AN 8/8/15: Hello! So I just wanted to say I really hope you like this chapter, it took a lot of thought and plotting, good and evil ;) Also I wanted to leave a note for Olo Eopia03 once they get to this, thanks for the in-depth reviews, they are really awesome to read and to know others are enjoying the story to that level is pretty sweet. I have been working with my one friend (Let's call him Bob, ie. the one who helped me start this awesome journey) for more things and ideas, I have a nice load of evil plots now, more than my usual. Thank you guys for understanding about camp week but I am looking forward to reading your reactions to this chapter. To the Guest who commented, I'm honestly not sure how well I could write a story based off of those two, I am not as familiar with the characters to that level to write them to what I would consider well, but thank you for your comment! I am primarily invested in Into the Darkness at the moment though, but that doesn't mean I am not open to ideas. It's really cool to see the general demographics of where all you guys are from, I even saw someone from Denmark on there. Tak for at være fantastisk. (I have a friend over there). Either way it is awesome to see the regions where you guys are from and to think that people are reading this from that far away! Thanks for all the follows and favorites though, I will cut this short though as this is getting long, but thanks again all of you for being awesome!
Once I got back downstairs into the main games area I started my search for the others. As I walked past flashing lights, enticing video game music, and snack bars, I eventually passed some boys who looked to be wearing clothes that belonged in the time I grew up in. As I grew closer I managed to pick up on some of their conversation.
"Hey, did you see that dame by the mini-golf? She's got some moxie to her, am I right?" One with blonde hair said, nudging his friend with his elbow and gesturing to a girl a little ways away. His word choice almost made me stop walking. Nobody I knew from this era used those kinds of terms anymore, especially at the age the boys looked to be. Those terms had been popular when I was a kid. This place didn't feel right.
I had been looking up at some kids going down the waterslide when I bumped into something hard and stumbled back, nearly falling but I grasped something soft to steady myself. I looked to see what I had run into to see a girl about my age, maybe a little younger, recovering from the collision as well. I quickly released her arm - at least it seemed to have steadied her too. She had dark hair, brown eyes, and some freckles. She seemed familiar but I couldn't place her.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" She fumbled out, fixing her hat.
"No, no. It's okay, I wasn't looking either, sorry. My name is Allison, by the way." I smiled as I stuck out my hand to her. It may have been odd saying introducing myself randomly like that but I just felt I owed her that at least. After a moment she shook it, casting a glance around as if looking for someone.
"Bianca. Hey, have you seen a boy about this tall," She held up her hand to show. "Who looks like me and probably holding some cards or rambling about Mythomagic? He's my little brother, Nico. I can't find him anywhere. I left him alone for one second and I turn around and he's gone." She asked. I noticed that her hat was floppy and green, and she had on a long skirt, almost like one I would see from other girls at school with Nick. Again that struck me.
"Oh, no. I haven't seen anyone like that, sorry. But I can help you look for him if you want?" I knew I had to find the others, we were still on a quest after all, but I just felt compelled to help her, like we had a connection.
She hesitated for a moment, looking at me as if debating trusting me, then spoke. "Sure, thank you. I think he went this way, come on." She pointed in the direction of a retro-themed snack bar.
We set off, both looking around for her little brother Nico. Bianca had a familiar slight Italian accent, something I hadn't heard in a while from someone her age. Kids now didn't really have accents very often, at least from that area of the world. Everyone's families had been living in this country longer unlike families in my time. Their accents had faded with the years. My mother used to speak with a slight hint of a similar accent, but over time it had gradually started fading. I was younger so I grew to not have that, though it did come out sometimes from when I was little before school started. People in the area we lived in spoke English and Spanish more commonly as well, so I had picked up a little Spanish, but it was still strange to hear someone with an accent like that again.
Now that I actually looked I realized that Bianca and I shared some pretty similar features. We both had our dark hair and brown eyes, even sharing freckles between us. We had similar facial features in a way and both of us seemed to hint at an older time too. This is too weird... I had this feeling that I couldn't quite identify yet.
"There he is!" Bianca suddenly said, pointing to a games table. "Oh, no." She quickly grabbed my wrist and rushed us over to the scene. By the tables was a young boy, probably about ten by my guess, holding a stack of cards, backed against a table. Cornering him were two older boys, about fifteen. By the way they held themselves they gave off the impression of trying to be intimidating to Nico, or making fun of him. They were cornering him either way. I scowled as I saw one of the boys, the one with a 90's teen punk wannabe look, smack the cards out of Nico's hands and burst out laughing. The cards fluttered to the floor, landing in disarray.
