UNFORGIVEN¹ PERCY JACKSON

008

Evelyn sighed as she began walking away and Percy followed after her, "Wait, did you use that charmspeak on me?"

She hummed, "Maybe." She had a teasing grin on her face that quickly dropped as she looked at their surroundings. She didn't know how Hephaestus would react to her since she was a literal child of her one of Aphrodite's many affairs.

"Okay..." Percy dropped the charmspeak subject, "But if this place belongs to the god of craftsmen, what was the god of war doing here? aren't they enemies" Percy questioned, looking at the girl next to him. "Then why'd he split without his shield?"

"Ares kinda has a thing with my mom," Evelyn replied, she didn't like that fact but what can she do. 

"Oh, you're kidding, he met her here?" Percy's eyes widened, "In her husband's park? That's so wrong"

"That's my mom," Evelyn shrugged, "They got caught and he had to leave in a hurry" she sighed. "Ares was right about this family being a mess."

Suddenly a pink light started glowing. Evelyn could make out the word love-bingo, "Don't say a word." Evelyn said, not looking at Percy

"I didn't say anything."

Evelyn rolled her eyes, "I can feel you thinking it." She put away her embarrassment, "This is our place, it must be where Ares and my mom got caught, the shield has to be in there" She stated,  "We just have to go get it."

Percy sighed, "Sure, let's go check out the scary ghost ride, why not?"

They hopped into a boat, floating into the pink-hued darkness of the love tunnel as the boat gently glided along the water, Evelyn had a feeling that a certain love goddess was giggling and kicking her feet, as she watched her daughter with the son of Poseidon in a love tunnel of all places.

what is love? baby, don't hurt me, don't hurt me... a song started playing, startling the two kids, both of them was not expecting that.

"What is happening right now?" Evelyn scoffed.

"I feel like I've heard this before. I think in an orthodontist's office maybe?" Percy shrugged as a light appeared on the walls, a trail going all over the place,

Some sort of story was playing, since there were little figures doing dances and all sorts of stuff.

"Wait I know this," They kept looking at the projection. "It's Hephaestus' story." Percy looked over at the girl but the second their eyes met both of them looked away, "rejected by Hera, rejected by Aphrodite, my mom told me these stories all the time. I remember this. She said..."

"What?"

"She said this is what the gods are like to each other, this is the kind of family they are."

"Why did you wanna say that just now?" Evelyn asked.

"She was trying to keep me away from you guys," he replied as she frowned. "Maybe she should've been preparing me better."

"I think she was preparing you," Evelyn defended, "So when you got to us, you'd be different than all of this," She gestured to the projection on the walls, meaning the family of egotistical maniacs.

All of a sudden the lights went off, and everything was dark as the two came closer to a deep drop. The boat began sliding down while the two kids screamed in horror.

Evelyn kept her eyes closed for most of it, clinging onto the boat for dear life but as the boat started going in a straight line again, she opened her eyes.

The boat bobs along the water slowly. Evelyn felt sick. For a while, the two of them just sit there, still reeling.

"You okay?" Percy asks after he catches his breath.