Chapter 9
I got a request to make my chapters longer so here it is, enjoy!
Nico woke up on a great comfortable bed. In fact, it was so nice that he was tempted to just fall right back to sleep. But reality forced him to sit up. A nerve-racking pain shot up in his arms. Nico cried out in pain and fell back onto the bed. Suddenly, he remembered the shadow-traveling. When they had gone into the portal, Rachel seemed like a dead-weight making every second inflict excruciating pain on his arms and their joints.
Slowly, without moving his arms, he took a look at his surroundings. With a jolt, he realized that he was in a luxurious penthouse. A huge TV spread across almost half of a wall and under it, all the game consoles ever made. Not to mention, a whole bookcase devoted to videogame CDs. Many expensive pieces of furniture dotted the apartment and there was a hot tub, totally decked out patio, a full stocked kitchen, and so much more. Nico was admiring his surroundings when he realized that two words dotted almost everything in the penthouse, 'Lotus Casino.' He threw off the covers and was rewarded with two arms screaming in pain. Doing his best to ignore it, he jumped off the bed and looked around for his sword.
After a few minutes, he found it leaning against the door. Nico let out a sigh of relief. At least, I won't be completely defenseless when something goes wrong, he though to himself. "Looking for something?" a voice asked behind him. Quick as a flash, Nico swung his sword at the speaker. With a yelp, Rachel dropped down onto the floor. "I hate it when demigods do that." His arms ached from the use of the sword and Nico quickly sheathed it. "Then don't surprise us out of our wits," Nico replied defensively. Rachel just shrugged and pulled something out of her pocket. It was a green credit card with the title of the hotel on it.
Quick as a flash, Nico swatted the card away with his hand and was about to consider flushing it down the toilet when Rachel stopped him. "Nico, what are you doing!" "Out of all the hotels in Las Vegas, why did you choose this one?" Rachel huffed and replied, "What else could I do? I had to get you somewhere you could rest. Besides, it's been a whole day and I haven't been brainwashed or anything." Nico became silent for a moment and then apologized, giving the card back to her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be like that. It's just this place; it's the main reason that caused me so much pain and confusion." Rachel nodded in understanding and said, "Anyway, I think that I may have found a clue." "Really, that's great! What'd you find?" "Uh, actually I guess it's more like I found a clue about where a clue is." Nico gave her a blank look which she ignored.
"You know the books that some hotels have with their guests' names in it." Nico nodded. "Well, I have a feeling that if we find your name, there might be some more information about you, like an address or a phone number. "You do know that I lived a way long time ago?" "Yeah, but still it ought to show something." Nico considered it for a moment. It was worth a shot and who knew, maybe he would find something after all. "All right then, but I have a question." Rachel asked curiously, "What is it?" "Why hasn't the Lotus Casino done anything to you? I mean do you feel weird or anything?" Rachel shook her head. "Nothing, maybe it's because I'm the Oracle or maybe it's because it's not as strong as it used to be." Nico thought about the possibilities but then shrugged it off of his mind. Hey, it's just a hotel. What could be worse than a crash in the middle of the desert, Nico asked silently as they headed out the door and into the elevator.
Rachel realized something was wrong with Nico, after a few minutes in the lobby. She knew that Nico was usually serious and rarely became distracted but here he was gawking at the entertainments and the rides of the hotel. When she had come into the hotel, she barely gave a glance to them and this was no different. However, Nico was quite on the contrary. "Wow," Nico shouted, "they've got everything, an arcade that's open 24/7, a movie theater that holds all the latest movies, and even a ski jump." "Nico, focus!" she said sharply. "Huh, oh yeah, um, could we just try the ski jump?" "NO!" "Ah, come on, please?" he said like a little kid asking his parents for a toy he really wanted. Rachel rolled her eyes and starting pulling him toward the recipient's desk. "No fair!" Nico huffed.
"Can I help you?" asked a middle-aged man in a tuxedo. Rachel was about to ask her question when Nico barged in. "What's on the second floor?" The man smiled and replied, "We have the state-of-the-art archery range, a spa, some five-star restaurants, and of course, our lovely yoga-class. Rachel raised an eyebrow. She had never seen Nico this excited before. When she looked closely at his eyes, she saw his pupils' color turn duller. "Nico," she warned. The dullness left his eyes and he blinked for a few moments, before asking, "Could we see your guest-book?" The man looked surprised but opened a drawer and pulled out a thick book. The book's cover looked thousands of years old and it had some incomprehensible writing on it. "Now," the man started, "what do you need to know?"
Rachel replied, "We're looking for two of your former guests, Bianca and Nico Diangelo." After a few minutes of looking, he pointed at the two names on a page asking, "Are these people you're looking for?" Nico and Rachel nodded. "We'd like to know more about them, if you please," said Rachel. "Well, let's see, hmm, there's nothing here except a-." The man was interrupted with a crash at the main door. There standing among the broken glass, stood one of the monsters he would never forget in a hundred years, the manticore.
Whew! This sure is long. I've got to stop making cliff-hangers! Or should I? Please give me your opinions if you think I should lower the amount of cliff-hangers. Besides that, please review!
