Chapter Text
Aunty M looked like the kind of lady who would appear on the news for killing her thirteenth husband, but her smile was at least nice and she didn't appear any more serial killer-y than the bunch of preteens covered in mud at her door.
The only thing Percy probably didn't love was simply how calm she was and her insistence on keeping her hat and veil on even inside her own shop. Her smile widened a fraction and even when he squinted at her, no angle would reveal her eyes.
"Sorry to disturb you, ma'am," Song-ee said, her voice higher pitched and so sweet that it felt like honey was dripping out of Percy's ears. "It's just that we're so hungry, and your house smelled so good."
"We're runaways," Annabeth butted in next, and she even played the part by sniffling and rubbing away at - what the - tears in her eyes. Huge crocodile tears that pooled and spilled over her cheeks as she whimpered, "f-from the circus."
"Our ringmaster was so cruel to us, Aunty," Will pleaded, and Percy felt like he was in bizarro world as the son of Apollo bit back a sob and a single beam of sunlight shined through from the grey clouds above to highlight his teary face. "H-He would beat us. He would starve us for days and if we complained, then he'd - "
Will turned his face away and wailed into Grover's shoulders. The satyr, whose legs were already back into their human disguise, patted Will's back with a solemn condolence and said, "we had to run away, ma'am. It's just been so -hard."
Giant globs of tears gathered at the corners of Grover's eyes, and he let out a shuddering breath before burying his face into Will's hair.
Percy stood there, speechless, and almost bit on his tongue when Aunty M's bottom lip trembled and she said, "oh, my sweet, sweet children! Come inside, quickly now, and let's get out of that rain! Yes, hurry, my darlings."
"You shameless little..." Percy hissed once they all shuffled in and Aunty M hurried to the back, claiming she would bring them mountains of food to feast on. "What the Hades was all that?"
"How to Manipulate a Mortal 101," Annabeth said, the only signs of her crying being the small tear tracks left behind by her now completely dry eyes. "It's part of your core curriculum as a demigod."
"I always feel bad about doing it, but not all of us can manipulate the Mist," Song-ee said, not looking at all apologetic as she dabbed away any remaining tears with the collar of her shirt.
"She was definitely a case study number 47, but we probably should've done something more in the orphan direction," Will said, looking thoughtful as he hopped up onto one of the stools beside the counter. "Maybe more hiccuping, too."
"I have no idea what's happening," Percy sighed. He jumped onto the chair next to Will and ran a hand through his hair. "Seems like that's pretty normal these days."
"Case study 47 says that she's a woman in her late thirties to early forties who has a soft spot for pitiful and dirty children," Song-ee said. She sat next to him and her voice was warm as she tucked some of his hair behind his ears. "It's just observation, sugar."
"47 also says that she probably always wanted children of her own but couldn't due to biological or psychological demands, so playing up how young we are worked in our favor." Annabeth shrugged as she observed a small gnome statue on the counter near a mountain of napkins. "Let's just eat and get out of here. This place is awful."
"Here you are, my sweeties!" Aunty M trilled happily as she waltzed back into the room.
Sure enough, her arms were laden with all kinds of grilled fattiness, paltes perfectly balanced on her limbs as she served them with a precision that Percy had only seen in old diners in the city.
A plate of steaming, hot fries along with a fat burger slid to a stop right in front of him. The conflicting feelings of both being impressed and annoyed over yet again another demigod thing he didn't know faded away rapidly in favor of sudden, rabid hunger, and he was sure he looked like an animal as he tore into the food.
"This is the best tofu burger I've ever had," Grover wept, actually wept, as he didn't even bother using his hands and instead voraciously smashed his face into the plate.
"I think I could die happy," Will moaned.
"I haven't had food this happy in a very long time," Song-ee sighed dreamily.
"f*ck yeah," Annabeth said.
"Dude!" Percy laughed.
For the first time in what felt like ages, Percy felt like a kid again. The burger in his hand was sloppy with a smothering of ketchup and mustard, and it smelled like the most perfectly grilled onions along with spicy jalepenos.
