The four of them wandered through the woods after their narrow escape from the Fury's wrath. Sveta was still shaken by what had just happened. Alecto's sister, Megaera, had been extremely close to kidnapping Percy and taking him to the Underworld. And she was not going to let that happen.

"Somewhere up here, there's a Satyr path," Grover announced. "Satyrs explore them. It'll make it harder for enemies to track us."

"That's great," said Percy, who still sounded shaken up. "But if we stay in the wilderness, how are we going to use a phone?"

Sveta stopped, turning. She frowned at Percy.

"What's a phone?" she finally asked. "And why would we need one?"

"So we can call camp," Percy finally answered. "To get help, I mean."

"No, no, no," said Annabeth at once. "We don't need help. We're fine on our own."

"We're fine?" Percy echoed, amazed. "We haven't even gotten to Trenton, and we already have monsters chasing after us! I didn't even know that there were forests in New Jersey. But, apparently, we found one. I would say that we're the opposite of fine, Annabeth."

"We were sent on a quest by the gods!" said Annabeth as they continued walking through the forest. "What did you think it would be, easy? This is not easy. It's supposed to be hard. That's why very few people are chosen to do this kind of thing. If we call camp now, it would basically mean that sending us on this quest would be a huge mistake. And we'll be a laughing stock for the rest of our lives."

"I'm completely comfortable with that," said Percy. "Everyone makes mistakes."

Annabeth cringed upon hearing that. As a daughter of Athena, Annabeth wasn't afraid of anything. She liked to be a perfectionist.

"Well, I'm not," she huffed.

"Anyways, didn't you say that you wanted kleos? Isn't that what Luke is trying to help you with?" Another thought crossed Sveta's mind. She turned to face Percy and frowned. "Why are you so afraid of who you are?"

Percy gaped at her, surprised. He stopped in his tracks, making everyone else stop, as well.

"What?" he asked, alarmed.

"I asked you a question, Seaweed Brain," said Sveta, who was growing more frustrated by the minute. "Why are you afraid of who you are?"

"Afraid? I'm not afraid," Percy scoffed.

"Yes, you are," said Sveta. She could feel the anger slowly rising in her voice.

"Y'know, what's interesting about this satyr's path is that it's the same one my Uncle Ferdinand travelled on," said Grover nervously. He was hoping to tone down the tension between Lainey and Percy. But they ignored him.

"What d'you mean, I'm afraid of who I am? I'm not afraid," Percy repeated.

The girl's nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. Something that happened whenever she was mad. She noticed that her skin glowed slightly with red. She knew he was lying. He was afraid to admit that he was scared.

"Yes, you are. You're not 'just a kid'," she huffed. "'Just a kid' doesn't do what you did to Clarisse back at camp. 'Just a kid' doesn't have Hades' lieutenants to retrieve and kidnap them. You are a part of something that's much, much bigger than any of us could understand! We have to move forward, whether you like it or not. Whether you want to, or not."

"You don't wanna call camp? Fine," Percy huffed, clearly annoyed with Sveta's outburst. "But can we at least call your father? Or Annabeth's mother?"

Sveta's eyes narrowed again. She was getting mad. She couldn't just go and ask her father for help! It wasn't allowed unless they were in serious trouble.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth asked. She sounded disgusted. Then, to Grover, she added, "Grover, will you please explain to your friend that he needs to pull himself together?"

"I don't understand why you're dragging him into this," said Percy angrily. "He's on my side!"

"Really? What makes you say that?" scoffed Annabeth.

"He's my protector!" Percy insisted.

"He was mine and Annabeth's protector, first!" Sveta shot back, though she regretted her outburst.

"First? What d'you mean, first?" Percy asked, suddenly softening his tone. He noticed Sveta's eyes flicking to the ground, avoiding the boy's gaze, as though she was ashamed of herself.

"Guys?" said Grover. He could smell something that none of his other friends could smell. "D'you smell that?"

"Grover, we're trying to be serious, here," said Sveta. She kept raising her voice until she made herself heard.

"D'you smell that?" Grover repeated.

"Smell what?" Annabeth asked.

