Answers to reviews:
JoeAnon: I'm sorry, what? What the fuck do you mean by "Crazy wacky whoohoo pizza man?" Danye made an appearance at the beginning of the story, and I clearly implied that Devil May Cry 4 was happening at the same time as the Lightning Thief storyline. So no, Dante is not going to show up.
ThanosGaming: Who knows. You can do anything with that amount of money.
Direbeast37: Just because it didn't happen in this story, doesn't mean it might not happen during the rest of the series. And as for the Game of Thrones idea, I wouldn't even know where the fuck to start using Jakob Thorsson.
mredman1105: Dude, it's literally the first story in the series. Give it time.
Spiral-Voltron-Zero0Q1: Why would the lion show up again?
Guest: i know.
thesesignupsneedtodie: Glad to hear that.
Duskbrony94: Thanks.
superfanman217: Don't worry, I fixed it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I only own the OC Alexander Redgrave.
While on their way to Los Angeles, the group had plenty of time to talk and Percy told the others about the dream he had in which Alex piped in and said he had a similar one about the voice and the servant.
"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 ..." I said, though neither sounded quite right.
"That throne room sounds like Hades's," Grover said. "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."
"It's not a god." Alex said in a dead serious voice, getting everyone's attention. "The voice sounded very ancient, like from before the gods, and... evil. What do you suppose is older than the gods, and can sound so evil? And who, in Greek mythology, has the title of 'The Crooked One'?"
Annabeth had been thinking as he spoke, but the very second he mentioned that name, her eyes shot wide open like dinner plates and she gasped sharply.
"You don't mean... him." She said, her breath hitching with fear. Grover also caught on as he knew who the Crooked One was and bleated in fear. "But... but he's dead!"
"That place is the only place that I can think of that fits the description of the pit." Alex shook his head. "And there's no other called the Crooked One."
"What are you guys talking about?" Percy asked, feeling left out of the loop.
"The voice is that of your grandfather, Percy." Alex said, looking at him seriously.
Percy's eyes widened, knowing who that was and felt a shiver of fear run down his spine at the fact he had heard Kronos' voice.
"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." Alex then continued.
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.
"The Furies are looking for something as well, which explains their behaviour on the bus when we fought them. And the only thing that I can think of would be Hades' Helm of Darkness. The thief who stole the master bolt must've snatched the Helm as well, and because of this Zeus and Hades are most likely blaming Poseidon since to them, their symbols have been stolen but not Poseidon's. So they believe Percy is the one behind the theft, given he is Poseidon's son."
"If Hades' Helm has been stolen, why wouldn't he tell anyone?" Percy asked, angry he's being accused again of something he didn't do.
"Do you really think Hades would let the other gods know, especially Zeus?" Alex retorted. Percy had to concede to that.
"So who is the thief?" Grover asked.
"No idea, but it is one of the campers that was there at the winter solstice." Alex said, not telling them that Ares was in league with Kronos.
"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, Alex. It must be Hades. It must."
Alex sighed, knowing that Annabeth would be severely gobsmacked. Then again, he couldn't blame her for hoping that the king of the Titans and number one enemy of the Olympians, was rising once again.
Wasteland rolled by. They eventually passed a sign that said CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.
"The answer is in the Underworld," Annabeth assured them. "You saw spirits of the dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing."
She tried to boost their morale by suggesting clever strategies for getting into the Land of the Dead, but nobody was feeling it. There were just too many unknown factors.
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 exactly the way L.A. beaches do in the movies, only it smelled worse. There were carnival rides lining the Pier, palm trees lining the sidewalks, homeless guys sleeping in the sand dunes, and surfer dudes waiting for the perfect wave.
They walked down to the edge of the surf.
"What now?" Annabeth asked.
The Pacific was turning gold in the setting sun as Percy looked out in thought, then he stepped into the surf.
"Percy?" Annabeth said. "What are you doing?"
He kept walking, up to his waist, then his chest.
She called after him, "You know how polluted that water is? There're all kinds of toxic—"
That's when his head went under.
Annabeth threw her hands up. "Honestly!"
"He's the son of Poseidon, he'll be fine." Alex assured her, then looked around. "Listen, I'm going to get something to eat. Think I saw a Starbucks nearby. I'll be back in ten."
