The rest of the passengers on the train got off eagerly, probably ready to stretch their legs after such a long trip, but we stood still, staring at him.
He stared back, and nobody got in-between us, so he never lost his eye contact.
"What should we do?" I whispered to Annabeth, and she hesitated, looking up at me.
"I don't know."
"I'll tell you what you should do." Ares spoke up gruffly, his accent a cross between Texan and Midwestern, somehow hearing me from so far away.
"And what's that?" Annabeth asked, feigning confidence over her fear.
"You should come with me, and get some pancakes. You guys gotta be hungry, right? I know a good diner nearby." He smirked.
"Do we have much of a choice?" Grover asked, shaking so much that I could literally see his knees knock.
"Nope." He chuckled, before taking off his sunglasses. He was terrifying before, but now that we could see his eyes, he was even worse.
They were like a deep red abyss, and even though he was relatively far away, you could see literal fire flicker in them, promising pain if he was pissed off.
"Then let's go." I sighed.
___________________________________________
I was hungry, I really was. But my appetite was lost watching Ares devour a stack of pancakes, crumbs getting stuck in his sharp beard and the noises he made as he ate threw me off.
He was smacking his lips and sucking his fingers of any extra syrup, and the feeling of disgust was too much. Judging by the fullness of their plates, I was guessing Grover and Annabeth were feeling something similar.
Once he finally finished his large pancake stack (and our unfinished ones), chugged down a large milkshake, and had some dessert, Ares let out a big burp that got us disgusted looks from other diners but he didn't seem to care.
"Ah! That was good grub!" He laughed to himself, patting his stomach as he laid back in his chair.
"Right. I'm sure you enjoyed it." Annabeth sarcastically muttered before continuing.
"So why exactly did you come all this way to meet us?" She asked, staring at the war god in a mixture of disgust, curiosity and fear.
He grinned, putting his hands behind his head, his aura just screaming arrogance.
"Yeah, I'm sure you're wondering, aren't 'cha? Well I'll tell you, Owl Brat. And don't worry, I'm not here to kill you for my dad or whatever." He waved it off and I think we all gave a big sigh of relief, much to his amusement.
"Believe me, if I wanted to kill ya, you'd be long dead by now. But nah, I'm not here for anything that fun. I'm here to give you brats an offer." He crossed his arms and a devious twinkle appeared in his eye.
"And what's that?" I leaned forward a little bit, interested in what he had to say.
"Look. Sea Brat. What you've done recently is pretty well known. Everybody on Olympus knows about the monsters you've killed, and we definetly know about that stupid bitch Achelous. And now you're the heir to your daddy? I wish you were my son, instead of those worthless pieces of shit that you humiliated at Camp Half-Blood." He paused.
I forgot about that. For some reason, I didn't seem to think that Clarisse's dad might have a problem with me, even after what I did to her. Thank goodness he didn't, otherwise, I might not still be breathing.
"But look. A few of the gods aren't exactly happy with all your new glory and whatnot. They'd rather see you dead. I'm not one of them though. Personally, I don't care about some stupid mortal, but I can't say the same for others. Do you get what I'm trying to say?" He looked directly at me, ignoring the other two. I shook my head.
"Nope."
"You might be strong, kid, but you need to be smart. You've fallen outta favor with Zeus, and a couple others. He can make your life very hard. He'll try to throw monster after monster at you until you eventually give up and die. You might not even make it to Hades alive. Get me now?"
I glanced at Annabeth and Grover, worry starting to creep in, and I think they were feeling it too.
"What's your point?" I growled. Ares sat back again, amused.
"Well, I can make your life a little easier. I'll provide you brats a safe way to get to LA, and fuck it, I'll even throw in a backpack with some goodies in, like food, nectar, ambrosia, drachmas, whatever." He started, but before we could begin to celebrate too early, he landed another bombshell on us.
"BUT. I need you to do something for me in return. You didn't think I'd do all that for free, did ya? Out of the goodness of my heart? Fuck no." He smirked.
