34 Chapter 34 I hate you. So much.
"First the Furies, and now Medusa... what's next, Hercules?" Mimir asked sarcastically.
"Medusa's not that much of a threat unless you look into her eyes." Jakob reminded. He heard movement behind him and whirled around, swinging the Leviathan Axe. However, it seemed to hit air.
"Jakob! it's me!" A female voice hissed.
Jakob sighed and lowered his weapon. "Don't sneak up on me like that. I could've taken your head off."
"Sorry," she whispered, invisible. "Listen, we need to take Medusa out."
"I know." Jakob said, peeking out to see if there was any sign of the Gorgon. "There's two ways to do so. The easy way is to make her stare at her own reflection and turn her to stone."
"Like in the Clash of the Titans film. What Perseus did to her." Annabeth said.
"Yes. Or we go the hard way." Jakob said. "We rip off her head."
"It's going to be hard." Annabeth said. "I think the food was drugged. I feel sluggish."
"That's what happens when you take a stranger's food without even considering the possibility of it being drugged." Jakob said with a small smirk.
Even though she was invisible, Jakob could tell she was glaring at him. "Are you seriously gloating? Right now?"
Jakob shrugged. "Well, I did warn you. And you should have listened to Grover. So much for Athena always having a plan."
"…I hate you. So much."
"No you don't." Jakob said with a smirk. "Stay here, Wise Girl, I'm going to go get me a Gorgon's head."
Jakob was about to go, but he felt Annabeth's hand clamp on his shoulder. "Wait, Jakob. She's dangerous and can kill you just by turning you to stone."
"I've faced much more dangerous than her and nearly died as a result." Jakob said firmly. "Compared to the monsters in my homeland, Medusa's not that challenging. Besides, I'm not stupid. I know not to look at her eyes. I just need her distracted."
They then heard Medusa's voice. "The Grey-Eyed One did this to me, Andie." Her voice sounded like that of a soothing grandmother. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."
"Don't listen to her!" Annabeth called out, seeing Jakob was moving around to a position where he could attack Medusa from behind. "Fight it, Andie!"
"Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back to a comforting purr. "You why I must destroy the girl, Andie. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Andie. You need not suffer."
'That's disturbing.' Jakob thought with an eye-roll.
"Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Andie? What will happen when 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."
Seeing he was in a good enough position to attack, Jakob burst out and leaped onto Medusa's back, ignoring the fact her lower body was that of an snake and was writhing like one.
"Get off me!" Medusa shrieked as Jakob wrapped an arm around her throat before he got his hands over her eyes. Her snake half came up and wrapped around him, trying to pull him off and they fell down, rolling across the ground but Jakob did not relinquish his hold.
Freeing one hand, he grabbed the Leviathan Axe, swung and it sliced through Medusa's neck, her head detaching from her body soon afterwards. Jakob watched as the body dissolved into golden dust like the Furies had after being killed. Withut looking, he closed Medusa's eyes so there was no worry of accidentally being turned to stone.
Jakob held the head up by the snake-hair, then he grunted and lowered his arm as the others came out of hiding.
"You... you did it." Annabeth said with wide eyes.
"I did." Jakob nodded. "Now, let's find something to put this in. I've already got one severed head with me, I'm not carrying another."
"Hey!" Mimir cried, offended which made the others chuckle.
Together they made it out of the warehouse and back to the dining area.
They found some old plastic grocery bags and double wrapped Medusa's head. They plopped it on the now right side up table where they'd eaten dinner and sat around it, too exhausted to speak.
Finally Andromeda said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"
Annabeth flashed her an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad."
Andromeda frowned and shot Annabeth a glare. "Oh, so it's my fault we met Medusa."
"Enough!" Jakob cut in firmly, looking between them. "You are both to blame for this. You listened to your stomachs rather than common sense after Grover said he smelled monsters. You should've trusted your instincts, not your hunger. We are on a quest to save the world, not to stop and satisfy our needs."
Annabeth and Andromeda lowered their heads, seeing he was telling the truth. "We're sorry." They said.
"Do not be sorry, be better." Jakob advised, and they nodded, taking his words to heart.
"So what do we do with Medusa's head?" Grover asked, bringing their attention back to the wrapped up head.
"Not our concern." Jakob said as he got up to leave.
"No... it is." andromeda said as she stood with a frown on her face before going off to somewhere in the store, while the others shared confused looks.
"What is she doing?" Annabeth asked with a sigh, rubbing her temples.
Andromeda came back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head, and filled out a delivery slip:
The Gods
Mount Olympus
600th Floor
Empire State Building
New York, NY
With best wishes.
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