Chapter 7! Read on!
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy.
- Chapter Seven: It's Just A Photo, Annabeth -
The three of us walked along the New Jersey riverbank, shivering in the rain, without any provisions whatsoever. And I couldn't help but think about how it was all Percy's fault. If he had just stayed out of the fight...
Grover was trembling. His eyes were slit-pupiled, like when he got scared. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."
I practically had to drag them forward, trying to keep my cool. Truth was, I was just as scared as they were. I just hid it. "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."
"All our money was back there," Percy mumbled. "Our food and clothes. Everything."
"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—" I snapped.
"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"
"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine."
"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover added, "but fine."
I glared at him. "Shut up, goat boy."
Grover brayed softly. "Tin cans... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."
After that we walked in silence, sloshing across the wet ground. I couldn't help thinking that we probably wouldn't have made it if Percy hadn't helped us. And now he looked guilty, walking with his hands jammed in his pockets, head bent. Guilty for saving us.
I slowed to walk next to him. "Look, I..." My voice trailed off when he looked up at me, and his eyes caught the light. They shined like polished glass, and I forgot how to speak for a second.
I found my voice again. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."
"We're a team, right?" he said simply.
I didn't say anything for a moment. "It's just that if you died... aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world." Also, even though I didn't say it, I didn't want him to die. I mean... not just because it would be bad for him...
It finally stopped raining. We were far enough from the city that the lights didn't illuminate the forest any more, and all I could see of Percy was the occasional flash of his eyes.
"You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" he asked.
"No... only short field trips. My dad—"
"The history professor." I was a little surprised he had actually been listening.
"Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home." My words started pouring out, tumbling over each other, and I didn't know why. "At camp your train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not."
There was a short pause. "You're pretty good with that knife," he said.
"You think so?"
"Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me," he told me. I smiled a little. His eyes flashed in the darkness as he glanced at me. Suddenly, I wanted to compliment him on his sword fighting, since he made me feel better.
"You know, maybe I should tell you... Something funny back on the bus..." My sentence was interrupted by the torturous sound of Grover's reed pipes. Toot-toot-toot!
"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" he cried. Why wouldn't they work? "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"
He blew a few notes on the pipes, but instead of finding a path, Percy immediately slammed face first into a tree and let out an oath.
After stumbling along through the woods for another mile or so, I could finally see some light pouring in through the trees. The air smelled like fried food, and was making my mouth water just smelling it. We kept crashing through the trees—Percy and I apparently had the same idea—until we came out to a two-lane road.
There was a closed gas station on one side, and then on the other, was one of the curio shops that sell all of the crazy statues and the weird bath soaps and such. Statues were lying around in the grass outside—hundreds of them, just piled up, sitting there. There was a red neon sign above the gate, but it just looked like: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM
"What the heck does that say?" Percy asked.
"I don't know," I admitted. I hated being dyslexic and loving reading.
"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium," Grover translated. There were two little gnomes sitting out front, waving.
Percy started to cross the street, and I followed him. The food smelled so good... it had been forever since I'd had junk food. It felt like it was calling out to me.
"Hey..." Grover said warily.
"The light are on inside," I said. "Maybe it's open."
"Snack bar," Percy said hopefully.
"Snack bar," I agreed.
"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."
We ignored him.
As we got closer, I could see some of the statues. They were statues of children, adults, couples, animals, and even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which Grover didn't like.
"Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"
The three of us stopped in front of the warehouse doors.
"Don't knock," Grover begged. "I smell monsters."
"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," I said in a daze. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"
"Meat!" he said in disbelief. "I'm a vegetarian."
"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," Percy commented.
"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are... looking at me."
But before we had time to make any decisions, the door creaked open. A woman in a full black headdress and a black gown emerged, her entire body covered except her hands. You could barely see the glint of her eyes behind the black fabric. She looked old, but somehow elegant.
She said in a Middle Eastern accent, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"
"They're... um..." I struggled to come up with a sob story.
"We're orphans," Percy interjected. Okay, that could work.
"Orphans?" she said, the word coming out funny. "But, my dears! Surely not!"
"We got separated from our caravan," he added. Caravan? "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyways, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"
"Oh, my dears," she said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."
We thanked her and walked into the warehouse.
"Circus caravan?" I asked Percy.
"Always have a strategy, right?"
"Your head is full of kelp."
We started wandering through the warehouse, the only thing running through my head was food. I didn't even notice how weird it was that all the statues were life sized, or that she had locked the door behind us, or how their eyes followed us. All I wanted to do was get to the dining area. The food's smell was intoxicating.
"Please sit down," Aunty Em said, gesturing to a few picnic tables.
"Awesome," Percy mumbled.
"Um," Grover said, "we don't have any money, ma'am."
Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."
"Thank you, ma'am," I said. I thought I saw Aunty Em stiffen for a moment, but she relaxed as soon as I saw it, so I thought I was seeing things.
"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child." The smell of food was so overpowering that I didn't even register the fact that I hadn't told her my name.
As we sat down, she went behind the counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she came out with trays full of cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and french fries.
I picked up a milkshake while Percy start devouring a cheeseburger. Grover picked at the french fries, but he looked too nervous to eat.
"What's that hissing noise?" he asked. I didn't hear anything.
"Hissing?" Aunty Em said. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover." He hadn't told her his name.
"I take vitamins. For my ears."
"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax."
Aunty Em just sat and watched us eat, but I couldn't help but notice she kept looking at Percy the most. It was a little strange, but Percy didn't seem to notice.
"So, you sell gnomes," he said, trying to make small talk.
"Oh, yes," she said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."
"A lot of business on this road?"
"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."
Percy looked behind him at one of the statues. It was a little girl, holding an Easter basket. It was incredibly detailed, and my sleepy mind though she had to be really skilled to make something like that. But the face... the little girl looked absolutely terrified.
"Ah," she said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face." My brain started to wake a little... something about Greek mythology...
"You make these statues yourself?" Percy asked.
"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." Details started falling into place. Oh... please no...
I stopped eating. "Two sisters?"
"It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."
Everything started clicking together. Statues. Two sisters. The headdress... Aunty 'M.' No wonder she kept looking at Percy... Oh, gods.
Meanwhile, Percy was still under the spell of the food. He looked sleepy, like he was about to pass out at the table. I had to shake his shoulder to get his attention.
"Percy?" He finally looked over at me. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting."
"Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em said. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those." She reached out to touch me, but I stood abruptly.
"We should really go."
"Yes!" Grover swallowed the wax paper from the tray, and stood op next to me. "The ring master is waiting! Right!" Percy was still sitting there, dazed, staring at the food. She must have gotten him good.
"Please, dears," Aunty Em asked. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"
"A pose?" I asked, not liking this at all.
"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."
I shifted my weight. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy—"
"Sure we can," Percy interrupted, his voice thick and dazed. Great! "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"
I didn't like it, but I let her lead us outside of the warehouse. She brought us over to a bench right next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."
"Not much light for a photo," Percy muttered. Yes! Come on, Percy...
"Oh, enough," she said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"
"Where's your camera?" Grover asked. I was beginning to like this much, much less.
Aunty Em stepped back to look at the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"
Grover looked at the stone satyr. "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."
"Grover," Aunty Em said, "look this way, dear." She still didn't have a camera.
"Percy—" I tried to warn him. He blinked a couple of times, but still looked dazed and content with sitting there.
"I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil..."
"Percy, something's wrong," I tried to warn him. He shifted a little, but did nothing.
"Wrong?" Aunty Em asked, reaching up to undo her headdress. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"
Grover gasped. "That is Uncle Ferdinand!"
"Look away from her!" I shouted. I slapped on my Yankee's cap, and then shoved them both off of the bench. Grover started running away from her, but Percy sat on the ground, still looking sleepy and confused. He sat there staring at her feet.
She took off her headdress, and I heard the hissing sound of hundreds of snakes writhing around on her head. Percy's eyes went up to her hands, which had turned warty and hideous.
He started to look higher—still confused—but I screamed, "No! Don't!"
"Run!" Grover bleated. He ran across the gravel, and yelled, "Maia!" to start his shoes.
Percy was stuck sitting there, furrowing his eyebrows as if he realized what was happening, but couldn't fight it.
"Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," Medusa said in a soothing tone. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."
Instead of looking up—thank the gods—he looked over at one of the gazing spheres people put into gardens. He saw her reflection there, even with the ugly snakes and horrible skin, he still couldn't move.
"The Gray-Eyed One did this to me, Percy," Medusa said. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."
"Don't listen to her!" I shouted at him. "Run!"
"Silence!" she snarled at me. She returned her voice to the sweet, sympathetic purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."
"No," he mumbled, his muscles straining like he was trying to get up.
"Do you really want to help the gods?" she asked him. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain."
"Percy!" Grover yelled. "Duck!"
Percy turned, and there was Grover, flying towards Medusa with his eyes shut, brandishing a tree limb. He was going by smell and hearing only.
"Duck! I'll get her!" That must've woken Percy up, because he finally dived out of the way before Grover managed to plow into him. Thwack!
Medusa roared. "You miserable satyr," she hissed. "I'll add you to my collection!"
Grover yelled, "That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Percy scrambled up, and went and hid behind one of the statues while Grover went down to hit her again. Ker-whack!
"Arrgh!" she screamed.
