Hi guys,

Sorry about the delay – especially after promising you that I'd try and get this completely finished in the next couple of weeks… However, please do enjoy and obviously let me know what you think! Critics welcome!

We Take the Zoo to Vegas

We didn't speak much on the way back to the diner, Percy's mood was awful and Grover kept bleating whenever he caught sight of Percy's face and muttering; "Please don't let him kill us," over and over again. Percy was ignoring him.

Marching back to the diner I felt ridiculous in my Waterland clothes, but the embarrassment was nothing compared to the fear I felt about Percy getting fried by Ares.

Ares was already waiting for us when we reached the diner, he smiled nastily and I flinched, praying for Percy. Percy didn't stop his march and his anger was almost palpable.

"Well, well, you didn't get yourselves killed."

"You knew it was a trap." My heart beat increased and I began to nibble on the end of a nail. If Percy kept stressing me out like this, I was going to have no nails left.

Ares smiled wickedly. "Bet that crippled black-smith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

Shoving Ares shield at him, Percy said; "You're a jerk." I flinched, eyes wide, my nail ripped in half. I didn't let my breath out as Ares grabbed the shield, spun it and changed it into a bulletproof vest and slung it onto his back.

I only started breathing again when he spoke; "See that truck over there? That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A. with one stop in Vegas." I didn't take my eyes off of Percy to look at our supposed ride, I could only watch in horror as Percy attempted to alienate a god that he would need on his side if he were to complete the prophecy.

"You're kidding," the idiot told the god. Come on Percy! You can do better than that! Just say thank you and let's go! Percy didn't listen to my mental wavelength.

Ares snapped his fingers and I flinched again, but there was only a creak as a door swung open somewhere. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."

The blue nylon backpack on his handlebars was thrown at Percy. He caught it and I almost begged him to be sensible before turning pleading eyes on Grover. He shrugged at me and I gave him a 'go on' head nod as Percy started to speak;

"I don't want your lousy-"

"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving Percy a stern looked, in reply Percy gritted his teeth but held his tongue. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe we would get out of this without being cursed. "Thanks a lot." Grover finished.

Percy didn't contradict Grover, but glanced over to the diner before speaking again a frown on his face. "You owe me one more thing," he told Ares obviously trying to control his anger. "You promised me information about my mother."

Ares smirked. Please don't provoke him, Lord Ares I thought to myself, Percy doesn't have that much patience left, "You sure you can handle the news?" He taunted Percy. "She's not dead."

Percy went white. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Ares said as if speaking to someone exceedingly stupid, "she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."

"Kept. Why?"

"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."

"Nobody's controlling me." Percy, I thought, we're demi-gods, the gods just see us as pawns, of course they're controlling us.

Ares laughed; "Oh yeah? See you around, kid." And so Percy lost it.

"You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

Please don't fry him, please don't fry him, please don't fry him! Ares glanced at me for a second and I would swear that he heard my plea as he didn't fry Percy on the spot. Instead his eyes glowed behind his sunglasses and a hot wind sped through the diner parking lot.

"We'll meet again, Percy Jackson," he said ominously; "next time you're in a fight, watch your back."

Revving his engine he roared off down Delancy street and I finally found my voice, leaving my poor ravaged nails by my sides. "That was not smart, Percy." I told him; as if he didn't know.

"I don't care." He said hotly.

"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god." Percy's expression was mutinous but luckily Grover interrupted.

"Hey guys," he said, "I hate to interrupt, but…" he pointed towards the diner where we could see the last two customers, who were paying their bill, were dressed in identical coveralls that displayed the logo that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck. "If we're taking the zoo express, we need to hurry." Grover told us, pushing us towards the truck as Percy looked as though he was going to refuse to get in the truck. And we needed the help.

I wrinkled my nose as I clambered in, pulling the door shut. This didn't smell like KINDNESS in the slightest. Percy uncapped Riptide casting a faint bronze glow over the heart wrenching scene. The zebra, male albino lion and an antelope were all skinny and had a hungry gaze, watching us in silence as we stared at them. They all looked exhausted and thirsty as well. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum; the antelope had a balloon tied to his horns that read OVER THE HILL! While the lion was panting and didn't even have the energy to swat at the flies buzzing around his pink eyes.

