Midnight Star
by Lady Dawson
Chapter Eight: The Truth Comes Out
Over the next few days, the sun remained constantly shining, beaming down upon Forks and giving us a few days of perfect weather, making the entire town even more beautiful than it already was. Everything always looks beautiful in the sunshine right after a big rainstorm. Granted, here in Forks, rain is always pouring here, but that's beside the point.
But while my friends were out enjoying the beautiful weather, I kept to my room, trying very hard to work on my report for English and not be distracted by thoughts of vampires that kept sneaking into my head. It was really hard, because every few minutes, Edward kept popping into my brain, making my thoughts near impossible to focus on the report I was supposed to be working on.
Finally, after about thirty something hours, I finally managed to finish the report and keep focused on it long enough so that I could double check it and make sure that there were no spelling or grammar mistakes before I headed outside, letting the sun shine down on me.
Ever since I had gotten back from La Push, I had waited impatiently for Monday to arrive so I could get back to school and confront Edward about what I had found out from Annabeth and Seth.
But that thing about how when you're waiting impatiently for something, time seems to slow to a standstill is actually true. And it's annoying.
So by Sunday, I was getting edgy and agitated, to the point that I needed to do something to get out of the house, so I took my truck and headed out towards Port Angeles. Angela and Jessica, I knew, had plans to go dress shopping for homecoming, so if nothing else, then I could at least meet up with them and walk around with them for a little bit. Besides, there had to be at least a decent bookstore somewhere around here. It was doubtful that they had any books written in Ancient Greek, but it was better than nothing.
Sure enough, almost the first store that I walked into, I ran into Angela and Jessica, who were pawing through the dresses. I accepted the invitation; I liked hanging out with Angela. She was a good friend. And Jessica . . . well, she and I were hardly friends, but I could put up a shopping trip with her.
And anyway, I had gone shopping with Valentine before and compared to her, Jessica was a breeze. No one can shop like Valentine Hart can. She takes the phrase 'shop 'til you drop' to a whole new level. Even some of her sisters—other daughters of Aphrodite—could get exhausted while shopping with her. It's actually kind of fun to watch, us sitting in the food court, nursing our wounds while Valentine is still hard at it, bouncing in and out of stores and attempting to drag us back into them.
And she was really good at constructive criticism when it came to clothes, having a good eye about what would look good on somebody and what wouldn't. I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but I actually missed her as I wandered through the one good department store in Port Angeles, picking out a couple of items. My winter wardrobe was still lacking, so I picked out a couple of long-sleeved shirts and a new jacket, since mine was getting a bit worn. Not surprising, considering I'd worn it through a war.
"Susan, what do you think?" Jessica asked as I finished buying my purchases and ambled back to where they were sorting through the dresses. She was holding up a vivid pink satin dress to her chest, twirling around in front of the mirror, letting the skirts fly out around her.
"Wow, that looks great," I said, impressed. It looked really good, but she was also one of those girls who were able to look good in pretty much anything, so there wasn't much else I could say. "You should definitely try it on, Jess."
She nodded appreciatively. "Yeah, I think I will," she agreed before pulling up a few dresses that she had lain in a chair beside the mirror, holding them up to me. "Which ones?"
I eyed them carefully. This was the part of shopping trips that I always hated, because I didn't really have that great of an eye for clothes, so my opinion was pretty bland. But the canary yellow one I personally thought was going to look terrible, but the mint green one wouldn't look too bad. And the black one I thought would look really good. It was velvet black with purple satin around the shoulders and waist and down a narrow slit on the side.
"No to the yellow, maybe to the green, and a very strong yes to the black," I said.
Jessica studied my observations carefully. "You're right," she said decidedly. "You've got a good eye for this."
"No," I murmured as she disappeared into the fitting room, leaving Angela and me alone. "My best friend did. And I've got years of experience of shopping with her." Angela chuckled at my comment, laying the lavender dress she'd chosen over her arm.
