You Only Live Once ➳ Percy Jackson

▹chapter 12

"In every one of the Greeks' mythology tales, there is this: a man chasing a woman, or a woman chasing a man. There is never a meeting in the middle." - Jesmyn Ward

The sun was setting by the time we found water park. On sign says that it's called WATERLAND, but some of the letters weren't there, so it read WAT R A D. The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire.

"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date," Percy said, "I'd hate to see what she looks like."

"Percy," Anna 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" I told him

"Goddess of love." Grover said, dreamily.

"I thought she was married to somebody," Percy said looking at me.

"Yeah, Hephaestus." I told the lost boy

"Oh." Percy said and quickly changed subject

"So how do we get in?"

"Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings. He flew over the fence. "You guys coming?"

Annabeth, Percy and I had to climb over, holding down the barbed wire for each other as we crawled over the top. We found a souvenir shop that had been left open.

"Clothes," Annabeth said.

"Fresh clothes." I said and we smiled at each other

"Yeah," I said. "But you two can't just-"

"Watch us." I said. We took an entire row of stuff of the racks and disappeared into the changing room. I changed and what was left of clothes I putted in my Waterland backpack. After that we continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. 

"So Ares and Aphrodite," Percy said to me "they have a thing going?"

"That's old gossip, Percy," I told him. "Three thousand year old gossip."

"What about Aphrodite's husband?"

"Well, you know," Anna said. "Hephaestus. The black-smith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands, and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"

"She likes bikers."

"Whatever." Anna said annoyed

"Hephaestus knows?"

"Oh sure," I told him. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught 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 of the way places"

"Like that." Anna told us. In front of us was an empty pool. It was at least fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl. On the opposite side from us, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!

"Guys, look." Grover said to us. At the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze.