Christina:
"Where are we Christina?" Logan demanded. It was three days after being at the Four Corner Monument and I had been in human form for two. We were in Colorado City, still heading west as fast as possible. Along the way, I tried hard not to think about losing Alethia completely. As we walked, I took out my sword because recently, I had a dream about this sword and for some reason, it was really special in some way.
"Christina?" asked Acacia. "What is that in front of you?"
"What?" I looked up and jumped back in surprise, nearly slicing the Iris-message of Chiron.
"Jeez Chiron. Tell me next time," I advised.
"Sorry. Good to see that you're in one piece and so is the rest of the group," he replied.
"Yeah. I guess. Is there something you need to tell us?"
"Yes. But first, tell me everything that has happened since the last time you Iris-messaged me."
"Chiron, I'll tell when we get back from the quest," I sighed
"Seeing if we live long enough," mumbled Logan. I shot him a look telling him to stop being negative.
"Fine. Anyways, yes I have something to tell you. Zeus called me to Olympus along with Dionysus to have a small meeting with some other gods. And he said that…that he wanted his daughter back by the summer solstice, three days from now." I shuddered. My dream from last night had been correct. If only I could tell Chiron about something that might need to be reported to Olympus…
"Ok. We'll do our best to get her back by then," I said reassuringly.
"Zeus says he knows you will succeed and your parents," he paused. "They said that you need to follow you heart because its leading you to the right place and that they know you will do what is right for you so you can figure out and fix, ah, certain things." I paled in the face. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I didn't like it but I knew it might take two years for me to figure out and fix those certain things.
"I guess. So is that all?" I said.
"Yeah. I know you need to go, so I'm just going to…you know…go."
"Um, yeah. That would probably be best seeing how we have three days now," I replied uncomfortably. Chiron nodded and waved his hand through the Iris-message. I looked at Logan and everyone else and started walking without a word.
Later on in the day, Lillian and Logan got into a fight after we found something to eat.
"Why do you keep hiding things?" yelled Logan.
"Because you don't need to know yet! Why are you so anxious to figure out and know?" Lillian yelled back.
"Things might make sense if you would tell me!" Logan answered.
"Wisdom isn't always good for you!"
"Come on!" he drawled. "Your mother is the goddess of wisdom! Why are you saying this!"
"It's not always good for you when your not ready for it!" she shouted.
"That is the most stupidest, insane, idiotic comment I have ever heard from you!" he spilled.
"Yeah well at least I'm not the one who makes the stupidest, insane, idiotic and lame comments all the time!"
If they keep up like this, I swear, I'm not going to be to thrilled, I thought.
"Oh, I make the stupidest, idiotic, lame comments all the time? What is wrong with you? Your always talking with Christina when you think I'm not listening or watching about things you won't tell me! Even Christina won't!" he retorted.
"Got that right," I muttered to Acacia, Kyra and Alec who were looking nervous.
"Yeah. I have because you barely know anything about me let alone Christina!" Lillian replied raising her voice.
"I know things about Christina!"
"Not as much as other people do!"
"Who cares if other people do? I'm Christina's brother!" Logan hollered.
"Yeah, and I'm her sister! We've done everything together and I know just as much as she knows about her and anything else!" Lillian retorted.
"We've done almost everything together and Lillian knows almost just as much I know about me and anything else," I told the others without Lillian and Logan hearing me. The three shook their heads.
"Is it always like this?" Alec asked.
"Nah. Lillian just, ah, dislikes him," I replied.
"I can see why," Acacia said. Kyra smacked Acacia.
"Don't be mean. He just doesn't understand. That's all."
"Hey, don't get mad with me because what I just said was the truth. Logan is kind of annoying," Acacia said defensively.
"Please don't fight or else I'm gonna be pretty pissed," I interrupted before Kyra could reply.
"You know what? Sometimes, I wish you would just stop acting like this!" Logan shouted.
"And you know what I wish? That you would stop being annoying and stop acting like a smart aleck!"
"I'm annoying and a smart aleck? Look at you! You're so annoying when you think you know everything! You are so annoying-," yelled Lillian.
