I own nothing except my imagination. Thank you to everybody for sticking with me. A huge shoutout to Biowind for helping with this, previous, and probably future chapters.
Enjoy
Chapter 20
The next four days were relatively uneventful for Ari as she simply stayed on the bus as it traveled cross country going about 60 down the interstate. She got to see highlights of cities such as Washington D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; Memphis, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; and Los Angeles, California and hoped to be able to visit them at a later point in time; when the world wasn't in danger of World War III.
There had been a few delays during the trip; construction going through Dallas-Fort Worth, many gappers' delays, and a few pileups. Overall though, the trip was the absolute opposite of what her brother and his quest had gone through. She found it a bit backwards that she had to go through Los Angeles to get to Las Vegas just to go back to Los Angeles. But, there wasn't much that she could do about it.
The bus arrived in Vegas around 10 pm on day four. It was June 13th; they had one week before World War III broke out. She made her way from the bus terminal to a nearby bus stop. Hermes had informed her that the Deuce would take her from the terminal to the casinos on the Strip. From there, it was just a matter of finding the others.
The bus ride didn't take long even if the bus was packed to the point that there was standing room only, and Ari was beginning to feel claustrophobic by the time that the bus dropped her off in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.
Almost immediately upon entry, everything seemed to be working against her and her ability to stay focused on the task at hand. She was greeted by a manager, given a casino cash card, room key and complementary lotus. She made her way up to her room deciding that it couldn't hurt to at least get cleaned up after spending four days on a smelly bus with multiple equally smelly people. She placed her bag on the bed and the lotus on the dresser.
After taking a thirty minute shower, the hot water never faltered, she pulled out a clean pair of shorts and a t-shirt and then decided to make her way back down to the casino. Ari made sure that she was leaving nothing in the room. After all, she had no plans of staying in the casino longer than necessary. The lotus laid forgotten on the dresser.
Down in the casino, Ari was met with an unexpected but very pleasant surprise. The casino was divided into two sections. The first section, the adult section, was like that of every other casino in Vegas, lots of slot machines, poker tables, roulette, and games of that nature. The second section was specifically designed with minors in mind. It was full of video games, board games, table hockey, foosball, and card games. The games provided the children with tickets that they could then take up to the counter to exchange for various prizes. It was a kids' paradise.
At first, Ari was fully focused on going in, finding her brother and sister, finding the twins, and getting out. After what felt like only a few hours, however, she found herself forgetting her objective and just enjoying herself. It wasn't long before she too was under the spell, and two quests were at a stand still.
oOo
On Olympus, the gods had continued to watch the, now two, quests as they progressed. They had mainly just watched Ari read on the bus and Percy, Annabeth, and Grover play games at the casino. After four days of boredom, they all watched as Ari entered the casino. They were happy that she managed to not eat any of the lotuses; however, that didn't seem to matter as Ari still fell under the spell of the Lotus-eaters.
"The Lotus-eaters have become more advanced in their methods," Demeter pointed out in worry as they watched Ari join a group around the foosball table.
"That's to be expected. After all, the monsters need to adapt as we do in order to survive in the modern day. The old method of waiting for somebody to come along just doesn't work anymore," Athena reasoned.
"So, it's no longer just the lotuses that the demigods need to be careful of?" Artemis questioned.
"No, they have probably found other ways to get and keep people under the trance. If I had to hypothesis, it is probably in not only the food and drinks," Athena began to analyze. "The question is, how did it get to Ari if she didn't really do anything."
The gods pondered this for a few minutes. The only thing that Ari had done before going to the arcade was-
"She took a shower!" Poseidon all but shouted coming up with only plausible way that Ari could have fallen under the trance without eating the lotuses.
Many eyes widened at the realization that it had been something so simple. They had only warned her about the lotuses and the fact that time was different in the lair. Nobody had thought anything about the other everyday products that people would come in contact with.
"So, was it the aroma or the fact that the products absorbed into her skin?" Artemis questioned.
"The second option is more likely for the shower products that she came in contact with. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they also had aroma products at use as well," Athena said putting the pieces together.
"It doesn't matter how they're doing it. They are now all under the trance," Triton pointed out a bit irritated at the fact that he couldn't help Ari.
He almost laughed at that realization. He had tolerated, hated, and even worried the smallest bit over his half-siblings in the past, but he had never felt this attached, let alone this quickly, to any of them. The only ones who had come close were Bellerophon and Theseus. He disliked Orion, Phineas and Sciron because of their actions and personalities. His monster siblings Antaeus, Charybdis, and Polyphemus were ignored and rarely mentioned. His sisters, the naiads, traveled to the other cities in the seas and tried to help with the pollution problems that the mortals were causing. Therefore, they were rarely around, and when they weren't traveling, many of them lived at Camp Half-blood. Kymopoleia lived somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea and hadn't called home in the last five centuries; nobody really mentioned her.
Overall, his family under the sea was just as dysfunctional as his family that lived on Olympus. In some ways, more so. He tuned back into the conversation that was going on around him. They were still talking about the point that he had brought up.
"-just going to have to hope that one of them is able to throw off the spell," Athena stated sternly. "We aren't allowed to interfere. It is up to them to get out of this."
With that, the conversation was brought to a close. However, nobody was happy with the results.
oOo
A few hours turned into a few days and then a week, and there was no sign of any of the children, or the satyr for that matter, being able to pull themselves out of the trance that they were under. All of the gods had taken to staying on Olympus. Poseidon and Triton stayed in the guest quarters; Amphitrite was still mad at her husband. Many of the gods' duties were being either delegated to the minor gods or outright neglected in preparation for war. The tension was thick as Olympus began to divide into two distinct sides; Poseidon and Zeus.
Poseidon was not one to go back on his word, and he had promised war if there was no apology by the summer solstice. While he didn't want to, Triton followed his father's orders to have the Atlantean army on standby. Zeus had the minor gods running around preparing. The other Olympians, aside from Ares, while happy that there weren't anymore screaming matches, were worried that about how was quickly it was escalating. Ares, the only one who seemed to be happy with the current atmosphere, was constantly seen sharpening his weapons and telling others to "prepare for battle" and "look alive." They would be at war if the bolt was not returned by tomorrow evening, and their only hopes were currently trapped with the Lotus-eaters and weren't showing any signs of coming out anytime soon.
oOo
Triton was down in Atlantis keeping the Atlantean Generals up to date and making sure that everybody was ready to go. He was stalling going back up to Olympus because he really didn't want to listen to the complaints, arguments, and war plans going on. Triton made his way to his quarters and once there, summoned an image of Ari in that cursed casino. He needed to get her out of there. The only good thing was that, while it wasted time and made one forget everything else, the trance of the Lotus-eaters was not harmful. Ari's conch charm wasn't sending him any warnings that she was in danger.
All of the gods had found ways around the ancient laws; it was to be expected with having more than five millennia to find loopholes. His father was exploiting one; the laws prevented direct interference; however, they said nothing about messengers. His father was probably going to send one of the nereids. This was actually a very common loophole to exploit. Triton chose to exploit a different loophole that worked thanks to many different rules. The gods were permitted to give gifts, even if they couldn't give them in person, and the gods had complete control over their symbol of power.
Over the years, Triton had found that he could keep an eye on his half-siblings, and even help them, through his symbol, the conch shell. When the shell was given as a gift, it was able to act as a sort of warning beacon. He could set the conch to respond to a specific sibling to let him know if they were in mortal danger.
The only downside was that, in order for the gift to work at its full potential, the gift had to be willingly and fully accepted. That had never happened before with a demigod sibling. Most demigods believed that they did not need the help of a god. Therefore, even though they had accepted the gift, they chose to not use it. Because of this, he received the warnings through the conch but had been unable to help. He could only watch as his siblings were either seriously wounded or, more often than not, killed.
The only reason that he knew so much about what he could do with the conches was because he had given one to his mother, one to the naiads, and one to his father even though they rarely were in trouble since the ancient times.
He had also learned that he could send messages through the conches and use them to locate the person in question. His sisters had even managed to once contact him through the conch when there was an uprising in the Baltic Sea back in the 1700's. It was through these conches that he was able to practice what he was about to try with Ari. He only hoped that she had fully accepted the gift.
Triton watched, and as it neared 8 pm on the 20th, he decided that it was time to act. While he may not be able to go to Ari, he could at least get her attention. Triton grabbed his conch and focused. After a bit of concentration, he was able to connect his conch to the one on Ari's wrist. Now, it was just a matter of getting her attention. Focusing on the connection between the two conches, he began to send his message.
oOo
Ari was playing with her new friend Sam on Dance Mania when she felt it; a small vibration. Looking around, she couldn't figure out what it was, so she just continued playing. After Sam beat her for the fifth time in a row, the two girls decided to go get something to eat; well, more like Sam dragged Ari, and Ari was forced to follow or fall flat on her face.
"So, what do you want to go on next?" Sam asked as she ate her extra large chili cheese fries.
"I don't know. Honestly, I'm a bit tired," Ari responded as she rubbed her wrist. Her bracelet for some reason was rubbing against it uncomfortably. Was her bracelet always this warm?
"Come on, a few more games," Sam begged and tried to pull the puppy dog face. "It's still early."
Ari shook her head, "I really want to go to bed. We can do laser tag tomorrow if you can find a group of people to go with us."
Sam nodded finally seeing that her friend really was tired.
"Alright. I'll meet you at the buffet tomorrow for breakfast."
The two friends parted ways, and as she made her way to the elevator, Ari finally looked at her bracelet. More specifically, she looked at one charm, the conch charm. It was glowing a bright sea green. Not only that, but she quickly discovered that it was the reason her wrist was becoming increasingly irritated over the past couple of hours. Within the span of time that she had stood here examining it, it had changed temperatures twice. But, why was it acting like this?
"Do you need help?" one of the hotel staff inquired as she came up to her carrying a tray of complimentary lotuses.
"No, thank you," Ari responded with a smile. She couldn't remember having ever met any nicer people than the staff at this hotel and casino. "I was just heading up to my room."
"Oh, well, take a midnight snack before you go."
Ari nodded and as she reached for one of the lotuses on the tray, her charm heated up the entire bracelet again.
"Ouch!" Ari yelped as, once her hand was within inches of the offered lotuses, the bracelet heated up to an unbearable temperature. She quickly pulled her hand back and grabbed her now throbbing wrist.
Once she pulled her hand back, the bracelet started to return to a normal temperature. She reached forward with her left hand, the wrist with the weird owl bracelet, and this time, the bracelet froze.
Eventually, after a few more tries, she gave up and just headed up to her room. The worker seemed unhappy, but there was really nothing that Ari could do about it. Ari didn't want to have a sore wrist for the rest of the night. She took a look at her wrist once she was back up in her room and noticed that it was a livid red and was almost to the point of being swollen. The bracelet was normal temperature, so she decided that it would be best to remove the charm that was causing the issues. As she grabbed the charm, she heard it.
"Ari!"
She snapped up and looked around, but she was alone in the room. Looking down, the charm was still glowing, and now, she was curious. Cautiously, she grabbed the charm again.
"Ari! Wake up! You only have one day!"
One day? What?
"The quest, Ari! Olympus is about to go to war! Wake up!"
Quest? Olympus? War?
"It's Triton. Wake up!"
Triton? Ari's eyes widened. Almost as though the floodgates had opened, the memories came flooding back. As though from far away, she heard the words:
Twins of death in cursed place stay.
Lightning quest has just one day.
A family united in spirits' home.
Eldest twin with hunters will roam.
Two quests to finish or peace will end.
Beware the one who your brother calls friend.
The Lightning bolt! The solstice deadline! It all came back to her. She got flashes of faces: a girl with blond hair and stormy grey eyes, a boy with black hair and bright green eyes, and a boy with a major hair issue and hooves? Eventually, the names returned to her: Annabeth, Percy, and Grover. She needed to find them; she needed to find the twins.
Ari looked down at the charm and noticed that it had stopped glowing, and the bracelet was no longer changing temperatures. She owed Triton big time. She grabbed her bag and made sure that she had packed everything back into it. Because she had been in the hotel for however long, she hadn't eaten any of the rations that had been packed for her since the bus ride.
