Leo wished he could slow down time like Kronos. If Kronos ever had to go to school, he could have as much time in the morning as he wanted. But Leo had to get out. It was time to journey to D.O.A. Records and get the curse out of his friend.
"Piper, are you sure you wanna leave this house at 6 AM?" Jason yawned.
"Yes, Jason. I can't risk seeing my dad."
"Well, Pipes... He is your dad. The least you can do is write a note and come back to visit him some other time."
Piper stared into Jason's eyes before hastily grabbing a sticky note and scribbling some words on it. Pressing it to the door of the refrigerator, she opened the door and Leo scrambled to catch up to her as she raced out of her dad's house. Pushing the doors open to the Argo II, Leo muttered under his breath about not asking Festus before opening the doors. But they were on a time crunch.
"D.O.A. Records, Festus, buddy!" Leo called as Festus creaked back in morse code to agree.
As the ship moved, Leo could almost feel the breeze running through his hair, even if he was inside the ship. Poor Piper had hid in her room as she contemplated what most likely was her dad and Jason was outside the room, pacing back and forth.
"What's up, Jase?" Leo asked.
"I don't know what to do with girlfriend problems, Leo," Jason sighed. "And Percy wouldn't know either because, if anything, the seaweed brain is far more oblivious than me."
"Trust the ladies man, Leo," Leo said, dusting himself off.
Hearing the creaks of morse code, Leo's eyes brightened. "Hold that thought! Guys, we're here!"
Piper was out of her room in an instant, rushing to the doors. When Leo heard the call that they had reached solid ground, the trio tumbled out to see Charon already waiting.
"Charon? How'd you know we were gonna be here?" Leo asked.
"You forget that you have two children of Hades on your little quest," Charon sniffed. "Hades can sometimes read Hazel's thoughts and when he heard that you were coming here, he ordered me to stay in front of D.O.A. Records so you'll make it in easy."
"And getting out?" Leo asked.
Charon let out a laugh. "That's for Hades to decide."
Chills traveled up Leo's spine but he got on Charon's ferry either way.
"Wait," Charon said, holding out his hand. "Pay. Hades needs to pay me more and I need to get some fancy Italian shoes to impress this one girl."
"But... there are no live people in the Underworld..." Jason trailed off.
"You're correct, son of the sky god. But she's pretty and she's sweet... I don't know what to say about her. I'm tempted to go beg Hades to bring her back to life!"
"What's her name?"
"Sabrina. She was a daughter of Athena apparently."
Coughs and splutters erupted from the trio of demigods. "That's Percy's sister!"
"What? Percy's a son of Poseidon. You kids need to know your friend better."
"Well, she was like a sister to him. You can't date a person who's brother is literally the person you already know without asking his permission! Especially if she's dead!" Piper exclaimed.
"Says who, daughter of Aphrodite?"
Piper was silent. "It's just awkward, Charon."
"And I live for awkward. Okay!" Charon started their journey as Leo handed him a drachma.
It was a strange feeling with each stroke of Charon's paddle. He felt colder and his skin turned paler. It felt as if the life was seeped out of him by the time they reached the end of the River Styx.
"Feel as if you're soul-sucked?" Charon chuckled. "That's because your live self is waiting over there."
Leo looked over to see three figures standing in the place that they were in, almost as if they were holograms of what they looked like when they were normal.
"Hurry along now!" Charon whined. "I have to go back and fetch more sad souls."
Getting off the ferry, they knew they were finally alone. No help now. They had to get to Hades, ask for the dirt, and that was it. That is... once they were past Cerebus. The three-headed hellhound gave a mighty roar as it stared down at the three cowering demigods. Hades would blast them to pieces if they killed Cerebus and Cerebus would rip them to pieces if they didn't act fast.
"Uh..." Jason fiddled in the backpack for something remotely like doggy treats: perphaps the 5.99 hot n' spicy beef jerky from the 7-Eleven gas station they stopped by before going to Piper's house.
"Don't feed him!" Piper hissed. "If you feed a wild animal food, you equals food and they'll eat you when you run out!"
"Do something, Pipes!" Leo exclaimed.
"What? Why me?"
Leo lit his right hand on fire. "You really think I'm any use right now?"
"Charmspeak it!" Jason gasped. "You've got this, Pipes!"
Piper nervously approached the massive dog. "H-Hey, Cerebus... You will calm down this instant."
The dog looked confused but calmed down, staring at her curiously.
"You are tired, but if you hear any bad people, you will wake up and sleep when they are gone."
Piper gasped for air as Cerberus settled down and fell asleep.
"Let's go!" she hissed as they raced towards the gleaming palace.
The spirits all stared at them, whispering amongst themselves.
"They can touch things... they're alive?"
"How?"
They had almost made it to the door when three iron whips caught their attention.
"Not so fast."
"Lady Alecto, please," Piper begged.
"No!" Megaera scoffed. "Why would I want to help a daughter of Aphrodite, a son of the sky god, and a son of Hephaestus?"
"Don't you mean Zeus--"
"Don't say his name!" all three hissed in unison before a voice boomed from Zeus knows where.
"My Furies, let them pass. We must speak."
"Yes, Lord Hades."