Chapter Nineteen, Welcome to Hell
"We have to get to the Underworld," Percy insisted.
Charon growled.
At first, I thought he was growling to try to scare us. But after he growled, everyone in the lobby immediately started moving and became unfrozen.
"Leave while you can." Charon said. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."
Charon reached his hand out to take the drachmas, but Percy quickly snatched them back.
"Bi service, no tip." Percy said.
Charon growled again, and the spirits started pounding on the elevator doors.
"It's a shame, too." Percy sighed. "We had more to offer."
Percy held up the entire bag of drachmas. He reached in and took out a fistful of drachmas, then let them sill through his fingers.
Charon's growl turned into something that sounded like either a lion's purr or a cat's purr. "Do you think I can be bought, godling?"
Er.... Yes.
"Eh, just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?" Charon asked, trying to look like he didn't care.
"A lot." Percy said. "I bet Hades doesn't pay you well enough for such hard work."
"Oh, you don't know the half of it." Charon complained. "How would you like to baby-sit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead;' or 'Please let me across for free.' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"
"You deserve better." Percy agreed, stacking more coins on the counter. "A little appreciation." Stack. Stack. Stack. "Respect." Stack. "Good pay." Stack. Stack.
Charon glanced down at his silk jacket and got a look in his eyes like he was imagining himself in an even better suit. "I must say, lad, you're making some sense now. Just a little."
Percy stacked some more coins on the counter. "I could mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades."
If I was Charon, it would even be hard for me to resist the offer.
Charon sighed. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off."
Charon stood and swiftly scooped up all the money. "Come along."
We pushed through the crowd of spirits. They started to grab at our clothes like the wind. They whispered things that I couldn't understand. Charon just shoved them out of the way and grumbled, "Freeloaders."
Charon led us into the elevator, which already had tons of spirits, each of them holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits trying to sneak on and pushed them back into the lobby.
"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone!" Charon announced to the spirits in the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"
Harsh.
Charon shut the doors and inserted a key card into a slot in the elevator panel. We started to descend.
"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" I asked.
"Nothing." Charon replied.
Nothing? "For how long?" I asked.
"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."
So the spirits had to wait there forever? No wonder those spirits were trying to sneak on. I didn't blame them.
