pocket full of posies
❛ ix. êta's love trap ❜

━━━━━ JOSEPHINE WOULD'VE LOVED to have some deep philosophical idea about life and death; why the concept of death shapes life and why every action they take is a step closer to death and how they shouldn't fear death because of it—or something like that. All that came out was a long, high-pitched scream. She was sure if the winds weren't carrying her voice away, Percy would have had a pierced eardrum.

The two raced towards the Mississippi River. Josephine tightened her arms around Percy, her hair was whipping around above her head. Percy was cursing loudly, his voice carried above them by the wind. The wind had ripped the air out of Josephine's lungs. Steeples, skyscrapers, and bridges tumbled in and out of her vision.

She knew hitting any water at a great height was like hitting concrete. Josephine knew that. Why Percy ever thought they—or at the very least, Josephine, only a daughter of Apollo—could make out of this alive was astonishing to her.

Josephine sealed her eyes closed. Percy's fingers dug into her side as he tightened his grip. They tensed as they headed for the water. Then, a whiteout of bubbles. The two sank through the murky water, clinging onto each other. They settled at the bottom of the river soundlessly. An extra large catfish lurched away into the gloom.

Maybe the shock of still being alive wore off, but the shock of breathing underwater seemed to smack her in the face. She let go of Percy, ready to swim to shore. The water clung to her immediately, soaking through her clothes, and her hair started floating slightly around her. Bubbles escaped from her nose as she breathed out. Percy still looked completely dry; Josephine squinted in the water, finding the water around Percy's skin looked lighter, the way the water did around hydrophobic things.

She kicked off the ground, swimming for the shore. Once she broke the water, the daughter of Apollo took a huge gasp of air. She pulled herself onto the dirty shore, shivering from the wind blowing past. She sat on the edge, tucking away her two daggers before wringing the water out of her ruined ponytail.

Two pairs of arms grabbed Josephine, pulling her to her feet. Annabeth and Grover were staring at the smoking hole in the Arch.

"What the hell happened up there?" Annabeth demanded, pulling Josephine away from the Mississippi River.

Grover bleated loudly. People were too engrossed in everything else happening they didn't notice the goat sounds.

"Where's Perrrcy?" Grover asked.

Josephine shook the water off her hands, wringing out the bottom of her Camp Half-Blood shirt. "He's still down there."

She looked upward; helicopters surrounded the Arch and the burning building. A large crowd of onlookers had gathered around, pushing and shoving each other to get better looks. Josephine swallowed hard, she hoped those mortals had gotten out before any flames could catch up to them.

Annabeth and Grover led Josephine far away from the river, all hoping nobody would think she was a part of the commotion with a trail of water droplets in her wake. Josephine kept a close eye on the river, looking for any sign of Percy. She craned her neck around the mortals around her when a little girl said loudly, "Mama! That boy walked out of the river!"

The mother didn't believe her daughter. "That's nice, dear." She was too busy craning her neck to watch the ambulances.

"But he's dry!"

"That's nice, dear," the mother repeated.

A news lady was talking to a bulky camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of people falling from the Arch."

Josephine felt a surge of relief at the word 'survivors'. That family and the park ranger made it out. She risked using her powers and they still made it out alive. That nasty part of her brain still reminded her that they could suffer from boils and coughing fits, though.

Josephine pushed through the crowd with Annabeth and Grover, telling them about the conversation she had heard. The three questers headed closer to the river once again, looking for any signs of a twelve-year-old walking out of the river.

"... two adolescents; a boy and girl," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show two adolescents going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities ..."

Josephine caught a glimpse of unruly hair backing away from the crowds. She pushed past a man in a suit, taking a running start for the son of Poseidon. Grover and Annabeth ran after her.

Grover tackled Percy in a hug. He bleated, "Perrrcy! We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"

"I told you he was fine," insisted Josephine.

Annabeth was standing behind Grover and Josephine, even she seemed relieved to find Percy alive. "We can't leave you and Josephine alone for five minutes! What happened?"

