AN 8/1/15: Hello all! Sorry about the late update, I was away at camp all week and the week before I was super busy packing and doing horsey things. Thank you for understanding. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I worked double time to finish what I had once I got back a few hours ago. Be sure to leave a review of what you thought of this chapter, if you find any errors or odd things in it just tell me please and I will fix it, still fuzzy headed from camp. Camp was awesome if anyone was wondering, my last year though as a camper. Not sure if I want to be a counselor. Anyway, enjoy!
I woke up to a pounding pain in my head and the cuts from the hellhound stinging more than they should, my breath coming unsteadily. I felt my hand go to my head in an attempt to stop the pain from the dream.
"Crap." I muttered. Grover was busy shaking Percy awake when I looked up to see Annabeth above me. Then I saw Percy roll over and sit up. How he looked at me made me want to shadow travel somewhere and never have to confront that conflicted and confused face again. I could never truly put it to words. He saw it all, Kronos will regret that.
I heard a truck door slam shut and Annabeth suddenly hissed at us to hide, slapping on her invisibility hat. Grover and Percy hid behind some bags of feed, Percy giving his head a shake and getting in the moment. I quickly moved myself, ignoring the brief stronger flash of pain in my head from moving so quickly, scrambling to pick up my sword and sheathed it. I dove into the corner of the truck, behind some more bags, and pulled the shadows around me, darkening them. The men who were driving the truck had pulled over. Then one of them opened the trailer doors and a wave of heat came in, followed by sunlight that made me force the shadows to stay around me.
"Man!" He said, waving his hand in front of his nose from the smell. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed in and poured some water from the jug into the animals' dishes.
"You hot, big boy?" He asked the lion, then proceeded to splash the rest of the water right in the lion's face. At least it helped get rid of some of the dust and muck but the lion roared rightfully in indignation. I narrowed my eyes at the man. Both of these men would not be shown in a great light for these acts once they eventually died.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The man said. I saw that Grover's body had gone tense next to Percy and caught a murderous look on his face. The trucker pulled out a squashed looking fast food bag from his cargo pants pocket and smirked at the zebra.
"How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!" I saw the zebra look at Percy in a panic, probably trying to ask him to help.
Suddenly there was loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer. The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"
A voice outside-who must have been Eddie-shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"
"What are you banging for?"
Knock, knock, knock.
Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie the whole way. A second later Annabeth appeared next to the boys. She must have been the one banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. Smart.
"This transportation business can't be legal," she said.
"No kidding," Grover grumbled, then paused, listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers! We've got to free them!" They both looked to Percy, as if waiting for him to lead, but his gaze was still resting on where I was, looking almost like a kicked puppy. Outside Eddie and Maurice were yelling at each other but they would come back soon enough. Percy shook his head slightly, as if clearing his thoughts, and grabbed Riptide. He slashed off the lock of the Zebra's cage.
I unsheathed my own sword and went to the antelope's cage and I too broke off the lock. I put my sword away and pulled out my normal steel knife, approaching the zebra.
"I'm going to clear off that gunk from your mane." I said to it calmly as Grover was busy muttering a blessing. It snorted but didn't move away as I reached out, so I took that as an 'okay'. I made quick work of the wads of chewing gum trapped in its mane and once Grover was finished the zebra and antelope took off, bounding out of the truck; the zebra bobbing its head as it galloped with joy. Maurice and Eddie yelped in surprise and started chasing the animals, a few policemen trailing after them, shouting about permits.
"This would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said, looking out at the street.
"The lion first." Grover insisted, so Percy cut off its lock and Grover issued the same blessing to the lion as he had the antelope and zebra.
"Good luck," Percy told the lion as he went running into the streets. Some tourists screamed while most just backed off and took pictures - probably figuring it was some kind of stunt.
"Will the animals be okay?" Percy asked Grover. "The desert and all.."
"Don't worry," he comforted. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely, finding all they need to survive until they find a safe place to live."
"Why can't that be placed on us?"
"It only works on animals."
"So it would only affect Percy." Annabeth reasoned. I smiled a little but the weight of last night still clung to me like an unwanted blanket. I made sure I had all my supplies with me and my sword belt strapped on. Percy protested Annabeth's comment but we decided to get going before anybody came back.
We trudged through the baking streets of Las Vegas in the middle of a hot desert afternoon. It must have been at least a hundred degrees. We probably looked like a group of toasty, reddened kids, but everybody was too interested in the spectacle we had unleashed to really care. We passed casinos like the Monte Carlo and MGM, along with replicas of pyramids, a pirate ship, and a Statue of Liberty.
