[the consensus again]

❛ You may gaze at her reflection, In still waters of the lake but don't look at her directly
Or death will be your fate ❜

𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 known for her credulous nature— she could easily trust someone, and then get fooled. And then the one person phaedra thought she trusted the most, fooled her. That was the last straw she thought, she was no longer getting tricked. she was too trusting and people took advantage of that— even her own father.

now she was more than ever determined to find that bolt, because she was not a weak person her father had made her up to be.

the three demigods looked around the place grover lead them to— it had stone statues displayed all over. phaedra walked up to one of the statues carefully analyzing it, it was a woman and she looked petrified— literally.

"aunty 'em has a garden full of petrified stone folks, yeah this is someone from our world all right." annabeth spoke. "anyone wanna guess what em is short for?"

"I have a theory." phaedra grimaced, there was only one demigod—dead or alive who could have created a cluster of frozen statues.

as the group turned back to leave, they were met by a fury. not again. percy quickly pulled out his pen— transforming it into a sword and stepping in front of phaedra, ready to face the monster as she spoke. "you two should have accepted my offer, when you had the chance." pointing her claws towards annabeth and phaedra.

"offer? what offer is she talking about?" percy asked looking at the two girls— who where avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"not today friends, not on my doorstep." a woman approached, making the fury quickly hide its face.

"oh shoot." annabeth, phaedra and grover copied the furies actions and closed their eyes, percy only stood there dumbstruck looking at the woman, causing the apollo girl— phaedra to hit his arm to make him turn around.

"if you have something to resolve, why not come in and i'll help?" medusa offered. "alecto, will you be joining us?" of course alecto didn't respond she was too afraid to do anything and yet she had no problem taunting little children.

"no, well i didn't think you would. she won't bother you as long as you're with me. but it isn't as though she will leave either, not if it means reporting that she failed to retrieve the son of poseidon."

"how did you—" percy opened his eyes, turning to look at medusa at the mention.

"a forbidden child has been claimed. how long did you think that secret would keep? it's a pleasure to meet you son of poseidon. i'm medusa." she introduced.

"percy don't," annabeth warned, she didn't exactly like medusa given her history with her mother, athena. and of course annabeth would side with her mother. "she's a monster."

"we all choose who we make our monsters but right now that one wants to tear you limb from limb and i'm offering you lunch." medusa offered, walking back into the house.

phaedra looked back at alecto then at her friends then at the spot where medusa once stood, she didn't necessarily trust her but it was better than being stuck there with alecto.

"i think we can trust her." percy nodded, his mother had told him medusa's stories and in reality, she was pretty miserable.

"what?"

"i can't explain it it's just— 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." percy shrugged.
"so i'm going in. you guys do what you want."

"what are you—." annabeth began.

"come on, let's just go and if anything happened we will all get out together. unless you want to stay out here with alecto." phaedra reasoned before following a very hungry grover inside.

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"you must be hungry, i left snacks on the table while i get something proper going." medusa's serene voice rang through the house as the trio entered through the front door.

"you think it's safe to eat?" percy whispered to phaedra earning a shake of her head, she didn't trust this at all, she barely wanted to get inside, let alone eat from medusa herself.

"i'm not gonna lie to you, i'm really hungry." grover answered instead. "and i'm ready to take that chance."

"thanks for coming." percy said, as annabeth joined them, even though he was pretty sure the only reason she gave in was for phaedra.

"this isn't the same for me as it is to you." annabeth harshly stated.

"why?"

"you're concerned, i would hold a grudge against you simply because you are a daughter of athena?" medusa answered instead, entering the room. "you shouldn't be. we're not our parents after all. you and i might have a lot more in common than you think. please, sit and eat."

percy and grover instantly walked over to the table, they both sat on the chairs the lady had pulled out. as long as they're not hungry the two boys were ready to risk it.

it took a moment or two before phaedra pulled annabeth to sit at the table too. the two girls carefully sat on the chairs— just in case they turned into something and swallowed them alive.