"Hamburgers," said Grover softly.

They stared at each other. The three of them were sure that Grover was just trying to distract them from making their fight worse.

"What?" said Annabeth.

"Somebody's making hamburgers," Grover repeated. He walked along, pushing past the three kids.

They continued walking until they came across a large, ancient-looking building. But what disturbed Katie even more was when she noticed the hundreds, and hundreds of statues in the front yard, just staring at them. Her face paled.

"Shit," she whispered to herself as she eyed the statues in front of her.

"What?" said Grover, who was clearly clueless about what was going on.

"'Auntie Em' has a garden full of statues," Sveta continued sarcastically. "This is definitely from our world, alright. Does anyone here want to guess what 'Auntie Em' stands for?"

They were quiet. Finally —

"Oh," said Grover softly.

"Let's get out of here, please?" said Sveta nervously. "While we can? I know exactly who runs this place. And let's just say . . . . as a daughter of Apollo, I'm not particularly fond of snakes."

"I agree," Annabeth agreed quickly. "Let's go."

But before they could make their escape, Alecto appeared once again. They all tensed, backing into the garden.

"You should have accepted my offer when you had the chance, Miss Keegan," said the Fury.

"Sveta? What is she talking about?" said Percy nervously.

Before she could respond, a new voice that sent chills down Sveta's spine, spoke up.

"Not today, friends," said the voice. Sveta's voice hitched as it did when she got scared. "Not on my doorstep, anyways."

The woman continued to approach them. Sveta immediately had the sense to turn away. Grover and Annabeth followed suit. Percy was confused for a moment before realizing exactly who the woman was. He followed Grover and Annabeth. Even Alecto had shielded her gaze from the lady who approached them.

"If you want to get away from the Fury, I suggest that you come inside," Medusa suggested. "I'll help you. Would you like to join us, Alecto?"

Sveta rolled her eyes. She knew that the woman was lying. But she'd rather be with the snake lady instead of trying to take down a Fury for the third time that week. Alecto continued to hide her face much further than before. Medusa smirked.

"I didn't think you would," she hummed in response. "She won't bother you as long as you're indoors with me. But it isn't as though she'd leave, either. Not if it means reporting that she's failed to retrieve the son of Poseidon."

The hair on Sveta's neck stood up as the vile woman spoke to Percy. She wanted to go over and put herself in front of Percy to protect him. But she couldn't move. She could hear the snakes hissing underneath Medusa's hat. Her fear of snakes made it impossible for her to move.

"How did you —?" Percy began, but Medusa cut him off.

"A forbidden child has been claimed. How long do you think that would be kept a secret, hmm? It's a pleasure to meet you, son of Poseidon. I'm Medusa."

She walked away. Percy began to go after her, but Sveta  grabbed onto his hand, forcing him to a stop. Percy turned to face the girl, whose face looked extremely pale.

"What?" he asked.

"Percy, I — I don't trust her," she said, her voice hitching with fear.

"Why? Not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster. I trust my mom on that."

Sveta huffed. She should probably tell him, now or never.

"Percy . . . . she has a head full of snakes. Children of Apollo do not — I repeat — do not like snakes. Whatsoever."

"C'mon," Percy scoffed. "How bad can she be?"

He walked away towards the house. Sveta, Annabeth, and Grover glanced at each other, clearly worried for Percy's sanity. Even though she was terrified, she forced herself to go into the house. Percy glanced up when he heard extra footsteps approaching. He smiled, slightly amused, when he saw Sveta nervously biting at the inside of her cheek.

"I have appetizers for you on the table while I get the burgers ready," said Medusa. "You can help yourselves."

She walked away. They all glanced worriedly at each other.

"D'you think that it's safe to eat?" Annabeth hissed nervously.

"I'm not gonna lie to you guys," said Grover seriously, "but I'm very hungry. I might as well."

"Thanks for coming," said Percy once the three of them had joined him at the table.

"This isn't the same for you, as it's the same for me and Annabeth, Percy," Sveta snapped. She was still nervous.

"Really? Why?" Percy asked, surprised.