After triple checking her room, she made her way to the elevator and down to the arcade. It didn't take long for her to be approached by one of the workers; however, now, she knew exactly where she was; the Lotus Hotel and Casino also known as the Lotus-eaters' Lair. There were five people that she needed to find, and she needed to find them fast.
oOo
As it turned out, Percy was the first one that she came across. He was on the indoor basketball court playing a game of five on five. She ran on to the court yelling apologies as she went and pulled Percy away.
"Hey! What's the big idea?"
Ari didn't listen as she continued to pull Percy after her. She was just lucky that he wasn't really trying that hard to get away. Eventually, she came across what she was looking for; one of the private game rooms. She flashed her casino card at the worker on duty and pulled Percy in after her. Once the door was locked, she grabbed Percy by both his arms and forced him to look at her.
"Percy, listen to me. You need to wake up!"
Percy tried to pull away. Who was this girl? What was she talking about?
"Who are you? What are you talking about? I am awake, and now, my team is down a player!"
"No, you are under a trance. Remember, the quest! Annabeth! Grover! Percy, wake up!"
oOo
On Olympus, all the gods were still preparing for war. All the gods that is except for Hestia. Hestia saw no reason for the war. It was obvious to her that somebody was trying to pit the gods against each other and start a major war; however, she had no proof and no idea who would be trying to do this. It was because of all of this that Hestia was left in the Council hall watching over the quests. She looked up occasionally but really saw no change. It wasn't until around 8 pm on the 20th that things finally started to look up.
She first noticed that Ari was having a negative reaction to her wrist and wondered what could be going on. Deciding to get a closer look at the viewing image, Hestia stood up, dusted the ash and soot from her dress, and moved closer. While she didn't see anything weird going on with the bracelet, she could clearly see that Ari's wrist was irritated and was therefore starting to swell. Hestia continued to watch as Ari tried and failed to grab one of the lotuses. She couldn't help but smile and almost giggle at the look of annoyance that crossed Ari's face as she looked at her wrist again.
Wait, no, not her wrist, her bracelet? The bracelet looked perfectly normal to Hestia; however, Ari had obviously found something as she pulled one of the charms towards her. Hestia's eyes went wide when she saw the charm; the conch.
"Triton, you are playing a dangerous game," Hestia couldn't help but whisper to herself, but her smile remained in place. She knew that if Zeus found out about this, Triton would be in big trouble for breaking the rules, loopholes or not. However, she was happy that somebody was finally acting.
It was a matter of minutes later, that the haze that surrounded somebody under a trance seemed to lift from Ari, and Ari began to pack up her room. Hestia decided that it was time to call the council, it was almost midnight of the 21st, because it looked as though at least one of the quests was back on track.
Within ten minutes of her sending out the summons, the entire council was present; however, Hestia noticed that Triton had not arrived.
"Why are we here, Hestia?" Zeus questioned glaring at his older brother as he took his seat.
"See for yourself, brother," Hestia responded calmly while motioning to the viewing image.
As one, the council turned to see that Ari was dragging Percy. Hestia, in the meantime, returned to her hearth. Hopefully, the quests would now succeed, and the war would be avoided.
"Ari is out of the trance?!" Apollo stated nearly jumping in his seat.
"We can see that, idiot. The question is how did she snap out of it?" Artemis snapped though she like all the others looked relieved that things were back on track. Her hunters had been constantly asking for updates on the girl that they had all come to see as a little sister. It also didn't help that many of them felt the need to protect the child.
"How is not important right now," Zeus interjected before the twins could start one of their arguments.
Poseidon rolled his eyes, "No, the only thing that you care about is getting your stupid teddy bear back. Nevermind, that it might kill my son or Athena's daughter."
"Not to mention the danger that this is putting Ari in," Demeter pointed out.
Many of the gods, including said girl's parents, nearly flinched at the reminder.
"My bolt is important. Those two should be honored that they were given such an important assignment," Zeus huffed crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back in his throne while a couple of the other gods tried to hide their laughter at how immature the king of the gods looked right then.
All of the gods turned back to the image to watch Ari try to wake Percy up. Poseidon's eyes narrowed as he saw the faint glow of one of the charms on Ari's bracelet. He couldn't tell which charm it was until he got a clear look at Ari's wrist, and then, his eyes widened in recognition and a smile broke out on his face. He knew what was happening.
Only Athena saw the smile, and she decided not to say anything. It looked like whatever was happening was a good thing. She would question barnacle beard later.
oOo
Percy was getting tired of this girl who would not let go of his wrists. Finally deciding that enough was enough, he managed to break her hold using strength that he didn't realize that he had, and when she went to grab him again, he grabbed her wrist. He was going to get answers, and then, she was going to leave him alone.
oOo
Ari was frantic. Percy needed to wake up and soon otherwise there would be no point in leaving this place. In fact, she would probably be safer here than out there during World War III.
She knew that Percy was stronger than her, even though she had more training, just because he hadn't been abused or starved as child. Therefore, she wasn't that surprised when Percy finally managed to break her hold on him. In fact, she was shocked that he had put up with her for this long. What she did not expect was for Percy to grab her right wrist when she was trying to stop him from leaving. She did not expect the charm that started this mess to start glowing again and for Percy to get a glazed look in his eyes.
oOo
Percy didn't know what was going on. One moment, he was trying to escape the strange girl that kept telling him to wake up, and the next, he had images flying through his mind. At first the images made absolutely no sense. They were of people that he had never met before: a blonde haired girl with stormy grey eyes, a crippled boy with an afro for hair, the images kept coming until-
"Mom."
The whisper was barely audible, but it was there. That image stayed the longest and was the first one that he could place. The woman in the image had bright blue eyes and curly brown hair. For some reason, Percy felt as though something bad had happened to her, but he couldn't remember what.
Eventually, the images sped up showing places (a museum, a smelly apartment, a school, and a camp for kids), more people (a man in a wheelchair; a big, tall girl with long, stringy light brown hair, pig-like brown eyes and strong looking; a cherub man, and many other children), and events (a warm glow from when he was little, a group of smelly men at a poker table, a cabin by a cold lake, a bull man chasing him and the woman that he now knew was his mom up a hill, a wall of lava, a giant black dog attacking him, a woman with snakes for hair- the memories continued on). Among the final images was the girl standing before him.