"Does she still live in New York?" she asked. "Your friend?"
I shook my head dully, my shoulders sagging. "No," I murmured. "No, Valentine died over a year ago. It's half the reason why I moved here. I had to get away from there." Angela was quiet, asking no more questions, to which I was eternally grateful. If it had been Jessica, she would have unleashed a hoard of questions that demanded answers, ones that I might not necessarily want to answer. She should definitely be a reporter, I thought with a wry smile. She definitely was one for poking her nose where it didn't belong and asking questions.
It took Jessica nearly an hour to settle on a dress and by that time, all of us were getting hungry, so we headed to get something to eat—I had long ago borrowed Jessica's cell phone to call Charlie and let him know where I was and that I wouldn't be home for dinner—but even though Jessica and Angela had been through here hundreds of times before, somehow we got lost.
"I don't understand it," Jessica complained. "The restaurant is right through there; why would they move it?" She looked frustrated as she looked around, throwing up her hands. "Do you have any idea where we are?"
"The bus station is over there," I said, pointing towards where I had arrived from New York. "Look, let's go into one of the shops and ask somebody for directions."
Jessica looked extremely frustrated, but Angela said gently, "She's got a point, Jess. It's getting dark out and we don't want to be wandering around in the dark, getting even more lost than we already are."
"Let's go," I said, laying my hand on a door and pulling open, stepping into what looked like a statuary shop. There were a lot of statues around, ranging from animals to satyrs to people.
"Hello?" I called out, marvelling at how lifelike the statues were and how realistic they all were. They looked as though they would pop to life at any given moment, but what I noticed the most was that some of their faces were wrong. They looked scared out of their wits and if I'd known any better, then I would have gotten Angela and Jessica out of there and went to deal with this by myself, but unfortunately, I wasn't that quick.
"Is anybody here?" Jessica said loudly and impatiently. "Look, we need directions, so if anybody's here, could you come out of hiding?"
Still, there was no answer and Jessica gave a groan of frustration. "Okay, nobody's here, let's get out of here," she said firmly, casting a nervous glance around us. "This place gives me the creeps."
She wasn't wrong, I realised. My battle reflexes were flexing, preparing themselves for a fight. There was something otherworldly here.
"Yeah, you guys go try another shop, I'll meet you out there in a little bit," I started to say, turning around, only to find myself standing face-to-face with a woman.
She was very beautiful, I guess, from what I could see of her, which wasn't much, because she wore thick black glasses, covering her eyes, and her hair was wrapped up in a turban, preventing me from being able to see what colour her eyes or hair were. Tall and refined, she wore a black gown that covered everything but her hands.
"What a pleasant surprise," she said in a thick, Middle-Eastern accent that sent shivers travelling down my back. Jessica whimpered and ducked behind me and Angela backed up away from her. Only I remained where I was, though my hand moved to my necklace, fumbling for the chain. "It's so wonderful when young visitors stumble their way here. Are you lost, children?" she asked, giving us a smile that didn't seem to suit her. Jessica bristled at being referred to as a child, but she otherwise kept quiet. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that you get home safely."
"You know what?" I said, taking a deep breath. "We're fine. Just got turned around is all and we really should be going, ma'am." I kept my tone polite and civil, trying to move my friends towards the door, my gaze never leaving the lady, though I caught a glimpse of a statue behind the lady and I felt as though I had been punched in the stomach as I recognised the figure.
Aria.
But it couldn't be . . . and yet, I knew what my eyes were telling me was the truth. The last time that I had seen Aria, she was getting on a bus to head back to San Francisco, to live with her mom last year. But she had never arrived there. Chiron got a call from her mother a week later, only to learn that Aria had never arrived at her destination. The word had gone out and several demigods went out to look for her, but she had never been found.
Until now.
