In hindsight cheeseburgers in the middle of the woods should have been suspicious but after walking around for hours their mental capacity was severely decreased. The rundown gas station and store was right out of the horror movies Sofia watched. But the grumble in their bellies pushed them forwards. Kiara shielded her face from the glaring neon sign. The blinding letters burned her eyes leaving an after image of a blue blur.

"What the heck does that say?" Percy asked, squinting against the light.

"I don't know," Annabeth said.

Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."

Kiara hesitantly followed Percy as he rushed across the street. The scent of fried food was stronger, almost smothering like they were close enough to touch the grill. Creepy little statues lined the yard in front, posed and detailed with far greater care than Kiara thought people would put intogarden gnomes. Then again some were taller than she was so they were stranger than anything she'd seen before.

"Hey . . ." Grover warned.

"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."

"Snack bar," Percy said wistfully.

"Snack bar," she agreed.

"Are you crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."

"We should at least check it out," Kiara muttered scrutinizing one of the statues.

"Bla-ha-ha!" Grover bleated, startling them all. He pointed at a statue of a satyr. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"

We stopped at the warehouse door.

"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."

"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," Percy reminded him.

Kiara felt like her mind was swimming through syrup. "Aluminum cans can't be good for you."

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are . . . looking at me."

The warehouse door rolled open.

A tall woman stood in the doorway, her silhouette framed by the warehouse light behind her. As she approached, her movements were smooth—too smooth. Each step was unnervingly poised, her grace almost unnatural.

She stopped near them tilting her head down in greeting. "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

"They're...um..." Annabeth started to say.

"We're orphans," Percy blurted out.

"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"

Percy rambled, "We got separated from our car-"

Kiara snapped her fingers behind her back, drawing a thin veil of Mist over them. Her pulse quickened as she felt Aunty Em's sharp gaze sweep over her, lingering just a moment too long.

"Car. Our car ran out of gas, ma'am," Kiara said smoothly, letting the Mist wrap around her words. "I was driving my brother and his friends home, but I missed the exit and got lost. I saw the gas station on the map and thought we'd make it before dark, but it was a farther walk than I expected."

The woman straightened, brushing invisible dust off her sleeves. "You must come in. It's far too dangerous to wander at night. Let me make you a hot meal. You'll feel so much better after a rest, and I'll call a tow truck for your car on my landline. No trouble at all."

We thanked her and went inside.

"Orphans?" Annabeth asked.

"Always have a strategy, right?"

"Your head is full of kelp." Kiara ignored Percy's yelp.

The inside was as strange as the outside. The warehouse was filled with more statues—people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. Kiara felt like there was something she was missing. Her snap didn't echo like it should have, muffled as if the Mist had already settled thick around them. But Auntie Em was kinder than what they would find out in the forest. Grover's tight grip on her arm felt distant, like it came from behind a veil of cotton. The eyes she felt on her back? Surely her imagination. When the lock clicked shut behind them, it was barely a whisper against the warm glow ahead. The light spilled over a cozy dining area, complete with shining diner furniture and more statues watching from the edges of the room.

"Please, sit down," Aunty Em said.

"Awesome," I said.

"Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."

"Of course we do," Kiara interrupted.

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, settling into a chair.

"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child." Kiara felt some part of her start at that but it was too small in the flood of warmth.

"Percy, could you help me in the kitchen for a moment?"

Grover pulled him back onto his seat. "Percy we should stick together-"

"Just for a moment. It's easier to do one trip with help than multiple on my own. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Sure..." Kiara felt a twinge at the base of her skull as the word was drawn out of her mouth. Her eyes blurred, struggling to focus on the scratched bar in front of her. Every moment felt like it was pulling her closer to something—something she couldn't quite define but that felt oddly... comforting. Easier than the relentless hours they'd already endured on this quest.

Grover cautiously reached for the napkin folded by a cup like he was waiting for it to come to life and bite him. "Do you notice anything strange about her?"

"What?" Annabeth blinked, resting her chin on her hand.

"It's just-there was something off about her."

"Really Grover? She's just being nice," Kiara scoffed. "There are plenty of people out there that are. We just never get to meet them."

"That's exactly what I mean." Grover tore the napkin into thin strips, wary eyes trained on the door Percy and Auntie Em disappeared through. "Wedon't meet the nice ones. Why now?"

