Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Water Bed Shop

This is Annabeth's idea. She told us to get in the back of a Las Vegas cab and act like we were really rich, and she told the driver, "L.A., thanks." The driver bit his cigar and looked us over. "It's more than 400 kilometers away, you have to pay first." "Do you accept casino cash cards?" Annabeth asked. He shrugged and said, "Only some cards are accepted, even credit cards. I'm going to use the card machine first." Annabeth handed him her green Lotus cash card. He looked at the card suspiciously. "Just check it out," Annabeth said.

He swiped. The taxi meter started beeping, the lights blinked, and finally an infinity symbol appeared on the amount bar. The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth, and he turned to look at us, eyes wide open. "Where are you going in Los Angeles... Well, little princess." "Santa Monica Pier." Annabeth sat up a little more, and I realized she liked being called a "little princess." "Try to be as fast as possible, and a fraction will be your tip." Maybe she shouldn't have said that. All the way through the Mojave Desert, the driver's speedometer never dropped below 150 mph.

We had a lot of time to talk along the way.I told Annabeth and Grover about the most recent dream, but the harder I tried, the more details I forgot.Lotus Casino seems to have short-circuited my memory.I can't remember who the invisible servant's voice resembles, only that it's someone I know.In the abyss, the invisible servant seems to have a title other than "Master"... like a specific name or title... "The Silent One?" Annabeth guessed. "Or the Rich Man? Both are nicknames for Hades." "Maybe..." I said, but it didn't sound right.

"That throne should belong to Hades," Grover said. "People often describe it that way." I shook my head and said, "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream, the voice was from the pit...I'm not sure, it doesn't sound like a god." Annabeth's eyes widened suddenly. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Oh...nothing, I just... no, it must have been Hades, maybe he sent this invisible thief to take the Lightning bolt, but something went wrong..." "What's wrong?" "I... I don't know," she said, "but if he stole the symbol of Zeus' power from Olympus, and the gods are after him, I think he might be wrong. So the thief must take the Lightning bolt Hide it, or maybe he lost it for some reason. Anyway, he didn't make it to Hades. Is that what the voice in your dream said? The guy failed, which would explain why Nemesis got on the bus with us Looking for something, maybe they think we've got the Lightning bolt back."

I don't know what happened to her, she was pale. "But if I've already recovered the Lightning bolt," I said, "why should I go to the Underworld?" "Go and threaten Hades," Grover suggested. "Go and bribe him or threaten him to give you back your mother." I whistled. "You sheep have wicked minds." "Will you? Thank you." "But the guy in the pit said he was expecting two things." I said, "If the Lightning bolt is one, what would the other be?" Grover shook his head, completely confused. Annabeth was looking at me like she knew what my next question was going to be, but silently wishing I wouldn't ask.

"Do you have any idea what's in the pit?" I asked her. "I mean, if it wasn't Hades?" "Percy... let's not talk about this, because if it's not Hades... no, it must be Hades." Returning to the rolling park, we passed a sign that read: California State Line, 20 kilometers. I feel like I'm missing a simple but crucial message, much like I'm staring at a word I'm supposed to recognize but can't figure out because a letter or two is floating.The more I think about this quest, the more I'm sure Hades isn't the answer.There must be something else going on, and that one is even more dangerous.

The problem is, we're racing toward the underworld at 150 kilometers an hour.We all assumed Hades took the Lightning bolt, and if we got there and found out we made a mistake, we never had time to fix it.Because the deadline for the summer solstice has come, the war begins immediately. "The answer lies in the Underworld," Annabeth assured me. "Percy, you see the ghosts of the dead, there is only one place, and our direction is not wrong." She tried to boost morale and suggested a few good ways to go to the underworld, but my mind was not on that at all.There are too many factors, it's like memorizing for an exam without knowing what's in it, but I don't understand the content of the book.Believe me, I've done this enough times.

