Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief

We Take a Zebra to Vegas

The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot.'Well, well,' he said. 'You didn't get yourself killed.''You knew it was a trap,' I said.Ares gave me a wicked grin. 'Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised whenhe netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV.'I shoved his shield at him. 'You're a jerk.'Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changedform, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.'See that truck over there?' He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked acrossthe street from the diner. 'That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with onestop in Vegas.'The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read only becauseit was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia:KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING:LIVE WILD ANIMALS.I said, 'You're kidding.'Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. 'Free ridewest, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job.'He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to me.Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full ofgolden drachmas and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.I said, 'I don't want your lousy –''Thank you, Lord Ares,' Grover interrupted, giving me his best red-alertwarning look. 'Thanks a lot.'I gritted my teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from agod, but I didn't want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, I slung thebackpack over my shoulder. I knew my anger was being caused by the war god'spresence, but I was still itching to punch him in the nose. He reminded me ofevery bully I'd ever faced: Nancy Bobofit, Clarisse, Smelly Gabe, sarcasticteachers – every jerk who'd called me stupid in school or laughed at me whenI'd got expelled.I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. Thewaitress who'd served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, likeshe was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the cook out from the kitchen tosee. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable cameraand snapped a picture of us.Great, I thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow.I imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UPDEFENCELESS BIKER.'You owe me one more thing,' I told Ares, trying to keep my voice level. 'Youpromised me information about my mother.''You sure you can handle the news?' He kick-started his motorcycle. 'She'snot dead.'The ground seemed to spin beneath me. 'What do you mean?''I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She wasturned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She'sbeing kept.''Kept. Why?''You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to controlsomebody else.''Nobody's controlling me.'He laughed. 'Oh yeah? See you around, kid.'I balled up my fists. 'You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs fromCupid statues.'Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. 'We'll meetagain, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back.'He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.Annabeth said, 'That was not smart, Percy.''I don't care.''You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god.''Hey, guys,' Grover said. 'I hate to interrupt, but...'He pointed towards the diner. At the cash register, the last two customers werepaying their bill, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on theirbacks that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.'If we're taking the zoo express,' Grover said, 'we need to hurry.'I didn't like it, but we had no better option. Besides, I'd seen enough ofDenver.We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big lorry, closing thedoors behind us.The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan ofkitty litter.The trailer was dark inside until I uncapped Anaklusmos. The blade cast afaint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cageswere three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever beheld: a zebra, a malealbino lion and some weird antelope thing I didn't know the name for.Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn'twant to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each got a polystyrene tray ofhamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, likesomebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupidsilver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess withhim, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way toosmall for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzingaround his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.'This is kindness?' Grover yelled. 'Humane zoo transport?'He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with hisreed pipes, and I would've helped him, but just then the truck's engine roared tolife, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down.We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore thesmell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goatbleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favour of breaking thecages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much gooduntil the truck stopped moving. Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lotbetter to the lion than those turnips.I found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used Anaklusmos to drag themismatched food out of their cages. I gave the meat to the lion and the turnips tothe zebra and the antelope.Grover calmed the antelope down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut theballoon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, butwe decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around. We toldGrover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then wesettled in for the night.Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened our bag of Double StufOreos and nibbled on one half-heartedly; I tried to cheer myself up byconcentrating on the fact that we were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to ourdestination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty-first. We could make it in plenty of time.On the other hand, I had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toyingwith me. At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it – he'd put upcameras and advertised me as entertainment. But even when the cameras weren'trolling, I had a feeling my quest was being watched. I was a source ofamusement for the gods.'Hey,' Annabeth said, 'I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park,Percy.''That's okay.''It's just...' She shuddered. 'Spiders.''Because of the Arachne story,' I guessed. 'She got turned into a spider forchallenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?'Annabeth nodded. 'Arachne's children have been taking revenge on thechildren of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll findme. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you.''We're a team, remember?' I said. 'Besides, Grover did the fancy flying.'I thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, 'I was prettyamazing, wasn't I?'Annabeth and I laughed.She pulled apart an Oreo, handed me half. 'In the Iris message... did Lukereally say nothing?'I munched my cookie and thought about how to answer. The conversation viarainbow had bothered me all evening. 