Me: I don't own PJO, rada rada rada. I think things are going well...except for the fact that Tatiana isn't really the way she use to be.
Cam: You'll find out what she means in the chapter.
Me: Yippi di do dah! Where'd that come from? I have no idea! *laughs* But I think I had to much soda! But I'm not as unsober as a certain someone who drank something stronger that soda in the chapter...ON WITH THE STORY!
Percy's POV
"So she's back. I guess she chose to be reborn..." Lucian sighed. "You think she's the same as before?"
"Something's wrong..." Dolores said as she paced back and forth. "This doesn't make sence." I thought about what she said.
"That's right. The times Nico tried feeling for her life esence, he said he felt she wasn't really dead." I said. "That would mean she wasn't reborn. Just reduced to a younger age and sent to live here...But she can't have been here this whole time...It makes no sence."
"Most of the time Nico said he felt she wasn't dead." Lucian pointed out. "All the other times he said he couldn't feel her."
"Then she has to have been reincarnated. It's the only explenation we have."
"Where did they say they were going?"
"Um...Racetrack. Horse racetrack." Dolores closed her eyes. "A racetrack that over a three hour drive, they're already there."
"What? How could they have gotten there?"
"Remember Lucian, this is the city where mortals and magical or nonhuman beings live together as normally as your planet lives with Sparks."
"Then we better get going." I looked over at Cam who was sitting on the sidewalk again. "Cam, since you weren't suppose to be here in the first place, you can go get the jet and meet us at the racetrack as soon as possible."
"But-" I shot Cam a look. "Alright. I'll meet you guys there." Cam dematerialized and I gave Dolores a nod.
Dolores placed a hand on Lucian's shoulder and they dematerialized at the same time I Blinked to the racetrack.
"Come on. We need to find them." I said and we started to look around. After a few minutes I saw a blonde girl that had been with Tatiana at the school. "There. We have to follow her. Not a sound."
The blonde girl lead us to a room that had a big buff guy standing at the entrance. He unclasped a red rope from a pole and let the blonde girl into what was probably the VIP area.
"Let him see us as those who belong, let him see us as VIPs." I muttered under my breath as we walked over. He looked at each of us, then reached for the rope. He got it out of the way and let us go in.
There were different groups of people sitting in tables. Groups of women, men, and one group that got my attention. Even though she had just gotten here seconds before us, the blonde girl was already laughing with another girl. Two guys were talking to each other while they stood next to the girls, but a girl with black hair was looking out towards the track.
The black haired girl was Tatiana and she seemed tense. The crowd that sat on the bleachers out side erupted into cheers and at the same second Tatiana started cheering and the other four teenagers looked at her.
"We won! We freaking won! I picked the winners in the perfect one-two-three order!" One of the guys hugged her and I glared.
"Great job. In the next race I'm picking the winners." He said and she pulled away, rolling her eyes.
"Yes Ryo. It's your turn next anyway." Tatiana walked over to the table that was the closest to them and picked up a glass filled with a clear, yellowish liquid in it. It was champagne and Tatiana drank the whole glass before ordering the waiter to bring another drink, something called 'Red W'. "Not one word about me not being old enough to drink." Tatiana whispered to the others sharply.
"No more drinking for you. You've already drunk...one glass." Ryo joked. "I'm gonna go place my bet real quick. I'll be back in a flash."
Ryo walked past us and left the room.
"You know, it might have been a good idea for Cam to come. He could've flirted the answers out of the girls." I said.
"Cameron at your service." Cam said with a bow and walked over to the laughing girls.
"I'm going to go place a bet. Call if you need me." Dolores said and stormed out of the room.
"Cam wants her back, and in his world, flirting with other girls is what he thinks will get Dolores to like him." I shook my head. "He's not going to get her back that way."
"Percy! Lucian! Come meet these girls!" Cam called over to us. We walked over and he introduced us. "This is Mimi and Diana." Mimi as the blonde we'd seen earlier and Diana was a red head.
"Hey T! Come here!" Mimi called over to Tatiana.
"Hold on! Ryo's placing a bet for the next race and I need to win this one!" Seconds later she started cheering and drank a whole glass of a dark red liquid. "Yeah! I won! I won!" She was laughing as she walked over to us.
"How much did you bet on this one?" Diana asked and Tatiana's eyes sparkled mischievously, something I'd seen before.
"Let's just say I won at least a thousand on this one race alone." She seemed to notice us for the first time. "Oh. Hello, I'm Tatiana. Who might you two be?"
"I'm Lucian. Lucian Manet" Lucian said and shook her hand. Something sparked in Tatiana's eyes and she pulled her hand away.
"Percy. Percy Jackson, nice to meet you." She shook my hand but nothing sparked in her eyes this time. She gasped a bit, as if she was trying to hide the fact that she need air.
