᯾☾︎𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑶𝒇 𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈☽︎᯾ ᵖ ʲᵃᶜᵏˢᵒⁿ ˣ ᶠ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

⋆ 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 ⋆

꧁𓆉︎𖦹☾︎✯☽︎𖦹𓆉︎꧂

⋆ 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡. 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 ⋆

꧁𓆉︎𖦹☾︎✯☽︎𖦹𓆉︎꧂

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐀 𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐑𝐃, 

looking up at gold letters etched in black marble:

𝐃𝐎𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎𝐒

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.

Percy turned to his friends. "Okay. You remember the plan."

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

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

"Don't think negative," Percy said.

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

"Exactly," Y/N said. "That's my thing. It doesn't suit you."

Percy took the pearls out of his pocket, the four milky spheres the Nereid had given him in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong.

Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Percy. 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."

"That's the spirit!" Y/N said, smiling.

He slipped the pearls back into his pocket. "Let's whup some Underworld butt."

They walked inside the DOA lobby. Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel grey. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. People were sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved or talked, or did much of anything. Y/N could tell that all of those people were dead. She assumes that because she can see through their bodies.