"That's it. I've had it with them bickering," I growled.
"think that you can do everything! You're a smart aleck when you-," he started.
"Just shut up will you guys! I'm sick and tired of you fighting and saying these things to one another! I bet Acacia, Alec and Kyra are sick of it too! Seriously! We're going to tear ourselves apart just like Hades-", I froze. I almost said something that I didn't want to say.
"Just like Hades what?" Lillian asked.
"N-nothing," I stuttered. "The point is," I said firmly because they were raising their eyebrows, "you really need to stop fighting. If you say another word to one another, I swear that I will-," thunder boomed overhead even though it was clear skies, drowning my words.
"Really!" I yelled at the sky. "Trying to say something important and you send thunder?" Thunder boomed again.
"Fine! I won't say anymore!" I answered. "Jeez!" Acacia looked at me kind of funny.
"Don't ask," I told her. She nodded but I figured she understood what the thunder thing was about. We trekked farther in silence. After of few miles of it, Alec broke the silence.
"So…what city is next?" I thought for a second.
"Las Vegas," I said.
"Cool! Can we spend a night or two there? Do we get to gamble? Can we visit all the cool little replicas they have?" Alec asked.
"Um, no. Sorry. We're on a time limit and besides, we're all underage to gamble. But maybe, when we are passing through Las Vegas, we can check out some of the replicas."
"Yes!" he exclaimed. I exchanged looks with Acacia. She shrugged. It was afternoon so the sun was in our eyes. While we walked, I got so bored, that I pulled out my silver bow and arrows and shot random billboards we passed. They were those billboards that were out in the country randomly telling you how many miles you had until you hit this city or advertisements. Soon that got boring. Finally, I couldn't stand the fact that we weren't moving fast enough. I turned into my animal and we traveled a few miles. Once I turned back into a human, I took out the Morph Sphere and examined it. I threw it and sure enough it would return.
Lillian was keeping her distance from Logan who was having a little chat with Alec. And us girls were walking together. As we passed another billboard telling us we had one more mile left, I began to feel nervous.
We reached Las Vegas around five. We walked through the city and after a while, I said, "Whoa guys. Check that out."
All around us, there were casino's, replicas and hotels. It was amazing to see all these sights. Finally, we stopped in front of a casino that looked interesting. It took me a minute to decipher the big blue letters on top which read 'Biggest Kid's Casino Ever!'. We all looked at one another and Logan said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to play a few games for a few hours."
"Logan. We're on a time schedule like I said earlier," I answered.
"I know Christina. But it wouldn't hurt to take a break for a bit would it? I mean, we could stay in the hotel if they have one and then tomorrow morning catch a cab or a bus to like Los Angeles since that's one of the places that Poseidona and Athena told you where Alethia might be. Besides, it's only a four hour drive there and we still have three days left," Logan reasoned. I looked at the casino and then back at everyone else. I mean, yeah, we could use a break, but still, only three days left and we were only in Nevada. Sure Alethia could be in Los Angeles like my mom, dad and Logan just now mentioned. But Athena and Poseidon also said she might be in San Francisco City or just the area of San Fran called The Bay Area.
"But Logan, she could be in San Francisco City or just the area of San Fran which is The Bay Area."
"Ok well, still. Just for a few hours."
"I guess. But only for a few hours," I decided. We walked into the casino and in front of us there was a huge room. To our right, we found that there was a sign-in desk. On the left of the of the desk, there was an elevator. On the right was two doors that led to a small buffet restaurant. In front of us was some glass doors that led out to an outdoors pool. The lady sitting behind said happily, "Hi kids. My name is Shyra. Are you new to the casino?"
"Um, yes ma'am," Lillian said. She wrote it down on a piece of paper.
"How old are you? We need your age so we can determine what floor."
"What?" I questioned. I was a little cautious because you never know if the person could turn into a rampaging monster or something.
"Haven't you read the 'Age Sign'," Shyra said pointing to the wall that had a sign. On the sign there was a chart. The left column showed the age. The middle showed what games and the last column showed what floor. Ages 6-8 was on the first floor and it showed games that were meant for 6-8 year olds. On the second floor, the ages were 9 and 10 with games for them. Third floor was 11-14. Fourth floor was 15-17 and the last floor was 18 year olds only. I looked at Acacia, Alec and Kyra. They would be separated from us because of there ages. Alec was 11 while both the girls were 10.
