fifteen.
( the lightning thief. )
❛ how to get to hadestown. ❜

MIDNIGHT HAD ARRIVED quickly, coating Los Angeles in a starry darkness. The streets were emptier now, as the four stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS. Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

Despite the midnight hour blackening the outside, the lobby was brightly illuminated with a warm amber glow and the inside appeared spilling with people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with glinting sunglasses and an earpiece. After a minute of inspecting the sight, Percy turned to the three. "Okay. You remember the plan."

"The plan," Grover gulped anxiously, adjusting the hat the adorned his dark tousles of curled hair. "Yeah. I love the plan."

Annabeth offered a weary glance, "What happens if the plan doesn't work?" she looked between her companions with a complex frown. she raised an eyebrow, glancing briefly around the room of dazed people.

"Don't think negatively, Annie." Colette exhaled, nodding her head in a hope to appear optimistic, "it's a good plan, it'll work out." She smiled, slightly unsurely though she tried to cover it with a positive sigh.

"Right," replied Annabeth dully. "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative." She avoided the look her best friend gave her.

Percy took the pearls out of his pocket, the three milky spheres the Nereid had given him in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong, if Colette was being honest. But it seemed like the last thing they needed was an added layer of doubt. This would work, it had to.

Annabeth took a deep breath, shaking her head and plastering on a softer look. "I'm sorry, Collie. You're right, we'll make it, we've come this far. It'll be fine." She glanced at Grover as if to encourage him and Colette nudged him to motivate the Percy, who wa starving down at the pearls doubtfully.

"Oh, right!" The satyr chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem." They smiled at him, three smiles of genuine honesty. And when he looked back at them, Colette could see the appreciation in his eyes as clear as the moon in the sky.

He smiled back, "let's kick some underworld ass."

Muzak played over the sound system as they strolled into the lobby. The carpet and the walls were all a thick, cloudy grey and pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken, some people even moving to sit on the arm of the chairs. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. It was eerie and suffocating with the remnants of death, especially because whenever she stared at somebody for too long... their body moved to look almost translucent.

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so the four had to look up at him. He was tall and radiated a noticeable aura of elegance, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag. From beside her, Colette turned as Percy read the name tag and looked at him in bewilderment. "Your name is Chiron?"

He leaned across the table, his sunglasses providing nothing but their own reflection as they looked at the man. His voice was smooth and cold, rolling like marble with hints of a British accent. "What a precious young lad. Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"

"N-no..?"

"No, sir." Corrected the man from his place above, looking down at them.

"Sir," Percy added, looking up at the man with dramatic puppy-dog eyes.

He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate?" He cocked his head, "It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."

"Charon."

"Amazing! Now: Mr. Charon."

"Mr. Charon," Percy graced on his most innocently respectful voice.

"Well done." He sat back in his chair, throwing one leg over the other. "I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?" Percy's paused, turning back to the remaining three for help.

Annabeth took a small step forward, "We want to go the Underworld," she stated.

"Please." Colette added as she peaked out from beside the blonde. She shivered for a second; the air conditioning in the room was blowing heaps of cool air onto her legs that left her with a breeze of goosebumps.

Charon's mouth twitched. "Well, that's refreshing."

"It is?" Annabeth looked confused as she raised her eyebrows at the man.

The man nodded, clasping his hands together again, "Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.' Even a please too, now that's a first." He looked them over. "How did you die, then?"

"Oh," Grover was pushed forward by Percy and he fiddled with his hands anxiously before looking up to the man, "we drowned ... in a bathtub."

Charon raised an eyebrow, not discounting them but not fully convinced either. "All four of you?" He inquired, glancing between the four of them.

"...it was a big bathtub." The brunette added with a tight-lipped smile, and Percy rubbed her shoulder to feign sadness and comfort despite the twitch of her eye as she glared at his hand.

Charon let out a hum. "I see." He looked mildly impressed, "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children," he shook his head sadly, "... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh, but we have coins." Percy insisted as he set three golden drachmas on the counter, part of the stash they had found in Crusty's office desk.

"Well, now ..." Charon wet his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in ..." he twirled the coin in his hand, a look of awe covering his face. Then he paused as he looked at them. His stare was cold behind his glasses and Colette shifted unconsciously from one foot to the other. "Here now," he narrowed upon them. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"

"No," percy gave him a look of dismissal. "I'm dead."

Charon leaned forward and inhaled the air arrowed them. "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a godling." He shook his head at them, his lips downturned.

"We have to get to the Underworld," insisted Percy, his voice churning with urgency. No doubt was the time creeping closer to to the day to come-the summer solstice. There was no time they could waste, especially with a man in tortoiseshell shades. Charon made a growling sound deep in his throat, glowering at them like they'd offended him. Immediately, all the people in the waiting room got up and started pacing, agitated, lighting cigarettes, running hands through their hair, or checking their wristwatches. Some were chattering their teeth as they leant over crookedly, like shrouds of life wilting away.

