"You only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her. And she's not deadly. She's beautiful, and she is laughing."--Helene Cixous
Apollo felt his head bob in silent acceptance of Artemis' order to 'split up'. "Apollo," Artemis yelled his name across the cavern. He felt his body shift in response, his mind did not follow. "Apollo?" she questioned, "Take these!" She threw a couple of things from Hades' pack at him. They landed lifelessly at his feet. He felt his hands reach for the pack, and his head nod numbly in response. All while his mind and soul were pulled deeper into the cave by a siren song. His head bobbed and swayed to the song heard only by him, an attribute of his mother's heritage.
Her species, the Canticorians, had an exceptional perception of vibrations through the mediums of both air and earth. A talent that had been developed as part of their predatory instincts, was now a source of joy for the entire galaxy. He felt his skin tingled in response to the allure of the call that wended through the damp amphitheater walls of the cave.
His musical gifts, and fingers, had come in handy. He smirked as his hand brushed against the cool stone wall in remembrance of his past lovers. The primitive Roman women were much more unbound than the enlightened galaxy races. However, despite his inadvertent and advertent efforts for female companionship, his soul's song remained silent, until now.
This song was all he head to keep his mind away from nausea that plagued him since Athens. He was still sick to his stomach about the nights in Athens. Despite Cornelia's accusations, it was not fun being all consumed by a lust wraith. He had not slept or eaten for days and lord only knows what type of infections he contracted. That sexual marathon was enough to make him question ever wanting to have intercourse again. He had been in the sanitization chamber of the S.S. Olympus for hours more than usual. Not to mention the medical tests, he had performed on himself, and antibiotics he took. His hand fondled a large pill in his pocket, was still taking.
A somber note tickled his skin and drew him further along the dark dripping tunnel. The emotion of the notes now sinking into his pores and into his very soul. A warm tingling sensation enveloped him as he moved closer calling to his soul. It drowned out all other senses leaving only the mysterious song filled with a honey tenor. A song, so distracting that he almost did not notice the stone faces frozen in terror as he passed, almost.
"I hope these do, something." Apollo grabbed the glasses Hades designed from the pack Artemis had thrown at his feet.
A gentle light broke through the ceiling of the cave and illuminated a small moss-covered island in the center. A woman lounged across a large rock, her face held a content smile and her fingers traced dancing ripples in the cavern lake below her. The creature's skin shimmered in the filtered cave light, her color shifting from green to iridescent rose with the imperceptible movements of her lithe body.
His jaw dropped in the realization that the gorgon was the source of the hypnotic song that called to his canticorian soul. The serpentine tendrils of her hair danced in the air chorusing her song. He realized now that the other voices were coming from the small snakes crowning her head.
"How could anyone fear you? You are incredible," his heart fluttered at the melancholy melody that came to life with the gentle swaying of the snakes in the air. Apollo stumbled over the cavernous terrain having lost track of his feet as he moved toward her mesmerized. He inadvertently kicked a rock. It created an ear-shattering bouncing echo that filled the walls of the cavern.
Medusa's body spun, and her reptilian eyes met his. Apollo felt his body turn to ice. Not in the terror that one would expect; but, in anticipation. He waited for the feeling of stone to encase his body and welcomed it, for the small moments of bliss he felt from her song were all he needed in his lifetime.
Nothing happened. The gorgon watched him her eyes in shock as he did not turn to stone. She rose gently from her position. Her huntress' gaze followed his every movement. She glided through the water. Her hips sashayed to a silent song as she moved. "Who are you?" Her sweet tenor breaking through the air and echoing across the walls. Apollo simply smiled at her like a fool.
"You are not Gorgon, yet you do not petrify, as the others have. Explain yourself," a forked tongue slipped in and out of her lips tasting his scent on the air.
"Like you, my darling I," Apollo took a confident step forward, "am not from here." He felt an intoxicating warmth creep over his skin as he closed the distance between them. He gave a humorous shrug, "and these glasses apparently help."
