Percy and I swam towards the surface. We came ashore next to a floating Mcdonald's. A block away, every emergency vehicle surrounded the Gateway Arch, while the police helicopters circled on top of it.
There was a news lady talking for the camera. "It's probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of two people falling from the Arch.
I followed Percy through the crowd, looking for Annabeth and Grover.
Another reporter spoke up. "The surveillance cameras show that a boy and a girl were going wild on the observation deck and setting off an explosion. Hard to believe but it's what we heard."
"Percy! Val!" I turned around to see Grover and Annabeth running over to us. Grover tackled me and Percy both in a big hug.
"What happened, both of you?" Annabeth asked us.
"We fell," Percy said.
"Six hundred and thirty feet?" Annabeth said.
Then behind us, a cop yelled, "gangway." The crowd moved as a couple of paramedics, came out, rolling a woman on the stretcher.
"And then there was this big dog, this huge fire-breathing chihuahua," the woman was saying. "And a boy and girl jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw us. "Look that's the boy and girl." She pointed at us.
Percy quickly grabbed me, Annabeth, and Grover, and pulled us into the crowd.
"What's going on?" Annabeth asked us.
Percy and I took turns, as we told them the story about the Chimera, Echidna, and everything.
"Okay, we need to get you both to Santa Monica," Grover said. "You can't ignore a summon like that from your father."
Then we passed by another reporter who said. "Percy Jackson. The boy who caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by the authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the girl that was with him also helped him cause the explosions."
We ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.
"First we need to get out of this town," Percy said.
"Agreed," I said. We made it back to the Amtrak train, without being spotted, and got on it before it pulled out.
The next day, the train arrived in Denver.
"Let's contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about the river spirit."
"We can't use phones tho," Percy said.
"She's not talking about phones," I explained.
We walked around downtown, looking for something with a good connection to Iris-message. Eventually, we came across a do it yourself car wash. We walked over to the stall that was farthest from the street.
Grover took out the spray gun, "Seventy cents. All I have is 2 quarters. Annabeth, Percy, Val. Do you have anything?"
"What are we doing?" Percy said as he took out some change from his pocket.
"Iris-messaging," I explained. "Iris, the goddess of rainbows, carries messages for the gods. And she'll do the same for half-bloods."
Grover pointed the nozzle into the air, and water came out in a mist and a rainbow broke out in the mist.
Annabeth looked over at Percy. "Drachma please?"
He gave it to her.
Annabeth took it and held it up. "Oh, goddess, accept our offering." She threw it into the mist. "HALF BLOOD HILL!" The air shimmered and the view of the strawberry fields came into my view. Luke was standing on the porch.
"Hey, Luke!" Percy called to him. He turned and saw us and ran towards us.
"Percy, Val, Annabeth, Grover, thank the gods you guys are okay!" he grinned.
"We're fine," Annabeth replied to him. "Where is Chiron?"
"He's at the cabins," he answered. "We are having some problems with the campers. Is everything okay with you guys?"
"What kind of problems?" I asked him. A car pulled into the car wash, blasting some really loud music.
"What's that noise?" Luke asked.
"We'll take care of it," Annabeth said. "Come on Grover."
Grover gave the nozzle to Percy and I and followed Annabeth over to the car.
"So what's going on at camp?" I asked Luke.
"The campers are all taking sides in the brewing war," he answered. "The Aphrodite, Apollo, and Ares cabins are on Poseidon's sides and Athena is on Zeus's. It's a mess. So what's going on with you too?"
Percy and I took turns telling Luke everything that happened on the quest, so far.
"Hades stole it," Luke said, after a minute of thinking. "He must've used his helm of darkness to turn himself invisible and stole it." Then the water ran out and the iris messaged faded. Percy and I glanced at each other. Then Annabeth and Grover walked over us to join us.
"Everything okay you two?" Annabeth asked us.
"Yeah we're fine," I said, as my stomach growled.
Percy glanced at me. "Yeah, we should probably get some food, and we'll tell you as we eat."
We went to a diner which was right next to the gas station and sat down at a booth table. A waitress came over to us. "Well?"
"We want to order some food," Annabeth replied.
"Do you kids have any money?" she asked us.
"It's on me," A voice from behind the waitress called out. I looked up to see a guy. He sat down next to Annabeth and Grover, as the waitress went back to the kitchen to get our food.
I stared at the guy. He looked a lot like Clarisse, and he was wearing sunglasses, and a red shirt and black jeans, and his face was brutal. "You're Ares."
"Clarisse's dad?" Percy asked.
"That's right punk," Ares smirked. "So I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."
"She was asking for it."
"That's fine. I don't fight my kids' fights. But what I am here for- I am here to ask you, kids, a favor."
The waitress came back with a tray full of cheeseburgers and french fries. Ares reached into his pocket, pulling out some drachmas and handing it to her.
