𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄
𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒈
❛ why don't we ever ask her
for her thoughts? only
because we wouldn't
understand ❜
𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐆, 𝕬urora thanked the gods that Nathaniel was there to pull her out of the deep-end. As they all piled in a taxi, her mind couldn't help but think of the countless of possibilites that ended in her group utterly failing. Their journey was tough as it was, what more could the world throw their way to watch them crumble?
That's something Aurora did not want answered.
Aurora held the window seat, but with the limited amount of space in the back of the taxi, she was pressed against the door.
Annabeth looked at the driver, "Los Angeles, please."
The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized them up, "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."
"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked.
He shrugged, "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."
Annabeth handed him her green LotusCash card. He looked at it skeptically.
"Swipe it," Annabeth invited.
He did. His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign. The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at them, his eyes wide.
"Where to in Los Angeles . . . uh, Your Highness?"
"The Santa Monica Pier." Annabeth sat up a little straighter. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."
Maybe she shouldn't have told him that. The cab's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole waythrough the Mojave Desert. Aurora was used to the incredible speed, but it didn't stop her from gripping a hand next to her.
It so happened to be Percy's.
His cheeks burned in embarrassment, but choose not to say anything since he noticed the sick look on Aurora's face. She looked about ready to puke, so he decided to let her grip his hand so he wouldn't be covered in soggy potato chips.
On the road, they had plenty of time to talk. Percy told the other three about his latest dream, but something was confusing the boy.
"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."
"Maybe . . . " Percy said, though neither sounded quite right.
"That throne room sounds like Hades's," Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."
Percy shook his head, "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit . . . I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice."
Annabeth's eyes widened and she looked at Aurora, who blew a breath out of her mouth.
"Now can we talk about our suspect pool?"
Annabeth immediately shook her head, "Aurora," she hissed. "You know we can't."
"What?" Percy asked. "Can't what?
"Our suspect pool is getting thinner, ocean eyes. If it isn't Hades, which I myself don't necessarily believe, it has to be—"
Before Aurora could finish her sentence Annabeth cut in, sending her brunette best friend a warning look.
"No, it has to be Hades. Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible person, to get the master bolt, and something went wrong—"
"Like what?"
"I—I don't know," Annabeth said. "But if he stole Zeus's symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That's what the voice said in your dream, right? The guy failed. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt."
"But if I'd already retrieved the bolt," Percy said, "why would I be traveling to the Underworld?"
"To threaten Hades," Grover suggested. "To bribe or blackmail him into getting your mom back."
Percy whistled. "You have evil thoughts for a goat."
"Why, thank you."
Aurora crossed her arms, "It's nothing to be proud of, grooves"
Grover pouted.
"But the thing in the pit said it was waiting for two items," Percy said. "If the master bolt is one, what's the other?"
Grover shook his head, clearly mystified. Annabeth was looking at Aurora and glancing at Percy silently asking the girl if they should tell the son of Poseidon what they were thinking.
"You have an idea what might be in that pit, don't you?" He glanced at Aurora who bit her lip. "You both do"
"I'm no Sherlock Holmes, ocean eyes, but I have sneaking suspicion on who it might be," Aurora bit her lip in thought.
Percy shifted in his seat, "Who?"
Aurora went to open her mouth but was cut off my Annabeth who furiously shook her head, "Guys . . . let's not talk about it. Because if it isn't Had-"
Aurora looked at Percy once again, "Then everything just got turned on it's head."
Wasteland rolled by. They passed a sign that said CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.
Aurora couldn't help but feel bugged at missing that last clue, that small clue that would piece her entire journey together . . . she so desperately wanted to figure it out. But she was no Sherlock Holmes, her brains were better suited at making things blow up or putting stuff together, not uncovering centuries worth of war.
War.
"The answer is in the Underworld," Annabeth assured them. "You saw spirits of the dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing."
Aurora pursed her lips in thought, catching the attention of Annabeth who nudged her, "What's on your mind?"
Aurora glanced up at her, "Just a thought."
Figuring she wasn't going to get anything from her friend she turned to the others and tried to boost everyone's morale by suggesting clever strategies for getting into the Land of the Dead, but Aurora was still thinking about the information.
Things are not always as they seem.
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. They walked down to the edge of the surf.
While the others looked at the Pier, Aurora turned to Percy and crossed her arms over her chest, "What now, ocean eyes?"
The Pacific was turning gold in the setting sun. Aurora watched Percy, quietly waiting for the boy to do something or say anything.
"Percy?" She questioned.
