Author's note (Hehehe) at the bottom, please check it out. There's something I need help with if you're able.
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"I'll do it." Taking off her hood, Ryuu raises her hand to read.
The last chapter was pretty intense. Haruhime wouldn't stop clenching Yamato's hand, her grip was like a steel cage holding on for dear life. It was only because Yamato had such a high END that her hand wasn't being crushed.
And Syr didn't look too happy right now either. She was constantly looking towards Freya for support(for some reason). She thought that she was being discreet, but everyone in the Hostess could tell when something was wrong with their resident neighborhood girl.
They needed a chapter away from all the chaos happening around Percy.
Infant, everyone could use a relaxing chapter right about now. Even the more experienced among them. Something to get their minds off of all the questions bouncing around in their head.
And while she wasn't particularly confident in her reading ability, her old Familia always said she had a soothing voice.
Tsybaki shrugged. She didn't really care who read, just as long as they did it fast. Just holding this thing creeped her out.
Taking the book in her hands, Ryuu opened up to the next chapter.
"We Visit The Garden Gnome Emporium."
"Gnone? Like the spirit?" Reviera raised her eyebrow.
Spirits were still a bit of a mystery to most of Genkia. While most knew them as powerful beings of magic, children of the Gods, few knew of the lesser, smaller spirits that walked among them every day. With many bits of knowledge being misconstrued or even outright untrue.
The nomenclature being one of them. Gnome, Salamander, and Undine were not their actual names. They were, in fact, the names of the particular element that the spirit was connected to.
So, in fact, what the title of this chapter might mean could be anything from the Garden Spirit Emporium to the Garden Earth Emporium. Depending on what the owner meant.
"Lili knows a Gnome." Lili pointed out.
He was a spirit that took the form of a smaller, pallum-sized man. Living in the poorer part of Orario, he had been the one that she had used to fence most of her ill-begotten gains. You know, before joining the Hestia Familia.
It's been a while since she last saw him. She should go visit him when she has the time. She misses him. The old Gnome had acted as a sort of parent figure to her when she had no one else.
"I don't think they mean the spirit," Hestia said to her. "I heard from Demeter that around the farming communities, it's begun to become quite the trend to have wooden or even ceramic idols of spirits to watch over your garden. Gnome being the most popular."
"That's weird," Welf said.
These were actual beings that they were making idols of, not some imaginary thing. Praying to them for a good harvest instead of just finding a kind gnome and paying them to do it for them just seemed wrong for some reason.
"EH, you get used to it after a while." Loki shrugged her shoulders. People pray to idols of Gods all the time. Even when they were in their Familia. It's just something that Immortal beings had to put up with. Mortals were weird like that.
behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses. Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupilled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once." I was pretty much in shock myself. The explosion of the bus windows still rang in my ears. But Annabeth kept pulling us along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."
"Good thinking," Mama Mia nodded her head. "It's always important to move away from the sight of an attack. More will always be close following behind."
Gareth tilted his head to the side. "Yes, but then you also run the risk of running into an ambush."
"It always comes down to the location that you're in." Finn cut in. "If you're in a well-guarded location, then stay. If you're out in the open, move and find a location that you can guard, or at the very least hide."
Bell was quickly writing all this down. The wisdom of experienced Adventurers was never something to ignore. This was all information that was never part of his Granpa's stories.
Percy bemoaned all of their lost supplies. Turning to him, Annabeth asked why he turned back, they would have been fine, she told him. "Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine." "Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth. Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans . . . a perfectly good bag of tin cans."
"Whoa, she's kind of a bitch." Tioan griped.
"Tiona!" Her sister growled.
"What!? She is."
Tione groaned. "That's
"No, she is. It's fine if you're worried about your teammate, but you should never be mad that they saved you. Your lives mean so much more than any person or plan." Loki looked at Finn specifically. This was something that he still needed to learn. That little Hero of hers, always making plans that put himself in the most danger.
Walking a few more feet, Annabeth looked at Percy and apologized. She thanked him for saving them, but told him that this was his quest. If he died, then it was finished. They didn't matter, he did. And also, that would be that she would have to go back to camp too.
"Th-that's good, I guess." Hestia stuttered. She thinks.
It's good that she apologized. But, not so good that she feels that Percy is more important than her?
She didn't know, this whole thing with quests and prophecies was so confusing. Even for a God like her, she just couldn't wrap her head around the 'mysteries of fate'. That's why she always stuck with her flame. It was just so much more simpler.
