Stretching Out On Water Beds
Annabeth was able to come up with an idea very quickly.
She loaded them into the back of a Vegas taxi as though they had money and told the driver "Los Angeles, please."
The cabbie chewed on his cigar and sized the four up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."
"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked him.
"Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first." He shrugged.
Annabeth then handed him her green LotusCash card, which he looked at sceptically.
"Swipe it." She told him.
He did just that and his metre machine started rattling and the lights flashed before an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.
The cigar comically fell out of the driver's mouth, who looked back at them, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles… uh, Your Highness?"
"The Santa Monica Pier." Annabeth sat up a little straighter, liking the idea of being called 'Your Highness'. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."
Perhaps she shouldn't have told him that as the cab's speedometer never dropped below ninety five the whole way through the Mojave Desert.
While on the road, there was time to talk.
Both Lykos and Percy explained to Annabeth and Grover about their shared dream, Lykos barely able to recall details.
"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested when Percy said that the servant called the monster something else other than 'my lord'. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."
"Maybe…." Percy said.
"That throne room sounds like Hades'." Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."
"Something's wrong." Percy shook his head. "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."
"That's because it isn't a god." Lykos said, getting everyone's attention.
"How would you know?" Annabeth asked.
"I heard that same voice in the dream I had before the quest. This voice is incredibly ancient, like, before the gods ancient. And the name the servant called his master was the Crooked One." Lykos explained, which caused both Grover and Annabeth's eyes to widen in shock, knowing who he's talking about.
"No… you're wrong." Annabeth shook her head, not wanting to believe him. "It has to be Hades."
"Annabeth, don't insult my knowledge. The voice came from a pit and there's only one place that can be entered into via a pit." Lykos frowned at her.
She looked like she tried to deny it, but she couldn't as he was right.
"Who are you talking about?" Percy asked Lykos, not understanding him.
All Lykos could say was "Your Titan grandfather, Percy." Percy now understood and looked genuinely scared.
"Also, let's not forget that the Crooked One said that he's waiting for two items. And since one of them is the master bolt, there's only one other symbol of power that makes sense." He then continued.
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.
"Think about it: the Kindly Ones demanded to know where something was, and considering who they serve, the only thing that they could be searching for is the Helm of Darkness. Meaning that whoever stole the master bolt, also stole the Helm of Darkness during the winter solstice and considering that Percy's blamed for stealing the master bolt, Hades would naturally blame him for stealing his Helm of Darkness." Lykos explained.
"Then why hasn't Hades come out and told the Olympians that it was stolen?" Percy said, now angry to know that he's accused of stealing another symbol of power.
"Percy, do you really think the Olympians would help Hades after everything he's been through?" Lykos reminded him, making Percy realise that he was right.
"Then do you know who stole them?" Grover said.
"No. The servant couldn't be the thief, even though they said they stole them. Especially since the Crooked One mentioned their limitations. I think, and I didn't want this to be true, that the thief is one of the campers who visited on the winter solstice." Lykos replied, not yet mentioning that the servant was clearly Ares.
"That actually makes sense as the hellhound was summoned within camp grounds." Annabeth said, sounding pained before she shook her head in denial. "No way. It's just too ridiculous. You have to be wrong, Lykos. It must be Hades. It must."
Lykos sighed, knowing that Annabeth would be severely gobsmacked.
Wasteland rolled by. They eventually passed a sign that said CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.
Lykos was yet to mention that the servant was Ares, because he still hadn't figured out as to how the exchange went, since the backpack he gave Percy didn't carry either the Helm of Darkness or the master bolt. He was able to look inside to prove this.
"The answer is in the Underworld." Annabeth assured Percy. "You saw the spirits of the dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing."
She then tried to give them a boost of morale by suggesting some clever strategies for getting into the Land of the Dead, but Lykos felt that not everything can be solved with strategies. And he was annoyed yet sympathetic at her for not believing him. Annoyed because it makes so much sense, yet she's not even trying to accept it simply because she didn't want to accept the idea of one of the campers being the thief. But sympathetic because if someone were to tell him all what he told them, he'd thought they were crazy.
