𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔: 𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐄𝐖𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 (𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐘) 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄

"I never asked for any of this..."

 
FALLING 200-METERS TO YOUR DEATH WAS NOT AS EXCITING IT SOUNDED. It was like sky diving but...a lot more dangerous, no parachute, oh and the part about you have a 100% chance of death.

  Eris's hair flew in her face, nearly blinding her as she speed faster and faster toward the Mississippi River. She could barely breathe and it was hard to keep her eyes open. Her arms and legs flew in like a rag doll she had little to no control over them as they flipped through the air like four limp noodles.

  She was falling to her death. She was gonna die. And because Eris was someone who gave up easily she closed her eyes, preparing for death. She didn't know how to swim and her bones would all break on impact the minute they hit the water. She accepted her-

   "ERIS!" A loud voice yelled and she forced her eyes open. Falling above her only a couple feet higher in the air was no one other than Percy Jackson. His right hand was stretched out to her with his green eyes eager and wide, it reminded her of the picture she drew on her napkin earlier. "Give me your hand!"

  Was he crazy?

   She gritted her teeth and forced her left hand out in his direction. Their fingertips barely touched.

  Come on.

   She strained her arm until finally Percy's hand grasped hers and yanked her to his chest.  "Hold on to me!" He yelled and Eris wrapped her arms around his shoulders and legs around his waist tightly like an octopus. Percy wrapped his arms tightly around her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, "What's your plan?" She screamed, feeling her heart race in her chest.

"I don't have one!" He yelled back.

Eris' eyes widened and Percy turned their bodies so his back was to the water

Their bodies hit the water with a loud splash.

THE FIRST THOUGHT THAT CAME TO ERIS LEWIS' MIND WAS:

Am I dead?

    As she opened her eyes she found herself underwater, falling deeper and deeper to the bottom of the river. Her vision was hazy as she squirmed around in the water. She didn't know how to swim and as she looked around she saw Percy had gotten separated from her in the fall.

Her hands shakily wrapped around her neck as her air supply in her lungs started to run out. Her eyes bulged as her vision began to blur.

   She closed her eyes trying to figure out some way to live.  If Percy was here he'd save her, water was his power source...but he wasn't. For the first time on the quest, she had to save herself.

   Her lungs burned as she tried to find oxygen that wasn't there. Her limps felt unusually heavy. Her instincts were telling her to kick, jump as her mouth was gagged with water. A pounding feeling filled her head. She felt like she was going to pass out.

   It was terrifying.

She couldn't-Eris she- she wasn't made for this. She never should have come on this quest.

And now she was dying.

But then when she opened her eyes something that was swimming directly in front of her face caught her eye.

   It was white, thin, and made of lines. Its main body was made of thick white curved lines into the shape of an oval with a triangle-like shape on its end, there were three empty open holes on its front; two holes for the eyes and one hole for the mouth.

   She blinked again hard and her eyes widened when she realized exactly what was swimming in front of her.

    In front of her eyes was a skeleton.

    Not just any kind of skeleton it was a fish skeleton.

   In front of her eyes was a moving fish skeleton. A fish zombie.

    What the-

      "Mistress!" A voice said. Her hazy eyes looked around to see who was talking but found no one. Then she realized that the fish skeleton's mouth was moving. A dead fish was speaking to her.

   She really was crazy. First, she could see a ghost and now she could see zombie fish. What the hell was going on with her?

   "We are here to save you!" The Fish Skeleton said. His voice was oddly joyful and cheery despite its dead demeanor. Just then she realized that there wasn't only one fish skeleton near here. There were probably more than a hundred fish skeletons of different descriptions surrounding her like a friendly version of a wolf pack.

   If she could have she would have screamed at the sight.

   The zombie fish started toward her and for a moment she thought she was going to be their new lunch. But instead of attacking her actually...helped her. A couple of the fish moved to tuck under her arms as others moved to be under her legs and feet a couple settled against her back. Their faces pushed against her and they started to push her upward as they swam.

  Then she realized they weren't just pushing her; they were taking her to the surface.

   Just when her vision began to become spotty the skeleton fish finally pushed her to the surface and her head above the river water. She gasped before she started to choke and vomited the water that had filled her body into the river. Her chest heaved up and down as she looked around frantically searching to see if Percy was there only to find him still missing. It didn't help that her vision was still blurry her glasses were missing.

