Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1 : The Lightning Thief - MISSING SCENES

Off With Your Head... Literally (Between Chapters 11 & 12)

Everyone was still shaking as they sat quietly around the table, staring at the box that Percy had moved Medusa's head into.

They all felt so foolish, having trusted this woman. Honestly, the statues were kind of a dead giveaway, right? What average mortal would have such a detailed and anatomically accurate sculpture of a satyr? Percy felt even more stupid than the other two, who had both caught on to what was happening before them. She had just seemed so nice, it was still kind of unbelievable.

"Three Kindly Ones" Grover broke the silence with a shaky exhale as he tried to process all the shit they had endured over the past few hours. "Which caused a huge scene already. And now her" he gestured to the box on the table, not wanting to use her actual name. Words have power and considering that the three of them were already a target, he felt nervous about saying names so loosely.

"I'd say it's a great start to our quest" Percy replied sarcastically as he leaned back in his chair, just looking up at the ceiling. "It's actually a horrible start" Annabeth replied in annoyance, clearly not picking up on the fact that Percy hadn't been serious. "I was being sarcastic" Percy shot her an annoyed look, to which she blushed slightly with embarrassment.

"Are we gonna be alright?" Annabeth asked after a short moment. It only then fully hit the other two how shaky she was. To be fair, they were all a bit shaken but it seemed more extreme to come from the young blonde simply because she was typically very level-headed and calm.

"I'm honestly not sure" Grover replied, awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck. This did little to soothe Annabeth's nerves but she said nothing. "This isn't exactly going to be safe or easy" he continued. "I guess we just have to take it one day at a time?"

"We only have ten days, Grover" Percy replied in the same bitter tone that he used whenever he was particularly stressed or frustrated. Grover knew it all too well from their time at the academy. Percy was many things, but emotionally balanced was not one of them.

"It's fine" Annabeth said suddenly, standing up and pushing her chair in. There was no real need to make it neat considering that Medusa was dead anyway, but it made her feel better. "Let's go" she said to the two boys. "The sooner we're out of here, the better. We'll just draw more attention to ourselves if we stay"

They couldn't stay anywhere for long, they all knew that. Didn't make it any less stressful, though.

"High five for surviving our first day?" Percy asked awkwardly, holding up a hand. Grover let out a big exhale before gently slapping his hand. "Annabeth?" Percy prompted with a smirk, causing the blonde to roll her eyes before giving the most half-assed high five in the history of high fives. It was small, but it helped them all calm down, even if only temporarily.

"Come on" she said, annoyed. "It's getting dark"