FABERRY-FABERRY-((2))-FABERRY-FABERRY
Rachel didn't finish her internal monologue, Mr. Figgins was in the door and he was indeed a manticore. -Perfect! All had been real- Rachel groaned in frustration.
"Rachel Berry, I had suspected you were a demigod. Someone told me you are the progeny of the Lord of the Sky. Yummy! And I had considered myself lucky with the others..."
Rachel opened her eyes Wait a sec! Others! As in more than one half-blood...?
The manticore had moved from the door and he and other three ladies were in the middle of the room. The women would be considered pretty, but they had serpents instead of hair and the one with the dark glasses looked familiar to Rachel. Great! Not only is Ms. Johnson a gorgon, she is Medusa...
The monsters were dressed in Greek armor: red tunics, leather and metal chest plates, iron-studded leather kilts, knee-high leather sandals, and a thick goatskin shoulder vest that protected the backs of their necks. Their gleaming weapons shined in their hands.
Shane, Mercedes's boyfriend, was screaming something like, "Principal Figgins…flame-thrower gun…crazy bitches…serpents…blades and grenades..."
Grenades? Really? Mortals and their crazy way to make sense with the reality...
Rachel screamed, "Get down!" and the manticore opened his mouth and threw fire.
Fortunately, everyone had listened to the diva and ducked behind the stage on time.
"Rachel, come here, I want to introduce you to my sisterssss, Stheno and Euryale," the meanest of the gorgon's demanded.
"Nice to meet you, ladies." I hate their diction; Ssssnake Talk is annoying and frightening at the same time. "Excuse me, Medusa, but I killed you, didn't I?" Rachel inquired.
"Yessss, you did, and soon your demigod friendssss and you will be in a marveloussss collection of geekssss in stone."
"Sister, one of them smellssss of my blood," announced Stheno.
"Hey! I found them and I want to eat them. You can't have them all, I'm hungry!" the Principal protested.
"Berry," asked Quinn. "Do you know those mutants?"
"You can see them?"
"If you mean I can see three women with serpent hair and a strange hybrid with the voice of Figgins, the answer is yes," the blonde said. Did I just ramble like her?
Rachel's mind was racing a million miles per second. "Right! Quinn, you must trust me, okay?" Rachel touched Quinn's trembling hand. "I will explain everything. Please don't let the others move from here and, most important, avoid looking into the eyes of the one with the beautiful face and dark glasses." Rachel mentally slapped herself. "What am I saying? Just don't look at her."
"ManHands, if that bitch is Medusa…can she really convert us into stone like in the Crash of the Titans movie?" Santana's wide eyes were conveying her terror and shock. Tell me no, por Nuestra Señora de la Divina Providencia, tell me no...
"Unfortunately, yes, she can do that. Santana, please help Quinn and don't let them…peep," Rachel said, pointing at the glee members.
"Rachel," Quinn peered into the diva's eyes with what could have only been called concern.
"Don't worry. I'm used to this, and remember, don't look. If for any reason you end up near to her and she removes her glasses, you will have to close your eyes immediately."
"Rach, don't go. Me Finn, You Rachel and the others stay and wait for police," Finn ordered Rachel.
Rachel shook her head. She understood Hudson's panic, but not even this was a good reason to speak like Lima's Tarzan.
"Finn," the short brunette said.
"Yes, babe?" the taller boy responded. I'm so going to get lucky tonight.
"First, shut up. Second, stop speaking like an ape man," Rachel stated with venom. The boy looked so vulnerable and hurt that she added, "Finny Bear, I know what I'm doing. Besides, the most important aspect in a healthy relationship is trust. Please have faith in me and let my do my job."
Rachel looked around, exhaled, and snatched a mirror from one of the cheerleaders. How can she be inspecting the side effects of the water in her makeup in the middle of a crisis? What an idiot! Then she proceeded to use the object to look around, paying attention to the monsters' conversation. Medusa was making a deal with Mr. Figgins. Apparently, she wanted to make a nice statue with the daughter of Zeus and she was offering her sisters' culinary skills to cook the others for the manticore.
"Good news, my fellow singers: Medusa hasn't removed her glasses" Rachel informed them.
"Rachel, come here, and your friendssss will not suffer."
"See, Finn? Medusa is speaking to me," Rachel hit her chest. "Daughter of Zeus."
Then one of the stupid footballs jocks ran to the door.
