A new age of Divinity: Theomachy

Viva Las Vegas

The sun rose and Hayden woke Nate up the moment he woke up himself. Nate groaned and smacked his hand and got up quickly. He cracked his neck and the two looked at one another, silently agreeing not to speak about what Hayden saw the night before. They could hear the group calling out to them so they walked back, Hayden now more understanding of Nate.
As they came through the trees Beth yelled "What is wrong with the two of you!? We have been looking for you for-"
"The sun's up, let's just go," Nate cut her off, not wanting to be questioned "The closer to Vegas we get the less paranoid we'll have to be. Vegas is a weird ass place where a bunch of people riding on the back of a lion makes perfect sense."
Beth rolled her eyes, "Fine, but if you two ever leave again make sure to leave a note or I will-"
"Yeah, we know, you'll beat the living shit out of us." Nate grinned at his best friend, "Now that made my day. Let's go."
"Out of curiosity," Eden said as they climbed back on top of Gulltoppr "Where did you guys go?"
"Oh, nowhere special," Hayden said "Just had to talk."
Beth looked at her boyfriend raising an eyebrow, "Talk? You and Nate? What the hell would you two talk about besides me that would not have you going at each other's throats?"
Hayden sighed and replied "Look, I'll explain later, okay?" Nate was uncharacteristically silent as he took Gulltoppr's reins.
Nate sighed and whipped the reins, which spurred Gulltoppr to find the Bifrost scent. After about ten minutes, they found the road sign again and began to ride toward Las Vegas. This time, whenever a car would drive past, they would get a different reaction than expected. Instead of being laughed at or feared, most ignored them, some stared in awe, and others even asked for a picture. It was refreshing to not be ridiculed for being what they were, even if the Mortals couldn't see everything that Gulltoppr was. The glow of Nate's eyes was also invisible to pure mortals so he would not be found out either.
As they came across a large sign, Eden said "Everyone, welcome to Las Vegas."
They all hopped off of Gulltoppr and stared out into the strange new world they were a part of. Everything was so different to what they were used to. They had gotten there at night and there were so many lights that they could barely tell. Back at camp, the only lights at night were whatever camp fires, gas lanterns, and torches that were left lit. Here, all the buildings were lit up top to bottom, some of them constantly blinking and flashing. They were used to the relatively small confines of the camp, or in Nate's case, the small towns near the camp. This city was almost a hundred and fifty square miles. It was crazy to them, but they knew they had to find somewhere to stay fast. They walked with Gulltoppr and were stopped constantly by people asking about him. It was clear the beast was not used to so much constant noise, attention, and people all around him. They could tell that their furry companion was getting stressed out by it all and this made them even more determined to find a place to stay. Nate got back on top of Gulltoppr to get a better view of their surroundings.
"Huh, I thought that tower thing was in Europe," Nate said while pointing his sword at Vegas's Eiffel Tower.
They looked up and Kenneth pointed out "I think that is a replica. I doubt something so important to an entire nation would be decorated like a christmas tree."
"Christmas? Really?" Hayden asked.

