Hotel Lotus

They gave the shield to Ares, who turned it into a bulletproof vest and threw a blue backpack at them. The three of them got on a transport truck. At night, the boy dreamed again, but this time I intervened with magic and saw everything, as if a being were playing with his mind.

I saw smiling Skeletons in Greek armor looming over him. They were wrapping him in a silken robe and decorating him with laurels that smelled like Chimera poison. An evil voice began to laugh. "Hail, conquering hero!" roared the voice.

"Leave the dreams of the Child," I roared, tearing this apart and hitting the statue of the mother that was the focus of the dream. Clearly, something wants to harm him quite a bit. Later, chaos ensued because the animals had been released. It was obvious just by looking at them that it was animal trafficking. "Disgusting mortals," Hati said scornfully.

"I agree with that, Hati. Guide them to a safe point, or to the Hotel," I said, and she nodded, leading them until they reached the animals. They three advanced to Las Vegas and arrived at the Loto Casino Hotel. Something was wrong in that place. My head screamed danger at all costs, avoid.

"That place, there is something wrong with it," Sköll said, to which I nodded. "Yes, that place seems to attract mortals and demigods. Everything is a trap like those casinos, but worse. There is no one leaving it. If they don't leave in a couple of hours, I will enter," I said, and we waited for almost 2 hours.

"Yes, everything is definitely wrong," Sköll said, looking at the hotel's façade and sniffing the air. "Damn," I said, pulling out the communication rune from the hotel. "Mimir, what do you know about a hotel called Lotus Casino?" I said to the rune.

"A little manners first, like 'Hello Mimir, how've you been,' so long," Mimir said from the other side. "Cut the small talk. What do you know?" I said seriously, not in the mood for playing around.

"Well, Lotus Casino, owned by the Greek Lotus Eaters mentioned in the Odyssey. It's a hotel house for fools. You enter and you don't get old or leave the casino. Although it has 5-star service and the best buffet in Las Vegas," Mimir said.

"Oh great. Between wanting to cajole Jackson, or possessing a dark and powerful entity, plus something is controlling the Threads of this search... shit. I'm going to need Samirah and some Einherjar to assault the place," I said, to which Mimir remained silent.

"If you enter, they will spend days in the hotel, even if they seem like minutes. And I can't send you reinforcements. I can only send you Grani," Mimir said.

"You've got to be kidding me. You don't know how much I understand about all this nonsense about 'die this way, and we'll get rid of you,'" I said, turning off the rune.

"Well, look on the bright side. You won't have to ride us anymore," Sköll said. "Ah, yes, now the bad part. I have to enter a hotel full of crazy immortals," I said, approaching.

"Mm, sir, and if you use that, the wolf form would break the casino's spell," Rune said. I looked at him. "You know I hate using it. I'm not good at shapeshifting. That's more Samirah's expertise. If I fully transform into a wolf, I lose my mind," I said.

"You've only used it twice. Once it turned you into a raven and the other time into a humanoid wolf. Because of our link, you were quite out of your mind in that form. Just don't fully transform, and you won't lose your mind for a few minutes," Sköll said.

"Well, I'll use it if I need to. Stay outside and watch," I said as I entered. The spell hit me fully, dulling my senses. Audhild, who had followed the three, arrived. "Erik, why did you come in?" She said, confused.

"Audhild, how long have you been inside?" I said, looking at her. "A few seconds. The children are at the reception," she said. I looked at her. "Audhild, it's been 3 hours. This is a dangerous place. Don't get separated," I said, as a woman arrived.

"Welcome to the Lotus Hotel. Your room is ready for you. Just relax and enjoy," she said, showing a tray with a Lotus-shaped cookie, a green credit card, and a key. I looked at the woman, took both the card and the key. The key indicated room 4003. She waited for me to bite the cookie, which I reluctantly did. My head clouded over, and my senses dulled. I bit my tongue to cause pain, to avoid losing myself. When I went upstairs, I grabbed a bottle and drank from it. It was a concoction made from ashwagandha herbs, smelling like a horse and tasting just as bad.

I continued upwards while I saw the three entering their room. From the adjacent room emerged a girl with loose black hair, black eyes, and olive skin. She smelled familiar, similar to Lady Hela but different.

"Daughter of Hades. Great, this is getting worse by the minute," I said, and she heard me. "Wait, do you know who our father is?" She said, approaching.

"Yes and no. Now is not the time to talk," I said, taking her along, causing her to blush, and opening her door again. "Sister, you're back," said a voice of a child, perhaps 10 years old, pulling his sister's arm.

"Sister, who is he?" He said, emitting a bit of dark aura. "Ah, this is a pain. Another one. Seriously, none of the three are going to honor a pact," I said, sighing.

