Blood Of The Hero

Chapter 6

As soon as her name left her mouth, we all collectively shifted our gaze to the grey and stormy sky, desperate not to meet the fate of any of the garden statues nearby.

She sighed. "It's always the same with you demigods. That's a shame. I'm offering hospitality here."

Annabeth scoffed, her overconfidence pushing through her fear. "We all know that's not true. You want to kill us. To get back at what my mother did to punish you. To get Poseidon to notice you again by killing his son. You can't fool us."

Medusa sighed again. "It's a pity you feel that way, daughter of Athena. You really think that little of me? That I would judge a child based off the actions of their parents? No. I am simply offering aid and assistance for your journey."

"Why?" I asked this time, and the other two hummed in agreement.

In my peripheral, I could see her shrug before speaking. "Listen, children, I'm not stupid. Camp Half-Blood is perhaps four hours away by coach, and I can't imagine you've eaten much since leaving."

I hated to admit it, but that part was true. Most of our food was gone in the first couple of hours, despite Annabeth's insistence to ration it, but hey, teenagers gotta eat.

"Also, I heard Alecto. I heard your conflict. It's good that you defeated her, but can you keep that up for every monster that comes your way? Because, child of Poseidon, while your scent may be enticing and powerful enough to attract monsters throughout the state, rumours have spread through the Underworld."

"What kind of rumours?" Grover asked, his voice shaking and I couldn't blame him.

"We know that Zeus' Master Bolt has been stolen. He has made that abundantly clear." She pointed up at the foggy and stormy sky, rumbling with thunder occasionally.

"And monsters can use common sense, despite popular belief. Poseidon has always been trailing after Zeus. He's the primary suspect. And now we know that he has a child. People think you stole it for your father. And that weapon is the kind of thing that monsters and humans alike would start wars over."

"So you're saying that monsters want to steal the Bolt from Percy?" Annabeth asked, and when she got a confirming nod, she scoffed again. "Well, he doesn't have it, so th-"

"Irrelevant." Medusa cut off. "They think he does, and that's all that matters. In fact, I can guarantee that you won't be able to sleep at night without the prospect of death hanging over you. But that's where I can help."

"Huh?"

She chuckled. "Athena may have thought she cursed me, but I beg to differ. In fact,  it can be seen as a blessing. I despise bullies. And the gift she gave me, was that I can not be bullied any longer. No monster will dare mess with you in my presence, unless they wish to be petrified."

Grover gulped inwardly, and I caught him staring at that statue of a satyr he saw before wistfully, and Medusa began to walk back.

"It's your choice. You can either starve and get endlessly hunted, or you can follow me and rest. I'll be waiting."

As soon as she walked back into the building, we all dropped our gazes to look at each other, sweating and hearts racing.

"Do we trust her?" I asked, and Annabeth vigorously shook her head.

"Fuck no. That's the most obvious bait I've ever seen, she'll kill us easily if we enter that building. It's basically her lair."

Grover shrugged. "I dunno, she seemed quite nice. And she does have a point. I'm starving. And this is probably one of the only places in the country where we can rest without a monster trying to decapitate us or something."