Chapter Two

Robin Hendrix had set his mug of coffee in the small living room and sat on the couch reading the morning paper of what the world was doing.

"Well will you look at this? Political campaigns, war breaking, people going on strike. It surprises me how much the world can be like a stage when everything is in drama." He took a sip of his warm decaf and looked around his surrounding. His life as it may can be seemingly a comfort in his newly retired lifestyle to be quite nice for a change.

And here he had thought living a normal life was at time thought to be complicate when he realized that acting as a prince was even harder than he had realized.

The ex-actor shook his head, his silver platinum curls falling into his amber eyes. He heard a slittering noise coming from one of the room and listened as a large serpent like, half human appeared next to him, placing her hand on his knee. He looked down and smiled. Alongside him was Medusa, the beautiful albino creature-woman that captured his heart sleeping soundly, her head resting in his lap. Robin patted his love's head and listened to her soft sigh.

Medusa, his dear sweet Medusa. Who would have thought that he, himself was once the famous prince from Space Wars III which had been a small cascade for his stardom falling later down when at this time, at this blessed moment he always been one when he saw what he had gained the last few years. She was a blessing on him as only one could think. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He watched as her lips turned up in a shy smile. The mask over her eyes still on but knew what was really behind those eyes. Those eyes that had saved him from his ghostly past. He closed his eyes and remembered that day he had taken off her mask, reverting to the one thing he wanted to do last was stare into Medusa eyes.


He and Medusa shared two glasses of wine, toasting to their anniversary, the anniversary that would be their last. He stared solemnly over at Medusa sitting in the other chair, her scaly body slithering underneath it's wooden legs. Slowly he reached over towards her and untied the bow around the mask. Medusa, realizing too late what was happening tried to stop him by covering her eyes but he grabbed her hands and said, "Please, let me stare into your eyes. It's my last wish…" His hands were trying to bring down her hands but he heard her crying.

Sobbing and saying in a soft whisper, "…I can't…I can't…."

"Medusa?" He was surprised to hear her speak for the first time and was held frozen as he heard Medusa crying. Her voice was trembling bad but he could still hear sputtering from her lips.

"…I can not do it…you promise that if I…live for you, you…live for me…"

"Oh Medusa…" But his words seem lost as he realizing what she was trying to say hit him harder than he ever knew.

He live for her as she did for him.

Her words as same as his only they were with more meaning than he would believe. She lived only because she loved him and only asked to be loved by him.

He watched the tears leak through her hands and couldn't help but touched her hands with his, caressing her ice cold ones with his soft warm ones. He wanted to push everything away and hold her and kiss her tears away. He wanted to say he loved her as she did for him but the words didn't seem to come out at all.

He felt like a coward. This was not how a prince should do from the movie, he would sacrifices his dignity, his pride, everything to say those three small words. But he was no prince, he was just an actor.

A poor foolish actor to believe he could be a prince whenever he wanted to.

"I'm sorry, please forgive for I'm setting not only myself free but for you…" The tears from his eyes lead down his own face as he yanked her hands away and stared deeply in her aqua-teal eyes.

Those eyes…those were the eyes he wanted to remembered, to remember every seconds before his heart stop all together.

"Medusa…you're so…beautiful…I love…you…" He thought he said those words but he wasn't sure. All he knew as he stared into her eyes it was over. When he felt everything around him stop, all sound and thought stop all at once and he fell to the ground and watched as the room became dark and he welcome it.

The blade of the prince had found its target; right into the prince's own heart, the actor known as Robin Hendrix.


Robin was at lost as what seem seconds or eternity later as he stood in total darkness, wondering whether he was in Heaven or in Hell.

Or limbo even, for all he could guess he could be lost here forever and never find a way out of this empty abyss.

"It's better this way…I'm better off in a damnation to thinking I could relive something that seem too good to believe. To think I could be the prince once more if I could tried to fool everyone, when it was me who was the fool."

"Perhaps…or perhaps not your highness." Someone said speaking out of the shadows. Robin turned expecting to see someone behind him but there was no one as well as nothing and he kept turning around, trying to locate that voice.

Of course he knew whose voice that was, but that impossible because he was dead and that it couldn't be possible to hear another who live…could it?

"Your highness you seem frighten, perhaps a change in scenery should be more appealing to…your liking." And the blackness was faded away as bright light came through and Robin used his arms to shield himself from going blind. When the light disappeared, he saw that indeed the surrounding he had been in had changed and had become a room fitted elegantly and filled with luxury screaming off the walls as only royalty could ever want in such a place.
"Or a prince for whatever he desires." The voice of the Count's spoke and Robin again turned to find no one but the ghost of that ghostly monotone speaking to him from faraway. Only the scent he knew of long ago came to him and enwrapped him.