    "Mistress," A fish skeleton called, "we have retrieved your...eye-helpers!" Another fish swam up next to it with her black glasses in its see-through mouth. Eris hesitantly grabbed her glasses and shook them off before putting them on.

   "Th-Thank you," Eris replied reluctantly. "I-I appreciate it."

   "It's no problem at all," the fish skeleton said cheerfully, "We live to serve you."

   Serve her? She never remembered having any encounters with dead fish before but then again she had never been swimming before today.

   To save the little bit of her left she decided not to question it.

    She looked around until she found a nearby shore. As the fish continued to hold her body about the water she pointed to the shore. "Do you think you could...please take me there?I think my...friends are waiting for me, please."

  At least she hoped they were waiting for her. She wouldn't blame them if they weren't.

   The fish nodded eagerly, "Of course, Mistress! You don't even need to ask!" He turned to the other fish, "Ready men?"

   "Yeah!"

   "Off we go!" The fish gathered around her and started to swim her toward shore.

    "WHERE IS SHE?" Annabeth asked Percy for what seemed like the thousandth time. He had just arrived to shore not long ago and now here was being interrogated by Annabeth about Eris' whereabouts.

   "I don't know," he said frantically practically ripping his hair out. "We fell then hit the water! I haven't seen her since then!"

    "So you just left her there? She's defenseless, Percy" Annabeth screamed, "How could you-"

   "Uh, Guys," Grover called.

   They ignored him.

   "I didn't just leave her there!" Percy yelled back, "I looked for her but I couldn't find her...she..." he looked down, "I thought maybe she had found her way back here or maybe she..." he trailed off.

    "Guys," Grover called again.

They ignored him again.

    "Great," Annabeth said sarcastically, tears filling her eyes. "What am I supposed to tell Like? He'll never trust me again! And now Eris is-"

   "Guys!" Grover yelled.

    They both turned to him, "What?" They yelled in unison.

   Grover pointed to the river and they turned around. Walking up from the water was the one and only Eris Lewis walking up from the water shore. She was shivering and dropped in cold water leaving drops of water behind her every time she walked.

Eris Lewis was (surprisingly) alive.

Percy had never been so relieved. The gaping hole of dread in his chest of her dying finally felt filled again. He rushed to her and pulled her tight against her chest, "We were so worried! I was so worried I thought-"

   Eris flinched, "Uh, Percy, please let me go," she squeaked. "I-I really don't like to be touched."

    He immediately let her go and took a 10 steps away from her, never felling more embarrassed in his life .

Annabeth gasped and she immediately rushed over. "Eris, are you okay?" She asked frantically, checking Eris over with her eyes. "What happened to you? We thought you died! Oh, gods you're freezing! We leave you guys alone for five minutes and this happens."

Eris gathered all the locs in her hands and started to wring out the water, "I-I'm fine," she stuttered, shaking her hair out to get all the water out. "We-We fell."

"Six hundred and thirty feet?" Annabeth asked with wide eyes.

Behind them a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted and a couple paramedics rushed out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. Percy immediately recognized her as the mother of the boy who'd been on the observation deck with them. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua-"

Eris flinched harshly at the mention.

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

"I'm not crazy! These two kids they jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she locked eyes with Eris and Percy. "There they are! The kids!"

Percy grabbed them and pulled them into the crowd.

"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded, "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator? Was it a monster?"

Eris flinched again and this time a few tears ran down her face. She sniffed and started to wipe them with the back of her hand. Percy's heart hurt at the sight.

It was all his fault, he thought. If he had just held onto Eris tighter when they fell into the water then they would have never been separated. He knew she was too nice ever blame him but he still felt like it was all his fault.

"Excuse me! Young Lady," Another paramedic came running at them with a thick looking blanket in her arms. She was short, a bit chubby with dark skin and pretty tightly curled hair. "You're freezing, here, take this, baby."

Eris hesitantly took the blanket and turned red at the pet name, "O-Oh, thank you ver-very much," she sputtered, wrapping the blanket tightly around her entire body like a cocoon.

The paramedic smiled, "It's no problem, baby. Take care," she said sweetly and she quickly left.

   Percy quickly told them the whole story about the Chimera, Echidna, his and Eris' high-dive act and the underwater lady's message.

