fourteen.
( the lightning thief. )
❛ viva las vegas. ❜

COLETTE WAS SURE, positive, certain, doubtless and ultimately confident that they had been transferred from a cruel reality into a dimension made and designed for their personal entertainment. It was a paradise in the form of a measly hotel and casino-a world of wonder and adventure so vast that it had pulled her in and she had willingly indulged. She felt like Alice in Wonderland, each turn and twist fabricated into something Colette could only ever long for.

The interior was a piñata of colour, bursting at the seems and enveloping the whole place in a disco-like kaleidoscope of vibrancy. The entirety of the lobby was unfolded to fit any child's desires. There was an indoor waterslide 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 and hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV.

It was heaven. their own semi-private heaven.

"Hey!" a bellhop's cheery voice resounded from nearby. There was a young man walking towards them adorning a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key." When Percy went to interject, he shook his head with a laugh. "No, no. The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room four-double zero-one. 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 them each a green plastic credit card.

Unsurely, Percy took the card and gave him a cautious glance. "How much is on here?" He asked, only for the man to laugh in response.

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

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

Letting a look of playful understanding wash over his face, the bellhop gave the four a nod and a laugh. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay." Nevertheless, they brushed off the odd encounter as they boarded the glass elevator.

Once they had located their room, Colette could've tired tears of golden joy as she looked at the four suites, each designed to fit their own needs. As Colette opened the door, her mouth hung agape at the sight of the freshly laid out clothes, the voluminous bed and fountain of pillows.

Stepping into the shower was a wave of pure adrenaline as the warm water dripped through her hair and along the battered skin of her bruises and hidden scratches. She must've spent at least forty minutes in there, shampooing and conditioning her hair twice and drenching herself in vanilla shower gel before she finally stepped out. And for the first time in a week, she felt fresh and clean.

Her hair was barren of grime and fell in smooth locks once again, curling towards the end as they fell down her shoulder. There was a small platter of jewellery beside a mirror and she plucked two small earrings. It was refreshing. Soon after she pulled on the fresh clothes: a white tank top under a long sleeved and dark red henley shirt and dark blue denim shorts. At the end of the bed, her star-imprinted converse were neatly positioned and lacked any sign of ruin or scratch. Lee's jacket had been promised to be cleaned by staff and to her surprise, when she opened the closet it was there awaiting her. It was cleaned of dirt and smelled fondly of the lotus that was noticeable in the air conditioner. she laid it out on the bed, choosing to not put it on as she covered her arms in a thin white cardigan.

There was a bucket of soda and a tray of all different sweets from various places. She melted at the taste of Pepsi (previously, she'd spent a good twenty minutes arguing that it was better than coke with Percy) and relaxed back onto the couch with Annabeth. And upon pressing play on the television, there was a cartoonish film about a deer unpaused on screen and the voices were old fashioned and filled with elegance.

"It's bambi!" Percy cheered as he poked his head into the room and glanced at the tv. He looked more alive now compared to before; his hair was still askew but cleaner as it fell over his forehead. And he'd changed his clothes to a blue shirt and black shorts that reached just above his knees. He leaned over the couch, resting his elbows on it.

Raising an eyebrow, Colette stared ahead at the screen before turning to the boy. "That's bambi?" It'd been such a long time since she'd watched a Disney film, so long that she could never remember the film.

"What'd you mean, that's bambi?"

"I mean I've never watched it, so i don't know."

Percy gave her a bewildered stare, "seriously?" She nodded and he shook his head as though he'd been told something absolutely insane. "Turn it back." He told Annabeth when she switched it to the national geographic channel.

The blonde gave him a sour blink. "No."

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

Annabeth shrugged, turning back towards the screen in her own bubble of happiness. "It's interesting." She insisted as she reached between herself and colette to pluck a piece of salted caramel from a bowl.

"I feel good," Grover beamed as he entered the room. "I love this place." Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again. he too, like his friends, seemed to glow with freshness and bask in his newfound cleanse.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Colette leaned her head back on the top of the couch, looking towards the two boys.

"Sleep?" Annabeth added with a tired yawn, placing back the bowl onto the table and sinking deeper into the couch.

