They were walking through the woods on the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind them and the smell of Hudson could be smelled from miles away.
Grover was shivering and braying nervously. His big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."
Annabeth kept pulling them along, saying, "Come on! The further away we get, the better."
"All our money was back there," Percy reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."
"Well, maybe if you hadn't jumped into the fight—" started Annabeth, glaring at Percy.
"What did you want me to do? Let you guys get yourself killed?"
"We would've been fine. You don't have to protect us."
"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."
After a while, the thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind them.
"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"
They kept walking until they spotted a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side were a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and an open business, which was the source of the neon light and the drool-worthy smell.
The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible to read.
"What does that say?" Percy asked, squinting at the sign in front of them.
"I don't know," Annabeth admitted, shrugging.
Grover translated for the demigods: "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.
A heavy feeling settled over Evangeline.
Percy crossed the street with Annabeth behind him, following the smell of greasy food
"Hey ..." Grover warned.
"The lights are on inside," said Annabeth. "Maybe it's open."
Annabeth and Percy easily ignored the satyr. Evangeline exchanged a look with Grover. The front garden was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, and even a cement satyr playing with some reed pipes. It seemed Grover was spooked so he kept close to Evangeline.
"Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"
Evangeline furrowed her eyebrows and put her hands in the pocket of her leather jacket. The four stopped at the warehouse door.
"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."
"He's right I'm getting a migraine from this place. The aura of death here is a lot." Evangeline said rubbing her temple.
"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies, and it's probably nothing," Annabeth told the two. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"
"Meat!" Grover said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."
"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," Percy reminded him.
"Those are vegetables," the satyr insisted. "Come on. Let's leave. These statues are ... looking at me."
Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall woman—that was all. The woman's head was completely veiled, however, her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was all Evangeline could make out of her. Her golden brown hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant.
She spoke: "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 lied.
"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien on her tongue. "But, my dears! Surely not!"
"We got separated from our caravan," Percy said. "Our circus caravan. 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 M. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."
They all thanked the strange woman.
Annabeth muttered, "Circus caravan?"
Percy shrugged. "Always have a plan, right?"
The warehouse was filled with more statues—people in different poses, all wearing different outfits with different expressions on their faces. Evangeline felt like she was being watched, the eyes of each statue following the questers. Her headache was getting worse.
Percy and Annabeth seemed to be in a trance, gravitating toward the food. They didn't register the way all the statue's eyes would follow them, Grover's nervous whimpers or the close eye Aunty Em was keeping on them. The daughter of Hades tensed as she heard the click of a door lock. Grover walked closely next to Evangeline, she didn't like it but decided not to make the satyr more nervous by yelling at him.
When they reached the back of the warehouse, a fast food counter with a grill, soda fountain, pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could ever want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.
"Please, sit down," said Aunty Em.
"Awesome," Percy said.
Evangeline sat at the edge of the table, next to Grover. "Excuse me, ma'am but we don't have any money with us," Grover said
"No, no, child. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."
"Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said.
Aunty Em stiffened as if Annabeth had done something wrong, but the old woman relaxed just as quickly.
"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful grey eyes, child."
Evangeline clenched her jaw. They had never introduced themselves, and they had never uttered Annabeth's name, so there was no way Aunty Em would know what it was.
The brunette had a gut feeling that the woman might have been a monster, let's pray she wasn't right.
Their hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before they knew it, she'd brought out plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.
Percy was halfway through his burger before he remembered to breathe. Annabeth slurped her shake loudly. Grover picked at the fries and eyed the tray's wax paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat. Evangeline ate Grover's fries she knew he was going to eat the paper instead.
"What's that hissing noise?" the satyr asked.
But Annabeth only shook her head.
"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."
"I take vitamins. For my ears."
"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax, I'm sure it was nothing."
"If it was nothing why did you lock the door?" Evangeline asked in a harsh tone. She didn't trust Aunty Em, she made it very clear to her.
