48. Fury
CHRYSE, OLYMPIC GREECE
"So I've been living down here in the mortal world ever since, and I don't think I could be happier," Hercules finished. He stood within the training arena while Meg, Phil, Pegasus, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash listened to him from the bleachers. "Oh, and of course, the gods made a constellation out of me because I saved them from the Titans, so Phil's dream came true after all, and he's actually become a famous name."
"That story was absolutely wonderful," Rarity gushed. "Megara, you're so absolutely lucky!"
Meg gave a slight shrug, but she smiled as well. "Yeah…I really am." She and Hercules exchanged a quick glance of admiration.
"So you're a big-time hero!" Rainbow Dash confirmed.
"Yeah," Hercules admitted. "Now, Phil's kind of been exaggerating. Business hasn't been COMPLETELY dead since Olympus was saved – "
"I got four trainees in the past year," Phil grunted, "and one of them wasn't even the right guy. Do you know how many trainees Chiron gets in a year? Twenty."
Rainbow Dash grinned. "So. Phil. Think you're ready to take on six new clients?"
"Ready?" Phil repeated back. "Kid, I've been ready ever since Herc came down from Olympus!"
"I'm not a kid," Rainbow Dash asserted.
"Duly noted, kid."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and Pinkie Pie snickered.
"So now that we're done with story time," Phil said, "I wanna see what each of you can do on the field. What're you're preferred weapons? Please tell me I have at least ONE sword in the bunch. And you…" He pointed to Rarity. "I already know you're…ugh…bow and arrows."
"What's WRONG with a bow and arrows?" Rarity balked.
"Nothin', if you're huntin' boars or shooting tournament archery," Phil explained, "but when you're up against a big-time monster? By the time you get the second arrow nocked and loaded, you're dead. You've heard of Atalanta? Actually, this is a relevant story."
"Atalanta was on the first Calydonian Boar Hunt with Meleager, wasn't she?" Hercules recalled.
"Meleager." Meg gave a half-snort. "Haven't spoken to HIM in ages."
"Wonder what he thinks now that he's read in the Greekly World News that his little sis helped stop the Titans," Hercules told her with a grin.
"Same thing he'd think if he knew his little sis helped release them," Meg replied. "He'd be generally unimpressed."
"That's…Meleager in a nutshell," Hercules admitted.
"HEY," Phil interrupted. "You gonna let me tell the story or not? Anyway, Atalanta and Meleager were in the very first Boar Hunt. They were kind of an off-and-on thing. Anyway, Atalanta actually pegged the most damaging shot on the boar and slowed it down, but Meleager was credited with the kill for two reasons. One, because it takes more than one arrow to bring down even the smallest monsters, and he fired the second shot. Hence my dislike of arrows as a primary weapon. But if you want to use them, go ahead. It's your funeral."
"What was the other reason Atalanta wasn't credited with the boar hunt?" Twilight asked.
"That's the thing about, well, all this," Phil said. "Nobody believed a woman could peg a Calydonian Boar. Nobody even believed she fired the first arrow! And that's what you're up with around here. No one wants to take a HEROINE seriously. Everyone expects the ladies to stick to being DIDs."
"Huh?" Pinkie interrupted.
"Damsels. In. Distress," Phil explained. "And you want me to be honest here? I used to think heroism was a man's game. In fact, kinda still do. But for one, Herc woulda died in the field if Meg hadn't played hero at the right time, and for another, if you ladies are tellin' the truth, you've got the walk to back up the talk. So I'm gonna take a chance on you, all right? No, this is not DESPERATION talking. Something about you. I think you've got potential. More than potential, even. So. Weapons. Whaddaya got?"
"Well, I'm a witch," Twilight began. "I have a staff for bigger spells, a wand for backup, and some natural ability without a conduit."
"A witch, huh?" Phil's interest was peaked. "Show me somethin'. Lift those barbells over there." He pointed.
Twilight thrust a hand in that direction. The indicated training equipment was suddenly awash in purple light, lifting off the ground. Twilight held it for a few seconds before setting the barbells down to conclude the demonstration.
"Holy Hera," Phil said.
"And that's not even a teeny tiny little bit of what she can do!" Pinkie asserted. "She can set things on fire and light up dark places and cast light spells and do stuff with ice and sometimes reverse gravity and – "
"Yeah, I get it," Phil said. "You're gonna have to give me a demonstration later, Sparkle. The works. Now you. Pinkie. Whaddaya got."
"I use my party cannon!" Pinkie said, producing the cannon and setting it on the bleachers. "I also have pistols and a big launcher!"
"Where'd that thing come from?" Phil asked.
"We can kind of just…do that," Twilight answered.
"And what's a 'pistol'?" Phil continued.
"It's like a mini-cannon!" Pinkie answered.
"Interesting," Phil evaluated. "That could come in handy. Okay, AJ. What's your story?"
"Well, I mostly work with ropes," Applejack answered.
"Ropes," Phil replied, visibly disappointed.
"You let me show you what I can do with a rope and you'll be singin' a different tune," Applejack said with a slight smirk.
"Ooh!" Pinkie interrupted. "CAN we sing anything now?"
"No," Phil insisted. "There is no SINGING in the hero business."
"Well, unless someone's your one last hope, so they'll have to do," Hercules teased.
Phil shot him a glare before moving on. "Dash. What's your poison?"
"A sword," Rainbow Dash answered proudly. "A big one."
"Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!" Phil cried. "And Fluttershy."
"Uhm…" Fluttershy moved to hide behind Twilight and Rarity. "I…use a katana…and some shuriken…"
"A what and what now?" Phil replied. "Are you goin' all fancy-talk on me, or are you just makin' stuff up?"
"It's another kind of sword," Rainbow Dash said, "and shuriken are…um…little spinny blades."
"Now you're speakin' Greek I can understand," Phil replied, reminding the Equestrians that due to the Babel Effect, they were, in fact, speaking Greek. "Okay. I wanna see you all in action. Start with a few laps around the arena while I set up enough target dummies to have all six of you going at once."
"Running laps," Rainbow Dash asked, "or flying?"
"Runnin'," Phil insisted. "Flyin's easy."
Pegasus snorted indignantly.
"I'll see how you can handle the wings later," Phil said. "For now, let's just start you out with a basic exercise. See how long you can last on your hooves." He clapped his hands. "Now let's go!"
"Awwww," Pinkie groaned, "do we HAVE to run laps?"
"If we each go at our own pace, we'll do just fine," Twilight said, getting up to walk toward the track that encircled the edges of the arena. "Nopony has to win or go fast."
"Unless we MAKE it a race." Rainbow Dash looked to Applejack. "You on?"
"Any time, any place," Applejack said. "Five laps around to decide winner."
"You're on!"
