The campers stared up at Carnegie Hall that Saturday morning in Mid-town Manhattan
. Grover whistled, "That's a big building, Percy." Percy looked over his shoulder.
"I know," he said. "But we're only looking under it."
They all started to enter the building when the doorman stopped them.
"Hey kids," he said. "Come back when there's actually a show." He sneered and pushed them out. Percy growled, but then smiled. "Oh please, man." Percy said. "I left my wallet here last night, and I came here all the way from East side to get it."
The man's frown stayed.
"Kid, its gone." he said flatly.
"Come on man, I know where I sat. I can check really quickly." Percy pleaded and handed him a leafy green $10 bill. The doorman's eyebrows rose. Quickly, he snatched the 10 and unlocked the door.
"Make it quick," he said. Percy grinned and walked in while the others followed. The doorman stopped the rest. "Not you, kiddies." He said. "Only one."
Percy turned around. "Can't just one more come?" he asked. "I'm kind of afraid of the dark."
The doorman rolled his eyes and grabbed Will. "Fine, this one." He said and shoved Will in and closed the door. They both stood in the lobby while the man stood on the other side crossed armed. They light from the windows on the top sides of the walls gave then enough light to see.
Percy rolled his eyes and began to search for an entrance to the bottom. Will just stood there. "Well?" Percy asked.
"Are you going to help me?" Will was in a trance state.
"Do you know how many famous people walked through this lobby?" he whispered and stared at the carpet. "The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Eminem."
"That's cool." He said. "But we really need to find an entrance to the bottom or else Frowny here is gonna beat our brains."
"Whatever," he shrugged and looked behind the coat rack. They searched the lobby and moved on to the grand theater. They searched high and low until Will finally gave up.
"Percy," he said. "It's been 20 minutes. There's nothing here."
Percy checked one last time under the massive stage and sighed. He had really had his hopes on finding the secret lair, or better, his sister.
"I guess your right." He sighed and began to walk towards the exit.
"Wait," Will gasped as he looked at the wall.
"What is it?" Percy spun around and raced to where Will was standing. Will was pointing at one of the pillars on the wall. It looked the same as all the other white marble pillars lining the walls on opposite sides. Percy gave Will a confused look.
"What?"
"Don't you see that?" Will asked surprised.
"I see a big white column, with white swirls."
"And do you see what's on the white swirls?"
Percy walked up close to the column. He saw the billowing white swirls curving around the pillar over and over. But when he really looked, that's when he saw what Will was seeing. Carved on the pillar in small letters, in Greek, were the words:
Ακολουθήστε τη διαδρομή προς το σκοτεινό κόσμο, και θα δεις την ομορφιά της μουσικής
"Follow the path to the Dark World, and you shall see the beauty of music." Percy whispered.
"This is it." Under the line, carefully hidden incase some usher happen to stumble upon it, was a marble button. Will came from behind Percy and cautiously pushed it. At first nothing happened, but then slowly the column regressed into the wall and revealed a hidden staircase. Will whistled.
Percy and Will quickly walked down the stairs. They spent too much time gawking at the fact that they actually found something that hard to catch than looking for the entrance itself. At the end of the staircase came a murky sewer tunnel. "Yuck," Percy wrinkled his nose. "How did we follow the Yellow Brick Road and end up in the sewers?'
Will shrugged and told him that they should keep moving. As they walked through the tunnel, Percy noticed that attached to the murky walls were olden candelabras attached to the walls on both sides. The floor was murky but no rodent crossed their steps. At the end of the tunnel came a small fight of stairs that led to a wide open roof and at the edge of the stairs was water at about 2 feet deep. Will got frustrated.
"Great!" he said sarcastically. "We came all this way to a dead end. C'mon Percy lets go."
"No!" Percy snapped. "I can move the water, remember?" He jumped down the steps and took a step into the water. The water retreated and he stood in the middle of bare floor, with water surrounding him by about 10 inches.
"Whoa," Will gasp. "My dad never gave me any kind of power like that."
"Step in," Percy smiled pleasingly. Will stepped in the circle of land and they began to walk toward the other side of the tunnel father away. After the few quiet minutes Percy asked, "Why were you so upset before about the quest?"
Will shrugged and looked away. Percy asked again. "C'mon man there must be a reason."
After a few more minutes, Percy gave up. "Fine, whatever then." He said. "I just want to find my sister and get out of here."
"My mom loved him too, you know." Will finally said.
"What?" Percy asked.
"My mom, she completely went goggle-eyed for Apollo when she was like, 19 or something." He said. "She met him in her music class in college, and she was impressed with his music skills. So well, you know, and then they had me."
"How does that─?"
"What I mean is that after my dad left, she really thought they'd have a life together. But he's a god, and they just don't stick around. So all these years she's been waiting for him to come back, and I don't want her to stop believing in him. And this whole quest is almost revolving around him…" Will croaked out. "She really loved him, and with your sister in the picture Dad may never─" he sobbed.
Percy patted him on the back. "Will," Percy said kindly. "I'm doing this for my dad, not Apollo. Poseidon just wants her to be safe and that's all. Your dad will be happy and all, but its not like he's gonna marry her or something. Just relax. And your mom…" he said.