The cab sped west, every gust of wind through Death Valley sounding like a spirit of the dead.
At sunset, the taxi dropped them off at the beach in Santa Monica. It looked like the way L.A. beaches do in the movies, with the additional fact that it stank.
There were carnival rides lining the Pier, palm trees lining the sidewalks, homeless people sleeping in the sand dunes and surfer dudes waiting for the perfect wave.
The four walked to the edge of the surf.
"Now what?" Lykos asked Percy.
The Pacific started turning gold in the setting sun as Percy looked out in thought.
He was like this for a bit before he ended up stepping into the surf.
"Percy? What are you doing?" Annabeth questioned.
"I think he's entering his dad's domain to hear what he has to say." Lykos realised.
"But that water is polluted. There's all kinds of toxic -" Annabeth didn't even finish as Percy was now fully submerged.
"The water spirit he talked to must've been a Nereid and had help from naiads to get to St. Louis. She must have something to tell and give to Percy from Poseidon." Lykos theorised.
"You may be right." Grover said.
The three waited by the surf for a while, watching everyone else carry on their day, unaware of the potential war that may happen if they don't succeed in their quest.
Eventually, Percy came back ashore, completely dry and told them that a Nereid indeed met him and said that he has a great and terrible future, according to the oracles and that Hades will feed on doubt and hopelessness, and that he may trick Percy by making him mistrust his judgement, along with making sure that he'd never let Percy willingly leave his realm.
He also showed four pearls that the Nereid gave to him.
This made Annabeth grimace. "No gift comes without a price."
"They were free." Percy said, confused.
"No." She shook her head. "'There is no such thing as a free lunch.' That's an ancient Greek saying that translated pretty well into American. There will be a price. You wait."
On that rather grim thought, the four turned their backs on the sea.
With the spare change from Ares' backpack, the four took the bus into West Hollywood. Percy even showed the driver the address to the Underworld on a slip he got from Aunty Em's, though the driver never heard of DOA Recording Studios.
"You remind me of somebody I saw on TV." He told Percy. "You a child actor or something?"
"Uh… I'm a stunt double… for a lot of child actors." Percy replied.
"Oh! That explains it."
They thanked the driver and got off quickly at the next stop.
They were now wandering for miles on foot, trying to find DOA, but no one they talked to knew where it was. It wasn't even in the phone book.
Twice, they ducked into alleys so that they could avoid cop cars.
However, Percy froze in front of an appliance store window as a TV was playing an interview with who Lykos knew had to be Percy's stepdad. He was talking to Barbara Walters, as though he was some celebrity. She interviewed him in an apartment, in the middle of a poker game and had a young blonde lady sitting next to him, patting his hand.
A fake tear glistened on his cheek as he said "Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counsellor, I'd be a wreck. 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." Barbara Walters 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 troubled young fugitive, taken a week ago in Denver."
The screen then cut to a grainy shot of Percy, Lykos, Annabeth and Grover standing outside that Colorado diner, talking to Ares.
"Who are the other children in this photo?" Barbara asked dramatically. "Who is the man with them? Is Percy Jackson a delinquent, a terrorist, or perhaps the brainwashed victim of a frightening new cult? When we come back, we chat with a leading child psychologist. Stay tuned, America."
"Come on." Lykos said as he and Grover hauled Percy away before he could punch a hole in the store window.
It started getting dark and that's when hungry looking folk started coming out on the streets to play.
Lykos is a New Yorker, so he doesn't scare easily. However, L.A. is different in feel compared to New York. At least there was familiarity in New York, whereas here, L.A. was like it was trying to prove it was a big city with being loud, strange and difficult to navigate.
At this rate, they may not find the entrance to the Underworld by tomorrow, the solstice.
Lykos was able to hide his knife in his sleeve as they all walked past gangbangers, bums and street hawkers, who all looked at the four like they were figuring if they're worth the trouble of mugging.
As they hurried past the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said "Hey, you."
Before they could react, a whole gang of kids surrounded the four. There were six of them - all white kids in expensive clothes and with mean faces. They're rich brats playing as bad guys.
On instinct, Lykos pulled out his knife and Percy uncapped his sword.
