Apologies for the bye-week last Thursday, this chapter just wasn't ready and I didn't feel like putting it out there. Whenever something like this happens again (because it most likely will, just cuz) be sure to check my profile page for any updates. I made one last week to notify anyone who checked when this chapter will drop. I hope you enjoy.
Las Vegas
"Finally." Atreus groaned as their bus came to a stop, as he stretched his arms he could hear faint pops from within.
The three of them had been on the bus all day since leaving San Francisco. Annabeth said it was a sixteen hour trip and he believed her. As he finished stretching he took in the sights in front of him, he was not ready.
"Welcome to Vegas." Annabeth said walking up behind him, stretching as well.
The city shined with lights in the dark of night, signs threatened to blind him, buildings stood lit by what he could only assume was the light of Alfheim, and monuments stood taller than anything he ever saw before.
"Whoa." Atreus said, lacking any word to accurately describe the sight in front of him.
Freya finally stepped out with them and took in the surroundings, "Not in my long life have I ever seen anything so…so grandiose." Freya too was left speechless.
"Try not to stare too long, " Annabeth walked in front of the two, "Or else you'll hurt your eyes." Both the demi-god and goddess refocused their attention back to Annabeth.
"Surely a city like this belongs to a wealthy and powerful king," Freya said, off in the distance she spotted a large lake that shot water into the air, "Incredible."
"Not quite, don't let all the shiny lights distract you, this place is just as dangerous - if not more - than anywhere else." Annabeth waved for them to follow her, "If it's not your money they're taking, it'll be your life."
As they walked across Vegas Atreus could not help but be hypnotized by all the flashing lights and eye catching signs. It was truly a marvel to look at. It was mesmerizing to look at it all, each light beckoned him to come closer. Like an invisible hand tugging him.
"Don't stray far," Annabeth called to him, he looked to her only to realize that he had strayed from the group. "Wait, how did I…?" He walked back to the group, he didn't even realize he was walking away from them.
"That's the issue with Las Vegas, it's so bright and tantalizing you can't help but get pulled away," She pointed to one of the buildings across the street, the front of the building said 'Lotus Hotel and Casino'. "Some even keep you in forever. On my first adventure my friends and I got stuck in that building over there, it distorts time. What felt like a few hours turned out to be days,"
"Huh," Annabeth's story reminded him of the light of Alfheim, how his father went in and when Atreus pulled him out he said it had only been mere moments for him. But for Atreus it was a long time. He was starting to not like the similarities.
"I must say it is rather ingenious, but unfortunately we are its prey, we must be going." Freya turned to the daughter of Athena, "Where are we heading Annabeth?"
Annabeth pointed to a nearby building with a large sign that looked like two loaves of bread on either side of a piece of meat, "I gotta send out a message, after that we head to the nearby bus terminal and look up when the next bus out of here is."
The inside of this 'Burger Hut', as Annabeth called it, felt sticky. The temperature inside felt hot, not the kind of direct sunlight hot but a nearby campfire hot. The floor beneath him made this squishy sound every time he moved his feet. Lastly, the place just wasn't that clean. Tables still had remnants of leftover meals and accessories.
Ahead of them a boy, around Annabeths age, stood at the counter looking incredibly bored. He wore a strange orange and white vertically-striped shirt and a hat that said 'The best burgers in Vegas!' with what he could assume was a burger with eyes, mouth legs, and arms smiling and giving a thumbs up. In fact many of the tables had this same happy burger character giving thumbs ups.
"Go ahead and get some food, I'll be right back." Annabeth heading down a hall, an arrow with the word 'restrooms' was hung right beside it.
Atreus looked at the counter with the boy, who looked back at him expecting something from them, "Do you know…?" Atreus asked Freya.
"How could I possibly know?" It was a rhetorical question, guess he'll have to wing it.
Atreus walked up to the counter, as he did Annabeth watched them from around the corner, "They'll be fine." She said to herself, before heading into the restroom. Luckily, no one was inside,She checked the stalls to make doubly sure. Content, she locked the door so no one would walk in on her.
She turned on the water and set up a rainbow mist and said her prayer to the goddess Iris, "Show me Percy Jackson." She requested.
…
Nothing.
"Show me Percy Jackson." She said again.
She repeated herself a couple more times, it still didn't work, "Show me…Chiron." Again nothing.
