CHAPTER TEN
( the lotus hotel and casino )

ARES WAS WAITING for us in the diner parking lot when we got back.

"Well, well," he said in his raspy voice. "You didn't get yourself killed."

"You knew it was a trap," Percy spoke up first.

Ares gave him a wicked grin in response. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

Percy shoved the shield at him. "You're a jerk."

I agreed, but I would've never said it to his face. Annabeth and Grover caught their breath. Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air. 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 was easier to read because it was reverse-printed white on black: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

Percy wasn't having it, "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 Percy. I peeked over his shoulder to see what was inside; fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.

"I don't want your lousy – "

"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted Percy, giving him the best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot."

Reluctantly, may I add, Percy slung the backpack over his shoulder. I admit, it was quite surprising to see him stand up to the god in that way but it wouldn't do any good for him.

The diner only had 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 cook out from the kitchen to see and muttered something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us. How great, I said to myself. We'd be back in the front pages of the newspapers tomorrow.

"You owe me one more thing," Percy told Ares. "You promised me information about my mother."

"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."

That sure got his attention. "What do you mean?"

"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."

"Kept. Why?"

"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."

"Nobody's controlling me."

He laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."

Percy balled his fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."

He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.

Annabeth faced him, "That was not smart, Percy."

"I don't care."

"Out of all the gods you could've chosen to have conflict with, you chose him," I said to him, now mostly worried about what could happen to him and not because it was stupid – which it was. "Great."

"Hey, guys," Grover called out. "I hate to interrupt, but. . ."

He pointed towards the diner. At the cash register, the last two customers were paying their bill, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.

"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry."

It wasn't a premium ride, but there was no other option. I didn't want to be in Denver anymore. We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big lorry, closing the doors behind us before the men in the overalls could see us.

THE FIRST THING that hit me was the smell. It was so bad that I had to hover a hand over my nose. The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped his sword. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a tragic scene. There, sitting in a row of dirty metal cages were three of the saddest zoo animals I'd ever seen: a zebra, a male albino lion and an antelope.

Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each got a polystyrene tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!

Nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. My heart broke at the sight of the flies buzzing around the lion's pink eyes and the fact that 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, and I would've followed, but the truck's engine roared to life. The trailer started shaking, and that forced us all to sit down or fall down.

We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but Percy pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, we probably looked a lot more appetizing to the lion than those turnips.

Percy and I refilled their bowls, then used his sword to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. The meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope. Meanwhile, Grover calmed the antelope down and Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but it was 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.

Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened the bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one half-heartedly. We were halfway to Los Angeles, and I admit that I was pretty nervous to return home after such a long time. On the contrary, I was relieved we were halfway done with the quest in record time – it was only June 14 – so there was plenty of time left before the summer solstice.

"Hey," Annabeth said, "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park."

"That's okay."

"It's just. . ." She shuddered. "Spiders."

"Because of the Arachne story," Percy guessed pretty accurately. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, 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."

"We're a team, remember?" Percy said. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying."

Even though I thought he was asleep, he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?"

We laughed. Annabeth pulled apart an Oreo, handed me the other half. I fondly smiled at the gesture. It reminded me of when we were younger, when we were on the run and had to ration our food.

"Percy, did Luke really not say anything in the Iris message?" I asked what had bothered me most of the day.

Percy took time to answer. "Luke said you two and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree."

My face hardened at the mention of the tree. Grover let out a mournful bray. "I should've told you 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."

He nodded glumly.

"And the other three half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp. . ." Percy looked back at Annabeth and I. "That was you both and Luke, wasn't it?"

Annabeth looked like she did not want to talk about the matter.

I remembered my conversation with Percy a day ago.  "Like you said, a seven-year-old halfblood wouldn't have made it very far alone. I had the luck of finding them one day. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. Annabeth was the same age as me. They'd all run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them, like a family of some kind. They were great monster 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," Grover continued, 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, Maia 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 us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker. . ."

My mind flashed that moment in a flash, remembering the last look Thalia gave me before she gave her life to save us. It was something that still haunted me to this day.

"Stop it," Annabeth cut him off. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."

"She sacrificed herself to save us," he lamented.  "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."

"Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" Percy said. "That's not fair."

"Percy's right," Annabeth agreed. "Maia and 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. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy."

"You're not lame," I insisted.

Annabeth nodded to my words. "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 is really glad you're here right now."

I saw the way she kicked him in the shin.

"Yeah," Percy spoke up. I had a feeling he would've said it even without the kick. "It's not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."

Grover let out a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for him to say anything else, but his breathing got heavier. After a few seconds, the sound turned to snoring and I realized he'd fallen asleep.

"How does he do that?" Percy asked incredulously.

"I don't know," Annabeth chuckled. "But that was really a nice thing you told him."

