6
MEG had seen a fair share of dark lairs and caves throughout her lifetime, but none so intimidating as the entrance to Medusa's home. This cave seemed larger, darker, somehow than the others, thrown deep into shadow.
Standing in front of it, even alongside Hades as their feet touched down on the solid ground, Meg felt very small and angry at her role in all of this. She bit down on her lip and forced herself to swallow her pride. She took a few hesitant steps forward and glanced curiously into the mouth of the cave and saw nothing within but darkness.
"Is your 'friend' even here?" Meg asked in disbelief, raising her chin and turning to stare with cold eyes towards the Lord of the Dead. Hades didn't even so much as look at her.
"She is, I can hear her. She's outside, away from her...home." Hades made a face as though he considered the cave this Medusa lived in to be the furthest thing from a home he could think of. "Follow me, kitten, I know where she is."
Meg hesitated as Hades practically glided forward around the cave's structure and toward the edge of the dark forest. Meg shivered as she realized the trees in the woods looked as though they were reaching for her to snatch at her dress and keep her here. She was so distracted in looking around, that when she turned back to Hades, she had to break into a light jog in order to keep up as he was a good distance ahead of her already.
Meg as she moved to stand beside Hades, did not know what she was expecting this Medusa would look like, but the sight that met her questioning eyes was the furthest thing from a god or goddess or even a mortal as could possibly be. She stared, well aware that she was gawking and hardly daring to believe her eyes at what she was seeing.
A human-like creature not much younger than her stood only a few paces away from where Meg and Hades stood, seemingly unaware of her observant audience of two, neck-deep in a one-sided conversation with an impressively large stone statue of a man. Meg strained her ears to listen.
"What's the matter today, Agape, too many people taking you for granite?"
Her voice was soft, shy, and sweet. Timid even, Meg would go as far as to say. The young creature's voice was a startling cry different than the strange appearance the oddly lovely Gorgon had been gifted with. Meg watched, stupefied, as the gorgon proceeded to drag the stone statue with surprising strength out into the clearing of her grove, willing the sunlight to hit it.
"How about…a little sun? Oh, you're feeling heavier today than last week, I think it's your sedentary lifestyle," she gasped, heaving as she paused to catch her breath and doubling over, clutching at a stitch in her side. "Oh, s-stop it, Agape, I don't sing or dance like the mortal women of this world do, this is my best material. My jokes are funny and you know it," she wheezed, straightening her gait and turning at the waist. A cry of surprise left her lips as she realized she was no longer alone, and her arms immediately shot upward to cover her eyes with her hands.
Meg could not believe her eyes. She gazed, shocked, at the figure before her, realizing this was perhaps the first and maybe only time she would ever get to look a Gorgon dead in the eye without turning into stone like her other past unfortunate victims.
Now that she had a clear view of this Medusa, the surprisingly lovely creature was absolutely terrified of being exposed and in the presence of a mortal. Meg's unblinking eyes ran up and down the young Gorgon's unusual form, taking in her reptilian green skin and the live snakes that served as locks of her hair. Medusa's yellow eyes looked anywhere but at Meg and Hades in pure panic. Her slender arms stayed over her head to try to mask her face and her unusual-looking form from Meg. Meg could only watch as the lovely Gorgon's entire body began to quake in fear and horror. This creature was terrified of her.
Meg swore she could hear Medusa whimper. For many moments, Meg simply stared at the Gorgon in shock, feeling a wave of pity wash over her. Her sandals felt heavy as her feet remained rooted into the ground. The longer she looked upon this creature, the more she pitied this Gorgon who was merely lonesome, by looks of it, having to resort to littering the grove she lived in with the statues of the poor unfortunate souls who happened to accidentally stray upon Medusa's path.
This pretty Gorgon seemed to have lived through a world of scorn, hurt, and anguish her entire life, but the fact that she was willing to go so far as to try to save Meg from suffering a similar fate as the stone figures in her garden was more than enough.
Meg knew then in that exact moment she was not about to continue that scorn and hatred that the rest of her species received. Hate and scorn had to stop with someone, lest it consumes all those that were touched by it. Meg hardened her expression and looked towards Hades for his help.