Percy glanced at Josephine. "We sort of fell ..."

"Six hundred and thirty feet?"

Josephine placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It was Echidna and Chimera, Annabeth ..."

She felt like she had to come to Percy's defense, almost. Josephine would have been dead meat if it wasn't for Percy. There was no way Echidna would have let Josephine go, not with such a strong grudge because of their intertwined past.

Annabeth's angry expression faded. She pursed her lips, looking away.

Behind them, a cop shouted, "Gangway!"

The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. Josephine recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua—"

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

"I'm not crazy!" the mother insisted. "This girl—her hands—she saved us. And that boy—he had a weapon. I'm telling you, if it wasn't for that girl my family and I would be dead!"

Josephine made eye contact with the mortal woman. The lady's eyes widened, and her arm shot out, pointing at the daughter of Apollo and Percy, nearly smacking one of the paramedics in the face. "There she is! The girl—and the boy's with her!"

Josephine grabbed Percy by the arm, using Annabeth and Grover as human shields to block themselves. The questers disappeared into the crowd, trying to get as far away from the survivors as they would certainly be used as eyewitnesses to identify Percy and Josephine.

"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "What is that lady talking about? That lady and her Chihuahua were Echidna and Chimera?"

"Yes!" said Josephine. "They were!"

Percy and Josephine explained the best they could about what happened on the Arch after the elevator left. Then, Percy explained about an underwater visit he had from this lady messenger who passed on a summons to Percy from Poseidon, his father.

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

Before anyone could respond, they passed a reporter doing a news break. Josephine felt her heart drop when she heard what the reporter was saying, "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have 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 boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson. As of now, we do not have an identification of the girl who was with him during this explosion, but here is a photo of her. We do believe she is one of three who was with Jackson on the New Jersey attack. If you have any leads, please contact your local police."

They ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.

"First thing first," said Percy. "We've got to get out of town!"

Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. The campers board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. Josephine slumped into a seat, as the train trundled west. Darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind them.

✿

The next afternoon, June 14th, seven days before the solstice, their train rolled into Denver. They hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. They hadn't taken a shower since Camp Half-Blood, and it was beginning to get obvious.

"Let's try and contact Chiron," said Annabeth. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit. And"—her eyes flickered over to Josephine—"I think we need to tell him what happened at Aunty Em's with ..."

Josephine glanced off, a heavy feeling in her stomach. "Tell him it happened again. Back on the Arch, my hands glowed green."

Percy frowned. "We can't use phones, right? Something about signals and flares for monsters."

The black-haired girl smiled lightly at Percy's cluelessness. "There are other ways besides phones," she told him.

They wandered through the downtown for about half an hour, looking for any form of water and light where a rainbow could be formed. The air was dry and hot, which felt strange after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere they looked, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring the four down, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.

Finally, they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. Veering towards the stall furthest from the street, keeping an eye out for patrol cars. They were four adolescents hanging out at a carwash without a car to wash; any cop in his right mind 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," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

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

Josephine patted her pockets, nothing but a plastic wrapping from a peppermint she'd taken from the dining car. "I've got nothing," she said.

Percy fished out a bit of change from his pockets, passing Grover a quarter. That left them with two nickels and one drachma taken from Medusa's place.

"Excellent," said Grover. "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 the hell are you talking about?" Percy raised his eyebrows.

The satyr fed in the quarters and set the knob to fine mist. "I.M.ing"

"Instant messaging?" Percy asked.

"Iris Messaging," corrected Josephine. "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?"

"It's not summoning her," said Josephine. "Not entirely, anyway. We're just asking if she'll help us, really. Besides, this is the easiest way to make a rainbow."

Sure enough, the late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors.

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

He tossed it over.

The blonde 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.

Then, Josephine was looking through the mist and at the 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 shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" Percy called.

He turned, eyes wide. For a moment, he looked startled, but he recognized what was happening.

