The quartet ditched the cab about a mile from the beach in a dirty alleyway. Grover seemed concerned about the potential legal problems of just leaving it there, but Alexa quickly reminded him that the Fury-mobile was likely registered to the underworld. If anyone got the bill for the abandoned vehicle it'd be Hades.
"That's one more thing for him to get mad at us over!" Grover half bleated.
Alexa rolled her eyes and waved the satyr down the sidewalk, quickly joining the crowd headed for the beach. Luna quickly trotted up to them, barking, yapping and wagging her tail. Most of the people around her smiled, a few kids even patted her back, likely seeing her as nothing more than a pit bull with a goofy smile thanks to the Mist. The metal canine sniffed at Alexa's clothes and let out a snort, her way of saying 'Told you so!'
"Don't you start." Alexa warned. The quartet weaved their way through the crowds, Alexa careful to keep Percy somewhere in the middle. Due to the public nature of their quest, apparently Percy was on the FBI's most wanted list. Alexa was pretty sure Jazz would crap a chicken if she had ever managed that feat, but she tried to be optimistic about their chances of turning public opinion around by the end of this.
The beach was located pretty quickly, and after locating a rock and trash strewn section for the others to wait in, Percy began to march into the surf.
Alexa, naturally, sat as far away from the lapping waves as she could, fixing the white crests with a suspicious look. Annabeth sat next to her and watched her for several long moments.
"What's up?" She finally asked.
"I'm…aquaphobic." Alexa finally admitted. "I'm cursed by Percy's dad. I can't go very far into the water. It was bad enough back at the camp's canoe lake, I don't even want to think what'd happen in the actual ocean."
There was silence for a long time, except for the slight crunching sounds of Grover helping himself to one of the seaweed wrapped soda cans. Alexa pondered her fate, and the weakness foisted on her thanks to that long dead Argonaut. She wondered if she helped Percy with this quest, would Poseidon see that debt as repaid? Eventually, Annabeth broke the silence.
"We're going to have to think up a strategy. We may know where we're going but we have no idea how to get there. Any insight?" Annabeth looked up at the elder demigod, who managed a smile.
"I don't know where the entrance is, but getting past the Ferryman is the easy part. We got plenty of drachma for that. The guard dog is going to be the hardest part." Alex's mused.
"Three giant milk bones?" Grover suggested
"I think you're on the right track…we need to distract him somehow." Annabeth agreed.
"Woof!" Luna woofed with a rhythmic thumping of her tail.
"That…might work." Grover said cautiously.
"You can understand her?" Alexa asked with a surprised blink.
"Her accent is a little weird but I get the general concept of what she's saying." Grover explains.
"Well what did she say then?' Annabeth asked with just a twinge of irritation in her voice.
"She suggested that she could play with him." Grover translated. Luna added her agreement to the plan by swiping her tail through the sand.
"Play with him…?" Annabeth asked skeptically.
"Think about it. Dogs are pack animals by nature, and he's been stuck at the gates for who knows how long, the only dogs he can hang out with is himself and the occasional hellhound. I mean he may have an easier time alone than others with three heads to talk to, but that's still a pretty lonely existence." Alexa pointed out, Grover nodding his head next to her.
"Hmmm…it might also be a good idea to bribe him." Annabeth added. Alexa nodded in agreement.
"We'll find a pet store on the way there." Grover muttered. "I'm sure we'll find it long before we find the entrance."
"So…we'll be making a PetStop?" Alexa asked with the biggest of grins. Both of the kids groaned and Annabeth actually brought her palm to her face. Alexa felt a small glow of pride at having reached the age where she could make the young groan at her humor.
"Well that covers the ferry, and the watchdog, what about the king himself?" Alexa asked, serious once more. "Have you given any thoughts on how to deal with him?"
"Just…walk in and confront him…?" Grover ventured in an unsure sounding tone.
"Not much of a plan now that you've said it out loud." Annabeth muttered.
"Well…I really don't think we have any other options." Alexa sighed "None that I can see. Just be polite as possible, and try to reason with him."
They fell into a thoughtful sort of silence until Percy returned, literally popping out of the crest of one of the waves and dropping onto the sand, perfectly dry, like it was the most casual thing in the world. Grover and Annabeth ran up to meet him while Alexa and Luna held back. Alexa gently patted Luna's head, scratching at her ears until the three finally stepped from the surf.
"Poseidon came through." Percy said, holding out a set of four little pearls. "He gave us a way back!"
Although Alexa smiled, she couldn't help but feel an odd sense of trepidation at the sight of those pearls. She couldn't help but feel thankful when Percy put them away in his pocket.
"So what's the plan?" Asked Percy.
"When in doubt, go deeper in." Alexa said with a grin. The quartet and their canine companion turned and marched deeper into San Francisco.
They found a pet store after about two hours of walking, putting a massive red squeaky ball and a box of milk bones. Things were going right to plan…which of course was when the police spotted them.
Annabeth noticed them first, giving Alexa a subtle nudge and pointed them out with a jerk of her head. Alexa looked and swore under her breath. Two policemen were staring them down from their squad car. The one on the left wore thick sunglasses so it was hard to tell who he was looking at, but the other was clearly looking at Percy, with a picture of some sort in his hand.
"Be ready to run." Alexa whispered. "As casually as you can, head for that alleyway."
They had taken three steps towards the trash covered alley Alexa had nodded at when the red and blue lights.
"You four, freeze!" Shouted sunglasses, getting out of his side of the cruiser. That sent them running like rabbits. Down one alley, around the crosswalk, into the crowd, into another alley, they did what they could to get some distance between themselves and the mortal policemen.
But the fourth alley they rushed down opened up onto a dead-end street taken up by a chained up gate topped with the words "Big P's Funzone!" Below which was another sign that read "Closed for repairs" Beyond the gate Alexa could see boarded up stalls for carnival games, deep fried dough and something called 'The Mega Whack'
"Through the gate!" Annabeth huffed.
"How?" Percy gasped.
"Maia!" Grover responded. At first Alexa thought he had lost his mind, but a second later the goat boy leaped high into the air, propelled by a set of winged sneakers. He flew over the gate, landed roughly on the other side and grabbed a board left on the ground in front of the stall offering deep fried yogurt. He rushed to the gate and used the board to pry it open. Annabeth and Percy both rushed in but of course Alexa got stuck.
"Hurry!" Percy shouted, grabbing Alexa's arm and pulling with all he had. Annabeth left the trio to struggle and dove into one of the stalls.
"Annabeth! Help!" Grover bleated "Satyrs don't do well behind bars!"
"I'm trying!" Annabeth shouted back over the sound of sirens growing closer. Annabeth returned holding something in one hand. Before Alexa could ask she smeared it, gooey and cold, on both of Alexa's hips. With one more tug from Percy and scrambling from her, Alexa was free and all four hurried behind a carnival stall. The sirens got louder, for a brief moment causing Alexa's ears to ring, before they finally began to fade. They all breathed a sigh of relief, momentarily broken by Luna popping out of a corn dog stall with a mouth full of sticks which she promptly turned into kindling.
"That was some quick thinking…what was that?" Alexa asked.
"Butter." Annabeth answered, pointing to the fried butter stall. Alexa winced slightly.
"I think I gained five pounds just looking at that." She muttered. "Well…it looks like we're stuck here for a little bit. You guys wanna take a look around?"
The other three agreed and the group began to move through the abandoned carnival. They had been walking down the main thoroughfare, glancing this way and that at the stalls mostly selling things deep fried and/or on a stick.
"I wonder what got this place shut down." Alexa muttered dryly as they passed the deep fried Ramen on a stick stall.
"Health inspector?" Annabeth wagered, wincing at the deep fried chocolate covered roach on a stick stall.
"I bet someone caught salmonella or something." Percy muttered darkly, passing by what Alexa swore said 'Deep Fried PB&J on a Stick!'
"Actually," A new voice said brightly. "A bolt popped off of the roller coaster! Three dead, six injured, it was very sad!"
The voice's owner stepped out from behind a Deep Fried Gravy on a Stick stall and beamed at the four of them. He was tall, broad shouldered and tan. He wore an old fashioned white and red striped shirt, white slacks with suspenders and a flat straw hat on top of his blonde head.
"And you folks must be customers!" He said brightly. "Didn't think I'd see anyone until I reopened but you're eager beavers, aren't ya? I won't tell if you won't!" He said with a laugh and a conspiratorial wink.
He stepped away from the booth, slipped a hammer into his pocket and grabbed Alexa's hand with one hand and Percy's with the other, giving both a hardy shake. "Name's Big P. Pleasure to meet ya!"
"Uhh…hi…" Percy muttered, glancing at Alexa as their hands were dropped and Grover and Alexa's hands were seized. "We didn't really mean to come in here we just sort of-"
"Wandered in? Let me guess, you were either hounded by the wannabes out there or mistaken for one by the cops." The group stayed quiet which seemed enough of an answer to Big P. He chuckled. "Well while the heat dies down out there, how about I show you some of the sights!" As he began to turn, his eyes seemed to linger on Luna.
