[Y/N's POV]
Ares was waiting for us in the parking lot.
"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed." I threw the shield at him. He caught it easily.
"You set us up!" I yelled. "You knew it was a trap."
Ares smiled aggressively. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You two looked good on TV." He looked at Annabeth, then me and winked, nudging me with his elbow.
"You ass-" I lunged towards the war god but Percy grabbed my shirt from behind and held me back. I wanted so desperately to beat the life out of this guy for making a fool out of us.
Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.
Ares cackled like a grizzly bear. He spun the shield like a frisbee and it turned into a bulletproof vest. He put it over his shoulder.
"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."
"You gotta be kidding me!" I tried in vain to advance toward the war god, despite knowing I would likely be pulverized in an instant if I even tried to hit him.
The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back:
KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.
Percy sputtered. "You're not serious?"
Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punks. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."
He grabbed a blue bag from his handlebars and tossed it to Percy. Ares looked at me and opened his arms welcoming the challenge seeing as I was now occupied. I was tempted to, but Annabeth grabbed my arm and succeeded in pulled me away. Ares cackled more, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Ah young love. It's such a mess." He laughed violently. My face burned.
Percy said, "I don't want your lousy-"
"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving me his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot."
I sighed deeply. This was a rough day so far. I looked back towards the diner from earlier. I never did get to eat. The place was pretty empty earlier, but the waitress was watching us out of the window. She looked nervous, and fearful. A cook came out from the kitchen and snapped a photo of us.
Fantastic. More news exposure.
"You owe us one more thing," I told Ares, trying to keep my calm, finding it easier with another person keeping me grounded. "You promised Percy information about his mom."
"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."
He all but dropped unconscious there. "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? See you around, kid."
"You know, Ares, you're pretty full of yourself for a guy who hides form Cupid statues." I snarked.
Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. "We'll meet again, boys. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."
He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.
Annabeth said, "That was not smart."
"I do not care." I told her.
"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god."
"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."
"Good idea, G." I wasn't very happy about this, but I certainly wasn't going to walk to California. Denver was starting to get on my nerves anyway. We hustled over and clambered into the truck's back. It smelled awful!
I heard Percy's sword form and the very faint bronze light glowed over one of the worst things I've ever seen. Three animals were sitting in the filthiest cages I think I had ever laid eyes on. A lion, a zebra, and an antelope. They looked pathetic. I wanted to cry, but I just couldn't seem to find it in me. Instead, I went over to try helping the poor creatures.
The lion had a bag of turnips in there and the other animals had trays of meat. The zebra was covered in gum and the antelope had a damn birthday balloon tied to its horn.
The lion was walking around on dirty sheets and blankets. No one must've wanted to get close to it. It had gotten so skinny it's ribs were showing. The animals were all panting. The trailer was hot and humid. And they had flies buzzing around their heads.
"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"
He was going to leave the truck and beat the tar out of the truck drivers. I was going to as well but at the moment the truck pulled away. We were off, and I got knocked off my feet.
The others huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Percy had the sword out and held it as if he was ready to kill someone with it.
Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth wanted to bust the cages open now, but I convinced her not to just yet.
I was lucky enough to find a jug of water and give some to each animal. Against the wishes of my friends, I reached my hand into the lion's crate to pull the food out from the wrong animals, and gave the meat to the lion and split the turnips between the zebra and antelope. The lion licked my hand in thanks. I patted its filthy mane, with a frown.
"How could anyone do this? It's just... It's evil." I muttered.
I cut the balloon from the antelope's horn, and with many, many attempts, I freed the Zebra of the gum. It was hard with the truck bumping about like that, but with a solemn look, and a borrowed Annabeth's knife, the zebra laid down, holding itself still long enough for me to clean it.
I got Grover to tell the animals I promised to free them once we had stopped. I plopped down hard in the corner, taking my sword off my back. I huffed, and watched Grover settle in for the night. He curled up into one of the turnip bags. I was struggling to keep calm.
This wasn't like with Ares. This was real anger. I unbuckled the bracers on my arms and let them fall to my sides. It was nice to get air on my arms. Like taking off your socks after a long day. Only it had been something like three days.
Annabeth opened a bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one half heartedly. She passed a couple to Percy. I rejected an offer and tucked my head into my knees.
