Page 39 of Meduso
I affirmed they were correct. “Yes…”
“Imbecile! And you believed him!? Well, let me fill you in on what has since transpired. I met with Poseidon today on Mount Olympus. He explained to me how he met the most beautiful man in Athens, one of my very own servants. He then gave himself a mission to not only make this servant of mineimpure, against all laws I have set forth in my temple, but to add insult to injury, he wanted to personally make love to this man in the holiest of places known to me. It was nothing more than an act of revenge he sought after, to get back at me for other issues he and I have had over the years.”
I was completely dumbfounded. It was still hard to believe.Did Poseidon really use me as a… sexual conquest? Was I just a puppet in some sort of game, as Athena suggested? A family quarrel that I now find myself in the middle of?I asked myself. I didn’t want to believe it but Poseidon’s absence for the past several days, and even now, made me fear Athena was telling the truth. He used me and plucked at my heart with his extravagant dinners and love-making. Poseidon even allowed me to think he was showcasing his vulnerability by sharing traumatic experiences from his past. All of it was an act of manipulation in order to bed me.
How could I have been so stupid? I completely fell for the god. I had thought I was the one that was using my beauty to take advantage of the opportunity to better my current situation, when in fact, it was Poseidon using his godly qualities to take advantage of me, instead. I was played like a lyre. And now, no one would come to rescue me from here. I had no other choice but to seek Athena’s forgiveness.
“Goddess Athena, I am truly sorry for what I have done. I have completely disobeyed you. I have brought shame to you and my sisters,” I expressed with sorrow.
“And I even gave you fair caution,” Athena added. “I warned you that your handsomeness would be a temptation to others, and even yourself. I told you that others would attempt to seduce you but under no circumstances were you to give into them. You have now deliberately defied me, and this will be the last time you ever do!” Athena’s tone drastically changed, becoming irate.
My sisters finally stepped in to defend me.
“Goddess Athena,” Stheno addressed her, “Please do not fully blame Meduso for what you think as him being rebellious. He is still young, and we have sheltered him for far too long from the outside world. He has still to fully grow out of his innocence.”
“So, are you saying you and your family are equally to blame for his poor choices?” Athena asked.
Both Euryale and Stheno nodded in agreement. “Yes. We are to blame as well.”
I felt the need to interject. Euryale and Stheno should not have to suffer for my decisions. This was all on me, and no one else should be associated with it. “No! This is all my fault. This all happened because of me. Please do not find fault with my sisters, dear goddess. I am strictly the one that should be reprimanded and punished. They were not involved in any of this…”
“Enough!” Athena screamed. Her screech was enough to send a painful chill into everyone’s ears. “You have proven yourself to be disloyal, untrustworthy, and worst of all,impure. You are no servant of mine! Nor will you ever represent me in any fashion! For committing such a crime, you will be heavily punished! All of you!”
Athena’s white wings spread from her back, and she levitated into the air. The candles and lanterns in the chamber faded and went to darkness. Her eyes turned blood red, lighting up the entire room with a crimson brightness.
I shuddered at the terrifying scene and huddled with my sisters, who were now shivering with fear. Athena’s voice now deepened into a demonic tone. “You say you are partly to blame for your brother’s actions? All of your family members are sea monsters and creatures, are they not!? I’m sure they view all of your beauty as a blessing. Well, no longer will they be blessed!”
The powerful goddess held out her hands with each of her palms facing both Euryale and Stheno. A blinding light reflected from them and was aimed at each of my sisters. We were all forced to close our eyes at its intensity.
“You all slithered your way into my temple only to betray me! Your beauty will be no longer! Now you will take on the forms of the snakes you truly are!” Athena screeched.
I opened my eyes and stepped back from the altar, horrified by what I was witnessing. Stheno and Euryale were no longer human. The lower half of their body was made of scales. It was the tail of a snake, just as Athena had referred to them as. Black, dark green, and mucky looking. But worst of all, their hair was replaced by live snakes! At least ten of them growing from each of their scalps, each angrily hissing and snapping at unseen enemies.
Euryale cried in horror at her grotesque transformation. The venomous snakes on her head shook with each wailing noise she made. Stheno made circles to get a better glimpse of her new appendages. She placed her hands over her face to cover her eyes, not even wanting to continue to bear witness to her new ugliness.
“Now, heed my warning, monsters. For anyone that gazes into your eyes, they will be turned to stone indefinitely! A justifiable punishment for you all turning a blind eye on your brother!”
Athena pointed at me. The white light immersed from her palm once again, heading straight at me. My legs closed in and felt as if they were mending together. I watched in horror as they transformed, the milky white skin on them turning to dark scales. The upper half of my body remained human, but my lower half was that of a serpent. The color of my scales was of a different shade compared to my sisters. It had a golden hue to it, but with black stripes throughout its entire length.
I yelled at the monstrosity of myself. I then patted my head to notice that I did not have any snakes attached to me as my sisters had. My golden hair was still intact.
Athena’s eyes returned to normal and she floated back down to the ground. Her white feathers disappeared, while the candles and lanterns in the chamber relit themselves.
“And you, Meduso. I have different plans for you. No, you will not have serpents on your head. I still need you to be handsome. I will issue a decree across the lands. I will make it known that you monsters have defied me, and anyone who brings your head to me shall be greatly rewarded. However, any mortal who gazes into your eyes will be turned to stone. You can either allow yourself to be killed or be responsible for the deaths of countless noble warriors. A fitting punishment based on your actions, is it not!?”
I was rendered speechless from the shock of it all. But I heard every single one of her words. They clung to me and pinned themselves down to my very inner core.
“Now go! You are forever banished from Athens! I suggest you find a great hiding place, far, far away from here. My loving followers will soon be after you. Let the hunt begin!” Athena laughed almost diabolically.
My sisters and I fled from her sight, slithering away. We now became enemies of the Olympian gods and all mortals.Was this what the Fates intended? They led me to Poseidon and this heinous punishment. Was it my destiny to be this…monster!? I questioned.
My once great love story was now one of tragedy. I would forever be known as a beautiful young man who used his vanity to his benefit. People would think that I used my beauty to defy the gods, and as punishment, half of my body was turned into an ugly, monstrous snake, while the other half remained handsome. Men would learn of my incredible allure and when they hunted me, they would need to fight against the temptation of falling for me, this beautiful serpentine creature I had now become, or else be damned themselves.
Act II
Meduso: The Gorgon
Chapter 11