Grover and Percy looked at each other with matching cheshire grins, their twin troublemaker winks showing their thoughts before they even needed to be said. they both held up their green plastic LotusCash cards. "Play time," Percy grinned a smile glimmering in mischief.

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COLETTE COULDN'T REMEMBER the last time she'd had so much fun. At camp, everyday was planted on the same regular schedule and though there were some very cool activities, there was no bungee-jumping or virtual reality games to indulge in. This was new, an experience that seemed almost out of reach for a group of demigods like themselves. After arriving back at the lobby, Colette wasted no time in making a beeline for the climbing wall. She must've done it at least five times already, too far into the bet she'd made with a little Italian boy to care. He was a few years younger than her and his hair was a mop of black locks and his skin was strangely pale. Back at camp, Colette had been on a winning streak at the lava wall, so it wasn't hard to master this one too, much to the little boy's dismay.

She was halfway through a bet of who could climb to the top fastest-a first to three where the loser would buy the winner the biggest prize in the gift shop. It hadn't taken long for Colette to, victoriously if she said so herself, win. The boy was pouting and had he not reminded her so damn much of will in that moment, she never would've rolled her eyes and offered to buy him the biggest prize. It was an unlimited credit card-so really, what difference did it make to her?

He was a strange kid, but he did make her laugh. She couldn't remember at what point she'd agreed to let this kid cling onto her back like a little monkey, but he was adamant on travelling through the casino via piggybacking. "What are those things on your shoes?" He inquired after a minute, pointing to the stars. It was almost hard to hear him over the rhythm of Elvis' viva las vegas playing over the sound system.

"You mean stars?" She thought he must've been joking. How had somebody never seen stars before? Or not seen them in so long as to not remember them. wether he noticed her strange stare or not, she couldn't tell as he didn't acknowledge it.

"Stars," he tested the word. "I like them." He stated as she adjusted how he clung onto her back. He was small, quite a bit smaller than herself and he weighed almost nothing so Colette found carrying him to be a simple task. "I want a pair like them."

She glanced down to the shoes he was wearing and raised a tentative eyebrow. He was wearing school shoes fit for a boy in the forties rather than a boy in the twenty-first century. "Why don't you ask your parents to get you a pair?" She inquired.

"I can't remember them well." He responded simply and almost without sadness. Colette spared him a strange glance, but shrugged nonetheless. "Hey, how old are you Colette?"

"Twelve."

He grinned childishly, "So's my sister! I wish I was twelve, it seems to be much more fun than ten." He beamed over her shoulder with a boyish grin.

"Ten, huh," she hummed absentmindedly as they came to a stop at the gift shop. "Explains why you're so short." He let out a whine of protest though both she only grinned in response. when they stopped in front of the wall-long fountain of gift-shop items, she hoisted him up higher on her back. "Alright midget, pick what you want." She gestured to the shop of every's child's dreams. There were dozens of toys and dolls and games and sweets all lined up under purple and pink disco lights.

he jumped off her back, scanning all of the toys skeptically as he looked for whatever he wanted. he tapped a pale finger against his chin cartoonishly before gasping at whatever had caught his eye. "These!" he interjected, holding up a card game that made his eyes light up in wonder. It was a stack of cards labelled, 'mythomagic.' And on the front, there was a detailed yet child-friendly drawing of Hades. He beamed happily as Colette swiped the card, and he didn't waste a second in tearing off the packaging.

"Say," Colette was giving him an unsure glance, "what year is it?" She asked.

Nico blinked, only half listening to what she had said, "what year?" he repeated and grew quiet for a second, "nineteen-forty-two.. ?"

Colette didn't stick around any longer after that, bidding a goodbye to the boy as they parted ways-the boy going to find his sister and colette leaving to look for her friends. She could see Percy not too far away on the water slide, in his natural habitat of course. Close by, Grover was laughing to his hearts content going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter game-where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks. Then she saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge three-d simulator game where you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board.

she brushed off the interaction with the Italian boy, assuming he must've just been playing a trick on her. Instead of pondering about him any longer, she turned away and soon became distracted by a dancing game labelled 'just dance!' It was fun-much funner than anything she'd experienced in the past few years. But why was she there again? What were they doing in las vegas? It had been so long since she'd experienced a form of relaxation similar to the one she went through now. she favoured the blissfulness that consumed her as she laughed with harmless strangers and participated in games that she never knew previously existed. it was refreshing and by far the most peaceful she had felt so far throughout the trip.