Bianca and I arrived and she quickly took a hold of Nico, pulling him behind her. I stood a little off to the side, ready to step in if needed. I wasn't too fond of these boys even before speaking to them. I didn't like bullies, the people who were in class with me knew that well.
"What are you doing with my brother? I thought I told you to stay away from these guys, Nico!" She looked back at him for explanation.
"I-I don't know. They just came up to me while I was sorting my new expansion deck." He said, clearly feeling threatened by the older boys, and I didn't blame him.
"Look at this kid, Felix, hiding behind his sister." The one who knocked the cards away laughed and pushed Bianca so she bumped into Nico behind her, but to her credit she stayed between them. My eyes narrowed. The other, who I assumed to be Felix, responded.
"I know right, Chester? He's always walking around with his head in those cards for babies, hiding behind his sister like a sissy." I froze as I heard the first boy's name: Chester. A painful feeling hit my gut, right where the last Chester I had known left his mark. I stepped quickly between Bianca and Nico and the boys before I even knew what I was doing, holding my arms out to make it clear that if they wanted to mess with them they would have to go through me, fixing them with a hard glare. I don't know what compelled me to do that exactly, maybe it was because another Chester was doing things like that to someone, or the growing feeling of needing to protect these two, like a protective older sibling. Plus the fact that they had started getting physical to Bianca.
"Hey, baboon faces! I suggest stepping back and leaving, you don't have any business here. Leave them be." I stared at the boys, daring them to argue. They just looked down at me and laughed. Both were taller than I was by a considerable amount but that wouldn't stop them from getting their butts handed to them if they didn't leave within the next ten seconds. Height difference never stopped me from beating Nick, nor would it these boys.
"Wow, someone's full of herself. Who even are you? I've never seen you around before, shorty." This Chester taunted.
"Who are you to pick on a little kid? He was doing nothing wrong, what makes you so privileged to mess with his fun? Do you think you are you Churchill, or FDR? On second thought, you are too petty to be them, they would never pick on a little kid like that- my bad."
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, his tiny brain probably trying to process the insult.
"It means you are acting like a petty little maggot when you pick on them, is that clear enough for you?" My temper was rising, just like with the Ares kids when they tried picking on someone younger and supposedly weaker than them. As it was they both got a more ticked off look on their ugly faces.
"Come on, kid. Just move." Felix said, but Chester wouldn't have it.
"Well aren't you just trying to be a little hero then, aren't you? Where's your cape?" This Chester took a step closer.
"It's about to be stuffed down your throat." I thought that was pretty good censoring, but they weren't a fan of that comment apparently either way. This Chester, as fast and hard as he probably could, tried to shove me but I turned and sent a punch straight into his nose. Hard. The pent up anger finally snapping. I heard Bianca gasp behind me and Nico say, "Whoa!" under his breath.
"What the hell! That freaking girl actually punched me!" He yelled as he turned to his buddy, clutching his nose to staunch the blood flow.
"Aw, did wittle Chester get a boo-boo? Does he need a kiss from mommy?" Felix then tried to shove me but I swatted away his hands and activated my necklace. I held my knife protectively in front of us, pushing Bianca and Nico back a bit further behind with my other hand. I could easily take out these two idiots without it, but I wanted to leave a lasting impression. Clearly they had messed with the siblings before and I wanted to make it clear not to do it again, in the very least for Bianca's peace of mind.
Both boy's eyes widened and they took a few steps back at the sight of my knife appearing seemingly out of nowhere. I silently praised myself for choosing the stygian iron over steel; much better for effect.
"If you don't leave right now, and never mess with Bianca or Nico again, I will let you go. But I assure you, if you choose not to, I am very handy with this and not afraid to use it. Just try me." I spoke in a low tone, pulling the child of Hades aura we were famous for. We could be scary when we wanted to be. I felt this section of the game room grow darker in response to my mood, the sounds of the games getting further away. I turned my knife too as I spoke, pulling a page out of Ares's book and cleaned my fingernails slightly to display the dark blade and how at ease I was handling it, just for extra effect.
I usually didn't like doing this to mortals, but these idiots messed with the wrong people. The dunderheads looked at each other, fear in their eyes, nodded quickly at me, then booked it.