"Do not 'darling' me. I am not a 'darling,' of yours or any other. No man will lay claim to me, again." A dark look crossed her eyes as she now only stood inches from Apollo. "Only one man has claimed me, and when I find him in this wretched wasteland, he will never claim another. "
Apollo held his ground knowing that she was challenging him, he could not give in and nor did he want to. "I do not fear you, nor wish to claim you. I only wish to listen."
She took a step back, "To listen?"
"Yes, your song is unique in all of the universe, it calls to my blood, my very being, and I only wish to listen."
The Gorgon looked at him and laughed. The tiny chorus on her head laughed with her. "you are a strange one." She cupped his chin and tilted her head as if examining him, "what are you?"
"I am of the Canticoria race," the name of his people would be enough, he knew that.
She smiled gently and walked away from him petting one of the snakes with her finger. "Ah, the singers." She turned back around. "Sing me a song Canticorian, I wish to know you."
Thus it will be; slender arrows are lodged in my heart,
and Love vexes the chest that it has seizedShall I surrender or stir up the sudden flame by fighting it?I will surrender - a burden becomes light when it is carried willingly.
He sang a poem that he had heard in the streets the love poems of Ovid. She listened for a few moments, her eyes closed allowing the melody to wash over her. Then her snakes gently began to sway with his rhythm. She smiled, her snake-like fangs pushed out from her human teeth. She began to sway and dance to his song.
Emboldened by her enjoyment, he sang louder, and she continued to dance and then added her own song to his melody. She grabbed him, and they began to dance. Her laughter was filling the cavern like a million twinkling bells.
"Well, that is something you do not see every day." Immediately gorgon spun around and hissed all of her snakes poised on the attack.
"Well that was rude," Apollo turned toward the source of the voice with frustration as his moment of bliss shattered around him.
The two figures at the mouth of the cavern also did not turn to stone. The Gorgon had become terrified, "have I become impotent?"
Apollo chuckled, a sound that did not solicit a complimentary reaction from the gorgon, "no see that ghostly prick over there?" He pointed to Hades, who busied himself examining something in the shadows, a fresh bruise appearing on his cheek. Apollo smiled, Seems Cornelia may have gotten a couple of licks in. "That creepy genius created a way for us to see you without, turning to stone."
Cornelia gazed open-mouthed at the couple and then back at her once hated companion. "You made those?"
Hades shrugged whispered to Cornelia. "I told you they are not as bad as they are made out to be. Just misunderstood."
The Gorgon eyed Hades "You are the last of your kind are you not?"
Hades watched her wide-eyed. "How could you possibly know that."
"I know the look in your eyes, loligo," She said as her hand grazed his cheek. "it is that of true loneliness."
Cornelia instinctively whacked her hand away from Hades. The Gorgon looked at her as well. "You are the first of your kind, that is also a lonely place to be." She looked between the two of them. "Lonely souls will always find each other."
Cornelia glared at Hades. "Not this time." Pausing she trained her gaze back to the Gorgon.
"What is your name?" Cornelia whispered suddenly humbled by this woman's words.
"I am known to your kind as Medusa and Gorgon. Among my kind I was once known as Cassandra."
"Which do you prefer," Apollo asked.
"I do not prefer one over the other. Each is an important part of my identity, as are all names."
Abruptly another voice permeated the cavern. This one was also obnoxiously familiar. "Foul beast! I will slay you and save my nation of Mycenae. I will defeat you on behalf of the gods and my people. The group turned around to see Perseus crouched in the corner staring into his mirrored shield.
"Is he one of yours?" Medusa asked curiously.
"No! he is not." Came Artemis loud shout from behind Perseus. She slammed a rock into his skull, and he collapsed on the floor.
Medusa smiled gregariously, "you, I like."
Artemis stepped over Perseus' prone form towards Medusa. "We have to take you back to the ship."
