𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄. percy jackson

𝟎𝟓: unlike any other

magnolia dove 𝔁 percy jackson
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
CHAPTER 5: UNLIKE ANY OTHER

A BELL chimed as Percy walked in and held the door open for Magnolia to walk in as well. "Thank you, Percy." she muttered, Percy giving her a small smile before letting the door go and walking over to a table littered with food. 

"You must be hungry. I left snacks on the table while I get something proper going." Medusa called out from where Magnolia presumed the kitchen. 

"You think it's safe to eat?" Percy asked Magnolia, leaning in and whispering in her ear. 

"Percy, I'm going to be honest, I am starving and I don't really care anymore." Magnolia whispered back, looking up at him. 

The bell chimed again as Annabeth walked in and stood next to Magnolia. "Thanks for coming." Percy told her.

"This isn't the same for me as it is for you." Annabeth quipped. 

"Why?" Percy asked her, Medusa answering instead. The group looked down upon hearing her enter the room with a jug of lemonade while she answered. "You're concerned I would hold a grudge against you simply because you are a daughter of Athena? You shouldn't be. We're not our parents after all. You and I might have more in common than you think." she answered. "Please, sit and eat." she asked again, walking over and sitting at the head of the table. 

Magnolia and Percy looked at each other for confirmation before sitting down, Magnolia pulling a chair out for Annabeth who shook her head in response, Magnolia shrugged before pushing the chair back in and turning to look at the table in front of Medusa, avoiding her gaze. 

"So you're not a monster, what are you then?" Percy asked.

"A survivor." Medusa simply answered. 

"You must be a little more than that. There's a Fury out there that seems terrified of you." Percy questioned further, not buying her answer. 

"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 there than they planned for." Medusa explained. While Percy and Medusa were talking, Magnolia took a tiny plate and a cupcake with rainbow icing, grabbing a cake fork and peeling the wrapper off before she started cutting the cupcake into chunks, picking it up with her fork before eating it. She opted for using a cake fork as it was less messy and if her fingers or surroundings were messy, her brain went messy. 

"The gift the gods gave me is that I cannot be bullied anymore." Medusa revealed.

"What my mother did to you wasn't a gift, it was a curse." Annabeth objected. 

"You are loyal to your mother." Medusa told her, Annabeth agreeing. 

"You stand by her?" Medusa asked. 

"Always." Annabeth replied. 

"You love her?" Medusa asked.

"Of course, I do." Annabeth replied. 

"And so did I." Medusa told her. "So did I." she repeated. "Do you know the story of how I came to be this way?" she asked. 

"I do." Grover answered with a mouth half-full with food, causing Magnolia to scrunch her nose up in disgust at him.

"Do you?" Medusa asked again for confirmation. 

"Do I?" Grover asked himself, questioning his own knowledge. 

"Athena was everything to me. I worshipped her, I prayed to her. I made offerings... She never answered. Not even an omen to suggest she appreciated my love." Medusa retold melancholically. "I wasn't like you, sweetheart. I was you." she summarized. "I would have worshipped her that way for a lifetime, in silence. But then one day, another god came and he broke that silence. Your father." Medusa revealed, gesturing to Percy at the end. 

"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. She decided that I would never be seen again by anyone who would live to tell the tale." she concluded. 

"That isn't what happened. My mother is just, always." Annabeth corrected. 

"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." Medusa persuaded, attempting to change her mind. 

"That is not what happened, and you are a liar." Annabeth spoke loudly, pointing at Medusa. 

Medusa only sat quietly before she stated that something was burning, and asking Percy if he could help her in the kitchen to which Percy looked at Annabeth who shook her head. Percy didn't listen however and got up, receding to the kitchen. 

"Grover, M, get ready to run." Annabeth told them, Grover looking up at her while chewing on some kind of pastry while Magnolia nodded in response. 

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The group looked up at the door to the basement to hear the door creak open and flames ignite from the stairs and around the walls. They turned around and Magnolia jumped back as she came face to face with a statue, causing everyone to realize that they were in the basement where Medusa kept all the statues. 

They all heard the door close and took it as their signal to run. "Come on." Annabeth instructed, leading the group through the maze of statues. 

"There's four of us and only one of her. If we split up, she can't be watching us all at once." Grover suggested as they walked. 

Grover turned to face Annabeth who had stopped once she had registered the satyr's plan. "I don't think it'd be that simple." she disagreed. 

"It could be. Here's the plan. I'll get in the air, I'll draw her attention. As soon as your hear me say 'Maia,' you guys start..." Grover couldn't finish what he was saying as the shoes lifted him up and flew him away from the others, 

"We need a new plan." Magnolia stated, Percy and Annabeth nodding in agreement. 

"We are not our parents, until we choose to be." Medusa spoke, not far behind them. Magnolia and Annabeth only glanced at each other before they ran off, Magnolia grabbing Percy's hand to make him go with them. 

"You three have chosen. A daughter of a self-righteous mother, who chose  self-righteousness for herself." Medusa taunted, approaching Magnolia and Percy who were hiding behind a crate. 

"A daughter who doubts her mother's love for her, only for the reason that she cannot perform charmspeak." Medusa taunted Magnolia. 

Thank god for waterproof mascara. 

AUTHOR'S NOTES: 
please tell me it's not weird that i eat cupcakes with a cake fork. also the show got renewed for season 2!!! also this isn't proofread so i'm sorry for any mistakes!