Chapter 42 - Reunion

Leaving the park, Ikki tried to ignore his emotions and headed toward where he felt his friends were.

Standing in front of a water park, he let out a sigh. Judging by the sign, it used to be called 'Aqualandia', but now some letters had been torn off, so it read 'Aqulda'.

The main gate was locked with a padlock and topped with barbed wire. Inside, enormous slides, tubes, and pipes twisted everywhere, dry, pouring into empty pools. Old tickets and brochures were lifted from the asphalt by the wind. With nightfall approaching, the place looked sad and eerie.

Ikki could feel through his supernatural senses that Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were inside. He glanced at the entrance of the abandoned water park before vanishing and in an instant, appearing inside the park with his hands still in his pockets.

He walked slowly, following the presence of his friends, a smile appeared on his lips; he was finally going to find Percy, Annabeth, and Grover.

Ikki was very anxious about it, and he picked up the pace of his steps.

As he walked towards the presence of his friends, he saw several old attractions of the abandoned park, checking out the rides. There was the Little Ones' Island, the Overhead Ride, and the Dude, Where's My Shorts, to which he looked strangely at the last one.

This place had a somewhat eerie silence; nothing made the slightest noise. After a few minutes of walking, he finally spotted his friends, a little ahead of him. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were in front of a souvenir shop that was left open. There were still items lined up on the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of clothing...

As soon as they entered the old school park that was scaled over the locked gate, except for Grover, who used his magical shoes to fly over. They looked for the love tunnel, which according to Ares was where he had dropped his shield.

After passing several attractions while chatting about Ares' lover and various other things, they found a souvenir shop. Seeing various clothes in that place, Annabeth had a good idea to take advantage of them, since it had been a while since they had changed clothes or even bathed.

The daughter of Athena entered the fitting room and came out wearing a floral-patterned shorts from Aqualandia, a large red t-shirt from Aqualandia, and Aqualandia-themed surf shoes. Hanging on her shoulder was Ikki's backpack, and she had tied her jacket around her waist.

Percy and Grover also entered the fitting room and came out in similar outfits. The three looked like walking advertisements for the ghost theme park.

As the three were about to continue their journey, they heard a familiar voice behind them. The owner of the voice caught them completely off guard, giving them quite a scare, but the moment they heard the voice, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover recognized it instantly.

"Finally found you guys!"

The three turned to come face to face with their friend. Fully recovered, wearing new clothes and a smile on his face.

His smile kind of stunned Grover and Annabeth. However, seeing his best friend, Percy couldn't contain his smile; he quickly approached while saying, "I guess it's confirmed now; you really are Superman. Just like him, you're indestructible…"

"I guess so, I also did what you asked. I beat up the Hulk impersonator. It was quite a beating; you should have seen it..." said Ikki, amused.

The two smiled at each other before embracing like brothers. The son of Poseidon could not explain the relief he felt seeing his best friend safe and sound in person.

After stepping out of the embrace, Percy punched him in the arm, with his characteristic crooked smile on his face, he said, "Good job, man, I'm glad you're okay…"

Ikki nodded with a small smile and looked at his other two friends. The satyr was the first to come out of his daze; he quickly approached and said, "It's good to see you're okay, Ikki..."

The otherworldly-looking boy just ruffled Grover's head between his horns and said, "It takes more than a god to kill me…"

Grover smiled and said in awe, "From the looks of it! Luke told us about your fight in detail. He said you basically humiliated Hercules, the most powerful hero; that was incredible!!…"

Ikki grimaced and said, "Grover, I don't think Hercules is a hero. He's just an arrogant bastard... An aspiring hero..."

"I agree!" said Percy, nodding his head before meeting Hercules. He was his favorite hero, not because of his deeds. Maybe in part, but it was because the son of Poseidon just felt that poor son of Zeus was more unlucky than he was.

But after meeting him, he was no longer his favorite Greek hero, but that's beside the point.

Grover scratched his head a bit awkwardly and embarrassed.

At that moment, Annabeth came out of her stupor and quickly approached. Before Ikki could say anything, the daughter of Athena jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. He was a bit surprised by this, but quickly returned the hug.

"It's so good! You're okay…" said Annabeth with pure relief in her voice.

"I'm glad to see you too, Anne..." said Ikki calmly, with a small almost imperceptible smile. Hearing his words, he felt her tighten her hug even more, to the point that if he were someone normal, he probably would have broken a few bones.

Percy and Grover smiled; the group was only complete with Ikki with them. The last few days had not been easy for them; if Luke hadn't told them that their friend was alive, their journey would have remained bleak, and perhaps because of that, they wouldn't even survive; they didn't have the mind to carry out the mission.

Now seeing their friend back completely well, they were partly very surprised by him appearing out of nowhere, but... the three were mainly happy and relieved.

