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ALL TOO WELL

THE LIGHTNING THIEF
[ K I N D N E S S 
I N T E R N A T I O N A L ]

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THE WHOLE THING was a trick. Ares had set them up so that Hephaestus' plan would go awry and Percy would get humiliated in front of all of the Gods. Natalia Flynn, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover managed to thwart what the war God wanted and still managed to retrieve Ares' shield. However, as Natalia walked side-by-side with Percy back to the diner parking lot, she could feel the anger radiating off of him. She hoped he could control it because she didn't want another exploding toilet incident.

Ares was waiting for them. "Well, well. You didn't get yourself killed."

"You knew it was a trap," Percy said.

The God gave him a wicked grin, one that sent rage flowing through Natalia's veins. "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."

Natalia froze and Annabeth and Grover caught their breath. She glanced over at Percy with a warning look, but he stared straight at the God with a clenched jaw. Ares didn't respond, but instead took his shield and spun it in the air. It changed from a metal shield into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.

"See that truck over there?" Ares pointed to an eighteen-wheeler that was parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."

Natalia glanced over. The sign on the back, which was reverse-printed white on black, read: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

"You're kidding," Percy replied.

Ares snapped his fingers, making the back door of the truck unlatch. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."

He removed a blue nylon backpack from the handlebars of his motorcycle and threw it to Percy. Natalia looked inside to see a fresh change of clothes for all of them, twenty dollars of mortal money, a pouch of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.

"I don't want your lousy—"

"Percy," Natalia warned, cutting him off with a harsh glare. She then looked back to Ares with a small smile that she had to force. "Thank you, Lord Ares. We really appreciate it."

The son of Poseidon gritted his teeth. With another pointed look from Natalia, Percy reluctantly slung the backpack over his shoulder. She knew his anger was only being caused because of the presence of the war God. Natalia felt it too. Unlike Percy, she knew how to control hers. It was something she learned from her time as a Demigod.

Natalia glanced back at the diner which was a little more empty than before. The waitress that had served them cheeseburgers and french fries was watching them nervously, almost as if she was expecting Ares to hurt them. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen, said something to him, and he snapped a picture of them with a little disposable camera. Natalia sighed. Knowing their luck, they would probably be on the news or in the papers tomorrow.

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

"You sure you can handle the news?" Ares asked while kick-starting his motorcycle. "She's not dead."

Percy's face went blank. "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."

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

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

Natalia saw the fire behind Ares' sunglasses glow a little brighter. Hot wind ruffled through her hair.

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

With that, Ares revved his motorcycle and sped off down Delancy Street.

"That was not smart, Percy," Annabeth scolded.

"I don't care," he replied.

"You don't want a God as your enemy. Especially not that God."

"Hey, guys," Grover cut in. "I hate to interrupt, but . . ."

Grover pointed at the diner. Natalia followed to see the last two customers paying their check. On the back of their identical black coveralls was a logo that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.

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

Natalia sighed. She didn't want to ride in the back of a truck with zoo animals, but it was their only option. Life was never easy for a Demigod, anyways. The four ran across the street and entered the truck, closing the door behind them.

The first two things that hit her were the smell and how dark it was. It smelled like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter. Ignoring it for now, Natalia summoned moonlight in the palm of her hand and let an orb of it float in the air. It illuminated a very heartbreaking scene in front of them.

In a row of filthy metal cages were three of the saddest zoo animals Natalia had ever seen. There was a zebra, a male albino lion, and an antelope. Someone had left the lion had a sack of turnips in its cage, but he obviously didn't want to eat it. The zebra and antelope had both gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. In the zebra's mane, chewing gum was matted like somebody had spit on it in their spare time. The antelope had a silver birthday balloon reading OVER THE HILL! tied to one of its horns. Probably the worst sight was the lion. No one apparently wanted to get close enough to it, so it paced around on soiled blankets in a space that was too small for it. His pink eyes had flies buzzing around them and his ribs were visible through his white fur. The lion panted through the incredibly stuffy heat of the trailer.

"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"

"Gods, I know," Natalia agreed. "These animals belong in the wild, not in the back of a cramped truck."

Both of them were prepared to go outside and beat up the truckers, but the engine roared to life and the truck began moving. Natalia was forced to sit down on some mildewed feed sacks. She tried to ignore the smell and the heat. Natalia tied her hair back into a ponytail as she watched Grover try and talk to the animals in goat bleats, but they only stared at him sadly. Annabeth wanted to break the cages and free them, and Natalia agreed, but it wouldn't do any good until the truck stopped moving.

