Disclaimer:
I DO NOT own this series. That goes to the wonderful Rick Riordan and Hyperion Books. I am just borrowing the story and characters. I will say that the story lines will be written down because it makes it much easier to follow along and know the current placement, especially if it has been a while since reading the book. Also, this is not beta'd so there will most likely be a few mistakes, feel free to let me know. Enjoy!
Oh, this is also only my second story ever so please be gentle. I've been really enjoying getting to share how I would imagine characters would react to their tales and I hope to continue to do so.
Book
'thoughts'
"speech"
Hello everybody. I actually managed to get this chapter written up super early. Yay for summer break giving me free time! Enjoy
We Take A Zebra To Vegas
"Well, that's interesting?" Chris asked.
"That's one word for it." Grover growled.
"Can I start?" Clarisse grunts. Getting nods she begins reading.
The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot.
"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed."
"You knew it was a trap," I said.
"Of course he did." The girl had to pause and sigh. Her father really was quite predictable.
Ares gave me a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."
I shoved his shield at him. "You're a jerk."
There were some sharp inhales. Percy, meanwhile, was as relaxed as ever. Well as much as he could be with his father giving him a warning shoulder squeeze and his mother looking like she's planning to smack him upside the head.
Annabeth and Grover struggled to hold in their bursts of laughter at the image the family made.
Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.
Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into
a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.
"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from
the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."
"And of course you guys end up in Vegas rather than L.A." Will sighed.
"Yup, just our luck."
The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read only because it was reverse-
printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.
I said, "You're kidding."
Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop
complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."
He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to me.
Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas,
and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.
"You actually gave them something useful?" Hermes asked.
"Apparently…"
I said, "I don't want your lousy—"
"Careful there, Perry." Dionysus warned.
"Yes, Mr. D."
"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving me his best red-alert warning look.
"Thanks a lot."
I gritted my teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a god, but I didn't
want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, I slung the backpack over my shoulder. I knew my anger was being caused by the war god's presence, but I was still itching to punch him in the nose. He reminded me of every bully I'd ever faced: Nancy Bobofit, Clarisse, Smelly Gabe, sarcastic teachers—every jerk who'd called me stupid in school or laughed at me when I'd gotten expelled.
I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who'd
served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us.
She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us.
"Great, more press for you!" Travis laughed.
"Shut up, Travis!"
Great, I thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow.
I imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER.
"Ha! Like I'd let you even get a hit on me!" The War god boasts.
A certain couple and satyr look to each other with nicely hidden smirks holding in laughs.
"You owe me one more thing," I told Ares, trying to keep my voice level. "You promised me information about my mother."
"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."
The ground seemed to spin beneath me. "What do you mean?"
"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a
shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."
"Kept. Why?"
"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."
"Nobody's controlling me."
He laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."
I balled up my fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."
"Oh gods." Clarisse whispers.
"Damn, what a burn!" Apollo laughs.
"This kid's asking for a pummeling." Ares growled trying to flare out his aura.
Clarisse only let out an exhausted exhale.
Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."
He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.
Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy."
"I don't care."
"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god."
"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..."
He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.
"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry."
I didn't like it, but we had no better option. Besides, I'd seen enough of Denver.
"Yes, my bolt should be your focus." Zeus said.
"Yes, brother we know." Hestia deadpans, already annoyed with her youngest brother's obsession for the day.
We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind us.
The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter.
"What? Why?" Will asked.
The trio could only motion for the group to listen to the story.
The trailer was dark inside until I uncapped Anaklusmos. The blade cast a faint bronze 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.
Artemis could feel her anger growing at the description.
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!
"Gods, what the heck?" Chris muttered.
"Sounds more like smugglers…" Connor commented.
"Whoever they are, it's definitely not legal." Travis finished.
"You guys are not wrong." Grover growled at the memory.
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.
"The poor creature. How is that kindness?!" Artemis snarled.
"As the Stolls said my Lady, they were an illegal group." The satyr answered still enraged.
"All they cared about was money." Percy added.
"And it's unfortunately very easy for things like this to happen with mortals." Annabeth continues.