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

"We're ... uh ... fine," said Annabeth, struggling. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "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? Are Grover all right?"

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

Josephine was frowning. "Luke," she spoke up, "what's happening at Camp?"

Before the son of Hermes could answer her, a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum sound. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the song 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. She grabbed Josephine's hand and pulled her along. "Grover, come on!"

"What?" said Grover. "But—"

"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" the daughter of Athena ordered.

Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle of Delphi, then he handed Percy the spray gun and followed after Annabeth and Josephine.

The car with the loud music stopped in the stall beside them. The three came over, and Josephine spotted the annoying driver. He couldn't be anything older than twenty-two, but the way he dressed made him look like he was going through a mid-life crisis. His head was shaved, his face looked battered and bruised, and his clothes were stained with dirt and oil. He didn't smell, that was the odd part; it was like looking dirty was his aesthetic or something.

The man was leaning against the open door, lazily looking over as he heard the three walking over. He scoffed at the sight of them.

Annabeth frowned. "Could you turn the music down?"

"What's it to you?" the man countered. "Shouldn't you three have a babysitter?"

The blonde gritted her teeth, looking over at Josephine and Grover to come over. "I'm gonna ask nicely only one more time; could please turn the music off?"

The man looked between the three with an amused expression. "I ain't doing shit for you. Don't like my music, then get lost."

Annabeth huffed and pulled out her knife. She waved it threateningly under the man's nose, snapping, "Unless you want me to gut you, turn the fucking music down!"

The man laughed a little, but Josephine noticed the fear in his eyes. She clicked her tongue and pulled out her own daggers. The man's laugh faded and he got in his car. He was about to close the car door after him when Grover threw a tin can.

With his rasta cap off, you could vaguely see the ends of his horns poking out. But what made the man pause with terror was the sight of Grover's hooves, Luke's shoes flying around the satyr's head.

That's when the man screamed. He slammed the car door shut and peeled out of the car wash quicker than light. The three laughed to themselves, helping Grover catch the flying shoes. They came around the corner, still laughing, and found Percy standing in the middle of the wet carwash stall.

At the boy's pale face, Josephine stopped laughing. "Percy, what's wrong? What'd Luke say?"

"Not much," Percy assured. "Come on, let's find some dinner."

✿

A few minutes later, the four were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around them, families were eating burgers and drinking milkshakes and sodas.

Finally, the waitress came over. She raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"

"We, um"—Percy cleared his throat—"want to order dinner."

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

Grover's lower lip quivered. Josephine was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger. Josephine's stomach grumbled loudly, she laid her arm over her abdomen.

Percy gnawed on his bottom lip, surely trying to think of another sob story when a rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb.

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.

The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for their mothers. He 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 wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face Josephine had ever seen—handsome just in an I'll beat your ass way—with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. Josephine recognized the god, seeing that same scowl on Clarisse La Rue; it was Ares, God of War.

As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people stood, as if they were hypnotized, but the god waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations.

The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked the questers again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

Ares said, "It's on me." He pulled up a chair by the metal leg with his foot. He slung a leg over the red seat, leaning his arms on the back of the chair, looking at the campers before him. Josephine watched the god nervously, exchanging looks with the daughter of Athena across from her in the booth.

He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?" The God of War pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned and then marched back towards the kitchen.

Ares glanced at Josephine before sliding his gaze over to the son of Poseidon on her right. She couldn't see the god's eyes behind the red shades, but things like hatred started taking over her feeling of hunger. Anger, resentment, bitterness, and all other sorts of bad feelings she preferred to not feel. Josephine's fists clenched beneath the table, her nails digging into her palms.

The god gave Percy a wicked grin. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

"What's it to you?" spat the boy.

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

Ares raised his hand. "S'okay," he said. "I don't mind attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"

Josephine would be surprised if Percy didn't realize who the god before them was. He had the same vicious sneer as some of the kids from Camp Half-Blood, specifically Cabin Five.

