Reading About The Child Of Artemis

Annabeth Does Obedience School

The whole room burst out laughing. Annabeth rolled her eyes at the lot of them.

"If any of us needed obedience school, it would be Ari." She pointed out.

We 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. 

There was another round of laughter which took a lot longer to die down.

"What about the will to live?" Leo asks. "Cause I think I lost that a while ago."

Frank wraps his arms around the younger boy. "I love you." He whispers into his hair.

"Stop it. Love and affection makes me uncomfortable." Nico says sarcastically. 

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. I turned to my friends. 

Nico, Bianca, and Hazel share a knowing look, their eyebrows raising. 

"Okay. You remember the plan." 

"The plan," Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan." 

"I'm already scared of the plan." Piper admits, pressing her cheek to the window. 

"It was a terrible plan." Grover stated.

"Yeah. It kind of was." Ariadne agreed.

Annabeth said, "What happens if the plan doesn't work?"

"Don't think negative." 

"She's got a point." Connor said.

"So many things could go wrong, it's probably better to focus on the good rather than the negative." Piper pointed out.

"Right," she said. "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative."

"It's not as bad as you think." Hazel mutters.

"Really?" Jason asks her.

"No. There's a reason only dead people go there."

I took the pearls out of my pocket, the three milky spheres the Nereid had given me in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong.

"Better than nothing." Reyna said.

"True." Annabeth agreed.

 Annabeth put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ariadne. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine." 

She gave Grover a nudge. "Oh, right!" He chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem." 

I looked at them both, and felt really grateful. Only a few minutes before, I'd almost gotten them stretched to death on deluxe waterbeds, and now they were trying to be brave for my sake, trying to make me feel better. 

"It wasn't your fault. You could have been a bit quicker but you got them out of there." Thalia reminded her.

"Besides, that's what friends do." Grover said.

"Very convincing." Apollo chuckled.

I slipped the pearls back in my pocket. 

"Let's whip some Underworld butt."

Hades and Nico snorted in amusement. 

"How inspiring." Reyna deadpans. 

"Let's leave the speeches to you my love." Said Ariadne nuzzling into Reyna's neck.