❛011❜

IVY WOULD'VE LOVED to had some philosophical bullshit  to say as she was about to die. already on good terms with death, all she could think of was the string of curses that left her mouth. (she would've gotten her mouth washed with soap if someone other than percy heard.)

the river raced towards them, she buried her face in percy's chest as he tightened his arms around her, he was cursing just as she was. brown locks of hair flew everywhere. wind ripped the breath from her lungs. steeples, skyscrapers, and bridges tumbled in and out of her vision.

just as the water was about to touch a strand of her, ivy breathed in. she felt how the sunlight hit her face, the breeze felt soft against her skin, and how even before death, there was warmth.

in a flash of pink light. ivy fell on her ass on the shore of the mississippi river. barely registering that she didn't die, her vision went black.

"ivy! you need to wake up!" a familiar voice said at a distance.

"you said she didn't go into the water with you?"

"she didn't! one minute she was there and then boof! she was gone!"

ivy groaned as her head pounded along her left arm. the sunlight made her blink as her vision came into focus. three silhouettes hovered above her body, blinking hard she realized it was percy, annabeth,and grover.

before she could say anything, annabeth brought her into a crushing hug. "we thought you went to have an early family reunion!"

"argh– my arm– can't breathe–" ivy wheezed out. annabeth pulled away with a sheepish smile.

police helicopters circled around the arch, which looked to be about a block away. the crowd of onlookers was as abundant as new year's eve on the times square. ambulances, news report vans, and just about every emergency vehicle surrounded the place.

"how did you survive the fall?" grover asked worried. "percy went into the water but he said you didn't go in with him."

ivy shook her head as she stood up with percy's help, wincing when the motion made everything hurt with exhaustion. "i don't know. there was this light, next thing i knew i was on the shore. i remember passing out and that's about it. but what's going on with the arch?"

they started walking, even if annabeth didn't look satisfied with her explanation and percy was half holding ivy up because of her sudden difficulty to walk. percy explained that he caught grover and annabeth up with what happened on the arch while they were trying to wake her up. grover had spotted ivy on the shore as she passed out, then percy came out of the waters a few minutes later. the son of poseidon also explained about an underwater lady messenger who passed on a summoning to percy from poseidon.

"so santa monica is the next stop then?" ivy adjusted her limp right arm that was placed around percy's shoulder as he held her up around the waist. "you can't ignore a summon like that from your dad."

"that's exactly what i told him," grover said. "and annabeth said–"

before he could finish, they passed a reporter doing a news break, they almost froze in their tracks when he said, "percy jackson. that's right, dan. channel twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by the authorities for a serious new jersey bus accident three days ago. and the boy is believed to be travelling west, and accompanied by an unidentified girl. for our viewers at home, here is a photo of percy jackson, as a don't have a picture of his accomplice hasn't surfaced please stay tuned for more news."

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

"first things first," percy said. "we've got to get out of town!"

somehow, they made it back to amtrak station without getting spotted. the four campers boarded the train just before it pulled out for denver. completely drained, ivy dropped on her seat to sleep immediately. the train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the st louis skyline behind them.

the next afternoon, june 14, seven days before the solstice, their train rolled into denver. ivy slept for eight hours straight, her exhaustion was so overtaking she didn't even have a nightmare. they hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in kansas. they hadn't taken a shower since half-blood hill, and it was beginning to get obvious.

"let's try to contact chiron," annabeth said. "i want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"we can't use phones, right?"

ivy smirked, "nobody said anything about phones."

they wandered through downtown for about half an hour, looking for a form of water and light where a rainbow could be formed. the air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of st. louis. everywhere they turned, it felt like the rocky mountains were staring at ivy, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.

finally they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. veering toward the stall farthest from the street, they kept their eyes open for patrol cars. four adolescents in a car wash with no car? any cop with half a mind would know they were 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? ivy?"

"don't look at me," the daughter of athena said. "the dining car wiped me out."

ivy patted her pocket, only finding her golden guitar pick. "i've got nothing."

percy fished out a bit of change from his pockets, passing grover a quarter. that left them with two nickels and one drachma from medusa's place. ivy pushed down the thought of how her father's things were gone on the bus explosion.

