Okay so I am confirming everyone's thoughts on who Atlanta's father is, and you are all correct, she is the daughter of Kronos. In the books, you will learn who she trust with this secret, and yes Percy is one of the ones she trust.
Also I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!
I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON RICK RIORDAN DOES! I only have rights to Atlanta and, just Atlanta. The stories are still in Percy's POV.
Chapter sixteen: We Take A Zebra to Vegas
The War god was waiting for us in the dinner parking lot.
"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourselves killed."
"You knew it was a trap," I said.
Ares gave us a wicked grin. "Bet that cripped blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."
Ermis took Ares's shield from me, and shoved it at him. "You're a jerk, father or not."
Grover's breath caught. Annabeth perked up, probably thinking Ares was going to smit him for that. I glared at her, as Atlanta elbowed her in the ribs.
Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.
"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."
The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.
I said, "You're kidding."
Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."
He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to me.
Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.
I said, "I don't want your lousy-"
"Thank-you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving me-Atlanta, and Ermis- his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot."
I gritted my teeth. It was probably deadly insult to refuse something from a god, but I didn't want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, I slung the backpack over my shoulder. I knew my anger was still itching to punch him in the nose. He reminded me of very bully I'd ever faced: Nancy Bobofit, Clarisse, Smelly Gabe, sarcastic teachers-every jerk who'd called me stupid in school or laughed at me or Atlanta when I'd gotten expelled.
I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who'd served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us.
Great, I thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow.
I imagined the headline: TWELEVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER.
"You owe us one more thing," I told Ares, trying to keep my voice level. "You promised you'd clam Ermis."
"And I will once you get back to camp," He kick-started his motorcycle. "You have my word. And one more thing."
"What?" Atlanta asked.
He tossed Ermis, a small keychain which he caught easily. It was a spear keychain and a boar's head connected to it.
"You're going to need weapon, if you want to avoid using dear mommy's eyes."
"Thanks," Ermis forced out.
"Put a real damper on Hades's planes taking your mother, when you got her to camp. Real sham."
"Why?" I asked.
"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."
"Nobody's controlling me or my sister."
He laughed. "Ph yeah? See you later, kid."
I balled my fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."
Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt hot wind in my hair. "We'll met again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."
"He won't have, I'll have his back," Atlanta said.
He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.
Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy."
"I don't care."
"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god."
"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but…"
He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identical black overalls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATATIONAL truck.
"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said. "We need to hurry."
I didn't like it, but we had no better option. Besides, I'd seen enough of Denver.
We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind us.
The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's bigging pan of kitty litter.
The trailer was dark inside until I uncapped Anaklusmo. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion and some weird antelope thing I didn't know the name for.
Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it their spare time. The antelope had a stupid sliver birthday tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!
Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy head of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.
"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"
He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, Ermis, Atlanta, and I would've helped him, but just then the truck's engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down.
We huddled in the corner n some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the head and the flies Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just staired at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips.
I found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then Atlanta used her trident to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. Ermis gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope.
Grover calmed the antelope down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon of his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but we decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around. We told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for the night.
Ermis and Atlanta sat farther away from us, which I had a feeling was to avoid Annabeth. Grover curled up on the turnip sack; Annabeth opened our bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one halfheartedly; I tried to cheer myself up by concentrating on the fact that we were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to out festination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty-first. We could make it in plenty of time.
On the other hand, I had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toying with us. At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it-he'd put up cameras and advertised me as entertainment. But even when the camera weren't rolling, I had a feeling my quest was being watched. I was a source of amusement for the gods.
"Hey," Annabeth said, "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park, Percy."
"It's okay."
"it's just…" She shuddered. "Spiders."
"Because for the Arachne story," I guessed. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?"
"Athena could have handled that better," Ermis said.
Annabeth glared at him, but he was right.
Annabeth nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you."
"You can pay me back by being civil towards Ermis. He did nothing wrong."
Annabeth glared at me, but I continued. "We're a team remember, and right now you're only the only one not being a team player."
"That's not true."
"It a hundred percent true," Atlanta said. "Ermis tried to warn us about Medusa you and Percy didn't listen to Grover's and my protests. Ermis told you about the trap in the Tunnel of Love and you waved him off and ignoring him because of something he can't control."
I thought Grover was asleep, but he spoke clearly, not turning to look at us.
"Not to mention, you wanted ignore Ares when he offered to protect Ermis. You're not the Annabeth I remember," Grover said.
Annabeth flinched.
She pulled apart an Oreo, tossing half onto the trunk floor. "In the Iris message…did Luke really say nothing?"