The driver accelerated to the west, and as he crossed Death Valley, strong winds blew in, and the sound was like that of the dead.Every time I heard the brakes of the 18-wheel truck, I would think of Aiqina's message. As the sun went down, the taxi driver dropped us off at the beach in Santa Monica.Disgusting stench aside, it's exactly like the Los Angeles beach in the movie.Fiesta caravans line the pier, palm trees line the sidewalks, homeless people sleep on the dunes, and surfers wait for the perfect wave. Grover, Annabeth, and I head to the breaking waves lapping the shore. "What now?" Annabeth asked.

The Atlantic Ocean is golden in the sunset.How long has it been since I stood on the shore of Montauk?Now I am standing on the other side of this country, looking at a different sea. How can there be a god who can control all this?What did my nature teacher once say...was 2/3 of the Earth's surface covered in water?How could I be the son of a god with such power? I walk into the waves. "Percy?" Annabeth said. "What are you doing?" I kept walking and the water was up to my waist and then up to my chest. She called me from behind: "Do you know how polluted the sea water is? All the poisonous..."

At this point my head was completely submerged in the water. At first I held my breath.It was very difficult to be able to breathe in the water, and I finally couldn't hold back and started to breathe, of course, I was still able to breathe normally. I went down to the shallow ocean floor.In the dark, I shouldn’t be able to see anything, but I can distinguish everything, I can feel the swirling geological structure of the seabed, I can clearly see groups of sand sea urchins covering the sand, I can even see the currents, cold currents And warm currents are intertwined. I felt something rub against my leg and looked down and I almost popped out of the sea like a missile.It turned out that the one swinging beside me was a shark about one and a half meters long.