Great! I'll have to thank Coach B for helping us and sending us these morons. The little diva jumped as quickly as she could and touched two of the three pendants in her necklace. Her Spartan shield and Phalanx sword named Aileen appeared in the divas' hands. The girl ran, rolled, and arrived on time next to Tom, whom was having a bad time with Mr Figgins' mortal breath. Then the little diva kicked the manticore and slapped the boy.
"What part of 'DON'T MOVE' did you NOT UNDERSTAND?" Rachel scolded him. "Go with the others, now."
Rachel barely saw him return with the others when Stheno got close to her and tried to slice her head off. The short girl drew Aileen and blocked her attack just in time.
Euryale joined her sister and Rachel's senses sharpened immediately. I refuse to become the new version of the armless Venus statue. The manticore and Medusa were enjoying themselves with the girl's misery.
In the blink of an eye, Rachel lost her sword. The two gorgons had increased the swiftness of their any warning, William Schuester ran toward the exit, dragging Miss Corcoran with him, and Rachel made a difficult decision when she saw the manticore behind them.
"Get down!" Rachel threw her shield like a Frisbee, hitting the monster on the head.
"Well, well, Little Hero, that wassss stupid. You are unarmed," Medusa chuckled. "Maybe I will let him keep your statue when he recoverssss - after all, hissss stupidity was useful."
Medusa got close to the two teachers and Rachel screamed, "Closed your eyes!" Sadly, Will didn't listen. The teacher and his curly hairstyle were immortalized in stone. This is terrible! On the other hand, I never liked the man and he wasn't a good Spanish teacher, and don't get me started with his Chorus Director's skills...
Euryale took advantage of Rachel's confusion and grabbed her hands, immobilizing the little diva.
"Stheno darling…peek a demigod for me." Medusa smiled and took her glasses off again. She had moved and was in front of Rachel.
The short brunette closed her eyes.
"Open your eyessss, Rachel," the monster mocked the girl with a sweet tone.
Rachel heard a 'Let me go' and recognized her friend's voice. "Kurt, whatever happens, do not open your eyes. Do you hear me? You must not open your eyes," The divas felt the tongues of Medusa's hair serpents making a path from her chin to her eyelids.
"If you open your eyessss, I will make hissss death lessss agonizing."
Rachel started to panic; she didn't know if her friend would be able to resist the tension. She was considering opening her eyes.
"¡Oye, fea, suéltala!" (Hey, fugly, Let her go!) Atalanta Baillere's voice echoed the auditorium and the sound of a spear passed Rachel's ear.
"You fool! First she took your blood and now she killssss our sister Medusa with your spare!" Stheno exclaimed as she threw up her arms in exasperation. "Medusa wasss right: you are an imbecile."
"You are wrong!" Euryale snapped back. "Medusa hassss alwayssss thought you were the imbecile and I wassss the prettiest."
"No, you idiot. Medusa thought that she wasss the prettiest; you were the imbecile and I wasss the trustable one." Stheno shook Kurt like a rag doll to prove her point. "Hey! She's dead so…now I am the prettiest."
"Ray of Light, you can open your eyes," Atalanta sing-songed, without paying attention to the gorgons' verbal fight.
"I'm prettier than you. Everyone can see that," Euryale remarked.
Rachel had had enough. She opened her eyes, shut her head backwards and hit the gorgon with her head. The gorgon let her go. "You are right. You are equally pretty in a hideous way and really fatuous."
"You broke my nose," Euryale said, touching her bleeding nose.
Atala and Rachel rolled their eyes and attacked the gorgons with their blades. They rolled down, thrust, ducked, cut and shoved until the gorgons were dust.
"I love that dead monsters dissolve," Rachel said, shaking the dust from her clothes. Which helps a lot if you don't want to end in a military base explaining why you have 3 peculiar corpses.
"Agreed, but exceptions are also good. Remember, Little One, that when some monsters are killed, they leave a trophy in the form of parts of its body, its clothing, or some kind of armament." Atalanta grabbed a discard backpack, dumped the contents of the bag out on the floor and put Medusa's head inside it. Me pregunto si puedo hacerla una especie de placa para mascotas... (I wonder if I can make a kind of pet I.D. with it...)
Rachel arched an eyebrow at her. "What? It came handy the last time," Atalanta shrugged.
"I don't want to sound ungrateful, but what are you doing here?" Rachel asked.
"I was in the neighborhood, needed to see a friendly face…." Atalanta noticed her friend's skepticism and added, "Okay, okay, I surrender," she shrugged. "I was worried about something and thought it was a good idea to visit you," she smiled. "By the way, you're welcome for giving you a hand. It's always my pleasure to stop my friend from becoming a statue."