"Well, aren't you a little bundle of joy," said Aunty Em. "But please, relax, my child."
Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off the cloth around her face, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched them eat.
"So you sell gnomes," Percy noticed, trying to sound interested.
"Oh, yes," said Aunty Em. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."
"A lot of business on this road?" he continued casually.
"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built ... most cars, do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."
Evangeline felt as if somebody was intently looking at her. She turned, but it was only a statue of a young boy with a hat. The detail was incredible, much better than most other garden statues. But something was wrong with his face, he looked terrified. Evangeline was beginning to feel more nervous.
Evangeline looked around some more before turning to back to the others. Grover still looked nervous, but Annabeth and Percy were too engrossed in their meals.
"So, you, uh—you make all these yourself? The statues?" the daughter of Athena asked.
"Oh, yes, Annabeth. 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 company." She sounded sad.
Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"
"It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children. 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."
Evangeline looked at Percy, expecting him to be eating his fries, but the boy looked halfway asleep with drooping eyelids.
"Such beautiful grey eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen grey eyes like those."
She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but the demigod stood up abruptly.
"We really should get going, the ringmaster must be waiting for us," she said.
"Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!"
"He's right, we should go" Evangeline stood up.
But Percy didn't stand up with the other three. It was obvious he didn't want to leave.
"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.
"A picture," said Evangeline cautiously, eyeing the statues that surrounded them.
"Yes, 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—"
"Sure we can," Percy argued. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"
Medusa turned her keen eyes to the daughter of Athena. "Yes, Annabeth," she purred. "No harm."
Aunty Em led the questers back out the front door, into the garden of statues.
Medusa directed them to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said. "I'll just position you correctly. The young girls sit in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."
"Not much light for a photo," Percy remarked as he sat on Evangeline's right. Once Percy sat down he nudged Evangeline's knee to annoy her, she pinched his arm in return.
"Where's your camera?" Grover asked Aunty Em.
The monster 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?"
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."
The monster still had no camera in her hand.
It seemed Percy was starting to break out of the trance Medusa had put him in.
"I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil..."
"Something's wrong," Evangeline said.
"Wrong?" Medusa repeated, reaching up to undo the cloth around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"
"That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped loudly.
"Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted. She whipped her Yankees cap onto her head and vanished into thin air. Her invisible hands pushed Grover, Evangeline, and Percy off the park bench. Evangeline ran, and hid behind a statue, she pulled out her dagger that was in her boot
The air shimmered and Annabeth appeared, holding onto her cap of invisibility.
No longer looking at Medusa or her hair of snakes, she could see Percy sprawled at Medusa's feet. His eyes were trained hard on his hands, but his head started to inch upwards.
But Annabeth yelled, "No, don't!"
Medusa moved around, the rasping sound following her wherever she sent. Evangeline threw her dagger at Medusa and sliced her arm. The monster let out a cry in pain.
"Run!" Grover bleated. He raced across the gravel, yelling, "Maia!" to kick-start his flying sneakers.
However, Percy didn't move. The trance Medusa had over him had started to fade, but it wasn't gone completely.
"Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," she told Percy soothingly. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."
"The Grey-Eyed One did this to me, Percy," Medusa said. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman to this."
"Don't listen to her!" Annabeth shouted. "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."
"No," the son of Poseidon muttered.
"Do you really want to help the gods?" asked the monster. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest? 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!" Evangeline heard a buzzing noise as she looked over the statue and saw Grover with the magic shoes. Grover yelled, "Duck!"
Evangeline saw Grover flying while holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His head was twitching from side to side, he was navigating by ears and nose alone.
"Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!"
The flying satyr seemed to jolt Percy back to reality. He dove to one side, covering his head for safety. Thwack!
Medusa roared in rage, "You miserable satyr! I'll add you to my collection!"
"That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back.
Ker-whack!
Medusa yelled again, her snakes hissing and spitting angrily. Evangeline took a deep breath before she shadow traveled behind the monster and kicked her in the back of her knee causing the monster to fall on her knees.
