Yay, early update! I just had time and I thought, "Why not?" Thanks for all the reviews! You guys are awesome!
Disclaimer: ... ... ... ... *Someone else: "Spit it out."* Okay... I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. :(
Chapter 9
Percy was frozen on the ground. Medusa was in front of him. He started to look up.
"No! Don't!" I screamed, hiding behind a statue. If he looked directly into Medusa's eyes, he would become a statue.
"Run!" Grover cried. "Maia!" He activated his flying shoes.
Percy was still frozen. I wanted to help him, but there was no way I wanted to get near Medusa, even when I was invisible. There was no doubt that Medusa would kill me if I got even five yards from her.
Medusa hated my mother because of what my mother did to her. Medusa's two other sisters she talked about were named Stheno and Euryale. Medusa always had said she was so much prettier than anyone else, and she took the most pleasure in telling that to my mom. It's not like my mom cared that much about how pretty she was. Athena was known for brains, not beauty, after all.
But one day, Medusa and Poseidon were on a date and they snuck into my mom's temple, which was hugely disrespectful. My mom found out. She got so mad at Medusa and turned her "beautiful hair" into ugly snakes. Of course, Athena had the right to do that. I always said Medusa deserved it. No one could think that they could sneak into someone else's property and get away with it. I mean, if Medusa and Poseidon had to meet someplace, couldn't they have done it in Poseidon's temple? Gosh!
Think, Annabeth. How did Medusa die before? I ran threw all the facts I knew about the Greek monsters. Finally, I got it.
A person named Perseus, Percy's namesake, killed Medusa. I figured that if Perseus could kill Medusa, so could kill Medusa, so could Percy. After all, that's who Percy was named after.
Perseus had used a mirror to slay Medusa. He looked at her reflection in the mirror. Since her reflection was harmless, he could see where he was going and advance at Medusa. He severed Medusa's head and killed her.
That was it! Percy could slay Medusa using a mirror! But where could I get one?
"Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," Medusa crooned. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up.
Percy looked away.
"The Gray-Eyed One did this to my, Percy," Medusa said with a voice sounding like a grandmother. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."
Oh please, you were hardly beautiful before. My mother had a right to turn you into an old hag.
"Don't listen to her!" I shouted. "Run, Percy!"
"Silence!" Medusa hissed. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her stature to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."
"No," Percy muttered, desperately trying to move.
"Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "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."
Suddenly, Grover came whizzing right behind my head. I ducked. "Percy!" Grover yelled, continuing on and not realizing he almost killed me. "Duck!"
Yeah, thanks Grover. Don't notice you almost chopped my head off.
Grover was holding a tree branch and flying towards Medusa. His eyes were squeezed closed tight. He was relying on his nose and ears to get Medusa. "Duck! I'll get her!" He yelled.
Finally, Percy came to his senses and dove to the side.
I (partially) watched as Grover clobbered Medusa on the head. Thwack!
"You miserable satyr!" Medusa snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!"
"That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled.
Grover swooped down and hit Medusa again. Ker-whack!
"Arrgh!" Medusa screamed.
With Medusa distracted, I had a chance to tell Percy about my plan. I ran across and over to Percy. "Percy!"
Percy nearly jumped a mile. "Jeez! Don't do that!"
Oops. I forgot I was invisible. I took off my cap. "You have to cut her head off," I told Percy.
"What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here!" Percy said.
"Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but…" I swallowed. "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? I can't-" Percy stuttered.
"Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?" I pointed to a pair of statue lovers, turned to stone by Medusa.
Where could I get a mirror? I grabbed a green gazing ball from a pedestal and studied it. Oh, well. At least you could see the reflection in the ball. "A polished shield would be better. The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of-"
"Would you speak English?" Percy asked.
"I am!" I said, glaring at him. Maybe you should just get a bigger vocabulary and brain, especially one that doesn't have seaweed in it! I tossed him the ball. "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly."
"Hey, guys!" Grover yelled above us. "I think she's unconscious!"
"ROOOOAAARRR!"
"Maybe not," Grover said. He flew to Medusa again with the branch to hit her again. I didn't know how long he could last. I was honestly surprised Grover hadn't been hurt already.
"Hurry," I told him. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash." We both knew that.
Percy took out his pen and uncapped it. It changed to a sword. Using the gazing ball, he slowly advanced.
I put on my cap again and backed away. Call me a coward, but I did not want to be changed into a stature and smashed to smithereens. Would you?
Grover was trying to hit Medusa when Medusa grabbed the stick and pulled him off course. He hit a grizzly bear. I ran over to him. He groaned. "Ouch."
"Grover, are you okay?" I asked.
"Food…" Grover mumbled.
I shook Grover.
"W-what?" Grover asked, opening his eyes and blinking.
I heard Percy yell, "Hey!" I looked over and saw Percy advance on Medusa.
"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't."
Oh, yes you will, Percy, or I'll kill you.
Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"
Medusa cackled. "Too late." She lunged at Percy.
Percy closed his eyes and slashed his sword. It punctured Medusa and she disintegrated. Her head fell to the ground next to his foot.
"Oh, yuck," Grover said. His eyes were closed, but he could hear the gurgling and steaming. "Mega-yuck."
Eew. I could hear the ooze, too. Disgusting.
We need to get something to transport her head inside. We can't just leave her head here. I ran to get Medusa's veil. I took off my cap and walked over to Percy, holding the veil and looking up at the sky. Even though Medusa wasn't alive anymore, if you looked at her head, you could still be turned to stone. "Don't move," I told Percy. I draped Medusa's head in black cloth very carefully without looking down and picked it up. It was dripping green juice. Yuck.
"Are you okay?" I asked Percy, my voice trembling.
"Yeah. Why didn't… why didn't the head evaporate?" Percy asked.
"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 moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He was in pretty bad shape. He had a big welt on his forehead and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves.
"The Red Baron. Good job, man," Percy said.
Grover grinned bashfully. "That was really not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bar? Not fun."
Grover snatched his shoes out of the air and Percy recapped his sword. We stumbled back to the warehouse. We scavenged around and found some old plastic grocery bags, which we wrapped around Medusa's head. Then we plopped the head on the table.
Percy turned to me and said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"
I glared at him. Stupid Seaweed Brain, trying to blame someone else for his problem. "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."
"Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa," Percy said.
Haven't you been listening to anything I said? Besides, Don't you remember that little event? "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?" I imitated him.
"Forget it, you're impossible," Percy said.
"You're insufferable," I shot back.
"You're-"
"Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"
Percy stood up. "I'll be back," he said.
"Percy, what are you-" I called after Percy.
Percy rummaged around the warehouse. I rolled my eyes.
I turned around to face Grover. My thoughts went back to the incident on the bus with the Kindly Ones.
"Hey, Grover? You know on the bus with the Kindly Ones?" I started. "Well… something jut doesn't seem right. I mean, why would the Kindly Ones call Percy an 'it'? Even though they have obvious reasons too…"
I thought back to the bus incident. "Where is it? Where?" The Kindly Ones had said. Something just didn't seem right. Of course they could be talking about Percy. After all, he is seaweed-like. But I didn't think so. It… not a person… an object…
Grover had concern on his face. "You're right. I know there is something weird going on. Something weird with the quest. I don't think they were talking about Percy. They were talking about something else…"
Percy came back and Grover and I fell silent. Percy had a slip and packaging for Hermes Overnight Express. He put Medusa's head in the box and filled out the delivery slip:
The Gods
Mount Olympus
600th floor,
Empire State Building
New York, NY
With best wishes,
PERCY JACKSON
"They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent."
Percy poured golden drachmas into the pouch of the package. He closed it, and the package floated off the table and disappeared.
"I am impertinent," Percy said.
Percy looked at me, daring me to criticize. I didn't. Why was he so obsessed with ticking off the gods? "Come on. We need a new plan," I muttered.
And that ends chapter nine! I hope you liked it! :) Oh no, and yet another social studies project that makes me so confused and "AAH" is going to be due... tomorrow... :( I have to finish!