"excellent," grover said. "we could do it with a spray bottle, of course, bu the connection isn't as good, and my arm get tired of pumping."

"what are you talking about? the son of poseidon looked completely lost.

the satyr fed in the quarters and set the knob to fine mist. "i-m'ing."

percy raised an eyebrow, "instant messaging?"

"iris-messaging," ivy corrected. "iris is the goddess of rainbows, she carried messages for the gods. you've only got to know how to ask and she'll do the same for half-bloods, if she's not busy, obviously."

"you summon the goddess with a spray gun?"

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

sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapour and broke into colours.

annabeth held her palm out to percy. "drachma, please."

he handed it over.

the blonde raised the coin over her head, "o goddess, accept our offering." she threw the drachma into the rainbow. it disappeared in golden shimmer. "half-blood hill," annabeth requested.

then, looking through the mist, the strawberry fields and the long island sound appeared. the image seemed to be on the porch of the big house. standing with his back to them at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. he was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"luke!" percy called.

he turned, eyes wide, for a second ivy could've swore he looked scared. but in a flash the look was good.

"percy!" his scarred face broke into a grin. "is that ivy and annabeth, 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. ivy knew she was regretting not listening to her when she offered to braid her hair. "we thought– chiron– i mean–"

"he's down at the cabins." luke's smiles faded. "we're having some issues with the campers. listen, is everything cool with you? is grover all right?"

'i'm right here," grover said. he held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into luke's line of vision.

"luke, what kind of issues are happening at camp?" ivy asked.

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.

"we'll take care of it!" annabeth yelled back, looking relieved to have an excuse to get out of sight. she grabbed ivy's hand and pulled her along. "grover, come on!"

"what?" grover said. "but–"

"give percy the nozzle and come one before annabeth rips you a new one," ivy advised.

grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the oracle of delphi as he followed the two girls. ivy smacked him the back of his head.

the car with the obnoxiously loud music came into view, the guys driving it was leaning against the opened door. he had his whole head shaved, except for a stripe in the middle, a scruffy beard, and ugly leather boots.

ivy turned to her two friends, "i can charmspeak him to leave."

annabeth shook her head, there was a gleam in her eyes that resembled the stoll's. "no, that's too easy." she walked straight toward the guy and tapped him on the shoulder. he looked at her, then realized she was just a random girl and turned back around. ivy shook her head as she followed annabeth lead, walking up next to her.

cleared her throat loudy ivy yelled over the music, "excuse me, sir. would you mind turning the music off, please?"

"get lost," the guy replied. "don't y'all have a babysitter?"

the daughter of athena clicked her tongue, signaling grover to come closer and wait for his queue. "we'll only ask nicely twice. so again, would you mind turning the music off?"

the guy looked warily between the three teens, "i ain't doing anything for you."

"oh, then you asked for it." ivy nodded at her friends.

she took out her knife, and put on the most threatening expression she could muster. annabeth took out her own. for the final showdown, grover lifted his pants and took off the flying sneakers from his feet, his hooves in full display.

in sheer terror, the mohawk guy screamed like a little girl. he scrambled to get inside his car, clamming it shut and peeling off the car wash. a few second of silence, and the three friends burst out laughing.

coming around the corner while still laughing, they found percy standing in the middle of the wet car-wash stall. at his pale face, ivy stopped laughing.
"did something happen? what did luke say, jackson?"

"not much," percy said. "come on, let's find some dinner."

a few minutes later, they were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. all around them, families were eating burgers and drinking milkshakes and sodas.

finally the waitress came over. she raised her eyebrow sceptically. "well?"

percy cleared his throat. "we, um, want to order dinner."

"you kids have money to pay for it?"

grover's lower lip quivered. ivy was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum. annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger. percy's stomach grumbled so loudly for a second she mistook it for a monster.

ivy knew charmspeak wasn't the solution, as it would fade away after a few minutes. she was trying to think up a sob story for the waitress when 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 caucasian human skin.

the guy on the bike would've made a pro wrestlers run for mama. 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 wrap-around shades, and he had the cruellest, most brutal face i'd ever seen– handsome, sure, but wicked –with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. ivy recognized him immediately, it was ares.