Ouranos shook his head. "While she's wrong, she has the right mindset."
"Ouranos," Hestia gasped. How could he say that? Especially in front of her children. No one should feel like they matter less.
Ouranos sholdiere on. "Fate has decreed that this is to be Perseous's quest. No one else could pick up the banner. But what young Annabeth forgot to realize is that, yes, it is his prophecy. And the prophecy said that he would see the bolt be returned."
Hermes picked up on what he was saying. "So if he hasn't even seen the bold yet-"
"Then it isn't his time to die." Ouranos looked towards the three kids walking through the woods.
Fate had touched the boy, and until it was done with him, he would not die.
No matter how sad it would be if Peryc died. Annabeth jsut didn't want to go back just yet. "At camp, you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not."
"That's right." Tiona cheered.
"Humph, the girl's been reading too many stories. You never know if you're good enough. There will always be something that will surprise you or best you. The real world is a constant need for survival," Mama Mia humphed.
She just can't stand rookies like her. Even if she was retired from the game, their idealistic view of fighting and Adventuring always pissed her off. Part of the reason why her staff are all retired Adventures is because of that very reason. With Syr being the exception.
If I didn't know better, I could've sworn I heard doubt in her voice. "You're pretty good with that knife," I said. "You think so?" "Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me." I couldn't really see, but I thought she might've smiled. "You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you . . . Something funny back on the bus . . ." Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot, like the sound of an owl being tortured. "Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried.
"Godamn weakling," Bete muttered.
Even now, he was causing problems. Doesn't that kid have the slightest inkling of what stealth meant! He was gonna draw every last monster in that forest to them.
And the worst part was that he couldn't even complain about him like he wanted to. For some reason, everyone else seemed to be on this pathetic goat's side. So now he had to 'keep his thoughts to himself' otherwise, the old lady was gonna nag his ear off again.
Riveria's head blurred as it swirled towards Bete. Her eyes glowing white as they settled on Bete.
"If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!" He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff. Instead of finding a path, I immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on my head.
"HAHA!" Everyone laughed.
"Ah, though, a spell like that would be useful."May sighed, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"Yeah, Miss Riveria, do you know of any spell like that?" Lefiya asked
"Hmm, I believe there are a few adventures with something similar. I know of a few spells that would work just as fine too."
"Good, I think next dive we look into hiring some outside talent." Finn nodded.
After some time of walking through the woods, they finally made their way out. There, in front of them, was a building with a gas station next to it. To me, it looked like: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.
"What the hell is this dump?" Freya sneered.
She normally wasn't this crass, but this time she couldn't help it. She didn't know whether it was the tacky statures, the filthy building, or even just the way it all looked. Something about this place rubbed her the wrong way on a fundamental level.
And she didn't like it.
"I don't know, but that sign is seriously messed up." Loki rubbed her head. She was getting a headache just reading it.
Ryuu snorted. She had it bad. Next time, why doesn't she try having to read it?
"What the heck does that say?" I asked. "I don't know," Annabeth said. She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic, too. Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.
"Oh, that's right. They can't read it. That dyslexia stuff." Tiona slapped her head.
"Percy's got a point. It is difficult to remember that Annabeth can't read either." Welf said.
She always puts forth an energy of knowing everything that you forget that she's still only twelve.
Loki couldn't stop laughing.
"That's hilarious, one of those uptight booknerds' kids can't read."
"Hey, she can read Ancient Greek just fine. It's just her Godly blood that forces her not to be able to read anything else." Hestia pouted. She didn't like that they were making fun of Annabeth just because her mother is Athena.
They didn't make fun of Percy like this.
"Huh, you know I'd bet anything that Zeus was the one who made that happen." Freya thought about it. It was certainly something that he would do.
"Yeah, I can see it. Make it so they're not reading anything but my language; it's not like they need anything else anyway. Why would they? Mine is obviously the best." Loki deepened her voice to sound just like Zeus's
Crossing the street towards the building, they started smelling food. Annabeth and Percy went forward, but Grover tried to stop them. "Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!" We stopped at the warehouse door. "Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters." But they wouldn't listen.
"Idiots. They should always listen when their teammate feels something." Gareth crossed his arms.
He couldn't tell you how many Adventures he's lost over the years. All because some hotshot, or human supremacist, thought that they knew better than the warnings of their Demi-human teammates.
