Celestial - a Percy Jackson fanfic [BOOK ONE]

Chapter fifteen

We stumbled out into the hot afternoon. It had to be at least one hundred degrees, probably more. Everyone was too interested in the wild animals to pay us any attention.

We walked down the boulevard, not really sure what we were looking for. We passed pyramids, a pirate ship, a small replica of the Statue of Liberty, and suddenly found ourself standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Above the entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. The glittering chrome doors underneath it were open, spilling out air condition that smelled like flowers.

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

This guy seemed normal. He sounded sympathetic, too. Percy nodded and said we'd love to come in. Inside, our heads swiveled on our necks, amazed at the lobby. It was a giant game room, but not like an arcade game room. There was an indoor water slide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of the building and an indoor bungee jumping bridge. There were VR suits with laser guns and hundreds of video games, each with their own wide screen TV. You name it, this place had it. It was epic.

"Hey!" A man I guessed was a bellhop said. He wore a white and yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs and flipflops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casuno. Here's your room key."

Percy looked confused.

"No, no," the bellhop laughed. "The bills taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go up to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in restaurants and on all the games and rides."

He handed each of us a green plastic credit card.

"How much is on here?" Percy asked, still obviously confused as he accepted his card. The bellhop only looked at him strangely. "Like, when will it run out of cash?"

The bellhop only laughed loudly. "That's a good joke, kid. Enjoy your stay!"

With that, he walked off, looking as happy as can be.

"What is going on?" I asked, inspecting the plastic card in my hand. "Did Ares do this for us?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No way. Lets go check out our room."

"Does nobody else think this is weird?" I asked, watching as my friends walked towards the elevator. "What if this is a trap?"

"Cleo, we get a free room, free food, free cash," Percy said. "We need to take advantage."

I sighed, but followed them anyways. We needed to stick together.

Our room was a suite with four separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. Fluffy towels and water beds. A big screen TV and high-speed internet. The balcony even had its own hot tub with a gorgeous room over Las Vegas.

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

"Awesome!" Percy finished for her, rummaging through the closet, finding tons of clothes for us.

We all took showers, feeling nice and clean after a week of grimy travel. I even got a change of clothes and a nice meal from room service. It was awesome.

When I came from the bathroom with my hair in a towel, I found Grover and Annabeth watching Nation Geographic on the TV. There was an eagle soaring on the screen. I sat down next to her, now wringing my hair out in the towel. It was so nice to be like an actual kid again, sitting with friends, eating chips, and just watching TV pleasantly.