The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter.

The trailer was dark inside until I uncapped Anaklusmos and Jordan created a ball of fire with his palm. The blade and flame cast a faint bronze light and bright green light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing I didn't know the name for.

Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!

Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.

"This is kindness?" Jordan yelled. "Humane zoo trans-port?"

He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his fists, and I would've helped him, but just then the trucks engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down.

We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips.

I found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used Anaklusmos to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. I gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope.

Jordan calmed the antelope down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but we decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around so instead Jordan spelled it off. We told Jordan to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for the night.

Jordan curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened our bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one half-heartedly; I tried to cheer myself up by concentrating on the fact that we were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to our destination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty- first. We could make it in plenty of time.

On the other hand, I had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toying with me. At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it-he'd put up cameras and tried to advertise me as entertainment. But even when the cameras weren't rolling, I had a feeling my quest was being watched. I was a source of amusement for the gods.

"Hey," Annabeth said, "I'm sorry that you had to see me freaking out back at the water park, Percy." "That's okay."

"It's just..." She shuddered. "Spiders."

"Because of the Arachne story," I guessed. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?"

Annabeth nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things."

"We're a team, remember?" I said. "Besides, Jordan did the fancy spellwork that allowed us to not have to actually deal with the spiders."

I thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" Annabeth and I laughed.

She pulled apart an Oreo, handed me half. "In the Iris message ... did Luke really say those things?"

I munched my cookie and thought about how to answer. The conversation via rainbow had bothered me all evening. "Luke said you and he go way back."

In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions.

"Grover were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus."

She nodded glumly.

"And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp ..." I looked at Annabeth. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it?"

She put down her Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were ... amazing monster- fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us."

"He was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," she said,thinking. "Only Thalia. He had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. They knew Hades was after her, see, He couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. He thought ... he thought he could lead all three of them to safety. He thinks it was his fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. He says he got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns."

""Because he wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" Jordan said. "That's not fair."

We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at me hopefully.

Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts. "That pine-tree bead," I said. "Is that from your first year?"

She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing.

"Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress-now that was a weird summer..."

"And the college ring is your father's?"

"That's none of your-" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is." "You don't have to tell me."

"No ... it's okay." She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard with-out her... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Yeah, well... the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood."

"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?"

She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain."

"You shouldn't give up," I told her. "You should write him a letter or something."

"Thanks for the advice," she said coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with."

We passed another few miles of silence.

"So if the gods fight," I said, "things will line up the way they did with the Trojan War? it will be Athena versus Poseidon won't it ?"

She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. "I don't care what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"

I couldn't think of an answer for that. Fortunately I didn't have to. Annabeth was asleep.

My nightmare started out as something I'd dreamed a mil-lion times before: I was being forced to take a standardized test while wearing a straitjacket. All the other kids were going out to recess, and the teacher kept saying, Come on, Percy. You're not stupid, are you? Pick up your pencil.

Jordan's Point of view

I woke from my dream with a grimace. I knew that I didn't trust the slimey sun of Hermes for a I was extra glad I put his stupid flying shoes in my magic backpack knowing they had some enchantment on it that I couldn't recognize. The dream wasn't all bad tho. I got another lesson from my father Chaos and he told me my creation powers were coming along nicely. felt the truck stop and instantly went to wake Percy up. I was shaking his shoulder. "The truck's stopped," I said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."

"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.

She had it easiest. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. Percy and I almost didn't make it as I cast the spell invisique. The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.

"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face. The lion roared in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at me.

There was no sound, but as clear as day, I heard it say: Free me, lord. Please.

Percy must have heard it too but was to stunned to react.

There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.

The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

A voice outside-it must've been Eddie's-shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

Knock, knock, knock.

Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"

Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.

A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal."

"No kidding," I said. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!" That's right, the zebra's voice said in my mind.

"We've got to free them!" I said. Percy and Annabeth both looked at me, waiting for my lead.