I went up to Percy. "Percy!"
He was so startled he almost jumped right over a gnome. "Jeez! Don't do that!"
I took off my cap. "You have to cut her head off."
He stared at me like I'd just told him to run into the middle of a busy highway. "What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here."
"Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but..." I swallowed hard, hating to admit this. He'll only get a bigger head. "But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You—you've got a chance."
"What?" he said, like I had lost my mind. "I can't—"
I resorted to guilt. "Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?"
I pointed at a statue of couple, arms around each other as they were turned to stone. By the look in his eyes, I knew he would do it.
I snatched a green gazing-ball from a nearby pedestal. "A polished shield would be better..." I mumbled, remembering the Perseus myth. "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of—"
"Would you speak English?" he interrupted. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
"I am!" I threw him the ball. "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly."
"Hey, guys!" Grover yelled from over above us. "I think she's unconscious!"
"Roooooaarr!"
"Maybe not." He swooped down with the tree branch again.
"Hurry," I rushed Percy. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash."
Percy gave a short sigh, and then took out the pen. He uncapped it, gaining a bronze sword, and started making his way to Medusa.
Grover swooped down again, but this time, Medusa grabbed his tree branch and sent him spiraling into the statue of a grizzly bear, landing with a loud "Ummph!"
Medusa turned on him, but—like an idiot—Percy yelled, "Hey!"
He moved towards her, obviously struggling to balance both the sphere and his sword. For whatever reason, she let him approach. I saw his eyes narrow a little when he saw her reflection, almost like disbelief.
"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she purred. "I know you wouldn't."
Percy hesitated, staring into the ball with an expression almost like fascination. His arms shook a little. I wanted to run up and smack him.
"Percy, don't listen to her!" Grover yelled from the grizzly bear.
"Too late," Medusa said. She lunged at Percy, going to rip him to shreds. All I could think was, Well, there goes our quest.
But Percy slashed upwards—almost perfect aim, I had to give him—and his blade connected with something. Their was a loud shlock!, almost like someone popping gum, and then a hiss like a monster disintegrating. I heard something hit the ground next to Percy's foot.
"Oh, yuck," Grover said from the grizzly bear. "Mega-yuck."
I picked up Medusa's veil, and walked over Percy, who was rooted to the spot, standing rigidly. He was shaking a little. "Don't move," I said. I didn't think he would anyways.
I knelt down—my eyes fixed on the sky—and carefully draped the veil over Medusa's head. I pulled it around the head, and gently picked it up by the folds, still dripping the nasty green juice.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, unable to keep my voice from shaking.
"Yeah," he lied. He was still trembling a little. "Why didn't... why didn't the head evaporate?"
"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," I explained. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."
Grover griped and groaned as he climbed down from the grizzly bear. There was a red welt on his head, and the winged sneakers had come off his feet when he'd hit. Now, they were flying around his head like flies.
"The Red Baron," Percy said. "Good job, man."
Grover grinned. "That really was not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun."
Grover grabbed his shoes, Percy capped his sword, and we all stumbled back into the warehouse.
We found a bunch of plastic grocery bags, and then double-wrapped Medusa's head, just to be sure that it wouldn't accidentally petrify anyone. We sat around where we had eaten, staring at each other and looking generally exhausted.
Percy broke the silence. "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"
I scowled at him. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him."
Looking at him—while he turned tomato red—I realized he did look a lot like Poseidon. It was kind of eerie, like Poseidon as a kid. I shook that thought out of my head.
"Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa," he said.
I straightened and imitated his voice. "'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?'" True, he hadn't been in his right mind, but I still wanted to call him on it. If we'd have just left...
"Forget it," he mumbled, sounding a little hurt. "You're impossible."
"You're insufferable," I replied.
His eyes turned angry. "You're—"
"Hey!" Grover interjected. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"
Percy glared at the bag, and then stood abruptly. "I'll be back."
"Percy," I said, sure he was going to do something stupid. "What are you—"
He disappeared into Medusa's office, completely ignoring me. He came back out to the picnic table with a packing box, and what looked like a delivery slip. Oh, gods.
He plopped her head into the box, and then filled out the slip, addressing it to Olympus.
"They're not going to like that," Grover said warily. "They'll think you're impertinent."
He ignored Grover, too, and shoved some drachmas into a pay pouch. He closed it, and there was a cha-ching like an old-fashioned cash register, and the package floated off the table. It disappeared with a loud pop!
"I am impertinent," he said. I was about to say something about it, but he glared at me, as if challenging me to. So I said nothing.
"Come on," I said. "We need a new plan."
Reviews appreciated! The next chapter will take a while longer to come out, as I already had this about 2/3 of the way done when I started actually posting this.
