Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Magnus Chase, any other future mythology series Rick Riordan writes about, or the Rich Riordan Presents series. If I owned this series, I wouldn't be writing here. I am simply a humble fan, writing this for the enjoyment of other fans. Please support the official release.

I spent a night going through everything I could remember about Percy Jackson, trying to get my thoughts straight. I wrote them down in a journal I stole. No, not this one. I divided that journal into three different sections: what I knew for sure was canon to the Percy Jackson books. What I thought I remembered, but I couldn't be sure, and what I knew I was most likely getting wrong. I'd update that journal every time I remembered something and it got full in a year.

I got this journal two weeks after my... Rebirth? Reincarnation? I still didn't know what to call it. I filled this journal in with what happened to me so far and I worked on it every day. Or most days. It's hard to write in a journal when you're running for your life from monsters.

I remembered from the first book, what Grover said. Hades had found out about Thalia's birth and he let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to chase her. We'd come across a few giants and some cyclops, a chimera even, but there were no furies. No ancient monstrosities from the deepest pit of Tartarus appeared over the horizon.

We'll pick up a few months later, in December. Other than monster attacks and us traveling up and down the border between California and Nevada, nothing happened. I continued to learn how to control the mist, steadily getting better and better at it. My training sessions with Bianca and Luke paid off, and the others let me start fighting. Which was a good thing, considering I was Zeus's kid and I was powerful.

I ditched the feminine clothes as quickly as I could... Only to come back to them. Jeans were great and easy to fight in, but skirts offered even more mobility. There was no fabric restraining my legs and I had complete freedom. I still couldn't say I was a fan and I didn't like looking at myself in the mirror, but it might fighting monsters easier. I wore guy shirts and jackets though.

I was twelve, and that's when Thalia met Grover. So why wasn't the Lord of the Dead sending horrible beasties after me? As far as I could tell, there were two possible reasons why: the first, he didn't know I existed yet. If he was keeping an eye on his daughter, then he knew about me, but maybe he didn't watch too closely. He was blissfully unaware of my existence, which meant no army of horrible, even monsters that wanted to eat children.

Or two, something had changed. Maybe he did know about me, but unlike the Hades of canon, something was different. The only thing that I could figure might have changed was Bianca. If the Lord of the Dead loved his daughter and that daughter was traveling with the daughter of Zeus, maybe his love would outmatch his desire for vengeance? Grudges were Hades's strong suit, so he must love Bianca a lot.

Whatever the reason, I was just glad I didn't have the Lord of the Dead dogging my steps. With his army of ancient, evil, bloodthirsty monsters.

We made it to the outskirts of Los Vegas in record time, for us, thanks to a bus. We road the whole way there without a single monster attack, all five of us. Which had to be a first. Five powerful demigods not attracting the scent of nearby monsters? Oh yeah, something was strange all right.

The dessert was hot. I missed the tropical climate of Northern California already. It was way too hot hear. The outskirts of the city felt more like its own small, little town than anyone else, but as long as it didn't have any monsters, I was okay with that.

We found an old, abandoned motel in the town/outskirts. The roof looked like it was sagging down, but otherwise, the building appeared to be more or less intact.

"Isaac, Luke, Victoria, I want the three of you to find us the most comfortable room. We'll be back."

Luke frowned. "Where are you going?"

"It's December 22nd! Thalia's birthday! We're going to go get supplies!"

Huh. I had completely forgotten. It was my birthday, wasn't it? I was twelve years old. The same age Thalia was when she kicked the bucket and got turned into a tree. Was fate set in stone here? Was I destined to get turned into a tree for years, only to wake up because Luke poisoned me?

I gave the son of Hermes one last look before we disappeared around the old motel. "What kind of cake do you want?"

What kind of cake? My favorite cake had always been cheesecake, so that's what we got. We went on a shopping spree through the local supermarket, getting food and supplies. I didn't know what we were going to do when we got to the counter. I had a few gold drachmas on me, but I doubted this store was going to take any.

When we got to the checkout, Bianca nudged me. "Do it."

"Do what?"

"The mist. Use the mist. Make him think we paid."

Now, I wasn't a thief. I never stole anything in my last life and I didn't take any enjoyment from the action like some children of Hermes did, but I was a demigod now. I didn't have the luxury of getting a job and earning money. Not when a monster could sniff me out and attack me. Stealing had become a necessary part of life. A part I accepted.

