CHAPTER NINE
( the tunnel of love )

I HONESTLY CAN'T tell you the exact order of events after that. All I knew was that smoke was coming off the top of the Arch, where we had last seen Percy. Grover, Annabeth and I did our best to avoid appearing in the background of the news reports, but also stayed close in case we heard any mention of him. I couldn't help but grow anxious at the thought that something had happened to him, and my mind immediately reminded me of Thalia's own fate. No, I tried to shake the thought away. He can still be alive.

     Every emergency vehicle in St Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. It was so crowded that it made it easier to slip away undetected, but harder to find Percy in between people. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere. The sound of the ambulance sirens rang in my ears, adding more fuel to my nerves.

     A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."

     My eyes widened when I heard her words. Despite how little I knew of Percy, if there's one thing I knew for sure, is that there was a massive possibility he had been that someone.

     Annabeth seemed to share my concerns, since she looked back at Grover and I with a frown. "This is not good."

     "Grover," I called. "Can't you smell him?"

     He shook his head. At the same time, he lifted his nose to smell the air to at least make an attempt. He looked ready to give up after a few seconds of not smelling anything, but then his shoulders perked up. Annabeth and I looked at each other, seeing this as a good sign. Grover was too focused on not losing the scent and blindly walked off with Annabeth and I following behind him.

     ". . .an adolescent boy," another reporter was saying as we kept walking. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities. . ."

     Okay, I thought, it's definitely Percy.

     That still didn't help us find him. My eyes trailed off to the Arch once again, still surrounded by the police helicopters at the top. My gaze flickered between the highest point of the Arch and the Mississippi river and noticed how far off the two were from each other. If the reporter was right about someone ( Percy ) jumping off the Arch, how in Hades did he make the jump? If we did find him, that would be my first question.

     I almost lost hope of Grover finding him, but then he bleated, "Perrr-cy!"

     There he was, completely dry as if he hadn't come out of the river just a few minutes ago. Percy turned at the sound of Grover's voice and immediately got tackled by his hug. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"

     Annabeth and I stood behind him. My shoulders relaxed at the thought that he was not dead, and now standing in front of us. Now all I felt was frustration because of the worry he made us feel.

     Annabeth tried to look angry too, but her relief got the best of her. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"

     "I sort of fell."

     "You fell. . .two hundred meters?" I repeated incredulously.

     Behind us, a cop shouted, "Gangway!"

     The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua – "

     "Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."

     "I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." She must've spotted Percy, because she proceeded to yell. "There he is! That's the boy!"

     Percy turned quickly and pulled us along with him. We disappeared into the crowd.

     "What's going on?" Annabeth demanded as we pushed through the crowds. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"

     Percy told us what had happened back at the observation deck. My suspicions about the lady were correct when he said she transformed into Echidna, the Mother of Monsters, and that her Chihuahua was a chimera in disguise. He retold how he jumped from the Arch and the message a river spirit had given him, sent by his own dad. I pressed my lips into a thin line, wondering why it was so easy for him to receive the help from his own father when I had to fight to get attention from my own.

     "Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."

     Before Annabeth could respond, we passed another reporter doing a news break, "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 the authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."

     We ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.

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

     Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. We luckily got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St Louis skyline behind us.

     The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train stopped in Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and I avoided looking at myself in a mirror in fear of finding my face all dirty.

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

     "We can't use phones, right?"

     "I'm not talking about phones."

     We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, sure about what Annabeth was looking for and tried to help her in finding it. The air was dry and hot, which started to grow on me and beads of sweat fell down my forehead. My hair was glued to the back of my head due to the sweat, and I made the mental note to braid it once we found a place to stop. Finally, we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. We veered towards the stall furthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were four adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop with common sense would think we weren't up to no good.

     "What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked, as Grover took out the spray gun.

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

     "Don't look at me," she said. "The dining car wiped me out."

     She turned to me and I raised my hands defensively. "I gave you my change for your candy, remember?"

     She grumbled something under her breath because she didn't want to admit I was right. I vividly remember how she begged me to give her my coins when hers couldn't afford all she wanted to buy from the cart.

     Percy fished out his own last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter.

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

     "I'll do it, if you want," I offered, extending my hand to take the spray gun.

