𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍
𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈

❛ everyone knew her father
  was her saving grace ❜

𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝕱or the first time in months, Aurora prayed to her mother. She prayed to her like her life depended on it — in actuality it might — and the prayer went something like this:

Mom, I know I'm not the best daughter or the best person in general, but I beg of you to at least try and stop Dad from looking at the news. You know how he gets, and I have no energy to deal with it. Thank you.

The only indication that her mother truly listened was waking up once from their train ride to Percy holding a delicate white myrtle in his hands. Apparently, having no idea where it came from but nonetheless gave it to Aurora without a seconds doubt.

This gave her hope that her mother would try to at least steer her daughter's father from any form of media until her quest was over, if it weren't too late already.

But something in Aurora told her that it was too late. That he was already looking for her with her face being plastered all over the news and media. That either Happy informed him or he was browsing his phone — which he does on an everyday basis — and saw his own daughter trending number one on twitter while in the company of an adolescent boy who apparently killed his mother and is causing a whirlwind of destruction because he has issues.

Anthony Edward Stark was definitely going to lose it . . . If he hasn't already.

"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?"

Aurora smirked, "We can use Stark approved phones, but seeing as we don't have one in our vicinity we'll go a different route."

They wandered through downtown for about half an hour, both Annabeth and Aurora whispering and pointing at any particular building. 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 adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure 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," Grover grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

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

They looked at Aurora.

Aurora raised her hands in a surrender motion, "Contrary to popular belief, I don't always carry daddy's money."

Percy fished out his last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter, which left him two nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place.

"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?"

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

"Instant messaging?"

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

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"

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 vapor and broke into colors.

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

Percy handed it over.

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

For a moment, nothing happened. Then they were looking through the mist at strawberry fields and the Long Island Sound in the distance. They 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 short sand an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

It was Luke.

Aurora's heart leaped at seeing her old friend.

"Luke!" Percy called. He turned, eyes wide.

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

"We're . . . uh . . . fine," Annabeth stammered. Her aura blinking a pretty pink the same color as her cheeks when she'd look at Luke. Her attraction to the male showing to only her best friend, but her actions sold her out to the others. She began to madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face.

Aurora leaned forward with a teasing smile on her face, "You missed a spot," She watched in amusement as her blonde best friend roughly wiped her face in fear. "Kidding."

Annabeth scowled at her best friend but turned back towards the Son of Hermes, "We thought—Chiron—I mean—"

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

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

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

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

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

"What?" Grover said.

Aurora laughed at the shocked expression on Grover's face. Only for Annabeth to shut her up by grabbing her hand and yanking her alongside them.

"Come on," her friend urged. "I might need your charmspeak."

Aurora groaned and followed her best friend while sending a glance towards Percy, who only watched her leave. They turned into the next stall. Annabeth led both Grover and Annabeth towards the car. The door was open and the loud bass grew louder when they approached.

A caucasian man was seated with his entire body in the car and a leg hanging out, tapping to the beat of the song that was playing. Annabeth stood in front of the open door with her arms crossed looking at the man before her.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The man looked at the kids in front of him and rolled his eyes, before completely ignoring them. Aurora scoffed in disbelief at the rude man. He clearly heard them, because he locked eyes with all three of them. If there is one thing Aurora hates most in the world —besides snakes— it would be bad manners.

"Hey! Douchebag! My friend was talking to you!" Aurora knocked at the window door before her. She glared fiercely at the man in front of her.

The man shook his head in disbelief and turned the knob for the volume to the left, the volume lowering. He faced the kids once again. His face written in annoyance.

"What the hell do you want, kid? I'm busy," He gestured to the car in front of him.

"Doing what exactly?" Aurora argued.

"Adult things"

Annabeth took a step forward, "Look, Can you please lower the volume? We have an important call to make, and we can't hear the other end because of how loud you are"

"Maybe you kids should go take your call somewhere else then"

Annabeth clenched her fist before she turned her body to Aurora, a knowing smirk on her face, "I told you"

Aurora rolled her eyes, "Shut up, brainiac"

Aurora then uncrossed her arms and batted her long eyelashes at the man, "You're going to leave the car wash and drive until you're out of gas, and when you reach that point you'll sit in your car and think about all the wrong choices you made in your life, like pissing us off."

