Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Lost In Darkness

Chapter 4

Reyna would've stayed on board the Princess Andromeda for a few weeks—if it wasn't for the monsters and stray demigods. Now, that sentence just sounded wrong. Monsters and demigods don't stay in within reach of one another and continue existing without fights or killing.

But that was what Reyna, Clarisse and Silena saw. Chiron had provided the three girls a mode of transportation that Reyna could work with: a boat.

Reyna was loving the role of being the leader—what she says goes. But she felt like a sucky leader when she needed the two older girls to give her a crash-course on life as a demigod and questing.

"Usually, newbies as you aren't suppose to even leave camp. You haven't even started the basic sword-fighting yet!" Silena was a nice girl, different from Drew Tanaka, but her kindness reminded Reyna painfully of her mother: she stayed away from Silena.

She was also too over-protective and Reyna saw little use in a child of the love goddess. Unless Silena can summon gigantic doves for them to ride on or for those doves to come with extra-pointy spear to kill monsters for them.

Reyna frowned. "I can fight." Riptide, or Anaklumos, was in her pocket: its weight comforting, apparently, Poseidon expected her to go out fighting like a barbarian someday and had decided to help her prepare. "Anyway, water energizes me and I just instinctively know how to fight when I'm wet."

Following that revelation, Silena sighed and started stocking up on seawater as they traveled. As their boat was sailing rather calmly, Silena could do that no problem.

Reyna could just imagine the monsters' reaction when they say that: Reyna, backed into a corner and about to be skewered by monsters, and Silena chucking water bottles. Of course, Clarisse might make all the difference. The daughter of Ares surprised the other two by being civil, albeit grumpy and condescending; never mind, Reyna would take Clarisse over Drew anytime of the day.

"We have to board that ship," spoke Clarisse.

Reyna frowned at her. "How about, hell no?"

"Stop being so difficult," snapped the older girl. "I was visited by my dad yesterday. He advised us to go there: something's worth checking out."

Reyna felt a stab of doubt. But a good leader was one who accepted others' opinion and Clarisse sounded very certain. "Fine," she said after a few more moments of contemplation.

And she guided the boat there.

Reyna caught a glimpse of Silena's expression: triumph before it was hidden by apprehension. Reyna didn't like it and she silently filed that memory up for more thought. Clarisse's face was set in one of grim determination. The girls stumbled off the boat and climbed up the ladder, leading up the deck.

The hairs on Reyna's arms rose. She felt weird: as if she knew something was wrong and her bones wanted to leap out of her skin to safety. She struggled to calm herself and looked around.

"Let's explore," she suggested and the two girls followed her lead.

Reyna was starting to think this was a normal cruise ship when she saw the mortals: dazed eyes, laughing languidly and repeating same, nonsensical sentences that made no sense. Her brows knitted together as she assessed the kids splashing one another in the pool (for the love of, the SEA was surrounding them!) and repeating "We're having so much fun, now".

"That is not normal," Clarisse observed.

"No," Reyna and Silena agreed.

They continued walking until Clarisse suddenly hauled Reyna and Silena into the bathroom. She swallowed the indignant yelp. She settled for glaring at the daughter of Ares but the hissing stopped the angry rebuke forming in her throat. Startled, she quieted and peered out cautiously to see what had snatched Clarisse's attention that the bulkier girl didn't even try to tease the younger one.

"What the Hades—"

"Shh," snapped Silena in a surprisingly harsh voice.

Reyna pressed her lips into a thin, unhappy line but did as told.

"Ssssix more join yesssterday," hissed one of the snake ladies.

"Yesss, at thissss rate, we will be converting half the camp."

Converting? Reyna mouthed to Clarisse who scowled. The three girls remained silent as the dracanae's slithered away. "OK," said Reyna, "tell me what you think. It sounds like there'd be an uprising and the demigods are helping these monsters."

Silena looked queasy. "I think we should leave."

"This is important information though," said Clarisse. "Shouldn't we find out more and drag the conspiring bastards in chains to Olympus? This guy might even be the thief!"

"Good idea," said Reyna. "Except that we don't have chains and I'm certainly not into those like you do."

Clarisse glared at the daughter of Poseidon who sneered back. "Stop fighting at a time like this," chided Silena. "Reyna, we really need a decision. You're the leader, it's your call."

"Thank you. Good to know I have some authority." Reyna twisted a lock of her blonde hair, lips pursed. "I suggest we remain a spy—" she faltered. "What's that sound?"

"Let's go check it out."

~X~

"Do you smell that?" asked Percy, stopping his questmates from moving.

