Nina's POV
Annabeth, Grover, Percy, and I sat in the bus station, waiting for our bus. I had my head resting against Percy's shoulder. The jet lag was still kicking my butt. All around the station, posters were plastered with Percy's face on them. HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY? I would bet anything Gabe had been telling all the cops about how much of a delinquent Percy was. Tears filled my eyes. Percy wouldn't be wanted if Mom hadn't died. I hadn't even gotten a letter to warn me about it. Percy had told me last night before we went to bed. I had spent the entire night crying.
"You want to know why she married him?" Grover asked. I turned around to look at him, but he was talking to Percy. I had a feeling they were talking about Mom and Gabe.
"Were you reading my mind or something?" Percy asked. I suppressed the urge to snort. Could satyrs do that? Could wizards and witches?
"Just your emotions," Grover said, shrugging. ""Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that. You were thinking about your mom and your step dad, right?" I saw Percy nod. "Your mom married Gabe for you. You may call him 'Smelly' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura... Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you and your sister both, and Nina hasn't been near him since the beginning of September."
"Gee, thanks Goat Boy, where's the nearest shower?" my brother said. I rolled my eyes fondly at him. I loved having my twin back.
"You should be grateful," Grover continued as if Percy hadn't said a word. "Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would have been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you two. She was a smart lady. She must have loved you a lot to put up with that guy-if that makes you feel any better."
"Not really," I said. "It doesn't change all the times-" I broke off. I hardly knew Grover, and I was going to say something I had only ever told Morgan, er Apollo, something I hadn't even told Artemis? "Mom's still dead."
"Nina," Percy said, but I didn't want to talk. I had just found out hours ago my mother was dead, and I was stuck on this stupid quest. I hadn't had any time to grieve, and I didn't know when I would. I just wanted to break down. Where would I go now? Where would Percy go? It's not like I could stay with Apollo or Artemis. They were both gods. Maybe I could stay with Lavender, Parvati, or Lilly. I felt a few tears escape from my eyes. I summoned my guitar from the bracelet Apollo had given me. I began to strum.
Look what he's done to you
It isn't fair
Your light was bright and new
But he didn't care
He took the heart of a little girl
And made it grow up too fast
Now words like "innocence"
Don't mean a thing
You hear the music play
But you can't sing
Those pictures in your mind
Keep you locked up inside your past
This is a song for the broken girl
The one pushed aside by the cold, cold world
You are
Hear me when I say
You're not the worthless they made you feel
There is a Love they can never steal away
And you don't have to stay the broken girl
Those damaged goods you see
In your reflection
Love sees them differently
Love sees perfection
A beautiful display
Of healing on the way tonight
Tonight
This is a song for the broken girl
The one pushed aside by the cold, cold world
You are
Hear me when I say
You're not the worthless they made you feel
There is a Love they can never steal away
And you don't have to stay the broken girl
Let your tears touch to the ground
Lay your shattered pieces down
And be amazed by how Grace can take a broken girl
And put her back together again
This is a song for the broken girl
The one pushed aside by the cold, cold world
You are
Hear me when I say
You're not the worthless they made you feel
There is a Love they can never steal away
And you don't have to stay the broken girl
You don't have to stay the broken girl
As I finished off the song, a few more tears fell from my eyes. Several people were staring, but I ignored them. I put my guitar away. Our bus was here. I sat with Percy on the bus. He wrapped his arms around me and I let all of my emotions go. I clung to my twin and cried until I couldn't cry anymore. I felt wet hit my hair, and I knew Percy had shed a few tears too.
When I wiped all the tear tracks from my face, I looked up. Percy had let go of me and was staring at three old ladies towards the front of the bus. Annabeth and Grover were glaring at them too. The three women stood up, claiming they needed to use the restroom.
"She didn't stay dead long," hissed my brother. Hmm...those must be the furies Percy told me about yesterday. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."
"I said if you're lucky. You're obviously not," Annabeth snapped back. I was too worried to bother glaring at her for talking to my brother like that.
"All three of them," whimpered Grover. "Di immortales."
"It's okay," Annabeth said anxiously, trying to come up with an escape plan. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."
"Road kill," I mumbled. Annabeth was just making me more and more worried.