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 god 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?"

ares said, "it's on me." he slid into their booth, which was way too small for him, pushing grover and annabeth against the window. ivy glared at him from where she sat beside percy.

the god 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.

ares glanced at ivy before setting his eyes on percy. she couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades, but bad feelings started boiling in her stomach. anger, resentment, bitterness. she dug her nails in her thighs to stop herself from punching something.

he gave percy a wicked grin. "so you're old seaweed's kid, huh?"

"what's it to you?" percy spat.

annabeth's eyes flashed him a warning. ivy grabbed his arm from beneath the table. "jackson, this is–"

the god 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?"

it would surprise ivy if percy didn't know who he was. he had the same vicious sneer as some of the kids at camp half-blood, the ones from cabin five.

"you're clarisse's dad," percy stated, "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 kid's 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.

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."

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 favour."

"what favor could i do for a god?" percy's voice had an edge, ivy squeezed his arm for him to keep his cool.

"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."

ivy wrinkled her nose at the thought of her mother on a date with ares.

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

"why don't i turn you into 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's arm muscles restrained in anger under ivy's hand. it was obviously taking him every cell on his body not to punch ares in the face. ivy felt much like him, but being a daughter of aphrodite gave her a lot of control on how she displayed her emotions. that didn't apply on how she felt on the inside, though.

"we're not interested," he said. "we've already got a quest."

ivy knew that wasn't the right answer, even if they wanted to they couldn't deny doing a god a favor and expect to walk out with their lives.

"i know all about your quest, punk," ares said. "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."

no, they weren't. but percy seemed too prideful to accept that in front of ares.

"yeah, right. no money. no wheels. no clue what you're up against. help me out, and maybe i'll let you know something you need to know. something about you mom."

percy perked up at that. "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 scared you off?"

ares bared his teeth, but ivy had seen his threatening look before on clarisse. there was something false about it, almost like he was nervous.

"you're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other olympians. they're not as forgiving of rudeness as i am. i'll meet you back here when you're done. don't disappoint me."

ivy blinked, and ares was gone.

"not good," grover said. "ares sought you out, percy. this is not good."

now that he was gone, all the anger had drained out of her. she hated ares's powers– cranking up the passions of destructive emotions so badly, they clouded your ability to think.

"it's probably some kind of trick," percy said. "forget ares. let's just go."

"i wish we could do that," ivy said. "as much as i don't like ares, don't ignore a god and just get away with it. ares won't hesitate to turn you into a rodent if you defy him."

having lost her appetite, ivy grabbed a napkin and the stray pen from the waitress, doodling little hearts, roses, and different musical notes out of boredom.

percy shook his head, he was as stubborn as a mule. "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 park..." percy twirled riptide nervously between his fingers. "he acted almost scared. what would make a war god run away like that?"

ivy placed her pen down on top of her doddled napkin. she, grover, and annabeth glanced nervously at each other.

annabeth said, "i'm afraid we'll have to find out."

the sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time they 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 waterslides, tubes, and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the tarmac. with night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy.

"if ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," percy said, staring up the barbed wire, "i'd hate to see hate she looks like."

ivy bristled at his words. "i suggest you're more mindful of your words, perseus."

percy glared at the mention of his full name. "why? i thought you hated ares."

it was basic knowledge of the affair between aphrodite and ares. it was a question on their latin final, ivy had learned by now not to underestimate percy's slowness.

"he's still god. and his girlfriend is very temperamental." annabeth glanced at ivy, who had an uncomfortable look on her face.

the subject of her mother's... escapes was an uncomfortable one to talk about in any way, shape, or form.

"you don't want to insult her looks," grover added.

"who is she?" percy laughed. "echidna?"

"no," ivy snapped. "aphrodite, my mother."

"i thought she was married to somebody," the black haired boy said. "hephaestus."

"what's your point?" ivy said. "how do you think you and i came to be?"

percy's eyebrow furrowed in confusion. "what do you mean?"