He turned to her, "I have an idea."
Aurora observed his face for any signs of distress or unsureness, but found none, "Does it have any form of evidence to back it up?"
"Plenty," he shrugged. "At least enough for me to take the risk."
He didn't wait for her response, before they all knew it, the ocean eyed boy was underwater.
It wasn't until Percy left that the smell hit. The smell of rotten eggs and bird feces, invaded the young girls nostrils to which she reached up and clamped her fingers around her nose.
"Aurora! You're dad is a superhero!" Grover stated as he pointed at a billboard far away from them, but still close enough to see. It was of her father. The gold and red suit was hit my the sun that it seemed to garner the attention of a couple of other onlookers around them.
The billboard was titled: He is Iron man, and he's here to protect.
"Superhero," the concept sounded incredibly foreign falling the young girls lips. It was a concept she'd only heard as a child with stories of her favorite hero of all time, but they all seemed so far away. Hell, her favorite hero sacrificed himself for the world so long ago, and yet all too far all the same.
Yet, here she was the daughter of a hero, Now. Standing before his now infamous legacy, praying her spot was still empty. Hoping the god's would give her at least that.
Aurora was too busy staring at the billboard of her father in his Iron Man suit to notice Percy walking out of the water, completely dry. It was Annabeth who shook Aurora out of her thoughts that she noticed the boy now standing behind her.
She landed a soft punch on his arm.
"Ow! What was that for?"
Aurora's eyelids squinted, "That was for making me worry, ocean eyes"
Percy gingerly placed a hand over his new sore spot with a pout and told them about what he had experienced when he went under ensuring to send cautions glances towards a very stern Aurora. He opened his left palm and in his hand just like he said were four beautiful 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 their backs on the sea. With some spare change from Ares's backpack, they took the bus into West Hollywood. Percy decided to show the driver the Underworld address slip he'd taken from Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, but he'd never heard of DOARecording Studios.
"You remind me of somebody I saw on TV," he told Percy "You a child actor or something?"
Aurora stood behind him when the driver was talking to Percy. And out of sheer desperation, Annabeth yanked off Grovers sweater and placed it over Aurora's head in panic that someone would recognize the billionaire princess who's face was practically on every states billboard or posters.
One small picture and Aurora knew she'd lose more than a couple hundred thousand followers and trend with Percy number one on Twitter.
She could already see the tweets coming in.
Unfortunately for her, the hoodie Annabeth wrapped around her tightly —might she add— obscured her vision resulting in the brown eyes beauty to slap into a nearby light pole while exciting out of the bus. She could hear both Percy and Grover snickering behind her, so she muttered 'dagger' and when they were no longer in sight of any civilians she pointed it at them.
It shut them up.
They wandered for miles on foot, looking for DOA. Nobody seemed to know where it was. It didn't appear in the phone book. Twice, they ducked into alleys to avoid cop cars. Aurora still had the hoodie over her head which would be roughly pulled down by Annabeth every single time someone would even breathe in their direction.
Unfortunately for the girl, this meant she'd have to trust her best friend to navigate her eagerly through the streets of Hollywood.
Percy froze in front of an appliance-store window because a television was playing an interview with somebody who looked very familiar—his stepdad, Smelly Gabe. He was talking to Barbara Walters. Aurora could see a false tear glistening on his cheek, with that one look Aurora could tell it was all a bunch of bullshit.
He was saying, "Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck. My stepson took everything I cared about. My wife . . . My Camaro . . . I—I'm sorry. I have trouble talking about it."
"There you have it, America." Barbara Walters turned to the camera. "A man torn apart. An adolescent boy with serious issues. Let me show you, again, the last known photo of this troubled young fugitive, taken a week ago in Denver."
The screen cut to a grainy shot of Annabeth, Percy, and Grover with Aurora's head peaking over Grover's shoulder as they were standing outside the Colorado diner, talking to Ares.
The girl cursed under her breath at the image.
"Who are the other children in this photo?" Barbara Walters asked dramatically. "Well, we do know one of these children is Aurora Stark, but What is she doing with an adolescent? Does the billionaire princess have a dark side her father kept under wraps? Who is the man with them? Is Percy Jackson a delinquent, a terrorist, or perhaps the brainwashed victim of a frightening new cult? When we come back, we chat with a leading child psychologist. Stay tuned, America."
Aurora scoffed, "Really?" She asked incredulously. "A dark side?!"
"C'mon," Grover told them. He hauled Percy away while Annabeth placed a comforting hand over her best friend's shoulder.