Then, her name was called.

There was a hand on her shoulder, pulling her from her reverie as Percy stood before her. "Bambi, it's time to go, come on." But she simply shrugged him off. "Come on, Annabeth's getting Grover, we need to go."

"Stop it, Percy." She shrugged him off again as she stood before the dance mats. She seemed dazed, pushing him off of her roughly when he grabbed for her arm again. "Piss off, would you?"

He snapped his fingers in front of her eyes, "Collie, come on. This place is a trap."

"Stop being paranoid." She snapped, "i'm happy here, Perce. don't you want to be happy too?" She was frowning at him. But he couldn't deny it, she did seem a tenfold happier inside then she had on the first half of their journey. "Let's stay."

He shook his head, "what about the quest? And the hunters? And camp?"

"The what?"

"You know, the quest? The one you've wanted since you were a little girl?" He was shaking her shoulders, elongating his words in sync with his hands shaking her. "Colette, there are people here from nineteen-seventy-seven. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever."

"So?" she asked, shifting uncomfortably. She squirmed lightly, as if she knew what he was talking about yet couldn't bring herself to remember. "Can you imagine a better place?"

"urm," percy blinked, "yeah! camp half-blood!"

"camp half-blood?" she repeated.

"yeah, and i'm pretty sure Lee would kick me ass if i told him i'd left you in some random casino in las vegas." he didn't give her a chance to respond, instead wrapping a firm hand around her wrist and tugging her along without leaving her a chance to stop him, "so let's go!"

Before they could reach the hotel lobby, the Lotus bellhop hurried up to them with the same grin he'd donned previously. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"

"We're leaving," Percy stated, holding out a hand to signal their leave.

"Such a shame," he cooed, and the two got the feeling that he really meant it - that they really would be breaking his heart if they went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members." He held out the cards, and Colette honestly wanted one. But then they'd be stuck there forever. She'd stay here, eternally pleased, playing games forever, and soon she'd forget about her cousins, and her quest, and her ambitions.

Suddenly, Annabeth was beside them and pushing the cards away from them, "No, thanks." She looked to the demigods, "we need to go. Now."

Using all of their will power, they stalked toward the door and as they went, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting, more hypnotic as it called to them. Regardless, they burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day that they had first gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. the sky was enveloped in a stormy hue as obvious turmoil awoke in the clouds.

Ares's backpack was slung over Percy's shoulder, which was odd, because Colette was sure she'd seen him throw it into a trash can in their hotel room, but didn't have time to think about it. She ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first, sighing in relief. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when they'd first went in. Then Percy pointed out the date: June twentieth.

It had been five days since they entered the casino. And now they had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete their quest.

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IT WAS ANNABETH'S IDEA, and quite a tactical one too. She loaded the four of them into the back of a Vegas taxi as if they actually had the money to pay, and confidently told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."

The cab driver chewed his large cigar and sized them up with a disgruntled look. He raised an uneven eyebrow, his lips upturned slightly. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front." as he spoke, the suffocating aroma of tobacco steamed through the car, causing the four to cringe in disgust.

"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth questioned after a moment, reaching into her pocket and fishing out the small card gifted by the bellhop.

He shrugged skeptically. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first." Annabeth handed him her green LotusCash card despite the uncertain looks she received from her friends.

When he looked at it critically, annabeth continued to persist. "Swipe it," she encouraged confidently, as if certain it would work.

His meter machine started rattling as he did so and a spark of light lit up. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign and the cab driver's eyes practically shone with dollar bills. The cigar fell out of his mouth and he looked back at them, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles... uh, Your Highness?"

"The Santa Monica Pier." Annabeth sat up a little straighter, obviously pleased. Colette could tell that the blonde was complimented by the 'your highness.' "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."

