CHAPTER ELEVEN:
THE PEOPLE MUSEUM

Was it to early to say I'm done with this quest. We've hardly been at it a day and we got attached by hades servents or whatever, then almost got blown up. That's enough for me.

We are now walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses.

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

I'm honestly a little worried that he's gonna pass out.

My head hurts, again. The blast made my current headache worse. So now not only is my mind running in circles but my ears were ringing.

Despite the many complaints about my head Annabeth kept pulling us along, yelling: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."

"All our money was back there," Percy reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—"

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

"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine."

"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."

"Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth.

"Hey don't be rude. He didn't do anything wrong" Aella sent a death glare to Annabeth. If Looks could kill I would be praying for Annabeth's safe passage to the underworld "nobody did" Aella added before looking down. I got a feeling she was trying to reassure herself.

Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."

We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry.

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

"We're a team, right?"

I felt Aella nudge my shoulder. I looked up at her and she had a big smile on her face as she nodded her head towards Percy and Annabeth. I honestly tried to hide the huge smile on my face.

Annabeth was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died... 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."

The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. I couldn't really see anyone around me, but I could hear almost everything. It was kinda annoying.

"You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" Percy asked her.

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

"The history professor."

"Yeah. 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," Percy said.

"You think so?"

"Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me."

I heard a quiet laugh fall from Aella's lips.

"You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you... 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 was so loud I had to cover my ears.

"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!" I looked back at where he should be standing, my hands falling from my ears. "Could've given us a warning" I mumbled.

He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff.

Instead of finding a path, Percy immediately slammed into a tree.

My hand grabbed onto Aella's shoulder as I bent over laughing. I could feel her laughing too. If I wasn't currently dying of laughter from Percy running into a tree I would have been fainting.

"It's Not that Funny" Percy grumbled. Which made me laugh harder.

Percy kept tripping and cursing for another mile or so until we finally started to see light up ahead: the colors of a neon sign. I could smell food. Fried, greasy, excellent food. I hope it's McDonald's.

We kept walking until I 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.

It wasn't McDonald's like I'd hoped, which was really disappointing. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible for me to read, because if there's anything worse for my dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English.

To me, it looked like: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.

"What the heck does that say?" Percy and I asked at the same time.

"I don't know," Annabeth said.

She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic, too.

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

Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.

I crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers.

"Hey." Grover warned.

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

"Snack bar," Percy said wistfully.

"Snack bar," I agreed.

"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."

We ignored him.

The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps.

"Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"

I paused looking at Grover before over at Aella who had stopped too. "That's weird right" I asked, Aella lightly nodded her head keeping her eyes on the stone-goat-man.

The other two had stopped at the warehouse door so I walked back towards them.

"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters." I'm glad I'm not the only one who is realizing this might be a bad idea.

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

"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans." I reminded him.

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are... looking at me." He was right, every statue around up was staring right at us. It was almost as if they were trying to tell us something, but I've always been bad at reading eyes. Or just reading in general.

Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman—at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so I imagined she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady.

Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

"They're... um..." Annabeth started to say.

"Dead" I said faster then I could think. I mean it was kinda true.

"Orphans?" the woman gasped. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"

"We got separated from our caravan," Percy said. "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?"

Circus caravan...? That's the first thing he thought of...?

"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "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."

We thanked her and went inside.

Annabeth muttered to Percy, "Circus caravan?"

"Always have a strategy, right?"

"Your head is full of kelp."

The warehouse was filled with more statues people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces.

      This is really strange...

I paused at one of the statues. It was a girl, maybe about 17. Her hair was wildly spread across her shoulders and her hands were up as if she was trying to stop something that was coming at her. That wasn't what caught me though, it was the pure look of terror on her face, her face that looked oddly similar to annabeths.

I stared at her for a few more seconds before I finally snapped out of it and followed after the group, which was now in another room.

The room looked amazing, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.

"Please, sit down," Aunty Em said.

"Awesome." Percy said.

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

"No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."

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

Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done something wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly, so I just brushed it off.

"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child."

I paused for maybe the fifth time in the last ten minutes. I looked around the table, but nobody seems to have noticed or cared. I must have missed the part where they introduced themselves when I was spacing at a statue.

Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.

I'm gonna be honest, It was delicious. I've never been a fan of shakes, but these were something else.

