Updated: 19/1/2022

Chapter 19: Need To Reconsider My Security

They now have another quick toilet break and a snack before they all sit around again.

"So you're really going to the Underworld now?" Leo asks Percy, Annabeth and Grover.

"You'll just have to see", Percy teases.

"Hades won't like that", Poseidon states worried, "Hades if you do anything to my son, I'll…"

"Dad why don't you wait until we read till you make judgement on my favourite Uncle?" Percy asks him.

"Favourite Uncle?" Hades asks with a raised eyebrow as Zeus frowns.

"Yes", Percy states simply.

"Why would he be your favourite?" Zeus asks annoyed.
"Because he doesn't threaten to kill me every time we meet", Percy retorts.

"Point to Perce", Nico mutters as he and Thalia snicker.

"Who wants to read now?" Hestia interrupts before a fight could break out.

"I'll go", Hephaestus says with a sigh.

He takes the book from Grover and turns to the right page.

Chapter 18: Annabeth Does Obedience School.

Many were confused by the title. Just like the others before it.

"What does that mean?" Persephone asks.

"It makes her sound like a dog going to obedience school", Hermes points out.

"Dog yes. Me no", Annabeth mutters.

We stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at the gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.

"You actually found it", Leila states amazed.

Underneath, stencilled on the glass doors: NO SOLICTORS. NO LOITTERING. NO LIVING.

"Well, that is a nice welcome", Leo snickers.

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.

"Good luck getting past him. I would like to see you guys do it", Nico comments, "As Charon is very prickly and annoying"

I turned to my friends, "Okay. You remember the plan"

"You have a plan?" Meg asks curiously.

"Of course", Percy replies.

"Was it your plan or Annabeth's?" Meg asks.

They decide not to comment on that.

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

"That sounds promising", Hera states.

Annabeth says, "What happens of the plan doesn't work?"

"Don't think negative"

"Right", she says, "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative"

"Good point", Frank states.

I took the pearls out of my pocket, the three milky spheres the Nereid had given me in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong.
Annabeth put her hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry, Percy. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine"

She gave Grover a nudge.

"Oh, right!" he chimes in, "We got this far. We'll find the Master Bolt and save your Mum. No problem"

"Like it will be that easy", Artemis scoffs.

"As Hades is not exactly approachable", Demeter says with a snort.

"What was that?" Hades asks glaring at his Sister/Mother-in-Law.

"Dear not now", Persephone hisses at him.

Hephaestus quickly starts reading again.

I looked at them both, and felt really grateful. Only a few minutes before, I'd almost got them stretched to death on deluxe waterbeds, and now they were trying to be brave for my sake, trying to make me feel better.

"That's what friends do", Annabeth tells Percy kissing his cheek.

"I now. And I'll do that same for you", Percy replies kissing her back.

"I know and you have done", Annabeth replies.

I slipped the pearls back in my pocket, "Let's whup some Underworld butt"

Hades scoffs, "Like that is going to happen"

We walked inside the DOA lobby.

Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel grey. 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.

"Well, that is depressing", Piper mutters.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them all just fine, but if I focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking . . . transparent. I could see right through their bodies.

"Creepy", Katie shudders.

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so we had to look up at him.

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-coloured skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit

"Those damn Italian suits", Hades grumbles.

that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

I read the name tag, then looked at him in bewilderment.

"Your name is Chiron?"

Laughter bursts from around the room as Percy grumbles.

"Really?" Thalia laughs.

"I beat Charon really liked that", Nico laughs, "Maybe if he continues to annoy me I'll start calling him that too"

"I bet Charon loved that", Travis and Conner chuckle.

"Make sure when we get back to tell the real Chiron about this", Chris tells them.

"Do you have too?" Percy asks the sons of Hermes.
"Yes!" they exclaim together.

He leaned across the desk. I couldn't see anything in his glasses except my own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a python's, right before it eats you.

"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 adds smoothly.

"Sir", I say.

He pinched the name tag and ran his fingers 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"

"Mr Charon", I say.

"Well done", he sat back, "I hate being confused with that old horse-man.

"I wonder how many times he has gotten confused with Chiron", Leo muses.

"Probably too many to count", Calypso replies.

And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"

His question caught in my stomach like a fastball. I looked at Annabeth for support.

"Don't freeze son", Poseidon states worried.

