CHAPTER ELEVEN 
( A WILD TRIP FROM DINERS
TO CASINOS )

BY THE TIME THEY made it back to the diner, Ares was waiting for them in the parking lot. Nothing was different about the god, but on the large motorbike's handlebars hung a blue nylon backpack.

"Well, well," he began when the four kids got closer, "You didn't get yourselves killed."

The air of casualness around him agitated her, and she once again focused on just staying calm, not wanting to let it surge up like before. It was hard yet doable for now. Percy, though...

"You knew it was a trap," he accused. Yeah, he was riding on his anger, and Kali honestly didn't blame him.

The god grinned wickedly. "Bet that stupid blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

Kali just barely kept herself from rolling her eyes at him as Percy all but shoved the shield at Ares and said, "You're a jerk."

Annabeth and Grover's breaths caught, though it seemed that they had nothing to worry about. Ares grabbed his shield without a word of Percy's insult, then spun it in the air like pizza dough. It's form changed, turning into a bulletproof vest before their eyes. He slung it across his back, and pointed across the street at an eighteen wheeler.

"See that truck over there? That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."

There was a sign on the back of it that said: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS. The words were printed in white on a black background, which made it easier to read.

Percy deadpanned, "You're kidding."

With a snap of his fingers, Ares unlatched the truck's back door. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job." He tossed the backpack on the handlebars at Percy.

Kali, Annabeth, and Grover inched closer to see inside when Percy caught it and zipped it open. There were fresh clothes for each of them, thirty bucks in cash, a pouch full of drachmas, and a thing of Double Stuf Oreos. Kali was surprised – by the contents of the bag and Ares' kindness. It almost made her suspicious.

Percy was still steaming with anger. "I don't want your lousy–."

Grover quickly interrupted while simultaneously giving his best friend a look, "Thank you, Lord Ares. Thanks a lot."

Percy visibly gritted his teeth. He didn't say anything, and reluctantly slung the bag over one shoulder.

Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Kali looked towards the diner, which now had minimal customers, and saw the waitress who served them dinner at one of the windows. She was watching them all nervously, mostly at Ares and probably worried about him hurting the four of them. The fry cook was dragged over by her. She said something. He nodded, lifted a disposable camera, and snapped a picture.

Well, they were definitely going to be on the news again.

"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."

Percy stilled completely. "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."

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

Fire glowed behind Ares' sunglasses, and a hot breeze blew through. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."

Annabeth once again suddenly grabbed Kali's wrist, holding her back from taking a step forward and saying something she might later regret. Not that she had a chance to speak, anyway. Ares revved his Harley, and the roar of the engine only quieted once he sped off down the street.

Kali snatched her wrist back. "Stop grabbing me," she snapped.

"Not until you stop trying to anger a god," Annabeth said.

She only barely kept herself from glaring. "I wouldn't if he didn't threaten Percy."

Annabeth frustratedly pushed a strand of hair out of her face. There was more than simple frustration though; she looked worried, and that was the only reason Kali didn't snap at her again and stayed quiet when she said, "Neither of you are being smart about this."

"I don't care," Percy said, still angry – angrier than Kali.

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

"Hey, guys," Grover spoke up, effectively cutting off the argument. "I hate to interrupt, but..." He point toward the diner.

Two customers stood at the register as they paid. Both of them were men, and they wore matching black overalls, with a white logo on the backs that matched the one on the truck across the street.

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

+++

The stench of the trailer was disgusting. It slammed into them like a wave, and Kali held back from gagging.

Up until Percy uncapped his sword, it was dark inside the trailer. The blade cast off a faint bronze glow, giving light to a saddening scene. Filthy metal cages sat in a row, three of them holding neglected zoo animals. A zebra, a male albino lion, and some type of antelope.

