𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍

❛ her reassurance clouded
      everyone's        judgment ❜

                         𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋, 𝕬urora pursed her glossy lips as she stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard. Like the others, she was looking up at the gold letters etched in black marble: 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.

                         Percy turned to his friends. "Okay. You remember the plan."

                         "The plan," Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan."

                         Annabeth said, "What happens if the plan doesn't work?"

                          "Don't think negative."

                         Annabeth nodded, "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative."

                         "Thinking negative or not," Aurora sighed. "I'd feel better if we have a backup plan."

                         This made Percy turn and look at her, "Okay," he nodded. "We'll stick with my plan, then if something goes wrong we'll go with your backup plan. Better?"

                         Aurora smiled sweetly at the boy, "Much better."

                         Percy took the pearls out of his pocket, the four milky spheres the Nereid had given him in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong.

                         Aurora saw the turmoil in his eyes. He was thinking about what she had said about having a backup plan, because in all honesty their likely to survive would drastically improve with a backup plan, but realizing just how much the frown has deemed, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Percy. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine."

                         Annabeth was quick to read the room and agree, "Everything'll be fine," she assured. "There's nothing to worry about."

                         Annabeth gave Grover a nudge already seeing the effect the words had on Percy, "Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem."

                         Percy looked at the three and felt really grateful. However, his gaze lingered a little longer on Aurora's.

                         Percy slipped the pearls back in his pocket,"Let's whup some Underworld butt."

                         They walked inside the DOA lobby. Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew 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 for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Out of the corner of Aurora's eye, she could see them all just fine, but if she focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking . . . transparent.

                         It caused goosebumps to arise, all over her body.

                         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 military style. He wore tortoise shell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

                         Percy read the name tag, then looked at him in bewilderment, "Your name is Chiron?"

                         He leaned across the desk his smile was sweet and cold, like a python's, right before it eats you. Aurora shivered at the thought of the snake.

                         "What a precious young lad," He had a strange accent—British, maybe, but also as if he had learned 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."

                         "Charon."

                         "Amazing! Now: Mr. Charon."

                         Aurora scoffed and shook her head while turning her head towards her best friend, "For Aphrodite's sake, Make it stop"

                         Annabeth only shook her head in amusement.

                         "Mr. Charon," Percy said.

                         "Well done," He sat back. "I hate being confused with that old horseman. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"

                         Percy looked at Aurora for support who then looked at Annabeth for support.

                         "We want to go the Underworld," Annabeth said.

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

                         "It is?" she asked.

                         "Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon, 'He looked them over. "How did you die, then?"

                         Percy nudged Aurora, "Um," she said. "We fell down the stairs"

                         "All four of you?" Charon asked.

"Had to bring them all down with me," she paused and shrugged, "For moral support."

                         Charon looked mildly impressed, "I like that attitude, lady. 'All of us or none'," he suddenly sighed. "But 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 . .  . alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

                         "Oh, but we have coins," With ease, Percy set three golden drachmas on the counter, part of the stash he'd found in Crusty's office desk.

                         "Well, now . . . " Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in . . ." His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

                         They were so close. Aurora could practically sense victory deep in her bones until Charon looked at Percy. That cold stare directed towards Percy made her stiffen in fear.

                         "Here now," he said. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"

                         "No," Percy said. "I'm dead."

                         Charon leaned forward and took a sniff, "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a godling."

                         "We have to get to the Underworld," Percy insisted.

                         Charon made a growling sound deep in his throat. 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.

                         "Leave while you can," Charon told them. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."

                         Aurora herself began to grow agitated. She and her friends had gone through too much to merely turn around and leave, too much was at stake to do so.

                         He started to go for the coins, but Percy snatched them back, "No service, no tip."

                         Aurora nodded proudly at Percy's actions.

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

                         "It's a shame, too," Percy sighed. "We had more to offer."

                         He held up the entire bag from Crusty's stash. Percy took out a fistful of drachmas and let the coins spill through his fingers. Charon's growl changed into something more like a lion's purr.

                         "Do you think I can be bought, godling?" A couple landed on the floor baiting him some more."Eh . . . just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"

                         "A lot," Percy said. "I bet Hades doesn't pay you well enough for such hard work."

                         "Oh, you don't know the half of it. 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?"

                         "You deserve better," Percy agreed. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay."

                         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, lad, you're making some sense now. Just a little."

                         Percy stacked another few coins, "I could mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades."

                         He sighed, "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off.

                         He stood, scooped up their money, and said, "Come along."

                         They pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at their clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things you couldn't make out. Aurora tried to shake off all of the hands trying to reach out at her but a harsh tug caused her to stumble into Annabeth who was quick to shove the spirit . . . a little too roughly.

                         Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders."

