A NICE LADY TRIES TO MAKE ME A STATUE

Vittoria breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew, we barely made it. A second later, and we would've been clawed."

"Yeah," I agreed. Helen was sleeping again. We just got on the bus, and Vittoria said it would be an hour before we reached our stop. "I want to apologize for before. You had to do everything by yourself again." I shook my head. " If you didn't tell me Sinis's name, I most likely would have screwed up, and all three of us would have become corpses. You're the reason I outwitted him, so thanks." Vittoria's cheeks flushed. "Try not to make a habit of it, ok? I can't have you or Helen dying on me."

"That's an interesting way to say 'your welcome'. Embarrassed?"

"Don't push it, Yiannis." I held my hands up in surrender. "Fine. Since we got an hour, we should talk about the quest. I wanted to ask you this before I got an audience with the Furies, but who do you think stole the items?"

"You want my opinion?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Chiron thought it was Hades, but it was pretty clear even he had doubts about it. We agreed before that the thief would frame me. I don't think it's wise to not have other suspects. We might already by playing into the thief's hands."

"To be honest, I still think it's Hades. I can't think of anyone else who would want war this much or who stands to gain from it. Sure, if Hades were by himself, he would handily lose to Zeus. But maybe that's why he stole Poseidon's trident as well. If he can convince Poseidon of his innocence, the only other possibility would be that Zeus is trying to dethrone them. It's something the two of them feared Zeus would do since Sparta."

"But Zeus feared the two of them would dethrone him since they did that once before." Vittoria nodded. "If Hades truly is innocent, then it's Zeus."

"Why not Poseidon?" I asked.

"Well, I can't rule that out, but I think Zeus would be much more likely to be the culprit. He's the coveted king of the gods, and both Poseidon and Hades eye his throne. Not doing anything about them is risky, as that might lead to Zeus losing power. Poseidon has wanted to be the king of the gods, but that's because he's unsatisfied with Zeus. That's why he dethroned Zeus before: he wanted Zeus to be a better ruler. Poseidon is not after power, and from what I cal tell, he's content with his current status as the sea god. Hades, on the other hand, is bitter because being the god of the Underworld has made the gods isolate themselves from him. That won't be the case if he becomes the new king."

My brows knitted. "That makes sense. So why were Poseidon's and Hades's weapons stolen? Is that some ploy made by one of them to prove their innocence?" Vittoria bit on her thumb. "Probably. To most, it wouldn't make sense that Hades or Poseidon would have their own weapons robbed if they were trying to dethrone Zeus. That would make winning a war against him harder for both of them, as they don't have their weapons. We should suspect all three of them just to be safe, but prioritize Zeus and Hades."

Her theory made sense, and it was central to my plan. I had to say I was impressed. Vittoria managed to figure all that out on her own. Of course, unlike me, she doesn't know that Kronos is the real mastermind here. Still, gods can't steal each other's items, but demigods can. I've been curious about which demigod actually ran off with the weapons. I figured the gods would give that job to their kids or that Kronos would manipulate one of them into doing it, so it's either a child of Zeus or Poseidon. As far as I know, Helen and I are the only children of Hades, and we did not steal the weapons. All I knew for sure was that the thief was a girl after my last conversation with Kronos.

"You look terrible," I told Vittoria. "Get some sleep while you can."

"Thanks, but I'll decline. I'm famished, though, so I'd love a cheeseburger."

"Sorry, but we're out of food. I just saw a Wendy's not too far from where we are. We could get off here, eat, and wait for another bus."

"Yeah, but the bus might take a while. We might end up having to sleep for the night and taking the bus tomorrow. The sooner we complete this quest, the better. I'd rather-" her growling stomach said otherwise. "I agree with your stomach," I said. "I'm just as hungry as you are. Let's go."

Thank god the line wasn't too long. We got our order relatively quickly and began chomping down on chicken burgers and salads(got to be at least a little healthy.) We didn't have to wait a long time for another bus, either, which was a relief. Things were going our way for once. But we were all tired. Helen was already sleeping on my shoulders, and Vittoria looked droopy, so I told her to get some rest and that I'll keep watch. She nodded gratefully, grabbed a pillow from her bag, and slept with a smile on her face.

It was midnight by the time we reached our stop. "Damm it, I'm out of batteries," Vittoria sighed. My phone didn't have any charge either. We had no clue where to go from here, and without Google maps, we were basically lost. "Sleepy," Helen murmured. The three of us walked randomly, hoping to find a hotel to stay at, or at least a decent enough place to sleep outside. We had no such luck. We walked past rows of houses and small stores, and I doubt anyone would take us in for the night. Vittoria bumped into someone. "Ack!"

"I apologize for smacking into you," Vittoria groaned. "No, no, it's my fault. I should have been more careful." Apparently, Vittoria walked into an older woman, judging by her voice. I couldn't see any of her features. The dark of night veiled her from my eyes.

"Child, why do you wander out so late at night?"

"Um, well, you see..." Vittoria began. I needed to end that sentence. "We were kidnapped and only managed to get away from our abductors a few days ago. We've been on the run since."

"You were kidnapped?" The woman gasped. "My, how awful! Do you two have anywhere to stay for the night?"

"No," Vittoria responded. "We have nowhere to go."

"Then you children can stay the night at my home if you wish."

"We'd love to," I said.

"Take my hand. It is rather hard to see in the dark. Streetlamps ought to be built here, don't you think?"

"Yeah." I took the woman's hand as we followed her back to her house. Vittoria tapped me on the shoulder. "Are you sure about this? She could be a monster for all we know."

"I know. I don't want to take advantage of kindness, but we need somewhere to sleep. We could always kill the woman if she turns out to be a monster. Then we take her house for ourselves, assuming she doesn't respawn in an instant."

We reached the woman's house. She turned on the light, and I saw why I couldn't see her outside. She wore a burqa that covered her entire body, except for her hands. The woman led us to her kitchen. "Please, make yourselves at home. I am Aalyiah."

"Oh, right. Sorry for not introducing myself. My name's Vittoria."

"I'm Yiannis, and this is Helen." Helen smiled at the woman, who patted her head. "Aren't you adorable? Well, you three sit down. I'll have dinner prepared soon."

"So, what do you think?" I asked Vittoria. "Any thoughts?"

"I'm not sure. Aaliyah seems normal for the most part, except for the whole burqa thing. She might be trying to hide a body part." I nodded. "Probably. We can't let our guard down as we did with Sinis. We almost died then."

"Yeah."

"What, do you two think that nice lady's a monster?" Helen interjected. I dodged the question, so Vittoria answered it. "I'm saying she could be, but I could be wrong, Helen. I'm not going to kill her if she isn't." Vittoria took my sister's hand. "I promise, ok? I won't do anything rash."

"What about you, Yiannis?"

"I'm with Vittoria. We'll just see how things roll out." Helen buried herself in my arms. "Just don't kill her if she turns out to be a human." She extended her pinky. "Promise?" I locked my pinky with hers. "Promise. If she is a human, the least I could do for giving us food and shelter is to keep her alive."

"I suppose you're right," Helen smiled. Aaliyah came back. She carried two trays and set them on the table. One contained brown rice and mashed vegetables, while the other had roasted chicken. "I'm sorry if you expected something else, but this is all I have." Vittoria bowed. "No! We owe you for this! Thank you, Aaliyah!"

"You're welcome, Vittoria. Let's eat."

Aaliyah cooked simple food, but it tasted so good. After stuffing ourselves, Aalyiah said we stunk and that we could use her shower if we wanted. "No, we owe you enough already," I said. Aaliyah shook her head. "I don't mean any offense, but you three are very dirty. None of you have showered or brushed your teeth recently, have you? I don't want my house to be stained."

Aaliyah clapped. "You three look lovely now! I think we should take a photograph! I would love to make statues of you!"

"Statues?" I asked. "Oh, right. I sell sculptures for a living. It's been a while since I've had guests. My imagination has been running dry lately." Even though there was no basis for it, I could tell that if I said yes, we would be dead. It was just like when Sinis asked us to help him bend a pine tree. There was nothing wrong with the suggestion, but who asks such things? Even if she wanted to make sculptures of us, why ask three strangers for a photograph? She could have just asked us to sit still as she made statues of us or whatever. Was there someone like her in the greek myths? I couldn't find a match.

"Well, um, it would be kind of weird to take a picture with three people you never met, so I don't think we should do it." I wanted to know how she would respond to that. Sinis had been frustrated when we gave him excuses. Would she do the same?

"You have a point, Yiannis. Then will you let me make a drawing of you, then?"

"Er-"

"Sure, we don't mind," Helen butted in. Damm it. My sister's too kind, and I can't say no to her. "Well, we need to get ready first," Vittoria quickly added. "If you make a sculpture of Yiannis the way he is now, you're certainly going to go bankrupt."

"Hey!" I protested. Aaliyah giggled. "Why do you think so? Yiannis is unexpectedly handsome for his age. Very well, I'll let you prepare him and Helen, then." Vittoria nodded. "Thanks again, Aaliyah."

"You're welcome. I bet you'll make a fine sculpture, Vittoria De Rose."

Vittoria dragged Helen and me to another room and slammed the door shut. "She's not a human, that's for sure."

"Did she just say your full name back there?" I asked. "Yeah, she did," Vittoria nodded. "I don't recall telling her my last name. I don't have anything on me that has my name on it, either."