"There are many mortals who advocate against it and help get those animals to sanctuaries. Unfortunately, their numbers are less than those who take part or run the smuggling groups." Rachel explained.
"It's a similar situation like all the pollution of nature." Poseidon realizes.
"Yes."
"Yup."
"Sure is."
The nature gods seeth.
Several of the campers signal for the daughter of Ares to continue reading.
"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"
He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, 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. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. 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.
"Hehe, you're definitely the tastier option for him." Nico snickered trying to lighten the mood.
"Ooh if I had been there I could've even barbecued you for 'im!" Thalia laughed.
"My own cousin! Offering me up to lions already!" Percy clutches his heart jokingly.
"Oh, you know I'm only following your own example!"
"I'm watching you Sparky."
"Bring it Kelp Head!"
"Let me read!"
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.
"Thank you, Perseus. You too, Annabeth and Grover." Artemis says gratitude clear.
"Of course."
"It was only right to do."
"We would've done more if we could at the moment."
Grover 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. We told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for night.
"At least it's better than what it originally was."
Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened our bag of Double Stuf Oreos and
nibbled on one halfheartedly; 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.
"Bet you just jinxed it." Chris muttered.
"Unfortunately." Percy whispered. Thankfully nobody hearing him.
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 advertised 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.
That had some of the gods letting out sighs or grimaces. It was sadly true, this story was making that achingly clear.
"Hey," Annabeth said, "I'm sorry for 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?"
"Of course, another one of my mistakes affects my children." Athena groans.
"Every demigod has something like that." Percy shrugged.
"Yeah."
"It sucks."
"So inconvenient."
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. Anyway, I owe you."
"We're a team, remember?" I said. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying."
I thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?"
The campers let out snorts of amusement. That had been great timing from Grover.
Annabeth and I laughed.
She pulled apart an Oreo, handed me half. "In the Iris message ... did Luke really say nothing?"
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. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree."
"Can't believe he said that." Thalia grumbled.
"Me either." The daughter of Athena mumbled.
In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions.
Grover let out a mournful bray.
"I should've told you the truth from the beginning." His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along."
"You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus."
"Again, what's with the full titles, Kelp Head?"
"I have no idea."
He 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."
"I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," he said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders
from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought ... I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker ..."
"None of that is your fault, Grover." Thalia said, "I made the decision to do what I did."
"Not to mention it was three demigods travelling together. Even if she wasn't a Big Three kid, monsters would have been on us anyway." Annabeth joined in.
"Others didn't feel that way." The satyr sniffed.
"Stop it," Annabeth said. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."
"She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably, "Her death was my fault. The Council
of Cloven Elders said so."
"Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" I said. "That's not fair."
"Exactly!" Many campers commented.
Zeus was struggling to not chew out the satyr; he definitely thought differently.
"Percy's right," Annabeth said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither
would Luke. We don't care what the council says."
Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy."
"Oh my gods, Grover you're right. You found every Big Three kid…" Percy said wonderstruck.
"Really?" Several of the gods ask.
"Yeah, he found me like you just learned." Thalia indicated.
"And found me at school earlier." Percy added.
"And my sister and I when we became obvious to this world." Nico continued.
"Sister?" Was yelled by some gods.
"Oh, right, I forgot we didn't mention her."
"Um, she'll come up in the third book I believe." Percy sighed, "It would be easier to learn about her then."
"Very well." Hades nodded curious about his daughter and her lack of appearance here.
"Goat boy is even like every Big Three kids' best friend." Travis snickered.
"I like Goat Boy." Tyson smiled.
"So do we bro." Percy agrees as well as the others nod as well.
Grover was as red as a tomato.
"You're not lame," Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met.
Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now."
She kicked me in the shin.
"Yeah," I said, which I would've done even without the kick. "It's not luck that you found
Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."
"Percy ruffled his friend's hair, "and you were" he said softly.
Grover could only give him a thankful smile.
I heard a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, I realized he'd fallen sleep.
"How does he do that?" I marveled.
"I don't know," Annabeth said. "But that was really a nice thing you told him."
"I meant it."
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?"
"Damn your observational skills, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth mumbled hiding her face in his chest.
"I know… it's a heavy moment here."
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..."