The man's eyes turned dreamy, before he closed the door and put on his seatbelt and drove off.

Aurora had to admit. Charmspeak could be quite handy.

They went into the stall laughing at the look on the man's face, but soon stopped when they saw dreadful look on Percy's face. Aurora crinkled her eyes together in worry.

"What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"

"Not much," Percy smiled. "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, mostly because Aurora had her head on the table terrified of being recognized.

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

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

There was a long second of silence making Aurora really want to look up to see what was going on, until she heard it. A rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb. The familiar motorcycle that would sometimes haunt her dreams.

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. Aurora to this day never knew if it was actually human skin, and truthfully she did not want to ask.

Ares 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 wore a smirk on his face. Aurora groaned loudly when she saw him hop off the motorcycle and make a move to enter the diner, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but he waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. Aurora glanced at the waitress who 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, and crowded Annabeth against the window. Aurora was pressed against Annabeth and a painful groan escaped her mouth and how confined her body felt.

He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"

He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.

"Be nice!" Aurora scolded. "You do this every time, and honestly it's getting boring."

Ares smirked at the girl, "I see you're not dead yet"

Aurora smiled in amusement,"I see you're still too terrified to threaten me in front of my mom. Or has that changed?"

Ares' smirk vanished and turned into a scowl, "You're lucky you're your moms favorite, sweetheart. If not I would've turned you into a cockroach"

Aurora rolled her eyes and muttered, "At least I don't look like a damn cockroach."

She scoffed and leaned her head on her hand.

Ares turned to Percy, "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

"What's it to you?"

Aurora's eyes widen, and shook her head at Percy.

Aurora took being the favorite daughter of Aphrodite to her advantage, at times. Especially when it came to Ares. The God of War had the tendency to annoy the young girl with a burning passion, and she knew he wouldn't do anything to her in order to not upset her mother.

It all began when Aurora had first got into a fist fight with Clarisse. The Daughter of Aphrodite put up a hell of a fight which ultimately resulted in one of her many victories.

Ares did not appreciate one of his prized pupils being beat by a mere Daughter of Aphrodite. So, he appeared in Aurora's dreams doing his best to torment her by placing her into a pile of snakes to destroying her favorite makeup pallets. However, it all stopped when Aphrodite caught wind of what her boyfriend was doing to her daughter.

The vicious nightmares ended with a very annoyed Ares apologizing through clenched teeth.

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

Ares raised his hand."S'okay," he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. I'm actually quite forgiving, take Stark as an example," he gestured towards Aurora who rolled her eyes. "Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"

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

Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions, "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear. It's the second gift I gave her after Stark, here, broke her sword"

"She was asking for it." Percy glanced at Aurora. "With the way she treats Aurora I'm surprised it didn't happen any sooner"

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know?"

Aurora scoffed and muttered a 'yeah right' which earned a nudge from her blonde best friend next to her.

Ares rolled his eyes hearing the comment but chose to ignore it, "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?"

Aurora scoffed and angrily shook her head at Ares' threat. The waitress only 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," Ares smirked at the Daughter of Aphrodite who only rolled her eyes in distaste. "We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

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

The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter, "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 and the girls you like."

The Stark attitude was beginning to show the angrier Ares was making the young girl, "Coming from the man who has to prove his own worth through his children, that's rich."

Ares' nostrils flared his eyes flaring up, "I don't want hear another word from you"

Aurora rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

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

"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?" Aurora questioned while lifting her head from her hand. "Pretty presumptuous to blame someone with no evidence to back it up."

"Framing somebody to start a war," he stated as a matter of factly. "Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest."

"Thanks," Percy grumbled.

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

"We're doing fine on our own."

"Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Stark could have her mortal daddy give you guys all the resources you need, but seeing as you guys are in this dump, that clearly didn't happen," Aurora clenched her teeth in anger. "Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom."

"My mom?"

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

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

Aurora snorted receiving a nudge from Annabeth.