"so if you're not a monster, what are you then?" percy asked boldly as he dug into his plate of food. earning a sigh from a phaedra— he was really looking forward to becoming a statuette today.

"a survivor." medusa simply replied catching the four off-guard.

"well you must be a little more than that," percy said again. "there's a fury out there that seems terrified of you." at that, phaedra elbowed percy hard in the ribs earning a quiet 'ow, sorry mom.'

"because she knows what i think of her, i don't like bullies. when one shows up on my doorstep, they end up spending a lot more time than they had planned for. the gift that the gods gave me is that i cannot be bullied anymore."

"what my mom did to you wasn't a gift, it was a curse." annabeth scoffed, no way she was romanticizing something her mother punished her with.

"you are loyal to you mother." medusa pointed out.

"yes."

"you stand by her?"

"always."

"you love her?"

"of course I do."

"and so did I, so did I." medusa finalized making phaedra look up at the information. "do you know the story of how i came to be this way?"

"I do." grover muffled mouth full of food.

a bell rang from the kitchen distracting them from the conversation. "do you?"

"do I?"

"athena was everything to me, I worshiped her. I prayed to her. I made her offerings. but she never answered, not even an omen to suggest she appreciated my love."

"I wasn't like you sweetheart, I was you." the woman continued. "I would have worshiped her that way for a lifetime, in silence. but then one day, another god came, and he broke that silence, your father." she pointed at percy, whose gaze was focused only on phaedra— who was glancing up at the flickering lights of a chandelier above their heads. this whole scenario didn't go unnoticed my medusa, but she decided to continue telling her story.

"the sea god told me that he loved me. I felt as though 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."

phaedra had always felt sorry for medusa— although she scared her greatly, the girl thought that she was just misunderstood, and to think that athena did what she did to medusa all because of a man. phaedra would never admit that aloud though— especially not to annabeth.

"that isn't what happened." annabeth snapped. "my mother is just, always."

"the gods want you to believe that, that they are infallible, but they only want what all bullies want, they want us to blame ourselves for their own shortcomings." phaedra couldn't agree more on this.

"this is not what happened, and you are a liar." annabeth defended her mother bitterly. of course she would— if anyone who stands with what they think it would be annabeth especially when it come to her loved ones.

"something's burning." medusa announced, choosing to ignore annabeth's previous statement. "would you give me a hand in the kitchen? I think lunch is ready."

percy stood up before looking over at his friends— annabeth was shaking her head 'no' frantically, phaedra just shrugged she didn't know whether to trust her or get ready to run and grover well— he was still busy stuffing his face. and with that percy walked after the woman into the kitchen.

"you like her?" medusa observed as soon as percy entered the room.

"yeah, we're friends. I think." the blonde boy nodded.

"funny how I didn't even say who." she declared, still facing her back to percy. "they're going to betray you. sooner or later, they always do. and you will be an easy mark when the time comes."

"what do you care." percy frowned.

"your mother and I were like sisters in a way, targeted by the same monster, so I find myself feeling protective of you."

"a monster?" why would she call his father that. "my mother never talked about my dad that way."

"where is she now, your mother. is she safe?"

"no, she's not."

after a few moments, phae, annabeth and grover saw percy practically sprinting out of the kitchen.

"I told you." annabeth scoffed as she took phaedra's hand and they all began quietly running.

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the quartet found themselves in medusa's basement— pretty unfortunate considering that's where most crimes occur.

suddenly the door creaked, they all expected medusa to walk in but instead, fire burst along the stairs illuminating the basement making more statues visible all over the room.

"there's four of us, and only one of her," grover acknowledged as the group broke out running. "if we split up, she can't be watching us all at once."

"I don't think it'd be that simple." annabeth negotiated.

"it could be."

"phaedra can't you use your powers to kill her? like you did with that fury." grover questioned.

"grover, I would have to look in her eyes then. but I can try." phaedra stated as they came to a halt.

"no." percy breathed. "we can't afford to turn her into stone, dude." he turned to grover.