"You're Clarisse's dad," said Percy. "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."

"She was asking for it." Percy shrugged.

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kid's fights, you know? 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 a huge knife and started cleaning beneath 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?" Percy asked, an edge to his voice that Josephine had never heard before.

"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. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

Josephine wrinkled her nose, exchanging a look with Annabeth. Ares and Aphrodite, something Josephine didn't expect to have lasted as long as it had.

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

The fire in the god's eye sockets glowed a little hotter. "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. Will you prove yourself a coward?" The God of War leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."

Josephine liked to believe that she had a lot of control over her emotions. Dealing with the Aphrodite and Ares kids, some of whom had control over emotions often associated with their godly parents, gave her perfect practice. Silena Beauregard and Drew Tanaka, daughters of Aphrodite, both had charmspeak, able to convince people to do anything they wanted with a bat of their eyelashes. Kids of Ares with the ability to manipulate anger, however, were a lot more uncommon. Still, Clarisse La Rue had it. And she used it. She had driven many kids to do things they normally never would; anger makes people do stupid things.

And it seemed Percy was easily susceptible to Ares' control—he was scowling, his knuckles white, his hands shaking lightly that he was clenching his fist so hard.

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

That wasn't the right answer, Ares wouldn't take No for an answer, even if the questers didn't want to help him and make a detour.

"I know all about your quest, punk," said Ares. "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?"

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

"Thanks," grumbled Percy.

"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. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom."

Percy's back straightened. "My mom?"

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

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

Ares bared his teeth, but Josephine had seen that expression on Clarisse. An almost forced, even a façade. There was a glint in the god's molten-like eyes that gave her the feeling 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."

After that, Ares was gone. Like Josephine blinked and he just disappeared. With the God of War gone, everything thing he brought was, too. That's why Josephine didn't like Ares too much, war may be a necessary thing at times, but she hated the destructiveness it brought. Anger clouded people's ability to think.

Josephine had sunk down in her seat, the joints in her finger sore from the minutes of clenching to stop herself from punching anything. Grover looked nervous, and Annabeth look just as nervous but there was a calculating look in her eyes—just as there always was.

Josephine picked up one of the napkins the waitress had laid down for drinks. She folded it over, unfolding it and smoothing out the groove it had made. "That's not good. Ares sought Percy out," she stated the obvious. "But ... we can't just not do it."

"It's probably some kind of trick," said Percy. "We can forget it. Let's just go."

"We can't," Josephine insisted, shaking her head. "We can't just ignore gods—especially ones like Ares. He has a temper. We can't ignore gods and just keep our lives."

Percy leaned against the table, his eyebrows creased. "Why does he need us?"

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

"But this water park ..." Percy twirled the ballpoint nervously in his hand, "he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"

Josephine grabbed the napkin, crumpling it up in her hand. Annabeth, Grover, and she glanced nervously at each other.

The daughter of Athena said, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."

✿

The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time they found the water park. 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, tubes, and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools lined with grime and dead plants. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the tarmac. With night coming 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."

"Percy," Josephine warned. "You need to be more respectful to the gods."

"Why? I thought you hated Ares."

"I don't hate Ares, I'm just not ... the biggest fan of his kids," said Josephine. "Besides, he's still a god. The gods never take kindly to any kind of insults—including his date."

"Especially his date. You don't want to insult her looks," Grover added.

"Who is she? Echidna?" Percy snickered to himself.

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

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

"She is," Josephine agreed. "But that's never stopped them before."

"Oh," Percy said awkwardly. "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?" he asked, turning around to look at the demigods.

Annabeth, Josephine, and Percy 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?

But no monsters came to get them. Nothing made the slightest noise. All the peace made Josephine check over her shoulder every few minutes.

They found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of—

"Clothes," Annabeth breathed. "Fresh clothes."

"Yeah," said Percy. "But you can't just—"

"Watch me."