But this guy didn't attack.It rubbed against me with its nose, like a puppy following its master.I reached out and touched its dorsal fin carefully. Its back was slightly bent, as if inviting me to hug it tightly, so I grabbed its dorsal fin with both hands.The shark pulled me away and took me down into the darkness.At the edge of the deep ocean, it set me down.The sand ends here, followed by a huge abyss.Standing here feels a lot like standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon cliff at midnight. Although I can't see what is in front of me, I am very sure that the deep ditch is there. The golden light on the sea may be fifty meters away from you and me. Logically speaking, I should be crushed by the water pressure, and I should not be able to breathe.I don't know how deep I can go, maybe I can go straight to the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean. Then I saw a little light appear in the darkness below, and then it grew bigger and bigger, and seemed to rise towards me.A woman's voice appeared, this one very like a mother's voice said: "Percy Jackson." The closer she got, the clearer her figure became.She has flowing black hair, is dressed in a green silk dress, and is surrounded by flickering light all over her body.Her eyes are so beautiful and breathtaking, I almost didn't notice that she was riding a seahorse the size of a horse. She got off the seahorse.The seahorse and the shark swam aside and played with what looked like a sign.The lady under the sea smiled at me, and she said: "Percy Jackson, it's a long way, and you're doing well." I didn't quite know how to react, so I bent over and said, "You're the lady who talked to me in the Mississippi." "Yes, child, I am a sea elf. It is not easy to show up so far upstream on the river. Fortunately, my freshwater relatives, the water elves, help maintain my strength. They respect the god Poseidon, although they are not there. Serve in his palace." "Then... are you serving in Poseidon's palace?" She nodded. "It has been many years since the Son of the Sea God was born, and we have always maintained a high degree of interest in you." I suddenly remembered that when I was a child, I saw a smiling woman's face reflected in the waves on the Montauk beach.There have been many strange things like this in my life that I didn't even think about before. "If my dad is so interested in me," I said, "why isn't he here? Why doesn't he come and talk to me?" Bursts of cold water surged up from the depths. "Don't judge Poseidon so harshly," the sea elf said to me. "He's about to face a war he doesn't want to happen, and there are too many things taking up his time. Besides, he's forbidden to help you directly, and the gods can't reveal partiality." "Even to their children?" "Especially with children. The gods can only use indirect influence, which is why I came to you with warnings and gifts." She stretched out her hand, and there was a flash of light on the palm of her hand, which were three white pearls. "I know you are going to the land of Hades," she said, "only a few mortals have ever done it, and survived it. Orpheus was a great musical genius; Hell-deep Tartarus has escaped, but do you have the skills?" "Um...no, ma'am." "Oh, Percy, but you have other qualities, and you are just about to show your talents. The oracle also foretells you of the future, good and bad, and you should come back alive and grow up. When your last hour comes Before, Buseton will not let you die. So take this, and smash the pearl at your feet when you need it." "Then what happens?" "It depends on the need. You just have to remember that what belongs to the sea goes back to the sea," she said. "What was that warning?" Her eyes glowed green, "Follow your heart, or you'll lose it all. Hades fed doubt and despair, and he will design you to lose faith in your own judgment as long as you can. Once you enter his territory, He will never let you go. Keep the faith, Percy Jackson, and good luck." She called the seahorse and rode it into the abyss. "Wait!" I called her, "in the river, you told me not to believe in gifts, what kind of gift?" "Goodbye, young hero," she replied, her voice fading away in the depths of the sea. "Your heart must be heard." She turned into a little green flash, and disappeared. I want to follow her into the dark depths, I want to see Poseidon's palace, but... I look up at the fading sea in the afterglow of the setting sun, my friend is waiting for me, there is only a little time left ... I kicked my legs up and swam towards the shore. Clothes dry quickly when we go ashore.I told Grover and Annabeth what happened and showed them the pearl. Annabeth made a face and said, "There are no free gifts." "It's free." "No," she said, shaking her head. "There's no such thing as a free lunch. That's an old Greek proverb. You'll have to pay the price. Just wait." With a glimmer of hope, we turned our backs to the sea. Ares had some change left in his backpack, which we used to catch the bus to West Hollywood.I showed the driver the address slip I got from Aunt Miye's art store, but he had never heard of DOA Studios. "You remind me of someone I've seen on TV," he said to me. "Are you a child actor, or...?" "Oh...I'm a stuntman...a stand-in for many child stars." "Oh! No wonder I have an impression." We thanked him and promptly got off at the next stop. We couldn't do it for a few kilometers and asked everywhere where DOA was, but no one knew, and it was not listed in the phone book. Twice, we ducked into alleys to avoid police cars. I froze in front of the window of an electronics store as a TV was broadcasting an interview with a very familiar face...it was my stepfather, Stinky Gabe.He was talking to the reporter Barbara Walters, looking like he was some kind of celebrity.He was