CHAPTER SIX ━━ MEDUSA'S CURSE

THERE WAS A BEAT OF silence that fell across the group. There was an air of hesitancy the fell within the group as they stared at the woman in cream white. She was wearing a hat, her eyes covered by a veil to obstruct anyone's view from her face. All they saw was the strangely calm's woman's red lips and shining white teeth showing as she spoke. Annabeth looked at the woman in suspicion. "Don't." She warned the group, smart enough to realize the danger they could be in. Medusa didn't seem phased by her suspicion at all. "We all choose who we make our monsters, but right now. That one wants to tear you limb from limb..." She spoke as the group stared down at the ground slightly in caution.

The woman seemed to have an offer for them. "And, I'm offering you lunch. The choice is yours." She said calmly. The group of kids could hear the woman's footsteps receding behind them. They had gone quieter with every step she took, letting them know she was gone. She really hadn't tried to kill them. Which was... interesting to say the least. She really would have expected her to have killed them, maybe out of spite. But she didn't. Which made Eurydice feel a strange sense of sympathy for the woman. "I think we can trust her." Percy muttered as the group looked up from their eyes on the ground.

Annabeth and Grover started at him in outrage. "What?" She yelled in unison. Percy sighed, as Eurydice frowned. "I mean.. I do kind of feel bad for her." She muttered softly as she recalled the two versions of Medusa's story she had been taught. Percy nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I can't explain, I just- My mom used to tell me her story." He explained. "And the point was always that she isn't what people think, and I definitely trust my mom." The other two members of their group went quiet at that. "So I'm going in. You guys do what you want." Percy said quickly, stubborn as always.

As he walked away she needed a second to process him leaving. She blinked as she frantically ran towards him. "Hold on! I'm coming with you." She yelled as she ran over to the blonde, who smiled at her slightly. A couple of seconds later she heard more footsteps, but ignored them as she and Percy walked into the building. There was a sign she saw at the front of the building that read Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium. So, the great Medusa's lair was just a plant shop? Well, she didn't expect that.

As they stepped slowly into the door of the emporium. They were greeted with a large table full of snacks and desserts. She gasped, her mouth watering slightly. She didn't realize how hungry she was until now. She swallowed slightly as she walked in behind Percy, who stared at the lit up candles hesitantly. The room was decorated nicely, and it looked homely. She had to admit that Medusa was a really good interior decorator. She looked up at the stairs leading to the upstairs of the house. The lights almost looked like an orange colour in the darkly lit room.

They heard the clicking of steps as Medusa walked in, Grover joined them a few seconds later still holding the box Percy had been carrying a few minutes ago. "You must be hungry." Medusa said from somewhere near the kitchen. "I left snacks on the table while I get something proper going." She sounded almost excited at having guests. She wondered if she had a lot of guests around here. Probably not, which made her feel a little sad for the woman. She stared at the table hesitantly, she was hungry but she couldn't eat right now. Her stomach couldn't handle it for the rest of the quest if she were to stomach anything now.

Her worries were worsened by Percy's mutter to her and Grover. "You think it's safe to eat?" He asked hesitantly. Eurydice swallowed slightly, her stomach turning at the sight of food. Grover seemed to be feeling the same way. "I'm not gonna lie to you guys, but I'm really hungry and I'm ready to take that chance." He said as stared at the food on the table longingly. She nodded in agreement. "Me too. I'm starving. But I think if I eat anything now I'll just throw it up later." She whispered as she sighed, she always had such a weak stomach.

The bell at the door chimed, signaling another person had just walked in. The three of them turned to look at Annabeth who had just walked in. "Thanks for coming." Percy said to the girl who looked distrustful of the room. "This isn't the same for me as it is for you." She said to him as Percy stared at her in confusion. It took for minute for Eurydice to understand until she remembered. "Oh. Oh." Her eyes widened in understanding, looking apologetically at Annabeth. Athena had cursed Medusa, and of course Annabeth was Athena's daughter. Which didn't sound good for them.

