Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus. All rights and characters rightfully belong to Uncle Rick.
We were ready to leave a couple hours later. It didn't take me long to pack. I grabbed clothes, a first-aid kit, some nectar and ambrosia, and some mortal cash. My tent was stashed in one of the side pockets of my backpack. I also brought some granola bars for snacks and meals.
As for weapons, I had Riptide, my shield, my knives, Fang and Claw, my silver sword stashed away in my tent, along with my bow and arrows from the hunt, also hidden in my tent. I opted to take a camp bow and quiver of arrows as well, because my silver hunting bow is a staple of Artemis' hunters and would immediately draw red flags from everyone who saw it, especially if I was seen leaving without a bow, only to suddenly have one randomly during the quest. I also took out one of the mixed-metal knives stashed away in my desk. Since I was going to be travelling in the presence of mortals, I wanted to at least be prepared in case anything happened. On my way to camp, I mainly stuck to the forests, very rarely stepping foot in a mortal town, so there wasn't any need to have one of them on me then. Now though, it was better safe than sorry. I had it attached to my arm, hidden by my sleeve.
I went to the big house, where I played hearts with Chiron and some invisible players while we waited for Piper and Grover to arrive. In that time, Chiron put a layer of mist around the bow and arrows to disguise them as hiking sticks. He said it would last for a few days.
A while later, Piper arrived wearing cargo shorts, a camp T-shirt and a fleece snowboarding jacket, which I thought was weird because it was June, and hiking boots. She had her smaller knife stuffed in her pocket, and her dagger, Katoptris, attached to her arm, hidden by her sleeve like me. She had a backpack that looked close to bursting. It looked like it was really weighing her down, so I asked to take a look. Turns out, she had it stuffed full of soup cans. She had a few clothes at the bottom, but most of it was stuffed with soup. I heard Chiron chuckle from behind me as I looked up at Piper with look of surprise.
"What?" she asked. "We need food on a quest, and soup is really easy. Plus, Grover will just eat the can so we won't have to worry about littering," she said like it was no big deal that most of her bag was filled with heavy soup cans.
"Yeah, but we don't need all of thi–" I started before cutting myself off, noticing something unusual about the soup cans. "No meat," is all I said.
"Huh?" Piper asked.
"There's no meat here. Nothing. Like look, Mushroom, tomato, cream of mushroom, I mean, what the heck even is white bean and kale soup?" I asked, carefully examining the label of that last one, barely suppressing the urge to shiver.
"Vegetarian options. Grover's vegetarian, and he probably wont eat a can that once had meat in it," she explained.
"All this for one satyr?" I asked perplexed. Chiron seemed to be loving this whole interaction.
"Well, I'm partial to the vegetarian options. And I try to stay away from meat," she said.
"Why?" I exclaimed, getting a laugh out of Chiron.
"Cause I used to be vegetarian, but kinda had to stop calling myself one when I had to eat meat on my way to camp. It was literally life or death. Like, eat meat, or die of starvation. Still, I try and avoid eating too much meat," she explained to my mounting horror.
"So, if you could, you'd never eat meat again?" I questioned, disbelievingly.
"Oh, Hades no," she said, earning a cough from Chiron about her use of the Lord of the Dead's name in vain. "There's no way I'd give up chicken, or cheeseburgers. Not anymore at least," she said.
This made me heave a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank gods. There's actually hope for this quest after all," I said.
Grover came just then, carrying a bag that looked full to the brim but wasn't weighing him down too much. I also heard a metallic rustling coming from his bag, so I inspected that too, exasperated to find that it was full of scrap metal.
Chiron advised that they should try again, and with my encouragement, and specific instructions of no scrap metal for Grover, and much less soup for Piper, they did.
Half an hour later, they were back. This time, Grover, wearing fake feet, a green rasta-style cap to hide his budding horns, and carrying crutches, had a few cans of tomato soup, along with some apples, clothes and other supplies. He had his reed pipes hanging from his neck. Piper brought with her a few books to read, one about monsters and another about demigods in history which did pique my interest, some wet wipes, and some spare money, drachmas, and nectar and ambrosia from the camp store. Overall, they looked much more balanced out for this trip.
Some people came to see us off, so after waving goodbye and receiving our well wishes, we followed Chiron up to the top of the hill, where a guy with hundreds of eyes all over his body, dressed like a chauffeur for an expensive car was standing. Behind him was a white SUV. Grover explained to me that he was the camps head of security. Apparently, he had eyes all over his body, making surprising him impossible.
"This is Argus," Chiron explained. "He will drive you into the city to the nearest bus stop. Then he must return to his duties here."
I heard footsteps coming from behind us. We turned around to see Luke running up the hill, carrying a dusty box under his arm.
"Hey," he breathed, probably tired from running here all the way from his cabin, I assumed. "Glad I caught you."
"Hi, Luke," Piper said, somewhat shyly, brushing some of her hair behind her ear.
Luke flashed her a smile, and her face almost exploded with red as she looked away so no one could see.
"Just wanted to say good luck," he told me. "And I thought. . . Uh, I wanted to give you these," he said, removing a pair of basketball shoes from the box, before tossing the empty box behind him.
He handed me the fairly normal looking sneakers, which were normal in every way. Luke said, "Maia!" and suddenly, white bird wings sprouted from the heels of each shoe, startling me so much, I dropped them.
They started flapping uselessly on the ground, before Luke said "Maia!" again and the wings disappeared.
"Awesome," Grover said.
Luke smiled at the praise. "These served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from my dad. Of course, I don't get to use them much these days. . ." his expression turned sad for a moment before he shook it off, as if it never happened. "But hey, I bet they'll be perfect for your quest."
I didn't know what to say. It had been cool enough for Luke to come and to say goodbye and to wish me good luck personally. I knew that most of the people from before were there mostly to wish Piper and Grover goodbye and good luck. I wasn't really popular at the moment. I'd been afraid that Luke might have resented me, for getting so much attention lately, despite how bad. I also knew that he felt cheated by the quest he got and probably felt that it should have been him going on this one instead of me. But here he was instead, giving me a magic gift. . . I honestly didn't know what to say.
"Thanks," I stuttered, before nervously clearing my throat, "Seriously, man, thank you," I told him.
"Listen, Percy. . ." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just. . . kill something for me, yeah?" he said.
