twelve.
( the lightning thief. )
❛ love's fuckin' embarrassing! ❜

"WELL?" snapped the waitress who stood before the booth table, her foundation-painted cheeks moving rapidly as she chewed on a piece of gum. She blinked at the four of them expectantly, raising an impatient eyebrow at them when they didn't immediately respond. They sat opposite each other in the booth—Colette and Annabeth opposite each other and Grover and Percy the same. It took a moment of glancing between them before Percy finally spoke up. "Well.. uh..." his voice drifted for a second, "we want to order dinner."

The waitress hummed in speculation, her eyes trailing over their ragged and bruised appearances. No doubt did they probably look like a group of troubled runaways, but she didn't comment. "You kids have money to pay for it?"

Being deprived of food had began tormenting Colette's mind, so much so that she couldn't actually function out a proper response as she slumped in her seat. She could feel Percy's leg bouncing under the table as he racked his mind for a plausible excuse or heart-wrenching sob-story.

Then, there was a rumble outside, like a thousand drums colliding against the ground in a ritual of welcome. It shook the masses, sending vibrations through the walls of the diner and causing the lights to flicker with whispers of what was to come. Through the windows, the steaming hue of bloody red emitted from from headlights as a motorcycle pulled into the parking lot. It's gas tank was adorned with flames and a shotgun holster riveted on either side containing actual shotguns. The material of the biker's seat looked eerily similar to human skin plastered upon leather.

The man on the bike looked like one of those wrestlers you see on tv... just with a much heavier aura. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. It was fitting really, and his outfit was complete with red sunglasses and possibly the most brutal, cold face Colette has ever possibly seen. As he walked up to the diner, the floor creaked as though a stampede of elephants were charging through. There was a hot, dry wind that consumed the small place, and for some peculiar reason, everybody rose and looked at him with hypnotised devotion and respect. Well, everybody except the four. The biker waved his hand dismissively, and as though it had never happened, people went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She turned back to them again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

"It's on me." The biker's unevenly rough voice stopped before them, as he slipped into their much-too-small for him booth. Annabeth coughed as she was quashed between the biker and Grover, obviously uncomfortable. The waitress continued to gape at him in awe or fear and he pointed a calloused finger at her, "are you still here?" She gave him a stiff turn, marching off to the kitchen like a robot.

There was something dark in his covered stare, something obsessive and festering with an unmatchable fury that made Colette want to slam somebody into a wall. He radiated danger with a touch of resentment and bitterness. A fierce combination. He gave percy a wicked grin. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

With a foreign anger, Percy sneered back at the man like an angry animal, "what's it to you?" He narrowed his eyes as Colette sent a kick to his shin, a sign to be nice. starting trouble with somebody as powerful as him was like playing Russian roulette with the devil.

Annabeth's eyes flashed at Percy with warning. There was a fester in her eyes as well, as though she too was affected by the god of war's ferocious perspective. "Percy," she snapped, "this is—"

The biker raised his hand. "S'okay," he remarked. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"

He donned a recognisable snarl and the same calloused touch as some of the children back at camp half-blood, specifically cabin five. "You're Clarisse's dad." Percy responded with speculation, "Ares, god of war."

Ares grinned and took off his sunglasses. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. It was quite disturbing actually. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."

Percy didn't at all look fazed, instead responding back with insistence. "She was asking for it."

"Probably." Agreed the god, "That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for—I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you." Just as he spoke, the waitress returned with a platter of cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes. giving her a few golden drachma, he waved her off.

She blinked down at the coins, "but," her voice trembled with fear as she spoke, "these aren't--"

Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails absentmindedly. "Problem, sweetheart?" His voice was mocking, taunted with challenge.

"You can't do that," Percy gave the man a disapproving scowl. "You can't just threaten people with a knife."

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 to do me a favor."

"What favor could I do for a god?"

Ares responded the second Percy finished his question, "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."

Percy looked like a stubborn child and crossed his arms in defence, "Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" The fire in Ares' eye sockets glowed a little hotter at his question.

"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it." He mocked, "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."

Colette could feel as Percy grew still, his fist clenched in frustration at the god before him. And ares knew it too, leaning forward with a smirk as though he were waiting for Percy too attack. He wouldn't, Colette told herself, he wasn't that stupid.

"We're not interested," Percy stated confidently after a minute. "We've already got a quest."

Ares's fiery eyes poured into a gateway of all that was frightful about battle and war—blood and 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. If I couldn't find a weapon that powerful ..." He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him wield the hunger of a starved lion. "Well ... if I couldn't find it, you got no fuckin' hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

Percy raised an eyebrow, "You told him Hades stole the bolt?"

