"𝚟𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚗" | 𝚙. 𝚓𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜𝚘𝚗

𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗, 𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎

They Take a Zebra to Vegas

OR

Percy Insults a Rando's Vocabulary

third person omniscient

-

THE WAR GOD was waiting for them in the diner parking lot with the Stelle's duffel bag beside him on the concrete.

"Well, well," he said, "You didn't get yourself killed."

Stelle exhaled, feeling a familiar emotion simmer beneath her skin. Careful. Control. She needed control.

"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 stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

He shoved Ares's shield at the god. "Eat shit."

Grover whimpered anxiously.

Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.

"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."

The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which he 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. 

Percy laughed disbelievingly. "You're kidding."

Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."

He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Percy. 

Inside were fresh clothes for all of them, a gold bottle of pills (with a singular one inside), twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos. 

Percy had to bite his tongue. 'Accept it,' he thought contemptuously, 'It's for your friends.'

He grit his teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a god, but he didn't want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, Percy slung the backpack over his shoulder. He knew his anger was being caused by the war god's presence, but he was still itching to punch him in the nose.

He reminded him of every bully he'd ever faced: Nancy Bobofit, Clarisse, Smelly Gabe, sarcastic teachers- every jerk who'd called him and his best friend stupid in school or laughed at him when he'd gotten expelled. 

Percy looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. 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 them. 

'Great', he thought. 'We'll make the papers again tomorrow.'

Percy imagined the headline: 'TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER', because nothing could go their way. 

"You owe me one more thing," He told Ares, trying to keep his voice level, like Stelle always did, "You promised me information about my mother."

"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."

The ground seemed to spin beneath him. "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." Stelle repeated thoughtfully. "She's a hostage." 

"Atta girl." Ares chuckled, "You take someone to control someone else."

"Nobody's controlling me."

He laughed, "Oh yeah? See you around, 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. He felt a hot wind in his hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."

"That strategy would make Athena weep." Stelle noted, rubbing her throat. "Why do I ever stick around?"

"You love me?"

"I love staying alive a lot more."

Annabeth sighed, "Amen."

"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, we need to hurry." Grover said.

Percy didn't like it, but they had no better option. Besides, he'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 Stelle was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter. She let out a quiet, disgusted groan.

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 he'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing he 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. 

"Oh." Stelle pursed her lips, staring at the depressing view. "Kindness International is a tad misleading."

"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 Percy would've helped him, but just then the trucks 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 Stelle pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, she had a feeling they might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips. 

Percy found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used Anaklusmos to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. He 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. Stelle worked with Grover to pick it off instead. They told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then they settled in for night. 

Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened their bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one halfheartedly; Percy tried to cheer himself up by concentrating on the fact that they were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to their destination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty-first. They could make it in plenty of time. 

On the other hand, he had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toying with them. At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it- he'd put up cameras and advertised them as entertainment. But even when the cameras weren't rolling, he had a feeling their quest was being watched. He was a source of amusement for the gods. 

Stelle was seated next to him, leaning on the trembling metal walls of the truck. She fidgeted, glancing around uncomfortably. She had heard of things like these happening around the world, seen it on camera, but nothing was quite like the real thing. Someone had taken a situation in the crevices of her mind and thrust it in front of her, saying 'hey look at how terrible this is and you're doing nothing about it!'

She was snapped out of her stupor when Annabeth spoke, "Hey, guys. I'm sorry for freaking out at the water park. I was pretty useless there." 

"That's okay." Percy said immediately.

"It's just..." she shuddered, "Spiders."

"Because of the Arachne story," Stelle guessed, "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?"

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. Anyways, you guys had it covered."

"We're a team, remember?" The boy said. "Besides, Grover did his fancy flying too."

Percy thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?"

Annabeth and Percy laughed, while Stelle smiled mutely.

She pulled apart an Oreo, handed me half. "In the Iris message... did Luke really say nothing?" 

Percy munched his cookie and thought about how to answer. The conversation via rainbow had bothered him all evening. "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 dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions. 

Grover let out a mournful bray.

"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.

"And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp..." Percy looked 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 or 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."

"Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" Percy said. "That's not fair."

"Percy'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."

Stelle leaned back, closing her eyes. "I think you're braver than me, at least."