"Smell?" echoed Annabeth: judging from her tone of voice, Percy suspected she was wrinkling her nose in disbelief and an attempt to catch a whiff of what he was smelling. "If you smelled something before Grover—"

"Percy's right," squeaked Grover and Percy shot the daughter of Athena a smug smile. He imagined her sneering in response but decided to stop retaliating. "I smell... cheeseburgers."

Percy's stomach grumbled in agreement. "I do... feel hungry." The son of Hades didn't need anyone's guidance to reach the source of the smell. His nose and hunger led him right to the woman's doorstep. Annabeth elbowed him.

"Careful," she hissed.

"What?" he asked.

"You nearly knock the gnomes over," she said.

Percy tried not to be surprised. "Gnomes?" he repeated blankly. He'd never seen such things in his life.

"Ugly, bearded little runts. They're usually in gardens... these look oddly real, though. Why the terror on their face I wonder...?" Percy knew that Annabeth was keeping a running commentary for him and he felt grateful. He was the unofficial leader but he felt pretty useless: he was blind, damn it, and he needed those two to lead him around.

It would've been immensely easier if his sister was there. He trusted her and they'd been together nearly their whole life (keep in mind Percy existed two years without her and they went to different boarding schools) so having her lead him felt right. Having a nervous, Hades-fearing satyr and unfamiliar daughter of Athena did not bode well for him.

He slept little and was very high-strung. After nearly being blasted to bits by lightning (no thanks to Zeus), it was understandable Percy was starting to lose any sort of delusions about safety when there was family around.

"Snack bar," said Annabeth wistfully, as if in a trance.

"Right, good to know," he said, deciding that they could stop for a break to re-energize. And maybe get to know one another. Percy would feel more coordinated if he knew something about his questmates.

"Are you two nuts? Not that I wouldn't say yes to nuts. But... there's something off about this place." Grover tugged nervously on Percy's sleeve. "These cement statues are really creeping me out and... Bla-ha-ha... that satyr looks like my Uncle Ferdinand to me."

"Why, hello, dears," purred a sickly sweet voice and Percy turned in that direction. There was an odd hissing sound. Coming from the speaking woman. Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

"They're... um..." Annabeth started to say. Percy found this surprising; the blonde girl was all about strategy and she wasn't a liar thinking on her feet? But then again, there were little things to say that the stranger would fall completely on it.

Whether lies work or not also depended heavily on the person who was being lied to. If they were naturally suspicious people, they would suspect even the truth.

So Percy didn't think too much about an elaborate lie. He just said, "We're lost," which answered nothing about the woman's question. "Is that food I smell? We've been lost for so long I lost track of time: I don't even remember the last time I ate something," he said mournfully, hoping that this was a nice, kind lady.

"Oh you poor dears," the last word sounded foreign on her tongue but before Percy could place why, the woman had already ushered them in. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."

They thanked her and entered, Annabeth subtly guiding him around. There was a click! from behind him and Percy was tempted to stop. His stomach was growling at him to move to the dining place, he was hungry, and surely locking the door was not a crime? What if there were bandits?

The rational part of him speculated that kids shouldn't really wander into a stranger's house. But they were demigods with battle skills, the lady wouldn't do them much trouble.

Percy sat down next to Annabeth, ignoring Grover's nervous whimpering and how he felt as if thousand of eyes were upon him. "Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."

Before Percy could jab him in the ribs, Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."

"Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said.

When Aunty Em spoke, there was a definite tense note to her voice that made apprehension build in Percy's gut. He resisted the urge to start flipping the necklace his father had given him in his sleep. Aside from being a necklace and accessory, it was also his weapon.

Flipping it twice summoned his Stygian Iron Sword that could do wonders against demigods, mortals and monsters alike. Percy forced his fingers to uncurl and rest them in his lap, wondering what his sister was doing now. He hoped she was calmer now and would actually enjoy Camp instead of worrying about him.

Percy was halfway through his burger before he heard it again. Beside him, Grover was squirming and whimpering; on his other side, Annabeth was slurping her Coke.

"What's, um, that hissing sound?"

"You have sharp ears, Perseus Jackson. But perhaps that is the deep-fryer oil."

Abruptly, the fog of confusion cleared. Not many people knew his real name. He introduced himself as Percy and now that he stretched his memory, he had not introduced himself. He placed his half-eaten burger down, feeling that his hunger had taken a backseat priority.

"Chase," he said sharply, nudging her. "We've got to go."

"But, why, dear? I still have so much more in store—"

Feeling that politeness wouldn't do them much good anymore, Percy sprang to his feet and dragged Annabeth with him. "Well, we're not staying, Lady Em."