"Why now what?" Kiara felt like she was missing something important Grover was trying to say but everytime she tried to reach for the thought it slipped out of her grasp.

Grover tore his eyes away from the door and turned back to the girls. "Nothing. I'll figure it out."

He pressed his hands against the table, stilling his trembling fingers.

-o-

A tense silence settled over the table until Percy and Auntie Em returned.

"So, you sell gnomes?" Percy asked, swaying slightly as he sat down.

"Oh, yes," Auntie Em said, her smile warm as she passed out plates of food. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders, too. Statuary is very popular, you know."

"A lot of business on this road?"

"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... Most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."

The food in front of her was familiar: rice pressed into a cup and steamed vegetables, just like the meals her mother used to make when Kiara was little. But as soon as she took a bite, she froze. Something was wrong. The flavor was off—ash.It coated her tongue, bitter and clinging, like the remnants of a ceremonial fire reduced to cinders. Mist seemed to flicker at the edges of her vision.

All she could taste was ash.

Percy's gaze shifted uneasily to the rows of statues behind them. Kiara brushed at her hair, feeling a faint touch, but ignored it. The warehouse was drafty, she reasoned.

"Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."

"You make these statues yourself ?" Percy asked.

"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.

Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"

She reached for a statue on a nearby table, tracing its face with a delicate hand. "Beauty is a dangerous thing, children. A curse disguised as a blessing. Do you know what it's like to be punished for something you cannot control?"

Kiara felt the touch again. Her eyes flicked over her shoulder and for a second she could see the blurry outline of a figure. It shimmered, pulling her from the warmth of the table.

"And some do not take well to 'No's. They made me into what I am now but that was long ago." Auntie Em touched her hat with a delicate hand.

"Percy?" Annabeth was shaking him. "Maybe we should go. I mean we're late as is."

The fear in Annabeth's eyes was the push that sent Kiara's heart thumping and eyes open. The murky Mist that had slowly smothered her in the warmth of coals and ash gave way and in its place was terror.

"Such beautiful gray eyes," The monster masquerading in front of them told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."

She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth stood up abruptly. "We really should go."

"Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up.

Kiara slid off her seat, the gentle pressure pulling her away, warnings whispered in her ears. "I need to take them back now. I'm sure I can get service now to call the truck. I don't want to miss my guardian's curfew."

"Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"

"A pose?" Annabeth asked warily.

Kiara's grip on her fork tightened. A faint memory tickled the back of her mind, something from one of her mother's old stories about statues and—

"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."

Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy—"

"Sure we can," Percy said, brow furrowed. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"

Kiara reached for her bag she did not remember setting down. Her dagger sat heavy against her back.

"Yes, Annabeth," the woman purred. "No harm."

"We need to hurry," Kiara insisted.

"Just a moment, Kiara," Auntie Em called. "Come along, dears."

Aunty Em directed them to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The girls in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."

"Not much light for a photo," Percy remarked.

"Oh, enough," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"

"Where's your camera?" Grover asked.

Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"

Kiara pulled her blade from its sheath and tucked it against her side. She felt the touches trying to pull her from her place.

"Run," The whispers shouted. "Hide."

Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."

"Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear."

She still had no camera in her hands.

"Percy—" Annabeth said.

"I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well with this cursed hat"

"Percy, something's wrong," Annabeth insisted.

"Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to pull the pins from her hat "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"

"That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.

"Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted. She whipped her Yankees cap onto her head and vanished.

Kiara jumped back, closing her eyes tight. Her feet tripped over a statue as the hissing of snakes grew louder. The ash she'd tasted, the strange shimmers in the air—it clicked. Medusa wasn't just lonely; she was a predator. She had been tricked in the stories and used the same tricks on her victims.

"No! Don't!" Annabeth shouted from her right.

"Run!" Grover bleated. Kiara heard him racing across the gravel, yelling, "Maia!" to kick-start his flying sneakers.

"Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," the monster beckoned Percy soothingly. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."

"Παύσον," Kiara snapped and the Mist whipped around them. The last remnants of the spell Medusa cast on them vanished. Her mind ached from the sting of the Mist breaking.

"The Gray-Eyed One did this to me, Percy," Medusa said, her voice no longer soothing. Everything that kept her from looking like the monster she had become disappeared with her magic. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."

"Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice shouted, somewhere in the statuary. "Run, Percy!"

Kiara dodged a swing of Medusa's claws and ducked behind a statue. Medusa ignored her and her shifting steps moved back to Percy.

"Silence!" Medusa snarled. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."

"No," Percy muttered.

Kiara risked opening her eyes for a moment. Medusa leaned over Percy, towering over his small form on the ground. Grover flew by the close wall of the warehouse. Annabeth was invisible but the impression of her steps in the ground and rustling bushes gave Kiara a hint at where she was.

Only a few hours onto the quest and they were already off schedule fighting for their lives. Kiara cursed trying to formulate a plan to get them out of the mess.

"Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain."

"Percy!" Gover dived down at Medusa's bent head. He yelled, "Duck!"

Kiara clenched her eyes close as Medusa stood up.

"Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!"

Thwack!

"You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!"

"That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back.

Ker-whack!

"Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.

Kiara resheathed her dagger. She would never get close enough. The only thing she had left was her bow. Shooting blind would need a blessing from a god to work in the chaotic space but it was her only choice. Any one of her siblings would be able to make it without much effort but sadly blessings were not evenly shared.

In the darkness behind her eyes, the figures that pulled her from the trance wavered in the corners of her vision. Their golden light tempted her to open her eyes and see if they were really there but the hissing from Medusa rid her of any thoughts other than survival.

Kiara pulled a charm off her bracelet.

Her worn bow grew in her hand. Kiara ignored Percy and Annabeth talking behind her. She notched an arrow, back pressed against the statue.

Please Father let this work.

She spun around raising her bow up to where she guessed Medusa's head was. Letting the arrow fly she knew it would miss.

"Foolish girl. You cannot trust the favor of a god. They are fickle like that." Medusa snarled. "I can remedy that for you."

Grover tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a statue with a painful "Umphh!"

Kiara raised another arrow, Medusa's voice gave her a direction.

Then something pushed her bow to the side. Hands steadied her as she let out a breath.

Percy yelled, "Hey!"

"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't."

From the cement statue, Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"

Medusa cackled. "Too late."

Kiara let the arrow fly.

Medusa let out a gasp was cut off by the swish of a sword and a sickening shlock!. Then the hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern—the sound of a monster disintegrating.

"Oh, yuck," Grover said.

"Don't move." Annabeth ordered everyone. "I have it."

The glowing figures in Kiara's vision had disappeared with Medusa. She carefully opened her eyes before wincing and raising a hand, the neon lights blinding. Blocking out the light Kiara made her way back to the kids.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked Percy, her voice trembling.

"Yeah," Percy said, looking nauseous. "Why didn't . . . why didn't the head evaporate?"

"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," she said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."

Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head.

"The Red Baron," Percy said, trying to smile. "Good job, man."

He managed a bashful grin. "That really was not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun."

"Quick thinking, Annie," Kiara praised, slipping her bow back onto her bracelet.

Her arrow laid shattered on the ground dripping with Gorgon blood and golden dust. Kiara held her breath as she neared the smoking arrow. The shaft was stained green but the fletching gold. Perfect for what she needed.

"We need to deal with...the head," Grover gagged, poking the dripping fabric of Medusa's jacket that now held her head.

"We can't just take it with us or leave it here." Kiara stood up holding the arrow point away from herself. "Maybe you guys can find something to burn it with, and an offering."

Annabeth nodded and walked back into the warehouse, Grover at her heels. Percy lingered, staring at the pile of dust and blood on the floor. His sword hung limply at his side, his knuckles pale against the hilt.

"I didn't want to kill her," he whispered, his voice trembling.

Kiara took one of his shaky hands. "There was nothing else you could do. It was either her or us. There isn't an easy way out in our world."

"But it's wrong," Percy insisted. "I remember what my mom told me. That Medusa was turned into a monster for something that wasn't her fault. That she couldn't do anything to save herself."

"Percy, listen to me," Kiara urged, bending to meet his gaze. "That's true. But she chose to do this. Right now. And everytime she turned someone to stone. Medusa turned her pain into a weapon, making others suffer in her place."

Percy shook his head, his grip tightening on her hand. "But—"

"She didn't deserve her suffering," Kiara said firmly, her voice steady but soft. "but what made her a monster wasn't her fate. It was what she did with it. The Fates make the paths, Percy, but we choose which one to walk. Medusa chose to make others suffer. You chose to protect us."