He wished he had an idea or a clue to what was going on before he looked about the room. It was warm looking with orient furniture and silks lavished around the place, a large bed in the middle with satin red sheets and a golden bowl sitting on it with fruits inside. And someone was sitting in there, hidden behind the thin blood-red curtains covering the bed. Robin stepped over towards the bed and drew them back before he took a step away as he saw who was lying in it.

Medusa looked up towards him, her mesmerizing eyes that had ended his life were looking at him with brightness shining deep from within its warm aura.

"M-Medusa. What how-how is this possible!" He asked as he stared at her, looking from her face down to her body and staring at what he couldn't believe. Instead of her long silvery scaly body, there in place were two smooth long white legs.

"Medusa what happened to your legs? What's going on? Am I dead, am I in Heaven or Hell for this!" He struggled with himself at this new issue as Medusa crawled over towards him from the bed and gently took his hand. She turned the hand around and kissed his palm gently. Her kiss seem cold yet warm and he looked in her eyes and saw her smiling at him.

"To answer your question would be difficult to put into the simplest words but to answering what you had asked, No you're not in Hell nor are you in Heaven. And as you may or may not believe, you are not dead."

"I'm not! But how am I here them. I died, I swear I looked into your eyes and I felt my world going under and my heart stopping…" But Medusa leaned closer to him and pressed her head against his chest. His body quivered as she slowly undo the buttons on his shirt and stared at her in awed. "Medusa, what-what are you doing?"

Medusa didn't speak as she ran her hand under it and felt his body shivered under her cold finger as she trailed them over until he reached his upper chest and pressed firmly.

"I can feel you…your heart…it still beats…barely…but your will to live is what keeping you at the time being to live…"

He couldn't really understand any of this, of how he failed to die and end up here or Medusa coming with him. But as Medusa's hand were creeping down his chest, his whole body seem to become instantly hot with her touch. "Medusa…Medusa…I'm can't understand what went wrong…how I ended it up here when I'm suppose to be dead…but Medusa listen, there something I should have said, something I should have told you. I love you Medusa. I love you, please forgive me…" He looked into her eyes as she stared tenderly in his and pressed a soft kiss on his lips.

"You don't need my forgiveness, the only one who needs to be forgive is to forgive yourself and I think that now that you have already my love…"

My love…my love. Those words echo inside his mind before he slowly felt his arms wrapping around Medusa's waist and bringing her to his body. Her arms wrapped around him and he could inhale the wonderful scent that he had smelled coming from her. He pulled his face away and started to kiss her, pressing light kisses on her face then feeling her kiss his. Before he knew it, both fell on the soft cushioned bed and laid within each others arm, holding kissing and leading further on, only to believe that if whether or not he was dead, then he truly was in Heaven.

Because Heaven had sent him an angel.

An angel named Medusa.


Time seem little to the two as Robin and Medusa spent forever together in that room which Robin could care less of getting out of. Because everything outside would be different and he was uncertain if Medusa would be out there waiting for him or not. But one day, he did escape from the room and was entered into a world of light and whiteness.

Robin was uncertain how long it was, it seem forever in his mind, before he could be able to open his eyes and saw himself in a new place, a new world than what he had been before. Not his old apartment and not the strange room that he and Medusa shared.

Medusa…where was she. Slowly he started to sit up and before he knew it, he heard a faint cry.

Medusa!

He turned his head around only to see a young blond woman wearing a white nurse's outfit with cap, holding a clipboard to her chest, clutching onto it for dear life. Before he had time to speak, the nurse started shouting down the hall, "Doctor, Doctor Johnson, Mr. Hendrix, Mr. Hendrix's awake."
Suddenly footsteps could be heard coming down the hall and then two men in white suits followed by another nurse and then a dark-skin man along with another person that didn't seem the kind to work in the hospital. One of the doctors, Robin believed he was the 'Johnson' the nurse had been calling when he woke up.

Doctor Johnson walked over to him and said, "Well it's good to see you back in the living world, Mr. Hendrix. You made quite a quick recovery after that stroke yet leaving you in a coma seem unusual in my whole career as a doctor." The doctor then went to check Robin's pulse and examing him when he felt necessary. When he finished, which Robin was relieved, as he felt embarrassed to be watched by all these people standing around them. "Now Mr. Hendrix is there anything to tell us how you might have gotten this stroke."

