1: The Son of Ares

A Curse

"Oh, my dears. 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." She said and we thanked her going inside.

There were statues all around the garden, most of them life sized with different clothes and expressions on their faces. Then we see a fast food counter, soda fountain, pretzel heater, nacho cheese dispenser and a few steel picnic tables.

"Please sit down." Aunty Em asks.

"Awesome." Percy says.

"Um we don't have any money ma'am." Grover says sticking to our story if we can get away with it we won't pay a dime we're not made of money.

"No, no children. No money. This is a special case, yes? This is my treat for such nice orphans." Aunty Em says as we thank her again.

She suddenly stiffened when Annabeth thanked her but just as it came it left. "Quite all right, Annabeth. You have such beautiful gray eyes, child." She says.

"Eh there more creepy if you ask me, it's like staring at an infinite puzzle that wants to peck your eyes out for thinking about doing anything else but look." I say smirking as I make a little joke on Annabeth's behalf making the woman chuckle pleasantly.

Before I knew it she'd brought us trays filled with Vanilla shakes, XXL servings of French fries and some burgers and chicken. I dig in at a fast pace, but it's not because I'm hungry that's just how I always eat.

"What's that hissing noise?" Grover asks nervously.

None of us heard any hissing so we just shake our heads not knowing. "Hissing? Perhaps you hear the deep fryer oil. You have keen ears Grover." Aunty Em says before I catch onto something. Smells like monsters, she knows our names though we never said them, life sized gnomes and hissing?

"So you sell gnomes?" Percy says trying to start conversation.

"Oh yes. And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know." She replies.

"A lot of business on this road?" Percy asks.

"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." She answers sadly.

Percy states at the statues around us like he's having a bad feeling and quite frankly so am I. "Ah 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." She says.

"You make these statues yourself?" I ask curiously.

"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 only company." She says and I can't help but feel sorry for her.

Annabeth nearly drops her fork as she stops eating suddenly asking "Two sisters?"

"It's a terrible story. 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." Em says and I could feel my sympathy for her grow.

"Guys maybe we should go we need to get back sooner rather than later." Annabeth says tense.

"Such beautiful gray eyes. My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those." She says stroking Annabeth's cheek as she stands up abruptly.