The zebra said, Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that.

Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. I used my water powers and took the water previously splashed in the lion's face and surrounded the locks with it. Froze the water and with a strategic heel kick The zebra burst out. It turned to me and bowed. Thank you, lord.

I held up my hands and said something like a blessing while actually just asking my father Chaos to let these animals find safety.

Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs. We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas.

Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"

"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said. "The other animals first," I said.

I busted the locks with my powers. I raised my hands and spoke the same fake blessing I'd used for the zebra.

"Good luck," I told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets.

Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.

We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica, but still made me homesick.

I wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find a sand-wich and a glass of lemonade, make a new plan for getting west.

We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like lotus blossom.

The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

I nodded and said we'd love to come in. Inside, we took one look around, and Percy said, "Whoa." The second I walked in I felt a rush of time energy come over me. I quickly put together that this was the modern day lair of the lotus eaters but what they didn't know is that my father created the primordial who this establishment worships.

The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I'm not talking about cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine.

"Hey!" a bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bell-hop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

Percy stammered, "Um, but..."

"No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or what-ever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."

He handed us each a green plastic credit card.

We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though I doubted we'd ever find time to look at the view with a room like this.

"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is ..."

"Sweet," Percy said. "Absolutely sweet."

There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me.

I took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel. I changed clothes, I came out of the bedroom and found that Annabeth and Percy had also showered and changed clothes. Percy was eating potato chips to his heart's content, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel.

"All those stations," I told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?" "It's interesting."

"I feel good," Percy said. "I love this place."

Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again.

"So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"

Percy and I looked at each other and grinned. We both held up our green plastic LotusCash cards.

"Play time," I said but in reality I had a whole different idea.

I walked to the front desk after making sure Percy and Annabeth were distracted in their respective games. "I want the directions to the rooms Bianca and Nico Di Angelo were staying in. "Right away sir." the lady at the desk said with a nervous smile before typing away at the computer. Just as I thought she had alerted security and in a minute I was surrounded by about 15 lotus guards. "You dare defy me! The son of the creator. Brother of Chronos who is the basis of this phony establishment! I will show you time power." I screamed holding my hand out and aging one of the guards into dust. The rest of the security team dropped to one knee apologizing profusely. "Rise and return to work." I said and soon the guards disappeared going back to making sure the guests remained happy and trapped in time. When I turned back to the receptionist she had the room key and map to the Di Angelo suit ready in her shaking hands. Taking them I walked into the elevator ready to meet my cousins. It took little convincing to prove to the children of hades that I was(along with them) a demigod and that they were trapped in time by their loving father. They got even more upset when I told them that they must stay in the hotel for a little bit longer. Eventually they understood that I'd see them again and the two after shedding a few tears gave me goodbye hugs and started to think about what I told them to do in order to prepare for their release into the 2000s.

Once I was done I used my senses and discovered only 4 days had passed since we've entered so I decided it was time to leave

I found Annabeth still building her city.

"Come on," I told her. "We've got to get out of here."

No response.

I shook her. "Annabeth?"

She looked up, annoyed. "What?

"We need to leave."

"Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers-" "This place is a trap."

She didn't respond until I shook her again. "What?"

"Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!"

"Oh, come on, Jordan. Just a few more minutes."

"Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever."

"So?" she asked. "Can you imagine a better place?"

I grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the game.

"Hey!" She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. They were too busy. I made her look directly in my eyes. I said, "Spiders. Large, hairy spiders."

That jarred her. Her vision cleared. "Oh my gods," she said. "How long have we-"

"I don't know, but we've got to find Percy."

We went searching, and found him still playing some stupid surfing game.

"Percy!" we both shouted.

He ignored us.

I looked at Annabeth, and together we took Percy by the arms and dragged him away. He shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! No!"

The Lotus bellhop hurried up to us. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?" "We're leaving," I told him.

"Such a shame," he said, Percy reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks."

Then we burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day we'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert.