One thought was going through Sophie's head.

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT IM GONNA DIE

Percy clearly hadn't remembered she couldn't breathe underwater. She flung her arms around on instinct her eyes widening in panic.

After they fell into the water Percy had let go of her and swam off to gods know where like the little brat he was. Now here she was clinging on for dear life.

At some point she had opened her mouth a tiny bit allowing the water to seep into her lungs which just made the whole ordeal harder.

Also, she didn't know how to swim.

Never once in her life had Sophie been in a large body of water. The biggest thing was the bath in her old house, even then that was small. Maybe she should of mentioned it to Percy before he pulled her with him.

She failed her arms around more kicking her legs trying to go towards the surface- wait... which way was the surface? For all she knew she could be going towards the ground. for a minute she felt warm air on her face and hand, then it was gone. All she felt was the cold water.

Her muscles tensed and her heart beat sped up, she felt more of the small amount of air she had leaving her lungs as she slowly fell what she assumed was downwards.

Sophie's vision started getting blurred as her eyes closed.

Percy grabbed Riptide and Sophie's dagger from the bottom of the River, he had searched around and hadn't found Sophie, his conversation with the nereid had lasted maybe four minutes, so he guessed Sophie had made it to the surface.

He realized he was wrong when he heard Grover yelling.

"PERCY! SOPHIE, GRAB SOPHIE!" Grover frantically screamed, pointing behind him.

Percy saw nothing, so he assumed she was under the water. He kicked towards where Grover had pointed as fast as he could and pushed his head underwater.

Sophie was a meter under the surface, clearly she had just gone down. Her eyes were closed Percy quickly checked her pulse, it was fine. Percy grabbed her biceps and placed her arms over his shoulders, aggressively kicking at the water to keep her head afloat. He held her wrists at his front and hurriedly swam them to shore.

"Mommy! those kids just walked out of the river!" A little girl said loudly, pulling on her mother's sleeve.

"That's nice dear," the mother answered, engrossed by her phone.

"But he's dry!"

"That's nice dear."

"Mommy," the little girl said again. "Is that girl dead?" she asked, pointing at Sophie.

"Sure thing dear," the mom answered, still not paying attention.

Annabeth quickly took Sophie from Percy's grasp and pulled her away from the River. "What the hell did you do to her!?" she yelled at him.

"I saved her!" Percy protested waving his hands towards her.

Annabeth scoffed Sophie's head on her lap "After you almost killed her."

Sophie let out a small cough a tiny bit of water dribbling from her mouth.

"Soph, you okay?" Percy asked frantically.

Sophie held up her hand in response her fingers curled into a thumbs up.

Grover practically collapsed with relief. "Thank Gods Sophie, we thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"

Percy and Annabeth swatted at eachother, but Percy eventually pushed passed her and knelt next to the girl on the ground.

But her pulse was racing and her body was trembling. Her breathing still short.

"Soph I'm so, so, so sorry-"

Sophie sat up shaking her head slightly "I'm fine. A little water won't take me down."

Percy let out a relived sigh.

Percy looked over his best friend, trying to find any glaring issues. There were no obvious injuries. Other than the long burn that now covered her arm, and even that seemed to have already healed quite a bit.

Percy credited that to his dad and magic water.

Annabeth sent a glare at Percy that made him recoil. "but I don't know if she'll be able to walk. And we gotta go," she said pointing up at the sky that now held multiple news helicopters, all surrounding the Arch and burning building.

"Grover help me," Percy said, squatting down.

Grover knelt down and helped lift Sophie on Percy's back. Percy wrapped his arms around her knees and told her to hold her arms together in front of him.

Sophie didn't need to be told though, she knew what he was doing instantly. They'd come second place in the piggy back race on sports day after all.

"...two adolescents; a boy and girl," a reporter was saying. "Channel 5 have learned that surveillance footages shows the two going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off a freak explosion. Hard to believe John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities."

The four demigods started to push through the crowd that had formed. A cop from behind them yelled, "Gangway!"

The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, coaxing a woman through the crowd. Percy recognized her as the mother that has been on the observation deck with them. Sophie had gotten them all out safely.

"And there was this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua—" the woman was saying.

"Okay ma'am just calm down. Your family is fine. You're frantic at the moment. We don't need a statement this second," one of the paramedics said.