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

   Before any of them could respond they passed a reporter doing a news break, "Percy Jackson. That's right, Daniel. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused the fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here's a photo of Percy Jackson. His accomplice in today's incident, a young girl described as a young black girl with dreadlocs and glasses, is still unidentified. If you see a person who fits this description please contact authorities immediately."

   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 were able to get back to Amtrak station without being identified. They boarded a train just before it pulled out for Denver. They were finally gone.

    THE NEXT DAY, JUNE 14th, THEY FINALLY ARRIVED IN DENVER. Eris was tired, hungry and most of all she wanted a shower and some deodorant. Actually all of them needed a shower, all of them smelled funky to Eris.

   Three days had passed and still no sign of Willow. Eris just hoped she was doing okay.

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

   Percy frowned, "But we can't use phones?"

   They wandered through downtown for about thirty minutes until they finally found a do-it-yourself car wash.  They walked to the farthest stall, making sure to not be seen by any patrol cars.

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

   "We're Iris-Messaging," Eris said quietly as if that explained everything.

   "What?"

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

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

   Eris felt around in her pockets and pulled out two pennies, "Sorry, this is that's all I have," she said, rubbing her arm.

Percy dug into his pockets and fished out some change he passed Grover a quarter.

"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.

Grover fed the machine the change and turned 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?"

   "You don't really need a spray gun," Eris said looking down, "Just a rainbow."

   Grover turned on the nozzle and water bursted out. In a few moments the water made a pretty rainbow.

   "Percy give Eris your drachma," Annabeth said and Percy handed it over.

   Eris frowned, "Wh-why me?" She asked.

   Annabeth shrugged, "You're the most polite out of all of us. The more polite you are the more likely she'll send our message. But try not to stutter, you have a bad habit of that."

   "Oh," Eris raised the drachma over her head, "O goddess, accept our offering, please," she dropped the drachma into the rainbow and it disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-blood hill please."

  In a moment of time the most formed into the strawberry fields of half-blood hill and they were looking at the porch of the Big-House. On the porch was a man with sandy hair in shorts and orange tank top. He held a bronze sword and seemed to be looking out into the meadows.

   "Luke!" Percy called.

   Luke turned to them with wide eyes, "Percy!" His scarred face formed into a grin, "Is that Annabeth and Eris too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

   "We're uh...fine," Annabeth stammered. She was trying to straightening her wrinkled shirt and fix her ponytail. "We thought—Chiron—I mean—"

  "He's down in the Cabins," His smile faded. "We're having some issues with campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right? Eris, how are you doing? I know how overwhelmed you get."

   Eris looked down, "Uh...I'm fine y'know," she kicked dust on the ground, "the usual."

  Eris didn't like talking to Luke. He always seemed to interested in her, talking to her. She was pretty sure it was because Willow was both of their sister but he always had a weird vibe about him. He always seemed so fake to her.

    "I'm right here," Grover called. "What kind of issues?"

   Just then a large car pulled into the stall nex to them with the stereo blasting R&B music. Eris immediately recognized the song as 'Sexy Can I' by Ray J. The music was so loud it almost caused a mini earthquake.

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

   "I'll take care of it," Annabeth yelled, looking happy to have an excuse to be out of Luke's sight. "Grover come on, Eris stay with Percy."

   "O-Okay," Eris replied a bit uneasy. She didn't know how she felt about having to stay with Percy again. It seemed like wherever he went monsters followed.

  "What?" Grover said, "But-"

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

   Grover muttered something under his breath before passing Percy the nozzle.

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

   She cringed at the thought of a war breaking out. She wanted nothing to do with war. War was made for people like Clarisse or Annabeth not Eris. She couldn't imagine what she'd be like in a war. She'd probably end up being the first one to die.

  In the stall next door, Eris could hear Annabeth arguing with the owner of the car next door.

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

  Eris kept her mouth shut as Percy rattled off to Luke about everything that's happened on the quest so far. From the explosion on the bus to him and Eris falling off the observation deck. He rambled on for so long that the timer on the nozzle beeped to let them know they only had a minute left.

  "I wish I could be there," Luke said, "We can't help much from here. I'm afraid but listen...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 saw him."

   Eris frowned, "But...Gods can't take each other's symbol of power. It's almost impossible."

  She wanted to ask him that if he saw Hades take the bolt why didn't he say anything to anyone earlier but she bit her tongue.

   "That's true," Luke scowled, "Still...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."

   Percy and Eris exchanged an uneasy look and Luke seemed to realize what he said.

   "Oh, hey," he protested, "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."

She held back a wince at how he just indirectly friend-zoned Annabeth. In the stall next door Eris jumped when she heard a scream of terror and the car that had been blasting music pulled out of the parking lot and drove off as fast as humanly possible.

"You guys better go see what that was," Luke said, "Listen, are still wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better knowing they're doing you some good."

Percy winced, "Oh...uh...yeah," Percy lied and Eris turned to him with wide eyes, "Yeah, they've come in handy."

She hoped Luke didn't ask her any questions about the shoes. She was a terrible liar.

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

The water shut off and the mist started to evaporate.

"Well, you guys take care of yourselves out there in Denver. Especially you ,Eris, Willow would want you safe," Luke said, "And tell Grover it'll be better this time. Nobody will be turned into a pjne tree this time if he just-"

The mist faded and Luke was gone.

Grover and Annabeth came back to them laughing but when they saw Percy's face Annabeth's grin faded. "What happened? What did Luke say?"

"Not much," Percy lied again for some reason and Eris looked down. "Come on, let's find some dinner."

   A FEW MINUTES LATER THEY FOUND THEMSELVES IN A DINNER SITTING A BOOTH. Hopefully, this time it wasn't ran by a snake-haired gorgan.

   A waitress came over with a raised eyebrow, "Well?"

  Percy said, "We, um, want to order dinner..."

   "You kids have money to pay for it?"

    Eris looked around uneasily, she hoped their plan was not going to dine and dash. Eris Lewis was a lot of things but a thief was not one of them. She had seen enough episodes of 'Beyond Scared Straight' to know to be scared of jail. In the seat across from her Grover's lip started to quiver and Annabeth was so pale she looked like she was going to pass out from hunger. Next to Eris, Percy's face was scrunched up like he was thinking too hard.

   Suddenly she jumped when a loud rumble shook the entire building. A huge motorcycle pulled up to the side of the curve. Everyone in the dinner went silent. The guy on the bike was dressed in a red shirt, black pants and a black leather jacket. A hunting knife was strapped to his thigh, and thick black shades covered his eyes. He had pale ashy skin that looked in desperate need of some lotion and a black haired buzz cut. She didn't recognize him, suddenly she wished she had payed more attention in Greek mythology class, but everything about him reminded her of Clarisse.

   He was so intimidating it made Eris shrink to the corner of her seat.

  When he strolled into the dinner air blew in behind him. People rose to stare at him and the guy only held up his hand and they sat back down.

  The waitress blinked as if she was pulled out of a trace, "You kids have money to pay?" She asked again.

   The biker said, "It's on me," He slid into their booth that was 3x too small for a man of his large form as crowded Annabeth and Grover against the window.

   He looked at the gaping waitress and said, "Are you still here?" He pointed at her and she stiffed before marching off. He turned to Percy who had started to grit his teeth. "So you're old Seaweed Brain's kid, huh?"

   Eris wrinkled her nose at his smelly breath. He didn't know how to brush his teeth?

   "What's it too you?" Percy snapped.

   Annabeth paled, "Percy, this is—"

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

    "You're Clarisse's dad," Percy said, "Ares, God Of War."

   Eris flinched at the name. Clarisse scared her so no wonder she felt 10x more fear when she looked at Clarisse's dad.

   Ares grinned and took of his glasses but instead of having regular eyes in his sockets it was filled with fire, "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."

   "She was asking for it," Percy replied sassily.

   Ares shrugged, "Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kid's battles, y'know. But you," His fire eyes turned to Eris who flinched and started to tremble, he grinned at the sight, "I particularly like watching when my kids kick the crap out of you and you just let them. It's pathetic honestly, you're really fucking worthless." He laughed like it was funny.

   Eris' eyes filled with tears and she looked down. Next to her Percy was seething. His eyes were practically red with rage, "Hey! Don't -"he started to snap only to stop when Eris tugged on his sleeve and shook her head.

What Ares had said was nothing she hadn't heard before from Clarisse.

"Anyway, as I was saying," Ares said, "I have a proposition for you, Jackson." The waitress came back with a tray full of burgers, fries, chocolate milkshakes and onion rings. He handed her a few gold drachmas.

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

Ares pulled out a huge knife and started to clean 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 in 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 need you to fetch it for me."

  "Why don't you go get it yourself?"

