I do not own Percy Jackson or any of the characters.
Combined Misfortunes
We seem to have reached a spot of luck. We actually make it all the way to Vegas without another fight. We get off the train at a station near the center of the city, looking around. The address for the Underworld's entrance was in Las Angeles, but we are supposed to meet up with Percy and the others near where we are, at a diner down the road.
However, after two hours of waiting, it's pretty clear we won't be meeting them there. I look to the others knowingly and they both nod.
"Where do you think they are?" Will asks.
"Who knows," I sigh. "We need to get to L.A."
"I can give you a ride," a voice off to one side says, all of us turning to see a man with pale skin, almost grey, beady eyes, and a grin filled with pointed teeth.
"Uh, no thank you," I say. "We can manage."
"Nonsense," the man smiles widely. "What kind of man would I be if I just left three tender children stranded in a place like this?"
"We'll be fine," I say. "We appreciate the offer but we're not interested."
The man's eyes narrowed and a low hissing sound slipped out between his teeth for a moment. Then, he grinned even more wickedly.
"Perhaps you would like to meet my pet?" the man hissed. "He's just so excited to meet children he could almost eat them right up."
"That's fine," I say. "Not interested. Now please leave us alone."
The man's eye flicked to the counter, where the cashier was holding a cellphone in one hand. The man hissed in irritation and turned, walking away. I sigh heavily as he does, turning back to Charles and Will.
"We'll be seeing him again," I say.
"Definitely," Charles says. "What was he?"
"No human," I say. "Beyond that, who knows."
Charles nods and we stand, walking outside and looking around. It's getting late, and we have only three days left to find the Master Bolt and have Percy return it. We need to get to L.A., but we decide to find a hotel first. We wander through the city for about an hour before finding one we decide to stay in. The Lotus Hotel and Casino. It looks expensive, very it's probably ten floors, a neon white lotus flower is hanging above the name over the door, and directly through the doors we're greeted by a game room that has arcade games, virtual reality games, water slides, bungie jumping, and even more. You name it and it was here. The only reason we decide to stay is the doorman. He hands us a room key and each a green hotel credit card, then laughs and says we're making a joke when we ask him when it would run out of money. Basically, everything was free. Completely. I look around at the games and the food being served. Everything looks so great and so fun. But I feel..off somehow. I lead Will and Charles though the game room to our room on the fourth floor, room four thousand two, but stop as the door across from ours opens and Percy steps out with Annabeth, both stopping and staring at us.
"Hey," Annabeth says. "You guys are early."
"Early?" I ask. "You guys missed the meeting. Where were you?"
"Missed it?" Percy asks. "No, we still have three days before that."
Me and the others look at each other in confusion. Then, we turn to Annabeth.
"Annabeth, what day is it?" Charles asks.
"It's only the fifteenth," Annabeth says.
"It's the eighteenth," I say.
Both stare at us in confusion for several seconds before running back into their room and returning a moment later with Grover. We all head for the door, but as we reach it, the guy that gave us the hotel credit cards steps in front of us, holding up a silver card for each of us.
"Are you leaving?" he asks. "I was just about to give you your platinum cards. We just opened a new floor for platinum members."
I want that card. I want to play and eat and be happy forever. But I know I have to go. There's a promise I have to keep.
"No thanks," Annabeth says, all of us leaving.
I glance at Percy as we leave and see a blue backpack that I could swear he hadn't had before. However, when we all run to a newspaper stand, I stop caring about backpacks. It's the twentieth. If we don't find the Master Bolt by tomorrow, and also get it all the way back to New York, the entire world will end.
"We just lost two more days," I say. "Now what?"
"Flag us a cab," Annabeth says. "We'll take to to L.A."
"We don't have any money," Percy says.
"Don't worry, I have a plan," Annabeth says.
We flag down a cab and climb in and Annabeth calmly asks for a ride to L.A. The driver informs us that it's three hundred dollars, up front, and Annabeth hands him her Lotus Casino credit card. The driver swipes it and the meter flickers for a moment, as though trying to decide what number to display, then eventually stops on an infinity symbol. My jaw drops, the driver's jaw drops, Will and Charles' jaws drop. Then, Annabeth tells the driver that if he gets us there fast, he can keep the change. And a moment later, we're racing down a road through the desert at a frightening pace. The speedometer would have surprised me if it dipped below ninety five the entire trip.
Our luck doesn't hold. We make it about two blocks after Annabeth gives the taxi driver her card and he leaves before trouble finds us. The guy from before steps out of an alleyway to our left, all of us currently in a deserted back street to avoid the police, since Percy is apparently a wanted criminal and we didn't know about it.
As soon as the guy appears, I open my bow, Percy responding by uncapping a pen, which grew into a sword instantly. At the same time, everyone but Grover, who was unarmed, drew their weapons. Then, a growl reaches our ears from above. I slowly raise my eyes and stare up at the thing above me. It's a manticore. Again. Except, this one has its tail tipped in a dozen spikes, all ready to fire.
"Say hello to my pet," the man says.
"Another fucking manticore!?" I snap. "Jesus Christ! What the fuck? why are so many fucking monsters after me?"
"You?" Percy scoffs. "I fought Medusa, a chimera, and the Furies."
"I fought a manticore three times now, six Giant Scorpions at once, got my plane crashed by a swarm of Harpies, and had to fight hundreds of giant spiders," I say.
"Compare notches later," Annabeth says. "Focus on surviving now."
I nod, eyes shifting between the manticore and the guy in front of us now, but I can't tell which needs to die first. Probably the guy, but the manticore is a serious threat.
"I'll handle the manticore if you can deal with whoever that is," I say."
"I favor the idea of running away," Percy says.
"Fair enough," I say. "I'll make an opening."
I dive forward into a roll, several spikes stabbing into the concrete behind me, then roll to one knee and send a handful of arrows up at the manticore as Charles and Will both step around me, slashing at the guy. There's no real chance of us winning. Hell, we never even had a chance. However, as the man catches Will and Charles' arms, and my arrows block a barrage of manticore stingers, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover flash past us, fleeing far and fast into the city.
The guy in front of me laughs as I dodge another barrage from the manticore and it crashes to the ground. Just as soon as it does, I spin, slashing its tail aside with my bow as I grab an arrow, then fire it directly into the manticore's eye. It roared, rearing back, and Charles stepped up behind it, driving his sword through its side into its chest. The manticore disintegrated and Charles grinned for half a second before shouting in pain and flying directly toward me.
I duck under Charles and am greeted with the other immediate threat's knee. I stagger backward, reaching for an arrow, only for the guy to grab me by the right arm, swinging me around into the wall of a building before lifting me by the throat. I struggle to pull in a breath, eyes flashing around, seeing that Will was lying on the ground, blood running down the left side of his head, and Charles seemed to have a broken back, because he was screaming in pain but not moving.
I reach forward, trying to do...something. Anything. but the guy has more reach than me, and I'm too close to passing out to lift my bow to slash. My vision gains spots, which begin to spin faster and faster before all expanding and darkening to black. Then, all feeling stops.
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