"okay. so here's a plan, then." the satyr protector began again. "i'll get in the air, and draw her attention. as soon as you guys hear me say 'maia' you guys start—" before he could continue his shoes began to lift him up from the ground, flapping its wings.

now grover was way too far up on the ceiling and all the trio could hear was him yelling 'off! down!'

"so we're gonna need a new plan." annabeth spoke.

"we are not our parents until we choose to be," suddenly medusa said. they could hear her heels clicking on the cold floor of the basement. "you have chosen."

before phaedra knew it— percy took her hand and the three broke out running again. hiding behind a pillar, while annabeth took out her yankees cap.

"a daughter of a self-righteous mother, who chose self-righteousness for herself." medusa continued her monologue as they could hear her getting closer and closer. "a daughter of a egotistical father, who used his cunning and blinding ways to fool his own 'favorite'." percy frowned at this.

"and you, you could have shown your father what it means to stand up for someone you love. you could choose your mother instead of your father's bidding. 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 even better." medusa stopped as soon as she approached percy and phaedra's hiding place. "let's have a look at you."

percy swiftly let go of phaedra's hand and jumped up with his sword to face the woman, but before he could do anything grover flew down right on the ground. "I really didn't think this through!" he yelled averting medusa's attention from percy.

"now!" annabeth took off her hat and placed it on medusa's head making her invisible as percy slashed his sword across the air— medusa.

there was a thud. phaedra cringed, that was probably her head.

"you found it?"

"I hope so." percy answered.

"roughly speaking, this is probably the fifth adverse situation we've been inand it has only been like— a day." phaedra stated as percy and her were on their way to get rid of alecto using medusa's head. finally.

"well that's what you get when you go on a quest with the forbidden child, phae phae."

"don't die out there, seaweed brain." phaedra grinned at percy, trying her hardest not to pay mind at the new nickname. she quietly watched as percy removed the hat off of medusa's head, pointing it in alecto's direction and in one swift gesture the creature was turned to stone— falling on the ground with a crash.

the two demigods rejoined annabeth and grover with an ice pack back in the basement.

"I can't believe these used to be people." phaedra heard annabeth sigh.

"yes it's so—" grover was cut off as he noticed someone. "that's my uncle ferdinand."

"oh grover i'm so sorry." phaedra walked up to the satyr sadly. it must've been hard to see his uncle stoneified in medusa's basement she frowned.

"this is as far as he got on his quest." grover acknowledged. "we aren't even to trenton, but look at him, he's not like the others. he— he doesn't look afraid."

"you used the um...you used the head to get rid of alecto?"

"yeah." percy said, his heart broke for his best friend, he knew what it felt like to lose someone you care for— so did phaedra, and so did annabeth.

they took this as a moment of silence everyone lost in their own thoughts. before percy broke that silence, "so what are we gonna do with the head, I just took down a fury with it, and I wasn't even trying. we can't just leave it for someone to find, leave the hat on and bury it in the basement. that oughta keep it safe."

"sure," annabeth shrugged, making phaedra furrow her brows— was she really letting the hat go? "now let's talk about the bigger issue."

"what bigger issue."

"'you could have saved your mother', that's what she said to you, like you discussed it already." the athena girl said. not again. "is your mother still alive?" making phaedra look up from her hands.

"she's with hades, but I appreciate your concern." percy remarked.

"oh, i'm concerned what are you actually doing on this quest. and why did I have to hear about this from medusa."

"okay while we're at it 'you two should have accepted my offer' what was that about? why did we have to hear it from alecto?"
percy accused looking at both girls.

"enough!" the satyr protector interfered. he was so done with them fighting all the time and so was phaedra — and for what? they were just wasting time.

"the hat was a gift from her mother, it's the only thing she's ever possessed that connects them, that oughta matter to you." the apollo girl snapped, defending annabeth.

"okay, but how are we gonna make sure this thing is safe?" percy questioned as he changed the subject quickly, scared to start a fight with the two girls.

"it's not up to that yet."