Rainbow Dash and Applejack leapt onto the track, running at top speed. Twilight followed at a slow trot.
"Come on," Hercules told Pinkie and Fluttershy. "It's not that bad. Your friend's right. You don't have to go fast. Hey, I'll run with you. It's not fair just to make everyone else do all the work. It'll be fun!"
"Well…only if you PROMISE it'll be fun!" Pinkie said rather sternly. "Because I take my fun veeeeery seriously!"
The three walked onto the track, and Pinkie set to bouncing instead of running, but as it was still forward motion, no one complained. Fluttershy set off rather slowly. Hercules also took to running, but deliberately set his pace as slower than usual to average out between the others – Rainbow Dash and Applejack's breathtaking speed, Twilight's slow canter, Fluttershy's nervous jog, and Pinkie's surprisingly fast bouncing.
"Really?" Rarity groaned.
"Oy…an archer AND a drama queen." Phil sighed. "Get out there!"
"Fine." Rarity stepped down from the bleachers. "But it doesn't mean I have to like it." She began to run, soon overtaking Twilight and Fluttershy but not catching up to Rainbow Dash or Applejack and switching positions often with Pinkie and Hercules.
"I'm trainin' women now," Phil remarked, half to himself, half to Pegasus and Meg. "Never thought I'd see THIS day."
"But you know they can do this, right?" Meg reminded him. "They're heroes. I can see it in them."
"Yeah. Wouldn't take 'em on if I didn't have faith," Phil answered. "Which actually makes me think. You DID pull some grade-A heroics during the Titan disaster. Nearly got yourself killed, if I remember."
"I did get myself killed," Meg clarified.
"Whatever the case, maybe all this time I've been lookin' for trainees to come to me when I've had one right under my nose."
"Whoa." Meg put up her hands. "I'm no swordswoman. I don't do monsters."
"Yeah, I figured that out pretty quick," Phil replied. "But you do have the courage to be on the field without flinchin'. Whaddaya say to training to be a field medic?"
"You might be able to talk me into that. Might."
"We'll discuss the details later," Phil said, walking away. "Right now, I've got to put up a Tartarus-ton of practice targets."
Phil planted six sets of targets around Chryse, sending each of the six to practice with weaponry on a different set. Then he, Hercules, Meg, and Pegasus began to make rounds, analyzing each.
Twilight got to have reign of the arena itself. She drew her staff and began to work, setting each target dummy – shaped like a different cardboard monster – on fire. Then she systematically doused each fire with a gust of icy wind.
"Okay, first question," Phil began. "Where'd you get that staff anyway?"
"Like I said earlier," Twilight answered, "we can just kinda do this with our weapons."
"So let's say somethin' big's on your trail," Phil began. "A chimaera. What do you do?"
"Well…I guess I'd…" Twilight thought it over. "Um…you might wanna step back."
Phil, Meg, Hercules, and Pegasus backed up a single step each.
"Further," Twilight suggested.
They backed up several paces.
"VERDIMILLIOUS!" Twilight cried, holding her staff aloft. A burst of light emitted from it, engulfing all the targets.
"Whoa!" Hercules gasped. "That's AWESOME!"
"Nice moves," Meg complimented.
Pegasus chirped his approval.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, very flashy and all," Phil grunted, "but you all seem to have completely missed that IT DIDN'T DESTROY ANY OF THE TARGETS!"
"I don't use magic to destroy things," Twilight said. "If it comes to the worst, I might stun somepony or use a slight amount of mind control to get them to leave me alone. Most of our weapons are set to drain energy instead of actually hurt anypony else. And even that's temporary."
"Wow," Phil scoffed. "I didn't realize you were all wusses."
"I don't want to have it on my conscience if anypony gets hurt, and I mean anypony," Twilight argued. "Everypony deserves to live, all right? And I might add that defeating enemies without killing them is actually a bigger challenge! Wouldn't that be MORE heroic than killing them?"
"Nnnnnope," Phil retorted.
"Phil!" Hercules chided. "I like the way she thinks!"
"This, coming from the master of monster killing himself?" Phil's jaw dropped. "I feel a little betrayed, Herc."
"So she does things differently," Meg added. "You do still get the job done, right?" she asked Twilight.
"There's always a way," Twilight concurred. "The Verdimillious spell counteracts dark magic. The Stupefy spell is for stunning."
"Didn't you mention mind control?" Meg challenged.
"That's for emergencies," Twilight replied.
"I think you're makin' it up," Phil snapped. "If you're really that good at magic, make me do something ridiculous. Make me stand on my head and start counting backwards from – "
As soon as he issued the challenge, Phil found himself doing a one-handed handstand. "X," he said in a low monotone. "IX…VIII…VII…"
Hercules, Meg, and Pegasus stared in wonder until Phil finished the countdown and stood. He shook his head to clear it.
"I'm sorry," Twilight said guiltily. "It's just…you wanted proof, and…"
"Kid!" Phil cried. "That was PERFECT! Now THAT'S the kind of thing we can use to have monsters running!"
"I don't know how well it will work on bigger monsters," Twilight admitted.
"That's why you practice," Phil said.
"Well, I should probably master more of the basics first," Twilight said. "Minor transfigurations and levitation…"
As Phil, Hercules, Meg, and Pegasus left Twilight to practice, having seen more demonstrations, Phil couldn't get what he'd just seen out of his head. "That one's really somethin'. I ain't never had a trainee who could lift all the shotputs with their mind and make 'em dance in little loop de loops. Though she's right about needin' to practice it. She was doin' well until that bit at the end when she dropped 'em all…"
He did have a slight limp due to the shotput that had landed on his hoof when Twilight's mental grip had slipped.
Outside on the plain, Applejack's display was much more impressive. She twirled her rope whip in the air, flicking it out at each target and encircling the wooden monsters tightly in loops.
"Oh, hey!" she greeted when she saw the quartet coming to watch her. "Don't mind me. Just keepin' up old skills."
"Not bad," Phil complimented. "Pretty creative…for a rope."
"These're mostly tricks passed down through the family," Applejack said. "But also this one." She twirled the rope in the air, making a loop of it, then angled the whip grip downward so that she could step through the loop, hopping back and forth seamlessly until she got muddled – never having done that trick with two arms and four legs before – and fell on the ground in a tangle.
"Yeah…keep workin' on that one," Phil advised with a snort.
"Your parents taught you that?" Hercules asked.
"Well…they taught my brother," Applejack admitted as she stood, "an' he taught me. They weren't exactly around to…well, you get the picture. Nothin' worth bein' sad over."
"You and your friends sure learned a lot of things back home," Hercules observed. "Your family teaching you how to do rope tricks…where did Twilight learn all that magic?"
"A lot of places," Applejack said, "but she started out with one of the best teachers back home."
"No, no, I mean…what country ARE you from?"
"Well…" Applejack scratched her head nervously. "That's…that's kind of a weird situation. I wish I could just tell y'all outright, but there are just certain reasons I can't. Sorry."
"That sounds suspicious to me…" Phil began.
"Let's go see how the others are doing," Meg suggested, beginning to walk away. "Good job with the rope, Apple girl."
"What gives?" Phil hissed as he, Hercules, and Pegasus caught up to Meg, who was making her way down to the beach.
"Sometimes, Phil," Meg explained, "you've gotta let a girl have her secrets."
Applejack cracked the whip high and began to throw it at the dummies again.
Down on the beach, Rarity faced not a horde of wooden monsters but instead a set of square targets with bullseyes painted on them. Five of the targets had arrows stuck in the very center. Rarity set up her bow behind a sixth. There were fourteen more in the set.
"Hey, Rarity!" Hercules greeted.
"SHHSHHSHHSH!" Rarity hissed. "I'm concentrating!" She eyed the arrow carefully, adjusting it first one way, then another. When she was at last satisfied, she let it fly, pegging a perfect bullseye.
"Very nice," Phil complimented. "Only one criticism."
"Well, I don't really see what I've done wrong, but I'll listen," Rarity said.
"I just think it might be nice," Phil replied, "if MAYBE YOU COULD TAKE LESS THAN A CENTURY TO FIRE AN ARROW!"
"WELL!" Rarity huffed. "You can't rush perfection!"
"Haven't you ever had to rapid-fire against an opponent before?" Hercules asked with genuine curiosity.
"Well, yes," Rarity said, "against Regenbogen-Fabrik…but I'm STILL not pleased with how the majority of those shots turned out."
"Your assignment," Phil commanded, "is to fire like your life depends on it. Forget the bullseye. Just hit the TARGET."
"FORGET the bullseye!" Rarity gasped. "It is painted there for a REASON, you know!"
"In the time it takes you to complain," Phil retorted, "you'd get eaten by a sea serpent three times over."
"He does have a point," Meg asserted.
"Maybe just…a little faster and a little less perfect to start?" Hercules suggested. "Your friends ARE going to depend on it."
"Well…" Rarity sighed. "I'll try." She loaded up an arrow and loosed it almost immediately, gasping in horror when it sank into the second-to-innermost ring of the target.
"At least it's progress," Phil huffed as the group moved on.
"Though she does hit targets with style," Meg observed. "I like that."
Atop the bluffs, Fluttershy rushed target after target, slashing hay bales with her katana. She diced them in a blur, almost too quickly for the eye to comprehend.
Phil, Hercules, Meg, and Pegasus noticed this as they approached, seeing her atop high ground. Pegasus let out a loud whinny of congratulation while the other three set to applause.
"Go Fluttershy!" Hercules called out.
Fluttershy squeaked, immediately blushing and dropping the katana.
"Why'd ya stop, kid?" Phil asked. "You're doin' GREAT!"
"I…um…" Fluttershy whimpered. "I can't work under all this pressure!"
"Kid," Phil sighed, "if you can't work in front of an audience of four, how're you gonna work in a battlefield full of soldiers, civilians, or monsters?"
"I…I don't know!" Fluttershy cried.
"Let's just leave her alone," Hercules suggested, feeling sympathy toward Fluttershy. "It's okay. You can practice more when we're gone."
"But you're gonna work on fighting for an audience, all right?" Phil asserted. "Got that?"
"I got that," Fluttershy said softly.
"You're doing really well, though!" Hercules reaffirmed before the four left.
"I have a feeling she'll come through during crunch time," Meg said.
"HYAAAAAH!" Rainbow Dash slashed a hay bale in two down in the fields. "HAH! TAKE THAT!"
"Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!" Phil cheered. "You've got the best form of anyone I've seen yet!"
"Heh…I know." Rainbow Dash twirled her sword.
"What's that thing made of, anyway?" Phil asked. "Doesn't look like any sword I've seen before. Almost looks divine, but it sure ain't celestial bronze."
"I…don't actually know," Rainbow Dash admitted. "We got it from kind of a weird place."
"How weird is weird?" Meg asked.
"We made a deal with a magical creature," Rainbow Dash said. "He gave us our weapons, and we had to pay a price. I already paid mine. And now I'm better than ever!"
"What did you have to pay?" Hercules wondered out loud. "If that's not, y'know, too personal…"
"Nah." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I just had to learn that we were up against bigger odds than I thought. There's some scary stuff out there! But you know what? Now that I know, I've just resolved to become good enough to beat them all! With my friends, of course. Together, we're unstoppable! Did anypony tell you what these are yet?" She tapped her amulet.
"No," Hercules answered.
"These amulets are our Elements of Harmony," Rainbow Dash explained. "It's kind of like a super magic power. When we use them on bad guys, they do all sorts of cool stuff. Like clearing nightmare spirits out of them, turning them to stone, taking away superpowers they gave themselves…you get the picture. We've each got one. Mine represents loyalty."
"LOYALTY?" Phil burst out laughing. "You fight your enemies with LOYALTY? Loyalty ain't exactly a weapon, kid!"
"I'm not a kid," Rainbow Dash grumbled.
"Whatever, kid."
"Hey. Loyalty's beaten out more bad guys than this sword has, for your information."
"I wouldn't knock loyalty," Meg warned Phil. "We of all people should know that it can make or break."
"Yeah…" Phil thought back over the difference made in their lives when Meg was loyal to them…and when she wasn't. "Got a point."
"So you wanna see the real show?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"You can do more?" Hercules replied.
"You bet!" Rainbow Dash initiated her witch transformation, thrusting her sword into the air and calling a ring of lightning to strike all the hay bales within radius. She then returned to the white tunic, dismissing the sword entirely and folding her arms.
Phil was struck speechless. "I…you…"
"Zeus'd be proud," Hercules complimented. "Hey…your amulet!"
"What about it?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That shape. The lightning bolt," Hercules clarified.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash affirmed. "It matches my Cutie Mark." She nodded toward it.
"That's even more like…I should explain," Hercules said. "My dad, Zeus. He has a sort of symbol. A lightning bolt coming out of the clouds. It's that exactly! Well, that version is more colorful. Maybe you're connected to the gods somehow!"
"Hey," Rainbow Dash said, "I like that! Rainbow Dash, warrior of the gods!"
"Hoo boy," Phil groaned. "This one's problem isn't going to be battle. It's gonna be hubris."
"WHAT'S my problem?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Hubris," Phil repeated. "Y'know, gettin' a big head? It throws you off your game! And if you get thrown off your game in these parts, you die."
"I'm not gonna die," Rainbow Dash insisted. "I'm too awesome!"