"Ooh! I finally heard that story!" Percy cheered causing Chiron to blush.
"What! No fair, I've been asking everybody about it!" Rachel whines.
"Me too!" Nico and Thalia moan.
Percy just laughs taunting the three.
"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 without 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."
"Doesn't sound so bad." Sally comments in time with her son in the book.
"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. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood."
"Well, I can see how she would be worried for her boys." Sally observes.
"I can too, now, but back then? I was too hurt to see her reasoning." Annabeth says.
"You got better though." Percy mumbles in her hair giving her a soft kiss in it.
"Because of you." she snuggles in closer.
"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."
"Was it good advice?" Poseidon quietly asks the couple.
"Yes, actually. I've gotten a lot closer to them thanks to Percy." the daughter of Athena replies.
"Good."
We passed another few miles of silence.
"So if the gods fight," I said, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"
She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."
"Wow, Annie." Thalia was amazed.
"He proved to be a consistent and reliable friend. I couldn't fully trust that a god would choose me over another." Annabeth explained.
"Makes sense."
"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.
I had trouble following her example, with Grover snoring and an albino lion staring hungrily at me, but eventually I closed my eyes.
My nightmare started out as something I'd dreamed a million 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.
"I hate those kinds of dreams."
"Definitely the worst."
"So unfair that their sometimes accurate."
Then the dream strayed from the usual.
I looked over at the next desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket. She was my age, with unruly black, punk-style hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy green eyes, and freckles across her nose. Somehow, I knew who she was. She was Thalia, daughter of Zeus.
"What the…" Chris trails off.
"That's almost completely accurate. Only the eyes are wrong." Thalia said shocked.
"I told you my dreams get weird." Percy said, "I've even had some as someone else."
"Someone must have blessed you. If we can't figure out you're a legacy, that must be it." Apollo postulates.
"I wouldn't know." The boy shrugs.
"I know, and that's what irritates me."
She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at me in frustration, and snapped, Well, Seaweed Brain? One of us has to get out of here.
"Whoa, the nickname too?"
"So weird."
She's right, my dream-self thought. I'm going back to that cavern. I'm going to give Hades a piece of my mind.
The straitjacket melted off me. I fell through the classroom floor.
"You can change your dreams?" Connor asked.
"Not always."
"It's his blood, he has the Sea in his veins and it's always changing." Poseidon offers.
The teacher's voice changed until it was cold and evil, echoing from the depths of a great chasm.
Percy Jackson, it said. Yes, the exchange went well, I see.
I was back in the dark cavern, spirits of the dead drifting around me. Unseen in the pit, the monstrous thing was speaking, but this time it wasn't addressing me. The numbing power of its voice seemed directed somewhere else.
"Oh us, it's Father." Hades rubbed his face.
"You can't confirm that." Zeus, ever the denier.
"Who else could it possibly be?"
The thunderer huffs crossing his arms, refusing to believe.
And he suspects nothing? it asked.
Another voice, one I almost recognized, answered at my shoulder. Nothing, my lord. He is as ignorant as the rest.
"Is that?" Annabeth whispers to Percy who nods.
I looked over, but no one was there. The speaker was invisible.
Deception upon deception, the thing in the pit mused aloud. Excellent.
Truly, my lord, said the voice next to me, you are well-named the Crooked One. But was it
really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly —
"Yup, it's dear-old gramps." Hermes deadpans.
"Well, shit." Zeus blurts out causing some laughter.
"Well, you definitely can't say it's someone else with that stupid title." Hestia sneers shocking some of the campers.
"We'll have to start planning."
As the gods began to mutter amongst themselves the campers and Sally look to each other.
"At least they're actually taking this seriously. Maybe we'll never have to personally deal with you know who again." Percy shrugged.
"First, excellent Harry Potter reference. Second, hopefully you are right." Rachel agrees.
"But you did so well last time!" Annabeth sniggers.
"Yes, you're weapon of choice was most excellent." Percy says falsely pompous.
"Only the finest of weapons for me, good sir." The Oracle plays along.
The campers erupt into giggles snapping the gods to attention.
It took a minute, leaving the gods confused, for the children to gather themselves, but Clarisse managed to start reading once again, not providing any explanation for their actions.
You? the monster said in scorn. You have already shown your limits. You would have failed me completely had I not intervened.
But, my lord—
Peace, little servant. Our six months have bought us much. Zeus's anger has grown. Poseidon
has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands ... but wait. He is here.
What? The invisible servant suddenly sounded tense. You summoned him, my lord?
No. The full force of the monsters attention was now pouring over me, freezing me in place. Blast his father's blood—he is too changeable, too unpredictable. The boy brought himself hither.
Impossible! the servant cried.
For a weakling such as you, perhaps, the voice snarled. Then its cold power turned back on me. So ... you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige.
"Gods, it's gonna get worse?" Travis asked.
"Eh, not really."
The scene changed.
I was standing in a vast throne room with black marble walls and bronze floors. The empty,
horrid throne was made from human bones fused together. Standing at the foot of the dais was my mother, frozen in shimmering golden light, her arms outstretched.
I tried to step toward her, but my legs wouldn't move. I reached for her, only to realize that
my hands were withering to bones. Grinning skeletons in Greek armor crowded around me,
draping me with silk robes, wreathing my head with laurels that smoked with Chimera poison, burning into my scalp.
The evil voice began to laugh. Hail, the conquering hero!
"Okay, maybe not worse, but creepy for sure." Nico shivered.
I woke with a start.
Grover was shaking my shoulder. "The truck's stopped," he said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."
"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.
She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. Grover and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips.
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 room was filled with the sounds of growls and sounds of quiet rage.
The lion roared in indignation.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.
Next to me, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous.
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!"
"He wouldn't really be sawed in half, right?" Artemis has to ask.
"No, but this is an illegal group so who knows who they were going to sell him to." Rachel answered.
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.
"Oh, that must've been weird." Chris gaffs.
"For sure. Suddenly, I was hearing someone else. I genuinely thought I was going insane." Percy snickered. "Although, this was one of the less dangerous ways I learned one of my powers."
"Well, upsides I guess."
"Less dangerous?" Poseidon muttered, concern once again growing.
I was too 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," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"
"Ugh, one of the worst kind of people."
That's right, the zebra's voice said in my mind.
"We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth both looked at me, waiting for my lead.
I'd heard the zebra talk, but not the lion. Why? Maybe it was another learning disability ... I could only understand zebras? Then I thought: horses. What had Annabeth said about Poseidon creating horses? Was a zebra close enough to a horse? Was that why I could understand it?
The zebra said, Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that.
"Do they always call you lord?" Will wonders.
"Yeah. Well, most do. Blackjack calls me Boss and another group called me other names…" Percy trailed off thinking of the horses from the Labyrinth.
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 grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage.
The zebra burst out. It turned to me and bowed. Thank you, lord.
Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing.
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," Grover said.
I cut the locks with my sword. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'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.
The campers cheered while the gods had looks of satisfaction on their faces.
"Will the animals be okay?" I asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all—"
"Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."
"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" I asked.
"It only works on wild animals."
"So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.
"Good one, Annie." Thalia chuckled.
"Hey!"
"Hey!" I protested.
"Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."
We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and we must've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay us much attention.
"Well, at least it is a nice diversion away from you three." Chiron comments.
"Definitely one of our easier transitions." Grover replies.
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 sandwich 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.
"No way." Nico whispers.
"Holy crap, I forgot we went there." Percy says looking to Nico worried.
"You gonna be okay?" Thalia quietly asks the son of Hades. Nico could only nod minutely.
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 flowers—lotus blossom, maybe. I'd never smelled one, so I wasn't sure.
The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"
I'd learned to be suspicious, the last week or so. I figured anybody might be a monster or a
god. You just couldn't tell. But this guy was normal. One look at him, and I could see. Besides, I was so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic that I nodded and said we'd love to come in. Inside, we took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa."
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.
"I wanna go!" The Stoll brothers announce.
"NO!" the trio and Nico yell in tandem.
"But"
"Why"
"Not?" They finish together.
"Just listen." Percy warns the pair.
"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 room key."
I 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 whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."
"It's so awesome!"
"I still don't see why we can't go."
"Why does this place sound familiar?" That was their father, Hermes, scratching his head confused.
