AN 8/21/15: So I have decided that being unable to sleep for hours is where you can get your best, and evilest ideas. I am still up from yesterday, and I will leave you to interpret the second part as you so choose. ;) Sorry this is a bit of a short chapter, but the next one is nearly 6k, so I think it evens out. Have an awesome week!

We stood outside in the shadows made by the street lights of the surrounding buildings on Valencia Boulevard, looking up at the gold letters etched into the black marble: DOA Recording Studios. The building had changed but it still gave off the same feel. It was like a central point that radiated the feeling of the Underworld from the city above, a beacon for the dead to flock to. Stenciled underneath the name on the glass doors were the lines: No Solicitors. No Loitering. No living. It was almost midnight but the lobby was still brightly lit with figures of the dead inside, waiting for their chance to take the ferry down. Behind the security desk was someone I recognized. He still looked like a tough security guard, but with the addition of sunglasses and an earpiece.

"Okay, remember the plan. If I tell you to use those pearls, use them right away. No questions asked." I reminded, giving them each a stern look.

"I still don't get why you won't take a pearl." Percy muttered.

"What happens if the plan doesn't work? What about you? Percy's right." Annabeth asked. I knew she knew why I wouldn't let a pearl be used on me, but she still didn't like the idea of me possibly getting stuck down there and unable to come back with them.

"I don't like that plan very much." Grover said.

"Don't think negative." I insisted.

"Right, don't think negative." Grover said. "We're entering the Land of the Dead and we shouldn't think negative." I saw Percy slip the three milky white spheres the Nereid gave him back in Santa Monica out of his pocket. They would have to work, if not, I had my emergency plan.

Annabeth sighed but put a hand on Percy's shoulder, then mine. "I'm sorry, you're right. We'll make it. It will be fine." She then gave Grover a nudge.

"Oh, right! Sure, we got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem." I smiled at both of them a bit and I saw Percy doing the same. They're good friends. Then I realized with a start that was the first time I actively thought of Annabeth and Grover as friends on this quest. It did have a nice ring to it though. They were forcing down their own fears and trying to be brave. I needed the little boost of confidence. Everything was about to unravel, big time after all I had done to keep it secured. At least if I didn't come back I had the chance of seeing my mom again, and possibly Nick. I felt my expression darken at that thought. The Lotus had thrown a big wrench in that, putting that little insistent speck of doubt in my head.

Percy pushed the pearls back into his pocket. "Let's whup some Underworld butt." He concluded. This was one of those times when you just forced yourself onward and tried not to think of the implications.

We walked inside the DOA lobby. Music was playing softly on hidden speakers and the carpet and walls were still the steel grey they had been. Pencil cacti grew in the corners, resembling skeletal hands to give that extra effect. Well that's new. Some ghosts looked up at me in recognition once we stepped inside the doors. I just shot them a look and kept on walking. Charon was just as I remembered him, just with the addition of the sunglasses and earpiece. His chocolate-colored skin almost like Thanatos's and bleached-blonde hair shaved military style. He wore his new tortoiseshell shades proudly and a silk Italian suit to match his hair with a black rose pinned under his silver name tag.

Before I could say anything Percy spoke up. "Your name is Chiron?" Bewildered.

Charon leaned across the desk, our reflections appearing in his shades. His smile was sweet and cold.

"What a precious young lad." He said with his near British accent. "Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"

"N-no."

"Sir." He added smoothly.

"Sir." Percy repeated.

He pinched his 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."

That was enough of that. I stepped forward and said, "Charon, abbastanza. Siamo qui per vedere Lord Hades. Passiamo, sai chi sono." I switched into Italian to keep the others from knowing what I was saying, but I basically had said that we were here to see Lord Hades and to let us pass as he knew who I was. Charon narrowed his eyes at me. I knew he knew the language too, so he couldn't play dumb.

"Chi sei tu per-ahh, vedo. Molto bene allora, signorina Cooper." He said with a scowl, clearly not happy to have lost the chance to mess with some demigods and a bit of surprise on his face as he recognized me. I knew my friends were probably staring at me, jaws dropped, but I didn't want the boys to understand our conversation. Annabeth probably could pick out some words but I didn't mind that - she already knew who I was. "Do you have coins for passage?" He asked. I pulled out two of our last three drachmas and handed them to him. "That is all we have for now, I will make sure you get the other once we are on the other side."

"Fine." Charon sighed and lead us over to the elevator door. "The boat's already almost full, I guess I would be able to fit you four." He opened the elevator doors to reveal a group of spirits, each holding a green boarding pass. They made room for us as I walked in, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover following. I saw Charon grab two spirits who were trying to sneak on and push them back into the lobby.