Percy was halfway through his burger before he remembered to breathe.

Annabeth slurped almost all her shake in one sip.

      Aella just ate a some of the French fries, slowly, while she stared at the woman like she was trying to remember where she had seen her face before.

Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat.

"What's that hissing noise?" he asked. Now that he mentioned it, I could hear a quiet hissing coming from somewhere. Kinda sounded like snakes.

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

"I take vitamins. For my ears." He lied.

"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax." Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her headdress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me when I couldn't see her face, but I was to interested in my burger.

"So, you sell gnomes," Percy said, failing to sound interested.

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

"A lot of business on this road?"

"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."

My neck tingled, as if somebody else was looking at me. Percy must have felt it too cause he turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket. The detail was incredible, much like the lady in the hall and she held the same expression.

"Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "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 these statues yourself?" Percy asked.

"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." The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.

Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?" Why that caught her attention I don't know, but now that Annabeth seemed worried I was about to freak out. All the sadness I had for this woman washed away.

"It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... 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." I wasn't sure what she meant, but it sent a shiver down my spine.

I looked towards Aella who was sitting across Annabeth, she seemed to be in deep thought with the same expression she had earlier.

"Percy?" Annabeth was shaking Percy to get his attention.

"Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting."

Grover was eating the waxed paper off the tray now, but if Aunty Em found that strange, she didn't say anything.

"Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."

She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth stood up abruptly.

"We really should go."

"Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!" I jumped up following their lead. Aella didn't move.

"Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"

"A pose?" Annabeth asked warily.

      I noticed a light shift in the wind that suddenly made me feel frozen. I looked over at Aella, her face had changed. Now she looked at the woman as if her hair was on fire.

"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."

Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy—"

"Sure we can," Percy cut Annabeth off. He hadn't seemed to catch onto the current mood "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?" Annabeth was right his head really was full of kelp.

"Yes, Annabeth," the woman purred. "No harm."

I could tell Annabeth didn't like it, but she allowed Aunty Em to lead us back out the front door, into the garden of statues.

      "We really should go" Aella's hands were starting to shake.

My head was starting to scream at me again, yelling at me to run. The ground was ever so lightly shaking I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who felt it.

Aunty Em directed us to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'lI just position you correctly. The young girls in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."

"Not much light for a photo," Percy remarked. Like he would actually know.

"Oh, enough," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"

"Where's your camera?" Grover asked. He was right, once again, there seems to be no camera.

Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"

Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."

Okay I know this is a strange theory and I might sound stupid but what if, that was his uncle Ferdinand. I'm not exactly sure how it could be but I'm currently trying to figure it out. It probably would have helped if I payed attention in Latin.

"Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear." She still had no camera in her hands.

"Percy—" Annabeth said.

      "I think we should just go" Not only were Aella's hands shaking, but so was her voice.

"I will just be a moment," Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil..."

"Percy, something's wrong," Annabeth insisted. Aella aggressively nodded in agreement.

"Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"

"That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.

      I knew it.

"Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted. She whipped her Yankees cap onto her head and vanished. Her invisible hands pushed Grover and Percy both off the bench while Aella tackled me to the ground.

Before I knew it Aella had dragged me into the maze of the stone people.

I cursed as we tumbled to the ground. Aella had kept her eyes closed as she ran through the crowd so, inevitably, she ran into one of them.

I heard strangled yells from wherever the others were as I sat up.

My vision had gone blurry again I could barely see Aella as she scrambled to stand up.

"River" she whisper yelled. I think she was holding out a hand for me, but I couldn't see so I didn't try to grab it. "River let's go"

I groaned looking up, hoping that I would find her blob. It was extremely hard to do in the dark. "River whats wrong" I believe she was now kneeling in front of me.

"I can't see" I whispered.

Aella grabbed my chin turning my face to were I think she was "it's not that dark" she said.

I rolled my eyes. "Not like that. I mean your face is really blurry" I stretched my hand up grabbing what I think is her shoulder.

"What" I can't tell if she was confused, annoyed, or surprised.

There was a bunch of commotion coming from where we had just ran from.

"Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice echoed through my ears, yelling from somewhere in the statuary. "Run, Percy!"

Percy.

I jumped up so fast I could've got whiplash.

"Silence!" Medusa's voice was louder.

Before I knew it I was running, pushing through stone-people, knocking a few over (which I kinda hero bad about).