Being on the road was a guarantee for an endless amount of talk. Though their space was limited, they all got as comfortable as possible whilst Percy told the three about his latest dream, but the details got sketchier the more he tried to remember them. The Lotus Casino seemed to have short-circuited all their memories because even Colette was struggling to recall recent events. What was even stranger to the brunette was that her shoulders felt heavier and the thin fabric of her cardigan was hidden underneath the warmth of Lee's jacket. she could've sworn, alike to Percy's Backpack, that it was left in the Lotus Casino bedrooms, and as hard as she tried to recall it, she had no memory of ever putting it back on.

Her attention was captured again when conversation spiked, "The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested when Percy stated that he couldn't remember the nickname that the voice in his dream had used. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."

"That throne room sounds like Hades',"

Colette quickly added on to Grover's anxious statement with a shrug, "That's the way it's typically described."

The son of Poseidon shook his head. "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit ... I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice."

Annabeth's eyes widened and she glanced to the brunette who harboured a similar look. They were speaking internally and from the scrunch of Colette's nose, Percy could tell that they must've been on a similar thought path. "What?" Inquired Percy anxiously.

Colette shook her head feverishly as though to dispel his nervousness. "Oh ... nothing. I bet was just-No, it's gotta to be Hades. I mean, who else would there be? Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible person, to get the master bolt, and something went wrong or somethin-"

"Like what?"

Annabeth was getting uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat, "if he stole Zeus's symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades." She tried to explain, "That's what the voice said in your dream, right? The guy failed. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt." She was pale as she spoke.

"But if I'd already retrieved the bolt," Percy began, "why would I be traveling to the Underworld?"

"To threaten Hades," Grover suggested, turning his head from where he was looking out the window. "To bribe or blackmail him into getting your mom back."

With an amused smirk, Percy let out a whistle. "You have evil thoughts for a goat."

"Why, thank you."

"But the thing in the pit said it was waiting for two items," said the dark-haired boy. "If the master bolt is one, what's the other?" When nobody produced an Answer he turned to annabeth, "You have an idea what might be in that pit, don't you?" He inquired. "I mean, if it isn't Hades?"

"Percy ... let's not talk about it. Because if it isn't Hades ... No. It has to be Hades."

There was a realness to it now. A tide pool of the unknown that brewed in their stomachs and dragged them into darkness. People didn't do this for a laugh or a dare-this was a matter of war and deception. There was a chance, a greater than lesser, that they wouldn't resurface from the murky depths of the underworld. Hades wasn't known to be forgiving or thoughtful.

"It'll be okay," Colette couldn't tell if she had spoken aloud or not in an attempt to ease her own anxieties with a mask of optimism. "We're doing the right thing here. You saw spirits of the dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be."

Annabeth made light attempts to encourage them further, trying to boost their morale by suggesting clever strategies for getting into the Land of the Dead, but from the look of unhappiness on his face, Colette could tell Percy's heart wasn't in it. There were just too many unknown factors. It was like cramming for a test without knowing the subject. The cab sped west and every haunting whistle of the winds was mocking, reminiscent of the laughter of dead spirits and essences that loomed too close for comfort.

At sunset, the taxi dropped the four off at the beach in Santa Monica. It looked exactly the way L.A. beaches do in the movies, only it was polluted with a pungent scent. There were carnival rides lining the Pier, palm trees lining the sidewalks, homeless people sleeping in the sand dunes, and surfer dudes waiting for the perfect wave. "What now?" Asked the blonde.

The pacific was aglow with gold, like the sun had poured a sheet of it's warmth over the sea and allowed it to twinkle with a tranquil beam. And before anybody could stop him, Percy was advancing into the sea. It rushed past his feet, inviting him in with it's cool blessing. ignoring the rush of baltic prickles that the salty water

"Percy?" Colette took a small step forward. "What are you doing?"

But Percy continued on as though he never heard her. He was submerged up to his waist now, and he continued to travel in as though he were compelled to indulge in the sea.