I thought about how to answer. The conversation via rainbow had bothered me all evening. Luckily Atlanta answered for me.
"Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree."
In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions.
Grover let out a mournful bray.
"I should've told you and Percy the truth from the beginning." His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was you wouldn't want me along."
"You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus," I said.
He nodded glumly.
"And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp…" I looked at Annabeth. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it."
She put down her Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me towards help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They both rain away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were…amazing monsters-fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us."
"I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," he said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought…I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with is. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker…"
"Stop it," Annabeth said. "No on blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."
"She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably. "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."
"Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" I said. "That's not fair."
"Percy's right," Annabeth said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says."
Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "Its just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the three of the most powerful half-bloods of the century. Thalia, Percy, and Atlanta."
"You're not lame," Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy and Atlanta are really glad you're here right now."
She kicked me in the shin.
"Yeah," I said. "And the kick really unnecessary."
"Its not luck that you found Thalia, Atlanta, and Percy, Grover. You're the coolest satyr I've ever met…then again you're the only satyr I've only met," Ermis said.
He got up and started micing someone swinging a bat or stick. "You beat Medusa with a stuck, even Perseus had to sneak up her to kill her. I'd like you're your Council of Cloven Elders do that."
"You have the biggest heart of every satyr ever," Atlanta said.
"You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan," I said.
I heard a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, I realized he'd fallen sleep.
"How does he do that?" I marveled.
"I don't know," Annabeth said. "But that was really a night thing you guys told him."
"We meant it."
We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed snacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at me hopefully. Atlanta had fallen asleep with her head on Ermis's shoulder again. He was awake and messing with the keychain that Ares had given him.
Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts.
"That pine-tree bead," I said. "Is that from your first year?"
She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing.
"Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress-now that was a weird summer…."
"And the college ring is your father's?"
"That's none of your-" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."
"You don't have to tell me."
"No…it's okay." She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her…That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and lie with him."
"That doesn't sound so bad."
"Yeah well…the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood."
"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?"
She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain."
"You shouldn't give up," Ermis said. "You should write him a letter or something."
"Thanks for the advice," she said coldly. "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with."
We passed another few miles of silence.
"So if the gods fight," I said. "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"
She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just now I'll fight next to you and Atlanta."
"Why?"
"Because you and Atlanta are my friends, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions."
I wanted to ask if she could work with Ermis, but I didn't want to push her more then I have. Fortunately I didn't have to. Annabeth was asleep.
I had trouble following her example, with Grover snoring and an albino lion starting hungrily at me, but eventually I closed my eyes.
My nightmare started out as something I'd dreamed a million times before: I was being forced to take a standardized test while wearing a straitjacket. All the other kids were going out to recess, and the teacher kept saying, Come on, Percy. You're not stupid, are you? Pick up your pencil.
Then the dream strayed from the usual.
I looked over at the next desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket. She was my age, with unruly black, punk-style hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy green eyes, and freckles across her nose her nose. Somehow, I knew who she was. She was Thalia, daughter of Zeus.
She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at me in frustration, and snapped, Well, Seaweed Brain? One of us had to get out of here.
She's right, my dream-self thought. I'm going back to that cavern. I'm going to give Hades a piece of my mind.
The straitjacket melted off me. I fell through the classroom floor. The teacher's voice changed until it was cold and evil echoing from the depths of a great chasm.
Percy Jackson, it said. Yes, the exchange went well, I see.
I was back in the dark cavern, spirits of the dead drifting around me. Unseen in the pit, the monstrous thing was speaking, but this time it was addressing me. The numbing power of its voice seemed directed somewhere else.
And he suspects nothing? it asked.
Another voice, one I almost recognized, answered at my shoulder. Nothing, my lord. He is as ignorant as the rest.
I looked over but no one was there. The speaker was invisible.
Deception upon deception, the thing in the pit mused aloud. Excellent.
Truly, my lord, said the voice next to me, you are well-named the Crooked One. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I had stolen directly-
You? The monster said in scorn. You have already shown your limits. You would have failed me completely had I not intervened.
But, my lord-
Peace, little servant. Out six months have brought us much. Zeus's anger had grown. Poseidon had played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands…but wait. He is here.
What? The invisible servant suddenly sounded tense. You summoned him, my lord?
No. The full force of the monster's attention was now pouring over me, freezing me in place. Blast his father's blood-he is too changeable, too unpredictable. The boy brought himself hither.
Impossible! The servant cried.
