𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖊𝖋

THE NEXT AFTERNOON IT WAS JUNE FOURTEENTH, seven days before the solstice, their train rolled into Denver.

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

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

"She's not talking about phones," Phoenix answered,

Percy looked like he had more questions.

They wandered through downtown for about half an hour. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis.

Finally, they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. They veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping their eyes open for patrol cars. They were four teenagers hanging out at a car wash without a car; any capable cop would figure out 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."

"Don't look at me," Phoenix shrugged. "I'm broke."

"The dining car wiped me out," Annabeth admitted

Percy fished a quarter out of his pocket and passed it to Grover.

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

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked, not understanding,

He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."

"Instant messaging?"

"No, Fishface." Phoenix rolled her eyes.

"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."

"We're going to summon the goddess with a spray gun." Phoenix snatched the hose away from Grover, she pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. She held it at arms length, making sure the droplets wouldn't reach her.

Grover looked like he wanted to protest but fell silent at Phoenix's challenging stare. He looked back at Percy and nodded, "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."

Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors.

Annabeth held her palm out to Percy. "Drachma, please."

He handed it over and smiled sheepishly.

Phoenix coughed, "Cheap."

"Hey, I heard that! Annabeth you heard her?" Percy whined.

Annabeth held back her smile and raised the coin over her head. "Goddess, accept our offering." She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer.

"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then they were looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance.

They were on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us 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.

"Luke?" Phoenix asked, looking slightly interested, she tried craning her neck to look at the scene but she couldn't fully see it. "Ow." She rubbed at her neck with her free hand. "This job is less fun than I thought it would be, can I spray someone after?"

"No!" Annabeth refused

"Not even Percy?"

Annabeth paused, "Well No."

Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Buzzkill."

Percy grumbled, "You took too long to answer her."

Annabeth shrugged, "I took the amount of time needed to decide. You won't even get wet, It would be a waste of water and money. Plus Phoenix would remain bored."

"True..." Phoenix pursed her lips, "See that's why she's the smart one here."

"The both of you are impossible!" Percy complained

Luke turned, eyes wide. "Guys! Hey!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Thank the gods! Are you all 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. Phoenix grimaced and faked a gag. "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?"

Grover asked, "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, come on!" She called after and he followed reluctantly,

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

"Aw come on" Phoenix complained, "The one time things get interesting at camp and I'm not there to see it?!"

Meanwhile, Percy shuddered to think that Clarisse's cabin would ever be on his dad's side for anything. In the next stall, both demigods heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with each other, then the music's volume decreased drastically.

Phoenix raised an impressed eyebrow.

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

Percy told him pretty much everything, including his dreams. Meanwhile, Phoenix added some unhelpful comments and talked about her role in fighting off the monsters. She also made Percy show off the newspaper article that showed her wanted status. The duo took some moments to bicker, but Luke only waited and listened in amusement.

They didn't realize how long they had talked. The beeper went off on the spray machine, and Phoenix realized that meant the water would shut off soon.

"Sounds like the quest has been eventful, I wish I could be there," Luke told them. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen... Percy, it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him—"

"When? I don't remember that..." Phoenix frowned, "And gods can't take each other's magic items directly?"

"That's true," Luke swallowed, looking troubled. "Still Phoenix, You don't exactly have the most reliable memory. Plus, Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."

They were all silent until Phoenix seemed to realize what he'd said. "Luke...Has your blonde hair dye finally made permanent damage? What are you implying." She hissed,

"It's natural," he protested. "And hey, I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never...I mean, she's like a little sister to me. The both of you are..."

Phoenix stared at the floor in thought, She smiled slightly at Luke's last comment.

In the stall next to them, the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln peeled out of the car wash.

"Can we hurry this up?" Phoenix asked, "Whatever is going on I need to see it!"

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

"Hell No—" Phoenix started and Percy interrupted immediately.

"Of course, uh, yeah!" He tried not to sound like a guilty liar. "Yeah, they've come in handy."

Phoenix gave him a 'what the fuck are you talking about' look and Percy silently begged her to play along.

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

The water shut off. The mist started to evaporate.

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

But the mist was gone, and Luke's image faded to nothing. Phoenix and Percy were alone in a wet, empty car wash stall.

"So uh—" Percy began, "About that—I just didn't want to hurt his feelings...I know I shouldn't have lied but..."

"Whatever" Phoenix shrugged and stared off blankly at the entrance of the stall. "You don't have to explain yourself, I don't care. Talk to one of your friends about that."

Percy gulped, "So you are still upset about that?"

"Am I?" She said. "No, I don't care."

"Seems like you care." Percy counteracted, "And hey it makes sense...Cause—Look, I know we have our moments but overall—"

Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laughing, but stopped when they saw Percy's face.

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

"Not much," He lied, he looked at Phoenix who didn't express much as she looked back at him. He sighed, "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 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?"

"Do you have a will to live? Four chocolate milkshakes please."

"Phoenix no!" Annabeth cried, her hand falling to the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"What?" She said in monotonous concern, "You can get some for you too? Want Vanilla? Strawberry? There are options."

Grover's lower lip quivered. Phoenix was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum.

Annabeth and Percy looked ready to pass out from hunger.

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 white human skin.

The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for their Mama's. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt 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 Phoenix her ever seen—wickedly handsome, Phoenix thought.

With an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. 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 slid into their booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window.

Phoenix leaned forward and played with the end of her braid, "I think I like you?"

"Phoenix?!" Percy and Annabeth exclaimed in shock.

"Great taste kid," He grinned, "Learn from her." He pointed out to the rest. He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"

And she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back

Phoenix had a negative feeling boiling in her stomach. Anger, resentment, bitterness. She consumed all the Chaos. Her eyes glowing red, She wanted to hit a wall. She wanted to pick a fight with somebody. Or at least watch a wicked fight. Yeah, she definitely liked this man.

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

Phoenix watched, not realizing the white smoke that left her mouth.

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

Phoenix was impressed. But Annabeth's eyes flashed him 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?"

Then it struck him why this guy looked familiar. 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." He 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."

"She was asking for it."

"I have to agree with him." Phoenix nodded, "Your daughter can be a real bitch."

"Phoenix!" Annabeth exclaimed

Percy smirked, staring Ares down and nodding in Phoenix's direction, "She agrees."

"Ugh Percy!"

"Probably. That's cool. Listen 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.

Phoenix grabbed one of her chocolate shakes and cheered Ares on, "You're the man."

Ares winked at Phoenix and handed the waitress 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 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 said through gritted teeth. "We've already got a quest."

Phoenix watched Percy intently, she didn't realize how much she enjoyed this side of him...

Ares's fiery eyes glared at Percy, "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.

"Framing?" Phoenix repeated, "Are we talking about him framing Percy or—"

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

"We're doing fine on our own." Percy insisted

"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. 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, Ares was gone. Phoenix almost thought the conversation had been a dream with her dream man, but the others expressions told her otherwise.

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

He stared out the window for a long time. The motorcycle had disappeared.

"Hey, Fish Face we doing this or not." She asked.

"It's probably some kind of trick," He turned to Phoenix. "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."

Percy looked down at his cheeseburger as Phoenix sipped down her third milkshake, "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?"

Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other.

A ghost of a smile emerged on Phoenix' lips, "We'll have to find out."

𓌪

THE SUN WAS SINKING BEHIND THE MOUNTAIN 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 WATRAD.

The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry watersides 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."

"Are you dumb?" Phoenix groaned,

"Are you ever nice?"

"No."

"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," He said. "Hephaestus."

"What's your point?" Phoenix asked.

"Oh." He changed the subject. "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, Phoenix, and Percy had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as they crawled over the top. Phoenix tried to hop over without their help, but Annabeth and Percy refused to let her, reiterating that she wasn't invincible.

The shadows grew long as they walked through the park, checking out the attractions.

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 sighed in relief. "Fresh clothes."

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

"Watch me." Annabeth snapped, she snatched an entire row of stuff off the racks and skipped forward. "Come on Phoenix!"

She shrugged, "Alright then."

They both disappeared into the changing room.

A few minutes later they both came out in matching Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes.

A Waterland backpack was slung over Annabeth's shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies. Phoenix's backpack also seemed more stuffed, it was starting to look bigger than her. The ridiculously big bag looked funny on her slender body.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged. Soon, all four of them were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park.

They continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. "So Ares and Aphrodite," Percy began, "they have a thing going?"

Phoenix mumbled under her breath, as she thought about the hunky war god. "Sadly."

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

"What about Aphrodite's husband?"

"Well, you know," She continued. "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." "Barnacle Brain."

"Hephaestus knows?"

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

In front of them was an empty pool that would'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 of 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 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," Phoenix yawned. "let's 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?"

"Damnnnn," Phoenix murmured. 

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, a flying ace, 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, Phoenix, come with me"

"Are you kidding?" Annabeth looked at him as if he'd dropped from the moon. Her cheeks were burning with color.

Phoenix's eyebrows knit together, "Why not?"

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

"Me, go with you two to the...the 'Thrill Ride of Love? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me? And with both of you? I mean! I can't!"

Phoenix looked at Grover for help, "I don't get it."

"Well—"

"Who's going to see you?" Percy's face was burning now, too.

"Why are you two so flustered?" Phoenix asked, incredibly lost. "What am I missing here."

"Well—" Grover began again.

"Nothing!" They both yelled at Phoenix, avoiding her obsidian eyes.

Phoenix stared blankly back at the side of their faces, "Okay?"

"Fine," Percy told them. He turned on his heel and marched forward. "I'll do it myself."

"Hey? I'm not missing out on the fun! What if there's a monster down there!" Phoenix ran after him.

"Fine come with me then!" Percy groaned, "But It's just a stupid ride!"

"Whatever." She shrugged.

Percy huffed at her response. "Whatever." He mocked.

When they started down the side of the pool, Annabeth followed them, muttering about how they were going to mess everything up.

They reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a lady's silk scarf.

Phoenix noticed something from up top: mirrors around the rim of the pool, facing that spot. The trio could see themselves no matter which direction they looked.

While Ares and Aphrodite were making out they could look at their favorite people: themselves.

Phoenix picked up the scarf. It shimmered pink, and the perfume was indescribable—rose, or mountain laurel. Something incredibly intoxicating.

She hummed a little dreamily and was about to rub the scarf against her cheek when Annabeth ripped it out of her hand and stuffed it in her pocket. "Oh, no you don't. Don't go falling for Aphrodite too."

"Buzzkill."

"Just get the shield, Khaotikomi, and let's get the hell out of here." She hissed,

The moment Phoenix touched the shield, She knew they were in trouble. Her hand broke through something that had been connecting it to the dashboard.  It was some kind of metal filament, so fine it was almost invisible. A trip wire.

"Wait—!" Annabeth tried

"Too late Sophitria," Phoenix shook her head, "Well fuck. Guess it won't be that easy..."

Percy groaned, "Is it ever?"