"The difference between life and death can sometimes be what your gut says."
"I will say, though, whoever made those statues is pretty talented." Welf praised.
"Yeah, they're so life-like. I bet you no royal artisan could ever get the details that this sculpture can." Hephaestus said. "The faces could use some work though, they seem to only be showing the same emotions."
"-The faces…" Hermes narrowed his eyes. Something was off about those faces. And not just that, they only seemed to be shaped into fear. That wasn't that unusual to him. He's been around the world, artist can be weird that's been an established fact for centuries.
So what was it? Why did these faces draw him in like so?
The door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman—at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because 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. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"
"Who the hell is this hag?" Bete sneered.
Reaching over, Loki gave him a little shove.
"Hey, be nice, she's obviously the owner." Loki rolled her eyes.
"Nya, she's kind of creepy, isn't she?" Anya scratched her chin.
"I think it's just the dress," May said.
"I think her style of dress is kind of interesting." Freya complemented, "Percy said something about it looking like something from the Middle East, right? I wonder what kind of place it is."
"Do you think it's like the Far East?" Lili asked.
But Yamoto shook her head.
"I doubt it. If their world is like anything like ours, then based on her style of dress and her skin tone, this Middle East of theirs is pretty far from the Far East."
"They're . . . um . . ." Annabeth started to say. "We're orphans," I said. "Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!" "We got separated from our caravan," I said. "Our circus caravan.
"Circus?"Hestia looked confused. Where in the world did he get that?
"Come on, kids. You got to do better than that." Loki sighed. This kid was gonna destroy the reputation of all improv liars in the world.
The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?" "Oh, my dears," the woman said. "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." We thanked her and went inside. Annabeth muttered to me, "Circus caravan?" "Always have a strategy, right?" "Your head is full of kelp."
"All boys are full of Kelp then." Lili giggled.
"Hey," Bell acted offended even as he smiled.
"Well, it's true."
The warehouse was filled with more statues—people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. I barely noticed Grover's nervous whimpers, or the way the statues' eyes seemed to follow me, or the fact that Aunty Em had locked the door behind us. All I cared about was finding the dining area.
"Guys, I think something is wrong." Hestia looked around nervously.
There was something up with the kids. They were looking at the images on teh wall with rapt attention. Not that unusual, but the look in their eyes was starting to worry her.
Their eyes were glazing over, almost as if they were half asleep. Just going through the motions.
In fact, the only one not like this was Bell. And well, Otar as well but he didn't count.
"What's wrong, Lady Hestia. They're just getting some food. In fact, I think the lady is being very kind for feeding them." Haruhime smiled wistfully, her words coming out a little bit slow as she spoke.
"What-" Bell looked shocked at her. What was wrong with Haruhime? She never acted like this before.
"What's wrong, Bell?" Welf dreamily sighed.
Hestia and Bell looked towards each other. No one else seemed to realize something was up. Maybe it was just in their head. For now, they'd keep an eye out.
Taking them into the back of the warehouse, she led them towards an open snack bar with a grill behind it. Sitting them down, she began making their food. Annabeth tried to thank her, but she just waved it off. "Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child."
"That's a weird thing to focus on." Loki raised her eyebrow.
Plus, she knew her name. There was something off about that lady.
"Forget that, what the hell is with you kids. You're acting all strange." Hephaestus tried to grab her captain's shoulder, but she just ignored her. Wiping the drool from her chin as she stared at the food.
All their children were like this. They were staring at the images as if they were literally starving orphans. Mama Mia and Loki's three top executives looked like they were fighting through it, but that was it.
The only ones unaffected were Bell and Fels. And the ones most affected were the Beast-humans.
Crouching in front of her, Hermes studied Asfi's eyes.
"Somethings wrong. They're acting as they've been-"
"Charmed." Ournaos' face darkened as he beheld their faces. He's seen looks similar to this, but how was the question?
"How, is it The Watcher?" Hestia asked.
As they ate, Percy barely noticed things as they happened. Annabeth was eating slower than him, and Grover barely touched anything. Grover tried to ask questions, but Aunty Em just threw them off. Percy started to feel sleepy now, so he tried asking questions to stay awake, and it seemed to work.
No one was even paying attention to the book anymore. All the Gods stood around their children, trying to snap them out of it.