"We want to go the Underworld", she says.

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

"How is that refreshing?" Pollux asks confused.

"It is?" she asks.

"Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr Charon'", he looks us over, "How did you die, then?"

"This better be a hell of an excuse to get past him", Ares states.
"So it better be a great lie", Hermes states.

"Oh, it was", Percy replies sarcastically remembering what he said.

Oh, this was going to be humiliating.

I nudged Grover.

"Oh", he says, "Um . . . drowned . . . in the bathtub"

Laughs come from around the room. Poseidon and Athena facepalm at the horrible excuse.

Grover was blushing.
"A son of Poseidon drowning?" Ares booms, "Now I have heard everything!"

"He can't really believe that can he?" Hades asks hoping that Charon didn't actually buy it.

Otherwise he might need to reconsider his security.

"All there of you?" Charon asks.

We nodded.

"Big bathtub", Charon looks mildly impress, "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"

"How is that fair? They are just innocent children!" Piper asks looking outraged.

"It is not", Nico states grimly.

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

"Do you make it a habit on going through monsters draws?" Zeus asks curious.

Percy shrugs, "They won't need it normally after I am done with them"

"I like you, Percy! I think you have the makings of a good thief…", Hermes states.
"Absolutely not! Hermes don't corrupt my son!" Poseidon booms.

"He is already corrupted", Nico snickers getting a high five from Thalia.

"Like you two are much better", Percy retorts.

"Charon HAS to be suspicious about that", Hades states.

"Well, now . . .", Charon moistened his lips, "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in . . . "

"He can't not be suspicious about that", Hades states looking worried about his security.

His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

We were so close.

Then Charon looked at me. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hole through my chest, "Here, now", he says, "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"

"No", I say, "I'm dead"

Hermes and Apollo snicker.

"Oh, I like the sass on your kid Uncle P", Apollo chuckles.

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

Hades seemed relieved.

"So, you don't get into the Underworld and my security is fine", he says.

Percy, Annabeth and Grover look at each other.
Should they tell him?

"We have to get to the Underworld", I insist.

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.

"Watches work in the Underworld?" Will asks amazed.

"You would be surprised wants works in the Underworld", Nico replies to his boyfriend.

"Leave while you can", Charon tells us, "I'll just take these and forget I saw you:

He started to go for the coins, but I snatched them back.

"Ohhh he is not going to like that", Persephone comments.

"He didn't", Grover mutters.

"No service, no tip", I try to sound braver than I felt.

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

"It's a shame, too", I sigh, "We had more to offer"

I held up the entire bag from Crusty's stash. I took out a fistful of drachmas and let the coins spill through my fingers.

"No. No he didn't accept that", Hades says trying not to believe his Ferryman would accept a bribe.

But who was he kidding? Charon would accept anything for those Italian suits of his.

"I think Uncle H is going to have a nervous breakdown by the end of this chapter", Percy mutters to Annabeth.
"I believe your right", Annabeth agrees.

"Who wants to bet he ups security after this?" Percy asks quietly.

"I am a child of Athena. So I am not taking that bet"

Charon's growl changed into something more like a lion's purr, "Do you think I can be bought, godling?

"Yes", the trio mutter.

Eh . . . just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"

"You have him hooked!" Reyna exclaims.

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

"WHAT?" Hades booms.
"Ahh please Hephaestus continue before Hades kills me", Percy begs.

"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.

"You haven't given him a pay rise in that long?" Hazel asks her Father.
"Not like he deserves one. After this stunt", Hades growls.

Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"

"You deserve better", I agree, "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay"

"If you make him hassle me anymore Jackson that Zeus won't be the only one threatening you", Hades growls.

"Don't you start Hades or I'll…", Poseidon starts.
"Hephaestus continue", Hestia says quickly.

With each word, I 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"

"If you let him in Charon. I'll DESTROY ALL your Italian suits and their shoes!" Hades shouts.

"It is not like he can hear you Dad", Nico points out.

"Or that this has happened yet", Hazel adds.

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

"WHAT!? DON'T YOU DARE!"

'Brilliant. Another Uncle after me', Percy thinks to himself.

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

He stood, scooped up our money, and says, "Come along"

"Brother are your security measures really so lax?" Poseidon asks innocently.
"Or are your employees so easier bought?" Zeus asks looking just as innocent as Poseidon.