"This is kindness?" Grover yelled into my ear. "Humane zoo transport?" He looked like a rabid satyr – as if he were about to go and bash the truckers over the head with his reed pipes, Percy looked like he was going to join him. I wanted to help as well, but the best thing was for us all to remain put and help the animals as we went, otherwise how were we going to get to L.A? Luckily, I wasn't forced to do bodily harm to either of the boys as the truck roared to life and forced them to sit or fall down.

We huddled in the corner on some feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell.

"I say we free them now." I said, the poor things looked so pathetic, I couldn't just leave them.

"What gives you that idea, wise girl," Percy said, "We're going to look a lot better to the lion than the turnips. We'll wait until we stop and then set them free."

I blushed, hoping that the dark would hide it; of course it was a silly idea to free them now, where would they go? And Percy was right, we would look a lot better than the turnips. Meanwhile, Grover was talking to the animals in a series of goat bleats. After watching him for a minute, I turned to where I thought Percy was sat to ask him if we could swap the foods around, to find him already doing the job.

"Would you mind helping me cut this off a second, Annabeth." Grover said, indicating the balloon tied around the antelope's horn. I wobbly made my way over to the antelope and cut it off as Grover kept her calm.

"I want to do the Zebra's mane next," Grover said. I glanced down at my wobbly balance for a second.

"I think it's too risky, Grover. I'm having a hard time staying upright as it is and I down want to hurt the Zebra."

"I agree," Percy said. "Tell them we'll help them more in the morning, once we've had some sleep. It's been a hell of a day."

While Grover spoke to the animals for the last time, Percy and I tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible on the lumpy turnip sacks. I opened the bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one in an attempt to satisfy my hunger. We were silent as Grover bedded down and my mind wandered back to the Water Park. And the spiders. Gods; that had been embarrassing, I couldn't believe Percy had been there to witness my panic attack.

"Hey," I said to him, "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park, Percy."

"That's okay." He said softly.

"It's just…" I shuddered. "Spiders."

"Because of the Arachne story." He said, looking at me. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?"

I nodded, surprised that he'd remembered the story, he never seemed to pay attention. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you."

He smiled, "We're a team, remember? Besides, Grover did the fancy flying."

Mumbling from his almost-asleep state Grover said, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?"

Percy and I laughed. I dug into the bag for another Oreo and split it in half, handing one half to Percy. "In the Iris message … did Luke really say nothing?"

Percy was silent for a moment, obviously Luke had said something and it was bothering him. Finally he spoke; "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree."

I blinked. That was kind of harsh of Luke to tell Percy something that Grover wasn't comfortable with him knowing. Yet. Grover brayed mournfully.

"I should've told you the truth from the beginning. I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along."

Percy's voice didn't let on any of his thoughts. "You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus."

Grover nodded sadly and I reflected on Thalia's last stand.

"And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended," Percy continued, "the ones who got safely to camp… That was you and Luke, wasn't it?"

Suddenly I wasn't very hungry anymore. I didn't like remembering Thalia, cause that meant remembering the things we all lost. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were … amazing monster-fighters, even without training. We travelled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us."

"I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp." Grover sniffed. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought … I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker …"

My heart went out to Grover. "Stop it." I told him. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."

"She sacrificed herself to save us," I hadn't realised how much it still bothered him. "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."

"Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" Percy said, incredulous. "That's not fair."

"Percy's right, I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says." He kept sniffing.

"It's just my luck," he said mournfully, "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," I insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now." I kicked Seaweed Brain in the leg. He glared at me as he spoke.

"Yeah. It's not luck that you 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." Grover sighed contentedly and fell asleep as quickly as that. Maybe Percy hadn't needed that kick after all.

"How does he do that?" Percy said, staring at Grover in disbelief.

"I don't know," I said smiling. "But that was a really nice thing you told him."