"Now you might've noticed but Deep Fried Row has the widest selection of culinary delights in the whole state!" Big P began to explain. "My personal favorite is the Meatballs, but that's just me. Up here you can see our ferris wheel and the Merry-go-round."
Peeking around the large man, Alexa could see the two wheels, the Ferris wheel had seen better days, but the Merry-go-round was decorated brightly with all number of animals; horses,
pegasus, unicorns, wolves, bulls, elephants, boars, winged pigs, all looking somewhat distressed to be part of the process. Behind that, looking like the twisted and broken body of a giant snake was the roller coaster, they could all see where the cart had jumped the rails, partway down the third ramp. The carts had passed straight through one of the support beams and caused a collapse of another large section of track. It didn't even look like he had touched the thing since the bodies were moved.
"And here," Big P said with a slight sniffle "Is my pride and joy!" Alexa expected to see him pointing at the busted roller coaster but the big man was actually standing at the end of a small Midway. Framed by the balloon popping and ring tossing games was a strength game with a shiny bell at the top, next to it was a pole of thick dark wood set amongst several perfectly circular patches in earth. He motioned forward with a light wave of the pole.
"Step right up kids! Every game's a winner!" Alarm bells were going off in Alexa's head, but before she could say or do anything the 3 kids trotted forward and Alexa had to stumble forward to keep up. The moment they were inside the little space Big P snapped his fingers.
"Ergo!" The moment he spoke a set of darts shot from the balloon popping game, each one with a thick metal wire attached to the end. They flew into the bottles of the ring toss game, creating a little net in front of their only escape route.
"Sorry kiddos, but it's rare that I get halfbloods coming through anymore! I can't just let you go without at least trying to get something! But I'm a sporting monster, so we can play a little game before I crush your skulls."
It clicked then.
"Periphetes…" Alexa groaned.
"You fought Theseus!" Annabeth echoed.
"That's right!" Chuckled Periphetes. "So here's how it works, if you hit the bell," he motioned up at the bell far above their heads. "You get to walk free! If you don't hit the bell I get to try my luck on your head!"
The quartet glanced at one another. An idea seemed to pass between them all, but Percy seemed the only one able to voice it.
"How about this instead? All or nothing." He said, stepping forward.
"I'm listening" Big P said, his eyes narrowing.
"You give us four chances, one for each of us. If any of us ring the bell we all go free." Percy said.
"And you give us any information we ask for!" Annabeth tacked on.
"And if I win, what do I get? That just sounds better for you." Big P asked.
"Me." Alexa said, stepping forward. "Free labor is much better than fleeting cash. If we lose, you keep me alive and I work for you until the day I die."
Big P looked her up and down in a way that made her feel like she was bathing in garbage.
"Deal!" He said. Percy started to reach for the pole but Alexa's hand whipped out to stop him.
"Swear to it." She growled.
"I swear on the River Styx to uphold our agreement." Periphetes muttered with a grimace.
"Always get a sworn oath for these sorts of things." Alexa whispered to Percy as she dropped her arm. Percy gave her a little nod before stepping forward. He grabbed the pole and hefted it up, bracing it on his shoulder. With a grunt he brought it down on the target. The shuttle flew high, but at the halfway point it began to slow. It completely ran out of momentum two inches below the lowest point of the bell.
"That's one!" Periphetes announced with a smirk.
Annabeth stepped up next, giving the whole thing a dubious look. She glanced first at the side of Big P's head, before glancing down at the target. She gripped the pole and slammed it down with all she had. The shuttle flew…but stopped just shy of where Percy's had.
"Two." Big P announced cheerfully.
"Should've gone for the head." Annabeth muttered as she passed the pole to Grover. The Satyr looked at the problem with a slight frown.
"Maia!" He said again, causing the wings to spring from his shoes. He lifted off into the air and performed a full mid air somersault, swinging the pole down with the extra momentum. The shuttle rose, getting closer than any of them ever had, but if it did touch the bell it was only the barest of brushes before it started to descend.
"That's three!" Big P grinned as Alexa stepped up to take her turn. She examined the problem before her as the monster chuckled. "Any last words to your friends?"
Alexa felt her blood boiling, filling her muscles with heat. She wouldn't realize it until later, but her young friends took a few hasty steps back as the air around her grew hotter. She tightened her grip on the wooden pole and lifted it one handed as if it weighed about as much as a thought. She brought it to shoulder height and wrapped her other hand around the grip.
"Yeah." Alexa said before she took her swing. The shuttle rocketed upwards and half a second later they all heard the resounding CLANG! The shuttle didn't return, as it was stuck in the bell's new crater.
"We win." Alexa announced.