Warren's father was waiting for them in the diner parking lot. Ares looked at her and nodded.
"Good to see you didn't get yourself killed, kiddo," he said.
"You knew it was a trap!" Percy accused.
Ares gave him a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of kids. You looked good on TV."
"Dad!" Warren shouted. "We could have died!"
"Yeah, but you didn't."
"You're a jerk," Percy said, shoving the bronze shield into Ares's arms.
Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.
Ares took the shield in his hands and spun it in the air, the metal instantly melted into a bulletproof vest. The god shrugged it on and pointed to an eighteen wheeler across the street from the diner.
It had a sign on the back, which Warren could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.
"See that truck over there?" he asked her. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."
Warren felt her stomach drop. "Vegas?" she asked.
"Yeah, figured you could say hi to your mom for me on the way."
"Tell her yourself," Warren said. "I don't want to see her."
"Whatever, kid."
Ares snapped his fingers and the back door to the truck unlatched and sprang open. He then turned to Percy. "Here's a little something for doing the job."
He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to the boy. Inside were fresh clothes for all of them, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuff Oreos.
Percy said, "I don't want your lousy—"
"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving Percy his best red-alert warning look. "Thank you very much."
Percy grit his teeth and slung the backpack over his shoulder. Ares looked him up and down and then looked at Warren.
"I don't like your little boyfriend."
She felt her face heat immediately. "Ew, no! He is not my boyfriend."
"Good." Ares scoffed. "Keep it that way."
Percy looked back at the diner, desperate to avoid eye contact with the god of war or his daughter. He felt embarrassed and slightly insulted.
The diner was nearly empty. The waitress who'd served them dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt them. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of the group.
Great, Percy thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow. He imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER.
"You owe me one more thing," Percy told Ares, looking back at him and trying to keep his voice level. "You promised me information about my mother."
"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."
Percy suddenly felt dizzy. "What do you mean?"
"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."
"Kept. Why?"
"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."
"Nobody's controlling me."
He laughed. "Oh yeah? Later, kid."
Percy balled up his fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."
Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. Percy felt a hot wind in his hair.
"We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."
He turned to Warren and revved his Harley. "If that punk tries anything slick, bash his head in. Catch ya 'round, Ren."
Then Ares roared off down Delancy Street.
"That was not smart, Percy," Annabeth said.
"I don't care."
"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not my dad," Warren said, still feeling uneasy in the wake of seeing her father.
"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but..."
He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.
"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry."
Warren didn't like the idea of Vegas, but they had no better option. Besides, she'd seen enough of Denver.
They ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind them.
The first thing that hit her was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter.
The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped Anaklusmos. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene.
Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals Warren had ever seen: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing she didn't know the name for.
Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!
Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.
"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"
He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, and Warren would've helped him, but just then the truck's engine roared to life. The trailer started shaking, and they were forced to sit down or fall down.
They huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies.
Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but Percy pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, he had a feeling they might look a lot more appetizing to the lion than those turnips.
Warren found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used Ravager to drag the mismatched food out of their cages.
She gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope. Grover calmed the antelope down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but they decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around.
They told Grover to promise the animals they'd help them more in the morning, then they settled in for the night. Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened their bag of Double Stuff Oreos and nibbled on one halfheartedly.
Warren was fiddling with a loose fray on her shirt. She was tired and wanted to sleep, but her mind was anxious. Percy nudged her with his elbow.
"You alright?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "I just really wasn't expecting to see my dad."
"I can't believe the two of you are related," Percy shook his head. "Wait, no. On second thought, yes I can."
"Oh, shut it Jackson."
He laughed and then was contemplative for a moment before speaking. "So you've met him before?"
She nodded.
"Yeah, a couple times. I saw him on the winter solstice field trip, and once or twice when I was still living with my mom."
"Ares...he said something about saying hi to your mom in Vegas. What was that about?"
"It's where I'm from. My mom does the majority of her wrestling shows there," Warren said. "I guess I never told you that."
"Honestly, I feel like I barely know anything about you."
She sighed deeply. "Letting people in isn't really something I do."
"We're a team, remember?"
"Yeah," Warren nodded. "I guess we are. So...what do you want to know?"
Percy put a finger to his chin in contemplation. "Hmm. What's your favorite color?"
She let out a mix between a snort and a laugh. "Wow, you're really going for the deep cuts."
"I thought we'd start with an easy one," he rolled his eyes.
"Alright," Warren conceded. "Green. What about you?"
"Blue."
"Pfft, typical."
"Hey!" Percy protested. "Blue is a great color."
"Whatever. Next question."
He thought for a moment.
"Your dad called you 'Ren'. Is that like a nickname or something?"
"Only my family calls me that," Warren said quickly.
A smirk grew on Percy's face. "I like it, Ren."
"You better not."
"Yeah, no this is definitely gonna stick."
Warren pushed him hard and he laughed, catching himself on a feed bag. But then the smile faded from his face and he became serious.
"If we fail this quest...if the gods fight, do you think it will lign up like the Trojan War? Ares against Poseidon?"