"Don't take too long." Annabeth called after him, getting a lazy salute in response that made her sigh in both exasperation and amusement.
Once he was off the beach he headed towards the Starbucks that he could see just a little ways off in the distance. It only took him a few minutes to get there, but saw it was a little busy so he got in line and waited like the others.
He stood there for about five minutes before he noticed that the line was not making any attempt to move at all. He poked his head just out of the line to see what was happening and what was taking so long but frowned a little when he did.
Standing at the front of the line was a woman in a grey work suit with a mobile pressed against her ear. She had sandy blonde hair that was tied into a bun and had brown eyes. The employee in front of her had a look on annoyance as he tried to talk to her but she kept putting her hand up in front of him stopping the employee form speaking. It was very rude and very disrespectful.
"Miss, could you please just-"
"One moment pleased." She cut the barista off as she talked on the phone, not seeming to notice the other customers in the line glaring at her. "Yes sir, I understand."
"Jane, will you hurry up and order? Dad's waiting for us and I don't want to miss my time with him." A girl's voice huffed, drawing Alex's attention.
The voice belonged to a girl, about ten or eleven years old, wearing faded blue jeans with a purple top with a light beige jacket over the top. Alex had to admit she was a very pretty girl for her age.
She had a dark skin tone that may native Americans had and had brown hair that was a little choppy and uneven on each side but had thin braids that decorated the side of her face. It was a very odd hair style but Alex liked it. It was very unique and original in his opinion. However it was her eyes that caught his attention. Her eyes varied from colour. Her eyes started at green, then to blue, then to brown. It was like a Kaleidoscope.
"Yes, yes, in a moment." the woman known as Jane said, which caused the girl to grumble at the older woman.
Having enough of this, Alex walked right up and snatched the phone from the woman to press the cancel button.
"Hey! What are you-" Jane started but Alex gave her a simple look that stopped her.
"In case you didn't notice, but you were holding up the damn line." Alex said, gesturing to said line. "Have your calls in your own time, but not when your in a line and holding it up. People have things to do and places to see, but can't because you deem your phone call more important. Now get your damn order and skedaddle."
Jane looked like she was about to argue back but she looked around and saw the other customers glaring at her while the young girl had a smug look on her face. No doubt she liked seeing this woman being put in her place.
Jane turned around and faced the employee who had a smirk on his face as she gave him her order.
Alex took his place back in line where other customers gave him a small pat on the back. She was getting on everyone's nerves.
"That was awesome." A voice said to his right. He looked over to see the girl who was with Jane appearing next to him with a big smile on her face.
"Hehe thanks. She was getting on people nerves so I thought I would hurry her up a little."
"Well I have waited for a long time to see someone put in her place. You just made my day." she said causing Alex to chuckle.
"In that case you're welcome. My name's Alexander, you can call me Alex." He said, putting his hand out. The girl eagerly shook it.
"I'm Piper." She said getting a nod from Alex.
"Cool name." he said while Piper grinned.
"Yours too. Named after Alexander the Great." She noted, getting a chuckle from him.
"My middle name is Lycaeus, which is Greek for wolf." Alex said, he then looked towards Jane. "She isn't your mom, is she?"
Piper looked over and frowned. "No. It's just my dad that I have. My mom hasn't been in the picture since before I was born."
That caught Alex's attention as it sounded too familiar. Then again, some kids grew up with one parent, it didn't automatically mean she was a demigod.
"I overheard you saying your dad was waiting for you." He said, and a big smile appeared on Pipers face. No doubt she was a bit of a daddy's girl if it was any indication.
"Yeah hes there right now and I would be too, if miss annoying over there would hurry up," she said looking over at Jane and scowling. "I don't see him a lot so time with him is pretty precious."
"Ahh I see. He works away a lot I'm guessing." Piper nodded her head.
"He works in the movie business so he is away a lot of the time and I don't see him as much as I would like. When I do I try to make the most of it."
"Well, I guess I'm kind of the same then." He said reassuring the younger girl. "I've got my dad, and my mom is... away a lot so I rarely ever see her."
