10 The Gorgon's Tale of Survival and Tragedy

Albert could still barely believe the things he did, really, for real. 

In a really twisted way, he thought it was nice to know there are Greek gods out there because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. The sad part was the gods themselves were never held accountable for the messes they made, like Poseidon and the Minotaur. The one who pays the price is usually the unlucky demigods, like Percy Jackson, who had to fight the monster made by his own father. For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monsters trusted with the punishment of some of the worst souls in the Underworld on a random bus, or in Percy's case, under the constant threat of being blown up by lightning if he took an airplane.

It was raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck, but Albert just felt like when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day. In this case, maybe it was the King of the Gods himself sending all this rain to mess up their quest. Who knows? He wouldn't say it out loud, he probably already got on the permanent blacklist of Alecto and her sisters, he did not need another powerful entity hating him in any way.

There we were, Percy Annabeth and Grover and himself, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank in what Grover called a 'satyr's trail', little paths around the wild that satyrs used to move around in their quest to find Pan, god of nature and fertility and the wild. the glow of New York City making the night sky yellowish above them still, and the smell of the Hudson River reeking in their noses. Albert truly believed that if Pan had his way, a place like New York City would have been destroyed centuries ago because of all the trash and pollution it produced, but again... the same goes for all the major cities.

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

 Percy was pretty much in shock himself. The explosion of bus windows still rang in their ears, but Annabeth kept pulling them all along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better. I read before in the Camp's library that they are the fastest monsters to reform from Tartarus."

 "We are like in the middle of nowhere," Albert reminded her. "No real food, no way to even shower, and our dirty and sweaty clothes. None of us considered the possibility of sleeping in the woods, no offense, Grover, but I wasn't built for life in the wild."

"None taken," The satyr rolled his eyes and chuckled.

 "Well, maybe if someone hadn't decided to jump into the fight and crashed the bus—" Annabeth suddenly said in annoyance.

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

 "You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine." She argued, even if she was not okay and they all knew. "You risked the quest! You risked a war! We are demigods too, none of us are damsels in distress."

 "Sliced like sandwich bread maybe, maybe roasted by their freaking flaming whips too," Albert but in, "but we'd be fine, of course."

 "Shut up, Albert, don't pretend you don't agree with me," said Annabeth glaring at him. "We can all see the coldness irradiating from your graceful self, and you have been avoiding eye contact with the rest of us since we got out of that bus!"

"I don't regret it!" Percy exclaimed. "I would've done it again if necessary."

 Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans . . . all I had was a perfectly good bag of tin cans, why was I thinking?"

They sloshed across wet and mushy ground filled with weeds and wild plants, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry. Albert did not comment on Annabeth's accusation, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. 

 After a few minutes, Annabeth fell in line next to Percy. "Look, I . . ." Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave. I admit that."

 "We're a team, right?"

"Are you two really gonna have this conversation here of all places?" Albert said, as he sighed heavily trying to fix his drenched hair because it was sticking on his face. "We are all grateful, Jackson. The chances of survival were pitiful back there, but you saved everybody. We can talk and apologize and get all buddy-buddy somewhere else, where I can get a decent bath."

Annabeth snorted at his words, probably she would be blushing at his bluntness too, but in the dark, hardly any of the others could claim to have seen it, well, maybe Grover, but Albert wasn't sure goats had night vision like cats did.

She was silent for a few more steps. "That was one way of putting in it, thank you. It's just that if you died, Percy . . . aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world. It's not worth it if the world pays for it, you know?" She hesitated for a minute, "We all have family and people we care for out there too."

Blondie's comment really turned the atmosphere around them somber, Albert thought to himself. Never he would expect her to express such personal feelings with any of them at this point, but he guessed the emotional turmoil was getting to all of them.

Fortunately, the thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind them, leaving the group of kids and preteens and whatever Grover considered himself to be with all the satyrs-take-twice-the-time-to-mature-even-if-he-was-technically-the oldest thing. They were almost in total darkness, not even the moon was making an appearance because of the cloudy night sky. The boys couldn't see anything of Annabeth's except a glint of her blond hair. Albert thought that maybe he could try making his eyes glow again, but he had no clue how to do that.

