Karolina_Avalon
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« on: March 10, 2010, 01:17:01 PM » |
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Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Chapter 15: A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers
Written by Katlyn
Summary
Seven days before the solstice Percy, Annabeth, and Grover arrived in Denver. Annabeth suggested they try to contact Chiron. They arrived at a car-wash, and Grover took hold of the 'fine mist' hose to contact Iris, she carries messages to the gods. Annabeth threw a Drachma into the rainbow the mist created, and asked for Half-Blood Hill. A vision of the camp and Luke appeared before them. Luke said that Chiron was busy with some trouble at the cabins. Annabeth and Grover let Percy speak to Luke alone. Luke said that the campers heard about the Zeus and Poseidon fight and they were taking sides. Percy updated Luke on their travels thus far. Luke insisted that it must have been Hades that stole the bolt although the gods could not steal magic items directly. The water started to run out and Luke wished Percy luck on the rest of his journey.
The trio went to a local diner for food but were disappointed when the waitress asked if they could pay for it. All conversation at the diner stopped when a large, loud motorcycle pulled up to the curb. A huge man stepped off the bike and offered to pay for the kids food. They figured out that this man was Ares, god of war. He had a proposition for Percy, to find his shield that he left when he was with his girlfriend at the local water park in the Tunnel of Love. Percy refused and Ares told him that he framed Hades for stealing the bolt so that he could start a war. Ares also said that he could get them a ride west and tell him something about Percy's mother, if they got his shield back for him.
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover reluctantly agreed and went to Waterland. Percy wondered who Ares girlfriend was and Annabeth said it was Aphrodite. They found some clothes that were for the park workers to change into since they have not changed in many days. On the way to the Tunnel of Love (or in this case the Thrill Ride O'Love), Annabeth told Percy about Aphrodite's husband Hephaestus and how he knew about the affair and usually found ways to catch the two in the act and embarrass them. At the tunnel they found the shield in the boat at the bottom of the ride. Annabeth reluctantly accompanied Percy into the ride to retrieve the shield. When Percy reached for the shield, his hand passed through a tripwire and the Cupid statues all around the ride shot arrows at each other with a similar thread like the trip wire. The wires were creating a net and the Cupid's heads popped off revealing video cameras wired to Olympus to start giving a live feed in one minute. Annabeth realized this was another trick from Hephaestus to catch Aphrodite with Ares. Also, thousands of wind up spiders were released around the pool, Annabeth freaked out and Percy had to pull her back into the boat. The spiders were throwing the wire as well to keep them pinned onto the boat. Percy saw that the spiders were coming from the water pipes and told Grover to turn on the ride from the controller station. Grover was having no luck with the ride, so Percy imagined the water coming rushing at them and it did. The spiders were taken over by water and the cameras became live. Percy willed the boat to the exit. On the way they realized that the exit was blocked by two other boats and decided they needed to be launched over the exit to get out safely. Grover, from the other side of the gate, tried to break their hard landing and succeeded. The cameras were still facing them as they thanked Grover for helping them, then they turned off. Then the trio went off to talk to Ares.
Characters Involved
Percy
Annabeth
Grover
Luke
Ares
Characters Mentioned
Chiron
Iris
Oracle at Delphi
Aphrodite
Apollo
Poseidon
Athena
Zeus
Clarisse
Hades
Hephaestus
Places Visited
Denver (diner, Waterpark)
Quotes
As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?" The biker said, "It's on me." He slid into our booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window. He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"
"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."
The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. The park went quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into the Thrill Ride of Love's exit pool. I wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if our ratings had been any good.
Questions for consideration
Why do you think the big, bad God of War Ares was afraid to get his shield on his own?
What do you think the gods saw when were watching the live feed of Percy and Annabeth trying to stay alive?
Do you think Ares will live up to his promise to them?
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