The bus ride to Las Vegas was bumpy and uncomfortable and smelled like someone took a massive shit, but Aurora finally fell asleep at what she would assume was 3 am. As she was fading into a luxurious dream of water lilies and s'mores, she prayed that she would fall asleep on the shoulder of Annabeth and not Percy as a hushed conversation between her extremely drowsy and basically unconscious two friends and Percy Jackson lulled her to a deep slumber. She could hear her name be mentioned by Percy to Annabeth before she slipped into nothingness.
After what seemed like thirty minutes—but really, it most likely four hours—Aurora woke to Percy hitting her shoulder. Her hazel eyes snapped open with murder on her mind, and the boy shrunk back as he realized his mistake.
His face was puffy and his dark locks were more tousled than usual, indicating his rest.
The only thing Aurora heard was a hiss from her best friend, something that sounded like "Hide!"
As if he knew that she was dazed and half awake, Percy grabbed Aurora's elbow and dove behind sacks of feed, hoping to disguise as turnips. Aurora smelled nothing but manure, and her eyes were still adjusting to the sunlight pouring in as the trailer doors opened.
She blinked. "Wha—?"
"Man!" one of the truckers said, his voice disgusted as it cut off Aurora's yawned question. She couldn't really see anything but brown twine. "I wish I hauled appliances."
"Then fucking do it," Aurora murmured sleepily before Grover hushed her.
"You hot, big boy?" The man asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.
The lion roared in indignation and anger filled Aurora's body. She was going to kill this man.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said, disregarding the animal.
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!"
Aurora lurched forward, her ring pulsating on her finger, begging to be used, but Percy held her back as Grover trembled with fury.
She heard commotion from outside the truck, and a man in the front yelling at a man in the back. She suspected her best friend was up to it, and a second later, she was proven right. "This transport business can't be legal." Annabeth appeared out of thin air with a horrified expression, the one the girl only used when she witnessed something that was awfully wrong.
"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers! We've got to free them!"
Outside, the two truckers were still yelling at each other. Aurora groggily turned to Percy and murmured some gibberish. She was confused, especially when Percy grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage. She felt a sense of relief when the zebra burst out. It turned to Percy and bowed.
Aurora let out a snort, mumbling, "Okay, Animal King."
Grover held up his hands and murmured a quick blessing over the animals.
Just as one trucker 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.
The truckers 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 suggested helpfully.
"The other animals first," Grover said, and Percy obliged, cutting the locks off with his swords. Aurora's brain wasn't exactly working properly, still yearning for sleep, but she managed to unsheathe Oleander and mimic what Percy was doing, her heart squeezing with relief as the animals galloped out of their restricting and inhumane cages.
Percy's brows furrowed. "Will the animals be okay? I mean, the desert and all—"
"Don't worry," Grover replied. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."
"Meaning?"
Aurora finally spoke up, rubbing her eyes, looking around in a daze as all the animals rioted around the people of Las Vegas. "They'll reach wild safely, find shelter, and whatever more they need until they find a safe place to live." Percy stared at her strangely, and she shrugged. She was one with nature, and everything that went along with that title.
"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" Percy asked, turning to Grover with hope.
Grover just looked at his friend and stated plainly, "It only works on wild animals."
"So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.
Aurora let out a laugh as the said boy let out an indignant, "Hey!"
She turned to Percy and reached out her hand, squinting due to her waking up not even five minutes ago. She wrapped her fingers around his cheeks and squished them so he was making what looked like fish lips. His skin was warm under her grasped fingers. "This face? Definitely an animal."
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Aurora never had the best sense of direction, but she decided that Tyche might've done her a favor as she turned to a dead end and approached a huge neon flower.
It was a lotus, its petals lighting up and blinking. Nothing reminded her more of home than that, an electric flower with petals bigger than her entire body and an intoxicating aroma.
No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like a lotus blossom. It was a familiar scent to Aurora, but something was slightly different. She couldn't put her finger on it, however.
The doorman smiled at them. "Welcome to the Lotus Hotel and Casino. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"
Aurora wanted to be suspicious, but the flower seemed so happy. It was as if Persephone had given her a gift. And for the first time ever, someone seemed sympathetic of their situation.
Percy nodded eagerly. "We'd love to come in."
"Woah. This is unreal." Aurora's jaw dropped as soon as they entered.
The whole lobby was a giant game room, leading to five movie theaters. There was an indoor water slide 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.
"Come on, Shark Boy. We're going in there." Aurora walked forward, giddy with elation. Her friends followed, eyes wide with amazement as the place seemed to expand and get even bigger, with even more incredible attractions.
Percy was handed a room key and each of the floor received a green plastic credit card. Percy stammered, "Um, but..."
"No, no," the bellhop responded with a laugh. "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."
"Percy will definitely want extra bubbles." Aurora joked as Percy threw her a dirty glare.