"Hey," Annabeth said, "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park, Y/N."
I raised my head from my knees and looked at her. Her eyes were sad. She looked at me with a genuine tinge of regret.
"It's fine..."
"It's just..." She shuddered. "Spiders."
"Yeah, I know. Arachne. All that stuff. It's okay."
"She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?" Percy asked.
Annabeth nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you."
"Hey, we're even. Remember? You saved me back at Medusa's. We're on the same team anyway. We're good."
"You also took the photo board and that fall for ke. So I still sort of owe you." She muttered.
"It's alright." I chuckled softly. "Grover and Percy were the real heroes here."
I had thought the satyr was asleep but he mumbled out, "I was pretty amazing wasn't I?"
We couldn't help but laugh. I finally took the offer of an Oreo from Annabeth. She looked between Percy and me.
"In the Iris message... Did Luke really say nothing?" I bit into the multicolored cookie, chewing as I thought of a way to answer this. That conversation was weird. I didn't particularly like the mention of that incident. I rubbed my wrist with the non-cookie hand.
Lucky for me, Percy spoke. "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree."
In the pale light of Percy's sword, I was struggling to read the 'room' if that's what you'd call it.
Grover mournfully bleated. Annabeth had her eyes on the floor.
"I should've told you the truth from the beginning." His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along."
"You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus."
He nodded glumly.
I gulped a bit of air.
"And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp..." Percy looked over at Annabeth. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it?"
She put down her Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven year old half-blood, wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were... amazing monster fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us."
"I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," he said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought... I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker..."
"Stop it," Annabeth said. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."
"She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably, "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so." I knew that wasn't true. I really wished I didn't know why.
"Because you wouldn't leave two other half bloods behind?" Percy said. "That's not fair."
"He's right Grover. It's not fair." I told him. "Those 'cloven elders' don't have anything right in their heads. You did what you could. It's not your fault at all."
"He's right," Annabeth said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says."
Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy."
"You're not lame, G." I contended. "You're braver than anyone I've ever met. What other satyr, let alone person, would be willing to go to the underworld with his friends? I bet Percy is really glad you're here with us right now."
I kicked him in the shin.
He jumped. "Yeah. It's not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."
I heard a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, I realized he'd fallen asleep.
"Man, I don't know how he does that."
"I wish I knew," Annabeth said. "But that was really a nice thing you told him guys."
"It was the truth." Percy muttered.
"Every word of it." I nodded.
"He... He mentioned that something crazy happened before Thalia... Before she..." Percy muttered. He looked at Annabeth. She shook her head. "I'm not sure. The whole thing is all a bit of a blur."
He looked at me and I just shrugged. I didn't really think that was something I should share. "Not sure what Grover's definition of crazy is."
We rode in silence for a while. The lion had finished up its meat, looking much more at ease. I nodded to the animal, and it bowed its head to me in what I hoped was thanks and not asking me for seconds. I didn't have any to give. None that would be painless for me.
The zebra and the antelope munched on turnips. I was ready for the truck to stop so I could beat the daylights out of the drivers.
Annabeth broke the silence again. "So. Y/N. I know this is hard for you, but I can't help but wonder. How'd you end up at camp? I mean, there's no way a baby could've gotten there unharmed."
I ate the rest of the Oreo, trying to think of something to say.
"I... I think I was just always there. The first memory I can think of, is Chiron and some naiads watching me. I don't really remember ever showing up."
"Artemis..." Annabeth whispered. "Maybe she left you there."
"I doubt she'd be so kind as to abandon me somewhere safe. I'm not sure of all the details. I'll have to ask Chiron about it later, but from what I know, he and the forest spirits in the camp raised me."
"What did Artemis say when she told you she was your... you know?" Percy asked me.
Annabeth was alert. She was looking at me with intent to learn.
"To be honest with you, Percy. I don't remember exactly, but I remember some very choice words she used. And it was nothing a kid looking for his mom or dad should have to hear. That's all I'll tell you."
"Jeez man." Percy mumbled. "That's... awful."
"Well yeah. Artemis despises men. Which makes me wonder even more how this happened in the first place."
"I think there was a man Artemis loved once." Percy said.
"Oh yeah. Orion. Big deal. Didn't Apollo kill him?" I asked Annabeth.
