The Son of Artemis

The Lotus Casino

It took a while to get back to the diner, but when we got there Ares was waiting in the parking lot. He was looking in the opposite direction of us, seemingly entranced at an empty parking spot.

"Hey! You knew it was a trap, didn't you?" Percy shouted as we were walking in the gods' direction.

Ares' head raised toward us and he grinned, "I didn't think you'd make it out alive. You guys looked good on T.V"

Percy threw the shield at him, "You're a Jerk."

"Yeah, Yeah," He stood up, "See that truck over there, that's your ride."

He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler truck parked on the other side of the street. There was a sign on the back of the truck but I couldn't read it.

"You're kidding?" I asked him. "Right?"

Ares snapped his fingers and the back door of the truck opened. "It's a free ride west, stop complaining."

He tossed a backpack to Annabeth who stumbled to catch it.

"We don't want your-" Annabeth started before Grover interrupted saying, "Thank you, Lord Ares."

"You promised me information on my mom," Percy said.

"She's not dead," Ares said simply before mounting his motorcycle and driving off.

"That was terrible information," Percy said glaring at the spot Ares was at before.

"Ares just seems so punch-able, did any of you want to punch him?" Annabeth spoke.

"I did."

"Same."

Me too!! Crow agreed.

You have to be such a terrible guy for Crow to not like you.

"Are we actually going to go on that truck?" Grover asked. " If we are we better hurry, I think the owners are almost leaving the diner."

Sure enough, he was right, I could see two people in identical black overalls at the register.

We ran across the street, (looking both ways of course) and climbed into the back of the truck, closing the door behind us.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trailer was dark and it smelt disgusting. The animals in the trailer didn't have enough space as they should have and I wanted to jump back out of the truck and show the workers how to really take care of animals.

It seemed Grover and Percy agreed with me because they stood up and headed towards the door but before we could do anything the engine turned on and the whole truck shook.

We all sat in a corner of the truck, huddled together because there was barely any space. Grover tried talking to the animals but they didn't answer and instead looked at them sadly. Annabeth was seconds away from breaking open the cages but Percy and I convinced her not to.

Instead, we all settled for fixing everything up. Percy refilled their water bowls and I switched their food so they actually matched what they were supposed to eat. (and if I named every single one of them as I did so, that's nobody's business.) Annabeth cut the balloon off the antelope's horn.

Grover curled up on a turnip sack, laying down. I sat on Percy's right while Annabeth sat on his left. Percy took out his pen and uncapped it which then turned into a three-foot celestial bronze sword, which answered my question of where he got it. It shined dimly in the darkness of the trailer but it was enough that we could see a few of our surroundings.