The zebra and the antelope each had a styrofoam tray of hamburger meat, while the lion had a sack of turnips it wanted nothing to do with. The lion paced back and forth in the too small cage, agitated, panting from the summer heat within the trailer. He was far too skinny – Kali could see his ribs – and flies buzzed around pink eyes. The antelope laid in it's cage with a balloon tied to a horn, looking quite pitiful and uncomfortable. And just like the lion, Kali was able to make out it's ribs. Same with the zebra, who's mane was matted with chewing gum, of all things.

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

He was two seconds away from going right back outside to personally fight the truckers with his reed pipes, but unfortunately didn't get the chance to do so. The truck's engine came to life, and the trailer began to shake. They were forced to either sit down, or fall down.

They huddled in a corner on top of some mildewed feed sacks, and tried to ignore the smell, heat, and flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared sadly back at him. 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. Kali added in, purposefully nonchalant, that she didn't feel like getting attacked by a large predator for a second time.

Annabeth shifted, uncomfortable. "Oh, right. Sorry."

"It's fine," Kali told her.

After that, while Percy used his sword to switch out the mismatched food, Kali found a jug and refilled the animals' water bowls.

With Grover calming down the antelope, Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum from the zebra's mane, too, and Kali was on board with that, even intending to help, but they soon decided that it would be too risky with the truck bumping around. They told Grover to promise the animals they would help them more in the morning, and then the four of them 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. Percy sat silently, probably thinking to himself about something. Kali took an Oreo, and tried not to worry too much about the rest of the quest as she ate it.

They had plenty of time left – it was the 14th of June, and the solstice was on the 21st.

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

"That's okay."

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

"Because of the Arachne story," Percy guessed. "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. Anyway, I owe you."

"We're a team, remember?" Percy said. "Besides, Kali was the one who did the thing with the water at the end."

From his corner, where they all thought he was asleep, Grover spoke up, "That was pretty cool."

Kali looked at them, a bit surprised that was being acknowledged. "What? It was... That- It's not that cool. You do the fancy flying thing way cooler, Grover."

"That is pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"Hey, without you calming down the water we probably would've crashed," Annabeth said. "You did good." She handed Kali another Oreo with a smile.

Kali took it, hoping that even in the dim bronze glow of the blade that no one could see her cheeks heating up. It felt weird yet nice being acknowledged that she did something good; something she wasn't used to. "Thanks, Annabeth," she said.

Annabeth grabbed another Oreo. She pulled it apart, and handed half to Percy. "In the Iris message...did Luke really say nothing?"

Percy munched on his cookie and thought how to answer. He exchanged a quick, subtle glance with Kali before saying, "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree."

It was hard to read their expressions, but Kali knew they weren't happy at the mention of a pine tree. She didn't know the entire story; just that Thalia got turned into a pine tree, and that Luke had been with her.

"I should've told you the truth from the beginning." His voice shook. "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 realized.

Grover nodded glumly.

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

Annabeth set down her half of the Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward 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 explained, sniffling.

"Only Thalia?" Kali asked.

He nodded, and continued. "Yeah, 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 back 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..."

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

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

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

"It's a load of crap," Kali said. "You did the right thing."

"They're right," Annabeth told him. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says."

In the dark of the truck, Grover continued to sniffle. "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.

"So far from lame," Kali agreed. "I mean, I know we aren't the closest, but you still visited me regularly to make sure a monster hadn't attacked me. You're one of the best and bravest satyrs I know!"

She saw Annabeth nod along. "Exactly! You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met," she said. "Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now."

"Yeah," he immediately agreed. "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."

A deep, satisfied sigh came from the direction Grover was in. There was a moment of silence where they all waited for him to say something, but the satyr's breathing became heavier with each passing second. The sound soon turned to snoring.

"Did he just fall asleep?" Kali asked.

"How does he do that?" marveled Percy.

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

"I mean it."

For a few miles, they rode in silence. It was a bumpy and somewhat uncomfortable ride on the feed sacks. In their cages, the zebra ate a turnip, the lion licked hamburger meet off of his lips and periodically stared each of them down, and the antelope drank from the water bowl.

