975 BC, Greece
The land of the greatest monsters the world has ever known. At least, in their very strong opinion. The Mother Gaia formed Earth for monsters and humans to live side by side. In the beginning they were all family. However, siblings argue and because they're family everything gets more personal than need be. Talking leads to arguing and arguing becomes slicing off heads and other limbs.
"Great Lord Ares, I invite you to drink with me!" Stheno yelled to the sky as she stood on the pile of dead humans. The gorgon general crushed the soldier's helmet in her boulder size hand, her long tongue licked the open eye of her enemy's decapitated face. Stheno's velvety black snakes were red against the fires of smoked flesh and irons. All had forgotten if the snakes were reddish before the war.
Medusa had a harpy ally over her shoulders. The gorgon had her yellow-to-reddish snakes tied up in two buns.
"We are winning." The harpy, Jensis, said with shaky breath.
"Many are dead, so I suppose you're right." Medusa said, eyes exposed to miles of carnage.
In the Monsters' headquarter temple, on the top the of second highest mountain in Greece, Stheno carried three centaurs on her shoulders. She brought them to heal the unicorn room.
Euryale her sister, and healing aid, walked with the unicorns.
"They may not survive the night." Euryale said as the unicorns healed the gaps in her sister's flesh.
"Then let them drink." Stheno said, "Let them laugh before they meet Hades. They'll have epics to tell him."
Euryale shook her head. "You enjoy this bloodshed too much, sister."
The gorgon with the diamond birthmark over her left eye looked past her sister, "None of this is entertainment, Euryale."
The younger gorgon looked at the scars as thick as the snakes on her sister's head. She was past crying, her eyes dry as sand.
"You spoke to the human king about a truce, he offered us half of Greece." Euryale reminded, she pushed her blue-to-redish snakes behind her ears.
Stheno pulled a tooth out of her mouth, it was not her own. "Out kind outnumber the humans, we and the future brew will need more than half a lake or half a leg of lamb."
Euryale sighed. "Sense and love has left Greece to wither. Even if family was possible I wouldn't…"
Stheno put her large hand under her thin sister's chin. "Everything is possible."
"You mean anything." Euryale said, putting her clean hands on Stheno's bruised fingers.
The General exhaled wearily. "I try with you, sister, really I do."
"And that is the little love left to see." Euryale yelped when her sister's dark snakes nipped at her blue serpents.
Euryale stood up and brushed at her toga. "Where is the babe?"
Stheno rolled her eyes. "In Poseidon's temple."
"Very good of her. Seeking help." Euryale nodded.
"That's not all she's seeking." Stheno muttered. She was amused when Euryale slapped her hand for inciting a hint of the scandal about their baby sister and the Sea God.
Poseidon's temple was the second to lowest temple in Greece. It stood on the shoreline. The lowest of all was Hades' in a cavern. The pool in the temple was in the middle, it shined the ripples of ocean pattern against the pillars. Medusa felt she was under the sea.
"Poseidon, God of the Oceans, I beseech you." Medusa kneeled while she prayed.
A sound did not pass before she felt a tunic brush against her nose.
"Hello, my love." Poseidon said, looking down at her.
Medusa smiled and slowly stood up, her lips and snakes' tongues brushing lightly up against his green body until she stood on her toes.
"Hello, you." She said, her snakes slithered through his welcoming beard like a nest. Poseidon liked that and embraced her tightly.
"Battle has not hardened you, woman, though it has brought color to your stunning eyes." Poseidon said as his thumb went under her eyes. Medusa's eyes were silver and reflected the colors of the scenery. She was hatched that way, unlike her sisters who eyes reflect the colors of their serpents respectively.
"Battle has stained my eyes, Poseidon. It's barbaric and I beg for peace again." Medusa said.
Poseidon laughed, "The end will come soon enough, Medusa."
"The end of decency and honor? No, Greece needs to be still again. Such as, such as a river." Medusa said, knowing he liked water metaphors.
"Rivers are wild, my silly youth." Poseidon said, touching her nose with his finger.
Medusa ignored her annoyance, "River by civilization are calm and deep, with knowledge like libraries and forums, and…theatre."
Poseidon did not hold in his chuckling. Medusa knew her passion was more mature than her speech but her peoples' needs outweighed her dignity.
"Hush, Sea Cow, and give me the power to end the war!" The gorgon pushed away her lover and put her hands on her hips.
Poseidon stopped laughing and put a hand over his stomach. "I am not a Sea Cow." He whined.
"No, you're a god. The God of the Seas, I saw on a map that the seas cover more of the earth than the land." Medusa said, she added a bit more admiration than she actually felt.
"Mighty I am." Poseidon said, staring out at his oceans.
"Large and in charge," Medusa said, her hands made circles on his stomach and arm muscles. "You can create a great compromise to help finish this war. I don't ask to kill the humans, just to silence the need for killing."
Poseidon pondered a way to meet her request while keeping his deal with the humans that also beseeched him for help.
