Waves of Lightning

We woke up in the morning and Grover smelled food cooking in the distance and started to lead us to it. It was late afternoon when we reached the place the smell was coming from. Aunty “M”’s Garden Gnome Emporium. I had a feeling that this was not somewhere we needed to be. But the others were hungry so I agreed to stop for a while. We walked in and were greeted by a rather pretty woman in sunglasses and a hair scarf. I could hear a faint hissing coming from somewhere like a bunch of snakes but didn’t pay it much mind until I heard a rather angry hiss come from the woman’s head. She sat us down and fed us burgers. They were talking about something that didn’t interest me while I looked like I was spacing out but I was really trying to figure out why this lady’s head kept hissing at us. Then it hit me. CRAP!
“Hey guys, I think it’s time for us to go. I mean we have a long way to go yet today.” I told them calmly, and considering we were in Medusa’s lair calmly was a good thing at the moment.
“Or are you sure? Well how about a picture of our time together before you leave.” Medusa stated not knowing that I had found her out.
“I guess that would be ok.” Percy my idiot little brother told her with a smile.
“Count me out, I hate pictures and I look like Medusa after camping last night.” I eyed Medusa gageing her reaction to her own name being used as an insult. I wasn’t disappointed.
“Young lady, you do know that when she was still human Medusa was the most beautiful woman there was. She was courted by many men, including the god of the sea himself. But Athena was jealous and turned her into a monster.” I chuckled.
“That is not why Athena turned her into a monster. Athena turned her into a monster for having the audacity to sneak into HER temple to meet said god of the sea. Medusa and her two sisters were turned into the gorgons because of their disrespect and Athena was even madder at Poseidon after that. And if I remember right the Hydra and Pegasus were the twins born to Medusa from that encounter with Poseidon.” I told her with a smirk on my face. “You want to know something I said the same thing the last time I met a woman as HIDIOUS as Medusa too after she tried that feeble attempt to defend the gorgon. That woman wasn’t very pleased with me either, not that it mattered though.”
“Why is that?” Grover asked curious.
“She didn’t live very long after that, and I took her ugly head as a prize.”
“You!” The woman whispered angrily.
“Oh you remember me now do you?”
“I didn’t recognize your smell little godling. Now I do daughter of my love Poseidon.”
“Yeah except the last time I saw you Medusa I was eight and you didn’t survive, and I hadn’t been claimed yet. Now I have been claimed and I’m thirteen.” She shrieked in anger as I drew Stormwealder out of my hair and clicked it open. He was enough to beat her last time he would be enough to do it again. “Don’t look at her, keep your eyes shut tight!” I demanded as I engaged her in combat. Percy uncapped Riptide and started to help me as did Annabeth with her knife. Grover took out his pipes and started to play them. After a little bit we almost had her. I looked at Annabeth and she pulled out at the same time I did letting Percy finish the gorgon off. He chopped off her head and it rolled away. I walked over to it and tossed her head scarf over it covering it and wrapped it up. I packed it up and handed it to Percy. “Your trophy.”
“Huh?”
“You killed her so you get to keep her head as a trophy, you can do with it what you want.” Annabeth told him. He nodded and took it inside. He put it in a box and labeled it, the he found some Hermes godmail forms and filled one out sticking it to the box and laying a few drachma on top. The box disappeared and Grover looked at him shocked.
“They aren’t going to like that.” Grover warned. “They’ll think you’re impertinent.”
“I am impertinent.”
“What did he do?” I asked curious.
“He sent it to the gods on Olympus.” I looked at him and chuckled.
“You really do have a death wish don’t you. Come on lets go.” We left and walked outside after taking some food and blankets from Aunty “M”’s.
We camped out in a clearing that was littered in pop cans and fast food wrappers, this place had obviously been used for parties. We didn’t make a fire even though we were cold and damp, we had had enough excitement from the furies and Medusa. We decided to sleep in shifts. Percy volunteered to take first watch. I told them I would take last watch and wake them up around sunrise. I pulled my yellow cloak from Gramps out of my back pack and wrapped it around myself warming and drying instantly, it was obviously made of lightning. I wrapped Annabeth, Percy, and Grover in it long enough to dry them off. Then I wrapped up in it again and then wrapped up in my invisibility cloak disappearing.
“I’ll be right next to you Annabeth so that you know where I am when it’s time to wake me up.”
“Ok then I can handle that.” And with that I fell asleep. In my dreams I was flying, I was flying like a storm over the land looking at wreckage evil. I sighed and wondered what I could do to fix it. Then I spotted Luke down on the ground surrounded by demigods, hellhouds, and other monsters. I flew over the top of the scean and watched as Luke gave them orders. He looked up and saw me.
“Come to me my Stormy.” I flew to his side and looked into his blue eyes with a smile. Only they weren’t blue, they were gold and filled with a cold evil. This wasn’t my Dragon Slayer, this was a monster. I went to engage the monster in combat but before I could U was swept up into the arms of another. I looked up and saw Apollo.
“What happened to him?”
“He has been corrupted my love. By my grandfather Kronos. Percy is the one who will destroy Kronos. That isn’t Luke anymore that is the enemy. Luke died the day he allowed Kronos to take his body.”
“So my Luke is dead then.” I started to cry and Apollo comforted me.
“Yes he is, but remember my love. Remember your promise to me. I will wait forever for you to be ready.” I nodded and hugged him tightly.
“I remember, and if after this war is over and the gods are still here and Luke for sure doesn’t survive somehow, then yes I will keep my promise to you. I swear by the River Styx. There was a rumble and I knew my oath would be kept. Then my eyes snapped open, I was lying on the ground toasty and warm looking at Annabeth. “It was just a dream.” I stood up and hugged Annabeth. “Rest a while; I’ll wake you when it’s time to leave.” I walked to a tree and climbed it and sat looking around cautiously. When the sun started to rise I smiled. “Good morning my friend.” I felt a warm hand press against my cheek and I smiled. “What have I told you about that.” A said sternly. I heard a lighthearted laugh and then he was gone again. I looked at the sunrise and smiled it was the same one as the day I left camp. I looked around and saw a rainbow a little ways off in the mist. I tossed in a coin and smiled. “Goddess please except my gift.” It disappeared and I smiled even more. “Please show me Luke at Camp Halfblood.” The rainbow shimmered and I saw Luke asleep in his bad. I looked at him a moment and smiled. “Luke wake up.”
“Five more minutes.” He rolled over away from me.
“Luke, it’s me Stormy, now wake up.”
“No.”
“You’ll miss breakfast and I’ll never talk to you again if you don’t” He jumped up and looked at me.
“I’m awake. Stormy it’s the crack of dawn.”
“No it’s just after sunrise. That’s beside the point. We saw Medusa yesterday.”
“WHAT?! Are you ok?” I chuckled.
“I’m fine. She didn’t remember me at first but then she did. I let Percy kill her this time though. It was too easy the first time I did it and the kid needs the practice.”
“As long as you’re ok. Stormy what’s wrong? You look paler that usual.”
“I just had a bad dream last night that’s all. Don’t worry about it.”
“Now I’m worried about it. Tell me.”
“Well I was flying and then I saw you surrounded by a lot of demigods and monsters and hellhounds and stuff like that. You were giving them orders. Then you looked up at me and told me to come down there so I did. When I landed I looked at you right into your eyes only they weren’t blue they were gold and I knew you were a monster. Before I could challenge you Apollo took me away and told me that you were dead and that that was Kronos. Then he told me to remember my promise and I said something about a war and if you really hadn’t survived the war then I would keep my promise to him. I was so scared Luke. Just the thought of you being dead made me want to die too. I don’t like the idea of you not being alive.” I had started to cry again. “I don’t even know what this promise to Apollo is.”
“Stormy, shh it’s ok. Everything will be fine. I’m not going to die. But if I do. You have to promice to live your life to the fullest. Don’t dwell on me and what we could have had together. Get married and be happy, and have lots of babies.” I snorted a laugh threw my tears and looked at him. “I wish I could be there to cheer you up. By the way I got my birthday present. I love it.”
“I’m glad, I love my present too Luke, it’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad.” I looked up at the sky and decided it was time to wake the others.
“I have to go wake the others. We have a long way to go. I love you Luke.”
“I love you too Stormy, be careful.” I nodded and he swiped his hand threw the mist on the other side. I sighed and returned to camp and woke up Annabeth.
“You get Percy and I’ll get Grover.” She nodded and we set to work waking up the boys. Grover was easy, Percy, not so much.
“Well,” Annabeth said, “The zombie lives.” He was trembling.
“How long was I asleep?”
“Long enough for me to cook breakfast.” I told him and tossed him a bag of nacho chips from Aunty “M”’s snack bar. “Oh and Grover went exploring, look, he found a friend.” The poodle yapped at Percy.
“No he’s not.” Grover said to him.
“Are you talking to that thing?” Percy asked confused. The poodle growled. I tuned then out and started to look around for monsters or gods or minor gods. I could care less about their conversation at the moment. I already knew the plan. We were going to turn Gladiola in to his owner and use the reward money to buy train tickets west on the Amtrak. I really hated trains but it seemed like the best plan seeing as Percy couldn’t fly.