Suddenly the snakes on her head were wild again with hissing, "that I will not do."
Apollo gently placed a hand on her arm. "You must be darling you do not belong in this world."
She spun wildly glaring at him and ripped his arm from hers. "I already explained, 'darling' I am not."
Hades groaned and shot her with a small blue beam of light. Her body collapsed to the ground spasming. "Enough chatter."
"What the hell did you do to her!" Cornelia shrieked.
"He stunned her. She is fine. We have to get her out of here before hubris incarnate wakes up!" Artemis threw a flippant gesture in Perseus' direction.
Cornelia eyed the warrior on the ground. "So, what do we do about," she toed his unconscious form with her boot, "him?"
"He should not go back empty-handed or he will keep hunting Medusa and making our lives difficult. Plus, he knows too much?"
Artemis smiled and pulled out a small replicator from the pack. She typed a couple of numbers into the machine, and it busily worked on something.
Hades grabbed a small disc-like object and placed it right above Perseus' ear. The machine chimed moments later, and Artemis pulled out a grotesque looking head. It bore no resemblance to the enchanting creature that lay stunned on the ground before them. Her gentle eyes closed and her passive snakes now wrapped lovingly around her sleeping soundly.
She brought the head over her crown of snakes and dangled the grotesque thing in front of them. They lashed out it bit the strange head in her hand. Artemis grinned satisfied with her work and grabbed Perseus' hand and wrapped his fingers around the 'snakes' protruding from the decoy skull.
Meanwhile, Hades whispered into the device he planted on the man's head. He wove an epic tale of how Perseus had slain the beast and had fallen asleep from the exhaustive battle.
Cornelia watched them work in awe and horror. Her mind raced with the possibility of the device Hades' in particular was using. The concept that he could supplant memories into someone's subconscious made her skin crawl. Regardless of his intentions, this technology was terrifying and in the wrong hands could create evils beyond imagination.
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Dedicated to @_lovepenny for the support and the Mythology suggestion!
*Thank you for reading! Please vote/comment if you enjoyed this chapter. I love hearing from you. It encourages me to keep writing.
If you enjoy my style, please make sure to read the Tendaaren Chronicles while you wait for more myths.
Canticum means song in Latin: Apollo's race is the Canticorian otherwise known as the singing race.
Perseus and Medusa Myth and Methodology:
I learned a lot trying to delve into this myth and my own conclusion was that Medusa gets a bad wrap. In summary, Medusa was once a blonde bombshell of a woman who was born a demigod. SHe was one of three sisters, the gorgons, but they really do not exist in mythology except to hold up the custom of women coming in threes. It really is only Medusa. Medusa is the only mortal of the three sisters. She had sworn herself to celibacy to serve in Athena's temple. One day Poseidon thought she was pretty and 'fell in love with her' as greco-roman gods do and decided to rape her in the temple.
Athena furious with the attack on her servant changed the form of Medusa to something hated. She changed her golden skin to a sickly green and changed her hair to writhing snakes. Essentially punishing both Medusa and Poseidon for his transgression. Medusa understandably hated people and gods at that point and was no longer part of the temple.
So Medusa had essentially a bunch of bad things happen to her and was mad about it. A classic case of abuse and honestly just because she was ugly does not mean she deserved what was coming to her. Perseus was supported by the gods specifically Poseidon to slay Medusa. Hermes gave him winged sandals so he could 'fly' to her location and Athena gave him a mirrored shield so he would not have to look directly at her and risk being turned to stone. Yeah, the gods are assholes.
When Perseus had slain Medusa according to some mythology she was still pregnant with Poseidon's child. When he killed her Pegasus was born and flew out of her decapitated skull. So after reading all of this I just could not hit her with all of that terrible nonsense and not find a way to redeem her. She was attacked, abused, alienated, and then lots of random dudes went to kill her because they were sent on a crazy quest. No wonder she was mad and wanted to kill things.