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone." He announced to the spirits who were still waiting. "And if any of you mess with the dial on my easy-listening station again, you will be staying for another thousand years. Understand?" There was a bit of chattering in response.

Charon shut the doors and put the key card into the slot in the elevator panel and we started our descent.

"Allison, what was that? Where did you learn that?" Percy asked.

"I don't spend all my free time doing school work." I supplied. In truth that is all my grandparents had spoken so I had to learn it when I was little to talk with them. That was only when I was younger though, as they were gone by the time I was in camp, but I had done some refreshing in this life to be able to still have that bit of my old self. I didn't want to forget any of it.

As we descended Annabeth asked about the spirits in the lobby but I just focused on what to do upon arrival. Soon the elevator changed and we were now on Charon's classic ferry. The air had turned misty and the spirits were changing, now wearing grey hooded robes. The further we got, the better I started to feel, my energy returning. Some of the wear from this quest felt like it was being erased. I might just be able to shadow travel okay with the boost this place gives me. My eyes returned to Charon, who was wearing his traditional long black robe now to match the spirits, his eyes showing their empty, darkness filled sockets.

Grover complained about getting seasick as Charon brought us across the Styx. It was more polluted than the last time I had seen it too, there were more swirling bones, dead fish, and personal items - some of the coinciding with modern day tech. It was kind of sad to think that those were some of the things people's lost dreams and wishes were. Life should be more than just technology. Charon explained to the others about the river as I watched the approaching shore. Mist was curling off the water and the ceiling was filled with stalactites. Some things never change.

The far shore glimmered with its poisonous greenish light. I saw Percy starting to look more visibly agitated, Annabeth looked a little panicked too, so when she grabbed Percy's hand she grabbed mine as well. I squeezed it, comforting her, telling her I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her while I was around. She probably just wanted to know she wasn't alone down here, that I was still here too. I started hearing Percy muttering softly as we went.

As we grew closer to the shoreline, the craggy rocks and volcanic black sand became even more visible, stretching inland about a hundred yards to the base of the Walls of Erebus. I heard Cerberus howl in the distance and I found myself looking at my new ring.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said, smiling to show his grizzled bone-white teeth. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

"Not helping, Charon." I muttered.

The bottom of our boat glided onto the sand and the dead began to make their way toward the gates. A little girl looked back at me as a woman, her mother, led her away. I gave her a reassuring smile. She was so young, I could tell she wouldn't get a bad placement.

"I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here." I pulled out our last drachma from the bottom of my bag and gave it to Charon. "Mind you, it would do you well on your credit to mention a pay raise for me. My job is a hard one." I just sent him a look as he went off singing some Barry Manilow as he brought himself back across the Styx. Three coins would qualify for three people, children of Hades had free passes, so if he thought I owed him he was jumping the gun.

We followed the path up to the gates. This part of the Underworld was remodeled to look like a cross between an airport security station and the Jersey Turnpike. The three separate entrances panned out before us. On the black archway was a sign formally welcoming us to Erebus. Each entrance was fitted with a metal detector and security cameras with the tollbooths manned by more of my father's servants. Cerberus started howling again and I saw him even more clearly than I had on the boat.

The dead were queued up at the lines, the EZ Death line moving much faster than the other two.

"What do you figure?" Percy asked Annabeth.

"The fast line must go straight to the Fields of Asphodel," she speculated. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."

"There's a court for dead people?"

"Yeah, with three judges. The original ones were King Minos," I had to hide my distaste when I said that name. He always seemed like he was up to something, manipulative. "King Rhadamathus, and King Aeacus. Now the judges are people like Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare, the old Kings-people like that. They look at a life and decide their placement. Elysium for the good, punishment for the particularly bad. The people who choose to be reborn and achieve Elysium three times get to Isles of the Blest. Most people kind of just lived though, nothing special. Those people go to Asphodel." I supplied. Annabeth gave me an appraising look, clearly impressed with my knowledge. I don't know what she was expecting, a child of Hades not knowing about the workings of the Underworld? That's just weird.

"And do what?" Percy asked.

"Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever." Grover put in.

"Harsh."

"Not as harsh as that," Grover muttered. "Look." A couple of the ghouls had pulled aside a spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. The man I could tell, and recognized to be, a preacher who had made the news recently. He used to be this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd raised millions of dollars for orphans, or whatever his claim was, and got caught spending the money for himself. He died in the police chase when he drove his car off a cliff.

"Oh yeah, that was that preacher guy. What're they doing to him?"

"Special punishment from Hades," Grover suggested. "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur-Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him."

I noted how Percy shuddered slightly at the mention of the Furies. He then went on to ask about people's versions of hell. As Grover explained it to him we grew closer and closer to the gates. We got quiet as Cerberus's howling got so loud that it shook the ground at our feet. He was now fifty feet ahead of us, the green mist shimmering. He was standing where the path split into their lanes. He looked slightly transparent to the normal eye, only able to be seen when you were "closer to death." He was staring straight at us.