"Ari."
oOo
Ari couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she heard Percy say her name. Whatever that charm was doing, it was working. It was only a few minutes later that Percy came out of whatever trance he had been in. He blinked a few times, looking around as though confused about where he was. When he came back into focus, he noticed that he was still holding Ari's wrist in a very firm grip.
"Ari!" Percy yelled as he quickly released her wrist. "What are you doing here?"
As far as he knew, Ari was supposed to be on Mt. Olympus until the end of his quest.
"Apollo gave me a quest. Part of it is saving your quest," Ari responded as she tried to rub some feeling back into her wrist. It was definitely going to bruise.
Percy looked at her with a look of pure confusion, "Ok, but how did you know where to find me?"
"Honestly," Ari rolled her eyes. "The gods have nothing better to do apparently than argue and watch a quest that is supposed to prevent World War III. However, if I had to bet, I would say that because of how long we have more than likely been trapped in here, World War III is about to indeed start or is well underway. In which case, we would actually be safer just staying here probably."
Now it was Percy's turn to roll his eyes, "You're exaggerating. We've only been in here for a couple of hours. I mean yeah the place makes you forget everything, but there is no way that we have been in here for more than a week."
Ari glared at Percy with a look that almost had him flinching. Man for somebody so short she sure had a mean look when she wanted to.
"I'll have you know that you had already been in here five going on six days when I entered, and who knows how long ago that was. Now, do you wish to keep arguing this point, or do you wish to get out of here?"
Percy really had no argument for her, and he trusted his sister enough that he didn't think that she would be lying to him. Why would she lie to him about something like this anyways? The duo made their way back into the main part of the casino and began to look for Percy's two quest-mates. The first one that they found was Annabeth kicking butt on a quiz game. When it became apparent that she would be just about as easy to wake up as Percy was, Ari decided that she needed to continue on with her quest.
"Percy, can you handle waking her up?"
"Yeah, why?" Percy gave his sister a questioning look as he tried to maintain a grip on Annabeth whom they were dragging back to the private room.
"I need to find some kids while we are here. That is if this is the cursed place talked about in my prophecy."
Percy just nodded, "Go on, but you are going to have to explain this prophecy of yours later, ok?"
Ari just nodded before running off. She knew that once Percy woke Annabeth up, they would have no issues getting Grover and then their quest could continue. However, she couldn't move out on to LA without first finding the twins.
To say that Percy had the easier task, was an understatement. He knew who he was looking for, and while waking them up would be difficult, it wouldn't be impossible. Ari had no idea who she was looking for, and she had no idea how she was going to wake them up once she found them. All she knew was that she was looking for a set of twins. She didn't know if they were two girls, two boys, one of each, identical, fraternal, or even how old they were.
She wandered around the arcade section, the laser tag area, and the food court looking for the twins she was supposed to find. Ari saw quite a few sets of twins sitting around playing the various games, but none of them seemed like they would be children of death. She hadn't met her uncle or any of the other gods of the Underworld in person, but she had seen Hades through the Iris Messages. She was doing this based off the only Underworld god that she had met, and from what she had seen so far, the demigod children tended to at least resemble their godly parent; some more so than others.
After ten minutes of looking around the card games, she was about ready to move onto another section when she saw two kids sitting around in one of the private rooms. They were a girl and a boy who looked to be a little bit older than she herself was, probably closer to Percy in age. The girl was reading a book, and the boy was organizing a set of cards. However, something seemed to draw Ari to them that had not drawn her to the other kids that she had passed.
She knocked on the door and both of the kids looked up. They sent a silent look to each other before the boy walked over and opened the door.
"Yes?"
Ari had no idea what to actually say to these kids. She couldn't just ask them if they were children of a god of the Underworld. More than likely, they didn't even know that they were demigods; if they were.
"Sorry, my name's Ari, and I was just looking for some friends. They said they would meet me in the private rooms."
"Oh, well, we haven't seen anybody else but you. Why don't you come on in and wait with us?"
The boy pushed the door open to allow Ari access to the room. Once inside, Ari noticed what the cards were that she had noticed the boy playing with earlier.
"You're into Mythomagic?"
This innocent question had mixed results as Ari silently noticed. The boy immediately seemed to perk up and beamed at Ari. The girl, who had gone back to her book after Ari had entered the room, looked up and positively glared at Ari for the question. The phrase 'if looks could kill' passed through her mind.
"Yes! Do you know about it? What cards do you have? I have almost all of the figurines that have been created; I am only missing a few. Of course, they are the rarest ones. Do you want to play? If you don't know how, that's fine I can-"
"Nico! That's enough!" The girl finally seemed to have had enough of the endless prattle. "Let her answer your current questions first. And, are you even going to bother to introduce yourself."
The boy, Nico, seemed to blush at the reprimand from his sister. She on the other hand simply sighed, put a bookmark into her book and walked over to Ari.
"My name is Bianca, and this-" she tipped her head towards Nico. "is my little brother, Nico."
"Hey!" Nico shouted indignantly. "I'm not that much younger than you; only ten minutes!"
"That still makes you my little brother, Nico," Bianca sighed as though she had said this a hundred times before and knew that she would be saying it thousands of times more because he would never accept it.
"You're twins?" Ari questioned in surprise. She honestly hadn't expected them to be. Yeah, they bore a resemblance to each other, but Bianca acted so much more mature than Nico did. She thought that they would at least have a year between them.
"Yes, fraternal."
"Forgive me for asking, but do you know where your parents are?" Ari had to make sure and this was the only way that she could think of.
Bianca seemed to become more distrustful towards Ari at that question.
"Why do you ask? How are you even able to hold a conversation with us? Most people here can't focus on anything except the games and nobody else ever ages."
Ari's eyes widened. They weren't affected by the casino; at least not fully. From what Ari had experienced, that was next to impossible without outside interference. Somebody was protecting them.
"Do you know what year it is?"
Bianca scrunched up her face as though trying to remember a very fuzzy memory, "It's 193- no 194- err...ummm."
Ari shook her head and decided to help the poor girl.
"It's 2006, or at least it was when I entered the casino."
Both of their eyes widened in shock.
"That can't be true!"
"We've only been here for a year, maybe two."
Ari looked at them questioningly, not understanding how they came to that conclusion. Bianca caught the look.
"As I said earlier, nobody here seems to do anything except play games, and nobody except the two of us seem to age. We were placed in here when we ten. Do we look like we are almost 80 years old?!"
By the end of the rant, Bianca was almost yelling. Ari winced in sympathy; this was a shock for anybody.
"You never answered my earlier question," Ari pointed out.
Bianca glared at her, Nico was picking up his cards and trying to stay out of his sister's war path.
"What question?"
"Your parents. Do you know them?"
"We're orphans. My question?"
"Can you repeat it please?"
"How are you able to talk to us?"
Ari sighed and motioned for Nico and Bianca to take a seat at the table. She was going to follow her gut that was saying that these were the twins she was looking for. There was something about them that was telling her that they were who she was looking for, but she couldn't pinpoint it.
"You guys have obviously noticed that you are different from everybody else here."
The two nodded, Bianca giving her a 'no duh' look.
"That's because unlike you two, me, and my three friends, everybody else here is fully mortal."
"What do you mean by fully mortal?"
"I mean-have you ever noticed anything weird happen around you. Animals behaving weirdly, elements acting funny, things that when you bring up to those around you, nobody believes you?"
Nico and Bianca exchanged startled looks before turning back to Ari and nodding.
"How do you know all of that?"
That clinched it, they were either magical or demigods. Ari was leaning more towards demigods. Therefore, even if they weren't the twins, she wasn't going to leave them here.
"I know because you are like me and my friends, you're demigods."
"Demigods?" Bianca asked skeptically. She obviously knew the meaning of the term and was not believing Ari to be serious.
Ari nodded, "Yep, one of your parents is a god or goddess."
"Awesome!" Nico shouted jumping up and down.
"Nico, sit down. We aren't demigods!" Bianca snapped before turning back to Ari. "Honestly, who are you to come in here and start lying to us about who our parents are? Our parents died when we were little, and we were left a large trust fund. We are not demigods, and you will leave now. I'm sure your friends are looking for you."
Before Ari could say anything, she was being pushed towards the door; however, when they opened it, it was to pure chaos. Children and adults were running everywhere trying to escape the building that had somehow caught fire. The workers looked less than happy and seemed to be having an internal struggle between helping the mortals, who all seemed to have snapped out of their trances when the fire alarms went off, and keeping them there.
"We need to go," Ari shouted grabbing Bianca and Nico's wrists. "Now!"
The trio made their way to the door; Ari kept her eyes open trying to find her brother, sister, and the satyr. It wasn't easy with the mass crowd that was completely in a panic. Once outside and across the street, Ari began to look in earnest. She had to make sure that they got out though she had the feeling that they were the cause of the fire to begin with.
Nico and Bianca seemed to be in almost a shock as they looked around outside. Bianca had stopped trying to escape Ari's grip and was now holding on tighter to both her and Nico. In the end, it was Percy that found her.
"Ari, over here!"
Ari turned towards the shout and noticed her brother, sister and Grover were waving her over. They were about three blocks away from the Lotus Hotel and Casino and looking anxious to get further away.
"You got out ok?"
Ari nodded, "What happened?"
Annabeth glared at Percy, "This idiot came up with the bright idea to set fire to the place to get the mortals out of there. Before I could stop him, he took out a camp lighter that Hercules had included in the bag of supplies we were given and started to set fire to the potted plants."
Ari stared in shock at her brother.
"You do realize that most of these people have been missing since whenever they went in there right? How are they going to explain that?"
Percy shrugged, "I don't know, but don't mortals normally find ways to explain stuff like this? Chiron called it the fog or something. Anyways, you can't say that you agree with how they were trapping mortals and demigods for eternity in there."
Annabeth looked about ready to throttle Percy, so Ari stepped in though she would have sided with Annabeth on this one.
"The Mist, Percy, and that is for completely mythological incidents. Like the monsters or seeing demigods sword fighting. Not for more than 5000 people from multiple decades past popping up out of thin air! Whether we agree with what they are doing or not, is completely beside the point."
Percy suddenly seemed to realize just how badly he had messed up.
"What's going to happen?"
"Don't know. More than likely either the gods or the United States Ministry for Magic will step in. Either way, you have just created a lot of work for a lot of people to clean this up."
This entire argument/discussion, Nico and Bianca had remained quiet and listened. They didn't understand where they were or more specifically when they were. Grover seemed to have been the only one of the trio to realize that they were there and had been looking at them in shock while the half-siblings were talking.
"Ari, where did you find them?" Grover asked almost in shock and fear.
Ari looked at Grover in confusion before following his gaze over to Bianca and Nico.
"Oh, this is Bianca and Nico. They are the twin half-bloods that I was sent to find."
"You do realize who they are, right? This is bad, very, very bad."
"Sent to find?" Annabeth questioned just seeming to realize who it was exactly that was with them. "What are you even doing here, Ari? Shouldn't you be on Olympus?"
"Later, has anybody checked the date?" Ari had a feeling that her instincts about the twins were dead on and wanted to get out of here fast.
The group shook their heads, and began to look around for some sign of how long they were in the casino for. Nico and Bianca were experiencing an extreme case of culture shock and just followed the group. While Bianca didn't exactly trust Ari, she would admit that Ari had been truthful to them and seemed to care about them. It didn't take long to find out the date by looking at one of the electric signs in front of another casino and hotel. The good news, World War III hadn't started yet; the bad news, they had less than 24 hours to complete this quest before it did start.
"We need to get to LA, fast!" Annabeth said.
She seemed to do a quick head count in her head and decided on something. She led them over to the front of one of the lines of limos waiting outside the casino they had stopped in front of. She walked over to a driver and said straightened up to her full height.
"Excuse me, sir."
The driver turned towards them, "Yes, ma'am. How can I help you tonight?"
"My friends and I need a ride to LA, can you recommend anybody?"