"My sisters are scared that love has left Greece, Poseidon." She grabbed the chin hiding in the beard. She put her thumb where the cleft was. "Let us show them love still exists."
He let the gorgon pull him into a kiss. He embraced her with both arms. The waves of the sea crashed harsher against the shore.
Medusa tried to sneak into the headquarters the next morning. She tip toed with her sandals in hand.
"You walk in shame, sister!" Euryale stated loudly so that Medusa's shoulders shot straight up.
Medusa turned around, smiled, then threw her sandals towards her older sister.
Euryale saw the sandals and dodged them, an odd occurrence because Medusa had a good throwing arm. Medusa was wearing a bandage over her eyes. The middle hatched gorgon gasped and covered her mouth.
"What did he do to you?" Euryale asked as she ran to her sister.
Medusa smirked, "Well first he raised me over his head then I landed-"
Euryale covered Medusa's mouth, "He is a cruel and merciless god and he is married, my babe."
The younger gorgon pushed her sister's hands away. "I am not."
"That is the problem!" Euryale whispered.
"No, my sheltered sister, the problem is we are at war with a stubborn and stupid species and I am going to end it." Medusa stated as walked to the caferatium. She walked the wrong direction so her sister grabbed her arm and lead her towards food.
"How is a blind woman going to defeat anyone?" Euryale asked.
"I am not blind, Yuri." Medusa asked. She looked smug while chomping down on figs.
The night Medusa petrified the human army was the most terrifying night of the Gorgons' lives. The eldest gorgon sliced and diced every attempted blow from the enemy as her youngest sister ran to the human palace. Medusa's vision turned every single thing in her sight to stone. She knew the terror on their permanent faces would haunt her each night that followed after. She had seen time stop and restart during battles for months to almost years by then so she was half as mortified as other soldiers. Seeing the destruction freeze mid-battle was a new nightmare. Medusa walked through regardless, heart in her stomach as she saw the human palace turn grey./p
In an hour Stheno, with Medusa and some cyclopes behind her, signed a treaty with the human king. The monsters owned eighty-percent of Greece, they said they'd allow human visits to their rivers and farms as long as there was fair commerce and social respect. The cyclopses didn't see the boy who grabbed the closed eye Medusa from behind and put a sword to her neck.
Stheno jumped at her sister's scream and turned to see her being choked by a boy not wearing armor. Blood peaked form her neck so the cyclops growled.
"Have Greece, beasts, this is personal!" The boy yelled.
The human king didn't stand higher than the furious Stheno, not even if he wanted to, when he begged, "Perseus, release that monster!"
Medusa sighed in annoyance before kicking Perseus in the knee, breaking it backwards. She took up his sword as he fell down.
"You are Poseidon's son. He speaks fondly of you." Medusa said with her eyes closed.
"Monster, you are why father never answers me! You are the plague of our family." Perseus yelled.
He was clutching not his knee but his teeth, Medusa understood he was trying to be tough.
"Your father rules the seas, Perseus, he has other responsibilities than you. I am sorry but there is more to this life than your comforts." Medusa spoke to her General. "You already signed in ink?"
Stheno and the king nodded.
"Yes then?" Medusa asked again.
"For true, your grace." The king said.
Medusa nodded, lowered the sword and put her arm out for a cyclops to lead her away. The male cyclops did, the female growled at Perseus.
General Stheno nodded to the king then walked past Peruses without a word.
The rain fell on Greece for many days after. There were floods but nothing the monsters couldn't handle as they built their new homes.
Medusa was leaning against a tree that was struck in half by lightning. She had a long scar across her neck. Poseidon arrived with a kiss to the scar, Medusa struck his cheek.
"Woman, it is I!" Poseidon said to the scarf wrapped face.
"Oh, really?" Medusa asked before slapping his chest, a medallion of a trident jingling.
"What is this?" Poseidon demanded, pushing her roughly away.
"You answered prayers of our enemy humans! You gave them this rain as a strike against us." Medusa explained as she stood up, her hair standing on ends.
"I am the God of Greece, not of only monsters." Poseidon said.
"For pita's sake, I know; I knew that before." Medusa admitted. "I knew all of that and didn't care."
"Wait, are you mad at me for having an open love life?" Poseidon asked.
Medusa scoffed, "No, I will never care about that. I'm angry that you don't care for my people!"
Poseidon put his chest against Medusa, "I have sons and daughters amongst your people! I would flood this land and give only them boats. Everything on this earth is at my mercy. Remember that, woman!"
Medusa furiously took off her scarf and stared at Poseidon. He turned to stone but still docilely grinned at her.
"A reason I gave you this power in your vision instead of a weapon was to keep your beautiful eyes a secret from everyone but me." Stone-Poseidon said as he cupped her face. "I care for you, Medusa."
The hate and anger in Medusa could've melt iron and welded her own trident to stab into his chubby stomach. She was aware she couldn't hurt him with the army of the world. The option she took was to fuck the rock that was him against the tree to release her tension.
"Why can't we make babies?" Euryale asked her sisters one day at lunch. Years had passed since the war and they were on their vineyard.
