Daughter of the Sea || HoO

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It was hard to measure time, but Tori figured their friends slept about four hours. Now that she was resting, she didn't really feel the need for more sleep. She'd been conked out long enough on the dragon. Plus, she needed time to think about the quest,  Hera and  Poseidon's warnings, and Percy. Jason and her remained silent the entire time. He didn't seem to mind. Jason also seemed to lost in his own thoughts.

Finally they broke camp and started down the tunnel.

It twisted and turned and seemed to go on forever. Tori wasn't sure what to expect at the end—a dungeon, a mad scientist's lab, or maybe a sewer reservoir where all Porta Potty sludge ends up, forming an evil toilet face large enough to swallow the world.

Instead, they found polished steel elevator doors, each one engraved with a cursive letter M. Next to the elevator wasa directory, like for a department store.

"M for Macy's?" Piper guessed. "I think they have one in downtown Chicago." 

"I don't think so," Tori said, "I don't think Macy's would have an elevator that leads to the sewer."

"I could be Monocle Motors still?" Leo said. "Guys, read the directory. It's messed up." 

Having four demigods all with dyslexia, lets just say it took them a while for all of them to figure out what the directory said. At one point Tori gave up trying to read. Her brain made the letters so jumbled that it became unreadable to her. After several minutes, the other three figured out it said:

Parking, Kennels, Main Entrance: Sewer Level 

Furnishings and Café M: 1 

Women's Fashion and Magical Appliances: 2 

Men's Wear and Weaponry: 3 

Cosmetics, Potions, Poisons & Sundries: 4

"Kennels for what?" Piper said. "And what kind of department store has its entrance in a sewer?"

"Or sells poisons," Leo said. "Man, what does 'sundries' even mean? Is that like underwear?"

"Or maybe sunglasses?" Tori shrugged.

Jason took a deep breath. "When in doubt, start at the top."

"That is definitely not a saying," Tori laughed. 

Jason gave her a smile and pushed the button with '4' on it. The elevator doors opened and they all hopped on. Tori tugged on her necklace and Tidal appeared in her hands. Jason flipped his coin, and both demigods were prepared for what was to come.

The doors slid open on the fourth floor, and the scent of perfume wafted into the elevator. Jason and Tori stepped out first,swords ready. Tori's eyes went wide when she saw her surroundings.

"Guys,"Jason said to the other two. "You've got to see this."

Piper joined them and caught her breath. "This is not Macy's."

The department store looked like the inside of a kaleidoscope. The entire ceiling was a stained glass mosaic with astrological signs around a giant sun. The daylight streaming through it washed everything in a thousand different colors. The upper floors made a ring of balconies around a huge central atrium, so they could see all the way down to the ground floor. Gold railings glittered so brightly, they were hard to look at. 

Aside from the stained glass ceiling and the elevator, Tori couldn't see any other windows or doors, but two sets of glass escalators ran between the levels. The carpeting was ariot of oriental patterns and colors, and the racks of merchandise were just as bizarre. There was too much to take it at once, but Tori saw normal stuff like shirt racks and shoe trees mixed in with armored manikins, beds of nails, and fur coats that seemed to be moving.