The driver looked over at our group and seemed to count heads before turning back to Annabeth.
"Are you parents alright with this?"
Annabeth nodded, "They sent us here to visit some cousins but we need to get home now. Can you help us?"
The man nodded, "I can, but I am going to have to get paid up front because of the distance."
"That's fine, do you take casino cards?"
"Depends, let me swipe it and see."
Annabeth handed over her card and the driver walked over to his limo to run it through. Ari and Annabeth watched as the machine read the card and the infinity sign appeared. The driver immediately straightened up and turned back to the girls with wide eyes.
"Where to...ummm?"
"Annabeth, the Santa Monica Pier."
With that, the rest of us were ushered into the limo and we were off to LA. The four almost five hour drive through the Mojave Desert was anything but boring.
"So, do you want to tell what you were doing in Las Vegas when we know for a fact you were summoned to Mt. Olympus?" Annabeth asked turning towards her younger sister. She really hoped that Ari hadn't just snuck out to find them.
Ari crossed her arms and nearly glared at her siblings, "If you truly wish to know, I was given a prophecy by Apollo and told to find you guys in Vegas."
The trio's and the twin's eyes all widened.
"Wait!" Bianca nearly shouted. "Prophecies are real?"
The group all nodded, Grover decided to explain.
"Prophecies are indeed rare and to be given one is no matter to be taken lightly. Percy here got a prophecy that sent us on our quest and Ari has obviously received one that sent her after you two."
Bianca sent a look at Ari that screamed 'explain, now!'
"Twins of death in cursed place stay.
Lightning quest has just one day.
A family united in spirits' home.
Eldest twin with hunters will roam.
Two quests to finish or peace will end.
Beware the one who your brother calls friend."
By the end, everybody was deep in contemplation.
"That explains what I feel from those two," Grover stated motioning to the twins.
Ari gave him a questioning look.
"They reek of death, Ari. I would say that you lucked out and found the twins you were looking for."
"Honestly, how many trapped demigod twins could be in that place?"
Grover shrugged, "Don't know. But, the Lotus-eaters have been trapping people for millenias, so more than likely more than one.
"So, you are heading to the Underworld?" Percy questioned changing the topic, sort of.
Ari nodded.
"Cool, we can all just go together."
Annabeth looked like she wanted to hit Percy.
"No, we can't all just 'go together,' Percy. You've seen how many monsters we have had to face with just the three of us, now imagine doubling that. We would make an even bigger target because of Ari being who she is and the twins being untrained."
"Besides, they are two separate quests. They just happen to overlap in the middle," Ari pointed out.
"What exactly does twins of death mean?" Bianca questioned.
"It means that your godly parent is a god or goddess of the Underworld. That is why Ari has to escort you there," Grover explained. "She has explained to you about you being demigods right?"
The twins nodded.
"Alright, now, Percy what was that dream in the truck that you wanted to talk about?" Annabeth interjected getting back to a conversation that she and Percy had been about to have before they arrived in Vegas.
"Ummm…." Percy scrunched up his face as though trying to remember. While, thanks to Triton, he had his memories back after the trance, he was still having difficulty remembering some of the small details of events from right before they entered the casino. Ari didn't quite understand why because she had all of her memories; no problems. "I remember a pit with a voice coming out of it, and the servant called the voice something. The servant's voice also sounded very familiar."
"Well, if it was Lord Hades, then he could have been called The Silent One or The Rich One. They are both names used for him," Annabeth pointed out.
Ari had a bad sense of deja vu as she remembered the dream that she had before leaving for Mt. Olympus.
"The Crooked One?" Ari whispered remembering the name used to describe the king of the titans in mythology.
Percy's eyes widened in shock, "That's it! How did you know?"
Ari then went into an explanation of her dreams the night before they all left camp.
"Did you tell the gods?"
Ari shook her head, "With everything else that was going on, I completely forgot to. I mean that first day we were busy watching you guys get repeatedly attacked, the second day I wasn't on Olympus, same with the third day, day four we were watching you guys get into trouble in St. Louis, and then I had to leave on day five. There wasn't really a good chance to bring it up."
The trio's eyes seemed like they were going to remain wide for a while yet.
"You've been watching us?"
Ari couldn't help but giggle as she nodded, "Yep, as I told Percy. The gods seem to have nothing better to do right now. After all, this is a quest to determine their future, they have a lot invested in it. Also, they have to get their entertainment from somewhere."
"Does that mean they are watching us right now?" Nico questioned looking around as though he would spot them in the shadows.
Ari shrugged, "Probably. After all, none of them were happy with Apollo sending me out on this quest, and they are still worried about whether or not these three will succeed or not."
"All of that aside, Ari when we get back, you have to tell the gods about your dreams," Annabeth reminded.
Ari just nodded. They needed to know and she should have told them before she left.
The rest of the ride was spent trying to figure out plans once they got to Santa Monica Pier. It was finally decided that Percy, Annabeth, and Grover would head off to meet the messenger that Poseidon had sent. Ari, Nico, and Bianca would try and make their way to the Underworld.
oOo
Olympus was in absolute chaos as the gods tried to make sense of what they had just learned from the kids on their way to LA. They had all anxiously watched as Ari tried to convince the twins to go with her. Zeus had nearly exploded when he realized exactly who those kids were.
"I ordered him to kill them or take them to camp! How dare he defy me!"
"Like you wouldn't have done the same, brother," Poseidon pointed out. "You are the one that turned your daughter into a tree when she was dying to keep her alive."
Sensing another argument coming, Hestia decided to intervene.
"What I would like to know is did anybody else know about these dreams? Both young Perseus' and Ari's."
The group all shook their heads except for Triton. Poseidon noticed this.
"Explain, son."
"One of her dreams sent her into one of Perseus' dreams. I merely pulled her out and talked to her. However, she was then pulled into another one. I tried to pull her back to me, but it didn't work. Something was drawing her away."
"This is bad, very, very bad. If he is-"
"Don't even say it, Athena," Zeus interrupted. "We all know what it would be like if he were to rise again."
"Brother, you can't deny that so far everything points to-"
"Let's not draw conclusions where there are none. We wait. We will talk to both the demigods, listen to their dreams, and then make a decision."