"I meant it."

I believed him. We rode in silence for a few miles, being tossed around more than the feed sacks. I fingered my necklace and thought about what we had to do when we reached L.A. Percy startled me when he spoke.

"That pine-tree bead, is that from your first year?"

I looked down at my necklace, realising I was spinning the bead in place. "Yeah," I said. "Every August, the counsellors pick the most important event of 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 weird summer…" And not something I ever wanted to experience again.

"And the college ring is your father's?"

"That's none of your –" I stopped myself. For the first time, I wanted to talk to somebody about it all. "Yeah." I said. "Yeah, it is."

"You don't have to tell me." Percy said.

"No … it's okay." I took a shaky breath, glad to be finally talking about it. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her . . . That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him."

Percy was silent for a moment. "That doesn't sound so bad." He finally said. I smiled sadly at him, remembering how much my stepmom's hatred of me hurt.

"Yeah, well…" I continued, "the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through the winter break. I called Chiron and cam right back to Camp Half-Blood."

Percy looked at me with those soulful eyes that said he was listening and understanding. "You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?"

It was what I wanted more than anything else. To be loved and cared for by my family. I said something different out loud though. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain." But Percy had got me thinking and wishing.

"You shouldn't give up," he told me. "You should write him a letter or something."

Yeah, I should. I thought, wanting one of his cuddles more than anything, but knowing I couldn't have it was like having ice cold water poured down my back. "Thanks for the advice," I told him coldly. "But my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with."

Percy didn't say anything else. He kept looking at me intently for a minute and then closed his eyes for the next few miles. Finally he spoke again, his tone carefully neutral.

"So if the gods fight, will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"

If I was reading him right, Percy wanted to know if I'd fight with him. I smiled to myself and leaned back on the backpack Ares had given us, closing my eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you." And I would.

"Why?" He asked. I smiled again, was he really that oblivious?

"Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Anymore stupid questions?" He didn't say anything else and I drifted off into sleep.

Grover and I were awake before Percy again, and with the ride having smoothed out a lot, we were able to get most of the chewing gum out of the Zebra's mane without too much trouble.

We were concentrating on not hurting the Zebra so much so that we almost missed the truck beginning to slow. Our eyes met and we turned to Percy who was frowning in his sleep.

Grover was over to Percy's side in a flash shaking his shoulder, willing him to wake up as quickly as possible. I pulled my hat from pocket and waited for Grover to wake Percy.

"The truck's stopped." He told Percy. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."

"Hide." I hissed at the pair of them as I heard footsteps coming this way. I put on my magic cap and disappeared. Percy and Grover dived behind the feed sacks and did their best to look like turnips. The trailer doors creaked open, sunlight and heat poured in.

"Man!" One of the truckers said, wrinkling his nose and waving his hand about in front of his face. "I wish I hauled appliances." I wanted to punch him.

The trucker climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" He said, taunting the lion, before splashing the rest of the bucket in the lion's face. The lion roared in indignation. Grover moved and my eyes shot wide open, and I moved quietly over to the side of the trailer. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." The man said as I moved and proceeded to shove a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag at the antelope. Smirking at the Zebra he said; "How ya doin, Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

The Zebra's wide, fear-filled eyes seemed to focus directly on Percy, who was looking stunned. I knocked on the side of the trailer, hoping to get the trucker out of there so we could free these poor animals. If Percy agreed of course.

Knock, knock, knock.

"What do you want, Eddie?" The trucker yelled.

The other one yelled back. "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

Knock, knock, knock.

"What banging?" Came the reply. Maurice rolled his eyes, and cursing Eddie's idiocy, went back outside. I crouched next to Percy and pulled my hat off.

"This transport business can't be legal." I told him.

"No kidding." Grover said, fuming. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers! We've got to free them!"

Grover and I both looked at Percy to make the final decision. He hesitated for a second before he grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off of the Zebra's cage. The Zebra burst out but before it jumped out of the trailer it turned to Percy and bowed. Of course, I thought, children of the Sea God could talk to horses.