Despite her thoughts, Medusa didn't seem very spiteful towards her at all. "You're concerned I would hold a grudge against you simply because you are a daughter of Athena?" She asked the braided haired girl. The demigods all went quiet, but Grover still seemed focused on the food. "You shouldn't be. We're not our parents after all." Medusa said calmly as she filled some glass cups at the table full of with lemonade. The woman really did have a point after all. And that wasn't just because Eurydice really wants that lemonade, she swears. "And you and I might have more in common than you think." Medusa said, metaphorically giving Annabeth an olive branch.

Which was ironic considering that Athena's whole thing is also olives. Medusa had the grace and calmness of an immortal being, but strangely like a protectors as well. Like a kind aunt you trusted to pick you up from school. "Please, sit and eat." She encouraged the much younger group as she gestured towards the chairs. She slowly made her way to a chair beside Grover and Percy, eyeing the lemonade slightly. Annabeth meanwhile was still standing up. still suspicious of the woman.

Percy cut off a piece of chicken. "So if you're not a monster, what are you then?" She asked her in confusion as he started eating. Eurydice took a small sip of her lemonade, it was perfectly made. It was sweet and sour, and not the warm kind of lemonade. So it was perfect. She sighed softly as she took another sip. Medusa answered Percy's question without hesitation. "A survivor." She muttered, to which she stopped drinking some of her lemonade. She stared at Medusa with some sympathy, her story wasn't a fun one to bring up. She was just a mere mortal until the gods got involved.

Percy didn't seem to be getting what she meant. "You must be a little more than that." He muttered as a clack of the utensils continued. "There's a Fury out there that seems terrified of you." He mumbled. The woman hummed. "Because she knows what I think of her. I don't like bullies. When one shows up on my doorstep they end up spending a lot more time there than they planned for." She smiled hesitantly at the woman in white. "I don't like bullies either." She muttered. "I'd give anything to not be targeted ever again." She remembered what had happened to Percy at camp back with Clarisse. And she wondered if that would happen to her too if they got back to camp alive.

Glory brought a lot more than just a tag to your name. It also brought jealously and hatred. And she wasn't sure if she wanted that or not. Medusa just smiled at the girl, it looked more bittersweet than a happy one. "The gift the gods gave me is that I cannot be bullied anymore." The woman said as she sat down at the front of the table, overlooking the children. She winced in some sympathy for her. Her gift was more of a punishment, but she seemed to be making the best of it. She didn't seem evil like all of the other mythological beings they've met so far.

Annabeth seemed angry at the thought that her curse could be seen as a gift. "What my mother did to you wasn't a gift." She said bluntly. "It was a curse." The older woman went quiet before she spoke again. "You are loyal to your mother." She stated. "Yes." Annabeth muttered. Medusa looked down slightly. "You stand by her?" Annabeth frowned, but nodded. "Always." She murmured. In a moment Medusa's voice went soft, almost questioning. "You love her?" She wasn't sure what kind of answer she was expecting. "Of course, I do." Annabeth said.

Medusa's voice came out all melancholic and soft. "And so did I." She muttered softly. "So did I." Eurydice frowned in sympathy for the woman. She had to live with a horrible curse, so now anyone who ever tried to stay with her would get hurt. It was cruel, too cruel. "Do you know the story of how I came to be this way?" She asked them. Grover nodded. "I do." He said, his mouth full of food.

Eurydice nodded too. "I do too. I've learned.. all the versions." She muttered. "Do you?" The woman in white asked. "Do we?" Grover sounded extremely confused. While Eurydice sighed. "Maybe you don't, but I think I do." She muttered to him in some annoyance, taking another sip of her lemonade. "Athena was everything to me." Medusa started to explain to them. "I worshipped her, I prayed to her. I made offerings..." She trailed off. "She never answered. Nor even an omen to suggest she appreciated my love." She sounded sad just talking about this. Her voice grew louder now. "I wasn't like you, sweetheart. I was you." She looked specifically at Annabeth, where any words she could have uttered died at her lips.

