Percy Jackson: The Firstborn

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Medusa... Take it or leave it

Polyphemus’ Island

Inside a cave on the island stood countless statues, some frozen with expressions of pure terror while others had their arms raised as if trying to shield their faces. To anyone entering without knowing where they were, the scene would probably have looked like some particularly macabre collection. For the demigods moving slowly between them, every statue was a very clear reminder of why Artemis had spent so many hours training them specifically for this.

”Right side!” Annabeth shouted as she raised the shield her mother had given her.

The sound of an arrow cutting through the air came almost immediately. Annabeth angled the shield and the projectile struck the divine metal before being deflected into one of the cave walls. Medusa hissed in irritation from the other side of the chamber, countless snakes writhing around her head as she searched for an opportunity to force one of the young demigods to look directly at her. However, after entire days of training under Artemis, none of them were willing to make such a basic mistake.

Percy kept his gaze below the Gorgon’s neck as he blocked a strike with his sword and retreated several steps. He couldn’t afford to look directly at her face, so he relied mostly on his reflexes, his companions’ warnings, and the distorted images he could catch on certain metallic surfaces.

A few meters away, Luke kept Euryale occupied with his sword, avoiding staying in the same place for too long while the Gorgon moved around him with a speed that would have easily overwhelmed any of the young demigods before their training.

Stheno, on the other hand, was a completely different problem.

”Selene!”

Aphrodite’s daughter barely had time to turn before one of Stheno’s massive arms came crashing down toward her. Selene threw herself to the side and the Gorgon’s fist slammed directly into the ground, cracking the stone beneath her feet.

Before Stheno could recover her stance, Selene planted one hand on her arm, used the creature’s own body as leverage, and vaulted over her before landing several meters away. Stheno roared and spun around furiously, but Selene had already moved again, darting through the cave at impressive speed.

Hidden some distance away among the shadows, Artemis watched the entire battle with her arms crossed. Her attention constantly shifted between the different demigods, ready to intervene immediately if any of them made a mistake that could cost them their life. So far, however, that hadn’t been necessary..... They had undoubtedly improved.

Thalia had learned to control the distance with her spear much better and no longer threw lightning around recklessly, instead learning to wait and take advantage of opportunities when they truly appeared. Percy was beginning to combine his swordsmanship with the water available to him in a much more natural way.

Luke, while lacking the raw strength of some of his companions, made up for it quite well with experience, speed, and that annoying ability of his to remain unpredictable and adapt in the middle of a fight.

Annabeth probably had the least offensive power among them, but she was also the one keeping the group functioning as a unit, which in her own way made her every bit as important as the others.

However, the one who had surprised Artemis the most was Selene. The Goddess of the Hunt narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched Aphrodite’s daughter slide beneath another blow from Stheno before driving a small divine blade into the Gorgon’s side and immediately retreating. It hadn’t been a particularly serious wound, but the precision and movement had been nearly perfect.

Artemis never would have expected a daughter of Aphrodite to be among those who had improved the most in all of Camp Half-Blood, to the point that more than once she had considered offering Selene a place among her Hunters. She still hadn’t brought herself to do it, but the thought was definitely there.

Curiously, even Artemis herself hadn’t thought too deeply about something rather obvious. Aphrodite wasn’t simply a Goddess of Love born like many of the Olympians, but a deity whose origins were directly connected to Uranus.

If part of that primordial lineage could be passed down to her descendants, then it made sense that some of her children would be born with greater potential than they usually showed. The problem was that almost none of Aphrodite’s children ever bothered to discover it. Selene, apparently, seemed determined to become the exception.

”Percy, now!” Annabeth shouted, and the son of Poseidon immediately reacted by extending one hand toward a small stream of water he had managed to pull into the cave from outside. It wasn’t enough to create some enormous wave or anything close to what his father could do with ease, but it was more than enough for what he needed.

The water rushed across the ground and wrapped around Medusa’s legs just as the Gorgon tried to move to the side, causing her to lose her balance for barely an instant. The opportunity was immediately seized.

”Thalia!” Percy shouted, while Zeus’s daughter immediately answered with a loud, ”Annie!” Annabeth understood at once. She ran toward Thalia and raised her shield in front of her, angling it just enough for the girl to plant one foot against the metal.

With a powerful push, Annabeth launched her upward and Thalia shot through the air as electricity began crawling along her arm. Medusa barely had time to widen her eyes before Zeus’s daughter descended directly toward her and brought her hand down.

A bolt of lightning exploded against Medusa’s soaked body and a piercing scream echoed throughout the cave. The discharge tore through the Gorgon from head to toe while the snakes around her head thrashed violently. Medusa dropped to her knees before collapsing onto the ground, smoke rising from several parts of her body while the demigods used those few seconds to catch their breath.

The moment Stheno and Euryale sawtheir sister fall, both let out furious roars. Stheno knocked Selene aside with a brutal swing of her arm while Euryale completely abandoned Luke and rushed toward the rest of the group. The first advanced while crushing part of the ground beneath each step, while the second moved so quickly that she practically became a blur. The demigods managed to prepare themselves to meet them, but fortunately for them, two blasts of air tore through the cave and struck both Gorgons at the same time.

Stheno and Euryale were launched in opposite directions before crashing violently into several of the statues surrounding the area. Stone and dust from long-dead victims filled the air while Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, Luke, and Selene quickly turned toward the entrance, finding Damon calmly walking toward them with Athena at his side.

”You did very well, kids. I’m proud of you,” the redhead said with a smile as he looked over the group. The young demigods took a few seconds to react before several voices overlapped. ”Huh?! Lord Damon!”

Some of them looked as if they were considering bowing, while others simply remained still, unsure what kind of protocol they were supposed to follow in the middle of a fight. Damon quickly made a small gesture with his hand. ”No need. It’s good to see you too. It’s been a while.”

A yellow flash appeared a few meters away and Artemis stepped out of it with an expression that made it very clear she wasn’t happy at all. Her eyes immediately locked onto Damon, practically throwing daggers at him. The redhead noticed the look and turned toward her with a small smile. ”It’s good to see you too, Artemis,” he said before giving her a wink.

The Goddess of the Hunt clicked her tongue. There were plenty of things she wanted to say, but her last few encounters with Damon had taught her well enough that saying everything running through her mind would probably only worsen her own mood. ”Welcome back, Lord Damon,” she finally replied with obvious reluctance. ”Much better,” Damon answered, making Artemis narrow her eyes before looking away.

Before anything else could be said, a roar shook part of the cave. Stheno emerged from the rubble, followed closely by Euryale. Both were covered in dust and small injuries, but neither seemed particularly concerned about them. Their eyes passed over Damon first before locking onto Athena. The instant they recognized the Goddess of Wisdom, the fury on their faces increased even further.

”YOU!” Stheno roared as she stepped forward. Athena remained completely calm, but Damon slowly turned his head toward the Gorgon. ”Easy there.” Stheno ignored the warning and tried to advance again, causing every trace of amusement to vanish from the redhead’s expression. ”If you don’t want to disappear right now, I suggest you stay exactly where you are.”

The killing intent radiating from Damon made both sisters stop dead in their tracks. The rage in their eyes didn’t lessen in the slightest, but even they could recognize the difference between someone making an empty threat and someone who was completely serious. Damon dismissed them almost immediately and turned his attention toward Medusa.

The Gorgon had partially regained consciousness and remained propped up on one hand, still breathing heavily after Thalia’s lightning strike. Her eyes met Damon’s blue ones for several seconds and Medusa went completely still. Her gaze could turn men, demigods, and countless other creatures to stone, but Damon didn’t even blink.

The redhead walked toward her until he was standing at a reasonable distance. ”Medusa, right? My apologies that we have to meet under such unpleasant circumstances, but it’s good to finally meet you.”

Medusa didn’t even respond. Her eyes briefly shifted toward Athena before returning to Damon, who continued speaking without showing the slightest concern. ”As you probably already know, I’m the current King of the Gods. Zeus hasn’t been in charge for some time now. So, when I learned your story, I found the way you ended up in this situation rather unfortunate, so I’m going to offer you something simple.” Damon went straight to the point; there was no reason to waste time dancing around the subject.

Athena remained a few steps behind him without interrupting while Damon looked directly at Medusa. ”I can restore your former appearance. Beyond that, any reasonable request you have will be heard, and Athena will personally apologize to you for what happened; the same can be said about my brother Poseidon.”

At Damon’s words, Medusa’s eyes widened completely, although the doubt in them was still obvious. Athena, for her part, said nothing. Damon had already made it clear that one way or another, she would have to personally apologize to the woman.

A deep silence settled over the cave while Medusa stared at the King of the Gods standing before her. Damon let out a quiet sigh before continuing. ”I know this won’t erase years of suffering, but it’s the best I can offer you right now.”

”DON’T LISTEN TO HIM!” Stheno roared from behind. Euryale bared her teeth as she took a step forward. ”All gods are the same! They and their damned children can rot in Tartarus!” Stheno quickly joined in. ”Don’t listen to that bastard, sister! We don’t need anything from them!”

Medusa slowly closed her eyes as she listened to her sisters. They could hate the gods for all eternity if they wanted. She had hated them for a very long time as well, but beneath all that anger was a desire that had never disappeared.

Medusa wanted her life back. She wanted to have a human face again, to be able to look at someone without turning them to stone, and to stop waking up every day in this disgusting body, surrounded by snakes, hidden away inside a cave while waiting for the next hero to arrive trying to take her head. If there truly was a chance for her to regain her peace, there was nothing in the world that could convince her to reject the offer.

Medusa opened her eyes and looked directly at Damon. ”I accept.”

The silence lasted less than a second before Stheno and Euryale reacted at the same time. ”WHAT?!” Both stared at their sister as if she had just spat in their faces. ”You damned traitor!” they screamed as they lunged toward her.

The demigods barely had time to react before Damon’s eyes glowed. Stheno and Euryale froze in the middle of their movements as their bodies began to tremble. A reddish light covered both sisters and, in less than a second, hundreds of thin lines began spreading across the bodies of both Gorgons from the inside out.

The screams of the two sisters filled the cave while Medusa turned toward them with her eyes wide open. Both began to disintegrate in front of her, their bodies slowly breaking apart into tiny particles that vanished into the air without giving either of them a chance to say goodbye or even speak their final words.

Damon slowly lowered his gaze toward Medusa. ”Well... I suppose now we can talk a little more peacefully.”

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Thank you for reading )