Grover held up his hands to the Zebra and blessed the animal. Just as Maurice poked his head around the door to see what was going on the Zebra jumped over his head amid yelling, screaming and car horn blasts. Rushing to the doors of the trailer we watched the Zebra gallop down the boulevard between hotels, casinos and neon signs. We'd just released a Zebra into Las Vegas. We'd better move. I waited a moment before I said anything, enjoying watching the overweight Maurice and Eddie – along with a few cops; "Hey! You need a permit for that!" – chasing after the Zebra.

"Now would be a good time to leave." I said to the boys.

"The other animals first." Grover insisted. Percy slashed at the locks with his sword and Grover repeated his blessing.

"Good luck." Percy told the animals as they burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. Predator and Prey together. Outside some people screamed some more but most laughed and took photos, it was Las Vegas after all.

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

"Don't worry," Grover 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 on us?" Percy asked.

"It only works on wild animals."

"So it would only affect Percy," I chipped in.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, but I saw a hint of smile on both boys faces.

"Kidding," I smirked at him. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."

I'd thought the van had been hot, but outside was easily a hundred and ten degrees. Sweltering. I glanced about, checking if anyone was going to link us to the animals escaping – but they were more interested in the beasts than us anyway.

I grew more and more tired as we passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. The Pyramids and the Statue of Liberty, which would have garnered a lot more interest from me had I been more awake, even though they were replicas, were ignored in our need to get out of the heat. At some point we ended up in a dead end with the Lotus Hotel and Casino in front of us.

All I wanted to do was sit down. And I was in luck as the doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

Percy hesitated for a split second and I almost burst into tears. "We would love to." He said before I became a weepy mess. My relief was immense, Percy and Grover walked into the lobby just infront of me. Grover's; "Whoa." Was all the warning I had before they stopped dead in front of me. I peered between them and saw it.

The entire room was just one giant play room – waterslides, climbing walls, bungee-jumping along with hundreds of video games. Waitresses and snack bars were serving any kind of food it looked like as I watched one guy devour a triple chocolate fudge cake while another was eating what looked like a Big Mac. Every single last person was already playing a game or on the waterslides. There were no queues and apart from the music and sound of water, the place was quiet.

"Hey!" A bellhop said. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

I blinked owlishly at him as Percy and Grover pulled similar faces. "Um, but.." Percy stuttered.

"No, no," the bellhop told us, 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 extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your Lotus Cash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."

Each of us was handed a green, plastic credit card. What in Hades names was going on here? We weren't some millionaire's kids, we were three tired, young demi-gods who had… had… something very important to do. Yes, something important to do. Too bad I couldn't remember what it was.

"How much is on here?" Percy asked the bellhop.

"What do you mean?" The bellhop said in confusion.

"I mean," Percy tried again. "When does it run out of cash?"

Laughing the bellhop told us. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay." And with that he herded us towards the elevator and pressed the 4th floor button for us. We did what any teenagers in search of food would do. We checked out the room.

Which turned out to be a suite – three separate bedrooms, a mini bar full the brim of goodies, fluffy white towels which were so soft to the touch and the biggest beds I'd ever seen. In the main room there was a huge TV screen with satellite and internet. The main room led to the balcony were there was a hot tub along with the shooting equipment the bellhop had mentioned. The view was absolutely priceless, you could see the entire strip and the desert surrounding the city.

"Oh, goodness, this place is…"

"Sweet." Grover said. "Absolutely sweet."

"Yeah." I murmured and then disappeared to my room to have a much needed shower and then changed into fresh clothes. Heaven.

I went back into the living room where the Grover was lounging and eating potato chips one bag after another. I turned on the National Geographic Channel as he munched.

"All those stations and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?" Percy's disbelief came through loud and clear.

"It's interesting." I told him and turned it up.

"I feel good." Grover said, stretching and finally put down his last bag of chips. "I love this place." I watched in amazement as the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground and then back down again. Grover didn't even look fazed.

I shook my head. "So what now?" I asked the boys. "Sleep?"

