𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓: Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Y/n go to the Lotus Casino to find Hermes, but there's some obstacles...
˚. ✦.˳·˖✶ ⋆.✧̣̇˚.

lowercase intended.

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(this is not connected to the "the arch" chapter, i'll try to steer away from percabeth in this 😞)

———

"There. I've got a signal. Toss it, Percy," Annabeth told him. "I mean it should work... my mother wouldnt just leave us hanging," i spoke up.

"Unless you did something embarrassing," Percy refers to athena, then tosses the coin. Annabeth shoved him slightly.

"Okay, this will never stop being weird," he said. "If you want the gods' attention, you have to pay for it. Oh, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Okay, show me Camp Half-Blood. Chiron's office," annabeth huffs.

"Luke?"

Luke's figure turned to us, "Annabeth? Y/n? Percy? Are you okay?"

"Yeah.. we're fine.. Where's chiron?"

"Chiron's holding camp together with both hands. Everyone thinks we're going to war, so the cabins are taking sides. Please tell me you're calling with good news," he told us.

"We know who stole the bolt," percy speaks up.

"How do you know," Luke questions.

"We ran into Ares, and Grover got him talking and realized Ares knew who the thief was but was covering for them. So, who would Ares cover for other than..." percy drags on.

"His favorite daughter. Clarisse is the lightning thief," he nods.

"Chiron's gotta arrest her, find out what she knows. There's more to this than just the bolt, something bigger. Don't ask me how I know, you just gotta trust me," percy told him.

"Okay, I'm on it. So, Ares, huh? What was that like," he chuckles.

"Well... compared to the Chimera on Monday and Medusa on Sunday, could have been a lot worse," percy said. "Medusa was Saturday," i told him. "I thought Sunday," he remarked. "No monsters on Sunday. Monday, you died in the river," i informed him. "Right. So, Medusa on Saturday," he said.

"Guys, what is this," luke asks.

"What?"

"What?"

"When did you turn into an old married couple," he said, making my eyes widen.

"Not to change the subject, but I'm gonna. We could use your advice on something. We're headed to Las Vegas to find your dad..."

Annabeth moves the pieces disconnecting the signal.

"What was that about," percy look over to annabeth. "You can't ask Luke about his dad," annabeth tells him.

"Well, now I certainly can't," percy mutters. I lowkey giggled at that.

"If you tell him we're going to see Hermes, he's gonna try to talk us out of it. We don't need that right now," annabeth said.

"They don't get along," i asked. "...at all," she shakes her head.

———

We were on the side, watching the animals disturb the people and their cars.

"This seems dangerous," percy says.

"Oh. They'll be totally fine. I gave them a Satyr's blessing, so they'll be able to reach the wilderness safely," grover smiles. That made me smile too that he was thinking about the animals, cause that was not where percy was heading.

"I meant for the people," percy clarifies. "Oh... them."

"Well, I mean, I'm sure they'll... Yeah, I don't know. But the animals are all set," grover nods happily.

"Okay, come on, before the cops show up," annabeth says.

"So, how do we know which hotel is the Lotus," percy asks, looking around.

"I'm guessing the one with the giant lotus blossom on it," annabeth looks behind us. I laughed, "Nice!"

Annabeth and I high five.

"You were like two seconds ahead of me. Seriously. Sometimes, it might be okay to just let the easy ones go. Can we agree to just try it, maybe," percy thins his lip and looks up at us, unamused.

"Lighten up, seaweed brain," i laughed.

———

"I know we're supposed to be saving the world, but would it be unprofessional if we just hung out here for a bit," percy says with a hopeful tone.

"We find Hermes, we get him to hook us up with a ride to Los Angeles and a plan to get into the Underworld, and we are out of here ten seconds later," annabeth keeps a firm voice.

"I was kidding," percy said.

"Wait, hang on," grover spoke up. "What," percy asked.

"Your mom told you all the stories. Did she read you the Odyssey," grover asks. "The graphic novel," percy said. We looked at him, weird.

"It counts."

