Golden Green

Ch. 16

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

 We stood in the shadow of Valencia Boulevard, staring at golden letters etched in black marble: DOA Recording Studios. Underneath, decorating the glass doors: No Solicitors. No Loitering. No living.

It was midnight but the lobby was brightly lit with people packed in. A security guard sat behind the desk with glasses and a radio earpiece in.

"Okay. You remember the plan?" Percy turned and asked us all.

"Yea. The plan. I love the plan," Grover muttered anxiously.

"What happens if the plan doesn't work?" Annabeth asked.

"Don't think negative," Percy answered.

"Right," Annabeth sniped. "We're entering the land of the dead and I shouldn't think negative."

I couldn't help but think negative too. What if I saw citizens of my old city that died in the invasion. What if they recognized me and blamed me. What if some were in the fields of punishment for something I caused. What if Hades wanted my soul because I should be dead from age after my petrification. I was scared of what was going to come.

"I'm sorry Percy. You're right. We'll make it. We'll be fine," Annabeth said, placing a hand on Percy's shoulder who was staring at the pearls. He must have been thinking about how we all weren't gonna leave. I gave Grover a nudge to help his best friend.

"Oh right. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem," I stepped back from the scene so the three could have their moment of encouraging words. They were supposed to be the three on this trip, not me and Fidi. I was going to stay behind and make sure those three finished their quest. The gods brought me back for some reason and for all I knew it was to help these three.

"Dan," Percy said. I zoned back in and saw that in their huddle they were waiting for me, arms outstretched. I put on a brave and thankful smile for them and joined. The embrace of others was always nice.

"Let's whoop some Underworld butt," Percy cheered.

We walked into the DOA lobby and I immediately felt different. Like the obvious and impossible to miss feeling of life you could feel in the forest, there was nothing here. Calm and bland music played over the speakers built into the ceiling. Steel gray carpeted walls wrapped around the room. Pencil cacti were the only green and lively things in the room beside us, which I rather liked. Every black leather seat was taken by a spirit still in it's earthly shape and appearance. The spirits that stood in waiting or for the elevator did nothing but stare.

We made it to the security desk podium thing and looked up to the man. He was large but elegant with chocolate colored skin and bleached blonde hair in a buzz cut. His tortoise shell glasses and Italian suit that Annabeth broke down for me were better than Ares's ugly red glasses and Procrustes out of date suit. A black rose was pinned to his person under his name tag: Charon.

"Your name is Chiron?" Percy asked after reading it out loud. The man leaned over the desk with a sweet and cold smile, not unlike a mischievous snake before it ate you.

"What a precious young lad," He said in a strange accent. I looked at Annabeth and she looked a little taken aback from it, so I didn't try and place it. I had heard a British man speak on a screen advertisement in Vegas and this was almost it but it was like English was a second language to him like it was to me. "Tell me mate. Do I look like a centaur?"

"N-No," Percy stammered.

"Sir," He corrected Percy.

"Sir," Percy corrected.