Annabeth adorned a look of confoundedness as she called out to him, "You know how polluted that water is? There're all kinds of toxic-" his head was under before she could finish her sentence.

"There could be sharks in there!" Yelled Colette, her hands cupped over her mouth, but still, Percy didn't resurface. "Woah. He's totally getting eaten by sharks." She drew her lips into a tight-lipped smile.

"...anyway, you guys wanna get ice cream or something?"

Colette paused for a second, contemplating her options. It was either wait for Percy to get back from his spiritual meeting, or go get ice cream. It was an obvious choice. "I could go for ice cream."

There wasn't too many people surrounding the pier so getting ice cream didn't take very long. Grover, who was persistent on remaining animal-free, was stood before the owner of the truck with a precise look upon his face. "Are you sure this is vegetarian?"

"Certain," the owner began with a nod and a smile. He was a friendly older man who'd sprinkled extra sherbet on Colette's when he'd seen her eyeing the blue and pink powder. They bid him a friendly goodbye as they left towards the beach where Percy still hadn't emerged.

Grover was happily enjoying his mint chocolate ice cream before yelping with a jolt. "Brain freeze." He groaned, scrunching his eyes together with a pained squeal. Laughing at the older boy, Colette leaned back as she continued to dine on her chocolate chip-flavoured one, and Annabeth on her strawberry.

It took a while for Percy to come back up from the sea, and Colette spent her time staring ahead at the setting sun. It gleamed like satin over the sky and the sea, swallowing the world in a bronze and golden haze. It was like the sun back at camp that dropped over the Apollo cabin. She was still wearing Lee's jacket and she absentmindedly flipped the picture through her hands in thought.

Finally, the sea pulled back as a head of dark black hair peaked through the blue blanket of the water. He was as dry as he was before though he still walked with his troublemaker sway. He was brighter as he walked out of the sea-a force of nature summed up in the form of green-eyed twelve year old boy. In his hand, he produced four pearls and told them of what he had experienced.

Annabeth grimaced, giving a distrusting look to the pearls that Percy displayed towards them. "No gift comes without a price."

Percy nodded his head surely, "They were free."

"No." She shook her head. "'There is no such thing as a free lunch.' That's an ancient Greek saying that translated pretty well into American. There will be a price. You wait." With that, they turned their backs to the sea and continued on with their quest.

With some spare change from Ares's backpack, they took the bus into West Hollywood. Percy had showed the driver the Underworld address slip that he'd stolen from Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, but he'd never heard of DOA Recording Studios.

The bus driver looked between Colette and Percy, narrowing on the boy. "You two remind me of a couple of kids I seen on tv." He stated, "you two child actors or something?"

"I'm a stunt double..." said Percy, "for a lot of child actors. And she's a model for... magazines."

"Oh! That explains it." With awkward smiles, the two alongside Annie and Grover thanked him and got off quickly at the next stop. After that they wandered for miles on foot, looking for DOA. Nobody seemed to know where it was and it didn't appear in the phone book, as if it were erased from the earth.

Twice, they had to freeze an duck into alleys to avoid cop cars. At one point, Colette had walked right into Percy's back as he froze in front of an appliance-store window. She went to scold him before seeing what he was staring at: a television was playing an interview with somebody who looked very familiar to him-his stepdad, Smelly Gabe. He was talking to a woman Barbara Walters as though he were some celebrity. She was interviewing him in, what Colette assumed to be, their apartment, in the middle of a poker game, and there was a young blond lady sitting next to him, patting his hand.

A fake tear of translucency glistened on his cheek. He was mourning as he said, "Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck. My stepson took everything I cared about. My wife ... my Camaro ... I-I'm sorry. I have trouble talking about it."

"There you have it, America." Barbara Walters turned to the camera. "A man torn apart. An adolescent boy with serious issues. Let me show you, again, the last known photo of this troubled young fugitive, taken a week ago in Denver with his unidentified female accomplice." The Screen flashed to the image taken outside the diner with ares. Of Percy, Annie, Grover, herself and the god. "Authorities are working on uncovering who his young allies are. Who are the other children in this photo?" Barbara Walters asked dramatically. "Who is the man with them? Is Percy Jackson a delinquent, a terrorist, or perhaps the brainwashed victim of a frightening new cult? When we come back, we'll chat with a leading child psychologist. Stay tuned, America."

