𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀, percy jackson!

𝐗𝐈𝐈. favorite ariana album challenge, go!

──★ Chapter thirteen

Annabeth had an idea. She loaded the group into the back of a Vegas taxi as if they actually had money, and told the driver that they were heading to Los Angeles.

After the driver swiped her green LotusCash card, his meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed and finally, an infinity symbol came up. His cigar fell out of his mouth as he looked back at the kids.

"Uh, where to in Los Angeles... Ma'am?" he stammered, the words tumbling out awkwardly.

Adira, seizing the moment and leaned forward. "It's 'Your Highness,' actually," she corrected.

"Uh, yes. Where to in Los Angeles, Your Highness?"

Annabeth bit her lip to keep from laughing, her shoulders shaking slightly as she covered her mouth with her hand. Composing herself, she cleared her throat and met the driver's gaze with a cool, sharp look. "The Santa Monica Pier," she instructed, her voice firm. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."

She sat up straighter, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She liked the 'Your Highness' thing.

The driver, taking her words far too literally, pressed his foot down on the accelerator. The speedometer needle shot up, hovering just under a hundred as the taxi hurtled through the Mojave Desert, a blur of heat and sand outside the windows.

During the drive, Percy started telling the group about his latest dream.

"The servant called the monster in the pit something other than 'my lord'...some special name or title..." Percy said.

"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested, her brows knitting together in thought. "The Rich One?"

Percy looked puzzled. "Why would he call it that?"

"Both of those are nicknames for Hades, catch up, Anchorhead." Adira told him, her voice laced with impatience.

"Maybe..." Percy's voice faded, his thoughts clearly tangled as he stared out the window, the landscape whipping by in a blur.

Adira leaned forward. "What about the throne room?" she pressed, her tone sharper now, as if trying to snap him out of his reverie. "It definitely sounds like Hades's. That's the way it's always described."

Percy only 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."

Adira absorbed Percy's words, her expression growing pensive as she mulled over the possibilities. She had never been to the Underworld, but the pit he described could only mean one thing: Tartarus. A chill ran down her spine at the thought. The dark, endless chasm that housed the most vengeful and dangerous monsters, those who harbored deep grudges against the gods—especially Zeus. The idea of something from Tartarus being powerful enough to manipulate others gnawed at her.

Yet, one figure stood out, refusing to leave her thoughts.

"Maybe it wasn't," Adira said, her voice thoughtful, almost as if she were testing the idea out loud.

Percy frowned. "What do you mean?"

Adira and Annabeth exchanged a glance, a silent understanding passing between them. Adira shook her head slightly. "Never mind, it's just... I don't know. Maybe something went wrong when the thief tried to get the master bolt—"

Percy leaned forward, his curiosity piqued. "Like what?"

Annabeth picked up where Adira left off, "If the thief stole Zeus's symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That's what the voice said in your dream, right? The guy failed. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt."