Athena's Mistake

Athena’s Mistake

By Rebekah

Prologue

            “How dare you!” Athena said.  Medusa hid behind Poseidon, which made Athena angrier. She had caught Medusa and Poseidon in her courtyard, which was a huge disrespect.

            “Poseidon, what would my father say about this?” Poseidon opened his mouth, but closed it instead. Smart choice, Athena thought.

            “Athena, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. Please don’t do this.”

            “Do what?” Medusa questioned. But Athena had already started. As she spoke, Medusa’s hair turned into snakes and she turned into a terrifying monster.

            Brrrinnng! I woke up, sweating. That nightmare never goes away. You see, Gods aren’t allowed to court mortals so that’s why turned Medusa into a monster. I groaned and climbed out of bed. First thing you should know: You do not want to mess with me. I’m Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Mostly, I’m known for my strength, weaving and blah-blah-blah. After having breakfast, showering and changing, I was watching from Mount Olympus as my daughter, Annabeth, and her boyfriend, Percy, raced to Medusa’s lair for their quest. Well, the quest was to bring back Percy’s mom from the Underworld, but they just stumbled to Medusa’s lair. Of course they didn’t know!

            I didn’t understand Annabeth’s ways for Percy. Because he’s the son of Poseidon. And you know Mr. Blowfish and I don’t get along sometimes, but we did make the chariots.

            Back to the point. Now Annabeth is walking towards -- uh-oh -- Medusa. I quickly disappeared and reappeared in front of -- gulp. Annabeth’s statue. I was too late. Annabeth had looked at Medusa and had turned into stone. Percy, next to me, looked too shocked to say anything. Medusa, by now seeing me, fled. I don’t blame her.

            “You did this, didn’t you?” Percy yelled.

            “Actually--” 

            “I bet you did that to get revenge because we spent our time together!” See what I mean? He stared babbling about how selfish I am.

            “You shouldn’t have turned Medusa like that anyway!”

            Oookaay, now he crossed the line. “Percy, you know better than to yell at a goddess like that! You know you’re not any better than your father!” Before he could answer, I vanished in a puff of smoke, taking the lifeless body of Annabeth.

            The next day we had a funeral. Percy and I glared at each other the whole time. Unfortunately, Zeus caught us, so we were sent to the Underworld to see the ghost of Annabeth.

           

            I thought about some stuff on the way there. It did seem unfair to keep them apart.

            When we got there, Annabeth was waiting for us. And she didn’t look happy.

            “Percy, it’s not her fault.”

Percy mumbled something that sounded a lot like, “You’re just like her.”

I told Percy I wanted to talk with him. “I hope you can forgive me, Percy.” I flashed a sudden bright light and Annabeth was standing where I was in real flesh. That’s right. I had swapped places with Annabeth.

“But, but, oh!” Percy sputtered. Gods, I thought he was going to faint! I started to fade. I knew what I had done was right. The last thing I said to Annabeth was: “I love you.” Then I blacked out.

You do not want to meet Hades or the Fields of Punishment. Course, I’m a goddess, so I don’t have a punishment. I was stuck in jail. I thought about my days from when I first stepped out from father’s head. But the only thing I could think about was Percy’s words.

“You shouldn’t have turned Medusa like that anyway!” Anyway! Anyway! It echoed in my head. “Fine,” I muttered. I spoke ancient Greek as my most powerful energy came out. Then Iris showed me what I had done. Medusa was in the garden with Poseidon, talking. I could not hear them but I could tell Medusa was getting rejected. Medusa’s beautiful face frowned. She yelled something to my dear uncle, who looked sheepish and stormed away. Medusa was no longer a terrifying monster. I chuckled as the image faded and I fell asleep. It was the first time in years I had slept peacefully.

Clang, clang! Ugh, what in Hades?

“Athena, you have a visitor!” I hate Charon.

Before I could get ready, Poseidon stepped in.

“Hello, Barnacle Beard,” I said coldly.

“I’m here to release you,” he retorted as I glared at him.

“Why?”

Poseidon huffed. “Isn’t it obvious?” Boys. Typical. “You released Medusa’s curse, so I’m paying you back.”

Before I could answer, I exploded into a puddle of water. I know. It’s hard to believe, but I reappeared on Mt. Olympus in my room. Drenched.

“Dear Niece. Might I say you look quite lovely?” chuckled my uncle.

“All right, all right. Thank you. Now shoo! Shoo!” I slammed the door behind me. Peace and quiet at last. Beep-beep! I groaned. Never mind. “Well? What is it?” I asked my talking phone.

“You have a message from your daughter, Percy from camp.” I pressed the button. Annabeth’s face showed up first.

“Mom, though we’ve never personally met since Zeus wouldn’t let us, I want to thank you. I know you don’t like Percy” (I frowned at that part because I knew what was coming next) “but he’s not that bad. Give him a chance. Besides, I love him.” Her gray eyes burned into mine. “I love you.”

Next came Percy’s face. “I’m sorry.” (You should be.) “I just wanted to have Annabeth back. I can’t thank you enough. I hope you’ll forgive me.” I had 109 more messages, but I turned the phone off thinking, “Maybe. Just maybe I’ll forgive him. Just this once. And DON’T remind me.”

Epilogue… The First

“You’re kidding me, right?! You let her go?!” Hades yelled at Charon.

“Sir, your brother freed her. There was nothing I could do. Plus, he’s a god.

“I’m a god, too! Am I?”

Epilogue… The Second… and Last

“Do you think she’ll forgive me?” asked Percy.

“Is kelp in your brain? Of course she will!” Annabeth replied.

“But, Anna--”

“Oh, and by the way, Charon said that you – I mean we – can see for ourselves on Mount Olympus!”

Percy’s face turned pale as a ghost’s. “WHAT?!”

                                                THE END