Sure enough, once Percy, Annabeth, and Grover returned to the diner, Ares was waiting, leaning against his Harley. He smirked at their ragged appearances, like he was extremely pleased at how long and frustrating the task had been. Percy tossed the shield to him haphazardly, but the god still caught it with perfect grace, even managing to twirl it around like a pizza as he spoke to them.

"There, we got your pointless shield. Happy?" Percy questioned. "Or do you have some other stupid thing you want us to do?"

"Oh no, I'm done," Ares claimed. He saw the three collectively sigh in relief. "But don't worry; that won't have been the hardest thing to do on your little quest."

"What is?"

"That is something for me to know and for you to find out," he claimed, magically making the shield turn into a bulletproof vest, which he slung over his shoulder. "Anyway, a promise is a promise," Ares gestured across the parking lot, to a big truck that read Kindness International. It was an animal transport thing. Once Ares snapped his fingers, the back door of the truck opened, just enough for three fourteen-year-olds to crawl through. Percy didn't even want to mention that the god never promised anything, and was ready to just sit down. Annabeth, however, scrunched up her nose. "What? Something wrong, girlie?"

Annabeth, for a brief moment, glared at Ares with the same intensity that she did Percy most of the time, but then it went away. "N-nothing, Lord Ares," she claimed. It sounded like it took real effort to force the words out. Even before she finished, she was handed a bag. "T-thank you, Lord Ares."

"Don't mention it," he said, and it sounded like he meant it. "And now no one can say I don't repay kindness," Ares boasted.

"Come on," Percy started walking toward the truck; the other two soon followed him, after bidding the war god a last 'thank you'.

Once inside, the first thing that hit Percy was the smell. Even the Pegasus stables back at camp didn't smell half as bad as these animals did, but that was because they were just in horrible shape. There was a lion with the wrong type of food in its cage, an antelope with a party flag tied to its horn, and a zebra with gum stuck in its hair. Grover was probably the most appalled by the sight.

The three looked at each other. Percy was in any mood but a helpful one. He just felt like sitting down and letting his teammates do the work, but alas, he forced himself to at least aid the animals in their trip. Annabeth cut off the party flag from the antelope's horn. Percy switched the food so everyone could eat.

After all of that, they sat down. Grover conversed with the animals (just go with it) for a while before he took a load off and fell asleep. Annabeth and I exchanged looks, silently deciding whether we needed a watch this time. "…We're already moving," Percy said. "I don't think we need a watch."

"Agreed," she said, turning over. Percy wished he could follow, but no matter how much he tossed and turned, his brain wouldn't shut off for a few hours.

His eyes were droopy, but he was alert. His muscles were relaxed, but not sluggish. Maybe he'd just come to preemptively expect a monster attack wherever they went, and his body wanted itself to be prepared. But the fact was that it wasn't. If he didn't get some rest now, he might not have had another chance to do so on this quest, at least not for another long stretch of time. Despite himself, Percy started humming. At first, it almost blended in with the rumble of the engine. He wasn't exactly sure what he was singing, just that he knew the melody. Riptide sang along too.

"Hey," Annabeth mumbled. "You said you were going to sleep," she complained.

"I couldn't," Percy returned. The girl turned over, confused.

"…You're dog-tired."

"I know."

"And you can't sleep."

"I know," Percy repeated, feeling equally as annoyed. Percy expected her to tell him off or try to ignore him, but she surprised him. Annabeth sat up with him.

"…What were you singing?" she wondered. "I didn't recognize it."

"It's, um…" Percy didn't know.

"'Zero to Hero' from Disney's Hercules."

"Oh gods, was that what it was?" Percy grimaced. "Jeez, now I know why I was ashamed to hum it."

"What was it?" Annabeth asked again.

"It was um…'Zero to Hero'," he admitted. She chuckled lightly.

"Well…there could be worse songs, I suppose," Annabeth averted her eyes, like Percy wasn't decent.

