𝑻𝑶𝑮𝑬𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 ⁽ᵖᵉʳᶜʸ ʲᵃᶜᵏˢᵒⁿ ˣ ᵒᶜ⁾

𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙝𝙞𝙢?

LANA

Grover, Lana, and Percy stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at the gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.

Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

"Well, we definitely made it to the right place." Lana commented after reading the sign aloud.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.

Percy turned to his friends. "Okay. You remember the plan."

Lana rolled her eyes. "Of course I remember the plan, Barnacle Boy, I was the one who created it."

"The plan." Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan."

"Let's hope this plan of yours works," Percy said. "There seems to be a lot of ways this could go horribly wrong."

Lana crossed her arms over her chest. "Thanks for the support, Jackson. You definitely sound confident."

"Of course it will work," Grover interjected. "Lana was the one who made it!"

She offered him a small smile in return. "Thanks, Grover."

Percy sighed. "He's right. We can't afford any of us to be thinking negatively here. Especially you, Four-Eyes. I need you to be your optimistic, ass kicking, cash register murder, fighting self. Okay?"

She shook her head. "You're really good at these motivational speeches, did you know that?" She said sarcastically. "I feel like I could take on the whole world."

Percy smiled. "That's the best compliment you ever said to me."

She smirked at him. "Don't get used to it."

Percy took the pearls out of his pocket. In Lana's opinion, they didn't seem like much of a backup in case something did go wrong. She also didn't like the fact that they were still in debt to the Gods. No gift was given for free.

To try and sound encouraging, she placed a hand on Percy's shoulder. The boy looked up at her with nervous eyes. "Even though we're entering the Land of the Dead, I'm sure we have absolutely nothing to worry about. Besides you're with me. That fact alone should scare away all of your worries."

"Yeah, that definitely helped." Percy uttered.

She turned serious. "But, really, Percy, we're going to be fine. We're going to get the master bolt, save your mom, and, in the end, save the whole world. And we're going to do it together."

Grover chimed in. "She's right. We got this far and we did it as a team."

Percy looked at both of them and felt really grateful. Only a few minutes before, he'd almost gotten stretched to death on deluxe water beds, and now they were trying to be brave for his sake, trying to make him feel better.