Annabeth's pov

Okay, I don't know how this happened! Suddenly something like water hit the bus and now the bus was lying, broken and unusable in the middle of the forest! Um..water..maybe Poiseden? Anyway, this isn't the first time he's been giving me a hard time. Hopefully next time there won't be lightning. I just feel bad for the people I was with..

I managed to crawl out of the bus, and looked around, checking to see if anyone was seriously injured. Luckily no one was seriously injured, just unconscious. I quietly checked on Perseus and Grover, giving them some nectar to make sure they were okay. Maybe because I was a demigod, I had more endurance than a mortal, so I didn't faint or get too badly injured, only some superficial injuries, but it wasn't really a big deal to me.

I crawled out of the car and took a piece of Ambrosia from my pocket and ate it. Since it was the food of the gods, it was delicious, but if I ate too much, it would have a "small" side effect of burning. After eating, my body felt much better. Maybe in a little while, the mortals in the car would wake up and call for help. The red bus that was brand new before was now broken, the people who were still laughing on the bus were now lying on the ground. It was all my fault... damn it! Because of me, they were in danger, because of me...

I shook my head, trying to forget these thoughts. I took out an old photo from my pocket. It was a picture of me and Luke and Thalia together. All three of us had happy smiles on their faces despite the fact that we were all in a very difficult situation (because of me). This was something that made me feel better when I was sad, filling my mind with happy memories to push away the negative feelings that were taking over my mind and heart.

"You two have to live!"

Thalia, I wish I could think like that too. It's hard to stay positive and feel like I deserve to live after causing so much trouble for others.

Suddenly I saw Grover and Perseus get off the bus, I jumped and hid behind a tree. I quietly observed them.

Grover and Perseus probably woke up because of Nectar's healing ability, they looked a bit rough but didn't have many injuries. Now I noticed but Perseus was wearing a shirt with a pretty feminine design and a size that was probably twice his size. His style of dress was quite strange, but he just mentioned something about his mother, maybe that was his mother's shirt. I suddenly felt sorry for him. Then I saw Perseus take out a map from his bag and discuss something with Grover (sorry I was standing too far away so I couldn't hear what they said).

After saying that, Perseus and Grover walked towards the forest, they didn't seem to know where they were going, they just knew that they had to go west as the prophecy said. I followed them. Then suddenly in the middle of the forest appeared a shop? And on the sign appeared a name that I could only vaguely see the letter "M" (That's a big disadvantage when you're a demigod, dyslexic).

Perseus and Grover were greeted by an old lady whose face I couldn't see clearly. But she was wearing a dark brown dress, a white hat that covered her hair. But it seemed like she was luring them into her house. Perhaps there was some kind of spell around the house that made people feel enchanted and attracted to the house, I was also affected even though I was standing at a distance. But the way this made me shiver, remembering the Lotus Hotel, pulling me back to reality. I tried to calm myself by pinching my hand to keep my mind clear. As expected, Perseus and Grover fell into the 'trap' (I know I shouldn't judge too early but things like that can easily be a trap) and went inside. However, Grover seemed more worried, maybe he wasn't completely enchanted yet? Hopefully so.

I tried to get closer to observe the situation. I had to pinch my hands until they turned red to resist the charm. I peeked out the window and saw Perseus and Grover being treated to food by the Lady. Grover seemed to be looking around nervously. That's right, the Lady's house was full of stone statues. This was a statue shop? Who would sell stone statues in the middle of the forest? Perseus was eating deliciously, looking at his food made me suddenly hungry...wait! What am I thinking!?

I pinched my hand harder to stay awake. After this, I should take a course in controlling my urges. Otherwise, I was afraid that I would die somewhere because I couldn't control myself.
I looked out the window and saw Grover urging Perseus to leave, but Perseus didn't seem to understand what he meant. And the woman seemed to be trying to manipulate him too. The next moment, Grover looked completely terrified as if he had just seen a ghost (Actually, I see ghosts every day and they're not that bad). He held Perseus' hand so tightly that Perseus' face was contorted in pain and worry.