"And that's what they all say right before they DIE," Phil retorted. "Eh, I can see I'm not gettin' anywhere with you on this today. Or maybe ever. You're good with the sword. Keep doin' what you're doin'." He turned to Hercules, Meg, and Pegasus. "Let's keep movin'."
The four moved through the forest, where Pinkie Pie had been set up with the hay bales. They knew they'd found the spot when they heard the sound of shots being fired.
Pinkie Pie was alternating between the pistols and the party cannon, blowing up the hay bales completely in great mushroom clouds of straw and confetti. "Oh, hi everypony!" she greeted when they came upon her. Then she blew another haybale to pieces.
"Uh…keep up the good work," Phil said before hustling away from the site.
"What was THAT about?" Hercules asked as he, Meg, and Pegasus followed.
"Did you see how she was DESTROYING those things?" Phil hissed. "That one kind of scares me…"
"So what next?" Meg asked.
"We let 'em practice for a while more," Phil answered. "Then they can rest. We'll set up bunks for 'em in Herc's old room. Tomorrow, we'll have 'em work on honing their form. Though if you wanted, tonight we could also start your field medic training…"
"I'll think on it," Meg replied, though she grinned.
GORGADE, THE BORDERS OF OLYMPIC GREECE
Among the witches in Death's Domain, forging an alliance with the Death Eaters, had been the woman known as Medusa Gorgon. This name, of course, was not entirely original. It had a namesake. To be specific, a Gorgon named Medusa. Medusa was perhaps the most famous of Gorgons, though she was rarely alone – she had two close sisters, also Gorgons.
Medusa was spending that particular afternoon on the shores of Gorgade, an isle far away from Olympic Greece where she was born and raised. Gorgade had been deserted before she and her sisters arrived, and she liked it that way. It was the perfect place to go, to run and hide, not to harm anyone.
There had to be some times in her life, she thought, when she wasn't responsible for hurting anyone else.
She could stare out across the blue ocean for all eternity and never meet the gaze of another non-Gorgon. She would never have to worry about accidentally turning anyone into stone that way, and that was why the glasses Aphrodite had once provided her to shield others from her eyes were stored in her room, gathering dust. She wore a purple peplos fastened at one shoulder; it rippled in the wind. Her feet were bare, toes wriggling in the sand. The snakes that comprised her hair were calm.
Eventually she turned away from the shores and the sky and the sea and the eternity of blue emptiness to return to the small stone house that she and her sisters had built.
When Medusa entered the doorway, she was met by her sister, Euryale, who looked nothing short of furious. Euryale looked very much like Medusa, and so she had made several distinct fashion choices to distinguish herself: her snakes were trained to lie around her face as though they were curls, and she wore a teal peplos with one long, sweeping sleeve and a skirt that was hemmed above the knees. "WHERE have you been?" Euryale snapped. "Staring at the sea? AGAIN?"
"What's wrong?" Medusa asked, sensing in her sister's voice that something had happened.
Stheno emerged from a side room. She had perhaps the most distinct style of the three, wearing a long peplos with a leg-long slit on either side of the skirt and a loose ribbon around the midsections of her snakes so that they formed a crude, squirming ponytail. "Sometimes I really hate that we can't look into mirrors," she grumbled. "I want to see how pretty I am!"
"Stheno," Euryale grunted.
"Oh, yeah," Stheno said with a grin, handing a parchment scroll to Medusa. "We got mail."
Medusa scanned the parchment with her eyes.
"Medusa:
"So, how've you been? How are the sisters? How's life in Boringopolis? Okay, I'm just going to cut to the chase: I'm planning another strike to hit Zeus where it HURTS. And for that, I need you.
"Before you object, I feel I should remind you of a few things: first, that your hands are not at ALL clean, and second, that you are still under contract to me. I've got an Oath Stone to prove it (and don't think I'm not going to bring Orcos into this). Just a small reminder that ignoring or refusing this summons may be VERY bad for your health. You like having your head attached to your neck, right?
"So I'll be expecting to see you in the Underworld now. Like, RIGHT now.
"See you soon (and I mean, like, VERY soon),
"Hades, Lord of the Dead
"P.S. Bring your sisters. I know how much they like to party."
"No," Medusa whispered, crunching the parchment in her hand. Her memories were in another time, in another place.
BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD
TWO YEARS AGO
Before Hades had released the Titans, Medusa had made a deal with him. Lonely, exhausted from being treated as a monster all her life by everyone but Euryale and Stheno, she beseeched whatever gods could help her, and Hades and Aphrodite both came to her call.
Aphrodite offered Medusa the lenses to suppress her gaze of stone, saying the only way she could earn true friendship was to be herself. Hades offered the chance for Medusa to become human during the day so long as, as written on the contract he offered her to sign, "I, the undersigned, pledge to be at the beck and call of Hades during such time as I am a Gorgon." Medusa jumped at the chance, living out the life of a human by day and a Gorgon by night. It pained her to do Hades' deeds, but as a human, she found true friendship – in Hercules, still a young trainee.
Eventually, she rejected the humanity, showing Hercules her true form. She balked at Hades, and Hercules and Medusa were, for a time, friends.
Then Hades came back to call. As it turned out, though finding a true friend had nullified most of the contract regarding Medusa's human transformations, there was a horrible trick buried within the words.
"You still work for me so long as you're a Gorgon," Hades explained, tapping the sentence in the contract. "Did I forget to mention that part was permanent? You really should learn to read the fine print on these things. Anyway, now that you're a Gorgon all the time, well, you know the drill."
"What do you want me to do?" Medusa asked in horror.
"Nothing," Hades told her. "Yet. But I'll find something for you to do very soon."
She was summoned within a few months. She entered the room in Hades' palace where he set up his plans in the form of pieces on a great chessboard map of Olympic Greece on the central table. When Medusa entered, however, the lid of the table was removed, revealing a well of Styx water.
"What's down there?" Medusa asked.
"This is where I keep the SPECIAL cases," Hades told her. "The biggest! The baddest! The most ferocious! And, in this case, the most furious. Get it? It's a pun – eh, you'll get it when you see him."
Both the death god's hands were alight with fire, and he plunged the twin fireballs into the well. A humanoid figure rose from the well, engulfed in flame; as the flames died down, it was almost as if he was being tempered into his current shape, into the body that Hades had used to grant him life. He was humanoid, but his skin jet black of a shade not found in human skin but rather seen only in the depths of the night sky. His chest was pockmarked with circular holes.
"Orcos, son of the Furies!" Hades introduced. "Meet Medusa! Medusa, Orcos. You two are going to be partners in crime."