Annabeth rubbed her necklace, lost in thought, only to be brought out of them when Percy spoke.

"That pine tree bead," he began. "Is that from your first year?"

She looked like she hadn't realized she had been doing it. "Yeah," she answered. "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... Oh, and a dolphin jumping out of the water, for last year when Kali came to camp."

"I still think they should've gone with the prank war that happened," Kali said.

"You're way more important than a prank war that happens almost every summer, Kali."

She shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and Percy asked Annabeth, "And the college ring is your father's?"

She tensed a little. "That's none of your–." She stopped herself, and relaxed once again. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"You don't have to tell me."

"No... It's okay." She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and 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."

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

She didn't meet his eyes. "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 said coldly, "but my father made his choice about who he wants to live with."

Kali couldn't help but frown. The choice Annabeth made to live at camp instead with her own father, made her think of her own choice of going back to Ralph. She wasn't into self-inflicted pain either, but the alternative was leaving Naia and Makoa to fend for themselves against their father year-round rather than a few months each year, and she hated that thought. If it weren't for the entire building she lived in smelling disgustingly human according to Grover, monsters would find her like moths to a flame. That's the only reason she felt comfortable staying there.

She wondered if staying at camp for the summer was a selfish move. Or if it was the smartest or best choice to make. All she wanted was for Naia and Makoa to be safe. And, gods, who knew how Ralph was reacting to Kali being on the news for supposedly attacking old ladies and blowing up the Arch with Percy. (Not that she thought Annabeth made a selfish choice, or anything of the sort. Annabeth was happy at camp, and therefore Kali was happy for her that she stayed there year-round.)

"So if the gods fight," Percy started, ending the prolonged silence after a few more miles, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"

Annabeth rested her head on the backpack Ares gave them, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you guys."

"Why?"

"Because you're my friends, Seaweed Brain. Any other stupid questions?"

Percy didn't answer, and Annabeth quickly fell asleep. "You'd fight next to me, right?" he asked in a whisper to not wake the others up.

Kali send him a somewhat baffled, partially offended look. "Duh," she said. "You're my brother."

He smiled, almost looking a little relieved. "Good. Thanks. I'd hate to fight against you."

"Ditto." She shifted into a more comfortable position. Exhaustion was catching up with her.

"Hey, speaking of, I still don't understand how you have two godly parents." He moved into a better position, too, and rubbed at one of his eyes.

"Got cursed in the womb by another god," she explained through a yawn. "Dunno the details of it, though. I actually lived with them for a few years, but one night I was kidnapped and up until last summer, I had no idea about what or who I was because my memories from my time with Poseidon and Amphitrite are so faint."

"That couldn't have gone well," he muttered.

She hummed. "Yeah. I got curious how it might've effected the mortals, so I looked up the hurricane season. Turns out it was one of the worst ones. Never got around to searching earthquakes, though."

"Can't imagine there not being any."

"I know, right?" She yawned again, and finally shut her eyes. "I'm gonna try to sleep. G'night, Percy."

"Night, Kali."

+++

Her dream started out pretty good. She was in a yard at their old place in Hawaii chasing butterflies. She could hear Auli'i's faint laughter on the back porch as she talked with a happier Ralph. Naia was running around with her, and Makoa played in a sandbox.

Then she tripped, and instead of falling face first into the grass, she splashed into water. Salty water. Bloody water.

Kali immediately began to panic – she needed to get out of the water, back on land, she couldn't die here, she needed to finish the quest to the Underworld – and tried to swim back to the surface where she saw the outline of a broken, bitten surfboard in front of the sun. She kicked her legs, only to realize one was stuck in the mouth of a tiger shark that was pulling her deeper and deeper into the ocean. When it didn't leg go, Kali kicked and punched at it's nose until it did and once again tried to swim to the surface when her leg was freed. Only, an invisible force kept pulling her down deep until suddenly she wasn't in water anymore, but in air.