The lady's eyes travelled back towards where I was looking and if it were possible, her smile broadened. "Pretty girl, wasn't she?" she asked maliciously. "She was such a pretty girl, so full of anger and fury. She tried to kill me, you know," she added. "But of course, she opened her eyes at the wrong second and now, she and I will be friends forever. She'll stay with me forever. That's the beauty of eternity, isn't it . . . daughter of Poseidon?"
I felt as though I had been punched in the stomach and I prayed that, even if we made it out of this, that the Mist would be enough to fool my friends.
"How do you know me?" I asked, keeping my voice even and levelled, not betraying the fear that I felt in my body. I had managed to get my necklace off while she was distracted and it was now lying in my hand. All it took was turning it over in my hand and I would have my weapon . . . if only I could get my friends away . . .
She laughed softly and I could have sworn that I heard hissing coming from somewhere nearby, something that sounded like . . . snakes?
"I used to date your daddy," she replied.
This woman was one of my dad's lovers? That wasn't unbelievable; since he's over three thousand years old, then he has had a lot of lovers, the latest being Percy's mom and mine, but there was something about her that was telling me that there was something very important about this woman, something that I should know.
Jessica was moaning behind me, whimpering as she clutched at my arm and Angela looked absolutely terrified as she shrank back, her eyes fixed upon the lady.
"Run," I hissed at them. "Now, don't stop, don't look back."
"But—" Angela began.
"RUN!" I snapped, more forcibly than I meant to. Angela hesitated only for a moment longer before she grabbed Jessica and bolted, leaving me alone with the lady as she began to move closer to me.
I turned the seashell over in my hand and at once, it began to grow, transforming into a celestial bronze sword. The hilt was bronze, like the blade, but had been fashioned so that it fit in my hand easily and at the very end of the hilt, the seashell that was my necklace was built into the hilt.
"Now, now, little demigod," the lady said as I heard that strange hissing again, coming from right in front of me. "There's no reason for this to get violent, is there? I'm not going to harm you. After all, your daddy and I go way back. I wasn't always like this, you know. Once, I was very beautiful . . . desired by many men . . . courted by many . . . until the Grey-Eyed One cursed me."
Grey-Eyed One . . . at once, everything clicked into place.
The sound of the snakes . . . the reason why her hair and eyes were covered up . . . the fact that she had once been Poseidon's lover . . . and the fact that she had been cursed by the "Grey-Eyed One," which was another name for Athena.
"Medusa," I said, horrified. How was that possible? Percy had killed her over five years ago, when he had first learned that he was a demigod and went on that insane quest to find Zeus's master bolt.
Of course, monsters always resurrect themselves sooner or later, but I didn't think that she would have come back so quickly. I was actually kind of hoping that it would be a couple of hundred years before that happened. Actually, I was kind of hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with any monsters for awhile, but it looks like my luck just ran out.
Thankfully, though, I wouldn't have to worry about Jessica and Angela. Hopefully, they did as I told them and got out.
Now all I had to worry about was me.
Great.
I threw myself sideways as she began lifting her turban, ripping it away and then the sounds of the snakes increased tenfold as I ducked behind some statues, putting as much distance between Medusa and myself as possible.
"Come out, little demigod," Medusa said invitingly, warm and gentle, not at all threatening. I ducked behind some statues, keeping my gaze fixed towards the ground—or at least only a couple of feet above it. That was fine. As long as I didn't look at her in the eyes, I would be fine. "I'm not going to hurt you. All I want is a picture . . ."
"Susan!"
My head shot up as I recognised Edward's voice, panicked and alarmed. "Edward! Close your eyes!" I screamed at him.
I couldn't see him, but I knew that he was here. My skin was prickling with electricity as I felt his presence nearby.
"Where are you?" he shouted from somewhere within the statuary shop.
"Just keep your eyes closed, all right!" I shouted, panicked.
Medusa hissed. "You protect her, Cold One?"
"And what makes you think that I need protecting?" I yelled at her. "Come and get me. I'm right over here!"
