Through Annabeth's Mind: Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief (Annabeth's POV)

16) We slash our first head

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Grover ran on to the left, and I scrambled to the right. Percy was on the ground, looking at Aunt Em's sandalled feet.

Percy's eyes rose to Medusa's hands, which had turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for fingernails. I saw his eyes darting upwards.

"No! Don't!" I shouted.

"Run!" Grover bleated.

He ran across the gravel, yelling, 'Maia!' to kick-start his flying sneakers.

Percy was still sprawled on the ground, immobilized. I inched closer.

"Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face," she purred. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."

Percy winced. He looked at something right next to me. It was one of those glass spheres people put in gardens – a gazing ball. I could see Aunty Em's dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Instead of hair, she had hundreds of tiny serpends sticking out of her scalp. I fought the urge to look at the real thing.

And that's when I realized how we could defeat her, but the odds of us actually getting out of there...

"The Grey-Eyed One did this to me, Percy," Medusa said, and she didn't sound anything like a monster. Her voice was soothing and calm, but I didn't fall for it. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."

"Don't listen to her!" I shouted. "Run, Percy!"

He didn't move.

"Silence!" Medusa snapped. Then her voice modulated back to a purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."

"No," he mumbled.

Behind Percy, I could make out Grover flying closer with his magical shoes, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone.

"Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain."

Well, she wasn't wrong.

"Percy!" Grover yelled, "Duck!"

"Duck!" he shouted again. "I'll get her!"

I only hoped Grover aimed better than usual, because knowing him, I was sure he'd miss Medusa and smack Percy instead. Thank the gods, Percy dove to the side just in time.

Thwack!

Medusa roared with rage.

So he did aim right.

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

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

Percy scrambled away and then ran towards me, hiding in the statue to my right, while Grover swooped down for another pass.

Ker-whack!

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

"Percy!" I said.