"Yeah, you're not lame," Annabeth insisted, "You've got more courage that any satyr I've met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now."

Grover blushed in the dim light.

Annabeth and Percy collectively hit him.

"Yeah," he said hastily, though he would've said it without his throbbing shin, "It's not luck 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."

Stelle heard a deep, satisfied sigh. She waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, she'd realized he'd fallen sleep. 

"I wish I could do that." Stelle admitted lowly.

"How does he do it?"

"I don't know," Annabeth said, "But that was a really nice thing you told him, Percy."

"I meant it."

They rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. Stelle decided to use Percy as a pillow (there was an axe inside her bag, no way was she using that), seemingly choosing comfort over possible teasing by Annabeth. Percy felt the rising and falling of her body, like the ebb and flow of the tide. Gentle, persistent, a rhythm that steadied his heart. It brought him comfort, familiarity. She looked like she was contemplating falling asleep or not.

The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at them hopefully.

Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts. 

"That pine-tree bead," he said, "Is that from your first year?"

She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing. 

"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..."

The girl that was lying down let out a little sound of amusement. She kind of wanted to hear the story. She shifted around until Percy threatened to push her off him if she didn't stay still. Annabeth watched with a little bit of envy.

"You let your guard down around Percy, Estella." Annabeth said quietly.

Stelle blinked. "Oh yeah?"

Percy let out a 'huh'.

"Yeah. I wish I had someone that liked me as much as you guys like each other. All I've got is Luke. My siblings are great as well, but it's not the same."

Stelle couldn't quite see where she was going with this. "I see." No, she didn't.

"Sorry. My question is, how did you guys even become friends?"

Percy glanced sideways. "I guess it just happened?"

"Don't mind this guy, he sucks at explaining things. He sucks in general."

"She went off at me because I wasn't falling for her pick me act." Percy supplied, satisfied with his response.

She groaned, "That's just rude. I was nine, and it worked. Anyway, people started getting kind of freaked out by me, by the bipolar psycho rumors or something... and he stared at me everyday afterwards."

"...What?" Annabeth said.

"You're making me sound weird."

"I'm kidding. Twenty minutes a day, we talked. For twenty minutes a day, he was the only person who was there. For twenty minutes, he was my best friend. So he became my best friend for the rest of the day too." Stelle responded, figuring that telling Annabeth couldn't hurt, so long as she didn't get too emotional or act as if meeting Percy wasn't the personal highlight of her life.

"After that, I guess there was nobody else I trusted more. ...To put it crudely, I didn't hate him as much as I disliked the others. He was okay, for a guy that had zero other friends." She said, keeping her tone matter-of-fact.

Percy couldn't help but smile, his chest feeling lighter. Even in the dank darkness of the truck, he felt a little more close to home. A little closer to her.

Annabeth stayed silent, taking it in. She looked at the two of them with a great deal of consideration. 

"Now it's my turn for a question. Is that college ring your father's?"

"That's none of your-" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

Stelle raised a brow.

"Sorry. I know you guys answered my question. It's only fair I answer yours." She 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 so 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."

"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?" The boy asked.

She wouldn't meet their eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain."

The Chinese girl thought for a moment. She had decided long ago that running away wouldn't solve much. She would end up on the streets, no job to support herself until she was old enough to get a part-time. Her education wouldn't go past high school.

But things were different now. Demi-gods lived at camp for free. Even after reaching adulthood (if they lived that long), she could probably convince Chiron to let her get a job there. Was her father really that bad, though? What about tradition? What of repaying the one you owe your life to?

If she ran, she wouldn't be her father's daughter anymore. The moment she showed an ounce of disobedience, she would be disowned. But she's been gone so long already... would he notice? Would he care? And... she's deceived him many times before. What was one last one hoax?

She gave a little shudder and pushed the incriminating thoughts out of her mind. Percy seemed to feel her shiver and reached into the backpack for the gold pill. 

"If Ares keeps his word, this should work for your cough. Are you cold?" he asked, a little bit of concern seeping into his voice.

"No, I'm alright. Thanks." Stelle took the pill and took it dry. It was a little careless of her, but she may as well get it over with.

