Up and Down, Side to Side, like a Rollercoaster
"Thanks, Argus," we say to the guard cum chauffeur that is the Heras' spawn
All his eyes blinking at the same time, as if accepting our thanks... what a cool guy he is, creepy yes but still very cool
While we were waiting for four our bus at Greyhound station Annabeth decided to make some convo...
"So... Remind me again why you are coming with us on the quest? And why were you allowed to do so?" sassybeth asks with a raised eyebrow...
"Well wise-girl probably because one, the quest does not give any kind of limit to how many people need to go to the quest, two because I'm without a doubt the strongest swordsman available after luke who wisely decided not to risk his life in a suicide mission, and three... well it was actually two but you always end short lists on a triplet... so I guess... I got Chiron's permission to do so..." I tell her with a winning smirk
"And you know you are glad to see me here" I wink at her
She fake snorts before adding "Yea another idiot to take care of all right? Anyways... wise girl? Really Tom?" she can't hide a smirk while trying to make it sound she is exasperated
"Well child of Athena, a girl... you know... Wise Girl" I end with a big pure smile and my arms doing into the sky
She purses her lips and sighs again faking extreme and outrageous exasperation while faking extreme and outrageous exasperation
"Damn... I regret not having pulled a Luke... I had my can of coke to finish..." says the cowardly Grover... why did I picture Scooby-Doo there...
"Cmon G-man... show some backbone... we need to stop this stupid war... Seriously what are they thinking..." ends Percy almost muttering
The bus ride was very peaceful.. until three old ladies entered the bus...
Annabeth immediately tensed "Those three... are clouded in the mist... They are monsters"
"Annabeth quickly make yourself invisible, Grover hides Percy let me talk with them for a moment, I recognize Ms.Doods... They are The Kindly One's Hades minions and daughters of Nyx... Maybe I can convince them to leave us alone if not, ready your sword... it will not be an easy fight"
Grover immediately hides, Annabeth looks worried but complies, Percy looks at me in the eyes and says
"Tom... Hades might be behind all this... be careful I will be right behind you"
I just smile, "Thanks pal"
While extremely tense I come closer to the group of 3 who immediately noticed me and took out their whips
"Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone... I have come to bargain" eh eh inside joke
"You know who we are mortal..." Starts Tisiphone
"then probably you also know what is it that we seek" continues Megaera
"Tom... What Hubris! After what you have done you dare to come to my face? You are courting death!" Alecto ends
If I was Chinese I would probably be spitting blood right now... however, I did not want to fight them needlessly
"Please hear me out for a second, I know hades is searching for something but I do not know what... I don't take lord Hades for someone who sends his Furies to kill a kid just because... You are searching for something... as you told Percy doing the field trip... But it is not the bolt as I first thought... I do not believe lord Hades would gain anything from recovering the bolt for Zeus nor do I believe like the others that he is the God behind the stolen Symbol of power... I believe someone stole from Hades as well if it is like that I swear on the Styx that I will help lord Hades recover his Lost item or person back as soon as we have it" thunder rumbles in the distance
The surprised Furies look at me in disbelief as no thunder is bothering to strike me down...
"You...are speaking the truth..." Alecto surprised looked at her sisters that we're conflicted on what to say until Tisiphone opened her mouth
"Swear on the Styx that you or your friends behind you have never come in possession of Hades Symbol of Power
" Oh... so it was his Symbol of Power, that got stolen... I muse... Very well, I swear on the Styx that me, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover have never come in possession of his Symbol of Power" the thunder rumbles again not even a Lil bit interested in striking me where I stand
"It seems you are telling the truth mortal... I hold you on the Styx to recover the Helmet of darkness and bring it to me as soon as you have it in your hands" Says Alecto enormously probably disappointed that she can't destroy me right away since the oaths I gave are quite valuable for them as well...
"We will watch you very closely... remember that the moment we feel like you lied to us" Megaera starts before getting rudely interrupted
"I will die by thunder... Since I swore..." I tell her with deadpan eyes
They look at me with narrowed eyes before getting off at the very next station...
"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?" Annabeth all but screams in my direction
"Don't you realize how impulsive you were? Not one BUT TWO OATHS on the Styx what the hell were you thinking!!!" She all but screams
"Annie calm do-"
"And don't call me Annie!"
"Annabeth... thank you but... I did not want to fight the Furies... In any case, it all ended well, and if I am right... the Helm of darkness was stolen by the same person who stole the master bolt.."
We both continued to chat about what-ifs, I thought we could skip medusa but the fates had something else in for us... The bus... had a flat tire... sure...
We ended up camping outside and of course, I did not forget to sacrifice something to Hestia, Dionysus, and Artemis... And the next day 15th of June we finally proceeded west until we encountered a cool nifty place... where a slightly slithering snake was silently sliding in her cave...
///
"What do you think that place is?" Asks Grover
"Must be one of those roadside curio shops" answered Annabeth
"Sigh... no fast food for us" Percy who was getting hungry was crestfallen... I still had some food behind but there was no need for me to give it to him since Medusa would give us food anyways...
"What does it say on the neon sign?" red cursive... not really the best stuff to read for kids with dyslexia
"Aunty Em's garden gnome emporium... kinda sus if you ask me," I say
"It is still open... I can see the lights... maybe they have some food to share?" asks tentatively Annabeth
"Y'all crazy?? This place is weird" says Grover getting completely ignored... He is the unsung hero of this tale... He knows how to avoid trouble... Alas... he is cursed to be ignored for eternity... I smiled sympathetically at the half-goat...