Rachel grumbled. I hate Atala's sarcasm and more so when she uses it to avoid a direct answer or an uncomfortable conversation...
"Babe?"
"Did you see that?"
"Dwarf?"
"Jew princess?"
"Berry?"
The friends of the diva wanted answers.
"Hold on," Rachel started to walk toward the manticore "Hey, wake up."
"Let me help you with that," Atalanta joined Rachel. "Grab these." She gave Rachel one of her swords and the backpack.
Rachel took the objects. Don't ask me why, but she has always prefers fighting with two swords instead of using the classical sword-shield package. Internal Note: give her a lecture about it.
Atalanta put him on his feet and slapped him twice.
"Grrrrrr..." the manticore mumbled. "What's happening? Who are you?"
"That's not important," Atala waved her hand, dismissing the question.
"Youngsters and their lack of manners," the monster complained.
Rachel chuckled and pressed her sword to Figgins's belly. "You better star to talk."
"Or what?" he replied.
"Or you will have two of the most powerful demigods in the last twenty years torturing you," Rachel said
"You can't do that. You heroes are too good to do that."
"Okay, most of the heroes are like you have described, but I'm a daughter of Lord Hades and children of the Underworld don't always play by the rules so…." Atala touched him and winked at Rachel, vanishing from sight.
Rachel waited until her friend appeared again with a wet manticore.
"Do you feel inclined to help us or does my friend have to travel-shadow with you again?"
"Please don't. What do you want to know?"
I have to admit that when Atala wishes, she can be very persuasive. Lucky for me, I know her. You see, she doesn't want to end like some of her siblings, so she usually follows the rules, and when she doesn't, it is always for a good reason.
"First, what do your mean with, 'I considered myself lucky with the others?' Second, if that statement means what I think it means, I want you to tell me who they are. And third, how did you trick us? I mean, you have been here undetected and have more than one demigod in the same facility." Rachel was furious. "You better start to talk or I will not stop my friend, and I'm sure I don't have to remind you how cold-blooded the children of Hades can be. Did you know one of her favorite half-brothers is Vlad Temple?" Rachel spoke as her eyes gleamed with malice. The manticore started to tremble. "Do you remember how he kills his enemies?"
"Impressive," Atalanta commented.
"I'm aware of my intelligence," Rachel declared.
"Not that! I know you are brilliant…. I am impressed because you managed to articulate all of that without taking a break to breathe," Atala pointed out. She then whispered in Rachel's ear, "Impaling, really?" She paused. "I just took him to the boy's bathroom and put his head into the toilet."
The diva looked at her and shook her head. If you ask me, I would have rather been impaled.
FABERRY-FABERRY-FABERRY-FABERRY-FABERRY-FABERRY-
Rachel turned to see the monster. "I'm waiting."
"Some of you are demigods or legacies," he said.
"Isn't he Captain Obvious?" Atalanta mumbled with an amused tone.
Rachel ignored her friend and inquired the manticore. "Would you be so kind to be more specific?"
"You hit me with a shield, I have a terrible headache. You could not expect-"
"Answer my question!" Rachel stated with less patience.
"Young ladies, you will go to detention for a month!" Figgins let out in a commanding voice.
"You have to been kidding me. She is not a student and you don't have any authority over my person anymore," Rachel let out with anger.
"That's it! Wait here, Rach, I'm going for my Impale Kit." Atalanta said.
Rachel nodded slowly before looking at the manticore with pity. "Bring the short stakes."
The manticore gulped. "Tina Cohen-Chang, Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones, Brittany Pierce, Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez, and Noah Puckerman are Greek demigods…. Finn Hudson, Stacy Jackson, Rory Flanagan, and Sugar Motta are Roman demigods; the others, Sebastian Smythe, Jayma Thompson, Tom Wayne, Lisa Colfer, Shane Tinsley, Sandy Ryler, Jennifer Adler, and Amber Lengies are mere mortals."
"What?" Suddenly Rachel didn't feel well. She sat down on floor to catch her breath. We are so many; that's impossible. Monsters can smell demigods and would come over us. I have combated some monsters near the perimeter, but never in the school. "You are lying."
"No, I'm not. I was using this." The ex-principal put out a black tetrahedron with symbols in silver. "In the past, heroes used it to mislead and repel monsters. That way, they protected their children and loved ones. It is the perfect present from the patron goodness of the family, Hera. But you see, when one of us monsters own this-" he pointed the device. "It does exactly the opposite."