I waved my arm so that she would see me and the second that I heard her pursuit, I began to move, pushing between statues and keeping my gaze towards the ground so that I wouldn't risk being turned to stone.
As I was racing past some statues of children—my heart ached at the mere sight of them—strong, cold hands reached out and grabbed me, pulling me down and I gasped softly in surprise, my gaze automatically looking upward as I found myself staring face-to-face with Edward Cullen, who looked terrified and worried.
"Shh," he whispered. "It's all right, I'll get you out of here. Here . . . where'd you get the sword?" he asked, noticing.
"Not now," I whispered, shaking my head as I looked away from his golden eyes, trying to listen to where Medusa might be. "Can you hear her?" I asked, keeping my voice lowered, hoping that she wouldn't hear us. And I was praying that his hearing was better than mine.
"She's coming," Edward whispered. "Susan, what is going on?"
"I'll explain if we get out of this alive," I said in exasperation. "I don't suppose that you have a mirror or anything reflective on you, do you?"
Edward frowned, but fished out his cell phone, holding it out to me and I realised that the back of the phone was reflective and could be used as a mirror. Grasping the cell, I held it out in front of me, trying to see around the statues that we were hidden behind.
"You can't hide forever, little demigod," Medusa said. She was close; I could hear it. "Sooner or later, you won't be able to hide and you can't keep those beautiful eyes of yours closed forever. The temptation is simply too great to resist and then, you will have to look at me. Stay with me, Susan," she said softly. "We get so lonely here . . . stay here with us, daughter of Poseidon."
Next to me, Edward froze and he stared at me, his eyes wide, his mouth opening in surprise. He'd heard what she had called me and there would be no way to get out of this one. But it didn't matter. He knew my secret and I knew his. One way or another, all of the secrets would be stripped away tonight.
Moving a quarter of an inch, I poked the cell phone around the statue and finally caught the glimpse of Medusa in the mirror. She was just like how Percy had described and how all of the stories describe her; snakes where her head should be and piercing eyes that would turn the observer to stone if they even caught a glimpse of her.
But a mirror was fine. I was in no danger of becoming stone by looking at her in the mirror. But what was even better was that I saw something that I could use to my advantage: a fountain standing right behind Medusa, with water spurting out from the top.
"Thank the gods," I whispered. I could feel Edward's golden eyes boring into me, but I didn't have time to answer questions right now. After we got out of this, I would answer any question he wanted, but right now, I had other things on my mind.
Closing my eyes, I stretched out my hand for the fountain, concentrating on the water, plunging into the depths of my power, willing the water to come to lift, to bend to my command.
That was all that it took. The fountain exploded with life and Medusa gave a cry of surprise as she was engulfed by the water, pulling into it and I willed the water to come towards me, bringing Medusa with it. Keeping my eyes lowered to the ground, I waited until it was close enough before I threw myself out of hiding, swinging my sword right through the whirlpool that I had created, straight towards Medusa, decapitating her.
Her head rolled off of her body and I let go of the water, letting it drop onto the ground, making a watery mess out of the shop. Medusa's body dropped down next to where her head was and I let out a deep sight, looking back at Edward.
His eyes were closed even without my telling him.
"You can open up your eyes now," I informed him and his eyelids lifted, revealing his golden orbs as he stood up, walking over to where I was standing next to Medusa's body.
Or what had been her body. It vanished the moment that it had dropped down onto the ground, but the head was still there, though the eyes were closed. I kept my gaze up though as I shrugged off my jacket and carefully placed it over her head.
"Is that . . ." Edward began, then shook his head. "Was that what I think it was?"
"If you're thinking Medusa, then yeah," I said, nodding. Edward stared at me as though he couldn't believe what had just happened, staring down at the sword in my hand before he looked back up to stare at me in the eye.
"Who are you?" he said at last.