"So like...you haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" Percy suddenly broke the silence, asking Annabeth.

"No . . . only short field trips. My dad—" Annabeth explained.

"The history professor?"

"Yeah," Her voice denoted her mood at his impatience, "It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home." She was rushing her words out now as if she were afraid somebody might try to stop her. "At camp, you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not."

"You're pretty good with that knife," He said.

 "You think so?" The girl asked.

"No offense, but... aren't you a daughter of Athena?" Albert asked with a terribly amused tone. "Hector told me you guys are usually good with weapons, right? It drives the Ares kids to madness when he beats them with his spear."

"Who is Hector?" Percy asked with a weird tone.

"Hector my half-brother, son of Athena," Annabeth explained in a weirder tone. "You two are close? Seriously? How?"

"He is always in the audience when I'm at training with Mr. Chiron, he took a week to come and talk to us one day," The boy replied, "He gave some tips with the bow, and he helped me a lot. He doesn't talk much though. Maybe he is timid, I don't know. He certainly talks less than you do, nerd."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear the last part, thank you," Annabeth said with an annoyed tone, "He is not timid, he is just... huh, serious? I thought it was weird when he started skipping his scultuping time."

"Oh, he is an artist? Good to know..." Albert's tone turned excited. "Maybe if I survive this quest I can get him to show me his works, he never told me about them before."

"Can we not talk about dying?!" Grover exclaimed. "I am still young and I have a lot to live!"

 Although Albert was having a hard time seeing, he thought that Grover might have made them all smile at his antics. He did at least. Grover had a special talent for dispelling the tension between them. He guessed he was just a really good soul. It made him want to get close to him at one point when this was all over.

 "You know," She said, "maybe I should tell you guys . . . Something funny back on the bus-!"

 Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot, like the sound of an owl being tortured. It put them all on alert mode. 

 "Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried in excitement. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods! How did I forget that?!" He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like 'What Dreams Are Made Of' by Hillary Duff.

After tripping and cursing and jumping and stumbling on rogue weeds and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so they finally started to see the light up ahead of them: the colors of a huge neon sign in the middle of nowhere. They all could smell the sweet and pleasant smell of good food. Fried, greasy, excellent fast food. They hadn't eaten anything unhealthy since I'd arrived at Half-Blood Hill for the first time, the staff charged with food were against it like it was a sin or so did Connor and Travis told him. They basically lived on grapes, bread, cheese, and extra-lean-cut nymph-prepared barbecue or satyr-prepared salads. He could hear Percy and Grover's stomachs growling loudly, Annabeth's too.

The group kept walking until they saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell. Albert snorted, not suspicious at all, he thought.

It wasn't a fast-food restaurant the rest of the group hoped for at all, not even close. It was one of those weird roadside shops made for unsuspecting tourists that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that- oddly specific souvenirs. The main building was a long and big, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary, acres of it.

The was something written on the neon sign: AUNT EM'S GRAND GNOME EMPORUIM.

"What the heck does that say?" Percy asked.

"I don't know either," Annabeth said.

Albert was glad he had foreknowledge and that his grandmother studied Latin when she was younger. He had almost forgotten he was surrounded by dyslexic demigods, but for an unknown reason he could read it just fine.

Grover translated for them: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."

"We are not taking another step, all of you!" Albert exclaimed, earning weird looks from the others. "Come on, guys... we are in the middle of nowhere. There a dozens of satues around, the place is called Aunty Em's, please- it's M! What do you think that letter stands for?"

They heard the sound of footsteps approaching, heels on the pavement. Annabeth was the first to say, "Close your eyes, look away!"

The sound of footsteps stopped, suddenly, a bit far from them. At this point, all of them had taken out their weapons, but fighting with closed eyes was a bit difficult. 

"Well, if you have something to resolve, why don't you come inside?" A sweet and smooth female voice asked. Facing their silence, she sighed, "No, well, I didn't really think you would. The monsters won't bother you as long as you're with me. Not that it means they would leave either, there are some close to this area, you know? Not that it means failing to retrieve or kill the son of Poseidon."