I put away my knife and turned back to Bianca and Nico, the game room lights returning to normal. Nico had started collecting his fallen cards after the two boys left and Bianca was staring at me wide eyed. I crouched down and picked up the cards nearest me. I handed them back to Nico and he took them gingerly with a goofy child like grin on his face, placing them on the top of his deck. It was nice seeing kids happy. Some of my favorite memories were the town dances during the summer and seeing the little kids dancing around to the music, laughing and giggling as they jumped around. It made me miss those simpler times.
"That was amazing, you're so awesome! How did you do that? Where did you get that?" He asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet after he had finished quickly gathering the last of his cards.
"It was nothing. Those boys deserved it, picking on you like that. That's just flat out being a bully. And that, Nico, is a secret." I held up a finger to my lips for emphasis, smiling at him. I suddenly felt arms around me squeezing. I winced a bit but I returned the gesture, albeit slightly awkwardly.
"Thank you, Allison. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't intervened. Usually they just say stuff then get bored and go away. I just met you but you stood up for us. That was the nicest thing anyone has done for us." Bianca said as she pulled away. I blushed at all the praise. All I did was what was right, those kids were asking for it anyway. Had Nick been there they would have probably ended up in the pool at the end of the waterslide anyway.
"Here Allison, that's your name, right? I want you to have this!" Nico said as he pulled on my sleeve and put one of his Mythomagic cards in my hand. I looked down at the card and read the character, then got a sudden chill even with my new jacket on. The figure on the card was Hades. I looked back to Nico, who was currently bouncing even more than before.
"Um, thanks Nico. I don't know what to say. I'll be sure to keep this safe, I can tell these cards mean a lot to you." I stored the card in the box with the picture of Nick for safe keeping. My hand brushed against something and I had a spur of the moment idea. I pulled out a Chimera tooth and put it in Nico's hand.
"Here, I want you to have this too, as a reminder to always be brave and stick up for others. Also, that way we will have something to remember each other by, alright?" His eyes widened to make his expression look almost cartoon like. He reverently accepted the spoil of war and held it up to his eyes for a closer look.
"Wow! Thanks! This is sooo cool! What type of tooth is it? It looks big!" He asked eagerly, giving me that huge smile, and continued examining the tooth, still bouncing in excitement. He was definitely a hyper kid.
"Hm, well.. let's say it's a Chimera tooth, from your card game. You can put it on a necklace or something if you want, that's what I think I'm going to do with mine." I took out the second to show him. "They match, two of a kind."
Bianca was looking at our exchange. "You know, he will never stop talking about this now, right?" She told me but she had a small smile. I felt like I couldn't leave Bianca out though, even if she wouldn't use it, it was still something. She seemed like a brave person. Hopefully she would never have to put it to use, but it just felt like the right thing to do.
"Sorry, and actually, I think I have something I want you to have, too. This has gotten me out of a good number of tough situations in the past." I pulled her a little ways away and slipped my steel knife from its hiding place and handed it to her, hilt first. "Even if you don't use it, which I wouldn't want to think you would ever have to, it is still something." I said quickly after seeing her face.
"I can't accept this.."
"Maybe not, but I am leaving it here either way. I want you to have it though, for good luck. Besides, I still have some tricks up my sleeve, it won't handicap me to not have it. I probably have enough things like it anyway." I took her hand and placed the knife- sheathe and all in it, and closed her fingers around it. I was lucky Annabeth had decided to take my sword for the time being, she said she wanted to see if there was any place she could practice for a bit with it. It would be kind of tough explaining a sword strapped to your belt.
"Bianca, if worst comes to worst, you can protect Nico with it. He is a good kid, but he still needs some protection from everything by someone like you. I can tell he looks up to you. You never know what is out there in the world. Look up some movies maybe about fighting, never know when it will be useful, especially with jerks like those boys around. Stay within view of the staff members here if you want the extra security too for however long you are staying here, but I don't think those two will mess with you again. I can see you, with a little practice, being able to beat knuckleheads like those up easily." I said as I met her eerily familiar eyes.
She hesitated but nodded. "Okay. It's just me and Nico. I can't remember a time before when it was just the two of us though. It's weird, but thank you. I will keep him safe, and that might not be a bad idea."
"Don't forget to take care of yourself too." We went back over to Nico, who was busy shuffling through his cards like he was looking for one in particular. "It was really nice to meet you two, we will have to talk again some time. But I have to go find my friends, they are probably looking for me right now." I said in realization, remembering the whole reason to me being here in the first place. I had gotten so wrapped up in what was happening that I forgot for a short time. I had to go see what the others were up to and decide when to leave. This place still made me jumpy, it was just off-kilter.