"You know who I am, Edward," I told him with a sigh. "But as for what I am . . . well, that's a whole other story, isn't it?" I swallowed before looked back up at him, my blue-green gaze meeting his gold one. "I'm Susan Dawson, demigod daughter of Poseidon. And you are?"
His expression was almost laughable as I watched him. It changed from disbelief to astonishment to incredulity to doubt to bewilderment to wonder before it finally settled on amazement.
"How is that possible?"
"Look, we need to find Jessica and Angela and make sure that they're okay," I said hurriedly. "And then, we'll take my truck and go back to Forks and on the way, I'll explain. After I'm done explaining, I'll answer any questions that you have. But," I added pointedly, "in return, I'll expect my questions to be answered honestly."
To my surprise, he nodded. "Sounds fair," he acknowledged. "It seems that you were right; your secret rivals my own."
It turned out that Jessica and Angela were perfectly fine and the Mist had already affected them. They had absolutely no memory of meeting Medusa or even the little statuary shop that we had been in. They had found the restaurant by now and had already eaten, believing that I had gone off in search of the bookstore and hadn't shown up for dinner.
Sometimes, I really marvel at how well the Mist is at covering up any supernatural activity that humans see.
Since I had brought my truck, I told them that I was going to head home. Charlie would be waiting up for me anyway. Edward hadn't driven here; his sister Alice had dropped him off and he had planned on taking a cab home—at least, that's what he told Jessica and Angela—so I offered to drive him home so we could talk.
Or so I could tell him the truth.
"You said that your father is Poseidon," Edward said as I began driving along the highway, heading towards Forks, keeping a nice, easy speed so it would take plenty of time to get home. "And you called yourself a demigod. As in half-mortal and half-god?"
"Yep," I said, nodding. "My mother is Charlie's sister, just a plain, run-of-the-mill human. But Dad is Poseidon, god of the seas." I rolled my eyes at his expression. "Edward, you've read all of the myths on Greek gods and goddesses, haven't you? What's the one thing that they all have in common? What do all of the Greek heroes have in common?"
"They have a god for a parent," Edward replied immediately, torn between disbelief and incredulity.
"Exactly. That's the most common thing that the gods did in the old stories," I pointed out. "They came down to Earth and had kids with mortals. Did you really think that after a couple of thousand years, they would actually change their habits? All of those myths aren't myths; the gods are real and so are all of those stories. And we all go to this camp—"
"Camp?" Edward interrupted.
"Yeah . . . Camp Half-Blood. It's a training camp for demigods, where we can learn how to defend ourselves against monster and learn how to survive in the outside world where monsters might attack us at any given moment. We learn archery and sword-fighting and basically anything that you can use in a battle. After we turn ten or twelve, the scent of a demigod becomes much stronger and monsters start coming after us. That's when it becomes necessary for us to go to camp, where we'll be safe. Most demigods have to stay at camp because they're too powerful of forces to be able to live in the outside world, but some can live somewhat normal lives during the school year, but they still have to go to camp during the summer holidays. That's where I've been living for the past four years."
"So it wasn't a boarding school."
"No," I sighed. "I just let Charlie think that because it was safer than any other explanation. He doesn't know about any of this and I don't want him to. The last thing that he needs is to get swept up into this." I sighed. "Anyway, I lived there for the past four years, but last year . . . did you happen to hear about all of that stuff that happened in New York?"
Edward nodded, looking concerned. "Yes, there were a series of earthquakes, from what we heard. There was a lot of damage."
"There was no earthquake," I sighed. "What happened was that Kronos, the Titan King, was able to possess a demigod named Luke and almost destroyed Olympus. There was an enormous war there and almost resulted in our destruction, but at the last minute, Luke killed himself to prevent Kronos from taking his full form.
"Those friends of mine that I told you about, the ones who died? They were actually casualties of the battles. All of them were demigods, just like I am. Valentine was a daughter of Aphrodite. Brandon was a son of Apollo. And Peter was a son of Hephaestus. They were killed in battle, trying to stop Kronos and save Olympus."
