"I know you're well aware of how Annabeth is feeling cause you're her friend. But...Percy...his emotions...well...they match with hers."
"So...their feelings are mutual huh.." Y/N sighed and quickly came back to her senses, "Anyways, we should go."
...
They stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.
Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.
It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.
"Well damn," Y/N smiled, "I'm kind of excited."
"...Are you serious?" Grover asked, "This might be the end of us."
"Look there's a lot of conspiracy theories about hell. I wanna see how it actually is," Y/N said, "I mean yeah I'm scared enough to pee my pants but I'm kind of...curious. It's like the feeling when a new horror movie is released and I finally get to see it."
"...How are you like this when you're the daughter of..." Grover stared at her and said, "You know what? Nevermind, you are one bright kid I know."
"But..yeah I'm scared.." Y/N said, her voice trembling as she stared back at him, "I'm...scared of darkness. Just..a bit maybe."
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After they got in, by talking about pay-raise with Charon, they arrived near the entrance to the Underworld, which looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.
There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.
The howling of a hungry animal was really loud now, the three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades's door, was nowhere to be seen.
The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.
As they got closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground at their feet, but they still couldn't figure out where it was coming from.
Then, about fifty feet in the front, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster. They hadn't seen it before because it was half transparent, like the dead. Until it moved, it blended with whatever was behind it. Only its eyes and teeth looked solid. And it was staring straight at them. The dead walked right up to him-no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.
Annabeth and Percy both had the right idea. Even here in the Underworld, everybody-even monsters-needed a little attention once in a while. Percy tried to distract Cerberus using a stick but it wasn't useful, but then Annabeth tried with a red rubber ball, and it worked.
She wiped a tear from her cheek as she listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend when they were leaving. Oh, it was painful to hear. Y/N flinched and started humming a tune, trying to block the sound out.
