Chapter 11 Chapter 11 The Garden Gnome Store

In a way.It's nice to know that there are Greek gods, because they can be blamed when things go wrong.For example, when you leave the bus on foot, and the bus has just been attacked by a witch monster, and then it was blown up by lightning, and it is still raining so that you get soaked and so on.Most people might think that it's just bad luck, but when you're half-race, you realize that there are some divine powers that can really mess up your day. Annabeth, Grover and I, walking through the forest along the banks of the New Jersey river.The lights of New York City made the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson River kept filling our nostrils.

Grover shivered, his large eyes narrowed into a single pupil line, looking terrified.He said in a hoarse voice like a donkey's braying: "The three goddesses of mercy, three at a time, all come." I was shocked, the bus windows were still cracking, but Annabeth continued to pull us forward.She said, "Go! Go as far as you can." "All our money is left in the car," I reminded her. "Our food, clothes, everything." "Hey, if you don't decide to jump in and fight..." "Then what do you want me to do? Watch you get killed?" "Percy, you don't need to protect me, I'll be fine."

"Yeah, cut like a submarine," Grover interjected, "but still fine." "Shut up, smelly goat," said Annabeth. Grover brayed dejectedly. "Aluminum cans... my perfect bag full of aluminum cans." We trod through mud and through grotesque trees that smelled like sour dirty laundry. A few minutes later, Annabeth came and walked beside me.She said, "Hey, I..." Her voice trembled. "Thank you so much for coming back for us, you're really brave." "We're partners, right?" She walked a few steps in silence. "It's just that if you die... Apart from the fact that it's really bad for you, it's also the end of this search mission. This may be my only chance to see the real world."

The rain finally stopped and the city lights behind us faded, leaving us in almost total darkness.I could barely see Annabeth, except for a little sparkle in her blond hair. "Haven't you been out of Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" I asked her. "No... just a brief out-of-school teaching. My father..." "Professor of history." "Well, I don't want to be tied up at home all the time, I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home," she said anxiously, as if she was afraid that someone would stop her. "In camp, you're trained over and over again, and those things are cool, but the real world is where the monsters are. It's in the real world that you know if you're doing well."

Her voice sounded a little unsure, but I knew what she was capable of. "You really know how to use that dagger," I said. "Do you think so?" "Anyone who can sit on Furies' shoulders and drive her makes me feel that way." I can't see clearly, but I think she might be smiling, "Tell you," she said, "maybe I should tell you... there's something funny going on in the back of the bus..." Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a piercing "Doo! Doo! Doo!" which sounded very much like the screech of an owl being tortured.

"Hey, don't forget my reed flute still works!" Grover yelled. "If I remember the song 'Find the Right Way,' we'll be out of the woods!" He blows a few notes, but the melody still sounds a lot like a Hilary Duff song. Not only did we fail to find our way, but I also crashed into a tree so hard that I got a big lump on my head. I'm adding this to my list of "superpowers I don't have": Infrared night vision. After falling, cursing and a bunch of unfortunate feelings, we walked about another kilometer and a half, and I started to see lights ahead, the colors of neon.I smell the food, fried, fat, awesome food.Since arriving on the Hill of Half-Blood, I haven't eaten anything unhealthy. We ate grapes, bread, cheese, and the fat-free barbecue prepared by the elves.And now, the boy needs a double cheeseburger.

We kept walking until we came across a two-lane road through the woods, completely deserted of people and cars.There's a closed gas station across the road, a 1990s movie billboard, and a store that's open, and that's where the neon lights and food smells come from. It wasn't the fast food place I was looking for, but one of those weird arts and crafts stores you'd find on the side of a highway, selling straw flamingos and Indian wood carvings and cement grizzly bears and things like that.The main building is a long, low warehouse surrounded by statues.It was impossible for me to read what was written on the neon sign above the entrance, and if there's anything that triggers my dyslexia more than standard English font, it's the WordArt on the red neon sign.

"What the hell is written on it?" I asked. "I don't know," Annabeth said. She loves reading so much that I completely forget she has dyslexia too. Grover translates: "Aunt Miye's Garden Gnome Craft Shop." As the sign says, two cement garden gnomes with ugly beards stand on either side of the entrance.They are smiling and waving as if someone is about to take their picture. I walk across the street, following the smell of burgers. "Hey..." Grover warned me. "The light inside is on," said Annabeth. "Maybe it's still on."

"It's a restaurant." I said eagerly. "It's a restaurant." She agreed. "Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird." We ignore him. In the front garden are several statues, including concrete animals, concrete children, and a concrete satyr playing a flute, which makes Grover creepy. "Bha-baa!" he bleats. "That looks a lot like my Uncle Ferdinand!" We stopped at the warehouse door. "Don't knock," Grover pleaded, "I smell monsters." "Your nose is stuffed with Nemesis," Annabeth said. "I only asked about the taste of hamburgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"That's meat!" He said contemptuously, "I'm a vegetarian." "You eat enchiladas and aluminum cans," I remind him. "Those are vegetarian, well, let's go, these statues... are looking at me." At this moment, the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman, or so I thought.Because she was covered in a black robe except for her hands, and her head and face were completely covered with tulle, and all I could see was the sparkle in her eyes behind the black veil.Her brown hands look old, but the nails are beautifully manicured and the movements are graceful, and I think she must have been beautiful when she was young.

Her voice also has a Middle Eastern accent. "Son, it's late now, you can't wander outside. Where are your parents?" "They...well..." Annabeth began. "We're orphans," I said. "Orphans?" said the lady, sounding like a foreigner. "Oh, dear child! No way!" "We are separated from the convoy," I said, "our circus convoy. The head said to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he probably forgot, or did he mean another gas station. Whatever Well, we're lost. Is the smell I'm smelling food?" "Oh, dear children," said the lady, "you must come in, poor children, I'm Aunt Meyer, please go straight to the back of the warehouse, where there is the dining area." We thanked her and went inside. Annabeth whispered to me, "Circus caravan?" "Always have a strategy, right?" "Your head is stuffed with seaweed." There are more statues in the warehouse, all in different poses and costumes, and with different expressions on their faces.There must be a very large garden to fit these statues, because they are all life-size.However, right now my mind is full of food. It's okay to call me an idiot for walking into a store owned by a strange woman just because I'm hungry, but sometimes I just make impulsive decisions.And, that's because you don't smell Aunt Meyer's burger, which smells like a dentist's laughing gas, and makes you forget about everything else.I didn't notice Grover's nervous whining, nor did I notice that the statue's eyes seemed to follow me, nor did I see Auntie Miye lock the door behind us. At this time, I was only focused on finding the dining area. Of course, just behind the warehouse, there is a whole fast food counter with barbecue grills, soda machines, shortbread warmers, and cheese sauce dispensers. Grow the food you want.In front of us are several stainless steel picnic tables. "Please sit down." Aunt Miye said. "That's cool." I said. "Yeah," Grover said reluctantly, "but we don't have any money, ma'am." Before I poked him in the chest, Aunt Miye said, "No, no, kids, don't pay. This is a special case. This time I'll treat it to a well-behaved orphan." "Thank you, ma'am," said Annabeth. Aunt Meyer froze, as if Annabeth had done something wrong, but the old lady recovered quickly, so I thought it was my eyesight. "Annabeth, it's all right," she said, "boy, you have beautiful gray eyes." In retrospect, how did she know Annabeth's name, we haven't even introduced ourselves yet. The hostess disappears behind the counter to cook the food, and before we can see it, she pulls out a platter of double cheeseburger, vanilla milkshake, and super jumbo french fries. I ate half of the burger before I remembered to breathe. Annabeth sucked the milkshake dry. Grover picked up the fries and looked at the greased paper liner on the plate.He seemed to want to eat, but he was too nervous to eat. "What's that hissing noise?" he asked. I listened, but there was no sound, and Annabeth shook her head too. "Hissing?" said Aunt Meyer. "Maybe you heard the hot oil sizzling in the deep fryer, Grover, you have very good ears." "I take vitamins that improve my hearing." "It's enviable," she said, "but please relax." Aunt Miye didn't eat, she didn't take off her veil, and she even wrapped it while cooking.Now she sits, leans forward slightly, fingers folded, and watches us eat.I was a little uneasy that someone was staring at me and I couldn't see her face, but I was still satisfied and a little sleepy after eating the burger.But I knew I should at least have a little chat with the hostess. "So, you're selling garden gnomes." I tried to sound interested. "Oh, yes." Aunt Miye said, "There are also animals, portraits, and things that are placed in the garden. I make them according to customers' orders. Statues are very popular." "The shop is next to this road, is the business good?" "There are not so many customers. The situation is not very good. Since the highway was built... most cars don't go this way, so I cherish every customer." My neck is a little hairy, as if someone is looking at me.I turned my head and there was a statue of a young girl in the back with an Easter basket in incredible detail, better than most statues you see in parks.Her face wasn't quite right though, because she looked frightened, even frightened. "Ah." Aunt Miye said sadly: "You noticed that some of my works are not well done. Those with flaws are not for sale. The face is the most difficult part to do well. Every time there is something wrong with the face." "You made these statues by yourself?" I asked. "Oh yeah. I used to have two sisters who helped me take care of the business, but they passed away, and now Aunt Meyer is alone. All I have are statues, which is why I made them. You See, they're my companions." The sadness in her voice was so deep, so genuine, that I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Annabeth stopped eating, leaned forward and said, "Two sisters?" "That's a sad story," said Aunt Meyer, "not for children, really. Well, Annabeth, a long time ago, when I was very young, there was a bad woman who was jealous of me. I had a... Boyfriend, but this bad woman tried to tear us apart, she did terrible things. My sisters were very supportive, they tried to share my bad luck, but they all died in the end, and they left me. I survived alone , but paid a great price, alas, such a price." I don't quite understand what she means, but I feel sorry for her.My eyelids were getting heavier and my whole body was gradually falling asleep.Poor old lady, who would want to hurt such a nice person? "Percy?" Annabeth shook me awake. "I think we should go. The ringleader is still waiting for us." For some reason, her voice sounded tense. Grover was taking the oiled paper out of the plate and eating it. I don't know if Aunt Miye noticed this strange thing, but she just didn't say anything. "Pretty gray eyes," Aunt Meyer said to Annabeth again. "I, yes, saw gray eyes like yours a long time ago." She reached out as if to pat Annabeth on the cheek when Annabeth suddenly stood up. "We really should go." "Yes!" Grover swallowed the oil paper and stood up. "The head is waiting! That's right!" I don't want to go, I feel full and content.Aunt Miye is such a nice person, I want to stay with her for a while longer. "Please, honey," Auntie Miye begged us, "I'm rarely with the kids, would you at least sit and pose before you leave?" "Pose?" Annabeth asked cautiously. "Take a picture, I want to make a new set of statues in your likeness. Children's statues are very popular, everyone loves children." Annabeth moved, and suddenly she said, "Ma'am, I don't think we can do it. Percy, let's go." "Of course we can." I was furious at Annabeth for being so domineering and rude to the old lady who just entertained us for free. "Annabeth, just take a picture, nothing!" "Yeah, Annabeth," Aunt Meyer said happily, "it won't be anything." I found out that Annabeth didn't like it, but she let Aunt Meyer lead us from the front door into the statue garden. Aunt Miye took us to a park bench next to a stone sculpture of a satyr. "Now," she said, "let me adjust your positions. Let me think about it. The little lady is in the middle, and the two gentlemen stand on each side." "There's not enough light to take pictures here." I noticed this. "Oh, that's enough," said Aunt Miye. "We can all see each other, can't we?" "Where's your camera?" Grover asked. Aunt Miye stepped back a little, as if she was about to take a picture. "Now, the face is the hardest part, can you please smile at me? Everyone should smile happily." Grover glanced at the concrete satyr next to him and muttered under his breath, "It's really like Uncle Ferdinand." "Grover," Aunt Miye scolded him: "Honey, look this way." She still doesn't have a camera in hand. "Percy..." Annabeth said. Instinct tells me I should listen to Annabeth, but I'm wrestling with the random, comfortable sleepiness of food and old lady voices. "Just one click," Aunt Miye said, "It's like this, I can't see you clearly with the veil on..." "Percy, something's not right," Annabeth insisted. "Something wrong?" said Aunt Miye, beginning to undo her veil. "My dear, how could it be? I have such a noble companion tonight, how could something be wrong?" "He's Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped. "Don't look at her!" Annabeth yelled, pulling out her Yankee cap and slipping it on her head, becoming invisible, pushing Grover and me out of the bench with her invisible hand. I fell to the ground and saw Aunt Miye's feet wearing strappy sandals. I could hear Grover crawling out and Annabeth going the other way, but I was so dizzy I couldn't move at all. This is, I heard a strange, piercing voice above, and my eyes looked up to see Aunt Miye's hand. Her skin had many nodules, and her nails were sharp copper claws. I almost looked up, but Annabeth screamed from the left: "No, don't!" More piercing noises, a little snake, just above me, from... it seems to be on Aunt Miye's head. "Run!" Grover bleats, and I hear his footsteps sprinting across the gravel.He yelled, "Maya!" and started his flying shoes. Unable to move, I could only stare at Aunt Meyer's knobbly paw, trying to wrestle with the trance-like lethargy. "It's a pity to ruin such a handsome young face." She comforted me softly and said, "Percy, stay with me, you just need to look up." I resisted, trying not to follow this persuasion.I looked to the side and saw a glass ball that was placed in the garden as a decoration. It was a mirror ball.I could see Aunt Miye's black silhouette reflected in the orange glass ball, her veil gone, her face revealed as gray circles of twinkling twinkles, her hair twisting like a snake. Aunt "Miye". If you read it faster, you will become Aunt Mei. Why am I so stupid! Come to think of it, I told myself, just think of how Medusa died in the myth. But I can't figure it out.A voice told me that, in mythology, Medusa was killed in her sleep by my namesake hero, Perseus.But she didn't want to sleep at all, and she could even raise her claws and scratch my face immediately. "Percy, that gray-eyed man did this to me," Medusa said.She sounded nothing like a monster, and her voice invited me to look up and pity a poor old granny. "Annabeth's mother, that goddamn Athena, turned me from a beauty to this." "Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice came from a statue: "Percy, run!" "Quiet!" growled Medusa.Then she softened and returned to a pleasant voice. "Percy, you understand why I must destroy this girl. She is the daughter of my enemy. I will smash her statue and turn her to dust. As for you, dear Percy, you don't need to be treated like that." "No." I moaned, trying to move my feet. "Do you really want to help the gods?" asked Medusa. "Percy, do you know what awaits you on this stupid mission? What will happen to you if you go to the underworld? My dear." Yes, don't be a hostage to the gods of Olympus. It would be better for you to become a statue and get away from it. No more pain, no more pain." "Percy!" I heard a buzzing from behind, like a flock of hummingbirds swooping together. Grover yelled, "Flash!" I turned my head, and he was flying in the night sky from the direction of twelve o'clock, the shoes on his feet were flapping his wings. Grover is wrapped around a club the size of a bat, his eyes are closed, his head is turning around, and he only relies on his ears and nose for direction. "Move!" he yelled again, "I'm going to hit her!" I can finally move. Grover must not hit Medusa (Medusa), but will hit me.I quickly dodged to the other side. boom! At first I thought it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree, then there was the furious roar of Medusa. "You nasty satyr," she growled, "I'll add you to my collection!" "This is for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back. I crawl away and hide among the statues.Then Grover swooped down and launched a new attack. bang bang! "Ah!" roared Medusa, her snake hair hissing and tongue out. Right next to me, Annabeth's voice said, "Percy!" I jumped up, almost higher than the garden gnome's head. "Hush! Keep your voice down!" Annabeth took off her baseball cap and showed up, "You've got to chop off her head." "What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here quickly." "Medusa is a nuisance, she's evil, I'd love to kill her myself, but..." She swallowed, as if she was about to make a big decision. "But you have better weapons, and because of my mother, I can't get close to her, she will cut me into pieces. But... you still have a chance." "What? I won't..." "Listen, do you want her to turn more innocent people into statues?" She pointed to a statue of a couple, a boy and a girl arm in arm, who had been turned to stone by monsters. Annabeth grabbed a green mirrored ball from the nearest planter. "It would be better to use a polished shield." She looked critically at the ball, "The convex surface will cause deformation, and the reflected image size should change accordingly..." "Are you speaking English?" "I am!" She threw the glass ball to me, "You can only look through the glass, don't look at her directly." "Hey you guys!" Grover yelled over us. "I think she's unconscious!" "Roar!" "Maybe not yet," Grover corrected.He prepares for another attack with twigs. "Hurry up," Annabeth said to me. "Grover's nose is very sensitive, but it's possible to hit the wrong one." I took out the pen, took off the cap, and the Wave Sword stretched out in my hand. I walked past the hiss of Medusa's hair. My eyes were fixed on the mirror ball, so I could only see the reflection of Medusa, not the real entity.At this time, I saw her in the green glass. Grover is launching another round of offensive, but this time he has to be a little low.Medusa grabbed the stick and pulled him sideways, and he staggered through the air and landed on the arm of a stone grizzly bear, yelping in pain, "Ouch!" Medusa was about to jump on him when I yelled, "Hey!" I headed towards her, but it wasn't easy because I had a sword and a glass ball in my hand.If she comes from here at this time, it will be difficult for me to defend. But she let me get closer, six meters, three meters. I can see the reflection of her face now.It wasn't really that ugly, the curly green hair must have distorted her to make her look worse. "Percy, you won't hurt the old lady." She whispered softly: "I know you won't." I hesitated, the face reflected in the glass making it hard for me to move.Through the green glass, those burning eyes made my arms go limp. Grover moaned from the stone grizzly: "Percy, don't listen to her!" Medusa rushed over and said, "It's too late!" Her paws came towards me. I picked up the sword and slashed upwards, and heard a disgusting: "Shua!", and then there was a hissing sound from the wind blowing from the cave, which was the sound of monsters disintegrating. Something fell to my feet, and it took all my willpower not to look.I could feel the hot, sticky fluid seeping into my socks, and the little dying snake tugging at my shoelaces. "Oh, likes and dislikes," Grover said.His eyes were still shut, but I guessed he could hear the thing oozing liquid and evaporating into gas. "Super evil." Annabeth walked up to me, her eyes fixed on the sky, and she held the black Medusa veil in her hand and said to me, "Stay still." She was very careful not to look down.She knelt down and covered the monster's head with a black cloth, then picked it up.The thing was still dripping green juice. "Are you okay?" she asked me, her voice trembling. "Yeah." I said sure, though now I feel like I'm being forced to give up the double cheeseburger. "Why... her head didn't evaporate?" "Once you cut it off, it becomes a trophy," she said, "like the Minotaur's horn. But don't lift the hood, the head can still petrify you." Grover howled as he climbed down from the grizzly bear statue.He looked like he had been punched in the forehead, and his green Jamaican cap hung from one of the horns.His prosthetic foot came off its hoof, and his magic sneakers circled aimlessly around his head. "Skyfighter," I said, "Well done, fella." He smiled sheepishly and said, "It's not fun. Well, the part where you hit her with a stick was pretty good. But bumping into a concrete bear is really not fun at all." He grabbed the shoe that was flying over his head, and I put the pen cap back on the sword.The three of us went back to the warehouse together. We found a couple of old grocery store plastic bags behind the counter, wrapped Medusa's head in an extra layer, and dropped it on our dinner table.Then we sat around it, too tired to speak. Finally I said, "So, should we thank Athena for this monster?" Annabeth looked at me angrily. "Thank you daddy! Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend and they dated at my mother's temple, that's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and Her two sisters who helped her into the temple turned into three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to chop me up, but she wanted to save you and turn her into a perfect statue. Still attached to your dad, you probably reminded her of him." My face is burning hot. "Oh, so it's all my fault for meeting Medusa." Annabeth sat up straight and imitated me when I said, "Annabeth, just take a picture, it's not going to matter!" She was so bad at imitating. "Stop it," I said, "it's not like that at all." "You're the one who can't bear it." "You are……" "Hey!" Grover cut me off. "You two are giving me migraines. Satyrs don't get migraines. What shall we do with this head?" I stared at the thing in the plastic bag, a small snake hanging out of the small hole.There is a line of words printed on one side of the bag: thank you for your patronage. I'm angry, not at Annabeth or her mother, but at the gods, at the whole of this mission, at blowing us off the road, and at the fact that we got caught in two big fights the first day we left camp.At this rate, there's absolutely no way we'll make it to Los Angeles alive, let alone before the summer solstice. What did Medusa say? She said, "Darling, don't be a hostage to the god of Olympus. It will be better for you to turn yourself into a statue and stay away from it." I stood up and said, "Wait for me." "Percy," Annabeth called me from behind, "what did you say..." I scoured the back of the warehouse and found Medusa's office, her ledgers showing her latest six transactions, all shipments to the underworld to decorate the gardens of Hades and Persephone.According to one of the shipping bills, Underworld's delivery address is DOA Recording Studios, located in West Hollywood, California.I folded the bill and stuffed it in my pocket. I found twenty dollars in the radio, a few gold coins, and a few Hermes twenty-four-hour delivery slips, each with a small leather pouch tied to a coin.I rummaged through the rest of the office and finally found a box that was just the right size. I went back to the dinner table, put Medusa's head in the box, and filled out the address strip. 600th Floor, Empire State Building, New York, NY Gods of Mount Olympus wish everyone Percy Jackson "They won't like it," Grover warned me. "They'll think you're arrogant." I poured out a few gold coins into the pouch, and when I closed the pouch, there was a sound like a cash register.The package floated up and off the table.bump!Disappeared! "I'm just being arrogant," I said. I looked at Annabeth, ready to face her criticism. But she didn't, and she seemed to accept the fact that my most important talent was cursing the gods. "Let's go," she whispered. "We need a new plan."