She snatched an entire row of stuff off the racks, pulled Josephine by the arm, and disappeared into a changing room. Annabeth tossed Josephine a pair of shorts and a plain T-shirt.

"You need to change," said the daughter of wisdom. "You smell like a rotting river."

"Love you, too," Josephine grumbled, peeling the clothes off her face.

Nevertheless, Annabeth was right. Not only did Josephine stink like the Mississippi River, she felt as dirty as the Mississippi River. She changed, did the best she could to try and freshen up, and brush her hands through her hair before braiding it in a Dutch braid to try and avoid further annoyance.

Josephine didn't pay much attention to the clothes, just happy to get out of the ones she had left Camp Half-Blood in. She did realize how funny she and Annabeth looked; decked out in slightly oversized Waterland T-shirts and bright red shorts. Annabeth even had a Waterland backpack slung over her shoulder, filled with more goodies taken from the shop.

Percy raised his eyebrows at the sight, but Grover thought the girls had a great idea. The satyr shrugged. "What the heck."

Soon, all four questers were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park.

They continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. Josephine had the feeling that the waterpark was holding its breath.

"So, Ares and Aphrodite," Percy said, breaking the silence, "they have a thing going?"

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

"Well," Josephine shrugged lightly, "gossip normally stems from some truth."

"What about Aphrodite's husband?" Percy asked.

The daughter of Apollo shrugged again. "He's Hephaestus—you know, the blacksmith. He was crippled when he was a baby, after being thrown off Mount Olympus. So he isn't exactly handsome. But he can build anything you can think of, but Aphrodite isn't the type to care much about stuff like that."

"She likes bikers," Percy said.

"I'm pretty sure Silena's dad isn't a biker," Josephine told him. "I think he's a baker or something."

That didn't seem to change Percy's mind. He asked, "Does Hephaestus knows?"

"Oh, he definitely does." Josephine nodded. "He even caught them together once—literally caught them. He caught them in a golden net and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. He's always trying to catch them again, looking for any way to embarrass them. That's why they always meet in pretty sketchy places, like ..."

She stopped, looking straight ahead. "Like that."

In front of them was an empty pool, it was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a giant bowl.

Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side of them, 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?"

Annabeth ran her finger along the base of the nearest Cupid statue. "There's a Greek letter carved here," she mumbled. "Êta. I wonder ..."

"Grover," Josephine said, starting to frown, "you smell any monsters nearby?"

The satyr sniffed the air. "Nothing." He shook his head.

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

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 enthusiastic, but Josephine got the feeling the satyr was trying to make up for what had happened back at 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."

The satyr puffed out his chest a little. "Sure. But what could go wrong?"

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

"Are you kidding?" the girl squawked. "Why me?"

"Josephine and I blow-torched a national monument last time," Percy countered. "What's the problem now?"

"Me, go with you to the ... the 'Thrill Ride of Love?' How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?"

Josephine rolled her eyes. "Geez ..." she muttered. "I'll go. Besides, no national monument and Chimera to blow-torch anything."

She reached the edge of the pool next to Percy, sliding down the surprisingly clean side. Josephine guessed if two gods were having a date in the bottom of an empty pool, it would at least be a clean empty pool.

They two reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a pink silk scarf. Josephine tried to not imagine what the date was like, but she had already noticed all the mirrors all the way around the rim of the pool, facing the boat. They could see themselves no matter which direction they looked. And that was part of the charm of the ride; not only was it conspicuous while still catching Aphrodite's attention with the theme, the two gods could look at their favorite things on the date: themselves.

Percy picked up the scarf. It shimmered pink, and the scent was addicting—Josephine wasn't exactly sure how to describe the smell, but whatever it was, she could spend a lifetime smelling it. The son of Poseidon smiled, almost dreamily, and was about to rub the scarf against his cheek when Josephine ripped it out of his hands.

"Er—how about I hold it," said Josephine, stuffing the pink scarf in her back pocket.

"What? Why?"