I purposefully kept a number of steps ahead of Percy to try to avoid being confronted about what happened, taking the time to think over it all. Kronos was rising, and he had at least one insider in camp, maybe more. There were two items missing, not just the master bolt. Then what was piled onto that dream.. I hadn't been careful enough. Information had slipped too easily and it was just a matter of time before all the puzzle pieces were put together. I kicked at the ground in frustration as I walked. My damned head wasn't helping the situation either.
Percy though.. Oh gods, Percy, what am I going to do? That betrayed, confused look on his face, he saw all those old memories, all the bad things. Kronos had painted my past in the worst light. Hell, what about it was ever really good? I knew I was being my own worst enemy here, but what happened could have just ruined everything, nothing will ever be the same, even if he might not have understood everything. His face when I made the decision to end Chester before he could kill anybody, it was like a permanent weight on me. I could never forget it.
The last part of my dream, after the memories, really hurt though, a lot. Seeing my loved ones in pain or dead, that was always my weak point. It was like Kronos was holding them above me, just out of reach. I gripped my head in frustration, Why did the Fates put me here? They had to know all this would come out, I should have been able to see my mother and Nick again once they died too! It felt like I was robbed of something, the loss I had been feeling for years now, continually eating away at me. I had been okay with dying, but because I knew I would see them again eventually. It happened while protecting someone I cared about, and that was something worth dying for, but this twist? That was unplanned.
All of these thoughts made my get trapped in my mind as I walked aimlessly, memories dredged up. Getting sucked into the past was becoming more frequent now that I had returned to camp. It was worrying, I couldn't let it affect me like this, but there were just so many reminders. I found myself holding the picture of me and Nick as we passed through Las Vegas. I only realized it once Annabeth said something about it.
"Who is that?" That had pulled me out of my thoughts. Annabeth was peering over at the picture. Styx.
"What?" I asked stupidly, unable to come up with something better so abruptly. By now Grover and Percy were also trying to get a better look at the photo. I quickly pressed it against me and put it back in its box, stuffing that back into my pocket.
"Who is in that picture with you? Looks like you were at camp, but I don't know that boy. When was this taken anyway? It looks old." She continued.
I heard Percy whispering to Grover, hinting at his dream last night. He had recognized Nick.
"But you're in the picture, how-"
"Look, it's nothing. Alright?" I snapped. They all looked at me, I had never snapped like that before, even last night I had restrained myself. My head started hurting more as I pressed on, lengthening my strides, searching for what, I didn't know.
We must have taken a number of wrong turns 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 in assorted patterns. Nobody was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out sweet, sweet air-conditioning that smelled of lotus blossoms.
"Hey, kids. You look tired, you want to come in and sit down?" The doorman smiled at us. We all shared a suspicious look despite earlier. It could be another trap, then Percy must have decided that the man sounded sincere enough and said we would love to come in.
Once inside we took one look and Grover summed it up pretty nicely with an awed: "Whoa."
The whole lobby was one giant game room. Not just older games though that you would see in a regular casino, no, there was an indoor waterslide wrapping around a glass elevator that must have gone up at least forty floors. A climbing wall on the other side of the building (not in demigod mode), and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge were there too. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns and hundreds of video games, each at its own widescreen TV.
They had basically anything you could imagine in this place. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. Not many adults either, mainly just staff, which I found odd. Waitresses were walking around and there were snack bars littered throughout the lobby that served every kind of food.
"Hey!" A bellhop said. He was wearing a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."
"Um, but.." Percy stammered.
"No, no." The man said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charge, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room 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." He handed each of us a green plastic card. This had to be a mix up of some kind, or a trap. We took the cards anyway, me pocketing mine in my jeans.
"How much is on here?" I asked.
"What do you mean?"
"She means, when does it run out of cash." Percy supplied.
The bellhop just laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay." I raised an eyebrow at the comment but didn't say anything.
We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. My head felt like it was getting worse the longer we stayed. Our room was split up into two separate bedrooms, each with two waterbeds, both adorned feather pillows; one of the boys, and one for me and Annabeth. There was a hotline to room service and fluffy white towels hung in the double bathrooms. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet was in the central room. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and shotgun. Our room's view was of the Las Vegas skyline and desert beyond, it was amazing to say the least.