Hades just gives BOTH his brothers the stink eye.

We pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at our clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things I couldn't make out. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders"

"So nice of you", Katie grumbles.

He escorted us into the elevator, which was already crowed with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby,

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone", he announces 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?"
"Who wants to bet someone was game enough?" Conner whispers to the others.
"Not even going to comment on that", Frank states shaking his head.

He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and we started to descend.

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

"Nothing", Charon says.

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous"

"And I don't think that is too often", Clarisse comments.
"No it isn't", Hades replies.

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

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

"So cheerful", Leila says sarcastically.

"We'll get out alive", I say.

"Good at least you are positive", Apollo says with approval.

"Or stupid", Artemis corrects.

"Or both", Athena mutters.

"Ha"

I got a sudden dizzy feeling. We weren't going down any more, but forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around me started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into grey hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying.

I blinked hard. When I opened my eyes, 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.

"What a lovely picture you paint for us Percy", Thalia says sarcastically.

"You're welcome"

He saw me looking, and says, "Well?"

"Nothing", I manage.

I thought he was grinning, but that wasn't it. The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting me see straight through his skull.

The floor kept swaying.

Grover says, "I think I'm getting seasick"

"Please don't throw up in the elevator or his barge or Charon might throw you into the Styx", Nico warns, "And don't throw up in the waters or Lady Styx might just curse you"

"Good to know", many mutter.

When I blinked again, the elevator wasn't an elevator any more. We were standing in a wooden barge. Charon was poling us across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish and other, stranger things – plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with glit edges.

"What is that?" Will asks curiously.
"That is the River Styx", Nico tells him.

"Doesn't sound like a good river", Leo comments as thunder booms.

Nico winces, "I think Lady Styx heard you. I would probably be expecting some bad luck to come to you now"

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

"Polluted", Charon says, "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"

"Like we can help that", Clarisse grumbles.

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the colour of poison.

Panic closed up my throat. What was I doing here? These people around me . . . they were dead.

"Wimp", Ares and Clarisse snort.

"Like you would be much better Clarisse", Annabeth retorts.

"I would be!"

Annabeth grabs hold of my hand. Under normal circumstances, this would've embarrassed me, but I understood how she felt. She wanted reassurance that somebody else was alive on this boat.

I found myself muttering a prayer, though I wasn't quite sure who I was praying to. Down here, only one God mattered , and he was the one I had come to confront.

The shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about fifty metres to the base of a high stone 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.

"That sounds get", Gwen mutters.

"I wonder what that is", Meg muses.
"Something that they won't be able to get past", Hades replies confidently.

Percy, Annabeth and Grover looked uncomfortable.

Should they burst Hades's bubble he was living in?

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

The bottom of our 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 nobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than I was, shuffling silently along in his grey robes.

Charon says, "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 out 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 rover.
We followed the spirits up a well-worn path.

"How are you going to get to Hade's palace now?" Reyna asks curiously.
"You will just have to wait", Percy replies.

"It is not that hard", Annabeth mutters.

"For us", Nico whispers back having been to the Underworld multiple times.

I'm not sure what I was expecting – Pearly Gates, or a big black portcullis, or something. But the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

Many snort at that.

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 mounted with security cameras. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

"I bet Charon would love to be compared to them", Nico chuckles.

"There is no way past them", Hades replies confidently.
"What to bet?" Percy mutters.
"What was that?" Hades asks sharply.
"Nothing", Percy replies quickly.

The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but I 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.

Poseidon and Athena tense wondering how their children gotten through Hades's Gates.

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?" I ask Annabeth.

"The fast line must go straight to Asphodel", she says.

Hazel shudders at that. Frank wraps an arm wound her in comfort.

"No contest. They don't want to risk judgement from the court, because it might go against them"

"There's a court for dead people?"

"Stupid boy", Artemis mutters.

"Yeah. 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 spiecal, good or bad. So they go to the Fields of Asphodel"

"And do what?"

Grover says, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kanas. Forever"

"Harsh", I say.

"You don't even want to imagine", Hazel says sadly.

Percy gives her a comforting look, "Don't worry Haze I don't believe your ever going back there"

"I hope so too", Hazel replies.

"Not as harsh as that", Grover mutters, "Look"

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

"How would you know that spirit?" Chris asks curiously.