"and you, really? his moms alive, can you imagine how confusing that must be for him? feeling like he may have to choose between the fate of the world and the only person who's ever cared for him." phaedra continued, she would never go against her best friend, but right now she was focused on doing what's right, and that was to make sure no one fought again— she would give anything to see her mother again, and finding out that percy's mother might be alive sparked some hope in her.

"why are you talking like this?" annabeth asked shaking her head.

"all of you stop!" grover yelled. "all day i've been trying to keep this quest on track without upsetting any of you, first it was percy and annabeth then all three, and now it's annabeth and phaedra— that never happens!"

"but maybe things need to get a little upsetting before they move forward."

"she asked you a question back in the woods and you never really answered." grover turned to percy. "what are you so afraid of?"

"what are you talking about?"

"you heard me."

"I don't know."

"I think you do. you've been coming at them, you've been coming at me."

"because the oracle said one of you would betray me, okay?" percy finally admitted. "you shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, and you shall fail to save what matters most in the end. that's the rest of what she said to me."

"I chose her because I couldn't imagine we'd ever be friends." he pointed to annabeth. ouch. "I chose you because— well actually I don't know why I did, it just felt right at the time." he pointed to phaedra. right at the time? ouch again.

"and I chose you because I thought if I can count on anyone it would be you." he lastly pointed to his satyr protector. "and now i'm feeling so alone, I don't know what to think, or who to trust."

"I didn't mean it like that." percy said apologetically towards the two girls, but they brushed it off— better not get attached than suffer later phae thought.

"turns out my father reprobated and joined hades— they sent alecto to try and convince us to give you up to her." phaedra started. referring to her and annabeth, avoiding looking at any of them. the topic of her father was still raw, but she couldn't let them know that.

"and what'd you say?"

"I killed her sister." she mumbled.

"medusa offered to help me save my mom if I turned on you all." percy revealed, still looking straight at the apollo girl.

"and what'd you say?"

"I cut off her head."

"you didn't choose to be demigods," grover admitted. "we don't choose this quest but we can decide that as long as the four of us are together none of us are gonna be alone." at that phaedra slightly nodded, grover was right— if anyone could decide either they make this quest work or not, it would be them four. "and if we can't do that, we might as well just head back to camp right now, cause we won't make it."

"I think i've got a better idea what to do with that." percy smirked. this can't be good.

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"hermes express, she ships these things all over, some of it goes to olympus." percy explained as he flipped through a book where medusa kept records of her shippings.

"percy you can't ship medusa's head to olympus." annabeth shook her head.

"why not? I don't see a problem." percy shrugged.

"the gods won't like it." annabeth proceeded to talk the boy of of it, the gods would find this gesture very disrespectful.

"at all, at all, at all." grover glanced nervously between the two.

"why? that's what you do with dangerous stuff. you just send them back to where they came from."

"would do you think, sunshine princess?" percy questioned looking at the daydreaming girl beside him. annabeth mildly raised her eyebrows at the new nickname. oh she's gonna tease the sunshine out of phaedra.

"I mean...it won't hurt?" she shrugged although it sounded more like a question.

"look, this is a bad idea. they will see this as impertinent." annabeth continued to shake her head.

"I am impertinent."

"yes but we're not."

"really, very, not."

"look, medusa tried to derail our quest, she's got serious beef with your mom, when you look at it that way it seems kinda like tribute or something doesn't it?" percy said as he placed her head in the box, and taking the yankees hat off of it. "and besides, that way part of your mom is still with us."

"thank you." annabeth smiled appreciatively as she took her cap, phaedra could see relief wash over the girl and at that moment phaedra felt so thankful for the fact that percy and annabeth were finally getting along. yay.

"so, this isn't exactly what I meant by choosing eachother, there are actual dangers involved here that cannot be—" grover began to warn them, it was his job after all but got cut off by percy's clapping.

"you're gonna sing that song, aren't you?"

"please no."

"oh, golly the roads getting bumpy." he laughed.

"whatever."

"CONSENSUS."

i love their friendships so much guys.
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