It tasted a little like warm honey drenched in sunlight, if you could imagine that. Well, it was too brief to describe it further, or connect it to something more realistic. But realistic... that wasn't so godly, was it?

"You good?"

"Yeah."

They passed another few miles of silence afterwards.

"So if the gods fight," Percy said, unable to keep his mouth shut, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"

She put her head against the backpack Ares had given them, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you guys." 

A streak of satisfaction ran through Stelle. They needed people on their side if they were going to fight a whole civil war at camp. All she wanted now was Percy not to say anything stupid to make Annabeth regret it.

"Why?" Percy said.

Stelle gave a longsuffering sigh.

"Because you two are my friends, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"

Percy couldn't think of an answer for that. Fortunately he didn't have to. Annabeth was asleep. 

"Just as impressive as Grover." Stelle noted.

The boy thought about what Annabeth had said, and her past. It was a little similar to Stelle's past, though starkly different. Both of them were clever, but through different methods. Percy fiddled with Stelle's dark locks while her breathing evened out.

He had trouble following her example, with Grover snoring and an albino lion staring hungrily at him, but eventually he closed his eyes.

- 

Percy's nightmare started out as something he'd dreamed a million times before: He 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.

To one side, Stelle sat with her own straitjacket, but the difference was that she was gagged as well. She looked furious. Dried tear stains and blood wrinkled her test and the blotted the ink. Unlike his test, there were words badly scrawled onto the line. It was barely legible. He marveled a little at her. Why did she try? It was hopeless.

His best friend glared at the pencil, as if to say 'I'll find a way, this won't stop me'. He noticed the bite marks in the wood, as if she had once tried to write with the pencil in her mouth. Finally, her head turned to look at him, angry and a little scared. No, not at him. Someone next to him.

Percy looked over at the next desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket. She was their age, with unruly black, punk-style hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy green eyes, and freckles across her nose. Somehow, he knew who she was. She was Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at him in frustration, and snapped, 'Well, Seaweed Brain? One of us has to get out of here.'

'She's right,' his 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 him. Percy 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. 'The exchange went well, I see.'

Percy was back in the dark cavern, spirits of the dead drifting around him. Unseen in the pit, the monstrous thing was speaking, but this time it wasn't addressing him. The numbing power of its voice seemed directed somewhere else. 

'And he suspects nothing?' it asked. 

Another voice, one he almost recognized, answered at his shoulder. 'Nothing, my lord. He is as ignorant as the rest.'

He 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 him, freezing Percy 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 its cold power turned back on him. 'So... you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige.'

The scene changed.

Percy 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 his mother, frozen in shimmering golden light, her arms outstretched. 

Percy tried to step toward her, but his legs wouldn't move. He reached for her, only to realize that his hands were withering to bones. Grinning skeletons in Greek armor crowded around him, draping him with silk robes, wreathing his head with laurels that smoked with Chimera poison, burning into his scalp. 

The evil voice began to laugh. 'Hail, the conquering hero!'

Percy woke with a start. 

Grover was shaking his shoulder. "The truck's stopped," he said, "We think they're coming to check on the animals."

Stelle was already behind a sack of feed, crouched and listening intently.

"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.

She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. He and Grover had to dive behind feed sacks and hoped 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 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.

Next to Percy, 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!"

Stelle closed her eyes and bit her tongue.

The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at Percy. 

There was no sound, but as clear as day, he heard it say: 'Free me, lord. Please.'

He was too stunned to react.

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?"

Their guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot. 

A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. 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 paused, as if listening. "This lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"

'That's right,' the zebra's voice said in Percy's mind. 

"Perce?" Stelle said, "What's wrong?"

Stelle looked the boy up and down. He looked as though he had been smacked in the face, with a stupid, dumbfounded expression.

"Er- fine." he said, scratching his nape.

"We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth both looked at Percy, waiting for his lead while Stelle watched the animals, thinking.

He'd heard the zebra talk, but not the lion. Why? Maybe it was another learning disability... He could only understand zebras? Then he thought: horses. What had Annabeth said about Poseidon creating horses? Was a zebra close enough to a horse? Was that why he could understand it? 

The zebra said, 'Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that.'

Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but Stelle knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. "Guys, whatever you want to do, do it fast."