Ares bared his teeth, but Percy did not seem faced whatsoever. 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." He then smirked at Aurora. "Might want to take a look at the TV, kid. Seems like your old man is thriving without you."

Aurora blinked wondering what the hell the God of War could be talking about, but when she opened her eyes again, Ares was gone. Aurora ignored the other three and looked at the TV at the corner of the diner. She waved the waitress over and politely asked for her to increase the volume of the television. The waitress nodded and scurried off.

When the volume of the television was loud enough to hear, a news anchor was shown. Her blonde hair and blue eyes looked serious, as she glanced at the papers in her hands. On the corner of the screen was a video of a flying object in the sky, fighting a much larger object.

Aurora squinted her eyes and caught better sight of the object. It was a suit. A suit the size of a man, fighting a larger suit. The smaller suit was fiery red and gold, with high velocity blast coming from its thrusters directed towards the larger suit.

Aurora's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What the hell does that have to do with me?"

Percy looked between the television and the prettiest girl in the room, "Maybe he's messing with you?"

Annabeth shook her head, "Ares might be a lot of things, but he's not a liar"

Grover's eyes widen, "Maybe that's what he wants us to think"

Aurora hushed the group as the news anchor began to speak, "We are currently moments away from the billionaire, Tony Stark's report on the incident that occurred in Stark industries. Reports of what people say were two heavily armed robots were seen at Stark Industries which resulted in thousand dollars worth of damages. Colonel James Rhodes is currently on the podium explaining the events that took place in Stark industries last week"

Annabeth turned to Aurora, "Robots?"

Aurora only shrugged.

Aurora frowned when the screen turned to her Uncle Rhodey formally dressed in front of a room full of reporters, "You've all received the official statement of what occurred at Stark Industries last week. There have been unconfirmed reports that a robotic prototype malfunctioned and caused damage to the arc reactor. Fortunately, a member of Tony Stark's personal security staff . . . "

Aurora placed her head on her hand in thought. Then she turned to her best friend with a wide eyed look on her face, "That's it! The arc reactor"

Annabeth's gray eyes narrowed in confusion, "Arc reactor?"

Aurora placed her hands on Annabeth's shoulders, "The blue light we saw on the very first day of the quest. It was the Arc reactor," She took a deep breath. "I knew it was familiar, it was practically eating away at me!"

Percy looked adorably confused, "What does that have to do with your dads company?"

Grover gasped and pointed towards the television, "I guess we're about to find out"

And sure enough they were. The entire diner simmered down at the billionaire on the TV. Tony Stark appeared in front of the room full of reporters causing murmurs to be heard throughout the room.

Aurora's father looked nervous. His curly brown hair was slicked back away from his face revealing the rather large cut on her forehead. He supported a cut on his nose and he had deep purple dark circles around his eyes that no amount of makeup could cover. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. All in all, her father looked worse than the girl felt.

"Been a while since I was in front of you.
I figure I'll stick to the cards this time," chuckles resonated the room. "There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooft-"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," Christine Everhart interrupted, her voice too familiar for Aurora to ignore. "but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that yo-"

"I know that it's confusing," her father sarcastically smiled. "It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."

Aurora gaped, "Superhero?"

"I never said you were a superhero"

Tony looked surprised. He was a horrible liar, and his daughter could practically see right through him, "Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and fantastic. I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely publi-"

Her uncle leaned down and whispered something into her fathers ear. It made Tony look a bit flustered.

Tony picked up the card in his hands and brought them in front of his face, "Yeah, okay. Yeah. The truth is . . . " He trailed off looking a bit nervous

"I am Iron Man"

The group of friends jaw dropped in surprised. Soon the screen flashed to a picture of the so-called Iron Man machine her father was underneath. Images and Videos flashed across the screen showing the heroic side of her father . . . she'd hardly seen.

"Hey?" Annabeth asked softly. "You okay?"

Aurora bit her lip trying her best to remain calm. If she wasn't on this idiotic quest, she would've been right next to her father like always. However, here she was not knowing what the hell was going on with her him

Aurora nodded and locked eyes with her friends, "I'm fine" She stood up and began walking away. "Come on, we have a quest to finish"

"Mr. Stark! Another question!" Aurora heard from behind her. She turned and looked at the screen. "Regarding your daughter."