Sure! Here's the translation of your text into English:

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Annabeth felt his intoxicating presence enveloping her like a blanket. He was taller than her, and when he hugged her, the daughter of Athena reached the height of his chest. Her face was buried in Ikki's chest. She sensed his intoxicating and wonderful scent, making her heart race.

Even so, she didn't let go. It was as if everything lost relevance when she was in his arms. It was the safest place in the world and at the same time the most comfortable, reaching the point of being indescribable.

After a few long minutes, while Percy and Grover looked for something interesting around them since it felt pretty strange, even Ikki seemed a bit awkward. Annabeth finally pulled away from his arms, albeit reluctantly.

As soon as she broke free from his embrace, Annabeth realized what she had done and blushed deeply; she literally looked like a tomato on fire from how red she was, and her heart felt like it might leap out of her chest from how fast it was beating.

She was just so happy to see him again that she wanted to hug him to make sure he was real or something like that; without realizing it, she had done just that.

Ikki looked at his friends and asked, "Why are you guys in this abandoned park?"

The three of them intertwined their stories and began to explain everything that had happened in the last few days since their separation. The two-day journey to St. Louis, the fight at the city's arch portal, which the son of Poseidon had with the Hydra, his father's request to go to Santa Monica beach, and finally, their arrival in this city.

Their conversation with Luke, where they found out he was okay, and their encounter with the God of War.

Ares had asked for a favor: to retrieve his shield in exchange for a ride and something about Percy's mother. With this brief mission in mind, the three had come to this park.

After hearing everything, Ikki appeared thoughtful before saying, "I see, you've been through ups and downs lately…"

The three smiled ironically; ups and downs were an understatement; the past few days had been nothing less than intense. Annabeth asked curiously, "And you? After the fight with Hercules, what happened? And how did you find us?"

Percy and Grover also paid attention to their friend.

"Well…" Ikki began to briefly explain everything that happened, inventing a story about how he had help from Artemis after helping her deal with some monsters to find them.

When he mentioned Artemis, their reactions were somewhat different. Percy didn't mind much, Grover wore a dreamy look, and Annabeth narrowed her eyes.

He said that Artemis helped him until he got to this city, where he happened to run into the Goddess of Love, and she pointed him in their direction.

Ikki now understood why his unexpected encounter with Aphrodite happened. It was because she was on a date with Ares.

Good thing it was just coincidence.

For a moment, he felt like the world was conspiring against him since he doubted any other demigod would be lucky enough to encounter three gods on their first mission — one that wasn't much relevant and the other two being Olympic gods, part of the twelve most important gods.

After finishing his explanation, Percy looked at his friend and said sarcastically, "Seems like your luck is incredible!"

The son of Poseidon didn't know whether to feel pity or praise his friend's luck. Earlier, him encountering Ares had been a very unpleasant meeting, and Percy wanted to punch the God of War in the face every second. But he hadn't done it. He knew it was Ares's power that was affected; certainly, the God of War would have loved for him to attack, but… Percy didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

Ikki merely sighed at this and muttered, "Don't even remind me…"

After thinking about everything Ikki had said, Annabeth spoke up. "At least we managed to find each other again. I'm glad you're okay, Ikki. Now we can get back to this mission. But… first we need to get Ares's shield; it's the easiest way to get a ride…"

"I still think your luck is incredible, Ikki. Meeting Lady Artemis is simply wonderful…" Grover said with dreamy and envious eyes.

Percy looked at the satyr, confused and perplexed, while Annabeth shook her head negatively toward the satyr, sighing.

"I guess so…" Ikki said with a small smile that dazzled the satyr and the daughter of Athena again. They were so absorbed in his beautiful smile that they didn't notice it seemed a bit forced. His eyes also sparkled with a hint of loneliness and sadness, but it was just for a mere instant.

"Anyway, let's go…" Ikki said to the three of them as he began to walk. The two snapped out of their stupor and quickly followed him.

Percy looked at his best friend; the other two might not have noticed, but he saw that Ikki seemed off. He had noticed the lonely, sad gleam in his eyes before, along with his forced smile. After all, how many years had he known him? The two had been best friends for as long as he could remember, so naturally, he picked up on the change in his friend. If he hadn't noticed something like that, it would mean he was a terrible friend. He decided to talk to Ikki later, as he was worried—something must have happened to his friend on this journey that he didn't want to share. While thinking about it, Percy quickly followed the group.

The quiet, ghostly park became scarier as night fell, the darkness creeping into every corner, creating a beautiful horror movie setting. The group walked silently, searching for Ares' shield; however, the silence didn't last long.

It was broken by the son of Poseidon. Percy, trying to push the dark thoughts away, asked, trying to sound interested, "So, Ares and Aphrodite. Are they having an affair?..."

"It's an old gossip, Percy..." Annabeth said, explaining. "A gossip that's three thousand years old..."