Grover's voice trembled. "What do you want from us?"
Ares slammed the table, making the plates clatter and the drinks to fall over. It was a little overdramatic but I didn't say anything.
"I'll tell ya. I need you guys to get my shield for me. I left it at a waterpark, in some ride called the 'Tunnel of Love'. I was too busy fucking my lady friend to notice, y'know?" He was miming out the action of humping and when he noticed out disgusted expressions, he looked exasperated.
"Don't look at me like that, Jackson! I know you know what I'm talking about, y'know, when you're fucking with her!" He pointed at Annabeth and we both shook our heads vigorously.
"Nope! Nuh uh! We aren't like that!" Annabeth pointed at me and pretended to throw up, which stung a little. I didn't think I was that gross.
"Yeah! Whatever! Just keep speaking, move on, man!" I added and Ares whistled suggestively, but thankfully he carried on.
"Fine. Basically, all I need you to do is get my shield from that waterpark, bring it back to me at this exact location by sunset, and I'll give you a ride to DOA Studios, hm?" He crossed his arms, and before I could ask him what DOA Studios meant, he spoke again.
"Let me remind you, you can't afford to say no. You've got no way of getting to LA, right now, and the solstice is in two days. That's not enough time to get there and back to New York. If you do what I ask, you'll be in the Underworld by tomorrow morning, and you can be back with time to spare. Understand?" His voice got low and he said that last part almost like a threat, and I could feel my body start to get overtaken with adrenaline.
I glanced at the other two, who both nodded simultaneously. I think we all came to the same conclusion.
This was our only way to make it.
"Fine. We'll do it."
___________________________________________
Ares packed us all on some motorbike, and took us from the diner outside of the city, to a desolate and empty looking waterpark.
It had a sign, which was only partly illuminated but I was thankful for it, since the relentless stormy sky blocked all sunlight that would let us see it. The letters were hanging off and reminded me of an 1800s circus fair, but they were basic enough to be read, even with my dyslexia. It said:
" H'S WONDERFUL WATER PARK "
And I could already feel my nerves begin to kick in.
As soon as we arrived and hopped off the bike though, Ares decided to immediately leave, riding off into the sunset and providing us with no further instructions, other than "Get the shield!".
I looked back at my friends and they seemed equally unnerved by it all.
"Why would he go here of all places?" Grover murmured.
"Better question, who's H?" Annabeth pointed at the sign.
"Whatever man, let's just head in. Lets not waste any more time than we have to." I shook my head and sighed, heading towards the gates and pushing my way through the spinny metal thingy.
Annabeth followed, and the Grover, and we looked around at the same time, surveying the depressing theme park for any sign of the ride Ares mentioned.
It looked more like a ghost town, several unused rides and discarded, old building everywhere, and I felt a chill down my spine.
Annabeth cleared her throat and began to speak. "This is a pretty big place. We should split up and cover more ground that way."
"All of us by ourselves?" I asked.
"Nope. Percy, right now you have such a potent scent that every monster in the state of Nevada can probably smell you. And I know you're strong, but you need somebody with you for help." Grover answered.
I nodded. "Right."
"So who goes with him?" Annabeth asked.
"Well, you're stronger than I am. You'd be more help in a fight. Also, you've got a scent as well. I don't think you'd be doing yourself any more favours if you didn't have anybody with you if a monster attacks. Monsters don't care about satyrs, so I'll be OK." Grover reasoned.
"Makes sense." I nodded again. I shot Annabeth a quick glance and she gave me one in return.
"We'll meet back here in four hours."
___________________________________________
We'd been walking for a couple of hours, moving in between buildings and alleyways and old rides, and it was painfully dull.
The drab colors and dark nature of the water park was excruciatingly boring to look at and walk through, and the silent/awkward walk with Annabeth was just as bad.
My ADHD tried to pin my focus on something else, something new, something interesting to look at, but no matter where I looked, it was the same.
It was hell. Actually, no. Hell is colorful. This is more like purgatory.
After a couple of hours of walking in what felt like circles, I'd had enough. I gave off a big sigh and tapped my blonde partner on the shoulder.
"I dunno about you, but this is one of the worst things I've ever had to do. Can we take a rest or something? Give ourselves a break?" I asked and she pursed her lips.
"Percy, I'm feeling the same, but we have to keep going. It's the only way we'll make the quest." She sighed in return, and made to turn back around, but I stopped her half way.
"How can we even be sure we aren't just walking in circles? Everything looks the same, look around us! I'm begging you, let's take some time to just collect our thoughts, and we can keep going. Please?" I tried my best to give puppy dog eyes, but she just laughed.
She shrugged. "Y'know what? Fi-"
Annabeth paused mid-sentence, her eyes seemingly locking onto something over my shoulder, and her jaw dropped. I was curious, and turned around to see what she was looking at, and I was instantly speechless.
The ride we'd spent so long trying to find was right there, and we'd almost missed it. In broken lettering and half-illuminated lights, it read:
"THE TUNNEL OF LOVE"
"FUCKING FINALLY!" I couldn't stop myself from yelling and Annabeth laughed again.
"We've gotta go in." She started.
"Why?"
"Think, dummy. He said he left it in the ride, the shield's not just gonna appear in our hands because we found where it is."
"Ah. Right. Makes sense." I nodded.
We approached the ride carefully, heading into the building it was stationed in, only to be met with candle lights and a harsh neon arrow that pointed towards a miniature fishing boat that sat on some water. There was a tunnel ahead of it which was just as horribly lighted.
"Let's get in." Annabeth spoke gravely.
"Try not to think about how Ares was having sex in this boat."
"For fucks s- Percy!"
"What?"
"Ugh!"
As soon as we sat down, the boat began to move, taking us off guard a little but it was going slow enough to adapt. I shuffled a little so that I wouldn't be hanging over the edge, and accidentally rubbed my arm on Annabeth's side, so I gave her an apologetic glance.
Music began to play around us, a beautiful piano sequence accompanied by a saxophone solo, and instantly I could see why it was called the Tunnel of Love.
The tunnel began to soften up, the harsh neon lighting mellowing into calmer looking candles, that levitated above the river and radiated warmth when we passed them on the boat.
A voice suddenly appeared above the music, a man with a smooth voice basically singing his words out the speakers.
"Ah, a young couple. There is never a more beautiful sight! May this ride bring out your inner passion!"
I felt myself flush, but I turned away from Annabeth hoping that she didn't see my embarrassment. I shook my head vigorously like the voice could see me.
"Uhm, no! We're not actually like th-"
"Don't be embarassed! Just sit back, enjoy the music and feel the love!" The voice cut through me, and I sighed, burying my face in my hands.
Annabeth put her hand on my shoulder, and I took a peek at her through the fingers that covered my face, and I saw her smirk.
"Chill out, Jackson. You don't need to get so embarassed. It's not like we're a couple, so what's there to get so awkward about?" She laughed, and weirdly enough, my embarassment washed away.
Her tone was almost flirtatious, but I stopped myself from thinking too much about that. There's no way she actually felt that way. So I ignored it.
The voice kicked up again, and as soon as it did, I felt the boat move faster, and the tunnel around us began to show a story of silhouettes, dancing on the walls.
"Once upon a time, there was a child. A child born of a king and a queen. But this child was lame. So lame in fact, his own mother threw him from the peak of a mountain, in the hopes his hideousness would disappear with his death."
The silhouettes began to contort to fit the horror story the narrator was saying, showing a man, woman and a baby outside of a palace. Sure enough, the woman was seen throwing the crying baby out of the palace, tumbling down the side of a mountain. Annabeth gasped and I felt my stomach drop, a sick feeling coming over me.
"Thankfully, this baby was found by a group of nymphs. These nymphs raised him, and provided him entertainment in the form of construction. Whether that be with wood, stone or metal, the child could craft anything asked of him. This child trained this innate skill, in the hopes that one day, he could meet the woman who threw him away, and give her a deserved gift."
