This fic will be continuing from the fixed first-person perspective of Kirei Kotomine. This may change in the future be it a new temporary perspective or another, however, Kirei is the main perspective.
I held the bag which contained our money and clothes for the journey by my side as we ran. Alongside me were three demigods that I still had to get used to. Their company was an odd thing for a person like me, although it wasn't the first time he had functioned in a team with other people. As an Executor, he would often go on missions with other Executors and sometimes even the occasional Enforcer from the Mages Association.
My face was expressionless as we ran across the forest next to the river, though my face was expressionless regardless of what happened around me. Well, other than pleasure, but that's something I'd rather avoid thinking about.
The four of us had run in silence in the dark for a while. Just when I had begun to feel tired, I saw a neon sign ahead that read, 'Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium.' I looked back to the others, who seemed to have noticed the building as well. The building was surrounded by the forest, which I immediately thought to be suspicious. The front was slightly obscured by trees, but it still had a path from the road that was around a dozen meters away from us.
"What the heck does that say?" Asked Percy to nobody in particular.
"I don't know." Responded Annabeth. The two of them seemed so normal that I had forgotten to acknowledge that they both had dyslexia. I slowed to walking speed, the other three decided to match my pace as they all sounded tired in his ears.
"'Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium.'" Grover translated for the two demigods other than me.
We slowly approached the entrance to the building a good distance away from the road. The path's entrance had little clay statues of people painted with a red hat, blue coat, and a white beard posed to be waving. If I had to guess, I would say that these are the garden gnomes that were mentioned on the sign.
"What are those?" I asked Percy just to make sure.
"Those are garden gnomes, have you never seen one?" Asked Percy. I responded with a swift nod. I began to smell some foreign food, it was not a unique smell though. It smelled like he was in a parking lot next to a fast-food restaurant, a concept he was slightly unfamiliar with due to lack of exposure to that sort of thing.
"The lights are on inside, maybe it's open." Said Annabeth.
"Snack bar?" Percy questioned.
"Snack bar," Annabeth confirmed.
The garden in front of the building consisted of many more statues, around ten, most being life-sized and intricately detailed, with a few regular garden gnomes also mixed in. A far cry from the two garden gnomes at the front of the garden by the road. The building was like a warehouse in shape, which contrasted with the garden up in front of it.
"Are you two crazy? This place is weird," Grover said, I silently agreed with that statement. He laughed at a statue of a satyr in the garden. "That one looks like Uncle Ferdinand!"
I paused in place at that statement, I looked at the statue in question, it was just as detailed as the rest of the statues. Which was to say, if it was not cement it would be alive. Annabeth turned back to look at me.
"You ok?" She asked me with a raised eyebrow.
"This place is suspicious, each one of these statues seem like they were made by some sort of famous artist, they almost look alive," I say with a suspicious eye on the statues. The other two also turned to look back at me. I began walking with the rest of the group once more.
"I guess you are right," said Percy. "These are some really good statues." He lazily acknowledged.
We stopped at the door to the warehouse-shaped building.
"Don't knock," Grover said anxiously. He was pacing back in forth as if he was afraid of something. "I smell monsters in there."
"Your nose must be still smelling the Furies from earlier, all I smell are burgers," Annabeth said. "We should be recharging our strength, this is the only place we've seen in a while. Aren't you hungry?" I couldn't shake my suspicion, but I kept quiet.
"I'm a vegetarian," Grover said.
"You eat cheese enchiladas and tin cans," Percy said as if it had any relevance.
I was behind the rest of the group, so I handed Percy the bag with the group's supplies inside of it and snuck out of sight. I decided that I should stay behind in case of any danger. I would stay out here in the nearby woods until I knew the coast was clear. Everyone else in the group was not at their full strength.
"Those are…" I had reached a distance where I had stopped hearing their voices. Though I was close enough to watch the door to the building open, showing the figure of what I presumed to be an old woman. She had a headdress over her head which revealed very little about her face, which he could hardly see given how far away he was. After a short chat, the lady let the others inside the warehouse. Closing the door behind herself and the other three in his group.
I sat in the silence of the night for a good couple of minutes, maybe longer, I wasn't too sure. One thing I was sure of was that it was suspiciously quiet. It was as if all the creatures in this area feared something nearby not daring to approach in fear for their lives. I approached the warehouse entrance swiftly, if any monsters were nearby they had to be inside of the building.
From inside I heard a shriek, it was not a voice that I recognized. It took me a moment to register the potential danger my allies may have been facing.
I placed an ear against the door and heard nothing for a few seconds. I slowly began hearing the casual voices of my group. I opened the door slowly and entered the building, I immediately spotted them.
As I walked closer I noticed that they were irritatedly chatting with each other. There was an item in Annabeth's hands that was wrapped in plastic bags and dripping with a green liquid, the item was strangely head-shaped and the lady that they were with was nowhere in sight. They placed the item inside of a box on top of a nearby picnic table.
The package floated upwards and then suddenly disappeared. I was now within five feet of the rest of the group.
"What did I miss?" I say holding back a slight grin from forming on my lips. They all turned to look at me.
"Percy killed Medusa," Grover said casually, Percy also slightly beamed with pride. Annabeth was just staring at me like I had committed an atrocious crime that I was unaware of. I let a grin form on my lips.
"It must have been fate that brought him here," I state, the others didn't seem to understand what I meant.
"Where were you this whole time?" Asked Annabeth, still eying me suspiciously. My expression shifts back to one of neutrality.
"There is a saying here that describes my predicament… Ah yes, nature calls, I feared that I would not be able to reach the restroom in time." I lied.
"So you were taking a dump in the woods?" Asked Percy, who looked like he was about to laugh.
"Yes, that would also be a way to describe it," I said, it probably wouldn't have sounded great to them if admitted to staying back to make sure there weren't any monsters nearby.
Annabeth seemed satisfied with the response, suspicion faded from her face quickly. Suddenly, a realization came to her.
"Oh, you were comparing Percy killing Medusa to the original where Perseus…" Annabeth trailed off as she tried to interpret the stares from the rest of the group. She cleared her throat to regain control of the conversation.
"Let's get out of here." She said, we all nodded. It seemed to me that the group wanted to leave this place as soon as they could.
I had slept in so long that night, that when I woke up Grover had a pink poodle on his lap. Part of me thought I was finally dreaming, but I had not had any dreams since I arrived over a year ago.
Annabeth had a bag of chips in her hands and a grin splayed across her face.
"Here I thought Percy was the person who slept like the dead. But it seems that he just can't compete with you, being the son of the ruler of the dead." She said mischievously. I sighed internally.
"So, what's the deal with the dog," I say, my deep, baritone voice seemed to irritate the canine.
"He's the reason we will be able to get train tickets," Percy explained. "Now that you are awake we can finally get moving." I frown at this comment.
"I apologize for that," I say with regret. Everyone sent me a strange glance. "I can't be making my allies wait for me to rise, I will do my best to get up sooner," I explain.
They just stayed silent until we returned the dog to the owners for the reward money.
Thank you all for the support, I never expected this work to get as much attention as it did, so all I have to say is thank you for your time.