Annabeth Chase and the Lightning Thief

Chapter 26 - A lion and an antelope become besties

I was in the throne room of the gods, but it'd changed. Some of the thrones were mutilated, arm-rests chopped off or seats ruined. It was darker than usual, the only light coming from the hearth at the back of the room. There was a boy in front of me, but I couldn't make out his features as his back was to the fire. He held a scythe in his hands, gold and wickedly sharp.

The boy stalked towards me, swinging the scythe casually. I knew I should back away, pull out my knife, do something, but I couldn't. My mind was clogged, thick. My muscles were frozen so I could only watch, horrified as he approached.

He stopped within arms reach of me, and I could sense him smiling even though I couldn't see his features.

"It's a shame you had to die, Annabeth," he said and his voice was strangely old for a body that looked so young. "If only you had made the right choice."

The scythe was brought up, my eyes widening as I saw it descend towards me. I braced myself for death, only to see a blur dive in front of me, a mixture of orange fabric, black hair and green eyes.

"NOOOOO!" I screamed as I woke, shooting upright.

My heart was thumping a million kilometers an hour and tears were streaming down my cheeks. I felt a churning in my stomach, like I'd eaten something off.

I didn't want to think about it, but my dream kept coming back to mind. The unrecognizable figure, the scythe, being in the throne room of the gods, the choice. None of it made sense.

The only part that did was the worse part of all. I recognized the one who'd saved me, the one who'd pushed me aside, the one who died for me. It was Percy.

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I sat awake for the rest of the trip, listening to Grover's snores, watching Percy drool. Why would he do it? Sure, we were friends, but in the dream, I'd felt like his death was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Worse than being killed myself.

I distracted myself by watching the animals, how the zebra and the antelope lay against each other like best of friends, how the lion watched them like it was figuring out the best way to eat them. Animals had their lives so simple.

I didn't know how long I sat there, but eventually I heard the truck stop. Grover woke instantly, as if he was connected to the engines.

"What's happening?" he mumbled to me, looking around blearily.

"We must be in Vegas," I answered. "That's what Ares said, right? That there would be a stop in Vegas."

"I'll wake Percy," Grover volunteered.

"Good luck with that."

He started shaking Percy's shoulder, but the son of Poseidon merely grumbled and rolled over. I heard the truckies get out of the truck, slamming the door behind them. Their footsteps began heading around the trailer, coming to the back.

"Quick! Get him awake!" I hissed at Grover. "We're going to get caught!"

Grover shook harder and when that wasn't working, slapped Percy in the face. The son of Poseidon shot awake, looking startled. He had drool down the side of one face and his hair was ratty and mussed. If we weren't in trouble, I would have laughed.

"The truck's stopped," Grover told him. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."

"Hide!" I hissed, whipping out my cap and jamming it on my head.

The boys had to scramble around to hide behind some fed sacks. Percy's shoe was sticking out but before I could tell him, the trailer doors swung open.

I squinted as sunlight poured in, hurting my eyes. Hours in the dark was no good, especially when you emerge in full daylight. Even worse was the heat. If it was stuffy before, it was boiling now.

"Man!" one of truckies exclaimed as he hopped inside. "I wish I hauled appliances."

While he was distracted, I clambered outside, hoping to provide a distraction for the boys to get out. I found myself in in the middle of the weirdness of Vegas, a luxurious town set in the middle of a desert.

I heard the lion roar from inside and saw that there was a small crowd of tourists around, trying to see if they could catch a glimpse of the animals. The other truckie was trying to keep them away, probably so no one could file a report against him on the conditions the animals were in.

I didn't see how Percy and Grover would be able to get out with all these people around, but I had to try. Going to the side of trailer, I banged on it three times as hard as I could.

"What do you want, Eddie?" came a grumpy voice from inside.

The guy handling the crowds turned around, frowning in confusion. "Maurice? What ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

Just to spread more confusion, I hit the trailer another three times.

"What banging?" yelled Eddie, obviously unable to hear it over the chatter of the crowd.

I ran back around to the end of the trailer and hopped in as Maurice got out, muttering about Eddie being a doofus. Scrambling to Percy and Grover, I pulled off my cap, startling them by my sudden appearance.

"This transport business can't be legal," I said, frowning.

"No kidding," Grover retorted, tilting his head as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animals smugglers!" I didn't bother ask how the lion would know that.

Percy seemed to be listening also, but to what, I didn't have a clue.

"We've got to free them!" Grover said. We both looked at Percy. He was the leader of this quest after all.

He was thinking hard, although I didn't think that they problem was that big. I could hear Eddie and Maurice yelling at each other outside. They were too dumb to realise that if neither of them had done it, then it had to be someone else.

Percy seemed to make up his mind suddenly, slashing open the zebra's cage door with Riptide. The zebra burst out and bowed to Percy, which was undoubtably the strangest thing I've seen all quest.

Grover held up his hands and seemed to bless the zebra, right before it turned and practically bowled over Maurice as he was coming back in. There was a lot of screaming from outside and we grinned at each other as we watched the zebra gallop down a street filled with neon signs and cars honking and breaking.

Maurice and Eddie began chasing after it, a federal policemen on their heels, yelling for their permits. It looked like they got their just desserts.

"Now would be a good time to leave," I decided.

"The other animals first," Grover said.

Percy cut open their locks while Grover blessed them. The lion and the antelope trotted off contentedly, not even looking like they were going to start a game of cat and mouse.

The crowd gaped as the animals moved past, unconcerned by all the humans. Vegas people were so simple.

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

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

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely. 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 in us?" Percy asked, frowning.

"It only works on wild animals."

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

"Hey!" he protested indignantly.

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