His belly was starting to get full and the cup of iced co*ke that appeared beside his plate washed down the well-seasoned grease, and just as he was trying to steal a fry from Song-ee's plate and endure her annoyance, he startled when he turned back to his spot and realized Aunty M was only inches away from his face.
Her hands were folded and tucked under her chin, her head tilted slightly with her Mona Lisa-esque smile still on her red lips.
"Uh," Percy said intelligently.
"What a bunch of poor, unfortunate souls," Aunty M tutted in sympathy. Her voice was sly and purring, and for some reason, it sounded almost like she was stretching out her s'. "You've had a very hard journey so far, haven't you?"
"Uh, yeah," Percy said slowly. He put down the half-eaten burger, unsettled by the way he still couldn't seem to figure out where Aunty M was looking.
"I can see the statue that looks like my uncle from here," Grover said. Despite him only being a few seats away, it sounded like his voice was muffled.
Percy found he couldn't look away from the veil of Aunty M's hat, not even when Song-ee brushed her knuckles against his and muttered, "Percy?"
"You've had a very hard time," Aunty M continued to mutter. "Yes, you really have..."
"Uh, guys..." Grover bleated somewhere in the background.
The hissing noise was getting louder, and that was what it was, Percy realized. Hissing. Almost like... snakes?
Percy blinked once, twice, and he said, "hey, lady, it was really nice of you to feed us, but maybe we should - "
"So sweet," Aunty M cooed. She reached out and brushed her abnormally long nails against his cheek, the touch so cold that he actually shuddered a little. She smiled, the faintest hint of white appearing against her lipstick, and she said, "that must be because of your father. You truly do bear a resemblance to him, Percy Jackson."
For a moment, Percy felt like time froze.
Song-ee's hand clutched at his tightly, and Annabeth's eyes were wide as she stopped mid-bite. Will had a hand to his mouth, his usually golden skin pale with horror, and Grover's shout was the only sound as he cried out, "thatisUncle Ferdinand!"
"We should go," Percy stuttered.
"So soon?" Aunty M cooed. She reached out to grab his wrist, but before she could, a bronze dagger shot towards her fingers. It stabbed the counter and sunk in like butter, barely missing her skin by only a millimeter, and Percy let out a small shout of shock as Aunty M snatched her hand back, cradled it to her chest, and snarled,"you.I should have turned you into art the moment I saw you! Your mother never fails to haunt me, even here!"
"I'll take that as a compliment," Annabeth said tightly. She was standing from her stool and despite her dagger's precision, her hand lightly shook in the air. "You have no reason to hate us. Let us go."
"She's right," Song-ee said. She was clutching at Percy's arm tightly and she tugged him off the stool, and the air smelled like sour plums as she thrust out her arm and threw it across Annabeth's torso like a shield. "You can hate our parents as much as you want, but we weren't the ones to curse you, Medusa."
Percy felt his eyebrows shoot up as he whipped his head around and stared. "Medusa...?"
Oh,crap.
"Names are powerful things, child," Medusa cooed as the hissing grew even louder. Underneath the brim of her wide hat, several pairs of small eyes began to peek out, and he wanted to recoil when he saw tongues flicking along with slow blinks.Snakes."But of course, your cursedfatherhad no qualms over calling upon me whenever he pleased."
"It wasn't Percy's fault!" Annabeth said fiercely, but there seemed to be tears in her eyes as she shook her head and her blond curls went everywhere. "It wasn't - it wasn't my fault either! You've suffered through a lot, but that doesn't mean you can - "
"SILENCE!"
"Percy, don't look!" Song-ee screamed, and she clapped her hand over his eyes just as the hat was thrown off of Medusa's head in a storm of now furious snakes.
"Scatter!" Will shouted from somewhere to the side.
Luke's training kicked in, and Percy obeyed almost instantly, hitting the ground and scrambling alongside Song-ee to a nearby statue of a woman who seemed to be weeping.
Sweat was already dripping down his nose and he inwardly groaned at the sound of something being smashed as well as Grover yelping.
"Why does this crap always happen," Percy muttered under his breath.
"Shh," Song-ee whispered, and she was close, so close that he could count the individual lashes on her eyelids as she blinked and they both listened carefully.