Aurora tensed in fear, while her father perked up at the mention of his child alongside her Uncle Rhodey who looked intrigued.

"Yes," he nodded. "My only child," he coughed. "And hopefully my last."

They chuckled.

"Do you have any comments regarding your daughter running away from home and in the company of a boy who is suspected to have killed his own mother?"

Tony whirled around to face Rhodey with a wide-eyed look on his face, "She—What?!"

Aurora gasped, "Uh oh."

Rhodey ignored his best friend and calmly said, "My niece is a good kid. She would never have destroyed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis—"

                         Tony's face dropped some more.

                         "Or whatever these false allegations may have been. We can confirm that she's off at her summer camp safe and sound. Thank you all for worrying about her safety."

                         "We have pictures!"

                         "There's proof!"

                         Aurora cursed under her breath and turned around to hurry out of the diner.

                         Annabeth sighed, "Let's go"

                         The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time they found the waterpark. Aurora was walking next to Percy with her mouth clamped shut. She hadn't uttered a word the entire time, living in her mind for the entire trip. And they all left her be, as they knew it was bombshell that was dropped.

                         Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D. The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry water slides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt. With nightcoming 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."

                         Aurora's eyebrows shot up at the insult directed towards her mother. Annabeth and Grover glanced back towards the girl who only had her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

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

                         "Why? I thought you hated Ares."

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

                         Aurora smirked, "She's very temperamental. Trust me, ocean eyes. Especially when it comes to her looks, so I'd be careful."

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

                         "Who is she? Echidna?"

                         Aurora winced at the insult, but said nothing.

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

                         Percy realized his mistake and turned to the very Daughter of Aphrodite next to him with a horrified look on his face, "That's your mom."

                         Aurora nodded, "She is."

                         "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

                         "I've heard worse, ocean eyes"

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

                         "Hephaestus." Aurora nodded at the name of the god. She met him two times. He was rather fond of the Stark bloodline and their inventions. Apparently somewhere in her ancestry, Hephaestus and Athena were prominent figures. Which explained a Stark's capabilities with both their hands and mind.

                         "What's your point?" Grover asked.

                        "Oh. 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?"

                         The three demigods 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. Nothing made the slightest noise. They found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of—

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

                         Aurora gasped in wonder, "Oh. Thank the gods!"

                         She quickly ran towards the racks and took a pair of shorts and a t shirt. Her precious white high top converse were staying with her, and she was sure going to put up a fight if anyone said otherwise. With Annabeth and Percy bickering she ran into the changing rooms and changed. When she exited the room Annabeth was on her way in.

                         She approached the two boys with risen eyebrows, "How do I look?"

                         By some miracle, she was able to find hair ties to re tie her hair so two sleek braids were on each side of her head. Her Waterland T-shirt had a large heart on it, and was paired with matching heart-print shorts, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. The hearts were to commemorate the Tunnel of Love, Aurora assumed, but she didn't mind. It reminded her of her mother.

                         Grover shrugged, "You're mom would approve."

                         Percy on the otherhand rubbed the back of his neck, "You look . . . new."

                         Aurora furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head in confusion, "Thanks?"

                         A few minutes later Annabeth came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies.

                         Soon, the 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 said, to Aurora who was walking next to him scanning their surroundings, "They have a thing going?"

                         "Unfortunately, " Aurora told him. "Practically everyone knows about it"

                         "What about your mom's husband?"

                         "Well, you know," she said. "Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. He's definitely one of the brightest gods, but not particularly handsome on my mothers book. She seeks more brawn than she does brains. It makes me wonder what she saw in my father."

                         "It's obvious, she likes bikers."

                         Aurora giggled and locked eyes with him, "Apparently"

                         "Hephaestus knows?"

                         "Oh definitely," The brown eyed girl 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, basically to humiliate them, like usual. And in order to escape him, they meet in out-of-the-way places, like . . ." The beaut trailed off, catching sight of something. "Pretty much like that"

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

                         Grover crept 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," Percy said. "So we just walk down there and get it?"