"But Olympus isn't in New York," Edward pointed out. "It's in Greece . . . isn't it?" he added uncertainly.
"Yes and no," I said. "Yes, because there actually is a Mt. Olympus in Greece and that is where Olympus used to be, but the gods move with the western civilisation. They're half the reason why it exists. Now it's in America, so it's on top of the Empire State Building." I grinned at Edward's expression. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what my face looked like when I found all of this stuff out."
"When was that?" Edward asked carefully.
"When I was twelve. The night that my younger sister was born, I realised that my mother didn't want me. She was tired of me being a danger to her husband and her new daughter, so I ran away. My father was looking out for me, though, keeping watch on me and sent help my way. Eventually, a satyr found me and brought me to camp and I'd been living there ever since. I went back to see my mom last year, but she wouldn't let me past the front door. She wouldn't even open the door."
"I'm sorry that you had to go through that," Edward said softly, looking at me with compassion in his golden eyes. I nodded, keeping the tears at bay. "So . . . monsters find you all the time? Like Medusa?" he asked, saying her name carefully, as though he expected her to show up again. "I thought that she was killed by one of the Greek heroes. Perseus," he said.
"She was. But monsters always resurrected themselves sooner or later," I explained. "They don't really die, so eventually, they come back. My brother actually killed her a couple of years ago, though," I said with a sigh. "I was really hoping that I would never have to meet her. And in answer to your question, yes. Monsters find me all the time. They're attracted to my scent, to my blood. It's the blood of the gods, so they can sniff it out, pick us out from the scent of humans. But the generally leave us alone until we're old enough to do damage, usually around ten or twelve. My brother got there a year before I did. He's a year older than I am."
Edward regarded me carefully. "And your brother? He's . . .?"
"A son of Poseidon, yes," I said, nodding. "I didn't meet him up until four years ago, when I came to camp, after I was claimed."
"Claimed?"
I frowned. "Gods don't always tell their lovers who they are and even if they do, it's dangerous for us to know who our godly parent is before we get to camp, so when they claim us, a symbol appears above our heads. For my father, it was a symbol of a trident. Up until a couple of years ago, there were a lot of unclaimed children. But then my brother saved Olympus and they offered him immortality, to become a god, but Percy made a deal with them instead. He wanted them to promise that there would be no more unclaimed children and that all of the gods would be honoured at camp. Before, there were only twelve cabins," I explained. "One for each of the Olympians, but none of the minor gods had cabins, so their children had to be shoved into Hermes' cabin. Now, all of them have cabins at camp and we're able to spread out."
I have to admit that I wish that I had gotten a picture of Edward's expression, because it was hilarious. Although, I'm pretty sure that mine was pretty laughable too, when I found out that I was a demigod. He was staring at me with wide, disbelieving eyes and I think that he was contemplating my sanity, though how I could make all of this up—not to mention the whole thing with Medusa, which he had witnessed—I had no idea. Even a crazy person couldn't make something like this up.
"So . . . how many demigods are there, actually?" he asked dubiously.
"I don't know. There's hundreds in the world, though there's actually not very many like me. I'm a child of one of the Big Three, a child of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Right after World War II, this whole big prophecy came out and they agreed not to sire any more demigod children, so as not to risk the prophecy coming true."
"But then Poseidon had you and your brother?"
"No, actually, Zeus was the first one to fall off the wagon. He had a daughter named Thalia and on her way to camp, she almost got killed, but her dad turned her into a tree," I said, grinning slightly. "Then she got resurrected and joined the Hunters of Artemis, making her immortal and incapable of aging, thus making her fifteen for all eternity. Then Poseidon sired Percy and then me. We're a lot stronger than most demigods and can cause a lot more damage."
"Like what?" Edward asked, curious.
"Like World War II," I deadpanned. "So . . . any more questions?"