"your dad's married, you know" she said. "to amphitrite. so you can say our godly parents had affairs with our mortal parents."

the son of poseidon looked horrified, like i just revealed that santa wasn't real. "oh," he said awkwardly, "so how do we get in?"

"maia!" grover's shoes sprouted wings.

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?"

annabeth, percy, and ivy had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as they crawled over the top.

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. nothin made the slightest noise.

they found a souvenir shop that had been left open. merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, there were also hygiene products and–

"clothes!" ivy squealed. "fresh, clean, pretty clothes!"

"yeah," percy said. "but you can't just–"

annabeth laughed, "watch us."

the two best friends snatched an entire row of stuff off the racks, ivy was basically skipping as she pulled annabeth into the bathroom.

among the things they'd taken, there was soap, deodorant, and clean toothbrushes. annabeth and ivy didn't shy away from refreshing themselves. the daughter of aphrodite managed to get her hair somewhat clean, and after detangling it she braided two dutch braids to avoid future annoyance. she convinced annabeth of getting rid of her everyday ponytail and did dutch braids on her, too.

ivy huffed as she rummaged through the pile of clothes, "i don't like any of this!"

the blonde rolled her eyes as she had already dressed in waterland flower-print shorts, a big red waterland t-shirt, and commemorative waterland surf shoes. currently she was stuff that might be useful on a backpack, "just grab whatever, ivy. it's not like anyone is going to see you in one bad outfit."

ivy gasped in disbelief, "no, annie. i'll be caught dead before i have ugly clothes on." she placed one hand on her hip, tapping her finger on her chin as she scanned the pile of clothes, an idea sparked in her brain. "annie, bring me the scissors from the counters. i'm turning this shit into a fashion show."

annabeth looked at her flatly for a second before shaking her head and making her way out of the bathroom to look for the scissors. it was better not to argue with a child of aphrodite and their clothes.

a few chops and knots later, ivy stood in front of the mirror in triumph on her own achievement. she turned one big blue waterland t-shirt into a beachy looking halter top, two strands of cloth tied securely around her neck and two others around her torso below her belly button. taking a men's shorts with pink flamingos printed on them, she cut them so they rested a few inches above her knee. in shoes she didn't have much choice, so she stuck with the surfer sandals.

once she came out, annabeth had already convinced percy and grover to just grab whatever they needed and clean themselves as much as they could.

"did you need to make a whole outfit?" percy asked exasperated.

"of course not," ivy snatched a pair of heart shaped sunglasses from the row she was walking by to reach the group. "but how else am i supposed to get you to fall in love with me?" she teased with a smirk.

percy rolled his eyes, at this point not affected by her antics. "never in a million years, fitzgerald."

"everybody eventually falls, jackson!"

they continued searching for the tunnel of love. ivy got the feeling that the whole park was holding its breath. "so ares and aphrodite," percy said absentmindedly, "they have a thing going?"

"that's old gossip, percy," annabeth told him. " three-fucking- thousand-year-old gossip."

"what about aphrodite's husband?" he asked.

ivy sighed, "well, hephaestus– the blacksmith –he was crippled when he was a baby, the stories say zeus threw him off mount olympus. so his looks aren't exactly his forte. he's very clever with his hands, yes but um– i don't think aphrodite really looks into that."

"she likes bikers," percy deadpan.

"my dad wasn't a biker."

he didn't seem close to closing the topic, "does hephaestus know?"

ivy decided to make things awkward so he'll shut up, "he knows about as much as your stepmother does." his face distorted in discomfort, lesson learned, she smirked triumphantly.

annabeth rolled her and answered his question. "hephaestus caught them together once. and i mean literally caught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. he is always trying to embarrass them. that's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like..." she topped, looking straight ahead.

"just like that," ivy finished.

in front of them was an empty pool, it was at least fifty meters across and shaped like a bowl. ivy could since percy's skateboarding obsessed self bouncing with excitement.

around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. on the opposite side from them, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. the sign above it read: thrill ride o'love: this is not your parents' tunnel of love!

grover crept towards 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 circled of bronze.

