Hunter stood from his spot on the couch and took a deep breath, looking around the room. It was huge. There was so much stuff to do within this room. so much so, Hunter wasn’t even sure what to do. He didn’t even know how to use some of it and the others he had no interest in. Hunter kind of stood in the middle of the sitting area, looking around and waiting awkwardly for Philippa to reemerge from deep within their room. He sighed a little and slid a hand around to his back where he found a large scar about the size of a baseball. He was a little surprised. Usually with a big gouge like the one the bird had given him it healed up to a little small spot about the size of a freckle. This was far from that. It didn’t hurt, but it didn’t look good either. Not that Hunter cared much. He wasn’t dead, so he was all good.
“That bathroom is HUGE!” Philippa said, playing with her hair as she walked back out. “I wish we had brought our swim trunks, we could have taken a dip in the jacuzzi.” She said with a smile. Hunter blushed a little at the prospect. He thought for a second before looking at the door.
“I was going to go check on the…uh…the pegasi.” He finally said gesturing to the door. “Did you want to come with?” He asked quietly. She yawned a moment and then finally put her arms down, giving up on fixing her hair. She nodded and pulled on the hem of her shirt.
“Let me just change into something more…not filthy.” She said with a small giggle as she went back to her hair. She huffed a little and then walked over to her, grabbing a few things, and stepping into a room off to the side. Hunter nodded and agreed. His clothes had blood all over them and had holes in multiple places. It would probably be good if he changed too. He grabbed his bag and walked into one of the other bedrooms. He slipped off his shirt and cringed a little as he stretched out. He grabbed a new shirt and slipped it on, smoothing it out. He looked at his tattered shirt and just threw it away. He had lost count how many shirts he had gone through at this point. It was an appalling number either way. He tossed it into the trashcan and pulled out a pair of shorts, throwing his old pair away as well. He shouldered his bag and stepped out of the room.
“You ready?” Philippa said with a smile. Hunter nodded and they headed out of their suite. As they walked Hunter couldn't help, but think about what this night could hold for them. He had good feelings about it and this casino looked amazing. He never wanted to leave. He could see them spending the next few nights there, just being with each other and having fun and not having other people around to judge them and look at them. No archery lessons or monsters. It was just games and food and fun. "So, what kind of stuff did they have down there?" Philippa asked as they stepped onto the elevator.
"I didn't really know. It looked like a lot of games. Video games and stuff." Hunter said with a nod. He looked over for a moment before taking her hand in his. He was a little worried about how she would respond, but when she squeezed his hand and smiled at him, leaning into him a little, he felt relieved. He leaned over and kissed her temple and the elevator stopped, opening the doors with a ding. They stepped out into the dingy garage and looked around. As Hunter walked through, he noticed some of the cars. He had received a car for his birthday one year at camp after he was told that his grandfather was a collector of cars. There were all sorts of cars. Old cars. New cars. Rare cars. All of them looking relatively untouched. Like they had been sitting there for years.
"Where did they say the--" Philippa was interrupted by the sound of a whinny from a few rows over. They walked and found Dixie having bandages wrapped around her legs. Ulysses was sleeping in the stall next door. HIs wing wrapped in bandages. Hunter quickly walked over to his sleeping pegasus and knelt down, petting its nose.
"Hey, buddy." Hunter whispered, running his fingers along the horse's muzzle. Ulysses shifted a little in his sleep, swinging his head into Hunter's chest. Hunter smiled a little and stood after leaving a small pile of sugar cubes next to his nose for when he woke up. Hunter looked over at Philippa who was cradling Dixie's neck in her arms. Hunter walked over to one of the people helping wrap the bandages. "Do you know how long it'll be until they're good to go?" He asked quietly. The man turned to him.
"Well, the girl could leave in an hour once the bandages set. The boy...." He shook his head a little. "He's a little more severe. The wing break is fixable, but with healing it'll be several hours. 6 or 7." Hunter sighed and looked over at Ulysses with sad eyes. He felt so bad for him. Ulysses had been with him through so much and he hated seeing him hurt. Hunter felt an arm slip around his waist and looked over to see Philippa offering him a small smile.
"How is he?" She asked, rubbing his back a little. Hunter sighed and put an arm around her.
"He's hurt. His wing is broken and he said it'll be about 6 or 7 hours until he's ready to go." Hunter said, hanging his head a little.
