Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan.
We came out into a large waiting room. The floors were a black and gray terrazzo tile and the walls were painted an amberish orange color. There were leather chairs lining the walls and a few coffee tables with gossip magazines on them.
The room was full of people. Well, not really people. Not anymore, at least. These were obviously spirits because they were transparent. Some were reading the magazines, some were smoking cigarettes, and others were just carrying on whole conversations with themselves. Nothing weird about that, right?
Nico and I walk out of the elevator and Charon follows. He goes to stand behind a podium which looked to be made of walnut wood. Lettered on the wall behind Charon was "DOA Recording Studios". I guess that was the cover for the entrance to the Underworld.
"See ya later, Charon." Nico says, walking towards the clear glass doors.
"Thanks for taking care of Cacus, by the way." Charon says.
"What do you mean?" Nico pauses, turning around to face Charon.
"He's been guarding the dock for a couple of months now. I have no idea what he wants but he was scaring away the spirits. I haven't gotten a tip in months because of him." he grumbles.
"Hmm." Nico says, turning away again and pushing through the doors.
I take one last look around the waiting room then follow him out into the summer hotness of Los Angeles, California.
"I just don't understand why Cacus would be guarding that entrance to the Underworld." Nico says, kicking at a pebble.
We were heading into the city, trying to find a shadow. Although, it was broad daylight, I was pretty sure we were going to have to wait a while before we got even ahint of a shadow. Nico had been asking that question ever since we left DOA.
"I don't know." I say, not for the first time.
He groans in frustration, dropping his bag and smacking his head against the side of a building.
"Nico, why don't we go somewhere and grab a bite to eat. We've been out here for at least an hour looking." I say, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"That sounds terrific. Only one problem. We don't have any money." he says, his forehead still against the wall.
"Uh-uh." I say, smiling and pulling out the wad of cash I had taken before leaving the house last night.
"Oh." he says, surprised.
"Come on. Lunch is on me." I say, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the nearest restaurant.
The nearest restaurant had happened to be a Chick Fil A. Which was fine with me and seemed to be okay with Nico. I had gotten the grilled chicken sandwich, no pickles, and Nico had gotten the twelve piece nugget meal and a sandwich as well. I guess a guy has to eat.
He had just finished off his nuggets and was working on inhaling his sandwich. I just watched in amazement as the sandwich disappeared within two minutes. He grabbed his drink and started sucking it down. Meanwhile, I'm still staring at him in wonder. He catches me staring and swallows.
"What?" he asks.
"I've never seen anyone eat that much in such a small amount of time." I say, eyes wide.
He had picked up his drink again and had been about to swallow when I had said that. He started choking and trying not to spew the drink all over me.
I start laughing as well and soon everyone in Chick Fil A was looking at us. They were probably wondering what the hell was wrong with us. I myself had begun to wonder.
"Come on, Nico. Let's go before they kick us out." I say, trying to subside my giggles.
"Okay, okay." he says, rolling his eyes and tossing the remains of our lunch in the garbage can.
He takes his back-pack from me and opens the door. I slide past him and back outside into the heat.
A/N:
Shortish chapter I guess. Why do you guys think Cacus had been guarding the dock? Do you think it had something to do with Callie or it was just him hoping to catch a snack?
I can't remember what exactly DOA looked like in the book, so I just sorta made it up. Who knows, maybe Hades likes to change it up a little every few hundred years.
If any of you guys are wondering, the multi-chapter Thalico songfic is going to take a while. I have some family stuff going on right now in my life and the story is really depressing so I'm having to take my time with it. I started writing it the other day and was pretty much instantly in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Y'know. Those moods where you feel like 'What does it matter to go on living.' and 'I hate my life.' Yea. Pretty much that. So I had to stop writing it and work on something else for a while to get back in my happy place.
I hope you guys had a good weekend and an okay Monday and Tuesday!
XOXO,
Mrs-diAngelo25