"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is.."
"Sweet!" Grover finished. "Absolutely sweet." I saw Percy peering into the closet to see clothes that looked as if they might fit, which I found disturbing. He tossed out the backpack Ares gave us too. I chose the room to the left and laid down on the bed while everyone took showers and got snacks. My head was not my friend today. So many things just seemed, wrong. I let out a humorless laugh, that was the perfect description of my life now-a-days. I left my door open to the main room though so I could see when the boys came out.
After a while, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were all hanging out in there, watching TV and eating snacks, thoroughly the perks of this place.
I heard Percy tease Annabeth about her choice of TV and I noticed Grover's shoes sprout wings and lifting him a good foot off the ground and back down without him even realizing it, munching on some food the whole time.
"So what now" Annabeth asked, taking a look into our room. "Relax?"
The boys exchanged giddy looks and grinned. They both held up their LotusCash cards.
"Play time." Percy said. I told them I would catch up with them later and they headed out, but Annabeth stayed behind. She cautiously came into our room and took a seat on the opposite bed. She was fiddling with her Yankees cap, then she finally looked up.
"Allison, Percy told me a little about the dream he had that had you in it." I sighed. "He said he recognized that boy in the photo I asked you about earlier. Was that that boy, Nick?"
I knew I wouldn't be able to keep this a secret anymore, I nodded.
"When was that taken? You came to camp at the same time as Percy, or did you? Why do I think that when you said Chiron gave you those weapons because you reminded him of one of his former students, that he was referring to you? That picture looked old enough to be from World War II times.."
She tucked her leg under her other, pensive. "Percy told me about something Echidna said while you were fighting in the Arch. She said that you were meant to die 'long ago', but what confuses me is that Percy's known you since you were toddlers- things aren't lining up. You have that scar on your arm that looks like it's from an old sword cut, then the ones on your stomach and back. I saw them when I was helping heal you after the Minotaur. They were aligned.. it would have been a bad blow." I closed my eyes as she continued, holding onto my bracelet tightly.
"The pieces weren't fitting together well until Percy mentioned that the metal in the weapons Chiron gave you was black. That sounds like stygian iron. I've only heard about that stuff, but the books say they were only used by.. well, the last recorded time of demigods using that type of material was in WWII-the time of the picture by my guess."
She took a deep breath. "Look, I think I know, and it's a little farfetched, but I won't tell anyone. You can trust me. I know you really care about Percy and his mom. I don't care who your parent is, I won't judge you. Now don't want to jump to conclusions, but I just find it kind of hard not to. Chiron told me a story a few years ago in passing, he even showed me a picture of the girl from the story. I didn't make the connection until now, but I knew I recognized you from somewhere. It was from the story of the daughter of Hades who was on our side during the war. Was.. was that you, Allison?" Can't pretend anymore, she hit the nail on the head. I opened my eyes.
"Yes." I held my breath, waiting for her reaction.
"I thought so, but.. how are you here now?" That's the million drachma question.
"Honestly? I don't know. I just woke up here years ago with Sally after what happened." I found myself tapping the comforter. I hadn't talked to anyone about this besides Chiron.
"Percy somewhat described what he saw in his dream. Did you really do all those things?"
I hesitated. I didn't know how Percy had taken it for sure, but judging from his face it wasn't well, but I didn't want them to think that they couldn't trust me. I can't let something like that happen again.
"Annabeth I... it was a different time. I don't know how much Percy told you or how much he understood, but it was tough back then. You have to understand, if you were someone like me there was a huge target on your back every second of the day. So many were dying, being in the position I was in.. it was risky. Everyone was so ready to jump at you if you were at all related to the enemy, there were a lot of bad things my half-siblings were doing. We were all just kids... children don't belong in war, but they always seem to get caught in the crossfire, don't they?"
She nodded slightly.
"Can you tell me more about it?" She asked apprehensively. I thought on it for a minute or so, debating. Annabeth seemed trustworthy, she hadn't run off to tell anyone yet, and she had helped save Percy with the Furies and Medusa. She had been waiting to talk to me about it until we could talk in private. She was so young though, she hasn't been out in the world like how it was though, but I feared that would change with Kronos trying to rise. I had a tough time trusting people so quickly, especially given how it was back then, but I decided to take a gamble. Chiron trusted her, and so did Percy. I took out the little box and removed the picture. I looked at it for a few moments, then handed it to her.