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

The son of Poseidon drew his lips into a bitter smile, "Thanks," his voice was bleeding with irritation.

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

The more Percy spoke, the more Colette was tempted to slam his head into the table."We're doing fine on our own." he insisted, despite the obvious occurrence of errors that had so far disrupted their quest.

"Yeah, right." The man barked a laugh, "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."

the air stilled and Percy's stare grew suddenly softer, almost more vulnerable at the very thought of his mother. it was obvious, the tough and rough exterior he'd built having crumbled down and left him leaving over the table in curiosity, "My mom?"

Ares smirked victoriously, knowing he'd caught percy's attention like a fish to a hook. "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?" Inquired Percy curiously. "Something scare you off?"

Ares bared his teeth, but his threatening look had been displayed one too many times from clarisse to be considered frightening. 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."

And then, alongside the weight on Colette's chest, he was gone.

"Not good," Grover whimpered nervously, picking at the food ares had ordered with disinterest. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good."

But Percy's mind was elsewhere, focused solely on what Ares had said about his mother. The fears in his head were churning with thought, and it took him a moment to respond. "It's probably some kind of trick," he dismissed. "Forget Ares. Let's just go."

"That's the stupidest thing we could do," interjected colette with a shake of her head, "look, I know he's not exactly likeable but that doesn't mean you just go ignoring him whenever please, unless you want bad fortune for the rest of your life." she grimaced at percy, "And knowing you, you already have enough."

Percy pouted, staring absentmindedly at the cheeseburger he no longer wanted to eat."Why does he need us?"

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

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

Nervously, Annabeth swallowed a lump in her throat, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

THE REMAINS OF THE SUN PEERED over the mountain tips, observing where the four strolled to the infamous water park. The sign read, 'Waterland!' But given the eroding of the sign over decades, the only remnants were, 'wat r a d.' The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry and rusty waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt, worn out and melting into the concrete below. With night coming on, the place looked eeire and abandoned.

"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," remarked Percy harmlessly, staring up at the barbed wire cautiously, "I'd hate to see what she looks like."

Immediately, Colette and Annabeth shared an alarmed look. The girlfriend of Ares was known to be dangerously temperamental in regards to her beauty, so an insult would never be taken lightly if heard. "Percy, you can get in real trouble for saying that. you should be a bit more respectful." colette nudged him lightly.

The dark-haired boy donned a look of perplexity, "Why? I thought you hated Ares." He stated, glancing to Grover who looked away quickly

"He's still a god." She reminded, "And his girlfriend isn't somebody you'd want to insult."

"Who is she? Echidna?"

"No, Aphrodite," Grover corrected, his eyes almost turning into little brown hearts as he sighed dreamily entranced. "Goddess of love."

Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I thought she was married to somebody," he said as though it were obvious. "Hephaestus."

"What's your point?"

"...fair enough." Almost desperate to change the subject, Percy turned to the barbed wire in speculation. "So how do we get in?"

"Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings and he flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he'd planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?"

It was only after she, annabeth and Percy had climbed over the old fashion way, did the thought to shift into a creature with wings cross Colette's mind. The three had to hold the barbed wire back for each other as they clambered over, careful to avoid the spiked metal. Once over, their eyes grew accustom to the layout of attractions. For once, the tension was formed by the waterpark's unnatural quietness and not an awaiting monster. There was a souvenir shop stored with snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of—

"Clothes," breathed out Colette, picking up a blue shirt with a 'waterland!' Sign printed on beside palm trees and a circular sunset, replicating a beach. "Fresh clothes."

"Yeah," Percy gave a glance to the rack of clothes. "But you can't just steal--"

"Says who?" Interjected the brunette, snatching a set of clothes, sandals and a hair brush from the rack. A few minutes later, she emerged out of a changing room donning the blue shirt and a pair of black dolphin shorts along with the strap-on sandals that she had collected. Two minutes later, Annabeth slipped out from the one beside her. She came out in 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.

Grover shrugged, "oh, what the hell." He grabbed a pair of clothes as Colette had done only minutes before. And soon enough, the four of them were decked in fresh clothes—a Waterland cap even sitting upon Colette's head as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

Nevertheless, they continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. There was a foreboding shiver through the park, as though anything with eyes was staring at them with expectancy. "So Ares and Aphrodite," Percy began in an attempt to loosen the tension. It was growing darker as they walked and like a timely set flashlight, there was a silver glow under Colette's skin, "they have a thing going?"

