The Forbidden Daughter | PJO Book One

twelve

Grover shook his head, clearly mystified. Annabeth was looking at him as if she knew Percys next question, and was silently willing him not to ask it.

Ariana adverted her eyes away from Percy, instead she stared out of the window.

"You two an idea what might be in that pit, don't you?" He asked them. "I mean, if it isn't Hades?"

Ariana was about to speak but Annabeth beat her too it.

"Percy... let's not talk about it. Because if it isn't Hades... No. It has to be Hades."

Wasteland rolled by. They passed a sign that said: CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.

"The answer is in the Underworld." Ariana assured him. "You saw spirits of the dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing."

The cab sped west. Every gust of wind through Death Valley sounded like a spirit of the dead. Every time the brakes hissed on an eighteen-wheeler, it reminded Ariana of Echidna's reptilian voice.

At sunset, the taxi dropped them at the beach in Santa Monica. It looked exactly the way L.A. beaches do in the movies, only it smelled worse.

There were carnival rides lining the pier, palm trees lining the sidewalks, homeless guys sleeping in the sand dunes and surfer dudes waiting for the perfect wave.

Grover, Annabeth, Ariana and Percy walked down to the edge of the surf.

"What now?" Annabeth asked.

The Pacific was turning gold in the setting sun. Percy stepped into the surf.

"Percy?" Annabeth said. "What are you doing?"

He kept walking, up to his waist, then his chest.
She called after him, "You know how polluted that water is? There're all kinds of toxic -"

That's when his head went under.

"Relax. Hes fine." Ariana told them. "Besides when I went down with him I could breathe and he could."

"I wanted to speak to you about something." Annabeth said.

Ariana crossed her arms, trying to warm herself up. "About what?"

"When we were in the van. You said you could hear the zebra speak?"

Ariana nodded. "So did Percy."

"Ari." Annabeth. Her voice turned soft. "Both you and Percy can breathe under water and you can understand horses."

"So?" She shrugged. "And technically I had a bubble around my head allowing me to breathe."

"Well. What if Poseidon is apart of your family tree?"

"Are you saying he's my father?" She laughed at the mere thought of being related to Percy. "There is no way I am related to Percy, he doesn't have a single brain cell Annabeth."

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't know."

When Percy reached the beach, he told Grover, Ariana and Annabeth what had happened, and showed them the pearls.

Annabeth grimaced. "No gift comes without a price."

"They were free."

"No." She shook her head. "There is no such thing as a free lunch. That's an ancient Greek saying that translated pretty well into American. There will be a price. You wait"

On that happy thought, they turned our backs on the sea.

With some spare change from Ares's backpack, we took the bus into West Hollywood. Percy showed the driver the Underworld address slip he had taken from Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, but he'd never heard of DOA Recording Studios.