We had been walking for what seemed like hours before there was a hissing noise behind us. I jump at the noise, moving quickly to cling to the lady's leg. The hair on the back of Annabeth's neck stood straight up as she recognized the noise and she bends down to whisper in the child's ear, "Close your eyes. Do not open them." I was scared at her words, but I did what I was told. I knew better than to not listen to an adult.

Annabeth grasps the mirror from Dani's suitcase, her little purple luggage tag acting as a tool when she lifts it to look at the trees, the reflective surface falling on a familiar pair of sunglasses. She gently pulls her leg out of the child's grasp and whispers, "You'll be safe. I promise. Just stay still and don't open your eyes." She reminds her, taking a few steps backwards towards Medusa.

"What do you want?" Her voice was hard, steely, as she glared at the gorgon through the mirror.

"You know well what I'm here for…" Medusa spits out, glaring through her tinted sunglasses, a small grimace gracing her lips.

"You're here about Chryson." Annabeth states.

Dani lets out a whimper, unsure of what was happening, her eyes shut closed, tight.

Medusa sharply turns, the whimper alerting her of another presence in the area. She looks down at the scared girl that was seemingly attached to the older half-blood's leg, her grimace turning into a smirk.

"Why, look what we have here… another half-witted troll of a god's offspring—and quite a small one at that." The gorgon snidely remarks, her supermodel-like body held upright in her pride.

Medusa gracefully bends her upper body down to the young girl's level, staring straight into Dani's eyes through her sunglasses. The woman reaches her hand up and gently caresses the five year-old's cheek.

"My, my… wouldn't you make a lovely addition to my collection…" She whispers, looking up towards Annabeth without removing her hand, "My collection is ever-growing." Medusa bluntly stated.

With a sudden movement, Annabeth pulled Dani out of Medusa's grasp, gently tossing her in a heap onto a small patch of moss a foot or two away. "Run!" She calls, voice urgent, as her arm instinctively raised up to meet Medusa's first blow.

Dani, scared, scrambled to her feet and ran in the direction Annabeth was taking her before the scary lady showed up. Her breath sped up as she rushed as quickly as her short legs would take her, her suitcase left long forgotten in the dirt behind her.

Further into the woods, Dani saw a trail and started to run down it. She was trying to run without looking behind her, scared to find the snake lady there. She could see a light ahead, some kind of fire on a lamp-looking sort of object she'd never seen before. She ran towards it, the path leading her up.

Suddenly, Dani was stopped. Two large hands had grabbed her shoulders, ceasing all of her body's movement.

She let out a high-pitched scream, afraid that the lady had found her. But when she looked up, her sight was met by two big, kind, brown eyes.

"Woah there, young one." A low, rumbling man's voice greeted her, "What's the hurry?"