The veiled woman continued. "I would have worshipped her that way for a lifetime..." She looked down into her lap. "In silence." The room was eerily quiet, and even though Eurydice had heard this story and its variations almost a hundred times. She found herself awaiting the woman's next words. "But then one day, another god came. And he broke that silence." She muttered. "Poseidon." Eurydice muttered under her breath.

Medusa nodded, looking at Percy. "Your father. The Sea God told me that he loved me. I felt as though he saw me in a way I had never felt seen before." The story was a sad one. One of the gods meddling in things they shouldn't, just like all of the other myths that come after it. "But then Athena declared that I had embarrassed her. And I needed to be punished." The woman didn't sound angry when she said it, she only sounded sad. "Not him." She stopped. "Me." She could hear her voice crack slightly. "She decided that I would never be seen again by anyone who would live to tell the tale." She muttered. 

Annabeth glared at the woman in anger. "That isn't what happened." She insisted. Eurydice gave the other girl a worried look. "Annabeth—"

She interrupted her, the worry in her tone as a warning. "My mother is just, always." The girl said stubbornly. Medusa sighed. "The gods want you to believe that that they are infallible. But they only want what all bullies want. They want us to blame ourselves for their own shortcomings." Something in Eurydice made her stop suddenly. She clutched the now empty glass of lemonade in her hands tightly.

In a way, she was right. Even if Annabeth didn't want to accept it. But somewhere deep inside of Eurydice, she had a really bad feeling about all of this. Call it paranoia, her just overthinking things. But she couldn't shake it. Something about all of this just wasn't right.

Annabeth just looked even more angry at the idea of her mother being criticized. "That is not what happened." She glared at the veiled woman. "And you are a liar." The whole table went silent. Medusa then frowned, then her lips morphed back into a smile as she shook her head.

"Something's burning." Medusa shook her head again and sighed, shakily muttering. "Would you give me a hand in the kitchen? I think lunch is ready." She looked over at Percy and Eurydice specifically. As soon as the blonde boy got up, she followed him hesitantly. She gave Grover and Annabeth one last look as she took a last sip of her the lemonade.

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SHE COULD HEAR THE SIZZLING of a pan as she and Percy slowly walked into the kitchen. Eurydice honestly wasn't sure what to expect, Medusa had seemed.. off after what Annabeth had said to her. She understood it to some extent, Athena was her mom. But angering Medusa didn't seem like such a good idea even if she was defending her mother's honour. It just doesn't seem worth it. She cleared her throat as she and Percy awkwardly stood at the door. She cleared her throat again as they watched the woman at the stove. "We apologize for her ma'am... well-" Percy finished her sentence for her. "She's not usually like that. I mean, a little bit, she is, but that was a lot." He muttered awkwardly.

Medusa didn't answer them right away. She got right to the point, after a second or two of silence from her. "She's going to betray you." She said bluntly, like a warning as Eurydice slowly realized that this woman might be more mistrustful than they thought. The woman continued, her back never turning away from them. "Sooner or later, people like her, they always do." She sounded so sure of it, like she had experience with it. Percy shook his head at her in disbelief. "I don't think she's like that." He defended. Medusa scoffed. "Then you will be an easy mark for her when the time comes." She muttered. The woman's voice sounded colder now. "It's best for you two to realize this while you can." She didn't like the way the woman said that, as her frown deepened slightly.

Percy stepped towards Medusa bravely. "What do you care?" He stepped towards her slowly. Eurydice anxiously watched, her hand slide again the keychain in her pocket. Medusa answered calmly, like she wasn't accusing their friend of betraying them. Even though the prophecy mentioned a traitor, she finds it hard to believe. A traitor could be anyone, not just one the quest. "Your mother and I, we're like sisters in a way. Targeted by the same monster." Her voice was softer now, more empathetic. She could understand Sally and Medusa's feelings towards Poseidon. Even though Sally never really badmouthed the man in front of Percy. "So I find myself feeling protective of you." The woman in the veil finished as Percy stared at her in confusion.

