Disclaimer: I do not own Devil may Cry or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I only own the OC Damian Redgrave.

As the group sat in the cab, they silently chatted to one another since they didn't want the cab driver too over hear, despite the fact that he might not believe a word that they said. Percy had tried to tell them about a dream he had, but due to being in the Lotus Casino. he found that trying to remember the dream was becoming difficult and sketchy. Although he did tell them that he heard a deep sounding voice and could hear a servant saying 'my lord'. Though Percy was not sure.

"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."

But Percy shook his head. "That wasn't it either."

"That throne room sounds like Hades." Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."

Percy shook his head. "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit... I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice."

"Then... shit." Damian paled, having an idea who it is but he really hopes it isn't.

"You have an idea who it is?" Annabeth asked.

Damian nodded. "Yeah... and I really hope I'm wrong. Percy, you said it didn't sound like a god, right?"

Percy nodded. "I can't really explain it but after being in the presence of Mr. D and Ares, although they are both strong in their own right and their voices sounded strong and had this aura of confidence in it, the other voice just sounded evil. So evil and bitter, it even sounded older if that makes any sense."

"That's what I was afraid of." Damian whispered but Annabeth heard him.

"What do you mean? Afraid of what?" She asked.

"You said you found yourself staring above a pit, a pit that covered in nothing but darkness right?" Damian asked, getting another nod from Percy. "I know who it was then."

"Who?" Annabeth asked impatiently.

"Think, Annabeth, who is much older than the gods themselves, and is trapped in the darkest pits of Tartarus? Someone who has been wanting nothing revenge since his downfall." Damian said, giving her big hints. "The one being older than the Olympians."

Annabeth frowned as her mind raced to connect the dots. Damian knew she made the connection when her eyes widened and she went as pale as a ghost.

"You don't mean... him?" She asked in a terrified whisper. Grover caught onto her meaning and his eyes went wide.

Damian nodded. "I have no other suspect. But to sound that evil, that bitter, and feel that older than the gods... it has to be him."

"But that's impossible! He's dead." Annabeth said.

"Then he's spent all this time reforming." Damian said darkly. If he was reforming, coming back, then this just got a whole lot worse. Damian could think of no other being that wanted the gods' destruction.

"Who are you talking about?" Percy asked, confused. Everyone remained silent. They knew you don't say his name out loud. Even Damian knew better than to speak the name.

"The Crooked One, Percy. The father of the original six Olympians." Damian said, getting shivers at the most common nickname for the King of the Titans himself. "Your grandfather."

Percy frowned before his eyes widened. "You don't mean Kro-"

"Let's not talk about it, Percy." Annabeth said before Percy could say that name. "it-It has to be Hades."

Damian said nothing. He knew who it was.

Wasteland rolled by. They passed a sign that said CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.

"The answer is in the Underworld," Annabeth assured them. "You saw spirits of the dead, right? There's only one place that could have them. We're doing the right thing."

She tried to boost the morale by suggesting clever strategies for getting into the Land of the Dead, but the team wasn't really into it. Not with the suspected thought of the Crooked One reforming and being behind this whole thing.

At sunset, the taxi dropped them at the beach in Santa Monica. The place smelled a bit foul. There were carnival rides lining the Pier, palm trees lining the sidewalks, homeless guys sleeping in sand dunes, and surfer dudes waiting for the perfect wave.

Grover, Annabeth, Damian and Percy walked down to the edge of the surf.

"What now?" Annabeth asked.

The Pacific was turning gold in the setting sun. Percy was reminded of Montauk as he stared at the sea opposite of the one he was so used to. How could there be a god who could control all that? What did his science teacher use to say – two-thirds of the earth's surface was covered in water? How could he be the son of someone that powerful?

"Well, since it was Percy that was asked for, it should be him that goes." Damian said as Percy took a few steps in front of them.

"In the water." Percy mumbled as he looked at the ocean in front of him and felt a sense of relief hit him. Almost as if he felt at home looking at the ocean in front of him. He turned around and looked at his friends. "I'll try to make the meeting quick since we have a pretty short deadline. I'll be back soon." He said before he took off into the water.