Rachel took the tetrahedron and almost crashed to the floor.
"WAIT!" Atala and the manticore screamed.
"Are you nuts? Give me that!" Atala snatched it.
"Atala, Hera made this." Rachel made the symbol against bad fortune. "It's too dangerous to be left behind…."
"And we are not doing that," the daughter of Hades examined the thing. "Look, I don't trust her either, but this widget can save many of us. I'm keeping it." Rachel is not thinking straight…. Pretty ironic, considering all I have made to cure her….
"NO YOU ARE NOT! Tell me one thing she has made in behalf of the children of the gods. She hates us because she can't have demigod children. She killed my…mm…mothe…." Rachel's words failed and her eyes became tearful.
"Rae, please. What if a demigod is in a remote place, is in advanced pregnancy state, and she can't fight or imagine a demigod parent that has been attacked when he or she is injured; or if a couple is being assaulted and they can't reach their infant on time and when they do, they find his or her little one remains is just crushed bones."
Who is dramatic now?Rachel shook her head.
"I can't believe someone wants to kill little children and pregnant women. I still remember the day when my mother died at the hands of that despicable hero called Ctesias. Just take it," a crying manticore had managed to enunciate. "Don't worry, I have more to spare in my office."
"Okay. I like you, you are not a cold monster." Atalanta grabbed her sword from Rachel's hand. "Let's make a deal: if you give us all the tetrahedrons and promise not to kill heroes for a while, we will let you go," she said in persuasive voice as her swords recovered their original bracelets form. "What do you think? You will avoid return to Tartarus."
"What are you doing?" Rachel hissed.
"Making a deal, duh!" she said to Rachel. "You can keep this one for yourself and we will give the others to Chiron."
"Why in Hades would I want one?" Rachel's eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"Did Medusa petrify your neurons?" Atalanta mocked her. "I'll give you a clue… Broadway."
Rachel thought for a moment and then it hit her – If I want to be in Broadway, I will need to maintain the monsters away from the theater and the public…and press conferences and movies sets... "Of course we will."
"Really? I promise not to kill for a month," he offered.
"A year and you won't come back to Lima. After all, we are sparing you from years of trying to reform yourself in Tartarus," Atalanta offered, extending her hand.
"Deal." The manticore took the hero's hand, sealing the deal.
"Rach, can we go now?" Brittany practically pleaded.
Right! I had forgotten that they were here. Rachel's fellow clubs members had been watching the whole ordeal with a mix of fear and fascination.
Rachel examined her friends, spotting a big wet mark in Sebastian's pants. Oh, for Zeus's sake! This is so funny, where is my iPhone?
"Little One, can you take care of your friends as I escort Mr. Manticore to his office?"
"Of course, go ahead."
Atlala had a wicked smile. "I'm dying to see Chiron's expression when he realizes the mess he will have to fix." She pointed her finger toward the statue of William S. I don't want to be in his hooves. "Sir, show me the way." Atalanta offered her arm to the manticore and started to walk toward his office.
Rachel winced. "I had forgotten about Mr. Schuester." The daughter of Zeus snapped her fingers and made the mist settle. "Miss Corcoran, this is a hostage situation. Mr. Figgins has agreed to speak with his sect companions, and in exchange for his life, he will let some of you go. Please proceed, and don't you worry for us - Mr Schuester will stay with us." I will let Chiron to handle the situation from here. I don't know how to deal with a petrified ex-teacher.
Soon the mortals were out and Rachel was forming an explanation for the remaining members form the choruses when a familiar voice interrupted her.
"Midget, you didn't fool me with the snap of your finger. In fact, that was depressing," Santana said with fake bravado. "We are going. You can stay here with your weird friends and weird enemies and weird life…you freak."
"Calm down, Santana," Rachel exhaled noisily. "Look guys, before you threaten me, I would like to establish that I am in a position of power here. I have had previous experiences with these particular trials…." she caught Santana's expressions and raised her hand. "…and before you interrupt me, Santana, you heard the manticore: you and the rest of the people in this room are demigods, like me." She lowered her hand. "We MUST go to Camp Half Blood. If you are Roman, I'm sure the Activities Director will arrange your safe departure, and once you prove yourselves to Lupa, you will be allowed to access Camp Jupiter. Both camps are secret Greek and Roman demigod training facilities, highly protected with magical boundaries that keep the monsters out. The camps are the safest places for demigods."