The brunette grabbed a tree branch that was there and jammed it in the monster's shoulder, which caused her to shriek in pain, then she dodged the monsters gaze and took cover with the help of a statue.
Evangeline and Grover distracted the monster while Annabeth talked to Percy. The brunette was dodging the monster fine but it was hard work when you had your eyes closed while doing so.
"Hey, guys!" Grover yelled. "I think she's unconscious!"
There was a loud roar.
"Maybe not," corrected Grover. He went in for another pass with the tree branch.
Evangeline went behind the monster quietly, and kicked her in the back, leading Medusa to tumble into a statue. Medusa got up and turned to look at the girl, but she had ducked and hid behind another statue.
"Hey!" Percy yelled.
"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," Medusa crooned. "I know you wouldn't."
There was silence.
Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"
"Just do it!" Evangeline cried out.
Medusa cackled. "Too late."
The rasping sound got louder. The slashing of a sword cut through the air. Then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern—the sound of a monster disintegrating.
Evangeline turned her head and saw Medusa's head on the ground, she walked closer to where Percy was standing.
"Oh, yuck," Grover said.
Annabeth pulled out Medusa's black veil from her back pocket. She said, "Don't move."
Evangeline grimaced as Annabeth wrapped the monster's head in the black cloth, and then picked it up.
"Why didn't ... why didn't the head evaporate?"
"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," said Annabeth. "Same as your Minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."
Grover groaned as he climbed down from a grizzly bear statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his 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 told Grover. "Good job, man."
The satyr managed a bashful grin. "That was really not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun."
He snatched his shoes out of the air. Percy recapped his sword. Evangeline put her dagger back in her boot. Together, the four of them stumbled back to the warehouse.
They found some old grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa's head. They plopped it on the table where they had eaten and sat around it, too exhausted to speak.
Finally, Percy spoke, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"
Annabeth flashed him 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, 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's face turned red. "Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa."
Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of Percy's voice, she said: "'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?'"
"Forget it," said Percy. "You're impossible."
"You're insufferable."
"You're—"
"Enough!" Evangeline yelled as she slumped down in her seat, rubbing her temple.
She earned glares from the two demigods, "We need to do something about the head." She waved her hand toward the head on the table.
Suddenly, Percy stood up. "I'll be back," he said.
He disappeared through a door.
Annabeth shook her head. "You know ... I've been thinking, back on the bus, the Furies asked for 'it', not 'him'. Weren't they asking about Percy? Why would they say 'it'?"
"Maybe they got confused?" Grover offered.
"No. No way the Furies would be confused," argued Annabeth.
Evangeline hadn't thought about it, but it was starting to make somewhat sense. "So you think they were looking for something, not Percy, but something like an item?"
"Why else would they say 'it'?" Annabeth said.
"Do they think we have the lightning bolt?" asked Grover.
Percy came back to the picnic table with a box in his hands. He packed up Medusa's head, and filled out a delivery slip from Hermes Overnight Express:
The Gods
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."
"Your head is filled with kelp, you know that," Evangeline told Percy.
He glared at the girl and started writing something on the slip, then asked her "Hey, what's your last name again?"
"Merlyn. Why?" Percy didn't answer her question, he finished writing the slip and showed it to the girl.
The brunette's eyes widened as she saw that he had written her name down on the package. Percy grinned as he saw the daughter of Hades' reaction.
Evangeline gritted her teeth, saying "I hate you."
"I hate you too. Death girl." Percy's grin grew wider as she got more mad because of the nickname. She clenched her fist trying very hard not to punch that stupid grin off his face.
Percy poured some golden drachmas into the pouch. As soon as he closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a small pop!
"I am impertinent," said Percy.
"And the dumb get dumber." Evangeline gave him a small smirk.
Percy narrowed his eyes at the girl and opened his mouth to say something.
"Come on," Annabeth muttered before Percy could respond. "We need a new plan."