"No, it can't be." Finn held his head. It felt like he was trying to fight off the strongest bout of sleep in his life. "The Watcher has had plenty of times to do something, and it hasn't."
"No reason to do all this, then wait a day to pull a stunt like this." Loki agreed with him. But something was happening, I mean, just look at Bete.
Loki had been trying to get Bete to snap out of it, but nothing she did worked. She had been standing over his body, slapping his face with both hands for the last five minutes, but nothing.
Hermes shook his head. "Especially a half-assed one like this. If this was a trap, why not attack the Gods first?"
"Come on, guys, snap out of it." Hestia begged. Holding on to Lili, she caressed her face, hoping that it would bring her back. But that's when she noticed something.
"Ryuu… why are you still reading?"
As they ate, they talked. But when the old lady talked about her two sisters, Annabeth got concerned. She asked for more details "It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a . . . a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price." I wasn't sure what she meant, but I felt bad for her. My eyelids kept getting heavier, my full stomach making me sleepy.
Ryuu couldn't stop reading. It was like she was sleep-talking. The words were coming out of her mouth, but it didn't feel like she was the one saying them. Ryuu felt as if she were watching someone else take control of her body.
Ryuu tried to let go of the book, but her fingers had a death grip on it. Years of training her grip to keep hold of her sword no matter the pain were working against her.
"It's the book." Ouranos' eyes widened.
"The Book?" Hermes asked.
Freya was on her feet now. Her wine glass was forgotten as she went over to Hestia next to Ryuu. Holding Ryuu's face between her hands, Freya looked into her eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes of hers that Freya adored so much looked on with a clouded gaze. Barely even recognizing who was in front of her.
"Ryuu dear, let go of the book for me, please." Using her charm, Freya tried to command Ryuu to stop, but it didn't work.
Hestia called out to the other Gods. "Guys, she's not letting go!"
Leaving Bete, Loki joined with Hephaestus as they rushed over to Ryuu's. Nodding at Hephastus, they each took a side. Loki on the left and Hephaestus on the right. As one, they reached out to pry Ryuu's fingers from the book, but they wouldn't budge.
Hoping to get her to stop reading, Hestia stuck her fingers in Ryuu's mouth, only to get bitten instead. "Ow!" She shouted, holding her fingers close to her chest.
"The Book recreates everything from the portrayal of Percy. The sights, sounds, and even the smell." Watching this all go down, Ouranos continued to calmly explain.
"Then if the book is recreating the smell, then-" Hermes realized
"The old hag. Whatever she's cooking, it's entrancing the kids." Loki spat out.
They backed away from Ryuu. For right now, they wouldn't do something. The only thing that they could hope for was that when this chapter finished, whatever charm that lady was cooking up would dissipate.
Everyone took their seats again.
"Guys, look, I think Annabeth is breaking out of it." Gareth grumbled. Him, Finn and Riveria had already fought off the effects, but it wasn't easy. His head felt as if he had drunk fifty mugs.
Beside him, Riveria rubbed her head. None of them were used to attacks like this. Charm, not something that they experienced on their day-to-day. It was generally only something that Gods of love could use, and even then, only barely with their Arcanum sealed.
They've never had to endure an attack like this. Even if it hadn't been targeted at them.
"Dammit, they should have listened to Grover." Mama Mia growled.
Annabeth tried to get them to leave, with Grover backing her up. But Pery didn't want to leave. When Aunty Em suggested that they take a picture before they left, he agreed. Unsure but slightly still under her spell, Annabeth and Grover agreed. Sitting in her statue area, the three of them watched as Aunty Em stood in front of them, looking them over.
"Kid, wake up!" Mama Mia shouted at Percy. She knew it wouldn't do anything, but it still made her feel better.
Thankfully, though, now that they had left the snack bar, the Charm holding everyone had started to lift.
"What's happening?" Lili asked, still a little confused. The last few minutes were almost a blur for her.
"Ah, you're back!" Hestia cheered, grabbing onto Lili and smooshing her face against her chest.
"Wha- Hestia-sama!" Lili tried to push back, but her Goddess was strong.
Around the room, everyone started waking up again. Going around their Gods checked on each of them, making sure that they were ok.
"What's wrong?" Asfi asked when she noticed her God staring at her.
"Ugh, why dooth my chees hurth?" Bete winced as he rubbed his swollen cheeks.
Ryuu sighed. Letting go of the book for a second, she rubbed her fingers.
