𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍° ! percy jackson

𝐢.𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢 - 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 (𝐚)

The bus ride to Las Vegas was bumpy and uncomfortable and smelled like someone took a massive shit, but Aurora finally fell asleep at what she would assume was 3 am. As she was fading into a luxurious dream of water lilies and s'mores, she prayed that she would fall asleep on the shoulder of Annabeth and not Percy as a hushed conversation between her extremely drowsy and basically unconscious two friends and Percy Jackson lulled her to a deep slumber. She could hear her name be mentioned by Percy to Annabeth before she slipped into nothingness.

After what seemed like thirty minutes—but really, it most likely four hours—Aurora woke to Percy hitting her shoulder. Her hazel eyes snapped open with murder on her mind, and the boy shrunk back as he realized his mistake.

His face was puffy and his dark locks were more tousled than usual, indicating his rest.

The only thing Aurora heard was a hiss from her best friend, something that sounded like "Hide!"

As if he knew that she was dazed and half awake, Percy grabbed Aurora's elbow and dove behind sacks of feed, hoping to disguise as turnips. Aurora smelled nothing but manure, and her eyes were still adjusting to the sunlight pouring in as the trailer doors opened. 

She blinked. "Wha—?"

"Man!" one of the truckers said, his voice disgusted as it cut off Aurora's yawned question. She couldn't really see anything but brown twine. "I wish I hauled appliances."

"Then fucking do it," Aurora murmured sleepily before Grover hushed her. 

"You hot, big boy?" The man asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.

The lion roared in indignation and anger filled Aurora's body. She was going to kill this man.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said, disregarding the animal.

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "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!"

Aurora lurched forward, her ring pulsating on her finger, begging to be used, but Percy held her back as Grover trembled with fury. 

She heard commotion from outside the truck, and a man in the front yelling at a man in the back. She suspected her best friend was up to it, and a second later, she was proven right. "This transport business can't be legal." Annabeth appeared out of thin air with a horrified expression, the one the girl only used when she witnessed something that was awfully wrong. 

"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers! We've got to free them!"

Outside, the two truckers were still yelling at each other. Aurora groggily turned to Percy and murmured some gibberish. She was confused, especially when Percy grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage. She felt a sense of relief when the zebra burst out. It turned to Percy and bowed.

Aurora let out a snort, mumbling, "Okay, Animal King."

Grover held up his hands and murmured a quick blessing over the animals.

Just as one trucker was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking.

The truckers ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"

"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth suggested helpfully.