We finally reached a city after what seemed like hours of walking.
Nico trailed along in the back. A few times I'd look over my shoulder and make sure that he hadn't run off, and he never did. I guess he decided to stay loyal for a while.
We got a few strange looks, especially Phillip, but he simply grinned and waved, so I guess they just shrugged us off as cosplayers and went about their business.
Ren was nervous the whole time. He tried his hardest not to eat away at any tin cans and pieces of furniture, but you could tell that it was killing him. I told him that he would live, and he did for a while.
Sophia finally shouldered her bag, and sat down on the middle of the sidewalk. "My feet are killing me! We should take a bus or taxi or something."
"Sounds okay to me," I, once again, felt myself say, but I didn't will it. Everyone else agreed with me, even Nico. I decided to talk to Sophia about it privately later.
And so, we waited patiently for a taxi to come driving by. While the boys conversed (except Nico, he stayed a few feet away) I talked to Sophia.
"Why is it that every time you say something, I immediately agree?" I mused. "I think it happened with Nico when I spoke to him."
Sophia pondered in thought for a moment, then muttered something in Greek. "Oh, great." She growled. "Aphrodite granted us temporary charmspeak."
"Charmspeak?" It was nothing I'd heard of before.
"Charmspeak is something Aphrodite's daughters - or her victims, such as us - are granted. It's when you can use the power of your voice to, basically, get anything you want. Sometimes you charmspeak and don't even realize it. Like when Nico agreed, then shook it off for a moment, or when I said we needed to find a ride and everyone agreed. It can come in handy, but sometimes it's annoying when it's done on yourself. That's why I never liked the thought of it. My friend, Piper, has charmspoke me on accident before."
There was a pause between us, until I finally broke it. "COOL!"
Sophia rolled her eyes, then quickly stood up. After grabbing the boys' attention, we hitched a ride on a bus.
With the help of Sophia's charm, we didn't have to pay the driver. I thought that was pretty rad. I decided that I needed to work on my own charm.
We found seats in the back. Sophia next to Leo (of course), Percy next to Phillip, Ren by himself.
I was about to sit beside Ren, until I noticed Nico again. He was in the back row by himself, gazing out the window from time to time. Just to pick at him, I plopped down beside him but didn't say a word. He didn't even turn to look at me, so I didn't move.
I listened to everyone on the bus converse, and it sort of calmed me down. It made me feel normal for once, like I wasn't on a life-threatening quest to find my mother.
After letting that calming feeling sink in, I decided that the bus driver wouldn't be meeting his destination for a while, and that I needed a little rest. So I laid my head against the nearest thing, and slowly drifted off.
I dreamed rather vividly. I was on a mountain, or something. I couldn't exactly tell. And in the middle of a large clearing that the trees seemed to avoid, a large, ugly giant stood. Its backed was turned, so I couldn't see its face, but somehow I knew that it was the one we were going after. Enceladus, I whispered to myself. I had no idea how I knew. I just did.
He was jeering at a small figure that was gagged and had their hands and feet tied. My mother, I recognized. Seeing her like that made my blood boil with rage.
The deep voice of Enceladus cut through the air. "Hurry up, little hero," It said.
And I was ripped from my dream.
It was just starting to get dark, and from the way my friends were shouldering their bags, I knew we were close to our destination. I was about to sit up, myself, until I realized that I was laying my head on Nico's shoulder. And he hadn't even pushed me off.
I quickly bolted upright, and saw stars for a moment before shaking out of my daze. Nico jumped slightly at my sudden start, but shrugged it off after a moment and looked up from gazing out the window.
The bus finally came to a halt. Nico and I filed out after our friends, shouldering our bags and gingerly stepping off. I flashed a wink and forced a smile to the bus driver, who was immediately charmed.
"So.. we're gonna stay here?" I looked up at the 'hotel' where we'd landed. "Lotus Hotel and Casino?"