"I know why you refuse to come in here, daughter of Apollo," said Medusa as she came back in. They immediately avoided her gaze. The girl refused to say anything. Her hands shook nervously. "You have a fear of snakes."

Sveta swallowed, still avoiding her gaze.

"And if I am?" she challenged.

"Believe me, dear. I know that all children of Apollo have a fear of snakes one way or another. I think that the two of us have more in common than you think."

She still didn't trust Medusa.

"So, if you're not a monster, then what are you?" Percy finally asked.

Medusa smiled, thrilled that people were suddenly interested in her.

"A survivor," she answered.

"You must be a bit more than that," Percy challenged. "Alecto, back there, seems to be terrified of you."

"Because she knows what I think of her," Medusa responded at once. "I don't like bullies."

None of us do, Sveta thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. Medusa continued explaining why Alecto was terrified of her. But she had a feeling that she was hiding something.

"When one ends up on my doorstep, they end up spending a lot more time here than they had originally planned for. The gift the gods gave me is I cannot be bullied anymore."

Sveta let out an audible scoff that Medusa simply ignored.

"What my mother gave you wasn't a gift," Annabeth suddenly put in. "It was a curse."

"You're loyal to your mother, I see," said Medusa with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Of course, I am," Annabeth answered defensively.

"You stand by her?"

"Always. Why wouldn't I? She's my mother."

"You love her?"

"Of course, I do!"

"And so did I. So did I. Do any of you know how I came to be?"

"I do," Grover answered at once.

"Do you?" said Medusa mysteriously.

Grover looked around, suddenly confused and uncomfortable. He swallowed the roll he had been eating.

"Do I?" he finally questioned.

Medusa then went on to explain how she had adored Annabeth's mother when she was younger and not the monster she was today. She explained how the Sea god came along and told Medusa that he loved her. Then went on to proceed that she had embarrassed Athena in her own temple and gave her a curse rather than Poseidon.

"She decided that I would never be seen by anyone who lived to tell this tale," she concluded, her voice breaking.

"That isn't what happened," Annabeth finally snapped. "My mother is just, always."

"The gods want you to believe that," Medusa hummed in response. "They want you to believe that they're infallible. But they only want what all bullies want. They want us to blame ourselves for their own shortcomings."

Sveta scoffed.

"That is not what happened," said Annabeth sharply. "And you are a liar!"

There was the smell of something burning. Medusa got to her feet.

"Something's burning," she sighed. "Would one of you like to give me a hand in the kitchen? I think that lunch is ready."

Percy glanced at his friends before going over to help Medusa. Sveta bit her lower lip, worried for the boy. Without thinking, she pressed the rose stud on her ring and it immediately transformed into her short sword, which appeared directly in her hands.

"Grover? Sveta?" said Annabeth, whose eyes were narrow with caution. Grover looked up with a mouthful of bread rolls. "Get ready to run."

A moment or two after Percy had left, he came back, ushering the three of his friends away. Once he saw the basement, he forced them inside. They could hear her footsteps approaching. As they approached, fire began to illuminate the room. Once the room was light enough, Katie could see hundreds, upon thousands of statues. One was right in front of her face, and it scared the living daylights out of her.

"C'mon," said Annabeth hurriedly.

"Wait, there's only four of us," said Grover worriedly. "If we split up, she can't be watching us all at once."

"It can't be that simple," said Sveta stubbornly. She crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke.

"It could be," Percy answered slowly. Everyone gave him weird looks. "Here's the plan. I'll get up in the air, I'll draw her attention. When you hear me say 'Maia' —"

At once, the shoes that Grover had been wearing began to flutter. He began to rise swiftly into the air, panicking as he did before floating away.

"He'll be fine. I think," said Percy nervously.