"How did you-" Percy asked confused, but he was interrupted.

"A forbidden child has been claimed." The lady explained with the same sweet voice. "How long do you think that secret would keep?" She paused for a second, before adding, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, son of Poseidon. I'm Medusa."

This was all different from what he remembered from the books in the memories, Albert thought feeling slightly alarmed. This might be even more dangerous than he expected. He knew things were gonna go differently, but he felt like this was a bit too soon!

"Percy don't!" Annabeth warned, "She is a monster!"

"We all choose who we make our monsters," The lady commented as calmly as before, "but right now the only one who doesn't want you to tear you all from limb to limb is me, darling...and I'm offering you dinner. The choice is yours."

As soon as she finished talking they could all hear the sound of her footsteps receding. 

"I think we can trust her." Percy blurted out.

"Dude!" Grover exclaimed in disbelief.

"What?" Annabeth said at the same time in shock.

"I can't explain it, I just..." Percy explained looking helpless. "My mom used to tell me her story. And the point was always that she isn't what people think. And... I definitely trust my mom."

Albert fought the urge to make a controversial comment on Percy's mother's choices and how they have come to bite her in the ass in the end. He was thinking about the possibility of this offer too. If Medusa wanted them dead or petrified, she could have easily done so without much fuss, but she was offering shelter. He carefully glanced a the nasty forms of some of the perfectly accurate statues of her store, all monsters. 

"I am going in," He said. "Do what you want."

Annabeth looked at Albert for help, but he shrugged mouthing soundlessly 'What you want me to do?!'. He could probably Charspeak the boy to walk away and everything, but at what cost? Percy would resent him for it and the others would fear him. Plus, this lady said something right. We all choose who we make our monsters. Instead of killing the lady for whatever transgression she made, the goddess turned her into this creature and cursed her with this.

These people and creatures and monsters, perpetually petrified, also had Athena to blame whether Annabeth could admit it or not. Albert followed Percy. At least if he was there he could do something if this go south.

In the end, they all followed and accepted the woman's offer. Even if some... more begrudgingly than others. Medusa's home interior was pretty in a way. A great sense of home aesthetics, similar to what a Victorian home looked like in shows from the UK. There was a big table in the middle of the room, but she was absent. Foods, meals, and desserts were displayed in a candle-lit feast. The kids were warily looking around and inspecting everything as if looking for something to jump at them.

"You must be hungry!" Medusa's voice said from another room, she sounded pleased to have them there. "I left snacks on the table while I get something proper going."

Percy was the first of them who broke the silence, eyeing the food on the table with great interest, while poking Gover, "Do you think it's safe to eat?"

The satyr boy whimpered and sighed all at once, "Percy... I am not gonna lie to you. I am really hungry... and I am ready to take that chance."

Percy glanced over to Albert, looking at him with a sincerely grateful look, "Thanks for coming." He glanced over to the incredibly uncomfortable girl next to him and added, "You too."

"I didn't do that for you though" Albert blurted out feeling guilty at his gratefulness. "I did it because I wanted to and... she sounded really nice for all that is worth. Alecto was less than kind. I also don't think she of all people would resort to poison or drugs to get rid of us, anyway. It's not like she needs it."

Annabeth looked at them and with a complicated expression, "This isn't the same for me as it is for you."

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Her mother, of course, what else?" Albert replied almost instantly, looking over Percy as if he was wondering whether he was very naive or just dumb. What question was that?

"You're concerned I would hold a grudge against you simply because you are a daughter of Athena?" Medusa asked. As soon as she spoke the first word, all of them averted their gaze towards the other direction where she was coming from. She explained as she poured something into a cup, "You shouldn't be. We are not our parents after all and... you and I might have more in common than you think. Please, sit and eat."

They all hesitated for a second before awkwardly accepting her offer, still looking away. Albert decided to just be alert, but as far as things were going he didn't detect any hostility from this being, even so... he did not trust her one bit.