"I meant it."

We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips. The silence made me focus my attention on my hands instead, too scared to say anything else. From the corner of my eye, I saw how Annabeth toyed with her camp necklace like she usually did when she was nervous.

"That pine-tree bead," Percy spoke after a while. "Is that from your first year?"

I lifted my head to find him looking at Annabeth. She lowered her head to the necklace, and 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. . ."

I chuckled under my breath when I remembered that 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. I knew Annabeth had difficulty in talking about this topic, but the fact that she knew to confide in Percy was something you didn't see every day.  "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 live 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 avoided looking into the eyes of either one of us. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain."

"You shouldn't give up," he told her. "You should write him a letter or something."

"Thanks for the advice," she responded coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with."

Annabeth turned around on her spot with her back facing us. I felt terrible about not having a way to console her, so I placed a hand on her back and rubbed it up and down. My friendship with her consisted in letting her know that she didn't have to go through her problems alone, just like she did with me. Her eyes closed and as I continued rubbing my hand down her back, I saw her chest fall into a slow rhythm, indicating she had fallen asleep.

"I owe you," I said after a while, in an unusual timid voice. "From, you know, back at the water park."

"It's okay," He shrugged me off. "We're even. Without you, we would've been demigod pancakes."

I chuckled and stared down at my hands. I sighed since I didn't know what else to say, but what I did know was that I needed to correct my mistakes. "Look, I'm sorry, Percy."

He frowned, though I didn't know if it was in confusion or because I had called him by his name. "What for?"

"I misjudged you. I didn't think you'd be capable for this quest." I immediately winced at my words. Why did I say that?

"Gee, thanks."

"But now you've proven to me that you are," I jumped to correct myself. I straightened my posture from the uncomfortable position. "It's impressive, honestly."

"What is?"

"It took me five years to be out here experiencing the real world, and you've done it all in less than two weeks."

His eyes diverted to the ground. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Oh, but it is," I corrected. "If everything goes well, you'll be showered with power and glory. Your dad will be proud of you."

"I don't need him to be proud of me," he shook his head. "I didn't know who he was for twelve years. He never made the effort to be part of my life."

I thought his words through as I pressed my lips in a thin line. I found myself staring at the side of his head and took in his appearance. Just like everyone else, he had dirt and grime all over his face, but what catches your attention even more were his sea green eyes. Even though it was completely dark inside the trailer, I could still see his face clearly enough.

"But, hey," he called my attention again and I blinked out my gaze to make sure he didn't notice I was looking at him. "If it's important to you, maybe your dad will be proud of you."

I appreciated what he was trying to do, but I knew better. "It's okay. It's too late for me. You still have the chance."

"Well, if my friends aren't receiving credit too, then what's the point?"

"Friends?" I was starting to be thankful it was dark so he couldn't see my face.

He must've misinterpreted my shock for displeasure. "I forgot – I'm sorry – "

"It's okay."

I couldn't find the strength to say anything else after that. I felt so embarrassed, to say the least. I didn't usually have this much difficulty in making friends, but somehow I couldn't seem to hold a proper conversation with him. We passed another few minutes of silence, jumping in our seats whenever the trailer passed a bumper way too harshly.

"So if the gods fight," he broke the silence. "Will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Apollo versus Poseidon?"

"Well, my dad is quite indecisive, but I've already made up my mind," I grabbed one of the forgotten turnip sacks from the floor and flattened it to make a pillow. "I'll fight alongside you."

"Why?"

"Just like you said, Kelp Head, you're my friend," I told him. "Want me to elaborate?"

Obviously, he didn't. He didn't say anything after that, so I took the hint and closed my eyes. It was difficult to say the least – my position and makeshift pillow were uncomfortable, and Grover's snoring didn't help.

I WOKE UP with a jolt that morning.  Annabeth was hovering over me, her hand raised as if she was going to smack it if I hadn't woken up earlier. I groaned, mostly because of the pain in my entire body due to the uncomfortable position I had slept in, and because of Annabeth's aggressive acts.

"This is why we don't do sleepovers so often," I teased. She stuck her tongue at me and used her extended hand to help me up.

"The truck's stopped," Grover explained, backing up from his position to give Percy enough space to stand up. "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. Percy, Grover and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hopefully blend in. The trailer doors creaked open, making the sunlight break through.

"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." 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 in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said. Under the turnip sacks, I saw how 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 doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

The zebra eyes widened in wild-like fear.

There was a loud knock on the side of the trailer. The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

A voice outside, probably Eddie's, shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

Another knock.

Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"

The guy named Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.

A second later, Annabeth appeared next to us. I figured she was the one responsible for the banging on the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal."

"No kidding," Grover agreed. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"

"We've got to free them!" Grover said.

Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, planning to come inside to torment the animals again any minute. Percy grabbed his sword and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage. The zebra burst out immediately and turned back to Percy just to bow down at his feet. The look on his face was priceless, like he was absolutely confused about the gesture.

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 followed by the sound of 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 Vegas.

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.

This time, I helped Percy in cutting the locks with my own dagger. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same blessing he'd used for the zebra.

"Good luck," Percy told the animals.

Before they could leave, I waved in farewell as if I thought they'd wave back. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. Some tourists 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?" Percy turned to Grover. "I mean, the desert and all – "

"Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."

"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" Percy asked.

"It only works on wild animals."

"So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.

"Ooh, nice!" I high-fived her and she laughed, corresponding to the gesture.

"That's great, team up against me." he protested.

"Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."

We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was forty degrees, easy, and we obviously looked like we had just escaped a large oven, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay us much attention. We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We walked by pyramids, a pirate ship and the Statue of Liberty. II found myself staring at nearly everything we passed, since this was obviously my first time in Vegas.

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 lotus blossom flowers.

The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

After a short lifetime ( or maybe it was just last week's experience ) of falling into monster's traps, it was fair to be suspicious. But this guy was normal. One look at him, and I couldn't see anything wrong in him. Before any of us could speak, Percy was the one who nodded and said we'd love to come in.

Inside, we took one look around, and Grover said what we were all thinking, "Whoa."

The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I'm not only filled with the old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor water slide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. Hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that 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. 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."

"Um, but. . ."

"No, no," he said, laughing when Percy stammered to answer. "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 bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."

He handed us each a green plastic credit card. There had to be some misunderstanding. He probably thought we were some millionaire's kids. It sort reminded me of when my mom used to take us into five star hotels when we went on vacation.

Percy looked up to the bellhop, "How much is on here?"

His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when does it run out of cash?"

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 four conveniently separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas and crisps. A hotline to room service, fluffy towels and waterbeds with feather pillows. A big screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub and much to my surprise, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. I didn't know if that was legal. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though everything else in the room was more attention grabbing than the view.

"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is. . ."

"Cool," I breathed out, still not grasping the idea that we were here.

"So cool," Grover added to my words.

There was no time to waste, so I immediately marched to my own room and locked the door. I ran to the bathroom and took a long awaited shower, and it felt refreshing to finally wash all of last week's grime off my body. I got rid of my dirty Waterland clothes after I found new ones inside the closet, which surprisingly fit me with no problem. I found this confusing, but brushed the thought away.

I ate a full stash of gummy worms since I had forgotten the taste of them after living in camp for so long. I enjoyed the luxuries this hotel had to offer, but I could feel something else bothering me in the back of my mind. When I came out of my bedroom, I found that Percy, Annabeth and Grover had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating crisps to his heart's content, Percy was drinking what seemed to be his third Coke while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel.

"All those stations," Percy told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"

"It's interesting."

"I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place."

Without 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, looking amongst the group. "Sleep?"

A good sleep for once did sound inviting, but I was a lot more curious to check what the hotel lobby had to offer. Percy and Grover seemed to have the same idea, since they looked at each other like two mischievous teens with their green plastic LotusCash cards.

"Play time," Percy announced.

I have to say, that lobby was one of the places where I had the most fun in my life. The first thing I did was try the climbing wall, which was a lot easier than the one at camp. I decided to try something new and try the Guitar Hero game, and I must've been good, since I made quite a crowd around me as I advanced through the levels. 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 bumped into Percy once, who told me how he bungee-jumped at least five times, and how he was ready to do it again. I told him to try something else from all the other options in the lobby, so he dragged me to those classic photo booths and we both kept one of the photo strips. Annabeth was playing trivia games and other intellectual stuff. 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, which basically screamed at Annabeth to try it out.

I was walking through the large lobby, distracted on what else to play when I bumped into someone, well, someone bumped into me. "Oop! Sorry."

I looked down to the floor where the stranger had lost their balance, and I felt instantly guilty when I realized it was a kid. He didn't look more than two years younger than me, his black hair covering the majority of his olive-colored face. His eyes were doe-eyed, curiously looking up at me.

"It's okay." I extended a hand to help him up. "Are you here by yourself?"

"No, I'm here with my sister," he shook his head. "I lost her."

"I can help you find her if you want," I offered since I figured he might get even more lost with how enormous the entire hotel was.

A smile washed through his face. "You will? Thank you!"

Before I could say anything else, his grip on my hand tightened. He was bouncing off his feet in excitement to have met someone new, especially one who offered help, which reminded me of my half-brother Will back in camp.

"What's your sister's name? Maybe that can help us find her."

"Bianca," he answered, playing with the ends of his shirt. "And I'm Nico. We came here last week."

I nodded at the information. I was about to say my name to him when I realized his attention was already set on something else, that being my charm bracelet around the wrist of the hand he was holding.