"We're all 12," I lied.
"All-twelve-years-old-and-third-floor," she repeated as she wrote it down. "The rules of this casino," (I seriously didn't think there were rules to a casino except for have fun, and no doing crazy stuff), "any age group the kid is in, they can go to any floor below theirs. You can't go to the floor above yours," Shyra continued.
"So since we're on the third floor, we can go to the second and first but not the fourth or fifth floor? And if we're on the fifth floor, we can go to any floor?" Logan asked.
"That's correct," Shyra said. Lillian gave the Logan the look of, 'seriously?'. Logan glared at her the best he could and said pointedly, "Just checking to be sure."
"The elevator is right there on the right. You can come down to dinner any time you want. Enjoy your stay!" Shyra finished.
"Wait. Don't we have to pay?" I asked suspiciously.
"Nope! Your parents have paid it already!" Shyra answered, smiling. We looked at one another confused.
"Um, what do you mean?" Logan asked.
"Everybody gets a casino card if they apply for one. Then once they use it, they apply for any casino. They're signed in for any casino," she said.
"They are?" Lillian questioned glancing at me.
"Yeah. So you're paid already."
"Oooook," I said. I walked towards the elevator and the others followed.
As soon as I saw the third floor, all my worries faded. The floor was just games. There was a indoor bungee jumping place, waterslide, skiing and snowboarding area along with a skydiving chute. You would go into this huge tube that stands up and there would be this huge fan underneath you and the managers would turn the fan on and you would start to float. And there was even a huge ball pit were you could literally swim in the plastic balls below. The ball bit was about the size of a soccer field only round. Surprisingly, it even fit in the game room too of this hotel.
There were three floors for the ball bit. First floor was just all the balls, about chest deep. Second floor was were you shot the people below you, across from you or above you with the balls. The third floor was just full of different openings to different slides that weaved itself outside the ball pit, inside, around and in all kinds of directions before sending you back in to the first floor where you crashed into the chest deep balls.
In one corner was a huge place that was all just video games with 60 inch flat screen TV's. There was gambling games like casino type games. But they weren't like adult casino games. They were watered down to young teenager type casino games. Anyways, I snowboarded, bungee jumped, did the waterslide and skydiving chute at least seven times. I saw Lillian and Logan and everyone else going to different games that they liked. After a while, Acacia got bored doing the games by herself and asked if she could hang out with me. We both played some games, did the ball pit and finally, found the snack bar. As we ate, Acacia asked me something.
"Did you run away from your mortal family?"
I sat in silence.
"Yeah. I did," I said finally twisting my face. Acacia slurped her smoothie. "Me and Lillian ran away together," I added trying not to get mad. Bad memories were flooding back now. Lillian getting in trouble for accidentally breaking Brandon's Lego monster truck.
"I'm sorry if this is a sensitive subject. I should've left it alone," Acacia apologized.
"No, its ok. I guess we have similar situations." Acacia nodded uncomfortably.
"H-have you ever gone back?" she answered a bit nervous.
"Yeah. A couple of times. But each time, it's worse than the last." Lillian and I fighting with our step mom. Me getting the blame for hiding my younger sister's toy and me yelling at my step mom and dad.
"You?" I asked. She nodded.
"But that's because I would feel guilty then I would leave because things didn't turn out so well. Finally I left for good," Acacia said. We sat there in silence, drinking our smoothies. After a while, I felt like I was being watched. I looked behind me. No one was watching. I turned back but I felt the feeling again. I turned around once more.
"Hey, are you ok?" Acacia asked after I turned around for the fourth time.
"No. I feel like we're…" my voice trailed off because I had locked eyes with some kid in a black trench coat staring at me with cold piercing blue eyes.
"We're being what?" Acacia said looking to see who I was staring at. Then I noticed something about the kid. She looked like the one who had been in the lobby. Then I saw her when I was bungee jumping. Now she was near the snack bar. It was like she was stalking us.