"C'mon." Colette hauled him forward before he could punch a hole into the screen. He was scowling in indignation as he walked. "Don't worry. We'll get your mom back and then you can beat the shit out of him." She gave him a promising nod.

The Los Angeles skyline was soon enveloped in darkness, and like rats emerging from the sewer, hungry-looking characters stalked out from the shadows, watching them like starved hyenas as they laughed when the four passed by. The city was big, bigger than Colette could bear and it was harder to navigate than New York. They were on a time sensitive quest and with every grain of sand that ticket by, another lap of unrecognisable and winding roads poured into view.

Gang-members and street hawkers and such watched them, mumbling and cackling madly. As they hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, "Hey, you." And like fools, they stopped.

A gang of kids had circled them like dogs to a bone. Six kids with expensive clothes and mean faces. From the quality of clothes, Colette could tell immediately what type of people they were. Rich wannabes trying to rebel. They jumped when Percy uncapped riptide, most backing off until the leader unsheathed a switchblade. Percy made the mistake of swinging. The kid yelped, but he must've been one hundred percent mortal, because the blade passed harmlessly right through his chest. He looked down. "What the ..."

... "run!" Yelped Percy and within seconds, the four of them were bounding down the streets rapidly as the boy's shock dissolved into anger. Unsure where to go, they turned a sharp corner.

"There!" Annabeth shouted pointing to a nearby store. It was the only one that appeared open, its windows glaring with neon. The sign above the door said something like crstuys watre bde alpace.

"Crusty's WaterBedPalace?" Grover translated, slightly out of breath. Without thinking, they burst through the doors and made a beeline behind a water bed, and ducked. A split second later, the gang kids ran past outside, neglecting the thought to look inside.

Leaning against the bed, Colette let out a sigh of relief. "Do you reckon we lost them?" She asked, peaking over the mattress.

"Lost who?"

With matching shrieks, the four jumped at the booming voice that echoed behind them. Standing behind them was a man who looked like a raptor in a leisure suit. He was at least seven feet tall, with absolutely no hair. He had gray, leathery skin, thick-lidded eyes, and a cold, reptilian smile. Much like Echidna's. He moved toward them slowly, but there was a threat in his movement, he could move faster if he wanted to.

His suit was seventies inspired and looked as though it had come exactly from the Lotus Hotel. The shirt was silk paisley, unbuttoned halfway down his hairless chest. The lapels on his velvet jacket were as wide as landing strips. The silver chains around his neck-they couldn't even count them.

"I'm Crusty," he introduced after a tense moment, with a tartar-yellow smile. his voice was rough and bristle like the thorns of a cactus, effectively sending prickles down their backs as he titled his head down at them observantly.

yes, yes you are.

"We're really sorry to barge in," Colette began tentatively, shifting away from the reptilian man. "Our moms are all down the street, we're just here to, uhm... browse?"

The man cocked his head, "You mean hiding from those no-good kids," he grumbled. "They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed?" His large, paw-like hand wrapped around her shoulder uncomfortably tight and he began steering them deeper into the showroom. There was every kind of water bed you could imagine: different kinds of wood, different patterns of sheets; queen-size, king-size, emperor-of-the-universe-size.

"This is my most popular model." Crusty spread his hands proudly over a bed covered with black satin sheets, with built-in Lava Lamps on the headboard. The mattress vibrated, so it looked like oil-flavored Jell-O. "Million-hand massage," Crusty grinned. "Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business today, any-way."

"uhm," Percy's voice trailed, "I don't think ..."

He was interrupted as Grover's eyes lit up. "Million-hand massage!" The satyr cried, and dove in. "Oh, you guys! This is cool."

"Hmm," Crusty smiled uncomfortably wide, stroking his leathery chin. "Almost, almost." He turned to Annabeth and Colette, both of which backed away cautiously. "Do me a favour, girls, try these ones. They might fit." He wrapped a scaly hand around both of their shoulders and forced them between two beds. The first, closest to annabeth, was a Safari Deluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the frame and a leopard-patterned comforter. And the other was a bed of literal flowers, adorned with bouquet-prints of nature and the headboard was carved with trees and deers and rabbits.