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

"A survivor."

"You must be a little more than that..." Albert mused out loud, not unkindly. "There are a couple of dangerous-looking statues in your garden and you said the monsters don't come here, Lady Medusa."

"Because they know what I think of them," She readily replied. "I don't like bullies. When one shows up at my doorstep, they end up spending a lot more time there than they planned for," Her tone was almost kind as she took a seat next to the table, "The gift the gods gave me is that I cannot be bullied anymore."

"What my mother did to you wasn't a gift. I was a curse!" Annabeth said sharply.

Blondie just got triggered by her, Albert mentally rolled his eyes. Still, he could see her point, even though, he believed she had to be more careful with her sharp tone when they were currently on enemy territory, eating the lady's food at her table. While she was drinking tea next to them.

"You are loyal to your mother." The woman stated as if this was a fact.

"Yes!" The girl quickly confirmed.

"Do you stand by her?" Medusa asked.

"Always!" Annabeth confirmed firmly.

"You love her?" The lady insisted even more but was just as calm as before.

"And so did I... So did I," Medusa said, there was nostalgia and something else in her tone. "Do you know the story of how I came to be this way?"

"I do!" Gover exclaimed absentmindedly munching on a vegan macaroni.

"You do?" The lady asked amused.

"Do..I?" The poor satyr said unsure and anxious.

"Athena was everything to me..." Medusa explained. "I worshiped her. I prayed to her. I made offerings... She never answered," There was a tense pause, her voice now carried a self-deprecating tone, "Not even an omen to suggest she appreciated my love. I wasn't like you, sweetheart... I was you!"

Annabeth looked as impassive as ever from Albert's point of view, The girl was stubborn as a mule. Her arrogance was so blatantly displayed as she crossed her arms over her chest, like a little child. Unwilling to relent to a parent's request. This made Albert feel like Annabeth was more immature than he gave her credit for, a lot more. Couldn't she see the bigger picture? Did she simply ignore that this lady was once a person, a mortal, and now she could turn things into stone?!

"I would have worshiped her that way for a lifetime...in silence." Medusa continued, "But one day, another god came, and he broke that silence," The woman now was directing her words at Percy, clearly as she stated. "Your father. The Sea God told me he loved me. I felt as if he saw me in a way I had never felt seen before. But then Athena declared that I had embarrassed her and I needed to be punished. Not him. Me. She decided I would never be seen again by anyone who would live to tell the tale."

"That isn't what happened!" Annabeth exclaimed in protest. My mother is just! Always!"

Albert let out a groan, loud enough to be heard by everyone at the table. His displeasure was apparent, he didn't make any effort to hide his opinion without having to spare a word. He took a sip from the jasmine tea the lady had left on the table.

"The gods want you to believe that. That they are infallible." Medusa said clearly annoyed now. " But they all want what all bullies want. They want us to blame ourselves for their own shortcomings."

"That is not what happened and you are a liar!" Annabeth protested again. 

This earned them all a long silent pause. Until Medusa said to Percy, "Something is burning. Would you give me a hand in the kitchen? I think dinner is ready."

Percy looked at Annabeth, who shook her head as if telling him not to go. Yet, he got up from his seat and followed her into the kitchen. As soon as they left, there was a collective sigh.

"Next time, how about you keep your damn mouth shut?" Albert said glaring daggers at the girl, his voice filled with coldness. "Just to be clear, I couldn't care less about your mommy issues. Not even a little. What I cannot ignore is the fact that you deem yourself the voice of reason and put all of us in danger when we are already treading thin ice here! You should know better!" He turned to Grover, "And you... be ready to run. There is no way this ends without a fight now!"

Albert unsheathed Silena's dagger and told the other two to stay put before he quietly as possible went to the kitchen. He only stopped right before the door, in a corridor. He was attentively listening to the woman talk.

"She is not usually like that," Percy said, before admitting. "I mean, a little bit, she is, but that was a lot."

"She is going to betray you," Medusa stated, plain and simple. "Sooner or later, people like her... they always do."

"I don't think she is like that."