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.
There were clothes in the closet, and they fit Aurora perfectly. She wanted to frown, second guess it and think it was strange, but she didn't want to. This place was perfect. She took a hot shower, the first in a week of grimy travel and sleeping on dirt, and came out feeling more refreshed than when the Aphrodite cabin gave her a spa treatment. The medicine cabinets were stacked with skincare: different high end Sephora serums and lotions and creams, along with concealer that was her exact shade and the prettiest variety of pinks for blush.
Aurora came out of her bedroom and nestled next to Annabeth, who was cranking up the National Geographic channel.
Percy arrived a mere minute after her. He stared at what was playing on the TV and scoffed. "All those stations and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"
Annabeth glared at him defensively, turning the volume up even more. "It's interesting."
"Yeah, Shark Boy." Aurora agreed tauntingly as he went to sit next to them on the couch. "If you don't like National Geographic, you're lame." She proceeded to stick up her middle finger.
Percy rolled his sea green eyes and kicked her leg. He grabbed the finger she had stuck up and folded it so her fingers enclosed into a fist. Aurora ignored how his hand, only slightly bigger than her own, wrapped around hers so her fingers were clenched tightly together.
Aurora took her fist out of his grasp and punched him in the shoulder. Percy opened his mouth, which, Aurora knew automatically, would lead to a stupid statement.
"Hey, what's that all about, anyway?" He asked with a tilt of his head. He almost looked like he was swallowing a smile. "Shark Boy. You call me that so much."
Aurora stood up, staring at him incredulously. "You've never watched The Adventures of SharkBoy and LavaGirl? That's, like, the first and only movie I watched ever."
Percy's jaw dropped, staring at her through his aquamarine lense with widened eyes. Annabeth side-eyed the two of them, annoyed at their interruption of her show.
"Are you serious? I've never seen it, but you have to be joking. The only movie you've ever watched? That's just embarrassing. I'm getting second-hand embarrassment."
"Luke had a phase. It wasn't really my fault, I was, like, eight, I think? We snuck out of camp to a movie theater with Connor and Lena—I mean, Silena Beauregard—before the whole 'being a demigod' thing caught up to us. Chiron was so mad." Aurora shrugged, delight sparking in her eyes. It was one of the moments she cherished in her heart, the one that she reflected on in her times of doubt and sorrow and depression. All her favorite people, her family. An idea prickled her brain as she grabbed Percy's wrist with a wry smirk. "We're going to watch it. Right now."
"Fine." Percy grinned, allowing himself to be taken away by the daughter of Persephone. "But I'm making you watch Star Wars, Deadpool, and Back to the Future."
"Fine by me."
The excitement between the two children as they ran through the hallway down to the movie theaters was almost palpable, crackling in the air between them. Laughter bubbled forth effortlessly as they sat down next to each other, elbow to elbow, as Aurora turned on the movie.
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"I don't get it." Percy stated blankly after one hour and thirty-two minutes of watching the most ridiculous movie known to man-kind: The Adventures of SharkBoy and LavaGirl. "That movie makes no sense. It was horrible. Deadpool is so much better."
Aurora scoffed as she shoveled kettle popcorn into her mouth. "You don't have to get it, Shark Boy, you just have to watch it. You don't think I know it's an awful movie? Suck it up. Besides, Taylor Lautner is so hot."
Percy swiveled to stare at her, a slow smirk crawling onto his face. His smile was so full of satisfaction, tinged with a hint of mischief, that Aurora wanted to punch the lights out of him and immediately snatch her words back out of the air they were dangling in. "So you think I'm hot?"
"Ew, fuck no." Aurora gagged, throwing a piece of popcorn at him. She shivered, retching loudly. "You're a little fish kelp seashell kid. You reminded me of a Shark Boy, not my beautiful husband Taylor. Be grateful, 'Shark Boy' is so much better than Aquaman."
Percy opened his mouth to say something, but a gentle tug at Aurora's shirt interrupted their conversation. A small boy around the age of ten with a black aviator jacket looked at Aurora with large brown eyes and an eager smile.
"That movie sucked. Do you want to play games with me?" He asked, his voice young and sweet.
Aurora smiled at the younger boy. She'd always wanted siblings, but it wasn't like Persephone would ever get pregnant again. This boy reminded her of what could have been her little brother. "Of course. Sorry, Shark Boy, I'm ditching you for my new best friend here."
The little boy grabbed her hand, beaming up at her. He was missing his two front teeth, which made him even more endearing. Aurora couldn't remember the last time she felt that young, the last time she had seen a kid so full of delight. All the children at camp were either training to battle death or begging to get claimed, even when they arrived at Half Blood Hill as young as Aurora, Annabeth, and Gracie. "My name is Nico. Bye, Shark Boy." Percy's face flashed with annoyance at the nickname being repeated by someone other than the girl who makes his life miserable.