     He didn't have to be told twice. He dropped the spray gun in my hands. "I was hoping you'd say that."

     "What are you talking about?" Percy frowned in confusion.

     I fed in the quarters and set the knob to fine mist. "I-M'ing."

     "Instant messaging?"

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

     "You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"

     I pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist, it immediately made the air feel less hot than it was. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."

     Just as I expected, the late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors. Annabeth held her palm out to Percy. "Drachma, please."

     He handed it over. She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."

     She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer.

     "Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

     Nothing happened in the first couple of seconds. Then, even though it was hard from my position pumping the spray gun, I could see camp's strawberry fields through the mist, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. It seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was my sandy-haired friend in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

     "Luke!" Percy called.

     He turned, eyes wide at the sound of his name. He was standing a meter away from the screen of mist, and I could only see half of his body that appeared in the rainbow.

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

     "We're. . .uh. . .fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "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 Maia all right?"

     "I'm here," I called out. I moved the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision, waving with my empty hand. "Hello."

     He smiled and I could feel myself losing all the worries from this quest disappear. Luke always had that effect on me, ever since I met him; making everything bad go away with just a few words. I hadn't come to realize how much I'd missed him until now.

     "What kind of issues?" Grover asked from beside Annabeth.

     Just then, a large 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. "Maia, Grover, come on!"

     "What?" Grover argued. "But – "

     "What about – " I gestured to the spray gun

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

     I didn't argue and handed Percy the spray gun. Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle at Delphi, receiving a jab in the ribs from me as we followed after Annabeth.

     We pulled up on the next stall where the Lincoln Continental was still blasting its music from its speakers with Annabeth taking the lead. Whatever she had in mind must've been good, because she had that confident look in her eyes as she knocked against the window of the Lincoln. The window rolled down after a few seconds and if I thought the music was loud then, it was ten times worse with the windows down.

     "Excuse me," Annabeth began with an innocent tone. "Can you turn your music off? It's too loud."

     I couldn't see the driver's face clearly from my spot, only seeing the way he pushed his sunglasses off to stare at Annabeth before scoffing. "Beat it, kid."

     Annabeth's innocent facade did a full 360 degree turn as she took a step closer to the Lincoln. "Sir, this is the last time I'm asking nicely. Please, turn your music off."

     "What are you gonna do, huh?" He spoke in a mocking tone. "Tell your mommy? Boo-hoo, I'm so scared."

     He laughed and the music got louder than ever. "I think I can handle two bratty girls and a snot-faced boy."

     My anger for him increased with his last words. I couldn't care less what he said about me, but he insulted Annabeth and Grover, and that wouldn't sit right with me.

     I got closer to the window and Annabeth stepped aside to give me the spotlight. I leaned toward the car door. "Here's what's gonna go down, sir. You stay here and I break one of your hands. Right or left, that's your choice. Or you drive away, and bother someone else with your obnoxious music another day."

     I was surprised by the way my words flowed out of my mouth so naturally. I couldn't fully remember when was the last time I'd ever spoken that way to someone.

     The man seemed to find a secret joke in my words, since he laughed boisterously. "You? Break my hand? I'd like to see you try."

     I turned back to my friends with raised eyebrows, as if I was accepting a challenge. Annabeth seemed to get the clue, since she drew her knife for the man to see. It's celestial bronze, so the blade wouldn't even cut through the man's skin, but he didn't need to know that.

     The man visibly gulped, but didn't move. He must've thought we weren't serious, but Annabeth raised the knife in the air to make the man believe she was about to strike him. The man screamed in terror and the window rolled up in a flash. Before I could fully process it, the Lincoln's engine roared in ignition and peeled out of the car wash.

     We saw the man drive into the street, going at a higher speed than the road allowed. I was the first one to crack a laugh, and seconds after Annabeth and Grover joined in. Grover cracked a joke about the man's sudden mood change at the sight of the knife, and Annabeth said something else that added more laughter to our conversation. By the time we were making our way back to our stall, my stomach hurt due to the laughter.

     We reached Percy, still laughing, and the first thing I noticed was that the mist was gone. Our laughter died out when we saw the look on his face, color drained out of it. I frowned at his state. What could've Luke said to leave him in that state?

     Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"

     "Not much," He blurted out instantly. "Come on, let's find some dinner."

     A few minutes later, we were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around us, families were eating burgers and drinking milkshakes and sodas. My stomach rumbled at the sight of the burgers, and I felt as if I was about to explode if I didn't eat soon.

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

     "We, um, want to order dinner," Percy was the one to answer.

     "You kids have money to pay for it?"

     Grover's lower lip quivered. I was afraid he would start bleating or start eating the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger. I was so hungry that I couldn't think, especially of a sob story that would leave the waitress eager to help us. Suddenly, a rumble shook the whole building; a large motorcycle 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 Caucasian human skin. The guy on the bike was dressed in a red muscle shirt with black jeans and a black leather duster, a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face I'd ever seen – wicked – with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. I swallowed not only because his appearance had intimidated me, but because I recognized who it was.

     As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, 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 us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

     The biker said, "It's on me."

     He didn't have any space for him to sit in our booth, so he grabbed an empty chair out of the nearby tables, leaving the man that was about to sit on it to fall on the ground. 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 towards the kitchen.

     The biker looked at us, though his eyes couldn't be visible through his sunglasses.

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

     He looked like he wanted to rip the biker's head off. "What's it to you?"

     Annabeth's eyes flashed with a visible 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?"

     "You're Clarisse's dad," Percy said as the realization hit him. "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."

     "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 were in town. I got a little proposition for you."

     The waitress came back with stacking trays of food – cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings and chocolate shakes. 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 and left with the gold.

     "You can't do that," Percy told the god. "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?"

     "Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little. . .date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

     "Why don't you go back and get it yourself?"

     The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter. "Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."

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

     If only he knew that things didn't work like that here. If a god wanted you to do something, you had no choice to obey.

     Ares's fiery eyes never left Percy's figure. "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. . ."

     I visibly tensed in my seat at the mention of my dad.

     Ares 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 a 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?"

     "That got your attention," Ares grinned. "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?"

     Annabeth and I exchanged a nervous look. Ares bared his teeth, a look that I've seen on Clarisse's eyes more than once. 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."

     Weirdly enough, when I blinked my eyes and opened them again, Ares was gone. I turned to my side and could see that my companion's expressions were astonished, as if they didn't believe it either.

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

     I stared out the diner's window. The motorcycle wasn't there anymore.

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

     "We can't," Annabeth shook her head. "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."

     Percy dared to ask what I was also wondering. "Why does he need us?"

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

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

     I found Annabeth's and Grover's nervous gazes.

     I cleared my throat, "I guess we'll have to find out."

     THE SUN WAS sinking behind the mountains by the time we found the water park. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D. The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry water slides, tubes and pipes were curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the tarmac. With night coming on, the place looked like the beginning of a horror movie

     "If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," Percy spoke up, 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.

     "Who is she? Echidna?"

     "No, Aphrodite," Grover said, a little dreamily. "Goddess of love."

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

     "What's your point?" he asked.

     "Oh." With that, he changed the subject. "So how do we get in?"

     "Maia!"

     I was about to ask what was wrong until I remembered the winged shoes, seeing how the wings sprouted and lifted Grover off the ground. 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?"

     Percy, Annabeth and I had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as we crawled over the top. At least Percy had the decency to let both of us first and climb himself at last. The shadows grew long as we 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 us. Nothing made the slightest noise. We found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards and racks of –

     "Clothes," Annabeth breathed out. "Fresh clothes."

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

     "Watch me."

     She snatched an entire row of stuff from the racks and disappeared into the changing room. A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more souvenirs from the shop.

     "What the heck." Grover shrugged.

     Soon, all four of us were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park. To say I was relieved to get rid of the itching clothes on my body was an understatement.

     We continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. The dark was growing over us, which would make the already creepy water park ten times worse. There was no sign of working lights anywhere near us, so if we didn't hurry up, we'd be surrounded by full darkness.

     "So Ares and Aphrodite," Percy broke 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 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."

     "Whatever."

     "Hephaestus knows?"

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

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

     In front of us was an empty pool, at least fifty meters 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 from us, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read: THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!

