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Description
Luckily, the monsters seemed to have run out of energy that evening. Maybe their Lucozade stash had been drained. Maybe their big bumper box of Snickers (you're not you when you're hungry!) had come up empty.

Whatever it was, Annabeth was grateful for it.

Blinking, the trio burst out into the street. Thalia shot Annabeth a glance from out of the corner of her eye. Direction? it said.

"Up this way," Annabeth called over her shoulder in response, already marching ahead. "Quick!"

"Why do we have to be quick?" Grover grumbled. [A/N: I'm sorry, but… grumbling Grover grumbled glumly XD]

"Percy might not even be in any danger!" Thalia tsked quietly to herself, like she was thinking something along the lines of honestly, I'm sure Percy can handle himself. No need to be so worried. Ugh.

"Yes, well, you said it yourself -"

Thalia opened her mouth to protest, thinking rapidly back through anything she'd said in the last twenty-four hours.

"- didn't you? Might. And that, Grover, Thalia, is our last turning."

Thalia, having now (obviously, she wasn't dumb) realized that she had, indeed, said might, picked up the pace to keep up with Annabeth's increased speed. That girl had superpowers, Thalia thought, not just wise powers: she cut through the pedestrian traffic like a bird's wings through the air.

No, Thalia Grace, you are NOT making air metaphors because of your father. No. Nonononono. Nope. No way. All round: NO.

After coming to a halt at the turning, Annabeth's face paled slightly. Her expression looked both worried and angry at the same time. Thalia did not want to be between her and Kelp Head when she caught sight of him. Annabeth looked ready for murder.

After coming to a stop at the turning, Thalia's face darkened, and darkened a lot. Her expression looked both angry and vaguely concerned at the same time. Grover definitely didn't want to see what had made the two react like that, but…

After coming to a pause at the turning, Grover almost fainted in shock. His expression looked both scared and worried at the same time. Annabeth (who's facial expression still looked like a serial killer's) didn't particularly want to have to carry Grover down a dark alleyway at night.

The two demigods placed a hand on their respective weapons. The satyr swayed but still managed to take his reed pipes out of his jeans pocket. He raised the instrument to his face but didn't let it touch his lips. Thalia held her finger over her silver bracelet and opened her mouth ready to say Aegis. Annabeth held her knife an inch out of its sheath.

They crept about six metres into the alley.

For some reason this alleyway seemed more threatening than the last. Maybe it was the deep dark shadows that surrounded them that was the problem. Perhaps it was the multiple alcoves that'd sprinkled themselves at random intervals along the passage and could hold anything from a Mini to a person without showing it until you got run over/impaled on a sword or spear that did it. But whatever it was that set the demigods' senses off, it was nearby.

And it was strong.

How the heck could Percy be here, of all places, and there not be sounds of battle as he fought? Annabeth ran through the directions again in her mind. Hmm…

Yes, she'd managed to get the directions all correct. She'd followed them down to the letter. So either Annabeth had misheard or Percy was at the end of this alley.

Well, better safe than sorry, right? Thalia thought.

They crept the next few metres into the alley, and then some more. Looking back, Grover realized that they were now at least fifteen metres into the passage.

Panicking, he wheeled his whole body round to bolt out. Annabeth and Thalia grabbed an arm each to keep him with them and stared at him when he struggled, bleating in terror.

"Calm down, Grover. It's fine."

"Blah-ah-ah-ah-aaaah! Smells bad!"

"Shh, it's alright, it's okay..."

"No it's not! It's not okay!"

"Grover..." Thalia warned. "Calm. Down."

"But..." He protested. It smelt of monster! He was trapped! He was going to die! He didn't even say goodbye to Juniper first! He was stuck between two brick walls and a monster!

"No buts, goat boy. Move it."

Thalia said those six words in such a do-it-now-or-regret-it-forever-I-will-have-revenge-for-you-not-obeying-me-immediately-puny-satyr-now-mush voice that even Clarisse would pale. Needless to say, Grover swallowed hard and took a shaky step forwards.

