𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄. percy jackson

𝟏𝟒: mother's daughter

magnolia dove 𝔁 percy jackson
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
CHAPTER 14: MOTHER'S DAUGHTER

MAGNOLIA HAD never been known for her knowledge and wisdom but she was not about to leave her best friend welded into a chair and turned into gold, no matter how much a gold statue would've sold for. 

Magnolia walked around the left side and paused at the sight of gears, wishing how her best friend was here to help her. "Annabeth, where are you when I need you?" she asked herself, crouching down and sitting on the platform, inspecting the gears and beginning to blindly turn them. 

She was so immersed in trying to save Percy that she failed to notice a fairground worker walk out on the above level, looking down at her like a peasant. "Can I help you?" he asked, Magnolia jumping slightly at the surprise. She looked up at him before shaking her head and continuing to turn the gears. "Do you need some help finding your way out?" he asked, not getting an acknowledgment from Magnolia. 

The fairground worker quickly realised that the daughter of Aphrodite would not let her friend go so easily. He got his flute out and played a short melody beautifully, causing a ladder to pull up from under the water and stop at Magnolia's level, giving her a way out. "Off you go then," he instructed her calmly. 

Magnolia shook her head as she continued turning the gears, hoping for a sign that she had done something to help get Percy out. "I'm not leaving without my friend," she told the man, her eyes still focused on the task. 

"Yeah, that isn't really how it works. It's kind of a one-way sort of thing. It can't be undone." the worker told the girl. Magnolia wasn't paying him any mind, she was still turning the gears, trying not to focus on the rushing water, the worker scolding her and how her favourite sneakers were now practically worthless. 

"How do you know?" Magnolia questioned, still not glancing at him. 

"Because I built it," the man said, still looking down at her. 

Magnolia hesitated, thinking of the marriage between him and her mother. "I'm not leaving here without my friend. If you aren't going to help me, could you please leave me alone so I can focus?" she asked, glaring up at him before focusing on the gold gears again. 

"In spite of what my brother might've told you, I am not someone who'll be pushed around," Hephaestus told the girl. Magnolia didn't respond, still cranking the gears and hoping for any chance of Percy's survival. "I know your mother will be displeased with your visit here. I also know she didn't let you have the power of Charmspeak," Hephaestus revealed to Magnolia who hesitated for a moment before continuing trying to save Percy. 

"You walk out of here with that shield... and you'll most likely impress your mother. On your way to the greatest glory. She'll be proud and you'll be forgiven, and all will go back to being as it always has been, as it should be." 

"It isn't how it should be!" Magnolia snapped, standing up and glaring at the god. "Sacrificing a boy who has been nothing but nice to me since we met for some dumb hypnotism power isn't right! Power and glory are all that matters to you Gods. Ares may be that way, Zeus may be that way, and Athena may be that way." Magnolia yelled out at him. 

The girl glanced at Percy, now frozen and welded into gold with little chance of being free. "Percy is not that way, he's so much better than that. My mother is known for punishing those who didn't worship her and who didn't see her beauty. I don't want to be like her, I don't want to hurt an innocent person or demigod so that my mother will love me. I refuse to be like her." Magnolia finished, trying to catch her breath.