interviewed in our apartment, right at the poker table, and a blonde woman sitting next to him was patting his hand. A false fairy's tear shone on his cheek, and he was saying: "Miss Waters, truly, I would be broken if it weren't for my sweetheart, my unfortunate mentor. My stepson Take everything I love, my wife...my Cameron...I'm...sorry, I can't talk about this anymore." "Dear viewers, here's the latest scene for you." Barbara Walters turned to the camera and said, "One is a man torn apart by grief, and the other is a teenager with serious problems. Let me show you the photos again, This is the latest photo of the troublesome fugitive, about a week ago, in Denver." The frame changes to a close-up of the photo, where Annabeth, Grover, and I are standing outside a restaurant in Colorado, talking to Ares. "Who are the other kids in the picture?" Barbara Walters asked in a stern tone, "Who is this man with them? Is Percy Jackson a juvenile delinquent, a terrorist, or someone Victim of brainwashing by a horrific new cult? Wait a minute and we'll have a chat with a heavyweight child psychologist. Hold on, we'll be right back." "Come on," Grover said to me, dragging me away before I knocked out the electrical store window. As it got dark, many buskers who looked hungry began to perform on the street.Tell you, don't try to scare me, I'm a New Yorker, I'm not scared.But Los Angeles feels completely different from New York.In my hometown, everything feels very close, but the city is so big that you will not get lost anywhere, because its streets and subways are well arranged and there is a clear operating system.A kid who isn't too dumb will be safe there. Not so in Los Angeles.The irregular stretch of the block and the chaos of the streets make it difficult for you to move around smoothly. This place reminds me of Ares.For Los Angeles, it’s not enough to say it’s big, it has to prove it by being loud, weirdly big, and too big to grasp.I really don't know how to find the entrance to the underworld before the summer solstice tomorrow. We saw groups of unscrupulous teenagers, homeless people, and street vendors. They looked at my expression, as if they were checking whether we were worth robbing. When we hurried through an alley, a voice came from the dark side of the alley: "Hey, it's you!" I stopped like an idiot. Before we recovered, we were surrounded by a group of children.There were six white kids in all, wearing designer clothes and looking mean, like the rich brats at Yancy's school who pretended to be bullies. I instinctively took off the pen cap on the sword. The group of kids stepped back when the sword appeared.But their boss didn't know whether he was too stupid or too brave, so he took out a switchblade and approached me step by step. I will make a wrong sword. The child yelled.But he was 100% mortal, because the blade passed through his chest unscathed.He looked down and said, "What the hell are you doing..." I guess it only took three seconds for him to go from shock to rage. "Run!" I yelled at Annabeth and Grover. We pushed the two kids away, ran aimlessly toward the end of the street, and turned a sharp corner. There was only one store open on the block, with bright neon lights on the windows and doors.The signboard on our door seems to read: The wooden bed palace during the wine period. "Couras Waterbed Palace." Grover translated. It doesn't sound like a place I'd go in unless it's an emergency, which it was 100 percent. We rushed through the gate and ducked behind the waterbed to hide.A few seconds later, the group of unscrupulous teenagers ran over from the outside. "Should get rid of them." Grover gasped. A muffled voice came from behind us: "Get rid of who?" We all jumped up. The man standing behind us looks like a raptor in casual clothes.He was at least two hundred centimeters tall, with a bald head, thick gray leather, thick and drooping eyelids, and a cold, reptilian smile.He moved towards us slowly, but I figured he could move quickly if necessary. His clothes might have been from the Lotus Casino, bright seventies.His paramecium-patterned silk shirt is half unbuttoned, revealing a hairless chest; the lapels of his velvet jacket are as wide as an airstrip; and around his neck are too many silver necklaces to count. "I'm Coolas." He smiled, showing the yellow tartar on his teeth. I resisted the urge to say "You're Coolzilla!" "Sorry for the reckless intrusion." I said to him, "We're just, uh, looking around." "You're hiding from those bad boys," he muttered. "They roam the streets every night, and I see a lot of customers here, and I'm really grateful for them. Do you want to see the water beds?" I was about to say "No thanks!" when he patted me on the shoulder and led me to the showroom inside. There are every kind of waterbed you can imagine.Different woods, different styles of sheets, different sizes of beds, queen size, king size, even the size of the king of the universe. "This is the most popular bed set in my place at this time." Coolas opened his hands proudly. The bed was covered with black satin sheets, and the headboard was embedded with karst lamps.The mattress vibrated like oiled jelly. "There is a million-feel massage machine attached to the bed," Coolas told us. "Come on, try it, go up and take a nap. It doesn't matter, there are no guests today anyway." "Well," I said, "I don't think it's necessary to..." "Million Touch Massager!" Grover yelled, before crawling under the sheets. "Oh, let me tell you, this is cool!" "Yeah." Kulas touched his thick-skinned chin and said, "It's coming, it's coming." "What's coming?" I asked. He looked at Annabeth and said, "Do me a little favor, honey, try this bed, it should suit you just fine." Annabeth said, "But..." He patted her on the shoulder to encourage her, and led