CHAPTER FIVE

They walked on the New Jersey riverbank, the lights of New York City making the sky yellow and the smell of the Hudson ever present. Helena didn't sheath her sword, not caring her arms were going to eventually get tired. She kept them out, and was constantly looking around her.

Grover was shivering. Helena shrugged her hoodie off and handed it to him. He shot her a smile and pulled it on, his eyes still full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."

"That's what we get for travelling with the Son of Poseidon." Helena replied.

"Come on! The further away we get, the better." Annabeth urged.

"All our money was back there. Our food and clothes. Everything." Mateo said, casting a helpless look behind him.

"Well, maybe if Percy didn't decide to jump into the fight – " Annabeth retorted.

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

"She wouldn't have died. Hurt maybe, but not dead. Besides, I was there and I'm better." Helena cocked her head to the side."

Helena looked around her, barely masking the look of awe on her face. Mateo walked beside her, a curious look on his face. "Never seen New York?"

"We don't get out much." Helena shot him a sarcastic look. "I've been on a few quests, but the rest of my life, since I was 6, I've been at camp."

"Since you were 6?"

"Mhm. My mother has a busy job. We talk, but it isn't the same."

"You're telling me this for what reason?"

"I don't really know." Helena sighed. "Do you want me not to? I can mess around your head and see if I can take your memory away?"

He took a step back. "No! No, it's alright!"

Helena surprised him then and laughed lightly. "Don't worry. I'm still practicing my mind skills. Besides, I don't even think I could take memories away. I'll stick with causing and curing madness."

"You can really do that, huh?"

"Well, I'm learning. My dad's good at it, he is the god of insanity and stuff. He's been teaching me. My brothers don't want to learn. They're sticking with making the plants grow."

"You have brothers?"

"Two little ones. Castor and Pollux. They're twins. My half-brothers of course." She explained. "You have a lot of siblings. The Hermes cabin always has the most. It makes sense considering Hermes is one of the only male gods not tied to a woman. He doesn't have to worry about cheating."

"Him and Apollo, yeah?"

"The two biggest cabins. Not that being married stops the others. I don't want to say names in case they don't like it decide to kill me."

"You say that so casually." He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Unfortunately." She smiled tightly. "So, you seem to have developed a new power."

"The speed thing?" He asked. She nodded. "I guess so. I didn't even mean to. It just happened."

"That's normal. It was probably an instinct. Hermes is the god of travel and he's the messenger of the gods. So he's fast. Makes sense you have that power. I'm sure a couple other Hermes kids have them as well."

"That's cool." Mateo nodded. "Hey, question, do all demigods have ADHD and dyslexia? I heard Annabeth mention something about it."

"Yeah, well, not always both, but most of us yeah. I do. We have dyslexia because our brains are wired to read Ancient Greek, not English. And the ADHD is the battle instinct we have. It could save your life in a battle."

"Battle?" Mateo looked alarmed.

"Something you don't need to worry about." Helena assured him.

"Thank god." He sighed in relief.

Then, suddenly there was a shrill sound. "Hey, my reed pipes still work! If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"

But they didn't find a path. And they continued walking. And walking. And walking. When they got hungry, Helena grew them some grape vines and they snacked on them, but that was the best she could do.

But, after another mile or so, they saw lights ahead, and with a renewed vigor, they resumed marching until they saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees and on the other side was a closed down gas station and one open business, which was the source of light and an oddly good smell.

It was a shop that sold lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears. The main building was a warehouse surrounded by statues. Helena tried to read the gate, but she couldn't. "What the heck does that say?" Percy said.

"I don't know." Annabeth replied.

"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." Grover read out loud for them. There were two cement garden gnomes stood by the entrance. Percy began crossing the street. "Hey…"

"The lights are on inside." Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."

"Snack bar." Percy said.

"Snack bar." Annabeth agreed.

Helena frowned as Mateo followed them. "Guys, this is sketchy."

"This place is weird." Grover agreed. The front garden was all statues of animals, children and even a satyr playing the pipes. "Bla-ha-ha! Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"

They stopped at the door of the warehouse, Helena still cautious. "Don't knock. I smell monster." Grover shook his head.

Helena nodded. "Let's listen to Grover."

"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies." Annabeth said. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"Meat! I'm a vegetarian."

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminium cans." Percy said.

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues… are looking at me." Grover looked uneasy. Just then the door opened and a woman stood there.

She was dressed in a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was veiled. Her eyes were barely showing behind black gauze, and her hands looked old but well-manicured and elegant. "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

"None of your business." Helena retorted, glaring.

"We're orphans." Percy said.

"Orphans?" She spoke. "But, my dears! Surely not!"

"We got separated from our caravan." Mateo began building onto that story. "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"

"Oh, my dears. You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area." The woman said. Helena sheathed her swords, so the woman wouldn't get suspicious. She had no idea what the Mist would show her.

They thanked the woman and went inside. "That was the best story you could come up with?" Helena raised her eyebrows.

"Like you could have done better." Mateo scoffed.

"No. Which is why I would have broken in, taken some food and left. We can't be lingering."

Inside there were more statues. People were in different poses, with different outfits and expressions. There were so many and they were all life-size. Helena was getting more and more nervous as she looked around. She could hear Grover's whimpering, and knew he felt the same way.

At the back of the warehouse, there was a fast food counter with a grill, a soda machine, a pretzel heater and a nacho cheese dispenser, along with some picnic tables. "Please, sit down." Aunty Em said.

"Awesome." Percy said.

"Um, we don't have any money, ma'am." Grover said.

"No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans." Helena didn't like the way the woman spoke to them, it felt almost condescending.

"Thank you, ma'am." Annabeth said.

"Quite all right, Annabeth. You have such beautiful grey eyes, child." That sentence immediately set off alarms in Helena's mind. They never told her their names and she just said Annabeth's name. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Aunty Em went behind the counter and started cooking, then she brought around trays heaped with cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes and massive servings of fries. Helena looked at the good warily. "I'm on a diet." She excused, smiling fakely.

Grover didn't eat either, but the other three dug in like it was their first meal in months. "What's that hissing noise?" Grover asked. Helena didn't hear anything.

"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."

"I take vitamins. For my ears."

"That's admirable. But please, relax."

Aunty Em didn't eat. She didn't take her headdress off either, not even when she cooked. She just sat there, and watched them. Helena crossed her arms over her chest uncomfortably as the older woman stared at them.

"So, you sell gnomes." Percy tried making conversation.

"Oh, yes. And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."

"A lot of business on this road?" Mateo asked.

"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built, most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."

Helena took this time to look around at the statues around them. All the faces were so incredibly detailed that was it was kind of unnerving. But the faces, while detailed, were scared. Helena frowned. If these were statues for people to put in gardens, wouldn't they look pleasant?

"Ah." Aunty Em noticed Helena looking around. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."

"You make them yourself?" Helena raised her eyebrow.

"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company."

Helena frowned internally. Totally not creepy. Or weird.

"Two sisters?" Annabeth stopped eating, and sat up.

"It's a terrible story. Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."

And then it hit.

Helena almost smacked her forehead at her own stupidity. She knew Annabeth had figured it out then, but Percy and Mateo had adopted looks of sympathy and pity for the woman spinning them her sad story.

This wasn't any normal woman who sculpted. No. All the clues were there. The terrified expressions on the statues. The incredible level of detail on them. The story about two other sisters and the boyfriend and the bad woman.

Aunty Em was Medusa.

And they were in Medusa's lair.