"Just get Ares's shield," she said, ready to climb out of the pool.

Annabeth was at the edge of the pool, holding out a hand to help pull Josephine up. Percy grabbed Ares's shield as Annabeth's eyes slid over to the boat. Josephine looked over her shoulder, grasping the blonde's hand.

"What is it?" she asked.

"There's something on that boat ..."

"Uh, guys ...?" Percy called.

"There's another Greek letter on the boat," Annabeth murmured. "Another Êta." She locked eyes with Josephine. "It's a trap."

The black-haired girl looked back to Percy, ready to grab him and get out of there. But noise erupted all around them, of a million gears grinding, as if the whole pool were turning into one giant machine.

Grover yelled, "Guys!"

Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing positions. Before Josephine could yell for cover, they shot, but not at the demigods in the pool. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arching over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Annabeth ducked out of the way, letting go of Josephine to not get an arrow lodged in her arm. The smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the golden strands, making a net.

Josephine slid down the side of the pool, bumping into Percy.

"We have to get out," he told her.

The daughter of Apollo was watching the net form in front of her eyes. "Oh, good plan," she retorted sarcastically.

Percy grabbed the shield and they ran, but going up the slope was not as easy as going down. Annabeth was trying to pry apart the strands, trying to push her hands through, but it wasn't working.

"Come on!" Grover shouted.

He landed beside Annabeth, trying to hold a section open for Josephine and Percy, but that's when the golden threads started weaving over his and Annabeth's hands.

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

"Hephaestus!" Annabeth yelled over the noise. "I'm so stupid! Êta is 'H'! He made this trap to catch Aphrodite with Ares. This is going to broadcast live to Olympus."

They'd almost made it to the rim when the rows of mirrors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic ... things poured out.

Annabeth shrieked, crawling away from the pool.

It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincers mouths, all scuttling towards them in a wave, clacking, whirring metals.

"Spiders!" the daughter of Athena screamed. "Sp—sp—aah!"

Josephine knew there was no way to get Annabeth back, not with spiders involved. There was no way the daughter of wisdom could come up with an escape plan in the state she was in.

Josephine and Percy backed into each other. The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding towards the center of the pool, completely surrounding them. Josephine hoped the things weren't programmed to kill, just bite and corral and make the demigods look dumber than probably already did. Then again, this trap was meant for a couple of gods. And they weren't gods.

Percy and Josephine climbed into the boat. The two kicked away the spiders as they swarmed, but the insects were getting too much.

"Thirty, twenty-nine," called the loud-speaker.

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 Josephine's leg and its pincers took a chunk out of his new surf shoe.

Grover hovered above the pool in his flying trainers, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn't budge. Annabeth was frozen in fear, screaming about spiders.

Josephine looked around, knocking a line of spiders away from Percy's shoulder. She was thinking of a way to escape, but nothing came to mind. She was trying to be hopeful, that there really was a way to get out, but a god made this trap. Hephaestus made this trap, and he wouldn't let Aphrodite or Ares think of any way to get out without some level of embarrassment.

The Tunnel of Love entrance was under the net. That could be an exit, except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders.

"Fifteen, fourteen," the loudspeaker called.

Percy was looking at the water pipes that were behind the mirrors. Josephine followed as his line of sight shifted; the Cupids' heads, where a glass-windowed booth was behind them.

"Annabeth!" he yelled. "Get into that booth! Find the 'On' switch!"

Annabeth wasn't entirely out of her frozen state of terror. She stopped staring at the spiders, and started looking at Percy. "What?" she called. "But—"

"Do it!" Percy yelled at her.

Annabeth scrambled off the ground, heading for the glass-windowed booth. That booth must be the control room. As Annabeth searched for the button, Josephine caught on. Percy wanted the pipes to spew out water to hopefully short-circuit the spiders. At least, Josephine hoped that was Percy's plan.

Annabeth was in the controller's booth, slamming away at the buttons. There was no time for wisdom, not with the clocking ticking down.

"Five, four—"

Annabeth looked up at them helplessly, raising her hands with clear frustration. She was letting them know that she'd pushed every button, but yet, nothing was happening.

"Percy—" Josephine said, smashing a group of four spiders under her foot. But the son of Poseidon wasn't listening, his eyes were sealed shut, like he was praying for a miracle.

"Two, one, zero!"

Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. Percy pulled Josephine into the seat next to him, fastening their seatbelt just as 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 walls with such force they burst.

Spotlights glared down at them. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus.

But Josephine could only focus on not flying out of the boat. Even with the seatbelt, it felt like she would take a tumble at any moment. Percy's face was serious, and almost smug. He was looking around the boat, his head held high. Josephine realized that none of the buttons had worked, that it had been Percy who had made all the water appear.

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 towards the tunnel and they rocketed through and into the darkness.

Josephine and Percy held tight, 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 dirty Valentine's Day stuff.

Then they were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through their hair as the boat barrelled straight towards 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 the ride wasn't in working order. 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.

"Unfasten your seat belt," Percy yelled to Josephine over the wind.

The girl's eyes widened. "Are you crazy?"

"Unless you want to get smashed to death." He strapped Ares's shield to his arm. "We're going to have to jump for it."

Josephine understood. As the boat struck, they would use its force like a springboard to jump the golden gate. There were people who had survived car crashes that way ( of course, still reaping tons of damages that they would have to spend money and time to mend ). If they aimed right, they'd get thrown thirty or forty feet away, completely safe from getting all sorts of broken bones, and would hopefully land in the pool. With all sorts of luck, of course. Josephine grabbed Percy's hand tightly.

"When I say go," he said.

"What?" Josephine yelled. "No! When I say go!"

"What?"

"It's simple physics!" Josephine yelled. "Lee was telling me all about it, he learned it in school last year. Force times the trajectory angle—" She paused. "I think that's what he said . . ."

"You think?" Percy's voice was shrill.

"Okay, I'm sure!" she countered. "I'm sure that's what he said. It's force times the—"

"Fine!" Percy shouted. "You dont't have to say it twice! When you say go!"

Josephine hesitated, then she yelled, "Now!"

CRACK!

She was right. Just when they took the jump, she got them a maximum lift.

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 towards solid tarmac.

Something grabbed her arm from behind.

Josephine yelped, "Ouch!"

It was Grover.

In mid-air, he had grabbed Percy by the shirt and Josephine by the arm. He was trying to pull the demigods out of a crash landing, but the two had all the momentum.

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

They spiraled towards the ground, Grover doing his best to slow the fall.

They smashed into a photo board, Grover's head going straight into the hole where tourists would put their faces, pretending to be Noo-Noo the Friendly Whale. Josephine and Percy tumbled to the ground, banged up but alive. Ares's shield was still on Percy's arm. Annabeth had left the controller's booth, running for the three.

Once Percy and Josephine caught their breath, they helped Annabeth pull Grover out of the photo board. Josephine was thanking Grover for saving their fall. She looked back to the Thrill Ride of Love; the water was subsiding, and 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 around so that their cameras were still trained straight on them, the spotlights in their faces.

"Show's over!" Percy yelled to the cameras. "Thank you! Goodnight!"

The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. The park went eerily quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into the Thrill Ride of Love's exit pool. Josephine wondered if Olympus had gone on a commercial break, or if it was entertaining for the gods up there. She wondered if Apollo had seen the entire thing.

Doesn't matter if he was. Josephine shook her head. He didn't give a damn about her, so she shouldn't give a damn if he was watching or not.

But you still care, that voice drawled. Whether you like it or not, you want to impress him.

Percy was pissed. His jaw was clenched and his eyes looked almost like a raging storm. He hefted the shield on his arm, turning to the other questers. "We need to have a little talk with Ares."

✿  JUNE 30TH, 2023  /  i don't have too much to say this time i guess

anyways,, thoughts? opinions??