Are We About to Become Real Criminals?
Percy and Grover ran through the casino, scanning everything around them, trying to find Annabeth and Harry, but the place was so massive that it made things a lot harder.
"Hey, kids, want a snack?" a bellhop said, suddenly appearing in front of them, offering lotus-shaped snacks every few steps.
"No, thanks," Percy replied, his expression tense as he searched for his brother in the sea of people.
"Oh… what a shame," the bellhop said before moving on, handing the snacks to nearby kids, who ate them instantly.
"Where could they be?" Percy muttered, frustration clear on his face.
He looked around again, frowning.
This was the meeting point… and no one was there.
"Percy… look at that," Grover said, pointing toward the glass entrance doors. Outside, it was already night… even though they had arrived early, and only a few minutes had passed inside.
"Damn it…" Percy muttered as he realized something was seriously wrong. Time was moving faster in here. "We have to find them now," he said, turning to Grover with a serious look. Grover nodded immediately, clearly nervous.
They both took off running through the casino at full speed, ignoring the waiters and bellhops trying to hand them snacks. They passed through food areas, the casino floor, even glanced toward the people sliding down the massive slides… but finding Harry and Annabeth wasn't easy.
Meanwhile, the smell of food and the noise of the place kept getting stronger… more tempting… like it was trying to slip into their minds.
At one point, Grover grabbed his head slightly, his gaze locking onto a nearby game; one where a deer hunted hunters, shooting arrows at them. It looked like it had been made just for him. He stared at it, almost hypnotized.
Percy hit him on the shoulder.
Grover blinked, shaking his head, snapping out of it. "Percy… I don't think it's just the snacks. It's the smell in the air too," he said quickly.
"Yeah… that's just great," Percy muttered, clearly irritated. If they didn't find Harry and Annabeth soon, none of them were getting out of this place.
Tin, tin, tin, tin.
Suddenly, a familiar sound reached Percy's ears. He knew it instantly.
"Harry's alarm," he said, turning his head, trying to follow the sound. Somehow, even through all the noise, it was still audible.
"Follow me," Percy said, already moving as he tracked the sound of his brother's watch.
The alarm grew louder as they got closer.
Then Percy's attention shifted to the games around them.
All of them were magical games… gobstones, exploding snap, even Quidditch. An entire section dedicated to wizarding games.
The kids there were dressed normally; some in familiar robes; others in styles that looked like something out of older times, like the way witches and wizards used to be portrayed. All of them having fun.
And in the middle of all that…
Harry was sitting at a Quidditch game, trying to catch the Golden Snitch. His watch kept ringing, but he didn't even seem to hear it, completely absorbed.
Seeing him, Percy let out a small breath of relief.
They rushed over and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Harry, there you are. We need to get out of here," Grover said quickly, panic clear in his voice.
But Harry didn't respond. He stayed locked onto the game.
"Har—"
Before Grover could continue, Percy stopped him.
"It's fine. Leave him to me. I finally get my revenge," Percy said with a slight grin.
Grover looked at him, confused.
Percy stepped closer, grabbed his brother's shoulder, and forced him to look at him. Harry blinked, confused as he was pulled out of the game.
Smack.
The sound echoed clearly.
Harry blinked a couple of times…
Smack.
Another one. That one seemed to snap him out of it.
"Percy? What happened?" he said, finally focusing, bringing a hand to his now red cheek.
Percy didn't stop.
Smack.
"What are you doing, seaweed brain? I'm already awake," Harry snapped, holding his face, glaring at him.
"Just in case," Percy said, and judging by his smile, he was clearly enjoying his long-awaited revenge from the Medusa incident.
Harry looked ready to jump him, but Grover quickly stepped between them.
"Not now. We need to find Annabeth and get out of here before we end up completely hypnotized," Grover said urgently.
Harry's expression shifted, turning serious.
"What's going on?"
"We can't waste time," Percy said quickly, glancing at the game Harry had been playing and at the people around them as an idea suddenly clicked. "That's it… their interests. What were Annabeth's interests?" he asked, snapping his fingers a second later. "Architecture and building. We need to look for games like that," he said right away.
Grover and Harry stared at him for a second… then immediately followed, running after him through the casino again.
And just like Percy said, it wasn't hard to find what they were looking for. Among the construction-style games, there she was; Annabeth, completely focused, building what looked like a massive structure, clearly enjoying it.
"Annabeth, we have to go," Percy said, grabbing her by the shoulders.
She didn't even turn to look at them.
"…Alright, don't complain later," Percy muttered; and without warning, he suddenly wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms in place.
Grover and Harry exchanged a look, watching what Percy was doing in complete silence, not entirely sure what he was thinking.
"What are you doing? Let me go, I need to finish the tower!" Annabeth snapped, kicking as she struggled; but Percy, being stronger, lifted her easily; especially since she wasn't that heavy.
And without thinking twice, he started running; straight through the crowded casino.
Grover and Harry looked at each other again as Percy ran off with Annabeth kicking and yelling at him to let her go; drawing a bit of attention… then everyone went back to their games.
"You two, move!" Percy shouted at them without slowing down.
That snapped them out of it; and they immediately ran after him, effectively becoming accomplices to a kidnapping.
"Just a few more minutes!" Annabeth yelled, still trying to break free; not very successfully, kicking in every direction.
Percy ignored her and kept running.
Meanwhile, Grover and Harry were half-covering their faces with their hands, trying not to be seen by any cameras; if there even were any.
"Wait, Percy, that's not the way!" Grover shouted when he saw Percy heading in the wrong direction. Percy skidded to a stop, looked where Grover was pointing… then took off that way instead.
…
A burst of green flames lit up an abandoned house, and four kids were thrown out of the fireplace as if they had just dived headfirst through the Floo Network.
A man was sitting lazily in a corner, dressed like a guard, looking completely exhausted. When he noticed them, he lifted his gaze in mild surprise. The fireplace connected to that place was usually used to leave… but no one had ever come back through it. Not once.
They had even sent people to investigate before. None of them came back either.
The only reason the fireplace was still active was… well, probably because no one had bothered to shut it down.
"You're an idiot. Do you have any idea how long it took me to build that tower? I was almost done," Annabeth snapped, looking down at Percy beneath her after they landed; and started hitting him a few times, still annoyed.
"Hey, Annabeth, that hurts!" Percy protested, trying to shield himself from her punches; which weren't strong enough to really injure him… but definitely enough to hurt.
Harry and Grover, who had landed nearby, quickly got to their feet and looked around, realizing they had made it out of the casino.
Especially because the heavy lotus scent was gone. Instead, there was that familiar smell of old wood and damp air; just like the other places they had used while traveling through the Floo Network.
Without that hypnotic scent, even Harry seemed more awake; like things were suddenly falling into place.
"Oh… damn it," he muttered, running a hand through his hair as he glanced toward a window; noticing the dark sky outside.
Meanwhile, Grover walked over to the guard, both of them completely ignoring the beating Annabeth was still giving Percy.
Harry, out of revenge for Percy's "revenge"… and Grover, because he genuinely believed it was better not to get involved in their problems.
"Excuse me, sir… could you tell us what date it is?" Grover asked politely.
The guard blinked, still a bit confused by everything he had just seen.
"June 20th," he replied calmly.
"What?" all of them said at the same time.
Annabeth immediately stopped hitting Percy, her eyes widening as if she had just woken up.
Percy, still lying under her, opened his eyes as well.
"…We only have one day left," he said.