Chapter Fifteen:
Traveling the River Styx Alive.
— We lay here for years or for hours, thrown here or found, to freeze or to thaw. So long, we'd become the flowers. Two corpses we were, two corpses I saw !
Even the Underworld's Californian entrance seemed entirely unwelcoming.
To go from having their limbs stretched out of their wits, to finding the very entrance of the Underworld, was baffling. Annabeth Chase could say that she had been in a very bad mood since their visit to the Stretcher's Water Bed Palace. Not only had she had her limbs stretched in an inhumane way, but she had to watch her best friend look lovesick over a boy that had nearly killed them! Could you believe it? How could Colette, one of the most beautiful girls to ever exist, look at Percy, a complete idiot who drooled in his sleep, with such adoring eyes? She didn't get it. She tried to find a way to understand it, working her mind so consistently to find a reason as to why such a horrid thing could be happening right before her eyes.
The quartet stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at the gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS. Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.
It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece. Percy turned to them, Annabeth had to fight her instinctive glare when his gaze ended up landing on Colette. "Okay. Y'all remember the plan?"
"The plan," Grover gulped down his nerves. "Yeah. I love the plan."
"What happens if the plan doesn't work?" Her tone was biting and she could tell the others were confused by it. She'd been trying to be nicer to Percy. They had to have been wondering.
"Don't think negative, Annie," Colette frowned and it was like all her anger washed away. Annabeth's eyes softened and dropped at the sight of her best friend's frown.
"Right," she said, a small and sarcastic smile on her lips. "We're entering the land of the dead, and I shouldn't think negative."
Percy took out the pearls from his pocket, the three milky spheres a Nereid had given him in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like backup at all, but they were the escape route.
"Don't listen to her, Percy," Colette put a hand on his shoulder, making Annabeth grit her teeth. "You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine."
The blonde nudged Grover, widening her eyes at him. "Oh, right!" He chimed in, faking his cheer. "We got this far. We'll find the Master Bolt and save your mom. No problem." His face was still pinched nervously.
Annabeth saw how gratefully he looked at Colette, feeling a pang in her chest at the sight of his gaze. She thought she was feeling jealous toward her best friend's sudden closeness. If only she'd know how wrong she was. She wouldn't have been working her mind so hard if she did.
Percy slipped the pearls back into his pocket. "Let's whup some Underworld ass."
They walked into the DOA lobby. Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out of windows, or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, talked, or did much of anything. Through peripheral vision, you could see them all just fine, but if you focused on any one of them in particular; They started to blur, looking transparent — you could see right through their bodies.
