Chapter 7
Medusa rose from the river and not an inch of her was drenched. Ares, still by the riverside with Xena, saw her emerge and she had changed her hideous form from a gorgon to a woman but her façade could not fool him. He stood up and Xena lifted her snout to him. He walked around the bend and folded his arms as he watched the gorgon walk freely on mortal grounds.
The war god dipped his head downward and placed a hand over Xena's eyes.
"Do not lay your eyes on her. That's Medusa." He warned her and received a snap to his hand. He snarled and rubbed his bitten hand.
"Hey, I warned you. No need to bite me. Still got that fire I see," he wiggled his eyebrows and she attempted to bite his leg and he grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and lifted her off the ground.
"Don't even, Xena. Stay here. I will see how the gorgon escaped Tartarus. She's got zero luck and that must mean she fooled the bard and your…horse," he chuckled.
He gently placed her back on the grass and followed the gorgon through the thick woods, trying to go unnoticed. Athena appeared before him in the middle of the path and he rolled his eyes. His sister folded her arms and he looked over her head and could no longer get a clear sight of the gorgon.
"Move, Athena!"
He shoved her out of the way and she grabbed him by the arm and flung him into a tree. She drew her weapon and held it against his throat. Ares put up his hands as he knew that any weapon of the goddess of wisdom could harm a god.
"Enough of these foolish games, Ares. Why haven't you convinced Circe to turn my warriors back?"
He smiled nervously. "Put the sword down, Athena. We can talk peacefully."
"I am done with peace!" she growled. "You've had more than enough time to talk to the witch and yet here you are, wandering around in the woods."
"I have something to take care of which involves Circe so if you would step aside…" he suggests.
Athena smirked and pushed the blade against his immortal flesh. "Any weapon forged by Hephaestus can kill a god. Perhaps you will be the first god to be slain by your own flesh and blood?"
"You wouldn't do that."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Dear sister, listen to me. I will fix your warriors. I want nothing more than to continue warring with you but first I have to talk to Circe. I have unfinished business with her."
"I'll bet you do." she retracted her sword. "Word is that you put Aphrodite in charge of babysitting your brat. That is just like you to pawn off your spawn to someone else."
He nodded and his mind was more focused on the living and breathing gorgon on mortal soil than listening to his sister.
"We can talk about my parenting choices later. I will meet with you again. Don't come near Circe."
She cackled. "Why? Is she afraid that I will kill her?"
He waved his hand and ran off to follow Medusa.
"I just might, Ares!"
Gabrielle paced around outside of the gorgon's lair, thinking of how to get everyone out of this place. There was no way she wanted to spend an eternity in Tartarus. She kept going over all the horrible scenarios that she and Xena had gone through together to see if any of those outcomes could help them.
Argo sat on the cold ground, sulking. She twirled the cloth around her finger and sighed dramatically. Damian on the other hand was playing with Medusa's candlesticks and other strange things he found in there that made noises. Argo didn't want to know what lies in the gorgon's lair. There were probably creatures in there that Medusa kept for several reasons.
"We should've never come here," Argo said aloud.
"We're going to get out of here. We can't stay in Tartarus. For one, we're not even dead!" the bard snuffed.
Damian ran out of the lair in a chipper mood. "Hello ladies," he says charmingly. "I'm going to check on Charon to see if he's going to wait for us. I'll come back later."
Gabrielle nodded and was dying to get rid of the boy ever since they were roped into taking him along. She sat down on the ground after pacing for what seemed like an eternity. She was really beginning to hate that word and wished it never existed.
"I can't believe that she didn't let me give my second answer. I was right the second time. A shadow is close to darkness, right?" she asks the tall blonde.
Argo leaned back and fell off the rock she was sitting on and bumped her head against a wall. "Ow…" she whispered and rubbed the back of her head.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "This is hopeless."
"Aweh, don't be so down, Gabrielle. You always find a way out of these kinds of things!" she says cheerfully.
The bard frowned. "There you go again."
Argo's cheeks reddened and she put a hand over her mouth.