Taking a minute to catch everyone up on what they missed, they went back to the reading. Hestia checked on Ryuu to see of she was ok continuing and got a nod in return.
"I don't get it. Annabeth is already starting to break free, why hasn't Percy?" Luniore asked.
"Casue he's stupid." May snorted.
"No, for some reason she seems to be focusing all her charm onto Percy." Finn leaned forward.
"Damn, must be why Grover wasn't affected at all." Tsubaki guessed.
"And why it took Annabeth no time at all to break free." Bell finished.
Aunty Em told them all to look forward, but Annabeth and Grover weren't listening. Annabeth was trying to get Percy to see that something was wrong while Grover stared at the Satyr statue next to them.
Watching them all watch as Aunty Em got ready for the picture, Haruhime clutched the hem of her dress.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
"It's a trap; I just know it." Welf bit out.
"But how? How is she gonna attack them. She has no weapons, no staff for magic." Yamoto asked.
"Pitfall, spikes, bombs. It could be anything." Lili guessed.
"...Why is Grover paying attention to that stature?" Lefiya asked.
"And why are all their faces in terror?" Ais gripped her sword.
He said that it looked like his Uncle under his breath. Percy was starting to suspect as well that the spell was wearing off on him. Finally, when even Percy could start to hear the snakes, it all went down. "That is my Uncle Ferdinand." He shouted. At the same time, Aunty Em whipped off her shawl as Annabeth drove Percy to the floor. Above him, Grover activated his shoes, diving up. Annabeth told him not to look at her.
"What?'' Tiona screamed. She hadn't expected Annabeth to nock Percy over like that
"Look away?" Tione asked
"What's happening?" Syr asked.
Then they saw the shadow on the floor. One of wavy strands coming off of Aunty Em's head. The hissing of snakes was louder now.
"Snakes?"
"She's a monster." Finn realized.
"Monster!" Ais stood up.
My eyes rose to Aunty Em's hands, which had turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for fingernails. I almost looked higher, but somewhere off to my left, Annabeth screamed, "No! Don't!" More rasping—the sound of tiny snakes, right above me, from . . . from about where Aunty Em's head would be. "Run!" Grover bleated. I heard him racing across the gravel, yelling, "Maia!" to kick-start his flying sneakers. I couldn't move. I stared at Aunty Em's gnarled claws, and tried to fight the groggy trance the old woman had put me in. "Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," she told me soothingly. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up." I fought the urge to obey. Instead, I looked to one side and saw one of those glass spheres people put in gardens— a gazing ball. I could see Aunty Em's dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Her hair was moving, writhing like serpents. Aunty Em. Aunty "M." How could I have been so stupid?
"They know her?" Freya asked.
"She must be a monster from their legend. Like the Minatour." Loki guessed. "One with some kind of skill or curse that activates when you look at her."
"Ok, but why isn't she attacking Percy. He's right there." Tsubaki wondered. Not that she wanted him to get hurt, but come on. He was right in front of her, literally on his hands and knees, waiting for the strike.
"She must be the kind of monster that likes taking her prey alive." Hermes glared at the images on the wall. Those kinds of monsters were the worst. Especially the ones that drew you in with their good looks. Lies, all of it was lies. None of them ever had any plans of sleeping with you.
Medusa, it had been Medusa all along. Percy thought of her legend and how she died. Medusa tried to persuade Percy, to get him to pity her. Telling him the Grey-eyed one did this to her.
"Medusa, is there any monster named Medusa?" Haruhime asked Yamoto. She didn't know very much about what went down in the lower floors, but it wasn't a monster that she had ever heard of.
"Not that I know of."
"Never heard of it." Welf chimed in.
"Well, she must be a monster. How else would she still be alive if someone already killed her?" Lili crossed her arms.
"Someone also named Perseus- what are the odds?" Bell chuckled.
Over on the other side, Loki narrowed her eyes.
"The grey-eyed one? Athena?"
Her voice invited me to look up, to sympathize with a poor old grandmother. "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!" "Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back to a comforting purr. "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."
"Athena?" Hestia shouted.
"Damn, the daughter of her enemy right there. She must think it's her birthday." Bete chuckled.
"But why is she still focused on Percy then?" Finn asked.
"No," I muttered. I tried to make my legs move. "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."
"Stupid monster. Life is pain." Riveria glared at the image on the wall.
It's something that all long-lived species learned. And one that they never forgot.
