The Tunnel of Romantic Horror pt 1/2
Percy, Grover and Annabeth arrived at the amusement park, which had a crooked and battered sign that read: Waterland: The Thrill Ride O' Love.
The place looked kind of abandoned; very abandoned, honestly. The slides were dry and covered in dust, the pipes curled like rusted snakes everywhere, and the entrance gate was sealed with barbed wire and a huge padlock that looked more ceremonial than functional. At night, that half-dead atmosphere gave a mix of sadness and little shivers.
"Wow. What an… interesting place for a god to bring his girlfriend," Percy said, looking around carefully. "If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date, I don't even want to imagine what she looks like," he added in a tone clearly begging for trouble.
Annabeth gave him a slight look. "Percy, you have to be more respectful," she said, shaking her head as if each word were a reminder that patience had a limit.
"What? I thought you hated Ares too," Percy said, a little annoyed, remembering the deal they had: he didn't insult the gods; she didn't defend them. But it seemed this time it wasn't about that.
"His girlfriend is very temperamental; especially with people who talk about her looks," Grover said with alertness, as if he had already seen someone die because of it.
"His girlfriend is Aphrodite," Annabeth added.
But Grover, as if entranced, continued. "The goddess of love…"
"The wife of Hephaestus?" Percy said, remembering that tiny but important detail.
"And what if she is?" Annabeth asked.
"Oh, right… Greek gods; my bad. Sometimes I forget. A family that truly loves each other… in very different ways," Percy added with a touch of mockery that earned him a sharp look from Annabeth. She didn't insult him, but mocking the gods counted too.
Before Percy could ask whether they needed to climb the fence, Grover shouted "Maya." The wings on his shoes spread out and he flew over the wire as if it were the most normal thing in the world. He even made a full spin in the air, involuntarily of course, and landed on a small step on the other side as if he had planned it. His face, however, betrayed him completely; that spin was clearly not part of his dignity.
Percy looked over at Annabeth. "Want help?" he asked.
"I don't need your help," she said quickly.
Percy just shrugged without caring. He crouched slightly, loaded momentum in his legs and, with a jump, reached more than half the height of the fence. He held himself with one hand, pushed again with his foot and the hand gripping the top, and landed on the other side, cushioning with a roll that came out surprisingly elegant. Then he stood up and dusted himself off calmly.
Annabeth opened her mouth when she saw how easy it was for him. And judging by her expression… he had obviously lowered his strength just to show off.
She frowned, slightly annoyed, before seeing a stick lying not too far away. She picked it up and used it to lift the barbed wire exactly at a spot where it stuck up from the ground, creating a hole big enough to crawl through.
With a satisfied smile, she said, "Sometimes you just need to think a little instead of using brute force." She pushed her hair behind her ear as if she had just won an intellectual competition.
The three walked through the park, observing every corner of the place. They passed by attractions with ridiculous names like "The Biter" and "Find Your Swimsuit." Luckily, no monster seemed to be wandering around.
When they passed a souvenir shop, it still had merchandise: snow globes, water guns and…
"Clothes!" Annabeth shouted when she saw garments hanging on racks. Without thinking twice, she entered the shop and started grabbing several. She looked at her own clothes, covered in dirt and grime, with resignation. Earlier she had managed to fix her hair a bit… which for Percy meant she had likely dunked her head straight into a bucket of water.
Annabeth disappeared into the dressing room instantly.
Percy looked at Grover. "Is this legal?" he asked.
Grover just shrugged, as if the concept of legality depended on what day of the week it was, while he also went to look for clothes for himself.
Percy didn't have that problem. First, because the Mississippi water hadn't dirtied his clothes. And second, because he had already switched to the armor Miraak had given him; comfortable, flexible, and dirt-resistant. Basically, he always looked decent, even after fighting half an army.
His friends weren't that lucky.
So he just whistled calmly while they changed.
After a while, Annabeth came out wearing a blue Waterland T-shirt, Waterland shorts, Waterland anniversary sneakers and a Waterland backpack hanging from her shoulder. Grover came out in the exact same style. They looked like two walking advertisements, which forced Percy to hold back a laugh because it was two against one.
After the "skin change" of Annabeth and Grover, the three of them walked through the park looking for the famous Tunnel of Love. The darkness followed every step; it even felt like the park itself was breathing.