Wait. Em? M?

"Medusa!" shrieked Grover in realization.

Annabeth made choking noises beside Percy. "Get us out of here!" snapped the son of Hades. "Or, better yet, the nearest shadow."

"Wha—?"

"I'm going to shadow-travel. Grover, hang on to me!"

"Son of Hades, Daughter of Athena!" rasped the monster. And this time, the hissing was growing increasingly louder. Percy had heard about Medusa but he wondered if it worked on the blind.

"Close your eyes!" cried Annabeth.

"I'm blind!" snarled Percy. "I'm keeping them wide open!"

Medusa's laughter reminded Percy of a malfunctioning expresso machine. He scowled darkly in her general direction even as Annabeth threw open the doors and the three questers tumbled into the open lawn. Medusa was closing in on them and with all of them losing the advantage of sight, Percy saw little chances of winning.

Not that he could see in the first place. He hoped, after this ordeal, and if they survived, that Grover and Annabeth would be more empathetic of his situation.

"Chase, severe the bond," he ordered quietly.

"No! Why?"

"I'm not going to drag anyone down," he said calmly, hand already working to unbind them. "Grover and me are going to distract her: you take the chance to strike her down—invisibly. It's the only plan I've got. Trust me." There was hesitation then Annabeth's presence disappeared.

Medusa sneered. "Well, son of Hades, prepared to face your father in shame?"

"No," retorted Percy. "I'm not worthy of being considered a hero if I don't even kick your ass."

"Oh, but dear, since when are children of Hades heroes? It's always children of Zeus and sons of Poseidon. Never Hades. Why bother?" Her voice was soothing, reminding Percy of his mother and he hurriedly squashed that thought. "You do realize the Olympians are playing you for a fool?"

"Mm-hmm," said Percy noncommittally, trying to hide the fact that her words had hit a little too close to home. "I plan on being the first hero of Hades hailed at Olympus, my name a famed legend. Now, die." He was prepared to give a dramatic speech to buy time but Annabeth didn't seem to be anywhere close anytime soon. And if he was gruesomely killed after what he said, he might as well go down as the sorest loser of a hero there ever was.

Fortunately for him, however, Medusa sounded too amused to actually want to kill him.

Her harpy laughter rent the air like the sound of swords being drawn clumsily from their sheathes. "Son of Hades, you are cursed." She sounded breathy with laughter when she delivered the last part. "Cursed to never see the light of the day! I can sense the sun god's magic at work—"

That put Percy to a halt. "What?" he demanded furiously.

"Incoming!" shouted Grover's voice. "Percy, duck! I'm coming to save youuuu!"

Percy wanted to shout at him to stop, he wanted Medusa alive to speak: he had a lot of questions to ask about the curse of Apollo, but he knew Grover was a bumbling fool.

He dived sideways as Grover swooped down, bat swinging: Medusa's screech of pain told them all that. Annabeth let out a war cry and there was the sound of sword meeting, slicing through skin and the thump! of something heavy falling to the ground.

"She's dead?" breathed Percy in horror.

"Thanks Grover, and Percy. If you hadn't distracted him," said Annabeth, "I wouldn't have gotten the chance. She defiled my mother's shrine with Poseidon. It's good to get her back."

"Ugh. Her head's the spoil of war?" came Grover's disgusted voice as Percy staggered to them.

Annabeth beheaded Medusa? Percy grimaced. That was a disturbing image. "As long as you don't choose to get back at Poseidon by beheading my sister," he grumbled. "And I wanted to talk to her."

"She's dead, now though. What did you want to ask her?"

"She said..." Annabeth faltered. "She said something about a curse and the sun god's magic at work. Percy?"

"I wanted to know, too," said the son of Hades, sighing heavily. "I'm not sure. Maybe some Olympian or Father could shed some light on this."

"Percy..."

"We should keep the head. It might come in handy," Percy cut them off brusquely. "Shall we keep going or stay here? I understand if you're shaken and want to take a break for today." Even from where he was standing, he could feel the other two shuddering.

"No. I've enough of this place."

Medusa's words echoing in his head, Percy allowed Annabeth and Grover to lead him away.

~X~

[A/N]: No excuses. I have none. So, speculations about Percy's curse and blindness?

Also, I've started a new Harry Potter story so check it out!

Question: About the pairings, I was thinking of changing it so suggestions would be nice. I was thinking of ApolloPercy. Maybe fem!Apollo? I suspect Apollo can probably change his appearance into that of a female. I've never seen that idea before, morbid as it is... so, thoughts?

Review!