For a weakling such as you, perhaps, the voice snarled. Then its cold power turned back on me. So…you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige. And I can bring the girl.
The Scene changed.
I was standing in a vast throne room with back marble walls and bronze floors. The empty, horrid throne was made from bones fused together. Standing at the foot of the dais was Atlanta, frozen with tears running down her face.
I tried to run toward her, but my legs wouldn't move. I reached for her, only to realize that my hands were withering to bones. Grinning skeletons in Greek armor crowded around me, draping me with silk roves, wreathing my head with laurels that smoked with Chimera poison, burning into my scalp.
The evil voice began to laugh. Hail, the conquering hero!
I woke with a start.
Grover was shaking my shoulder. "The truck's stopped," he said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."
"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.
She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. Atlanta and Ermis dove behind the zebra's cage. Grover and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hoped we looked like turnips.
The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.
"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hands in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliance." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.
"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.
The lion roared with indignation.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.
Next to me, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous.
The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doing'. Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're saw you in half."
The zebra, wild-eyes with fear, looked straight at me.
There was no sound, but as clear as day, I heard it say: Free me, lord. Please.
I was too stun to react.
There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.
The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want Eddie?"
A voice outside-it must've been Eddie's- shouted back. "Maurice? What'd ya say?"
"What are you banging for?"
Knock, knock, knock.
Outside Eddie yelled, "What banging?"
Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.
A second later Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal."
"Really? Never would have guess," Ermis said, helping Atlanta from their hiding spot. She had dried tears on her cheeks and her eyes were red.
Annabeth glared at him.
"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"
"Think we should have Artemis deal with them?" Atlanta sniffed.
That's right, the zebra's voice said in my mind.
"We've got to free them!" Grover said. He, Annabeth, Atlanta, and Ermis looked at me, waiting for my lead.
I'd heard the zebra talk, but not the lion. Why? Maybe it was another learning disability…I could only understand zebras? Then I thought: horses. What had Ermis said about Poseidon creating horses? Was a zebra close enough to a horse? Was that way I could understand it?
The zebra said, Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that.
Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. I grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage.
The zebra burst out. It turned to me and bowed. Thank-you, lord.
Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing.
Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs. We'd just released a zebra in Las Vagas.
Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting "Hey! You need a permit for that!"
"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said.
"The other animals first," Grover said.
I cut the lucks with my sword. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra.
"Good luck," I told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of their caged and went off together into the streets.
Some of the tourist screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.
"Will the animals be okay?" I asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all-"
"Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them?"
"What's that?" Atlanta asked.
"Its just a blessing all satyrs can do. They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live," Grover said.
"You can't, oh I don't know, do that for us by chance can you?" Ermis asked.
"It only works on wild animals," Grover said.
"So it would only effect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.
"Hey," I protested laughing,
Atlanta, Ermis, and Grover burst out laughing.
"Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."
We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and we must looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay us much attention.
We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed the pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica, but still made me homesick.
I wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find a sandwich and a glass of lemonade, make a new plan for getting west.
We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open spilling out air conditioning that smelled like flowers-lotus blossom, maybe. I'd never smelled one, so I wasn't sure.
The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"
I'd learn to be suspicious, the last week or so. I figured anybody might be a monster or a god. You just couldn't tell. But this guy was normal. One look at him, and I could see. Besides, I was so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic that I nodded and said we'd love to come in. Inside, we took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa."
The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I'm not talking about cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass was climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine.
"Hey!" A bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bellhop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."
I stammered, "Um, but…"
"No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbled for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just the front desk. Here your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."
He handed us each a green plastic credit card.
I knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought we were some millionaire's kids. But I took the card and said, "How much is on here?"
His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"
"He means, how much cash is on these things?" Ermis asked.
He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."
We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen televisions with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tube, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vagas skyline and plug them with your gun. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it was pretty cool. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though I doubted we'd ever find time to look at the view with a room like this.
"Oh goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is…"
"Sweet," Grover said.
"Absolutely sweet," Ermis and Atlanta said.
There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me. I frowned, thinking that this was a little strange.
I threw Ares's backpack in the trash can. Wouldn't need that anymore. When we left, I could just charge a new one at the hotel store.
I took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel. I changed clothes, ate a bag of chips, drank three Cokes, and came out feeling better than I had in a long time. In the back of my mind, some small problem kept nagging me. I'd had a dream or something…I needed to talk to my friends. But I was sure it could wait.
I came out of the bedroom and found that everybody else had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating potato chips to his heart's content. Atlanta and Ermis were talking on the bed, not really paying attention to the rest of us, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel.