When the two went to protest, crusty shoved them down. "Wait, hold on!--" Colette went to sit up on the flowery bed before his voice interrupted.

"Ergo!" Ropes sprang from the sides of the bed, lashing around Colette and Annabeth, holding them to the mattress. The brunette hissed as it snaked around her wrist tightly, no doubt leaving marks. Grover tried to get up, but ropes sprang from his black-satin bed, too, and lashed him down.

"N-not c-c-cool!" he yelled, his voice vibrating from the million-hand massage. "N-not c-cool a-at all!"

Percy's eyes were blown wide in horror and he went to step back before a hand wrapped around the back of his neck. "Whoa, kid. Don't worry. We'll find you one in a sec." He laughed humourlessly.

Percy was snarling at the men, trying to get out of his iron hold. "Let my friends go."

The giant nodded his head over enthusiastically. "Oh, sure I will. But I got to make them fit, first."

"What do you mean?"

Crusty pointed towards the boy's struggling friends, gesturing towards the beds that they were tied to. "All the beds are exactly six feet, see? Your friends are too short. Got to make them fit. Can't stand imperfect measurements," Crusty muttered. "Ergo!" A new set of ropes leaped out from the top and bottom of the beds, wrapping around their ankles, then around their armpits. The ropes started tightening, pulling the boy's friends from both ends.

Once realising what was happening, Colette yelped in pain as her shoulders shook in place. Percy glanced at her in concern, moving to step towards her before he was restricted by Crusty. "Don't worry," Crusty told him, "These are stretching jobs. Maybe six or seven extra inches on their spines." He spared a glance to the brunette, sizing her up, "give or take. Maybe a bit more for some of you. They might even live. Now why don't we find a bed you like, huh?"

"Percy!" Grover yelled, his eyes screwed shut in pain. At first, Colette wasn't sure what type of feeling had awoken in her muscles before a burning ache contracted within them as they were stretched agonisingly. At the rate things were going, it'd be seconds before her arms and legs popped right off her torso and shoulders.

"Your real name's not Crusty, is it?" Percy swallowed thickly, his cold gaze narrowing upon the older man.

"Legally, it's Procrustes," he admitted.

Percy raised an eyebrow, "The Stretcher," he inferred. Colette could remember the story: the giant who'd tried to kill Theseus with excess hospitality on his way to Athens.

"Yeah," the salesman sighed wistfully. "But who can pronounce Procrustes?" he laughed to himself, "Bad for business. Now 'Crusty,' anybody can say that."

Percy continued to feign an impressed facade. He was internally snarling, agitated with the pained shrieks of his friends that the man seemed to ignore so blissfully. "You're right. It's got a good ring to it."

His eyes lit up. "You think so?"

"Oh, absolutely," Percy grinned his classic, troublemaker smile. There was a hidden deception laced into his smile, something the man was oblivious to. "And the workmanship on these beds? Fabulous!"

He grinned hugely, but his fingers didn't loosen on Percy's neck. "I tell my customers that. Every time. Nobody bothers to look at the workmanship. How many built-in Lava Lamp headboards have you seen?"

Percy pretended to think. "Not too many." A yell followed after his voice and he had to clench his fist to avoid running to his friends' aid.

"That's right!"

"Perseus Jackson!" Colette's voice was storming with agonised impatience. "What are you doing? For gods sake, Jackson!"

"Don't mind her," percy brushed her off, rolling his eyes to Procrustes. "She's insufferable."

The giant laughed. "All my customers are. Never six feet exactly. So inconsiderate. And then they complain about the fitting, though I must say it may take some work to get your little friend to a good height." He nodded back to Colette.

"What do you do if they're longer than six feet?"

"Oh, that happens all the time." The man shrugged with a dramatically tired sigh, "It's a simple fix." He let go of the boy's neck, but before anybody could react, he reached behind a nearby sales desk and brought out a huge double-bladed brass axe. He twisted it in his grip, "I just center the subject as best I can and lop off whatever hangs over on either end."