"That's old gossip, Percy," Annabeth gave him a bored look. "Three-thousand-year-old gossip."

"What about Aphrodite's husband?"

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

"She likes bikers." Percy insinuated, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever."

"Hephaestus knows?"

Nodding, the blonde responded quickly, "Oh sure," she 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--"

"Like that?" Colette inquired, pointing a finger to the tunnel-like ride before them. It was practically oozing with Aphrodite's essence. 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 where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, thrill ride o' love: this is not your parent's tunnel of love!

It honestly made colette feel sick.

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 pink and red hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze.

Staring down in repulsion, Colette grimaced at the sight of the ride. "This is disgusting."

"More like too easy." Percy muttered with unease, glancing down to the ride with uncertainty.

"Annabeth traced her hand against one of the chubby-cheeked Cupid statues, glancing at it with narrowed eyes as the top of her finger traced an indent in the statue. "There's a Greek letter carved here," her voice was rich with suspicion. "Eta. I wonder ..."

"Grover," Percy glanced over to the satyr, "you smell any monsters?"

Taking a large intake of the air around him through his nose, Grover shook his head in response. "Nothing."

"Nothing—like, in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echidna nothing, or really nothing?" Percy gave him an unimpressed raise of his eyebrows, summoning a look of annoyance from Colette as she recoiled at his bitter tone.

Grover looked hurt, frowning to himself with internal disappointment. He licked his lips uncomfortably, and in a quiet voice he said. "I told you, that was underground."

"Okay, I'm sorry." Percy sighed apologetically, trying to spare his best friend a small smile. "I'm going down there."

"I'll go with you." Grover didn't sound too enthusiastic, but it was obvious he was trying to make up for what had happened in St. Louis.

"Percy reached out a hand to prevent him. "No," disagreed the green-eyed boy. "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 for backup, in case something goes wrong."

Grover puffed up his chest a little, standing a little straighter as he placed on a brave face. "Sure. But what could go wrong?"

"I don't know. Just a feeling. Collie, come with me—"

"What?" Colette's voice was higher in ranger, her face pale yet her cheeks flushed an embarrassed red hue. The light emitting from her skin suddenly flashed a spark brighter. "Ar-are you serious? I don't fucking thing so, Jackson."

He gave her a confound stare, "what's the problem now, bambi?"

She scowled at him, not out of malice but rather uncomfortably, "me go on a love ride with you? I'd honestly rather battle a hydra then go on that. Do you know how embarrassing that is?" She rambled in a flush, pure embarrassment leaking from her tone, "oh, my gods. What if my mother saw?"

"The mom who you've spoken to like twice in your life?" His face was flushed too, and he grit his teeth at the troubles. Leave it to a girl, specifically the daughter of a virgin goddess, to make everything complicated.

"Why cant Annie go on it?" She whined, turning to the blonde who was still staring at the craving on the Cupid statue.

Annabeth gave a wide-eyed look, "absolutely not. I need to stay here and figure out what this symbol means." She protested, backing away from her frowning best friend. from the small meet of their eyes, colette could tell her words were meant to fool and that in actuality, she didn't want to board the ride either.

After another minute of the brunette protesting against even going anywhere near the boat, Percy had come up the brilliant idea of rock, paper, scissors. A first to three where the loser would have to join Percy on the ride—it damaged his pride but he was far too humiliated to let a quarrel go on longer about how they didn't want to go on a ride with him.

One—Colette drew scissors and annabeth drew paper. With a beam, the brunette glanced up to the blonde who harboured a calculating look. Two—annabeth drew paper and Colette drew rock. With a grin, the blonde placed her hand on the brunette's, an almost cockiness reflecting in her eyes. For the third and final round, Colette wished on all her lucky numbers for the blonde to slip up and lose. yet to her absolute horror, Annabeth drew rock and she drew scissors. she paled for a moment out of humiliation as annabeth, grinning her pearly smile, nudged her down towards the boat, following after a heavily blushing Percy.

The shield was propped up, shining in the glint of the dark. It rested upon one seat and next to it, a woman's silk and glittery scarf—no doubt Aphrodite's. It wasn't hard to imagine the two gods sitting in that very seat, emitting a balance of intimacy as they hid from Hephaestus. given the mirrors that Colette noticed all the way around the rim of the pool, facing this spot, she sighed. No matter where they looked, they could see themselves. That must be it. While Ares and Aphrodite were lost in their affair with each other they could look at their favorite people: themselves.

