you ever sit in a cab knowing the literal underworld is your destination and just... try not to throw up? because same.
the taxi was musty, percy was deep in his thoughts, and i was busy having a full-blown anxiety attack in complete silence. not because of what might happen. no, i already knew what was coming. that's the curse of being the girl who read all five percy jackson books and then got dropped inside them like a side quest with emotions.
"i keep dreaming about this pit," percy said suddenly, cutting through my panic spiral. "there's this voice... like something's waiting down there."
yep. there is. and it's absolutely not hades.
"it's hades," annabeth said firmly. "don't let it get in your head. we're almost there. once we get the bolt back, it'll be over."
i didn't say anything. i just kept nodding like, yeah totally, let's not talk about the primordial chaos being that lives down there waiting to devour the gods. love that journey for us.
—————
santa monica beach was gorgeous in a "you-might-die-here" kind of way.
percy was already marching toward the water like it called him by name. i stood back with annabeth and grover, arms crossed, pretending i wasn't two seconds away from stress-summoning a dove and flying into the sun.
he disappeared under the waves, and annabeth stared after him with this soft, worried look on her face.
"he'll be okay," i said gently.
"you always sound like you know how this ends," she muttered.
i froze. oops.
"just... good instincts," i said quickly. "also i'm incredibly pretty and mysterious. it's a package deal."
—————————————————
when percy came back out of the water, he looked different. calmer. like something deep inside him had clicked into place. he was holding three shiny pearls in his palm.
"sea spirit," he explained. "she said to trust my heart and use these when the time comes."
i nodded, tucking that info away like i hadn't already known about the pearls since chapter nineteen, page 274.
he looked at me a beat too long. "you okay?"
"me? yep. totally thriving. ready for some light underworld tourism."
——————————————————-
we found the alley a few blocks from the beach. shadowy, suspicious, and 100% giving off "this is how you die" energy.
we didn't even get halfway down before a gang of mortal boys decided to start something.
"is there a 'not dying in a street fight' option?" i asked.
the universe said no.
we bolted, ducking into the nearest store—because of course it was a waterbed showroom.
"you kids look tired," said the man behind the counter. "i'm crusty."
i bit my tongue so hard.
"great," annabeth said. "we're just looking—"
"lie down, relax," crusty insisted.
i stayed standing, because i knew what was coming and i was not about to get final-destination'd by a waterbed.
grover and annabeth, sadly, did not get the memo. the second they touched the beds, ropes snapped out and trapped them.
"you've gotta be kidding me," i muttered. "how is this canon."
"you know, back in the old days, they called me procrustes," crusty said cheerfully. "big fan of symmetry."
"and murder," i added.
before he could make a move toward percy, our boy hero went full chaos mode.
"wait!" percy said. "can you show me how it works?"
i blinked..
crusty, being a moron, actually agreed. percy let him step into the trap, sprang it, and took him out with one swipe of riptide.
"remind me never to go near furniture again," grover mumbled as we untied them.
"we live in a capitalist nightmare," i said.
then i saw the flyer tacked to the wall: DOA Recording Studio – Sunset Boulevard.
there it was. the entrance to the underworld.
percy pointed. "ready?"
"absolutely not," i said. "but let's go anyway."
annabeth fell into step beside me. "you sure you're okay?"
i hesitated. then forced a smile. "just trying not to mess anything up."
she raised an eyebrow. "mess what up?"
"nothing," i said quickly. "nothing at all."
but my heart was pounding. because the underworld was just a few hours away. and after that? everything was going to change.
again.