𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 [𝐏𝐉𝐎 𝐗 𝐇𝐏]

vii: ariana faces medusa

 chapter seven , act two

ariana faces medusa

IN A WAY, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day.

So, there they were, Ariana, Annabeth and Grover and Percy, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind them, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in their noses.

Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."

Ariana was pretty much in shock herself. The explosion of bus windows still rang in my ears. But Annabeth kept pulling them along, saying: "Come on! The farther 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 decided to jump into the fight—"

"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"

"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine."

"Sliced like sandwich bread," Ariana put in, "but fine."

"Shut up, smartass," said Annabeth.

"Rude," Ariana muttered.

Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans ... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."

They sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry.

After a few minutes, Ariana fell into line next to Percy. "Look, I..." Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? Ignore what Annabeth said. That was really brave."