Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief

A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled intoDenver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere inKansas. We hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and I was sure that wasobvious.'Let's try to contact Chiron,' Annabeth said. 'I want to tell him about your talkwith the river spirit.''We cant use phones, right?''I'm not talking about phones.'We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't surewhat Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird afterthe humidity of St Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains seemedto be staring at me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.Finally we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. We veered towards thestall furthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We werethree adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth hisdoughnuts would figure we were up to no good.'What exactly are we doing?' I 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.'I fished out my last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter, which left metwo nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place.'Excellent,' Grover said. 'We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but theconnection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping.''What are you talking about?'He fed in the quarters and set the knob to fine mist 'I-M'ing.''Instant messaging?''Iris-messaging,' Annabeth corrected. 'The rainbow goddess Iris carriesmessages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll dothe same for half-bloods.''You summon the goddess with a spray gun?'Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist.'Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow.'Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapour and broke intocolours.Annabeth held her palm out to me. 'Drachma, please.'I handed it over.She 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.For a moment, nothing happened.Then I was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long IslandSound in the distance. We seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standingwith his back to us at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orangetank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently atsomething down in the meadow.'Luke!' I called.He turned, eyes wide. I could swear he was standing a metre in front of methrough a screen of mist, except I could only see the part of him that appeared inthe rainbow.'Percy!' His scarred face broke into a grin. 'Is that Annabeth, too? Thank thegods! Are you guys okay?''We're... uh... fine,' Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening herdirty 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 withthe campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?''I'm right here,' Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and steppedinto Luke's line of vision. 'What kind of issues?'Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereoturned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from thesubwoofers 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 anexcuse to get out of sight. 'Grover, come on!''What?' Grover said. 'But –''Give Percy the nozzle and come on!'she ordered.Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than theOracle at Delphi, then he handed me the spray gun and followed Annabeth.I readjusted the hose so I could keep the rainbow going and still see Luke.'Chiron had to break up a fight,' Luke shouted to me over the music. 'Thingsare pretty tense here, Percy. Word leaked out about the Zeus–Poseidon stand-off.We're still not sure how – probably the same scumbag who summoned thehellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like theTrojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares and Apollo are backing Poseidon,more or less. Athena is backing Zeus.'I shuddered to think that Clarisse's cabin would ever be on my dad's side foranything. In the next stall, I heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with eachother, then the music's volume decreased drastically.'So what's your status?' Luke asked me. 'Chiron will be sorry he missed you.'I told him pretty much everything, including my dreams. It felt so good to seehim, to feel like I was back at camp even for a few minutes, that I didn't realizehow long I had talked until the beeper went off on the spray machine, and Irealized I only had one more minute before the water shut off.'I wish I could be there,' Luke told me. 'We can't help from here, I'm afraid,but listen... it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there atOlympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him.''But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly.''That's true,' Luke said, looking troubled. 'Still... Hades has the helmet ofdarkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal themaster bolt? You'd have to be invisible.'We were both silent, until Luke seemed to realize what he'd said.'Oh, hey,' he protested. 'I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known eachother forever. She would never... I mean, she's like a little sister to me.'I wondered if Annabeth would like that description. In the stall next to us, themusic stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed and theLincoln peeled out of the car wash.'You'd better go see what that was,' Luke said. 'Listen, are you wearing theflying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good.''Oh... uh, yeah!' I tried not to sound like a guilty liar. 'Yeah, they've come inhandy.''Really?' He grinned. 'They fit and everything?'The water shut off. The mist started to evaporate.'Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver,' Luke called, his voice gettingfainter. 'And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into apine tree if he just –'But the mist was gone, and Luke's image faded to nothing. I was alone in awet, empty car-wash stall.Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laughing, but stopped whenthey saw my face. Annabeth's smile faded. 'What happened, Percy? What didLuke say?''Not much,' I lied, my stomach feeling as empty as a Big Three cabin. 'Comeon, let's find some dinner.'A few minutes later, we were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. Allaround us, families were eating burgers and drinking milkshakes and sodas.Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow sceptically. 