A/N: REALLY LONG A/N FEEL FREE TO COME BACK AT END OF CHAPTER. Welcome! This is the sequel to "Who Wants the Medusa?" I'd recommend reading that one first, but—hey!—if you really want to, read on! I'm sorry it took so long to post, but I wanted to get a whole plot made and write a few chapters out, so I can hopefully stick to a once a week posting schedule. We'll see how it goes. Thank you all returning readers and welcome new ones! I hope you read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: As a matter of fact, I do not own these characters. I'd much rather be their friend.

Warning: I suppose it isn't much of a warning, but this doesn't follow any of the books and does not stick to all canon information; I know the first one did, but this plot is my own concoction and the first full story (probably as long as the first) that I have not used any canon source (ie the book plot) as a jumping off point. Super excited guys!

Percy POV

I couldn't quite pinpoint why, but I had this bad feeling surrounding me. It was as though Zeus planted a mini storm cloud above my head, following me around and hovering just out of reach so that I couldn't pin it down. The earth seemed to almost quake with laughter with each step I took.

"Her hold was strong here," Hazel interrupted my thoughts, laying a hand on my arm.

"Who?" I asked, searching my mind for any context of Hazel's statement.

She glanced around our small group cautiously. "Gaia. She held a lot of persuasion in New Orleans; at least she did back when I lived here." It made sense now—that dark, nagging disturbance in the back of my mind.

"Was New Orleans like this when you lived here?" I asked Hazel, trying to distract all of us from the lingering feeling of the mother of the titans, as we strolled along the streets. Jason glanced back at me gratefully; he had noticed it too. Amy continued on, oblivious to our tension. She was tense herself though, so she might have noticed but assumed it was about our quest. I felt simultaneously guilty and jealous. She had it bad, yes, but she never had to fight a war on the battlefield with the sheer magnitude that both the titan and giant wars required us demigods to fight.

Hazel started describing the various aspects of New Orleans that she remembered or used to know. I tried to listen as attentively as I could, thankful for the distraction, but eventually my eyes wandered to the surrounding buildings. Annabeth would love this place. There seemed to be a large mixture of architectural features she would love. Well, at least if Amy and Hazel's conversation on the flight over here was anything to go by.

"Wait a sec," Amy said, spinning on her heel and heading towards a sign out in front of a casino. She bent down, hand gently tracing over the inner side of one of the posts. It was a more traditional looking sign. It had the classic white and gold calligraphy that made my head hurt as the letters swirled and floated around in my vision.

"What does that say?" I asked Jason as Amy continued murmuring to herself, fingers following some pattern only she knew.

"White Essence Hotel and Casino," he supplied. He pointed at the sub heading. "Apparently, they have free wifi starting at 19.99."

"Wow, free stuff at a great price; can't get that in New York."

"It's here!" Amy interrupted, gesturing for us to look at the super interesting blank post. "I think this is where we need to be. The Cahill crest has been painted over, no doubt by the Vespers."

I looked closer at the post at the spot just above where Amy's hand rested. Picking up a small handful of dirt, Hazel gently rubbed it over the area. The crest seemed to just appear. How had I not seen it before? How did Amy see it?

The crest probably was incredibly stunning before it had been covered in white paint and dirt, but the elegance was still undeniable. It was a variation of a heater shield with a calligraphic letter C in the center. It was simple, yet there was a certain feeling of unity to it. There was no separation into sections or more parts to it, nothing to signify that the Cahill family was composed of branches.

"It's not a button or key of any kind," Amy explained. "I think it was left as a marker for the building. This may have been a base for the Madrigal branch that the Vespers took over. I doubt anyone would have even seen this or known to look for it before us."

"How did you?" I asked, feeling like I was missing something here.

Amy sighed, shoving herself up. We followed suit. A couple teens standing around a casino sign, nothing weird about that.

"My grandmother Grace was a Madrigal," Amy said. "I remember when she would tell Dan and me about her travels that she wished she could go to New Orleans, but the only hotel she would stay at was lost." She sighed again. "I always thought she meant it went bankrupt or something, but now I believe that maybe it was because the Vespers took it over. Grace wouldn't have cared if another branch took it."

So maybe we weren't the only ones New Orleans hung depression over, I thought as I observed Amy's bunched up shoulders and down turned face.

"Well," Jason said, breaking the gloomy silence that had fallen over us. "There's only one way to be sure, right?" Jason pushed himself off the sign he had been leaning on. "Should be quick, it's not like we have to search the hotel rooms."

Hazel, Amy, and I shared confused looks. Jason sighed, noticing this. "It would be improbable that they would have more than one let alone all hotel rooms hooked up to this base because of all the tourists going in and out. There would be a higher probability that one of them would stumble upon it."

He is such a dork, I thought fondly as Jason started pacing in front of us.

"They wouldn't do just one room because it would be almost impossible to guarantee the room would always be available when it was needed," he lectured. "Any passage wouldn't be in the lobby or pool because the spaces are too open and sparse. They'd be just begging to be arrested for suspicious activity. Therefore," Jason concluded, stopping in front of us, "the only place we need to look would be?"

My mind flashed through all the possibilities. The sign was starting to blind me in the sunlight. White Essence Hotel and Casino really needed a new paint color. Hotel and Casino. Hotel and Casino. I grinned at Jason. "The casino!"

He grinned back. We turned to the girls. Hazel looked nervous but ready, managing a shaking smile back. Amy was already facing the building in front of us. It was giant, white, and reminded me as a cross between a church and the Parthenon. Her face was set in grim determination, a look I had seen on many demigods throughout both camps.

"Hey," I tossed over my shoulder as I began heading into the hotel. "At least they have free wifi at a great price if it doesn't work out!"