"Odysseus lands on a beach. There's these guys who've forgotten where they came from, forgot everything that was important to them, and they got that way because they ate..." Grover says.

"the lotus flowers," percy finishes.

"If we go in there and then forget everything, that would be bad on a number of levels," grover freaks.

"But if Hermes is in there, though, then what choice do we have? What do you think, Wise Girl," he looks at me.

"Woahh there. Me? Pft. Well this may be a shocker... but just don't eat anything," i make a surprise, shock face.

He smiles and shakes his head.

"Wait, why'd you look at me when she said that," grover looks toward annabeth as we all walked enter more into the casino.

"This place is a lot bigger than it looked from the outside. He could be anywhere," percy says.

"Let's split up," annabeth said.

"I thought we didn't do that anymore. Also, you guys have seen him before, but I haven't. So I'm not gonna be much help alone," percy explains.

"You think we don't do a lot of things. Guess, we're just a bunch of hypocrites," i sigh.

"Go check that side of the floor. Grover can go on that side and the three of us can go this way. One way or the other, we meet back in the lobby in 20 minutes," annabeth says.

"I can go with grover-"

I get cut off by percy. "No! He will be all good, so let's go," percy lights up, taking my arm, pulling me closer.

"What do I say to him if I find him first," grover asks. "Nothing. Meet me here and you'll take me to him," annabeth tells him. "Yeah. Of course," grover agrees.

———

"Okay. So, I've been having these dreams. For a while, they were weird. Then, like Luke's mom, they got scary. You have these too, right," he asks the both of us.

"Of course," annabeth says. I just nod, humming in response.

"And then this guy started showing up and talking to me. But not like in a regular dream. It's more like he knows we're in a dream. But today, it was different. Like I somehow ended up in his dream. Like I was eavesdropping on him talking to..." he trails off.

"Talking to who," i ask.

"To the person who stole the master bolt for him," he looks in front of him.

"You're eavesdropping on Hades conspiring with Clarisse through your dreams," annabeth said.

"The part I don't get, though, is that they were talking about what comes next. Like getting Zeus and Poseidon to fight was only the beginning, and they're planning something bigger on top of it. So, do you think it's real? Because if it's real, something the gods don't even know about, I mean... what are we supposed to do about that," percy rambles.

"I dont know," annabeth sighs. "I'm not sure either, sorry percy," i said.

"You guys don't know?"

"There are things we don't know," annabeth told him. "Yeah, but if you guys don't know, I mean, what chance do I have," percy says.

"Well... it isn't gonna make any difference, unless we actually get to Santa Monica first. We don't have much time," i said.

———

We walked into a small area of the casino.

Hermes looked up as we walked towards him, "Hey, demigods! Welcome!

"We were sent to find you."

"Well, you found me. Come join us. You kids know how to play craps," he asked us.

My eyes light up. "Yes ple-"

"Look, we don't really have a lot of time. We need your help to..." annabeth cuts me off making my smile fall. Man, i was looking forward for some games.

"I know what you need my help for. You want my help to sneak into the Underworld," he sighs.

"Wow. You're a really good guesser," percy nods.

"I exist beyond space and time, kid. Why do you think they put me in charge of delivering the mail? Look, you're not the first demigods to ask and, trust me, you won't be the first demigods to walk away disappointed. So you might as well at least play a little..." he says

"Heck yeah-"

"We're friends of Luke's," annabeth cuts me off again. "never mind.." i mumble to myself, and percy heard me and looks down at me.

"Hey, i'm gonna go find grover! See you guys later," i perked up, finding a reason to go play something.

"straight to grover, y/n," annabeth points at me.

I smile and nod slowly and run off.

———

Oh my gosh look at this place. So huge. Way bigger than i thought on the inside. I walked around, trying to find grover... and maybe look for some stops while at it.

I see an arcade game and i ran to it. I started playing.

After a few minutes, i won several times and decided to stop.

