The Tunnel of Romantic Horror pt 2/2
Percy saw the spiders while Annabeth kept screaming "Spiders!" filled with pure panic.
Percy drew his swords. The spiders that jumped toward them were cut down instantly as he moved among them with almost instinctive speed; his body slipped through the mechanical shadows as if he had trained his whole life for this.
Percy looked back and saw that Annabeth had frozen with fear, paralyzed, almost covered by the spiders. With a swift motion he cut the ones around her, grabbed her by the waist and threw her inside the boat to keep her out of the metallic tide.
But the spiders kept appearing. Hundreds. Thousands. They fell like golden rain from the walls and ceiling. They didn't seem programmed to kill; rather to corner, bite, humiliate, and make the scene look as ridiculous as possible. Obviously, this trap had been designed for Ares and Aphrodite; and Percy and Annabeth had fallen right into it.
That was why Ares hadn't wanted to come retrieve his shield; of course he knew.
Still, when Percy saw the enormous number of spiders… he smiled. And without a second of hesitation, while still cutting them down, he crouched and picked up the destroyed spiders, stuffing them into his bag as if he were collecting candy.
"I think master will really like these as material," he said with a satisfied smile, as if he had just come up with the best idea ever. While he kept fighting, he opened the bag mid-air and let the spiders fall inside without stopping the movement of his sword.
Next to him, Annabeth kept screaming, completely out of combat, and the speaker continued its countdown mercilessly.
"Oh, right," Percy said, finally realizing the countdown. He stopped looting and, without slowing down, slashed everything around him. Then he closed his eyes as if he were concentrating in deep silence. "Please work…" he murmured before lowering his hand to the metallic floor.
Meanwhile, Grover was trying to break through the net from above. He hit, tore, pushed with all his strength; but the net wouldn't budge. It really was like a spiderweb made of divine metal.
Then suddenly, a tremor ran across the entire pool. From the side wall, where old pipes and tubes were, a gigantic blast of water exploded outward. The liquid shot out like a whirlwind and dragged everyone toward the center.
"3… 2… 1…" said the speaker as the cameras activated.
At that moment, all of them focused directly on Percy. The pool was now almost completely filled with water, and the boat began to float rapidly.
Percy made a small jump, caught more spiders mid-air and, seeing the cameras pointing at him, he gave a light smile before raising both middle fingers toward them.
"Thanks for the materials," he said.
And he let himself fall backwards into the water, swallowed instantly.
Annabeth, inside the boat, saw how it sped forward at an absurd velocity through the tunnel, without brakes, without control. A few spiders were still clinging to the edge with their tiny metal legs. Then suddenly, a hand emerged from the water, grabbed the edge of the boat and, with an impressive burst of strength, Percy shot out of the water and fell inside. He cut the remaining spiders and stuffed them into his bag as well.
Annabeth kept screaming as if she were possessed; absolutely useless.
Meanwhile, Percy had a serious, focused expression. Thanks to the potion or strange liquid his master had given him, he could see perfectly in the dark; his brain worked fast, analyzing, calculating, wasting no time.
The tunnel was dark, humid, confusing; but he saw it as if it were broad daylight. Far ahead he saw the door. It was locked with a huge padlock. If they didn't open it in time, they would crash. Other boats were piled up there, smashing into each other; one had been crushed by the pressure of the water and another had been split in half.
Percy grabbed Annabeth by the shoulders, sat her down and fastened her seatbelt.
Then he stood on the front of the boat. He drew Anaklusmos. As if he already knew exactly what to do, he raised it, aimed, and threw it with all his strength.
The sword pierced the padlock and blew it apart. The chains came loose immediately.
But the boats still blocked the way.
Percy then drew his black sword. For a long time he had known he had never used all the power of that weapon. After all, it was a sword specially forged and enchanted for him by his master. Cutting anything like butter was barely the basics.
Besides, he knew it had an enchantment that caused fire, lightning, and ice damage. And ice, especially, connected perfectly with his ability.