"Ah," percy swallowed hard, his adam's apple moving with the tightness in his throat. "Sensible."

"I'm so glad to come across an intelligent customer!" The man clasped his hands together with a beam.

Annabeth was turning pale name, her skin losing it's natural tan as she choked on her breath. Beside her, Colette was struggling to restrain her shrieks as she tugged violently at her arms and legs. And finally, Grover was making a horrible gurgling sound as the mattress continued to vibrate uncontrollably.

"So, Crusty ..." Percy's voice was light as he glanced at the sales tag on the valentine-shaped Honeymoon Special. "Does this one really have dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion?"

The man nodded, impressed with himself. "Absolutely. Try it out."

Percy drew his lips into a tighter smile, "Yeah, maybe I will. But would it work even for a big guy like you? No waves at all?"

"Guaranteed."

"No way."

"Way."

"Show me."

He sat down eagerly on the bed, patting the mattress. "No waves. See?"

"Ergo." Percy snapped his fingers. Suddenly, ropes leapt out from the bed and encased themselves around Crusty's body, tugging him down onto the mattress the same way Annabeth, Colette and Grover had been plastered down only moments prior.

"Hey!" he protested, fighting unsuccessfully against his own unwanted creation.

But Percy didn't bat an eye, instead crossing his arms like a true business man and placing a hand under his chin. "Center him just right," he instructed. The ropes readjusted themselves at Percy's command. Crusty's whole head stuck out the top and feet stuck out the bottom.

"No!" he continued yelling to the uninterested demigod. "Wait! This is just a demo."

Percy uncapped Riptide, stepping closer with a look of manic intent. "A few simple adjustments ..."
He had no qualms about what he was about to do. If Crusty were human, he couldn't hurt him anyway. If he was a monster, he deserved to turn into dust for a while.

"You drive a hard bargain," he told the boy. "I'll give you thirty percent off on selected floor models.'"

"I think I'll start with the top." Percy raised his sword above his head, the metal glinting in sync with the fluorescent twitch of the lights. his lips hardened into a line and his casual aura of playfulness was erased and replaced by an eerily empty expression. he looked different.

"No money down! No interest for six months!"

When Percy swung the sword, crusty stopped making offers.

It was a savage display and Colette found herself in a moment of shock at Percy's brutality. Just three weeks ago he was the new unclaimed boy who missed his mother and here he was now, driving his sword into the neck of a giant as though it were a regular Saturday night. As he did so, his expression didn't change not even as the sword pierced through the layers of flesh and blood. When he turned back towards them, wether it be the black spots in Colette's eyes or Percy's genuine malice, she thought his eyes seemed darker.

He cut the ropes encasing them to the bed, letting them sit up and adjust themselves after the spin in their arms and legs. Rolling off of the end, colette groaned as she lay on the floor and grimaced.

"Feeling better now, Bambi?" She peaked an eye open to see Percy crouching in front of her, smiling with mischief as he titled his head towards her. the change was sudden, but he no longer looked ridiculed with the notion of murder.

She squeezed her eyes closed for a second. "Shut up, jackie." He snickered in response, holding out a hand for her to grab though she just looked at it in disgust. With a huff, percy grabbed her wrist, tugging her up from the floor.

He turned, giving annabeth an almost amused look as she grumbled curses under her breath. "You look taller," amusement was keen in his voice.

"Very funny," Annabeth responded, stretching her arms. "Be faster next time."

"There won't be a next time in this shit hole." Colette glanced at the blonde like she was crazy, moving to stretch out her joints and crack her knuckles.

On a nearby table, there was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, and another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters beyond Crusty's desk. "The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!" Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes' souls. "We are always looking for new talent!" DOA's address was right underneath with a map.

Percy turned back to the trio, watching as they all shared matching expressions of a discomfort. "Come on," he told them impatiently.

"Give us a minute," Grover complained. "We were almost stretched to death.'"

"Then you're ready for the Underworld," began the jackson boy. "It's only a block from here."