Page 11 of Meduso
“Meduso, I forgot to mention that Dictys is the brother of King Polydectes,” Perseus mentioned.
I was rather surprised by this comment. “Oh? Well, if you’re the brother of the king, why do you live down here and not up on the mountains in the fortress?”
Dictys reached his arm behind my back and then patted me on it. “Brazen little guy, aren’t you? Clearly, you’ve hung around Perseus for a little too long. But yes, I choose to live here. I have a love of the sea. I can’t bring myself to ever part ways with it. Its view, its smell, the fish and creatures within it. I feel a kindred spirit to the water. A feeling I never want to be absent of.”
I completely understood where Dictys was coming from. Being near or around water put my mind at ease, as well. I made sure to visit our grotto back home at least once every day. It was a safe haven for me and I could never picture being away from any sort of sea or ocean myself. I was glad that out of all the places I could have wound up at, I ended up here at Seriphos, surrounded by the sapphire Aegean water at all angles.
“So, where is it you come from?” Dictys questioned me.
I then told the fisherman everything there was to tell, about my parents, my sisters, our underwater palace, everything. I was unsure as to whether or not spilling this information so openly to people was in my best interest. However, there had been no reason for me not to, at this point. My trust in Perseus, and now Dictys, was growing unless they did something to make me feel otherwise.
“And a vision of Perseus’s fish net is what led you here?” Dictys followed up with.
I nodded. “I would like for you to teach me how to fish, if you don’t mind. Again, this is one of my first times on land. There is still so much I want to learn!” I emphatically declared.
“Energetic as ever! I’ll tell you what. I will show you a few tricks tomorrow morning. Perseus can then teach you everything else. He is an expert fisherman himself now. The master has now been outdone by his apprentice, eh?” Dictys winked at Perseus as he stated this, causing Perseus to smirk.
“That would be wonderful. I am grateful!” I graciously stated.
Perseus then chimed in to disrupt my excitement. “Then it’s decided. But it’s getting a little late, and I still want Meduso to meet my mother. So, we should be off now.”
“Of course. I believe my wife, Clymene, is presently in Danaë’s company. When you go, please tell her I request her presence at home, if you happen to run into her,” Dictys requested.
“Yes. We will be sure to,” Perseus affirmed.
We then left Dictys’s home and headed back up the trail not far off to a smaller stone abode. As we entered, two women were hanging fabrics on a rope spread across the room.
“Mother, I’ve returned. Sorry I’m late. I met a new friend by the sea,” Perseus explained.
His mother’s head peeped out from behind one of the linen fabrics she hung to get a glimpse of Perseus and me. “Oh? You brought a visitor with you?”
She stepped forward to reveal her full self. Danaë was extremely captivating. An exquisite woman, with beautiful bronze hair, the same color as Perseus’s.
“Yes. Mother, this is Meduso, the son of Ceto and Phorcys.”
“Ceto and Phorcys? The same Ceto and Phorcys of the deep oceans and sea-monsters?” Danaë inquired, with a look of bewilderment on her face.
“The very same ones. This is Meduso’s first experience on the surface, mother. He’s lived in a palace deep at the bottom of the ocean his entire life,” Perseus explained.
Danaë squinted to get a better view of me. “Well, Meduso, it’s a pleasure to meet you. If you don’t mind me being so bold as to say, I am quite shocked you are the son of those sea-monsters! You are an extremely handsome young man. You must have been a gift from the gods to them!”
This was the first time I had ever heard anyone describe me as a gift from the gods. My father always made it known that I was a curse from the gods, a complete contradiction to what Danaë had viewed me as.
I couldn’t help but blush at her compliment. “You are too polite.”
“And so well-mannered, too!” she added.
I stood silent, a little embarrassed by all of the laudable remarks Perseus’s mother was giving me.
It was Perseus who found a way to interject, seeing how bashful I was behaving. “Oh. I almost forgot! Clymene, Dictys has asked that you return home.”
The older, frail woman frowned. “That husband of mine! It’s a wonder how he can be out at sea for days, yet can’t be at home by himself for even seconds!” Clymene proclaimed. “But very well. I will be off now. Take care Danaë, Perseus, and young man. Welcome to Seriphos!” She placed her fragile hand on my shoulder before heading out.
Perseus then took a seat in one of the spare chairs in the room and motioned for me to sit in the one beside him. “Mother, you have to hear Meduso’s story of how he ended up here on this island. It’s fascinating!”
Danaë finished hanging the remainder of her fabrics before sitting in the seat across from the two of us. “Well, of course. I am curious to know how the son of the god and goddess of the deep oceans found his way here, of all places. Do tell me, Meduso,” she enthusiastically requested.
And so, I filled her in on my history and the details of my childhood up until this very point in time. She stared at me, almost entranced by every word that escaped from my lips.