"They don't open," Grover said.
"A back exit?" Annabeth suggested.
Percy asked about them attacking with witnesses around.
"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth said, shaking her head. An idea seemed to spark in Annabeth's eyes. "Percy, take my hat." I was almost too shocked to process Annabeth taking a baseball hat out of her bag and jamming it on Percy's head. I was extremely shocked to see my brother disappear before my eyes.
"Do you know anyway to become invisible?" Grover asked me. "They're after you and Percy."
"In theory," I hissed back. Oh gods, I was scared out of my mind. The furies were only a few seats away from us. Thank the gods they were taking their sweet time looking in every seat. "I've only ever read about it."
"Well now's a good time to try," Annabeth snapped. She had pulled a knife out.
I took a deep breath as I let my wand drop from its holster on my wrist into my hand. "Talpa," I muttered under my breath as I tapped my wand to the top of my head. I felt like I had jumped into a cold shower. I looked down at my hands and was filled filled glee. I couldn't see myself! Thank the gods the trace didn't work all the way in America.
I cautiously started walking to the front of the bus. It was a tight squeeze past the furies, but I made it without any of them looking in my direction. I tried not to look back. Annabeth and Grover had more training than me. They would be fine, I hoped.
The bus suddenly jerked, and I lost my footing. One of the furies was knocked over into Annabeth. I aimed my wand carefully and shot a quick stinging hex. The fury looked back at me, and started storming angrily towards my direction. I held my breath as the fury looked around.
"Where are you daughter of Poseidon?" she hissed.
"Right here, hag!" I shout as I dropped the disillusionment charm. The fury startled backwards, and I'll admit I was quite proud of myself. Now, if only I had a weapon to actually kill the thing. The fury was moving towards me. I didn't have any time. "Petrificus Totalus!" I screeched, remembering what Hermione had used to stop Neville. The fury fell backwards, frozen. Percy appeared out of no where and stabbed the thing. He grinned at me before running back to help Annabeth and Grover.
Mortals were looking around for the source of the commotion. All I could think was, Thank the gods for the Mist.
Thunder shook the bus.
"Out!" Annabeth shrieked. "Get out!"
I didn't need to be told twice. Apparently, Grover and Percy shared my sentiments. We all rushed off the bus. Not a second later, the entire bus exploded in front of us.
"Our bags," Grover bemoaned. "All those perfectly good tin cans."
Annabeth and I both looked at him with equally shocked expressions. Percy just thumped him on the back. I was thankful all the mortals were off the bus.
"Crap," Percy groaned as a flash went off in front of us. "We got to go."
Percy grabbed Annabeth's arm, and I grabbed Grover's. The four of us high-tailed it out of that place. We kept running down the road until we reached a store, hidden away. All along the front were statues with terrified faces. I tried to read the sign, but couldn't manage it because of my dyslexia.
"What's the sign say?" Percy asked, squinting up at the sign. Annabeth shrugged her shoulders, but she was looking around the place apprehensively.
I smirked slightly before saying, "This is just a rough translation, but I believe it says 'Atnyu Mes Gderan Gomen Meprouim'."
My brother glared at me and said, "Ha ha, very funny. You could have just said you had no clue." I stuck my tongue out at him.
"But that's no fun, baby brother," I complained.
"I'm taller, little sis, and I don't care how fun it is."
"I'm older," I grumbled back.
"The sign says Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium," Grover said, rolling his eyes at Percy and me. Well, the name explains all the garden gnomes.
Percy walked up to the building and knocked on the door. An elder lady greeted us and invited us back for some burgers. She wore a veil over her face and hair. She looked as though she had once been a model from what I could see of her. Then again, who knows what her face looks like.
The burgers, fries, and shakes were really good, but afterwards, I felt a little drowsy. I started to get a little cautious, but it was so hard not to feel safe.
Don't trust her.
I looked around. That had sounded like...Apollo? But that was impossible. He was probably on Olympus.
The lady talked us into taking a picture. We all sat on a bench and smiled at her.
"Where's your camera?" Grover suddenly asked.
I seemed to jerk awake at that comment. He was right. The woman didn't have a camera. This was very much not good. The woman started to remove her veil, and as she did so, her fingernails turned into talons.
"Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted. She and Grover leaped off the sides of the bench. Percy was frozen. I grabbed him and dove off the bench, landing somewhere near Annabeth. As soon as my body hit the ground, I clenched my eyes shut.
I let go of Percy and began crawling. I managed to duck behind a statue. I opened my eyes enough to see what it was. A young woman with a little baby in her arms. Oh gods, the woman had to be in her early twenties, and the baby couldn't be any older than a few months. The woman's style of clothes looked to be from the late sixties. She had been here for decades. If this monster, my best guess was Medusa, caught up to me, would I be here for that long? Longer?
I felt a sharp tug on my hair as I was yanked to my feet. I whimpered as Medusa's breath washed over me. Was it my imagination, or did it smell like blood? I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. Not even going after the Sorcerer's Stone had I felt so close to my death. I could feel Medusa's snake hair slithering around my face, running through my hair, poking into my ears. I tried to squirm out of the monster's firm grasp, but I couldn't.
"Come now, child," Medusa whispered to me. "Open your eyes. I heard they were just like the Atlantic. Let me see your gorgeous face in all its beauty." I started to struggle harder, but Medusa's grip just tightened. My pets are very hungry, you know. If you don't open your lovely eyes-well, I would hate to see such a pretty face go to waste." I was so tempted to open my eyes.
Don't look.
There was that voice again. I was so certain it was Apollo. He always looked out for me.
"You know," Medusa continued, "I used to be beautiful. Many suitors wanted me. I was adored by all. Your father was my lover."
I almost opened my eyes in shock, but, in the last second, regained my focus. I heard a sickening Schlick! I was dropped to the ground. I opened my eyes and all that remained of Medusa was gold dust and her head.
"You alright, Nina?" Percy whispered, kneeling down next to me. I pulled my brother into a tight hug.
"Can I go back to Hogwarts now?" I asked.
"Only if you take me with you," Percy said, his lips twitching. He took my arm and pulled me off the ground.
"Don't move," Annabeth said. She came forwards with Medusa's black veil and draped it over the head. "Even in death she has the power to turn any who look her in the eye to stone. What should we do with it? We can't just leave it lying around?"
Percy and I looked to each other. We had a pretty good idea what to do with the head. I helped my brother pick up the head and place it in a box. We labeled it
The Gods
Mount Olympus
600th Floor,
Empire State Building
New York, NY
With Best Wishes,
Percy and Nina Jackson
I placed a gold drachma on it while Percy whispered a quick prayer to Lord Hermes. With a whoosh, it was gone. Percy and I laughed, the gods would love that one.
Apollo's POV
I was getting an awful feeling. Danger. I looked around. It was just me and Artemis in the throne room. There was no danger here. What could I possibly be feeling. Was one of my kids in danger? I closed my eyes and focused on all my children. No. That wasn't it. My eyes widened. Nina. I focused in on her and watched as she took food from the gorgon.
Don't trust her.
Nina looked up at the sky curiously. Damn it. Where were they going now? Why were they still following the gorgon? The satyr was the only one with a sensible head. Nina, focus. They were sitting down. They've realized. Good. Come on, Nina. Don't let her get to you.
Don't look.
"Apollo?" Artemis asked, moving to stand next to my throne. I squeezed my sister's hand that she had resting on the arm of my throne.
"Nina," I muttered. "Medusa." Artemis focused in on the young demigod as well. We both sighed in relief as Percy cut the damned creature's head off. We came back to ourselves in the throne room. Zeus was standing before us along with Athena.
"Apollo," Zeus thundered. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "Artemis. Take your seats. The council is about to begin."
Great, another one. I sat down, and Artemis sat across from me. The other seats were quickly filling. Hermes was the last to come in, carrying a medium-sized box.
"Who is it from?" Zeus demanded. All of us gods looked to Hermes. We were all curious.
"It says 'With best wishes, Percy and Nina Jackson'," laughed Hermes. I saw Poseidon and Artemis grin. I wondered if this would be as good as some of the things Theseus used to send us when he knew we were in council meetings. That kid was a riot. Hermes opened the box and took out an object wrapped in a veil. He removed the veil, and I smirked. Medusa's head. I should've known. Percy and Nina were always impertinent.