"Yeah, you could've sang 'Let the Bodies Hit the Floor'"

The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Percy noticed several things about Annabeth during that time, not that he was excessively staring. Her curly blond hair, which she usually kept in a ponytail, was left hanging messily down her back. Her clothes still seemed a bit soggy from both sweat, as it was extremely humid in the truck, and from the water park. Her body was still tense, probably from the spiders. Plus, she had formed a bruise from when Percy had hit her when she was invisible, back when they were fighting Medusa. He didn't feel bad in the moment, because she totally snuck up on him, but now, it really looked like it hurt. Not to mention the fall they took at the water park. "…You're hurt," Percy noted, upon seeing her arm. She had gotten several scrapes on it from their jump and fall at Waterland, even with Grover slowing their descent.

She looked at her arm like she'd just noticed. "Oh, right. Forgot…" she muttered, obviously fatigued. "I can fix it later."

"Or," Percy scooted closer. "I could fix it now," he said. "Do we still have some bandages?"

Annabeth didn't answer at first, just looked uncomfortable as Percy moved closer. Percy assumed it was because he was a guy. "…Yeah, I think…" she said, pulling out a few and handing them to him. "…Do you even know how?"

Percy nodded, lifting up her arm. "Luke taught me," he explained. "After he whupped my ass."

Annabeth forced out a smile. "Sounds like him," she said, though her voice sounded defensive; even Percy could tell that. He stopped trying to make small-talk, and just worked.

Upon tying a final knot around the scrapes, Percy spoke. "Hey…what are we?"

The questioned seemed to catch her off-guard. "W-what do you mean?" she hastily wondered.

"I mean…" Percy wasn't sure how to put it. "…I don't know…" he moved a bit away from her, to give her space. "…I thought that we might, you know, become friends, during the quest. It seemed like that was where it was heading, but now…"

"Oh, you aren't implying-" Annabeth was about to say 'romance' but she was interrupted.

"You've been acting really weird, since almost the start of the quest. You don't usually talk to me unless you have to and you get angry a lot, especially at me. It's like you want nothing to do with me," he explained. "Though…to be fair, that's how you acted from the start, but you were never really this distant, just weary…and I thought it was getting better…"

Percy looked at Annabeth expectantly. For the first time in a while, she met his gaze. There was something very…odd, about the way Percy looked in that moment, to Annabeth at least. She couldn't really find the word for it at the time.

"Well…" she knew exactly why she'd been avoiding him, she just didn't want to say it. So, she improvised. "To be fair, you're the one that insulted me first," she tried to smile and laugh it off, get this quest over with and go back to Camp where they didn't have to interact as much. But the look, that Percy was giving her, told her that that wasn't what needed to be said.

The bomb had to be dropped.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "…Back in Jersey, when you fought that Kindly One on the bus…I saw you," she recalled his grinning face, his almost feral presence, and that wild look in his eyes like this is what he got his kicks off of. "You tortured it…"

"I had to get information," Percy defended. "Besides, it'll be reborn."

"It's not that," she returned. "It's that you enjoyed it. You were smiling, Percy. People don't usually smile when they're hurting other things."

"…"

"And then, back when you fought Clarisse, you mocked and berated her after you got the upper hand in the fight. I think that says a lot about you."

"…What does it say?"

"…Well, that you like hurting people, maybe to make them hurt the way that you might have, at some point. I don't know exactly, but it's probably something like that."

"Well…wouldn't you think they deserved it?" Percy questioned. "Clarisse put people down all of the time; she deserved to be put down herself. That Kindly One…I know it hurt you and Grover. That was enough for me to fight back. As for the smiling…" Percy didn't have an answer to that. The truth was, he did enjoy it, in the fact that it gave him a rush of adrenaline. It was the same rush as when he fought someone. He lived for the thrill. "…I don't know. You might be right on that."

