Champion of Olympus

Look Mom, I'm On TV!

(A/N: Sorry for the lateness on writing. Unfortunately, a lot of games I play got new updates so I got sucked up into it. I'll see if I can write another 5 or 6 chapters before the month ends.)

The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time we found the water park. The letters for the sign were fading away with neglect. It was a ghost park.

The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry water slides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools.

"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," Annabeth warned. "Be more respectful."

"Why? I thought you hated Ares." He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very temperamental."

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

"Who is she? Echidna?" Percy scoffed.

"No, It's Aphrodite. And I don't think I need to explain why it would be bad to insult her looks." I said, walking up to the barbed wire fence.

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

"What's your point?" I countered.

"Oh." Percy said, changing the subject quickly. "So how do we get in?"

"Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings. He flew over the fence, did a somersault midair, then landed on the other side with his arms stretched out to catch his balance. "You guys coming?" he called back to us.

Show off. I scoffed.

Annabeth, Percy, and I had to climb the old-fashioned way. I held the barbed wire down with my gauntlet as they climbed over it.

We walked throughout the park, looking at the deserted attractions. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie, and Dud, Where's My Swimsuit.

No monsters came out to attack us, much to our relief.

We found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves with racks of clothes.

"Clothes," Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes."

"Yeah." Percy said. "But you can't just--"

"Screw that." I pushed past Percy and ran up to the clothes line with Annabeth in tow.

Annabeth snatched an entire row of stuff off the racks and disappeared into one of the changing rooms. I grabbed a t-shirt and ran into the other changing room, taking off the torn shirt that I still had on for the fresh new one. I still felt grimy, but the fresh cloth against my skin was a small relief. I looked at Annabeth's jacket that I still had and just shoved it into the Waterland backpack that I also took off the shelf.

A few seconds later, Annabeth and I walked out as a walking advertisement for the park, decked out in Waterland themed clothing and accessories.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged. Soon, all three of us were decked out in new branded clothing.

We continued searching for the Tunnel of Love in silence. Percy broke the silence, "So Ares and Aphrodite," Percy said, "They have a thing going?"

"That's old gossip, Percy," Annabeth told him. "Three-thousand-years old gossip."

"What about Aphrodite's husband?"

"Well you know," she said. "Hephaestus. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands, and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"