that connected the shield to the dashboard. It seemed like cobwebs, yet when Percy looked at a strand of it on his palm, it was some kind of metal filament. It was so fine that it was almost invisible.

A trip wire.

"Wait." Annabeth said.

"Too late."

"Eta is on the side of the boat. The whole thing is a trap."

Noise erupted all around them, the noise of a million gears grinding like the whole pool was one giant machine.

"Guys!" Lykos yelled, getting their attention.

All the Cupid statues on the rim drew their bows into firing position.

Lykos was about to fire at one of them when they all shot, yet they didn't shoot at Percy and Annabeth. They actually fired at each other, across the rim of the pool.

Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring when they landed and formed a golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads weaved together magically between the strands, making a net.

"Get out of there!" Lykos shouted at Percy and Annabeth, who grabbed the shield and ran, though going up the slope of the pool ain't easy.

"Come on!" Grover shouted as he tried holding open a section of the net for them, but wherever he touched, the golden thread started wrapping around his hands.

The Cupids' heads all popped open and out came cameras. Spotlights then rose up all around the pool, blinding Percy and Annabeth with illumination before a loudspeaker voice boomed "Live to Olympus in one minute…. Fifty nine seconds, fifty eight…."

"Of course!" Lykos said as he fired at one of the cameras, destroying it and repeated this with every other camera. "Hephaestus made the trap to catch his wife and Ares and broadcast them live to Olympus!"

"Thanks to you, we won't end up looking like fools!" Annabeth shouted, just as Lykos destroyed the final camera left.

Now they can focus on getting out of the pool.

They had almost made it to the rim when the mirrors all opened up like hatches and Lykos' eyes widened in concern for Annabeth as thousands of mechanical spiders poured out.

She screamed in pure terror.

"Spiders! Sp-sp-aaaah!"

Lykos and Percy have never seen her like this as she fell backwards in terror, almost getting overwhelmed by the robotic spiders before Percy pulled her up and dragged her back to the boat.

Lykos fired more of his arrow at some of the spiders, not worrying about running out since his arrows reappeared back in his backpack.

Percy and Annabeth climbed into the boat and as Lykos fired at them, Percy kicked at the spiders as they swarmed aboard. He yelled for Annabeth to help him, but she was too paralysed to do anything other than scream.

"Thirty, twenty nine." The loudspeaker called.

Lykos decided to try something. After putting his bow back in its ring form, he uncapped Sting and slashed at the net with all his strength, which actually caused it to shatter and snap apart.

Grinning at this, he continued hacking at the net until there was a large enough hole for Grover to fly in with his flying shoes and grab Percy and Annabeth.

"Grover! Get them out of there!" He told the satyr, who nodded and activated his flying shoes, flew in and grabbed hold of both Percy and Annabeth, struggling slightly because of how heavy they are combined, along with Ares' shield and had help from Lykos to pull them out with his strength.

"Two, one, zero!"

Spotlights formed, glaring down at the boat while Lykos grabbed and threw away any mechanical spiders that remained on Annabeth and Percy.

"Hey, Annabeth, it's okay. You're safe now. There are no spiders, okay?" Lykos said, holding her by her shoulders and making her look at him directly.

She breathed heavily until she slowed down and blinked slowly, controlling herself.

"Thanks, Lykos." She said gratefully before hugging him.

"No problem, Stormy Eyes." He replied, hugging her back and patted her back a few times.

After parting from each other, all four of them looked at the shield that Percy hefted on his arm.

"I think it's time to have a little chat with Ares." Lykos said, expressing what everyone was thinking.

Ares truly is one piece of work.

Of course, the next chapter will be at the Lotus Hotel and Casino. And Lykos will come across a certain pair of siblings.