I woke up the following morning and left my bedroom to search for Annabeth who was sitting at the kitchen table having something to drink. I wanted to tell her to stop drinking, but I also wanted one myself.

"Annabeth something seems off about this place" I said, hoping she would have some input

"Like what" she asked

"Where do you want me to begin the free hotel room, and cards with unlimited money or the fact that there was games obviously target towards children in a casino, which by the way is 21+ to participate in" I countered.

"That is weird but they are probably trying to be family friendly" Annabeth said

"And the free hotel room" I stated seeing if she could explain that one, but knew dam well she couldn't.

"Could be one of the gods" she said

"But which one will pay for the framed son of Poseidon, a daughter of Athena, and the only adopted kid of Artemis" I countered, because there is no god who has something against all three.

"Hades?" she questioned

"Why would he though, he gets his brothers to fight yes but what is the benefit to him, because once they find out, both will turn on him" I countered, "Better question, who is the only one that will benefit from a war between the three"

She seemed to think for a while before an answer came to her, "Ares? but why would he help us then"

"Think of what he would be trying to do. He delays us by keeping us in a hotel, knowing we wouldn't allow the inhumane transportation of the animals to continue. So now we are on a greater time crunch, and are in a hurry. We, meaning Peter, won't make the wisest decisions and we won't be able to talk Hades out of killing him and taking us as prisoners. So Poseidon's son is dead by Hades hands causing Poseidon to declare war on Hades. Hades possesses the bolt so he's at war with big man Mr. Z. And since, Peter takes the bolt to the underworld he declares war on Poseidon, and boom you have a three way war"

"Then why don't we head back and return the bolt" she questioned

"Easily, we don't technically have the bolt yet, it's been cursed to work similar to Peter's pen. Only instead of proximity or a time limit, it is likely location, more specifically the underworld, but that still leaves the problem of Hades's helm" I explained

"one you are smarter than you let on, and two what about Hades's helm"

"his helm is seemingly also missing, notice how the furries asked where is it, and didn't ask for the bolt. One could assume that it is the bolt they are searching for, but if you look at it more closely why would Hades want the bolt. Yes it would give him more power and a better chance to over through his brothers, but the dead outnumber the living and he's always been a family guy, so he wouldn't. Plus he's just dark, not evil"

"how do you know this" she questioned

"well, I kind of sorta of accidentally shot him when I was 4, coincidentally also the day after I killed the hell hound he sent to kill me"

"and he didn't kill you for that" she asked shocked

"Nah he was more surprised I was still alive considering the company I had and my age" I said "and Mom also convinced him not too. Since, then he's visited a few times to talk to me about my mother, and tell me that she's proud of me"

"Ok" she said, "we should probably find Peter and get out of here, though I would like a line by line explanation of what you think the prophecy means"

"Ok but we should look for Peter so we can leave" I said, gesturing to search the room before continuing. "Alright, so Son of Wilderness knows the trail , is me and I know the location of the entrance of the Underworld so I know where to go. With wisdom and Sea on his tail likely meaning a child of Poseidon and a child of Athena are to follow my guidance to the underworld. You'll go west, and see the god who has turned, since the prophecy was spoken to Peter, it likely means we are to travel west and while he sees the god who turns and he won't be the one to face him" I started with the explanation before heading to ride down the elevator since Peter wasn't in the room.

"Ok, but what about the last three, as I am sure we all agree on the first three" she asked stepping on the elevator.

"They are more complicated, especially the last two" I started, "the first, While Wilderness finds what is stolen and you see it safely returned, likely means I will have to fight for what is stolen, since I kind of already found it from a certain point of view" I stated motioning towards the backpack Ares gave us, "the second part means Peter is going to return it, and probably since he is the one that stands accused of stealing it. You shall be betrayed by one who calls you friend, likely means that the friend is the one who actually stole it but for a different purpose and was thwarted, so he came up with the plan currently in effect" I said being interrupted by the elevator and Annabeth

"Which plan would that be and what would the original plan be" she asked coming off the elevator into the main lobby.