"You talk about Xena as if you've known her your entire life. And you make comments about my relationship with her. Who are you working for? Are you one of Ares' spies? Have you been working with him this whole time? You didn't seem the least bit phased when you met face to face with him. Who are you really?" she questioned.
Argo's eyes widened at the twenty questions that were thrown at her.
"Ares is the last person I'd work for and I'm not working for anybody. I just want to help Xena."
"Yeah, sure you do. This is partially your fault anyway."
Argo scoffed. "You're going to blame me? You should look in the mirror!" she stood up and the bard followed shortly after. They two stared at each other, one being a foot taller than the other.
Gabrielle was tempted to whack the lithe blonde but refrained and exhaled deeply. She turned around to face the wall and crossed her arms.
"We shouldn't be arguing with each other. That won't solve anything. Why is Damian taking so long?"
"He hasn't been gone that long," Argo said and sat back down. "Do…you…have a plan?"
"Unfortunately, no I don't. Xena must be wondering where we are."
Charon picked at her long fingernails waiting in his boat. He saw a hand crawl up the side of the boat and he whacked it with his oar. He lifted his head and Damian approached. He grinned and teetered across the rocky boat to greet the boy.
"Ah, Prince Damian. You've come back from the gorgon's lair. Did you find what you were looking for?"
The boy leaned against the boat nonchalantly. "Yeah and I got those tokens you were asking for." He reached into his pocket and threw him a bag of oddities he found in the gorgon's lair to gift to the River Styx boatman.
"My mother will give you more once we reach the mortal realm."
Charon peeked in the bag and grinned with a nod of his head. He tucked the bag into a side pocket of his tattered robes. "What of your mortals? Will they not be joining us?"
Damian hopped into the boat and tossed the cloth into the river. "They won't be leaving any time soon. Let's get a move on, Charon! I have to see my mother."
"Yes, yes…right away Prince Damian." He hobbled over and grabbed the oar to begin rowing across the river of souls.
Medusa arrived in the witch's cave hidden away from the public eye. She walked by a few cages filled with large beasts such as cats, wolves and even some snakes. She tapped one of the cages and a large black puma snarled at her from behind.
Circe came out from the darkness and laughed. "Well, look who it is, the gorgon herself. It's about time."
"Word is that you need a new scepter. Did you really have to send your son to do your work for you?"
"You know I can't step into both worlds at once." The sorceress stepped forward and wiggled her fingers. "Give me a scepter so I can finish what I've started."
Medusa cackled and leaned against the cave's wall. "Circe, you and I have unfinished business. You left me in Tartarus for five hundred years while you prance around with these mortals," she emits disgust. "Where's the war god anyhow? You left me for an Olympian. I despise them and yet you procreated with one of them. Who knows who else you'll let stick themselves inside you?" she teased.
"I don't have time for this idle chatter, gorgon. Give me my scepter!" she screamed in a way that a child would.
Medusa rolled her eyes and looked around the desolate cave and shrugged her shoulders at her friend.
"How am I supposed to conjure another scepter without any supplies? Do you think I can whip anything up with a few words?"
Circe huffed. "I don't care what you need to do. I will get your supplies just tell me what you need and I'll see it done."
Damian waltzed in and ran to his mother. He wrapped his arms around her legs and she smiled. Circe knelt down and brushed a bony finger off his shoulder and grimaced.
"I did everything you said, mother. The mortals are trapped in Tartarus. By the way, Charon is asking for his tokens."
Circe waved her hands. "He will get his reward."
Damian turned to the gorgon who was not a hideous monster any longer. He was able to look into her eyes but he could always look in the eye, void of cloth, due to his Olympian blood running through his veins. He walked up to the gorgon and sized her up.
"You could've slit their throats but you played a riddle game instead. Pity."
Medusa's lip curled into a snarl. "Mind your place, boy."
Loud clapping echoed throughout the cave and Ares sauntered in with a bit of swag with every step. He smiled at the sorceress and gorgon.
