Percy's POV
In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have someone to blame when things go wrong.
We are all terrified by what we had just seen and done. Annabeth is mad at me for putting myself in so much danger; if I die, her opportunity to go on a quest is over. How thoughtful.
"The only way to really test your abilities as a hero is to survive in the real mortal world." Annabeth said.
"Way ahead of you Percy!" Baxie said.
I roll my eyes.
"That's why I'm so eager to be on this quest." Annabeth continues. "I've always wanted a quest."
"All of our money and things were burned in the bus explosion. We've got nothing left but what we are wearing and holding." I said.
"Speak for yourself. You people don't have sock pockets." Baxie said grabbing a handful of drachmas.
"Eww." Annabeth said.
"Oh so you'd rather not have these. OK." She said as she dropped them on the ground. "I'll just sacrifice these to the gods-"
"NO! Keep them." Annabeth said.
"Wait, do you guys smell that?" I asked.
"Really Percy? You know very well I can't." Baxie said.
"You're right, smells like greasy food. Lets follow it." Annabeth said.
"Oh yeah leave the noseless girl without a clue." (Not literally noseless) Baxie complained.
Grover's POV
We came across a deserted two lane road. Across the road is an abandoned gas station, and one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. But some delicious food smells are coming from that curio shop. Well it may not have been as good as a foam cup, but close enough. The curio shop is called "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." Out front are tons of statues of kids, satyrs, and animals. Very life-like.
Percy and Annabeth are drooling at the smell of burgers.
"What, what does it smell like?" Baxie asks annoyed.
"Burgers." Percy and Annabeth say in unison.
"I don't know guys, I just saw a statue that looked exactly like my Uncle Ferdinand." I say cautiously but they ignore me over food and knocked on the door.
A woman answers the door. 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 I could make out.
The woman, Aunty Em, invites us in after Baxie told her we are orphan run-aways, which in her case was a bit more honest. What was with people letting Baxie bring an axe with her without taking it away, it was a pretty normal weapon so it couldn't have been shielded my the mist.
She fixes us burgers, shakes, and french fries in the back of her shop.
The shop is a warehouse filled with even more statues of all kinds of people in all kinds of poses. The statues have all kinds of looks on their faces from shocked to joyful. Their eyes seem to follow us.
Aunty Em's food is delicious. Percy asks her questions about her career: making statues.
"The face is difficult to capture when making a statue. My business started with my two sisters." Aunty Em says.
Thus make me remember a story from Greek history involving three sisters. And I felt Annabeth and Baxie knew too, Percy was still listening to the story though.
"I had a boyfriend once upon a time. But there was a woman who was jealous of us so she broke us apart. She did something terrible that ruined me. My sisters stuck with me but they eventually died." She continued.
"Wow sorry to hear that. I know how you feel. Well thanks for the food but I think we should get going now, right guys?" Baxie said.
We agree except got Percy he doesn't seem convinced this woman is evil.
"Alright, but before you leave can you all pose for me?" Aunty Em asks.
Great, she's for sure Medusa. And Baxie and Annabeth knew this too.
"Percy NO! She's Medusa." Annabeth, Baxie, and I say in different ways. We warned him just in time and we scattered throughout the garden.
Medusa tells Percy that Athena was the woman who cursed her and made her the way she is as she walk throughout the garden. She got very close to Baxie and me. Boy, was she ugly. With her snakes for hair.
As soon as she walked by the statue Baxie was hiding next to, she chopped of her head by listening to her footsteps. Closes her eyes keeping a tight grip on Medusa's neck and Annabeth manages to cover her head without looking.
Percy finds some mailing materials and packs the head into a box. We send it to the gods on Mount Olympus with our best wishes. He also finds the address of the Underworld in Los Angeles – it turns out Hades is one of Medusa's customers.