"Well..." she took a deep, long breath. "Orion is one of the sons of Gaea. He's a giant. And he was born to oppose Apollo and Artemis. So... I doubt that's anything to do with it."
"Weird." Percy said.
"But that still doesn't explain how you're here." Annabeth added.
"Yeah... Well, whatever happened... it led to me. But... but I was a kid. I still am. I didn't do anything to her for her to..." I croaked. A tear threatened to spill down my face, but I wiped it and sniffled.
The others went quiet. I thought of the possibilities that could've led to me being born, or whatever I was. Especially if she's a maiden goddess and everything.
A big bump in the road knocked me out of my thoughts.
"So where do you sleep? If not cabin 11 or cabin 8?" Percy asked, taking a bite from another cookie.
"I don't really sleep a whole lot to begin with."
"Why?" He asked.
"I don't know Percy. Don't need to I guess. Ive got a room in the big house. That's where I keep my stuff. That's where I was raised and I guess I just never moved out. Never had a reason to." Percy nodded. Annabeth did too.
She had a soft grin, probably glad she was finally getting information about me.
Her smile faded quickly as she rubbed her necklace. I could tell she was thinking some kind of deep, strategic thoughts. I looked at Percy. He was also watching her do so.
"That pine tree bead," he said. "Is that from your first year?"
She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing. I scratched my neck. I never really wore my camp necklace. It became a hassle with all the beads.
"Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress. Now that was a weird summer..."
"Yeah. Chiron's relatives are quite a nutty bunch." I said.
Percy chuckled at the idea.
"I've never asked this, but I noticed a couple years ago. That ring. It belongs to your dad, doesn't it?" I cut in.
"That's none of-" she got mad for a split second before the anger faded from her face. "Yeah. Yeah, it does."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I reassured her. Hopefully.
"No... it's okay. You finally told me everything about you, so it seems fair."
I let out an airy, short laugh. Annabeth took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him."
"That doesn't sound all that bad..." Percy said.
"Yeah, well... the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood."
"Yeah I remember that. It was weird seeing you gone." She looked at me with her head tilted. "No no not like that. It's just I had seen you there every day for the better part of a few years and then you were gone. It was a sudden change." She huffed out a laugh and looked back at the ground.
"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?" Percy broached.
She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain."
"You shouldn't give up on the idea Annabeth. I know. Your family sucks. I get that. But. You still have someone outside of the camp. Someone you can go to. Someone who I bet still really loves you. He just doesn't know how to show it right. You should write to him. Or, Iris message him or something. You don't want to lose your family. It's not fun having nobody."
"Thanks for the advice," she said coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with."
"It's your choice at the end of the day. Just thought I'd give my input." I told her.
We passed another few miles of silence.
"So if the gods fight, I wonder how things are going to align. Will it be the same as the Trojan war again?" Percy asked. I scratched the side of my cheek, trying to keep the anger contained within me, about my "mother", about these poor animals.
Annabeth laid down on the bag Ares gave us, and before she shut her eyes she looked at me.
"I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you guys."
"Why's that?"
"Because you're my best friend, Y/N. Any other dumb questions?"
"Well... I got a few, but they're not relevant." I quietly laughed out.
I leaned my head forward. Annabeth was asleep. Percy followed not long after.
I didn't even bother trying. I just sat there, my hands over my knees, pressing my knuckles onto my teeth. I felt each bump in the road as the truck hurried down whatever road it was on. I tried to keep my thoughts off of what they would usually run to. My mother. Whoever my father might be. I finally settled on planning what I was going to do to these animal abusers.
* * *
[Percy's POV]
My nightmare started out as something I'd dreamed a million times before: I was being forced to take a standardized test while wearing a straitjacket. All the other kids were going out to recess, and the teacher kept saying, "Come on, Percy. You're not stupid, are you? Pick up your pencil."
Then the dream strayed from the usual.
I looked over at the next desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket. She was my age, with unruly black, punk-style hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy green eyes, and freckles across her nose. Somehow, I knew who she was. She was Thalia, daughter of Zeus.
She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at me in frustration, and snapped, "Well, Seaweed Brain? One of us has to get out of here."