-We have to go, Perseus! No no..I

Grover tried not to scream and urged Perseus to leave with a horrified look

-What's wrong, Grover!?

Perseus still didn't seem to understand the problem but when he saw the horror on Grover's face, he could probably imagine that there must be something that made him like that but for some reason he couldn't say it.

-Okay, let's go. Thanks for treating us to a meal, I'll repay you later. We have to go, Aunt Em.

Perseus turned around and bowed his head as if he wanted to thank the woman, now Aunt Em.

-Oh, you two are lovely children. Why don't you two stay a little longer? I still have a lot of delicious cakes. My sisters already left me behind, could it be that you two are so heartless?

Aunt Em spoke sweetly, enticing them to stay, clearly wanting to lure Perseus and Grover into a trap.

-NO! I mean..sorry we have urgent business! Please let us go!

Grover almost shouted, he was trying to calm himself down. Perseus was startled by this and he looked around him a bit.

-Yes! My parents are waiting! Sorry, ma'am.

Perseus said and pulled Grover ahead of him, both of them quickly walked towards the door.

-At least take a picture..oh naughty kids.

Auntie Em said, no Medusa took off her hat and rushed towards Perseus and Grover. I
quickly glanced at them, my feet wanting to jump in to help them. I thought, They are dead for sure. But I underestimated them, especially Perseus.

When Medusa just walked towards him. Perseus quickly pushed Grover forward. And he shot sparks at Medusa's face, He created more smoke to reduce Medusa's vision and also to prevent himself from looking into Medusa's eyes.

Then Perseus pulled Grover and ran straight to the door to escape while Medusa was still holding her face because of the fire. But it seemed that luck was not on their side. One of her snakes rushed to bite Grover's leg, causing him to fall down, holding his leg and face in pain. Perseus paused, giving Medusa the chance to run to block their way.

- Oh, you naughty child who deserves punishment. You think you can stop me with just a few small fires and this stupid smoke?

Medusa said with anger in her voice, and I couldn't tell what expression she had on her face because I couldn't look her in the eyes.

- Ha, you will become part of my most despicable collection of statues!

Medusa said and it seemed that she walked towards the two.

Perseus now seemed to be hugging Grover, wanting to protect him. They were in a situation where they were about to become part of Medusa's collection. I drew my sword. I could feel myself trembling slightly. I should rush in and save them, but if I rushed in without thinking, there was a high chance that I would become a statue. I gulped, not knowing what to do. What would Thalia do in this situation? What would Luke do? What would Bianca do? What should I do!?

I could feel myself sweating profusely, my heart pounding in my chest, my brain barely able to think under the heavy pressure of the choices, the possibilities that were right in front of me.

Perseus suddenly shot fire and part of Medusa's hair, the smoke had now lessened a lot. I opened my eyes wide and then Shadow Travel came behind Medusa. I swung my sword up and aimed for her neck. Not enough to cut Medusa's neck but enough to make her flinch, turning her back to focus her attention on me. I quickly used shadow to keep myself from looking into her eyes. Perseus took the opportunity to burn her old dress. I Shadow Traveled to Medusa's feet and swung a slash at Medusa's legs and successfully cut off her legs. While Medusa was in a daze, not understanding what was happening and was focusing on her severed leg and painfully recovering her leg, Perseus used his knife to stab Medusa in the neck and jumped on Medusa, knocking her down to the ground. Next, he used fire to kill the snakes on Medusa's head. He signaled me to push the statue down so that it fell on Medusa. I quickly followed his signal, the statue almost crushed Medusa, leaving only her head gasping for breath.

-Why haven't you killed me yet!?

Medusa screamed in pain as Perseus held a piece of black cloth that he tore from her shirt and wrapped it around her eyes.

-How can you cure snake venom!? You... You're thousands of years old and you're doing such a despicable thing!? Don't you feel ashamed!? Tell me! Your snake venom cure! If you don't tell me, I'll make you go through something worse than Tatarus!

Perseus screamed menacingly, his face darkening. But all he got in return was a cold laugh from Medusa as she realized his intentions.

