•as the world caves in•

•old memories in a taxi•

"Los Angeles, please," Annabeth said politely as we all shoved ourselves into a taxi. 

The driver looked at us, no doubt a hundred questions going through his mind, but he didn't voice them. "That's three hundred miles. You're gonna have to pay upfront." 

I worried my bottom lip between my teeth. "Do you accept casino debit cards?" 

The man shrugged, still looking at us with narrowed eyes. "Depends. I gotta swipe them through first to see if it'll be accepted." 

I handed him my LotusCash card. "Try this." 

He shook his head in mild annoyance before swiping it, and the money didn't stop until there was an infinity sign on the reader. The cigar he had fell out of his mouth as he looked back at us. "Where to... uh, Your Highness?" 

"The Santa Moncia Pier," I answered, sitting up a little straighter. I could totally get used to people calling me that. "Get us there fast and you can keep the change." 

I regretted that statement right away because the entire time, we were going way over 95.

•.•.•.•

As we drove, Percy told us about the dreams he had been having. The most unusual was the one about a voice from a pit with a servant who he swore up and down sounded familiar. 

"The Silent One and The Rich One?" Annabeth repeated. "Those are both nicknames for Hades." 

"The throne room sounds like Hades'," Grover added. "That's usually the way it's described." 

Percy shook his head. "Somethings wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit... I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice." Annabeth and I looked at each other with wide eyes, and Percy frowned. "What?" 

"Oh... nothing," I stammered out. "We were just... No, it has to be Hades." 

Annabeth cleared her throat as she nodded. "Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible person, to get the master bolt and something went wrong-" 

"Like what?" Percy interjected. 

"I don't know!" Annabeth huffed, taking a deep breath. "But if he stole Zeus' symbol of power from Olympus. and the gods were hunting him... I mean a lot of things could go wrong. 

"So, this thief has to hide the bold or he lost it somehow," I added on. "Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That's what the voice said in your dream, right? The guy failed, that would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt." 

Percy looked at us like there was something wrong with us. "But if I'd already retrieved the bolt, why would I be traveling to the Underworld?"

"To threaten Hades," Grover suggested. "To bride of blackmail him into getting your mom back."

Percy whistled. "You have evil thoughts for a goat."

"Why, thank you."

"But the thing in the pit said it was waiting for two items. If the master bolt is one, what's the other."

Grover shocked his head. I genuinely had no clue, but Annabeth seemed to be working something out with that Athena head of hers.

"You have an idea what might be in that pit, don't you?" Percy asked her. "I mean, if it isn't Hades?"