"But I'm not crazy!" the mother insisted. "This girl—she had a knife—she saved us. And that boy—he had some weapon. I'm telling you. If it wasn't for that girl, my family and I would be dead!"

Percy, who was carrying Sophie, made eye contact with the woman. The lady's eyes widened, and her arm shot out, pointing at the two, nearly whacking the paramedic in the face. "There she is! The girl—and the boy is with her!"

Annabeth and Grover became human shields to block them, and they disappeared into the crowd, trying to get as far away from the survivors and reporters as possible.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked again. "What is that lady talking about?"

Percy told them about the Echidna and Chimera, and the reason he had stayed underwater for longer than he meant to. Some messenger lady had passed on summons to him from Poseidon.

"Whoa," Grover said. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You cant ignore a summons from your dad."

Before anyone could respond, they passed another reporter doing a news break, and Percy almost froze in his tracks. "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 is believed to be traveling west. As of now, we have no identification of the girl. We do know she was with the boy when the incident on the bus occurred. For viewers at home, here is a picture of Percy and the girl, taken by one of the other passengers on the New Jersey Greyhound after it crashed off-road."

The four ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.

"First things first," Percy told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"

It took less than 10 minutes for Sophie to feel okay enough to walk again. Her limbs were still shaking from almost dying, lack of food, and lack of sleep. Not a good combo.

It was June 14. seven days before the solstice, and her birthday. Their train rolled into Denver.

So anyway she did the math, Annabeth told her the solstice was on june 21st, her birthday. Exiting... it wasn't exiting at all.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said.

"We can't use phones right?" Percy asked.

"Not talking about phones."

They wandered through downtown for about a half hour. Sophie had no idea what Annabeth was seemingly searching for. Finally, they came across a do-it-yourself car wash. It was empty.

"Uhm, what exactly are we doing?" Percy questioned.

"You'll see. Got any more change Percy?" Grover asked.

Percy handed him a few quarters.

"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle of course, but the connection isn't as good."

"What?" Sophie muttered utterly confuised.

"I'M'ing," Grover answered.

"Instant messaging?" Percy said.

"No. Iris-messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and if she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."

"You summon the goddess with a spray bottle?" Percy had to ask.

"Unless you know an easier was to make a rainbow," Grover said.

"Bang your head off the wall." Sophie said.

"No Soph, then you see stars." Percy pointed out.

"Oh yeah."

The late afternoon light filtered through the vapor, and broke out into colors.

"Who's got a Drachma?" Annabeth asked.

Sophie handed over one.

Annabeth raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering." She threw the drachma into rainbow and it disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

They looked through the mist and saw strawberry fields. Standing with his back towards the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a sword and staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" Percy called.

He turned, eyes wide. "Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Sophie! Thank the gods. And is that Annabeth with you too? Are you guys okay?"

"We're—uh—fine," Annabeth stammered, the way she always did she Luke was around. She was madly straightening her dirty t-shirt, trying to look presentable. "We thought Chiron—I mean—"

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

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

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

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

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

"What?" Grover said. "But—"

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

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

The car with the loud music stopped in the stall next to them. The three went over and spotted the annoying driver. It was a larger man who didn't look to be older than 25. But his dress sense made him look like he was a 50 year old going through a mid-life crisis.

"What are we gonna do?" Sophie asked mischievously.

"Hold a knife to his throat." Annabeth sugested Sophie nodding along.

Grover gave them a disapproving look. "We're just going to ask him the turn the music down."

Even though that was a significantly less fun plan, Sophie relented and approached the man. He was leaning lazily against the open door. He scoffed as she neared him.

"Would you mind turning your music down a little," Sophie asked, basically yelled over the volume of the radio.

"What's it to you?" the man narrowed his eyes at her. "Where's your babysitter? Huh?"

Annabeth came and stood next to her. "We're gonna ask nicely one more time. Would you turn the music off?"

"What are you, girl scouts or smthn?" The man scoffed.

Annabeth gritted her teeth and pulled out her knife. "Turn down the music or I gut you," she threatened.

The man laughed a bit, but Sophie could see the fear in his eyes.

The man's laughter faded instantly and he rushed to get in his car. Before he could shut the door, Grover threw a tin can at his head.