"And what about Aphrodite's husband?..."

"Well, you know." Annabeth said, recalling what she had read about the topic. "Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippled as a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So, he's not exactly handsome. Skilled with his hands and all, but Aphrodite doesn't appreciate intelligence or talent, you know?..."

"She likes bikers..." Percy said, understanding.

"Or that..." Annabeth said, nodding.

Ikki decided to join the conversation; he joked, "Ares isn't the only lover of Aphrodite. He might be considered the main one, but she has had many lovers over the millennia, both men and women. They say she would sleep with any man she found interesting. So, Seaweed Brain, be careful not to get on the radar of the Goddess of Love; she might literally want to devour you..."

Hearing his words, Percy turned as red as a flaming tomato. He stammered, "W-Why would Aphrodite be interested in me? I'm just a 12-year-old kid..."

"I don't know, FYI, the Gods don't care about age, and maybe because you're the son of Poseidon. Did you know she slept with your dad?...."

Percy's face turned green; he grimaced in disgust and glared at Ikki as he said, "Wow! Thanks a lot for that mental image..."

"You're welcome..." Ikki just looked at Percy, amused by his embarrassed and disgusted expression. A barely noticeable smile was on his lips.

Annabeth and Grover, who had been silent listening to the two, looked at Ikki in an impassive manner. Having met the Goddess, it would be impossible for her not to be interested in him. He hadn't shared the details of the encounter, only a summarized version, and their curiosity about his meeting with the Goddess soared; the Daughter of Athena felt a tinge of jealousy.

"Does Hephaestus know?..." Percy asked, trying to erase the image of his father with Ares' lover from his mind, but he miserably failed, his face pale from it, and his lips twisted at the end of his words.

"Oh, for sure." Annabeth said, coming out of her "jealous" state and nodding. "In Ares' case, once he caught them together. I mean, he really caught them, in a net of gold, and called all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them. That's why they meet in hidden places, like..."

She stopped, looking ahead and stopping walking; the rest of them stopped too. The Daughter of Athena pointed and said, "Like that..."

Before the group was an empty pool that would have made a great place to skate. It was at least fifty meters wide, bowl-shaped.

Around the edge of the pool were a dozen cupids that appeared to be standing guard, wings open and bows drawn, ready to shoot. On the other side was a tunnel, probably where the water drained when the pool was full.

The sign above it read: Exciting Love Ride: This Is Not Your Parents' Love Tunnel.

Grover walked up to the edge. After looking down into the pool, he pointed and said, "Guys, look..."

Ikki, Percy, and Annabeth approached the edge and looked where Grover was pointing.

Abandoned at the bottom of the pool was a pink and white two-seater boat, with little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, gleaming in the pale light, was Ares' shield, a polished bronze disc.

Ikki looked at the polished bronze shield, his eyes catching all the details around it, analyzing what had happened for Ares to leave his beloved shield behind and quickly reaching a conclusion.

"Too easy." Percy commented, while looking at the shield. "So, we just slide down there and grab it?..."

Annabeth ran her fingers over the base of the nearest Cupid statue. She narrowed her eyes and said, "There's a Greek letter etched here... Eta. I suppose..."

"Grover, do you smell any monsters?." Ikki asked thoughtfully, looking in a specific direction in the place.

Grover sniffed the wind and said, "Nothing."

"Nothing like the I-didn't-smell-the-Hydra or really nothing?." Percy asked, remembering the incident in St. Louis.

Grover looked offended. He said to Percy, "I told you, that was in an underground..."

"Okay, sorry..." Percy replied, taking a deep breath. In his mind, he made up his mind and said, "I'll go down there..."

"I'll go with you..." Grover said, not very enthusiastically.

"No." Percy told the satyr. He thought for a moment and said, "I want you to stay up with the flying shoes. You're our ace in aviation. I'll count on you to back us up in case anything goes wrong."

Grover puffed out his chest a little and asked, "Sure. But what could go wrong?..."

"I don't know. Just a feeling. Ikki, come with me..." Percy said to Ikki, who was deep in thought, a slight frown on his face.

"No, I have a better plan. You and Grover go; if something happens, I can save you both. Besides, as insurance; Grover has the magic shoes; he can fly carrying you. I... think it's better for me to stay here as support..." Ikki replied calmly, looking at the shield with analytical eyes.

Upon hearing Ikki's plan, Annabeth agreed. "That's a good plan..."

Percy and Grover exchanged glances. The son of Poseidon thought for a point before agreeing, "Alright, I'm counting on you. Superman..."

Ikki nodded and warned, "Before I forget, next to the Shield, there's a cloth. Be careful with it; it must have belonged to Aphrodite. So, it has a very potent love magic..."

Percy, though confused because he hadn't seen any cloth from up here, nodded and took the warning to heart.

The two quickly descended towards the pool.