"Like we're being watched," I answered. The kid smiled and I saw her forked tongue and sharp teeth. Wait. Forked tongue and sharp teeth?
Monster.
"Di immortales," I cursed. "We need to go."
"What?" Acacia exclaimed. I turned back around.
"Look behind you. Do you see that kid in the black trench coat? She's a monster." I said my voice serious. She turned. Then her eyes widened.
"Oh gods," Acacia murmured. We do need to go." We left our smoothies and got up, weaving our way through the crowd trying not to make it look like we were trying to get away.
"Oh man. How are we going to find the others in this mess?" I questioned worriedly. As we were weaving our way through worrying, we ran right into Kyra, Lillian, Logan and Alec.
"Thank the gods we found you!" I exclaimed. "We need to get out of here fast."
"Wait. What do you mean?" Lillian asked, cocking her slightly to one side.
"We're being followed by monsters. I've already spotted one," I said. I explained everything I had seen impatiently. Meanwhile, I could sense the girl in the trench coat getting closer.
"Oh my gods. This is bad. Very bad." Lillian replied.
"Yeah well, it's about to get a whole lot worse," I said, looking behind Lillian. She turned around and we saw more kids in trench coats.
"What do we do?" Kyra asked. I thought for a second.
"We're going to act as though we don't see them? So just play a few games but we have to stay as a group," I explained. They nodded. We all went to one of the gambling tables and played. Just then, one of the monsters came over and stood next to Logan. I could tell he was fighting the urge to bring out his sword and kill the monster. We played a few more hands of cards and purposely lost. By then the monster had left the table already. As we were walking around, I could see several of the casino security guards looking at us. We all stopped in one place and looked around for the monsters. Few seconds later, Logan was tugging my shirtsleeve.
"Christina, turn around for a sec will ya?" I did. That's when things got a lot more complicated. All the monsters were up ahead and making way through the crowd slowly but gradually. There was at least seven of them and they were all girls. Then I caught one of the security guards speaking in his earpiece and then spoke to another guard, pointing at us.
"Oh no. We got to go," I said. Everyone turned.
"All right, I saw watch you mean. Lets go," Lillian replied her eyes wide. We raced in the opposite direction. As we ran, I could hear several security guards following us. We reached an area but got blocked by some of them. We turned in all directions only to find that we were surrounded. Several of them drew their nightsticks.
"Hey guys," Logan said. "I thought we were here so we could have fun and party." A guard nodded to another behind Logan. I saw it coming but Logan didn't need my help. I guess he felt it too. He turned and kicked the guy behind him and the guy the first guard nodded to swung at me. I ducked and hit him. Lillian and the others got rid of them easily. One guy came at me and I ran backwards beckoning my hand saying, "Come on, come on." He ran at me and grabbed me but I put my arm behind his neck, him still facing me. I kept going and backed out at the last moment with my hand on his head as he slammed into the wall. Kids around us gasped. All my friends followed me and we burst through a door. We ran into a room full of people playing pool or gambling games at the tables.
"Hurry!" I yelled. Logan kept pace with me and as we past one guard, he swung his backpack off and smacked the guard hard.
"Nice one Logan," I complimented.
"Thanks."
I kept going and I came up to one boy who was playing pool with a guard next to him who saw me. I took the pool stick from the guy and the guard spun around to attack only to get the pool stick coming down on his shoulder. The stick broke and I flipped it so I was holding the jagged end as he hit the ground in pain.
Another guy came forward, shaking his hand saying, "Whoa, whoa put the stick down." But I stuck it on his left shoulder and forced him to the left. Then I grabbed his side and forced the stick back and just as he was about to bend to the right, I flipped him using the stick as a support. Another guy came forward with his nightstick drawn but I ducked his nightstick as he swung and got next to him, striking him in the bottom and then in the back. One tripped and fell onto hands and knees (convenient, huh?) and I stuck my hand on his back jumping over, kicking the fourth guard coming at me, in the chest. The fifth guard came forward but I hit him in the face with it before he could swing his stick. I dropped the stick, and ran to catch up with the others who were looking at me in astonishment.