"Leave while you can," Charon's voice was powerful and stern, a warning that shouldn't have been brushed off so gently. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you." He started to go for the coins, but Percy snatched them back.

The boy shook his head in protest, clutching them close to his chest. "No service, no tip." He was building his voice up to be braver, feigning courage though Colette thought it suited him well.

Charon growled again-a deep, blood-chilling sound. The spirits of the dead started pounding on the elevator doors.

Colette frowned wistfully as she moved to stand beside the dark-haired boy. She cuddled a stash of money stolen from Crusty's, "such a shame too," she shook her head, "especially when we had so much more to offer." She moved the bag towards Percy, forcing him to hold it as she dug in for a handful more and let the coins fall through her fingers.

Charon's growl changed into something more like a lion's purr and he took a lean forward to catch sight of the dazzling gold coins. "Do you think I can be bought, godlings? Eh ... just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"

"A lot," Percy insisted, letting the brunette take hold of the stash once more as he began speaking. "I bet Hades doesn't pay you well enough for such hard work."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it." He remarked almost bitterly, "How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead' or 'Please let me across for free.' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"

Colette frowned at the man, a look of youthful kindness. The look Percy had described as one of her softest, "how cruel. For somebody who works as hard as yourself, he ought to pay you more," she masked the small ounce of fear she felt for nearly insulting hades. "A little appreciation and respect. Better pay too for your hospitality." With each word, Percy stacked another gold coin on the counter.

Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket, as if imagining himself in something even better. "I must say, dear, you're making some sense now. Just a little."

Still loading on coins, Percy let out an absentminded hum whilst stating. "I could mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades."

After a moment, the man let out a sigh. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you four and be off." He stood, scooped up the money, and said, "Come along."

Pushing through the crowds was a challenge, escaping the tug and pull of hands that were desperately scratching and pulling at their skin. The echo of their voices rushed past them in breezes, like the wind on a misty day. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders." He escorted them into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with them and pushed them back into the lobby.

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?" He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and they started to descend.

Curiously, Annabeth glanced up to the man as the elevator door pinged shut. "What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" She inquired.

"Nothing," Charon responded simply.

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"Oh," she hummed. "That's ... fair."

Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."

Percy glanced to the man, his expression one of building confidence and certainty as he said, "We'll get out alive,"

"Ha."

There was a dizziness in the air, a dreary lightheadedness that poisoned Colette's windpipes as she wobbled in her place, blinking painfully as she wiped away her small headache. When she blinked back up, things were... changing. The modern clothes thrown over the spirits flickered, turning into gray hooded robes and floor of the elevator began swaying. When her eyes were able to gain sustainability, Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone. Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets-like Ares's eyes, except Charon's were totally dark, full of night and death and despair.

He glanced at them, watching all of their expressions fill with a matching curiosity and faint disturbance, "Well?"

"Nothing," percy managed, swallowing thickly as he averted his gaze. Colette would've thought the man was grinning, but that wasn't it. The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, allowing a visible view right throw his skull.

Grover groaned as the floor continued to sway, "I think I'm getting seasick." He clamped a hand over his stomach uncomfortably, looking around with a pale expression.

Colette jolted as she glanced down, noticing now that the elevator was not an elevator at all but a wooden barge. Charon was rowing them across a dark, oily river. It was void of a river's usual enjoyment, filled with every lost achievement, ambition and dream one could imagine such as toys, clothes, plastic and paper-all floating by idly, engulfed in a grave of watery ruin.

Everything within the stream was covered and broken down by the erosion of neglect. And as she sat upon the river, passing by dimmed ideals of what could've been, she could feel the sickly churn of her aspirations be ripped away from her, stolen and festered with the snarling bite of sinister dismay, ripping it's fangs into the corners of her hopes. It was a dark, uncomfortable feeling that left her inching away from the side of the boat.

"The River Styx," Annabeth's face was pale and her eyes were blown wider than Colette had ever seen them. But they were dimmer, obviously disgruntled by the state of the polluted river. "It's so ..."

"Polluted," Charon finished. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across-hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me." Mist curled off the filthy water. Drifting above them, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of a toxic, deadly poison

There was a tightness in Colette's chest, a frown pulling at her lips that she couldn't find the bravery to mask. This was death, the end of the end and the result of every meaningless life that was bound to come to a finish. All the people drifting nearby were dead, a plethora of forgotten souls damned to roast in their eternal misery as they rot away agonisingly slowly.

Annabeth's hand reached out for her own, seeking a comfort that Colette wasn't sure she could provide as they drifted through the sea of death. Percy, too, was visibly distressed as he inched closer to them, with a need to know that somebody on the boat was alive.

