Authors notes: Chapter 4 is out and this is a longer chapter than the last two. Again, please review even if it's just to say good job. Thanks =)
After another six hours on the train, the server woke us up and said, "We shall be in Las Vegas in 10 minutes. Please start getting your belongings together."
"Ok sir, thank you." We started to move around, gathering our book bags and making sure our weapons weren't stolen while we were asleep. The train came to a stop and we got off.
Now, if you have never been to Vegas and you are going there for the first time without any adults, be prepared. The lights and the sounds in New York were nothing compared to here. Everywhere you looked, lights were lighting up or turning off or somebody was yelling at somebody else. It made me feel right at home.
"Ok Jeremy, we're here. Where is this hotel anyway?"
"It's right behind us." We turned around and were staring at the biggest building in the entire city. It was a giant building with more light than any other building around and it had a depiction of a giant lotus on the front of it and under that was the words "Lotus Hotel and Casino."
"Wow Jeremy, that place is enormous. You're sure that we'll be safe inside there?"
"As long as my dad told me the truth, we should be. Now come on, we're going to be in there for a long time, we should probably go check in." We eagerly walked over to the building and noticed that the inside was packed, but not with adults. Inside was about 10,000 or so teenagers, all playing pinball, watching a movie in the cinema, or playing sports in the giant sports arena. "I think I'm going to enjoy myself here."
"Yeah, you said it." We ran inside and were instantly greeted by the doorman.
"Hello. Are you going to be staying here?" He was about 25 years old and had jet-black hair and hazel eyes.
"Yeah we are but we don't have a lot of money." I remembered that we spent almost all our money on our way here.
"There is no need for money here. Just take these green cards and they're good for anything at the hotel. Now go up to your room, put your stuff away, and once again welcome to the hotel." We took the cards from his hand. They read room 2323 on them and we assumed that was our room number.
We went over to the stairs and went up to the third floor. Apparently, floor one was rooms 1-1,000 and so on and so forth. When we arrived at the room, we were amazed at the size of it. There was a giant white living room with a very comfy looking light brown couch, three giant bedrooms with king size beds in each room and three giant bathroom attached to the bedrooms.
"Oh my gods. This place is amazing." Cathleen ran over to the middle bedroom and immediately claimed it as hers. "This bed is really comfortable." She closed the door to her room and we assumed that she was either putting her stuff away and either going to bed or taking a shower.
"Jeremy, why don't you take the room on the left and I'll take the room on the right, ok."
"Sure. I could really use a bath and then another nap."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." We laughed and went into our rooms. My room reminded me of my cabin. It had the same smell of the ocean and the same color scheme to it. I thought about Iris-messaging my mother to let her know where I was, but if she told the camp, we may be caught. "Ok, time for a shower." I grabbed a pair of fresh shorts, some underwear, a new t-shirt, my bag of toiletries, and walked into the bathroom. It was huge, plain and simple.
It had a shower, a Jacuzzi, and a bathtub plus a toilet, a sink, and a small water fountain. "Wow, this really is a fancy hotel." I set my clothes and bag on the counter and turned the water on to just the right setting. It was instantly ready for me to get in. I started to take my clothes off and threw them into the hamper that I didn't realize was there in the first place.
The water felt good against my skin and it seemed to wash away all the fears and worries I had about coming here. I just stood there in the shower for I don't know how long and the water never got cold, which I thought was a good thing. I cleaned over my body and messaged my aching muscles. My chest muscles were achy and my stomach muscles were in just as much pain. My lower back and groin area seemed to be the only part that didn't ache, probably due to the face that it wasn't hit during the last fight. I skipped relieving myself and just washed up.
After about another 30 minutes I decided that is was time to get out. I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower into the very steamy bathroom. I didn't need a towel to dry off, I just made the water leave my body and go down the drain. I stood in front of the mirror and forced the steam off of it.
I stood, looking at myself, "Damn, I got some more muscles since the last time I checked." I laughed and put my clothes on. I went into my bedroom part to take a well-deserved nap drifting into sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
* * *
Now, dreams for demigods are normally a bad thing, either giving us visions of our friends in danger or the bad things some of the other demigods were doing, but this dream was really depressing, especially after the first half of it.
