kaleidoscope gold ● jason grace

i

 To sum it up, Percy was simply a good guy having an extremely shitty year.

First, he had been kidnapped for eight months, just when he'd finally gotten together with his girlfriend. Then, he'd been sent to Alaska, where one of the people on the quest was practically fated to die; then, it turns out his cousin is Gaea's (the immortal responsible for all this destruction; though Hera wasn't exactly off the hook either) daughter; and to sum it all up that same cousin, sister, child, whatever had fallen into Tartarus, where Percy couldn't help her.

So no, Percy was not in a good mood.

He knew his friends didn't deserve his bitter tone, he knew that Annabeth was trying her best to reel him in, even though it was probably adding more stress to her already stressful schedule, but he couldn't help it. Annabeth had once told him that he was like the sea: stubborn and ever-changing. Percy hadn't believed it until now.

But these dwarf-monkeys were a good distraction. It was finally a new challenge, he was getting tired of the lame rock gods. He waited outside the convenience store as Leo gathered some supplies. The shorter boy had been vague about the process, but a plan was a plan.

"Alright!" Leo announced. He had two grocery bags full of...was that bug spray? And snacks that Leo probably needed because they were some secret power source. "To the watchtower!"

They sprinted to the tower and found the entrance. Leo started up the winding stairs inside, only to be stopped at a ticket booth by some caretaker who yelled at him in Italian

Percy shot Leo a look that said, I got this.

"Look," Percy grabbed one of the spray bottles out of Leo's bag. "Exterminators, see? Molto Buono."

The man just held out his hand for money.

"I think that might be offensive," Leo pointed out. "Like racism or something. Here man," he tossed the ticket collector a pack of junk food that said Fonzies!

To Percy's surprise, the man just shrugged and took the bag. "Avanti!" He had to remember to tell Annabeth, apparently Fonzies were better than cash.

The stairs seemed to be endless, but Percy knew they didn't have a second to waste; those monkeys were fast. Finally, when their legs felt like overcooked noodles, they reached the top.

The room was about the size of a broom closet, with barred windows on all four walls. Shoved in the corners were sacks of treasure, shiny goodies spilling all over the floor. Percy spotted Piper's knife, an old leather-bound book, a few interesting-looking mechanical devices and enough gold to give Arion a stomachache.

Percy stepped forward.

Immediately, a rope wrapped around his ankle, careening him up and down like a slinky. Leo made a grab for him, but wasn't quick enough and Percy was hanging several feet too high for him to reach.

"Gah!" Leo yelled, though Percy was content to watch the show. No really, it was fine. "Show yourselves!"

Akmon and Passalos were hanging upside down from the rafters by their chimp feet, playing antigravity poker. When they saw Percy, they threw their cards like confetti and broke out in applause.

"I told you he'd do it!" Akmon shrieked in delight.

Passalos shrugged and took off one of his gold watches and handed it to his brother. "You win. I didn't think he was that dumb."

Fair. But it still hurt.

"Let me down," he snarled. Though it probably wouldn't help, he started thrashing back and forth, hoping his weight would be enough to make the rope snap. Alas, monkeys were better at construction work than he'd thought.