That made him wonder just when he'll meet his mother, though he is patient, but... he had been waiting fourteen years, wondering who she is and now that he knows he wanted to meet her. Honestly, that rule of gods being unable to see their kids directly was stupid in his opinion.
Piper looked like she was about to speak before Jane appeared in front of them with her drink in her hand. She extended her hand out, wanting her phone back.
"Here you go." Alex said placing it in her hand. "Next time be a bit more considerate to others." He said, causing Jane to scowl as she headed towards the door.
"Come on Piper. We don't want to keep your father waiting." she said, causing Piper to go red faced.
"We wouldn't have to have kept him waiting if you would have just hurried up." She huffed racing after the older woman before she turned around and faced Alex.
"It was nice to meet you, Alex." she said giving a small wave before she ran out the door and disappeared.
Alex smiled as he stood in line, hoping this would not take much longer.
After another ten minutes, he walked out of the shop with his drink in hand as he made his way back to the beach.
After a few more minutes he arrived back at the beach where the others (including Percy) were waiting for him as they sat on a bench just next to the sand. When they saw him they got up and headed over.
"What took so long?" Annabeth asked with an annoyed look on her face.
"Some lady who would not get off her phone, and kept the line waiting."
"Hate it when that happens." Grover said as he and Percy nodded simultaneously while Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"Boys." She murmured before Alex looked over at Percy.
"So what did your dad give you?" he asked as Percy dug into his pocket and held out four pearls.
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 and left.
With some spare change from Ares's backpack, they took the bus into West Hollywood. Percy showed the driver the Underworld address slip he'd taken from Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, but he'd 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 wandered for miles on foot, looking for DOA. Nobody seemed to know where it was. It didn't appear in the phone book either.
Twice, they had to duck into alleys to avoid cop cars.
Percy saw his stepdad on the television, fake crying about how Percy was some terrorist in training, that Alex was his partner-in-crime, and how he wanted his car back. They also had a grainy picture of them and Ares outside that diner in Denver. Grover had to pull Percy away before he tried to punch the TV and window in anger. Alex reassured him that his stepfather would pay. Percy seemed happy about that.
It got dark, and hungry-looking characters started coming out on the street to play. Alex simply told the group to stay close to him.
They walked past gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers, who looked at them like they were trying to figure if the group was worth the trouble of mugging.
As the questers hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, "Hey, you."
Percy stopped.
Before they knew it, the group was surrounded. A gang of kids had circled them. Six of them in all – white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces.
Instinctively, Percy uncapped Riptide.
When the sword appeared out of nowhere, the kids backed off, but their leader was either really stupid or really brave, because he kept coming at Percy with a switchblade.
Then Percy made the mistake of swinging.
The kid yelped. Well, he was 100% mortal, because the blade passed harmlessly right through his chest.
He looked down. "What the–"
"Alright, we'll do this the other way." Alex said with a nod before he looked at his friends. "Run!" He tackled the leader into two others, causing a distraction long enough for Percy, Annabeth and Grover to run for it.
Alex fought off the gang of kids easily, uncaring if he hurt them badly. One kid tried punching him but Alex caught his fist and squeezed, causing the kid to yell in pain before Alex drove his forehead into his face, busting his nose open, then got an elbow to the face which knocked him out cold.
Soon enough, the gang of kids laid at Alex's feet, groaning in pain with either bleeding lips, busted noses, or even a busted open forehead. Some clutched their arms or legs in pain but Alex didn't care as he walked over their groaning forms and jigged off to find his friends.
He caught them coming out of some store and frowned. Percy looked fine, but Annabeth and Grover were wincing and stretching. They suddenly looked a little taller now, for some reason.
"Hey guys." Alex said as he stopped near them. "What happened to you?"
Percy gave a brief explanation on what happened.
After she was done, Alex said, "So Annie and Grover got some bondage treatment from Procrustes the Stretcher?"
After he said that, both Grover and Annabeth turned red, while Percy struggled not to laugh at that. "I hate you," Annabeth said, face cherry red. "So much."
"No, you don't." Alex smirked.
"Come on, guys," Percy said. "The Underworld is only a block away." He waved his hands in the direction ahead.
And that's it for this chapter.