"Medusa, babe, what a…pleasant surprise to see you again, it's been too long, doll, you need to visit more often. I'm sure Persephone would love to see you, sweetheart," Hades muttered to the frightened Gorgon in a smooth buttery purr.
Meg gritted her teeth and tried not to shiver, while she waited for this, whatever 'this' was, to be over. His voice was enough to make the hairs on the back of Meg's neck stand up on the end.
She scowled and flicked her questioning gaze toward their reluctant host whether she knew it or not.
Meg was surprised to find the snakes that acted as Medusa's hair lifted their heads and hissed at the Lord of the Dead angrily, before coiling themselves around one another until they resembled her hair in a loose-looking bun.
"Hey…." Meg's voice was surprisingly low and softer than silk. She was able to look into the Gorgon's eyes without fearing for her life, thanks to Hades' magic that protected her. Meg looked upon the lovely Medusa without a hint of fear or disdain.
The nervous Gorgon's yellow eyes met hers, her shining eyes filled with dismay and dread. Meg knew the look well, having seen it in a mirror in the long days that had passed her following Adonis leaving her and then her parents' deaths. Medusa's arms dropped slightly in hesitation as she stared at her, her mouth slack as she realized Hades was protecting her with his magic.
Taking that as a good sign, Meg felt some hope swell in her chest and continued, hoping to supplicate the Gorgon somewhat. "It's alright. You don't have to be afraid. We, ah…we came here to ask a favor…."
The Gorgon's wide glazed eyes blinked rapidly as if Medusa needed a moment to process Meg's unexpected words. She was looking more than shocked by Meg's kind reaction.
"I...I don't...I never..." The young Gorgon's breath hitched as she brought her arms down, but of course, her hands managed to find their way to rest in front of her. She tugged on a fistful of her dark purple toga out of vexation and agitation.
Meg was pulled from her thoughts as Medusa spoke, her voice sounding small and meek.
"You've come for me, haven't you? I-is it Stheno, h-has something happened to my sister?" Medusa paused, sounding so unsure of herself as she swallowed down hard and wrung her hands together until it almost looked painful. Meg could only stare as the snakes atop Medusa's head squeaked their worry.
"Hades!" Meg shouted in shock. "Whatever you're planning with her pet and with Wonder Boy, don't!"
She trailed off as he stared at her, now more certain than ever that her master was indeed planning on utilizing Medusa's pet Hydra as a weapon against Hercules and would slaughter him. Meg's heart broke at Medusa's hopeless appeal.
She wished there was a way to get her out of there and keep Wonder Boy safe. But before she could say anything in hopes of rectifying the situation, Hades' laughter filled the grotto with the smug sound.
Hades shook his head and was quick to dismiss the frightened Gorgon's worry with a curt wave of his hand.
"No, doll, your sister is alive and unharmed, as I promised you she would be when she left you, didn't I?" When Medusa did not respond, he continued. "I come today with my…little helper, Megara here, because we have a bit of a pest problem we were hoping you could help us solve. We need your pet."
Medusa's brows rose with curiosity as her worried look was quickly replaced by that of intrigue. She regarded Hades and Meg with trepidation and flicked out her forked tongue to lick at her lips. Meg almost shuddered but then she realized if she looked closer, just underneath the exterior of her reptilian appearance, she could see the beauty of Medusa, even as a Gorgon.
Medusa was young, cute, for a Gorgon, and charming. She likely knew how to use these skills to her advantage, though judging by the way they had come across her speaking to her stone companions in her grotto just now, she suspected most of the innocent people and animals she turned were accidents.
"My…oh, My Lord, please no, she—she's very temperamental I-if you wake her up, there's no telling what she'll be like! A-and it's only been two months since I was able to find her a permanent location where she won't hurt anybody! Sparta is still recovering from the last…er…incident! She's killed so many!" Medusa cried, nearly tugging on the locks of her hair and causing the snakes to hiss in discomfort at the pain. "Sorry," she mumbled, her face turning a darker shade of green as she quickly let go of her hair.
Meg stared in disbelief. The poor Gorgon looked as though her heart were sinking to the tips of her toes as Hades raised his chin defiantly. He was not about to be turned away by this Gorgon with a "No."
Her suspicions were growing the longer she looked into Hades' eyes as the frightened Gorgon desperately searched the God of the Underworld's blank expression, at any hint that she could trust him.
"What do you want her for?" she asked, after spending a long moment in silence. She looked as though she wanted nothing more than to turn her heel and flee, but knowing she could not is likely what kept her standing there.
Instead, she lifted her chin and bravely glared at both Hades and Meg.
"I suppose that you are going to have me believe she won't hurt anyone. That she's just to scare someone?" Medusa accused flatly. "Or is this your plan all along, to wake her from her long sleep and have her kill whoever is in your way? Is that why you want me to reveal where I've hidden her away? Is that it?"
She flicked her gaze between Meg and Hades and narrowed her eyes, and it was then that Meg thought the young Gorgon's eyes looked like the slit-like pupils of a snake. She shuddered, but Medusa did not notice it.
"Kill your…" Meg tried to repeat the stricken Gorgon's words. "Medusa, um, no, that's not what we're…" But her words would not even form as she searched the young Gorgon's nervous face and realized that was exactly what she thought Hades intended, and for all she knew of her master and overlord, he did.
Medusa looked at Meg with terrified yellow eyes and feverishly shook her head at Meg.
"I know why he's brought you. You're going to make me think that I could trust you, that I could finally have a friend at long last who isn't a rockhead." Medusa huffed as she voiced her fears. Her voice trembled and she knocked a hard knock on the shoulder of one of the stone statues closest to her as if to emphasize her point. "And then you're going to let Hades kill her. You're going to let him slaughter Ophion," she cried. She stared at Meg with fire and hurt in her eyes, her live hair hissing at her as the snakes narrowed their beady eyes at her.
"I—I don't…wh-what? Ophion? Is that your…pet? Medusa, you aren't making any sense, so please help me to understand," Meg questioned, her mind struggling to comprehend it all.
Through her tears, Medusa watched Meg warily and backed away, muttering to herself, shaking her head. Hades turned his head coolly towards Meg as she started to step forward toward Medusa, wanting to comfort the horrified young Gorgon and did not know why. Meg halted in her tracks and backed away, chewing on her lip, as he shot her a withering look while Medusa broke down into frustrated sobs and buried her head in her hands, humiliated.
The vengeful glower on her master's face as he calmly and slowly approached the Gorgon chilled the blood in Meg's veins.
"Medusa, sweetheart, babe, stop your crying and look at me," he snapped. Only when the Gorgon hesitantly lifted her gaze and locked eyes with the Lord of the Dead did he continue. "Did you honestly think that you could hide your precious pet of a Hydra from me?" Hades asked Medusa rhetorically, shaking his head and looking at the pretty Gorgon as though the creature were such a disappointment to him now. "Your beloved sister would have never pulled such a stunt. She would have willingly offered your Ophion to me when she joined my team. I have spies everywhere in Greece, dollface. Nothing happens in Greece that I don't know about, honey," Hades scoffed, hardening his gaze.
"Hades, stop this!" Meg begged, overcome with emotion, and hating seeing the poor creature suffer like this. She did not understand why she felt this strange nagging pull at her chest for such a creature that most of the villagers back home would have feared, and the men would have instantly rallied to cut off her head, but she liked this Gorgon. Medusa seemed sweet and innocent enough, and she could not abide her master making her suffer as well. But Hades simply raised his hand to quiet her.
Meg's concern for the frightened young Gorgon was so great, that she actually obeyed.
"Let's get on with this, Medusa, babe. I need an answer like right now, I have plans and they don't involve me lingering here in your hovel of a grotto longer than I have to," Hades announced, rhetorically as he straightened his posture and stood towering over both Meg and Medusa. "I could charge you with the theft of my Hydra's egg that I know you stole before it hatched. I searched the realm for my most prized possession for ages, sweetheart. Imagine my surprise when your sister was the one to tell me of your precious Hydra's little feeding frenzy in Sparta," he proclaimed.
Hades turned his head toward Meg and smirked a bit as he watched Meg's face drain of color.
She flitted her gaze between the Gorgon and her master, confused, but things were slowly beginning to add up now. It didn't take long for Meg to put together the pieces of the puzzle. At some point, Medusa as a young Gorgon, surely no older than a child at the time that she had committed this supposed-heinous crime, had whisked away the egg of a Hydra hatchling.