"Yo... that looks like Ferdinand..." started Grover before being interrupted
Suddenly a voice with a Middle Eastern accent startles us as we enter the place "Children, it is too late to be out all alone... Where are your parents?" asks Medusa
"We are orphans" cuts in Percy
"Oh my! Surely not dears" Responds surprised the monster
"We got separated from our circus caravan and... we ended up lost here... Is that food I smell?" asks Percy offhandedly... He could be hella smart when he wanted... Purposedly driven that's for sure... However, I could not blame his carlessness
"Oh, my dears... You must come in poor children, go straight to the back of the warehouse please, there is a dining area there"
While everyone was busy sniffing the meat I remained behind looming curiously at a terrified statue of Ferdinand
I hear medusa stopping behind me
"Child, why do you-" I love rudely interrupting people... especially calmly... it is kind like a show of power... my walking cane tightly gripped with my left hand giving me strength
"What an accurate representation of a Satyr from mythology... I however noticed that all your statues have a terrified expression... I wonder... what must have caused it..." I turn smiling at her knowing that she wouldn't just vet rid of her sunglasses like that
She stays quiet for a while trying to understand my intentions... my calm smile probably putting her on edge. She calmly walks toward the statue her hand pinching the chin of Ferdinand.
"They found out the truth about a person they trusted... I wanted to depict the dread people experience when they realize that the person they called a friend betrayed them because of a sin it was not theirs," she says just looking at her statues
"All of them.... are like that tho... Did perhaps something similar happen to you Aunty Em? Was your pain so grave that you wished to bring it to other people as well?"
She snapped her head towards me and screamed with a raspy voice "YOU DONT UNDERSTAND, you do not understand the pain I have suffered! You do not understand what it feels like to live all your life feeling like a MONSTER!" I knew she was about to kill me on the spot, I made a gamble. Medusa was a monster yes... but she never killed anyone for the sake of it... It is wrong sure but she probably turned all those people into stone because she was afraid they would rat her hiding spot out, and Olympus would send more heroes to kill her.
So I did what any same person would avoid doing like the plague, I hugged her.
"I don't... I certainly do not understand your pain, and I hopefully never will... However, I can be there to listen to you... That I can most certainly do... So will you accept my offer? Will you set aside your millennia-old hate for a moment and tell me what it feels like and what you went through? Will you help me understand? Or will you turn down my offer of friendship (Probably the only one you will ever receive since only a few can be as foolish as me) and let fate rule you yet again? The choice is yours Medusa" I keep hugging her affectionately, while with my eyes I try to convey empathy (not pity, because none needs pity when they are suffering a couple of millennia-old grudges)...
"You... You knew... But still, you are...
why...
why are you?..." when people ask me what shock his I always answer: it is the sensation of having all your expectations broken, the feeling of having all your emotions overturned, the exact moment where you can feel your whole existence questioned, put under trial or lost
That is what medusa was probably feeling right now... That did not mean that only after a few words I had changed her or that she wouldn't try to kill me. The possibilities are still there but now I had finally found a way to maybe escape the fight... Why do I keep escaping fights? Cause I can. That's all there is to it... If I can prevent needless deaths and needless fighting I will, if I cannot well that's cool as well.
I just smiled at her incoherent questions, and just caressed her back
"So, what will you do?" I ask her with a smile but inwardly sweating this is the fucking riskiest shit ever...
I noticed tears rolling from her eyes... wow the power of a hug... and a few comforting words however.... it was not enough sadly
After a bit of sobbing, she regains her insanity... it seems that... It didn't matter, you just can't heal wounds that deep in just a bit of talking
"No... NOOO... They have to pay! PAAAAAY, their sons and daughters... will pay the price!" But as soon as she held her hand on her sunglasses readying to turn me into stone my right hand quickly grabbed my sword's handle as I cleanly chop her head while shutting my eyes.
Blood was flowing and I open my eyes to hear Annabeth gasping at the sight of Medusa's head
I on the other hand had a single tear going down on my face... immediately I remembered a meme from my world...
"What a bad day for rain isn't it?" I ask the group who stood dumbfounded
"That was Medusa?" asked tentatively Annabeth
///
Meanwhile on Olympus
Hestia, Athena, and a couple of other gods watched the scene
Hestia was both happy and sad... she was happy because a member of her family was safe and sad because she witnessed the effort the boy put in trying not to kill the poor girl
"After all this time... you never lifted her curse... why..."
Athena remained silent under the judging gaze of Hestia, she did not know herself... her pride probably...
The boy made an impression on her... he was everything he wanted on a child of hers: smart and ruthless while being just, kind, and respectful.
However... there was guilt in her heart... an emotion she did not want... and it was his fault... that damn mortal.
A voice suddenly entered the conversation "I suppose we will have to add another title for that guy: " Slayer of Minotaur and Medusa" the goddess licked her lips "The guy is quite hot... guess I will have to meet him" says The goddess of Love with stars in her eyes
"Aphrodite... the guy is on a quest... you will NOT hit on a quester on his job" warned Hestia who grew quite fond of the guy.
"It is fineeeee he is not a proper quester no?" she disappeared leaving behind pink smoke
...
A/N
I'm slooow