"The Garden of Stone Shadows pt 1"
"Our money, food, and clothes…" murmured Grover sadly, complaining softly. After all, their backpacks had been inside the bus that had gone up in flames.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
"Well, maybe if someone hadn't decided to join the fight…" said Annabeth irritably, glancing to her side, where Percy was supposed to be walking. Yet with so much darkness around them, she could barely make out his silhouette.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
"To be honest, I'm not complaining. They could've killed us," said Grover softly, raising a hand.
"You don't have to protect me," snapped Annabeth, slightly annoyed. "I would've managed on my own."
"We'd have ended up in pieces," Grover replied.
"Shut your mouth, goat boy," said Annabeth, exasperated.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
"What the hell is that sound? Percy, are you eating something?" asked Annabeth, turning her irritation toward her other companion, who, for some reason, was suspiciously quiet.
Before getting closer, all she could hear was the rain hitting the ground and smell the humid forest air. She could hardly see a thing, but when she moved nearer, almost face-to-face, she finally saw what he was doing.
Percy was calmly eating strips of jerky. The smell was so delicious that, being so close, Annabeth couldn't help but feel hungry.
"Mmm? Want some?" offered Percy, pulling a piece of jerky from his bag.
Annabeth's expression shifted through several colors and emotions in mere seconds. Yet her stomach gave a small growl, betraying her. With an irritated tug, she snatched the piece from his hand and bit into it fiercely, glaring at him as if she were biting his face instead.
A moment later, her expression softened. The meat was delicious—warm, rich in flavor, restoring her energy and washing away her fatigue. She couldn't believe something like this existed. Any meat she'd eaten before now felt like garbage in comparison. Now she understood why Percy had seemed so energetic while they were walking to the bus stop. Back then she had refused to try it because he'd insisted it was "dragon meat," which she'd obviously thought impossible.
But now… she wasn't so sure.
A glint crossed Percy's eyes as he thought to himself, "Even if it's not dragon meat and my teacher lied to me, at least I won't be the only one suffering."
He was still a little haunted by the thought of what he'd eaten. Even though it really was dragon meat, he refused to believe it completely unless he saw a dragon being cooked right in front of him. He trusted his teacher… just not when it came to food. He'd still eat it, of course, but the psychological damage was inevitable.
"Great, you guys have food… but my cans," groaned Grover sadly.
"Too bad for you for being a vegetarian. Maybe we can find some grass for you," Percy added after swallowing another bite.
Grover grumbled angrily and quickened his pace.
The three trudged through muddy terrain, surrounded by trees swaying in the rain. The mud clung to their sandals and shoes, and the constant sound of water dripping on leaves filled the air. At least Annabeth and Percy, having eaten, still had strength to continue. Grover, however, looked more and more exhausted.
Perhaps feeling a bit grateful for the food Percy had shared, Annabeth walked a little closer to him, her expression serious but softer.
"Look, I… appreciate your help, okay? You were really brave. And those attacks of yours were… powerful," she said quietly, almost in a whisper, as if saying "thank you" physically hurt.
Percy glanced sideways, trying to see her face through the darkness. "We're teammates, right?" he replied calmly.
"It's just that… if you die—aside from the fact that you obviously wouldn't like that—this quest would be over. And this might be my only chance to see the real world," she added.
The rain began to ease. Percy caught a glimpse of her blonde hair glinting faintly; her face showed mild surprise.
"You haven't left camp since you were seven?" Percy asked, confused.
"No. I've only gone on a few short trips," Annabeth admitted, her voice tinged with sadness. "My dad… well, living with him at home didn't work out."
The squelching of their footsteps in the mud filled the silence between them.
"That's why Camp Half-Blood is my home. You train and train there, and that's fine. But the monsters are out here," she continued. "In the real world. That's where you find out if you're really worth something."
"You're brave," said Percy calmly.
"You think so?" asked Annabeth quickly, a flicker of emotion in her voice.
"You were willing to face a Fury without your most precious cap. That says a lot," Percy said, watching her through the darkness. He couldn't see her face completely, but he knew she was smiling.
"Thanks," Annabeth whispered.
…
"Hmm… that's it," murmured Percy, noticing a few neon lights in the distance.
"Sniff, sniff…" Grover began to smell the air, his expression almost blissful. Annabeth and Percy sensed it too; even without enhanced senses, the smell of fried food was unmistakable.
Although Percy and Annabeth were already full thanks to the dragon meat, they felt relieved at the thought that maybe they could get something for their companion.
The three quickened their pace until they reached what seemed to be a brightly lit shop, decorated with stone statues. There were garden gnomes in various poses, some waving with strange smiles. Among them were also statues of people… and Grover stopped, his eyes widening as he saw one that looked eerily like a satyr.
"That looks like my Uncle Ferdinand," he murmured with a shiver.
"It's fine. Let's just ask if they can sell us some food and keep moving," said Percy calmly, unaware of the danger lurking among the stone shadows.
"But the money," said Grover worriedly. After all, the money had been in Annabeth's backpack, which was still on the bus.
"The money the camp gave us might be gone… but I still have mine," said Percy, pulling a wad of bills from his bag.
After all, Miraak had exchanged some gold for cash, and Sally had helped with the purchase of certain supplies his teacher needed. She had also given Percy a bit of extra money, taken from the jewelry Miraak had let them keep "just in case."
Grover and Annabeth both widened their eyes at the sight of the bills. Percy, meanwhile, felt for a moment like a rich kid, waving the money in the air and wondering if he could use it to slap some fool who thought he was better than everyone else. He chuckled at the thought; his teacher would probably smack him on the head if he saw him acting like that.
Sometimes Percy suspected that Miraak thought he had some kind of problem… and to be honest, Percy knew he had several. Besides dyslexia and ADHD, there was the little detail of living surrounded by monsters.
Meanwhile, he looked up at the neon sign in front of the shop, barely able to make out what it said.
"What does the sign say?" Percy asked, turning to Annabeth, who usually spent all her time reading architecture books.
"I… don't know," admitted Annabeth, embarrassed. She was also dyslexic, and the reason she read that book she loved so much was precisely to practice her reading.
"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium," Grover read aloud for both of them.
At that very moment, the shop's door opened gently, releasing a warm draft that smelled of oil and fried food.
A woman stepped out—or at least, something shaped like a woman. Her entire body was covered by a dark outfit that didn't show a single inch of skin, except for her hands, slightly wrinkled, suggesting she was quite old.
Her face was hidden behind a black veil, so thick that not even her eyes were visible. It was impossible to tell how she could see through it.
"Oh… children?" she said in a surprised voice, looking at the three of them.
Percy watched her silently and frowned, almost imperceptibly. There was something strange about her. He didn't know exactly what it was, but his instincts—the same ones he had learned never to ignore since discovering the world of monsters—were screaming that something wasn't right.
"What are you doing here so late?" asked the woman in a tone of apparent concern. "And your parents?" she added, glancing around.
Percy tried to push away the uneasy feeling, convincing himself that maybe he was developing some kind of post-traumatic stress. He didn't want to live paranoid, seeing monsters behind every shadow.