"We need to get to Santa Monica Pier." Annabeth said as we hurried past pedestrians.
"Do we hail a cab?" Grover asked.
"We probably should." Percy added.
"We don't need to hail a cab." I muttered, pushing in front of the group. "I know a place." I started to lead the group towards another hotel, one that had a traditional Japanese theme. As we walked to the door, one of the large bodyguards stopped us.
"Hey." He said. "No minors."
"I don't care." I said. My friends blinked at the change in language. "I am the daughter of Oyabun Nakamura, and I need transport." The man scoffed.
"Sure you are." I rolled my eyes, shrugging off one arm of my jacket and starting to unwrap my arm. I revealed the broken wheel burnt into my skin. The man's eyes widened. "Kodomo Mako! I'm so sorry! Where do you need to go?"
"Santa Monica Pier, LA, we have to get there fast."
"Of course...of course…" The man scrambled to grab a set of keys from the valet stand and rush over to a car.
"Whatever you hear in this car, you do not repeat to anyone, do you understand?" I glared at the man. "Or you report to my father."
"Yes Kodomo." We followed the man towards a luxury car.
"How were you able to do that?" Annabeth hissed at me.
"There's a lot about my mortal family that I don't want to talk about." I said. "But we'll get to LA safely."
"Here you are, Kodomo." The man said, opening the car door. The four of us slid into the car that had enough room for us to sit with room and a divider between the drivers and the passengers. During the ride, Percy explained his most recent dream, but he couldn't remember the name that someone was being called.
"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."
"Maybe…" Percy trailed off.
"That throne room sounded like Hades'." Grover spoke up. "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." I tensed, my hands gripping my biceps tighter. "What?"
"It's nothing." I sad with a shake of my head. "But, it's the Underworld, it has to be Hades, it can't be anyone else. If this invisible person, the thief, messed up stealing the Master Bolt and something went wrong-"
"Like what?"
"Who knows." Annabeth sighed. "But if he stole Zeus' symbol of Power from Olympus and the Gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the Bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That's what the voice said in your dream, right? The guy failed. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the Bolt." Annabeth was pale, which caused my eyebrows to frow together.
"But if I'd already retrieved the Bolt, why would I be travelling to the Underworld?" Percy questioned.
"To threaten Hades." Grover wondered. "To bribe or blackmail him into getting your Mum back?"
"You have evil thoughts for a Goat."
"Why thank you."
"But the thing in the pit said it was waiting for two items. If the Master Bolt is one, what's the other?" Annabeth and I shared a look. "The two of you have an idea of what might be in that pit, don't you?" Percy asked us. "I mean, if it isn't Hades."
"Percy, let's not talk about it." I suggested. "It won't be well to do so. Either way...the thing in the pit has to be Hades." I turned to look out the window, we sped past a sign that read 'California State Line, 12 Miles'.
"Your answer is in the Underworld." Annabeth assured the green-eyed boy. "You saw Spirits of the Dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing." As Annabeth suggested half-hearted strategies to get into the Underworld, I pulled Ares' backpack towards me. I found stationary and, surprisingly a hanko. I opened up the case and scowled. The hanko was made of polished ebony wood, and the kanji was indeed in my name and last name. There was a little note taped to it. 'Your welcome, Mum'.
"Oh great." I muttered. "Nothing for sixteen years and two gifts back to back, how lovely. Can't claim Ethan but gifts to the one who hates you get the gifts." I pulled out the stationary and scribbled a note down, explaining why the owner of the note wasn't where he was supposed to be, but was helping me. I pulled my hanko from it's case, pressing it into the ink before pressing it to the paper.
TIMESKIP
We were dropped off at the Santa Monica beach. We got out of the car and I handed the driver the letter. "Give this to my dad." I sighed. "You'll get a pay raise, and dad won't kill you." The driver took it gratefully.
"Thank you Kodomo, thank you." The man bowed quickly before speeding away. We looked around and cringed. The air smelt horrible, it was a mix of sea and dingy carnival food. There were carnival rides lining the pier, homeless people were sleeping wherever they could, and surfers stood waiting for the perfect wave. The four of us strolled down the edge of the surf.
"What now?" Annabeth asked. Percy paused and turned to the water. He stepped into the water. "Percy? What are you doing?" Percy ignored her and kept walking. "You know how polluted that water is? There's all kind of toxic-and he's gone." Percy's head went under the water.
"Well, he is a son of Poseidon." I commented. "Probably some weird sea-God thing." The three of us waited until Percy emerged from the sea once more, dry as a bone. He approached us and showed us four pearls in his hand. He explained what happened under the water, causing Annabeth to scrunch her face up.
"No gift comes without a price." She revealed.
"They were free." Percy insisted. Annabeth shook her head.
