"Mabel!" Dipper yells as Hades allows Travis and Mabel to fall through the ground. I just tried to reason with the god of death, and now two of my friends are probably dead. Just great.
"No, they're not dead. But they will be if you don't hurry up," Haded stomps his foot.
My head begins to ache and I feel the marshmallow coming up. Luke and Dipper are both groaning in pain, but my legs are too numb to move.
When my vision clears, I see a group of scared people staring at us three. They scurry off to a row of at least twenty gates. I look at the floor. Tiles are covering the ground with names of people and a cute symbol of a castle. When I finally look up, Dipper and Luke are also recovering.
"Disneyland. We're here," Dipper comments.
"Okay, now how do we get in?" I question.
Luke grins. "Leave that to me," he smirks before he sneaks into an employee room. He comes out seconds later with three shiny slips.
"Luke, we can't steal," I tell him. "I didn't steal these, I simply borrowed some annual passes. Don't worry, I paid with some drachma," he tries to come up with an excuse. Dipper's panicking about how stealing is bad and doesn't get you anywhere except prison.
Once we squirm through the crowds and finally pass under the train station in the front, I'm lost. People are zooming past us, looking for the nearest ride, restroom, or restaurant. Dipper's been here before, so he leads us down Main Street and to the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey in front of a giant castle.
"If he wants an autograph from Mickey, we better find the character. Then maybe we could check out some rides," Luke suggests. I know, it's a quest so we have to concentrate and focus, but I've also always wanted to go to Disneyland. Maybe check out the castle and the architectural stylings.
It wasn't hard to find Mickey. The hard part was the giant crowd around him. Every time I tried moving forward, an angry mother shoved me back. This was hopeless.
Soon the employee assisting the dude in the Mickey suit said that they had to leave, so I put on my invisibility cap and followed them backstage. Dipper and Luke didn't follow me, but they saw me disappear. They're probably just checking out the map they got at the entrance.
I scan the area: a group of people are sitting around a table. They're wearing half of their suits, but their heads are off. Mickey actually looks pretty good, besides the fact that he's sweating from being zipped up for a long time. Minnie, Goofy, and Daisy are also there. I wonder how I'm gonna get Mickey's signature... this is harder than I thought.
I pull off my hat and walk towards the employees.
"Uh, hi... could you just forge Mickey's signature for me?" I timidly ask. Even being a daughter of Athena, I don't really have a plan to where this is going.
Then I recognize Mickey. It's Mike Bell, from the Hermes cabin. His mom was actually a siren (I don't know how THAT happened) but soon everyone found out and he was made an outcast. Avoided, since his mother was a monster. Luke was always respected from the moment he helped me cross into camp the day Thalia died. He always welcomed new campers, and I loved how he treated everyone equally, even a shy son of a siren. I'm ashamed, I never really talked to people that were lonely. I recall him running away from camp three years ago once Luke left for his quest and no one was there to defend him.
Mike looks at me and raises an eyebrow. "Sorry, you're not supposed to be back here. How did you get past all of the other workers?" He excuses himself from his friends and stands up. Mike gestures me to walk away, and we begin to talk around the corner of a building.
"Mike... I'm Annabeth. You were at Camp Half Blood a few years ago..." I stutter.
He narrows his eyes. "Oh yeah, that wretched place where I was threatened by random people that because my mom was a siren, they would have to kill me," he growls.
"Well, I've always thought that you were lucky to at least befriend Luke. He's outside right now, waiting for me to come out with a signature of Mickey Mouse," I reply.
"Luke... I remember him. He was basically the only one to talk to me. No one wanted to sit next to me, fight me, have anything to do with me. Fine. What's it for?" Wow, I'm surprised he agreed.
"Well, Hades sent Luke, our friend, and me to get an autograph of Mickey to give to his wife," I try to make it sound as realistic as possible.
"Fine, but only if you do me one favor. Shove Clarrise La Rue's head into a pile of horse dung. She did that to me once... I hate her. And as you can see, I don't have any demigod scent which means I don't attract monsters," I nod and hand him a pen and paper. He scribbles out the autograph and hands it to me.
As I turn to leave, I say, "Maybe you could come back with us. People will respect you. I guarantee it."
He shakes his head. "I belong here. Sorry," he returns to his friends.
I put my cap back on and exit through the doors.
I run back over to the statue in front of the castle. But Dipper and Luke aren't there. I look around; no sign of them whatsoever.
I hear people screaming on the giant mountain in front of me (the Matterhorn, I think), I see a marching band playing songs, but I don't see my friends. Where could they possibly be? I place my hand over my knife and run to the place I can tract down Dipper and Luke: the place with proper height and a connection to the gods. The large, beautiful, and magnificently built castle. If Olympus was at Disneyland, the castle would be the Empire State Building. Hades was smart to put his palace under the "happiest place on earth." Personally, New York is home, but California would be a close second.
Wait. I'm getting off track. I head under the archway of the castle and close my eyes. I don't have any drachma, so the best attempt would be praying to Harmonia. Maybe she's in a good mood today... I hope.