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

     Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seat 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," Percy said, and I agreed. "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 faced him, "you smell any monsters?"

     He sniffed the wind. "Nothing."

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

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

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

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

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

     Grover puffed up his chest a little. "Sure. But what could go wrong?"

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

     "Are you kidding?" She looked at him like he had cursed her and her entire bloodline.

     "What's the problem now?" He demanded.

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

     I had a feeling she was referring to someone in particular by saying 'somebody'.

     "Who's going to see you?"

     Annabeth's eyes trailed to me and I feared the worst. "Maia, why don't you go?"

     "Me?" My face grew hot, because of the suggestion and because everyone's eyes were on me now. "Why me?"

     "Why not?"

     "Because!" I couldn't think of anything better.

     "Rock, paper, scissors," Annabeth challenged. "Loser goes with Percy."

     "You're kidding, right?"

     "Silence, Seaweed Brain."

     I placed one hand on top of the other and Annabeth did the same. Percy's confused eyes fell on Grover, who shrugged as if it was a natural occurrence. It was the best way Annabeth and I decided who got to do what, ever since we were seven.

     In a matter of seconds and four rounds after, Annabeth won by putting rock against my hand scissors. She let out a whoop! sound as her victory cry while I groaned at what I had to do next. I had no choice but to follow after Percy as he started down the side of the pool, still bitter about how Annabeth almost always won against me in our little rock, paper, scissors tournaments.

     We reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. I couldn't imagine mighty gods like Ares and Aphrodite here, meeting in a junked-out amusement-park ride. But my eyes fell on something I hadn't seen from up top: mirrors all the way around the rim of the pool, facing this spot. We could see ourselves no matter which direction we looked. That was when it clicked. While Ares and Aphrodite were getting all lovey dovey with each other, they could look at their favorite people: themselves.

     Percy picked up the scarf. It shimmered pink, and, knowing Aphrodite, it must've been perfumed with something special. I was about to warn him about it when I noticed his dreamy smile. He was about to rub the scarf against his cheek, but I grabbed it from his hands before it made contact with his skin. I stuffed it in my pocket and made the mental note to find a better place to store it afterwards .

     "Stay away from that love magic," I warned.

     "What?"

     "Just get the shield, Kelp Head, and let's get out of here."

     I knew we were in trouble the moment he reached out to touch the shield. His hand accidentally broke through something that had been connecting it to the dashboard. It looked like a cobweb from a simple glance, but when I paid close attention to the metal strand of it on Percy's palm, I knew what it was. A tripwire.

     "Wait. . ."

     "Too late."

     "It's a trap."

     A million gears shifted against one another and that made a loud noise in the process. It looked like the entire pool was transforming into one giant machine.

     Grover yelled, "Guys!"

     Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. I was about to push us both down for cover as they shot, but realized it wasn't aimed at us. 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. If I wasn't scared about what was going to happen after that, I might've found the arrows beautiful. Smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net.

     "We have to get out," Percy stated the obvious.

     "Right behind you!"

     He grabbed the shield and we ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as going down. I made the decision to push Percy in front of me as we made the attempt in climbing over the top of the pool, hoping that Grover and Annabeth helped him up first.

     "Come on!" Grover shouted. He and Annabeth were trying to hold open a section of the net for us, but wherever they touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around their hands.

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

     "Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed in realization. "I'm so stupid! Eta is 'H'. He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now you're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"

     We'd almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic things poured out. Annabeth's scream rang in my ears. It was an army of bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all scuttling towards us in a wave of clacking, whirring metal.

     "Spiders!" Annabeth cried out, even though she wasn't going to be the one swarmed in them. "Sp – sp – aaaah!"

     The metallic spiders were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding towards the center of the pool, completely surrounding us. They probably weren't programmed to kill, just bite us and make us look stupid in front of the upcoming broadcast but this was a trap designed for gods. And last time I checked, we weren't gods. Percy and I had no choice but to climb into the boat. We started kicking away the spiders as they swarmed aboard.

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

     The spiders started spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie us down. The strands were easy enough to break at first, but there were so many of them, and the spiders just kept coming. Percy kicked one away from my leg and I helped him in removing the ones climbing onto his arms. Grover hovered above the pool in his flying trainers and Annabeth tried to cut the net with her knife, but it wouldn't budge.