She landed into a dark cavern. Ignoring the phantom pain of her thankfully not actually hurt leg, she stood and looked around. It was obvious she was underground, and that immediately made her uneasy. There was a great chasm close by, and Kali made a mental note to not get too close to it. Spirits of the dead drifted around her and Percy, and–

Wait, Percy?

They noticed each other at the same time, and exchanged confused looks. Neither of them got the chance to speak as an evil voice, dark and cold, echoed from the chasm, Percy Jackson and Kali Beaumont. Yes, the exchange went well, I see. And they suspect nothing? Whoever it spoke to, it wasn't aimed at either her or Percy. Their attention was elsewhere.

Another voice spoke. This one almost sounded familiar, and it came from over their shoulders. Nothing, my lord. They are as ignorant as the rest.

Percy looked over his shoulder, and then so did Kali. No one was there. Whenever it was, they were invisible.

Deception upon deception, came the first voice. Excellent.

Truly, my lord, said the one next to them, you are well-named the Crooked One. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly–

The title the servant called the voice sent warning bells off in her mind.

You? the evil voice from the chasm scornfully interrupted, You have already shown your limits. You have failed me completely had I not intervened.

But, my lord–

Peace, little servant. Our six months have bought us much. Zeus' anger has grow.  Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands...but wait. He is here... They both are.

What? The servant suddenly sounded tense. You summoned them, my lord?

No. The attention was no longer on the servant, but solely on Percy and Kali instead. It froze them in place. Blast their bloodline – they are too changeable, too unpredictable. The have brought themselves hither.

Impossible!

For a weakling such as you, perhaps, snarled the voice, only for them to have the monster's full attention once again. So... You wish to dream of your quest, young half-bloods? Then I will oblige.

The scenery shifted.

Suddenly, they were no longer near the pit. Instead, she and Percy stood in a classy throne room with marble walls that were black and floors that were bronze. The throne itself was horrid; made up of human bones fused together. At the foot of the dais stood a woman with features far too alike to Percy's – that had to be his mother. She shimmered in golden light, her arms outstretched.

Percy tried to move, but couldn't. He then reached for her, only to stop as he and Kali both noticed his hands withering away to bones. The sight of it made her check her own hands, and she gasped when she saw it was happening to her too. As grinning Greek skeletons in Greek armor crowded around him, Kali attempted to move as well to help in any way she could, but they surrounded her, too. She couldn't move, either. The skeletons draped them with slim robes, and wreathed their heads with laurels that smoked with Chimera poison, burning into their scalps.

The evil voice began to laugh. Hail, the conquering hero and the lost princess!

+++

Kali woke up to someone shaking her shoulder. She flinched – the dream fresh in her mind, the awful phantom feeling of skeleton fingers touching her to place robes and wreaths on her still there – and she was halfway to grabbing her dagger when she recognized that it was Annabeth. Beside them, Grover was doing the same to Percy, who also just woke up.

"The truck's stopped," he said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."

"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.

All she had to do was slip on her Yankees cap. Grover, Percy, and Kali, on the other hand, had to squeeze behind the feed sacks and hope they blended in well enough.

The doors of the trailer creaked open, causing sunlight to pour in and the heat grow tenfold.

"Man!" One of the truckers waved 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 mumbled, uncaring. He threw something at the antelope. It looked like a squashed Happy Meal bag, and Kali grimaced. The trucker 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 looked straight at Percy, with eyes wide in fear. Clear as day, even with no sound coming from the zebra itself, it said, Free me, lord. Please. It's eyes moved to her. Please, m'lady. Help me.

Percy was too stunned to react, and Kali was just confused. So far only sea creatures had spoken to her like that, so to hear the word come from the zebra baffled her.

On the side of the trailer came a loud knocking.

The trucker yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

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

"What are you banging for?"

Knock, knock, knock.

"What banging?" Eddie yelled from outside.

Maurice rolled his eyes and left the trailer, all the while cursing at Eddie for being an idiot. Yelling started between the two men almost immediately.

