Do-over (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

10. We're off to see the God of the Underworld

Annabeth was the one to snap me out of the daze I was in. According to both her and Grover, I had been staring at the newspaper for a solid two minutes and the guy at the newspaper stand was about to call the police.

It was also Annabeth who pulled over a taxi to the side of the road. After shoving all of us into the back seat, the driver looked at us through the rear-view mirror.

'Where to?' he asked tiredly, a cigar between his lips.

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something but she must have realised she had no idea where we were going. I glanced at the driver to see an annoyed expression on his face.

'Uh...' Annabeth started but I interrupted her.

'Los Angeles, please.' I said confidently. 

The driver raised an eyebrow, 'That's three hundred miles away. For that, you've got to pay up front.'

'Do you accept casino debit cards?' I asked him.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously, 'Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through, first.'

I nodded and motioned for Grover's LotusCash card. He handed it to me without hesitation and I held it out for the cab driver. He took it but eyed it for a while before I gestured for him to swipe it.

He swiped it hesitantly. The meter machine rattled so hard that I thought it was going to explode. The lights flashed once before an infinity symbol appeared next to the dollar sign.

I watched in amusement as the cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He turned back to face us and his eyes were comically wide, and I had to stop myself from laughing.

'Where to in Los Angeles...uh, Your Majesty?' the driver asked politely.

The smile on my face melted off my face, 'I'm not royal. Don't call me that please.'

'Yes, of course, sir,' he said quickly. 'Where in Los Angeles are you looking to be?'

'If you can, the DOA Recording Studios,' I said carefully. 'Do you know where that is?'

The driver shook his head but reassured me, 'Never heard of it, but I'm sure I can find it on the GPS.'

As we waited for him to type in the address into his GPS, Annabeth poked my arm.

'How do you know where to go?' she asked me curiously.

'Uh...' I scoured my mind to try and find a reason behind my decision but I couldn't find one. Instead, I said the first thing that popped up in my head. 'Chiron told me the location of the entrance to the Underworld. He figured that it would save us some time since we don't have to find it ourselves.'

I let out a small sigh of relief when she bought my excuse. The driver was on his way to Los Angeles a second later, already speeding down the highway. I was sitting in between Grover and Annabeth as the landscape outside sped past. 

We didn't talk much during the trip. I tried not to talk about the dream I had before we left the disgusting truck but it was practically impossible for us to not say anything the whole ride. In the end, as we were driving through the Mojave Desert, we ended up talking about the location of the Master Bolt.

'How are we going to find the Bolt and return to Olympus in less than a day?' Annabeth said dejectedly. 'It's impossible.'

I was suddenly extremely conscious of the blue backpack over my shoulders. Then an idea formed in my head. We can just leave the Underworld as soon as we entered it. What had Ares said? The backpack was enchanted so the Bolt would appear in it when we reached the Underworld. We can return Hades' Helm and the Master Bolt without as much trouble this time.