Not gonna lie, I really expected the entrance to the Underworld to have better security. I don't know what I expected exactly, maybe a battalion of skeletons guarding it or giant black gates Lord of the Rings style. But then again, they were looking for people trying to break out, not sneak in. You'd have to be crazy to want to get into death, you'd get there sooner or later. So what did that make us?
The security detail consisted of a couple of semi-oblivious ghouls clothed in black robes. The line of dead people passed between an archway that read: YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. From there the line split into three, the exits being equipped with metal detectors and security cameras and watched by security ghouls. Two of the exits were marked with ATTENDANT ON DUTY, while the third said EZ DEATH. The third line moved considerably faster than the other two, which seemed practically stagnated.
"What do you figure?" Percy asked, gesturing towards the lines.
"The fast line must go straight to Asphodel." Annabeth answered.
"No contest. They don't want to risk judgement from the court, because it might go against them."
"There's a court for dead people?"
"Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare - people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person deserves a special reward - the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they got to the Fields of Asphodel." Annabeth explained.
"And do what?" I asked.
"Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever." Grover answered.
"Wow. That's harsh."
"Not as harsh as that. Look." he replied, pointing to a spirit being apprehended by some ghouls.
"He's the preacher who made the news, remember?"
"Oh, yeah." Percy said.
He, Grover and I had seen him on the news before. He had raised loads of money that was supposed to go to orphanages. Instead he spent it on upgrading his mansion. He died when his 'Lamborghini for the Lord' drove off a cliff.
"What are they doing to him?" Percy asked.
"Special punishment from Hades. The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fu- Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him." Grover guessed.
"But if he's a preacher. And he believes in a different hell..."
Grover shrugged.
"Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. They're very stubbor- er, persistent that way."
As we got closer to the gates, the howling sound I had heard in the beach before got louder. It got to a point where I felt I might go deaf because of it. Yet I didn't see the source until it materialized in front of me. And I don't mean like a smoke cloud or something. I mean it literally became visible among the shadows from one second to another. The gigantic three-headed guard dog himself: Cerberus.
"He's a Rottweiler." Percy muttered.
Really, Percy? What were you expecting? A Fox Terrier? A pug?
I would have said all of those, if the sight of the three sets of vicious teeth didn't have me frozen in place. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines passed on either side of it while EZ DEATH went right underneath it. The dog was so massive the spirits didn't even have to bend down to pass through.
"I'm getting the feeling I can see him better now. Why is that?" I asked.
"I think... I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead." Annabeth answered me nervously.
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Penny Ranger and the Lightning Thief
FanfictionSo, you've heard the story of Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, savior of Olympus. But I bet you haven't heard about me. You see I was always there helping him. The kelphead definitely wouldn't have made it if it weren't for me (and Annabeth). So, tim...