"Then you will be an easy mark for her when the time comes."

"What do you care?" Percy asked.

He sounded agitated, Albert thought. She just touched where it hurts. Albert realized he was probably thinking about the second half of the prophecy, the one he didn't tell anyone about, and the only reason he knew was because of foreknowledge. Percy was under a lot of pressure, he realized. 

"Your mother and I... we are like sisters in a way," Medusa explained. "Targeted by the same monster. So... I find myself feeling protective of you."

"A monster?" Percy repeated. "My mom never talked about my dad that way."

"And where is she now, your mother? Is she safe?" Medusa asked, not unkindly.

"No... She's not."

Well, that probably hurt, thought the demigod hiding in the corridor. He had to give this lady the credit. She knew where to strike and when to strike. She left Percy speechless with a question that sounded innocent but revealed the flaw in his logic. When she was a simple mortal was a long time ago, when women did not have many rights, maybe if things were different and she had lived nowadays instead, she could have become an attorney or a lawyer or something along that line.

"Do you trust your friends to help you to make her safe?" The woman pressed. "Will they let you make her safe if it conflicts with their quest?" There was a silent pause, she understood, he did not know the answer to that. "I could...help them remove them from the equation so that you can be free from them. If you ask me to."

Before she finished, Albert did not waste time. He quickly and silently grabbed Percy by the wrist and the boy immediately understood what he was trying to do. They both sprinted out of the kitchen together.

"And I was starting to like her!" Albert complained under his breath as they ran away.

As soon as they got back to the table, they were met with surprised and anxious looks from Annabeth and Grover. 

"We need to get out of here," Percy explained.

"That door leads to the underground, I think we can hide there," Annabeth said as she took the lead. 

They followed her without much thought. The door led to stairs to an underground part of the place. Unfortunately, it was too dark and they had to awkwardly and silently get down there before she got back. 

"Careful, I think I bumped into something!" Grover exclaimed. 

Before any of them could respond. They heard the noise of her heels on the ground, getting closer and closer. As soon as she arrived, flames went up. They illuminated the chamber like some sort of old templed, though oil trails on the walls and the ground, lines of fire fastly spread out. 

"What the hell is this place?" Percy asked.

Suddenly there was a muffled gasp. They all looked at Annabeth who was looking in horror at a statue. There was another gasp that followed. Grover.

"Statues... so many of them." The satyr said in horror.

"That is where she kept them, there are hundreds- no, thousands of them," Albert stated as if he had finally got the answer to a question that had been bugging his mind. "I knew something was fishy when all the statues on the entrance were that of monsters. I was wondering where she kept the rest. There was just... no way, only monsters crossed her path."

Percy choked in horror hearing him, "Are these all people?"

"No, not all..." Grover somberly replied, looking at a particular statue. He awkwardly caressed the horns of the thing, Grover was crying, tears silently rolling down his eyes, his voice cracked, "Uncle Ferdinand... so you have been here all this time?"

"They must be from mortals, satyrs, nymphs, and..." Annabeth hesitated, "...other demigods too. This is where she kept them."

"We need to get out of here, she is coming," Albert said suddenly feeling a coldness he hadn't felt before, a silent sort of range that instead of clouding his mind made it clearer than ever, " There are four of us, we need to split up. I know what we have to do."

"Tell me," Annabeth asked. "Let me hear your plans as we go."

Albert nodded as the four of them started to run, "It's simple, we split up. This will make things difficult for her. One of us causes a distraction as the rest hide behind the statues, quietly, you can use your cap by the way. Be ready. If the situation calls for it, you can put it on her and give Percy the opportunity, he got a sword and he is good with it. Our job is to give him the chance to strike without fear of getting petrified," He then turned to Percy, "Go for the head!"

Annabeth looked at him in surprise, before letting out a smile, "Not bad, Prissy Boy."

"Call me that again and I promise you'll regret it," He said, making her smile vanish and a scowl replaced it almost instantly.

"Everybody got it?"

"Yes!" They all nodded as the four slipped up at an intersection.