Looking around him, the place was bigger than he initially thought. It was almost like a maze made of statues along with overgrowth of house plants, and he prayed the others were hiding safely as he and Song-ee exchanged nervous glances when in the distance, Medusa hissed.
"Children! Come out, my dears!" She cooed, the clacks of her high heels echoing and threatening against the cracked tiles. "My, my... who knew the son and daughter of wisdom and the seas could be so cowardly? I suppose the apple doesn't fall far from its blossom."
"Psst!"
Percy glanced over Song-ee's shoulder to see Grover crouched behind a whole family of statues. It was sickening to realize a little girl was among the marble, but Percy forcefully swallowed back his anger and instead tried to focus.
He pushed Song-ee lightly, insistent on her going first so he could cover her. Judging by her glare, she was less than thrilled with the idea, but she obeyed anyway.
It was strange to see someone usually so hyperactive move so stealthily, but her training was paying off, and she was completely silent as she snuck over to the rest of them and urged Percy to follow her with a frantic flapping of her hand.
It took Percy only a little longer to follow suit, and he held his breath as he stretched his hearing in case Medusa noticed.
She shrieked somewhere far behind them, and he let out a relieved sigh as he turned his head back around and whispered, "what's the plan?"
"Not dying," Will immediately whispered back.
"That's an awesome plan," Grover agreed.
"I'd like a little more solidity than that, thank you!" Annabeth snapped.
"Focus," Percy hissed. He winced when Medusa smacked yet another statue down to the ground, the sound of marble turning into dust a little too chilling for him to swallow. "We're all toast if we don't think of something."
"The shoes," Song-ee suddenly piped in.
"You didn't lose one, did you?" Will said, suddenly looking concerned as he tried to peek down at her feet.
She swatted at him irritably and said, "no, dingus, not mine! Percy, where are the gifted sandals Luke gave you?"
"Huh?" Percy said, feeling a little slow as he glanced down at the converse on his feet. "These things? They aren't sandals, unless maybe I've been gaslit my entire life about what they look like."
Annabeth cursed in Ancient Greek. "No, Seaweed Brain - they're sandals gifted from Hermes to Luke. It's a symbol of the God of Messengers. They're supposed to grant you flight when you say the command. Please tell me you know how to actually use them so you can distract the she-demon and we can get away!"
"What?" Percy exclaimed lowly. "How the Hades am I supposed to know how to fly these things? I didn't even know they were magical until now! Why didn't Luke tell me?"
"Give them here," Grover said, sweat already blotting his face as he raced to kick off his fake feet and shoes. Will luckily caught them before they hit the ground and made a noise. "Look, we're the same size, right? I played around with them last summer so - maybe - "
It was a lot harder to exchange shoes behind a few statues without making a noise than anyone would probably think. Percy almost elbowed Song-ee in the nose twice while he fumbled to unlace the converse and at the same time tug on Grover's chunky sneakers, and by the time they were all done, everyone was slightly sweaty and red in the face, but at least it was finished.
"Distract her," Annabeth hissed to Grover, who bleated once and snuck away, his furry behind shaking only a little as he muttered affirmations to himself. She turned around and jutted her chin to the area where Medusa was still heard crying out for them. "Calli, block off any areas of escape for her. There should be enough plants in here to stop her."
"Good luck," Song-ee said seriously, and Annabeth gave her a brief nod before she was gone too.
"Alright, idiots, it's up to the three of us to pull this off," Annabeth said. She took out her cap and twirled it in her hand, her dagger in her other. "Keep her occupied, or figure out a way to kill her, whichever one works. Justdon'tlook her in the eyes."
"How do we do that?" Percy asked.
She gave him a glare and said, "do I have to come up with everything?"
She snapped on the cap and disappeared.
Percy looked at Will with a slightly dropped jaw. "Seriously?"
"We'll do fine," Will said, clapping his shoulder and taking out his dagger. "Too bad we don't have a shield. The reflection is how your namesake killed her, you know - Perseus."
"Oh," Percy said, watching the dagger in Will's hand. "That's... huh. Celestial bronze kind of glows, doesn't it?"
"Sure does, but what does - "
"I have an idea. Let's go."
"You better not get us killed, pretty boy..."