"Holy Poseidon," Logan said. "That was amazing."
"Yeah I know but we've got other problems." I looked back and to my horror, saw that the monsters had caught up. However what was more worse was the fact they weren't disguised as females anymore. They had reptilian features and two twin serpent trucks. They were also carrying shields and staffs. Scythian Dracaenae.
"What do we do now," Kyra asked. The dracaenae lowered their staffs, preparing to fight. We looked at one another and did the most heroic thing:
"RUN!" I screamed.
"Get them!" hissed a dracaenae. We ran as fast as we could, shoving twelve to fourteen year old kids out of the way. We raced past another guard who turned startled. Then we heard him scream. He didn't see the dracaenae but he probably did see something unusual through the Mist. We ran towards the elevator but Logan yelled, "No time to get in! The elevator will take to long!" I swerved to the left and found a hallway. Hallway isn't really the word because it twisted and turned and sloped downwards. My friends and I sprinted past other doorways that led down other hallways. We began to reach the bottom but instead of going out the door in front of us that said 'Sign in Here', I took a right and descended down another hallway.
"Where are you going?" Logan panted. "The door was right there!" I didn't answer him because now was not the time. I burst through the door in front of us and ran out onto a deck on the pool. I stopped short so I wouldn't fall into the pool. I heard pounding feet behind me and knew automatically that whoever was right behind me was running at full speed and wouldn't be able to stop quickly. Judging by the footsteps and the panting and the voices, it was Acacia and Alec. I stopped Acacia and Alec from running right into the pool by grabbing the neck of their shirts. They bounced back looking at the pool water.
"Thanks," they said in unison. No one was in the pool or nearby, thank the gods because I had an idea. We turned around to see the dracaenae lining up.
"Great. Now what do we do?" Logan murmured.
"I have an idea," I whispered. I explained my idea to him quietly. He nodded.
"You are trap now," hissed one dracaenae. "Come with usssss demigodsssss, or fight usssss."
"Never," I snarled.
"Then die," they said. I closed my eyes and focused on the pool water, imagining it splitting in half and rising up to create a path. Behind me, the water responded. I heard Acacia, Alec and Kyra gasp.
"Go now!" I said straining to concentrate. Logan and Lillian guided the others through. The dracaenae took one look at the wall of water and then hissed, "Kill her!" They came at me but stopped short when they saw the water swirling around me feet rise up and thicken into a shield in front of me.
"Come on Christina!" Logan yelled. I moved back slowly, straining. Pretty soon I was a fourth a way through the path. The dracaenaes hesitated.
"What are you afraid of? Scared of water?" I taunted. They hissed in anger, lowering their staffs. Then some of them charged. I held my ground and as soon as they had got to the entrance of the path, I turned heel and ran. The came after me and as I began to reach the end of the pool, I lost complete concentration. The wall of water begin to collapse, crashing down. I jumped out of the pool and turned back to see the water swirling around like a vortex. However that was the least of our problems. The other dracaenaes could easily walk (or was it slither?) around the pool side. As if reading my thoughts, they began to.
"Fine then, you want to play it hard, so be it," I said half to myself. The others looked at me for an answer. I thought hard. What was it that my dad had said about my water powers? That he would help me? Then and idea that was dangerous popped into my head. I looked around for an entrance out of the pool deck. There! To my right on the fence was the door. But it was in the middle of the fence also at midpoint of the pool. I closed my eyes again and prayed hard. Dad, wherever you are, help me with this dangerous plan. I need to get my friends out alive! Please Poseidon. I opened my eyes and stared hard at the chlorinated water. All the water began to rise. The dracaenaes had obviously drowned, their essence returning back to Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld.
"When I say run you better move and get to that fence with the door. Get out fast," I said dangerously. They nodded. The water kept rising, turning into a funnel. The dracaenae came fast at me. I looked desperately at my friends. Then I locked eyes with Logan.
"Let me help Christina," he said.
"No. If something goes wrong with the water you will all drown, unless I know that you'll be able to save the others with your powers." He looked at me worriedly.