her to the luxurious hunter-style bed set.Lions are carved into the teak bed frame, and a leopard-print quilt covers the bed. Annabeth didn't want to lie down, but Kuras pushed her up. "Hey!" she protested. Coolas snapped his fingers and said, "Earhook!" The rope bounced off the side of the bed, around Annabeth, and bound her to the mattress. Grover was about to get up, but the rope also jumped out of the black satin bed, pulling him onto the bed and tying him tight. "No, no, no... cool..." he shouted, and the voice came out from the vibration of the million-touch massage machine: "one by one... a little... all... not... not cool... ..." The giant Coolas looked at Annabeth, then turned to me, grinning a little. "Come on, let's make it up." I was running when his hands popped out and clamped around the back of my neck. "Oh boy, don't worry, I'll find your bed right away." "Let go of my friend." "Oh, of course I'll let it go, but first I have to get them and the size." "What's the meaning?" "Look, all the beds are a full 180 centimeters long. Your friend is too short. You'll have to make them fit together." Annabeth and Grover continued to struggle. "I can't stand the imperfect length." Kuras murmured, "Earhook!" A new set of ropes popped from the head and foot of the bed, looping around both of their ankles and underarms.The rope began to tighten, pulling at them from both ends. "Don't worry," Coolas said to me, "it's a lengthening move, give them almost another five centimeters of spine, and they'll probably still be alive. Now why not find a bed you like? Come on !" "Percy!" Grover yelled. My head is racing.I knew I couldn't stand alone against this giant waterbed clerk who would have snapped my neck before I could draw my sword. "Isn't your real name Kuras?" I asked him. "My real name is Procrustes," he admitted. "You're the one who stretches people." I remember the story.The giant wanted to kill Theseus on his way to Athens, so he graciously broadbanded Theseus. "That's me," said the salesman, "but who can pronounce Prokrateste? It's not good for business. Now I've changed my name to 'Kuras,' and everyone will catch it." "Yes, Coolas sounds cool." His eyes lit up. "You really think so?" "Oh, that goes without saying," I said, "And, the workmanship of these beds is amazing!" He laughed a lot, but his fingers didn't let go of my neck. "I tell my guests this all the time, but no one pays attention to my work. How many beds have you seen with lava lamp headboards?" "Not really." "Yeah!" "Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "What are you doing?" "Don't pay attention to her," I said to Procrustes, "she's hard to deal with." The giant laughed. "My clients are all like this. I have never met a person who is exactly 180 centimeters long. I am really not considerate of others, and then I like to complain about the wrong size." "If they are one hundred and eighty meters taller, what do you do?" "Oh, this kind of thing often happens, just a little repair will be fine." He let go of my neck.Before I could react, he had gone behind the desk of a nearby salesman and pulled out a huge brass double-bladed axe."I just center people as much as I can and chop off the ends where they protrude out of the window," he said. "Oh." I said with difficulty swallowing, "You're really smart." "It's a pleasure to meet such a wise guest!" Now the rope is stretching my friend. Annabeth was pale and Grover clucked like a goose strangled. "So, Coolas..." I tried to keep my voice light.That's when I caught a glimpse of a discount sign on a special honeymoon bed set in the shape of a heart. "Does this bed really have a dynamic stabilizer that stops the water bed from undulating?" "Of course, come on, try it." "Well, maybe I'll try. But is it okay if it's a big guy like you? Doesn't fluctuate at all?" "I promise." "Stop coming." "It must be fine." "Prove it to me." He eagerly sat down on the bed and patted the mattress. "There is no fluctuation, see?" I snapped my fingers and said, "Earhook!" The rope looped around Kuras, laying him flat on the mattress. "Hey!" he yelled. "Aim at his center point," I said. The ropes were readjusted at my command, and Kuras's entire head protruded from the head of the bed, and his feet protruded from the end of the bed. "No!" he said. "Wait a minute! I'm just demonstrating." I took off the pen cap of the wave. "A little simple adjustment..." I have no qualms about what I'm about to do.If Kuras were human, my sword would not hurt him; if he were a monster, he would turn to dust after a while. "I'll give you a super low price!" He said to me: "I'll give you a 30% discount, it's a clear price for the exhibit!" "I think I'll start with the head." I raised my sword. "No down payment! No interest for the first six months!" I swung my sword, and Kuras finally stopped cutting prices. I cut the cords on the other beds. Annabeth and Grover touched their feet and groaned.Their muscles twitched and they kept cursing at me. "You've grown taller," I said. "It's hard to laugh," Annabeth said. "Be quicker next time." I saw a bulletin board in the back of Coolas's office, with an ad for Hermes Express, along with the latest L.A.-area monster roster—The Complete Monster Phone Book You'll Always Need.There is an orange flyer under the roster, which was issued by the DOA recording studio. The content of the flyer is to provide a bounty to those who hunt the hero's soul.It also read: "We're always looking for new talent!" and the address of DOA's recording studio was written at the bottom of the flyer, along with a map. "Let's go." I told my friends. "Give us a minute to breathe!" Grover grumbled, "We almost got dragged to death just now!" "It can be seen that you are ready to enter the underworld." I said, "It's only one street from here."