𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐀 // PJO Show - Chapter 8 - MusicalReferences (2024)

Chapter Text

"...Luke?"

Maia's voice was hoarse. Grass stabbed at her skin from beneath her. Her hands were shaking. Her body was trembling. It was the only movement she could make. Was she even breathing?

Red trickled down the side of her face. One of her hands was clutching a scale while the other was coated in blood. It wasn't hers. It wasn'thers. She kept telling herself that, but she wasn't sure if it made it better.

"Luke?" She tried saying louder.

Tears blurred her vision. A faint outline of a figure lied in the distance. Was her brother okay?Wasthat her brother? Forgiveness wouldn't be given to her if that was. Not by the gods. Not by Chris. Not by Annabeth. Not by Zenaida. Not by camp. Not by herself.

"...here..." A distant voice said.

"Luke!" She cried. She stumbled over to where the figure was, gravity suddenly doubling down on her.

Half of his face was covered in red. She gripped his head, applying pressure to whatever wound was causing her brother pain. When he winced, her grip faltered, and she withdrew her hands. All she wanted to do was help. Why couldn't she be someone else? Someone who didn't screw things up.

"I'm okay." He said, weakly grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

He repeated it so many times she could almost believe it.

"Who in all the stars would be making hamburgers in the middle of nowhere on a satyr path?" Maia asked as the half—bloods followed Grover.

"Someone from our world." He said as he led them back on a solid black path.

In front of them is what appears to be a rundown emporium. Rust being present on a tilting truck proving that theory so. There was also a blue sign, but the words jumbled together no matter how hard Maia squinted at them. She could speak English, Greek, Spanish, a bit of Italian, and Japanese,fluently,and still couldn't read two words on a sign. That's always amazed her. Not in a good way.

"Grover, what's that sign say?" She asked while pointing at it as they followed the arrow.

"Aunty Em's." He said absentmindedly.

And someone naming their little cafe after their nickname and referring to themself as a close relative would've been sweet if it were an old lady doing it. Once following up the path more and being greeted with the sight of statues the idea didn't really seem all that appealing anymore.

"Oh, come on." Annabeth sighed.

"What?" Percy asked while looking at her.

"Aunty 'Em' has a garden full of petrified stone folks." She reviewed. "Yeah, this is someone from our world alright. Anyone wanna guess what 'Em' is short for?"

"Emilia? Emmalyn? Emoni?" Maia suggested.

Annabeth gave her a look.

"Yours sound fancier. I was gonna say something like, 'Emma.'" Percy said, giving the older half-blood a smile.

The look transferred over to him.

The group froze. Towering over them were monsters. Teeth bared. Wings spread. Claws unsheathed. Stone cold. Could they hear them? Could they sense the demigods? Were they simply covered in stone with their hearts still beating underneath. The more Maia thought of it the more she didn't want to know.

"Oh..." Grover realized.

"Let's get out of here,please, while we still can." Annabeth said, snapping them out of their dazes.

They turned to leave but was met with another monster.

One that hadn't been turned to stone.

Alecto was back.

Maia reached up her sleeve to unsheathe Μάιος and got in her stance. Her arm was back. Her body tense. Her lungs filled with air. She wasn't made of stone.

Percy handed Grover the box and pulled out something from his pocket. Either she hasn't been paying attention or she was just slow because she didn't notice the box until now. From the corner of her eye, she could see a sword now in his hand. Riptide. Her brother told her about it after he'd help Percy with sword fighting.

"You should have accepted my offer when you had the chance." Alecto said.

Maia didn't have to follow her sight to know the Fury was looking at Annabeth. She took in a deep breath to focus and shifted closer to the daughter of Athena to stand more in front of her.

"Offer?" Percy questioned. "Whatofferis she talking about?"

Annabeth kept her eyes on the Fury so she wouldn't have to look at him. Maia was curious to know as well, but now wasn't the best time as the Fury would probably claw their eyes out if they became distracted with another argument. Maia would've done it herself if that's what it came to be.

"Not today, friends." A woman's voice said from somewhere behind them, making the Fury close their eyes and look away. "Not on my doorstep."

Tiny voices suddenly filled Maia's head. They almost hissed in her mind, making it throb in pain. It became harder to breathe again. She was drowning. She clutched her head and turned away from the woman approaching. From the quick glimpse she caught, the woman was in a white dress and a hat with veil covering half of her face. Her eyes. Judging by the sound her shoes made, she was probably wearing high heels.

"Oh, shoot." She heard Annabeth quietly curse.

All Maia could do was hope that the others were looking away. She didn't trust herself to speak. She was afraid that someone else's words would fall out of her mouth.

"If you have something to resolve, why not come inside and I'll help?" The gorgon said. "Alecto? Will you be joining us?"

The Fury stayed silent, hiding more of her face behind her wings.

"No, well I wouldn't think you would. She won't bother you as long as you're with me," Maia tensed when the woman had shifted her attention to them. "But it isn't as though she'll leave either, not if it means reporting that she failed to retrieve the son of Poseidon."

She could hear the confusion in Percy's voice. "How did you—"

"A forbidden child had been claimed. How long did you think that secret would keep?" The woman asked.

Sadly, news travelled around fast. Maia would know.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, son of Poseidon. I'm Medusa."

The small hisses in Maia's mind grew louder. With her dagger so close to her head Maia was tempted to stab it through just to see if it would get them to quiet down. And it would. But the hisses suddenly calmed. They became more alluring. More soothing. She opened her eyes.

Annabeth grabbed her shoulder. "Percy, don't." She said, but she wasn't only talking to him. "She's a monster."

"We all choose who we make our monsters, but, right now, that one wants to tear you limb from limb...and I'm offering you lunch. The choice is yours."

The sound of footsteps receding allowed the kids to look up again. The noise flooding Maia's mind had slowly drained, allowing her to breathe. She didn't turn around. She stood up straight with her eyes trained on the ground. The brightness of the sun would only burn her eyes.

"I think we can trust her." Percy said.

"What?" Annabeth gasped at the same time Grover said, "Dude!"

Maia simply looked at him with a questioning look.

"I can't explain it, I just..." He hesitated before speaking again. "My mom used to tell me her story. And the point was always that she isn't what people think. And I definitely trust my mom. So, I'm going in. You guys do what you want."

She considered his words as he walked off. Now, she didn't know his mother, but if this was the same person who sacrificed her life to make sure her child got to camp and the same person who made a God break their pact, then that made a level of respect most Gods didn't get from their own children. She would've loved to have a mother like that. Maybe she would, but she'd never get to know.

And Medusa was also offering them food.

That was another thing that made Maia's decision the only thing she wouldn't hesitate on.

Taking in a clear breath, Maia soon walked in after.

And the hissing noises became clearer.

Welcome, daughter of Hermes.