Medusa had spirited it away from Hades, for reasons that were unknown to her and she decided it was best she didn't know.
Medusa flinched and anxiously bit her lower lip under Hades' gaze that could have turned her to stone.
She knew he had the capability but was exercising great restraint not to do anything, and she turned her attention towards Meg and dropped her hands from her face. She understood why Hades had come, what it was that the Lord of the Dead had planned for her precious pet. She would beg the Lord if she had to.
"Please. Please, Lord, I—I didn't want to steal her from you, but I couldn't let you use her as a weapon," she begged Hades in a frantic voice. "I beg of you. Whatever you're going to do to her, don't hurt her. She—she's all I have left of my sister and I's homeland." Frightened tears began streaming down her face. "You can take me away to your Underworld, keep me as a prisoner there and let me work off the debt if you must, b-but don't hurt her, please!" she cried, hysterical as she clutched fistfuls of her dress.
"Hades!" Meg shouted in shock. "Whatever you're planning with her pet and with Wonder Boy, don't!" She trailed off as he stared at her. She was now more certain than ever that her master was indeed planning on utilizing Medusa's pet Hydra as a weapon against Hercules and would slaughter him.
Hades' laughter filled the grotto with the smug sound. "Meggie, my sweet little nut, you would do well to stay quiet and remember your place in your position, doll," he warned, an edge to his voice. "I'm in the middle of a deal here, and you are in no position to ask me for anything. And Medusa, love, be assured, I am going to do with you and your pet whatever it is that I please," he corrected, his tone growing soft and dangerously quiet, which Meg knew spelled trouble.
She grimaced and darted towards Medusa and pulled the frightened Gorgon towards her, grateful that Hades had thought to cast a protective enchantment around her vision. She wondered if the magic would remain effective permanently or if this was a one-time occurrence. Either way, she was grateful for it.
Medusa stood trembling alongside Meg at the thought of what was to become of the pet that she had worked so hard to tame and rehome. Hades' annoyance and anger were growing as he searched to find the right words that would persuade her to loan him the use of her pet.
"Medusa, babe, please do not think me so unsympathetic to your plight as a Gorgon. I know that you get…lonely out here in your little lair with all your stony-faced friends, but it does not have to be this way for you," Hades told Medusa with mocking compassion. "Loan me your pet. Tell me where it's sleeping so that our Boy Wonder we're dealing with can wake it up, and your precious Ophion would have herself quite the little wake-up snack."
Sensing the Gorgon was not quite convinced, he continued, seemingly in the mood to convince, though Medusa seemed unready to hear Hades' next words.
"Persephone would love to have another lady friend to talk gossip with, I'm sure." He attempted to be civil. "You agree to this, babe, and you have a permanent place in my realm. You will be accepted there, not judged for your…looks," Hades purred.
Hades nodded knowingly, though he scrunched his nose in disgust as Medusa's snakes hissed at him. Meg gripped one of Medusa's hands, trying not to let it show that she was bothered by the feeling of the scales of her palms in hers.
"Please, Medusa," she whispered. "Hades won't let your…pet get hurt," she told the Gorgon softly. "Please. Let me help you. You could come back with us and start over. Have a home."
But it was fear and apprehension that kept Medusa rooted to her spot. She stood there for a moment of guarded uncertainty and distrust that almost broke Meg's heart.
"Please?" Meg asked again, lowering her voice. "Your life depends on you saying yes."
Her lavender eyes met the Gorgon's terrified yellow eyes and silently begged her to take Hades' offer.
Medusa's gaze lingered on Meg's hand entwined around hers. She appreciated that the young mortal woman did not flinch away out of disgust or fear at holding her hand. She would have thought that she would have wanted to pull away, but something of this earth woman's touch was calming and reassuring to her.
Somehow, she felt that no matter what happened, everything would be well, in the end. She wanted security, a place to call home, and companions to call friends that actually talked back to her. Medusa made up her mind to try to depend on Hades now as her sister had done the same with the Lord of the Dead when he had come to the Gorgons' homeland shortly before they were driven out by a mob of violent villagers who beheaded most of their race. Hades had offered her older sisters a home.