'Well?'I said, 'We, um, want to order dinner.''You kids have money to pay for it?'Grover's lower lip quivered. I was afraid he would start bleating, or worse,start eating the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger.I was trying to think up a sob story for the waitress when a rumble shook thewhole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to thekerb.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 Mama. He wasdressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with ahunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he hadthe cruellest, most brutal face I'd ever seen – handsome, I guess, but wicked –with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, manyfights. The weird thing was, I felt like I'd seen his face somewhere before.As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All thepeople rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his handdismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to theirconversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewindbutton on her brain. She asked us again, 'You kids have money to pay for it?'The biker said, 'It's on me.' He slid into our booth, which was way too smallfor him, and crowded Annabeth against the window.He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, 'Are you stillhere?'He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around,then marched back towards the kitchen.The biker looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades, but badfeelings started boiling in my stomach. Anger, resentment, bitterness. I wanted tohit a wall. I wanted to pick a fight with somebody. Who did this guy think hewas?He gave me a wicked grin. 'So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?'I should've been surprised, or scared, but instead I felt like I was looking atmy stepdad, Gabe. I wanted to rip this guy's head off. 'What's it to you?'Annabeth's eyes flashed me a warning. 'Percy, this is –'The biker raised his hand.'S'okay,' he said. 'I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who'sthe boss. You know who I am, little cousin?'Then it struck me why this guy looked familiar. He had the same vicious sneeras some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood, the ones from cabin five.'You're Clarisse's dad,' I said. 'Ares, god of war.'Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, therewas only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. 'That'sright, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear.''She was asking for it.''Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm herefor – 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 his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. 'Problem,sweetheart?'The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.'You can't do that,' I 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 favour.''What favour could I do for a god?''Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left myshield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little... datewith my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you tofetch it for me.''Why don't you go back and get it yourself?'The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter.'Why don't I turn you into 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?' He leaned forward. 'Ormaybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protectyou.'I wanted to punch this guy, but somehow, I knew he was waiting for that.Ares's power was causing my anger. He'd love it if I attacked. I didn't want togive him the satisfaction.'We're not interested,' I said. 'We've already got a quest.'Ares's fiery eyes made me see things I didn't want to see – blood and smokeand corpses on the battlefield. 'I know all about your quest, punk. When thatitem 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...' Helicked 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 giveyou the benefit of a doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the onewho 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 recognizedit immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest.''Thanks,' I grumbled.'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 meout, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about yourmom.''My mom?'He grinned. 'That got your attention. The water park is a mile west onDelancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride.''What interrupted your date?' I asked. 'Something scare you off?'Ares bared his teeth, but I'd seen his threatening look before on Clarisse.There was something false about it, almost like he was nervous.'You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They'renot as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done.Don't disappoint me.'After that I must have fainted, or fallen into a trance, because when I openedmy eyes again Ares was gone. I might've thought the conversation had been adream, but Annabeth and Grover's expressions told me otherwise.'Not good,' Grover said. 'Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good.'I stared out the window. The motorcycle had disappeared.Did Ares really know something about my mom, or was he just playing withme? Now that he was gone, all the anger had drained out of me. I realized Aresmust love to mess with people's emotions. That was his power – cranking up thepassions so badly, they clouded your ability to think.'It's probably some kind of trick,' I said. 'Forget Ares. Let's just go.''We can't,' Annabeth said. 'Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but youdon't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kiddingabout turning you into a rodent.'I looked down at my cheeseburger, which suddenly didn't seem so appetizing.'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... he acted almost scared. What would make a war godrun away like that?'Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other.Annabeth said, 'I'm afraid well have to find out.'The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time we found the water park.Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some ofthe letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D.The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge drywaterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Oldtickets 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,' I said, staring up at the barbedwire, 'I'd hate to see what she looks like.''Percy,' Annabeth warned. 'Be more respectful.''Why? I thought you hated Ares.''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?''No, Aphrodite,' Grover said, a little dreamily. 'Goddess of love.''I thought she was married to somebody,' I said. 'Hephaestus.''What's your point?' he asked.'Oh.' I suddenly felt the need to change the subject. 