Percy, standing at the prow, gripped the sword while concentrating; he wanted to use only the ice-damage enchantment. He remembered everything his master had taught him so far, which actually wasn't that much considering it had only been one or two months. But his master had never held back while training him; he always told him:
"Use all your emotions in the perfect moment."
And right now Percy had emotions to spare:
the anger because of Ares, that arrogant guy who had basically sent him straight into this trap;
the frustration from the trap itself, created by gods who seemed to use demigods as cheap entertainment;
and above all, the general anger he felt all the damn time because of the stupid gods.
Percy opened his eyes just when they were one or two meters away from the piled-up boats.
With a furious shout he slashed downward.
It was as if the water around them also responded to his anger, amplifying his power.
The slash shot forward, freezing everything in its path. The boats were covered in ice instantly; the water formed two frozen walls that pushed the boat through the middle, clearing the escape route as if the attraction had been built for that purpose.
Percy fell sitting next to Annabeth, exhausted; he had used a huge amount of energy: magical, spiritual and physical. The boat slid gently out of the tunnel's exit as if the attraction were fully active… before stopping right at the end.
And, of course, a camera flash exploded in his face.
Percy just sighed in annoyance.
Grover, who had been up above pressing every button of the attraction trying to help, finally came down. To be honest, he hadn't been very helpful. Well… Annabeth hadn't been either. But even so, Percy gave a slight smile, because the bag was now full of spiders made of divine metal. His master would be happy. Profit was profit.
Percy turned toward Annabeth just as she was waking from her spider-induced terror.
"In the end, the tunnel really does make your heart race, huh?" he said, with a smile.
Annabeth, seeing his smile, blushed slightly and tried to stand quickly… but she still had the seatbelt on. She fell back down immediately, with a soft and rather embarrassing thud. She yanked the belt, freed herself and got out of the boat as fast as she could.
Percy didn't have the strength to think much about her reaction, so he simply stepped out behind her.
That was when he noticed the cameras were still active, watching them as if they were part of the final show. Percy ignored them completely and walked toward the exit of the amusement park. He just wanted to finish that stupid mission and get back to focusing on the main quest.
Meanwhile, the images of everything that had happened were transmitted to various places on Olympus. Just before the cameras shut off and the lights died, the echo of that broadcast lingered in the air like a taunt.
…
Meanwhile, on what seemed to be the highest diving platform of the water park, Miraak was sitting calmly, watching his student with a slight, proud smile.
The moon illuminated his figure as if he were part of the landscape, and from that height he could see the entire path Percy had taken until he exited through the waterfall of the Tunnel of Love.
He had indeed learned quite well.
Although there were still things to refine; that was obvious. But for only one or two months of training… he would give him a passing grade, a higher one than usual. Especially because of something very specific.
The gathering of materials during the fight.
Miraak almost let out a nasal snort. Every warrior in Tamriel knew that if you didn't recover resources while advancing in your mission… then you were doing something very wrong.
And Percy, by instinct, had collected every metal spider as if it were pure gold.
A worthy student.
In addition, the use of the sword's enchantment…
Percy had used it correctly.
No; more than correctly. He had used it perfectly for someone who was still learning how to channel his emotions in battle.
Miraak smiled slightly, with that calm smile only he could have, while in his mind he was already imagining what he could craft for him with the materials stored in the bag.
Maybe a pair of throwing daggers, he thought.
The sword Percy carried was starting to take quite a beating every time he used it as a throwing weapon, which wasn't its primary purpose. A dagger would be better balanced for that use.
The possibilities were many, and Hephaestus's materials were not something one found every day.
Miraak rested his elbows on his knees, watching as Percy, exhausted and annoyed, walked toward the exit of the park alongside Grover and Annabeth.
The First Dragonborn tilted his head slightly, as a silent gesture of recognition toward his student's performance.
"Well done…" he murmured, though no one was there to hear him.
His silhouette disappeared into the night mist a moment later, as if he had never been there at all.