Nico stepped up beside me, studying the place. A hint of recognition flashed in his dark eyes. He must have been there before.
"Yep!" Sophia replied from the front.
We all walked in, and I prepared myself to pay. But we didn't. We didn't have to pay at all. But may I add that the place was totally AWESOME?
There were rad-looking games and food and drinks that made my mouth water. Even Nico smiled a little, but it quickly went away. He seemed suspicious.
We hadn't been there for five minutes, and we all were set on staying.
I obsessed at a game of sharpshooters while the rest either played other games or ate their weight in food. (cough cough, Ren.) Everyone except Nico. He hung around near me and looked around, rather solemnly.
We later rented a room, and it was darn awesome, too. It tended to our every whim, and kept every one of us entertained. The whole place was like a huge, fancy club without the alcohol. Only tons more awesome.
Sophia was unpacking her stuff and getting ready to stay the night, but she did it fast. She couldn't wait to try out my sharpshooters game for herself. So I decided to socialize.
The people were dressed in all kinds of styles, modern, 70's and others, but I didn't notice. I hunted out someone to socialize with, a teenage dude at one of the game machines. "Cool game," I started simply.
"Yeah. Groovy," He replied, not taking his eyes from the screen.
I raised an eyebrow, chuckling slightly. "Groovy?" I mused. "You mean cool."
"Whatever, I think it's the best game of the year." He stated, and again not looking at me.
"The year?" I inquired. It had been around forever, and was probably popular since when my mother was a kid.
"Yeah. 1971."
I eyed him in a strange way. "Have you been living under a rock? It's 2013."
"Hey, man, bad vibes. I gotta beat my high score." And with that, he paid me no attention there after.
That was odd, I thought. But I paid him no attention either, and returned to the room we rented. I sat by Sophia as Nico and Percy said that they were gonna look around.
"Have you tried the sharpshooter game yet? Dude, it's awesome."
"Everything here is awesome," Sophia explained, winking. "Get it through to your head. I mean, look around."
"Have you noticed the people, though?" I finally brought up. "This one guy told me that it was 1971. Hashtag weird."
"Hashtag suspicious," Sophia corrected. "I remember something about this place. I just can't put my finger on it."
Our train of thought was interrupted by Leo, who kicked at a Pac-Man machine. "Curse you, Pinky!"
"Don't you mean Blinky?" Sophia inquired, arching an eyebrow.
"There's a Pinky here, too, Ms. Wikipedia," Leo responded. "and he was the cause of my death."
Sophia was about to reply when Nico and Percy burst in, eyes wild. "Guys, we need to go. "
"Why? It's awesome here," I replied, making sure to put emotion in my voice to add charm.
For once, it didn't seem to take effect but for two seconds. "No questions asked, just come on, it's important." Percy actually seemed anxious and worried.
Me and Sophia [Okay, hush, Sophia.] I mean, Sophia and I eventually gave in, and started quickly packing our things, but wondered why we were anyway. Percy and Nico just told us to hurry, always looking out in the direction of the entrance.
Once we finally packed, the boys herded us, Leo and Phillip out, very anxious. "Oh, I wonder how many days have passed.." I heard Percy say. It was very queer. They were so worried.
It took us a good bit of time to push past people who told us that we were going to miss out when we left and offering us more food, but we eventually got out.
"What time is it?" I inquired, looking at Sophia.
"8:14 on November 24," she replied.
"No, Sophia." Percy responded. "It's November 26th. We were in there for two days."
"Percy, how is that possible?" I mused, looking at him like he was crazy.
"Oh, how could I be so stupid.." Sophia face-palmed. "That was the lair of the Lotus Eaters. When one is lured in, time accelerates outside at incredible speed. We were in there for two days. Percy's right, for once."
"Hey!"
"We need to get on our way," Sophia shouldered her bag, walking fast again in the direction of west through the city, the rest of us following. "Time flies."
"Very funny," replied Ren from behind me.
And we headed back into the wood.