'So how do we get in?''Maia!' Grover's shoes sprouted wings.He flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbledto a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he'd planned thewhole thing. 'You guys coming?'Annabeth and I had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbedwire for each other as we crawled over the top.The shadows grew long as we walked through the park, checking out theattractions. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie and Dude,Where's My Swimsuit?No monsters came to get us. Nothing made the slightest noise.We found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined theshelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards and racks of –'Clothes,' Annabeth said. 'Fresh clothes.''Yeah,' I said. 'But you can't just –''Watch me.'She snatched an entire row of stuff of the racks and disappeared into thechanging room. A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-printshorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. AWaterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with moregoodies.'What the heck.' Grover shrugged. Soon, all three of us were decked out likewalking advertisements for the defunct theme park.We continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. I got the feeling that thewhole park was holding its breath. 'So Ares and Aphrodite,' I said, to keep mymind off the growing dark, 'they have a thing going?''That's old gossip, Percy,' Annabeth told me. 'Three-thousand-year-oldgossip.''What about Aphrodite's husband?''Well, you know,' she said. 'Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippledwhen he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactlyhandsome. Clever with his hands and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains andtalent, you know?''She likes bikers.''Whatever.''Hephaestus knows?''Oh sure,' Annabeth said. 'He caught them together once. I mean, literallycaught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them.Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them. That's why they meet in out-ofthe-way places, like...'She stopped, looking straight ahead. 'Like that.'In front of us was an empty pool that would've been awesome forskateboarding. It was at least fifty metres across and shaped like a bowl.Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wingsspread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side from us, a tunnel opened up,probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above itread: THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OFLOVE!Grover crept towards the edge. 'Guys, look.'Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat witha canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glintingin the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze.'This is too easy,' I said. 'So we just walk down there and get it?'Annabeth ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue.'There's a Greek letter carved here,'she said. 'Eta. I wonder...''Grover,' I said, 'you smell any monsters?'He sniffed the wind. 'Nothing.''Nothing – like, in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echidna nothing, or reallynothing?'Grover looked hurt. 'I told you, that was underground.''Okay, I'm sorry.' I took a deep breath. 'I'm going down there.''I'll go with you.' Grover didn't sound too enthusiastic, but I got the feelinghe was trying to make up for what had happened in St Louis.'No,' I told him. 'I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're theRed Baron, remember? I'll be counting on you for backup, in case somethinggoes wrong.'Grover puffed up his chest a little. 'Sure. But what could go wrong?''I don't know. Just a feeling. Annabeth, come with me –''Are you kidding?' She looked at me as if I'd just dropped from the moon.Her cheeks were bright red.'What's the problem now?' I demanded.'Me, go with you to the... the "Thrill Ride of Love"? How embarrassing isthat? What if somebody saw me?''Who's going to see you?' But my face was burning now, too. Leave it to agirl to make everything complicated. 'Fine,' I told her. 'I'll do it myself.' Butwhen I started down the side of the pool, she followed me, muttering about howboys always messed things up.We reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was alady's silk scarf. I tried to imagine Ares and Aphrodite here, a couple of godsmeeting in a junked-out amusement-park ride. Why? Then I noticed something Ihadn't seen from up top: mirrors all the way around the rim of the pool, facingthis spot. We could see ourselves no matter which direction we looked. Thatmust be it. While Ares and Aphrodite were smooching with each other theycould look at their favourite people: themselves.I picked up the scarf. It shimmered pink, and the perfume was indescribable –rose, or mountain laurel. Something good. I smiled, a little dreamy, and wasabout to rub the scarf against my cheek when Annabeth ripped it out of my handand stuffed it in her pocket. 'Oh, no you don't. Stay away from that love magic.''What?''Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here.'The moment I touched the shield, I knew we were in trouble. My hand brokethrough something that had been connecting it to the dashboard. A cobweb, Ithought, but then I looked at a strand of it on my palm and saw it was some kindof metal filament, so fine it was almost invisible. A tripwire.'Wait,' Annabeth said.'Too late.''There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is atrap.'Noise erupted all around us, of a million gears grinding, as if the whole poolwere turning into one giant machine.Grover yelled, 'Guys!'Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position.Before I could suggest taking cover, they shot, but not at us. They fired at eachother, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcingover the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk.Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between themain strands, making a net.'We have to get out,' I said.'Duh!' Annabeth said.I grabbed the shield and we ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not aseasy as going down.'Come on!' Grover shouted.He was trying to hold open a section of the net for us, but wherever hetouched it, the golden threads started to wrap around his hands.The Cupids' heads popped open. Out came video cameras. Spotlights rose upall around the pool, blinding us with illumination, and a loudspeaker voiceboomed: 'Live to Olympus in one minute... Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight...''Hephaestus!' Annabeth screamed. 