Annabeth appeared next to them a second later. Kali bet she was the one who banged on the trailer to get the man to leave. She said, "This transport business can't be illegal."

"No kidding," said Grover. He paused as if he was listening to something. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"

That's right, the zebra said.

Kali was still confused why she could hear it. Her brain wasn't working fast enough, still half asleep and still stuck on the nightmare. Some confusion must have shown on her face, because Percy nudged her arm with an expression that said he suddenly realized something. "Horses," he mouthed.

Her mouth formed an 'o'. Right! Zebras were related to horses. Made sense.

Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that, the zebra said.

With Eddie and Maurice still yelling at each other outside, there was no telling how long it would be until they came back to torment the animals again. It couldn't be long, so Kali was glad when Percy grabbed his sword and slashed off the lock on the zebra's cage.

It burst out, and then turned to them and bowed. Thank you, lord and lady.

Kali tentatively reached out and gently patted it's long nose when the zebra didn't pull away. She smiled, then used the opportunity to get closer and unsheathed her dagger, cutting off the gum stuck in it's mane. "I hope you find a safe place away from these men," she said.

Grover stepped up and started speaking in goat as she pulled away. He held up his hands, and she quickly guessed it had to be some sort of blessing. As the zebra left the trailer, Maurice was poking his head in, and consequently the zebra had to leap over him and onto the street. People outside screamed, and cars honked. They all ran to doors of the trailer just in time to witness the zebra gallop down a wide boulevard that was lined with hotels, casinos, and neon signs. Maurice and Eddie ran after it, and they were followed by policemen, who shouted at them.

Kali moved to do the same for the antelope. She used her dagger to do so, while Percy cut the lock on the lion's cage. Grover spoke the same blessing to them as he did with the zebra, and Percy told them good luck. Both animals left burst out of their cages, leaving the trailer as quickly as they could. Some more tourists screamed, but most backed away with cameras in their hands, taking pictures.

"Will the animals be okay?" Percy asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all–."

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

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," Grover explained. "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 if would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.

Kali immediately laughed as Percy shouted, "Hey!" in offense.

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

Luckily, because of the animals, no one paid any attention to them when they got out of the truck's trailer. It was sweltering outside – the heat had to be in the hundreds – so walking through Vegas was hardly a relief from being in the trailer.

They passed many places: the Monte Carlo, the MGM, pyramids, a pirate ship that Kali had to be forcefully dragged away from by Annabeth, Percy, and Grover, and even a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty. None of them were great places to just sit and rest and not gain the attention of anyone who watched the news. People were everywhere. It was kind of annoying.

At some point they ended in front of a building called the Lotus Hotel and Casino; maybe they took a wrong turn or something, because it looked to be a dead end. The entrance was a huge neon flower. The petals of it lit up and blinked beautifully, but no one came in or out of the actual doors that were opened. The air conditioning flowed out, smelling like a certain type of flower. Remembering Arianna's ramblings of plants and flowers, and based on the casino's name, Kali knew that the huge flower as a lotus. That was probably what the smell was, too.

There was also a vague memory of Arianna, and Kate since she had been there too, telling her something important about the lotus. Whatever it was, it didn't come to mind right then. She didn't feel too urgent to remember it, either.

The doorman smiled at them. When he spoke, it drew Kali out of her thoughts. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?" He sounded genuinely sympathetic, which was a nice change from everything else they've gone through.

Percy immediately agreed, and the others weren't too far behind. The doorman led us in, and one look had Kali's jaw dropping.

"Whoa," Grover breathed out.

It was a game room. The entire lobby was one giant game room. And not just machine games like slot machines and Space Invaders and Pac Man. There was an indoor waterslide that snaked around a glass elevator that went up at least forty stories. A climbing wall was built on one side of the building, and near it was an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual reality suits and laser guns, and video games attached to widescreen TVs. There was even bumper cars and multiple tables to play air hockey and skee-ball and so many others. Not many kids were playing, but there were enough that she saw them. Waitresses moved around everyone with ease, and Kali saw at least three different snack bars, each with an array of different foods.

