Let it Burn
Chapter Seven: Viva Las Vegas
Author's Note: another song for Tucker, I'm No Angel by Gregg Allman (P.S. leave song suggestions in the reviews; I'm often looking for more)
Tucker stepped through the doors of the Lotus Casino, into the familiar checking room that he had entered a year before. But this time it was different. This time Tucker knew what he was doing. The last time he came here, Tucker had fallen for the trap; hook, line and sinker. He had been stuck in a haze for a month. Then his guardian angel, Hestia rescued him from the hotel; like she has done so many times.
I really ought to keep track of how many times Hestia's saved my hide. Tucker thought. He looked around and saw several familiar bellhops gasping at the sight of him. Tucker laughed lightly. They remember. What they remembered was the utter chaos and collateral damage Tucker had caused when he came to his senses last time. An older looking man wearing a hotel uniform came up to Tucker with a fake grin on his face.
"Welcome to the Lotus Hotel, if there is anything I…" He began, but Tucker cut him off.
"Yeah, yeah, save it, old timer. I know the drill." Tucker said while brushing past the man. Tucker proceeded towards an elevator on the other side of the checking room. He reached it and pressed the button. What floor was that room on? Tucker thought. For a moment he tried to remember, and then he smirked. What am I doing? I know which one. Tucker entered the elevator and pressed floor number seven. Tucker cackled. My lucky number.
Tucker stood in the elevator for a few seconds listening to Crosby, Stills, & Nash over the speakers and the elevator door opened. Tucker stepped out into the hallway lined on both sides with dark wooden doors with bright brass knobs leading to countless hotel suites. Tucker turned left and walked down to the very end of the hallway. He turned to the door on his right and paused momentarily to look out the large window at the end of the hallway out to the lights of the Vegas night. He turned back towards the door and turned the knob. It was locked.
"Crap" Tucker said out loud. Logically, Tucker tried to turn the knob harder; nothing. Can't believe I thought that would work. He thought. Tucker groaned, realizing that he forgot to pick up the key he had hidden in the laundry room while escaping last time. Rolling his eyes, Tucker reached into his pocket and took out his lighter and lit it, and his sword grew in his hand. In one swift motion, Tucker sliced the knob clean off of the door. After returning the sword to his pocket in lighter form, Tucker pushed the door open.
Tucker scanned the suite. The door opened up to a large living room with several couches, a few chairs and a fully stocked kitchen in the back up against a huge window. Tucker sighed and started walking across the room towards the kitchen.
"Who are you?" A young voice said next to Tucker. He flinched and stopped dead. He turned abruptly around. Seated in one of the chairs was a ten year old boy with olive skin and long dark hair. He was obviously Italian; or at least part.
Tucker was more or less surprised that the room he had been in a year ago was now occupied by a little kid. "I could say the same thing to you, kid." He remarked.
The kid frowned and said "No you couldn't. Why are you here?" He crossed his arms like he was trying to intimidate Tucker.
Tucker bent over until he was eye level with the kid. He smirked and said "Well Shorty, this just happens to be the same room I stayed in a year ago."
"Well that was a year ago. This is our room now. A couple days ago our other room had a gas leak so we moved in here." The kid said, getting impatient.
Tucker sighed. "Look, I'm only gonna be here for a couple hours, so let me crash 'till I got to leave."
The kid looked sort of uncomfortable with a stranger here. "Well, I'm not so sure about that, my sister, Bianca definitely won't like it."
Tucker smirked again. "Relax" he said. Tucker then pointed to his face. "Do I really look like I'm lying or gonna hurt you? From what I can tell, you're just a couple years younger than me. What can a kid do to another kid? I'm no kidnapper."
The kid sighed. "Fine, whatever; just don't go into Bianca's room. Or the bathroom because she's in there right now." Tucker smiled.
"Thanks a lot, kid." He then walked back over to the kitchen. He leaned over the counter and looked at the kid. "By the way, what's your name?" Tucker ask.
The kid looked back at him and said "My name's Nico. Nico di Angelo. What's yours?"
"Tucker Phoenix" Tucker smiled.
Nico's eyes lit up like he had just heard 'John Wayne'. "Holy cow!" He exclaimed. "I remember you! You're the guy who tossed that blackjack dealer into the indoor pool a couple days ago!"
Tucker sighed. They were under the spell like he was. They had no idea how much time they have been in here for. Tucker thought that he should help them. But maybe ignorance is bliss. Who knows how long they've been here? And who knows how they'd react? He thought. He grunted and opened the kitchen fridge. He pulled out a glass coke bottle and twisted the cap off barehanded; leaving Nico with an amazed expression on his face.