"We are not our parents until we choose to be," said Medusa's voice. She was coming ever closer towards them. Sveta jumped and they all took off. When they had hidden themselves (She managed to make herself disappear and stay by Percy's side), they could still hear Medusa's voice taunting them, calling after them. "You three have been chosen. The daughter of a self-righteous mother. The daughter of an arrogant, love-sick father. And you. . . . you could have shown your father what it means to stand up for someone you love. You could choose to save your mother instead of doing your father's bidding. If none of you will choose these lessons I give you, then perhaps, you should be the lessons. When I ship your statues to Olympus. . . . maybe they will get my point across even better." She saw Percy's sword glow. She smirked evilly, knowing that she had caught her prey. "Stand up."

Sveta watched, worried, as Percy forced himself to stand. But she was relieved when she saw that he had his eyes screwed tightly shut.

"Let's have a look at you," said Medusa as she came ever closer towards Sveta's and Percy's hiding place.

"I really didn't think this through!" Grover's panicked voice tore through the nearly-silent room. He flew overhead. He crashed into a statue next to Sveta, and the shoes immediately stopped flying. Sveta bent down and offered the satyr her hand, which he gratefully took.

Just in time, Annabeth came from behind and forced her hat onto Medusa's head before Percy cut the woman's head off, just as the infamous Perseus had done before him.

"Is everyone okay?" Sveta asked anxiously once she and Grover came into view. Grover rubbed at his head. He knew that he would receive a bruise there by morning.

"Did you hear that?" said Percy anxiously.

Percy went over to where Medusa's invisible body laid. He kicked the sliced head and they all groaned in disgust. Finally, Percy had the courage to pick the invisible head up. Sveta wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Yuck!" she exclaimed in disgust.

***

Upstairs, away from the basement of Auntie Em's, Percy and Sveta climbed the stairs. They approached the gate. Alecto still stood there, her head still covered, in fear of Medusa's return. Sveta bit her lip nervously. As much as she hated snakes (dead ones included), she felt the need to petrify the evil beast in front of them.

"D'you want me to do it?" she finally asked, breaking the silence.

"No, I'll do it," Percy answered.

"Right. Make sure that the head is facing away from you when you take Annabeth's hat off," Sveta advised.

"I know," Percy replied. "But good tip, though."

"Okay," Sveta breathed. She found herself staring into Percy's unexpected, deep blue eyes. She hadn't realized how beautiful they looked — until now. She could feel the heat rushing to her face as she noticed that she had been staring.

"Do you mind opening the door for me?" Percy asked shyly. He could feel a blush creeping up his cheeks. "My hands are kinda full."

"Oh! Of course," she answered.

She opened the door for the boy. He made his way confidently towards the Fury. Sveta found herself watching from a distance. Even though she knew that he knew what he was doing, she still felt nervous for him. One wrong turn, and he, himself, could become Medusa's victim instead of the creature.

Once Percy had succeeded in killing the creature, they went back to the basement. They found Annabeth and Grover staring at a statue that had horns like Grover did. Finally, Sveta broke the silence.

"Grover? What is it?"

"It's my — It's my Uncle Ferdinand," he answered in a choked voice.

"Oh, no," said Percy softly.

"Grover, I'm so sorry," said Sveta kindly. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around the Satyr's shoulders, trying to comfort him. Grover sniffled.

"This is how far he got on his quest to search for Pan," he said with a heavy sigh. "We're not even in Trenton. But . . . . look at him. He's not like the others here. He doesn't — he doesn't look afraid." He cleared his throat. "So I assume you've killed Alecto?"

"Yeah," Percy answered.

"Good. That was the right move."

"Great. Now we have an even bigger issue," said Sveta. She let go of Grover.

"Bigger issue?" Percy repeated, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"'You could have saved your mother,'" Sveta repeated. "That's what she said to you, wasn't it? It sounded like you've discussed this already. Is your mother still alive somehow?"

Percy rolled his eyes. His face burned with embarrassment. He hated that everyone figured out why he was actually going on this quest.

"She's with Hades, in the Underworld," he huffed. "I appreciate your concern."

"Guys, stop! Please!" said Grover. He already had enough of Sveta's and Percy's bickering. But the arguing duo didn't listen. 

Sveta's eyes were livid. "Oh, I'm concerned, alright. What are you actually doing on this quest, Percy? And why do we have to hear it from Medusa?"