Warren put her head against the backpack her father had given them, and closed her eyes.
"I don't know what my dad will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."
"Why?"
"Because you're my friend, Kelp for Brains. Any more stupid questions?"
Percy couldn't think of an answer for that. Fortunately he didn't have to. Warren was asleep.
Warren had a troubling dream, yet again.
It started out normal. She was naked at archery practice (a recurring nightmare of hers.)
But as the other campers all laughed and pointed, the scene shifted. Suddenly she was no longer at Camp Half Blood, and she was fully clothed, thank the gods.
Warren was in a vast black throne room, all glittering obsidian. The dark throne seemed to beckon her forward.
"Do you like it?" a voice crooned, blowing through the air on a cold breeze.
"Please," she scrunched her eyes shut and tried to wake up, "not you again."
"But I can give you everything," it said. "And you're doing so perfectly. Just deliver the boy with the bolt to me, and it can all be yours."
"What can be mine?"
"This throne, next to me. A new world order. A greater war than ever seen before, with you at the helm. Together we can tear down this broken world and build a new one."
"Why would I want that?" she asked, appalled.
"Don't deny your true nature, young one. I see it in you even now. Your hunger for blood. Your desire to conquer. Join me and your power could be unimaginable. Bring the world to its knees, Warren Walker."
The dark voice's words scared her. And not because they were terrible, but because she was afraid they were right.
Deep down in her soul, something stirred. A yearning for destruction. An insatiable desire to see a city crumble beneath her hand and to taste the conquest of War on her tongue.
All her life Warren had to hold back. With her strength, with her powers. And just once she would like to see how far she could take it. She wondered if the hot blood between her fingers would feel as sweet as she imagined.
"A-and you want Percy? In exchange."
"You needn't worry yourself about the details. Just complete your quest and all will be revealed."
"I-I..."
She shook her head fiercely, trying to rid her mind of the apocalyptic, but oh so seductive images.
No, she thought, this is wrong.
"Percy is my friend," Warren said. "I won't join you."
When the voice spoke again it seemed disappointed, but not surprised.
"It's only a matter of time."
Warren woke with a start.
Grover was shaking her and Percy awake. "The truck's stopped," he said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."
"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.
She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. The rest of them had to dive behind feed sacks and hope they looked like turnips.
The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.
"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his nose. "I wish I hauled appliances."
He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.
"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face. The lion roared in indignation.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.
Next to Warren, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous.
The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra.
"How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"
There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer. The trucker inside with them yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"
A voice outside— it must've been Eddie's—shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"
"What are you banging for?"
Knock, knock, knock.
Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"
Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot. A second later Annabeth appeared next to Warren. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer.
She said, "This transport business can't be legal."
"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"
"We've got to free them!" Grover said. He, Warren, and Annabeth looked at Percy, waiting for his lead.
Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but they knew the men would be back to torment the animals again any minute.
Percy grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage. The zebra burst out. It turned to him and bowed. Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing.
Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street.
There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. They rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs.
They'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas.
Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"
"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said.
"The other animals first," Grover said.
Warren quickly split the locks open with Ravager and Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra.
"Good luck," she told the animals.
The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.
"Will the animals be okay?" Percy asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all—"
"Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."
"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" Percy asked.
"It only works on wild animals."
"Oh, so it would only affect Percy," Warren said with a smirk.
"Hey!" he protested.
"Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."
They stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and Warren thought they must've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay them much attention.
They passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. They passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty. Warren wasn't sure what they were looking for, but being back home flooded her with a dozen mixed emotions. The blistering heat was a familiar tug in her gut, and she realized just how much she'd missed the flashing neon lights and glittering showgirls.
But they passed the turnoff toward her mom's gym and the nostalgia quickly turned bitter. Her mom's face flashed across a huge LED screen advertising "The Butcher" in an upcoming Sin City Smackdown.
Warren turned and immediately walked the other way.
"Where are we going?" Percy leaned over and asked her.
She sent him a harsh look. "I might've been left alone all the time, but it's not like I just wandered the strip by myself in kindergarten."
"I'm sorry, I just figured that since you grew up here—"
"Forget it. Just keep walking."
They must have taken a wrong turn at some point, because they found themselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the gleaming chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers— lotus blossoms, maybe.
"You ever been here?" Percy asked tentatively, not trying to set Warren off again.
"Never seen it," she shook her head.
The doorman smiled at them. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"
Warren knew to be suspicious, especially after this past week. But this guy was a normal human. One look at him and she could see.
Besides, they were all so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic that they nodded and said they'd love to come in.
Inside, they took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa."
The whole lobby was a giant game room. And not the kind with cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it.
There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food imaginable.
"Hey!" a bellhop said.
At least Warren guessed he was a bellhop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops.
"Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."
She stammered, "Um, but..."
"No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."
He handed them each a green plastic credit card.
Warren knew there must be some mistake. People, especially casinos, didn't just give out free things. He must have mistaken them for some millionaire kids.
But she took the card and said, "How much is on here?"