"Tatiana! Are you okay?" Mimi and Diana were next to her in an instant. Diana ran to their table and brought her some water.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Tatiana looked back at us. "Sorry. It's just that sometimes, I have a hard time getting air. Some say it's the horse racing that gets me like this, but I think not."
"Well, this blonde fellow is Cam." Mimi said as she motioned toward Cam and then whispered something to Tatiana who nodded. Tatiana grabbed a glass of dark red liquid from a passing waiter and drank some before looking at each of us. Her eyes lingering on Cam and I the longest. She looked back and called called the other guy, Spiro, over.
"You guys talk. I need to...to go get Ryo."
"You called?" Ryo asked as he walked passed us and stood next to Tatiana.
"Oh, you're back. I hope you placed a good bet." Tatiana said and motioned toward the track. "The race is starting. Why don't you three watch it with us?"
"Sure, we'd be happy to." I said and we all walked to the railing that gave us a perfect view of the finish line and the rest of the track.
"Who'd you bet for the win?" Tatiana whispered to Ryo, but I couldn't hear his answer. Tatiana was giggling as he pulled away and the shot went off, sending the horses bolting from their stalls. Tatiana placed her glass at their table and watched, crossing her fingers.
The race ended and Ryo revieled that he had won the Super High Five.
"You guys stay here. Tatiana and I have to talk about something. We'll be back in a bit." Mimi, Diana, and Spiro nodded. Tatiana and Ryo turned around and left, already whispering like crazy by the time they reached the door.
"Do you guys come here often?" Diana asked, her question aimed at Lucian, Cam, and I.
"No, we heard of this place not to long ago and decided to came check it out. What about you and your group, do you all come often?" I said and Diana nodded.
"Sometimes we come to watch, other times we just come to place bets and watch. Today's one of those betting days, because the good horses are out and they always make the races a bit...unpredictable, giving everything a bigger thrill. It's easy to see why some people are addicted to gambling. It's such a rush!"
A waiter offered us a drink exactly like the one Tatiana had been drinking and we each took one. I drank some and I instantly knew what it was. Wine mixed with something else...it tasted like the wine was spiked.
I glanced at Cam and Lucian. Tatiana was here gambling and drinking spiked wine? That is as wrong as Thalia loving pink.
"Um what's in this drink?" Lucian asked.
"Well," Mimi sat down on a table but no one seemed to mind. "We're not really sure actually. All I know is that it taste good, is probably wine mixed with some other substance, and...it's the special drink of the day today. Tatiana really likes it. She swears she's drank it before and absolutly has to drink some every time we come."
I saw Lucian's eyes widen and he moved closer to me.
"It taste like a drink Tatiana once made me drink when we were in New York. I was helping her get to Camp Half-Blood and it was her third summer there, and her last one at that. I can't remember if it was alcoholic or not." Lucian whispered to me.
"So are all of you related or friends or something?" I asked Spiro.
"We're not related by blood, but we consider each other the only family we have." Spiro looked back at the track and then at Mimi and Diana. Ryo and Tatiana walked into the room and walked over.
"We need to go." Ryo said and pointed at Tatiana. She looked like she was ready to puke. "Angel here isn't feeling very good." Tatiana glared.
"My name is not Angel for the billionth time!" Tatiana yelled, and coughed. Weird, she's looked fine when she left. "Ugh, I think I had to much to drink."
"Yeah, you did Angel. Come one guys. We have to go, we can't stay here any longer." At the words 'stay any longer' Mimi, Diana, and Spiro grab their and quickly say good bye to us. They left before we could say our good byes.
"She was faking being sick. Well, not all of it because she did feel bad because of the drinking." Dolores said as she walked over to us. "She told Ryo she couldn't get a read on you and Ryo figured something was up. They left, but they would've left anyway, they have some kind of fancy party or something to get to in exactly nine o'clock sharp. In exactly three hours. The thing is going to be in the ballroom some fancy hotel called Not Black And White back in Mitanni. It's not far from their house."
"I hope all of you brought your dress up clothes, because we're going to the Not Blake And White hotel." I said and pulled what looked like car keys from my pocket. I pressed the button and put my keys away. "The jet will be here in ten. Let's go because I want to get there before the party."
Me: Remember how Percy said the drink tasted like it was spiked? It was, but just a teeny tiny bit. Oh, and great news! Grigori's back!
Grigori: It was terrible! They stuck so many needles in me and shot so much electricity into-*Trap door opens and Grigori falls in.
Me: And now Grigori's gone! What a nice magic trick! *Moves away from lever and a curtain falls over it* Remember to review everyone! Oh, and a little friend of mine will soon be appearing in the story, I'm not sure if they'll appear in the next chapter, or the one after it. Bye!
