The emporium sat off a winding stretch of highway in rural New Jersey, half-hidden behind scrub trees and a rust-flecked billboard. The sign hanging above the lot read in faded red letters: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."
Lucas stood at the edge of the cracked pavement, the sun sinking behind him. Faint clouds hung low over the woods, casting long shadows. It was the kind of place most people overlooked. That was the point.
He crossed the lot slowly, taking in the crooked front porch, the sagging awning, the window display cluttered with ceramic frogs, wind chimes, and a sun-bleached gnome holding a plastic shovel. The neon "OPEN" sign buzzed weakly in the window.
He pushed the door open. A small bell rang.
The scent hit him immediately: old cedar, dust, faintly floral oil, and something stranger beneath it, an earthy and dry smell, like cracked stone after rain.
Inside, shelves lined the long room, filled with chipped garden gnomes, toads, and novelty figurines. He moved past them slowly. Toward the back, the display changed.
Statues.
A satyr frozen mid-panic. A teenager locked in place, mouth half-open. The expressions were too sharp. Too precise. Not crafted.
Real.
Toward the rear stood a glass counter. Behind it, a woman.
She wore a thick black veil, draped from a circlet across her brow. Her hands were gloved, her posture regal.
"Welcome, traveler," she said. Her voice was warm but measured. "Anything in particular catch your eye?"
"I'm just looking around," Lucas said, gaze shifting back to the statues.
Now he understood.
He knew who she was.
Medusa.
She didn't move, didn't reveal anything, but he felt her watching him through the veil.
"Most run when they realize," she said. "The brave ones stay long enough to try their luck. You don't look surprised."
"I'm not."
A pause.
"You're not here for my head?"
"No."
"Then what? What does a demigod want from me, if not a trophy?"
Lucas looked around slowly. The satyr. The teen. A nymph, frozen with one hand half-raised.
"I was sent here," he said. "A trial, of sorts. Nemesis wanted to see how I'd respond."
Medusa tilted her head slightly. "A trial?"
"To earn her support. I was told nothing more. Just a location and a coin. But now that I know who you are... I think I may have cheated."
"Cheated?"
"Dionysus told me your story. The real one. Not the myth Olympus spreads."
Her gloved fingers curled slightly against the countertop. "And what do you think that truth is?"
Lucas met her gaze without flinching.
"That you weren't a monster. You were a victim. A survivor. Poseidon attacked you. Athena, bound by her politics, gave you what protection she could. And Olympus turned even that into a curse, then into a story they could control."
Silence. Then, softly:
"And yet, I am surrounded by stone."
Lucas nodded. "But none of them were statues when they walked in here. You didn't attack me the moment I stepped through the door. You waited. Watched. Judged. The same as them."
"And you would excuse that? A woman surrounded by petrified children and monsters?"
"No," Lucas said. "But I understand it. Self-defense isn't wicked. Survival isn't evil. You've been hunted so long, you've forgotten what it means to be safe."
Her breath hitched, just once.
Lucas continued. "Maybe it's just my perspective. But I don't think you're evil. I think you're exhausted. And angry. And alone."
The words hung between them.
Then she asked, "You spoke of Nemesis' support. Support for what?"
Lucas stepped closer, his tone calm.
"I want to build something. A sanctuary. For demigods who don't fit the mold. For children of minor gods who grow up ignored. For monsters who aren't cruel. For spirits who deserve more than silence. A home for those the gods forgot."
Medusa was still.
"And you invite me?"
"If you want to come. I won't force anyone. But I imagine this place, this store, isn't much of a home. It's a cell with nicer curtains. Always waiting for the next hero to break down the door."
She looked away.
"You ask me to believe in something I've never seen."
Lucas shrugged. "Then don't believe yet. Just remember. When the gates open, they'll stay open. For you."
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Lucas stepped back toward the door.
"Almost forgot."
He reached into his coat and pulled out the coin Nemesis had given him, the golden drachma. He tossed it gently across the counter.
"She didn't say it outright, but I think she meant for this to reach you. Use it for an Iris message, if you want. She'll be waiting."
He turned and left.
The bell above the door chimed once more.
The air outside was cooler now. The sun had dipped behind the trees, casting long shadows over the empty road.
Lucas didn't look back.
And behind him, the woman Olympus had turned into a monster stood in silence.