She's right, my dream-self thought. I'm going back to that cavern. I'm going to give Hades a piece of my mind. The straitjacket melted off me. I fell through the classroom floor. The teacher's voice changed until it was cold and evil, echoing from the depths of a great chasm.
"Percy Jackson," it said. "Yes, the exchange went well, I see."
I was back in the dark cavern, spirits of the dead drifting around me. Unseen in the pit, the monstrous thing was speaking, but this time it wasn't addressing me. The numbing power of its voice seemed directed somewhere else.
"And he suspects nothing?" it asked.
Another voice, one I almost recognized, answered at my shoulder. "Nothing, my lord. He is as ignorant as the rest."
I looked over, but no one was there. The speaker was invisible.
"Deception upon deception", the thing in the pit mused aloud. "Excellent."
"Truly, my lord," said the voice next to me, "you are well named the Crooked One. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly-"
"You?" the monster said in scorn. "You have already shown your limits. You would have failed me completely had I not intervened."
"But, my lord-"
"Peace, little servant. Our six months have bought us much. Zeus's anger has grown. Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands... but wait. He is here."
"What?" The invisible servant suddenly sounded tense. "You summoned him, my lord?"
"No." The full force of the monster's attention was now pouring over me, freezing me in place. "Blast his father's blood. He is too changeable, too unpredictable. The boy brought himself hither."
"Impossible!" the servant cried. "For a weakling such as you, perhaps," the voice snarled. Then it's cold power turned back on me. "So... you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige."
The scene changed.
I was standing in a vast throne room with black marble walls and bronze floors. The empty, horrid throne was made from human bones fused together. Standing at the foot of the dais was my mother, frozen in shimmering golden light, her arms outstretched.
I tried to step toward her, but my legs wouldn't move. I reached for her, only to realize that my hands were withering to bones. Grinning skeletons in Greek armor crowded around me, draping me with silk robes, wreathing my head with laurels that smoked with Chimera poison, burning into my scalp.
The evil voice began to laugh. "Hail, the conquering hero!"
I woke up with a start.
Grover was shaking my shoulder. "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. Grover and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips. Y/N had curled up behind the animal cages. He held his nose and plunged out of sight.
The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.
"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly 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 me, 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!"
The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at me.
There was no sound, but as clear as day, I heard it say: "Free me, lord. Please."
I was too stunned to react.
There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.
The trucker inside with us 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?"
Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went to head back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.
However, Y/N jumped from his cover and jumped at him, wrapping his arms around the guy's neck. Maurice was pulled off his feet, kicked his legs, struggling to get any noise out. He reached back and grabbed at Y/N's face, clawing at his eyes, but he didn't let go. Y/N bit the guy's fingers.
The guy's hands were pulled away. He shouted in pain. I could tell Y/N was angry, given the obvious. This time though, his eyes were the same usual bronze color. There was no hint of that thing from the arch. This was all him.
It was kinda cool. He threw the guy onto the ground and kicked him in the stomach more that a few times. Finally, he lifted the guy up by his shirt and banged him into the truck wall. He was out cold before he hit the floor. But he did hit the floor. Hard.
The other driver came around and hopped into the truck. "Maurice what are you-" He spotted his coworker out on the floor and Y/N over him. His eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in anger.
Y/N held his arms out, inviting the challenge, just as Ares had done before. Eddie charged at him, but not before an angry bleat sounded off. Before Eddie knew it, a pair of goat hooves had kicked him in the stomach, and a fist had hit him square in the side of the face.
Eddie was out cold. Annabeth had been the one to throw the punch. She appeared out of thin air. Y/N clapped slowly, with an impressed expression on his face. She smiled at him.
He hurried over and grabbed onto one of the guys' shirts, dragging him towards the cages. "Let's see how they like being caged up." He dropped one of the guys and then dragged the other over.
"These guys are animal traffickers." Grover spat.
"We're gonna free these animals." I said. They all looked at me. Y/N moved over and had his hand on the cage bolts. He waited for my lead.
Weirdly, I'd heard the zebra talk, but not the lion. Why? Maybe it was another learning disability... I could only understand zebras? Then I thought: horses. What had Annabeth said about Poseidon creating horses?
Was a zebra close enough to a horse? Was that why I could understand it?