'Luke said you and he go way back. Healso said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree.'In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read theirexpressions.Grover let out a mournful bray.'I should've told you the truth from the beginning.' His voice trembled. 'Ithought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along.''You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus.'He nodded glumly.And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely tocamp...' I looked at Annabeth. 'That was you and Luke, wasn't it?'She put down her Oreo, uneaten. 'Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old halfblood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me towards help.Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, likeme. They were happy to take me with them. They were... amazing monsterfighters, even without training. We travelled north from Virginia without any realplans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us.''I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp,' he said, sniffling. 'Only Thalia. Ihad strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down therescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke andAnnabeth by themselves. I thought... I thought I could lead all three of them tosafety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scaredon the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a littlequicker...''Stop it,' Annabeth said. 'No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either.''She sacrificed herself to save us,' he said miserably. 'Her death was my fault.The Council of Cloven Elders said so.''Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?' I said. 'That's notfair.''Percy's right,' Annabeth said. 'I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you,Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says.'Grover kept sniffling in the dark. 'It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever,and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy.''You're not lame,' Annabeth insisted. 'You've got more courage than anysatyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I betPercy is really glad you're here right now.'She kicked me in the shin.'Yeah,' I said, which I would've done even without the kick. 'It's not luck thatyou found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever.You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan.'I heard a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for Grover to say something, but hisbreathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, I realized he'dfallen sleep.'How does he do that?' I marvelled.'I don't know,' Annabeth said. 'But that was really a nice thing you told him.''I meant it.'We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. Thezebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off hislips and looked at me hopefully.Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts.'That pine-tree bead,' I said. 'Is that from your first year?'She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing.'Yeah,'she said. 'Every August, the counsellors pick the most important eventof the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree,a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress – now that was a weirdsummer...''And the college ring is your father's?''That's none of your –' She stopped herself. 'Yeah. Yeah, it is.''You don't have to tell me.''No... it's okay.' She took a shaky breath. 'My dad sent it to me folded up in aletter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. Hewouldn't have got through his doctoral programme at Harvard without her...That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized forbeing a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home andlive with him.''That doesn't sound so bad.''Yeah, well... the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for thatschool year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids putin danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monstersattacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chironand came right back to Camp Half-Blood.''You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?'She wouldn't meet my eyes. 'Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain.''You shouldn't give up,' I told her. 'You should write him a letter orsomething.''Thanks for the advice,' she said coldly, 'but my father's made his choiceabout who he wants to live with.'We passed another few miles of silence.'So if the gods fight,' I said, 'will things line up the way they did with theTrojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?'She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes.'I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you.''Why?''Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?'I couldn't think of an answer for that. Fortunately I didn't have to. Annabethwas asleep.I had trouble following her example, with Grover snoring and an albino lionstaring hungrily at me, but eventually I closed my eyes.* * *My nightmare started out as something I'd dreamed a million times before: I wasbeing forced to take a standardized test while wearing a straitjacket. All the otherkids were going out to recess, and the teacher kept saying, Come on, Percy.You're not stupid are you? Pick up your pencil.Then the dream strayed from the usual.I looked over at the next desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket. She was my age, with unruly black, punk-style hair, dark eyeliner aroundher stormy green eyes, and freckles across her nose. Somehow, I knew who shewas. She was Thalia, daughter of Zeus.She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at me in frustration and snapped,Well, Seaweed Brain? One of us has to get out of here.She's right, my dream-self thought. I'm going back to that cavern. I'm goingto give Hades a piece of my mind.The straitjacket melted off me. I fell through the classroom floor. Theteacher's voice changed until it was cold and evil, echoing from the depths of agreat chasm.Percy Jackson, it said. Yes, the exchange went well, I see.I was back in the dark cavern, spirits of the dead drifting around me. Unseenin the pit, the monstrous thing was speaking, but this time it wasn't addressingme. The numbing power of its voice seemed directed somewhere else.And he suspects nothing? it asked.Another voice, one I almost recognized, answered at my shoulder. Nothing,my lord. He is as ignorant as the rest.I looked over, but no one was there. The speaker was invisible.Deception upon deception, the thing in the pit mused aloud. Excellent.Truly, my lord, said the voice next to me, you are well-named the CrookedOne. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly–You? the monster said in scorn. You have already shown your limits. Youwould have failed me completely had I not intervened.But, my lord –Peace, little servant. Our six months have bought us much. Zeus's anger hasgrown. Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it againsthim. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon asboth items are delivered into my hands... but wait. He is here.What? The invisible servant suddenly sounded tense. You summoned him, mylord?No. The full force of the monster's attention was now pouring over me,freezing me in place. Blast his father's blood – he is too changeable, toounpredictable. The boy brought himself hither.Impossible! the servant cried.For a weakling such as you, perhaps, the voice snarled. Then its cold powerturned back on me. So... you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood?Then I will oblige.The scene changed.I was standing in a vast throne room with black marble walls and bronzefloors. The empty, horrid throne was made from human bones fused together.Standing at the foot of the dais was my mother, frozen in shimmering goldenlight, her arms outstretched.I tried to step towards her, but my legs wouldn't move. I reached for her, onlyto realize that my hands were withering to bones. Grinning skeletons in Greekarmour crowded around me, draping me with silk robes, wreathing my head withlaurels that smoked with Chimera poison, burning into my scalp.The evil voice began to laugh. Hail, the conquering hero!I woke with a start.Grover was shaking my shoulder. 'The truck's stopped,' he said. 'We thinkthey're coming to check on the animals.''Hide!' Annabeth hissed.She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. Grover and Ihad to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips.The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.'Man!' one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. 'Iwish I hauled appliances.' He climbed inside and poured some water from a juginto the animals' dishes.'You hot, big boy?' he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket rightin the lion's face.The lion roared in indignation.'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' the man said.Next to me, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. For a peace-lovingherbivore, he looked downright murderous.The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. Hesmirked at the zebra. 'How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of youthis stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna sawyou in half!'The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at me.There was no sound, but as clear as day, I heard it say: Free me, lord. Please.I was too stunned to react.There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.The trucker inside with us yelled, 'What do you want, Eddie?'A voice outside – it must've been Eddie's – shouted back, 'Maurice? What'dya say?''What are you banging for?'Knock, knock, knock.Outside, Eddie yelled, 'What banging?'Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie forbeing an idiot.A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the bangingto get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, 'This transport business can't belegal.''No kidding,' Grover said. He paused, as if listening. 'The lion says these guysare animal smugglers!'That's right, the zebra's voice said in my mind.'We've got to free them!' Grover said. He and Annabeth both looked at me,waiting for my lead.I'd heard the zebra talk, but not the lion. Why? Maybe it was another learningdisability... I could only understand zebras? Then I thought: horses. What hadAnnabeth said about Poseidon creating horses? Was a zebra close enough to ahorse? Was that why I could understand it?The zebra said, Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that.Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'dbe coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. I grabbed Riptide andslashed the lock off the zebra's cage.The zebra burst out. It turned to me and bowed. Thank you, lord.Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like ablessing.Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, thezebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming andcars honking. We rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebragalloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs.We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas.Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them,shouting, 'Hey! You need a permit for that!''Now would be a good time to leave,' Annabeth said.'The other animals first,' Grover said.I cut the locks with my sword. Grover raised his hands and spoke the samegoat-blessing he'd used for the zebra.'Good luck,' I told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of theircages and went off together into the streets.Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probablythinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.'Will the animals be okay?' I asked Grover. 'I mean, the desert and all –''Don't worry,' he said. 'I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them.''Meaning?''Meaning they'll reach the wild safely,' he said. '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 on us?' I asked.'It only works on wild animals.''So it would only affect Percy,' Annabeth reasoned.'Hey!' I protested.'Kidding,'she said. 'Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck.'We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was forty degrees, easy, and wemust've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in thewild animals to pay us much attention.We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed pyramids, a pirate shipand the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica, but still made mehomesick.I wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of theheat for a few minutes, find a sandwich and a glass of lemonade, make a newplan for getting west.We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end,standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neonflower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but theglittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air conditioning that smelled likeflowers – lotus blossom, maybe. I'd never smelled one, so I wasn't sure.The doorman smiled at us. 'Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come inand sit down?'I'd learned to be suspicious, the last week or so. I figured anybody might be amonster or a god. You just couldn't tell. But this guy was normal. One look athim, and I could see. Besides, I was so relieved to hear somebody who soundedsympathetic that I nodded and said we'd love to come in. Inside, we took onelook around, and Grover said, 'Whoa.'The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I'm not talking about cheesyold Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor water slide snakingaround the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There wasa climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumpingbridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundredsof video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it,this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. Nowaiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around,serving every kind of food you can imagine.'Hey!' a bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bellhop. He wore a whiteand-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts and flip-flops. 'Welcome tothe Lotus Casino. Here's your room key.'I stammered, 'Um, but...''No, no,' he said, laughing. 'The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips.Just go on up to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, like extrabubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, justcall the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurantsand on all the games and rides.'He handed us each a green plastic credit card.I knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought we were somemillionaire's kids. But I took the card and said, 'How much is on here?'His eyebrows knit together. 