She stared at it. "B-but these aren't-"
Ares pulled out a knife. "Got a problem."
"N-no," she swallowed, and ran back into the kitchen.
Percy glared at Ares. "You can't do that. You can't just threaten people with a knife."
Ares smirked. "Are you kidding? I love this country. So anyways I got a favor for you kids."
"What favor?" I asked him.
"So the other day I was at an abandoned waterpark with my girlfriend. We were interrupted and then I left my shield behind. I want you kids to go and fetch it for me."
"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" Percy asked him.
"Because a god is giving you a chance to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward? Or are you only going to fight when there is a river to dive into?"
Percy looked like he wanted to punch him. "We've already got a quest."
"I know all about your quest punk. Tell you what, I'll give you kids a ride west if you go get my shield."
"We're fine all on our own."
"Yeah, right. No money. No ride. No clue what you're up against. If you help me out, I'll tell you something about your's and Val's mom."
"Mine and Val's mom?" Percy asked, confused.
"Yeah, didn't you know anything about your mom hiding something really big from you?"
"Hold up," I said. "You can't just drop a bombshell like that."
"Isn't it obvious Valentina Jackson? You and Percy have the same last name and the same godly parent. And you haven't seen your mom in years since you were born and then years later a kid with the same last name as you shows up at camp. Anyways, the waterpark is a mile west on Delaney. Look for the tunnel of Love Ride." Then he disappeared, leaving me confused.
"This isn't good," Grover said.
"It's probably just a trick," Percy said. "Let's just forget Ares and just go."
"We can't," Annabeth replied. "You don't ignore a god unless you want a serious bad fortune."
One hour later, we arrived at the waterpark. The name was Waterland. It was abandoned and it felt really creepy to me.
"If Ares brings his girlfriend here, then I don't want to see what she looks like," Percy said.
"Percy, be respectful," Annabeth said, as we climbed over the fence, holding down the barbed wire for each other.
"You don't want to insult her looks," Grover warned
"Who is she?" Percy asked.
"Aphrodite, the goddess of love," I explained.
"I thought she was married to Hephaestus," Percy said, confused.
"She is," I said, as we passed by a souvenir shop.
"Clothes!" Annabeth squealed as she ran inside to grab some clothes for all of us and came back.
As we looked for the tunnel of love, Percy spoke up. "So Aphrodite and Ares have a thing going? What about Hephaestus?"
"Hephaestus was crippled and thrown off Olympus by Zeus when he was born. He is clever with his hands, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent."
"Does Hephaestus know?"
"He caught them together once," Annabeth explained. "He is always trying to embarrass them, which is why Aphrodite and Ares are always trying to meet in out-of-the-way places."
Then we found the tunnel of love. It was a 50-yard long bowl, with cupids standing guard. At the bottom, there was a three-seater boat. Ares's shield sat in one of the seats.
"So we just walk down and get the shield?" Percy asked.
Annabeth ran her fingers on the base of the nearest cupid. "There is a greek letter carved here."
"Grover, you smell anything?" I asked him.
He sniffed. "Nope."
"Grover you stay up here," Percy told him. "We'll be counting on you for backup if something goes wrong. Annabeth and Val you come with me." I nodded as we followed Percy into the boat. The moment he touched the shield, things went wrong.
"Uh, guys. There's a greek letter etched on the side of the boat, this is a trap," Annabeth said.
The cupids drew their bows and started shooting arrows at the edge of the pool. Silky cabled weaved together making a net. Then out of the cupids head, some cameras came out. "Live to Olympus in one minute. Fifty-nine....fifty-eight....fifty-seven."
"We need to get out of here!" Percy said as we tried to get out of the boat. But we slipped and fell back in. Grover ran over to us and tried to open sections in the net, so we can get out but the threads wrapped around his hands. Then the mirrors above us opened up and some metallic spiders crawled out
"Ahhh spider!!" Annabeth screamed.
"Thirty-nine....thirty-eight," the loudspeaker announced.
The spiders spit out some threads trying to tie us down. Grover flew around trying to pull the net free.
"Fifteen....fourteen....."
Percy looked around and his eyes landed on some water pipes. Then he looked back at me, making eye contact. I nodded as I understood what he was trying to say.
Percy and I both closed our eyes concentrating on the water pipes. Then the pipes started rumbling and then water exploded everywhere. The water filled the pool, sweeping away the spiders. Together, we willed the boat to move towards the exit. Once we reached the exit, Percy looked over at Annabeth and I.
"We're going to have to jump," Percy told us. I nodded. "On the count of three. One, two, three." We all jumped off the boat. Grover grabbed us from behind, slowing us down, as we all slammed onto the ground.
"We need to have a little talk with Ares," Percy said.
"Yes, we do," I agreed with him.