FLOWER POWER ─ percy jackson

xiii. we drowned in a bathtub

Aster read the name tag and frowned. Percy beat her to the question. "Your name is Chiron?'

The man leaned across the desk. Aster couldn't see anything in his glasses except her own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a python's, right before it eats you.

"What a precious young lad." He had a strange accent—British, maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language. "Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"

"N-no," Percy stuttered.

"Sir," the man added smoothly.

"Sir," Percy repeated.

He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate? It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."

"Charon." Aster mouthed the syllables as Percy said them out loud, nodding to herself.

"Amazing!" Charon had little enthusiasm. "Now: Mr. Charon."

"Mr. Charon," Percy said, less than thrilled.

"Well done." He sat back. "I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"

Aster's heart skipped a beat, and Percy looked at her for help. "We want to go to the Underworld," she said.

Charon's mouth twitched. "Well, that's refreshing."

"It is?" Aster asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.'" He looked us over. "How did you die, then?"

Percy nudged Grover, who panicked. "Oh," he said. "Um... drowned... in the bathtub."

"All four of you?" Charon asked.

They nodded.

"Really... big bathtub," Aster affirmed.

Charon looked mildly impressed. "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh, but we have coins.: Percy said, and he set four golden drachmas on the counter. He must have found them stashed in Crusty's desk.

"Well, now..." Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in..."

His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

They were so close, and Aster braced herself.

The Charon looked at them strangely, and Aster let out a breath of defeat. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hole through her chest. "Here now," he said suspiciously. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"

"No," Percy said. "I'm dead."

Charon leaned forward and took a sniff. "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a godling."

"We have to get to the Underworld," Percy insisted.

Charon made a growling sound deep in his throat.

Immediately, all the people in the waiting room got up and started pacing, agitated, lighting cigarettes, running hands through their hair, or checking their wristwatches.

"Leave while you can," Charon told them. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."

He started to go for the coins, but Percy snatched them back.