   Ares scowled and Eris curled up in a ball when his fire eyes grew brighter. "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. What are a coward, like your friend over there?" He shoved his thumb in Eris' direction. "Or maybe you can only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."

   Percy growled, "We're not interested," he said hotly, "We've already got a quest."

   "I know all about your quest, punk. When that items 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..." Ares licked his lips, "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 the war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your 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 just 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 everything you need to know. Something about your mom."

   Percy leaned forward. "My mom?"

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

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

   A dark look passed over Ares' face that reminded Eris too much of Clarisse. "You're lucky you met me ,punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving to rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when your done. Don't disappoint me."

   Then when Eris blinked Ares was gone.

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

    "It's probably some trick," Percy said, "Forget about him. Let's go."

   "We can't," Annabeth said, "Look, I hate Ares just 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 burger. "Why does he need us?"

   "Maybe because that requires brains," Annabeth said, "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow down the wisdom sometimes."

Eris blinked, "That quote was really...really deep, Annabeth," she said quietly. Annabeth smiled at her.

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

They all exchanged a look.

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

   Eris just hoped there weren't any monsters. She could only take so much stress a day.

   BY THE TIME THEY FOUND THE WATER PARK THE SUN WAS GOING DOWN.

   The park's gate was padlocked and topped with bobbed wire. Inside were old dried water slides and tubes that all lead into empty pools. The place was creepy and smelled like mildew.

   "If Ares brings his girlfriend here on dates," Percy started to say, "I'd hate to see what she looks like."

   Eris' head whipped up, "Pe-Percy, you shouldn't say those things," she said hesitantly, playing with her fingers and she glanced around uneasily.

   He frowned, "Why? Ares been nothing but a ass to you. For, like, no reason at all."

   "I-I know that," Eris said, "But you shouldn't disrespect her looks...she's very uh...hotheaded sometimes."

   "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?" Grover asked.

   "Oh," Percy said, "So how do we get in?"

    "Maia!" Wings sprouted form Grover's shoes. He flew over the fence and stumbled into the other side. He dusted off his jeans. "You guys coming?"

   Annabeth, Eris and Percy ended up climbing over the fence, holding up the barbed wire for each other as they crawled over the top.

   As they walked through the park Eris couldn't help but happily noticed there weren't any monsters in sight. No strange noises. It was just them. She almost wanted to cry in happiness.

  They came across a souvenir shop that was left unlocked. It was filled with Merchine like snow gloves, pencils, postcards and—

   "Clothes," Annabeth said, "Fresh clothes."

    Eris' eyes widened when she came across a section that was filled with "Deodorant," she eagerly grabbed it, "a-and toothpaste! Oh my god, they have soap! A-and a toothbrush!" She grabbed them all in her skinny arms and started to grab the top and underwear they offered hurriedly.

   Eris was against stealing but when it came to hygiene she was not. She was nothing that made her feel better than knowing she smelled good.

  "Yeah," Percy said, "But you guys can't just-"

   "Watch me," Annabeth said. Her and Eris disappeared into the bathroom. Moments later her and Eris came out in a big Waterland T-shirt and new pairs of shoes. The shirt fit Annabeth a lot better than Eris who was practically drowning in it. As Eris walked pass them Percy couldn't help but notice she smelled like Dove soap.

   "What the hell." Grover shrugged. A couple minutes later they were all walking around the water in new clothes and freshly smelling underarms and breath. ("No offense," Eris had told them quietly back at the store, "I-I'm saying this because I care...y-you guys kinda...smell musty," she told them before shoving some soap and toothpaste in their hands.).

   They continued walking around trying to find the Tunnel Of Love. But as they continued to walk Eris couldn't help but feel like everything was too calm. Something didn't feel right. It didn't help that it was getting darker and darker every passing moment.

   "So Ares and Aphrodite," Percy started to say, "they have that thing?"

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

   "What about Aphrodite's husband?"

     "A-A lot of Gods don't really care about commitment to their marriages," Eris said hesitantly , "that's why there are so m-many demigods running around."

   Actually the reason there are so many demigods running around was because the Gods don't know how to use a condom, Eris thought but decided to keep her mouth shut about that part.

   Annabeth nodded, "Eris is right. Aphrodite's husband, Hephaestus, the blacksmith. He was crippled as a baby, thrown off mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"

   "She likes bikers," Percy said.

    "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 trailed off looking straight ahead. "That."