"But it's our pain."
Above, Percy heard as Grover attacked Medusa. Using a big stick that he picked up, he dive-bombed her with his eyes closed. Every once in a while, he'd hit her, then dart back into the air. He did this for a while. Fly, swing, Fly again.
"Nya Look at Grover go!" Chloe cheered
"He's getting her good Nya." Anya said.
"His sense must be pretty advanced to be able to pinpoint her location just by smell." Ottar noticed.
"Her screaming probably helps to." Freya chuckled darkly. She loved hearing that beast scream. Oh, how she wished she were there directing her punishment herself. That entire store was an eyesore that disgusted her to her very soul.
Looking darkly into her dark red wine, Freya tried to ignore the souls trapped in their statues. When they had first been shown the store, she hadn't known what she was looking at. She had never seen something like that. At first, she never even thought that they were souls.
But when she realized. . . It took everything out of her not to scream in rage right there. To see those beautiful souls turned to stone. If she ever found something similar in their world, she'd take great joy in teaching whomever they were the error of their ways.
Annabeth took off her Yankees cap and became visible. "You have to cut her head off." "What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here." "Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but . . ." Annabeth swallowed, as if she were about to make a difficult admission.
"Why the hell is she making Percy do it?" Welf asked.
"Casue for some reason, she's not attacking him." Yamato said.
"What like, she's in love with him?"
"Eugh. A monster and a human." May grimaced. Just the thought of that made her sick. She knew of a few of their patrons who would swear up and down that if a few certain monsters would give them a chance, then they'd gladly lay with them.
Those few May was happy to kick out personally.
May shuddreed. She still remembers the one that screamed at her for not being cultured.
"Whatever it is, it's their only chance. These kids aren't ready to face a monster like that." Mama Mia grunted.
Annabeth shook her head saying that she'd never let her get close. Handing him a large green glass orb she told him to only look at her through it. The course wouldn't penetrate through it. He had to hurry Grover wasn't gonna last long. And sure enough, on one go-around, he overshot and smashed into a concrete bear statue. Coming up behind Meduas, Percy called out to her. Her gaze stopped at the glass, never passing through, but Percy could tell it was only a matter of time. Already the edges of the glass were turning to stone.
"Of course, Goat boy would be the first to mess up." Bete snorted.
"Come on, Percy, she's right there!" Tiona screamed
"She- she's just letting him get close." Lefiya couldn't believe her eyes. Why was that monster doing that? She was already surprised to hear one that could talk, but to see one just, let an adventure get close?
"That curse of hers is too powerful. Whoever looks at her face full on will be turned to stone." Gareth cursed.
"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't." I hesitated, fascinated by the face I saw reflected in the glass—the eyes that seemed to burn straight through the green tint, making my arms go weak. From the cement grizzly, Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"
"She's playing him." Finn realized darkly. He could see Percy's arm shake. He was losing his nerve.
"Dammit, he's not gonna do it." Loki frowned.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Hermes smirked.
Medusa cackled. "Too late." She lunged at me with her talons. I slashed up with my sword. Faster than Medusa could dodge, and maybe surprised that Percy would actually do it, the sword passed through her neck clean. She was dead.
"They did it!" Bell cheered. He couldn't believe it. They actually one.
Jumping up Lili joined him. Hugging Bell, the whole room erupted in cheers. Ryuu smiled. This was a good ending to the battle. No injuries to speak of, none of them dead. She'd say this was a veritable success.
Hephaestus shook her head. The younger ones didn't get it. It was luck. Luck that, for whatever reason, this Medusa didn't want to hurt Percy, not really. She let them win.
"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 head's a drop item," Tione said.
"One that can still petrify," Riveria added.
"Cooool." Welf had stars in his eyes. The things that he could make with a drop item like that. A whip out of the hair, maybe a skull helmet? No, a shield.
"The Red Baron," I said. "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."
"Grover did good." Ais praised.
"Hmph, he was good bait."
"Come on, Bete." Tiona sighed.
"What? You think he would have been able to survive that without him hanging on to the actually strong ones like a leech. I still say, they should have left his sorry ass behind."
"So we have Athena to thank for this monster?" Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to 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, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him." Percy got mad. Now he felt like Annabeth was blaming him for this. When she mentioned that he didn't even want to leave, he got up and left. Walking around, he found a bag that was used for delivery. Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue.