"That is-was.. Nick. Nick Evans, a son of Zeus. We were best friends." She gently took the photo and examined it, her grey eye taking in every minute detail. "We grew up together in Colorado, before we really knew about everything. Then things got complicated for us." I continued. I went on to tell her our story, but not all of it, some things I wasn't ready to share yet. Annabeth paid rapt attention, never taking her eyes off me or the picture, never interrupting. I stopped my story before that last day.
She sat there for a few minutes, absorbing all the new information, then handed me back the photo.
"Wow, you've really got some fighting under your belt. What happened to Nick, if you don't mind me asking. Do you know?"
"No, I don't know. Chiron wouldn't tell me." I bit my lip. I might be able to find out when we're in the Underworld, along with my mother.
"Was it a big shock when you woke up so many years later?" I looked at her with a face that said, Seriously? She blushed. "Sorry, stupid question. But you're another child of the Big Three though, have you ever met your dad?" I nodded.
"Do you have any powers? Thalia had some, and Percy does too."
I nodded again. "I don't know what Percy may have mentioned from his dream, but the shadows and earth are kind of my thing. I'm not the best at dead stuff-never have been, not really my forte." She nodded, noticeably a bit uncomfortable at the mention of the last power set children of Hades could have. I had tried to summon skeletons in the past but after just a couple I had drained myself so badly that I hadn't woken up until the next morning. It had always bothered me that that power set was weaker than the others, but I guess I couldn't be too picky.
"What do you think about this quest? Going to the Underworld and all?"
"Whatever happens, happens. I have my ideas about what might go down, but I am willing to take the risks for it, and to get you three back out especially."
"Well, I'm glad you joined the quest either way, Allison. You have helped a lot, especially with the Chimera and all. It's kind of nice to know that there is someone who has done this kind of thing before with us, like how you were able to defeat those Ares kids and the trips you went on. It is always good to have an experienced fighter on the team. Don't feel like you have to carry everything on your own though. We're a team for a reason, I can see you feel like that from your eyes."
"Experienced fighter all right.." I laughed under my breath, but nodded. Then Annabeth asked what I had been dreading.
"What happened.. in that final day? How did it happen, from your perspective, not Percy or someone else's. I know from what Chiron told me that an older camper was involved, but Chiron never went into, um, details. It's always better to hear a story from its source though." She rushed a bit on her explanation, obviously nervous about asking, but wanting to know. I couldn't really blame her though, it's not every day that something like this happens. Heck, I could be her grandmother if I had lived until now.
I exhaled a long breath slowly, readying myself. From the start I knew the conversation would lead here. I started off with explaining the premise of the mission, how we had to block the monsters from getting into the camp to the younger campers. Back then we had no magic barrier. Then I told her about the battle and then I told her about Chester.
"Chester, he had always been a bit eccentric about the war.. always ranting and such. But closer to the time of that mission, he had gotten exceedingly riled up. I would catch him shooting me glares too, but I stupidly didn't pay attention." My fingernails dug into my palm.
"At first, during the fight, he tried to get my with lightning, but I managed to avoid it, thanks to Nick. We fought, he said some stuff about my 'kind' always causing problems, saying how it was the last straw. He claimed we would never be welcomed - he had it in his mind that I was spying on camp for them." I laughed, voice devoid of humor. "After all I had done for camp, and he still thought that?" But I stopped myself from saying more. Kronos had pushed him over the edge, but it wasn't all Kronos either. That thought just sent another pan through me. He was trying to rise, he had helped cause all this.
I shook my head, shaking the thoughts out. "Anyway, we fought, used some powers, etcetera. He hadn't had any experience fighting against someone like me before directly, but Nick and I used to have practice fights using powers, so that helped. I knew what to expect, plus I had seen him fight before. A Cyclops distracted me though, that's when I heard Nick-Chester had managed to disarm him and hold him at sword point." I scowled to myself, I didn't want to think about that memory especially. I didn't meet her eyes but I could tell she was taking in every drop of information.
"None of the other campers noticed so options were limited. I had no guarantee either that if Chester were to tell them how they would react either - for or against me. You don't know what it was like back then, even now I have to keep it a secret. Nick tried to get me to leave, but the look in Chester eyes.. I knew he wouldn't just let him go, he was too far gone. I pretended to surrender and dropped my normal sword. By then the others had noticed and were trying to talk Chester down but it was no good. I made one of the girls I knew from around camp promise to get Nick back to safety no matter what happened. She had always been nice to me."
