Annabeth Chase and the Lightning Thief

Chapter 33 - Grover's shoes betray him

The whimpering stopped me in my tracks. I'd always been soft on dogs.

I turned back to see Cerberus watching me mournfully, the ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at his feet. He whined again, expecting me to throw it again.

"Good boy," I said uncertainly. I couldn't believe that I'd become so attached to a monster.

Cerberus cocked its head at me, whining again. It was almost as if he wanted to protect me.

"I'll bring you another ball soon," I promised. "Would you like that?"

He wagged his tail, knocking away dozens of spirits. I guess that the idea of a playmate appealed to him. I doubted that Hades would often come down here to play with him.

"Good dog. I'll come visit you soon. I - I promise." I turned away, feeling bad. The chance of me ever coming back was rare, making my promise empty and worthless. I'd always prided myself on keeping my promises and I hated thinking I wouldn't be able to keep this one. "Let's go."

We ran through the metal detector which immediately went off. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!"

Cerberus started to bark but didn't come after us. I didn't know whether it was because he couldn't or because he didn't want to hurt me.

We managed to find a hiding place up a rotten black tree, laying low as security ghouls raced past us, calling for back up. I could hear the boys talking beside me, but I didn't listen to them. I felt too upset about Cerberus and the memories about my last dog, Maxi. She'd been a beautiful Dobermann and my best friend, until my father had put her down. She'd been hit by a car while playing with me, and her chances of recovery were too slim to give her a chance. I'd never forgotten her though, and the mournful keeping of Cerberus in the distance brought all the memories back.

I discreetly wiped away my tears, putting Maxi and Cerberus out of my head. Thinking about them wouldn't help us retrieve the master bolt. It would only distract me from the quest and we were low on time as it was. I had to put all my concentration on keeping us alive.

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The Fields of Asphodel were packed. It was like a concert full of people, but so full that you couldn't move or even turn around without bumping into someone. Also, it was almost completely black and felt so sad and depressing that I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. I sure hoped that when I died, I didn't have to go here.

We shuffled our way through the crowds, watching out for security ghouls and potential falling stalactites. The cavern was so dark and gloomy that I didn't doubt that we could be impaled at any moment. It felt hopeless as we made our way through. The Fields seems to go on endlessly. We could be here for years and not make the whole way through.

Sometimes the dead would come up to us and try to talk to us, or touch us, but I couldn't understand what they were saying and their hands just passed through me. I tried not to look at them, not wanting to see how they suffered but it was hard. You felt like you would meet someone you'd know, someone that had already died. I knew a lot of dead people, but that wouldn't help.

So instead of looking at the dead, I looked ahead to see a black-tented pavilion with a sign that read:

JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION
WELCOME, NEWLY DECEASED!

Two lines led out of the back of the pavilion. The left led straight to the Fields of Punishment, a prison-looking area rimmed with razor wire and patrolled by hell-hounds. There was lava all over the place and minefields and sharp rocks and wastelands. People being tortured was especially preeminent, scenes of burning, stoning, listening to opera music and watching fat people belly dance could be seen. My eyes were aching from the sights I saw.