Percy picked up the scarf absentmindedly, pausing for a brief second as his eyes glistened into the shape of divine little hearts. The scarf shimmered an indescribable pink, radiating a smell so captivating that Percy let out a dreamy sigh, moving to rub the fabric against the skin of his cheek.

Snatching the fabric from his grip, she gave him a look of disgust. "Calm down, starfish, it's just a scarf." She scoffed, her lips downturned with nausea, "gods, this is revolting." He gave her a lightly stunned look, and she rolled her eyes at it. "Just get the shield so we can go." He turned away, reaching towards the shield and freezing as his hand broke through something that's as connecting it to the dashboard. Something silky and webbed, designed intricately to the finest of details. A cobweb, Percy thought initially until he saw it—it was some kind of metal filament, so fine it was almost invisible. A trip wire.

"Hold on," Colette leaned toward the side of the boat.

"Too late."

Leaning over her shoulder, she looked to where Annabeth stood, the gears in her head turning as she stared at the symbol. "There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, Annie! another Eta. This is a trap." Suddenly, the sound of mechanical whirring shattered through the atmosphere, a dozen gears grinding and clashing as though the pool were turning into some big mechanic field.

Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position and Percy lifted the shield to avoid them being attacked. Before he could suggest taking cover, they shot, but not at the two demigods. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool, creating a ripple affect of cables shooting out 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. They were caught like flies in a spiders web.

"We have to get out," Yelled Percy over the sound of the metal churning.

"No shit!" Responded Colette, glancing over to where Grover and Annabeth were gesturing urgently for them to return over to them whilst they still had a chance. Without sparing another second, Percy and Colette sprinted back towards the slope, but getting back up was easier said than done. It was steep and tall, much too high for them to push themselves up on without struggle.

"Come on!" Grover's anxious voice yelled for them. He was trying to hold open a section of the net for the tow, but wherever he touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around his hands.

The Cupids' heads popped open and out came about a dozen video cameras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding the two with illumination, and then a loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute ... Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight ..."

If Colette was embarrassed before, she could've curled into a ball on the floor and melted into nothingness now. "No!" She screeched, clawing like a cat to get up the slope though her efforts proved unsuccessful as her agitated grip was too far from the top.

"Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed in realisation. "I'm so stupid.' Eta is H.' He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares." She pale at the realisation, watching in horror as the net continued to develop over where her friends where.

Colette practically growled in disbelief. "Oh, perfect! we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!" Her eyes widened drastically, "my mother's going to see this!" Her stomach filled with bile, her face drained of colour as she fought the urge to slam her head into the slope and cover her face to avoid being caught on film.

Her hand was only inches away from Annabeth's when the row of mirrors opened and released a million small and metallic insects into the pool, basically flooding it. And with a fear-stricken shriek, Annabeth dropped the net, falling backwards in utter horror. "Spiders!" She could barely get her words out, "sp-sp-spiders!" She cried, leaving Grover to struggle with the net alone.

Like stepping on glass or eggshells with her bare feet, Colette jolted backwards to avoid the masses of golden, metallic creepy-crawlies charging towards them. There was only one option left now—to get back to the boat. The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding toward the center of the pool, completely surrounding the two like lions to meat. Colette shrieked as one landed on the inside of the boat, stomping on it as she told herself they probably weren't programmed to kill, just corral them and bite and make the two of them look stupid. Then again, this was a trap meant for gods. And they certainly weren't gods.

Colette adored animals for sure, but bugs and creepy-crawlies were a completely different ball-park. They swarmed the boat and in a ray of panic, she used the paddle to whack at any that got on board.

"Thirty, twenty-nine," called the loudspeaker.

A yelp emitted from the brunette as a thin, vine-like rope of silk wrapped around her foot, tugging her down. The spiders were trying to tie them down, spitting out webs of fluid that were, at first, easy to break before they gained an advantage due to their numbers. Grover hovered above the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn't budge.

"Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called.

"Grover!" Percy's voice was strained, "fly up to that booth! Find the 'on' switch!" He ordered, swatting off a sea of spiders

"But--"

"Do it!" It was a crazy hope, but it was their only chance. The spiders were all over the prow of the boat and the two of them were severely outnumbered. From above, Annabeth was screaming her lungs raw as some attempted to break through the net, sensing the daughter of Athena's presence.

"Five, four—"

Grover looked up at them hopelessly with deep disappointment, raising his hands. He was letting them know that he'd pushed every button, but still nothing was happening. They were trapped.

Racking her brain for anything that could aid them, Colette let out a cry as she glanced around, furiously kicking at the spiders that pinched as her arms and legs.