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

"Oh so nobody important", Meg says with relief.

"Oh, yeah", I did remember now. We'd seen him on TV a couple of times at Yancy Academy dorm. 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,

"Ewww", Aphrodite exclaims.

"How dare he spend money for those children on that", Hestia mutters.

and an indoor putt-putt gold course. He'd died in a police chase when his 'Lamborghini for the Lord' went off a cliff.

I say, "What're they doing to him?"
"Spiecal punishment from Hades", Grover guesses, "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fu – the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him"

"Personal tortures are not something you want to get. So you ALL better behave yourselves", Hades warns them.

The thought of the Furies made me shudder. I realized I was in their home territory now.

"Stupid of you to forget", Athena tells him.

"Sue me I had many other things on my mind at that stage", Percy retorts.

Old Mrs Dodds would be licking her lips with anticipation.

"Probably", Nico agrees.

"Hopefully", Zeus mutters.

Poseidon glares at him.

"But if he's a preacher", I say, "and he believes in a different hell . . ."

Grover shrugs, "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. They're very stubborn – er, persistent, that way"

We get closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground at my feet, but I still couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

"You should really be concerned about that Perce", Thalia tells him.

Then, about fifteen metres in front of us, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster.

I hadn't seen it before because 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 me.

"No good", Poseidon states, "Get out of there!"

Ares rubs his hands, "Blood at last!"

"Cerberus won't let them through alive", Hades states proudly.

"Is he forgetting we are here?" Percy whispers to Annabeth.
"Apparently"

My jaw hung open. All I could think to say was, "He's a Rottweiler"

Strained laughter comes from around the room. As a few people were worried about what was going to happen next.

I'd always imagined Cerberus as a big black mastiff. But he was obviously a purebred Rottweiler, except of course that he was twice the size of a woolly mammoth, mostly invisible, and had three heads.

"What do you feed a dog like that?" Leo asks.
"Souls", Hades replies evilly.

The dead walked right up to him – no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTYlines 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", I mutter, "Why is that?"

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

Athena and Poseidon clutch their thrones tightly.

"That is not good", Athena mutters.

The dog's middle head craned towards us. It sniffed the air and growled.

"It can smell the living", I say.

"Of course", Hades says rolling his eyes.

"But that's okay", Grover says, trembling next to me, "Because we have a plan"

"Right", Annabeth says. I'd never heard her voice sound quite so small, "A plan"

We moved towards the monster.

The middle head snarled at us, then barked so loud my eyeballs rattled.

"Can you understand it?" I ask Grover.

"Could you?" Thalia asks curiously looking at Grover.

"Oh yeah", he says, "I can understand it"

"What's it saying?"

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

I took the big stick out of my backpack – a bed post I'd broken off Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model.

"What are you going to do with that?" Persephone asks curious.

Athena's eyes light up. "That can't possible work"

Annabeth just smirks at her Mother.

I held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts towards Cerberus – Alpo commercials, cute little puppies, fire hydrants. I tried to smile like I wasn't about to die.

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

"Why would we play with him?" Hades asks confused.

"Because if you did. What happens next probably wouldn't have happened", Annabeth retorts.

"GROWWWLLLL!"

"Good boy", I say weakly.

I waved the stick. The dog's middle head followed the movement. The other two heads trained their eyes on me, completely ignoring the spirits. I had Cerberus's undivided attention. I wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"Fetch!" I threw the stick into the gloom, a good solid throw. I heard it go ker-sploosh in the River Styx.

Cerberus glared at me, unimpressed. His eyes were baleful and cold.

So much for the plan.

Athena looks confused at Annabeth, but Annabeth doesn't comment.

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

"Good the brats are going to get eaten", Dionysus says.

Many jump not having heard from him for a while.

"Um", Grover says, "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"

"Good eat them!" Dionysus says again, "It would be better for everyone", he adds.

"Dionysus", Athena and Poseidon growl.

"What!" Annabeth says. She started rifling through her pack.

Uh-oh, I thought.

"Five seconds", Grover says, "Do we run now?"

Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labelled: WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. Before I could stop her, she raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus.

"Annabeth the is foolish", Athena tells her.

"Or brave", Calypso states.

"Or both", Pollux mutters.

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

Cerberus looked as stunned as we were.

All three of his head cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Annabeth calls again.

"No. No that can't work", Hades says with denial.