"Athena?" Hestia gasped. That couldn't be right.
Hermes awkwardly chuckled. "Well, I guess now we know why she liked Percy so much. Kind of grows to be pinning after your ex's kid but, who am I to judge?"
"Wait, hold on Hermes-sama.. A God made a monster?" Asfi sat forward.
"That's what she's saying." Hermes was unsure he had heard it right. But Ryuu confirmed. That's what she read.
"A mortal, cursed to walk the earth as a monster." Ouranos tapped his finger against his armrest. Something like that, a God able to grant immortality. Even in such a cursed way, it was wrong. The effect such a thing could have on the Balance of the world. He didn't even want to think about it.
"And all because she got laid down in a Temple." Loki sighed. She wasn't even gonna question it anymore. Too many crazy things have been said over these past few days. Right now, she was gonna just accept everything at face value.
"No-no, that's not right. That's not the Athena that I know." Hestia bit her lip. She hated this book. These were all her friends, but it was making them out to be monsters.
Hephaeus sighed.
"But it's not. It's not the Athena you know."
Searching some more, he found an address book for the underworld. Apparently, they liked dead decorations down there. Coming back, he shoved the head into a delivery box and sent it away to Olympus. Grover shook his head; he said that the gods wouldn't like that. "They'll think you're impertinent." I poured some golden drachmas into the pouch. As soon as I closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop! "I am impertinent," I said. I looked at Annabeth, daring her to criticize. She didn't. She seemed resigned to the fact that I had a major talent for ticking off the gods. "Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan."
"Hades and Persephone? What does she have to do with anything?" Loki raised her eyebrow.
"Loki-sama, do you know her?" Finn asked. Besides him, Riveria was already noting the name down.
Loki shrugged. "Kind of, she's a minor Goddess that likes to hang around Demeter back in Tenkai."
"Oh, I remember her. She used to be such a cute little thing." Hestia gushed.
"Well-" Hestia frowned as she remembered the last time she saw Persophone. "That is, until she started dating."
Hephaestus shook her head. "Going after all the dark and moody Gods."
"Going after, is that what you call it?" Freya held her cheek
"Yeah, what would you call it?"
"A rabid animal hunting its prey."
"Please, the guys weren't that bad."
"I wasn't talking about the guys."
"Guys, forget that." Hermes cut in. "Did you see that box I would love to have something like that. It'd make delivery so much faster."
Asfi snorted. "Yeah, it'd leave you that much more time sleazing on women."
"Asfi, dear, why do you have ot cut so deep?"
Bell turned to Hestia.
"Would the Gods really think of Percy like that?"
Hestia blushed as she looked away. "Uh, well. Let's just say they wouldn't like it."
Ryuu shook her head. "I'm done, who's next?"
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Hey, publishing this a week early. I had a good start on the Jackalope fanfic I'm writing, so I was able to get started on this a bit faster. And I also worked a bit harder to get this out, next week I'm getting a small surgery. Nothing major and it shouldn't stop me from doing any writing, just don't know if I'll be wanting to do any writing next week is all.
A couple of things I would like to say.
One, don't know if any of you know this, but my first bit of writing was on the rough draft of my Magic and Chaos book I've been trying to write. It's been slow going, and I feel terrible that I don't work on it enough.
Right after college, I started working on the rough draft, spending two years to get ten chapters only to realize that I didn't like where it was going and started over. My next attempt took me about a year to get eight chapter out, and while I love were its going now I still find it hard to work on it. Always second-guessing myself, worrying if I'm putting too much or not enough.
So, to make a long story short. It would really help me if I got some constructive criticism on it. You know, on spots where you think I drag it on, where it gets too confusing, or if I'm just in my head and need to put my nose to the ground and get it out.
It's both on Webnovel and Fafnic, as well as Royal Road, to those wanting to check it out. I also have the rough draft on Royal Road that I renamed Hunter. Let me know if you want me to post it on other sites for you to check out.
Hunter is a bit more action-packed with a big finale fight before I let it go. It's the same sort of premise as Magic and Chaos, but just a bit more comic-y instead of a young-adult novel.
Side note- to any writers that post online. Do you guys also get those weird comments that talk about them believing in your work and wanting to make it into a Webcomic and to contact them? I got a few for this story, and that just seems weird. I mean, is it just bots sending these things because I'd like to think that people would understand that you can't make a reaction fic into a Webcomic, especially one copyrighted?