The shoreline of the Underworld came into view, a place darker than it could've ever been described. Sharp, pointed rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as they could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green mist, echoing off the stones-the howl of a large animal. A very hungry large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon shook his head, almost amused. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light and he gave them a glance. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

The bottom of the boat slid onto the black sand and with a low rumble, the dead began to disembark. There was woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than Colette was, shuffling silently along in his gray robe. It was a punch to the gut to see people so young in a place so unbearable.

"I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise." Chiron commented as they boarded off the barge. He counted the golden coins into his pouch, then took up his pole. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.

To Colette's surprise, the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike. There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon. The howling of the hungry animal was increasing with their every step, but she couldn't see where it was coming from. The three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades's door, was nowhere to be seen. She'd read all about him-knew all about him, but she wasn't sure if it was an animal that could be tamed.

The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

"What do you figure?" Asked Percy as he glanced between the three of them.

"Colette pointed towards the first one, "that one is probably the one leading to the fields of asphodel," she spoke thoughtfully. "Some people don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."

Percy blinked in surprise, "There's a court for dead people?"

Annabeth gave him a look as though he were stupid for not knowing. "Yeah." She said in an obvious tone, "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 needs 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 go to the Asphodel Fields."

"And do what?"

Grover gave him a glance, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever."

"Harsh," Percy shivered at the thought.

The satyr's face fell flat and his eyes stared off into something behind Percy. "Not as harsh as that," Grover muttered quietly, not wanting to be heard by the sight. "Look." A couple of black-robbed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. "He's that preacher who made the news, remember?" Grover explained.

Percy's eyes flashed with recognition. "Oh, yeah, What're they doing to him?" He asked in curiosity.

"Special punishment from hades probably." Colette guessed from beside him. "Sometimes when people arrive and they've been really, really bad in their lives they catch hades attention as soon as they come. Most times the fu-kindly ones set up an eternal torture for them." Percy shivered at the mention of the furies, of old ms. Dodds expression as Percy had arrived.

"But if he's a preacher," Percy began with a confound frown, "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. You're very stubborn-er, persistent, that way."

As they continued to advance towards the gate, the howling was so loud now it shook the ground below their feet. It was rumbling and vibrating as it reverberated through the murky atmosphere. Then, about fifty feet in front of them, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadow-covered creature. At first, it gleamed with translucency like the spirits passing by, only it's teeth and eyes seemed to be solid.

It was Cerberus.

"It's a Rottweiler." Was the only response that was managed at the sight of the large dog. A Rottweiler with three triple heads, all narrowed specifically upon them. He was taller then all of them combined and he glowered at them with a dark, hungry-for-flesh sneer. The dead walked right up to him-no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.

"I'm starting to see him better," muttered Percy, swallowing thickly in what Colette could only assume to be fear. "Why is that?"

"I think ..." Annabeth moistened her lips, taking a slow step back. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead." The dog's middle head craned toward them as it sniffed the air and growled.

"Cerberus can smell the living." Colette stated surely, "he knows we're alive. it's his job to prevent the living from getting too deep into the underworld."

Grover was trembling as he spoke, his heels knocking together anxiously, "But that's okay because we have a plan." He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Right," Annabeth nodded yet her voice had never sounded so small. "A plan." And with that, they moved toward the monster. The middle head snarled at them, then barked so loud it almost forced them a foot in the air.

He was growling and from the look on Colette and Grover's faces, Percy could only assume that whatever he was saying between snarls was not something to be optimistic about. "Can you understand it?"

Colette shook faintly, "he, Percy. What he's saying. And I don't think you're gonna wanna hear it."

"What's he saying?"

Grover spared his best friend a look of anxiousness and fear, his eyes wide and his mouth downturned. "I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."

Percy reached into his bag, pulling out a bedpost that he had broken off Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model. He held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts toward Cerberus-Alpo commercials, cute little puppies, fire hydrants. And with a smile like he wasn't about to die, Percy called out, "Hey, Big Fella, I bet they don't play with you much."

Cerberus only growled in response.

"Good boy," Percy's voice was weak. He waved the stick and the dog's middle head followed the movement. The other two heads trained their eyes on him, completely ignoring the spirits. He had Cerberus's undivided attention and Colette wasn't sure that was a good thing. "Fetch!" He threw the stick into the gloom, a good solid throw. And the four listened to the ker-sploosh sound in the River Styx. Cerberus glared at him, unimpressed. His eyes were baleful and cold.

So much for the plan.

"Uh," Grover's voice was aflame with anxiety. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you'd want to know."

"Yeah?"

"Cerberus? He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that... well ... he's hungry."