"But Percy, it's not about whether they deserved it. We're supposed to be heroes. Heroes don't usually…" Annabeth stopped herself. "Well, heroes don't…"

"What about Hercules?" Percy said. "He murdered his whole family and both of his wives, right?" he said, surprised at himself for remembering.

Annabeth didn't respond, just let Percy talk more.

"I don't know…I'm probably messed up in the head, sure…but the way I see it, if I can do these types of things and be rejected…then maybe someone like you won't have to."

Annabeth took a silent gasp, like she'd just realized something. "You mean…you were doing it, all of those things, so that-"

"Or you might be right," he interrupted her again. "I could just be a total monster."

"Percy…"

The boy took a deep breath. It was strange, but the conversation felt cathartic, in a way, like a weight had been lifted from Percy's chest. "Alright, I think I'm tired now. I'm gonna get some shut-eye," he said, laying down.

Annabeth, however, stayed awake for a little while longer, mulling over what Percy had said. For all she knew, he could've just been talking out his ass to try and get her to feel sorry for him, but somehow she knew that wasn't the case. She recalled the times when she'd been almost afraid of Percy; the incidents with the Kindly One, Clarisse, and from what he'd heard about his battle with the Minotaur, she didn't like it either. Slowly, her view on those events shifted. She felt almost…comforted, knowing that she had someone like him on her side. He would protect her, even if he had to do unsavory things to make it happen. Normally, she'd have been annoyed, feeling like she could handle herself, but these past few days of real monster battle put her in her place. She may have been ready to handle it, but he was there to ensure that she didn't have to all of the time. She looked at his face, and smiled. "I think Luke rubbed off on you," she said, before scooting close to him, and laying down with her back to his.

xxxXXXxxx

Once they'd arrived in Vegas, they immediately set the animals free. It was just the thing to do. Not only did it provide good cover for when they escaped the truck, but it also got the transporters arrested for illegal animal smuggling, so…win-win, right?

Anyway, once they actually entered Vegas, they passed by all sorts of fake monuments, from the pyramids, to the Statue of Liberty. The latter made Percy really homesick, and Annabeth had to drag him away from it or he would have spent days looking at it and thinking of home…well, the part of home that didn't smell like beer and feet.

Eventually, they came to a dead end, right at the entrance of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. "…Why are we here?" Percy questioned.

"Must've taken a wrong turn," Annabeth offered.

"It wouldn't hurt to go inside, though, would it?"

On that line of thinking, the three made the stupidest collective decision of the entire quest.

As soon as they entered, they were met with a bellhop. "Hello!" he greeted, his voice surprisingly flamboyant. "And how are we tonight?" he asked as he reached into his pocket.

"Um, fine," Percy replied before he was suddenly handed keys and three green cards. "What are-"

"Oh don't worry about it; try room 4001 on the top floor," he said before leaving the three kids.

Once they made it into the hotel proper, they found it to be incredible. Water slides lined the massive interior lobby, surrounded on all sides by games of all assortments, from Pac-Man to those shooter arcade machines. There was bungee-jumping from higher floors, mini-golf, pools, whatever you wanted. If you could name a thing to do, Lotus Hotel and Casino had it.

And then, once they all started doing things, they didn't stop. Grover went to the dance floor, and busted out some epic moves. Eventually, he lost his pants, and no one even batted an eye at his goat legs. Annabeth went to some of the games, including one where she got to build an entire city. That was her favorite. Percy, meanwhile, spent a lot of his time at the shooting games. Despite how bad he was at them, he enjoyed the frantic exhilaration he got as he improved and got into harder parts of them.

Eventually, all three went up to their room, which turned out to be a gigantic three-bedroom suite, loaded with food, drinks, and toiletries. All three took a shower, which refreshed them immensely, were all tempted to go nap, but then they wanted to play some more.

Annabeth returned to the game she was playing about building a city. Grover went to a shooting game where animals got to shoot humans back, which he found grotesquely satisfying, while Percy decided to wander through the rest of the hotel.