                         "Tell me about it," Aurora dusted herself off with the help of her best friend and gave her her thanks.

                         Annabeth's stormy grey eyes brightened, "That's what I'm here for."

                         They escorted the group 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 the group 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 must have taken their silence as response because before Aurora knew it, he shut the doors, put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel, and they began to descend.

                         "What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.

                         "Nothing," Charon said.

                         "For how long?"

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

                         "Oh," she said. "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."

                         Aurora's interest peaked, "Do you usually travel to Elysium?" She suddenly asked.

                         Charon raised his eyebrow again, "Not in the past few years. No living person is a saint. The longer you live, the longer you'll see it with your own eyes."

                         Aurora furrowed her eyebrows but nonetheless shut her mouth.

                         "Elysium?" Annabeth whispered to her friend. "Why ask about Elysium?"

                         Aurora glanced to Charon and noticed him not paying them any mind, "Chiron said something to me before we left, about Elysium. I just haven't figured it out yet."

                         "Well, Elysium is in the underworld right?" Percy questioned eyes flickering between the two girls in front of them. "What better way to find answers than finding them here."

                         "It's not that easy, Percy." Grover chimed in. "So many souls try but fail to sneak in the gates of Elysium, it's said to have a guardian at its gates and damning anyone who isn't worthy to a fate worse than death."

"What can be worse than death?" The oblivious boy questioned.

Aurora shrugged, "Now that we're in the Underworld, I guess we'll find out."

Aurora got a sudden dizzy feeling along with the others in the group. They weren't going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around them started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into gray hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying. When Aurora looked back at Charon his creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoise shell 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.

His makeover was Aphrodite approved, if the theme was 'on my way to meet hades and proud'

The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting you see straight through to his skull. The floor kept swaying. Aurora felt Annabeth grab her arm.

Grover said, "I think I'm getting seasick."

Aurora took her eyes off of the elevator to glance to her friend but when she looked back at the elevator, it wasn't an elevator anymore. They were standing in a wooden barge. Charon was poling them across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things—plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so . . ."

"Polluted," Charon said. "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."

"Sadly, it's nothing new," Aurora stated.

"With everything I've laid my eyes on here," Charon said. "I would not be surprised."

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above them, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison. Anxiety made its way into Aurora's mind, clouding her once calm thoughts but she felt it . . . The bile rise of panic etching it's way to torment her.

A hand landed on her own, and when she looked up she locked eyes with Annabeth's. Her best friend had a tight grip on her hand, and Aurora knew why. She wanted reassurance that somebody else was alive on the boat.

The shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched in land about a hundred yards to the base of a highstone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones—the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

The bottom of their boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm.

The image sent a tremor down Aurora's spine. She always imagined growing old, to an age where she'd hold years of wisdom behind her eyes. Where the world grew smaller than instead of the ragged gargantuan image she held now. Call her naive but she craved it. Longed for it.

Charon said, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise."

He counted their 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. They followed the spirits up a well-worn path.

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.

Aurora was looking for Cerberus, the three-headed dog who was supposed to guard Hades's door. It's howls were heard everywhere. She wanted to make sure there was to surprises on the highway to hell.

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?" Percy asked Aurora who was next to him.

"That line," she pointed to the fast one. "Has to go straight to Asphodel Fields," she shrugged. "No contest. Easy line ahead. The court won't be there to judge them so it's considered the easy option."

"There's a court for dead people?"

"Yeah," She nodded. "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 Elysian," Aurora thought deeply on the area. "That's a part of Elysium. Other times they they punish people," she crossed her arms as she looked at the spirits around them. "However, if a life doesn't fall between good or bad they go to the Asphodel Fields."

"And do what?"

Grover said, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever."

"Harsh," Percy said.

"Not as harsh as that," Grover muttered. "Look."

A couple of black-robbed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.

"He's that preacher who made the news, remember?" Grover asked.

"Oh, yeah."

Aurora's eyebrows knit together, not recognizing the man at all, "What did he do?"

Percy never took his eyes of the male. "He was this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd raised millions of dollars for orphanages and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion, like gold-plated toilet seats, and an indoor putt-putt golf course. He'd died in a police chase when his car went off a cliff."

Annabeth shook her head, "Wow"

Percy said, "What're they doing to him?"

"Special punishment from Hades," Grover guessed. "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur—the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him."

"But if he's a preacher," Percy said, "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."

They got closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground their feet. Then, about fifty feet in front of them , the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster. Aurora now understood why she hadn't seen it before. It was half transparent, like the dead. Until it moved, it blended with whatever was behind it. Only its eyes and teeth looked solid. And it was staring straight at them.

"He's a Rottweiler." Percy said with his jaw slack.

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," Percy muttered. "Why is that?"