So, they decided to help the animals as best they could. Natalia found a water jug and refilled their bowls. Percy used Riptide to drag the mismatched food out of their cages, giving the meat to the lion and the turnips to to the zebra and antelope. Grover calmed the antelope down while Annabeth gently cut the balloon off its horn with her knife. Natalia offered to cut the gum off of the zebra's mane, but they all thought it would be too risky with the truck bumping all over the road. With a promise of helping the animals more in the morning, they all settled in for the night.

Natalia leaned against the side of the truck next to Annabeth. While Grover curled up on a turnip sack, Annabeth nibbled on an Oreo, and Percy concentrated on something else, Natalia summoned more moonlight in her hand. The silver orb she conjured earlier was still floating above them. Natalia moved the silver light in between fingers and watched it with fascination. She wasn't sure why her mother had blessed her with this power, but she knew one day it would come in handy.

"Hey," Annabeth said, making Natalia extinguish the moonlight in her hand and look over at her. "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park."

"That's okay," Percy assured her.

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

"Not your fault, Anna," Natalia told her.

"Tals is right," Percy agreed. Natalia was glad the truck was still semi-dark or else he would have seen the blush appear on her face from the nickname. "It's because of the Arachne story. She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?

The blonde 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."

"We're a team, remember? Besides, Grover did the fancy flying and Natalia tried to cut us out."

Natalia believed the Satyr was asleep, but apparently he wasn't.

"I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" Grover mumbled from the corner.

Her, Annabeth, and Percy laughed. Annabeth offered the bag of Oreos, and both Natalia and Percy took one. Natalia began to eat her cookie and tucked her legs underneath her.

"In the Iris-message . . ." Annabeth began. "Did Luke really say nothing?"

Percy thought about it for a moment. "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 moonlight, it was hard to read Annabeth and Grover's expressions. Natalia knew the story, but she wasn't actually there, unlike they had been.

Grover brayed mournfully. "I should've told you the truth from the beginning. 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," Percy guessed.

The Satyr nodded glumly. "And the other two Half-Bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to Camp . . ."

Percy looked over at Annabeth. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it?"

Annabeth set down her uneaten Oreo. "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'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were . . . amazing 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 sniffled. "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 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 . . ."

"That's not true, Grover," Natalia said. "Nobody blames you for what happened. I'd never met Thalia, but I'm sure she didn't blame you either."

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

"Because you wouldn't leave two other Half-Bloods behind?" Percy questioned. "That's not fair."

"Percy's right," Annabeth agreed. "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. "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," 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 is really glad you're here right now."

Annabeth kicked Percy in the shin, making him wince. "Yeah. It's no 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. Natalia waited for Grover to say something else, but his breathing got heavier, signaling to her that he had fallen asleep.

She chuckled. "I'll never understand how he falls asleep so fast." Natalia then looked over to Percy. "What you said to him was really nice, Fish-Boy."

"I meant it." He went silent for a moment. "Hey, Moon Moon . . . who took you to Camp?"

"My mother," she responded simply.

Percy raised his eyebrows in amazement. "Artemis herself escorted you to Camp?"

She shrugged, twisting her silver bracelet around on her wrist. "Well, the monster attacks were becoming more and more regular. Being the daughter of Artemis gives me a strong scent. A strong enough scent that a Goddess came after me. One day, when I was ten, a blizzard surrounded my house. I went outside with my old bow and was faced with the snow Goddess named Khione. She told me that it was time to freeze and that I didn't belong. If my mother hadn't stepped in, I probably would have died." Natalia sighed. "That was the first and last time I saw my mom. She personally escorted me to Camp and helped me fight off Khione. Once I reached the borders, she handed me this bracelet and told me to use it well. I've been trying to make her proud ever since. My dad, too. I feel so bad for leaving him by himself."

"I'm sure you're making them both proud, Natalia." Percy then looked over to Annabeth, who was fingering her necklace while lost in thought. "That silver bead with the bow and arrow and moon on it. Is that from when Natalia came to Camp?"

"Yeah," she answered, looking down at her necklace. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Natalia's claiming symbol, Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a Centaur in a prom dress — now that was a weird summer . . ."

"And that college ring is your father's?"

"That's none of your—" Annabeth stopped herself. "Yeah, yeah it is."

"You don't have to tell me."

"No . . . it's okay."

Natalia smiled. She was proud of Annabeth for finally opening up. However, there was feeling of jealousy inside her. She envied how easily Percy and Annabeth could talk to each other.