Robin looked at him baffled. A stroke. He stared into Medusa's eyes and thought himself to die first then find himself in some weird dream state coma, now the doctor was telling him that it had only because he had a stroke. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, but then that would seem a good idea. But as he looked around the room, he still felt out of place, like someone was missing…

Medusa! Where was she! He started pushing the blankets aside and tried to sit up before the doctor pushed him back on the bed.

"Mr. Hendrix, please you just woke up and it's been about eleven months since the stoke, almost a year ever as you still need to recover you strength."

"But I need, I need to find her."

"Find who?" The black man spoke for the first time as he and the blond stranger walked into the room. "Forgive us for barging in. I'm Chief of San Francisco's police department and this is detective Leon Orcot. We're sorry for bringing this up so sudden but when we had found your body lying in your apartment, we had suspected foul play at hand and then found you still had a pulse, barely but as we soon found that we had quickly rush you in first med. Now if you could, perhaps you could tell us if someone had tried to give you the stroke or tried to go first degree."

"What!" This time the doctor couldn't hold him down as he sat up straight away and stare at the chief of police. "Are you saying that Medusa was giving me a stroke!"

The blonde detective, Leon Orcot, blinked. "Medusa, is that the girlfriend who was with you when this happened? Why didn't she dial the hospital or call 9-1-1 when you had the stroke?"

Robin couldn't think of a good answer, how were you to tell two officers that your 'girlfriend' was supposedly a lizard and couldn't very well speak. "Um…uh…"

"Medusa I'm afraid was traumatized when she saw Mr. Hendrix have the attack and quickly rushed to my place to have me contact the proper authorities." A smooth calm voice spoke breaking the silence.
All heads turn towards the door where an Asian young man stood dressed in a red cheongsam with a gold Chinese dragon running from the neck down to the waist.

Detective Orcot turned to look at him. "Who are you!" Count D looked at him least surprised but ignored him as he continued to speak. "As Medusa had told me of what happened to Robin and having lost her voice in the process, she signal to me to call you as possible and went to check if Mr. Hendrix's was alright."

Orcot snorted. "If you had been there, then why didn't you stay at the scene and waited to be questioned."

Count D's mismatched eyes looked over at him, purple-gold stared deeply at him. "I run a pet shop and it would seem unfair to leave it without someone taking care of it and along with Medusa who was in such tense state wasvery mcuh in needed of my help at the time." He then gave a small smile to Robin. "Mr. Hendrix's animals were also needed to be taken care of those last long months and surely he couldn't care for them while he was in extensive care."

Orcot glared at him before the Chief took all this information in. "Very well, but I would very much like to hear from you and this Miss Medusa character whenever you too have the chance."

Count D bowed at him. "I will certainly be obliged to do so and hopefully in Medusa's case as well when she regains her voice. And perhaps see more of you my dear detective."

Leon glared at him before his hand clenched into a fist and pulled it back. "Why you little—"

"Leon that's enough, this is a hospital and there is to be no violence in this facility." Soon the doctor shooed them before Leon gave one last glare and saying to the Count, 'This isn't over yet!' and left. Everyone else in the room left too except Count D when Robin made a request to speak with him for a moment.

"And please Doctor, leave us in peace. I want to talk him of something important." The doctor seem reluctant but later walked out the door and closed it behind to give them privacy. Robin looked at D and then as he was about to ask what had been occupying his mind at the minute, Count D spoke.

"You are wondering as to why you had not died when you looked into her eyes, are you not?"

Robin nodded. "Yes, you told me that when she took off their mask, the person to gaze into their eyes would be turn to stone, or in my case, die of a heart attack."

Count D chuckled, "Yes well that is the point, she was to take off her mask, not you. If you were to take it off, possibitily to die would have been slim. Medusa's kind can only kill whether they truly desire to kill their prey. But Medusa couldn't as she did not wish for you to die and had left you within a coma state for the past eleven months."

"Eleven months…man that long…" He ran a hand through his hair before he sudden realization hit him and turn to look at D. "Where's Medusa! What happened to her, is she all right! I saw her in my dream, and…no, don't tell, don't tell me she-she tried to…"

No…Medusa couldn't have. He wished he didn't want to think whatever happened to his dear Medusa. Count D looked at him thoughtfully. "Do not worry your highness, everything is fine. In fact you are getting the greatest treasure beyond any richest that a prince could ever obtain in a lifetime."

Robin looked confused at the Count. What was he talking about, the greatest treasure that he could ever obtain? "What are you talking about? What are you saying D?"

A sudden knock was heard on the door and both heads turned to see a tall burly man with a beard and glasses walking into room. "Finally awake at last Robin. Good to see you awake."