"this is too easy," percy 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," ivy said. "do you smell anything effy?"

he sniffed the wind. "nothing."

"nothing– like, in-the-arch-and-you-didn't-smell-echidna nothing, or really nothing?" percy asked.

grover looked hurt. "i told you, that was underground." ivy glared at percy from behind the satyr.

"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 ivy 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 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. ivy, come with me–"

"uh, je crois que non," ivy shook her head frantically, pushing down the blush creeping to her cheeks.

"what's the problem now, princess?" percy demanded.

"me, go with you to the... the 'thrill ride of love'? how embarrassing is that? i would never live it down with my siblings!"

the son of poseidon raised an amused eyebrow. "well, you don't sound as confident as you did a few minutes ago, princess."

ivy glared at him. "why can't annabeth go with you instead?"

"because i'm the brains," annabeth stated matter-of-factly. "i'll be able to work something out here better than down there if you two get into trouble. besides, if ares left his shield there might be something of your mother as well."

it made sense, the brains of an operation work better behind the line of fire. in any case there was something that belonged to aphrodite, her own daughter is the better choice to retrieve it without being affected if there's any love magic.

"if this gets to tobias, james, or sydney, i'll cut every single one of your tongues out." ivy glared at her three companions before stomping down the side of the pool.

"i'd tell them if i knew who they were," muttered percy as he followed behind her.

"you wouldn't dare jackson!"

they reached the boat. the shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. ivy tried not to imagine what ares and her mother get up to in a place like this. but then she noticed the mirrors all the way around the rim of the pool, facing this spot. they could see themselves no matter which direction they looked. that was it, while ares and aphrodite were doing gross shit with each other they could look at their favorite people: themselves.

percy picked up the scarf. it shimmered pink, and the scent was addicting– musky, and faintly like sea breeze. quickly, ivy realized the scarf was her mother's. the son of poseidon smiled dreamily at it, and was about to rub the scarf against his cheek when ivy ripped it out of his hands, stuffing it in her pocket. "fat no to love magic for you, seaweed brain."

"what?"

"just get the shield and get out of here."

the moment percy touched the shield, ivy noticed something on the side of the boat.

"wait," she said.

"too late."

"there's another eta here, on the side of the boat. fuck, this is a trap."

noise erupted all around them, of a million gears grinding, as if the whole pool were turning into one giant machine.

grover yelled, "guys!"

up on the rim, the cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. before ivy 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. then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net.

"we have to get out," percy said frantically.

"thank you for pointing out the obvious!" ivy shrieked.

percy grabbed the shield and they ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as going down.

"come on!" annabeth shouted.

grover and annabeth were trying to hold open a section of the net for them, but wherever they touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around his hands.

the cupids heads popped open. out came video cameras. spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding them with illumination, and a loudspeaker voice boomed: "live to olympus in one minute... fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight..."

"hephaestus!" annabeth screamed from the outside of the net. "i'm fucking stupid! eta is "h". he made this trap to catch aphrodite with ares!"

"now we're going to be broadcast live to olympus looking like fucking dumbasses!" ivy screamed back.

they'd almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatched and thousands of tiny metallic... things poured out.

annabeth screamed, scrambling away from the pool.

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

"spider!" annabeth screamed. "sp– sp– aaaah!"

ivy knew that annabeth was out of the fight if spiders were involved. right now, they couldn't count on her to come up with an escape plan.

"we need to get to the boat!" ivy told percy, who nodded. he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards it so as to not be separated with the overwhelming amount of spiders.

the things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding towards the center of the pool, completely surrounding them. ivy told herself they probably weren't programmed to kill, just corral them, bite a bit, and make them look overall pathetic. then again, this was a trap meant for gods. and they weren't gods.

percy and ivy climbed into the boat. they kicked away the spiders as they swarmed aboard, but the spiders were getting too much for just them two.

"thirty, twenty-nine," called the loud-speaker.

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. percy kicked one away from ivy's legs and its pincers took a chunk out of his new surf shoe.

grover hovered above the pool in his flying trainers, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn't budge. annabeth was still frozen as she screamed her head off.

ivy tried to think of something to get them out, but nothing came to mind against a god made trap.