Percy's breath hitched as he looked down at the sword in his hand.

Kiara squeezed his hand gently. "It's not fair. None of this is. Our world isn't fair, Percy. You did what you had to do to keep us safe."

Percy's shoulders slumped, the weight of the moment settling over him. "It still feels wrong."

"Itiswrong," Kiara admitted. "But sometimes there's no right answer. Fairness doesn't matter. The gods make the rules, and we're the ones who bleed for their mistakes."

"We shouldn't have to," Percy said, his voice sharper now.

Kiara's expression darkened slightly. "It's been like that for centuries."

Percy frowned, his gaze lingering on the remnants of Medusa. "They're not the ones risking their lives," he muttered. "We are."

"I used to hate it too," Kiara said quietly. "The unfairness. I've been there, Percy. But anger won't change it."

Percy stared at the ashes one last time, his jaw clenched. "Maybe someone should," he muttered. Without another word, he turned toward the warehouse.

Kiara sighed as she watched him storm away with similar anger chasing after him. It was like looking in a mirror. No demigod made it back from a quest without the realities of their world hanging over their head. But there was no time.

Taking her bloodied arrow, still slick with Gorgon venom, Kiara approached the first statue. Her hands trembled as she carefully tapped the arrowhead against the stone. She held her breath, waiting. A faint tremble came from the statue. Kiara pressed her head to the statue and whispered a prayer of safe passage.

By the time she reached the last statue, her legs were shaking, and her heart thundered in her chest. But as the green blood dried on the stone, a sigh like a whispering wind echoed through the room.

One by one, faint golden shimmers formed and slipped free of their stone prisons. Kiara averted her gaze, knowing their forms would vanish if she looked at them directly. Still, she felt their presence, light and fleeting, as they drifted past her. A few touched her shoulders in thanks, pressing kisses to her cheeks with intangible warmth.

A weight lifted from the air as the spirits of those trapped by Medusa finally escaped to Hades. Kiara exhaled slowly, letting the stillness settle around her.

-o-

"So we have Athena to thank for this monster?" Percy asked, tactfully as ever.

Kiara stifled a groan as she stuffed the head into the final layer of plastic bags, the sticky blood soaking through the first few. Grover shot her a sympathetic look but wisely stayed quiet.

Annabeth glared at Percy, crossing her arms. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? They meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple. They became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up and you probably reminded her of him."

My face was burning. "Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa."

Annabeth straightened. "'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?'" She mocked.

"Forget it," I said. "You're impossible."

"You're insufferable."

"You're—"

"Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines."

Kiara cut in, motioning to the dripping bag. "We have to do something with this. Ideally, burn it, but we don't want other monsters catching her scent and hunting us down."

Percy stared at the thing. One little snake was hanging out of a hole in the plastic. The words printed on the side of the bag said: WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS!

He got up. "I'll be back."

"Percy," Annabeth called after him. "What are you—"

"Let him, Annie," Kiara said, stepping between them. "He's been through a lot." She nudged Annabeth toward Grover and gently pushed her to sit.

While Percy rummaged through Medusa's office, Kiara checked over Grover and Annabeth. She kept an ear out, glancing occasionally toward Percy's shadow flitting across the doorway.

A few minutes later, Percy returned to the picnic table with a cardboard box under his arm. "Found some drachmas and cash." He set the box down and eyed the bloody bag. Percy moved briskly, packing up the head, then filling out a delivery slip. Percy took a slip of paper out of his pocket and pushed it across the table.

Kiara picked it up and read aloud. "DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California."

"Here's where the entrance to Hades is," Percy said, stuffing the head into the box and sealing it shut. He scribbled something onto a delivery slip.

Mount Olympus

600th Floor,

Empire State Building

New York, NY

With best wishes,

PERCY JACKSON

"They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent."

Percy poured some golden drachmas in the pouch.

Kiara looked warily at the bag. "Percy..."

He ignored her, taping the package shut. As soon as he closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop!

"I am impertinent," Percy said. He looked at Annabeth, daring her to criticize him.

She didn't. "Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan."


A special thanks to ObsessedGirl_4ever on Wattpad and their wonderful comments.

Any questions and comments are welcome. If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a vote. Thanks for reading!

- Natalie