The New Faces

Chapter 25

Payton's POV LA,

We got to LA maybe a day after the dream. We didn't talk about it we just walked on and on. I think we walked that entire next day then we just couldn't keep going. We caught a bus that was heading to LA so we got some rest. I didn't want to fall asleep again I was terrified I would go back to where the little girl was. She was just so terrifying and seemed very powerful.

Nico says something that brings me out of my thoughts. I didn't catch it so I say, "What?"

"I said we are here." Nico rolls his eyes and stand up. We head to the front of the bus and get off. No one disturbs us. When we get off however I see something I really had wished I would never see again, the smoke man.

He hadn't changed one bit; he still had black sleeked hair, almost translucent white skin, red eyes, fangs, a pin stripped suit, and a fedora. Under one arm he has a newspaper and that just seems to make him look strange, holding something so common. Nico doesn't seem to take notice of the monster just across the street from us; we walk down the side of empty sidewalk towards the center of town where all the shops are.

We walk over to a store that's sign says, "DOA Recording Studios" the inside looks all gray and empty. There looks to be one person there, a man behind the counter. He has chocolate-colored skin and bleached blond hair shaved military style. His suit matches his hair and looks to be made of silk; he also wears turtle shell sunglasses even though it seems to be dark in the room. I hadn't noticed but Nico had already walked in. When I enter I see some people waiting in black leather seats. I only see them however if I'm looking at them from the corner of my eye. Nico walks straight up to the man and says, "Hello again, Charon. How's it going?"

The man rolls his eyes and sighs, "What do you want Nico?" His British accent makes the man seem funnier by the minute.

"My friend and I need to go down to see my dad. Will you take us?" The man holds his forehead and sighs again, "If you will leave me alone for three months and for two drachmas yes, I will take you."

"Deal," Nico shakes the man's hand and comes over to me. "OK, so we leave, uh, when we leavin'?"

"Now," replies Charon.

"OK, yeah now. So don't freak out." Nico tells me.

"Freak out over what? What's a Drachma? Who is your dad, and where are we going?"

"I'll explain on the boat ride, OK?" I shake my head but let Charon lead us to a door. Behind the door is a dark dirt tunnel. After a few minutes of walking down it we reach the bank of a green river, what's strange is that there are diplomas, birth certificates, trophies and a lot of other things that people have over the course of a lifetime. Charon leads us down to a boat and says, "Get in." Charon steers from the back of the boat with a paddle; Nico and I sit in the middle.

"So where are we going?" I ask Nico again.

"We're going to my dad's house," Nico explains.

"OK, what is with this water? Is it like toxic or something?"

"No, it's the river Styx."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"OK, fine this is the river Styx, this is Charon, and he takes the dead souls down this river to be judged for their life. My dad is Hades, the god of the underworld, that's where we are. We are going to go see him because I need to ask him something important about your sister. Is that enough information?" Nico says angrily.

I don't say anything for a minute then nod. Nico sighs and sits back on the bench. I hear Charon laugh and I turn to face him, "What's so funny?" I ask him kind of annoyed.

"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking of how cute of a couple you two make." At this I feel my face turn into a tomato. I turn back around and see that Nico's normal pale face is just as red as mine, if not more.

We all remain in silence until we pull up on the bank of the Styx. There is a large three-headed dog, the left head growls at us, the right head is watching the long lines of souls and the middle one is sniffing Nico.

Nico pats the dog's heads and says, "Good boy Cerberus. Good boy." The dog, Cerberus, barks and runs around in a circle, probably causing an earth quake in LA. Nico takes my hand and leads me towards the lines. The lines are going incredibly slow but the souls move out-of-the-way for Nico and I. Nico flashes something at the skeleton in the booth and he motions for us to continue. We walk maybe thirty feet out and then a carriage drawn by skeleton horses comes up. Nico motions for me to go in and I do. Nico sits in the seat beside me and says to the driver, "Hades' castle."

The carriage rocks forward and Nico turns to me, "I have to warn you my dad really doesn't like your dad. So he isn't going to like you. Don't say that you are a child of Zeus, if he asks say that you haven't been claimed. OK?" I nod and Nico sighs.

"I have a question, you act like you are the prince of this place, are you?"

"Well, I guess so technically. I'm not Persephone's son though so I can't get the throne ever. I have to be the son of the two of them to do that."

"Oh," I say.

"You think you're the only one with a weird back story?—Most demigods do, yours just a bit weirder."

I smile glad to know I'm not the only with a weird story. The carriage pulls to a stop in front of a black and bronze castle. Nico hops out and holds out his hand, "Thank you Mister" I say in a bad British accent. Nico laughs and say, "Of course ma lady." We laugh and the carriage pulls away.

In front of us stood a ten foot tall, bronze gate with pictures of death inscribed on the front.

"Home sweet home," Nico says with a grin.

He opens the gates and I see that there is a garden of jewels and pomegranate trees. I begin to reach for one but Nico grabs my wrist. "No, don't do that. It's not for people to eat." I take my hand away and walk behind Nico for the rest of the walk. When we reach the front doors we pass two soldiers; one in civil war cloths and musket in hand and only skeletal remains; the one on the other side is in modern-day military wear and has a rifle across his chest, but is also a skeleton. Nico pulls me inside and we are in a sort of throne room.