With that they turned back to the image. All thoughts of war between Poseidon and Zeus quickly being put aside in favor of the war that might be upon them already; a much worse war.
oOo
The group arrived just before sunrise at Santa Monica Pier.
"Now, be careful Ari. We really don't want to have to explain to the gods why you were seriously injured or worse on this quest."
Ari just nodded and rolled her eyes. After the plans had been finalized Annabeth and Grover had spent the remainder of the trip trying to remind Ari of her training and giving her helpful advice for any trouble that she might get into. It seemed to her that the only situation that they hadn't planned for was if the sky should suddenly fall.
Ari led Nico and Bianca into the main part of Santa Monica. She had no idea where they were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld, but she knew that they needed to find it. After walking for a few hours. Ari pulled them into a park to have breakfast; they hadn't eaten since the casino. It wasn't anything fancy; just a few breakfast burritos that Demeter and Hestia had prepared. But, them and some of the apple juice was perfect.
After breakfast, Ari decided that they needed to probably head into the main part of LA and grabbed them a cab. Like Annabeth before her, Ari used her casino card. They were dropped off and continued to walk around. It didn't take long before Ari noticed that something was off with the twins.
"What's wrong?"
Ari looked at them and noticed that they were staring off at something. All Ari could see however was the passing tourists on their way to the many attractions that LA had to offer.
"There's a man over there waving at us. He wants us to follow him," Bianca whispered and subtly pointed.
Ari looked to where she was pointing, but didn't see anything, and she said as much.
"That's what we were afraid of. Nobody ever believes us, but we do see them," Nico nearly whined.
Ari thought for a moment before something dawned on her.
"This is what you guys meant when you said yes to my question about if weird things happened to you, isn't it?"
The twins nodded not taking their eyes off whatever it was that they were seeing.
Ari decided to make an executive decision, "Follow him, let's see where he leads us. But, you two are going to have to lead because I really can't see him. Daughter of the sea here; not a daughter of death."
Bianca and Nico looked at her in what could only be shock.
"What?"
"You believe us?" Bianca asked still not trusting Ari completely.
"Yes, why wouldn't I?"
"Because, you can't see them. Nobody ever believes us," Nico pointed out.
"Guys, I have seen some very weird things in just this past year alone, trust me when I say that this isn't the weirdest thing by far. Now, lead on before we lose him."
The group followed the invisible...beings until they were led into what looked like an ordinary recording studio. However, Ari knew that they were at the right place just based on the sign.
"DOA Recording Studio," Ari read as they stopped outside the door. "No Solicitors, No Loitering, No Living. Well aren't they being a bit obvious."
The twins turned to look at her.
"What do you mean?" Nico asked. He seemed to be almost nervous.
"I mean, if this is the entrance to the Underworld, then, the sign is a bit obvious. No living...only the dead are allowed to enter the Underworld; though, that hasn't stopped demigods from trying. DOA in emergency terms means dead on arrival another jab at the fact that only the dead would willingly come here."
"Why are we here? I thought your quest was just to find us and get Percy's back on track?" Nico questioned.
Bianca answered before Ari could, "Nico, that was only part of the prophecy, the rest said something about a family reunion where the spirits live."
"Spirits! Of course!"
Nico and Bianca turned to look at Ari as though she was crazy.
"No, it makes sense!" Ari reassured. "Think about it. You two are twins of a god of death. We followed something that only the two of you can see-"
"We can see the spirits of the dead!" Nico all but shouted in joy.
Ari nodded.
"That actually makes sense," Bianca stated as she looked deep in thought. "That would explain why whenever we point them out nobody else can see them. It's because technically they shouldn't be seen. We can only see them because of who our parent is."
Ari smiled at Bianca.
"You seem to be taking this much better."
Bianca's contemplative look quickly turned into a glare that she leveled at Ari; Ari had to stop herself from flinching.
"It's not like I have much of a choice considering the fact that you dragged us out of the casino and then on a four almost five hour limo drive. Plus, with everything suddenly making sense as you explain things, why wouldn't I start to accept the fact that I belong to a group of misfits."
Ari shook her head, "Not misfits. Just unique and definitely gifted."
"Misfits."
"Look, Bianca, you and Nico aren't the only ones with a unique gift. Percy and I can both control water. I know of a group of kids that are able to control plants and make them grow strawberries. Another group of kids are able to forge anything out of any material. It depends on who your parent is. You are not a misfit or a freak. You are gifted. Now, do you want to meet your parent?"
It seemed that Ari's talk got through at least somewhat to Bianca because she stopped glaring so hard and nodded. Together the group entered the recording studio.
Once inside, Ari was able to make out the fuzzy, shimmering forms that had to be the spirits. They were easiest to make out when she didn't look at them directly. There were hundreds of them filling up nearly every inch of available space in the lobby. Muzak played in the background but nobody really paid much attention to it. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. Overall, it was a very depressing atmosphere for a very depressing place. Nobody talked, nobody really moved. The only person that was moving was the man behind the security officer's desk. The desk was on a raised platform so everybody was forced to look up at him.
The man wore a grey silk Italian suit and obviously took great pride in his appearances. He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag, which read Charon, and completed the look. He was obviously somebody that demanded respect; and a rather large pay check.
"How may I help you young ones?"
The trio looked at each other and Ari decided that she needed to be the one to step forward since it was her quest.
"We have an appointment with Lord Hades," Ari stated causing the man to look up.
"An appointment you sa-" He began with a disbelieving tone but then caught a good glance of Bianca and Nico. "Are those-?"
Ari nodded, "Now, are you going to escort us in or should I Iris Message him and have him come here himself?"
Charon paled, "That won't be necessary just let me grab my key card-" he began to hustle around shutting down his computer, grabbing his key card, and locking down the radio. "Right this way."
The group made their way over to the locked elevator. Once inside, Charon swiped his card and the elevator began to descend at a rapid pace. The ride didn't last long; however, the further down they went, the mistier the air seemed to become. As they went, Ari noticed that Charon's appearance changed. No longer was he the immaculately dressed man that they had met in the recording studio. He was now dressed in a long black robe. His eyes were no longer covered by sunglasses, but were empty sockets totally dark, full of night and death and despair.