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 live with him."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Percy said.

"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."

Natalia frowned. That was one of her her first years at Camp, and even though her and Annabeth were new friends, she remembered hugging Annabeth as she cried into her shoulder.

"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?" Percy questioned.

Annabeth scoffed. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain."

"You shouldn't give up. You should write him a letter or something."

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

There was a moment of silence.

"So if the Gods fight," Percy suggested, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"

Annabeth put her head against the backpack and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."

Natalia nodded. "Same here."

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Because we're your friends, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"

Annabeth finally fell asleep. Natalia followed in suit and rested her head against the truck, dozing off to the hum of the engine.

»»---------------------►

NATALIA WOKE UP from Grover shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes and yawned, stretching her arms above her head. Natalia opened her palm and the orb of moonlight that she summoned last night flew back into it, disappearing immediately. She rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"The truck's stopped," Grover told Percy, who he just woke up. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."

That was enough to wake Natalia up fully.

"Hide!" Annabeth ordered.

Easy for her to say. She put on her magical Yankees cap and disappeared. Grover, Percy, and Natalia dived behind bags of feed in hope that they would look like turnips.

The doors creaked open. Harsh sunlight and insufferable heat poured into the trailer.

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

He climbed inside and began to pour some water from a jug into the animals' bowls.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, splashing the rest of the hug onto the animal's face. The lion roared in indignation. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Natalia gritted her teeth. Her mother was the Goddess of wild animals. She had to restrain herself from whipping out her bow and shooting this guy. She glanced over at Grover, who looked extremely murderous for being a herbivore that was peaceful most of the time.

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed Happy Meal bag and then 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!"

Natalia clenched her fists. The zebra's eyes were wide with fear. Even if she didn't speak animal, she knew it was crying out for help.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.

The trucker inside the trailer yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

A voice outside, who must've been Eddie, shouted back. "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

Knock, knock, knock.

"What banging?" Eddie yelled.

Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, muttering curses about Eddie being an idiot. Annabeth suddenly materialized next to Natalia.

"This transport business can't be legal," she announced.

"No kidding," Grover responded. He paused for a moment. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"

"We have to free them," Natalia said. "It's only right."

All three of them looked at Percy. They could hear Eddie and Maurice arguing outside, but it didn't matter. Percy uncapped Riptide and cut the lock on the zebra's cage. The zebra burst out, turned to Percy, and bowed at him. Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk. Natalia immediately knew he was blessing him, and thinking fast, she summoned a moonlight in her hand again and sprinkled little particles of it over the zebra — a blessing of Artemis that they would be safe in the wild.

As Maurice poked his head back inside, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. Yells erupted and cars began to honk. They all rushed to the doors in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard with hotels, casinos, and neon signs.

Oh my Gods, Natalia thought. We just unleashed a fucking zebra in Las Vegas.

Maurice and Eddie ran after it. A few policemen ran after them screaming, Hey! You need a permit for that!

"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth suggested.

"The other animals first," Grover ordered.

Percy cut the other two locks. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing that he used for the zebra. Natalia sprinkled more moonlight particles on the lion and antelope.

"Good luck," Percy told the animals.

They both burst out of their cages and ran off together in the streets. Some tourists screamed while others backed off and took pictures.

"Will the animals be okay?" Percy questioned. "I mean, the desert and all—"

"Don't worry," Grover assured him. "I placed a Satyr's sanctuary on them."

"And I put a blessing of Artemis, Goddess of wild animals, on them," Natalia added.

Percy was left confused. "Meaning?"

"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," Grover responded. "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?"

"It only works on wild animals."

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

"Hey!" Percy protested, making Natalia laugh.

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

They all stumbled into the desert afternoon. It was easily a hundred and ten degrees, and they must have looked horrible, but the tourists were too invested in the animals to pay them much attention.

Walking through the streets of Las Vegas was definitely interesting. They passed many attractions. Natalia wasn't sure what they were looking for, but she was hoping it was somewhere that had ice cold water.

Suddenly, they stopped at a dead end. Right in front of them was the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower with the petals lighting up and blinking. It seemed normal, but no one was going in or out. However, the doors were open, spilling out flower-scented air conditioning into the Las Vegas heat.

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

Natalia has a bad feeling about this place. It gave her the creeps, but despite her suspicions, she entered the casino. Little did she know how dangerous it actually would be.

★彡

*starts playing poker face like the movies*