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

"fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called.

percy was looking towards the water piper. by his expression, ivy knew a crazy idea was forming in his head. "jackson, what are you–"

"annabeth!" he yelled. "get into that booth! fin the "on" switch!"

the blonde was snapped out of her terror driven trance. ivy looked towards a glass-windowed booth above the net and next to the cupids, that must be the control room. annabeth nodded in determination.

it was crazy for them to hope it worked, but it was their only chance. the spiders were all over the prow of the boat now. grover kept trying to pull the net loose above them.

annabeth was in the controller's booth now, slamming away at the buttons. there was no time for wisdom.

"five, four–"

annabeth looked up at them hopelessly, tears of frustration in her eyes. she was letting them know that she'd pushed every button, but still nothing was happening.

"jackson–" ivy started. but the son of poseidon wasn't listening. he has his eyes closed and his face was scrunched up in effort.

"two, one, zero!"

percy smirked. water exploded out of the pipes. it roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. he pulled ivy into the seat next to him, they fastened their our seatbelts 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.

the water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool's concrete wall with such force they burst.

spotlights glared down at them. the cupid-cams were rolling, live to olympus.

but ivy could only concentrate on not flying out of the boat. looking towards percy, she noticed how he looked more confident that she had ever seen him. his head stood tall, looking around the water as if he was one with it. ivy realized that he was controlling the boat, it wasn't that they had a lucky current. they 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 towards the tunnel and they rocketed through into the darkness.

ivy and percy held tight, both of them screaming as the boat shot curls, hugged corners, and took forty-five degree plunges past pictures of romeo and juliet and a bunch of other valentine's day stuff.

then they were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through their hair as the boat barrelled 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 the tunnel before them were now piled against the barricade– one submerged, the other cracked in half.

"unfasten your seat belt," percy yelled to ivy.

"are you nuts?"

"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."

ivy got the idea. as the boat struck, they would use its force like a springboard to jump the gate. she'd heard of people surviving car crashes that way, getting thrown ten or fifteen meters away from an accident. with luck, they would land in the pool. taking a deep breath, ivy gripped percy's hand as the gates got closer.

"when i say go," he said.

"no! when i say go!"

"what?"

"beckendorf taught me physics!" she yelled. "force time the trajectory angle–"

"fine!" he shouted. "when you say go!"

ivy hesitated... wait for it... wait... then yelled, "now!"

crack!

ivy was right. just when they took the jump, she got them maximum lift. she swore to swarm beckendorf with gifts when she got to camp.

but unfortunately, that was a little more than they needed. their boat smashed into the pileup and they were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool, and down towards solid tarmac.

something grabbed her from behind.

ivy yelled, "ouch!"

thank fuck for grover!

in midair, he had grabbed her by the arm, and percy by the shirt, and was trying to pull them out of a crash landing but percy an ivy had all the momentum.

"you're too heavy!" grover said. "we're going down!"

they spiralled towards the ground, grover doing his best to slow the fall.

they smashed into a photo-board, grover's head going straight into the hole where tourist would put their face, pretending to be noo-noo the friendly whale. annabeth ran around the ride and was sprinting towards them, ivy and percy tumbled to the ground, banged up but alive. are's shield was still on percy's arm.

once they caught their breath, annabeth, percy, and ivy got grover out of the photo-board and thanked him for saving their lives. ivy looked back at the thrill ride of love. the water was subsiding. their boat had been smashed to pieces against the gates;

a hundred meters away, at the entrance pool, the cupids were still filming. the statues had swivelled so that their cameras were trained straight on them, the spotlights in their faces.

"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. ivy wondered if olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if their rating had been any good.

beside her, percy had an obvious storm of hatred inside him. his eyes were dark, a sea raging in whirlpools of green, his jaw clenched scarily tight, fists were formed on his hands. he rolled his shoulders as he hefted the shield on his arm. "we need to have a little chat with ares."

a speaks!

i luv this chapter hehe. according to google translate je crois que non means i don't think so in french but i would know i dont speak french im trusting google on that one.

thoughts???