"Okay," said Percy, who immediately fired back. "You should have accepted my offer? What's that about, do you think? And why did we have to hear it from Alecto?"

"ENOUGH!" Annabeth shouted.

That personally caught Sveta's and Percy's attention. They turned to stare at their two friends.

"That hat was a gift from her mother," said Grover defensively. "It's the one thing that she's ever possessed to be close to her. That ought to matter to you, Percy."

Luckily, Percy distracted them as they discussed what to do with Medusa's head.

"Okay. . . . but how are we going to keep this safe?" he asked. "We can't leave it down here in case someone finds it and uses it for no reason."

"I'm not up to that yet," said Grover stubbornly. He whipped around to face Sveta. "And you! Really?" Sveta stared at him in surprise. "He just found out that his mom is alive. Can you imagine how confusing that must be for him? Feeling like, he has to choose between the fate of the world and the fate of the only person who ever cared about him?"

Sveta could feel tears pricking at her eyes. Why was Grover talking this way? He never spoke in that kind of tone before. Grover had always been the laid-back kind of guy. Didn't have a problem with anyone.

"Why are you acting like this?!" she finally burst out, her voice shaking.

"Because, ever since we've been on this quest, all I've been doing is trying to keep this group together! And all the two of you have been doing is bickering your butts off like an old married couple! I've been trying to not upset anyone and keep us going." He turned to face Percy. "You never answered Sveta question back in the woods. What are you so afraid of? Why are you lashing out at me like this?!"

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked, pretending to not understand what Sveta was asking.

She rolled her eyes. A growl of frustration came from her throat. She wouldn't be surprised if fire was coming out of her eyes.

"You heard me, Jackson," she growled.

"I don't know," Percy answered, a little too quickly. He noticed the aura around her turning red. He knew he had just lied to her. "Oops."

"Yeah, 'oops'," said Sveta. "You just lied to me. Children of Apollo don't like being lied to. Tell me the truth! What are you so afraid of?"

"Because the Oracle said that one of you would betray me, okay?" he finally burst out. "'You shall be betrayed by the one you call 'friend', and you will fail to save what matters most in the end'," he repeated, glaring at his friends. A lump formed in his throat. He didn't want to cry, but he felt so frustrated with everyone. He didn't know who to trust. "I chose Annabeth, because I couldn't imagine that we'd ever be friends. I chose you, because you have been at my side for everything that I've been through at Camp. I thought that you would leave my side, but you haven't. Once. And I chose Grover because I thought that I can count on you for anything. And now, I'm feeling so . . . . so alone! I don't know what to think or who to trust," he finished quietly.

Sveta bit her lower lip. Tears came to her eyes. She never meant to hurt Percy, or make him cry. The stress of their quest was beginning to take a toll on her. But she would not back down. She knew that she would stick with Percy, no matter what. She took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"Alecto offered me her help with the quest and let me go back to camp if I gave you up to her," she admitted.

"And what did you say?" Percy asked, his voice quiet. He felt guilty for accusing her of leaving his side.

She smirked. Her eyes twinkled with mischief and pride. She stood up a little straighter, her chin held high in the air.

"I killed her sister."

Percy was silent as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say. Finally, a smirk crept up his lips.

"Medusa offered to help save my mom if I turned on the three of you."

Sveta was silent for a moment. "And what did you say?"

Percy held up the invisible head that he still held in his hands.

"I cut her head off."

Sveta couldn't help but smirk. She chuckled. Finally, Grover came around and grinned, glad that he had his friends back, and on good terms.

"You didn't choose to be demigods," he said wisely. "You didn't choose to go on this quest. But what we can do is decide that, as long as the four of us are together, none of us are going to be alone."

As he spoke the last part, Sveta put a gentle hand on Percy's shoulder. He looked down at her and smiled gently at the girl.

"And if we can't do this, we might as well head back to camp right now, and disappoint everyone. Because we won't make it."

Percy stayed quiet before a look of confidence came to his eyes.

"I think that I have a better idea of what to do with this."

***Yikes! This is a bit of a long chapter! So sorry about that! But I hope that y'all will enjoy this chapter all the same!***