A warm orange light, a colour not unlike the sun's rays, glowed softly from a hidden turning at the end of the alleyway. When you looked at the alley from any point on the street, it was completely invisible. Even three quarters of the way down the passage you couldn't see it. It was only when you got to the brick wall that blocked off the rest of the street that you would notice the massive, seemingly abandoned skate park that lay beyond.

Graffiti was scattered around here and there, but there wasn't tons of it, as there usually was in areas like this. It would seem that the park had been built and then deserted almost immediately. It had ramps, benches, poles, handrails, and a huge-looking cupboard who's ajar door displayed rows upon rows of helmets, elbow guards, spare skateboard parts, a medical kit and more. The wall held quite an impressive amount of whiteboards, and a couple of forgotten beanbags lay, dejected and dusty, in a heap in a corner.

A scraping sound brought the presence of another person to the attention of the open-mouthed party. Quickly snapping her jaws shut, Annabeth took a step forward only to be restrained by Thalia's outstretched arm.

"Not yet, Annie. He doesn't know we're here yet."

"Don't call me Annie!" Annabeth hissed, but conceded Thalia's point.

Said person indeed didn't know that his (now annoyed) girlfriend, his cousin and his best friend were standing watching him. His eyes were closed and he had headphones plugged in his ears.

As they watched, openmouthed, he performed a perfect no-handed 360° spin with his eyes closed and mouthing lyrics. He landed on an almost vertical ramp, bending his knees to absorb the impact, and flew down the curve with his hands in his pockets, humming loudly.

"I had no idea. . ." Thalia breathed, gazing at Percy, who was still happily oblivious.

"Nor did I," Annabeth murmured.

"I. . ." Grover gaped at Percy's retreating back. "I. . . I didn't know either. . ."

"Gods," Thalia whispered angrily. "How could none of us notice that Percy goes missing for hours?"

"I don't know!" Grover hissed. "Don't look at me expectantly like that!"

The girls apologized and turned their heads back just in time to see the son of Poseidon do a bunny hop and half-twirl before skating back in the direction he'd been coming from. He rolled for a few metres towards a drop without slowing in the slightest (in the face of a small cliff that Annabeth would be hesitant to jump down herself) and did a backflip off of it. He disappeared down on the next level and the three unseen visitors rushed to the edge in worry.

Only to see him casually skating towards a long line of traffic cones.

What was he doing now. . . ?

The two other demigods watched in fascination as, eyes still closed, Percy jumped onto the first cone and off again.

On.

Off.

On.

Off.

Crunch.

Tap.

Crunch.

Tap.

"Why is he, um, hopping? Anyone know?" Grover asked quietly.

"I'd say that it's to improve his balance on thin, flimsy surfaces. That cone looks like it's about to snap." Thalia hummed vaguely, trying to place the tune Percy had been broadcasting earlier in order to forget the fact that she was sitting at the top of a seven-meter drop.

"Don't say that," Annabeth groaned. "It was bad enough watching him backflip off this ledge." She didn't notice Thalia's tiny flinch.

"What's the difference between a backflip and a frontflip?" The satyr asked randomly.

The girls stared at him.

"What? It's not the kind of thing that I feel it necessary to remember."

"A backflip is -"

"Spinning backwards." Thalia interrupted absently, still trying to pin a name to Percy's tune.

"Yes, thank you Thals. A frontflip is-" Annabeth glared daggers at the daughter of Zeus. "- where you spin headfirst."

"Oooooooh." Grover said. He still sounded unsure.

Annabeth opened her mouth to elaborate when Thalia snapped her fingers and cheered. "YES! I GOT IT!" She yelled triumphantly.

There was a clatter and a high-pitched shriek.