"Hey!" another man said when he noticed them. An employee, maybe; a bellhop or someone. He had on a white and yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

Percy stammered. "Um, but..."

"We don't have any–," Kali began.

"No, no," the man said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go up on 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."

Confused, Kali took one of the plastic green cards as he handed them out. Maybe this guy was confusing them with the kids of some billionaire guy?

"How much is on here?" Percy asked.

The guy's brows knitted 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."

+++

Their room was amazing. It was a suite with four separate bedrooms and a bar stocked full with candy, sodas, and chips. There was a hotline to room service. The towels were soft and fluffy, and each room had water beds and feather pillows. There was a big-screen TV with satellite and high-speed internet. On the balcony there was a hot tub, and a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun the bellhop guy had talked about downstairs. The view was admittedly pretty for it being of the city.

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

"Sweet," Grover said. "Absolutely sweet."

Kali made her way to one of the bedrooms. The closet was filled with clothes in her size, which was kind weird, but she didn't dwell on it too much. She just gathered what she needed, and took a shower in the attached bathroom. It felt so, so, so good to finally wash off all of the sweat and dirt and grime from the previous week. She gladly took advantage of the soup and shampoo and conditioner, eager to get as clean as she could in the hot, amazingly pressured spay of water. After, she got dressed into clean clothes (blue jean shorts and teal tank top, an outfit she used to wear all the time until she began to need to hide bruises), and after drying her hair so it wasn't soaking wet, she made sure to put the camera she got from the water park in the pocket of her shorts and strapped her sword and dagger back on, more out of habit more than anything.

Percy knocked and came in once she gave the okay, and shook the snacks and drink he held in his hands. "Don't forget to eat," he said.

She made a face. "I know." As she grabbed an orange soda and a bag of beef jerky, she paused, and looked at him. "I feel like there's something we need to talk about."

His brows furrowed. "Like what? With Annabeth and Grover?"

She nodded, albeit hesitant and slow, and she absentmindedly opened the beef jerky. "Yeah. A dream, I think?" She had trouble remembering exactly what. It didn't worry her, though. There was a split second where she felt as if it should, but it went away as fast as it came.

He gave a nonchalant shrug and continued to eat his chips. "I'm sure it can wait."

Kali nodded, content with that answer. Surely it wasn't that important. With that, they both left the bedroom, and Kali ate some of her snack. Grover, who was happily munching on his own bag of chips, didn't even say anything. Annabeth turned on the TV, and cranked up the volume as the National Geographic Channel played.

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

"Insane in the membrane," Kali sang under her breath, mouth half full of jerky.

"It's interesting," Annabeth defended.

"It is," Kali agreed. "But so is Teen Titans."

"I feel good," Grover said the same time Percy agreed with Kali. "I love this place." The wings of his shoes abruptly sprouted out and lifted him about a foot off of the ground, then back down. He didn't even notice.

"So, what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"

The boys looked at one another and grinned. They held up their LotusCash cards.

"Play time," Percy said.

+++

For a long time, Kali had genuinely so much fun in the large game room that was the lobby. She went from game to game, carefree in a way she hadn't been in years; not since she lived in Hawaii. She played some classic arcade games, and Percy at one point talked her into going bungee jumping with him a few times. She went down the waterslide more than once, played an innumerable amount of rounds of skee-ball, and played Dance Dance Revolution against a few strangers.

It was when Kali was in the giant wave pool near the back of the place that she began to realize that something wasn't right. It felt nice playing in waves again, even though they were artificially caused by a machine, and she started to think about her family. About how much they would like this, too.

It was then, for a terrifying moment, that she couldn't remember their names. Naia and Makoa Beaumont. Her little sister and brother, who weren't demigods like her but adored the ocean and the beach nearly as much as she did.