It got dark, and hungry-looking characters started coming out on the streets to play. They walked past gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers, who looked at them like they were trying to figure if the group of four were worth the trouble of mugging.
As they hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, "Hey, you."
Aurora knew they shouldn't have turn around, but when she noticed the Son of Poseidon stop. She had no choice but to follow suit. Before Aurora knew it, they were surrounded. A gang of kids had circled them. Six of them in all—white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces.
Aurora watched as Percy uncapped Riptide. When the sword appeared out of nowhere, the kids backed off, but their leader was either really stupid or really brave, because he kept coming at Percy with a switchblade.
Aurora brought her bangle up to her mouth and uttered, "Daggers."
Her daggers sprung up in her hands as the leader took a step closer, and that step seemed too much for Percy because he swung his sword down. The kid yelped but just as Aurora predicted the blade passed harmlessly right through his chest.
The kid looked down to his chest in surprise, "What the . . . "
"Run!" Percy screamed at Annabeth, Aurora, and Grover. Aurora pushed two kids out of the way and raced down the street, not knowing where they were going. They turned a sharp corner.
"There!" Annabeth shouted.
Only one store on the block looked open, its windows glaring with neon. The sign above the door said something like CRSTUY'S WATRE BDE ALPACE. Aurora cursed at her dyslexia.
"Crusty's Water Bed Palace?" Grover translated.
They burst through the doors, ran behind a water bed, and ducked. A split second later, the gang kids ran past outside.
"I think we lost them," Grover panted.
A voice behind them boomed, "Lost who?"
They all jumped. Aurora jumped higher than the others, while placing a hand on her chest to steady her breathing and rapid heartbeat. Standing behind them was a guy who looked like a raptor in a leisure suit. He was at least seven feet tall, with absolutely no hair. He had gray, leathery skin, thick-lidded eyes, and a cold, reptilian smile.
He moved toward them slowly, causing Aurora to narrow her eyes at him in warning, His suit reminded Aurora of the pictures she'd seen of her late grandfather. The shirt was silk paisley, unbuttoned halfway down his hairless chest. The lapels on his velvet jacket were as wide as landing strips.
"I'm Crusty," he said, with a tartar-yellow smile.
"Sorry to barge in," Percy told him. "We were just, um, browsing."
"You mean hiding from those no-good kids," he grumbled. "They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed?"
Aurora was about to give the man a kind smile and say no thanks but he put a huge paw on Percy's shoulder and steered him deeper into the showroom. Aurora glanced at Annabeth in alarm, her Stark meter buzzing with alarm.
There was every kind of water bed you could imagine: different kinds of wood, different patterns of sheets; queen-size, king-size, emperor-of-theuniverse-size.
"This is my most popular model." Crusty spread his hands proudly over abed covered with black satin sheets, with built-in Lava Lamps on the headboard. The mattress vibrated, so it looked like oil-flavored Jell-O.
"Million-hand massage," Crusty told them. "Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business today, anyway."
"Um," Percy said, "I don't think . . ."
"Million-hand massage!" Grover cried, and dove in. "Oh, you guys! This is cool."
"Hmm," Crusty said, stroking his leathery chin. "Almost, almost."
"Almost what?" Percy asked.
He looked at Annabeth, "Do me a favor and try this one over here, honey"
He patted her reassuringly on the shoulder and led her over to the SafariDeluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the frame and a leopard patterned comforter.
"Now for you, sweetheart."
He turned and pulled Aurora to a similar bed, but this one was a beautiful white bed with a white comforter and a pink and gold canopy on top.
Aurora struggled under the tight grip the man held on her, but the more she struggled the more the grip tightened. Before she knew it she was thrown on the bed. From beside her, she heard a "Hey!" She recognized it to be Annabeth's voice.
Crusty snapped his fingers. "Ergo!"
Ropes sprang from the sides of the bed, lashing around Aurora, holding her to the mattress. Aurora struggled to the best of her ability but it was no use. Grover tried to get up, but ropes sprang from his black-satin bed, too, and lashed him down.
"N-not c-c-cool!" he yelled, his voice vibrating from the million-hand massage. "N-not c-cool a-at all!"
The giant looked at Annabeth and Aurora, then turned toward Percy and grinned, "Almost, darn it."
Percy tried to step away, but the giant's hand shot out and clamped around the back of Percy's neck, "Whoa, kid. Don't worry. We'll find you one in a sec."
"Let my friends go."
"Oh, sure I will. But I got to make them fit, first."
"What do you mean?"