I hadn't even noticed how close I was until I slammed into the body of, who I hoped was, the snake-lady.

      I rolled away as I heard Grover yell.

      "Run!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!" I rolled further away.

      Thwack!

      I don't know what he hit, but I don't think it was the snake-lady. Medusa roared with rage.

      "You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!"

      "That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back.

      I felt someone's hand grab my arm and drag me somewhere while grover went for another hit.

      Ker-whack!

      "Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.

      Whoever had me stopped. Suddenly right next to me, Annabeth's voice said, "Percy!" I felt the person beside me jump "Jeez! Don't do that!" It was Percy's voice.

      Annabeth took off her Yankees cap and became visible, well sorta visible, she was still kinda blurry for me. "You have to cut her head off."

      "What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here."

      "Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but..." Annabeth swallowed, as if she were about to make a difficult admission. "But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You—you've got a chance."

      "What? I can't—"

      "Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?"

      I felt the ground shake harder. It was getting incredibly annoying.

      Annabeth grabbed something. "A polished shield would be better." She paused for a second. "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of—"

      "Would you speak English?"

      I didn't know what she was saying either.

      "I am!" She tossed him whatever she was holding. "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly."

      "Hey, guys!" Grover yelled somewhere above us. "I think she's unconscious!"

      "Roooaaarrr!"

      "Maybe not," Grover corrected.

      "Hurry," Annabeth told Percy. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash." Percy took out his pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade of Riptide elongated in his hand shining brightly.

      His blob then disappeared.

I would love to be able to see right now. I want to know what's going on. I grabbed the sides of my head in frustration. "work" I grumbled. The ground seemed to shake harder the more frustrated I got.

I let out a loud groan "and stop that" I yelled towards the ground. After a second it stopped, which was weird I'll admit, but it honestly brushed right over my head.

"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," i heard the lady say. "I know you wouldn't."

Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"

Medusa cackled. "Too late."

There was a loud commotion before it went quiet.

I blink maybe 20 times before I was able to see again. My head still hurt though.

"Oh, yuck," Grover said. I assumed that meant it was done "Mega-yuck."

"Don't move." Annabeth said nearing the group as I stood up from my spot on the floor.

Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.

"That's disgusting" I mumbled walking towards the group.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked, mainly towards Percy, her voice trembling.

"Yeah," Percy decided, though he didn't look it, and I'm guessing by the swirling in my stomach, he didn't feel it either. "Why didn't... why didn't the head evaporate?"

"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," Annabeth said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."

I heard a rustle from the stones people behind us. For a second I thought they were all coming back to life. Thankfully it was only Aella.

Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head.

"The Red Baron," Percy said. "Good job, man."

Grover managed a bashful grin. "That really was not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun."

He snatched his shoes out of the air. Percy recapped his sword. Together, the group stumbled back to the warehouse.

We found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa's head. We plopped it on the table where we'd eaten dinner and sat around it, too exhausted to speak.

Finally Percy said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"

Maybe we shouldn't let him talk anymore.

Annabeth flashed him an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him."

His face was burning. "Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa."

"I mean Athena didn't have to turn her into a monster" I mumbled.

Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of Percy's voice, she said: "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"

"Forget it," Percy said throwing his hands up. "You're impossible."

"You're insufferable."

"You're-"

"Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"

Aella and I shared a knowing look.

I stared at the head bag. One little snake was hanging out of a hole in the plastic. The words printed on the side of the bag said: WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS!

      Percy got up. "I'll be back."

"Percy," Annabeth called after me. "What are you—"

Percy disappeared for a minute before he stomped back into the room with a box. He came back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head, and filled out a delivery slip:

The Gods
Mount Olympus
600th Floor, Empire State Building
New York, NY
With best wishes,
PERCY JACKSON

"They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent."

Percy poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as he closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop!

"I am impertinent," he said.

I squinted my eyes slightly looking up at the boy. I don't think he knows what that means. I mean neither do I, but that not the point.

Percy looked at Annabeth, daring her to criticize. She didn't. She seemed resigned to the fact that he had a major talent for ticking off the gods. "Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan."

"Maybe at least a half good one this time" I said as we left.

AUTHOR TALKS!!
this chapter is so funny to me because I have an aunt I call Aunty M.
Probably gonna publish my Percy x fem book once I finish act one.