"Hey! Could I join," i hear someone say. I looked to the voice and see a little black haired boy. "Oh hi! I was just finishing up," i smiled at him. "Oh.. well i was on the way to look for my sister but... i couldn't find her," he chuckles.

"Oh that's not good! She couldn't be that far though! I was also actually here with-"

I pause. "With..."

I don't remember. "Well! I was also looking for-" I pause again.

"Huh.. I don't remember," i told him. "That happens sometimes," he chuckles. "Well, I guess we can play games together then," i smiled as we walk to a different game.

——

Percy and Annabeth had just finished talking with Hermes.

"We have a huge problem. I know it seems like we've only been here for like 20 minutes, but it's already Thursday. We've been here for days. Time moves differently here. Faster. Every second in here is like minutes outside," percy says in one breath.

"Hermes let us sit at that table the whole time, knowing the clock was running out on our quest," annabeth shakes her head, disappointed.

"Yes," percy said looking away to the window. "Then I feel a lot better about having stolen his keys," annabeth holds up some keys.

"Exactly. Wait, what," percy looks back at annabeth.

"Got invisible. Picked his pocket," annabeth simply said. "You picked Hermes's pocket," percy said in shock.

"I'm multi-talented. Now, all we have to do is find his car and it'll instantly transport us anywhere we wanna go. We still have time to finish this quest before the solstice, if we hurry," annabeth said.

"Hermes told me something else. The reason we can't feel time passing is because of the lotus fruit," percy explained.

"We didn't eat any lotus fruit," annabeth questions. "They pump it into the air. It makes you forget. Hermes reminded me there was something we needed to do before we could leave," he wonders.

"Grover.." annabeth looks up.

"Who's Grover," percy follows her gaze

"...Grover. I remember Grover. Man, Grover got really old. How long have we been here," he asked rhetorically.

They walk up to Augustus.

"Hey! We're looking for our friend, a satyr. Have you seen him," percy asks

Augustus looks at them in silence then ran. Percy was right on his trail. "Where is he? Wait," percy calls out.

———

"Grover? Grover!"

The two of them takes off his set.

"I was so close..." he sighs.

"I know, I hate it when someone does that to me. And I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but it's really time to go.," percy rushes him

"Of course. Where are we going," grover smiles.

The two of them look at each other then back at grover.

"Wait... where's y/n? she's not here," percy asks worried. "Y/n? Who's that," grover asks.

Annabeth sighs. "You don't know who we are, do you," percy asks.

"Yeah. No i don't. Have we met," grover asks.

"Percy. Annabeth. We're your best friends. Y/n is too," percy quickly introduces.

"Really?"

"Oh, boy. Grover, we're on a quest. We can't do this without you. We're short on time, and we gotta go. Right now."

"A quest? That sounds amazing! But is it dangerous? It's not a deal-breaker, I'm just curious. Also, I'm sorry, what was your name again?" he looks at annabeth.

———

They see a figure as they were walking through the casino.

It was y/n.

They rush to her, dragging grover behind them.

——

"Y/n!"

I hear someone call my name and look behind me.

"Hi?" I greeted.

"Okay, we'll talk about you not going straight to grover later, but now we gotta go," the girl hurries me.

"Wait.. who are you guys," i asked the three of them.

The girl stops pushing me. "Oh... not again," she shakes her head.

"Y/n? You don't remember," the blonde one asked me. "Im sorry?"

I didn't know if i should be sorry. But i feel like i should.

"I'm percy. That's annabeth and grover," he speaks softly.

"Oh! Yeah.. I don't know you guys," i chuckled. "What have you been doing," the blonde shakes his head. "We have to go," the girl exclaims.

"But i can't leave my friend without saying goodbye," i shake my head, referring to the little boy i was with the whole time.

"What friend," the girl asks.

"Little boy with black hair," i told her. "No time we have to get on the quest," she spoke firmly.

Aww man. Well i hope he finds his sister.

"A quest? Where are we going," i asked as we walked off.

"And what's your guys' name again," i chuckled. The blonde boy sighs and stuck close to me. I liked that feeling. I may not remember who he was but i felt a connection.