Again, the silhouettes fit everything he said, a now grown boy surrounded by what seemed like lady elves, and it looked like he was playing with LEGO but I'm not really sure.
"One day, once the boy had reached adulthood, he made a trip to visit the king and queen. However, the man had only brought a gift for his birth mother, in the hopes that they could rebuild their relationship after the unfortunate incident at his birth."
"With him, he brought a throne of gold. One that cemented the queen's place as the richest of all the women in the world, and a symbol of power that showed her strength. She was most pleased. However."
The narrator's tone switched drastically, his voice getting much darker. I glanced at Annabeth to gauge her reaction but her eyes were firmly fixed to the silhouette.
"The queen tried to stand up from her throne, but she found that she physically couldn't. It seemed the man had placed a curse on the throne, one that meant she'd be unable to move for the rest of her life. And to this, the king and queen pleaded forgiveness and freedom from the man, who was enjoying their grovelling."
"The man was content to let her stay there till her last breath, but the offer of immortality, a beautiful wife, and a forge on Olympus was enough to convince him, so he freed the queen. She hasn't bothered him since. Why am I telling you this story, you may ask?"
The narrator paused and I felt my breath catch.
"To show you the consequences of disrespecting the great craftsman, Hephaestus!"
A large bang rang throughout out the tunnel as soon as he finished speaking, and the candles returned to the harsh fluorescent neon lighting from before.
I jumped, and places my hand on Riptide, ready to uncap it at any moment, and a finger rubbed on Maelstrom, prepared to form my armor.
"AHHHHH!" Annabeth screeched, which didn't exactly help my nerves. I snapped my head over to her, only to witness one of the weirdest things I'd seen so far on the quest.
She was being covered by a massive herd of... mechanical spiders? What?
They weren't even doing anything, no biting, no poison, not even any webs. They were just crawling all over her, and I had no idea how they even got there, but she was screeching her head off. I sighed.
I felt the artificial river I hit her with a big blast of water that crushed, broke or flung all of the spiders off of her, only leaving her soaking wet but still very much alive.
She was panting heavily, still shaking uncontrollably and her eyes were wild, but she sighed in relief. She looked at me gratefully.
"Thanks." It was simple, but I knew she meant it, especially with her apparent arachnophobia taking over her. I would have to speak to her about that later.
"Look out!" Annabeth suddenly yelled, pointing behind me, and I snapped my head around only to find a cluster of arrows shooting at me from the side of the tunnel wall, but a quick rub of my Maelstrom ring created my armor around me, and the arrows shattered on contact.
"Th-"
I couldn't even get the word out before seeing a blast of fire head towards my head, and I knew I couldn't react in time to stop it. Thankfully though, Annabeth came in clutch, holding her mini-Aegis between us and the fire, blocking any of the flame from reaching us.
"Damn, this place is booby-trapped." I muttered.
"No shit, Sherlock! This is Hephaestus' playground, it has to be! That's who the narrator was talking about. It's too similar to his story with Hera!" Annabeth yelled.
"So why is he attacking us?! We're not the ones who threw him off a cliff!" I yelled back.
"It's not us specifically, he couldn't care less about some demigods probably. I think this was meant for Ares and Aphrodite!" Annabeth replied.
"Is she the girl he said he was f-"
"Yeah, you don't have to repeat that y'know! But yeah. Hephaestus has a hobby of embarrassing those two, since she's meant to be his wife and all, but she keeps cheating with Ares."
"That's probably why Ares made us come here instead." I figured.
"Yeah, probably. Just be careful, and expect more booby-tr-"
She was cut off when a piranha leapt out of the water at her, but got swiftly cut in half by Riptide. I looked at her amusedly.
"You were saying?"
"Shut up."
___________________________________________
Our little boat trip lasted a few more, insanely tense and terrifying, minutes, and I think Annabeth would agree with me when I say that I've never been so paranoid in my life.
Every noise the boat made down the tunnel was suspicious, and I constantly had one eye behind us and the other looking around the walls for any hidden traps we missed. I'm not sure how I managed to do that, but hey, we were getting attacked in a waterpark ride by a jealous Olympian, so anything was possible.