"Brilliant plan, Circe. I continue to underestimate you. You're the lowest of lows. Not even I would stoop to your level. Using your son to free the gorgon and trap Gabrielle and…the other one…in Tartarus," he awkwardly said.
She shrugged a shoulder. "It was nothing. You should see me when I'm at full power, Ares."
"Uh huh. Listen, Circe." He side stepped the gorgon. "Athena threatened to kill me. Turn her warriors back into humans and we'll call it a day. Oh and turn Xena back too."
Circe laughed loudly and wrapped an arm around her aching stomach. The war god creased his brows together at her mockery.
"Your obsession with that mortal is downright sick, Ares! You think I care about Xena and her friends? She just got in my way. I'm going to turn all the men in every single village into my slaves and there's nothing you can do about it."
He marched towards her and wrapped his hand around her throat. "If Hades finds out you've released Medusa from the underworld there will be severe consequences for you, Circe. Do not toy with Olympians. You've been spared several times. This may be your last hurrah."
She smiled whilst in agonizing pain and croaked, "I –I…need my…scepter."
He released her and threw her against the wall. Damian frowned and ran to his mother then shot his father a menacing glare.
"Look how pathetic you are –relying on others to get your work done." He sighed. "You're always manipulating others to get what you want."
She rubbed her throat and stood up unsteadily. "It seemed to work on you."
He was tempted to choke her to death and then saw Damian hiding behind her. He clenched his fist and backed away. He pointed a finger at her from afar.
"Reverse the spell, Circe, or you will go to trial on Olympus."
Gabrielle and Argo walked over to the River Styx and gaped at the missing boat. Gabrielle punched a stalactite and then cursed under her breath for doing such a stupid act. She kissed her sore knuckles and Argo gazed at the black river.
"Oh that's just great! The little worm left us and went with that horrendous boatman!"
Gabrielle wagged her hand back and forth.
"Are you really surprised?" she muttered to Argo. "I was too focused on coming up with a plan. I shouldn't have let him out of my sight."
"This is all Ares' fault! He sent his devil son with us because he knew we'd get trapped down here!"
The bard gawked at the tall blonde. "I don't think Ares would do that. He's done a lot of things but this is not his style at all."
"Well you can't expect him to bail us out of here, can you?"
Gabrielle walked back to the gorgon's lair. "He wants Xena turned back into her human form as much as we do. That's all I know. The rest is Circe's fault. This was a trap from the beginning but…I don't know if Ares knew about it…" she mumbles to herself.
"You know, I don't know that Xena could get us out of this mess if she were here anyway. We're going to be trapped here forever. Mortals in Tartarus! That is just unheard of! Right, Gabrielle?"
Gabrielle stopped in her tracks and saw two shadows approaching them. She blocked out the loud chatter behind her and slowly backed up and bumped into Argo, startling her and ceasing her blabbering mouth.
"What is it? What?"
Gabrielle pointed to the wiggling shadows that resembled serpents coming close to them. She immediately put on her blindfold and instructed Argo to do the same. Argo struggled and saw the shadows coming closer and closer so she hurried to cover her eyes.
The two waited in silence and could smell the stench getting closer. Gabrielle put a hand over her mouth and her heart raced. Never had she ever felt as afraid as she did right now. She couldn't see and tried not to smell but her ears did not deceive her, which was the most troublesome in this situation.
Two gorgon monsters walked to the blondes and smiled. The two circled around in tandem.
"Euryale, mortals we have found," one of the gorgons said with her serpent tongue.
"Yes, Stheno. On Tartarus ground."
Argo clung to the bard's shoulders and put her up front and Gabrielle grimaced while she held her breath. She felt a serpent wrap around her neck and told herself inwardly not to squeal.
"Our sister has left presents for us," Stheno hisses.
"And keep them, we must," the sister responded in rhyme.
The gorgon sisters wrapped their long brass talons around the mortals' shoulders and Argo gasped at the cold touch.
"Gabrielle, we're about to be snake bait!" she panicked.
The gorgons cackled and wrapped their serpent hair around Argo's face.
"They have a most foul smell," Stheno said to her sister.
"One that we will quell."