I was sure that any moment she would become the world's largest Milkbone dog biscuit.

But instead, Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat,

Hades jaw drops his vicious guard dog just obeyed someone other then him.

immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tyres.

Annabeth says, "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!" Annabeth orders.

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 Annabeth's feet.

Hades couldn't believe it his Cerberus was reduced to a puppy at the hands of a Demigod and a ball.

Snickers went around the room at Hades face as it was priceless.

His Brothers were really enjoying this.

"Good boy", she picks up the ball, ignoring the monster spit all over it.

She turns toward us, "Go now. EZ DEATH line – it's faster"

I say, "But –"

"Now!" she orders, in the same tone she was using on the dog.

Grover and I inched forward warily.

Cerberus started to growl.

"Stay!" Annabeth orders the monster, "If you want the ball, stay!"

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"Unbelievable", Hermes says with wide eyes.

"How is that possible?" Leila asks.

"What about you?" I ask Annabeth as we pass her.

"I know what I'm doing, Percy", she mutters, "At least, I'm pretty sure . . ."

Grover and I walked between the monster's legs.

Please, Annabeth, I prayed. Don't tell him to sit again.

We made it through. Cerberus wasn't any less scary-looking from the back.

Annabeth says, "Good dog!"

She held up the tattered red ball, and probably came to the same conclusion I did – 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 walked briskly under its belly and joined us at the metal detector.

"How did you do that?" I ask her, amazed.

"Obedience school", she says breathlessly, and I was surprised to see there were tears in her eyes, "When I was little, at my Dad's house, we had a Dobermann . . ."

"Never mind that", Grover says, tugging at my shirt, "Come on!"

"Probably a good idea", Reyna agrees.

"Yeah you shouldn't hang around", Frank agrees.

We were 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 us.

Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet.

"What could it want now?" Katie asks confused.

"Good boy", Annabeth says, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain.

The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried about her.

"Unbelievable", Nico says wide eyed.

"You tamed the legendary Cerberus", Will says with wide eyes.

"That should have been impossible", Piper states.

"Perce is always doing the impossible", Thalia replies smiling at her cousin.

"Thank you for the complement, Cousin", Percy replies.

"Don't let it go to your head", Thalia retorts.

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

The monster whimpered. I didn't need to speak dog to know Cerberus was still waiting for the ball.

"Good dog. I'll come visit soon. I – I promise", Annabeth turns to us, "Let's go"

"Do you keep that promise?" Hera asks curious.

Annabeth and Percy don't answer that.

Grover and I pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights.

"Unauthorized possession! Magic detected!"

Cerberus stated to bark.

We burst through the EZ DEATH gate. Which started even move alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.

A few minutes later, we 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 murmurs, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"

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

"No", Grover tells me, "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"

"Not always!" Percy argues.

"That I HAVE to admit is true", Grover admits.

"Just 99.9% of the time", Thalia teases.

I wasn't sure about that. I thought maybe Annabeth and I had both had the right idea. Even here in the Underworld, everybody – even monsters – needed a little attention once in a while.

I thought about that as we waited for the ghouls to pass.

I 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.

"That is the end of the chapter", Hephaestus announces.

"You…you…", Hades was speechless.

"Yes, we did get through all your security", Percy replies.

"It looked so easy Uncle I wonder if everyone can do that?" Thalia teases.

"You have to admit brother you have let your security lapses", Zeus teases.

Hades grinds his teeth.
"You know if you just played with Cerberus once and a while, he would never have listened to them", Persephone teases her husband.

Hades growls.

"Or if you paid Charon well, he wouldn't have been abled to be bought", Poseidon teases.
"I am going to reconsider my security after this and KILL Charon!" Hades growls as his family continue to tease him.

The Demigods giggle and snicker as the Lord of the Dead was being made fun of by his family.

"I wonder what the others are going to say about the other places we have broken into", Percy whispers.

"Or the fact you broke into the Underworld a second time and bathed in the Styx", Nico whispers.

"When that comes up I am blaming you", Percy whispers back.

"ALRIGHT I WILL HAVE SECURITY INCREASED AS SOON AS THIS HELL IS OVER!" Hades booms finally had enough.

Laughter comes from around the room at Hades losing it.

Many had wondered how long it would take him.

And surprised it had taken this long…

Author's Note: What do you think? Please Review:)