All heads turned to Percy, who lay on the floor with his headphones tangled on his skateboard wheels and the fingers of his right hand splayed on the cement ground. His face was paler than usual and his green eyes were wide with shock. His left hand pointed at the group, shaking badly. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

He tried again.

"H-how long were you there?"

"Long enough." Thalia said smoothly. "How did you get that good?"

"Wha. . . ?"

"Thalia, he doesn't think he's good." Annabeth hissed at her under her breath. "He's too modest, remember?"

"Damn!" Thalia said loudly.

There was a beat of silence, then Thalia, Grover and Percy cracked up laughing.

A whole minute came and went.

Two.

Five.

"Dam. . ." Grover chuckled weakly, slowly recovering.

"Haaaaaaaaah." Percy gasped, clutching at his stomach.

Thalia sat up from where she'd rolled onto her back. She composed her face, making eye contact with the boys.

"Dam snack bar." She cried out, and, unable to hold in her laughter, she broke out in giggles again.

~One hour later~

The four sat on the beanbags on the main level, talking. They'd pulled all the sacks into a pile and spent ten minutes leaping into it one by one. Now they were spread-eagled on them, talking and exchanging quest stories.

". . . And then Percy shoved me off the cliff!"

"It was necessary!"

"It was not!"

"Sure, Thalia. And you didn't scream on the way down." Percy rolled his eyes.

"I told you not to tell anyone about that."

"Don't guilt trip me, Lightning Rod. I know for a fact that everybody here knew about your phobia before this conversation even crossed our minds."

"And how did you know, Kelp-For-Brains?"

Percy rolled his eyes again and sighed heavily, dramatically pushing the back of his hand to his forehead. "Because they told me, Zapper Girl!"

Annabeth laughed. "Don't be overdramatic, Seaweed Brain. Thalia doesn't want you swooning on her. She's boyproof now, remember?"

Percy blushed and the other three laughed. "I wasn't swooning on her!"

"You were."

"Nope. Can't have. I was there."

"So was I. Isn't that a coincidence?"

"Shut up, Thalia. . ."

"Make me."

Description
Luckily, the monsters seemed to have run out of energy that evening. Maybe their Lucozade stash had been drained. Maybe their big bumper box of Snickers (you're not you when you're hungry!) had come up empty.

Whatever it was, Annabeth was grateful for it.

Blinking, the trio burst out into the street. Thalia shot Annabeth a glance from out of the corner of her eye. Direction? it said.

"Up this way," Annabeth called over her shoulder in response, already marching ahead. "Quick!"

"Why do we have to be quick?" Grover grumbled. [A/N: I'm sorry, but… grumbling Grover grumbled glumly XD]

"Percy might not even be in any danger!" Thalia tsked quietly to herself, like she was thinking something along the lines of honestly, I'm sure Percy can handle himself. No need to be so worried. Ugh.

"Yes, well, you said it yourself -"

Thalia opened her mouth to protest, thinking rapidly back through anything she'd said in the last twenty-four hours.

"- didn't you? Might. And that, Grover, Thalia, is our last turning."

Thalia, having now (obviously, she wasn't dumb) realized that she had, indeed, said might, picked up the pace to keep up with Annabeth's increased speed. That girl had superpowers, Thalia thought, not just wise powers: she cut through the pedestrian traffic like a bird's wings through the air.

No, Thalia Grace, you are NOT making air metaphors because of your father. No. Nonononono. Nope. No way. All round: NO.

After coming to a halt at the turning, Annabeth's face paled slightly. Her expression looked both worried and angry at the same time. Thalia did not want to be between her and Kelp Head when she caught sight of him. Annabeth looked ready for murder.

After coming to a stop at the turning, Thalia's face darkened, and darkened a lot. Her expression looked both angry and vaguely concerned at the same time. Grover definitely didn't want to see what had made the two react like that, but…

After coming to a pause at the turning, Grover almost fainted in shock. His expression looked both scared and worried at the same time. Annabeth (who's facial expression still looked like a serial killer's) didn't particularly want to have to carry Grover down a dark alleyway at night.