'What do you mean?''I mean, when does it run out of cash?'He laughed. 'Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay.'We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite withthree separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas and crisps. Ahotline to room service. Fluffy towels and waterbeds with feather pillows. A bigscreen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its ownhot tub and, sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, soyou could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plugthem with your gun. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it waspretty cool. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though Idoubted we'd ever have time to look at the view with a room like this.'Oh, goodness,' Annabeth said. 'This place is...''Sweet,' Grover said. 'Absolutely sweet.'There were clothes in the closet, and they fitted me. I frowned, thinking thatthis was a little strange.I threw Ares's backpack in the trash can. Wouldn't need that any more. Whenwe left, I could just charge a new one at the hotel store.I took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel. I changedclothes, ate a bag of crisps, drank three Cokes and came out feeling better than Ihad in a long time. In the back of my mind, some small problem kept naggingme. I'd had a dream or something... I needed to talk to my friends. But I wassure it could wait.I came out of the bedroom and found that Annabeth and Grover had alsoshowered and changed clothes. Grover was eating crisps to his heart's content,while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel.'All those stations,' I told her, 'and you turn on National Geographic. Are youinsane?''It's interesting.''I feel good,' Grover said. 'I love this place.'Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and liftedhim a foot off the ground, then back down again.'So what now?' Annabeth asked. 'Sleep?'Grover and I looked at each other and grinned. We both held up our greenplastic LotusCash cards.'Play time,' I said.I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. I came from a relativelypoor family. Our idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting avideo. A five-star Vegas hotel? Forget it.I bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, did the waterslide, snowboardedthe artificial ski slope and played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. Isaw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reversehunter thing – where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks. I saw Annabethplaying trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3-D sim gamewhere you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographicbuildings rise on the display board. I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth lovedit.I'm not sure when I first realized something was wrong.Probably, it was when I noticed the guy standing next to me at VRsharpshooters. He was about thirteen, I guess, but his clothes were weird. Ithought he was some Elvis impersonator's son. He wore bell-bottoms and a redT-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like a New Jerseygirl's on homecoming night.We played a game of sharpshooters together and he said, 'Groovy, man. Beenhere two weeks, and the games keep getting better and better.'Groovy?Later, while we were talking, I said something "rocked", and he looked at mekind of puzzled, as if he'd never heard the word used that way before.He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as I started asking him questions hegot bored with me and started to go back to the computer screen.I said, 'Hey, Darrin?''What?''What year is it?'He frowned at me. 'In the game?''No. In real life.'He had to think about it. '1977.''No,' I said, getting a little scared. 'Really.''Hey, man. Bad vibes. I got a game happening.'After that he totally ignored me.I started talking to people, and I found it wasn't easy. They were glued to theTV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. I found a guy who toldme it was 1985. Another guy told me it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn'tbeen in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really knowand they didn't care.Then it occurred to me: how long had I been here? It seemed like only acouple of hours, but was it?I tried to remember why we were here. We were going to Los Angeles. Wewere supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. My mother... for a scarysecond, I had trouble remembering her name. Sally. Sally Jackson. I had to findher. I had to stop Hades from causing World War III.I found Annabeth still building her city.'Come on,' I told her. 'We've got to get out of here.'No response.I shook her. 'Annabeth?'She looked up, annoyed. 'What?''We need to leave.''Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers –''This place is a trap.'She didn't respond until I shook her again. 'What?''Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!''Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes.''Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. Youcheck in, and you stay forever.''So?'she asked. 'Can you imagine a better place?'I grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the game.'Hey!' She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us.They were too busy.I made her look directly in my eyes. I said, 'Spiders. Large, hairy spiders.'That jarred her. Her vision cleared. 'Oh my gods,' she said. 'How long havewe –''I don't know, but we've got to find Grover.'We went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter.'Grover!' we both shouted.He said, 'Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!''Grover!'He turned the plastic gun on me and started clicking, as if I were just anotherimage from the screen.I looked at Annabeth, and together we took Grover by the arms and draggedhim away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the otherdirection as he shouted, 'No! I just got to a new level! No!'The Lotus bellhop hurried up to us. 'Well, now, are you ready for yourplatinum cards?''We're leaving,' I told him.'Such a shame,' he said, and I got the feeling that he really meant it, that we'dbe breaking his heart if we went. 'We just added an entire new floor full ofgames for platinum-card members.'He held out the cards, and I wanted one. I knew that if I took one, I'd neverleave. I'd stay here, happy forever, playing games forever, and soon I'd forgetmy mom, and my quest, and maybe even my own name. I'd be playing virtualrifleman with groovy Disco Darrin forever.Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, 'No,thanks.'We walked towards the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and thesounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. I thought about ourroom upstairs. We could just stay the night, sleep in a real bed for once...Then we burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down thesidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day we'd gone into thecasino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It wasstormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert.Ares's backpack was slung over my shoulder, which was odd, because I wassure I had thrown it in the trash can in room 4001, but at the moment I had otherproblems to worry about.I ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, itwas the same year it had been when we went in. Then I noticed the date: Junetwentieth.We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days.We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete ourquest.