So when we made it to the front of the count, we were the only ones in line, I pointed my hand at the teenager. I snapped my finger and a gust of her air came out, in truth the mist manifesting itself. I willed the boy to think we paid and his eyes glazed over. I could feel him resisting, but I reinforced that we paid.

The boy's glazed look morphed into a smile. "Would you like your receipt?"

"You already gave it to us."

"I did?... Oh yeah, I did. Have a nice day girls!"

Needless to say, I had a stupid grin on my face on the way out. I had manipulated the mist! I controlled that guy and we got out of there without any fuss!

Bianca had a mirrored grin on her face. "See? Didn't I tell you you could do it?"

The weeks of training sure paid off. We took the shopping cart out of the parking lot and I promised myself we'd bring it back.

"HEY!" A man yelled out behind us. I turned around and saw a man in a tweed jacket power walking over to us. He had a binder under his arm and his horn-rimmed glasses made his eye bulge. "Where do you think you're going?"

I stopped. "Home," I lied. I had never been much of a liar in my last life, but I was starting to turn into a compulsive liar. I couldn't tell the mortal authorities that I was a demigod and I was running from monsters.

He looked us up and down, his frown deepening. "Why aren't you two in school?"

School? When was the last time I had gone to school? Years ago. "You two look familiar. Do you go to school at MacArthur Middle School? Are you two of my students?"

"No. Sorry, we attend a private school in New York," Bianca said. "You have us confused with other girls. Sorry."

Did she have to say it like that? Other girls?

"Oh. Private school, huh? I see." The man reached his arm out in a flash and grabbed Bianca by the throat, lifting her into the air. "I think not, daughter of Hades!"

He started to grow until he stood over seven feet tall. His skin turned to clay and six more arms sprouted out of his body.

I was going to go for my mace can, but the monster had a hold of Bianca. His hand was wrapped around her neck. He could crush her in a moment. He'd use that threat against me and there was nothing I could do. Unless I wanted to let Bianca die, which I most certainly did not.

So I went for my bracelet and tapped it. "Aegis." The monstrous shield expanded, unleashing an aura of fear through the street. The monster let go of Bianca and flinched away. The fear didn't send him running, meaning he was braver than monster monsters. By the time he recovered himself, it was too late: Bianca was out of his reach.

She twisted her ring and I grabbed my mace can, summoning my spear. "That was clever, daughter of Zeus. It won't happen again."

I didn't dignify him with an answer. Instead, I shot him with a lightning bolt. It sent straight through him and the monster collapsed on the street. Before he could become dust, Bianca cut him with her sword, absorbing his essence into the blade.

Luke was waiting for us when we got back. "What took you so long?"

"We got sidetracked," Bianca said. "Did you find us a room?"

"The biggest room in the motel," Luke answered. "Isaac thinks he can rig the building with some power."

"Won't someone notice?"

"He says we're not going to use that much power. How long are we going to be here? A few days."

Well, that was true enough, I supposed. For the rest of the day and the night, they threw me a birthday party. When was the last time I celebrated my birthday? Not since I graduated high school and left home. Over ten years ago. I forgot what it felt like and I didn't realize how much I missed it until Isaac got the power on and he hooked up dance music to the old speakers.

We weren't quiet. The police even got called on us once, but with a little trick of the mist, they went on their merry way without any problems. None of us were of age, so they didn't know the wonders of alcohol, but I wasn't going to be the one to enlighten them. I wasn't going to start drinking so young either. That might affect my growth and I planned to live a healthier life this time around.

Still, soda made up for that. Chips and soda and blaring dance music, it felt like I was a kid again. Which I guess I was, but I hadn't felt like it. I felt like an adult, trapped in a kid's body. This was the first time I let loose.

With my ADHD helping, I forgot about the rest of the world outside. I forgot about the world outside, being hunted by monsters, and even the gods. For a wonderful day, all my cares melted away and I had fun.

The next day wasn't so much fun. It was marked by three incidents, each progressively worse. Though the last one wasn't so physical.

Where to start? I guess we'll start at the place where I never could have experienced it before in my first life. I was completely unprepared for it, not ready in the slightest. I should have been. Before I died, I was studying to be a health professional and the sighs were there. Tenderness around certain body parts, aching back pain, and nausea. I just assumed I had gotten sick from all the junk food and in the middle of the night, I got up from the bed and hurled into the toilet.

