I stared at the stone version of my handsome god-son. “His mother is not going to be happy,” I muttered.

The Furies gathered around the statue, hardly believing what had just happened. The three Gorgons joined them, and the six of them tsk-tsked and tusk-tusked over the stonification of Perseus.

I picked up my helmet. It was covered with sand, which, I suspected, could not be good for its inner workings.

Medusa came over to me. She had her bag on again. “I’m so sorry about Perseus.”

“I know,” I told her. “It wasn’t your fault. I tried to stop him from coming to find you. I was afraid that something like this would happen.” I shrugged. “What can you do?”

“We’ll get our winged steed and fly him to our garden,” Medusa offered. “We’ll make a special place for him there. Maybe you can bring his mother to see him.”

We turned toward Perseus. His chin stuck out, his fist was raised, he had one foot up as if he was about to stomp on a roach. I didn’t think Danaë would want to see him like this.

“We’ll be back with the steed,” said Medusa. She and her sisters flew off.

Tisi sighed. “It’s hard to stop an arrogant young man from getting into trouble.”

“I know,” I said. “He’s Zeus’s son, but he’s my god-son. His mother was counting on me to look after him, and I’ve failed.”

A flash of light in the distance caught my eye.

“Astro-traveling gods heading in from the north,” warned Meg.

I quickly clapped on the Helmet of Darkness. Sand trickled into my eyes and mouth, but I vanished. And what a good thing! Three lights materialized, and there on the point stood Athena, Hermes, and Zeus.

Athena put her hand to her shoulder, checking to make sure that Hoo was in place.

Zeus yanked down his girdle, which had ridden up over his pot belly during the trip. He looked around and saw Tisi, Meg, and Alec.

“What are you Angries doing here?” Zeus asked.

“Furies,” Tisi corrected him. “We’re avenging.”

“Go about it then. Scat!” said Zeus. “We Olympians have important business here.”

“So do we,” said Tisi. The Furies weren’t afraid of any Olympian, not even the old T-Bolt hurler himself. They sat down at the base of the dune. I sat down unseen beside them. I only hoped that my sandy helmet would hold its charge.

Zeus turned to Athena. “All right, daughter. Where is that son of mine?”

Athena was staring in horror at the statue on the beach. “It can’t be him,” she muttered.

Hermes flew in a circle around the statue formerly known as Perseus. “Oh it’s him, all right,” he said. “That sickle I gave him is solid rock. What a waste of a great tool!”

“That’s him?” cried Zeus. “Why, I can’t have any son of mine turned to stone! Who is responsible for this?”

“Hoo, hoo!” hooted Hoo.

“Medusa,” said Athena quickly. “But let’s not get into blame.”

It wouldn’t pay for Athena to play the blame game. After all, she was the one who had given Medusa her terrible statue-making power.

Zeus went over to Perseus. “What sort of pose is this?” he said. “He looks like an idiot.” He tried to lower Perseus’s arm. “Whoops!” he said, as the statue toppled over.

“Careful!” cried Athena. “Don’t chip him!”

Hermes grabbed Perseus’s arm and hauled him back to a standing position.

“Don’t you know a chant that can change him back into a mortal?” said Zeus.

“I’m not sure,” said Athena. “Most of the spells I’ve memorized are along the lines of horrible curses.”

“Try something, daughter!” thundered Zeus. “Anything is better than this!”

“All right, all right,” said Athena. “But I’m just winging it here, Dad. I’ve never done this before.” She drew a breath and began to chant:

“Mortal Perseus, flesh and bone,
Turned to statue made of stone,
Stone will turn, when spell I offer,
Into something paler and softer.”

As we watched, Perseus’s hard stony surface began to turn into something softer and paler. Athena’s spell was working! But . . . Perseus didn’t exactly look the way he used to.

Zeus went over to him now. He squinted his beady eyes and examined him all over. He sniffed. Then he poked Perseus’s shoulder and licked his finger.

“Flying T-bolts, Athena!” Zeus cried. “You’ve turned my son into a giant stick of butter!””

“Butter?” Athena’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s a step in the right direction.”

“Only until the sun gets hot,” Hermes pointed out. “Then he’ll melt.”

“Fix him!” bellowed Zeus.

“I’ll try,” said Athena. “But back off, will you, Dad? The pressure is not helping.” She leveled her gaze at the buttery Perseus and once more began to chant:

“Pale-yellow Perseus, turned to butter,
Hear this spell that I now utter:
Butter turn bold, turn ready and rough!
Turn into stronger, firmer stuff.”

As Athena spoke, buttery Perseus began to change again. His soft surface hardened. Blue veins appeared. He was clearly becoming bolder, rougher, and firmer. And he started to give off a strong odor.

“Pee-yew!” said Zeus. “What is that stink?” He strode over to Perseus and poked him again. “Athena!” he thundered. “You’ve changed him into a great hunk of cheese!”

“Cheese?” said Athena, looking horrified. “Oh, well. Um, what kind of cheese?”

“I don’t know.” Zeus took another sniff. “It’s really stinky. But that can be a good thing in a cheese. Anybody got a cracker?”

“No, Dad!” Athena cried. “I’m trying to get him back to his human form. He can’t have big chunks taken out of him.”

“One more spell, Athena,” growled Zeus. “And this time, do it right. No fuzzy talk. Just say it straight out. Leave nothing to chance!”

Athena drew a breath and started chanting:

“Butter to cheese, and cheese to man,
Make that change now, if you can.
No tricks, no pranks, no jokes, no fuss,
Just turn back into Perseus.”

And before our eyes, he did.

Perseus blinked. He looked around.

“Perseus!” exclaimed Athena. “Are you all right?”

“Of course,” Perseus said. He unhooked the sickle from his belt and waved it in the air. “Medusa was here! Which way did she go?”

“Ha!” said Zeus. “That’s my boy!”

Perseus turned to Zeus. “Dad?”

“Yes!” Zeus grinned. “I see you’ve inherited my bold spirit, my fearless heart. Good for you. Now go get Medusa. Don’t let anything stop you, boy. And never, ever be afraid.”

“I won’t!” cried Perseus.

Wing beats sounded above us. We looked up and saw Riley and Eno riding on the back of the winged steed. It glided through the air, touched down on the sand, and galloped toward us. Eno and Riley had their eyes fastened on Athena. Riley held something behind her back.

“Slow down, you snake-heads!” cried Zeus. “You’ll run us over!”

But the Gorgons didn’t slow down. Their horse thundered toward us. Riley swept her arm forward, thrusting something into the faces of the Olympians. The air filled with godly screams, and I saw what Riley held—

The severed head of Medusa!