SILVER ◼percy jackson◼

💠NINE💠

EDITED NOVEMBER 19TH, 2018

"Auntie Em's Garden Emporium," Grover read out from the broken sign that hung from the old building. Stone statues of people and animals lined the outside of the building, sending shivers down my spine. There was a strange feeling in my stomach as I looked over the building, and I just knew something was off.

"Hey, you alright?" Percy asked my quietly, placing his hand on the small of my back. A shiver ran down my back at the contact as Grover began to head into the building, going on and on about his Uncle Ferdinand.

Luna, I'm going to patrol the area. Stay close to Percy, I'll tell you if I find something, I nodded down at Arrow as he ran off around the building. I turned back to Percy, looking up at him as we stood at the entrance still.

"Yeah, this place just doesn't feel right..." I trailed off, finding myself staring into the sea once more. I really needed him to take his hand off my back because it wasn't helping with me not being able to focus. 

"Let's split up!" Percy called out, removing his hand from my back and walking up to Grover in the main room. I adjusted my quiver on my back, putting it in a more comfortable position as I pressed a button on the inside of my bow, letting it extend to it's full size.

I walked over to the large fountain in the main room, dipping my hand in and pulling out a handful of exactly what I knew would be in there: Drachmas. I watched as Percy and Grover each grabbed a handful, and I gave them both a nod before maneuvering my way through one of the doors across the room.

My stomach dropped again, and I felt as though I would be sick as I walked through the outdoor garden. My eyes looked over every single statue, my stomach dropping every single time as I saw the fear in every person's eyes. 

They all looked so real. So many tiny details were outlined in the faces, the hair, even the expressions. That was the most haunting part of them, was the expressions on their faces. They all held fear, true, terrified fear.

"Help me! Please! She turned my husband to stone!" a woman's voice suddenly screamed out as I whipped around, my heart beating a million miles an hour as I saw the woman only a couple feet from me. The young woman grabbed hold of my wrist, tears streaming down her face and fear written in her facial features.

"Stone?" I asked her, confused as hell. She only nodded her head frantically, pulling on my arm.

"We need to go before she finds us!"

Stone? Only one monster in Greek Mythology can turn people to stone, and that's...

"Medusa..." I whispered to myself, running behind the lady as she pulled me through the garden. I heard the slight hiss of a snake and pulled her to a stop, pushing her behind me.

"Percy! Grove! Arrow! We're in Medusa's Lair!" I screamed out, hoping they heard me. My breath caught in my throat as the hissing of snakes grew nearer. The woman held my wrist even tighter as I slowly turned around, facing the sound. I quickly pressed the button on my bow once again, shrinking it back to pocket size. Bow didn't do me much good if I couldn't reach the damn arrows without my other hand.

"Well, if it isn't Luna Ardelena, the child of the hunt," Medusa hissed, her voice right behind me and the woman. "My you are as beautiful as your mother! Look at your hair! So bright, almost like a fire. And those eyes, such pure silver. You know, I once had eyes beautiful like yours, but a certain goddess wasn't very fond of that. Would you like to see them now?"

"Don't look!" I screamed at the woman beside me, forcing my eyes shut as Medusa began to remove her sun glasses, along with the towel that hid her head of snakes. I heard Percy call out my name from somewhere in the garden, and I prayed deep down that he knew not to look into her eyes.

"Sneak...a...peak..." she whispered in my ear, a few of her snakes slithering their way onto my forehead and cheek. I held my eyelids shut as best as I could, not wanting to give into her voice.

I felt the warmness of the woman's hand on my wrist suddenly fade and I cursed under my breath, trying to wriggle my hand free of the now stone hand. Guilt coursed through me; I couldn't save her.

"Come on, daughter of Artemis, just open those silver eyes..." Medusa's voice hissed in my ear once again, and I felt my muscles begin to betray my brain. I felt them all relax, as my eyelids began to open slightly.

Medusa's cry of pain suddenly woke me backup, making my muscles tense again as I held my eyes shut. The stone hand around my wrist quickly fell away as I heard Percy's voice from next to me.

"Open your eyes, Luna, Grover got her. It's alright,"

I slowly opened my eyes, looking into Percy's at first. I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight embrace. 

"Hey, it's alright. We're all okay," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and hugging me back.

"I got her head! And the pearl!" Grover called out as Percy and I pulled away from each other, one arm remaining around my waist. Grover carried the shiny, blue-green pearl in one hand and Medusa's head wrapped up in his jacket in the other. The head would still work without the body, and we might possibly be able to find a use for it.

Arrow walked beside Grover, bowing his head to me slightly. I got down on a knee, bring the pup into a tight hug.

"I'm guessing you bit Medusa?"

I heard you call out, I got here as fast as I could, I hugged the wolf tighter, kissing him on the forehead.

"Thank you, buddy,"

"You know, it's still weird watching you have a one sided conversation since we don't know what he's saying," I glanced up at Grover, lifting an eyebrow at him. He held up his hands in defense before turning to Percy. "Alright, so where to next?"

"The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee," Percy called out, holding the map in his hands as I stood up, patting Arrow's head one last time.

"Great, home of my least favorite music...first we're going to stop for the night cause I'm tired as hell!" Grover complained, beginning to walk out of the building and going on and on about how much he hated country music. I giggled slightly, Percy letting out a low chuckle as well as we followed him out, Arrow walking right in front of us.

I stopped for a second, adjusting my quiver and retying my boots. I looked up, seeing Percy standing in front of me with his hand outstretched. I grinned, taking his hand in mine as we continued to walk.

"You know, water boy, if you wanted to hold my hand you could have just asked,"

"I figured this way, moon child, I would save myself from stumbling over my words like an idiot,"

I focused on Grover in front of us, my cheeks tinting red as I intertwined our hands, holding on as tightly as I could.