"What about your phone?"

"It's still out of charge and in my pocket." I guess we had to kill the nice lady now. But still, what monster was she? "Vittoria, do you know what she is?"

She shook her head. "I wish I did. I'm not sure if this will help, but she doesn't have normal hair."

"Um, she's a monster. We know she isn't normal."

"Ok then, how about she has something hissing on the back of her head?" That got my attention. "Hissing?" What, did she have snakes for hair or something?

"Yeah. At first, I thought it was Aaliyah herself, but when I looked more closely, I saw something on her head moving. Actually, I saw some things on her head moving." That's just great. She might actually have snakes for hair. How does she use shampoo? What type of shampoo does she use? Does she scrub her head with rats or something? Gross.

Wait a minute, she had snakes for hair? I don't have enough evidence to confirm that, but if that's the case... she was a Gorgon. (Three sisters in Greek mythology who had snakes for hair.) One of them, in particular, was very famous. This Gorgon liked staring at other people and turning them into statues of stone: Medusa. That explains why she wanted a photo op with us. Once we looked at her, we would become her playthings.

I explained my theory to Vittoria and Helen. "Isn't that wonderful," Vittoria muttered dejectedly. "We can't leave this room unless we want to become statues." Helen squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. "So we have to... kill... the nice lady now." I hugged her. "Sadly, we do, or she'll sell us for profit. Literally." Kindness was Helen's biggest strength. Unfortunately, I think Helen is too kind to others. Anyone could easily take advantage of her, and being a cripple did not help at all. She was usually bullied in school or preyed upon because she was "weak," which may partly have been due to her generosity. She never had it in her to hurt others, much less kill them, unless there was a compelling reason, such as for survival. I hoped she would pick her own life over Aaliyah's and not fall into her clutches.

"Helen, she's a monster. It's different from killing a human. It's like killing a wild animal. If you don't kill them, they'll kill you. I know Aaliyah took us in, but she didn't do it out of kindness. She wanted to make us her new statues. I don't want you to become a statue, ok? I love you, Helen." I could see the water coming out of her glistening ocean eyes. "I love you, too, Yiannis. I love you more than anyone," she said as she embraced me. I patted her hair. "I will protect you, I promise," I whispered in her ear.

"Aww, how cute. But I'm afraid that won't happen!" Aaliyah barged into the room, sending the door flying in the air. I buried Helen's head in my chest. "Whatever you do, little sis, don't look at her!" Aaliyah(Medusa) cackled. "I am really digging this brother-sister thing. Perhaps I should make that a part of my artwork."

"You will not lay a finger on her," I snarled. Vittoria was right. I had my eyes closed, but I could hear the hissing noises she described. Medusa grabbed my face. "Yiannis, all I have to do is make you look, and that will be it. You're in my house; there's nothing you can do to change the outcome." Suddenly, Medusa started gagging and coughing. "What the... how'd you shoot me! You are blinded!"

My mouth twisted into a grin. "Oh, I didn't shoot you. Helen's the best archer I've ever seen. She doesn't need to look to shoot when you were so close to us."

"But how'd she get a bow and arrow?" Medusa coughed. "Damm you! You made them with your shadow!"

"Yep, umbrakinesis is incredible, don't you think?" Medusa glowered. "You twats think you've won? Don't kid your-" I heard a slashing sound. "It's over. We won. Yiannis, you can open your eyes now," Vittoria said. "Needless to say, don't look at her head. Her eyes can still petrify you."

"Where should we put it?" I asked. Vittoria grabbed one of the little snakes on her deceased head. "I'll throw it in the garbage. Since it turned out like this, are we going to be staying here for the night?"

"Yeah. We just got a whole house filled with good food to ourselves. We can't let this go to waste."

"No, we can't," Vittoria agreed. "That was some accurate shooting, Helen." Helen looked up at her. "You think so?"

"Yeah. I can see why your overprotective brother thinks you're the best archer." Helen's face brightened. "Thank you, Vittoria!"

"You're welcome," Vittoria smiled. "We should go to bed now." I nodded. "What about Medusa's body?"

"Oh, that dissolved a while ago. Medusa's head will take longer to do the same. She won't be reforming anytime soon, so I think we'll be fine."

Helen got up. "I'll wash my face, then." Vittoria sat next to me. "You really love Helen, don't you?"

"Yeah. Helen's all I have left. What about you? Jealous that I have such a cute, adorable little sister?" Vittoria was hiding it, but I could see her cheeks reddening. "You have no idea, Yiannis. No idea at all," she pouted. "You're so lucky, you know that?"

"Yeah, I do." Vittoria headed out of the room. "I'll speak with you tomorrow about the quest, and something important. Get some rest; you'll need it."