"Maurice?" The trucker's friend called and Jakob could heard his footsteps coming around, and just waited. "What's going-"
The trucker stopped when he saw Jakob waiting for him. "Hi." The Aesir said with a smirk before he pounced and clobbered the trucker, knocking him out as well.
Annabeth took her cap off, looking at the two knocked out truckers. "Nice one, Jakob. This transport business can't be legal."
"You do know Midgard has these kind of things, right?" Jakob asked her with a raised eyebrow. "Poachers, smugglers, people that run an animal-fighting ring like dog fights."
"Yeah. the lion says these guys are animal smugglers." Grover said after a pause of listening to the lion. "We've got to free them!"
"Say no more." Jakob grunted and pulled the door off the lion's cage, tossing it out the trailer while Andromeda used Riptide to open the zebra's cage. Then came the antelope.
All three animals burst out the trailer and went off down the streets.
Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some sort of stunt by one of the casinos.
"Will the animals be okay?" Andromeda asked Grover. "I mean, Vegas is a desert."
"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?" Andromeda asked, thinking that could be useful.
"It only works on wild animals."
"So it would only affect Andie and Jakob," Annabeth reasoned.
"hey!" Both demigods cried out, offended.
"Haha!" Mimir laughed, amused. "Well, Jakob, you can be quite an animal when eating-"
"Shut up or I'll toss you into one of these cages and leave you with the smell." Jakob threatened, though he was joking.
"Just having a bit of fun, you big grump." Mimir retorted.
They stumbled into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and the questers must've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everyone was too interested in the animals to pay them such attention.
"Ah, Las Vegas... I hear this is most famous for Elvis Presley's performance." Mimir said before he began singing. "Viva Las Vegas-"
"Quiet!" Jakob hissed, seeing they were approaching people and the last thing they needed was to answer why there was a talking head, or why Jakob was carrying a severed head in the first place.
"Doesn't like music either. Got it." Mimir muttered with annoyance.
"No, we're approaching people." Jakob retorted.
Jakob helped the group avoid three squads of policemen who were coming. Thankfully, he had a plan. He went up to the policemen and informed them about the truckers.
"What did you do?" Annabeth asked when Jakob walked back over.
"Told the cops about the two truckers and their 'business.' The police can deal with them." Jakob informed.
They passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. The pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica, but still made Andromeda homesick.
The group didn't really know what to look for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat and cool down with a nice glass of lemonade and a good sandwich, anything really.
They must have taken a wrong turn or something, because they were at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.
The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers – lotus blossom, maybe.
The doorman smiled at them. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"
Jakob narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Anybody might be a monster or god in disguise. You just couldn't tell. But this guy was normal. One look at him, and they could see. But for some reason, Jakob was feeling a sense of security from the man. This immediately put him on edge. Inside, the group took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa."
The whole lobby was a giant game room. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one of the buildings, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There was some virtual reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place. There were a few kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine.
"Hey!" A bellhop said. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."
Andromeda stammered, "Um, but…"
"Wait," Jakob interjected. "This is a mistake…"
The bellhop blinked, as if the idea of a mistake didn't register with him. "Mistake? Oh no, we have your room key and your room ready for you. The bill's been taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go up on 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 LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."
He handed them each a green plastic credit card.
Andromeda knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought they were some millionaire's kids. She took the card and said, "How much is on here?"
His eyebrows knitted 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."
"Well... free hotel and it's comforts." Mimir pointed out as the group watched the bellhop walk away.
"Be on your guard, nothing in the mortal world is just 'free'." Jakob advised the group and they nodded.
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