"No. 'There is no such thing as free lunch'. That's an Ancient Greek saying that translated pretty well into American. There will be a price. You wait." And with that, we continued on our journey. We took a bus into West Hollywood, and the driver was confused when we showed him the DOA address. He however seemed to recognise Percy and I.
"You two remind me of people I saw on TV." The driver said. "You two child actors or something?"
"Yes." I said slowly. "We're stunt-doubles for...a lot of...people…"
"Oh! That explains it." The four of us shared a look and got out of the bus at the next stop. We asked people and even checked phone books, but DOA Recording Studios seemed to be non-existent. We had to duck into alleys to avoid cops, which had my heart thundering in my chest. Percy and I froze in front of an appliance store that had TV's playing the news. It had a story running about Percy. A fat man sitting at a poker game appeared onscreen with a blonde next to him.
"Honest, Miss Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counsellor, I'd be a wreck." He was saying. "My stepson took everything I cared about. My wife, my Camaro, I-I'm sorry, I have trouble talking about it."
"There you have it, America." The news anchor, Barbra Walters, said as she turned to the camera. "A man torn apart, an adolescent boy with serious issues. Let me show you again, the last known photo of this trouble young fugitive taken a week ago in Denver." The screen filled with a grainy photo of the two of us alongside Annabeth and Grover, talking with Ares. "We have reason to believe that the tall girl with the fugitive is Makoto Nakamura, daughter of Hiroshi who is under investigation for ties with organised crime. We also believe that the man with them is one of Mr Nakamura's associates. Has this Percy Jackson become another one of Hiroshi's employees? When we come back, we what with a leading child psychologist. Stay tuned, America."
"Come on Percy." I muttered, grabbing his arm and hauling him away before either of us punched a hole through the glass. The sun dipped behind the skyline and the seedier characters bled found their way onto the streets. My fingers messed with my rings, ready to summon my weapon at any moment. We sped through the streets, but only stopped when Percy did, to the call from someone in an alleyway. Suddenly, we were surrounded by six or so rich kids, all white wearing what looked to be prep school uniforms and they were trying to be tough. Percy un-caped his pen which formed into his sword as I pressed a button on my ring to form my short spear. Most of the group backed away, but the leader stepped forward. Percy swung at him and the blade passed through his chest.
"Run!" Percy screamed. I pushed the gang apart and the four of us booked it. We raced through the back alleys of LA until Annabeth shouted.
"There!" Annabeth exclaimed. I looked over to the only open store on the block. There was a neon sign glaring above it that I couldn't read.
"Crusty's Waterbed Palace?" Grover questioned.
"It doesn't matter, let's just go." I hissed. The four of us burst through the doors and ducked behind a waterbed. A second or two later, the gang ran past us without looking.
"I think we lost them." Grover panted.
"Lost who?" A voice from behind questioned. I whittled around, pointing my spear at the origin of the voice. Behind us was a tall man, just over six feet, with leathery skin and an extremely creepy smile. His suit seemed to come out of the seventies with a half-unbuttoned shirt and lapels that you could eat off. "I'm Crusty." He introduced.
"Sorry to barge in." Percy apologised. "We were just, um...browsing."
"You mean hiding from those no-good kids? They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a Waterbed?" I was praying to anyone who would listen that Percy would say no, but Crusty put a hand on Percy's shoulder and led him deeper into the showroom. Annabeth, Grover and I shared a dubious look before following. "This is my most popular model." Crusty gestured towards a gaudy bed that had built-in lava lamps in the headboard and black satin sheets. It was vibrating, so the whole thing looked like jelly. "Million hand massage. Go on, try it. Shoot, take a nap! I don't care. No business today, anyway."
"Um...I don't think…"
"Million Hand massage!" Grover cried before he dove into the bed. "Oh...guys, this is so cool."
"Hmm…" Crusty mused. "Almost...almost…"
"Almost what?" Percy questioned. Crusty turned to Annabeth and I.
"Would you two do me a favour and try those ones over there, sweethearts. Might fit."
"But what-" Annabeth started, but was interrupted when Crusty put his hands on our shoulders and steered us towards a set of beds. When we protested and said we didn't want to lie down, Crusty shoved us onto the beds. He clicked his fingers.
"Ergo!" He commanded. Ropes shot out from the sides of the bed and wrapped around my top half and held me to the bed. I started to thrash around, my heart pounding in my head. I couldn't hear anything over the blood rushing through my body. I felt a rope wrap around my neck and another two around my ankles and try to pull me apart. There was a familiar shink and my bonds were sliced. I gasped in a breath, air returning to my lungs. I pulled myself off the bed and stood on shaky legs.
"You look taller." Percy commented.
"Very funny." Annabeth said. "Be faster."
"That took too long." I agreed. Percy turned to look at a bulletin board, but I was too sore to even look at what he was.
"Come on." Percy encouraged.
"Give us a minute." Grover complained. "We were almost stretched to death."
"Then you're ready for the Underworld. It's only a block from here."