"Hey." Philippa said, putting her chin on his shoulder. "He'll be alright. He just needs some time to rest." She said, rubbing his back again. Hunter leaned into her and sighed.
"Thanks." He said quietly. Philippa stepped away and grabbed his hands.
"And speaking of time to rest....Why don't we go upstairs and get some food and play some games? Let's just relax for a little while. Just because we were given some quest doesn't mean, we can't take some time and relax." Hunter was hesitant for a moment before he heard something. It was chiming. Like music, but simple like a soundtrack from a game. He recognized it from when he was walking through the game room. Hunter remembered how badly he had wanted to play those games, but he had to focus on taking care of Philippa. He looked at her. She seemed fine now. What's the problem now?
"Yeah. Let's go." He said with a laugh as he took her hand and started toward the elevator, not giving either pegasi a second glance. They got on and pressed the button for the gameroom and as soon as the elevator stopped and the doors opened, they were swept into the activity and excitement. It was like their feet weren't controlling them. They were just floating around the large room from game to game, playing and laughing and feeling so happy to just be with each other.
"Oh, my gods! That was amazing!" Philippa said as they stumbled off a ride and into another buffet table. Hunter smiled and grabbed her hand and a candy bar.
"This was like...the best idea ever! Who had this idea?" Hunter said with a smile as he let her take a bite of the candy bar in his hand. He took another bite and then threw it behind him before putting his hands on her waist and pulling her closer. "I am having a lot of fun right now." He said with a grin before kissing her cheek with a small blush. She giggled and put her hands around his neck.
"I am too." She said with a smile before kissing him tightly on the lips. Hunter ran his hands across her back, holding her close as he kissed her. "Oh, Hunter...." She breathed as he kissed across her cheek and to her shoulder as he ran his hands up her back. He looked down to see his watch. The hands were moving incredibly fast.
"That can't be right." He said, pulling away and looking at it more intently. He looked up at Philippa for a moment. She just stood there swaying a little bit before shaking herself and looking up at him.
"What is it, Hunter?" She said quietly, walking over to him and looking at his watch. "Is that your Artemis watch?" She said in a slightly confused tone. Hunter thought for a second. This watch was set by Artemis' schedule as the moon. She's probably not speeding around the earth this fast.
"Philippa...Something's wrong. We need to leave." He said, looking around. He panicked and looked at his watch again. "According to this we've been in here two days. We need to get back to camp." Hunter said before taking her hand and leading her toward the elevator.
"Hunter, that can't be right! We've been here for, like, 3 hours." She said, looking him in the eye. Hunter looked down at her and his heart ached. They could stay there. They could stay there and be happy and have fun. "Hunter, come on. Let's just...stay." She said with a sad look on her face. Hunter sighed.
"We need to go." He said quietly as he pressed the button for the garage. "I'm sorry." He breathed as the elevator started moving. It opened in the dank garage and Hunter took Philippa's hand again leading her out of the elevator and to their pegasi.
"We'll take our pegasi, now, please." Hunter said, trying to not sound as panicked as he actually is. The attendants looked at them and then at their pegasi.
"Are you sure? Is your card out? We'll happily refill it." He said, stepping forward. Hunter stepped around him and let go of Philippa's hand so that she could go to Dixie. Hunter walked to Ulysses and knelt down rubbing his nose.
"Come on, buddy. Wake up." He said quietly. He looked at the untouched pile of sugar cubes on the ground and Hunter picked one up, feeding it to him. Ulysses stirred a moment before his eyes shot open. He stood and reared up on his hind legs, whinnying and neighing at the attendants. He flapped his wings and the bandages fell off easily, his wing looking more or less untouched. Hunter laughed happily and hopped onto his back, trotting out of the stall. Hunter and Philippa trotted onto the elevator and rode up to their room, quickly grabbing their stuff and then getting back on their pegasi. They rode back down to the lobby and launched out of the elevator, flying their pegasi around the large room before Hunter fired an explosive arrow at the entrance, blowing a hole big enough for them to escape out of. "We need to get back to camp!" Hunter shouted as they shot into the sky, leaving the broken mess behind them. They shot toward camp, flying east as fast as they could. Camp was probably worried sick, thinking they had been killed. They needed to get back quickly.
They flew quickly and in what felt like days, but was only a few hours the ocean was in sight. As they grew closer to camp, they knew something was wrong. There was a hum of energy and activity, but it wasn't the typical excitement. It was frantic and felt like the camp was under attack.