His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, when does it run out of cash?"
He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."
They took the elevator upstairs and checked out their room.
It was a suite with four separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet.
The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. Warren didn't see how that could be legal, but she thought it was pretty cool.
The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, and her heart gave a squeeze at being home again.
"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is..."
"Sweet," Grover said. "Absolutely sweet."
Immediately after getting settled, Warren took a shower. It was sweet relief after so many days of muck and grime. She spent extra time detangling her hair and actually blow dried it straight for once, so it hung in a perfect dark sheet instead of its typical tangles.
There were clothes in the closet, and they fit her, which was strange. But regardless, she changed into a fresh pair of black shorts and a camo tank top. Once Warren was finished primping she went back out to the longue area and grabbed a soda and pretzels from the mini fridge.
Annabeth was cranking up the National Geographic channel and Grover was stuffing his face with potato chips. Warren reclined on the plush couch and slipped her ear buds in, drowning everything out with the sweet sound of Nirvana.
A small voice nagged in the back of her head that she was forgetting something. A dream, maybe? But whatever it was probably wasn't important.
Percy entered the room then, also freshly showered and changed. He looked at Annabeth, who's eyes were glued to the TV.
"All those stations," he told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"
"It's interesting!"
"Let the girl have her fun, Jackson," Warren waved dismissively.
"I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place."
"So what now?" Annabeth asked.
"Sleep?" Warren said.
Grover and Percy looked at each other and grinned. They both held up their green plastic LotusCash cards.
"Play time."
Warren couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun. She bungee jumped in the lobby and played laser tag, but what really caught her eye was the hologram boxing arena.
It was a traditional style ring, but a projector (or something, she didn't really understand the technology) produced an opponent for her to fight.
The machine must have been programmed with some kind of artificial intelligence, because it was a real fight. The hologram saw and reacted to her moves, and when she would land a hit the projection would flash red.
She'd tied her hair up into a ponytail and taken off her combat boots after the third round. Warren was so into the game that she didn't notice much else around her.
"Take that!" she shouted after a successful uppercut. "My mom didn't name me Ali for nothing!"
She was waiting for the machine to recalibrate when she heard a familiar voice.
"Warren!" Percy shouted. He had an anxious expression on his face.
"I'm a little busy Kelp Head," she said, bouncing on her feet and striking the air.
"No, listen to me! We've gotta get out of here."
"Why would we do that?" she scoffed.
"Because, something's not right. This place is a trap."
"You're just being paranoid. Talk to me after this next match, okay—"
"I'm serious!" he shouted. "I just met this kid who's been here since the 1970's. Try to remember something. Why are we here? What's your mom's name?"
"Stop being an idiot," she said. "My mom's name is...it's..."
Warren furrowed her brow. For a terrible moment she couldn't remember. But then memories struggled to the surface: Her mom was Kendra Walker. She was here with Percy and her friends on a quest to the Underworld.
She felt the blood drain from her face and the boxing match was quickly forgotten.
"Gods," Warren whispered, "how long have we been here."
"I don't know." Percy was equally pale.
"We've got to get Annabeth and Grover and get out."
The duo dashed through the game room looking for their friends. Quickly, they spotted Annabeth building a virtual city. Warren shook her shoulder.
"C'mon Abs, we've gotta go. Right now."
The blonde didn't even take her eyes off the skyscraper she was building. Warren shook her harder. Annabeth turned to her, annoyed.
"We have to go!"
"But I just got to the towers—"
"Spiders! Big, hairy spiders!"
That jarred her and she blinked, as if just waking up.
"Oh my gods. This is bad," Annabeth said.
Percy looked grim and said, "Let's find Grover."
They went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter.
"Grover!" they all shouted.
He said, "Die, human! Die, polluting scum!"
"Grover!"
He turned the plastic gun on Percy and started clicking, as if he were just another image from the screen.
Percy looked at the girls, and together they took Grover by the arms and dragged him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! No!"
The Lotus bellhop hurried up to them. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"
"We're leaving," Warren told him.
"Such a shame," he said, and she got the feeling that he really meant it, that they'd be breaking his heart if they went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members."
He held out the cards, and Warren wanted one. It was so unbearably tempting. But she knew that if she took that card she would never leave. She'd fail her quest, forget her family and friends, and be boxing holograms forever.
Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks."
They walked toward the door, and as they did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. Warren thought about her room upstairs. They could just stay the night, sleep in a real bed for once...
Then they burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk.
It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day they'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert.
Ares's backpack was slung over Percy's shoulder, which was odd, because Warren was sure she'd seen him throw it in the trash can in room 4001. But at the moment she had other problems to worry about.
Warren ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when they went in. Then she noticed the date: June twentieth. They had been in the Lotus Casino for five days.
They had only one day left until the summer solstice.
One day to complete their quest.
...................................
Okay so iCarly just got put on Netflix and tbh Carly/Sam remind me of Annabeth/Warren. There's the smart, sensible one and the one who should probably be in juvie.
lmao ANYWAY I hope you guys are enjoying things so far <3