"Who needs babies, we have the sheep." Stheno said as she poured milk from a cup into a lambs' mouth.
"I have a lot of love to give, and I want to give it to children who look like me!" Euryale said.
Medusa gently stroked the scar at her neck. "Children, I find, are overrated. But, sister, if you want them why not beseech Hera?"
Euryale's eyes bulged. "Sister, you are skipping over Aphrodite! I'm asking the Goddess of Romance to give my children a father!"
Medusa wore glass spectacles over her eyes as they rolled.
Stheno laughed, "Men are very tall children, grab one that walks by and make it work."
Euryale grimaced, "Both of you are disheartening! I have met every man in Greece, twice, and I cannot stand a single one. Sisters," Euryale grabbed the back of both their hands. "It pains me to say this, but I am leaving home to travel the East."
The gorgon with the blue birthmarks on her hands waited a beat to hear their protests.
"Alright then, be safe." Her older sister said then kissed her three-eyed lamb.
"Paint us many pictures of your travels." Her younger sister said while sipping her wine.
Euryale stood up with and threw her napkin on her plate. "Neither of you have ever cared for me!"
"Is she correct, Stheno?" Medusa asked with ease.
"Yes, I believe she is." Stheno said while burping the lamb.
The middle sister made a yelping noise then stomped into their home.
"I hope she finds perspective." Medusa said. She finished her meal and unrolled her scroll. "Tsk, Archimedes made another error. I swear to Zeus."
"Medusa, no can read your script." Stheno said as she rocked the lamb to sleep.
Centuries later Medusa thought of Stheno's comment and wrote her a letter anyway. She was sitting in a tent during a sandstorm in Egypt. A decade after southern Mt. Vesuvius erupted Medusa had lost her friend Jenesis, who couldn't outfly the evil soot and fire. The gorgon had been planning to travel anyway when she heard of Egypt's glamour and love of serpents. Hot and strange the place she found. Medusa learned how to be charming with her words. She visited her sister, Euryale, in India. Euryale had met a nice Naga and Medusa wrote to Stheno about the wedding.
Medusa dipped and climbed in the Amazon. She had the help of the kindest, hairiest Bigfoots throughout the jungle. As they played tricks on new comers, Medusa and Stheno were reunited. Stheno had joined the Spaniard Francesca Franco's army and lived as co-dictator.
"Do you think Euryale is happy?" Medusa asked as they drank coffee on a Spanish ship.
"She shaved her head." Stheno had snakeheads at her ankles. Medusa shrugged.
Medusa shrugged. "It's over with me and Enrique. He's a good Yacumama but I can't stay in this village. It's nice but nice can be dull."
"I hear you, Maddsee, but I can see settling in quiet place with some dragons." Stheno said, pouring a dark liquid in with her coffee.
Medusa saw her big sister getting old. Stheno was strong as a python and stubborn as a Caledonian boar but she wasn't fast and started to make cracking noises when she landed from cliff jumping. They could not die but the immortal Gorgons were slowly getting older. The sisters had all made deals with the Greek Gods during the war; Euryale pleaded with Aphrodite, Stheno bargained with Ares and Medusa danced with Poseidon.
"You were thinking of me?" Poseidon asked her when Stheno left to find them fresh game.
"You're out of your comfort zone." Medusa stated, she saw a man that resembled her lover Enrique but with mer-folk qualities around his scales. On his green pecs was a scar/tattoo of a trident.
"I've traveled across the seas to find you, Medusa," Poseidon said as he kissed her fingers, "My love is like the water, it changes but can never be destroyed."
Medusa cocked her head to the side, her yellow snakes shaking their heads. "Poseidon I'm sorry to hurt you but I never really loved you."
The clouds began to rumble with thunder. "What was that?"
"I loved parts of you but I never wanted you all to myself." Medusa admitted, she felt better than predicted to tell him her feelings.
"You're mad at me? Is that why we haven't spoken in weeks?" Poseidon asked, trying to keep the storm from becoming a typhoon.
Medusa chuckled. "We haven't spoken in centuries! I understand, time is malleable to you but I've felt the separation and I've liked it."
"Woman, this is bad bait." Poseidon said, the wind began to lift trees.
"It's not bait, Poseidon, I'm telling you I'm over us and you can find a new love." Medusa said, wiping the leaves from her hair.
The Sea God evaporated into the sky which had become a hurricane of disastrous proportion. Days later Medusa awoke on an island with zero monsters or humans and thousands of pit vipers. Medusa had felt incredible delight in befriending every single viper. In a month's time the vipers had agreed to string themselves together to create a bridge for her to walk back to the main islands.
"That man, that bastard god, if I never see him again- OHH!" Medusa said as she peeled her sunburnt skin off. She was in a sailboat with her new beau Dr. Moreau. At least, she thought they could be paramours until she saw him look at Dr. Boolittle on shore. The two men looked at one another like there was nothing else in the world worth distraction. Medusa was just happy to have an iced drink.