"Found it!" Nico said as he brandished his Chimera Mythomagic card, then he processed what I said. "Aw, you're leaving?" He was clearly not happy about his new buddy with the awesome stuff to leave so soon. His cheery expression dampened a bit. This kid was just a ball of energy though. I looked to Bianca for help, I knew she would understand my need to go.
Bianca nodded and spoke to her brother. "Nico, she has to go for now. We will see her again, don't worry." Nico complied but he still had that sad kid look on his face.
"Well, I'll see you two later. Stick together you two, you are a good pair. Best of luck to you." I started walking off and offered a little wave back at them. They looked a bit disappointed, and I was too to be honest, but I knew I had to go.
By the time I found Percy he was trying to snap Annabeth out of her building game.
"Come on Annabeth, we have to leave, like now!" He was saying but to no avail, she was having none of it. When Percy saw me coming a brief look of confusion and confliction crossed his face, but he seemed to push it aside, a desperate type of look in his eyes, and closed the distance between us. Once we met up he told me what he had discovered.
"Ally, there are kids here from the 70's who don't age! They still think that it has only been a few days since they arrived too. We have to get out of here! You check in but you never check out! Help me get Annabeth, then we can find Grover." He told me as he started dragging me over to where she was playing. My sword was resting propped against the machine to the side, forgotten. I scooped it up and re-clipped it to my belt. I didn't like the implications of what Percy told me, but I couldn't spend time fretting about it. We needed to get out ASAP. What I did realize though was the name: The Lotus Hotel and Casino. Just like the Land of the Lotus Eaters in the Odyssey. Odysseus had to drag his men away from that place. This was the perfect modern-day version of that. Heck, you didn't even need to eat anything special to get wrapped up into the plot of the place; one look inside and you are instantly hooked.
"Annabeth, it's time to leave the game for a bit, come on. You can go back to it later if you want, we have to plan. You like that stuff, remember?" I tried as I attempted to tug her away but she stood firm. "Annabeth, come on. I'm serious, there's danger." Still nothing. I looked to Percy and his face suddenly brightened and he quickly came up to her.
"Annabeth, spiders. Large, hairy spiders." He told her, looking her directly in the eye. That jarred her and her vision cleared.
"Oh my gods," she said. "How long have we-"
"I don't know but we've got to find Grover."
We started to search for him and after a bit we finally found him at a Virtual Deer Hunter game. The game was flip-flopped too so the deer were the hunting the humans, very enticing for satyrs.
"Grover!" We yelled.
"Die, human! Die, silly polluting, nasty human!"
"Grover!" He turned and aimed the plastic gun at us and started clicking, as if we were just another image projected from the game. We shared a look and took Grover by the arms and started dragging him away. His flying shoes tried to put up a fight but we managed to make headway toward the door. "No! I just got to a new level! No!"
The Lotus bellhop from earlier hurried up to us once he saw what was happening. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"
"We're leaving." Percy told him.
"Such a shame," he said sincerely. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members." Grover tried to reach for a card from the man's hands but I swatted his hand and we dragged him away.
"No, thanks." Annabeth said to the bellhop, giving him the evil eye.
As we walked toward the door the smell of food and the sounds of the games increased, but to me it just made my headache get worse. The magic of the hotel attempting me into going back was doing just the opposite. The magic was failing to work on me until I suddenly thought I heard a voice and turned around on impulse. It was a voice I hadn't heard in years and hearing it made my heart ache, the familiar longing for the people of my past storming into me like a hurricane to a beach. I could swear I saw a glimpse of light brown hair further back in the Lotus. I stopped dead in my tracks, a flurry of emotions raged through me, cementing me in place. Is it him? Before I could go any closer to get a better look I was pulled out of the doors.
I absently took off my jacket and stuffed it into my backpack, the desert heat hitting me. That had to be just a trick, it has to be, he's gone. But I still felt like I needed to go back but Percy didn't give me the chance. I walked in a daze as he quickly brought us to the nearest newsstand. As he did I idly noticed the backpack from Ares was back on him. I went up next to him as he grabbed a paper and caught a look at the date on the newspaper after I saw his devastated look. I knew what that felt like, times a few decades, and now I was experiencing it again. It was already June twentieth. We had been in the Lotus for five days, less than roughly half a century, but still really bad. We had just one more day left to complete this quest and bring Zeus the master bolt, one day to the solstice.
That evil cliffhanger though. Lots of development, be sure to tell me what you thought! Have an epic week!