"So pretty," he muttered under his breath. I smiled at the compliment, although I had to be careful that his fingers didn't touch the sun-shaped charm. But his eyes were mostly focused on the other three. "What are these? They look like part of my Mythomagic game!"

I frowned and couldn't find a way to answer him, since I had no clue what he was talking about. We walked through the first floor of the hotel for at least two minutes, which I spent trying to get Nico to stay attentive to the sight of his sister being nearby.

"Nico!" A third, feminine voice rang in my ears. Both Nico and I turned at the call of his name, and I found myself staring at a girl approximately the same age as me, with the same features as her brother. "What did I tell you about running away?"

"Sorry, Bianca," Nico lowered his head, embarrassed. Then, his head snapped up in a completely different mood. "But look! I made a new friend!"

I smiled at the cheerfulness in his tone and saw the scolding look behind his sister's eyes. "Hey, it's fine. I just wanted to help him find you."

"I apologize," she said in a much calmer voice. "He always runs off when I'm distracted."

"It's okay."

"Well, I'm sorry, again. . ." she trailed off.

"Oh!" I hadn't realized I didn't tell them my name. "Maia."

"Maia," she repeated, and I could see the slight confusion in her eyes as she pronounced it, like it was unfamiliar to her. "It was nice to meet you, but I'm afraid we have to go. It's almost time for Nico to go to bed."

I nodded in understanding although I couldn't help but grow confused. Have I been here long enough to be night time already? There were no windows or clocks anywhere near me, so I couldn't confirm anything. The way Bianca said it. . .it seemed like she was following a routine, one she couldn't disobey.

"Yeah, sure," I tried to brush my thoughts off. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you!" Nico called out with full excitement and with an enthusiastic wave as Bianca began to drag him away.

I found myself waving back with a smile but my hand was suddenly tugged downward by someone and dragged away. I jumped back and freed my arm from the grip, afraid of what it could be just to stare back at Percy's panicked eyes.

"That was rude," I rubbed my arm.

"Sorry – " He was looking at both sides, as if he was scared someone would hear him. "We have to get out of here."

"Why? We just got here."

"This place is a trap. We have to go."

He must've realized I was drifting off, since he clapped his hands in front of me to get my attention. Although it helped, it also made me annoyed. "What?"

"Maia, this is a trap," he insisted. "We still have to continue our quest."

I scoffed. "Please. We still have time – "

I was about to push my way off when he grabbed me by the shoulders, more forcefully than how he had grabbed my arm. His eyes fell on mine and before I could even avoid him, he spoke in a low voice, "Snakes. Long, slimy snakes."

I shuddered at the thought. My head started pounding, like I had been smacked across the face with a hammer. My mind began remembering everything. How long have I really been here? I tried to remind myself. . .we were going to Los Angeles. We had a quest to find the Underworld. We had to get to Hades before a war with the gods unraveled. My consciousness had a lot of processing to do so I didn't question how Percy knew my fear of snakes and that it would work in snapping me awake.

"Oh, my," I rubbed a hand against my temple. "What just happened? How long have we –"

"I don't know," he confessed. "But we have to find Annabeth and Grover."

I nodded in agreement and between the two of us, we searched the entire lobby in hopes to find our friends. We ended up finding Annabeth first, still building her city.

"Come on," Percy told her. "We've got to get out of here."

No response.

I grabbed her by the shoulder. "Annabeth?"

She looked up, annoyed. "What?"

"We need to leave."

"Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers –"

"This place is a trap."

She didn't respond until Percy shook her again. "What?"

"Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!"

"Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes."

"Annabeth, there are people here from 1977," Percy reasoned. "Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever."

"So?" she asked. "Can you imagine a better place?"

Percy sighed like he had no better idea to snap her out of her daze. I decided to grab her wrist and dragged her away from the game. "Hey!"

She screamed and kicked like a child, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. Percy was following after us with a safe distance, scared he might fall in Annabeth's range of kicks.

I thought of something. If this worked for me, it might work with her too, "Spiders. Large, hairy spiders."

That did the trick. Her vision cleared.

"Oh my gods," She breathed out, looking around. "How long have we –"

Percy shook his head and cut her off, "We need to find Grover."

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 Percy and started clicking, as if he were just another image from the screen.

With one look back at Annabeth and I from Percy, the three of us managed to take Grover and drag him away from the game. 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 up to us. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"

"We're leaving," Percy told him.

"Such a shame," he said, and his tone was convincing enough. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members."

Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks."

We walked towards the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more inviting than before. I resisted the temptation of returning to our room upstairs, those comfortable beds, the candy. . .

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.

I saw how Percy bolted toward the nearest newspaper stand. He brought one back for us to see as well, and I was able to read the year first. Luckily, 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.