As he walked in, Damian and the others watched him as he walked through the ocean before eventually Percy was completely submerged and disappeared from the sight.

"Now we wait." Damian said as he sat down and made himself comfortable on the sand. Annabeth and Grover all did the same as Annabeth dug her feet into the warm sand, getting a calm happy look appear on her face.

"So what do you think Lord Poseidon summoned Percy for?" Grover asked them as he tried to make himself comfortable. No doubt he was struggling since he still had to wear his fake legs.

"Your guess is as good as ours, G-man." Damian said as Annabeth shrugged.

Grover nodded before hesitating. "Damian... you don't think that what Percy described is really-"

"it has to be." Damian said. "There is no other being that evil with so much hate and bitterness at the gods than Kronos himself."

The named caused Grover and Annabeth to shiver uncomfortably. "But... Kronos was destroyed." Annabeth said. "He was sliced into pieces with his own scythe."

"And sealed in a sarcophagus I believe." Damian nodded. "But I doubt that would top even the Titan Lord himself. All he needed was many years and patience to reform and begin his revenge. This is too much of a coincidence, Kronos' possible reforming and Zeus' lighting bolt being stolen? Kronos has to be behind this... but we have no proof of it for now. Perhaps Hades knows, he runs the Underworld after all."

It was silent for several minutes as the group waited for Percy. Eventually, Damian sighed and stood and stretched.

After ten minutes there was still nothing so Damian stood up, alerting the others. "I'm going to get something to eat. I think I saw a Starbucks, a few minutes walk from here. I'll be back in about ten minutes." He said getting a nod from the others.

"Don't take too long." They said, as Damian walked away.

Once he was off the beach, he headed towards the Starbucks, that he could see just a little ways off in the distance.

It only took him a few minutes to get there, but saw it was a little busy so he got in line and waited like the others.

He stood there for about five minutes before he noticed that the line was not making any attempt to move at all. He poked his head just out of the line to see what was happening and what was taking so long but frowned a little when he did.

Standing at the front of the line was a woman in a grey work suit with a mobile pressed against her ear. She had sandy blonde hair that was tied into a bun and had brown eyes. The employee in front of her had a look on annoyance as he tried to talk to her but she kept putting her hand up in front of him stopping the employee form speaking. It was very rude and very disrespectful.

"Miss could you please just-"

"Wait one more moment." She said, causing everyone in the line to grumble and continue with her conversation on the phone. "Yes, sir, I understand." she muttered as she placed a hand on her hip.

"Jane,, just make an order so we can go already. Dad's waiting at the carnival for us and I won't miss my time with him." An annoyed voice called out, which got Damian's attention.

He stuck his head out to the other side of the line and saw a young girl about ten or eleven wearing faded blue jeans with a purple top with a light beige jacket over the top. Damian had to admit she was a very pretty girl for her age.

She had a dark skin tone that may native Americans had and had brown hair that was a little choppy and uneven on each side but had thin braids that decorated the side of her face. It was a very odd hair style but Damian liked it. It was very unique and original in his opinion. However it was her eyes that caught his attention. Her eyes varied from colour. Her eyes started at green, then to blue, then to brown. It was like a Kaleidoscope.

"Yes yes in a moment." the woman known as Jane said, which caused the girl to grumble at the older woman.

"Enough of this shit." Damian muttered before he walked right up to the woman. "Oi, lady!"

The woman turned only to have her phone snatched. Damian pressed the hang up button and flipped it shut.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Give me my phone back, little boy." She said angrily but stopped when she saw the dark look Damian was giving her and took a little step back along with everyone else.

"The next time you want to answer a phone... take it somewhere fucking private." Damian spat. "Can't you see you were holding up a line? get your damn order and get lost, these people have things to do than be forced to wait because some idiot decides a phone call is important. So get your shit, and I'll give you the phone, then you can, and I say this with respect... fuck off."

