The Sea Tyrant's Obsession (PJO x ROR) *18+* WTM/WTS Book 1

*We Shop For Water Beds

Note: I edited the previous chapter a tiny bit because I realized they still didn't know the Helm was stolen. You don't really have to go back and read it.

"They have to move faster," Susano'o said gravely. "Or else they'll be too late."

"Five days is too much time lost," Apollo muttered under his breath.

Zeus's eyes blazed with anger, his fingers twitching as if ready to strike something. "It was designed to distract, to confuse, and to keep them there for eternity. They should never return to that place again!"

A new title is shown:

We Shop For Water Beds

"HUH?" Everyone exclaimed in confusion, their eyes widening as the title flashed on the screen.

"Why would they need to shop for water beds?" Ares asked, furrowing his brow.

"Let's just wait and see what happens," Apollo muttered. "We should be used to these ridiculous titles by now."

It was Anthony's idea.

He loaded us into the back of a Vegas taxi as if we actually had money, and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."

The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized us up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."

"You accept casino debit cards?" Anthony asked.

He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."

Anthony handed him his green Lotus Cash card.

He looked at it skeptically.

"Swipe it," Anthony invited.

He did.

His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.

Caishen and the other gods of money and wealth dropped their jaws to the floor.

"I knew it!" the Chinese god exclaimed.

Kubera, the Hindu god of wealth, began to salivate.

The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at us, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles... uh, Your Highness?"

Poseidon, Apollo, and Loki scoffed at the driver's sudden formality, each rolling their eyes in unison.

"The Santa Monica Pier." Anthony sat up a little straighter. I could tell he liked the "Your Highness" thing. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."

Maybe he shouldn't have told him that. The cab's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the Mojave Desert.

On the road, we had plenty of time to talk. I told Anthony and Grover about my latest dream, but the details got sketchier the more I tried to remember them. The Lotus Casino seemed to have short-circuited my memory. I couldn't recall what the invisible servant's voice had sounded like, though I was sure it was somebody I knew. The servant had called the monster in the pit something other than "my lord" ... some special name or title....

Hades, Susano'o, and Odin looked thoughtful, trying to figure out who this "my lord" might be.

Hermes couldn't seem to calm himself down after witnessing the girl's dream.

"The Silent One?" Anthony suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."

"He thinks that evil, unknown entity in her dream is Hades' counterpart," Indra stated.