His rasta cap shifted on his head and you could see his little horns poking through his curly hair.

The man screamed and slammed the car door shut. He peeled out of the car wash, his tires squealing behind him.

The three laughed all the way back to their stall. Percy looked up at them when they returned.

At Percy's slightly pale face, Sophie stopped laughing and asked "What's wrong? What did Luke say?"

"Nothing much,"

A few minutes later, the four 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, um, want to order dinner."

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

Grover's lower lip quivered. Percy was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger. Sophie looked fine, she was staring hungrily at the menu her eyes gleaming with exitment.

A fake sob story was on the tip of Sophie's tongue, but a rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb.

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

The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for their mothers. 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 Percy had ever seen—handsome, but in an i'll skin you alive type of way—with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights.

As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations.

The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked them again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

The biker said, "It's on me." He pulled up a metal chair and sat on it backwards, his arms leaning lazily on the back of the chair. Sophie, who was on the end of the booth, closest to the biker, eyed him nervously.

He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?" He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.

The biker looked at Sophie, before sliding his gaze to Percy, who was sat next to her. Sophie couldn't see the man's eyes behind the red shades, but bad feelings started boiling in her stomach. Anger, resentment, bitterness. The guy's aura seemed to be being bringing out the anger in all of them.

The biker gave Percy a wicked grin. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

"What's it to you?" Percy spat.

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

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

Percy knew the guy looked familiar. It was the same sneer that a few of the campers had when they were giving him and Sophie hell.

"You're Clarisse's dad," Percy said. "Ares, god of war."

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

"Probably. 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."

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

Sophies hand immediately shot forwards as she grabbed a fry and threw it in her mouth. Then instantly regrated it as the fry was freshly made and roasting hot.

Ares handed her a few gold drachmas.

She looked nervously at the coins. "But, these aren't..."

Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"

The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.

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

The glance Sophie and Annabeth shared didn't go unnoticed.

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 we do for a great god like yourself?" Sophie asked, a sarcastic edge to her voice.

"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?" Percy asked.

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 this guy.

"We're not interested," Percy said.

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, we already got a quest, in case you haven't noticed."

"Somethin' the matter doll?" He asked her derisively.

Sophies eyes narrowed at him.

Percy got up and moved to sit in between Ares and the girl, pushing her back towards the inside of the booth. Percy glared at the Biker, waiting for him to continue.

Ares looked amused. "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 sniff out a weapon that powerful..." He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry. "Well...if I couldn't find it, you got no 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."

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"

"Sure. 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."

"Thanks," Percy grumbled.

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

"We're doing fine on our own."

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

"My mom?"

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

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

Ares bared his teeth, but Percy had seen this 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."

Suddenly, as though he was never there, Ares was gone.

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

Percy stared out the window. The motorcycle had disappeared.

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

"We can't," Annabeth said. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent."

"I'd like Percy much more as a guineapig," Sophie said thoughtfully slurping on a shake.

Percy's eyebrows creased. "Why does he need us?"

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

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

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

She Percy and Grover got up, heading straight for the door.

"Wait—" Sophie called out, her voice almost desperate. "We're not gonna eat the food? The food that Ares just paid for?" She stressed the name "Ares".

The others totally ignored her and kept walking, pushing the door open without a second thought.

Sophie hesitated for a split second, then quickly grabbed a cheeseburger and a few onion rings, wrapping them up in a napkin and shoving them into her pocket. No way was she letting that food go to waste. She sprinted after the others, catching up as fast as she could.

Sophie was exited honestly.

she wondered if any of the rollercosters still worked.

Next to the amusement park, was the attached water park. The sun was sinking behind the mountains. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were slashed out, so it read WAT R A D.

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 advertisements fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy.

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

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

"Why? I thought you hated Ares."

"He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very temperamental."

"You don't want to insult her looks," Grover added.

Sophie thought for a second "She's Aphrodite isn't she?"

Grover gave a shaky nod.

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

"Oh." Percy said awkwardly. "So how do we get in?"

Grover scaled the fence quickly despite having goat hoves and landed on the other side brushing his jeans off "you coming?"

Sophie started climbing after him.

"Soph why don't you use the shoes?" Percy asked.

"I knid of don't like heights."