Jane looked like she was about to argue back but she looked around and saw the other customers glaring at her while the young girl had a smug look on her face. No doubt she liked seeing this woman being put in her place.

Jane turned around and faced the employee who had a smirk on his face as she gave him her order.

"People these days." Damian muttered. "Love to see Aunt Trish or Aunt Lady handle this."

"That was awesome." Damian looked to see the girl was looking at him in awe. "I've never seen anyone stand up to her like that. About time someone put her in her place. You made my time."

Damian smirked. "Anytime. Got sick of her so I figured 'Meh, let's move this along.' We all hate people that hold up the line. Name's Damian."

She shook his hand. "Piper."

"Cool name." Damian hummed.

Piper grinned. "Yours is cool as well. Should I expect you to be the Devil's son?"

Damian blinked before laughing. His name was most common with the Anti-Christ, the Devil's son, so he understood the reference and the joke.

"Careful, I may come for your soul." Damian said jokingly with a wink, making Piper giggle. Damian then nodded at Jane. "Tell me she isn't your mom, because then I'd ask your dad if my mom can adopt you."

Piper giggled before shaking her head. "No, she's not my mom. She's just my dad's assistant but I get stuck with her enough times. I don't have a mom." She said a little bitterly, getting a raised eyebrow from Damian. "I never met her. She took off when I was born and left my dad to raise me."

Damian blinked, that sounded very familiar.

Was this girl a demigod?

"Sorry to hear that." Damian said. "I overheard you saying your dad was waiting for you at the carnival?"

A big smile appeared on Piper's face. No doubt she thought the girl was a bit of a daddy's girl if it was any indication. "Yeah, he's there right now and I would be too, if miss annoying over there would hurry up." She said looking over at Jane and scowling. "I don't see him a lot so time with him is pretty precious."

"Ahh I see. He works away a lot, I'm guessing." Damian stated. Piper nodded her head.

"He works in the movie business so he is away a lot of the time and I don't see him as much as I would like. When I do I try to make the most of it."

Damian hummed. He was about to chat with her more when Jane arrived, now having gotten her order. She extended her hand for her phone.

"Here you go." Damian gave it to her. "Next time, pay attention... or you'll find me standing there like the Devil coming for your soul."

Jane scowled while Piper giggled at the joke. "Come on Piper. We don't want to keep your father waiting." she said, causing Piper to go red faced.

"We wouldn't have to of kept him waiting if you would have just hurried up." She said racing after the older woman before she turned around and faced Damian.

"It was nice to meet you, Damian." She said giving a small wave before she ran out the door and disappeared.

'Sweet kid.' Damian thought. 'Maybe I'll see her again. Meh, in a word this big and with my life... doubt it.'

"My dad was not there, just a messenger." Percy said once he came out of the water and showed the group four pearls. "She said these will come in handy later on in the quest and that eventually everything returns to the sea. Whatever that meant."

"Bit cryptic, but at least he helped." Damian said as a small smile appeared on Percy's face.

"There will be a price. Just you wait." Annabeth said, getting a look form the others.

"Well aren't you cheery today?" Damian said sarcastically, getting a huff from the blonde girl.

"So where to next?" Grover asked as Percy dug into his pocket again and brought out an old return slip.

"I swiped this from Medusa's lair." He said, handing it to Annabeth so they could get a good look at it. "It says D.O.A Recording studios and that Medusa has been doing business with Hades. I figured it would come in handy."

They all looked at him, all with one thing on their mind. "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" They asked causing Percy to blush red a little.

"I kind of... forgot." he said rubbing the back of the neck as the others groaned a little and Annabeth rolled her eyes. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

The group didn't stay their long before they managed to locate a bus and left the Santa Monica pier behind them. They showed the address to the driver before they were on their way.

The bus driver looked at Damian and Percy a little suspiciously, claiming he remembers them from somewhere. Luckily Percy told him they were both stunt doubles. The cab driver seemed to have bought it and didn't bother them again.

