THEY STOOD IN THE SHADOWS OF VALENCIA BOULEVARD,LOOKING UP AT THE BLACK LETTERS ETCHED IN MARLBLE:
DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.
Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.
"Okay. You remember the plan." Percy turned to his friends.
"The plan," Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan."
"What happens if the plan doesn't work?" Annabeth said.
"Don't think negative." Blake said with a nervous smile.
"Right," she said. "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative."
Percy took the pearls out of his pocket, the five milky spheres the Nereid had given him in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong.
"I'm sorry, Percy. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine."Annabeth put her hand on Percy's shoulders.
She gave Grover a nudge.
"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. Noproblem."
Percy looked at the rest of the group, and felt really grateful. Only a few minutes before, He'd almost gotten them stretched to death on deluxe water beds, and now they were trying to be brave for his sake, trying to make him feel better.
"Let's whup some Underworld butt." Percy said, slipping the pearls into his pocket.
They walked inside the DOA lobby.
Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactusesgrew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting or the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Out of the corner of Percy's eye, he could see them all just fine, but if he focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking ... transparent.
The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so they had to look up at him.He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved militarystyle. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose waspinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.
"Your name is Chiron?"Percy asked, bewildered.
He leaned across the desk. His smile was sweet and cold, like a pythons, right before it eats you.
"What a precious young lad." He had a strange accent-British, maybe, but also as if he hadlearned English as a second language. "Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"
"N-no."
"Sir," he added smoothly.
"Sir," Percy said.
He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate? It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."
YOU ARE READING
RED ¹ / Percy Jackson !
Fanfiction"I suggest you stop this nonsense." "No. No unless she does as I say, or I swear, I will murder Percy right here right now." "Don't you dare touch a single hair on Percy, do you hear me?" Viviene yelled, taking a step closer to her father. " I fucki...