As he rounded a corner, he ran into someone, with both of them falling over. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" Percy snapped as he stood. He then saw that it was a girl, and one who looked his age. "Oh, um…sorry," he offered his hand to help her up.

"No, I'm sorry," she said quietly. She had a strange way of speaking, like she was still living in the 40s or something. Percy couldn't see her face very well, due to her big green hat, but he saw they she had a darker skin color, like maybe an Italian's. Olive would probably be the best word to describe it. Her hair was dark, and hung sloppily over her face; she clearly didn't care. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Oh, um…in a hurry?"

"Actually, yes, I'm looking for my brother."

Percy nodded, not really caring. He was about to let the girl run off, but something compelled him to say "Do you want some help?" To this day, he had no idea why he said that.

The girl probably smiled. "Sure, if you could spare the time."

"Sure, it's not like I'm in a hurry," Percy replied, having completely forgotten about the quest at this point. "I'm Percy Jackson."

"Bianca," she returned. "Bianca di Angelo. We're looking for my little brother Nico."

"Oh, sure, um…" Percy had to get his bearings. "Is he with your parents? How old is he? How old are you?" that last question just kind of blurted out.

"I'm fifteen," she answered, not thinking anything of it. "Nico is thirteen."

"Oh, wow, you're, uh…older than me. I'm fourteen," Percy said.

"That's alright," she said, her voice sounding incredibly genuine. "He said he was going to the water slide, but he always gets distracted."

The two searched for maybe half an hour before Percy himself got distracted. Maybe it was when Bianca started talking about the world, and how money was always a problem until they came to the Lotus Hotel. Percy asked her what year it was. She just looked at him weird. "It's 1942," she answered. "Oh, look! There he is!" she pointed to a smaller boy. His back was turned to them, so Percy didn't know how she knew it was him. "Nico!" she ran to him, leaving Percy behind without even thanking him.

He didn't really want to be thanked anyway. His head was starting to spin. 1942? How was that possible? Come to think of it, Percy didn't really recall how long they'd been at the Lotus Hotel. A few hours? That sounded right, but it felt like just a few minutes. And with a world of gods and monsters…Percy couldn't be sure of anything.

He quickly found Annabeth at the game she'd spent the whole time at. "Hey, how long have we been here?" he asked her. She didn't answer. "Hey!"

"What?" she sounded irritated again.

"How long have we been here?" he repeated.

"I don't know, a couple hours? Who cares?" she questioned, returning to her game. Percy tried to pull her away.

"Hey, we need to go."

"What? Why? I was just getting started; I haven't even installed a proper subway-"

"Annabeth, that game, this place, is tricking you," Percy said, slowly, making sure she was looking at him. Her eyes, which were usually sharp, if not bored, were foggy and glazed over. However, Percy's words seemed to help a bit in clearing them up.

"I-I…" she tried to think things through. "…What were we doing here?"

Percy tried to think. "We came…to kill time? I don't remember. I think…we were doing something important…" they both realized it at the same time.

"The quest!" they exclaimed, dashing off together to find Grover and get out of there. Percy wanted to find Bianca and her brother, but they were long gone and they were on a serious time crunch now, so he didn't have time. That decision would come to haunt him over the years, especially after he found out who they were. Once they found Grover, and forced him out of his game, they burst out of the hotel. The air felt different, and the time of day was totally wrong. Percy found the nearest newspaper and checked the date.

June 20th, one day before the summer solstice.

Author's Note:

Dun-dun-duuuun! Yeah, I always felt that if Riordan had planned for Bianca and Nico to have been in the Casino, he would've have them meet the gang back at this point. It wasn't much, but it was better than Percy finding out from a random guy at a random game, right?

Anyway, I finished adapting The Lightning Thief, so now I have to move onto Sea of Monsters. If any of you were disappointed at the differences between this and the originals, don't worry, Sea of Monsters picks it up a bit more, so stay tuned.

Oh yeah, and review the rest of the Lightning Thief while you're at it! Thanks!