"That's crazy! What are you, some kind of superman?" Nico asked. Tucker turned to him and took a sip. He laughed lightly.
"I used to lift logs at a lumberyard. My hands are as tough as leather." He stated his usual lie about his leathery grip. The truth is that his hands got so tough from deliberate conditioning. Tucker trained his hands by any means he could muster. Saying that he used to work as at a lumberyard was just a quick way of explaining how his hands are so tough. Taking a few more sips, Tucker tried to figure out when would be a safe time to leave the hotel. He did not want to be trapped here again like last time. Luckily, Tucker was smart. He knew just what he was doing at this time. About two more hours in here, and it'll be safe to get out. Tucker thought.
A voice rang out from the hallway that Tucker knew led to the bathroom. "Nico! I'm done in here! I'm coming out.!" It was a girl.
Nico suddenly showed an expression of distress. "Oh, no." He said. He then looked at Tucker and continued. "That's Bianca! Hide, quick!"
Tucker gulped down the rest of the coke and dropped the bottle in the trashcan. "I'll go one better." He said. Tucker then leaped over the counter and dashed out the door into the hallway. Before closing the wooden door behind himself, Tucker looked back into the suite at Nico. "I'll see you in another year or two!" He yelled. Then he slammed the door shut and walked back towards the elevator. He pressed the down arrow. After waiting a few seconds, the doors opened and Tucker stepped in. The elevator was also occupied by a little girl, several years young than Tucker. At first he though it was Hestia, but then took a closer look at her. She had normal eyes, not flames like Hestia. She looked up a Tucker with a look of utter disdain and contempt.
"Going up." She said. Tucker nodded in agreement. He pressed the top floor button and leaned back against the wall of the elevator while the music played. Tucker closed his eyes for a split second. One moment, the little girl was just standing there. Even before opening his eyes, Tucker knew something was not right. When he did open them, he felt the cold metal of a bronze knife against his throat and he saw the little girl holding it. Tucker raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, so y'all got here faster than I thought." He said. The girl got confused. She had let her guard down. Just like Tucker had wanted her to. He took advantage of the moment and grabbed the girl's wrist; twisting it. The knife fell to the floor cluttering around. Tucker lifted his arm up above his head, trapping the girl. She began cursing loudly, and Tucker said "Jeez, what's a shrimp like you doing saying things like that?"
The girl growled and shouted "I'm not a kid! I'm fourteen!" As if it were obvious. The elevator door opened up and Tucker shoved the girl aside, running out. He stood in front of a random door and braced himself. The girl charged out, knife in hand, straight at Tucker. At the very last moment, Tucker smirked and swung the door open quickly, and before the girl had time to react, she had tumbled into the janitor's closet, a look of surprise on her face. Sounds of crashing and breaking objects filled Tucker's ears.
"Ole!" Tucker shouted. He then looked into the janitor's closet and saw the girl trapped and struggling underneath two metal shelves that had fallen on her, reaching in vain for her knife that lay just beyond her reach. Tucker grinned and leaned in the doorway. "Now just who are you?" he asked.
Having realized her defeat, the girl hung her head low and groaned, wallowing in the fact that she had failed. "I'm a Hunter."
Tucker sighed. "That much is obvious, short-stack. What is your name?"
The girl gritted her teeth, but then relax herself. She looked up at Tucker with a straight face.
"My name is Atalanta. Tucker Phoenix, I'm your twin sister"
Aphrodite waded determinedly through the endless crowd of people swarming the gambling den of the casino, recklessly shoving her way past people. At last she came to who she was looking for, L.E. He was sitting on a metal stool in the middle of the huge crowd of people, every one of them craning their necks to get a look at him. "And then the wife says 'you tell me'" He said. This was followed by a roar of laughter from all around him. He was obviously in the middle of a joke. A good one it seemed.
"LE! I need to have a word with you." Aphrodite said. LE groaned.
"Alright, show's over people." He said and with that, the crowd dispersed, leaving LE and Aphrodite alone.
Aphrodite raised her hands "What the heck? A sister? Why would Tucker have a sister? Why would Artemis have another kid? And why does the girl look so young?"
LE slapped his forehead. "First of all, Atalanta is Tucker's twin sister, so it makes sense because they were both born at the same time. As for why is she so young looking, it's because she joined the hunt, and when someone does that, the aging process halts completely. Atalanta joined when she was eight. So that's about all there is to it. If you have any more questions, I'll probably answer them later." And with that, LE stood up off of the stool and walked right over to the Craps table.
(review if you guessed Nico would be in this chapter)