I fingered my necklace, turning the pendant around in my hands. This weapon had helped end lives. One could think that if you're a child of Hades, or another Underworld deity, that you wouldn't have any qualms about ending a life, but they would be wrong-at least for me. I had never liked killing, a person's life matters, it isn't just a simple little thing that should be ended at a whim. It wasn't too hard for people who deserved the fields of punishment - and there were a lot of people back then who did, but innocents always got caught up in the mess. Whether it be in the battle, a monster attack, wreckage, or someone's twisted wrath. No one person should be able to dictate a person's life.
I realized that I had gone quiet so I started speaking again. "I knew death was near, but for who I didn't know, but I knew what I had to do. I saw my chance and I took it. I got a rock to separate the two to get Nick out of immediate danger but Chester recovered quicker than expected." I activated my necklace and held up the weapon, the darkness of the blade tugging at the shadows of the room ever so slightly.
"We never wanted that kind of life, you know? But us demigods don't get a choice in that. Honestly though? I don't think I would take all of what happened back if I could. We did our best, and we made a difference. It shaped us and we came out stronger, we were more connected and aware. I would never take back how it happened too-if I was to go out saving my closest friend, well I was and still am content with that. I might not even be here today had it not happened. I'm making new memories now, and I'm going to make them count. I just wish I knew what happened to him.." I paused for a breath, giving my head a bit of a shake. This wasn't the time for what ifs.
When I looked back to Annabeth she had an almost torn look on her face as she rested her fingers on her first camp bead. I realized then that she was probably thinking about her friend Thalia's sacrifice and I noticed how similar our cases were.
"Well, that doesn't matter right now. Chester attacked with some powers so I had to change plans and use the shadows to get to him. We saw each other once I came back out and we both swung." I lowered my knife so it was resting on my ankles, painfully aware of what happened next and that eerie flash of gold in his eyes. After a moment I looked up at her and met her eyes. "Would you kill to save a life?" I ended it with that. I didn't talk about the gold or Nick and I's last words to each other. Those last minutes I held close to me. I couldn't let anything about Kronos slip either, she was a smart girl. Heck, she had figured out who I was, but the news about Kronos would just cause a panic. We had to play our cards right.
"Nick, he promised I wouldn't be forgotten and it looks like he made sure of that. You can't choose your parentage, but you can choose the legacy you leave behind." I made my knife return. My head still hurt but less so, as if getting all that off my chest helped.
"I'm just worried about how Percy is reacting, how much he saw and how he is understanding it. I don't want him to think he can't trust me, or you and Grover for that matter too." I looked to her again to see her with a pensive look on. Then she got up, paused in front of me, then gave me a hug. I wasn't expecting that type of reaction so I froze. She detached herself after a couple seconds.
"Allison, what you did was the right thing, I won't judge you for it. If anything what you did just shows what great and strong person you are. You had some tough choices, but you worked through them. That was a really brave thing you did, and to accept it like that. I'm sorry about Nick though, but thank you for telling me, and I do trust you. I will keep this between us unless you tell me not to. As for Percy, well he will come around. I'm going downstairs to let you have some alone time. Get some rest and get cleaned up. I will meet up with you later." She concluded, stuffing her cap back into her pocket. She paused at the door for a moment but then left to go meet up with the boys in the almost mythical land of games.
I sat for a little thinking over what just happened and decided I should get out of my head, get off my butt, and do something productive like getting cleaned up-I needed it. I hopped into the shower and washed up, finding a new pair of clothes from the closet and put them on, throwing my hair up with one of the hair ties generously provided for us in the bathroom. I snagged a few for later too. They were so much better than hair ribbons. It is always best to fight with a clear view of your surroundings so I might as well take advantage of what was supplied while I can.
The choices of the closet were actually pretty good too. There was this nice jacket that I decided to take despite the heat outside. Even if it we were in a place in the desert in the middle of summer, I had started to feel a bit chilly. It was a simple dark leather-jacket-hoodie mix that had a lot of hidden pockets; perfect for a demigod. As I put the jacket on something shiny caught my eye. It was a silver ring that had a silver Cerberus on it, which was odd, but on an impulse I took it.
I got rid of the stuff from Waterland and refilled my backpack with supplies, making sure to restock our food and water. I found something for my head in the cabinet behind the mirror and decided it was time to meet up with the rest of the group. I chose to take my pack with me, I had a feeling that I wouldn't be seeing this place again for a while.
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