Kali looked around. She was underwater. How long had she been underwater? A while. Long enough that it shouldn't be possible for a normal person. She quickly swam and broke the surface. Luckily, no one commented on how long she had been under. The people who were also in the wave pool were too busy with their fun. She looked around once more, this time above the surface, and waded in the water. The woman closest to her wore a vintage looking swim suit, and old time-y, cat-eye sunglasses.

Kali frowned, and with the help of the artificial waves, swam to the shallow end of the pool. She got out, dried herself off using her abilities, and frowned as she truly realized for the first time since entering the place how many people there were.

...Why was she here? Where were her friends, where was her brother? Percy?

Kali spotted a woman who was definitely rich at a slot machine. Her clothes and hair screamed that they were expensive, but there was something also very...old about her. Her hair was either cut short or pinned that way, her lips were a deep red, and underneath the large fur coat she had on a shiny, loose fitting dress. A flapper dress.

Why was she here? She wondered again. Why were she and Percy, Annabeth, and Grover all here? As she tried to remember, Kali began walking, searching for them. They were currently in Las Vegas, but they were heading to Las Angeles. To go to the Underworld. To help Percy find his mother. To stop the gods from beginning another war.

She went down various aisles of games, and deftly avoided running into waitresses and other Lotus Casino employees, looking around for her friends. At some point she started to jog, and when she took a hurried turn, consequently nearly ran into someone.

Well, someones.

"Percy! Annabeth!" she shouted, and tackled them both into a hug. They returned it, though it didn't last long. "How long have we been here? Where's Grover?"

"We don't know," Annabeth answered. "But we're looking for Grover now. I'm guessing you haven't seen him?"

She shook her head. "Not since we we were all in our room."

"Alright," Percy said. He eyed the game room. "Let's try this way. C'mon!"

They all went searing for him – together. None of them separated once, and took turns pulling each other away from games they found immediate interest in.

Eventually, they found Grover playing Virtual Deer Hunter.

"Grover!" they shouted.

He didn't hear them. Continuing to play, he yelled at the game, "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!"

"Grover!"

He turned the plastic gun on Percy and tried to shoot him, as if he was one of the people in the game. The three of them shared a look. Together, Percy and Annabeth grabbed Grover's arms, and Kali snatched away the plastic gun and put it back in it's place. His shoes sprouted wings again, and tugged his legs in the opposite direction while he shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! No!"

The bellhop from earlier hurried up to them. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"

"We're leaving," Percy told him.

"Such a shame," the man said, and it sounded so genuine. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members." He held out the cards.

Kali almost took one. It was tempting to; to stay here, and keep having care free fun. But she couldn't. They had a quest to finish. Percy had his mom to save. Kali had Naia and Makoa to get back home to.

Grover reached for one, only for Annabeth to yank his arm back and say, "No, thanks."

They walked towards the door. As they got closer to leaving, the smell and sounds of the casino became more and more inviting. Kali focused on her young siblings the best she could, though it was hard to. It became immensely easier to ignore the temptation of the casino once they exited the building. Without thinking, the four of them raced down the sidewalk, getting as far away as they could.

It felt like they had been in there for mere hours, but Kali saw that the sky was different than when they went in. It wasn't sunny anymore. Dark clouds covered the sky, and lightning struck out in the desert.

Percy ran to the nearest newspaper stand. Kali quickly followed with Annabeth and Grover. They all gathered around it to read the date. Thankfully, it was still the same year. But the rest of the date?

June 20th, 2006.

They were in the casino for five days. Meaning, they only had one day left until the solstice.

One day to complete the quest.

————

A/N— i'm so sorry it took me so long to update 😭 i just genuinely didn't feel like writing for the longest time, and when i finally got over that i was solely focused on my spider-man/dc crossover over on ao3, and now here we are. seriously, i planned on updating this on my birthday back in may & never got around it lol i'm so sorry it took so long, seriously. i'll try to be faster with the next chapter, but no promises, unfortunately

but i hope you guys enjoyed this 7k monster lmao, thanks for reading!! <3