Eventually though, we made it to a bend in the tunnel and the river that transported the boat, and I was fully expecting for a fireball or a poison cloud or something of the sort to be right around the corner, but instead, I was pleasantly surprised.
There was a large ceramic statue, of Heracles if I had to guess but it could've been any generic hero, sitting on a platform beside the river, posing with a sword in one hand and in the other... there was a shield.
The sword wasn't anything special, just a part of the statue, but the shield was incredibly decorative, intricate patterns lining it's edges with the head of a boar firmly imprinted in the center. The shield radiated with a harsh energy, almost like it was angry, and it shone with its bronze glow.
That shield was definetly Ares'.
"Hey, Annabeth?" I glanced at her and she was already looking at the statue, determined.
"Yeah, I know. Question is, how are we gonna reach it?" She squinted as if she was thinking.
I'm pretty sure it was a rhetorical question, but I think I had an answer.
The statue was what, like twenty feet away from the river? I could swim that. It would be an easy retrieval really, and we could get out of this stupid ride quickly enough.
"I think I know how."
She looked at me questioningly, and I relayed the entire, very simple but hopefully effective, plan, and she just stood there, listening. When I was done she just nodded.
"Fine. That's acceptable. Just be careful, Percy. Seriously." She gave me a meaningful look and I bashfully grinned.
"That doesn't sound like me." I laughed, rocketing myself off of the boat before she could get annoyed at me, embracing the dark, cold water happily.
Funnily enough, even though I was swimming against the direction of the current, basically moving perpendicular to where the water was flowing, I was swimming just as fast as I usually would.
Actually, no. I was going faster. Like the water was getting behind me and pushing me forwards. It was a really weird feeling.
I couldn't ponder on it though, my time was limited as soon as I reached the platform the statue was on. I glanced back at the river, where the boat was moving quite quickly, and I snapped my attention straight back to the shield, dangling above me in the hand of the statue.
With a quick survey of the statue, I leapt up onto it, clutching onto the hero's armor and scaling my way up, reaching the arm easily. I didn't look down, knowing I was like ten feet above the ground, and if I did, my vertigo would kick in and I would almost certainly fall.
I jumped up onto the arm, and scooted my way across till I reached the shield. Grinning to myself, I eagerly placed my hand on it to take it away an-
BOOM
My vision was covered in orange and yellow, and I think I could see debris scattering everywhere. In the distance, I think I could hear Annabeth scream, but I couldn't be sure since the noise was so deafeningly loud.
After a couple of seconds just lying on the ground, I coughed and stood up, looking around to see what happened.
Where the statue once was, was a pile of broken ceramic, surrounded by bursts of fire and a cracked platform.
It seemed that Hephaestus had one last booby-trap for me. A fucking bomb.
Seriously, how much did this dude hate Ares?
I looked down, and thankfully, I still held a slight burned shield in my hand, marked with the ancient crest of war, the spear of Ares.
Miraculously though, I was completely unharmed, no scars, scratches, wounds or burns across my body, I was just slightly disoriented. Maelstrom was in full armor mode however, and I could feel its usually solid water trail down my frame, washing over me and if I had to guess, it was healing any damage I took from the explosion.
This was a really cool gift from my dad.
Once my wits returned though, I weighed the shield in my hands and slung it over my shoulder, locking my eyes onto the boat, which was getting further away with each second.
I gave a look towards Annabeth, letting her know I was OK, before diving back into the water, and feeling it propel me towards the boat again. Within a couple of seconds, I was at the boat again, leaving the water with my body completely dry and rejuvenated, dropping the shield on the floor of the boat with a sigh of relief.
Annabeth rose her eyebrows sarcastically and grinned at me.
"Well that was easy."
___________________________________________
AN:
Word Count: 4,204
Overall Word Count: 39,470
Not much to say here, but again, any constructive criticism is welcome.
I hope you enjoyed and see you next chapter!