"Really familiar." And that was Apollo.
He handed us each a green plastic credit card.
I knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought we were some millionaire's kids. But I took the card and said, "How much is on here?"
His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, when does it run out of cash?"
He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."
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. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it was pretty cool. 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," Grover said. "Absolutely sweet."
There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me. I frowned, thinking that this was a little strange.
I threw Ares's backpack in the trash can. Wouldn't need that anymore. When we left, I could just charge a new one at the hotel store.
"Such an ungrateful child." Hera muttered not seeing the glares she was receiving from many.
I took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel. I changed clothes, ate a bag of chips, drank three Cokes, and came out feeling better than I had in a long time. In the back of my mind, some small problem kept nagging me. I'd had a dream or something ... I needed to talk to my friends. But I was sure it could wait.
I came out of the bedroom and found that Annabeth and Grover had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating potato chips to his heart's content, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel.
"Really Annie?" Thalia whined.
"It's interesting!" the daughter of Athena challenged.
"All those stations," I told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"
"It's interesting."
"I feel good," Grover 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.
"That shouldn't be happening." Hermes commented. "My shoes shouldn't be affected by pretty much anything."
"You'll understand in a bit. This place was so weird." Percy said.
"I still think it sounds awesome."
"You won't in a bit."
"So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"
Grover and I looked at each other and grinned. We both held up our green plastic LotusCash cards.
"Play time," I said.
I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. I came from a relatively poor family. Our idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting a video. A five-star Vegas hotel? Forget it.
I bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, did the waterslide, snowboarded the artificial ski
slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. I saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter thing—where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks. I saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3-D sim game where you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board. I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth loved it.
"So amazing."
"I wanna go."
"Shut up and let me read!" Clarisse yelled clearly annoyed.
I'm not sure when I first realized something was wrong.
Probably, it was when I noticed the guy standing next to me at VR sharpshooters. He was about thirteen, I guess, but his clothes were weird. I thought he was some Elvis impersonator's son. He wore bell-bottom jeans and a red T-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like a New Jersey girl's on homecoming night.
"Talk about bad fashion sense." Chris mumbled.
"Oh, it's even weirder when I talk to him."
We played a game of sharpshooters together and he said, "Groovy, man. Been here two weeks, and the games keep getting better and better."
Groovy?
Later, while we were talking, I said something was "sick," and he looked at me kind of startled, as if he'd never heard the word used that way before.
"Okay, the creep factor is starting up now." Travis whispered.
He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as I started asking him questions he got bored with me and started to go back to the computer screen.
I said, "Hey, Darrin?"
"What?"
"What year is it?"
He frowned at me. "In the game?"
"No. In real life."
He had to think about it. "1977."
"Holy…"
"What?"
"Oh! It's the Lotus Eaters." Sally exclaimed.
Many gods let out heavy sighs.
"Of course it is. We haven't been keeping an eye on them lately, have we?" Hades rubbed his eyes.
"No, we've become rather lax in regard to them and others similar." Poseidon agreed.
"Another thing to worry about on the list then."
"No," I said, getting a little scared. "Really."
"Hey, man. Bad vibes. I got a game happening."
After that he totally ignored me.
I started talking to people, and I found it wasn't easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. I found a guy who told me it was 1985. Another guy told me it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn't been in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really know and they didn't care.
Then it occurred to me: how long had I been here? It seemed like only a couple of hours, but was it?
I tried to remember why we were here. We were going to Los Angeles. We were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. My mother ... for a scary second, I had trouble remembering her name. Sally. Sally Jackson. I had to find her. I had to stop Hades from causing World War III.
"Ooh Sally would definitely bring Percy out of it." Grover nodded.
Poseidon smiled to his son, he loved seeing the connection between Percy and his mother. It was refreshing to see.
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, Percy. 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.
"She's not gonna like that Kelp Head." Thalia warned.
"No, she did not." The son of Poseidon easily agreed.
"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 Grover."
We went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter.
"Ugh, Grover what?" Will was so confused.
"I actually thought this game was awesome!" Grover cheered confusing everyone even more.
"Grover!" we both shouted.
He said, "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!"