- Ha? Just a brat and you dare threaten me? Go home and dream! You damn bastard!
She screamed and I could feel her lower body slowly disintegrating. Damn it!? Did she commit suicide!? No- Grover was still poisoned!

Perseus' face darkened, he gritted his teeth and quickly used his knife to cut off Medusa's head before her neck disappeared.

Then Perseus turned towards me. One hand held the knife, the other held Medusa's head, he stepped back in front of Grover's body as if to shield him. His eyes looked at me as if I was a threat, an enemy.

-Who are you!? Why are you following us!?

So Perseus knew!? Since when!? And I thought I was a good pursuer! Turns out I was just a lowly, amateur?

-She's not an enemy! She's... Annabeth Chase! Hades' daughter! She's not a threat, Percy!
Grover said weakly, his face now extremely pale from Medusa's poison. Perseus examined him a bit then glanced at me warily.

-Hades' daughter? She..

-No! I'm not an enemy! I'm Annabeth Chase, Hades' only demigod daughter! And I'm following you two to find information about the Helm Of Darkness on Hades' orders!

I decided to tell the truth, because I knew that lying would only make the situation worse.

-Helm of Darkness? Could it be..

Perseus hadn't finished his sentence when Grover almost fainted, his face turned green. Both Perseus and I panicked and temporarily put that aside. Perseus took some Ambrosia and fed it to Grover but it didn't work. That's right, Medusa's poison couldn't be neutralized simply by Ambrosia.

-Damn it! Hey! Chase? Can you ask Hades for help!? I beg you!

I...I'm not sure if I can talk to Hades and beg him to help Grover... No, I can't let anyone die because of my hesitation!

Perseus rolled his eyes, thought for a moment, then took Ambrosia from his backpack and gave it to me.

-At least give this to Hades! Please! For Grover's sake! Give me some time to talk to Hades! Please!

Perseus said in a pleading voice but his eyes were somewhat threatening..Perhaps he guessed that Grover and I must have some kind of relationship. I took Ambrosia and released it into the darkness to send it to Hades.

-Please accept my request...sir Hades, father. Please let Perseus say a few words to you.
I begged earnestly. Suddenly, in front of me, Perseus and Grover appeared in a strange darkness. And from that darkness, I could vaguely see the illusion of my divine father, so he accepted.

-Please, Lord Hades, Lord of the Underworld, please save my friend, Grover. Please cure him of the poison. And the head of Medusa, the victory over Medusa, will belong to Annabeth Chase, to you!

As Perseus spoke, he approached the illusion, holding Medusa's head in his hand and presenting it before the illusion. A look of surprise flashed across Hades's blackened face.
-Isn't it great to kill Medusa!? When you have this achievement, maybe this will be the first step to Olympus, no everyone can have a different view of you! About your children! About the underworld!

Percy said with a determined voice. But behind his back I could see him trembling slightly when standing in front of a god, that's right, he is still just an 11 year old kid..
I stood up and approached.

-Please accept this deal! Isn't recognition what you have wanted for hundreds, if not thousands of years! Please save Grover and I promise to do everything to get you the recognition you deserve!

I need to say something to convince him. And I know exactly what Hades wants, it seems like Perseus does too. Hades glanced at me, his face satisfied. Then he nodded, so this method really worked.. huh?

- You two must promise on the river Styx, I will also promise and then I will fulfill this agreement.

Hades said. So, we must promise on the Styx.

-Then please start first.

Perseus said, sweating slightly.

-I, Hades promise on the Styx to help your friend, Grover, on the condition that we both do what you just said!

-I, Perseus 'Percy' Jackson, promise on the Styx to give all the credit for killing Medusa to Annabeth Chase! To Hades!

-I, Annabeth Chase, promise on the Styx to do everything to bring glory to Hades! To the demigods of Hades and the Underworld!

We chanted together.

Hades nodded and the illusion disappeared into the air. Then, Grover's body gradually glowed. Perseus and I ran to him as fast as we could.

Extra:
-Today is August 18th. Happy Birthday to Perseus 'Percy' Jackson. Our beloved SeaBoy
\\(^ヮ^)// 🎉🎂