Percy grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage.

The zebra burst out. It turned to him and bowed. 'Thank you, lord.'

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. 

"That oughta give the press something to talk about." Stelle muttered.

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.

He cut the locks with his sword. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra. 

"Good luck," Percy 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. 

"Are you sure they'll even make it to safety?" Stelle asked Grover. "There's animal control and stuff. Also, the desert, they might starve or die of dehydration."

"Don't worry," he said, "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely." Grover said, "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."

Percy complained, "Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?"

"It only affects wild animals."

"So it would work on Percy." Annabeth reasoned.

"Hey!" he protested.

Stelle cracked a small grin and pat Percy's shoulder.

"Kidding," she said, "C'mon, let's get out of this filthy truck."

They stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and 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, which was a pretty small replica, but still made Percy homesick. He inched a little closer to Stelle.

He wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find a sandwich and a glass of lemonade, make a new plan for getting west. 

They must have taken a wrong turn, because they found ourselves 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 glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers- lotus blossoms, at least Stelle said so. He'd never smelled one, so he wasn't sure. 

The doorman smiled at them. "Hey kids, you look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

They'd learned to be suspicious, the last week or so. Percy figured anybody might be a monster or a god. They just couldn't tell. But this guy was normal. One look at him, and he could see. Besides, He was so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic that he 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 he wasn't talking about cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines (though they did have that). 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 you can imagine. 

"Hey!" a bellhop said. At least he 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."

"Uhm..." Stelle started, for once, absolutely speechless.

"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 them each a green plastic credit card. 

Stelle knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought they were some other kids, that maybe booked a reservation. But she took the card and said, "How much is on here?"

His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?" 

"When does it run out of cash?"

He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."

Stelle exchanged looks with the rest of the group, confused and a little wary. "So... should we go?"

They took the elevator upstairs and checked out our 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. Stelle didn't see how that could be legal, but Percy thought it was pretty cool. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though she doubted they'd ever find time to look at the view with a room like this.

"Holy shit... this place is..." Annabeth said. 

"Sweet," Grover said, "Absolutely sweet."

Stelle trailed her hand across the furniture, looking uncertain. "I guess we can stay the night."

She opened the closet. All the clothes fit her, and they were all fashionably her style. It was strange, but she dismissed it almost immediately.

She took a shower, changed clothes, and rummaged through her bag for some makeup. She fixed herself up, sighing in relief. She felt a little better, a little more at ease when she was covered up.

Stelle came out of the bathroom and into Percy's bedroom, where everyone seemed to decide was where they'd all hang out. She passed the trash and let out a surprised noise. "You're trashing Ares's backpack? That's not a good idea."

Percy shrugged. "Don't need it anymore. When we leave, I'll just get another from the hotel store."

The unsettled feeling dissipated quickly. Annabeth and Grover had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating potato chips to his heart's content, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel. 

"All those stations," Percy said, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"

"It's interesting." she replied, making room for Stelle on the bed. The other girl nibbled on a Ruffles chip.

"I feel good." Grover said, "I love this place."

Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again. 

"So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?" 

Grover and Percy looked at each other and grinned. They both held up their green plastic LotusCash cards. 

"Play time." he said.

They all went back to the lobby. Stelle brought her stuff, just in case, but quickly forgot it near the entrance to the arcade.

Percy couldn't remember the last time he had so much fun. He came from a relatively poor family. Their idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting a video. A five-star Vegas hotel? Forget it. Hanging out with Stelle was awesome too, but what could they do at some dead park or small dorm? Nothing would ever compare to this.

Percy bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, did the waterslide, snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag with Stelle on his team. They ended up winning after beating a pirate obsessed kid and a teen in colorful wear and bellbottoms (the girl was surprising good at the game). The boy seemed to think Stelle was the coolest thing since sliced bread.

The girl ended up buying the kid a card from a game called Mythomagic to stem his admiration- she thought that buying the boy a Dionysus card was pretty funny. The god was a patron of madness, anyways. Well, the boy was far from mad, he was just a little hyper-fixated on pirates. He seemed to really love the card.

"Woah! This guy's powers are totally sweet! I've ne Thanks!"