"I think . . ." Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

Aurora crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm so sad, I missed the opportunity to drowned Percy."

"Why?"

"You got us into this mess!"

Suddenly, The dog's middle head craned toward them. It sniffed the air and growled.

"It can smell the living," Percy said.

"But that's okay," Grover said, trembling next to them. "Because we have a plan."

"Right," Annabeth said. Her voice smaller than before "A plan."

Aurora bit her lip, "Come on, guys. Snap out of it! We'll be fine as lon-" A howl echoed throughout the undead walls. "Maybe our best option is death. I'll accept it," she noosed.

They moved toward the monster. The middle head snarled at them, then barked so loud their eyeballs rattled.

"Can you understand it?" Percy asked Grover.

"Oh yeah," Grover responded. "I can understand it."

"What's it saying?"

"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."

Percy took the big stick out of his backpack—a bedpost he'd broken off Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model. He held it up, and tried to smile, like he wasn't about to die. It came out more as a grimace.

It was quite a pathetic sight, really.

"Hey, Big Fella," Percy called up. "I bet they don't play with you much."

GROWWWLLLL!

"Good boy," Percy said weakly. He waved the stick. The dog's middle head followed the movement. The other two heads trained their eyes on him, completely ignoring the spirits. Percy had Cerberus's undivided attention.

"Fetch!" Percy threw the stick into the gloom, a good solid throw.

Cerberus glared at Percy, unimpressed. The glare was so terrifying Aurora shivered. His eyes were baleful and cold.

So much for that plan.

Cerberus was now making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats.

"Um," Grover said. "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."

Aurora clenched her fist in fear, "Pick one or two, ocean eyes." Aurora stated in a hurry.

"Um, why?"

"That's how many backup plans brainiac and I have. Pick one or two."

"Two?"

Aurora and Annabeth sent each other a look and Annabeth began to rifle through her pack.

"Five seconds," Grover said. "Do we run now?"

Aurora began to search with Annabeth, "Brainiac, for the love of the gods please hurry it up"

Luckily, Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. Just as they planned Annabeth raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus.

She shouted, "See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"

Cerberus looked as stunned as the boys were. All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Aurora joined in while using a bit of charmspeak.

Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. Aurora winced at the thought. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires.

Annabeth said, "Good boy!"

She threw Cerberus the ball. He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it!" Aurora ordered while pointing at the ground. Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at her. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at the girls feet.

"Good boy," This time Aurora picked up the ball, ignoring the monster spit all over it. She turned toward Percy and Grover. "Go now. EZ DEATH line—it's faster."

Percy said, "But—"

"We'll be fine, ocean eyes. Go!" She stated gently.

Grover and Percy inched forward warily, but Cerberus started to growl.

"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!" Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"What about you guys?" Percy asked the girls as they passed them. Aurora glanced at her best friend with the ball still in her hands.

"I know what I'm doing, Percy," Annabeth muttered. "At least, I'm pretty sure . . ."

Grover and Percy walked between the monster's legs. When Annabeth saw that they made it through she gave Aurora thumbs up.

Aurora said, "Good dog!"

She held up the tattered red ball, she knew that if she rewarded Cerberus, there'd be nothing left for another trick. She threw the ball anyway. The monster's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest.

While the monster was distracted, Annabeth took a hold of her friends hand and walked briskly under its belly and joined the boys at the metal detector.

"How did you come up with that?" He asked.

Aurora shrugged, "I brought up the idea. Annabeth did the rest."

"How did you do that?" Percy turned to Annabeth, amazed.

"Obedience school," Annabeth said breathlessly, and Aurora frowned seeing tears in her eyes. "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman . . ."

"Never mind that," Grover said, tugging at Percy's shirt. "Come on!"

They were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths. Annabeth stopped. She turned 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," Annabeth said, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain. The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried about her.

"I'll bring you another ball soon," Annabeth promised faintly. "Would you like that?"

The monster whimpered. That little noise indicated all the girls needed to know. The poor monster was upset that they were leaving. It made Aurora's eyes tear up, but she blinked them away.

"Good dog. I'll come visit you soon. I—I promise." Annabeth turned to them. "Let's go."

Grover and Percy pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights,"Unauthorized possessions! Magicdetected!"

Cerberus started to bark. They burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld. A few minutes later, they were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Grover murmured, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"

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

Aurora scoffed.

"No," Grover told Percy. "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"

Aurora shrugged, "Percy, had the right idea Grover. Annabeth and I just made it better."

Aurora pretended not to see Annabeth wipe a tear from her cheek as she listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend.

She took a hold of her hand, "I'll come back with you. We'll give him another ball," she gave her a reassuring smile. "Together, Yeah?"

Annabeth nodded, "I'd like that. Thanks, Rory"

What would you like to see Aurora doing in the future?

:)

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