"What-"

The other three hopped over the fence in a inute or two.

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 grabbed Sophie's arm, pulling her along and snatched an entire row of stuff off the racks and disappeared into the changing room.

"You need to change," the daughter of wisdom said, tossing a heap of clothes at Sophie. "You smell like River water."

A few minutes later they came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, big red Waterland t-shirts. A Waterland backpack was slung over Annabeth's shoulder, stuffed with more goodies from the shop. Sophie's sweatshirt was wrapped around her waist.

Percy noticed the girl was also eating a... cheeseburger. And Annabeth an onion ring.

Soon, all four of them were decked out like walking advertisements for the defective theme park.

They continued searching for the Tunnel of Love.

"So Ares and Aphrodite," Percy said, breaking the silence. "They have a thing going?"

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

"What about Aphrodite's husband?"

"Well, you know," she said. "Hephaestus. The black-smith. 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?"

"Hephaestus knows?" Percy asked.

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

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

In front of them was an empty pool that would've been awesome for skateboarding. It was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl. Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!

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

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

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

Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue. "There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder..."

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

He sniffed the wind. "Nothing."

"Nothing—like, in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echidna nothing, or really nothing?"

"Hey!" Sophie cried.

Grover looked hurt. "I told you, that was underground."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Percy said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going down there."

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

"No," Percy told him. "I want you to stay up top. I'll be counting on you for backup, in case something goes wrong."

"I don't know. Just a feeling," Percy said. "Soph, you're with me."

"Kay." Sophie hummed finishing off her last onion ring.

Sophie failed to notice the smirk Annabeth and grover shared.

They slid down the side and into the empty pool. The two reached the boat. The shield was propped up in one of the seats. There were mirrors all the way around the rim of the pool, facing the boat. They could see themselves no matter which direction they looked.

Percy picked up the pink scarf that had been discarded in the seat. It shimmered in the evening light, and the perfume was indescribable—rose, or mountain laurel; something good. He smiled, a little dreamy, and was about to rub the scarf against his cheek.

Sophie eyed him weirdly. "Uhm, let's not do that," she said cautiously taking the scarf from Percy's hands.

"Huh?" Percy said waking up from his stupor.

"Let's just grab the shield and go Seaweed brain."

Annabeth was at the edge of the pool, holding out a hand to help pull Sophie out.

Percy grabbed the shield. Annabeth's eyes slid over to the boat.

"What is it?" Sophie asked.

"There's something on the boat," she said.

"Uhm...guys...?" Percy called out.

"It's a trap," Annabeth murmured.

Noise erupted around them. A million little gears grinding, as if the whole pool were turning into a giant machine.

"Guys!" Grover yelled.

Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. Before Percy could suggest taking cover, they shot, but not at them. They fired 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.

Annabeth had to duck. She dropped Sophie's arm making her slide all the way back down into the pool.

She bumped into Percy, making them both fall the ground.

"Why don't you use the shoes?" Percy asked sounding annoyed.

"I don't know how to use them!"

"Just try!"

"Do you want me to die?!"

They both got up. "We have to get out!" Percy told her.

"I can see that." Sophie said.

Then, smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands,
making a net. Percy grabbed the shield and they ran. Annabeth was trying to pull the net up with Grover. But whenever they touched it. the golden threads started to wrap around their hands

The Cupids' heads popped open and out came video cameras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding the two 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 this is going to be broadcasted live to Olympus!"

"Were gonna be on TV?" Sophie asked sounding too exited.

"Soph!"

Percy and Sophie almost made it to the rim, when the row of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic...things poured out.

Annabeth screamed, crawling away from the pool.

It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all scuttling toward them in a wave of clacking, whirring metal.

"Spiders!" Annabeth shrieked. "Sp—sp—aaaah!"

Sophie and Percy backed into each other. The things were coming out from all around the rim now, probably millions of them, all flooding towards the center of the pool. They were completely surrounded.

Sophie hoped they weren't programmed to kill, just corral and bite, and make the pair of demigods look stupid. Then again, this was a trap meant for gods. And they weren't gods.

"Shit." Sophie mumbled. "Were dead."

Percy pulled Sophie into the boat. They two kicked away the swarming spiders, but there were too many of them.