The two demigods placed a hand on their respective weapons. The satyr swayed but still managed to take his reed pipes out of his jeans pocket. He raised the instrument to his face but didn't let it touch his lips. Thalia held her finger over her silver bracelet and opened her mouth ready to say Aegis. Annabeth held her knife an inch out of its sheath.

They crept about six metres into the alley.

For some reason this alleyway seemed more threatening than the last. Maybe it was the deep dark shadows that surrounded them that was the problem. Perhaps it was the multiple alcoves that'd sprinkled themselves at random intervals along the passage and could hold anything from a Mini to a person without showing it until you got run over/impaled on a sword or spear that did it. But whatever it was that set the demigods' senses off, it was nearby.

And it was strong.

How the heck could Percy be here, of all places, and there not be sounds of battle as he fought? Annabeth ran through the directions again in her mind. Hmm…

Yes, she'd managed to get the directions all correct. She'd followed them down to the letter. So either Annabeth had misheard or Percy was at the end of this alley.

Well, better safe than sorry, right? Thalia thought.

They crept the next few metres into the alley, and then some more. Looking back, Grover realized that they were now at least fifteen metres into the passage.

Panicking, he wheeled his whole body round to bolt out. Annabeth and Thalia grabbed an arm each to keep him with them and stared at him when he struggled, bleating in terror.

"Calm down, Grover. It's fine."

"Blah-ah-ah-ah-aaaah! Smells bad!"

"Shh, it's alright, it's okay..."

"No it's not! It's not okay!"

"Grover..." Thalia warned. "Calm. Down."

"But..." He protested. It smelt of monster! He was trapped! He was going to die! He didn't even say goodbye to Juniper first! He was stuck between two brick walls and a monster!

"No buts, goat boy. Move it."

Thalia said those six words in such a do-it-now-or-regret-it-forever-I-will-have-revenge-for-you-not-obeying-me-immediately-puny-satyr-now-mush voice that even Clarisse would pale. Needless to say, Grover swallowed hard and took a shaky step forwards.

A warm orange light, a colour not unlike the sun's rays, glowed softly from a hidden turning at the end of the alleyway. When you looked at the alley from any point on the street, it was completely invisible. Even three quarters of the way down the passage you couldn't see it. It was only when you got to the brick wall that blocked off the rest of the street that you would notice the massive, seemingly abandoned skate park that lay beyond.

Graffiti was scattered around here and there, but there wasn't tons of it, as there usually was in areas like this. It would seem that the park had been built and then deserted almost immediately. It had ramps, benches, poles, handrails, and a huge-looking cupboard who's ajar door displayed rows upon rows of helmets, elbow guards, spare skateboard parts, a medical kit and more. The wall held quite an impressive amount of whiteboards, and a couple of forgotten beanbags lay, dejected and dusty, in a heap in a corner.

A scraping sound brought the presence of another person to the attention of the open-mouthed party. Quickly snapping her jaws shut, Annabeth took a step forward only to be restrained by Thalia's outstretched arm.

"Not yet, Annie. He doesn't know we're here yet."

"Don't call me Annie!" Annabeth hissed, but conceded Thalia's point.

Said person indeed didn't know that his (now annoyed) girlfriend, his cousin and his best friend were standing watching him. His eyes were closed and he had headphones plugged in his ears.

As they watched, openmouthed, he performed a perfect no-handed 360° spin with his eyes closed and mouthing lyrics. He landed on an almost vertical ramp, bending his knees to absorb the impact, and flew down the curve with his hands in his pockets, humming loudly.

"I had no idea. . ." Thalia breathed, gazing at Percy, who was still happily oblivious.

"Nor did I," Annabeth murmured.

"I. . ." Grover gaped at Percy's retreating back. "I. . . I didn't know either. . ."

"Gods," Thalia whispered angrily. "How could none of us notice that Percy goes missing for hours?"