"Ah, that explains it." Will's puzzled look cleared.
'Maybe I should look into this game…' Artemis wondered, thinking of down time ideas for her Hunters.
"Grover!"
He turned the plastic gun on me and started clicking, as if I were just another image from the screen.
"I didn't know I did that!" the satyr cried.
"It's fine G-Man. I knew you didn't mean it."
"But still!"
"You were basically brainwashed man. It's fine."
Through their link Percy was sending waves of content and understanding, which was helpful for Grover, but that didn't mean he didn't feel bad about it.
I looked at Annabeth, and together we took Grover by the arms and dragged him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as 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, and I got the feeling that he really meant it, that we'd be breaking his heart if we went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members."
He held out the cards, and I wanted one. I knew that if I took one, I'd never leave. I'd stay here, happy forever, playing games forever, and soon I'd forget my mom, and my quest, and maybe even my own name. I'd be playing virtual rifleman with groovy Disco Darrin forever.
The Stolls had shivers run through their bodies at the idea. Yeah, going to his amazing hotel didn't seem as stellar of an idea as before.
Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks."
We walked toward the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. I thought about our room upstairs. We could just stay the night, sleep in a real bed for once...
"True there at least was some benefits of being there." Nico hesitantly mentioned.
"Yeah, at least we got clean and fed. I don't think we slept, but whatever magic that place had solved that issue for us." Percy acknowledged.
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.
"Oh, baby brother dearest is upset." Hades drawled.
"They were playing around instead of finding my bolt. Of course I'm upset!" Zeus yelled.
"That's not really their fault though, is it? You know how powerful the Lotus Eaters are." Poseidon jumped in.
"Still, they were given a quest and that's their duty."
"You already had been interfering with their travels even though they are searching for your precious bolt!"
It was clear Zeus was going to continue his diatribe and Hestia quietly cleared her throat causing the brothers to quiet down and turn to her.
"Do you think we could finish up this chapter before you go off on a rant? The children are all ready for a break and apparently us gods need one as well. So how about we listen since we only have a little bit left of this section?" the hearth goddess spoke as if talking to young children.
"Yes, Hestia." The three mutter, chided.
Ares's backpack was slung over my shoulder, which was odd, because I was sure I had thrown it in the trash can in room 4001, but at the moment I had other problems to worry about.
I ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when we went in. Then I noticed the date: June twentieth.
We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days.
We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete our quest.
Clarisse closed the book and tossed it on the table.
"Great, now they only have a day to find my bolt. This is a disaster!" the Thunderer screamed.
"You're going to cause a disaster at this rate." Poseidon mumbled pinching the bridge of his nose.
Hestia motioned to the campers, Sally, and Chiron. "How about we let them vent some and we find something to snack on and do?"
She was rewarded with excited smiles as the kids jumped up, running for the kitchen, Sally and Chiron following close behind holding a conversation of their own on the way.
"We'll save you something Auntie H!" Percy yelled back hoisting Nico over his shoulder as he ran past.
"Oi, Fish face. Put me down!" Nico smacked him on the back.
"No can do Neeks, us growing boys gots ta eat!"
"Come on, Kelp Head. Let's see if we can get Sally to make cake!" Thalia yelled from down the hall.
"Okay, if you can get your mom to make the cake you had for your birthday, I won't complain about this." Nico bargained.
"Done."
"Then onward, you noble dolphin man!"
"It's merman, Nico!" Annabeth yelled.
"Oh my gods, there's a story to that right?"
"It's a great one."
"You have to tell me!"
"If you eat at least 2 pieces of cake I will!"
"Okay!"
"Hey! Why am I the bargaining chip?"
The yelling faded out as the group got further and further away.
"I don't know about you guys, but I want to hear that story." Apollo pointed to the door and quickly followed suit.
"Not to mention the cake." Poseidon jumped up; anything to avoid hearing his brother's complaining.
Several more gods and goddesses follow them, hearing Zeus start up with his yelling once again. Leaving behind Hera, Ares, and a sleeping Dionysus.
AN: Thank y'all for reading. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up a nice time frame between chapters for the summer, so fingers crossed.
As always reviews are appreciated or PMs if you prefer. See y'all next time.