"For what purpose have you brought me back from the dead?" Orcos asked Hades in a soft tone; Medusa couldn't understand how someone who spoke in such a voice could have been branded one of the "biggest and baddest." "I had finally found peace. Why take that from me?"
"Because I need you to do me a favor," Hades said. "Keep in mind that if you do what I say, I can pay you in ways you wouldn't even believe. But if you DON'T…well, I gave you a new body. I can take it back."
"I may want to be taken back into the arms of death," Orcos said.
"Well, then," Hades replied. "I'll just have to make you WISH you were dead instead. Get the picture?"
"I understand that your punishment is not light," Orcos replied. "After all, I too was…am a punisher."
"Who are you?" Medusa asked.
"I was the keeper of blood oaths," Orcos told her. "I kept them all within me, and when they were broken, the Furies would know who to exact revenge upon for the transgression. I suppose you could say that I myself am a Fury. When I died, every oath I carried within me was rendered null and void. That is what concerns me now. Who are you?"
"Medusa," the Gorgon replied. "I…I'm here because I made a mistake."
"No, you are here because you are a monster," Hades corrected.
"Did you revive me so you could begin to forge new blood oaths?" Orcos asked.
"Bingo!" Hades cried. "You just won the grand prize! Your job, first and foremost, is to make sure little Medusa here doesn't try to break her contract with me." He waved a hand, and suddenly, there appeared within it a stone that appeared to be amber. Medusa took a step closer to look inside. She saw at its very center a figure that she realized with horror was her own silhouette.
"A blood oath to you?" Orcos asked.
"It can't be a blood oath!" Medusa cried. "I haven't spilled the blood of – "
"Hold on," Hades interrupted. "Now, here in the Olympian circuit, we have a little tradition for what constitutes a blood oath. How does it go again? Blood of the enemy, blood of the friend…I just can't remember that last one…" He sneered at Orcos. He wanted the punisher to finish the phrase.
"Blood of kin," Orcos said mournfully.
"Now, let's tally it up," Hades said. "Blood of the enemy? No-brainer. Back during the golden days when you first signed on for this gig, you petrified a few people that were scared witless of you. Blood of the friend? Are we forgetting how we accidentally petrified Hercules, our one true friend in all the world, and sacrificed my permanent humanization spell to turn him back?"
"It wasn't an accident!" Medusa insisted. "You tricked me into petrifying him!"
"Whatever. In the end, it was temporary, but he was legally dead for five minutes."
"But I haven't done anything to my family!" Medusa protested. "I would never hurt my sisters!"
"Petrify them? Kill them? Of course not," Hades agreed. "But I think we can both agree that you did the next best thing. You three used to be normal girls, remember? You used to be human. But now all three of you are Gorgons, and not all three of you were there for the incident that caused it. Basically, Medusa…Euryale and Stheno are the way they are because of YOU."
"But that wasn't my fault either…" Medusa cast her eyes downward. "Or…I didn't think it was."
"Medusa," Hades cajoled, "didn't you blame Olympus for that?"
"Yes," Medusa said softly.
"Well, you see, I'm contracting you and Orcos to make an attack AGAINST Olympus," Hades went on. "Don't you think they deserve at least a little bit of vengeance?"
Medusa looked to Orcos.
"I cannot say," Orcos stated. "The gods have done horrible things. But Hades is no better."
"And yet I don't go around turning people into Gorgons OR killing people's oracle girlfriends," Hades snapped, causing Medusa to wonder even more about Orcos. "I'd say I'm the lesser of two evils, but you two don't really have a choice, do you? You're just going to have to accept that you're both on the right side. And before I get distracted any more, Orcos, I'm going to need you to hold onto…" He held the Oath Stone out toward Orcos. Orcos extended his hand to take it.
"THIS!" Hades screamed, plunging the Oath Stone into one of the cavities in Orcos' chest, causing Orcos to wince. "Keep it safe for me, will ya, buddy?"
"I suppose I have no choice," Orcos sighed. "What is it you wish us to do?"
Hades conjured a scrying sphere with a wave of a hand. "As you know, when the planets align in a couple years, I will be able to unleash the four elemental Titans and set them upon Olympus. This has nothing to do with that." The sphere showed an area of Olympus surrounded by white clouds, with a gold and white palace in the center. "This is the home of Palutena, a particularly annoying little brat of Apollo's. Lately, she's been bragging about how life is better than death, light is better than darkness, and 'good' is better than 'evil.' I want her shut up. Destroy as much of the mortal plane as you have to. Just get her to shut up. PERMANENTLY."
"You can't attack her yourself?" Medusa asked.
"I've got an image to keep up, okay?" Hades argued. "Besides. I can't exactly go anywhere on Olympus without being noticed. No one's going to be looking for a Fury and a Gorgon up there because no one's going to be expecting a Fury and a Gorgon to pass the gates. Capiche?"
Medusa and Orcos stared at him blankly.
"Let me put it this way," Hades said. "One…more…time. You put Palutena out to pasture and you not only escape my ABSOLUTELY UNFORGIVING wrath, but you also teach that yuppie crowd that made YOU a Gorgon and killed YOUR girlfriend a valuable lesson: that they are not invincible. Now, are you going up there, or do I have to BURN this into your heads?"
Medusa bit her lip, then nodded. "I'll go." She hadn't wanted anyone else to get hurt. But Hades had a point. Olympus had wronged her.
"As will I," Orcos said.
"Good," Hades replied. "Then we're all on the same page."
Medusa and Orcos left together, treading the path to Olympus.
"I hope you do not mind if I transform," Orcos told Medusa. "In this form, I am useless to Hades' cause."
He changed seamlessly, not even slowing his stride. He grew several times in size, sprouting horns and claws until he resembled a demon more than he did a human.
"I apologize," the demon said with the same gentle voice, "for holding the stone that binds you to this task."
"Don't be sorry," Medusa snapped. "He's right. The gods have done a lot right by me, but they've done even more wrong."
The strike against Palutena was successful at first. Medusa and Orcos launched a dual invasion, thrusting several lands into darkness, turning many living beings – animal, human, and plant alike – into stone. Palutena herself was imprisoned in a small cell in her own palace.
But as happens so many times when outsiders attempt to interfere with Olympus, a hero came along. Pit, one of Palutena's disciples, fought his way through the Underworld, through Olympic Greece, and through Olympus in order to find artifacts that would allow him to become more powerful than Medusa and Orcos. He challenged them each to battle, and he sent each of them away in shame.
Medusa and Orcos practically crawled back to Hades, who was less than pleased. "WHY?" Hades raged. "WHY IS IT THAT EVERY TIME I WANT TO DO EVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF DAMAGE, SOME UPSTART COMES OUT OF NOWHERE AND SCREWS IT ALL UP?"
Medusa stood on the opposite side of the room and she could still feel the flames of his skin burn hers.
"Okay, okay, fine," Hades sighed. The temperature in the room was taken down several degrees. "The good news is, you got in a good run. Turning the crops to stone? Nice touch. And now even Olympus is afraid of the great Gorgon Medusa and Orcos the punisher. Not just mortals."
"This means I can never go back to trying to make friends in the mortal world," Medusa realized out loud. "Not when Olympus itself declared me an enemy."
Orcos hung his head. "I am sorry, Medusa."
"The point is, you didn't succeed, but you didn't fail either," Hades summed up. "So you're not fired. For now, you two can go about your lives. Oh, don't start getting ideas about dying again, Orcos. I can bring you back as many times as it takes for you to get the picture. So go. Mind your own business. One day, when I figure out what I want to do with you, you will get a call back. Don't take it lightly."
"After all this," Medusa said coldly, "I'm surprised you aren't keeping us around to be your personal attendants and do your dirty work every day."
"You see, I did actually consider that," Hades stated, "but wouldn't you know it, the other day, someone even better came along for just that purpose. Someone smart enough to be able to hijack a jar of Lethe water from me and DUMB enough to trade her entire life away for some bozo who doesn't know the meaning of commitment. So you're off the hook. For now. But remember our contract."
Medusa nodded. So did Orcos.
"Now get out," Hades commanded. "Both of you. Run along now!"
Medusa and Orcos turned and walked away from the palace. On the way out, they passed a mortal girl going in, a thin woman with a chestnut-colored ponytail and a pink peplos. Obviously the one Hades had referred to. Medusa didn't know whether to pity her or be thankful that she wasn't in her shoes.
GORGADE, THE BORDERS OF OLYMPIC GREECE
PRESENT TIMELINE
"Medusa?" Stheno snapped her fingers before her sister's eyes. "Mortal plane to Medusa!"
Medusa blinked. She had been so lost in her memories, she hadn't realized how much time she'd spent standing in the doorway holding crumpled parchment. "I'm sorry."
"If we don't go soon," Euryale snapped, "we're going to be as good as dead."
"Do we have to go?" Medusa asked. "What if we didn't? What if it was worth risking our lives – "
"MEDUSA!" Stheno practically shrieked. "Are you still that STUPID? You're seriously going to pass this up?"
"Pass what up?"
"You know what we could earn if we help Hades!" Stheno gushed. "If we succeed at what he wants to do, we could be queens!" She grinned widely.
"What if he wants us to do something horrible?" Medusa asked.
"Who cares?" Stheno groaned. "It's always been the three of us, hasn't it? And if the three of us are doing fine, who cares what happens to anyone else? No risk, no reward. Think about it, Medusa! Just…suck it up and go! This could be our chance to FINALLY have power! REAL POWER!"
"I think your expectations are way too high," Euryale sighed, "but I'm not going to turn down a summons from Hades." She looked toward her doubtful sister. "And you?"
"Of course not," Medusa said, ignited by Stheno's energy.
"YES!" Stheno cried. "I knew you'd make the smart decision eventually. Who knows? Maybe one day…we can even be more feared than Hades." As her sisters stared at her, she snapped, "What? Haven't you ever heard it's better to be feared than loved? That's what I thought!"
BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD
When Medusa, Euryale, and Stheno crossed the threshold of Hades' throne room, he was waiting there to greet them. "Ladies!" Hades cried. "A little bit more on the fashionably late side than I expected, but hey, I'm in a good mood, so I'm gonna let this slide!"
Medusa looked around the room. Along the wall on one side of the window, Facilier and Dark Danny were lined up, standing at attention. On the other side of the great circular window stood Orcos, who bowed: "Medusa. Stheno. Euryale." Through the window, the three sisters could see the great green and horned head of none other than Echidna, mother of all monsters. Pain and Panic crouched nearby, trembling.
"What's going on here?" Medusa asked, somewhat taken aback.
"I don't know," Stheno practically squealed, "but I like what I'm seeing!"
"And I like your initiative," Hades complimented. "Which one are you again?"
"Stheno," the Gorgon introduced, tossing her reptilian ponytail.
"Oy," Hades groaned, "that's a mouthful. You got a nickname?"
"Well, around the house," Euryale said coldly, "we've noticed that she's even more vengeful than a Fury."
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Stheno screamed, snakes hissing at Euryale.
"You're only proving my point!" Euryale barked.
"Okay, then," Hades said, pointing at Stheno. "From now on, to me, you're the Fury. Which is about to become really ironic in a few seconds."
"You haven't answered my question," Medusa said. "What is going on here?"
"Just a little employee reunion," Hades said. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to shake up Olympic Greece so hard, not even divine intervention can put it back together! Now, don't worry. Your jobs will be easy. All your targets will already be primed for chaos. You've just gotta take it the rest of the way. Oh, and in case things go well, be prepared to mobilize into a super anti-Olympian army. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Hey," Stheno interrupted. "What do WE get out of this arrangement?"
"A piece of whatever we win," Hades answered. "Personally, I'm not asking for much. All I want, in the very end, is Zeus' cushy little seat. Everything else is up for grabs."
"So we could potentially become royalty?" Stheno asked.
"Medusa," Hades said, "where HAVE you been hiding this LOVELY sister of yours? Seriously, why have I not met her before? She's WAY better at this concept than you are. Tell you what, Fury. When this is over, at the very least, you three will be known as the queens of the Gorgons. At the very MOST, you get control of an entire physical dominion. Sound fair?"
"Sounds PERFECT!" Stheno squealed.
"There just seems to be something…missing," Hades muttered, obviously for dramatic effect. "Hmm, now what could it be? Oh, I know. The guests of honor."
He shoved the lid of the table off its base, uncovering the well.
"What's that?" Euryale whispered.
"Some kind of well where the most powerful souls are kept for Hades to use," Medusa whispered back.
Orcos figured it out before Hades revealed who he was bringing up. "No…"
Hades threw twin fireballs into the well. "BOOM!" A humanoid figure, tall and elegant, rose from the well and began to form, but Hades wasn't done, sending another set of flames down. "BADA BOOM!" As the second figure materialized, he repeated the process. "Aaaand let's KICK IT UP A NOTCH!"
Three female figures revealed themselves. One, clothed in minimal armor plating that left her limbs and most of her chest bare but covering her head with an ornate helmet, had eight limbs – traditional humanoid arms and legs, and then four green, insectoid legs, double jointed, protruding from her back and hoisting her off the ground. The second was clothed in a gold and green gown with long slits up the sides of the skirt and a hood that was pulled down to obscure her eyes; she too wore a helmet. The third was ghostly pale, wearing an intricate, dark gown and a twisted metal hairpiece of the same shade; wherever fabric or metal rested against her skin, at the border, the white skin seemed to melt into a more fluid substance than skin should be, black as tar. Her gaze, obscured by neither helmet nor hood, was bright and piercing.