It didn't take long for the great Medusa to show up, the loud and furious sound of hissing snakes was enough for them to understand that she wasn't playing with them anymore. This time she was going for them hard.

"We are not our parents unless we choose to be." She spoke, loud enough for them to guess her location, "But the three of you have chosen." Medusa continued, filled with resentment. "A daughter of a self-righteous mother, who chose self-righteousness for herself. And you... you could've shown your mom what it means to stand up for someone you love. You could choose to save your mother, instead of doing your father's bidding." She laughed, "I don't get to talk with the one, a pity though. If neither of you will help teach these lessons, perhaps you should be the lessons. When I ship your statues to Olympus... maybe that will get my point across much better."

It was late when they realized she had found one of them.

"Stand up," She ordered. "Let's have a look at you."

It wasn't Albert, definitely not. He didn't know about the others, but he had a terrible guess of who the snake lady had found. If he was right, he had to give to Percy, he was one unlucky bastard. There was no time to wait, he carefully, prepared himself to shoot an arrow. With bow and arrow in hands, he just had to quickly follow the hissing sounds.

"Maia!" Grover's voice echoed loudly. "Whoa-ah! Aaaah! Don't look at her, Percy!"

Albert had forgotten about the shoes when he heard a crashing sound in one of the statues. Found you, he thought. He quickly prepared an arrow and aimed for the lady with her back to him.

"Well, I guess, I can add another satyr to my collection," Medusa laughed after witnessing the fall. "The last one was interesting though. He found out too late where he had gotten himself into. He didn't even try to run, he stared at me defiantly. A fool. All of you. Searching for a god who had forsaken you and your kind, hiding like a coward, like the rest of them."

"Oh, no, not him..." Albert murmured as she got closer to his fallen companion, shooting his arrow.

He didn't really aim at her, he wasn't confident he would hit her. Instead, he aimed close to her, in the direction away from Percy and Grover. The sound of the arrow must have worked since she quickly looked at it. Albert begged they would take this opportunity.

Annabeth suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind Medusa, she took her cap away and put it on the woman's head, turning her invisible.

"Percy, now!" Annabeth cried out.

Albert could barely believe his eyes, it happened so quickly. Percy who had Riptide ready, moved in a swift motion. There was fluidity to his strike and a lot of power too. The next point was a bit more gruesome. As soon as his blade separated the head from the body, the invisibility of the body faded only to show a gross scene. Medusa's body was spasming as it began to disintegrate as Alecto did.

Albert ran up to them, he quickly looked over each of them and let out a sigh, "You all are fine, right?" He took a last look at the almost gone body, "Nice teamwork, a bit clumsy by the end, but we did it."

"Yeah..." Annabeth repeated.

Percy had a shiny look of determination in his eyes, "We did it!"

Grover slowly grumbled as he dusted himself off, "This was for Uncle Ferdinand and for all the other satyrs!"

Percy suddenly got close to where a depression had been made on the sand ground and started to poke around with his foot until he hit something. He looked at them saying, "Aw man...found it... what now?"

"Careful with that... it's dangerous," The girl warned with a disgusted look. 

"Let's rest first..." Albert said, dropping to the ground. "Let me think, but please keep the cap on. I hope you don't mind it too much Annabeth."

"It's fine..." The girl guiltily looked away, before also taking a seat on the floor.

Soon enough all four of them were sitting on the floor in silence, surrounded by statues with surprised expressions of horror, fear, defiance, merely surprise, some completely confused. The entire place was too big, way too big. Filled with them. Statues of elderly, adults, teenagers, children no older than them. Men, women, and other things. From their world and the mortal world. Condemned to forever be sealed away in stone for taking a glance at the cursed gorgon Medusa.

Grover was crying, the poor boy finally broke down. Annabeth was sniffing quietly too. Percy had this mournful look that was so unlike his usually clueless cheerful and clever self. Albert felt like crying too, but no tears would fall. He was thinking about these people.

He knew he must do something, anything... he needed to do something for them, if not him nobody else would. They would only ever be relics in this gods' forsaken dungeon. They had been forsaken for too long, abandoned in this place for too long.