Seeing him fawn over it gave her an uncomfortable prickle at the back of her neck, like she was forgetting something. She rubbed her throat.

Stelle saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter thing- where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks. She saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3-D sim game where they could build their own city. Stelle thought it was pretty neat, though it wasn't her cup of tea.

She spotted Percy a couple meters away, talking to the bell-bottom kid at the VR sharpshooters. The ding of her game brought her back to the screen, getting tunnel-vision.

Meanwhile, Percy got the overwhelming feeling of wrongness.

The boy next to him was about thirteen, he guessed, but his clothes were weird. He thought he was some Elvis impersonator's son. He wore bell-bottom jeans and a red T-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like a New Jersey girl's on homecoming night. 

They played a game of sharpshooters together and he said, "Groovy, man. Been here two weeks, and the games keep getting better and better."

'Groovy?'

Later, while they were talking, he said something was 'sick', and he looked at Percy kind of startled, as if he'd never heard the word used that way before. 

He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as he started asking him questions he got bored with him and started to go back to the computer screen. 

He said, "Hey, Darrin?"

"What?"

"What year is it?"

He frowned at Percy, "In the game?"

"No. In real life."

He had to think about it, "1977."

"No," Percy said, getting a little scared, "Really."

"Hey man, bad vibes. I've got a game happening."

After that he totally ignored him. 

He started talking to people, and he found it wasn't easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. Percy found a guy who told him it was 1985. Another guy told him it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn't been in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really know and they didn't care. 

Then it occurred to him: how long had he been here? It seemed like only a couple of hours, but was it? 

He tried to remember why they were here. They were going to Los Angeles. They were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. His mother... for a scary second, Percy had trouble remembering her name. Sally. Sally Jackson. He had to find her. He had to stop Hades from causing World War III. 

He found Stelle playing some detailed open-world adventure game. For a second, he was entranced, but blinked out of it and tugged her arm.

"What, Percy?" she sounded annoyed.

He pulled harder. "We've got to go. Quest."

"We agreed to stay the night."

"You don't get it, we've got to go. Something weird is going on, some guy said 'groovy'-"

She yanked her arm back with a surprising amount of force. "Shut your mouth! I'm playing."

Percy let out a groan of exasperation. "Stop being difficult- this place is a trap! We're on a deadline, here. The lord of the dead has my mom!"

He grabbed her shoulder and shook her, forcing her to turn away from the game. Her eyes unfogged and focused into her normal appearance. After looking briefly dazed, she stood in place for a moment.

"You good?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yeah-" she cleared her throat. "Yeah, thanks. Let's get Annabeth and Grover."

They saw Annabeth still building her city. After Percy tried to convince her the normal way, Stelle bumped him out the way and made her stare directly into her eyes. "Spiders. Large, hairy, spiders. Possibly venomous. Will eat you." 

That jarred her. Her vision cleared, "Oh gods-" she said, "how long have we-?"

"We don't know. We need to find Grover and run."

They went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter. 

He shouted, "Die human! Die, silly, polluting nasty person!"

"Grover!"

He turned the plastic gun on them and started clicking, as if they were just another image from the screen. 

Stelle looked at Annabeth, 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?"

Stelle picked up her stuff near the doorway and smiled harshly. "We're leaving."

"Such a shame." he said, and Stelle got the eerie feeling he really meant it. They would really break 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 she wanted one. She knew that if she took one, she'd never leave. I'd stay here, happy forever, playing games forever, and soon she'd forget her father, and the stupid  quest, and maybe even her own name. She'd be playing virtual rifleman with groovy Disco Darrin forever (was it really that strange of a word to use?). 

Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No thanks." 

Stelle gripped her bag. "Let's go."

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. She thought about their 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. The urge to stay vanished, and her senses sharpened again.

She noticed Ares's backpack was slung over Percy's shoulder, which was odd, because she was sure he had thrown it in the trash can in room 4001, but at the moment she had other problems to worry about. 

Stelle ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when we went in. Then she noticed the date: June twentieth. 

Her blood ran cold.

"Five days." her voice came out hoarse.

"What?" Percy said, his tone laced with fear.

She pointed at the paper. "We were in the Lotus Casino for five days. We've got one more day to complete the quest."

One more day until the summer solstice.