     The tunnel of love entrance was under the net. We could use it as an exit, except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders.

     "Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called.

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

     "But –"

     "Do it!"

     I looked back at him. "What do you have in mind?"

     "I don't know!"

     Oh, we're doomed. The spiders were all over the prow of the boat now. We couldn't keep fighting off the spiders forever. We had to get out here somehow. Grover was in the controller's booth now, slamming away at the buttons.

     "Five, four – "

     Grover looked up hopelessly, raising his hands. He apparently pushed every button, but still nothing was happening.

     "Two, one, zero!"

     Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. Percy pulled me into the seat next to him and fastened the seatbelt just as the tidal wave slammed into our boat. Over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing us completely, but not capsizing us. The boat turned, lifted in the flood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool. The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool's concrete wall with such force.

     Spotlights glared down at us. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus. The thought of the Olympians, especially my dad, watching this made a knot of embarrassment in my stomach.

     We spun around one last time, the water level now almost high enough to shred us against the metal net. Then the boat's nose turned towards the tunnel and we rocketed through into the darkness. At some point I must've unconsciously grabbed onto Percy's hand out of fear, because I could feel him squeezing against my grip just as tightly. Both of us screamed as the boat shot curls and hugged corners and took forty-five degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other romantic stuff. Then we were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through our hair as the boat barreled straight towards the exit.

     If the ride had been in working order, we 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 us were now piled against the barricade – one submerged, the other cracked in half.

     "Unfasten your seat belt," Percy yelled at me.

     "Are you insane?"

     "Unless you want to get smashed to death." He strapped Ares's shield against his arm. "We're going to have to jump for it."

     I knew what he had in mind. As the boat struck, we could use its force like a springboard to jump the gate. With luck, we would land in the pool. The mere thought of not making it and crashing against the doors seemed terrifying, so I did the only thing I could think of to calm myself. My grip on Percy's hand tightened. He must have seen the look on my face, since he didn't let go and made sure his grip was firm.

     "When I say go," he said.

     "No! When I say go!"

     "What?"

     "You're gonna mess it up!"

     "Fine!" he shouted. "When you say go!"

     I waited. . .waited. . .then yelled, "Now!"

     Crack! If we'd jumped when Percy thought we should've, we would've crashed into the gates. I got us maximum lift. Unfortunately, that was a little more than we needed. Our boat smashed into the pileup and we were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool, and down towards solid tarmac.

     Something grabbed me from behind. Percy cried out, "Ouch!"

     "Nice, Grover!" Annabeth yelled from the ground.

     In midair, he had grabbed Percy by the shirt, and me by the arm. It wasn't the best grip to say the least. He was trying to pull us out of a crash landing, but Percy and I had all the momentum.

     "You're too heavy!" Grover said. "We're going down!"

     We spiraled towards the ground with Grover doing his best to slow the fall. We 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 made her way over to us. Percy and I tumbled to the ground, bruised but alive. Ares's shield was miraculously still on Percy's arm. Once we caught our breath, I realized I was somehow still holding onto Percy's hand and let go before anyone else could notice. Annabeth ran up to me and embraced me in a hug, searching my entire body for injuries. I reassured her I was fine and the three of us got Grover out of the photo-board, thanking him for saving our lives.

     I couldn't help but flicker my gaze on Percy and at the Thrill Ride of Love, where our boat had been smashed to pieces against the gates. My mind thought back of the moment Percy didn't hesitate to strap my own seatbelt before his back at the boat, and my face grew hot again. I began to wonder if maybe I had been a little too tough on him, misjudged him from the beginning and allowed my own childish pettiness get the best of me. I reminded myself that he was almost in the same position as I was – desperate to impress his dad after finally learning who he was – and instead of helping him adjust, I had been just as dismissive as our parents.

     A hundred meters away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on us, the spotlights in our faces. I felt like a circus animal, exploited into doing dangerous stunts for the entertainment of someone else.

     "Show's over!" Percy yelled. "Thank you! Goodnight!"

     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.

     Percy turned around to face us. "We need to have a little talk with Ares."