He puts his arm around me. "You'll remember, don't worry," he smiles at me.

———

"Okay, god of travelers. What kind of car does the god of travelers have," the blondie looks around the parking space.

"Guys, I gotta say, so far, this quest is really exciting. Really hoping we find that car," the boy with little things coming out of his hair smiles happily.

"Same! I'm super excited," i smiled, jumping up with joy.

"Finding the car isn't the quest," the boy says.

"There's more," the other guys who seems to have forgotten as well asks.

My face lights up.

"Jeez. We'll explain it to you guys on the way. We're in a bit of a hurry."

"We're late," he asks.

"Very, very late," the other boys says.

"Are we late because of me and this girl," he asks, sad.

"It's okay. We're gonna be okay," the boy smiles. "Although, I hope whatever game you two were playing was amazing," he adds.

"Oh yeah! Me and the boy were having a blast," i smiled. He looks at me weird.

"Boy?"

I nod eagerly.

He looks back to grover.

"I was hunting for Pan," the boy beside me says. Pan?

"Sounds great," the boys says

"No, I mean, like I actually felt I was about to find him. That... That I'd be the first. That I'd help save the natural world. It just felt so real," the boy talking about pan says.

"Guys!"

The girl stands in front of a taxi.

"Hermes drives a cab," the blonde boy curiously asked. "And left us a note," she pulls out an envelope from the windshield. "How do you know that's for us..." she shows the envelope:

"For the dumb kids"

"Should've known the god of thieves noticed his pocket getting picked..." she starts reading the note. "Back door to the Underworld, magic word, map in the glove box. And he says we'll become travelers once we're on the road. And then the car will take us wherever we wish to go," she finishes.

"So, one of us just has to drive it out of the garage," the blonde says.

"Oh, I'm still not 100% sure what we're doing here, which seems disqualifying," the other boys says and i nod agreeing with him.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure, I mean... I killed the Minotaur on my first try, right? How hard could this be," the blonde twirled the keys around his finger.

thud!

"My fault. That was me. How do you make it go backwards," he chuckles.

bang!

"You're doing great. Maybe try aiming for the middle," i try to sound encouraging.

I was sitting up front with him.

He starts driving the car slowly and stopping. It was horrendous.

"It's not that hard," the girl says behind us.

"Look, you're welcome to give this a try," the blonde looks at her.

She shakes her head.

A car came speeding in front of us and scared all of us.

"That guy didn't even slow down," he huffs and then honks.

"Okay... keep going. Up the street," the girl said.

"It's okay, you got this," i smiled.

He sleepy starts driving and it was working. I looked up at him smiling. He smiled back at me.

screeeccchhhh

His eyes widen and tried to move out.

We got out and a car was coming at us from the side.

We yelled.

———

"Where are we," percy asks.

"Turn off the lights," annabeth told him.

It was raining and thundering. We got out of the car.

"Percy. Annabeth. Grover. Wait.. I remember! You guys are my best friends," i exclaimed.

"I remember too! You guys are my best friends," grover smiled.

Percy looks straight at me and hugged me.

"Thank god, i was worried you wouldn't," he whispered, making my spine shiver. Stomach flipping flips. Butterflies all over me. I can go on.

"Little weird that I forgot a lot more stuff than you guys did. Wonder what that's about," grover wonders. "We weren't alone. It's easy to forget what's important when you're alone," annabeth says.

The thunder rumbles again and we all looked at the ocean.

"I think I gotta go meet my dad now," percy sighs.

"We'll be here when you get back," grover reassures.

"What do I say to him," percy asks.

"You'll know," annabeth said.

He looks at me and reaches his hand out to mine. "I guess... hopefully this goes well," he whispers to me then looks back at the other two.

We watch him walk into the ocean.

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most definitely NOT gonna edit this cause that means i have to reread all this and it's the LONGEST chapter yet with over 3k words! wowwww

anyways yeah this was a fun writing thing to do 😋

(—— means change of pov)