"Oh, shut the Hel up." Nate resheathed his sword and they kept walking "There's so many useless looking buildings." Beth glared at him and he instantly remembered her love for architecture "I said they look useless. And they probably are."
"Dick." She grabbed Hayden's hand and kept walking,
"You love me," Nate reminded her.
"You're making me want to try and drown you again jackass!" They came across a large hotel and Nate looked up at it"Huh, what's this place? That flower looks like a bed."
They looked at the building and Beth said "From what we have heard, it looks like the Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino."
Nate and Eden smelled something, then they looked at each other, and sighed "Lotus Eaters."
"Eh, they're harmless," Mikayla reminded them "Just chill people who ate the Lotus flowers. Remember, we don't eat any Lotuses and we should be good... now all we gotta do is actually get a few rooms for a night or two."
"That is what Oddyseus said to his men," Beth said to Nate.
"Oh thank God you didn't say that's what she said. I would've told Gulltoppr to tail whip you."
Beth grinned, "I still can because the only person who would not be getting a room is you. Boom! That's what she said!" Nate dug his heel into Gulltoppr's side and his tail swung into Beth's back "Ah, you dickhead!"
"I warned you. Let's go, I think I can get us some leeway." He got up off of Gulltoppr and patted him on the side, which caused him to tail whip Beth again just out of spite.
"You are a dick."
"You've always known that." He walked up to a security guard and asked "Hey, can I ask you a question?" The guard turned toward him "Out of curiosity, where would I be able to get a room key if I just happened to have lost mine tonight?"
"Well, you can always head up to the front desk," The guard replied, "But I don't remember ever seeing you come into the building."
"Eh, you've seen enough people, the faces all blend together. You're right though, I'm about to get a few rooms with my friends but a bunch of us are prone to losing stuff."
"Ah, accident prone, huh?" He asked.
"Yeah, the guys mostly," Nate replied, then he used World Lag and stepped behind the guard, grabbed the keys to a back door from his pocket, and returned time to its usual speed "So, where would the front desk be?"
"Well, it's in the lobby and- woah! Is that a freakin' lion? 'Cause I gotta be honest, that's pretty metal."
"Yeah, we also need a place to keep him while we stay. He doesn't like being too far away from me, so is there an area in the hotel we can put him?"
"Oh, sure. We have a backroom that only the janitors use, but they're typically in and out. They know where everything is, so if the lion just stays in there and doesn't touch anything, he should be good."
"Cool, thanks. Have a good night."
"You two, sir."
Nate walked back to the group, showed them the keys, and said "Okay, he's definitely on Lotus. He was way too chill for having such a random conversation on the clock with a total stranger... but anyway, let's head inside." Nate led them around back and found the door the keys were for "Here, this is where we'll keep Gulltoppr for the time we're here. Shouldn't be any more than a few days to keep our energy high and probably take some shit for our trip to Washington." He pushed his palms together, then slowly pulled them apart to create a sphere of pure Bifrost "Here, bud. Knock yourself out." Nate solidified it to the point where it would bounce and tossed it to their furry friend "Now... how are we gonna get some room keys?"
"And who's gonna stay in whose room?"
"I will stay with Nate and Marc," Kenneth said "And I can get the keys without being noticed."
"Oh, yeah. Your speed renders everyone around you practically frozen in time," Beth remembered "Okay, grab keys that would be as close to each other as possible. While you are gone, we will decide on rooms for the rest of us."
"Okay, just make this quick." He sped away, moving so fast that he actually ran through the door without breaking it.
"Alright, since you three already agreed on sharing a room, I think Hayden and I should get one to ourselves," Beth said.
"Then, Mikayla and I will have one to ourselves," Eden agreed.
Kenneth was walking in his super speed, just looking at all the people around the place. People were laughing, drinking, and smoking while relaxing. There were very few, if even any children around, but a lot of adults acting like teenagers. He jumped down to the bottom floor, which thanks to his ability to run on any surface did no damage to his body. He went past the partying, swimwear clad, gambling patrons and went to snag a few room keys. There were six different towers to the hotel and he could see that they were in the tower with the first six hundred and sixty six rooms. He grabbed the cards to rooms four thirty two, four thirty five, and four thirty six. Once he got the cards, he turned back, and ran to the back room again after making sure their rooms said booked in the system.
He got back and showed them the tickets, then asked "You guys made your choices?"
"Yup."
"Mhm."
"That's what you said to do."
"Alright, the first few seconds are going to be the most dangerous. Just because we know there are Lotus Eaters here does not mean that we should still not be on our guard." They nodded and slowly opened the doors and closed it behind them "Okay, we have bags. No one should suspect that we are trespassing." They began to walk up to their rooms and Kenneth mumbled "Viva Las Vegas, I guess."