                         Aurora looked at the boat and the little heart painted all over it, "Yeah. Too easy, but the only option we have."

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

                         Aurora narrowed her eyes, "Tell me if you find another"

                         "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?"

                         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 everyone could tell 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. Annabeth, stay with him"

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

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

                         Aurora blushed at the thought of both her and Percy riding the Thrill Ride of Love. His plan made sense. Grover had the shoes so he would be best on top, in case anything went wrong. Annabeth staying with them not only gave them extra firepower if something were to happen but giving the Daughter of Athena a good view of everything would allow her to create an escape plan. Also, taking the Daughter of Aphrodite into the Thrill Ride of Love would grant him more information to what they were looking for.

                         "Okay," The young Stark stammered. Feeling her cheeks burn a bright red. If her father were to find out what she was doing, he'd go ballistic.

                         They reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. Aurora immediately knew what it was. Her mother told her all about it and the uses of love magic. In all honesty, when her mother was telling her she almost fell asleep which was ironic considering her mother was speaking to her through her dreams.

                         When Percy picked up the silky scarf, it shimmered pink, and the perfume was indescribable—rose, or mountain laurel. Aurora quickly snatched the familiar fabric out of Percy's hands. His eyes were beginning to turn hazy.

                         "Yeah, no. It's best if we stay away from that"

                         "What?"

                         "My mother's scarf," she began. "Its coated with love magic and that's the last thing we need right now."

                         "I doubt she'd need that to keep Ares around."

                         "No," she agreed. "But it's her favorite accessory."

                         Percy reached to take a hold of Ares' shield, but his hand broke through something that had been connecting it to the dashboard.

                         "Aurora!" Annabeth yelled from above them. "It's Hephaestus! Eta, means H!"

                         Aurora turned to Percy with panicked eyes, "It's a trap!"

                         "Yeah. I see that!"

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

                     Grover yelled, "Guys!"

                         Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. It was weird,  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.

                         "Obviously!" Aurora said. Percy grabbed the shield and they ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as going down.

                         "Come on!" Grover shouted. Both him 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 their hands.

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

                         "Oh for Aphrodite's sake!" Aurora yelled. "Hephaestus made this trap to catch my mom with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute idiots!"

                         They'd almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic . . . things poured out. Annabeth screamed from above them. It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all scuttling toward them in a wave of clacking, whirring metal.

                         Aurora might have a phobia with snakes, but she truthfully was not scared of spiders.

                         Aurora yelled, "Sword!"

                         Her familiar sword appeared in her hand and her shield made a metallic bang when it transformed.

                         The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding toward the center of the pool, completely surrounding them. Percy climbed the boat and before the Daughter of Aphrodite could comprehend what was going on, the Son of Poseidon wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her inside the boat and secured her spot next to him.

                         Percy started kicking away the spider as they swarmed a board. Aurora raised her swords and sent some flying through the air to the best of her ability.

                         "Grover!" She yelled. "Don't let a single spider near Annabeth!"

                         "I'm trying!"

                         "Thirty, twenty-nine," called the loudspeaker. The spiders started spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie them down. The strands were easy enough to break at first, but there were so many of them, and the spiders just kept coming. Percy kicked one away from Aurora's leg, which the other was too preoccupied on making sure her best friend was alright to notice.

                         Grover hovered above the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull thenet loose, but it wouldn't budge.

                         Aurora waved him away, "Go to Annabeth! We'll handle it!" She turned to Percy. "We can handle it right?"

                         "Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called.

                         Percy turned to the girl next to him who was frantically kicking the spider away, "Aurora! How good of a shot are you?"

                         Aurora kicked a spider that was near Percy's head, "I'm alright!"

                         Percy pointed at the booth that had a flashing button that read 'ON'. Aurora instantly knew what the boy wanted her to do. So, she yelled, "Bow!"

                         Her bow appeared in her right hand and her quiver was in her back, "Cover me!"

                         She lodged an arrow and did her best to try and ignore the many metallic spider around them and let go. The young demigod hit the button dead on, and waited a couple of seconds to see what was supposed to happen, only for nothing to happen.