"Presenting the Fury queens!" Hades introduced. "Megaera, the ruthless! Tisiphone, the illusionist! And Alecto." He winked at the pale Fury queen. "Just…wow, Alecto. Have you lost weight since I last saw you?"
"Since you last saw me," Alecto said coldly, "I have been dead. Why did you wait this long to revive us? Is it because you want something from us, and nothing more?"
"Don't put it like that," Hades said. "That just makes it sound so nasty. I prefer to think of it as giving you an opportunity. You ladies feel like getting revenge on the institution that ended up putting you in the drink, and maybe picking up some new domains as part of the bargain? Eh? Ehhh?"
"This is a good thing, sister!" Tisiphone tried to reason. "Hades has given us back our living bodies! He can give us so much more!"
"I don't care what he can give us," Megaera snarled. "I just want to tear Kratos' throat out. Followed by Athena's."
"And you will get your chance," Hades assured her. "Though as far as rewards go, you of all Furies should be thankful."
Megaera noticed what had been replaced, what had not been there when she'd died. "My arm!"
"Your body is all the way back at full killing potential!" Hades laughed.
"I suppose we have no choice in the matter," Alecto said, "as you are far more powerful than even the three of us together. However, I have a feeling that this alliance will benefit all of us. You have the loyalty of me and of my sisters."
"Orcos!" Tisiphone laughed. "You've been taking Oath Stones again. I thought you'd sworn that was over."
"Had I a choice," Orcos moaned, "I would not align myself with you again."
"You DARE speak that way to your mothers?" Megaera hissed.
"Can we save the family feud for another time?" Hades sighed. "I don't even have you all assigned to the same city-state!"
"Can we just talk about the big plan already?" Stheno griped.
"If everyone is done complaining," Hades stated.
No one uttered a word.
"Good," Hades said. "Now. Let's talk business."
AEAEA, OLYMPIC GREECE
The crystal sphere was planted on the shore, and left there, cracked open. The sorcerer and his familiar stood outside the gates to Circe's palace.
"Well, Xerxes?" Mozenrath asked. "What do you say we finish what we started?"
"Destroy Circe!" Xerxes laughed.
"My thoughts exactly."
They were interrupted by a thunderclap; a column of blue smoke rose up between them and the doors. Mozenrath thought at first that Circe had detected their presence and was trying to get the first strike, but to his surprise, the smoke cleared to reveal a completely different woman entirely. No, not a woman, Mozenrath realized. He could tell the difference between a mortal and a goddess, and this was definitely a goddess. She was flanked by a pair of winged wolves.
"You COULD storm in there and try to challenge Circe to another duel," the goddess said. "It would probably turn out about as well as last time. Or, you COULD do something different that would pay off with an even greater reward than this tiny island."
"Are you saying I'm not strong enough to take Circe on?" Mozenrath growled.
"Interesting," the goddess replied. "You know I'm a goddess. I know you know I'm a goddess. Do you really want to mouth off to me? Do you really think that's a good idea?"
Mozenrath clenched his right fist, and it glowed slightly blue. "I do whatever I want."
"Bad idea!" Xerxes wailed. "BAD IDEA!"
"Ooh, this one's feisty," one of the wolves said in a smooth voice.
"We might actually be onto something here," the other added.
"Lukos," the goddess scolded, "Aetos. Quiet!"
"Sorry," the wolves muttered.
The goddess turned back to Mozenrath…and laughed.
"You think I'm a JOKE?" Mozenrath roared, drawing the fist back.
"EVEN WORSE IDEA!" Xerxes moaned.
"No," the goddess said through her laughter. "Actually, I'm impressed. The way things are now, if you really did challenge me to a duel, I could kill you. You're smart enough to know that. And you still want to try. You're not afraid of me at all, are you?" She grinned. "You strike me as the type who doesn't think he has limitations. And that's exactly what I was hoping for."
This threw Mozenrath off guard. The blue plasma he was building dissipated; he relaxed his hand. "Who are you?"
"I'm Hecate," the goddess introduced. "Goddess of – "
"Magic," Mozenrath finished softly.
Hecate couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face. "I knew you'd have heard of me! And I've been doing a lot of research on you…Mozenrath. In fact, I was hoping we could come to an agreement. I can help you in ways you probably didn't know you needed help. And in return…"
"In return," Mozenrath interrupted. "That's always the thing, isn't it? With you Olympians, it's never about what the mortals get out of it. It's always about what you get out of it."
"But you do know the legends of the mortals who were taken on as apprentices of the gods, right?" Hecate asked. "Hercules, banished son of Zeus? Kratos, Ghost of Sparta? Psyche, consort of Eros? Any of the stupid blind sheep that end up making deals with Hades? Basically, whatever they get, their patron gods get. You're a conqueror, right? Whatever you'd get control of, I'd get control of, but you wouldn't have to give up anything. When you win, I win."
"So what you're saying," Mozenrath summed, "is that you want to help me win. This seems too good to be true. What's your angle?"
"You and I have something in common. And I don't mean magic or weird familiars."
"Weird?" Lukos repeated. "We're not weird."
"I thought we were rather intimidating," Aetos added.
"Xerxes not weird," Xerxes muttered.
"YOU'RE ALL WEIRD," Hecate asserted. "Now GET OVER IT. Anyway, you and I each have the potential to be extremely powerful. But we keep getting shoved aside by competitors, rivals, you name it. The more power Hades gets, the less I have. And after you got ahold of the Black Sands and laid waste to the Mamluks, how much more territory did you actually get?"
Mozenrath wasn't sure how to answer that.
"Exactly," Hecate said. "And how many times have you heard of anyone paying respects to poor old Hecate?"
"About as many times," Mozenrath said, catching on, "as I've heard of anyone paying respects to the Morrigan."
"So you're starting to get it."
"Yes, but you still haven't given me any evidence that I can trust you."
Hecate shrugged. "You can't. You have one of two choices, Mozenrath. You can storm into that palace and challenge a witch that you didn't manage to defeat in the past. Maybe you can get trapped in another giant crystal. Or have your gauntlet stolen. Or you can accept the fact that a goddess took time to appear to you specifically, come with me, and learn your true potential, which will earn you a LOT more than Aeaea. Up to you."
She stepped aside, gesturing to the gates of Circe's palace. Mozenrath stormed toward the door, preparing to blast it down. He stopped. He hesitated.
"Well?" Hecate asked.
"I'm thinking," Mozenrath muttered. Then he sighed, turning to Hecate. "Don't make me regret being curious."