"I know, Percy, she isn't going to see Apollo ever again. I'm not wishing for him to come back. Without a dad…it made me stronger. But I want my mom to be happy."
Percy sighed. "Lets just keep moving." He said and sped up the pace. After a few more minutes, they approached yet another short flight of steps. They came to another tunnel but shorter than the one before. A strange tingle went up Percy's spine, jolting him with energy. At the end of the tunnel came what they had been searching for; a little house. The house reeked of darkness. Only a single candle stood in one of the windows on the second floor. Will began to shake.
"Easy, Will" Percy patted him on the back. He took out his sword Riptide and uncapped it. The celestial blade shone with a silvery splendor in the pitch black. Will took out of his book bag his quiver and arrows and began to move forward. They crept up to the door
and slowly opened it. Will peered inside.
"Percy," he said nodding towards him. "The coast is clear."
Percy advanced up to the door and slowly looked inside. The room was lit by a single candle. You could tell the place was abandoned. It was a medium sized living room, only empty. The only piece of furniture in there was a small side table and a chair. On the table was a handwritten letter and the candle. Percy went into the house, followed by Will, and looked around.
"Nothing," he said. "It's empty."
"We don't know that yet," Will whispered and went up to the table. He picked up the letter, seal broken, and began to read it out loud.
"Tuskin," he began. "In a state of emergency, my dear and I have fled our beloved home to take shelter at my father's. It appears we have an unwanted visitor looking for us, and to cause harm to my love. I have left only this letter, my organ (which I expect to be well taken care of when I return), and Odette's …" Will stopped and read on silently.
"Percy," he snapped up. "She's in the Underworld. It all says so here." He handed the paper to Percy. He finished up.
"And Odette's papers. If anything is misplaced, I will have you fired by the company (I have my ways). I am not sure when we will return. My time here is short, for I sense the visitor draws near. Till then, E."
"E?" Will knitted his eyebrows.
"Erebus," he said and crumpled the paper. "Come on, lets double check the place. They checked every room. Nothing but bare wood floors. When they came to what they thought was Odette's room, they walked in. The walls were a soft pink and smelled like roses. Percy's eyes wandered to the corner of the room, where a desk stood. On the desk was an old stationary set, with several letters on top. Percy walked up to the desk and opened up the drawer. Several pens and pencils were scattered around, but in the way back of the drawer was a sealed envelope. Percy looked at the writing on it. In faded cursive handwriting was the word, Apollo. He opened it up and studied the writing. He gave a confused look.
"Will?" he asked.
"Yeah?" Will answered.
"Know any French?" he questioned.
"No, why?"
"'Cause all of these letters are in a different language."
"Crap,"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?" a man's voice thundered. Percy and Will spun around. At the doorway, stood the doorman. "ANSWER ME!" he bellowed.
When the boys gave no answer, the man drew closer. They both backed into the corner, but quickly Percy uncapped Riptide. Alarmed by the blade, the doorman staggered back a few steps and took out the crumpled letter. "So you're the unwanted visitor my lord had said about? He will be pleased that I have caught him prisoners."
"Please man, we just came here to find my sister." Percy said calmly with Riptide in his hands. "We'll just leave now." Will aimed his arrows at him. "We won't cause trouble. The man started to take steady strides towards them.
"I can't just let you leave," he said. "Master Erebus will have my head for it." At the same time, his tan skin began to wrinkle and his suit began to shred and in its place, rags of silk stood. Long, leathery wings grew gruesomely. His once-brown eyes began to glow red, and long talons grew. He gave a sinister grin.
"Now, how would you like to die?" he asked. "Rip to shreds or eaten to death?"
"Neither," Percy said and charged. The blade sliced one of his arms of easily, but as soon as it came off, a new one grew back.
"You can't destroy me," he glowered. "I'm as old as the dawn and young as the morning." With that he lunged at the boys. Will shot an arrow at the creature's chest. The creature gave out a screeching cry and staggered back. Percy took the opportunity and stabbed him in the heart. With one last screech, the creature began to disintegrate into black dust. The dust began to shimmer on the wooden floor and finally sizzled. Will and Percy grudgingly stepped around the sizzling pile and collected the strewn letters. As soon as they left the house, they made a run for it. They ran through the water and through the dark halls until they reached the entrance. They raced out of the lobby and into the streets. It was midday, and the rest of the campers were nowhere to be found. After an hour of searching, they found Grover standing at a hotdog stand a few blocks down from the music hall. Spectators were staring at the two strange looking boys with ripped tees and charred jeans.
"Grover!" Percy hollered and ran towards him. Grover turned around in surprise with half a hotdog shoved in his mouth with mustard dripping down his goatee. Will followed.
"Where's everyone else?" Percy panted out of breath with his hands on his knees.
"We've got some things that we need to share."
Grover raised one finger to let them know he's finishing his lunch. When he finished swallowing, he spoke.
"They're over by the benches," he said. "Guys, how long were you in there? It's been like, a couple of hours."
"We'll explain everything in a minute, ok? But first, where's Lindsey?"