Here you go, the chapter you have been waiting for for far too long. Again, really sorry about the wait. I've not really got an excuse but I hope you enjoy it and if you have any ideas for what I could add please tell me. Stories are always so much better if ideas come from different sources.

One good thing I learned about there being gods is that there is always someone you can blame when things go wrong. Normally if you got attacked on a bus which then exploded after being struck by the biggest lightning bolt I'd ever seen, people would say you were unlucky. I knew better.

Annabeth had quickly given me a square of ambrosia and Grover was now a bit ahead keeping his nose peeled while Annabeth helped me stumble along in the rear.

My arms were still stinging from the glass but I'd refused to let Annabeth work on them until we found a safe place to stay. I would not allow any more deaths while I could stop it. My legs, on the other hand, were starting to get better. They still hurt whenever I put pressure on them and whenever I stood on a root or something uneven like that pain would shoot up my leg but it was bearable.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Annabeth said out of nowhere. "You should have left the bus with the hat as we decided. You nearly got yourself killed."

"You know, you could say thank you."

"For what?"

"For me saving your life!"

"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine."

"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."

"Shut up goat boy," Annabeth said.

I pulled my arm back and started limping along by myself. I was angry, not just at Annabeth but at the Fury who'd killed my mother, Hades who'd framed me for stealing, Zeus who'd accused my father, my father who'd left me for months without a single word to survive on my own and sent someone else to send a message, at myself for letting my mother get killed. The only person I wasn't angry at right now was Dionysus.

We continued stumbling through the forest long after the sun had gone down when it got too dark to see where I was going clearly. I tripped over a root and face-planted into the soil as pain shot up my leg. I heard Annabeth laugh as she grabbed my hand and pulled me up. "Sorry Seaweed Brain," she told me but I could still hear the amusement in her words.

She fell in step with me. After a couple of minutes of silence, she said, "I- I really appreciate you coming back for us. That was really brave."

I shrugged. "We're a team, right?"

"I know. It's just… all this time I've been trying to survive and I've never really had a goal. We've just been going day to day waiting for that final day to come. And if you died, not only would it really suck for you, but it would mean that this quest would be over. I'd have to go back to surviving: no real plans for the future. At least, none that have any chance of coming into fruition."

I knew she dreamt of becoming an architect but she didn't believe it would happen. I wanted to try and comfort her but I didn't know what to say.

"So, you believe what the Fury said about your mother?"

I froze before silently nodding my head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I nodded my head again. I hesitated for a moment before saying, "I had a dream. My mother died in front of me." I felt tears begin to well up.

"I'm so sorry, Percy."

I shook my head. "I'm fine."

"No, Percy. You're not. And that's completely fine. You just found out that your mother is dead, you need to take some time to grieve. That doesn't make you weak."

Tears started to slowly streak down my face. Annabeth wrapped her arms around me and I began silently crying on her shoulder. She rubbed my back soothingly and I returned the hug. We stayed like that for a short while until Grover said, "Perhaps we should settle down for the night. It's getting pretty dark and we still need to tend to your injuries, Percy."

I nodded and reluctantly pulled away. I looked around the clearing we were standing in. It had obviously been recently used for a party of some sort because there was litter strewn everywhere as well as an old campfire. The ashes had some melted crisp packets in them and there were the remains of a couple of cigarettes as well. Slowly, I looked around into the forest. It was mostly just inky blackness with some trees to break it up but off in the distance I saw some lights glinting.

"Hey, guys!" I called to my friends who were just about to start making camp. "Are there lights over there or am I going mad?"

They came and stood next to me, looking where I was pointing. "Yep," Annabeth agreed. "You think we should go to them?"

I nodded. "Lights mean civilisation. And that hopefully means some normal mortals who can take us in. It's gotta be better than this clearing."

The other two nodded. I started walking forwards but as soon as I left the clearing, I tripped over a tree root. Annabeth laughed a little as she grabbed my hand to prevent me from falling.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain," she said before she pulled me forward, carefully mapping out a path.

"I can find my own way through the forest," I grumbled but I didn't let go of her hand and let her continue to guide me.

As we got closer to the lights, I could smell something almost heavenly coming from their direction. Hamburgers. Fries. Greasy food. Occasionally Luke would treat us to something but that was rare and I hadn't eaten anything like it for at least a couple of months. I needed some unhealthy food. We followed the lights and found ourselves on an almost abandoned road. There was a gas station on one side and a large warehouse on the other. The warehouse seemed to be one of those shops that sold novelty lawn gnomes and it had various stone statues crowded just outside on display. The big sign on the front was written in bright red neon cursive writing which was murder on my dyslexia.

"Untay… auytn…" I muttered.

"Autny mes?" Annabeth tried to make sense of what was written.

