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/ᴸⁱᵛᵉ ᵗᵒ ᴼˡʸᵐᵖᵘˢ. ʷᵉ ᵃʳᵉ ᶠᵃᵐᵉ ⁿᵒʷ/
𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯
"Again!"
Water park. The word alone made Melanie shake. If someone had told her a few weeks ago that they would go to one, she would have said yes immediately and probably organized a party. But that was before the dreams. Before the fear and definitely before a quest given to them by a god that Melanie couldn't stand. And the fact that the park was deserted didn't really help her. The fear of the water even less and certainly not the lurking shadows that crept over the grounds like mist.
The sun was sinking behind the mountains, the day was getting darker, the orange and purple tones faded into a deep blue. Single stars were already lurking in the sky and the moon was already letting its soft light bloom behind the tips of the mountains. The quartered stood in front of a rusty gate, the water park just a few meters behind it. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D.The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy. "Looks... promising," Melanie hesitated. Her violet eyes glow in the shadows of the coming night. Percy nodded in agreement.
"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," he said, staring up at thebarbed wire, "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. "Last time didn't end well," Melanie noted, her gaze fixed on the park in front of her. "Who is she? Echidna?"
"No, Aphrodite," Grover said, a little dreamily.
"Goddess of love."
"I thought she was married to somebody," Percy said. "Hephaestus.""What's your point?" he asked. "Gods are known for cheating," replied the daughter of Dionysus. "And someone like Aphrodite is a pro at it."
"Oh." Percy 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 stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he'd planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?" Melanie clicked her tongue. "Those things are bound to go wrong at some point."She turned to the other two. "Need help?"