I smiled and we shook hands. "Will do," I said. He smiled, then patted Grover's head between his covered horns, and gave Piper a goodbye hug, which she smiled brightly into and buried her head into his neck for a moment.
Luke left shortly after, and I looked back down t the shoes uncertainly. I looked over to Chiron to see him frowning at them. "I can't use these," I said as fact.
Chiron nodded his head slowly. "Luke meant well. He truly cares about everyone in the camp. But, given the state of things on Olympus, and despite the shoes falling under Lord Hermes' sphere of influence, rather than Lord Zeus', I think it best that you avoid all travel by air at all costs," he said.
I nodded before turning to an uncomfortable looking Grover. "Here man," I said suddenly, almost making him jump in surprise at being addressed. I handed him the shoes, and after insisting that I truly wanted him to have them, he happily swapped the pair he was currently wearing for the new magical shoes.
"Maia!" he said immediately, and he was off like a bat out of hell, screaming in either fear or excitement, I couldn't tell. Eventually, when he came back around, Chiron reached out, caught his foot, and then calmly, like nothing was happening, said the code word to deactivate the shoes.
Grover was literally shaking when he came back down, so Piper offered to escort the satyr to the van. Argus followed close behind them, twirling the keys in his hand.
"Perseus," Chiron said as I made to follow my other quest mates. "I know you made yourself explicitly clear earlier, but I feel as though I must ask again. . . What was the rest of the prophecy?" he asked.
I was at least happy that he was asking, and not demanding to know the whole prophecy. But my earlier reasoning for not telling him still stood. The first two lines were very straightforward and were very relieving to hear. But the last two lines turned the prophecy into such an absolute mess, you'd think it was made by Rube Goldberg.
"I'm sorry, Chiron," I said slowly. "But like Luke said, a lot's riding on this quest' success. And the rest of the prophecy. . . I'm worried that if too many people know it, it could doom the entire quest," I told him.
He placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently in a show of support. "You're right. Much is riding on your success. But that is why I worry greatly," he said. "Your father claimed you only days ago, and since then I've seen you interact with very few as you used to, before. I know what being shunned by your peers can do to a man, I've watched it happen from afar more times than I can count," he said solemnly. "Jason, Bellerophon, Theseus, Calypso, and many others were shunned or ignored at the end of their lives, which have all ended in tragedy. A tragedy that happened because of differing circumstance. Some made mistakes in their later years, others early on, but they all felt alone at the end. What I am saying, Percy, is that it is unwise to try and shoulder such a burden all on your own. You must trust others, especially now, when you feel backed up in the proverbial corner."
I thought about what he said for a minute. I knew he was right. A hero's life often is meant to end in tragedy. And I did trust others. The reason I knew I wasn't going to end up like the other hero's he mentioned was because I have others who wont abandon me like they were. I have the hunt, Lupa and Poseidon. And I did trust Grover and Piper, or else I wouldn't have brought them along.
"I appreciate your concern, Chiron, and I understand where your coming from," I told him. "But for now, while the bolt's still out there, and when war could start at any moment, I think it's best to keep these cards close to my chest."
He looked unsure of my response, but he relented eventually.
"Very well then," he said. "I pray for your success."
I turned to make my way down the hill towards the van, but stopped at the tree, deciding to at least assure Chiron that I knew what I was doing.
"Chiron," I said, "I do trust people. I trust that Grover and Piper have their own reasons for coming on this quest. I know that they have a lot at stake personally to see this quest completed successfully. And I know that that's why it will," I said.
He gave me a firm nod in assent.
I made my way down the rest of the hill, finding the camp van ready for our departure. Piper and Grover were already seated and ready to go. Argus started the van once I was close enough, and with a last wave to Chiron, we were off
We ended up leaving camp close to midday. It was late afternoon by the time Argus dropped us off at the bus stop. Grover, Piper and I played eye-spy until Grover decided to take a nap and Piper opened her monster book for a bit.
When we finally made it through traffic and arrived at the bus station, the sun was starting to go down and it was raining.
When checking the bus routes, we saw that there was a bus that could take us all the way to Los Angeles, but it would cost basically every penny we had on our person. Granted, I still had more than enough in my tent, but I didn't want to pull out a magic tent in the middle of a crowded bus terminal. Piper seemed to be contemplating something, but eventually shook her head, so I thought nothing of it.
In the end, we agreed that the bus probably wouldn't survive a direct trip to LA without blowing up within the first few hours, so we settled for the much cheaper trip to Ohio. From there, we'd look for a train to take instead.
The bus was still a few hours away, so we started playing Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. It ended when I accidentally kicked the fruit too close to Grover's face and in one mighty chomp, our entertainment was gone. Vanished off the face of the earth. One bleat, which I'm pretty sure was just a disguised burp later, Piper and I were really struggling to keep our laughter in check.
When our bus finally came, we were some of the first people to board it. Pretty soon I started to get this feeling, like something was off. The feeling was familiar, somehow, though still extremely foreign. I turned to look at Grover next to me, who was sniffing the air, looking around like he could smell a particularly tasty delicacy.
"What is it?" I asked warily.
"I don't know," he said nervously. "Maybe it's nothing."
I knew that it wasn't nothing. I just didn't know what it was that wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder too, but all I could really see was Piper, wearing her hood up which I found odd, but paid it no mind.
When we finally got on board the bus, I immediately took the seats next to the emergency exit sign where all I had to do to get out was break the glass. 'No problem.' Piper convinced me to let her have the window seat, and I obliged, after helping her put her bag in the overhead compartment. After stashing my bow and quiver, disguised as hiking sticks, in the same compartment, I opted to stick my bag under my seat, ready in case we needed to make a quick getaway.
When the last passengers got onto the bus, Piper grasped onto my knee. I looked over at her sharply and saw her face ashen white. "Percy," was all she said. She was looking towards the front of the bus, so I followed her gaze.
That feeling of something being off returned, threefold. But all I saw where a trio of old ladies boarding the bus, seating themselves at the very front of the bus. The two in the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an 'X' with their legs. I knew something was wrong, I just didn't quite know what. I figured, bason on Piper's reaction to the old ladies, that they had something to do with the foreboding feeling, I just wasn't sure what. For all I knew, they were just being inconsiderate: Crossing their legs across the aisle, making a very obvious tripping hazard. At least they were the last ones on the bus.
The bus finally left the station, weaving through the slick streets of Manhattan. By now, Piper was discreetly fiddling with her knife which she pulled from her pocket, anxiously tapping her foot. Her tapping was contagious, because now I was tapping my own foot.
"What's wrong?" I whispered to her after what felt like hours.
"Kindly ones," she all but whispered softly.
I stiffened instantly, now on high alert. I heard a nervous curse come from Grover next to me across the aisle, who confirmed that it was probably all three of Hades' torturers.
By the time we got onto the highway, my companions were both nervous wrecks. Grover had turned impossibly pale and was struggling not to break down. Piper was doing better, but she was still pale. I thought I heard her murmuring something about something happening again, but I paid it no mind. I was far more concerned about the elephants on the bus that nothing else really mattered.
I didn't want to start a fight near mortals, especially if it involved some of the worst monsters out there, so I started looking for an alternative solution. The emergency exit was right next to us, all we'd need to do was break the glass and then slip out. Problem was, we were now on the highway, with lots of other cars going really fast next to us.
Unfortunately, it seemed we had no way out of this situation without causing a scene in front of the mortals.
"There's no way out. We'll have to fight," I whispered to Piper. I could tell that my statement probably scared her shitless, but she was doing an amazing job hiding it. She managed a shaky nod in response. Grover was shaking much more violently than Piper, but he seemed to have managed to wrangle it under control enough to nod as well.
"There probably here for you," Piper said quietly. "Maybe you should hide. They might not do anything then," she said. You could hear the doubt in her voice though and could tell that she knew it wouldn't work.
"There's nowhere to hide in here. So, unless someone can turn me invisible, we're fighting," I said, pulling Riptide from my pocket and twirling it around in pen form.
"You think the Mist will still hide us?" asked Piper.
It was Grover who responded to her though, "Probably not. The Mist can hide lots of things, but I don't think it'll hide a fiasco on a bus involving all three Kindly ones, two demigods and a nice, tasty satyr," he said.
Obviously, none of us wanted to fight the Furies, let alone inside a big metal box moving at 60 mph. So, in an effort to protect the mortals, and my friends from any would be harm, I did something incredibly stupid.
"Stay here," I told my friends, who were giving me weird looks. Looks which quickly turned to horror once I started walking down the aisle towards the front of the bus.
Now, normally, whenever I do something inherently stupid, it's usually the kind of stupid that's dumb and dangerous for some people, but would get me a high five and pat on the back from others. This was neither of those.
This kind of stupidity wasn't the fun kind where we'd all laugh about it later on, nor was it the kind that would get me in trouble for doing something wrong. No. This was the suicidal kind of stupid. The kind that was almost guaranteed to get me killed.
I only stopped when I was right behind the Furies, who were looking at me with a mix of curiosity, incredulity, anticipation, excitement, and I think I saw a slight sadistic gleam flash through their disguised visages. I sat down in the row behind them.
To let them know I was okay, I gave Piper and Grover a thumbs up.
I noticed the Furies hands tightening around their handbags. They made no move to attack me. All they really did was uncross their legs from the aisle.
"So, who's who?" I asked lowly. The silence was getting too long, and I was starting to get restless. I figured asking for the names of the Greek pantheons best torturers was a pretty good way to break the ice.
"You are a fool, sea spawn," said the one sitting directly in front of me.
"I am known to do some pretty reckless stuff from time to time," I said airily. This got a growl from the Furies.
"You are stupid," said the one by the window. "Speak if you must. We will kill you shortly."
"I wasn't on Olympus. I didn't steal the bolt. The hunters of Artemis are my witnesses," I said seriously.
After I said that last thing, all three Furies froze. I really hope Piper and Grover can't hear me right now, or else that would be a really strange conversation later on.
"The silver archers do not tolerate your kind," the third one said. "We will kill you now."
"I'm on my way to the Underworld to ask your master for the bolt back. But I'm probably the only ones who thinks that Hades had nothing to do with the theft and is innocent," I said quickly.
The Fury who had just spoken started to move. I saw her handbag start glowing with orange fire, but she was stopped by the first Fury who held her hand up. The fiery handbag turned back into a normal handbag and the Fury sat back down.
"Why do you believe our master committed no crime?" the first Fury asked.
"I don't think it makes sense for the Lord of the Underworld to try and incite a war by stealing his brother's weapon," I explained.
"The Olympians have casted our master out. They have villainized him. Painted him in the light of evil and deceit. So, explain why you think our master would not try and cause trouble for those blasted Olympians," she all but hissed at me.
"Because while that may be true for your master Hades, the Romans thought of him differently," I said quietly, making sure that I wouldn't be overheard by Piper and Grover a few rows behind me. "And I can't see him being accused of stealing something so valuable. And correct me if I'm wrong, but unlike the Greeks, the Romans held great regard for your master as the god of wealth. Something all romans wanted," I finished.
At the mention of Romans, the Furies visibly tensed. This whole time, they had been visibly annoyed and angry. They were fidgeting, tightening their hold on their respective handbags, which I'm almost certain are actually their fiery whips in disguise, and they had been growling and hissing the whole time. Now, they sat ramrod straight, their grips on their handbags loosening, though not enough to let them fall, and they had stopped making any noise whatsoever.
"How do you know of this?" asked the one sitting in front of me, who by now I had dubbed as the leader of the trio.
"I had an unusual upbringing. Now, if you want to hear more about it, you'll have to hear it from the hunters, who can also attest to my innocence. I'm still going to go to your master's realm, because for now, he's my only lead to helping me find the bolt and prevent a war," I told them.
This got a hiss from the one sitting in the window seat next to the leader. "What makes you think that our master has any care for the bolt's location, when it was our master's own property which was stol–" she said, getting cut off at the end by a slap from the leader. The leader and the other Fury, sat across the aisle, both hissed sharply at the second Fury who was now silent.
This was very alarming news to me. If Hades also had his property stolen, then he definitely wasn't the thief. "I'm sorry, what? Did you just say that Hades had something st–" was as far as I got before all three Furies glared hatefully at me.
From behind, I heard some hurried movement which I suspected was Piper and Grover coming to rescue me. I held my hand in the aisle, telling them to stop, which I think they did.
There was a very tense pause, as if the world itself had stopped spinning. The Furies continued to glare at me the entire time. I willed the knife in my right hand to appear, just in case because I was getting more and more nervous.
After what felt like hours, the lead Fury finally spoke. "As ordered by our master, we will find the archers and determine if you are deceiving us or not. Speak nothing of this conversation to anyone, or it will not just be our master's wrath you will face," she growled. In sync, the Furies all turned back around to face the front, like nothing had happened.
"Noted," I said curtly. I made my way back toward my friends, who were both poised and ready to jump into action at a moments notice. Before I sat down, I heard one of the Furies say, "We will save a special place in the fields of torment for you, Perseus Jackson."
I made no outwardly reaction to her statement, except to just sit down in my seat, acting as if nothing had just happened.
"What happened?" Piper asked frantically. Grover was leaning across the aisle too, waiting to hear what I had discussed with the Furies.
"They'll leave us alone. We won't have to worry about them at all," I said simply.
"What did you say?" Piper asked again.
"I told them the truth. That I didn't steal the bolt and that I don't think Hades had any part in the heist," I said, earning disbelieving looks from my two questing companions.
"You really think Had – the Silent one" Grover quickly corrected, using another one of the Lord of the Dead's aliases, "didn't steal the bolt?" he asked incredulously.
I shook my head in negative. "Absolutely not. The Lord of the Dead's kingdom is the biggest of them all. He's got his hands full always. Besides, he's never once rebelled against Olympus in thousands of years. Why would he try one now?" I asked them.
They still seemed unsure.
"What exactly did you talk about," Piper asked. There was suspicion and curiosity in her voice, and I felt the slightest compulsion to tell her everything, but that felling was gone in an instant. The feeling of compulsion didn't dissipate slowly; It felt more like it was blocked. Like something came in and stopped it, before leaving also.
I shook my head quicky to clear the sudden feelings from my head before telling them. "They made it pretty clear that what we talked about couldn't be spoken anywhere else," I said, indicating towards the front of the bus where the Furies were seated. Only they weren't anymore. They were gone. The front of the bus was void of any hags in disguise. Blinking away my confusion, I told them, "And I'm pretty sure it came as a direct order from the man downstairs himself, so I think I'll listen to them for now."
"Grover paled and left the topic alone entirely. Piper shivered in fear briefly, but also left it alone, though not entirely pleased that she didn't get an answer.
A little while later, Piper pulled her bag down from the overhead compartment, and took out one of the books she brought with her; the one about monsters. I asked if I could read the other one for a bit, so she got that one down too. It was a book about the greatest demigods throughout history, written in Greek.
After one stop, a guy got on the bus, taking a seat right in front of Grover. He looked probably in his 30's, with short brown hair. What was weird about him though was the looks he was giving one particular member of our troupe. I caught his eyes looking over at Piper quite a bit, and it was really unsettling because it got to the point where he was basically doing nothing but looking at her.
Piper was squirming uncomfortably in her seat and tried to make herself less noticeable by blocking her face with her book, so I figured she was getting really freaked out by this guy.
Despite having a creepy obsession with staring at Piper, I didn't think the guy was a monster. If he were a monster, he'd probably be looking at me because I'd probably smell the tastiest out of us all. I figured he was probably mortal, but that didn't make it any better because he was still staring at a 12-year-old girl.
I was reading about a son of Athena named Erwin Rommel when the creepy guy finally did something other than stare.
"Hey, miss, are you Piper McLean?" he asked Piper.
I saw her eyes widen next to me before she quicky pulled her hood up, which I hadn't realised had fallen down, and turned away, facing the window. She was completely ignoring the stranger who kept pestering her about what her name was.
It occurred to me then that I still didn't know Piper's last name. The creepy guy said McLean, which I suppose could be butchered my Mr. D into McQueen, but I didn't understand how he'd know that, especially if he was mortal.
I was just about to tell him to stop with a very colorful pallet of words, but Piper beat me to it. "Stop the bus, we're leaving!" she yelled.
Immediately, the bus driver pulled over on the side of the road. Piper practically crawled over me into the aisle where she quickly grabbed her bag and Grover's and started hurriedly walking down the aisle. The mortals were all acting like nothing was wrong; even the creepy guy didn't do anything. I was quickly on my feet as well, closing the book and grabbing my disguised archery equipment from above before grabbing Grover's arm and pulling him with me.
Piper called back once she was at the front, "Everyone else stay seated. You'll be leaving as soon as we're off the bus. Grover, stop eating the seat in front of you and get moving," she said. I didn't realise it when I grabbed him, but sure enough, Grover was munching on the creepy guy's headrest, and I'm pretty sure I saw chunks of the seat missing as well.
As soon as we were off the bus, the doors closed and it left, leaving us stranded at night in the middle of nowhere next to a forest. The forest was a welcome sight for me, but I would have rather we stayed on the bus to cover more ground. We could always kill the creepy guy and throw him outside, that was the way my sisters first taught me to get rig of annoying boys. They assured me that nothing was wrong with it, so I didn't see why it wasn't an option.
"What was that all about?" I asked, turning to Piper, who just took the book back and stuffed it into her bag before slinging it over her shoulder.
Instead of answering me, she just started walking alongside the road, following the bus headed in a southwardly direction. Grover made to follow her.
I took a quick look at the night sky before yelling at them, "Okay, don't answer me. Also, you're going the wrong way," I called after them, turning to walk towards the woods.
"But the bus went this way," Piper called back, pointing behind her in the direction the bus went. "Shouldn't we follow it and get a train to wherever we're going?" she asked.
"If we were just going to follow the bus to the nearest town, then we should have stayed on the bus," I yelled back, already headed into the woods. "Besides, we need to go west if we want to face the god who has turned."
I heard them running after me a moment later. "How do you know this is west?" Grover asked.
"Ursa Major, remember," I said, referencing the talk he and I had with Chiron that morning.
"What about Ursa Major?" Piper asked, confused.
I tuned them out when Grover started explaining to Piper what we talked about with Chiron before I left for the attic.
Some time later, Grover ran ahead of us; Running around the tree's, hiding in bushes, just generally having such a good time in the forest, that I had half a mind to join him. Piper came up to walk next to me.
We walked in comfortable silence for a bit. "So, about what happened on the bus," Piper said, starting the conversation.
"Yeah. What was that about?" I asked curiously.
With a resigned sigh, Piper started talking. "Look, my dad is a pretty famous celebrity in the mortal world. He's a movie star. And being his daughter, I get a lot of attention wherever I go," she explained. "On my way to camp, I was travelling with a few other demigods. Every time we stepped into a mortal city or town, we got swarmed by the media, trying to get to me to ask for an exclusive about my dad, if I was dating anybody, false rumors and gossip they had heard, and just being a general nuisance all around. And the other demigods with me always got caught in the crossfire. Demigods who were trying to get away from troubled parents and childhoods suddenly had their faces plastered across ever screen in the country," she said with a twinge of annoyance in her voice. "We tried using the internet to find out where we were at some points, but we always got chased by a swarm of monsters afterwards. We figured out pretty quick that using modern technology was a quick way to get every monster in the world to come hunting you down. So, with all the cameras and phones in our faces, we were scared that it would send out a mega-signal of our location. After we got to camp, we figured out that that's not really how it worked, but we didn't know it at the time and it really scared us then."
"Does that happen everywhere you go?" I asked in concern. I imagined that it would really suck if she had to go through that 24/7.
"Some places more than others, but yeah. Someone always recognizes me wherever I go," she said dejectedly.
"Do you think we'll have to worry about it again on this quest," I asked cautiously, already knowing the answer.
"We're going to LA," Piper laughed. "I bet they'll be all over me within an hour once we get there."
"It can't be that bad, right?" I asked hopefully.
"Oh no. It's worse," she said.
"We'll just have to get you a disguise or something," I suggested. "Something to cover your face so that people don't recognize you."
"That'd be a miracle," she said.
We kept walking for another mile or so, in which time Grover started playing his reed pipes in an effort to help us find our way out of the woods. Eventually I started to see light up ahead, and the delicious smell of cheeseburgers followed very soon after. I almost instantly gravitated towards the light, with the smell of delicious unhealthy food growing stronger with every step.
We finally came across a deserted two-lane road in the middle of the forest. There was an abandoned gas station on our side of the street, that looked like it's been barren since the 1940's. On the other side of the street was a much newer looking building, at least in comparison. It was the source of the bright lights and the heavenly smells.
It wasn't a fast-food joint like I half expected it to be. Rather it was one of those roadside curios shops that most people just ignore. This one had an abundance of stone statues of various animals, life-sized garden gnomes and the odd wooden Indian, but those seemed rare. The neon sign was impossible to read, illuminated as it was it was also very cursive, making it an absolute nightmare to decipher.
"Is that. . . Latin?" Piper asked.
I knew it wasn't, but with the way I was seeing it I wouldn't be surprised if this is what mortals felt whenever they try and read the language of the empire.
"It say's, Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium," Grover translated.
"It still looks Latin," Piper grumbled.
Lining the pathway up to the entrance was a sea of cheap plastic flamingos, all faded and in various states of damage.
I started crossing the street, following the delicious smell of cheeseburgers. Piper joined me quickly. She was practically drooling as we crossed, ignoring Grover's nervous protests.
"The lights are n inside," Piper said. "Maybe it's open. Snack bar," she said wistfully.
"Snack bar," I agreed.
"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."
We ignored him.
"Are you two telling me that you don't find this creepy at all?" he persisted. "We're in the middle of nowhere, there's an abandoned gas station right there, and that statue looks a lot like my old friend Jose," he finished, pointing to a cheery looking satyr statue dressed up as an elf.
We stopped at the front of the shop. After one more desperate plead from Grover, I knocked on the door.
"Don't knock," he exclaimed. "I smell monsters."
"Your nose is clogged up," Piper told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"
"Meat!" he said, as if the very suggestion was preposterous to him. "I'm a vegetarian. Heck, Piper you're a vegetarian!" he exclaimed accusatorily.
"I eat meat sometimes," she shrugged. "Besides, I haven't eaten all day. And right now, I'd kill for some tasty fried food," she drooled.
"We ate on the bus," Grover protested.
"You were snacking on the bus seat the entire time. We didn't eat anything," I said.
The door creeped open just then. Standing in front of us was a tall woman, who I'm assuming is Middle Eastern because she's wearing what I can only describe as a thawb. She had a black veil covering her entire face, leaving only her hands exposed. Her hands were a coffee color, with slight wrinkles indicating age. But they were well taken care of and led me to assume that she was probably quite beautiful in her youth.
Her accent sounded foreign. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"
"They're. . . Um. . ." Piper started to say.
"I told you guys this was a bad idea," Grover whispered harshly.
"They know we're here," I said.
"Oh?" the woman said. "They let you three wander in the forest alone at this hour?"
"Something smelled good, and we told them that we were going to go see if there was anything to eat over here," I lied, hoping the woman would buy it.
"We have money," Piper added.
"Never mind that, my dear," she said to Piper. "Please, come in. My name is Aunty Em. I have food being prepped. Go to the back of the store, there's a dining area there. I'll bring some food out soon," she finished, corralling us all into the store and leading us through a maze of lifelike statues in all kinds of poses and sculpted garbs.
"Camping?" Piper asked me quietly.
"What? It was either that or a circus caravan. You tell me which is more believable," I whispered.
Once we got to the back, the woman, Aunty Em, disappeared in a side room, so we went and sat at the only set table. Soon enough, the woman returned with heaping stacks of fries, burgers, milkshakes, onion rings, and an incredible assortment of condiments and toppings for us to choose from. I questioned some of the toppings she brought out though; I couldn't imagine peanut butter tasting good with everything else I planned on adding to my masterpiece.
I was about halfway through said masterpiece before I remembered to breath.
Piper was slurping on her vanilla shake, with a stack of onion rings on her plate and a few bites into her own burger. She was being conservative with it though.
Grover was nibbling on the fries and rings, but he did seem happy to pick at the vegetables Aunty Em had put out as toppings. His plate was full of lettuce and tomatoes.
"What's that hissing noise," he asked.
"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. I listened, but I couldn't hear anything. Piper seemed as lost as I was. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."
I saw Piper freeze before taking another bite out of her burger. She stared at Aunty Em weirdly before placing her burger back onto her plate and pushing it away slightly. She did this while Aunty Em and Grover talked about the vitamins Grover takes for his ears.
I caught the end of their conversation, with Aunty Em telling us to relax, which I and Grover did swiftly. If anything, Piper tensed even more after Aunty Em said that.
The whole time, Aunty Em ate nothing. She seemed content to just sit and watch us eat like ravenous beasts. Well, I ate like a ravenous beast, preparing for hibernation. Grover just nibbled uncertainly, his eyes frequently flying to another satyr statue nearby, mumbling about how it looked like his uncle Ferdinand. Piper had stopped eating. Instead, she was looking around the store, scrutinising every minor detail. Whenever she turned to look at Aunty Em, it was with poorly disguised suspicion and distrust.
"So, you sell garden gnomes," Piper said, feigning curiosity.
"Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals, people, I even do some custom orders. Anything for the garden really."
"That must be a tricky business. Especially all the way out here. I can't imagine you get many customers," Piper continued.
"It is," Aunty Em nodded. "I'm not as young as I used to be. I used to have help. My two sisters whom I love dearly. But alas, they've moved on. Retail salespersons now. And to your point, yes. I do not get many visitors here, not since the highway was put in."
I felt genuinely bad for. She seemed so lonely out here. First, her sisters left, then she stopped getting customers because of the highway. Maybe not in that order, but she clearly felt alone. I had an urge to want to stay with her, just so she's not lonely.
My neck tingled, as if somebody else was looking at me. I turned, but there was just a statue of a young girl holding a woven basket, sculpted out of stone. The detail was incredible, much better than you'd see in most statues. But the face ruined the image. The expression of sheer terror or panic didn't belong on such a statue.
"Ah, I see you've noticed that some of my creations do not turn out so well," Aunty Em said sadly. "My hands slip at the last moment, marring the finished product. They do not sell, but I do not have the heart to be rid of them. So I keep them, as my only company. The face. It's always the face that's the trickiest to mould."
"So, you make these statues yourself?" I asked.
"Indeed," Aunty Em said. "I see you three are all mostly done. Before you leave, I'd love it so much if you three would pose for me."
"Pose?" Grover asked tentatively, eyes still flickering to the nearby satyr statue. "Like, for a photograph?"
"Exactly my dear. I'd like to use it to model a new statue set. Children are quite popular, you see. Everybody loves children," she said, already starting to herd us even further back into the shop.
"We really should be going," Piper said anxiously. "Our parents are going to worry soon and come looking for us. And we really don't want to upset them any more than they probably already are."
"We can stay for a picture," I said, starting to feel a little sleepy.
"Percy, we really can't. We should go," Piper insisted.
"Maybe you're right," I mumbled uncertainly.
"Nonsense," Aunty Em said. "It won't take long. One quick photo and then you three may continue on with your journey."
I felt like I was being pulled in two separate directions. Part of me wanted to listen to Piper, and that we should leave immediately. But on the other hand, Aunty Em just wants to take a picture of us so that she could feel less lonely, and I had an urge to comply. Besides, what's so bad about a picture.
I didn't notice it until now, but my instincts have been screaming at me this entire time. But, due to the tug of war happening between Piper and Aunty Em, I didn't know what they were screaming about.
I was broken from my musings by Piper grabbing my arm. Snapping my eyes to her, "Percy, we need to go, now," she said firmly.
Suddenly, it was like a thick layer of fog was clearing from my head. I took another look around the store. It was full of statues, all intricate in their detail and unique in many ways. Only one thing remained the same on all the statues. The faces. They were all expressions of terror, of horror.
The clues were all right in front of me, and Aunty Em filled in all the blanks. The terrified statues, Aunty Em having two sisters, the veil she wore, even her name was a clue:
Aunty Em.
Aunty "M."
I could finally make out what my instincts were telling me. They were telling me to run.
"Yeah. Yeah, I–"
"Please, children. Wont you stay so I may take your picture?" Aunty Em asked sweetly.
"I think we should stay," I said, but even to me, I sounded confused.
It seemed as though Piper had had enough. "Oh, no you don't," she said firmly. She roughly tugged on my arm in the opposite direction that Aunty Em was leading us, trying to pull me out of the store. Grover was hot on our heels, exclaiming that the satyr statue was his uncle Ferdinand.
"We are not Lightning McQueening this bitch!" Piper yelled at us.
"I don't know what that means," I complained.
"It means we're not staying in this town, in the middle of nowhere, that's right next to the highway so it always gets bypassed, and everything is rundown and barely maintained," she explained.
"This isn't a town," Grover and I said at the same time.
"That's not the point!" Piper screamed.
The fog was now gone completely. There were polished plates hung above the dining area, which we were just now exiting, facing the very back of the store. I looked at one of them and finally confirmed what I had suspected before the fog clouded my mind again. I could see the long, gnarled talons she had instead of manicured fingernails. She had forcibly removed her veil, throwing it somewhere I didn't see. With her head now exposed, it revealed itself to be full of writhing and winding serpents. She finally turned her face towards the mirrorlike surface of the plate. Before looking away sharply, I caught a glimpse of wrinkled grey skin, sharp fangs, and glowing green eyes like poison.
It was Medusa.
Once I realised that, I rushed ahead. Now, I was the one pulling Piper out of the store. I heard Grover scream "Maia." There was a loud bleat, followed by a whoosh of air from above me, and I knew Grover was off in the air.
"Close your eyes!" I yelled, squeezing my own shut tight.
We bumped into lots of statues while trying to navigate through the maze of stone.
"This is what your precious gods did to me Percy," Medusa howled from somewhere behind us. "I was a priestess! I used to worship at the alter of your high gods and look what they did to me! They used me! They humiliated me! They cursed me and then they had me killed! They spun it as a lesson to those beneath them! They turned my tragedy into a tale to justify their will. To never slight them or else you will suffer a fate worse than death. There are plenty of examples, no god is exempt! There is no being that is more flawed than a god!"
"Don't listen to anything she says," Piper shouted form behind me.
"I kn – Oof! Woah!" I exclaimed as I tumbled over something.
"Ahhh!" Piper shrieked as she landed on top of me.
I accidentally opened my eyes when I landed. I tried to close them but then Piper fell on top of me. Before I could actually close them, I spotted a decorative orb lying right in front of me, next to a fallen pedestal which I must have run into. In the reflective surface of the orb, I could see Medusa approaching us quickly.
"Do you understand Percy? The gods care nothing for you. They only use you to fulfill their careless desire. They blamed you for a crime you did not commit, and now they are punishing you for it. But it doesn't have to be this way. Stay with me. You could be the centerpiece of my menagerie. It's a life void of pain. Void of suffering, of hardship. And all you need to do is look me in th – Arrgh!" was as far as she got before she got whacked by a goat flying at terminal velocity.