"All those stations," I told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"
"it's interesting," she said. "Athena expects us to learn."
"Do you honestly think Athena doesn't take mental breaks?" Atlanta asked.
"Like come on," Ermis said. "I bet she's the one that runs Olympus not Zeus."
"I feel good," Grover said changing the subject. "I love this place."
Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again.
"So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"
Grover, Atlanta, Ermis, and I looked at each other and grinned. We both held up our green plastic LotusCash cards.
"Play time," I said.
I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. Atlanta and I came from a relatively poor family. Our idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting a video. A five-star Vegas hotel? Forget it.
Atlanta and I bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, did with the waterslide, Ermis and I snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and the three of us played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. I saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter thing-where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks. I saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff, did she not know how to relax and take a brain break? They had this huge 3-D sim game where you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board. I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth loved it.
I'm not sure when I first realized something was wrong. Probably, it was when I noticed the guy standing next to me at VR sharpshooters. He was about thirteen, I guess, but his clothes were weird. I thought he was some Elvis impersonator's son. He wore bell-bottom jeans and a red T-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like a New Jersey girl's on homecoming night.
We played a game of sharpshooters together and he said, "Groovy, man. Been here two weeks, and the games keep getting better and better."
Groovy?
"Groovy?" Atlanta asked laughing.
Later, while we were talking, I said something was "sick," and he looked at me kind of startled, as if he'd never heard the word used that way before.
He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as we started asking him questions he got bored with us and started to go back to the screen.
I said, "Hey, Darrin?"
"What?"
"What year it is?"
He frowned at me. "In the game?"
"No. In real life," Atlanta said.
He had to think about it. "1977."
"Stop, kidding dude," Ermis said sounding scared. "What year is?"
"Hey man. Bad vibes. I got a game happening."
After that he totally ignored us.
Atlanta, Ermis, and I started talking to people, and I found it wasn't easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. Ermis said he found a guy who told him it was 1985. Another guy told Atlanta it was 1993. They all claimed at most. They hadn't been in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really know and they didn't care.
Then it occurred to me: how long had we been here? It seemed like only a couple of hours, but was it?
I tried to remember why we were here. We were going to Los Angeles. We were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. Our mother…for a scary second, I had trouble remembering her name. Sally . Sally Jackson. I promised her Atlanta and I would come home safely. Me and Atlanta had to stop Hades from causing World War III.
Ermis, Atlanta, and I found Annabeth still building her city.
"Come on," I told her. "We've got to get out of here."
No response.
I shook her. "Annabeth?"
She looked up, annoyed. "What?"
"We have to go," Atlanta said.
"Go? As in leave? What are you talking about? I've just got to the towers-"
"This place is a trap?" I said.
She didn't respond until Atlanta shook her. "What?"
"Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!"
"Oh come on, Atlanta. Just a few more minutes."
"Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever," I said.
"So," she asked. "Can you imagine a better place?"
I went to argue with her some more on leaving, but Ermis stopped me. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the game. Atlanta and I followed.
"Hey!" She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. They were too busy.
Ermis made her look at him. He said, "Spiders Annabeth. They're crawling all over you with their long, hairy legs."
That jarred her and I won't lie it jarred Atlanta and me too. Her vision cleared. "Oh my gods," she said. "How long have we-"
"I don't know, let's find Grover and get out of here."
We went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter.
"Grover!" we all shouted.
He said, "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!"
"Grover!"
He turned the plastic gun on me and started clicking, as if I were just another image from the screen.
I looked at Annabeth, Atlanta, and Ermis and together we took Grover by the arms, dragging/pushing him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted. "No! I just got to a new level! No!"
The Lotus bellhop hurried to us. "Well, now are you ready for your platinum cards?"
"We're out here," Atlanta said.
"Such a shame," he said, and I got the feeling that he really meant it, that we'd be breaking his heart if we went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members.
He held out the cards, and I wanted one. I knew that if I took one, I'd never leave. I'd stay here, happy forever, playing games forever, and soon I'd forget our mom, and mine and Atlanta's quest, and maybe even my own name. I'd be playing virtual rifleman with groovy Disco Darrin forever.
Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks."
We walked toward the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. I thought about our room upstairs. We could just stay the night, sleep in a real bed for once….
Then we burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day we'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert.
Ares's backpack was slung over my shoulder, which was odd, because I was sure I had thrown it in the trash can in room 4001, but the moment I had other problems to worry about.
I ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when we went in. Then I noticed the date: June twentieth.
We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days.
We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete our quest.