The zebra said, "Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that." I nodded to Y/N. He actually picked the lock. The zebra came out, licking his face. He chuckled for a moment before patting it on the back. The zebra bowed to me. "Thank you, lord. Both of you."
Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing.
The zebra leaped out into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We 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.
We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas.
"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said.
"The other animals first," Grover said. I nodded.
Y/N cut both of the other locks. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat blessing he'd used for the zebra.
"Good luck," I 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?" I 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?" I asked.
"It only works on wild animals."
"So it would only affect Y/N." Annabeth reasoned. "He's basically an animal."
"Hey!" he said, disgruntled."Percy's more of a wild animal than I am anyway. He can actually breathe underwater. I think. Can you?"
"Hey!"
"I'm just kidding Percy." He slapped me on the back. Then he went and stuffed Eddie and Maurice into the cages. He grabbed some rope and tied several knots on the cage door as well as reset the lock, patting the cage on the top, saying "Sweet karma." and came back in front to join us.
"Let's get out of this filthy truck." Annabeth said.
[Y/N's POV]
It felt good to get out of that truck. Especially after dealing with those damn animal smugglers. The desert air was hot. But the fun kind of hot. The kind of hot... Well. It wasn't fun. But it was better than that truck.
People were luckily way too interested in the animals to pay us any mind. Even though we were still covered in Waterland advertisements, we weren't the weirdest things here. We passed a bunch of casinos, the Statue of Liberty, and the Eifell tower.
If I hadn't had Annabeth to explain everything to me, I would have been so confused. I mean, I still was, but not as much. As far as I knew these were in very different places. But Las Vegas was an odd spot. There was also a Pirate ship. I stopped bothering to ask questions after that one.
Before I knew it, we were standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Interesting looking place. Their doors were wide open and there was nice chilly air conditioning flowing through them. It smelled wonderful. Almost as good as Aphrodite's scarf.
The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"
I was suspicious. But I was far more tired. This guy seemed cool. He sounded sympathetic. Collectively, we agreed on going inside. It was marvelous. Grover let out a "whoa."
The whole lobby was full of different arcade machines. I'd learned about them but never actually played one. What a unique opportunity this was. This place was huge. There were water slides. Ones with actual water. A nice change of pace. They had so many things I couldn't even process. What a time to be alive.
"Hey!" a bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bell-hop. He wore a white and yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. It was better than the Waterland design I guess.
"Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."
I stammered, "Uh... We haven't-"
"No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 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 us each a green plastic credit card.
He must've thought we were some rich couple's kids. I took the card anyway.
"How much is on this?"
His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"
"When does it run out of cash?" Percy asked.
He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."
I just looked at him with my mouth hanging open. I looked at the others. Grover's eyes weren't on the same thing for more than a second. Annabeth shrugged, and Percy had his eyes invested in his card.
We took the elevator up to the rooms. Everything was stocked full. There was a suite with four bedrooms. There was a bar. Full of candy, soda, and chips. A phone for room service. Everything a kid without supervision could want.
I immediately grabbed a bag full of skittles and downed them. Man. I hadn't had something that sweet in a while. Not since Luke came back from his quest with a few bags to share.
"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is..."
"Sweet," Grover said. "Absolutely sweet."
There were clothes in the closet. They fit. Which was weird, but I was glad to change out of my adverts. In the closet was a pair of fresh socks, underwear and sneakers. As well as some magnificently clean clothes. I took off my waterland attire and hopped into the shower. I hadn't felt this good since camp.
After I had washed myself clean of all that dirt and sweat, I washed my hair. It felt good being clean. I heard a few whoops of joy from Percy and Grover. I joined in. We celebrated our newfound cleanliness
Once I had dried, I went to the closet and grabbed a set of joggers, a (F/C) t-shirt, and a flannel to throw over it. The clothes were nice and wrinkle free. It felt amazing. The material was so soft. I felt like I could just stay here forever.
I ate a few more bags of skittles, and drank this thing called orange Fanta. The sugar rush was starting. It felt spectacular. I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt and grabbed a bracer. I strapped it on and came out of the room, I saw Annabeth, Grover, and Percy all changed and lounging about.
Percy was drinking a can of coke. Grover was eating potato chips fistfulls at a time. Annabeth had turned on the National Geographic channel. She was sitting on a bed. I jumped up and sat next to her, watching a documentary about Egypt.