After walking for a while, Percy spotted a huge pool, perfect for skating if it weren't completely dry. Around it were Cupid angels with bows ready to shoot, and on the other side a tunnel where the water would probably flow… if there were water.
The sign above the tunnel said something like: Exciting love attraction; this is not where your parents met. Wink.
And it looked like a boat was already waiting for them there.
It was pink, with a canopy full of hearts. On the left seat there was a bronze shield reflecting the moonlight.
Obviously, Ares's shield.
"Easy," Percy said as he was about to take a few steps toward it.
But Annabeth stopped him. "Wait, seaweed brain," she said seriously, approaching one of the Cupids and staring intently behind it. "There are some Greek letters carved here," she said.
Percy narrowed his eyes for a moment and turned to Grover. "Do you smell anything?" he asked him.
Grover sniffed the air instantly and shook his head slightly. "Nothing," he said.
"Nothing like when we were at the Arch with Echidna?" Percy asked, staring at him.
Grover immediately got irritated. "We were underground," he grumbled.
"Doesn't matter. I'm going to grab it," Percy said without overthinking it. "Grover, use your shoes and be ready in case something bad happens," he added seriously.
"In case something bad happens?" Grover asked, already nervous.
"Just in case. I've got a bad feeling," Percy said. Then he added, "Annabeth, come with me."
"Are you kidding?" she said quickly, refusing immediately.
"What?" Percy stopped and looked at her.
She was blushing. "What if someone sees us going in there?" she said, pointing at the pink boat full of hearts and the Tunnel of Love rising behind it.
"Who would see us?" Percy said right away—though he also blushed once he realized the implications. He scratched his head in annoyance, feeling that girls always found ways to make things complicated. "Fine, I'll go alone."
"No… wait, I'll go with you," Annabeth said, though she began muttering under her breath about boys always messing everything up; Percy decided to ignore that.
Percy and Annabeth reached the boat. Inside were the shield and what looked like Aphrodite's scarf. For a moment Percy stared at it without thinking much, but Annabeth, as if she had imagined thirty possible scenarios, grabbed it quickly and stuffed it in her backpack, giving him a slightly annoyed look.
Percy changed the subject on purpose. "Why would two gods meet in a place like this?" he asked while looking around. Then he noticed that the ceiling and walls were covered in mirrors everywhere. "Ah, I see," he said, understanding instantly. "Obviously they like looking at their favorite people… themselves," he added with sarcasm.
"Just take the shield, seaweed brain, and let's go," Annabeth said, already wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.
Percy obeyed and grabbed the shield. But at that moment, as if he had touched something connected to a barely visible golden web, something activated.
"Oh, great," Percy said as the sound of millions of gears began to echo. It was as if the entire huge empty pool were a giant machine awakening from a rusty sleep.
The surrounding Cupids moved and began shooting arrows, but not at Percy or Annabeth; instead, they shot at each other, as if weaving a pattern. The arrows seemed connected to bright filaments that began stretching through the air, creating a luminous net that spread faster and faster. Smaller filaments connected on their own, weaving together as if they were alive.
Within seconds, the easy exit from the pool was blocked. If they tried pulling the threads off by hand, they tangled tighter and tighter. Percy drew his sword to cut through them.
But at that moment, all the Cupids lost their heads—literally; and from their necks, instead of blood, lights and cameras came out, unfolding and pointing straight at them, illuminating them as if they were on a TV show. A speaker boomed with metallic echo:
"Broadcast to Olympus in 1 minute; 59 seconds; 58…"
"Hephaestus," Annabeth shouted, identifying the culprit. "He set a trap for… you-know-who. His wife. He's always trying to catch them so they'll embarrass themselves in front of the other gods," she added in frustration. "And now we're going to appear in front of all of them and look like complete idiots."
A dozen responses came to Percy's mind, but he kept them all to himself; especially because the mirrors around them opened like trapdoors, revealing a massive swarm of creatures falling down.
Spiders.
But not normal spiders; they were golden, mechanical, with dozens of glowing red eyes and tiny metal legs that made a horrible clattering sound as they hit each other. They looked like an entire factory turned into a living plague.
Annabeth let out a scream full of horror as she saw them crawling in their direction.
Percy, on the other hand, looked at them with great interest. Mechanical spiders from Hephaestus. Oh, this was going to be a problem… but it was also kind of cool.