At this, the kids backed off, yet their leader was both really stupid and brave as he kept coming at them with a switchblade.
"Really? A switchblade against a hunting knife and a sword? How dumb can you get?" Lykos asked the leader, who snarled and stepped right up to Percy.
Percy actually made the mistake of swinging his sword, making the kid yelp, but the blade passed through his chest harmlessly, showing he is purely mortal.
"What the….?" He said as he looked down, which gave Lykos the chance to kick him right in the head, causing him to be launched back a few feet away from them.
"RUN!" He then yelled at Percy, Annabeth and Grover.
They pushed and shoved two kids out of the way and raced down the street with Lykos slowing down for them to keep up, not really knowing where they were going.
They then turned a sharp corner.
"There!" Annabeth shouted.
Only one store on the block looked like it was open with its windows glaring with neon. The sign above the door said CRSTUY'S WATRE BDE ALPACE.
"Crusty's Water Bed Palace?" Grover translated.
Seeing as they had no other choice, they burst through the doors, ran behind a water bed and ducked.
A split second later, the gang kids ran past them outside.
"We lost them." Lykos said with a sigh of relief.
"Lost who?" A voice boomed out from behind them.
All four of them jumped and saw that standing behind them was someone that Lykos would describe as a raptor in a leisure suit. He had to be at least seven feet tall and was completely bald. His skin was grey and leathery with thick lidded eyes and a cold, reptilian smile.
He moved towards them slowly, though it's clear to Lykos that he could move fast if he wanted or needed to.
His suit stood out as it looked like it was ripped out of the seventies with a silk paisley shirt, unbuttoned halfway down his hairless chest. The lapels on his velvet jacket were shockingly as wide as landing strips and the silver chains around his neck - there were just too many to count.
"I'm Crusty." He said with a tartar yellow smile.
Lykos was suspicious about this guy. He just seemed like he was plotting something.
"Sorry to barge in." Percy told him. "We were just, um, browsing."
"You mean hiding from those no good kids." Crusty grumbled. "They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed?"
Percy was about to say no when Crusty put a huge hand on his shoulder and steered him deeper into the showroom with Lykos, Annabeth and Grover following.
There was every kind of water bed one could imagine with different kinds of wood, different patterns of sheets and queen, king and emperor of the universe sizes.
"This is my most popular model." Crusty spread his hands proudly over a bed that was covered with black satin sheets and built in lava lamps on the headboard. The mattress also vibrated, making it look like oil flavoured Jell-O.
"Million hand massage." Crusty told them. "Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business today, anyway."
"Um, I don't think…."
"Million hand massage!" Grover cried, cutting Percy off, and dove in. "Oh, you guys! This is cool."
"Hmm." Crusty said, stroking his leathery chin. "Almost, almost."
That alone made Lykos on edge as he now had an idea of who Crusty really is.
"Almost what?" Percy asked.
Crusty then looked at Annabeth. "Do me a favour and try this one over here, honey. Might fit."
"But what -"
He patted her on the shoulder in a reassuring way and led her over to the Safari Deluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the frame and a leopard patterned comforter.
Annabeth clearly didn't want to lie down, but Crusty forced her by pushing her.
"Hey!" She protested.
"Ergo!" Crusty snapped his fingers.
This caused ropes to spring from the sides of the bed and lashed around Annabeth, holding her to the mattress.
Grover tried getting up, but ropes sprang from his bed as well, lashing him down.
"N-not c-c-cool!" Grover yelled, his voice vibrating from the million hand massage. "N-not c-cool a-at all!"
The giant then looked at Annabeth before turning toward Lykos and Percy with a grin. "Almost, darn it."
They tried to step away, but his hands shot out and clamped around the backs of their necks. "Whoa, boys. Don't worry. We'll find you beds in a sec."
"Let our friends go." Percy told him.
"Oh, sure I will. But I got to make them fit, first?"
"Excuse me?" Lykos frowned.
"All the beds are exactly six feet, see? Your friends are too short. Got to make them fit."
Both Annabeth and Grover kept struggling.
"Can't stand imperfect measurements." Crusty muttered. "Ergo!"