"Aunty Em's garden gnome emporium," Grover translated. As we drew closer, he started to get jittery. "I think we should leave. It doesn't smell right here,"

"Come on, it can't hurt to just take a quick look," Annabeth reasoned.

"We'll go in, get some food and get out before any monster has time to kill us," I said.

"Food," Annabeth said.

"Food," I agreed.

We walked forwards towards the door and as I was about to knock, it was pulled open. My hand automatically jumped towards my pocket. I could see Annabeth's hand resting near her dagger.

"My goodness! What are three young children like you doing in the middle of nowhere?" the lady who'd opened the door asked. She had a headdress wrapped around her head with a veil over her face. I couldn't see any part of her body that was uncovered. I assumed she was Aunty Em.

"We got lost. We're orphans and we work in a circus. We were supposed to meet up with our ringleader at the gas station but we don't know where he is. He might have forgotten."

"Oh, my poor dears. Come in and I'll get you fed, then we can discuss what to do next." She gestured for us to come in and Annabeth and I obeyed. Grover followed a little more reluctantly and he seemed rather jumpy.

His eyes rested and a statue of a satyr stood next to a bench. "That statue looks a lot like my Uncle Ferdinand," he muttered to himself.

I heard a click behind me as Aunty Em locked the door. I pulled my pen out of my pocket and began to spin it around between my fingers. Aunty Em looked disapprovingly at the pen before saying, "Come on. The food is at the back."

"Circus?" Annabeth whispered to me.

"Always need a strategy, right?"

"Your head really is full of kelp."

"Better than having an owl face," I retorted.

She glared at me and looked like she was about to respond before Aunty Em interrupted. "Come on."

We followed her through the maze of statues towards a picnic area near the back. There was a table surrounded by three garden chairs that sat just in front of a set of grills for cooking. Aunty Em immediately got to work on the food and gestured for us to sit.

The statues surrounding us were very disconcerting. Their faces were looks of abject horror and they seemed to be staring right into my soul. Aunty Em noticed me looking and said, "The face is always the hardest to get right. No one ever wants to buy my statues because of the face."

Annabeth insisted she take a look at my injuries and pulled my shirt off before I could protest. She slowly began working, pulling out shards of glass and dropping them on the table. Each time she pulled one out, I let out a hiss of pain. She dribbled nectar over my back as she worked. I felt her fingers moving across my back and suddenly felt very self-conscious. I almost couldn't wait for her to be finished so I could put my shirt back on.

My eyes locked onto a couple of statues positioned next to each other. They looked almost identical except one was slightly taller and they kind of reminded me of Luke: same nose and same troublemaker smirk. They looked like twin sons of Hermes, maybe.

Aunty Em walked out of the kitchen and placed some plates of food down in front of us.

"Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth told her but she didn't even look up from her work.

Aunty Em visibly stiffened and responded with, "That's quite alright Annabeth, dear."

How did she know Annabeth's name? I noticed the girl had faltered for a second and I glanced behind me. It was clear she was thinking the exact same thing.

I dug into my burger and shoved a handful of fries into my mouth. Annabeth paused only to slurp her shake before getting back to work.

"Annabeth, eat something," I insisted before spinning round and shoving a plate in her hands so she'd have no choice.

She grumbled before taking a bite and spinning me round again.

"What's that hissing noise?" Grover asked. I listened carefully but couldn't hear anything.

"Hissing? Must be the fryer. You have keen ears, child," Aunty Em told him.

"I take vitamins," he muttered.

Our host ate nothing, she just sat there with her headdress on and her fingers interlaced in front of her. It was quite disconcerting having someone stare at you while you ate, especially when I couldn't see her face. I decided that if she was a monster it would be best to try and gather some information first.

"So, you make your own gnomes?"

She smiled. "Yes, but as you can see, some of my creations don't come out as planned. The face is always so hard to get right. I used to have two sisters to help me, but they have passed on. These statues are my only company."

Annabeth paused for a second and turned to face Aunty Em. "Two sisters?" she asked.

"It's a terrible tale, Annabeth. Not one for children but, you see, a bad woman was jealous of me. When I was young and beautiful I had this… this boyfriend and she was determined to break us apart. She caused this horrific accident and I lost the man I loved. My sisters stayed with me, sharing my misfortune for as long as they could. But eventually, they passed on. It's just me now."

I nodded. I almost felt sorry for her but I knew it was just a story. Annabeth seemed to have figured something out and said, "Well, thank you for the food. It is really appreciated. But we really must be getting back to the ringmaster. Don't want to keep him waiting too long." She handed me my shirt which I slipped on. I knew she hadn't finished and was anxious to get out. Whatever it was, it was urgent.

I nodded and Grover stood up, looking very relieved. "Annabeth is right. We should get going. Goodbye and thank you so much for the food."

We started walking towards the exit but she called out to us. "Wait! Please, just one photo. Statues of children are always so much more popular."

I felt a strong urge to do as she asked. I tried to ignore it and kept walking. We reached the door and I tried to open it. It didn't budge. I started to turn round to ask for the keys but Annabeth grabbed my shoulder. "Don't look," she told me.

"Why? What monster is she?"

"Medusa." I nodded, pulling out my pen. I felt someone walk right up behind me and I heard a hissing right next to my ear.

"Come on Percy. I knew your father, he was a good man. You would make a lovely statue: my pride and joy. The daughter of Athena's statue, I would crush to dust. But yours, I would keep forever. Don't be a pawn for the gods. Save yourself from that life."

My head turned slightly in the direction of the voice but I forced it back, squeezing my eyes shut for good measure. It did sound tempting but then I thought of Annabeth and Grover; of Luke and Thalia and Tyson. I couldn't leave them alone. I turned my pen around in my hand. "Good offer, but you never threaten my friends." I slipped the cap off and the blade grew out, slicing into Medusa's stomach. She screamed and stumbled back but she wasn't dead.

I glanced into the reflection on my sword to analyse the wound. I'd glanced at her right side but hadn't done any real damage. She hissed and went to strike her claws at us.

"Duck!" I shouted as I rolled under her strike but, with my eyes closed, I crashed into a statue. I looked up and saw Grover flying around Medusa's head with his eyes tightly shut, swinging a branch at her.

An invisible hand grabbed my shoulder and I heard Annabeth's voice. "Reflections of Medusa have no effect. Find something so you can at least see who you're attacking." I nodded and searched around the floor and found a glass orb.

As I ran to grab it, I heard a dull thump behind me followed by a loud crash and Medusa's furious screeching.

I looked into the orb and saw Medusa lying on top of the twin statues, her blood smeared all over them. She climbed up and knocked Grover out of his flight path, sending him crashing into a large bear statue.

Enraged, I charged at Medusa, keeping my eyes on the orb, and slashed at her head. My sword slipped right through her neck as if it was butter and I heard a wet plop as her head hit the floor. Her body disintegrated into sulphurous yellow dust.

Annabeth grabbed the headdress and wrapped it around the head, keeping her eyes firmly directed at the ceiling until she was sure it was covered. I lowered the crystal ball and followed Annabeth to the table. Grover climbed up from the bear and joined us.

We sat in silence for a moment, too exhausted to speak, before I said, "So we have Athena to thank for that monster?"

Annabeth glared at me. "Actually your dad. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. Poseidon chose to meet in my mother's temple which was really disrespectful. So Athena turned Medusa into a monster. That's why she wanted to shred me but wanted to turn you into a statue. You probably remind her of your father."

I suddenly got very angry. "So it's my fault is it!?"

"I never said that," Annabeth said calmly. "You aren't your father and I'm not my mother."

I nodded and we descended into silence once more. I thought about what Medusa had said, 'don't be a pawn for the gods,' and what Luke had told me before I left, 'never trust a god.'

"I'll be back in a minute," I said as I stood up.

"Wait, where are you going?" Annabeth asked. But I ignored her. I walked around the warehouse until I found Medusa's office. I looked through her account book and found her six most recent shipments had been to the Underworld. The Underworld's billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I folded the bill and put it in my pocket.

I found a box and a Hermes overnight delivery form with a leather pouch attached in the back room. When I checked in the till I found a handful of golden drachmas and about $200. I walked back to the table, placed the head in the box and filled out the form.

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 as I filled the leather bag with drachma. "They'll think you're impertinent."

I looked straight into Grover's eyes and said, "I am impertinent."

He didn't argue with me as we watched the box disappeared with a ping like a cash register followed by a pop.

We stayed silent for a moment, staring at the place where the box used to be. "Come on," Annabeth said. "We should find a place to sleep for the night and these statues are giving me the creeps."

We nodded and followed her towards the exit. I looked around at all the stone creatures filling the room. All these 'gnomes' had once been people. My eyes landed on the twin statues, smeared with Medusa's blood. They probably were sons of Hermes. There was stone dust underneath them and they seemed to be cracking slightly. Each drop of blood carried off a little bit of dust as it dripped off the statues. I turned away. I couldn't watch them crumble.

Grover bleated mournfully as we passed a satyr statue. "That is my uncle Ferdinand." He stopped and stared at the statue for a moment, his hand gently caressing the stone skin and I noticed a tear pass down his cheek.

"Come on Grover," I said gently as I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Let's find somewhere safe to sleep."

He nodded and pulled his eyes away from the statue. Annabeth kicked the door open and held it open for us. "Ladies first," she joked as we passed, causing Grover to smile a bit.

"What a gentleman," I mocked, doing my best impression of a stereotypical Victorian woman: curtsy and all. Grover let out an amused bleat at our antics as Annabeth slapped me gently on the head and closed the door behind us. As it clicked shut I heard a cracking from inside followed by a loud thud and I assumed the twin statues had broken.