Grover and Percy exchanged glances and then grinned at me. The wore the same expression as they both held up the plastic Lotus Cash cards the bellhop had given them.

"Play time." Percy said.

Now that we actually got the time to sleep, they wanted to play. Perfect boy logic. I followed them downstairs anyway; secretly I wanted to play for a bit too.

We split off from each other when we hit the lobby, I didn't watch where the others went but I saw Percy bungee-jumping at one point and Grover seemed to like the game where the deer shot the hunters. I liked Sim City the best, creating my own city was amazing and just what I wanted to do when I was older. No more blowing up national monuments for me!

I don't know how long I stayed building my city, but eventually there was a tugging on my shoulder.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here." A voice said to my left. I ignored it, I was building some towers, trying to figure out where exactly they needed to go.

"Annabeth?" The voice asked and shook my shoulder. It was annoying.

"What?" I said, looking up. Black hair, green eyes. I blinked. Percy.

"We need to leave." He said.

"Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers-" I focused on the screen again. Just there I decided, the towers had to go there.

"This place is a trap." The voice said again. I shook off the dawning comprehension and continued to focus on the game.

He shook me again. "What?" I said, not listening, not even looking up.

"Listen." I switched my attention back to the game, barely listening. "The Underworld. Our quest!"

"Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes." Why was he being so persistent about this?

"Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever."

Like that mattered. "So?" I said. "Can you imagine a better place?"

My arm was almost yanked out of its socket as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the game, roughly. I screamed at him and hit him with my free hand, but he made me look at him.

"Spiders. Large hairy spiders."

Panic jolted through me before I realised Percy was looking at me intently. I finally focused on the game room properly. Nobody was talking, everyone was so focused on what they were doing. It was wrong, and then Percy's words registered. A trap. Never age. You check in, and you stay forever.

"Oh my gods." I said. "How long have we-"

Percy interrupted me. "I don't know, but we've got to find Grover." Now that he had my attention he had started looking for his best friend. Concern all over his face.

We hunted through the game room and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter.

"Grover!" We both shouted.

In the most unlike Grover speech ever, I heard him say; "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!"

"Grover!" Percy shouted again. Grover just turned the plastic gun on Percy and starting clicking. I blinked, Grover didn't even recognise Percy and he'd spent the entire year with him. We were lucky that Percy had woken up.

Percy looked at me and then grabbed one of Grover's arms. "Grab his other arm." He told me as Grover began to flail. His flying shoes sprouted wings and started tugging on him, pulling in the other direction.

"NO!" Grover shouted. "I just got to a new level. No!"

The bellhop who had given us our cards earlier ran up to us. I glared at him. "Well, now, are you ready for you platinum cards?"

"We're leaving." "Percy told him.

"Such a shame." The bellhop said. Not really I thought. He'd told us the bill was taken care of earlier, was one of the gods responsible? Who wouldn't want us to find the lightning bolt? Hades, of course. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members."

He held out the cards, Percy was staring at it like it was his life-line, and maybe it was. He'd already lost his mom, he'd never know his dad and his uncles were trying to kill him. He'd be lucky to survive till next week. But I wouldn't let him take one; he'd never forgive himself for taking one. Grover reached out, but I yanked his arm back and told the bellhop; "No, thanks."

Percy shook his head as if to clear it and then helped me march Grover towards the door. The smell of food, the sounds of the games and the thought of that room – which we hadn't slept in – got more and more inviting as we got closer to the door. I gritted my teeth and focused on dragging Grover.

We burst out of the doors and Grover came back to life, bleating and running with us down the sidewalk. My first thought was that we'd only been there for a couple of hours; it was still afternoon, but the weather was stormy and you could see lightning flashing out in the desert. I wanted a newspaper.

Percy found one first, running over to the nearest stand he started to read. I watched his face. It morphed into relief and then shock. Oh dear, I thought, how much time had we lost.

"How long, Percy?" I asked.

"Five days." He croaked. "We have one day left."

Grover bleated with horror while Percy and I just stared at each other. We needed a plan.