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“Thanks, for coming to do this with me,” Ashlyn said, as she took Taylor’s hand.
“I’m your girlfriend Ashlyn, of course I’m going to help you pet sit Cerberus,” Taylor said, as they stepped through the shadows, and walked out into the underworld.
Ashlyn stumbled for a moment, but managed to hold in her lunch. She was getting progressively better at using her powers since she began training with Nico. If she tried to go anywhere far it would cause her to pass out, but to the underworld felt natural.
“So how long does Hades need us to watch him?” Taylor asked, as they stepped up to the palace.
“Just a day or so,” Ashlyn said, shaking her head. “He’s visiting Persophone on Olympus and wants to make sure someone will be here to play with him.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet,” Taylor said.
“He spends most of his time guarding the underworld but he comes back at night after Charon gets off his shift,” Ashlyn explained, walking into the main room of the palace. It was mostly deserted, with a few skeleton staff around to help out.
“Since Dad isn’t here, we can share my room,” Ashlyn said, with a wink.
“Oh, that’ll be fun,” Taylor said, smiling mischievously. They walked over to Ashlyn’s room which was a large bedroom seeming to be fit for a princess. It had a massive four-poster bed and the window looked out over the expanse of the underworld.
Once Ashlyn closed the door they began kissing, falling onto the bed giggling. Ashlyn ran her hands through Taylor’s hair, and Taylor had her hands on Ashlyn’s waist.
They had been dating for six months now and knew exactly what the other liked, Ashlyn nipped at Taylor’s lip and Taylor let out a moan.
Before they could go any further, a scratching came from the door. Ashlyn jumped away from Taylor, worried it was a servant or something, but when she opened the door she realized it was Cerberus. He was now much smaller, more the size of a normal dog. His three heads all panted looking up at Ashlyn with the sweetest expressions.
Ashlyn smiled and let the dog into the room. He immediately bounded up to the bed and attacked Taylor in a burst of licks.
“Ah, why is he so small?” Taylor asked, as she pushed the dog off of her face and let him settle in her lap.
“He gets this way around the palace,” Ashlyn said, shrugging. “I think he gets tired of being big and scary all the time.”
“Well, I guess that makes our job easier,” Taylor said, scratching his head.
“Too bad we can’t have sex now,” Ashlyn said, sitting down next to her.
“We can always do it later, once he goes back to guard or something,” Taylor said, grinning.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Ashlyn said.
That night they went to bed curled up against each other Cerberus curled at their feet.
“Dad, do we have to go?” Ashlyn asked, as Cerberus was cuddling with Hades on the couch, after he had come back.
“I promised Chiron I would only take you two for a few days,” Hades said, shaking his head.
Ashlyn sighed, grabbing her backpack. How come her mortal parents were so much easier to manipulate?
“We’ll visit soon,” Taylor said, walking out the door.
Ashlyn nodded, giving her father the death glare, letting him know that he wasn’t being forgiven for this.
“I’m going to have to get you a dog aren’t I?” Taylor asked as they shadow traveled back to camp.
Ashlyn shrugged, “maybe. I’ve never actually had a dog to myself.”
Taylor cocked her head.
“Mom and Dad rented a lot of houses so they figured a pet might make it harder to move all the time.”
“Well, you’re not moving all the time anymore,” Taylor said, smiling. “I can talk to Chiron to see what the rules about pets are at camp.”
“I bet he won’t let me have one,” Ashlyn said, shaking her head, not wanting to get her hopes up. How long had she wanted a dog? Since forever, petsitting Cerberus just cemented that in her mind.
“We’ll see.”
Two weeks later Ashlyn woke up to someone knocking at her door. Ashlyn got out of her coffin bed and walked over to the door, not even bothering to brush her hair. If it was Aiden again she was going to kill that boy.
But instead outside stood Taylor and Tyler. Tyler was holding something behind his back, while Taylor had a huge grin on her face.
She moved slightly and from behind her stepped out a pitbull. He looked to be an adolescent, soon going to be an adult dog.
“Surprise,” Taylor said, grinning, and Tyler dropped what he had been holding, a pet bed and a bag of dog food.
“Oh my gosh!” Ashlyn yelled and dropped to the ground to let the dog smell her hand. He was a little apprehensive, but as soon as he decided Ashlyn was good he curled up to her and sat in her lap.
“How?” Ashlyn asked, looking up at Taylor.
Taylor grinned, “Chiron said, as long as you help out with him, and not make him anyone’s problem you could have a dog. I figured you would want one from the shelter so I asked which one was next on the kill list and I took him. His name is Charles.”
“Hi Charlie!” Ashlyn said, scratching behind his ear. His stub of a tail wagged as Ashlyn said his name.
“Can I go now?” Tyler asked, rolling his eyes.
“No, we need pictures!” Taylor said, passing him a polaroid. They spent the rest of the day getting him adjusted to the Hades cabin and taking pictures of him all around camp.