A/N: Yeah, I know, chapter title doesn't line up with where the events of this chapter take place, but come on, for those of you who understood the reference made in the title, tell me you see the similarities.

Chapter 2, Act II - Escaping the Hotel California.

I walked through the doors, and I was greeted by a different doorman this time. I found myself headed to the same area as before. The Mythomagic corner. I found both Bianca and Nico over there. Bianca was reading, and Nico was studying his cards. I coughed loudly, and they both glanced up. Nico darted up. "Niko!" He said gleefully.

He hugged me. "I've been practicing my powers. I can summon rat skeletons already!" He grinned excitedly. I couldn't help but share his excitement. "Back so soon?" Bianca asked, bookmarking her book, and setting it down.

"You look older." She noted.

"Yeah. I am. Guys, I need to explain something to the two of you, away from prying ears. Can we go to your room this time, you two?" I asked. Several minutes and an elevator ride later, the three of us were in a messy room, spread with cards, clothes, food, and, to my amusement, water guns. I guess the Lotus really decked their longest-staying visitors out.

"It's gonna be hard to let you guys down gently with this. Bianca, what year do you think it is?" I asked her. She frowned. "1943, of course. Why?" I hesitated.

"There's no easy way to say this. There's a time spell on this place. It's only been a couple months for you guys, but to the outside world, it's been almost seventy years. In the outside world, it's June second, 2007. Your father sent me today to take you both out of here, and bring you both to the camp I told you about. I wanted to warn you, before we went anywhere." I told them, my voice cracking a little.

I knew how it felt to be out of place. Every second I'd spent for the first year or so in this world, I felt out of place. Now I'm telling two kids they're seven decades in the future, and anyone they might have known are probably long dead.

Bianca froze, and Nico just looked confused. "But—" She started, and I interrupted her. "Bianca, World War II ended in 1945, when Hitler was cornered in his bunker, and he ended his own life. You have nothing to fear now. The world is a better place, to some degree, though not by a large margin." I told her. She shuddered, but moved on.

"Prove it, then." She demanded. "Then pack your things. We're leaving this accursed hotel in style, and we'll even take a visit through your father's domain on the way." I said, holding the key Hades gave me between two of my fingers.

It took them maybe ten minutes to pack up, and I was tapping my foot impatiently. It was moving closer and closer to the end of the week while they packed. Finally, they were ready. "Bianca, I want you to take this, and run, and just slice through anyone who tries to stop you. I didn't tell you this before, so you wouldn't panic, but this is the lair of the Lotus Eaters. I'm about to burn this place to the ground, so I'd move quickly." I told her seriously. Nico gasped when I told them it was the Lotus Eater's lair, and he started tugging Bianca along.

"Feel free to educate your sister about them on the way, Neeks." I told him, setting my hand aflame. I lit their room on fire, and we ran down the hall to the elevator, and I was burning things on the way.

We arrived at the bottom floor. I incinerated the elevator. No backup from that way for the Lotus Eaters. I started throwing fire all over the place, destroying everything I could. "Mortals! Leave now, or succumb to the flames of God!" I roared. I knew most of them would probably be religious. The majority of the population here would likely believe in capital-G God, and I feel like they might run if some dude with white hair and purple eyes is running about, burning the place to the ground.

So they might call me crazy, or a terrorist, so what? It still worked. Then, if I did get a headhunt for burning down this place, I'm friends with the main character, so I'm safe. I saw a ton of mortals running for the door, and I screamed, flames bursting out in a massive ring from me, incinerating Lotus Eaters trying to get close to me. I was running low on MP, so I ran. I figured what I did was enough to set the Lotus Eaters back a few centuries.

My last gift to the Lotus Eaters? I slashed through their door, breaching their spell. Their spell is contained inside the building, so even if they, by some miracle, kept the exterior of the building completely intact, the door would be gone, and the magic broken.

It's kind of like the Hex in Wandavision. I don't know how I knew that, but one breach means people could enter or exit through that, unaffected, and the spell would slowly stop working on the people inside.

I stepped outside to find a waiting Bianca and Nico. Bianca hefted the sword, until she saw it was me. She handed the sword back to me, and I grinned. "Thanks, Bianca." I said. "That was so cool! Can we do that again?" Nico demanded. I chuckled. "No, Nico. Gods, this is gonna get confusing. There are two Nicos now, even if spelled differently." I silently cursed the System for giving me this stupid name.

"Okay, let's get this straight." I pointed at myself. "Niko A," I pointed to Nico, "Nico B." Bianca laughed, and Nico pouted. "Why can't I be Nico A?" He asked. "Because I have more experience." I said, nodding sagely.

"Technically, Nico's lived longer, though." Bianca pointed out. "Physically and mentally, though, he's only ten, going on eleven, because of those extra couple months from the Lotus Casino." I argued. We were broken up from our childish debate by a screeching. "Maybe we should go." I said, pulling out the key from my inventory.

"Okay, there's about to be some kind of passageway that opens when I use this, and I need the two of you to follow me, okay?" I asked them seriously. They nodded. I imagined a keyhole in front of me, and slid the key into the keyhole, turning it, and pushing open an imaginary door.

In front of me, the air shimmered, revealing the queues in the Underworld, to judgement and to Asphodel. I looked past the passageway, and saw Lotus Eaters emerging, brandishing weapons. I grabbed the two kids, and jumped through the portal. I closed it behind us, as they landed on me, pushing me to the ground.

"Hey Cerberus. I guess I said I'd see you soon, huh?" I groaned, getting up. The dog made a booming bark, and I faced him. "I'm sorry, buddy, but I need to run. Your Master asked me to bring his kids to Camp Half-Blood, then I need to go on a quest. I'll play with you as soon as I get back, okay? I promise." I told him. Nico and Bianca stared in awe at the three-headed dog, and I pulled them with me, back to the Styx. Instead of walking upstream, towards DOA Recording Studios, though, we walked downstream, to the Door of Orpheus.

"Can either of you sing?" I asked. My voice was raw from screaming earlier, and from, y'know, summoning literal rings of fire from it, not to mention how I was talking too much in the last half an hour. "I only know a couple Italian lullabies. Why?" Bianca asked. "I know this cavern wall doesn't look too impressive, but this is the path Orpheus used to try and bring Eurydice back to life. It's been closed, and can only open while someone is playing music or singing. I'd do it myself, but I'm losing my voice as we speak." I coughed.

She shrugged, accepting it, starting to sing softly. The door opened, and the path grew in front of us. "Oh, and now they give me something that isn't a normal staircase." I grumble, as I see a functional escalator taking the place of the staircase that was there before.

The Fates must be laughing their grandmotherly asses off at me. We rode up the escalator, and it was maybe fifteen minutes before we arrived at the surface. As soon as Bianca ran out of songs, I ate some ambrosia, and started singing Hotel California, by the Eagles. Hey, I thought it was appropriate for the moment! Fortunately, I didn't have to come up with another song before we arrived, getting spat out in the middle of Central Park.

Bianca and Nico looked around, shocked at everything. Just my luck, I saw a beat-up, smoky cab barreling in the general direction of camp. "There goes Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do this." I sighed. I drank a small vial of nectar, and felt my body temperature increase, but my MP was restored.

"Hold on tight, you two. I'm about to show the two of you another cool power you can learn, though it's unreliable at first." I told them, grabbing their hands. They both tightened their grip, and I summoned a cloud of darkness, and we vanished, barreling through darkness, getting spat out at Half-Blood Hill.

"Try not to vomit." I advised them, maybe a little late, as Nico fell over, vomiting out his lunch. Bianca looked pale, but otherwise unbothered. "I'm not sure I wanna learn how to do that." Nico retched. "You get used to it. It's only so bad the first few times." I informed him.

"I'm not sure that's helping, Niko A." Bianca said lightly. Not long after, I saw the very same beat-up, smoky cab stop right in front of us. "The Grey Ladies. As charming as ever." I mused quietly, looking through the car window at the three hags. How many hag trios were there in Greek myths?

The Furies, the Fates, the Grey Ladies, the list probably goes on.

Anyways, Percy and Annabeth stepped out of the car, Tyson the Cyclops being the last one out. Almost immediately after, the cab peeled away, leaving us standing in the dust. I coughed, clearing away the dust with a bit of aerokinesis. "Welcome to camp, new faces, and welcome back, Percy and Annabeth. Percy, Annabeth, meet Nico B," I pointed at the little kid. "And meet Bianca, Nico B's big sister."

"Nico B, Bianca, meet Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, and Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena." I introduced the four. "This is?" I asked, feigning ignorance of who the Cyclops is. "This is Tyson. Percy, apparently, had him as a classmate." Annabeth said, her nose wrinkling.

"Annabeth, Tyson saved my life. He may be a Cyclops, but he's really not that bad. He saved my life, as well as all of my class' lives." Percy insisted. Annabeth sighs, and just walks into the camp. "I, Nikomedes Arcus-Lupin, give Tyson permission to enter camp." I declared. Thunder shook the hillside, but I figured that brought one less obstacle in our way.

"Come on, Neeks, Bianca. I'll give you a tour. Percy, Tyson, come with me, please. We need to find Annabeth and warn her." I said solemnly. "Warn her of what?" Percy asked.

"Chiron's getting fired."

"What?" Percy shouted.