   In front of them was an empty pool shaped like a bowl. Around the rim was about a dozen bronze Cupid's stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side of them a tunnel opened where the water probably flowed into when the pool was filled. The sign above said: THRILL RIDE O'LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE.

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

  At the bottom of the pool was a three-seated pink and white boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat sat a bronze large shield that no doubt belonged to Ares.

   "Too easy," Percy said, "So we just walk down  there and get it?"

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

   A chilling feeling ran up Eris' spine. "So-Something doesn't...it-it doesn't feel right," she stuttered, "It's too easy."

   Percy frowned, "Maybe Sweets is right. Grover, you smell any monsters?"

    He sniffed the wind, "Nothing."

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

Eris flinched at the thought of that monster that almost made her drown. "Percy," she murmured, "Th-that was mean," she said hesitantly quietly.

"Yeah, Dude," Grover said looking genuinely hurt, "I told you, that was underground."

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

"I'll go with you," Grover said in a fake cheery voice.

"No," Percy told him, "I want you to stay up top with he 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, "Sure. But what could go wrong?"

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

"Are you kidding?" Annabeth looked at him like he was crazy. Her face was so red someone could have easily mistaken her for a cherry.

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

"Me, go with you to the...the 'thrill ride of love'? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?"

"Whose going to see you?" Percy asked, his cheeks turning dark red.

Eris, who didn't see the big deal, sighed, "I'll go," she said, "I can't do much...but I have my dagger so..." she trailed off lamely.

"Eris, it's the tunnel of love," Annabeth said her cheeks were still as red as fire, "do you know what that means?"

She shook her head, "Not, really, no."

"It's supposed to be for soulmates," Annabeth said frantically, "It's like for boyfriends and girlfriends and stuff! Y'know."

When Percy turned to Eris somehow his face turned even more red. "Alright, fine. Let's go, Sweets." He said. As they walked Percy started to mutter how girls made everything complicated and Annabeth trailed behind them.

They climbed down the pool latter and reached the boat. The shield was propped onto on seat with a pink slick scarf on the other. Percy picked up the scarf and just when he was about the bring it to his face a brown hand quickly plucked it out of his arms.

"Sorry...it's just...that's Aphrodite most likely...it has love magic on it," Eris said. "We-We should just get the shield so we can go."

She felt queasy in the pool even if it was empty. The thought of it filling up with water and her almost drowning again made her feel like she was about the throw up.

Percy reached out to grab the shield and that's when everything went wrong. His hand broke through something that had been connecting it to the dashboard. A trip wire.

"Wait," Annabeth said.

"Too late."

"There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. It's a trap."

Eris buried her face in her hands, "Oh, no," she whimpered, regretting everything.

The sound of gears turning filled their ears like the pool was turning into one giant machine.

"Guys!" Grover yelled.

Up on the rim Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. Percy grabbed Erie's body and shoved her down, covering her with his torso. But instead of firing at them the statues fired at each other. Silk cables trailed from the arrows, arching over the pool and formed a golden asterisk. They weaves together to form a net.

   As Eris pushed Percy off of her he said, "We have to get out of here."

   "Duh!" Annabeth said, she grabbed a frozen Eris' hand and they ran. Percy grabbed the shield before taking off after them but as they ran the slope of the pool was not as easy going as down.

   "Come on!" Grover shouted. He tried to open a section of the net for their escape but the golden threads only wrapped around his hands.

  The Cupid heads opened and video camera popped out. Spot lights surrounded the pool and a loud speaker boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute...Fifty-Nine seconds, fifity -eight..."

   "Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed, "I'm so stupid! Eta is 'H'! He made this to trap his wife with Ares! Now we're going to be broadcasted live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"

    "We're gonna die!" Eris cried, "Oh, gods! I can't-"

    "We're not gonna die!" Percy yelled back. They almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatches tiny metallic spiders fell out. "Okay, maybe we're gonna die."

    Annabeth screamed so loud it made Eris' ears ring.

   "Spiders!" Annabeth said, "Sp—sp—ahhhh!" She jumped into Eris' arms and because Eris was so tiny they both hit the ground. Percy grabbed their hands, yanked them up and dragged them back to the boat.

   Millions of spiders from every corner started to surround them getting closer and closed.