'I'm so stupid! Eta is "H". He made thistrap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live toOlympus and look like absolute fools!'We'd almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened like hatchesand thousands of tiny metallic... things poured out.Annabeth screamed.It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs,little pincer mouths, all scuttling towards us in a wave of clacking, whirringmetal.'Spiders!' Annabeth said. 'Sp – sp – aaaah!'I'd never seen her like this before. She fell backwards in terror and almost gotoverwhelmed by the spider robots before I pulled her up and dragged her backtowards the boat.The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them,flooding towards the centre of the pool, completely surrounding us. I told myselfthey probably weren't programmed to kill, just corral us and bite us and make uslook stupid. Then again, this was a trap meant for gods. And we weren't gods.Annabeth and I climbed into the boat. I started kicking away the spiders asthey swarmed aboard. I yelled at Annabeth to help me, but she was too paralysedto do much more than scream.'Thirty, twenty-nine,' called the loudspeaker.The spiders started spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie us down.The strands were easy enough to break at first, but there were so many of them,and the spiders just kept coming. I kicked one away from Annabeth's leg and itspincers took a chunk out of my new surf shoe.Grover hovered above the pool in his flying trainers, trying to pull the netloose, but it wouldn't budge.Think, I told myself. Think.The tunnel of love entrance was under the net. We could use it as an exit,except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders.'Fifteen, fourteen,' the loudspeaker called.Water, I thought. Where does the ride's water come from?Then I saw them: huge water pipes behind the mirrors, where the spiders hadcome from. And up above the net, next to one of the Cupids, a glass-windowedbooth that must be the controller's station.'Grover!' I yelled. 'Get into that booth! Find the "on" switch!''But –''Do it!' It was a crazy hope, but it was our only chance. The spiders were allover the prow of the boat now. Annabeth was screaming her head off. I had toget us out of here.Grover was in the controller's booth now, slamming away at the buttons.'Five, four –'Grover looked up at me hopelessly, raising his hands. He was letting me knowthat he'd pushed every button, but still nothing was happening.I closed my eyes and thought about waves, rushing water, the MississippiRiver. I felt a familiar tug in my gut. I tried to imagine that I was dragging theocean all the way to Denver.'Two, one, zero!'Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away thespiders. I pulled Annabeth into the seat next to me and fastened her seatbelt justas the tidal wave slammed into our boat, over the top, whisking the spiders awayand dousing us completely, but not capsizing us. The boat turned, lifted in theflood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool.The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing againstthe pool's concrete wall with such force they burst.Spotlights glared down at us. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus.But I could only concentrate on controlling the boat. I willed it to ride thecurrent, to keep away from the wall. Maybe it was my imagination, but the boatseemed to respond. At least, it didn't break into a million pieces. We spunaround one last time, the water level now almost high enough to shred us againstthe metal net. Then the boat's nose turned towards the tunnel and we rocketedthrough into the darkness.Annabeth and I held tight, both of us screaming as the boat shot curls andhugged corners and took forty-five degree plunges past pictures of Romeo andJuliet and a bunch of other Valentine's Day stuff.Then we were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through our hair as theboat barrelled straight towards the exit.If the ride had been in working order, we would've sailed off a ramp betweenthe golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. But therewas a problem. The Gates of Love were chained. Two boats that had beenwashed out of the tunnel before us were now piled against the barricade – onesubmerged, the other cracked in half.'Unfasten your seat belt,' I yelled to Annabeth.'Are you crazy?''Unless you want to get smashed to death.' I strapped Ares's shield to my arm.'We're going to have to jump for it.' My idea was simple and insane. As the boatstruck, we would use its force like a springboard to jump the gate. I'd heard ofpeople surviving car crashes that way, getting thrown ten or fifteen metres awayfrom an accident. With luck, we would land in the pool.Annabeth seemed to understand. She gripped my hand as the gates got closer.'When I say go,' I said.'No! When I say go!''What?''Simple physics!'she yelled. 'Force times the trajectory angle –''Fine!' I shouted. 'When you say go!'She hesitated... hesitated... then yelled, 'Now!'Crack!Annabeth was right. If we'd jumped when I thought we should've, wewould've crashed into the gates. She got us maximum lift.Unfortunately, that was a little more than we needed. Our boat smashed intothe pileup and we were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool,and down towards solid tarmac.Something grabbed me from behind.Annabeth yelled, 'Ouch!'Grover!In midair, he had grabbed me by the shirt, and Annabeth by the arm, and wastrying to pull us out of a crash landing, but Annabeth and I had all themomentum.'You're too heavy!' Grover said. 'We're going down!'We spiralled towards the ground, Grover doing his best to slow the fall.We smashed into a photo-board, Grover's head going straight into the holewhere tourists would put their faces, pretending to be Noo-Noo the FriendlyWhale. Annabeth and I tumbled to the ground, banged up but alive. Ares's shieldwas still on my arm.Once we caught our breath, Annabeth and I got Grover out of the photo-boardand thanked him for saving our lives. I looked back at the Thrill Ride of Love.The water was subsiding. Our boat had been smashed to pieces against the gates.A hundred metres away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming.The statues had swivelled so that their cameras were trained straight on us, thespotlights in our faces.'Show's over!' I yelled. 'Thank you! Goodnight!'The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. Thepark went quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into theThrill Ride of Love's exit pool. I wondered if Olympus had gone to acommercial break, or if our ratings had been any good.I hated being teased. I hated being tricked. And I had plenty of experiencehandling bullies who liked to do that stuff to me. I hefted the shield on my armand turned to my friends. 'We need to have a little talk with Ares.