"But-," he protested.
"Logan please, go," I answered. He nodded. I tossed him my backpack.
"I guess. But be careful," he said.
"I'll try. Get ready." I hesitated. Then hesitated a bit more.
"RUN!" I screamed. The others ran for the exit and I stayed. The water came down, going everywhere. It seemed like there was more water than there was suppose to be. It sloshed up against the glass doors that led to the 'Sign In' area. The water crashed into me and the impact of it was so hard, that I went flying up. I saw the others trying reach the gate as the water came rushing behind them.
"Hurry!" I heard Lillian yell. The water meanwhile was swirling around inside the gates like the gates had suddenly became solid so the water couldn't get through. I came down and I crossed my arms over my chest trying to stay as straight as possible. Before I hit the water, the last thing I saw was the others leaving the gate. Then I slammed into the water. The water kept swirling around and I got shoved around. Then I rammed into something hard. I looked over and saw the fence. A few yards away was the door, the water not going out of it. I swam towards it but when I got to the entrance, something grabbed my foot and pulled me back. I spun my head around to see a dracaenae that somehow was surviving the water.
"Where do you think you're going?" it said underwater. The dracaenae voice sounded like the monster was losing its voice. I smacked it in the face so hard that it went carried away with the current. I swam out of the gate trying not to get pulled along with the current. I reached the gate, tumbling through and landing on hard concrete, knocking the breath from me. The others scrambled back in surprise. I laid on my back, looking up at the blue, cloudless sky. I couldn't breath.
"Oh my gods Christina!" Kyra exclaimed. I felt my breath come back and I began to cough. Logan helped me sit up. As soon as I did, I felt automatically dizzy. I coughed some more until I was finished. Then I pulled my legs up and put my head between my knees until the dizziness went away. A few seconds later I lifted my head and with difficulty, I swallowed.
"Are you ok?" Logan asked. I nodded and he took his bag off and fed me some ambrosia squares. He helped me to my feet and Acacia hugged me.
"I thought you were going to die," she cried.
"Yeah. I did to for a bit but usually, most of the time I am about to die," I answered smiling.
"What? Really?" she asked kind of stunned.
"Yep. And there is never a time that we aren't dying unless we are at camp," Lillian said. Acacia raised an eyebrow and stared with wide eyes.
"I guess it makes life a little interesting," I replied. I looked back inside the fence and saw the water beginning to recede back until it the water was back in the pool. Then I heard a hiss. We spun around to see one dracaenae that somehow had gotten behind us. Acacia stepped forward, growling.
"Acacia, get back," I instructed. She didn't listen. The dracaenae snarled and charged Acacia. Before I could do anything, Acacia opened her hand and fire burst to life in her palm. She threw it at the dracaenae and the monster went up on flames. Once the flames were gone, Acacia closed her hand and extinguished her flame. We all stared at her.
"Where'd you learn that?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said nervously. "I got really mad and then my hand caught fire." We stood there in uncomfortable silence. I thought for a second. Fire. Brown warm eyes. Brown mousy hair. I knew a goddess that had that. Then the goddess' name came to my mind. My eyes widened but I kept my mouth shut. I locked eyes with Acacia and had a silent exchange. We would talk about this later.
"Do you guys want to keep going?" Logan asked, breaking the silence. We nodded. Logan handed my bag and slinging it over my shoulder, I took one last look at the casino.
"Lets go," I said and with that I turned and began to walk, the others following.
A/N: I just realized when I revising this that my casino sounded like the Lotus Casino and Hotel and like I got the idea from Rick Riordan. Truth, I didn't. A couple years ago before I started writing this book, I went on vacation to South Lake Tahoe and San Francisco (saw Golden Gate Bridge up close and personal) and other places in Cali and I also went to Nevada. And so I was staying in Las Vegas after a super long drive from The Bay Area and my siblings and I were talking about what kind of cool hotel would be awesome to stay in. And I came up with all the stuff I just described in the chapter. So don't think I took the idea of my demigods staying in a casino hotel IN Las Vegas. It was also like the week before I started reading Percy Jackson too. So no, it's not taken from Rick Riordan.