'River Anise was like the morning sun. Her rays were gentle and calm, accompanied by a light breeze. Her light painted the skies with a beautiful array of colors that Percy thought no painter could ever truly capture.'
-
(Percy Jackson)
(The Lightn...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter ten: procrustes sells water beds
~
River felt awkward, squishing into the back of the taxi with her other friends. She was practically sitting on top of both Annabeth and Percy, and she hated it. River may be a touchy person, but she still appreciated her own personal space.
"Los Angeles, please," Annabeth requested, not phased by her squished state in the slightest.
The cabbie chewed on his cigar, "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."
"You accept casino debit cards?" she asked.
"Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."
River dug into her pocket and pulled out the green LotusCash card, "Here you go, mister!"
He took it skeptically, but swiped it in. His meter machine rattled, lights blinking, until finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.
"Is that enough?" River smiled brightly.
The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth, "Where to in Los Angeles...uh, Your Highness."
River blushed, not knowing how to respond to such a title, "Oh, well, uh..."
Percy had never seen her get this flustered before. He could see the red tinting her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears. He guessed that she wasn't used to being called by such nice, endearing terms. He didn't know why he did it, but he stored away the information for later, just like he did everything else about River Anise.
"The Santa Monica Pier," Annabeth cut in, seeing that River wasn't going to respond any time soon, "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."
There was plenty of time between there and Los Angeles for the group to talk quietly in the backseat. Percy told them about his most recent dream, but admitted his memories were a bit warped because of the Lotus Casino.
"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested, "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."
"Maybe..." Percy seemed unsure.
"That throne room sounds like Hades'. That's the way it's usually described," Grover said.
River yawned, leaning her head back to rest on Percy's shoulder, "It sounds pretty cool, honestly."
Percy shook his head, "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit...I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice."
"Maybe it wasn't," River murmured, "The pit sounds like it could be Tartarus. There are a lot of scary things down there."