Turning to Annabeth, Colette let out a yell. "Wait!" She ordered, holding out her palm to Cerberus who blinked at it in response. Annabeth gave her a look of confusion as she reached into the blonde's bag, rummaging around inside. It was a risky plan, and for all colette knew her and her friends would end up as personal chew toys for the large beast, but it was all that Colette could come up with in the moment.

"Five seconds!"

Turning back to the dog, she produced a small red ball marked with the 'Waterland' logo. "Hey, puppy!" She stepped forward, raising her arm as high above her head as she could and marching towards Cerberus. She was scared no doubt, she must've been-Percy stressed. But she refused to show it as she clenched her hand around the ball. "Who's a good boy? Do you want the ball, yeah?"

"What is she doing?" Percy gaped with a hiss, turning to Annabeth and Grover though the two only watched on with mild discomfort and curiosity. "she's dead. she's actually dead." he grumbled, blinking at the brunette girl.

Cerberus blinked down at her, his eyes shining with interest as he looked down at the ball. "Sit!" She demanded and after a moment, he lowered to the floor, whining like a sad little puppy-dog rather than a monster in the underworld. As he sat, he crushed about a dozen lost souls who were passing through and they disintegrated into dust. "Good puppy, yes you are!" Leaning her arm back as far as she could, she threw the ball into the distance and Cerberus was quick to retrieve it.

Something had shifted in the mere few seconds that Colette had encountered Cerberus. Like the flip of a switch. There was something charming, endearing almost, about the look in her bright eyes-though it only seemed to be affecting Cerberus, who tilted hid head at her obediently, and Grover who was sighing dreamily in something akin to a trance. Percy supposed it must've been a skill she achieved simply by being the daughter of Artemis. animals, even satyrs and three-headed dogs, couldn't help but fall docile to the praise and atmosphere emitting from the daughter of the hunt. her presence was a comfort, a soothing company that tamed creatures big and small.

Eager to please, Cerberus quickly chased after the ball and picked it up with his slobbering jaw, hurrying back and dropping at her feet. "Good boy, Cerberus!" She was smiling, fucking smiling at some three-headed monster like she did to the little poodle. He made a scarily loud whimper, sitting back down and watching as she picked it up despite the monster slobber all over it. Over her shoulder, she looked at the trio. "Go now. EZ DEATH line-it's faster."

Percy went to reach out to her in protest but she was quick to move away, "But-"

"Don't make me tell you again, Jackson.'" She gave him a stern look and spoke in a harsher tone than she was using to speak to the dog. With reluctance, Annabeth and Percy moved to pass the beast, tugging grover along with them (the satyr still gaping at the daughter of artemis).

When Cerberus began to growl, Colette moved the hall further away. "Cerberus, Stay!" Her tone was harsher now and she raised her eyebrows as though daring him to challenge her. "If you want the ball Cerberus, stay!" Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"What about you?" Asked Percy as he passed, walking slower behind Annabeth and Grover who quickly darted past the animal.

She only gave him a brief glance. "It's okay, Perce. I know what I'm doing, I think." She was trying to reassure herself rather than him. Once they passed, she raised the ball again. "Okay, puppy. You ready? Fetch!" She reeled her arm as far back as she could, throwing it with all her strength across the dark area of land. Whilst distracted, she slipped under it's enlarged body and quickly met with the trio.

The monster's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest. As she caught up to them, Percy was staring at her amazed. Like a fish out of water with his mouth agape and his eyes flashing with impressiveness. "Don't start drooling again, Jackie." She pushed him away, rubbing Grover and Annabeth's arm in a show of affection as they moved to walk before a whine interrupted.

The four were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus whimpered pitifully from all three mouths. Colette stopped in sympathy, turning to face the dog, which had done a one-eighty to look at them. Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet.

"Good boy," Colette gave him a sullen smile, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain as she took a step further away. The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried she was going to leave him. "We can come back and bring you another ball soon," she promised faintly. "Would you like that?" The monster whimpered. "Good boy. We'll come visit you soon. I-I promise." She was gazing at it with a sadness Percy wasn't used to. "Let's go."

The four departed and pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!" Cerberus started to bark as they burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld. A few minutes later, they were forced to hide, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Grover took a sharp intake of the polluted air and murmured, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"

"That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?"

"No," Grover shook his messy curls feverishly. "We've learned that your plans really, really suck!"

Colette wasn't sure about that. She thought maybe Annabeth, Percy and herself had all had the right idea. Even here in the Underworld, everybody-even monsters-needed a little attention once in a while.

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( authors note : )

triple update cause i felt silly
i hate when authors take away big character
moments but to me it makes a whole lot of sense
for colette to be the one to interact with cerberus
rather than annabeth, because animals are
right up colette's alley SO IT JUST MADE ME
SENSE TO ME IDK. anyway i'll probably
post the last 2 chapters of act 1 within the next day
but for now please enjoy the 3 published chapters !!