"Two, one, zero!"

Water exploded out of the pipes in a theatrical explosion and It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. The fury of the waves crashed so fast that Colette had almost been thrown off the side of the boat before Percy pulled her into the seat next to him and fastened her seat belt just as the tidal wave slammed into their boat, over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing them completely, but not capsizing them. The boat turned, lifted in the flood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool. And expected, their voices were merged in screams so loud that it echoed through the tunnel. The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool's concrete wall with such force they burst into mechanical parts and fluid.

The spotlights were mocking as they blinded them, following their every scream and clash as the water spun them in unwavering circles. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus and Colette could've been sick to the thought of her mother's disappointed face watching her daughter be so completely weak and powerless.

To colette's astonishment, Percy seemed to be controlling the boat and willing it away from colliding with the walls that would've surely smashed them on impact. It spun around one last time, the water level now almost high enough to shred them against the metal net. Then the boat's nose turned toward the tunnel and they rocketed through into the darkness.

Screaming for dear life, the two held on to each other with grips of iron that were relentlessly clinging to anything they could for support. The boat soared along the current, hugging corners and turning at forty-five-degree angles. had she not had a seatbelt, colette was sure she and Percy would've immediately been thrown off. They plunged past blurred pictures of Romeo and Juliet, exaggerated love hearts and other depictions of valentine's day.

Then they were shot out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through their hair and pushing it backwards as the boat barreled straight toward the exit. If the ride had been in working order, then the boat would've sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. But there was a problem. Of course there was. The Gates of Love were chained and two boats that had been washed out of the tunnel before were now piled against the barricade—one submerged, the other cracked in half.

Over the current, Percy yelled, "unfasten your seatbelt!" he was already fumbling with his own, trying his hardest to manically undo it.

"Are you crazy?" She responded, her eyes slightly teary from the rate of the breeze that passed through wildly.

"Unless you want to get smashed to death." He strapped Ares's shield to his arm. "We're going to have to jump for it." The idea was simple if you discounted the utter insanity behind it. As the boat struck, they would use its force like a springboard to jump the gate. quickly, Percy described how he'd heard of people surviving car crashes that way, getting thrown thirty or forty feet away from an accident. With luck, the two of them would land in the pool.

She looked unsure but understood nonetheless. with reluctance, she let him hold on tighter to her wrist, dangerously close to her actual hand, though he knew still, even in life and death, she'd scowl at him and give him an earful if he went for it.

"On my mark!" He yelled.

"No! On mine!" She could hear Annabeth's voice in her mind, past days of the blonde explaining physics with such precision whilst Colette tried not to fall asleep.

"Fine.'" He shouted, internally rolling his eyes at the brunette. "On your mark!"

She hesitated—she wasn't as smart as Annabeth and she could've been completely wrong with her thought process. But, she yelled impulsively, "Now!"

Crack! She'd been right. Thank the gods she'd been fucking right. If they'd jumped when the boy thought they should've, they would've crashed into the gates. but colette had been right. Unfortunately, that was a little more than needed. The boat smashed into the pileup and the two were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool, and down toward solid asphalt.

It was painfully exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

Colette yelped as a hand grabbed onto her arm, tight enough to stop her fall but slightly painful at the same time. In midair, Grover had managed to capture Percy by the shirt, and Colette by the arm, and was trying to pull the two out of a crash landing, but the two were so fused with adrenaline and momentum that they spiralled toward the ground unstoppably. they smashed into a photo-board, Grover's head going straight into the hole where tourists would put their faces, pretending to be Noo-Noo the Friendly Whale. Annabeth was quick to run over, leaning over and spluttering out a yell of concern. Colette groaned from where she lay on her back on the ground, one hand holding the back of her head as she grumbled.

Once catching their breath, they all helped Grover out of the photo-board and thanked him for saving their lives. Looking back to the ride, the boat was visibly destroyed and the water had begun to subside. A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming, their observant glare of light piercing into their eyes. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on them the spotlights in their faces.

"Show's over!" There was an aggressive snark to Percy's tone, one that was laced with a sense of mischief. "Thank you! Good night!" The Cupids turned back to their original positions and 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. Sending a silent prayer, Colette hoped that her mother hadn't seen. Or Apollo who would no doubt tell his twin about what had been displayed.

Percy's jaw clenched tightly and his glare was rich with agitation. Something that he seemed familiar with in a way that made the blood in his body turn fiery and passionate to destroy. There was a darkness in his voice as he spoke, "We need to have a little talk with Ares."