"He's a Rottweiler." Percy said, clearly stunned. Yeah, a wooly mammoth sized Rottie. The dead were walking casually right past him, no fear at all. You only had to worry about him if you were still alive. The dead were dead, after all, so nothing to fear. The attendant on duty lines split on either side of him with the EZ Death lane going straight under his furry belly.

"I'm starting to see him better, why is that?"

"He can smell the living, and we are really the only ones who aren't partially transparent. He guards the gates. You can see him better because we're getting closer to death, figuratively." I informed them as Cerberus's middle head craned toward us, sniffed, and let out a low growl, eyeing Percy in particular. He could probably smell the sea on him.

"That's okay though, right?" Grover asked, trembling next to Percy. "Because we have a plan."

"Right," Annabeth said. I'd never heard her voice sound that small before. "A plan." We moved closer. I had my hand on m wrist, ready to activate my sword if things turned bad. I wanted to try to see if the plan worked without having to take control. His middle head snarled, the barked so loud I felt the vibrations in my chest.

"Can you understand it?" Percy asked Grover.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I can understand it."

"What's it saying?"

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

Percy took a step back as Cerberus's eyes narrows on him. He pulled out a stick he had picked up above. "Hey, Big Fella, I bet they don't play with you much."

"Percy.." I cautioned and Cerberus just growled.

"Good boy," He said weakly. He waived the stick and the middle head followed the movement but the other two had their eyes trained on him.

"Fetch!" Percy threw it and it landed in the Styx.

As it was, Cerberus was glaring at him, unimpressed already, his eyes baleful and cold. He was now making a deeper sort of grown in his three throats.

"Um, Percy?" Grover said.

"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." Time to start my Plan B.

I quickly stepped forward in front of Percy and the others. "Annabeth, give me the ball." I ordered softly, holding my hand out behind me, never taking my eyes off of Cerberus. I heard her quickly unzip her bag and I felt the ball be placed in my open hand. It was about the size of a grapefruit and had Waterland's advertisement logo on it.

"Cerberus! Sit!" I commanded, holding the ball over my head. His three heads looked stunned but his attention was fully on me. "Sit!" I commanded again, taking a step closer, reaching out with my other hand. I slowly approached, not knowing if this would work with the others here. I came closer and closer until I was within arm's length of one of his front legs. I slowly reached my hand out and put it on his leg, working my fingers through his hair a bit.

His three heads leaned down and sniffed me. I stayed tense but still made sure I looked to be in charge. I had petted him before in another lifetime, but I didn't know if he would recognize me. I would bring him pieces of bacon as treats sometimes back in the day whenever I was down here. I think he was trying to sniff out treats.

"Cerberus, lay down." I said sternly, lowering the ball, causing his heads to follow. He whined a bit, waiting to get the toy. He plopped down with a gigantic thud. I heard someone behind me take a sharp intake of breath. I tossed up the ball for one of his heads to catch. "Good boy!" I said, gently stroking his paw.

"Allison, h-how are you doing that?" Grover asked.

"Walk calmly around him and into the EZ Death line. Now." I replied, gesturing with my head in the direction of the line. I heard them slowly approach, the quickening of their pace as they walked past me and into the line. Cerberus's middle head was chewing on the ball now while the furthest was trying to get a hold of it. The head closest to where I stood was resting on the ground before me. I cautiously started petting his head, warming up to his surprisingly soft fur. I had only interacted with him so much in the past, but I made a note to myself to do it more often. He pushed his head closer to me as I continued to scratch it.

"Good boy. I have to go now, but I promise that I'll visit to play with you as often as I can." I said, giving him one last pat on the head, smiling, and made my way over to the line where Percy and the gang were.

Once I got to them I let out a big sigh of relief. I didn't know going into it if that plan would work. He was pretty friendly with me if I was alone, but with other demigods present, especially a son of one of Zeus or Poseidon's there.. well it could get messy.

"Come on, let's go." I said, tugging Percy and Annabeth up to the line. The second we pushed through the metal detector it started screaming and set off flashing red lights that pierced the fog around the Styx.

"Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!" Damn. I didn't have time to discretely stop the chaos without my father of the Furies being notified. Heck, they already would be with that alarm echoing around.

"Go!" I yelled and led us through into Asphodel. A few minutes later we were hiding, out of breath, and in the rotten trunk of an immense black poplar as security ghouls plunged past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

"Well, Percy, what have we learned today?" Grover murmured.

"That Allison is magic and three-headed dogs prefer red-rubber-balls over sticks?"

"Yes and no." He told him. "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"

Tell me what you thought! I'd like to know, it helps a ton :)