  "We-we need to go!" Eris screamed, hot tears running down her face as she struggled to climb onto the boat . Percy grabbed her by the waist, lifted her up and she climbed into the boat. He followed her not soon after. Eris took of her shoe and started batting the spiders away, "G-Go away!" She screamed, her eyes were squeezed she shut as she stomped her shoe on anything that came near. "Leave us alone!"

   "Annabeth! Help us!" Percy yelled as he kicked away as many spiders as he could but Annabeth stayed frozen in fear.

    "Thirty! Twenty-nine..." the speaker continued.

   The spider started to spit out tiny strands to try to tie them down to the seats. They easily broke the strands but the spiders wouldn't stop coming.

   "Fifteen! Fourteen!"

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

   "But—"

   "Do it!"

   Grover flew into the control booth and started pressing random buttons.

   Eris frowned, "Percy! What's-what are you doing?" She asked frantically.

   Percy gritted his teeth, "Don't worry, Eris, I've got a plan this time...kinda."

   "Five! Four!"

     He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

    "Two, one, zero!"

    "Percy!" Eris screamed.

   Water exploded from the pipes, it rolled into the pool making the spiders vanish.  Percy grabbed Eris and Annabeth and quickly strapped them into their seats right in time for a tidal wave to slam into their boat and dosed them completely in water. Eris screamed and clung to Percy as the boat turned, lifted from the flood  and spun circles around in a whirlpool. The boat's nose turned to the tunnel and rocketed through darkness as Percy and Eris clung together screaming.

   But only seconds later they were out of the dark tunnel and the boat went straight to the exit. But in the Gates of Love were chained and two boats that had been washed out during the whirlpool were piled against the barricade.

    "Unfasten your seatbelt!" Percy yelled.

     "Are you crazy!" Annabeth yelled back.

    "Unless you wanna get smashed to death!" He strapped on Ares shield. "We're gonna have to jump for it!"

    "We're gonna die!" Eris cried, sniffling.

     "We are not dying!" Percy yelled. He grabbed her and Annabeth's hand. "On my mark!"

   "No! On my mark!" Annabeth said.

    "What?"

    "Simple physics-"

    "It doesn't matter!" Eris shrieked. "On Annabeth's mark we jump! She's the smart one! End of discussion!"

   "Fine!" Percy shouted, "On your mark!"

   Annabeth hesitated then she said, "Now!"

   They jumped and were thrown in the air. They flew straight over the gates, over the pool, and downward the ground then they were gonna be squashed like bugs.

   Something wrapped around her waist.

   Annabeth yelled, "Ouch!"

   In midair, Grover had grabbed Percy back the back of his shirt, tucked Eris under his arm and Annabeth's arm. "You're too heavy!" Grover said. "We're going down!"

   Eris screamed as they smashed into a photo-board. Grover's face smashed into one of the photo-board wholes and the rest tumbled to the ground, thankfully alive. Once they caught their breath they helped Grover out of the hole and thanked him.

   "Eris," Annabeth asked breathlessly, clutching her shoulders. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

   Eris shook her head, "I-I'm fine," she said frantically wiping the rest of her tears. "I'm just overwhelmed. Sorry. I was expecting a quiet little mission not...that. Are you okay? Those spiders-"

   She's had too many death experiences for the past week.

    "I'm okay," Annabeth said.

  At the entrance pool, the cameras were still turned to them; filming.

   "Shows over!" Percy yelled, "Thank you! And good night!"

   The Cupid's turned back into their original positions and the spotlight faded. The park went quiet.

   Percy turned to them with grit teeth, "We need to have a little talk with Ares."

    THE GODS OF OLYMPUS CHUCKLED AS THEY WATCHED THE TELEVISION HEPHAESTUS SET UP.

   "That boy of yours," Hestia said, a small smile, "he is quite the entertainer, Poseidon." She said and Poseidon nodded in a agreement.

  Apollo leaned over to his twin sister, "Hey, sis," he whispered.

   Artemis looked up from polishing her silver arrows, "Yes, brother."

   "That girl," Apollo said quietly, glancing at the paused television, "doesn't she look familiar."

  Artemis raised a brow, "The Athena spawn?"

   Apollo shook his head, "No. No. The brown-skinned one," he pointed at the TV to the teary eyed brown skin girl with shoulder length dreadlocs. "Look at her nose...her lips...doesn't it kinda remind you of someone we know."

   Artemis hummed, "Perhaps."

Thank you so much for reading! Please comment they help me update more often.