"Toucan Sam, move! Come on, Brittany."
Britt, of course! I'm a genius. No one can say no to Brittany. Rachel moved in front of the pair and pouted. "Britt, please come with us. You, Sanny, and all our friends are going to be safe in the Camps…. Please, Britt-Britt? If you get hurt, I will be very, very sad." Then she smiled. "Besides, you're gonna love Camp Half Blood. We have pegasuses, unicorns, and magic…. Oh, and a big lake with many ducks!"
"Awesome! Please, Sanny, I want to see a real unicorn!" Brittany was jumping up and down.
"Midget!"
Santana had tried to push Rachel, but the shorter brunette moved quickly and sent her to the floor. Oh boy! I'm really going to enjoy not restraining myself with her.
"WTF," Santana stood up, but before she launched at her, Rachel manipulated the air, raising her up 30 centimeters from the floor with thunder noises.
Rachel tilted her head. I can do better than that, but sadly, all around us is wet and I know better than to mix water and electricity.
"Santana, don't be selfish. Britt wants to see the unicorns, therefore we are all going to camp," Rachel said with a motherly and disappointed tone.
"Sanny, please, please, pretty please…I want to go." Brittany pouted again, making puppy-dog eyes. "Also, I don't want you getting hurt."
"Problem?" Atala entered the auditorium, observing the scene with an amused expression.
"Nope, just reinforcing our current friendship."
"Yeah, I can see that." The daughter of Hades tilted her head. "The manticore is gone and I took the liberty to send an Iris message to Camp. Chiron has ordered us to escort all of your friends. We'd better move."
"What about-"
"He will send a message," Atala told Rachel.
"And the-"
"He will take care of it."
"How will we-"
"He suggested air." Atala frowned with displeasure. "And believe me, Rae, I'm not happy with the idea of going into your father's domain. He hates me."
"But…."
"I hope he won't attack me there. After all, I'm with you and we will be escorting 12 demigods." Atalanta looked at her friend and frowned. "And to answer to your other 'but', we will have to deal with that, Rae. The pony-man is not infallible. Give him a break!" She face-palmed herself and groaned. "Right, I knew I'd forgotten something important. The manticore was so happy with the arrangement that he told me something interesting. Guess who's Finn grandfather?"
"Who?" Rachel asked.
"Vulcan," Atala replied.
Mythology Gleektionary
Aileen: means "light" in Greek.
Medusa: she is a daughter of Phorcys and Keto, and was once a priestess of Athena. After Medusa and Poseidon desecrated Athena's virgin temple, Athena cursed Medusa and her sisters. Her hair was turned to snakes and anyone who would look upon her gaze would turn to stone. She was a beautiful woman before Athena cursed her.
Shadow Travel: it is a form of transportation that allows creatures of the Underworld and demigod children of Hades/Pluto to travel to any desired place on Earth or in the Underworld, although it makes the user extremely fatigued.
Mist: it is a supernatural force controlled by the goddess Hecate that twists a mortal's sight from seeing monsters, gods, Titans, and various other mythical creatures and supernatural occurrences by replacing them with things from the mortal mind. Many demigods controlled the mist.
Camp Half-Blood: it is a Greek demigod training facility located on the Long Island Sound, directed by Dionysus, whom the campers call "Mr. D". The camp has magical borders, which are enforced by the Golden Fleece.
Chiron: he is the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. He is a centaur; the gods gave him immortality, thanks to his wisdom and teacher abilities.
Lupa: she is the roman equivalent of Chiron. Lupa is the immortal Roman wolf goddess who trains Roman demigods in the ways of Rome. She trains Roman demigods at the Wolf House, then sends them to Camp Jupiter where they can join the twelfth legion.
Vulcan: he is Hephaestus's Roman form. As Vulcan, he becomes more disciplined, militaristic, and warlike. While the Greeks envisioned Hephaestus as a benevolent and clever being, the Romans believed Vulcan was also the god of volcanoes which gave him a greater respect among their people.
Camp Jupiter: it is a camp designated to protect and train the children of the Roman gods and their descendants. Its entrance is a service tunnel near the main Caldecott Tunnel in San Francisco.
Additional Note:
Hephaestus is the Greek god of forges, fire, technology, craftsmen, sculptors, volcanoes, and blacksmiths. His symbols are the ax, an anvil, a pair of tongs, a hammer, and fire. His Roman counterpart is Vulcan. Zeus is the Lord of the Sky; Poseidon, Lord of the Seas; and Hades, Lord of the Underworld.