"Uh, show me Jason Grace?" Still nothing.
"Piper McLean?" No response.
Annabeth repeated every name she could remember from camp, even Frank and Reyna from camp jupiter. But every time she came up with a name nothing would happen. She tried messaging her dad, and Sally Jackson, both didn't work. As a last ditch effort she tried messaging her mother, it was a long shot but unfortunately that didn't work either.
"We're cut off." She said, that was the only conclusion, that or the entire Iris messaging is down, and neither event was good.
If she had time to think how or why she would, unfortunately she had to focus on the now. She turned off the water - silently apologizing to the establishment for wasting so much water - and left the restrooms.
As she walked out she noticed Atreus and Freya chowing down on some burgers, "Any trouble?" She asked as she sat down next to Freya, the goddess mid bite on her burger.
Atreus swallowed, "Uh, kinda, I think. We managed to pay for it with the bucks I had. We have thirty bucks leftover. Oh and we got you some food too." He pointed to an untouched bag, Annabeth reached inside to chow down on the burger as well.
It was a quick dinner, but a sorely needed one. "Ah, that was good." Annabeth relaxed.
"It was surprising to say the least, I didn't know beef could taste like that." Freya said.
The three of them sat for a bit, basking in the feeling of eating a good meal, but they all knew that they'd have to leave eventually. Atreus was the first to get up, "We should probably start heading off."
Annabeth nodded, the three of them threw away their leftover trash and exited the burger joint. Now outside, they headed off to the bus station.
It wasn't long before Annabeth started noticing something was wrong, she spotted them not long after they left the burger place, at first it was one person tailing them. Was it a monster? Probably. But she couldn't tell. Despite how bright Vegas was at night this person seemed to blend into the darkness, the only way she could tell it was someone at all was how they managed to move around the other people on the sidewalk.
"You see it too, yes?"
Annabeth didn't turn to Freya, but she nodded, no need to give whoever their tailer any reason to think they saw them. Right now she had to find a way to confront them, turning towards them was out of the question. She needed to make a turn.
Up ahead she spotted an alley, normally that would be a bad idea for anyone else but considering she had a goddess on her side Annabeth was confident.
"Five blocks ahead, do you see the alley?"
It took Freya a moment to find it, but she eventually did.
"I see it.
Annabeth looked to Atreus, who was walking in front of them, "You got that?" She asked.
"I heard, if we get into a jam I can summon an Ibex, should be helpful." Atreus continued to walk as if nothing was wrong.
The trio continued walking, Annabeth tried to keep their tailer in the corners of her eyes but found it extremely hard to do so, whoever this was they were exceptional at it.
It didn't take long before the alley came up, they quickly darted into the alley, far into it. Annabeth hid behind a trash can, while Atreus and Freya hid behind a dumpster, all of their weapons were drawn. Annabeth looked around the trashcan just enough to see the entrance to the alley. No one was there.
"See anyone?" Atreus quietly asked, an arrow rested on his bow ready for him to use.
"No."
They stayed like this for another minute, before relaxing. Their tailer must have gotten the idea.
Atreus stood up.
"You think they left?"
Annabeth got up too, finally holstering her knife, "No clue, maybe they thought it would be a bad idea to take us all on."
"It would not end well for them." Freya said, also holstering her sword.
"I think I managed pretty well, wouldn't you say?"
Annabeth went for her knife, but before she could a crossbow bolt impaled itself in the ground next to her. She looked up.
Above them were more than a dozen men carrying crossbows and wielding some form of magic, Atreus recognized some of them and they were not the kind he'd want to see the other end of.
"So, this is how it feels." Annabeth remarked.
"The cards just weren't on your side kid." At the entrance to the alley was another man, this one was short and stout, even in the dark of the night she could tell this person's clothes were expensive.
They walked forward, and she could finally get a better look at them. They were short, really short, barely coming up to chest height for her. They also had really long beards, and they certainly looked like they could knock the lights out of someone if they tried. Underneath his clothes, his biceps bulged threatening to tear the sleeves off.
His clothes were a different matter, it was a classic four-piece suit. His outfit was a clean white with gold trim, the gold parts managed to shine in the dark unlike anything else. She had a discomforting feeling it was actual gold.