The next morning I woke up with cramps in my abdomen. When I tried to sit up, I was dizzy. I felt like I was ready to throw up again. When I shift my weight, I became uncomfortably aware of the wetness between my legs. When I looked down, the old sheets of the queen-sized bed were stained with red blood. Before becoming Thalia, I had a dude. My first thought wasn't what it should have been. It was along the lines of "Who attacked me in the night?"

Had I been stabbed with a poison needle? Was that why I felt so awful? I started looking for a wound and that's when Bianca woke up. Luke and Isaac had their own room across the hall, so I was sharing one with Bianca and Victoria.

"What's wrong?" Bianca asked sleepily. Then she noticed the mess. "Oh, is this your first?"

I wasn't thinking clearly, too worried about the blood. "Firs what?"

Bianca was younger than Thalia. She was still only eleven, and she wouldn't turn twelve until February, but she seemed to have started earlier than me. So had Victoria, so both girls were prepared for this. If I thought going to the bathroom as a girl was awkward, this beat it hands down. A hundred times over, this was the single most awkward moment of both my lives. Whoever is reading this, I hope you don't have to experience anything nearly as awkward as this, let me tell you.

Maybe it was a good thing the monsters showed up when they did. I didn't think I could face Bianca or Victoria again, much less Luke or Isaac, but the big buff son of Hephaestus burst into our room as I was putting on my jeans. There was no way in hell I was wearing a skirt today. Not after that experience.

"Hey!" Bianca hissed. "How about you knock first? We have something going on here!"

"Monsters!" Isaac fired back. Bianca went rigid. "They've surrounded the motel."

Bianca cursed in ancient Greek. She scurried over to the window and peeked out the blinds. "Oh yeah. That's a lot of monsters."

Luke came running in, sword in hand. "Well?" Isaac demanded.

"There are two ways out. Two best ways," Luke corrected himself.

Victoria looked between the two. "What do you mean?"

"I sent Luke to the roof," Isaac said. "It's a better vantage point. Two ways out you said?"

"Not the only two ways, but the best."

Bianca nodded. "We divide into two teams. Me and Thalia can't be together. Our scent would be too strong. Isaac or Victoria can come with me, then the other three could make a break for it."

Isaac and Victoria both protested. It was clear they both wanted to go with her. "We can't leave Luke and Thalia alone."

"Why not?" Luke asked. "You three can go first. I can show you where to go. You'll draw attention away from us and then we can start."

Bianca chewed her lip. "I don't know..."

"Trust us," Luke said. "We're not going to die. We split up for now. Then we can meet somewhere later today when the heat dies down."

Bianca sighed. "In front of the pyramid. By nightfall, if we can manage it. We wait three days and if no one shows up..."

She didn't say it but we got the message. If some of us didn't show, then were had bitten it. Most likely we would have gotten eaten.

"Alright. Luke, Thalia, don't die on us now."

Luke smirked. He looked more confident than I felt. "We should be saying that to you. Good Luke."

Luke and I waited for ten minutes in tense silence. I hadn't seen them outside since I woke up, but I heard Isaac yelling a battle cry. Feet shuffled and I could people running. There were dozens of people outside. No, monsters. Dozens of monsters.

When the sounds stopped and it got quiet, we moved. Of course, some monsters were waiting for us, but not too many that a powerful blast of wind and a bolt of lightning didn't knock them away. The problem was they didn't give up.

Even as we started to turn toward Los Vegas Proper, the sky lit up a dim blue in the early morning light. We can until we were exhausted, but they still came after us. We boarded a bus into the city, but they ran after us. Some of them even got on and forced us off. Somehow they got in front of us. No matter fast we ran, where we went, a horde of monsters seemed to follow.

I wondered if these were the monsters Hades sent after Thalia. Maybe the Lord of the Dead had at last found out that one of the brothers who forced him into the oath had broken it himself. Or he figured he could separate me from Bianca and that would solve that problem. Then he'd be free to kill me. Or have this army of blood-thirsty minions do it.

We ran through the streets of Los Vegas as the sun came up, pushing people out of the way. Pushing through crowds of tourists and locals alike. We ran through the strip as the sun got high in the sky, heat blazing down on us. We stopped once in a nice, air-conditioned shop, and grabbed a couple of bottles of cold water before the monsters found us again. I wasn't going to pay anyway, but we got chased out of there quickly enough. The shop owner yelled about criminal kids and started calling the police. Maybe he mistook the swords they were carrying for bats or golf clubs.

