Short but the best chapter so far and we finally get to see magic and preparation kicking butt.

Annabeth and Grover, Percy and Aaron were walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind them and the smell of the Hudson reeking in their noses. Aaron was in the lead, following a trail of mystical energy he felt so strongly in the air. It hit him about thirty minutes into their trek towards where the Furies had sent them. He could taste it, metallic but musty all at once, he had never noticed such a trail before and yet here he could follow it. He suspected someone was laying the trail, intentionally, so they would be found.

After a mile or so they started to see light up ahead: the colors of a neon sign. They could smell food. Fried, greasy, excellent food. Aaron groaned. "That smells so yummy."

They kept walking until I saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell.

It wasn't a fast-food restaurant, It was one of those weird roadside curious shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was nice and cursive.

"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."

Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.

They crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers with Percy taking immediately lead with a rushed, glazed-over look in his eyes.

"Hey ..." Grover warned.

"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."

"Snack bar," Percy said wistfully.

"Snack bar," she agreed.

"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."

They ignored him but Aaron noticed something, he frowned. " I sense magic, strong magic." He could, it was heady, like morphine or ether, and he hated the taste. Whatever did this, it was a lure, predatory. The magic was pure and not at all good. "Something is off, and I don't trust it."

The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, "Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!" They stopped at the warehouse door. "Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."

"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," Percy reminded him.

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are ... looking at me."

Aaron reached out, brushing alongside a statue with his fingers and almost collapsed as dark energy shot through him and he knew what they were about to get into. Only one being in mythology would make statues filled with such dark energy, it was... it only could be one person.

The door creaked open, and standing in front of them was a tall Middle Eastern woman—she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all you could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant.

Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

"They're ... um ..." Annabeth started to say.

Grabbing his Fool's prison spell pouch, he tossed it at the lady, who grabbed it instinctively. " Stulti Carcer!" He said, and the spell bag pulsed out with purple energy. In an instant, the magic bound the Woman's legs and crawled up to her arms, holding her in place. It would last only about five minutes, max, and it drained his powers to their max, but it was worth it. She was going nowhere.

"WHAT IS THIS!" She screamed but before she could react more he summoned his blade from his bracelet and put it at her throat.

"Medusa, that is my strongest spell, now tell me, were you planning on hurting us? Swear on Styx or suffer headlessness!"

"MEDUSA?" Annabeth recoiled, hands shaking.

"Yup. Statues, Grover sensed monsters, and I can feel magic in the air. I can sense magic, flowing in the statues. Dark, evil, corrosive magic. Your mother's curse." Annabeth shivered, nodding. "Medusa, now, answer the question."

Medusa snarled. "Fine, I was going to turn you into statues and crush the girls, she is my enemy's child... but the boy, Percy, he looks like Poseidon, my most love... I would have kept him." And he noticed then tears in her eyes, brokenness that he empathized with.

'She did not deserve her fate, and my magic won't hold for long... I don't want to kill her, but I might have to... maybe a compromise?' Sighing, he whispered. "Medusa... if you swear, on Styx, to not kill us and to help us... I... I swear, on Styx, to use my powers as a witch, as the Champion of Persephone, to give you peace. Be is by curing you, or by mitigating your curse. No one should be so alone, it causes brain damage in humans, I cannot imagine what eons of this did to you."

Annabeth gasped. "But my mother-"

"Did an evil thing, Annabeth, and caused countless deaths and lots of suffering."

Medusa groaned, eyes wide. " Would you, could you?"

"I can try, at the least."

And that made the woman sob. "I swear it, by Styx, to not kill you, to help you but only if you seek to help me as you have promised."

And like that, magic forever bound Aaron and Medusa.

Aaron grabbed the spell pouch from Medusa and smiled at her. "Now, let's go eat and talk things over, okay?"

She nodded and they all went inside. Within minutes they had plenty of food and were talking. Medusa handed him papers. " This is the location of the Underworld, I send them statuary. Now, I can pay your way to L.A., but I expect you to spend your time after the curse helping me."

Aaron nodded. "I can transport here and Camp, testing your magic out, learning what I can and figuring out how to help you. Maybe Persephone can help, she is my patron and she is extremely powerful as Queen of Hades. Now... let's sleep and then tomorrow, you can send us to Amtrak and we will be on our way. Should I die, I will leave my request to my patron to help you. I have a feeling she will."

"Yes... now... sleep, children and ready yourself for the struggles to come."

They all went to bed then, in sleeping bags, with Annabeth choking with fear the entire time. "Why did you help her, she is a monster?" She whispered.

"Again, she did not deserve it. Empathy is a great a tool as any sword, you're the child of Battle, you know that."

The girl nodded, and never let the fear leave her heart... but he did not care. Medusa deserved better and frankly... frankly this had to be what Persephone had met with his unbiased heart. He could only hope she accepted his actions and defended him from those, Athena, that would not be happy otherwise...

'I got so lucky, that she was weak enough and shocked enough for my spell to hold fast... I need to be better, do better, otherwise... I will die.' Aaron thought as he went to sleep, grateful that his spell, his strongest magic, worked on such a powerful monster even for a moment... otherwise... they might all be dead.

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a great chapter.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.