"Unfortunately for you, I play with a full deck," He looked between the three of them, and gave a sharp toothed smile like a shark. "And I believe I just hit the jackpot."
Atreus looked at him confused, "What?"
The man turned to Atreus, "You know, jackpot!" He shouted.
"I don't get it." The kid shrugged.
"I-" The man started, but backed off, "Here's how it's gonna work. Drop your weapons, now. Or my boys accidentally pull the trigger."
To reiterate the point, she heard clicks from the crossbows above them.
"Alright, we'll drop our weapons." Annabeth slowly unbuckled her holster and set it on the ground.
Atreus and Freya did the same with their weapons.
The man chuckled, "Good, alright boys, bag 'em."
Before anyone could say anything, the three of them were enveloped in nets. They could barely move.
"Hey, what is this!?" Atreus shouted, trying to get the net off of him.
"You went all-in kid, and now you owe the house some money." He looked up to the others and ordered them to come down.
The three of them were forcefully moved, Atreus could barely see out of the thick tied net but he could barely make out a car coming towards them. Before he could say anything the car stopped and they were pushed inside.
"Where are you taking us!?" Atreus shouted.
The man chuckled, "Where else do you think you're heading? You're gonna see the Big Man."
The door shut behind them, and they were driven away.
Atreus tried to move, but everytime he moved it almost felt like the net constricted tighter around him.
"I can't move!" Freya said.
"Good, you're not supposed to." In the front seat the man stepped into the car, "Let's move." The driver didn't say anything as they lurched forward.
"Who are you people?" Atreus asked.
The man in the white suit laughed, as if the question was ludicrous, "Dontcha know kid? We're the mob!"
"You mortals will pay for this," Freya struggled under her net, Atreus could hear it tighten up more and more every time she struggled.
"I think you mean, we will be paid Ms. All-Mother. Odin will pay a heavy price to have his queen back." The man gave a hearty laugh, "The boss will just love this!"
The drive was silent, save for the sound of music and Freya struggling under the net. Atreus tried to take in his surroundings, wherever he could. The net was dense, thick threads criss-crossed his vision making it difficult to see. He quickly gave up hope of looking for anything that could be used to help, instead he looked to Annabeth.
She was calm and quiet, like him, she looked to be scanning her environment as best she could. Maybe she spotted something that he couldn't.
"Got anything?" He whispered, Freya's grunting was the perfect cover for their conversation.
"Not yet, just play along for now. I still have something up my sleeve." She nodded her head down, at her hip was her cap still clung to her bottoms. Why would she? To them it was just a hat.
He didn't say anything, only nod. He wished he thought like her, he could've held onto his knife. It was dumb of him to, he should've known they wouldn't let him keep it.
The rest of the drive was uneventful, the men upfront made small talk, or bickered about the radio - as it was called - but that was it. Eventually they came to a stop, he couldn't see much with the net but he could tell they were near one of the bigger buildings. The lights were bright and he could hear a lot of people some distance from them.
"Alright, esteemed guests, it's time to get out. Time I bring you all to the Big Man." The man got out and opened their doors as well.
The trio got out and were led by the driver to a side door, it was obviously a part of the building most people weren't able to get into as the room inside was quiet with only the muffled sounds of a crowd coming from somewhere else.
"Get those nets off them and hook 'em up." The man said, one by one their nets were yanked off and cuffs were slapped onto their wrists. Each cuff was tied to the other. Atreus had the unfortunate luck of having both his hands cuffed while Annabeth and Freya had one each on their left and right arms. They were going to be stuck together. Literally.
"There ya go, now I know ya won't run off." Atreus looked to the man in the white suit, now out from the darkness and given the light of a building he could adequately look at him.
He was no man, from first inspection, in fact he was a Dwarf. He was short and stout, his beard was tremendous, and his muscles still bulged under his suit. His cheeks were puffy, not from fat but from bruises. Even his nose was bent at an awkward angle. Atreus turned to their other captor, he was also a Dwarf with similar features.
"Welcome to the Riches and Plunder Casino, headed by the Ljómi family! I am Gart, and you are about to meet the head of the family." Gart gave a mock bow, obviously enjoying the current situation, "Act accordingly, or I won't be responsible for what happens next."
"If you have any sense you will let us go." Freya threatened, gesturing to her right arm.
The Dwarf behind them lifted a crossbow, "Nuh-uh," But instead of pointing it at her, she pointed it at Atreus.
"If you at least somewhat value the life of these demi-gods I suggest you don't do anything stupid." Gart spit out the last word, he meant it.
"How did you find us?" Annabeth asked. Atreus realized immediately she was fishing for information.
"It was pretty easy," He started walking away, the dwarf behind Atreus pushed him, so the trio followed.
"I got a tip that some big wig was making a stop here, said they'd pay us lots of money to grab 'em and bag 'em. Extra for the twerps too." He rubbed his index and thumb together, Gart could almost feel the money in his hands.
"Who was it?" Annabeth asked.
Gart briefly stopped, before continuing on, "I'm not at liberty to…ugh…damn it what's the word." Gart snapped his fingers.
"Ah right, I'm not at liberty to reveal my sources." The words finally clicked into his mind.
Atreus could see Annabeth roll her eyes, Freya looked about ready to kill the Dwarf if she could get her hands on him. But they continued to follow him, deeper inside the building.
Gart stopped in front of a door, behind it Atreus could hear a crowd of muffled voices, "Before we head out, some words of wisdom." He turned around to face them.
"Wisdom from a Dwarf, great." Freya mocked; Gart chose to ignore it.
Gart put up one finger, "One, do not speak out of turn. The Big Man does not like people interrupting him! Just ask Johnny-No-Tongue." Atreus's throat felt very uncomfortable at that moment.
Gart put up a second finger, "Two, always call him sir. If the Big Man ever catches you not givin' him the respect he deserves, let it be said I didn't warn ya."
"And finally," Gart put up a third finger, "Three, you always greet the Big Man with a bow," Gart looked at Freya. "Well, maybe not you, but the rest of ya definitely do."
"Who is this 'Big Man'?" Annabeth asked.
Gart scoffed, "Only the most powerful man in Vegas," He pushed the door open, and Atreus' senses were assaulted.
The air was suffocating, like a campfire had been left to burn all day and night in a small room, Atreus coughed trying to get the bitterness out of him. The smell certainly didn't help either. The noise all around him was loud, chimes, shouting, music, so many small rings that threatened to drown his ears. Finally, as his eyes adjusted, the whole room was bright. So many flashing lights like outside all contained into this massive hall. People sat at machines tapping them and watching them spin, or sat at tables with cards.
"I hate this place." He could barely hear Freya at his side, it was that loud.
"You get used to it!" Gart shouted over the noise.
Atreus wanted to cover his ears but both of his hands were chained to the others, he'd just have to bear with it for now. As they walked, Atreus spotted a rotating sign near the middle of the hall hanging from the roof.
Gart took a deep breath as they walked, "It's always good to be back!" He shouted again, just enough for him to be heard. The Dwarf behind them seemed to feel the same as he also took a deep breath.
"It reeks, you Dwarfs can't clean this place up?" Freya asked.
Gart laughed, he laughed very hard, "Oh you precious thing," Freya scowled, not liking the insult, "It's this way because our midgarding clientele like it that way. All the smoke, alcohol, and gambling they want. As long as they have the cash for it."
They followed Gart to a nearby staircase, away from the crowd and the oppressing air, at the top two more Dwarfs stood wearing black suits and glasses to hide their faces. They stood laxed, but as they saw them walk up they stood stiff.
"The Big Man in?" Gart asked.
"He is." One of them replied before opening the door for them.
"Move." The dwarf behind them prodded Atreus again, following Gart inside.
The room was a lot quieter than the hall downstairs, a few other Dwarves like the one outside sat at small tables drinking, or stood chatting. That all stopped when they entered. Some of them looked wide eyed, like they couldn't believe it. Whispers spread among them.
At the back of the room, a larger Dwarf sat in luxury. His suit shimmered in the light, his fingers adorn with expensive looking rings, and he held a drink in hand. A dark crimson. But that wasn't what Atreus focused on, it was the man beside him. One all too familiar.
"Huh, I guess you were right." The dwarf huffed another puff of smoke before letting it out into a dark cloud.
"Aren't I always?" The mischievous smile of the Big Man's guest widened.
"Only sometimes," The Big Man chuckled, "Loki."
There he was, standing there in his 'Red Sox' jersey and that sinister smile of his. He turned to Atreus, "Hey there kiddo, you like cards?"