Soon enough they found their stop before they began to walk the rest of the way. They had to duck in alleyways so that none of the cop cars recognised Percy or Damian. They didn't know whether word about the two apparently kidnapping Sally has gotten around to L.A yet but they dared not find out.

However, as they passed an appliance store, they had to stop and stare when they saw Gabe on the TV being interviewed. He had fake tars going down his cheek, telling the reporters how much he wanted his dear wife back and for Damian and Percy to get the help they needed.

He even went as far as saying Damian was an orphan and therefore was not raised properly.

Yep, Damian's gonna kick Gabe to hell and back, then send what's left to his mother and sisters.

"I am so kicking his ass when we get back to New York." Damian muttered and Percy nodded.

"Get in line."

They left the store window just as the sun began to set. When it did they all noticed the more shady characters of L.A were beginning to appear.

They walked past gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers, who looked at them like they were trying to figure if they were worth the trouble of mugging.

As they hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said. "Hey, you." A gang of kids had circled around the group who tensed at the site. Well almost everyone.

Damian was lazily looking at a poster on the wall.

There were six of them in all—white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces. Like the kids at Yancy Academy; rich brats playing at being bad boys.

"You know this is our area. If you want to pas you have to pay a toll." the leader of the group said with a grin.

"We don't have time for this shit." Damian muttered before he looked at his friends. "Run."

With that, he tackled the leader to the floor, causing the rest of the gang to start piling on but Damian fought back as Percy, Annabeth and Grover ran for it into the nearest open store.

Damian kneed a thug in the stomach then sent him into the wall before ducking a punch from another thug and elbowed him in the face, possibly breaking his nose. The leader charged at Damian who sidestepped him, grabbed him, kneed him in the ribs then slammed him face-first into the wall.

Damian then turned to the rest of the gang. "Wanna go?"

They bolted like their lives depended on it.

"That's what I thought." Damian nodded before he stepped over the knocked out thugs and walked towards the store he saw his friends run into. He looked to the name and saw it said. CRUSTYS WATER BED PALACE.

"Since when in the hell were water bed stores a thing?" Damian asked with a shake of his head before entering. As soon as he did, he found himself staring at one of the most peculiar scenes he had ever witnessed.

There was Percy standing next to some guy wearing a leisure suit. He was at least seven feet tall and had no hair what so ever on his head. He had a very creepy looking smile on his face and very think lidded eyes. He saw Percy look at him and gave him a look that said 'stay out of this and give me a moment.'

While Percy chatted away to the man, he saw Annabeth and Grover had been tied to two separate beds and were looking at the man hatefully while their arms and legs were being stretched.

Seriously, what in the name of Hades himself has Damian just walked into?

'I think I'll need therapy after all this.' Damian thought, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'll be with you in a minute, young man!" The store owner called to him over his shoulder.

"Oh please, take your time." Damian said sarcastically but it flew over the owner's head. He then heard grunting to his right and looked to see two new people that had also been tied down onto the water beds. They were both girls and both looked to be about fourteen years old and they were both wearing silver jackets and dark pants. They both had their hair tied in a long braid and were both glaring hatefully at the man.

"You Bastard! I will kick your ass, you stupid man!"

"When I get out of here, you will be sorry." The other shouted but the man just ignored them.

Damian frowned, concerned. "You two okay?"

Both girls turned their heads and had a look of anger on both of them until they saw Damian. Their faces went from anger to disbelief.

"I-It's you. W-What are you doing here?" the first girl said stuttering a little bit. The other just stared at Damian.

"Have we met?" Damian asked as he untied the girls restrained to free them before hearing a yelp and saw the man Percy was speaking with now on one of the beds getting stretched, while Annabeth and Grover were now free.

"Where the heck were you?" Annabeth huffed with annoyance as she stormed up to Damian.

"Busy dealing with annoying thugs." Damian said. "Left three of them knocked out, the rest ran off like a bunch of cowards. Who's the asshole that was trying to turn you into real-life Stretch Armstrong?"

"Thats Procrustes or "The Stretcher" in other terms. He was the giant who'd tried to kill Theseus with excess hospitality on his way to Athens." Annabeth said as Naruto nodded before pointing to the two girls.