"All those stations," Percy told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"
"It's interesting."
"I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place."
Without even realizing it, the wings had sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again.
"Oh this place is incredible. I wonder if we could ride out the war here?" I said, laying down fully on the bed.
"So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"
Grover and Percy looked at each other and grinned. I got the message. I whipped out my card. Sitting up, a smirk grew on my face before I could even think about it.
"Play time," Percy said.
We made our way down to the casino floor and split. I was getting a sensory overload. I grabbed a cup of soda from one of the waiters walking around the floor, and bought some more sweet stuff from the bar. My teeth might've fallen out but it was worth it. Hershey's chocolate was heavenly.
I saw everyone going from game to game. Annabeth played "smart people stuff." Trivia, city building games, and whatnot. Grover was playing some reverse hunting game. Percy was walking around with a weird look on his face.
I eventually settled on something I thought I could understand: Pinball. I pulled up to a machine. Next to it, there was a pair of kids. A boy and a girl. They both had olive skin and silky dark hair.
The girl looked around my age. She was very pretty. Like, really pretty. I tried playing the game, only to discover I was terrible. And I couldn't help but look at the cute girl next to me. I turned and tapped her on the shoulder.
She turned. "Hello?" I asked. "Hi. Who are you?" I stammered. "I- I'm Y/N."
She put a hand on the boy next to her. "It's nice to meet you, Y/N. Do you need something?"
My brain just wasn't working right. "Yeah... Yeah. Could you teach me how to play this?"
"Pinball?" She giggled. My face went red. "Yeah... I've... I've never actually played this before. I just figured you could help me. You guys look pretty good at it." She looked at me curiously before bursting out into a smile.
"Of course we can help." The girl moved over to me and played the game, giving me detailed instructions on how. Her brother kept muttering stuff to me. I finally got the hang of the game myself.
I played a round and got a high score. I turned to the siblings.
"Well... thank you for the help, uh... uh... I just realized never got your names?"
"Oh." She muttered. "My name is-"
The girl began coughing. I had an idea. "Oh. Hang on. I'll go get some water from the bar or something. Just wait here for a second." She and her brother nodded. I turned and went off to find some water for her.
I heard some song playing in the background. Something about Poker. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I thought the girl or her brother might have followed me, but when I turned it was Annabeth.
"Oh. Hi Annabeth. How's it going?" I asked her with a smile. She had a serious expression on her face.
"Y/N. Let's go."
"Go where?"
"Out of here. Something's wrong. We need to leave right now."
"What'd you mean? Everything is great here. We don't need to go anywhere."
I felt her stomp on my foot. "Ow! That hurts!" I yelled out. I looked at her. "Why'd you-"
That's when I noticed everything felt off. The clothes. The bellhops. The rooms. The 4000+ rooms. Everything. I looked at her. She grabbed my arm and we hightailed it. Eventually we found Percy going up to Grover.
"Grover!" he shouted.
He said, "Die, human! Die, silly, polluting nasty person!" He was really caught up in the game.
"Grover!" I yelled. He turned and aimed the fake gun at us and pulled the trigger multiple times. I slapped him hard in the back of the head. He kept playing. I looked at Percy and we grabbed Grover by the arms, dragging him out of there.
His shoes fluttered alive and lifted his lower body into the air. "No! I just got to a new level! No!"
The bellhop hurried over to us. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"
"We're going. Right now." I told him.
"Such a shame," he said, and for a moment, I almost believed him. It felt like it would have broken his heart if we left. Fortunately, Annabeth stamped on my foot again. My mind focused back to reality.
"We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members."
Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks."
When they weren't looking, I grabbed the card and stuffed it into my pocket. This might come in handy later. As we neared the exit, everything came back to me. The sounds of the games, and smell of the food. I thought about staying just one more night, but we finally broke through the doors.
We had only been in there for a few hours, so the feel of it made sense. It felt like afternoon. Not long after we had gone into the casino in the first place. But there was something not quite right.
The weather was dark and messy. Lightning flashed in the sky. It was storming outside.
Annabeth ran over to a nearby newspaper stand and read it. From the look on her face, it was not good. She flipped it over.
June twentieth.
We had been there for five days??
We were so screwed. We had one day until the solstice and we had no idea what we were doing.