𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑, ᵖᵉʳᶜʸ ʲᵃᶜᵏˢᵒⁿ

𝟎𝟏𝟕, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠

                                        the group sat in the vegas taxi, " los angeles please " lila asked, " that's three hundred miles, for that you gotta pay up front " the driver said smoking his cigarette. " do you accept casino cards? " annabeth asked, " some of em gotta swipe it first "

annabeth handed him the green card lotus casino card, he swiped it and an infinity sign came up. the cigarette fell out of his mouth, " where to in los angeles your highness ? " he asked, annabeth obviously liking your highness,

" the santa monica pier, get us there fast you can keep the change " she said, and maybe she shouldn't have because he started driving way past the speed limit

on the road percy explained how he didn't think it was hades, and how he sent someone to get it for him but they failed, and lost it or hid it. and how there was a second. lila saw a state of california sign as she knew they were close

soon the brakes stopped as they looked out the window, santa monica which looked like every beach on tv that you'll ever see only it didn't smell good, " what now? "

percy then stepped into the water, " percy, what are you doing? " annabeth asked, soon he got the water to his chest, " do you know polluted that water is? "

when percy came out he told the three what happened and show them the pearls, " no gift comes without a price " annabeth said, " it was free " percy told her

" no " she shook her head, " there is no such thing as free lunch that's a greek saying translated to english, there will be a price ait for it " and on the happy note, then turned their backs on the sea

and got im a bus west hollywood with the money left from ares bookbag, " you remind me of someone ive seen on tv, you a child actor or something? " the bus driver asked. " im a stunt for a lot of child actors " percy lied

" thats explains! " as lila rolled her eyes surprised how he fell for that, they thanked the driver before going off on the street, percy froze in in front of a appliance store as he saw his step-dad on the screen next to his dad was some blonde girl patting him in a comforting matter

" honest, ms walter's, if it wasn't for sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck, i mean my step son took everything from me, my wife, my camaro, sorry i have trouble speaking about it— " he faked cried

lila saw as percy hand folded into a fist, " come on let's just go " lila told him before he could punch the tv, soon enough it started getting dark as hungry-looking people started crowding the streets, as they hurried past the entrance of an alley a voice said, " hey you "

before they knew it they were crowded by wanna be gangsters kids, white kids wearing expensive clothes, rich kids trying to be bad boys, percy pulled out riptide and most of them backed off expect one of them, percy made the mistake of swinging

the boy had to be one hundred percent mortal because it just went straight through him, " run! " percy yelled, " there! " annabeth pointed to a sword

the group went, they saw the kids run past the shop. " i think we lost them " lila said, " lost who? " someone said behind them making lila jump, it was a man in a raptor in a leisure suit, at least seven feet tall. he had a cold smile his outfit looked like it fit the lotus casino, looking from the 70s

" im crusty " he said showing off his cold smile, " sorry we barge in " lila spoke up, " we were just— " she started, " browsing " percy lied as he finished for her, " from those no-good kids " he grumbled, " they hang around here every night, i get a lot of people here because of them, you wanna see my waterbeds? "

lila was about to say no until the man put his hand on percy shoulder and steered him deeply into the store, they had all kinda waterbed more than she expected existed, she saw a gold and yellow water bed as she tried it, " oh my! this is comfortable " she said

she watched as crusty asked annabeth to test the water bed and when she didn't want to lay down, how he pushed her. she was about to get up until crusty spoke, " ergo "

and chains struck her down, she looked the same thing was happening to annabeth and grover. " let my friends go " percy said, " oh sure ! but i got to make them fit first " he said

" what do you mean? "
" my beds six feet your friends are to short, got to make them fit, can't stand
imperfect measurements. ergo "

as new chains wrapped around her legs and arms stretching her out, " don't worry! only three extra inches, they might survive " he said, " might!? " lila exclaimed

" your reals names not crusty is it? " percy asked, " legally it's procrustes " he admitted, " the stretcher " percy said, " yeah, but who can pronounce procrustes? it's bad for business so i go by crusty anybody can say that "

" your right, it's got a good ring on it " percy complimented, " you think so? " his eyes lit up, " oh, absolutely! and the workmanship on these bed are fabulous "

procrustes grinned, " i tell my customers that ! every time nobody bothers to look at the workmanship. how many built in lava lamps headboards have you seen?

" not to many "
" that's right! "

" percy, what are you doing? " annabeth yelled, " ignore her, she's impossible " percy said, " all my customers are. never six feet then they complain about the fitting "

" what do you do if their longer than six feet? " percy asked, " oh that's an easy fix, " he reached a sales desk before grabbing an axe, " i just center the subject best that i can then lop of whatever hangs off either end "

lila swallowed, " sensible " percy spoke, " im glad to come across an intelligent customer! " procrustes smiled, " so crusty does this one have dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion? " percy asked

" absolutely try it out! " he said, " yeah, maybe i will. but would it work for a bug guy like you? " percy asked, procrustes nodded

" guaranteed "
" no way "
" way "
" show me "

he sat eagerly on the bed, " see no waves ! " he said, " ergo " percy snapped his fingers as chains rapped around crusty and flattened him against the mattress, " hey ! " procrustes exclaimed, " center his just right " percy sassed

" no, wait this was just a demo! " he yelled, " just a few simple adjustments " percy said as procrustes tried to make deals until percy swung his sword at him then cut the chains off the other tree

lila winced while holding her wrist, " you look taller " percy joked, " not funny! " lila glared giving a fake smile as percy laughed,

" be faster next time " annabeth scolded, " let's go " percy said, " hold up " grover said, " yeah, we were almost stretched to death " lila tried to touch her ankles but flinched in pain

" then your ready for the underworld "

aurora speaks !
sorry for taking so long
to publish this chapter

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motivation with out comments

more comments = faster updates

thanks for reading
xoxo