"Who are they? They seem to know me." Damian said. Annabeth looked over and her eyes widened.

"Damian..." She grabbed his arm. "Those are two of the Hunters of Artemis."

Damian's eyes widened at that and he snapped his gaze to the two girls in question, who were whispering to one another. "You girls know my mom?"

They stopped talking and looked at him. "Yes. We happily serve Lady Artemis." One girl said before she walked up to Damian and looked him up and down. "So, you are her son, huh? You don't look like much."

Damian snorted. "Funny, coming from the girl that got caught by Stretch man over there. You can't exactly talk."

The girl got angry at this but the second girl spoke up. "Phoebe, that's enough. We did promise that if we ran into him we'd try to be nice." She smiled at Damian. "Sorry, it's just... we don't exactly have the best past with boys."

"No problem." Damian shook his head. "Guess I've... been quite the talk, huh?"

"Understatement." The girl snorted. "Everyone's been talking about you since you were claimed. I'm Elizabeth by the way."

"Well, nice to meet two of my sisters then." Damian said, surprising the two.

"You... think of us are your sisters?" Phoebe asked as she and Elizabeth shared a surprise look.

"Well, I mean... my mom considers all her hunters her daughters, right? And I'm her son, so that basically makes you girls my sisters." Damian said. "I know my arrival and claiming caused a stir with you all, I know most of you probably think I'm replacing you all but that's far from the truth. I know you girls don't have that big an opinion on guys, but I do want to know my big sisters."

Both girls just looked at him as if trying to figure out if there was any hidden agenda to what he was saying but saw there was not one. They could tell by his eyes that he was being very sincere and genuinely meant what he said.

"We'll have to see." Elizabeth said with a small smile. "But... it's nice to know you think of us as family already despite not meeting us or having a first impression."

"So, how did you two get caught by that asshole?" Damian jerked a thumb at Crusty man.

"Our lady sent us to take care of Procrustes. He has been acting up lately and we were sent to deal with him. However we foolishly fell for one of his tricks and ended up tied down to those beds for the last two days."

"Ouch, that sucks." He said getting nods from the two. "I don't suppose my mom is around here, is she?" He asked getting weary glances from the two before they shook their heads.

"Your mother is somewhere in the Colorado Rockies at the moment with the other hunters." Phoebe said.

"Oh never mind." He said, a little sadly before the two groups fell into a bit of an awkward silence.

"Well we should get going." Annabeth said. "We still need to get to the Underworld."

"And we need to dispose of Procrustes." Elizabeth said, getting a grin from Phoebe as she unsheathed a pair of daggers.

"Come on, it's time for us to go." Annabeth said as she began leading Percy and Grover out with Damian slowly falling behind home. He took one last look to the two hunters who were walking towards Procrustes.

"Tell my mom I look forward to seeing her. And tell the other hunters I look forward to getting to know my sisters." He said.

"Will do!" Elizabeth said and watched him leave before looking at Phoebe. "That was... something."

"I did not expect him to think of us as his sisters." Phoebe said. "But it felt... nice to be called that."

Elizabeth smirked. "Wait until we tell the others that we met our little brother first."

The two Hunters then turned their attention to Procrustes and walked towards him, their daggers in hand.

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

Underneath, stencilled 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. All he needed was a donut.

Percy turned to the group. "Okay. You remember the plan."

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

"What happens if the plan doesn't work?" Annabeth asked, worry in her tone.

"Don't think negative," Percy suggested.

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

Percy took his own set of pearls out of his pocket. The rest were with Damian. They didn't seem like much of a backup plan in case something went wrong.

Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Percy. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine."

She gave Grover a nudge.

"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mum. No problem."

Damian patted his shoulder, grinning while doing so. "We got this, buddy. Just make sure you close your mouth and we'll be fine."

He looked at all three of them, and felt really grateful. Only a few moments before, two of them nearly got stretched to death on deluxe water beds, and now they were trying to be brave for his sake, trying to make him feel better.

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

Damian stopped the group right there by laughing, clutching his stomach.

"What is it, now?" Percy asked indignantly.

"T-that's your i-inspiring speech?" Damian asked while still laughing.

"Yeah. What about it?"

Damian stopped laughing, shaking his head. "Okay. Watch, buddy. This is how you do it. Huddle up, people." The group did so, heads crammed together. "Now, we are about to enter the Underworld, the Land of the Dead, to confront Hades, the God of the Underworld. And all we have are our wits, our skills, and our guts. The situation may seem dire, but together, we can succeed! We can be victorious! We can conquer! So say it with me!" Here Damian broke the group huddle and stood in front of the door, foot raised up. "So join me, brothers and sister-in-arms! This may be madness, but nay... THIS IS SPARTA!"

Damian kicked the door, making it snap open, almost breaking it off its hinges. After that 'inspiring' speech, Damian stepped forward, leaving the group behind him.

The others watched him, befuddled. And then they burst into laughter at the whole thing, breaking the tense atmosphere.

"W-well," Grover said, still chuckling. "At least he knows how to make an entrance."

"That he does," Annabeth said, giggling.

Percy himself laughed. And Damian said that he should be careful of what he did. He was glad that his brother was here with him.

The group joined Damian in the DOA lobby.

Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and the 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 now staring at the group, after Damian's bizarre entrance. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Wow, they really got the 'dead humour' theme right.

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

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-coloured skin and bleached-blonde 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.

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

Damian facepalmed. "Not even five seconds," he muttered to himself.

The man leaned across the desk. You couldn't see anything in his glasses except your 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, though it sounded like English was his 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."

"Mr. Charon," Percy said with more certainty.

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

His question caught Percy off-guard. He immediately turned to Damian for help.

Damian mentally sighed as he began his plan. "We would like to go to the Underworld, please," he said with a pleasant smile on his face.

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

"It is?" Annabeth 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 Grover.

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

"All of you?" he asked skeptically.

"Well they did, but now I was a different story." Damian said, thinking of having a little fun with this. "You see, I was on a nice little walk when a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way home. On my walk, I saw an old lady who needed help with her bags. so being the gentlemen, I thought I would help. Once that was done, I ran to a young girl and we started to dance for ten minutes. After that, I got so lost on the path of life, so I didn't see the bus coming towards me."

All four just looked at him in amazement. Even Charon was a little awestruck.

"Kid, I don't know whether that was a lie or not, but wow just wow." Charon said before looking at them all. "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 t 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." Percy set three golden drachmas on the counter, which was part of the stash they'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.

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

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

"You're about to be," Damian said, glaring at Percy.

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 forgot I saw you."

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

"No service, no tip," Percy said, trying to sound brave.

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 said this while holding up the entire bag from Crusty's stash. He took a fistful of drachmas and let the coins spill through his fingers.

His growl changed into something more like a lion's purr. "Do you think I can be bought, godling? Eh… just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"

"A lot," Percy said, a smirk coming to his face. "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," the boy agreed. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay."

With each word, he 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 four and be off."

He stood up, scooping up the money, and said, "Come along."

As they pushed through the crowd, the spirits started grabbing at the group's clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things you couldn't make out. 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.

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

"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."

"We plan to live, thank you very much," Damian said with narrowed eyes.

"Ha."

Damian suddenly felt a bit dizzy when they stopped going down, but moved forward. The air turned misty. The spirits around them started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into grey hooded robes. The floor of the elevator started swaying.

It was then 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. The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting you see straight through to his skull.

The floor kept swaying.

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

The elevator wasn't an elevator anymore. They were standing in a wooden barge.

Charon was now 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. To Damian, it was the worst river that he'd ever looked at, and he'd seen the East River on it's worst day.

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

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything you come across – hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management if you ask me."

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 colour of poison.

Charon looked at them and let a creepy smile from on his face at the others looked at his completed black and lifeless looking eyes.

"Well children here we are, welcome to the Underworld..."

And now... we are in the Underworld.