Grover must have been flying by his nose, because his eyes were closed otherwise. And a very powerful nose it must be if he was able to dive-bomb Medusa with pin-point accuracy.
I was snapped out of my observations by Piper pulling me behind some statues, out of Medusa's line of sight.
"We need a plan," she said breathlessly. "Grover's got a great nose, but he can't keep this up forever."
I reached over for the orb on the ground. Grabbing it, I held it so that I could see what was happening with Grover and Medusa. What I saw matched up perfectly with the sounds of hummingbirds, whacking and screaming, with Grover constantly diving on Medusa and just barely escaping every time. But Piper was right. Medusa was getting closer to catching the flying satyr and soon enough, she'll knock him out of action.
"I have an idea," I said suddenly. Immediately, I unslung my disguised bow and arrow set which was borrowed from camp.
"Great. What is –" she faltered when she saw me knock an arrow. "What part of 'turn you into stone if you look at her' don't you understand?" she exasperated.
"Good thing I won't look at her then, huh," I smirked.
It took a moment, but finally her eyes widened in realisation. "Uh-uh. No. There's no way. Not even Apollo's kids are that good," she protested.
"Then it's a good thing I'm better," I said.
"Hey guy's," Grover called from somewhere. "I think I got her. I think I knocked her out!"
"ROOOAAARRR!" was Medusa's reply.
"Maybe not," he said, likely charging in for another attack.
"How do you know you're not going to shoot Grover instead?" Piper questioned.
"Let's hope I don't," I said. "I've never tried goat meat before, and I certainly don't want to try any now."
I think I made her a little queasy with that, but I was too busy focusing on my hearing to care. I was listening for the sounds, trying to block out anything I didn't need.
A headshot was a sure-fire way to kill her. But without looking at her, I had to rely on the sound of hissing snakes attached to her head to guide my aim. All the while, I needed to not shoot at the sounds of a hummingbird, which was the sound being made by the wings on Grover's shoes.
"I'm just saying Percy, I'm worried somethings gonna go wrong. Something always goes wrong," Piper said.
"How so?" I asked, readying myself to leave cover and shoot right away. I made sure to give her the orb so that she could tell me if I hit anything. I've never actually shot anything while blindfolded, but I was very confident in my years of training with a bow to be able to pull it off. At the very least, I could probably hold this over Zoë's head for a while until she tries to one-up me.
"Haven't you ever heard of Murphy's law?" she asked as if in explanation.
"Oh, I'm a firm believer in Murphy's law," I reassured her. "And I firmly believe that Murphy hates me."
As soon as I said that I squeezed my eyes shut and spun out of cover, drawing my arrow back and taking aim. I waited for a moment, listening for the hissing of lots of snakes somewhere in front of me.
I heard them. I tracked the sound for a moment longer before releasing the arrow. As soon as the arrow was free, I quickly knocked another, but I didn't shoot.
I was rewarded by a wail of pain amid a cacophony of hissing reptiles.
"Holy shit!" Piper exclaimed. "You hit her!"
With that reassurance, I shot again. And again. I started walking forward blindly, just shooting arrow after arrow at the source of the pained wails. I kept walking until it seemed that I had gotten too close to the enraged monster.
"Percy, move!" Piper shouted.
I instinctively dropped my bow and rolled to the right. I felt the claws slashing at the spot I just was, cutting nothing but air. As I was coming out of the roll, I reached into my pocket, wrapping my fingers around the familiar cylinder that was Riptide. I pulled it out, flipping the cap off with my thumb then, as it expanded, I spun, slashing in a wide backwards arc with the lethal blade at the same spot I just was.
But unlike the unfortunate monster, I didn't miss. I felt the blade pass through the monster's neck with a sickening noise, before it fell to the ground with a thud.
With my sword still in a ready position, I shuffled forward slowly with my eyes still closed tight. I only stopped when I felt my foot come into contact with a weirdly shaped ball on the ground. I figured that it must have been the head, and that so long as it was in the open, none of us could open our eyes.
"P-Percy? Y-you. . ." Piper stuttered from behind cover, probably still holding the orb, watching as I capped Riptide and put it back in my pocket, before removing my jacket and draping it over the mound I suspected was Medusa's severed head.
"Is it covered?" I asked her, still not looking.
"Wait," she said. I heard her approaching cautiously. "When I tell you to, lift your jacket."
I raised a concerned eyebrow at her but complied, bending down to grab my jacket.
"Three. Two. One," she counted. As soon as she said one, I lifted my jacket off of the ground and waited.
"Okay," Piper said a couple seconds later. "You can open your eyes. It's safe."
I opened my eyes and looked down. Medusa's head was now wrapped up by her formerly discarded veil. I could still see some snake heads writhing around under the veil. Grover landed next to me quickly after, handing me a sturdy looking bag which I dropped the head into before sealing it tightly.
"So, did I hit anything?" I asked Piper cheekily.
She glared at me slightly. "First shot hit her in the back. Then the shoulder, chest, arm, you just barely grazed Grover's hoof before you decapitated her."
I just gave her a mighty smirk in response. "See. Told you I could do it."
Her glare returned in full force. I saw Grover head back towards the dining table at the back of the store again for whatever reason out of the corner of my eye, but my attention was firmly on the annoyed daughter of Aphrodite in front of me.
"First the Furies. Then you straight up walked right up to Medusa of all monsters. . . Do you have a death wish or something?" she asked hotly.
I shook my head rapidly back and forth. "Of course not. I'm to stubborn to die."
"And you're clearly to stupid to live," Piper shot back.
"Hey guy's" Grover called, breaking us out of our confrontation. We turned to see Grover with his arms stuffed with frozen enchiladas, with a couple being held firmly in his teeth. "They've got enchiladas," he said before bolting into the kitchen.
While Grover was stuffing his face with cheese enchiladas, I took a look around the store.
I found Medusa's office stashed next to the cash register at the front of the store. Firstly, I raided the cash register, only finding about $20 mortal dollars, and a few golden drachmas. Grabbing my loot, I entered the office.
It looked orderly enough. Neatly organised papers and files, bloody weapons mounted on the wall, stone birds sitting on the windowsill, pretty much exactly what I expected of a monster running a business.
Among Medusa's stuff, I found a box and a couple of Hermes Overnight Express packing slips, each with a small leather drawstring pouch attached to them.
I found a box that was approximately the right size and stuffed the head inside it, before addressing the slip to the Poseidon cabin in Camp Half-Blood and filling the pouch with the drachma I found in the register. Once I closed the pouch, the entire package disappeared. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with such a volatile spoil, but I didn't think it was a good idea to travel around the country with a severed head stuffed casually in my backpack. At the same time though, I wasn't just going to get rid of Medusa's head. That thing is really powerful.
Before leaving the office, I took a look inside of what I believed to be her sales record book. It showed that most of her sales ended up going to the Underworld. Even better yet, according to the freight bill, they were all sent to the same place, DOA Recording Studios in West Hollywood, California. They all had the exact same address, so I figured that that was probably our best shot at finding the entrance to the Underworld.
I showed my friends my find, and we all agreed that that was going to be our destination.
Pretty soon after Grover finished eating the last enchilada, we left the creepy monster store behind us and headed back out into the forest.
After an hour more of walking, we finally decided to stop and rest for the night.
I quickly had a fire started and Piper and I were huddled around it. Grover had made himself comfortable on a tree branch above us and was peacefully sleeping.
"How did you know it was Medusa?' I asked Piper suddenly.
It was a question I had had ever since the fight ended. She seemed to know it was Medusa as soon as we started a conversation with her, and she was the only one to figure it out. And I was also pretty disappointed in myself. Sure, I did kill her, but the fact that I had no idea she was a monster was pretty embarrassing for me to admit, and I wanted to know how Piper figured it out.
"I didn't know it was Medusa at first," she said calmly. "Heck, I didn't even know she was a monster. I just heard the magic in her voice, and it set me on edge."
"Magic?" I asked curiously.
"Charmspeak," she said. "It's a potent type of magic that can persuade just about anyone to the user's bidding. The only one's immune to it are others who can charmspeak also. The only other way is with extreme magical protections, but even then, I can't guarantee anything."
"So, you heard her charmspeaking. . . Because you can do it too?" I asked curiously.
She nodded slowly. "It's not common, but every now and again, some of my mom's kids can do it. I'm one of them, the only other one I know of right now is Selina, but she's not that good with it. And I don't like using it that often."
"Why not?" I asked. "Surely if you can persuade people into listening to you with charmspeak, then you wouldn't have to endure everyone looking down upon you. You could actually play capture the flag and not relegate yourself to battlefield medic every time."
Piper let out an exasperated sigh. "It's for those exact reasons that I don't like using my abilities too openly. Charmspeaking is used to seduce. To attract and lure people into vulnerable or compromising positions. Just look at what Medusa used it for. She used it to lure us into her lair. And if we didn't run, she would have used it to turn us all into statues," she shivered at the thought, wrapping her jacket around her tighter. "Anyway, charmspeak is used to take away a person's free will. It's used to control others without question. So, if I suddenly went around camp telling people what to do, and to wait on me for my every need, I'd basically become a dictator overnight. The Aphrodite cabin has. . . I don't want to say standards, but there is a precedent. We're all expected to be something that not all of us want to be. And for someone like me, who has this horrible ability to control people with just my voice. . ." she paused, trailing off to collect her thoughts. "Let's just say that people with my gift are almost always expected to use it in a certain way. And because I don't really fit the mold of what an Aphrodite daughter ought to be, I have absolutely no desire to use my abilities as many other people would."
I thought about what she said, and I couldn't help but respect and admire her even more after everything she's told me about herself. Wanting to use a powerful ability selflessly, when anyone else might only be selfish about it was perfectly fine in my book. But I was still curious about some things.
"Who else knows you can do it?" I asked.
She shrugged before listing off some names. "My mom, obviously, Chiron, Luke, Grover, Selina, Thal–" she stopped, almost choking back a sob. "And now you," she said.
I did wonder what she was about to say. Who was 'Thal'. Based on the way she choked on her words, I decided not to press her about it, though I was still curious. Instead, I settled for my next question.
"Have you ever used it on me?" I asked.
I saw her wince briefly before she looked at me. "On the bus. When I tried to get you to tell me what you and the Furies talked about, but something stopped it from working," she said uncertainly. "And then again in Medusa's lair. It was the only way to break you and Grover out of Medusa's spell, to counteract her charmspeak with my own. The only other time I used charmspeak around you was when you were attacked by the hellhound. I used it to spur people into getting you into the water."
I nodded along with what she said. "Well, thank you for saving my life those times. As for the bus, like I said. Our conversation wasn't meant to be shared in detail."
We just sat in silence afterwards. I was relishing in the peace and quiet of the night. The forest, my home all around me, the stars out in the sky, it was great. There were obviously ways to make it better, but that was neither here nor there.
"Can you tell me anything?" Piper suddenly asked. "About your talk with the Furies."
I hesitated before telling her. She was open with me about parts of her past and an ability that she had which she didn't necessarily like. I still couldn't tell her about who I really was but extending an olive branch of trust would be a great way to ensure we would be able to work together on this quest.
"Hades really didn't steal the bolt. He had nothing to do with it," I told her honestly.
"You already said this, but why?" she asked again. "Why are you so sure that it wasn't the Lord of the Dead?"
I sighed before telling her, hoping to all the gods that would listen that I wouldn't get in trouble for this. "Because Hades had something stolen from him also."
A/N
Piper is completely vegetarian in canon, but that just isn't going to work out for me here. So, while she'd rather avoid it, she will eat meat without protest.
Go join the Emerald Library and go into my dormitory and give me some other ideas about who else should be mentioned as a great demigod in history. Rommel, as far as I know, isn't canonically in PJO, but I figured if he had a godly parent, it would probably be Athena, which makes sense because he was born well before world war 1 and is still regarded as a great leader and tactician today. So, go to my dormitory and tell me who you think should be a demigod and who their godly parent would be (Greek or Roman). If I include any more, it'll have to be the most realistic ones only because I can't just make anyone a demigod. I already have some written down, but their all world war 2 leaders and most of them are German, so I need help on this.
Don't expect to see or hear anything about Medusa's head for a while.
If you have any ideas that you think I should incorporate, please let me know.
Join me on Discord, link is on my profile. Right now, I have a chat room (Dormitory) in the Emerald Library, so go there, tell me what you think of my work, give me suggestions, comments, concerns, or just talk to me.
Check out my other story.
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AyeEnfield