Two thrones are in the center of the room, one made of sculls and other bones and one made of flowers. Sitting in the skull throne is a man in black robes and had tortured faces going across it wherever it moved. He had messy black hair and deep brown eyes. His pale skin looks much like milk to me honestly and he doesn't smile when he sees Nico, if anything he cringes, but when he sees me he sits upright and says in a booming voice, "WHO ARE YOU!" Most would take it as a question but the way he said it made it come out as more of a command. I stand up straight and come out from behind Nico.

"I am Payton Jill Geneva, Lord Hades."

Hades looks me over and says, "Whose kid are you? And don't give me the usual, 'I don't know I haven't been claimed' stuff, because I can tell that you were so who is it?"

I swallow, "I'm a daughter of Zeus."

At this the god of death eye's widen. "OH, really, figures he would break the oath three times. I mean first Thalia and Jason and now you? That guy just can't stay in his pants."

I look over at Nico and he shrugs, "Lord Hades, what oath and who are Jason and Thalia?"

"Oh, yes the oath that was to say that Poseidon, Zeus and I wouldn't have any children for the rest of eternity after WW2, but Poseidon has broken that promise and Zeus has broken it also. Thalia is a daughter of Zeus and hunter of Artemis, her baby brother Jason is a son of Jupiter. You are younger than both of them so I would have to figure that you are new."

"But haven't you also? I mean with Nico?"

"No, because he has been around since before WW2," Hades says proudly.

I look at Nico and decide he couldn't be older than 14. I look at Hades quizzically and am about to ask how that is possible but Nico says, "I'll explain later, OK?" I nod and we turn back to Hades.

"So what did you want?" Hades asks Nico.

"We need to know who this man is." Nico explains handing Hades a photo that I hadn't seen before.

Hades takes the photo and smiles, "Yes this is one of my helpers."

"Then why is he chasing us down, and trying to kill us?" Nico asks.

"Well, how should I know?" Hades asks a bit exasperated.

"Can we sleep here tonight if nothing else?" Nico asks also a bit exasperated.

"Fine what ever."

"Thanks dad." Nico calls over his shoulder.

"Thank you Lord Hades," I say bowing my head and then chasing after Nico. I still see Hades smile though. I smile that I made him a bit happy and then stop. I have completely lost Nico and I'm in a four-way split, I don't even know where I started from.

I wander aimlessly for what seems like hours and I run, literally run, into an elegant woman. She has black wavy hair, dark loving eyes, and a blue flowing dress she reminded me of what I thought models looked like as a kid.

"Hello," She says, her voice is soft and calming, I hadn't realized how panicked I had been.

"Hi," I say shyly.

"Who are you?" she asks bending down to my eyesight.

"Payton," I say still feeling shy next to this woman.

"Oh, that's a very pretty name. Are you a child of Zeus?"

I nod and her smile widens. "So am I, my name is Persephone."

I smile and ask, "You don't look like you are older than WW2 so did Zeus break his oath with you too?"

She shakes her head and says, "Looks can be deceiving Payton, remember that. Did you come here with Nico?" I nod again and she smiles, "I thought so, did you get lost?" I nod and look at my feet. She takes my hand and says, "OK, well there is one easy way to find out where Nico is." I want to ask where but before I can the room changes into a black room with a large bed, desk, wardrobe, and Nico. I look around and Persephone clears her throat. Nico sits up and is about to say something rude but is stopped by the sight in front of him.

"Uh," Is all he manages to get out?

"Hello again Nico, you know it's very rude to leave a guest searching the castle. Instead of me she could have met Ms. O'Leary or something else."

"Persephone, I didn't ditch her I-"

Persephone stops him with a wave of her hand, "I don't want to know Nico, now you two get washed up and be ready for dinner at five o'clock, got it?" Nico nods and Persephone gives me another smile, "Keep him on track ok?" I nod and she disappears again.

"So…" I say kind of awkwardly.

"Well, you met Persephone that's I guess good." Nico says.

I nod and look down at my camp Jupiter shirt. It's in tatters, same as my jeans and sneakers. I see a mirror and check my reflection. My hair is a tangled mess and I'm filthy. I sigh and turn to Nico; he seems perfectly fine, clean even. I narrow my eyes and ask, "How are you so clean?"

"Well, I..." I shake my head, "You can change where you are like Persephone, when you disappear you come here. Don't you?"

"Um…"

I shake my head and walk over to a door that opens into a bathroom. I go in and shut the door. After about twenty minutes of getting my skin back to a pink color and hair black instead of brown I decide that it's good enough. I look around and notice some spare cloths; a black t-shirt, clean jeans, and a pair of black leather boots. I smile and put them on. The pants and boots fit perfectly, weird, I thought to myself.

When I stepped out again Nico is standing there waiting for me.

"What?" I ask his mouth is hanging open like I'm sort of new desert.

"Uh….um….." He says dumbly.

"Uh, Um, yeah good job using your words buddy."

Nico shakes his head and asks, "Is that my shirt?"

I look down at the shirt and realize that it's about three sizes to big for me, "Maybe." I say to the bewildered boy.

"Give it back it's mine!" Nico says childishly.

"No," I say laughing and start for the door.

"Where are you going?" He asks me.

"I don't know maybe take a look around."

"But,"

"But what Nico," I say with a grin, "Are you chicken?"

"No," Nico says quietly.

"That's what I thought now come on!" I motion for him to follow me.

"I want my shirt back!" Nico calls after me.

"You coming or not," I call over my shoulder. I hear running foot falls behind me and I smile.

So maybe a love interest? What you guys think? Also please review I don't know if you like it if you don't review! Thanks and if you have any ideas about what should be happening on the GA front, or what Nico and Payton will be doing after they leave Hades' they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!

~lilmonkey13