It started at camp, where Chiron was pacing back and forth, asking himself "How could I let them sneak off that easily? I should have sent somebody after them when they didn't show up for breakfast."
He was really beating himself up for something, but I couldn't remember what it was. "Ryan, Cathleen, I hope your safe from the gods wrath." When he said Cathleen's names, and mine I remembered that it was our fault that he was acting this way and worried sick. I felt bad for doing this to Chiron, but at least he was safe and not in trouble with the gods, yet.
Then it shifted to about 10 years later. Chiron was still there, but he looked a little different. He cut his hair shorter and kept his beard trimmed. He was talking to a half-blood I hade never seen before. He had short blond hair and had grey eyes, probably a son of Athena. "You have been given a quest to go search for the Golden Fleece. We believe it is in the Sea of Monsters, but we are not sure. Are you ready for this task Andrew?"
"Yes Chiron, I am." He was accompanied by two of his brother, or so I thought, because they looked a lot like him. "Come on Steven, Tyler. Let's go get the fleece."
They left the camp and my dream seemed to follow them. They fought against a Minotaur and a couple of hellhounds along the way and won. When they got to the entrance of the sea, they were faced with a giant hydra.
It chomped at them and started to open it's middle mouth. "Look out, the middle one sprays acid." However, it was too late. His brother Steven turned and ran but wasn't fast enough and was covered in a cloud of toxic green gas. He melted into a pile of blood, bones, and armor.
"How could you do that hydra? Now you're going to pay." He ran towards his brother Tyler and they took out a jar of Greek fire. "Eat this!" He threw the jar and it exploded when it hit the beast. It lashed out, hitting both Tyler and Andrew with its claw, and set them on fire as well. "Oh no. This can't be happening." Both brothers were burned to ashes and so was they hydra.
Then I went to a more pleasant setting. Another 10 years had passed and the camp was filled with many odd-looking half-bloods. They wore multi-colored shirts and small, round sunglasses. They were always saying "Groovy dude, make peace not war man."
It was annoying at times but the music they listened to was actually good music. The group called "The Beatles" was a very good group, which I found out that they were all children of Apollo. "Chiron dude, what am I doing for my quest." A black haired girl asked a now normal looking Chiron.
"Ah yes, Lucy, your quest is simple. You are to help the hunters track down their goddess Artemis. She has gone missing again, searching for a powerful monster."
"Sounds easy enough man. I'll go pick my teammates and we'll be on our way."
"No Lucy, you must make this journey alone with the hunters. They will be here in the morning. Go rest up and be prepared."
"Ok dude." She went to bed and woke up in the morning. The hunters were at the foot of the hill waiting for Lucy to arrive. "Hey dudettes, so where are we going."
"We are heading to the west to save our goddess from the Nemean Lion and the Stymphalian Bird.
Separate they pose no threat, but together they are a very powerful and Artemis could not take them out by herself. They also have the Beatles captive due to their influence on society." The hunter with auburn hair and light brown skin. "My name is Zoë Nightshade. I am the lieutenant for Lady Artemis."
"Hello Zoë, my name is Lucy. I am ready to help you save your goddess."
"Thank thou Lucy, who is your Olympian parent anyways?"
"I am a daughter of Zeus. I was not supposed to be born due to the treaty made by the Big Three about 20 years ago, but I guess everybody has to break the rules sometimes."
"That is true Lucy. Thank thou for your help. We should be heading out, come along." They began their journey westward and my dream skipped ahead until they were in Las Angeles, fighting a giant bird. "Lucy, go free the Beatles and Lady Artemis over in the next building. Do not worry, we will cover you." Lucy ran into the next building and saw the Beatles and Lady Artemis chained up on the far end of the room.
"Lady Artemis, Beatles, I'm coming to get you." She ran across room, freed the Beatles, and turned to Artemis when she heard a great big roar. "What was that?" She turned around and saw the Nemean Lion claw her away from the goddess.
"Lucy! Are you alright?" John Lennon ran across the room and saw that Lucy was hurt.
"Light…ning." Lucy shot lightning at the chains binding Artemis to the wall and freed her.
"Lucy, you are a brave young girl. I am sorry your sacrificed yourself like this. You shall be honored like a hero."
"Thank you lady." She closed her eyes, a tear trickled down her cheek. Artemis put her hand over Lucy's mouth and pulled out some white light. She went outside and threw the light into the sky.
"What did you do with that light?" John Lennon asked the goddess.
"I created a constellation to remember her bravery." He started to think for a minute.
"That actually gives me a good idea for a song. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
"That sounds like a good song title."
"Yeah, now I think your hunters need your help."
"Yes, I shall be leaving now. Please take care."
I awoke in my bed after Lady Artemis ran to her lieutenant and started to fire a fury of arrows that took down both the lion and the bird instantly. I went out into the living room to find Jeremy and Cathleen sitting down playing chess. "Hey guys, did either of you have a really weird dream last night?"
"Yeah, I had a few of dreams last night. They either were in the 1970's or in the 1980's. That's weird; I mean it's only 1944 right?"
"Not necessarily." We looked at Jeremy with confusion clearly on our faces. "Remember what I told you about this place. 10 minutes in here could be 10 days or 10 years out in the real world. In my dreams, I saw the 1900's and the 2000's. Ryan, I saw your half brother save the world from the raise Kronus and I saw my half brother and sister and Cathleen's half sister as well all in my dream. They were all very brave and apparently, my brother and sister were here as well. I think its time we leave here and head back to this Camp Half-Blood I saw a lot in my dreams."
"I think that's a good idea Jeremy. Lets keep these cards though, I have a feeling they may be of value to us." We packed our things back into our bag and headed down the stairs.
When we got back to the lobby, there was a whole lot more games in the lobby than there was when we went upstairs to sleep. "Wow, what are these types of games here?" Jeremy started over towards the games, but I grabbed his arm.
"No Jeremy, we have to leave, if it's really in the 2000's, then we slept for over 56 years outside but was really only 8 hours or so in here."
He pouted for a minute, "Yeah, I guess you're right Ryan. Come on, let's go." We left out of the main doors and were in awe. The years really had past that quickly. The amount of lights in the entire city had maybe quintupled minimally, and the Lotus Hotel and Casino was no longer the biggest building in the city. The water fountains and the buildings from around the world caught us all off guard.
"Wow Ryan, this town looks amazing." Cathleen loved big cities and I could tell she was imagining how much New York City had changed.
"Yeah but we cannot be distracted anymore. Let's leave and head towar…" I collided with two teenage girls about to walk into the casino behind us. "Ow. Hey watch where you're…" They both had light brown hair, almost a sandy color, light color skin, and beautiful red-yellow eyes. The one on the left was dressed in a black t-shirts that had what we assumed to be the name of a band or something. She wore makeup in a weird way that looked good on her. The girl on the left was wearing similar clothing, only white and not as much makeup.
"Watch where you're going punk. Didn't you see us walking towards that casino behind you?" The girl on the left told me. "Come on Ashley."
"Wait, you two are demigods aren't you?"
"Yes we are. We are twin daughters of Apollo. Why does it matter to you?" Ashley said.
"We are all demigods here. My name is Cathleen Vander and I am a daughter of Zeus."
"My name is Ryan Pavid and I am a son of Poseidon."
"My name is Jeremy Hagid and I am a son of Hades."
"Oh my gods, you are all children of the Big 3." The twin whose name I didn't know bowed down. "My name is Arista Eloquis and this is my twin sister Ashley Eloquis. We're both 17 years old." Ashley bowed after her sister was finished talking.
They both got back onto their feet, "Now, may we please go into that hotel over there? It looks like a lot of fun."
"I do not think that's a good idea. If you go into that casino, you will not want to leave and time passes faster out here than in there. We went inside that hotel in 1944 and all we thought we did was go up to our room and take a quick nap."
Both girls looked at each other and Arista looked at me with her red-yellow eyes full of thanks. "Really? Thank you very much for saving us from entering that wretched place."
She quickly whispered to her sister who was very happy with their talk when they were done. "May I ask where you three demigods are going and if you wont mind could we go with you?"
"We are heading to Long Island to a camp for children like us. Of course, you may come with us. I think it'll be fun to finally have some girls to hang with." The girls squealed happily,
"Thank you very much. We both have weapons to help defend each other and we are both very good at healing in case anybody gets hurt." So with our now group of 5, we headed towards the airport that our new friends Arista and Ashley told us about and got on a plane headed towards Cleveland, Ohio.