Once the elevator reached the end of its descent, they boarded a boat and began the ferry ride down into the heart of the heart of the Underworld. The river was polluted with what seemed to be a mess of random belongings that had been cast aside.
"You would think that mortals would care more about the environment but no. They come here with incomplete goals and dreams never recognized. Its a pity and there is no real way to clean the river."
The ferry ride didn't last long and when the reached the end, Ari half expected for Charon to leave them to find their own way. However, he merely stepped off the boat and motioned for them to follow him.
He led them past the lines of the dea that were waiting to be judged. There were three entrances. Two of the entrances had the sign attendant on duty and one said EZ Death. The EZ Death line was moving at a quicker pace than the other two but those people would wind up in the Fields of Asphodel. Those that were judged would go into any of the three destinations: the Fields of Asphodel, the Fields of Punishment, and the Fields of Elysium. All three entrances had metal detectors and security cameras.
"We have had to come up with new ways to control the influx of newly deceased over the years. We eventually decided that not everybody needed to be judged and if people were not comfortable with it then they could just go straight into the Fields of Asphodel. After all, that is where pretty much everybody winds up anyways," Charon explained as he led them through the masses.
When Ari caught sight of Cerberus, all she could think was the was grateful that Fluffy hadn't been that big and that Hagrid had told them how to get past him.
After they got past the Judgement Pavilion, the Palace of Hades came into view. Ari could immediately see where Hades had got the inspiration for it; it looked almost exactly like the Palace on Mount Olympus. The outer walls of the palace were glittered black and if Ari had to guess the palace was made out of obsidian. It gave the palace a black glass look. The two-story-tall bronze gates that stood wide open led them into what could only be the garden of Persephone. The garden was full of all sorts of plants, poisonous shrubs and mushrooms, and plants that seemed to somehow glow in the dark. The garden was decorated with precious jewels of all shapes and sizes and there were grotesque statues that could have only come from Medusa scattered around. In the center of the garden was the infamous Pomegranate trees and Ari and Bianca had to pull Nico away from them. Ari had no idea if they affect children of the Underworld the same way that they affected everybody else.
They walked up the steps of the palace, in between black columns of basalt and the portico that was created out of black marble. The inside of the palace was just as grand as the outside. The entry hall had a bronze floor that had obviously been polished recently. There was no ceiling in the entry hall letting them see all the way up to the cavern roof above. Ari was strongly reminded of the palace in Atlantis.
Charon led them through the entrance hall and to another set of bronze doors that were engraved with scenes of war and death. Ari had a feeling that these scenes weren't even the worst ones that could have been put up.
Ari chanced a glance over at Bianca and Nico and while Nico still looked over excited and Bianca still looked distrusting, both looked like they were extremely nervous. Honestly, she could understand how they felt. She had after all felt the same way when she had first met her parents just a few weeks ago.
Charon knocked on the doors and within seconds they heard a sharp "enter" from within. The doors opened on their own accord and Ari felt her eyes widen at the sight of the throne room. The floor was the same black marble that she had noticed at the entrance. The walls and pillars were made of basalt and decorated with precious stones and basalt. The pillars had engravings of more scenes of death. The throne was made of fused human bones and on it sat Hades.
Hades and Charon both watched in amusement as the three children took in the throne room. After a few minutes, Hades decided to bring their attention back to him.
"There will be time to take in the details of my palace later children, but right now, I believe that we are on a limited schedule."
The three children turned back to the gods with embarrassed looks. Hades merely smirked and turned towards Charon.
"Go and await the quest. Stall it, but do eventually let them in; preferably without them knowing that you are purposefully letting them in."
Charon grinned an almost evil grin, "As you wish."
After he left, Hades turned his full attention back onto the children. He had honestly never thought that this day would come.
"First of all, Ari thank you for bringing Bianca and Nico here."
Ari just nodded, she didn't really know what to say. If it hadn't been for the quest, she never would have even known let alone thought about rescuing the twins.
"Do you know who their parent is?"
Hades pinned her with a knowing look and looked as though he was just stopping himself from laughing in amusement.
"Can you not figure it out? Can you not see the resemblance?"
"You!?" Ari all but shouted. Nico and Bianca looked shocked too.
"Yes, me." Here Hades seemed to gain a look of almost pure pain. "They are mine. I had them placed in the casino shortly after the second World War to protect them from my youngest brother. It was always my plan to let them out when it was safe again."
The last part was said in almost a whisper but all three kids caught it.
"So, you do care about us?" Nico asked moving to stand next to Ari instead of behind her.
Hades seemed to hesitate for the briefest of moments. Ari had a feeling that he wasn't used to talking about feelings.
"I care about you and your sister," He finally started to respond. "That is why I placed you in the casino. It was the only safe place where you wouldn't be found easily."
"What happened to mom?" Bianca asked.
Hades gained a look of pure fury and Ari had to restrain herself from grabbing Nico and Bianca and running.
"She was killed. That is all you need to know for now."
"But-"
"No, that is not a topic of conversation for today."
The trio knew that there would be no arguing with him. He turned his attention back to Ari.
"Did you tell the council about what happened that night?"
Ari didn't have to ask what night he was talking about.
"No, sir. I kind of forgot with everything else that was going on."
Hades nodded as though he expected that.
"You will tell them when you return?"
"Yes, sir. Both Percy and I will tell them what we have dreamed."
Hades nodded and then motioned for them to follow him.
"Come, let us have lunch before the quest arrives."
The conversation was kept light during lunch and they were almost finished when one of the Furies came in.
"My Lord, they are here. Charon has just loaded them into the boat."
"Understood Alecto. Go and greet our guests."
"Yes, My Lord."
With that, she flew out of the room followed by her two sisters. Nico and Bianca just stared after her with slack jaws and wide eyes.
"You will grow used to it. Do not worry though, she will not harm you," Hades reassured his children as he stood. "Now, come let us head to the throne room to meet the quest."
With that, the group made their way to the throne room. Ari just hoped that Percy didn't do anything to upset Hades when he was in a pleasant mood from being reunited with his children.