The small handful of her people that survived scattered, making their new homes in the Realm of Monsters, a dark and ominous forested area that was ruled by Echidna, the mother of monsters on Earth. Medusa made up her mind to try to depend on her now as her older sisters had done the same with Hades a few years ago, even if she regretted it later.
Medusa knew she needed to find a way out and away from this desolate forest that was growing more dangerous by the day, as more and more villagers were coming across her home, some of them curious enough to venture within. She attempted to do what she could to frighten them away without looking at them. Though sooner or later, they almost always looked.
It surely wouldn't be too long before the word would spread about the missing villagers.
Eventually, the closest farming village would put two and two together that a Gorgon lived in the shadows nearby and when they would come for her with their swords and pitchforks, that would be it. She could say goodbye to her head attached to her shoulders, hideous though it was. She shivered. Medusa nodded and gripped Meg's arm, her fingers trembling as she did so.
This mortal woman and Hades might be the only help that would come for her. Medusa would go for the chance to save her life and make a fresh start for herself somewhere new, but she would trust no one. Not even this Megara.
Meg steadied Hades as Medusa took a step forward on shaking legs. Medusa nodded her thanks and tried to shoot Meg a grateful look with her eyes, relieved that Hades' magic protected her from her curse.
She hesitantly lifted her gaze to Hades and locked eyes with him. "If I come back with you and if I tell you where she is, you promise she won't be hurt? I-I was hoping to breed her later this year, there's another male Hydra in the Realm of Monsters a few years older than her."
Meg spun to face Medusa, startled and quite alarmed by this news. She did not know what on earth this young Gorgon a few years younger than she hoped to accomplish by breeding such a horrific beast.
However, Meg forced herself to consider that Medusa had lived her young life in a state of crippling loneliness.
If Meg had been in her situation, she might have done the same thing.
Hades spoke, pulling her from her thoughts.
"I cross my black heart and hope to die, babe. You've my word," Hades told her, his grin widening to unnatural proportions. You've got a deal, doll. Come back with us then, and I'll have my lovely wife fetch you something to eat. I've heard the pomegranates are just to die for, they're like nothing you've ever eaten. You won't want to leave," he snorted, chuckling in amusement at his own quip. Meg frowned.
Medusa copied Meg by pinching her mouth down in a frown, not quite getting it. "What does that—"
"Where is it?" Hades interrupted. "Tell me, lovely."
Medusa hesitated, hearing the steel in his voice. She knew just as Meg did, that he did not want any tricks or deceit from her right now as she answered him.
"Th-Thebes, My Lord," she whispered, stumbling over her words. "There's a—a cave I found for her a few months ago that's big enough for her. I-I moved a boulder to block the entrance so she can't get out and kill the people that live there," she confessed. "I sneak away from here at night once a month to feed her, b-but…" She trailed off as she looked into Hades' yellow eyes. "Don't hurt her, whatever you want to use her for," she pleaded, trembling, feeling fresh tears come to her eyes. "Please. She's all I have left of our home."
Meg shivered as Hades smiled. She did not like that there was a bit of rake in the god's smile that suggested he was not about to promise anything. But his smile seemed good enough for Medusa, or perhaps this lonely Gorgon was merely naïve. Whatever the case, Medusa's fear seemed supplicated as Hades spoke.
"She will not be harmed by me, love. I can give you my word on that, pet."
Satisfied, for now, Medusa nodded, telling Hades and Meg without words that she was ready to leave this place. Hades snapped his fingers and within seconds, the two were back in the Underworld.
Medusa let go of Meg's arm and took a few steps back.
She looked as though she wanted to say something to Meg, but before she could, Hades spoke in a clipped tone.
"Medusa, babe, if you could leave us for a moment, I would speak with Meg here alone. Find Persephone, she should be hanging around near Cerberus if I know my wife, she'd be more than happy to show you an available room where you can stay. I'm...very glad that you've come to see things my way, pet," he called to her as Medusa turned to flee.
Medusa nodded but did not look back. Instead, she directed her attention towards Meg and spoke in a cautious, guarded voice.