"All the beds are exactly six feet, see? Your friends are too short. Got to make them fit." Aurora gaped as she continued to struggle. The ability to not move really made her angry.
"Can't stand imperfect measurements," Crusty muttered. "Ergo!"
A new set of ropes leaped out from the top and bottom of the beds, wrapping around Aurora's ankles, then around her armpits. The ropes started tightening, pulling her from both ends. Aurora gritted her teeth in pain, a slight groan left her mouth.
"Don't worry," Aurora heard Crusty tell Percy. "These are stretching jobs. Maybe three extra inches on their spines. They might even live. Now, why don't we find a bed you like, huh?"
"Percy!" Grover yelled.
"Your real name's not Crusty, is it?" Percy asked.
"Legally, it's Procrustes," he admitted.
"The Stretcher," Percy said.
"Yeah," the salesman said. "But who can pronounce Procrustes? Bad for business. Now 'Crusty,' anybody can say that."
"You're right. It's got a good ring to it."
His eyes lit up, "You think so?"
Aurora glanced at both Percy and Crusty to see if the giant was looking her way. He continued to try and choke Percy, paying the Daughter of Beauty no mind. Aurora whispered as loudly as she could without drawing the attention of the giant, "knife". She felt the familiar feeling of her right bangle turn into her knife that she gripped tightly. She pointed the tip away from her body and towards the ropes that bound her right hand and sawed at the best of her ability.
Thank the gods it was working.
"Percy!" Aurora heard Annabeth yell. The brown-eyed girl was too focused on sawing. "What are you doing?"
"Don't mind her," Percy told Procrustes. "She's impossible, and don't get me started on Aurora"
Aurora hid her knife at the mention of her name, in fear of being caught. However, Crusty only laughed at didn't spare them a glance. Aurora continued to saw, and successfully broke off one of her ropes. Now, it was easier to cut off the rest.
"What do you do if they're longer than six feet?" She heard Percy ask, as she successfully cut off the ropes holding onto her left arm and armpit. She switched the knife from her right hand to her left and cut through the rope that held her right armpit down.
Now, she just needed to get her ankles loose.
"Oh, that happens all the time. It's a simple fix." Aurora hid the knife when she saw Crusty let go of Percy's neck, and he reached behind a nearby sales desk and brought out a huge double-bladed brass axe. He said, "I just center the subject as best I can and lop off whatever hangs over on either end."
Aurora's eyes widen in fear and quickly cut off the ropes holding each of her ankles. From in front of her, she could see Percy glancing back at her, almost as if he knew what she was doing. He was trying to buy her some time.
"Ah," Percy said, swallowing hard. "Sensible."
"I'm so glad to come across an intelligent customer!"
Percy glanced at Aurora once again. She pointed at Crusty and then pointed over towards a valentine-shaped Honeymoon Special. Letting Percy know that he could trap him.
"So, Crusty . . ." Percy said. "Does this one really have dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion?"
"Absolutely. Try it out."
"Yeah, maybe I will. But would it work even for a big guy like you? No waves at all?"
"Guaranteed."
"No way."
"Way."
"Show me, "He sat down eagerly on the bed, patted the mattress. "No waves. See?"
While Percy was busy with Crusty, Aurora ran to both Grover and Annabeth to cut them loose. She first cut Annabeth since she was closer. Annabeth groaned and rubbed her hands against her wrist in order to soothe the pain. When she cut Grover loose the poor satyr could barely stand on his feet.
"You drive a hard bargain," Crusty told Percy when Aurora glanced back towards them. Now strapped on the bed Percy managed to trap him in. "I'll give you thirty percent off on selected floor models!"
"I think I'll start with the top." Percy raised his sword.
"No money down! No interest for six months!" Percy swung the sword.
Crusty stopped making offers.
Percy turned to Aurora and nodded. "Good work."
Aurora took a deep breath, "Back at you, ocean eyes."
Percy looked at the bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, and another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters—"The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!" Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA RecordingStudios, offering commissions for heroes' souls. "We are always looking for new talent!" DOA's address was right underneath with a map.
"Come on," Percy told them.
"Give us a minute," Grover complained. "We were almost stretched to death!"
"Then you're ready for the Underworld," Percy said. "It's only a block from here."
okay, but are you guys ready for Iron man 2? because I'm so excited to write it.
Out of the avengers which person do you think will have a very close relationship with Aurora? Besides her father and Thor.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!!
❛ allure me. ❜ ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚ ╱
❪ the prodigy, 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 book. ❫
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