"Calm down. I'm not an enemy, Children of Hades," I said, and Bianca nodded to Nico. "What year is it for you?" I said, looking at them.

"1945. Hitler was recently defeated," Bianca said, and I looked at her and sighed. "No, it's 2010. Look, your father is something called a God—Hades, King of the Greek Underworld. You are what's known as Demigods. Children of a mortal and a God," I said, showing the boy my armor.

Nico was impressed. "Great," he said, and Bianca touched the armor. "It's real," she said. "Then if we are Children of the God Hades, whose are you? Ares?" Nico said, looking excited.

"No, not even close. I'm from the Norse Pantheon, Son of Odin, Erik Sorrow," I said, the armor folding as my eye revealed itself, a few images popping up in my head, the girl dying gruesomely inside a bronze colossus. I looked at her with pity, making her blush.

I could negotiate something with Hades. If he's anything like Hela, maybe he's concerned, I thought. "Wait, Nordic, there are other Gods," Nico said, his excitement evident.

"Quite a few. Only the Greeks just ignore you. I'm on a mission to watch over one of your cousins, the son of Poseidon. You're in a hotel where you don't age. I don't know why Hades left you here, but for now, you can't leave," I said, with Bianca looking at me sadly and the boy disappointed.

"Don't make that face either. They'll be out soon. I'll give them a gift, but they'll have to learn how to use them," I said, taking out a couple of items.

"These are Bone Steel blades. They can kill monsters and hurt Gods if the wielder is skilled enough. They can momentarily kill them. Here's a book on how to use weapons," I said, showing a book titled "Guide for Trolls on the Use of Weapons, Volume One: Knives and Daggers." Bianca found the title funny, as did Nico, and I gave them two daggers that transformed into a hair clip and an earring. Then I presented them with two pairs of runes.

"What are these?" Nico said, examining the stones. "Runes. Nordic Magic. This one is Ansuz. It allows you to communicate with another rune user. Just think of them and talk. This one is Dagaz. It grants you access to my Bar. You'll find refuge there when needed. The Bar is located in New York. Place a drop of your blood on the rune, and it will tell you where you are. Some things never reveal where any God is. That Bar is a sanctuary for us, not for them. Excuse me now, I have to go. Until we meet again, Bianca and Nico," I said, and they nodded as I left.

I spotted Percy dragging Annabeth somewhere, so I followed them and saw how they were trying to wake up Grover. One of the waitresses brought three platinum cards and attempted to convince all three of them. Grover was overjoyed, so I intervened with the mist, instilling terror in everyone with my cursed whistle. Grover woke up in a panic, and they all left. I approached and took the cards. I wasn't an idiot. These were the prizes for the three. Although I also took a fourth. Jackson had won them by escaping.

"Show time," I said, running to the exit while my body enlarged, taking on the shape of a wolf. The Lotus Eaters rushed to attack me with various weapons, but I bit and ripped throats throughout the casino. I quickly reached the door and left, canceling the transformation as I would lose my mind. Sköll was chewing on a rather large bone, while Hati was sleeping nearby.

"I'm out of that damn place. How long was I in there?" I said, to which Rune looked at me. "Four days, sir," Rune said, and I stretched. "Well, they have little time to leave, and they won't make it to Los Angeles without help," I said, taking a stone and engraving an Ehwaz rune. When I pressed it, I heard a thunderous sound and a neigh. It was a gray horse with golden runes on its chest and head.

"Grane," I said, and he looked at me. "Son of Odin, my lord," he said, and I sighed. "Because you left Sigurd," I said, looking at him. It was known that he never separated from him.

"You don't need me anymore. I haven't left the hotel for centuries," he said, and I sighed again. "Well, in a short time, some Greeks will come out. One of them is the Son of Poseidon. Help them reach Los Angeles. Don't reveal who's helping them or what pantheon, even if they ask," I said.

"Sir, my lord," he said, and I left in the direction of Los Angeles. A day later, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover exited the Lotus Hotel and Casino. It was late. They ran until Percy stopped at a newsstand and saw a newspaper.

"Guys, we've been in there for 5 days. There's only one day left until the summer solstice," Percy said, alarmed. "We won't make it on time," Grover said.

The weather was chaotic, with a storm in the sky and heat. A neigh sounded, and heavy footsteps alerted the three. Grane appeared, a large gray horse with blue accents all over its body. "My master sends me to help them," Grane said, neighing and pounding the pavement with its hooves.

"Who is your master?" Annabeth said, pulling out her dagger and taking aim. "That's not important. He told me to take you to Los Angeles," Grane said, walking closer. Annabeth stared at him, analyzing.

"Get up, Greeks. You don't have time," Grane said, striking the ground with its hooves. "Maybe it's a good idea. He doesn't seem bad," Grover said.