"I'm glad that Hades made it so you could see me without having to worry about me turning you to stone." The Gorgon let out a soft, albeit nervous chuckle and stroked one of the snakes that served as a lock of her hair. "I hope that we can become friends."
Meg nodded. She had thought being friends with a Gorgon of all creatures was admittedly the last thing that would ever happen in her life, but she was learning to keep an open mind, considering that she now worked for Hades.
"I'd like that," she muttered, watching Medusa disappear around the corner of one of the caverns. She waited to turn her attention towards her master until the Gorgon had gone. Then she rounded on the Lord of the Dead angrily. "That was a low-down, dirty, filthy, sneaky trick you pulled. What do you have planned for that Gorgon's pet? You're going to try to use it to kill Hercules, aren't you?" Meg hissed through gritted teeth, careful to keep her voice low.
Hades turned towards her and frowned, hating hearing the contempt in her voice.
"Meggie, Meg, is that…caring I detect in your voice for your noble little Wonder Boy? Hmm?" he growled, the edges of his lips curling up as he bared his fangs at her. "I sincerely hope that you aren't getting second thoughts about working for me, babe. We both know thinking isn't your strong suit, my little nut, is it? No. It's mine. Without me, you would just be another floating soul in the River Styx these days. I took you in out of the goodness of my heart, what little of one I have to begin with, and here I am looking after you like a true friend. You aren't going noble on me, are you? Tell me, Meggie," he threatened, a dangerous edge to his voice that had not been there before till now.
Meg bit down on her lip, hesitating as she wondered whether it was worth it to ask the question now burning on the tip of her tongue. Hades furrowed his brows and looked at her expectantly while she gathered her thoughts.
Finally, she spoke. She was not sure she wanted to hear the answer, but at the same time, she did not think she could bear not knowing what would happen to Wonder Boy. He had treated her so sweetly in the woods and had tried his best to make her feel comfortable. She hoped there was a way Hades and Persephone could achieve their goal of overthrowing Zeus without anybody-especially him—getting hurt, or worse, even killed. She shuddered.
"No, of course not, that innocent farm boy routine he tried to pull doesn't work on me," she sighed, annoyed. Meg huffed in indignation and glared at her master, offended that he would even ask such a thing. "Since Adonis left me, Hades, I've sworn off manhandling. I can't do it. I-I just…don't want anybody to get hurt," she murmured, feeling a fiery heat creep to her cheeks as she felt the burn of Hades' icy gaze threatening to burn a large hole in her skull.
There was something about the glint in Hades' eyes that was afflicting her. Meg was quick to decide she did not like it and yet, she could not bring herself to look away.
"Meg, honey, you're talking as though I'm asking you to get close to your Wonder Boy here. I'm not asking you to smile at him and wile and beguile him with your…feminine wiles, doll. Your part in all of this is quite simple. You lure him to this Hydra's lair and Medusa's lovely little pet will take care of the rest. No one else is going to get hurt, but your Wonder Boy is in my way. Were there another way I would find it, but the Fates have foreseen him interfering. I don't even need him killed, just...out of the equation."
Hades' words seared Meg's heart better than any flaming arrows could, making her mouth turn dry and her fingertips go numb.
And yet even as she looked at him, her new master did not seem to show an ounce of embarrassment at his own honesty or lack of caring for Zeus's son. Persephone was adamant that Hades' brother be removed from Mount Olympus peacefully and step aside willingly, without the need for war or bloodshed.
But now, she was beginning to think that Hades wouldn't let that happen. The only spirit left in the god's yellow eyes was that of vengeance and Meg did not think even his wife could talk him down from whatever it was he was planning. As the cold, dank air around Meg clamped, she turned on her heels and almost stumbled as her sandal was caught between a few loose rocks.
"Excuse me, Lord, I need…air," she mumbled and fled from Hades, wrapped in fear of the way the god's yellow eyes followed her to the exit.
She was starting to fear the worst.
A/N: I've always wanted to feature Medusa in a Hercules story sometime ever since the character appeared in the Disney Hercules TV Show episode: The Gorgon. I thought her character was sweet and was glad they did not make her "evil." I thought of how I could fit her into the story and thought Meg could use an unlikely friend. I hope you like what I plan to do with her.