He took Aurora's hand and ran, leaving the daughter of Persephone waving a rapid goodbye to her friend before she was whisked away.
She left too quickly to see a disappointed look cross over Percy's face as he stared into the emptiness she left behind.
However, Nico was the liveliest ten-year-old Aurora had ever met. "You remind me of my sister, Bianca." Nico noted as they sat down after going bungee-jumping for the sixth time. "She never wants to play Mythomagic with me, though. Do you want to play Mythomagic?"
Aurora shrugged with a grin. She hadn't had this much fun... ever. Not that camp wasn't fun, but it certainly wasn't this. "Sure, if you'll teach me." With a slight tug of her brain, she remembered Percy and Grover muttering shit about Mythomagic on one of their bus rides.
Nico explained the card game, revealing a bunch of figurines with the Greek gods etched into them. Aurora had to contain her snort of irony. Nico spoke with such vigor and enthusiasm about the gods, about mythology and the life of a hero. Aurora wanted to contradict him, laugh in his face at how her life was the complete opposite of how it was depicted, because it was hard to believe that those stories were simply myths to some people. Fictional tales that shown a light on brave men and beautiful damsels of distress, written by a creative author who derived all the information from their own imagination. Aurora hoped Nico never found out that those fascinating narratives were actually brutal reality.
Half way through the game, Nico spoke again.
"Your friend Shark Boy is really cute." He commented shyly, resting his chin on his fist. Aurora frowned as he eyed her in response, his pale cheeks growing pink.
"I... I never really thought about that." She managed through stutters, trying to keep her jaw from unhinging from shock. Her words were true, she hadn't really thought about that. But once she had... she was afraid of what she would think. Percy certainly wasn't ugly. He was actually really attractive, as most children of the Big Three were. But she didn't like to dwell too much on that fact, because if she did, she was terrified she would never be able to leave the rabbit hole that was Percy Jackson's attractiveness.
"Well, you should." Nico stared plainly, setting down his card. "Is he your boyfriend?"
Aurora's jaw opened but no words came out, utterly stupefied by the question. She grimaced, as if she swallowed something incredibly sour. "No way. I hate him. We're barely even friends."
After that, Aurora didn't really know what to say, besides ew. How disgusting! Luckily for her, younger children had extremely short attention spans, and she managed to distract the younger boy by providing activities for him to immerse himself into. She and Nico went skiing, where he totally forgot about his comment, which meant Aurora would too.
But then, she was starting to notice something off. The way Nico was speaking, his mannerisms... they weren't modern. He had a heavy Italian accent, and sometimes spoke the foreign language, slipping words into his English. He joked about the word "groovy," saying that it was, quote on quote, strange new American word that his older sister was trying out. Aurora hadn't heard anyone utter the word "groovy" in decades, and if they did, they would instantly be slandered.
"Hey, Nico," Aurora said offhandedly, brushing some fake snow off of his jacket. "Where'd you get that jacket?"
The little boy shrugged. "My mommy said she got it in the city, near Venice. There's a new collection coming out soon, she said. I think in 1945. I can't wait!" Nico jumped in his snowboard, then fell on his bottom. Aurora's brain froze as she helped the boy up.
1945. The way Nico was talking, he wasn't kidding. His dark eyes were too innocent and he was barely paying attention to their conversation.
"What the fuck," she murmured under her breath until she realized that Nico was, like, a kid.
Nico's ears perked up. "What the fuck?" He repeated confidently, with a sly grin that reminded her a little too much like the boy she hated, the son of Poseidon.
"Shit—shit. I mean, oops." Aurora grabbed Nico's ears and covered them, grimacing. From what Nico had told her, his older sister was super overprotective. "Do not repeat any of those words, Nico. Not even to Bianca, okay? I feel like she would actually kill me."
As much as she didn't want to leave her new friend, she knew she had to get out of there. As Aurora ran out of the ski mountains, she met a sprinting Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. Almost in sync, she stared into Percy's green eyes and said at the same time, "We're leaving."
In a full sprint, the four 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.
Aurora watched as Percy ran to check the nearest newspaper, obviously freaked by how long people had been in there for. Days, decades, centuries slipped by, time ticking innocently as the inhabitants of the casino played their life away—literally. Percy held it up for her, Annabeth, and Grover to see, and Aurora's heart dropped.
June 20th. 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 death sentence.
ೀ⋆｡🌷 the mother of perora speaks ...
word count: 3232
date published: march 16, 2024
thoughts: i love nico cameos. also the way that they're step siblings i love it. ALSO THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR 20K READS AND 700+ VOTES IM ACTUALLY CRYING AND SHITTING MY PANTS RN I LOVE U ALL. my new update schedule is a new chapter every friday/saturday/sunday so watch out for updates then 👀 (ignore the random wednesday update last week...) AND I FINISHED WRITING TLT
happy st. patrick's day!! ☘️