                         "Five, four—"

                         Aurora turned to Percy with her eyes wide. Percy once again wrapped his arms around her waist as his eyes were screwed shut.

                         "There has to be a flaw in the system!" Aurora yelled. "If I can find it, I can re-program it to stop all together. We can get out of here!"

                         "Two, one, zero!"

                         Percy shook his head, "Too late!"

                         Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. Percy's arms tightened around the Daughter of Aphrodite as she release a sudden yelp at the appearance of the water.

                         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. Aurora could tell Percy was having a tough time willing the boat to ride the current, to keep away from the wall. She placed her hands on his forearms in comfort.

                         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 toward the tunnel and they rocketed through into the darkness. Both Aurora and Percy held tight onto each other, both of them screaming as the boat shot curls and hugged corners and took forty-five-degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other Valentine's Day stuff.

                         Then they were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through their hair as the boat barreled straight toward the exit. If the ride had been in working order, they would've sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. But there was a problem. The Gates of Love were chained. Two boats that had been washed out of the tunnel before them were now piled against the barricade—one submerged, the other cracked in half.

                         Percy unwrapped his arms from the caramel beauty and strapped Ares's shield to his arm, "We're going to have to jump for it."

                         Aurora's jaw went slack in surprise, "Ocean eyes, if I die I will drown you!"

                         Nonetheless, she did as told.

                         As the boat struck, they would use its force like a springboard to jump the gate. Aurora bit her lip in anxiousness at the thought of not making it. She gripped Percy's hand as the gates got closer.

                         "On my mark," Percy said.

                         "No! On my mark!"

                         "What?"

                         "Simple physics!" she yelled. "Force times the trajectory angle—"

                         Her Stark was showing.

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

                         Aurora took a deep breath while hesitating for a couple of seconds and then suddenly yelled, "Now!"

                         Crack!

                         Aurora was right. If they'd jumped when Percy thought they should've, they would've crashed into the gates. She got them maximum lift. Times like these were when Aurora thanked the gods she was Anthony Stark's daughter.

                         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 toward solid asphalt.

                         Aurora felt something grab the back of her shirt and turned in surprise only to find Grover holding onto the back of her shirt. Annabeth was clinging onto his back line a piggy back ride, and he held Percy by the arm.

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

                         "I knew I shouldn't have ate that cheeseburger!" Aurora yelled out frightfully. "Shield!" She connected both of her bangles together which morphed into a giant shield.

                         "Drop me, Grover!"

                         Percy's eyes shot open, "Are you crazy?"

                         "Grover do it!"

                         Grover did as told. Aurora tucked her entire body behind the shield as she free-fell. Her loose wet hair flew passed her and before she knew it, she landed on top of the shield with a boom.

                         The others smashed into a photo-board, Grover's head going straight into the hole where tourists would put their faces with Annabeth still on his back, pretending to be Noo-Noo the Friendly Whale. Percy tumbled to the ground, banged up but alive.

                         Once they caught their breath, Percy got Grover out of the photo board and thanked him for saving both his and Aurora's lives. When they looked back at the Thrill Ride of Love. The water was subsiding. Their boat had been smashed to pieces against the gates. A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on them, the spotlights in their faces.

                         "Show's over!" Percy yelled. "Thank you! Good night!"

                         Aurora walked up next to him and yelled "Bow!" She lodged an arrow and let it soar. It hit one camera dead on.

                         Grover said, "Nice shot"

                         Aurora shrugged, "Five years with this thing comes with its benefits"

                         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.

                         Aurora looked at her drenched attire, angry that her effort went to waste. She stomped her foot angrily, "That was humiliating."

                         Percy nodded as he hefted the shield on his arm and turned to his friends. "We need to have a little talk with Ares."

                         Aurora clenched her teeth, "When I get my hands on him—"

Two updates! Whoooooo!

No, Nathaniel in this chapter, but do you guys want to see more interactions with him?

Also, I was watching all the avengers movies and I can't wait to write them. I'm going to go crazy!

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❪ the prodigy, 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 book. ❫
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