We were going to die. I was sure of it. We were going to be overrun and they were going to eat me. I had been Thalia Grace for less than six months and I was going to die. Again.

Why wouldn't they have killed me before my first period? That seemed pretty unfair to me, but since when was either of my lives fair?

If it wasn't for the bellhop, I would have collapsed. We had been running nearly non-stop for hours and the monsters kept finding us. After using my powers so much to escape, on top of running, that was it. I couldn't fight anymore. In a minute, I was going to collapse. We found ourselves at a dead end, with nowhere to run. We could run through the hotel, but I didn't think my feet could carry me any longer.

I was too exhausted to read the words, but the front of the hotel had a huge neon flower, the pedals lighting up and blinking. No one was coming in or going out, but the chrome hotel doors were open, spilling out cool, air-conditioning that smelled like lotus blossoms.

Then someone came out the front doors and a bellhop looked over at us. "Hello? Oh, our new guests!" he said cheerfully. Then he grabbed each one of us and pulled us inside, right as the monsters came.

I expected them to follow us inside. Every strip mall and shop we had gone through, they chased right in after us. Instead, they froze in front of the door. A few of them smiled at us like they were waiting for us to come out, but none of them dared to step foot inside. The man at the door glared at the monster and I got the feeling that they were afraid of him. Whoever the doorman was, he could scare monsters.

Which was very strange. This guy was normal. One look at him, and I could see that. He wasn't a monster in disguise or a god or anyone powerful. He was just a guy. A normal guy. A normal guy whose glare scared a monster. Maybe it wouldn't scare them off, but for some reason, they seemed to be afraid of them.

"Hey?" the bellhop called and I turned around. For a moment, I completely forgot about the monsters.

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. A few other kids were playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the game, which seemed strange. 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 bellhop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your suite key."

He handed us a white key-card, with the letters LHC emblazoned in the middle of a lotus. I looked back up at him, suspicion leaking into my head. I might be exhausted and ready to collapse, but something about this was wrong. This seemed so... Familiar. "Do you know who we are?"

The bellhop laughed. "Don't worry about it kids. The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room 3548. If you need anything, just ring 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. LotusCash was written on the front in elaborate cursive. Either this was a trap, or this was some kind of mistake. Maybe this guy thought we were some billionaires kids? Luke might be able to pass as my older brother to a stranger.

Could it be a trap? I looked back out at the street, where the monsters were waiting. They weren't smiling any longer. They seemed down now. Like they had just lost something important.

"So... How much is on here?" I was sick and tired of having no money. If this was a credit card, I would find an ATM and get as much money as I could out.

His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

Was this guy dense? "I mean, when does it run out of cash? What do you think I mean?"

He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."

Then he herded us into the elevator and upstairs we went. I was starting to think this place wasn't so much as a trap, but some bellhop mistaking us for someone else. Well, whatever. Getting to lay down on a real bed, that wasn't an old, moldy one from a shut-down motel seemed like a dream come true. I could find an ATM before we left and get out as much cash as we would need.

We checked out our room, which was a suite with two 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 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. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it was pretty cool. The view over the Strip and the desert were amazing, though I doubted we'd ever find time to look at the view in a room like this. It wasn't like we were going to stay long enough to enjoy it. Soon or later, the hotel would find out we aren't who they think we are and kick us out.

All the clothes in the closet fit me, which was strange. How did they have my size? Maybe I was the size of the girl they mistook me for? Yeah, that was it. It had to be it.

I took a hot shower for the first time since I found myself in Thalia's body. We stayed as clean as we could, but that was usually by washing ourselves in streams or bathrooms. With cold to room temperature water. This water was hot and it was just the way I liked it.

I changed clothes, and I even got the bra on myself. I threw my old dirty ones away and grabbed five cokes from the mini fridge and a huge bag of chips. When I came back into the shared room, Luke was lounging on the couch, watching Star Wars. Huh. Had they released Star Wars on VHS yet? They must have if it was on TV.

He was also looking around for something. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find my bag. It had the Crown of Dionysus in it," Luke said. "I couldn't have lost it."

"Isaac had it. I saw him with your bag. That's his bag you have, isn't it?"

Luke, who was exhausted and tired, hadn't seemed to notice the difference. "You're right. He should keep it safe."

"Provided you don't die?"

Luke smiled, easing back onto the couch. "Even if I died, I made Isaac and Bianca promise to deliver it to my mom. She deserves a second chance after what my dad did to her. So what do you want to do now? Sleep?"

I looked out at our incredible view. We did have three days to meet back with Bianca at the pyramids. Honestly, after all that running I did, I didn't feel like doing anything else. I would sleep for twelve hours or so. I was pretty sure this place was monster proof, so we wouldn't have to worry about being attacked. Then I'd get up, empty all of the money on these cards and we could leave.

"That sounds like a great idea." The water bed wasn't as comfortable as memory foam, but I didn't even know if memory foam had been invented yet. Still, I was out like a light almost as soon as my head hit the feather pillow.

I dreamed of Sammy Valdez Jr. standing in front of his auto shop. He had a whole team working for him and he appeared to be as old as his dad was in my last dream. He had a whole team of mechanics working for him and they were working on an old pickup truck. The kind my granddad would have driven. Down to the same rusted red color. I wondered if this was my grandfather's truck. Maybe this was him.

A girl who appeared to be in her early twenties walked to him. She wore a full set of Roman armor. "How is my mother doing?" Sammy Jr. asked.

"She retired from office before I joined the legion. She was one of our best praetors. Where are your daughters?" she asked.

Sammy Jr. grunted. "Esperanza is in the shop working."

The girl in front of him frowned. "I thought they had wanted to join the legion?"

"Only my younger daughter Rosa wants to join the legion," Sammy Jr. said. "She's waiting for you behind the house. Are you going to take her to New Rome?"

"No. I will take her to the Wolf House. She will undergo training with all the other legacies from New Rome. If she survives and makes her way back to Camp Jupiter, she will be accepted into the legion."

Sammy Jr. spit. "That's why I hate the legion."

"Your mother was our leader."

"Yeah. She should have stayed here with dad. It would have been better for everyone." Then he pulled out the same small box I had seen last time.

The girl's eyes narrowed at it. "Is that?..."

"Yes. Go. Take Rosa. If she wishes to train under Lupa, I will not stop her. She will learn the truth about life in New Rome."

I woke up to the sound of an alarm clock. I had slept for fifteen hours according to the digital numbers. As I stretched, I wondered again why I was getting dreams of the Romans. And what was the box Sammy Jr. had? Now I was getting curious.

Luke was already awake, stepping out of the shower. I joined him after a quick shower myself, putting on a fresh pair of clothes. "You ready to drain all the money on these cards?"

Luke grinned. "Oh yeah. Let's go."

But we didn't go. We went down to the lobby and looked for an ATM for all of ten seconds, but then look saw a huge laser tag arena and he wanted to play. I doubt we'd ever be in a five-star Vegas hotel again, so I thought, why not?

That was my first mistake. I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun in either of my lives. I forgot all about Bianca, Isaac, and Victoria, the monsters that had been chasing us. The only thing that mattered to me after that game of laser tag was having fun.

I did the waterslide, I bungee-jumped in the lobby a few times, and I went up to the fifth floor to enjoy the French restaurant. Then I came back down to play a few games of FBI Sharp Shooter.

Luke and I played Virtual Reality sports, an old-fashioned game consul that looked brand new, and we had dinner at a Chinese place. Then we went back to the lobby and played more games.

We went back up to our rooms tired and exhausted from the best day I ever remembered having. The next day the bellhop gave us platinum LotusCash cards and upgraded our room to 6009. For top members only.

Then I played even more games, ate at the most expensive restaurants, watched satellite TV, and lounged around in my room like I was rich. I remember spending three vivid days inside the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Three days of careless, reckless, fun.

All the while, the world outside the hotel turned without us.

Author's Note: Hello my faithful readers! I hope you have enjoyed Chapter 4 of TGO: The Lightning Thief!

Much like I said in chapter 2, don't get used to new chapters being so close to each other. I wrote chapter 3, 4, and 5 as one chapter originally, and split them up because of length. Unlike last time, I'm releasing chapters as I write them. Idk when I'll release chaoter 5. I might wait until I finish chapter 6 for some breathing room.

At least Thalia had a nice birthday party with her friends before the monster came and forced her into the trap of the Lotus Eaters. Anyone else here like me? If I got the chance to go into the Lotus Hotel, I'd so take it XD I'm sorry, that sounds like a blast! No work, no worry about anything, just endless, unrestricted fun!

A special thanks to my awesome reviewer! batmanuchiha.