"Albert! That you! What-what are you doing here?" Count D looked smugged as Albert shrugged his shoulder towards D. "This guy told me to drive him here, saying you'll be up today. Didn't believe at first but miracles happen I guess."

D nodded, "So it would seem. And ah, where's our young lady, I'm sure she wants to see Mr. Hendrix up now too. Could you please fetch her?" Albert nodded then walked out of the room only to be back in five minutes with a woman.

"Medusa!" Robin cried when he saw the woman who was being lead in by Albert, holding her arm gently. Robin stared mesmerized by Medusa's presence.

She looked more beautiful and real to him just like the dream. Even the legs that he was surprised to see them either as scaly or in his friends' or other's as normal legs, walking into the room. But that's not what made him stare the longest.

In her arms she was carrying a small bundle wrapped in pink, waddling as Medusa made her way to his bed. Count D watched as Robin's eyes stared at the covered gift he was to receive.

"Mr. Hendrix's allow me to introduce your two-month old daughter, Aida Euterpe Hedrix." And D took the child carefully out of Medusa's arms and handed the bundle to Robin.
Robin didn't know what to expect when he was given the baby but as he felt the warmth coming from her small body, he slowly lifted the blanket off his daughter and stared in awed and wonder at the child he held. His daughter was asleep, her mop of auburn curls mopped her head along with traces of silver from her father, her skin, white as ivory like her mother.

Her eyes, he wondered, what kind of eyes did she have? He looked over at D for his answer.

D smiled, "She has both your eyes." And when he spoke the baby cooed and slowly opened her lids to show eyes that were mixed of silvery-green that shined brightly as she gazed at her father. Aida giggled and starting to reach out to touch him. Robin smiled and used one of his finger to hold out to her, to allow her to wrap one small hand to gripped around it. Robin looked at the three people in the room. From Albert to D to Medusa then to his daughter again.

"The greatest treasure beyond any richest that a prince could ever obtain in a lifetime." And that couldn't be anymore true than what he had wanted to find was now within his arms at that very moment.


Robin smiled at that memory before he heard something stirring in the kitchen than heard the door open and in walked a tall young girl at eighteen with long silvery hair and dark bangs in front and short auburn in back, wearing a light green shirt and blue midriff huggers on her hips. Her backpack slugged over one shoulder as she walked over towards the two, smiling at them with her silver-green eyes.

"Morning dad, mom." Both parents looked up at their daughter as she took a bite of her morning breakfast, a strawberry yogurt bar. "Morning Aida, seems like you're excited for you're first day."

Aida nodded, "Yeah I know, weird huh, like I really wanted summer to end so fast and go once again to another boring year of school. But hey, after spending the summer with Uncle Albert, working my butt off in the last movie, I just want to get some time off you know, catch up with some friends, join a drama club. It's so tiring when having to go over the same lines over and over again and repeating the scene when it's not right."

Robin chuckled as she complained the small issue. "Well I did tell you that being a star wasn't going to be easy, it takes a lot more than just a pretty face and..."

"And having very little patience, I know dad I know." Robin saw that Aida had indeed become part of him. Somehow Aida at tender age twelve had inherited her father's ability to act and before anyone knew, Albert had gotten her some part time roles in movies which the producer seem surprised to actually having one of a living legend's own flesh and blood in their production.

By the time she was fifteen, close to sixteen, Aida had made a name for herself, becoming full time star and became a legend like her father. Before anyone knew he found not too long as he walked past downtown to place to see people turned and hear them asking how the 'young princess' was doing.

Like father like daughter, royalty passed down through blood.

Just as long as she doesn't get a too big of an ego was fine with him. One in the family was enough before. His daughter was different as she had little much of her mother in her too.

"So joining a drama club will be good I think. I mean I might meet Serena, Enya and Jason again. Afterall I haven't seen them since June."

"Well I'm sure they'll be glad to see you too. Will you go wake up Wren and Drake from their sleep, they have school too and I don't want them missing the bus." Wren and Drake were their son, Wren was ten and Drake was about to turn seven soon. Aida left the room to go to her brother's and get them up, leaving both Robin and Medusa to stare after their growing family.

"So much has changed…" Medusa placed a hand on Robin's cheek and Robin looked down at her and smiled. "And even if I had a choice to choose whether to start stardom again or having you and the wonderful children we brought, I would picked you my Medusa." Medusa smiled then leaned in closed to Robin's face and whispered in soft tone. "And I would pick you…Robin. You my fair prince. The prince of my heart."

Robin smiled. Even as people thought of him as a royal prince of stardom, there was nothing to replace the treasure of what even a prince could never obtain in a lifetime from what Robin had found.