"The plan of the three way war is improvised, and the original, well I'm not certain yet, but it is likely worse, and we shouldn't speak about it, yet" I responded, "the last line, And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end, could mean too many things to count from personal to a collective group being what is the failed save" I finished

"Could it mean camp" she asked, "it's the only safe place for demigods, so it should be of high importance to him since he is a demigod"

"it is one possibility, another could be his mother's life, or something completely different that matters to him" I said as we started searching the casino

"We should split up to cover more ground" she said eyeing up an architectural game

"oh no you don't this place is designed to mess with the head to keep you here, and we have a deadline to make" I stated, dragging her away from the game

"but architecture" she complained

"There will be no architecture if we fail this quest, as there will be no world left to support it" I countered, and she pouted, but didn't say anything knowing I was right.

I don't know how long we were searching but we found him at a poker table and he was running low on chips, "Come on we have to go" I said to him, but he just didn't seem to like it.

I wanted to grab him by his collar and drag him out but I was scared I would get infected with some terrible disease if I did so. So, I looked in my bag for some rope and tied one end around his leg before grabbing Annabeth's hand and dragging both out of the hotel.

"You can't do that" one of the hotel workers said chasing after us and Annabeth was fully back now form the effects of this place's magic.

"Percy we should run" She said

"Oh you don't say, would you like to drag me and Peter now as I have dragged you" I replied in sarcasm

"don't you dare sass me" She said and started dragging me and Peter before I started a running to keep pace with her.

We continued running out of there and we had to duck under the grasp of a few Lotus hotel security guards before we made it through the exit. I quickly cut the rope and got Peter up on his feet while Annabeth hailed a taxi cab.

"Hey I was doing well in there even making some money" Peter complained.

I simply pointed to a sign on the Vegas Strip displaying the date, "Well you idiot while Annabeth and I were busy looking for you in there 4 days passed and we only have 24 hours to return the bolt to Zeus accounting for time difference" I yelled back at him.

He started stammering about how was that even possible before Annabeth came and dragged him into a taxi. I followed and allowed Annabeth to take the front, as I felt bad for the whole water park thing still.

"Where to kids" The driver asked

"Santa Monica Beach" Annabeth said quickly as the security guards were now coming out of the building.

"That far you will have to prepay" he said and Annabeth gave him the hotel card

The driver swiped the card, after a glare from Annabeth, and his eyes lit up as the indicator for the amount paid maxed out, "You can give yourself a nice tip if you get us there in under 4 hours" I said quickly and the driver floored it.

We were about an hour into our trip when Peter decided to come back to us, from his incessant mumbling, "how did we stay in their for four days and not know it" he asked

"the lair of the lotus eaters, time doesn't flow the same way around the hotel as it does elsewhere" Annabeth explained to him from the front

"So we only have a day left" he asked

"correction 23 hours, and we are going to have to gamble flying for the way back, as the drive is too long" I said, and Peter paled.

Now either the driver was ignoring us or the mist was working its magic as the driver didn't seem to care about the conversation.

Thankfully the driver did get us there in under 4 hours and was pushing 3 and a half hours, "how much is the tip" he asked

I looked at Annabeth who shrugged, "why not 100,000" I said, since it was the lotus eaters money, I figured no harm no foul.

"tell her highness thank you" he said, and I caught Annabeth smiling at being called that.

"I'll be sure too" I said and he speed off going back to being a taxi driver I hope.

"well" Annabeth asked

"Oh the driver told me to give you his thanks my almighty highness" I said jokingly since I knew she heard.

Peter seemed to get annoyed and asked where his father would be, "check the water you idiot it's his domain after all, you might have to go out a bit far though to meet him" I said, and he huffed in annoyance before walking out into the water.

He was about knee deep in the water before he was swept off his feet and submerged under water. "don't worry he'll be fine" I said, "though I would prefer we ditch him and head to the underworld now"

"Percy, you know the prophecy he has to be the one to return the bolt" Annabeth scolded and slapped me up the head.