"I don't know!" Grover hissed. "Don't look at me expectantly like that!"

The girls apologized and turned their heads back just in time to see the son of Poseidon do a bunny hop and half-twirl before skating back in the direction he'd been coming from. He rolled for a few metres towards a drop without slowing in the slightest (in the face of a small cliff that Annabeth would be hesitant to jump down herself) and did a backflip off of it. He disappeared down on the next level and the three unseen visitors rushed to the edge in worry.

Only to see him casually skating towards a long line of traffic cones.

What was he doing now. . . ?

The two other demigods watched in fascination as, eyes still closed, Percy jumped onto the first cone and off again.

On.

Off.

On.

Off.

Crunch.

Tap.

Crunch.

Tap.

"Why is he, um, hopping? Anyone know?" Grover asked quietly.

"I'd say that it's to improve his balance on thin, flimsy surfaces. That cone looks like it's about to snap." Thalia hummed vaguely, trying to place the tune Percy had been broadcasting earlier in order to forget the fact that she was sitting at the top of a seven-meter drop.

"Don't say that," Annabeth groaned. "It was bad enough watching him backflip off this ledge." She didn't notice Thalia's tiny flinch.

"What's the difference between a backflip and a frontflip?" The satyr asked randomly.

The girls stared at him.

"What? It's not the kind of thing that I feel it necessary to remember."

"A backflip is -"

"Spinning backwards." Thalia interrupted absently, still trying to pin a name to Percy's tune.

"Yes, thank you Thals. A frontflip is-" Annabeth glared daggers at the daughter of Zeus. "- where you spin headfirst."

"Oooooooh." Grover said. He still sounded unsure.

Annabeth opened her mouth to elaborate when Thalia snapped her fingers and cheered. "YES! I GOT IT!" She yelled triumphantly.

There was a clatter and a high-pitched shriek.

All heads turned to Percy, who lay on the floor with his headphones tangled on his skateboard wheels and the fingers of his right hand splayed on the cement ground. His face was paler than usual and his green eyes were wide with shock. His left hand pointed at the group, shaking badly. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

He tried again.

"H-how long were you there?"

"Long enough." Thalia said smoothly. "How did you get that good?"

"Wha. . . ?"

"Thalia, he doesn't think he's good." Annabeth hissed at her under her breath. "He's too modest, remember?"

"Damn!" Thalia said loudly.

There was a beat of silence, then Thalia, Grover and Percy cracked up laughing.

A whole minute came and went.

Two.

Five.

"Dam. . ." Grover chuckled weakly, slowly recovering.

"Haaaaaaaaah." Percy gasped, clutching at his stomach.

Thalia sat up from where she'd rolled onto her back. She composed her face, making eye contact with the boys.

"Dam snack bar." She cried out, and, unable to hold in her laughter, she broke out in giggles again.

~One hour later~

The four sat on the beanbags on the main level, talking. They'd pulled all the sacks into a pile and spent ten minutes leaping into it one by one. Now they were spread-eagled on them, talking and exchanging quest stories.

". . . And then Percy shoved me off the cliff!"

"It was necessary!"

"It was not!"

"Sure, Thalia. And you didn't scream on the way down." Percy rolled his eyes.

"I told you not to tell anyone about that."

"Don't guilt trip me, Lightning Rod. I know for a fact that everybody here knew about your phobia before this conversation even crossed our minds."

"And how did you know, Kelp-For-Brains?"

Percy rolled his eyes again and sighed heavily, dramatically pushing the back of his hand to his forehead. "Because they told me, Zapper Girl!"

Annabeth laughed. "Don't be overdramatic, Seaweed Brain. Thalia doesn't want you swooning on her. She's boyproof now, remember?"

Percy blushed and the other three laughed. "I wasn't swooning on her!"

"You were."

"Nope. Can't have. I was there."

"So was I. Isn't that a coincidence?"

"Shut up, Thalia. . ."

"Make me."