A Demigod Life

Hephaestus Playground

Luke and Perci made it to the amusement park. It didn't look very amusement to Perci. It was dark, nothing was on, nobody was there. Literal ghost town.

Perci said "I haven't seen a lot of horror movies, but this seems like exactly the kind of place they'd suggest to avoid."

She looked up at the large sign in the entrance. She was able to make out the word water but nothing else. 

"I've never seen any kind of movie. I'll have to take your word for it."Luke told her.

"Never? What do you mean 'never?' Like, 'never-never'?" Perci frowned.

"Is there another kind?"Luke replied.

Perci said with a smile "Well, if neither of us is dead in a few days, we really ought to fix that. You're missing out."

As they were talking, they made it to the second half of the entrance. Like those weird door things that aren't doors that you have to go through once you show that you got tickets to the park.

Luke said "In the meantime, we should probably get this over with, though."

Perci nodded and started pushing on the gate. The creaking was loud and painfully ear piercing.

"Wait, Perci, stop."Luke said and Perci did immediately, but there was a moving blade contraption above her head.

"What is that?"Perci asked, panicked.

"Just don't move. Please. Gimme a second."Luke said.

"Wasn't planning on it."Perci replied.

Luke said "In the mechanism there, that's Celestial bronze."

"Oh, fascinating. Luke, what is happening right now?"Perci asked him, sarcasm lacing her tone.

"Celestial bronze is what your sword is made of. If you're a human, it'll pass right through you. If you're a monster or a demigod..."Luke explained.

Perci asked "Well, what's it doing there?"

"That's a great question. Safe to say, this is not just some amusement park. A god built this."Luke said.

"What kind of god builds amusement parks?"Perci asked.

"Hephaestus."Luke answered.

"Why would Hephaestus build an amusement park?"Perci asked.

Luke suggested "Maybe he finds them amusing?"

"That's really not funny, Luke."Perci said.

"It's a little funny. Oh... Oh, look at that. That's cool."Luke told her.

"Luke!"Perci panicked, seeing it move again.

Luke whispered "Just relax. I'm on it. Okay. I get this. Just... push through it."

"Push?"Perci asked.

Luke nodded and took a breath. Perci trusted him but then she said "Wait. Luke, weren't you the one this morning who was all, 'The Fates say one of us is gonna die' and we should take it really seriously?"

"Perci?"Luke said softly.

"Yes?"Perci asked.

"Just push."Luke said.

Perci took a deep breath and started pushing the gate. The metal creaked and she kept her eye on the metal gears above her head until she was in the park. She sighed in relief.

"Luke, I'm never not listening to you again. What was that?"Perci said, finally feeling like she could breathe again.

Luke explained as he went through the gate "The machine isn't designed to hurt us. It's meant to scare us. It's a test."

Perci looked up and saw that there was a counter above the gate.

"Huh. Looks like Hephaestus wanted to know who was playing in his park at all times. I guess now he knows."Perci muttered.

They walked further into the amusement park.

Luke said "Oh, wow. Look at that."

"Tell me the god of craftsmen didn't build this."Perci added.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?"Luke asked.

Perci frowned "If it belongs to the god of craftsmen, what was the god of war doing here? Aren't they enemies? Then why'd he split without his shield?"

"If I'm guessing...Ares has always had a thing with..."Luke trailed.

"Aphrodite."Perci said.

Luke explained "She's Hephaestus's wife."

Perci sighed "Oh, you're kidding. He met her here? In her husband's park? That's so wrong."

"They got caught and he had to leave in a hurry."Luke said.

"One thing Ares was telling the truth about... this family is a mess."Perci sighed as they came to some ride that looked like a love ride.

"Do we... go in there?"Perci asked Luke.

He said nodding "Yeah, I guess we do."

"This must be where Ares and Aphrodite got caught. The shield must be in there. We just gotta go get it."Luke told her.

"Sure. Let's go check out the scary ghost ride. Why not?"Perci sighed before getting on the boat with Luke.

They were a few feet from the beginning when 'what is love' started playing and suddenly the lights began to flicker and dim.

"Uh..."Luke muttered looking over at Perci.

"I don't know."Perci said.

Images began to flow across the walls of the cave, and it started with a silhouette of a woman, then it literally popped out a baby. Hephaestus.

Perci said while hesitating "Wait, I know this. It's Hephaestus's story. Rejected by Hera. Rejected by Aphrodite. My mom told me these stories all the time. I remember this. She said..."

"What?"Luke asked.

Perci told him, looking at the images that were magically appearing on the walls "She said this is what the gods are like to each other. This is the kind of family they are."

"Why didn't you wanna say that just now?"Luke asked.

"She was trying to keep me away from you guys. Maybe you were right. Maybe she should have been preparing me better."Perci said.

"Or maybe she was preparing you. So when you got to us, you'd be different than this."Luke told her.

Perci went to say something but then she looked ahead of the boat. There was a drop. She gasped and held on tightly to the board she sat on in the boat as they dropped down the waterfall.

The water sped up by a lot, and there were a lot of twists and turns. It was super dark and there were things pointing from the ceiling that were low enough to hit your head on if you weren't careful. The boat slowed when they got out of the tunnel. They were still isnide but Perci looked over and saw a room with a golden chair and a statue holding Ares shield.

"Look! Ares shield!"Perci said, pointing at it but the boat didn't stop. She looked in front of them and saw that the boat would go back up to the beginning, them with it unless they got off so she shouted "Jump. Jump!"

The second she hit the water, her mind flashed back to the river. The water seemed to be more aggressive than it was when they were on the boat, and she looked around for Luke. She couldn't see him, but then she felt the water pull her somewhere. She bumped into something and turned around to see Luke. Somehow, Perci manipulated the water to pull him out of it, making him her first priority. When she sent to find the platform, she couldn't. The water was starting to make her eyes burn until she felt hands grab her arm and lift her.