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

The spiders started spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie them down. The strands were easy enough to break at first, but there were so many of them, and the spiders just kept coming. Sophie smacked one that had tried to crawl up Percy's arm and Percy kicked one away from Sophie's leg as its pincers tried to take a chunk out of her shoes.

"Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called.

"Annabeth!" Sophie yelled up. "The booth! Find the on switch!"

Annabeth was still in a state of terror. "What?" she called. "But—"

"Just do it!" Percy yelled, picking up on Sophie's idea.

Annabeth scrambled off the ground and headed towards the booth. She entered and started slamming away at buttons.

"Five, four—"

Annabeth looked back at them helplessly, raising her arms in frustration.

"Percy—" Sophie said, stomping on three spiders that were headed for Percy's leg. But the boy wasn't paying attention. His eyes were sealed shut in concentration, like he was praying for a miracle.

"Two, one, zero!"

Water exploded out of the pipes and roared into the pool, sweeping the spiders away. Percy yanked Sophie into the seat next to him and fastened their seatbelt, just as a tidal wave slammed into their boat. It whisked the spiders away, dousing them completely. But the boat didn't capsize. It lifted in the flood, and spun in circles like a whirlpool.

Spotlights glared down at them. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus.

But Sophie could only focus on not flying off of the boat. She'd be airborne when they'd go over a bump in the waves. Even with the seatbelt, she felt at risk of tumbling out any minute. Percy held his head up high, looking serious, almost smug.

They spun around again. The water level almost high enough the shred them against the metal net. Then, the boat's nose turned towards the tunnel, and they rocketed through and into the darkness.

Sophie and Percy held tight to one another, both of them screaming their heads off.

The boat shot curls and hugged corners and took forty-five-degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other weird Valentine's Day junk.

Then they were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through their hair as the boat barreled straight towards 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 there was a problem. The Gates of Love were chained. Two boats that had been washed out of the tunnel before them were now piled against the barricade—one submerged, the other cracked in half.

"Unfasten your seat belt," Percy yelled to Sophie.

"Uhm. What!?"

"Unless you want us to crash and die!" He unfastened both their seatbelts and strapped Ares's shield to his arm. "We're going to have to jump for it."

As the boat struck, they would use its force like a springboard to jump the golden gate. If they aimed right , they'd get thrown thirty or forty feet away, completely safe from getting all sorts of broken bones. With lots of luck of course. Maisie grabbed Percy's hand tightly.

"When I say go," Percy said.

"No!" Said Sophie.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Why?"

"Because I want to say go!"

"Fine," Percy said. "On your mark."

She hesitated, then she yelled, "Now!"

Her timing was perfect, and they jumped high enough. Percy's timing would have had them crash. He was glad they went on her mark.

Unfortunately, they got a little too much lift. The boat smashed into the pileup and they were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool, and down towards solid tarmac.

"Maia!" Sophie yelled.

In mid-air, she grabbed Percy by the shirt. She was trying to pull them out of a crash landing. But the two had too much momentum. They continued to spiral downwards, Sophie doing her best to slow their fall.

They smashed into a photo board, Sophie and Percy tumbled to the ground, a little banged up, but alive. Ares's shield was still strapped to Percy's arm.

Once Percy and Sophie caught their breath, they helped Annabeth pull Grover out of the photo board and thanked him for saving their lives. They looked back at the Thrill Ride of Love; the water was subsiding, and their boat had been smashed to pieces against the gates.

"Gods your heavy." Sophie mumbled rubbing her head.

A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on them, the spotlights in their faces.

Sophie took a huge dramatic bow and Percy yelled. "Show's over! Thank you! Good night!"

The Cupids turned back to their original positions. 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. Maisie wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if their ratings had been any good.

She imagined now, that her godly parent would forever be too embarrassed of her television appearance to claim her.

Percy was pissed.

He hated being teased. Hated his friends being teased even more. Hated being tricked. His eyes were like a raging storm. He hefted the shield on his arm and turned to his friends. "We need to have a little talk with Ares." 

I'm backk 💃💃💃

Sorry it took me so long school started again so im sobbing.

This is probably one of my favorite chapters in the entirety of the lightning thief. Also i just finished SOA, i'm sobbing. It is definitely one of the best greek mythology books i've ever read.

Blake  🫡