𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 // 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦 𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠𝑜𝑛 ＆𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑙𝑦𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈.

－ • ꕥ • －

"𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒
𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒"
— 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧

－ • ꕥ • －

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓-𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒 watched as the exotic animals they had helped free flocked around the broken down semi-truck in the middle of downtown Las Vegas. "This seems dangerous." Percy said as an ostrich ran past them.

        "Oh. They'll be totally fine. I gave them a Satyr's blessing, so they'll be able to reach the wilderness safely." Grover smiled.

        "I meant for the people." Percy corrected Grover, looking over at him.

        Grover paused. "Oh... them," he shrugged. "Well, I mean, I'm sure they'll... yeah, I don't know. But the animals are all set."

        Annabeth eyed the scene cautiously, standing beside Evangeline. "Okay, come on, before the cops show up." she said a police siren could be heard in the distance.

        Percy turned to face the two girls. "So, how do we know which hotel is the Lotus?" Evangeline snickered quietly.

        "I'm guessing the one with the giant lotus blossom on it." she eyed the large hotel in a mocking way.

        "You were like two seconds ahead of me. Seriously," Annabeth smiled, she and Evangeline beginning to walk away. "Sometimes, it might be okay to just let the easy ones go. Can we agree to just try it, maybe?"

        "No chance of that ever happening." Evangeline lightly nudged Annabeth, knowing how good it felt for her to prove she was smart.

        The group walked into the casino, energetic music flowing over the speakers over an array of chatter from all walks of life. The colors were bright and the combination of noises pushed Evangeline's ADHD impulses to the test as she grew overstimulated. "I know we're supposed to be saving the world, but would it be unprofessional if we just hung out here for a bit?" Percy said, dazingly looking all around the casino.

        Annabeth turned to him sharply. "We find Hermes, we get him to hook us up with a ride to Los Angeles and a plan to get into the Underworld, and we are out of here ten seconds later." she detailed their plan firmly.

        "I was kidding." Percy shrugged, beginning to follow Evangeline deeper into the casion.

        "Wait, hang on." Grover stopped them.

        "What?" Percy asked, pausing.

        Grover turned to him. "Your mom told you all the stories. Did she read you the Odyssey?" he questioned, making connections in his head.

        "The graphic novel," he noticed the looks Annabeth and Evangeline were giving him. "It counts." he reasoned.

        "No, it doesn't." Evangeline shook her head, her braids landing behind her back.

        Grover sighed quietly and continued. "Odysseus lands on a beach. There's these guys who've forgotten where they came from, forgot everything that was important to them, and they got that way because they ate..."

        "The lotus flowers." Evangeline realized as she looked upon the casino.

        "If we go in there and then forget everything, that would be bad on a number of levels." Grover said nervously, beginning to stress himself out the way Evangeline always remembered Arlo doing.