Medusa stopped cooking for a second. "And, you, daughter of Hades. Remind me of myself. Naive, sweet, quiet. Dedicated as I was to Athena. I don't want what happened to me, happen again. So I'll spare you for your friends sake." She sighed softly. Eurydice frowned slightly. "What?" She muttered in confusion. Percy's voice sounded flat as he spoke. "A monster?" He sounded surprised. "My mom never talked about my dad that way." He went quiet. They heard the rattle of a spoon hitting the pan. "Where is she now, your mother? Is she safe?" She asked him. Percy looked down at the ground, shaking his head. "No, she's not." He admitted.

Medusa sounded like she knew she was right. "No. She's not. And do you trust your friends to help you to make her safe? Will they let you make her safe if it conflicts with their quest? Will one of them not betray the two of you in the end?" Eurydice felt a lump in her throat the more she thought about it. It was a horrible feeling to doubt that Grover and Annabeth didn't possibly have their best interests at heart. But she couldn't possibly accept that, after everything they've gone through so far. If Annabeth had wanted them dead, they would have died sooner.

Percy looked tentative, lost in his thoughts when Medusa spoke again. "I could... help you remove them from the equation, so that you can be free of them. If you ask me to." Her voice sounded slightly less gentle than before. It sounded more horrifying now the more she thought about it. What she was offering them... she was offering to kill Annabeth and Grover for them. Percy quickly grabbed her hand, exiting the room as fast as they could. She would have been rooted at the spot if it wasn't for him dragging her out. She was grateful for him being faster at reacting than she was.

But Eurydice's worries weren't lessened as they left the room. And soon enough they were hiding from Medusa, one look and they'd be goners. She knew that Medusa wouldn't stop going after them once she realized that they weren't going to agree with her offer. The lump in her throat worsened. Her stomach feeling slightly faint as the four of them hid in a dark room. She swallowed heavily as she stared up in confusion as the door to the basement they were hiding in creaked slowly. She blinked in confusion as she watched it, the others staring too.

It was deadly silent, until a fire outlined the top of the stairs, getting close to them with every movement. She swallowed hard as she looked away, jumping slightly when the four of them turned around to see a statue. It was a woman, who had seemed to be screaming before Medusa had killed her. Her body was frozen solid, the stone substance making her look more like a statue than a dead person. She breathed in shakily as she calmed herself down. "It's just a statue." She muttered to herself, sounding relieved.

But as soon as the looked at the rest of the room, her relief was gone and now replaced with shock. The whole room was filled with nearly a dozen statues, all of dead people. The fire lighted the place up as if this was some kind of horrifying museum of statues. The creaked again slightly, telling them that Medusa had walked in. It closed with a loud slam, she could feel her face pale slightly as the realization dawned on her. "Come on." Annabeth ushered them down the maze of statues, everywhere they looked another statue was there. As if it was mocking them.

They sped down the maze. Grover whispered something as they passed a hoard of boxes surrounded by statues. "There's three of us and only one of her. If we split up, she can't be watching us all at once." He muttered, trying to come go with some kind of plan for them to live through this. Eurydice nodded slightly. "That's true. If she can't get us all at once someone could distract her in time for one of us to get her." She offered. Annabeth shook her head at her slightly. "I don't think it'd be that simple." She muttered.
"It could be." Grover insisted.

The four of them stopped for a second. They needed a plan or else they were goners. Grover, ever the idea man cleared his throat. "Here's the plan. I'll get in the air, I'll draw her attention. As soon as you hear me say, 'Maia,' you guys start..." He gasped, as seconds after he said 'maia' the shoes on his feet started to fly. She stared at him in shock. "Where did you get flying shoes?" She whisper yelled. Percy chuckled. "About that... those are mine." She stared at him in confusion. "What? Since when?" She blinked. Annabeth gave her a look of annoyance. "Look,