𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐀, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

ten

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

YOU/EMBER ✦

the door creaked open as percy stepped in, i followed close behind him slowly observing everything around us. "you must be hungry, i left snacks on the table while i get something proper going" medusas voice echoed through the house.

i look to percy as he walks towards the table, im trusting him. "you think it's safe to eat?" he asks me in a low voice, gesturing to the food on the table in front of us, i just look up at him.

"look guys i'm really hungry... and willing to take that chance" grover spits out.

"a daughter of beauty— bathing in the shadow of her self-absorbed mother— who barely acknowledges her existence." she says, my eyebrows furrowed at this comment. "daughter of beauty with a curse of inferiority" she scoffs. "the world doesn't revolve around you
ember— not you or your problems." she states. im taken aback by those words and they quite frankly left a mark in my ears. i feel percy's eyes on me but i don't dare meet his eyes.

"sorry, i didn't mean to come off that way. we are not all like our parents." she apologizes, "come, take a seat." she says and i exchange glances with percy as i pull out a chair and sit down.

"so you're not a monster, what are you then?" percy questions, "a survivor" she answers. "you must be a little more than that. there's a fury out there who seems terrified of you."

"because she knows what i think of her." i turn my head to look at percy, "i don't like bullies. when one shows up on my doorstep, they end up spending a lot more time there then they plan for. the gifts the gods gave me is that i cannot be bullied anymore."

"what athena did to you wasn't exactly a gift." i tell her and percy turns his head to look at me, "why are you loyal to athena?" she asks me, "she's my best friends mother."

"and you stand by this 'friend'?" she asks, "yes."

"do you know the story of how i came to be this way?" medusa questions. "i do" grover speaks up, mouth full of food. the clock dings suddenly, sparking my attention, "do i?" he starts to doubt.

"athena was everything to me, i worshiped her, i prayed to her. i made offerings. she never answered, not even an omen to suggest she appreciated my love." she tells us,

her love?  a term i was all too familiar with but questioned how she used it. i purse my lips, "but then one day, another god came, and he broke that silence. your father," she explained gesturing to percy, "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." medusa looks at me as if what she said should imply to me.

"but then athena claimed that i had embarrassed her and that i needed to be punished. not him, me. she decided that i would never be seen again by anyone who would live to tell the tale."

"that isn't what happened." i said, "athena is just, always" 

"the gods want you to believe that, that they are infallible. but they only want what all bullies want"

"and what's that?" i ask, "they want us to blame ourselves for their own shortcomings, "that's not what happened!" medusa is silent as she looks away, "something's burning." she says. i look at perry with a confused look.

"will you give me a hand in the kitchen? i think lunch is ready." percy looks at me and i whisper, "percy please don't." he mouths an 'i'm sorry' and stands up to follow medusa into the kitchen. i look at grover whos still stuffing his face, "grover i have a bad feeling about this. he's not safe— i feel it."

"go in there with him." he suggests, "i cant" i say nodding my head, "she didn't ask me." i pause, "just– get ready to run." i tell him standing up from the chair as he takes a bite from a chip with a blank stare.