Page 17 of Meduso
“The King of Argos, Acrisius, was disappointed in having his first-born as a female, who happened to be my mother. He grew impatient with not having a son. So, he sought guidance. Like many kings, my grandfather had the chance to gain counsel from the Oracle at Delphi. He was expecting to hear promising news about getting a male heir to his throne. However, what he instead received was a warning. The Oracle informed him of a prophecy. That he would eventually be killed by his only daughter’s son. Me!” he revealed.
I stopped in my steps, very aghast by what he had just told me. “The prophecy states that you will kill your grandfather?”
He nodded. “So I’ve been told.”
I cringed as he confirmed this. I couldn’t picture Perseus killing another human being. I shuttered at the thought of it. He was too compassionate of a person to ever murder another mortal. I didn’t want to even picture the idea, nor think that he was even capable of such an atrocity. I refused to let this prophecy taint any of my feelings towards him.
Perseus continued with his narration. “Now in fear for his life, King Acrisius became menacingly obsessed with the idea of his daughter giving birth to a son that would be his death-bringer. Therefore, he refused to allow my mother to ever socialize or meet another man to be able to have a child. He locked her up for years, imprisoning her in one of his castle’s chambers.”
“How cruel!” I asserted.
“Well, unfortunately for my grandfather, even he couldn’t disrupt the fulfillment of a prophecy from the Oracle. You see, the King was foolish enough to not fully enclose her room. There was no ceiling, and thus the sky was visible and open to her. While my mother was trapped and isolated, a mysterious rainstorm came in from above. But it wasn’t just your typical rain. No. These were showers of golden rain.”
“Showers of gold?” I gave Perseus a quizzical look.
“Yes. The drops of rain were of the purest gold, my mother told me. The rain then took shape in the form of a god who kept her company and often visited her when no one was watching. Eventually, she became pregnant from that god. Needless to say, King Acrisius was dumbfounded at how my mother was able to bear a child. She recited the story of the golden rain and admitted a god had frequently spent time with her, but my grandfather could not bring himself to believe her. My mother was petrified that her own father would kill her and the child she was carrying. However, King Acrisius would never be ludicrous enough to murder her.”
“And why not?” I asked.
“Because that would only anger the gods by the off chance that my mother was not lying to him. And he did not want to face their wrath. So, he did the only thing he could think of. Hide and send her off, never to be seen or heard from again. He placed us in a wooden chest and tossed it into the sea. We drifted for what my mother said seemed like days until the chest washed up on the shore of Seriphos. Dictys was the one that discovered it. He was shocked when he opened it to find my mother holding me, as a baby, in her arms. She was weak and malnourished, barely holding on to life. Dictys and Clymene took care of us, nursing my mother back to health and raising me.”
“I… I don’t know what to say, Perseus. I’m sorry that happened to you. King Acrisius should be punished for such an action. Did anything happen to him?”
He shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of. He is still the ruler of Argos.”
“Do you ever think of going back and confronting him?”
“I don’t think I would be able to. His warriors would most likely kill me on the spot. Plus, I don’t think he knows my mother and me are alive and well. It would not surprise me if he still thought we were drifting at sea or that the chest had sunken and we were at the bottom of the ocean. It’s best for us to lay low for our own safety and for the safety of the people on this island.”
“Well, I’m sorry that happened to you. And your poor mother. To be treated in such a way by her own father. But at some point, you will have to return to Argos, Perseus. You are the rightful heir to the throne, no?”
He let out a deep heavy sigh. “I’m not sure. I can’t picture leaving Seriphos now that I’m here,” he confessed. “It’s my home. The people here, my mother, and Dictys. I don’t think I would be able to leave them all behind.”
“I understand. But you would make an amazing king, with your compassion, kindness, and amazing strength and skills.” As I said this, I was reminded of the portion of the story where Perseus mentioned that it was a god who came into his mother’s chamber and eventually became his father.
“I appreciate you thinking so highly of me, my friend,” Perseus stated.
We continued to walk along the beach, before I posed the inevitable question to him.
“Perseus, you mentioned that your mother was visited by a god who took the form of the shower of gold. That god was your father. Who was the god?”
He paused and stood silent in the sand, staring at the ground. He seemed disheartened or even ashamed.
“You can tell me, Perseus. You can trust me,” I reassured him.
His gaze shifted up to me, yet he still maintained the nervous expression on his face.
“Zeus… my father is Zeus, king of the gods.”
Everything was finally starting to make sense to me. Perseus’s strength, agility, and skills were above that of any human. No human could even come close to doing the things he did. The reason behind that was because Perseus wasn’t actually a human. He was a demi-god.
When Perseus revealed this to me, I was stunned. It led me to believe that the vision of the Fates did specifically lead me to Perseus and not the island of Seriphos itself. I was destined to meet him. And who was I to go against destiny? I couldn’t deny it. I was overjoyed by the thought. The more I got to know Perseus, the more I found myself drawn to him, not wanting to separate.
Once we were close to our destination, we moved inward from the beach and into the forest. Perseus pushed through some bushes and several shrubs, eventually leading us to a quaint spring in the middle of the woods. I circled the spring, analyzing the various flowers around it, on the hunt for a specific one.
“What brings us here?” Perseus inquired with mystery.
“There is something my mother, Ceto, taught me on our way back from our visit with Athena. There is a flower known as… Ah, here it is!” I exclaimed. “Come over here, Perseus. Watch!”