Now a new set of ropes leaped from the top and bottom of the beds, wrapping around Grover and Annabeth's ankles and armpits. The ropes then started tightening, pulling them from both ends.
"Don't worry." Crusty then told Lykos and Percy. "These are stretching jobs. Maybe three extra inches on their spines. They might even live. Now why don't we find a couple of beds you like, huh?"
"Guys!" Grover yelled.
"Why would we want any beds from you Procrustes?" Lykos said.
"The Stretcher." Percy said with wide eyes, remembering the story: the giant who tried to kill Theseus with excess hospitality on his way to Athens.
"Yeah." The salesman said. "But who can pronounce Procrustes? Bad for business. Now 'Crusty', anybody can say that."
"You're right. It's got a good ring to it." Percy said, making Lykos raise an eyebrow at him until he realised what he's trying to do: get him onto one of the beds and bind him to it.
"You think so?" Procrustes said as his eyes lit up.
"Definitely." Lykos joined in on the act. "Not to mention the workmanship on these beds. Brilliant!"
Procrustes grinned hugely, though his fingers didn't loosen on their necks. "I tell my customers that. Every time. Nobody bothers to look at the workmanship. How many built-in lava lamp headboards have you seen?"
"Not too many." Percy said.
"Yeah, they should be more popular." Lykos nodded.
"That's right!"
"Percy! Lykos! What are you doing?" Annabeth yelled.
"Don't mind her." Percy told Procrustes. "She's impossible."
The giant laughed. "All my customers are. Never six feet exactly. So inconsiderate. And then they complain about the fitting."
"So what do you do if they're longer than six feet?" Lykos asked.
He let go of Percy's neck, but before he could react, Procrustes reached behind a nearby sales desk and brought out a large double bladed brass axe.
"I just centre the subject as best I can and lop off whatever hangs over on either end."
"Hmm." Lykos said, doing his best to not look horrified. "How sensible." Percy nodded along.
"I'm so glad to come across such intelligent customers!"
The ropes were now really stretching Annabeth and Grover, the former turning pale and the latter was making gurgling sounds, like a strangled goose.
"So, Crusty…." Percy said, trying to keep his voice light as he glanced at the sales tag on the valentine shaped Honeymoon Special. "Does this one really have dynamic stabilisers to stop wave motion?"
"Absolutely. Try it out."
"Yeah, maybe I will. But would it work even for a big guy like you? No waves at all?"
"Guaranteed."
"No way."
"Way."
"Show me."
Procrustes sat down eagerly on the bed, patting the mattress. "No waves. See?"
Lykos instantly snapped his fingers "Ergo!"
Ropes lashed around Procrustes and flattened him against the mattress.
"Hey!" He yelled.
"Centre him just right." Percy said and the ropes readjusted themselves at his command. Procrustes' whole head stuck out the top and his feet stuck out the bottom.
"No!" He said. "Wait! This is just a demo."
Lykos uncapped Sting while Percy went to cut the ropes binding Annabeth and Grover.
"A few simple adjustments…." Lykos said, knowing what he'll do. The giant deserves to be dust for a while.
"You drive a hard bargain." He told the son of Artemis. "I'll give you thirty percent off on selected floor models!"
"I'll start with that annoying top." Lykos raised his sword.
"No money down! No interest for six months!"
Lykos then swung Sting down and Procrustes stopped making any more offers.
Lykos looked over and saw that Annabeth and Grover were now back on their feet, though groaning and wincing and cursing at him and Percy.
"You look taller." Percy joked.
"Very funny." Annabeth said blankly. "Be faster next time."
Lykos went over to the bulletin board behind Procrustes' sales desk and saw an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, as well as one for All New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters - 'The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!'
Under it was a bright orange flyer for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes' souls - 'We are always looking for new talent!' DOA's address was right underneath with a map.
"Let's go." Lykos told his friends.
"Give us a minute." Grove complained. "We were almost stretched to death!"
"Then you're ready for the Underworld." Percy replied. "It's only a block from here."
Well, Lykos has connected most of the dots and Annabeth, in particular, doesn't want to believe it. I honestly don't blame her.