Golden Green

Ch. 15

Percy Jackson and the Olympians belong to Rick Riordan. All credit to him.

 We hailed a taxi and crammed into the back. It was Annabeth's idea but no one complained or protested.

"Los Angeles please," Annabeth told the driver.

"That's three hundred miles," The driver said through his cigar and mustache. "That you gotta pay up front."

"Do you take casino cards?" Annabeth said, flashing her lotus hotel card.

"Sure. Some are the same as credit cards," He took the green card and swiped it through his machine on the dashboard. The machine rattled and all the lights flashed until the numbers of the machine stopped rolling and an infinity sign popped up on the digital screen. The Drivers cigar fell out of his mouth. "Uh. Where in Los Angeles, your highness."

"Santa Monica pier please," Annabeth said sitting up at the name 'your highness'. "Get us there fast and you can keep the change" I think we'd all agree that Annabeth shouldn't have told him that. Through the length of the Moab desert his speedometer didn't go below ninety-eight.

During the long drive we all had enough time to talk so Percy and I told Grover and Annabeth about our dreams. Annabeth made my dream to be nothing more than a dream to relate to Percy's because I heard about ones with the voice before from him. Percy however told his dream in less detail than he did with me and I found myself to have done the same thing like the Lotus Casino messed with our heads.

"The silent one? The rich one? Both of those are nicknames for Hades," Annabeth offered as Percy came to a blank on what the scary voice's servant called it. I couldn't remember either but I knew it was familiar when I had heard it.

"Maybe but they don't sound right," Percy shrugged.

"I told you I don't think the voice is Hades'," I told the others.

"Well that throne room sure sounds like Hades," Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."

"Something is wrong. The throne room was the main part that freaked me. And the voice

from the pit, I don't know, it just didn't feel like a god's voice," Percy said.

"I do think that the voice we always hear feels more malicious than Ares has even shown

to be," I said.

"I was thinking...nevermind," Annbath muttered, biting her finger.

"What. What's the matter?" Percy asked.

"It was nothing. It had to be Hades. Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible person, to get

the master bolt and something went wrong."

"Like what?" Grover asked.
"I-I don't know," Annabeth said, a little more frustrated. "But if he stole Zeus's symbol of

power from Olymupus and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong.

This thief might have lost the bolt or left it somewhere. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades.

That's what the voice in your dream said right 'I failed'? That would be why the Kindly ones

came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt." I wasn't sure why but

Annabeth looked pale.

"But if I'd already retrieved the bolt," Percy said, "Why would I be traveling to the

Underworld?"