"I'll take it." Hecate held out her hand, and a pendant materialized within it – a small crystal that actually appeared to be two crystals fused together, with a clear seam between the halves, which were slightly different shades of blue. It was attached to a loop of twine. "Put this on and come with me."
Mozenrath tentatively grasped the crystal. "If this hurts me, you WILL pay. I may fall hard, but I've never failed to come back."
"Point taken. But it won't hurt you. Goddess' honor."
Mozenrath placed the pendant around his neck; it glowed a bright blue. "So what does this do?"
"We're going to my palace in the Underworld," Hecate explained. "And before you accuse me of anything, I intend on taking you there alive. The Underworld can have a draining effect on pure mortals, and you may be powerful, but you're no demigod. Your powers would be weakened, and neither of us want that. This crystal was part of a set I made to try and drain other gods' powers. It ended up not working as well as I wanted, to say the least. The transmitter crystal soaked up the energy of whoever had it and the receiver crystal put it somewhere else. That crystal has a transmitter and a receiver in it, so it will collect all the energy you have on the surface and put it back into you in the Underworld."
Mozenrath grinned. "Clever. So what do you want from me in the Underworld?"
"I'll show you."
Hecate spread her arms outward, engulfing herself, Lukos, Aetos, Mozenrath, and Xerxes in a blue sphere. Then all disappeared from Aeaea before Circe's guard could ever detect that she'd had so many unexpected visitors.
BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD
In the crystalline great hall of Hecate's palace, the blue sphere materialized, dropping off goddess, sorcerer, and familiars three. All the furniture had been removed, leaving the hall as a vast empty space.
"Up there in Olympic Greece," Hecate explained, "hero training is serious business. Trainers set up arenas and drill wannabes until they become muscleheads. As overdone as the concept is, I thought I'd give it my own spin. I want to train you in the art of dark magic until you can go toe to toe with the gods themselves. That'll show Hades who really holds sway around here…"
"I'm sensing that you have Hades issues," Mozenrath remarked.
"Do you have any idea how high and mighty he sees himself down here?" Hecate seethed. "He's got the entire Underworld wrapped around his finger, and he thinks he can do the same to all Olympus. With that oaf around, I can't catch a break! And now I'm starting to hear about these 'Overtakers' he's allied with. Meaning he's expanding to a multi-world operation! I'm not going to sit back and let that idiot take over what should belong to ME!" Hecate stopped to breathe, calming herself. "That crystal was built to drain him. It failed because even the so-called 'heroes' around Olympic territory think he should be able to boss the entire Underworld around."
Mozenrath nodded. "I see. I've had dealings with the Overtakers myself. They actually put in a bid for me as well."
"So why aren't you working with them?"
"Because apparently I have to 'prove myself' first. Which, in my mind, I've already done multiple times."
"Conquered Seven Deserts!" Xerxes punctuated.
"And that brings me to my big question," Mozenrath continued. "Why do you have an interest in me in particular?"
Hecate nearly laughed. "I can't believe that of all things, you don't have enough faith in yourself to know the answer to that."
"I never said THAT," Mozenrath snarled. "It's just that the past few allies I've tried working with didn't seem to see my potential."
"And they're all blind," Hecate said. "You don't know it, but you have the capability to become one of the most powerful dark forces in the cosmos."
"You say that like my power is actually my own." Mozenrath held up his right hand. "I hate to disappoint you, but all my magic comes from this."
"I know about your little trinket…" Hecate stepped closer to examine the gauntlet. "But apparently not everything. It's dragonskin."
"Yes…"
"Where did you get this?"
Mozenrath put his hand down at his side so that Hecate couldn't ogle it. "I'd prefer to keep that story to myself," he said. "Let's just say I faced a lot in order to get away with it. And despite everything, it's been worth it."
"Fair enough," Hecate said. "Now, you're relatively new to the world of magic when compared to any of the Overtakers. I need to get a feel for what I'm working with. You don't mind if I ask you a few questions, do you?"
"Fire away."
"Can you bend the four elements of nature?"
"Yes."
"To what extent?"
"Enough."
Hecate snorted. "'Enough' isn't enough when it comes to elemental bending. The best know they're the best, and obviously, you don't. How are you at manipulation of the twelve elements of the multiverse?"
This was answered with a blank stare.
"Can you even NAME the twelve elements of the multiverse?"
Hecate could tell that Mozenrath was fuming silently; she'd asked him a fundamental question and he didn't know the answer, and it was tearing him apart. "So I take it that means you don't know how to enter hypertime."
"That's physically impossible."
"No, it's not. What does the moonlight do to your power level?"
"Nothing."
"Do you carry anything in Hammerspace?"
"I've never needed to."
Hecate sighed. "And I noticed you came here in an ugly spaceship. I know you can Apparate. Can you do it at the speed of darkness? That means between worlds."
"No."
Hecate could tell that Mozenrath was incredibly perturbed. She had no doubt that he could take on gigantic monsters, and she'd seen him face off against Circe, but making him face gaps in his own skill and knowledge was a transgression. "Well, by the time I'm done with you, you'll have all those skills and a few more. It isn't going to be easy."
"It never has been. I know that."
"So you're on board? You do realize – "
"Not just yet, Hecate." Mozenrath's smirk returned. "I need your word that you're not just fattening me up for the slaughterhouse, so to speak. I need to know that you're being honest about this training concept, and that I won't end up becoming a human sacrifice to you or anything."
"I give you my word as an Olympian," Hecate said, "that I won't hurt you or intentionally send you to die. And you know what they say about the word of an Olympian: it's binding for all eternity."
"Hmm." Mozenrath's eyes rolled around to look at Xerxes. "What do you think, Xerxes?"
Xerxes shook his head. "Not good enough."
"My sentiments exactly." Mozenrath looked back to Hecate. "Swear on the Styx. I know you can't break that."
"If that's what you need." Hecate waved her hands, and a flask of green water appeared in them. She uncorked it; it emitted an unnatural hissing noise. She used her left hand to pour the Styx water over her right. "I swear on the River Styx that I won't cause you permanent harm or intentionally send you to your death." The last of the water trickled onto the crystal floor, then dissipated. The flask disintegrated. "Of course, that doesn't mean parts of your training won't hurt. Apparition at the speed of darkness is painful for first-timers."
"Fine by me."
"You do realize," Hecate reminded Mozenrath, "that if you go through with this, you're turning your back on the Overtakers, right?"
"Of course." Memories: blue robes changing to red, the blow that knocked him over, waiting in the crystal room for someone to see what he'd become. "In fact…you could call that a selling point." Mozenrath shrugged. "So, when do we begin?"
Hecate smiled. "Immediately."
CHRYSE, OLYMPIC GREECE
Training had ended. Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Hercules, and Pegasus sat on the bleachers of the arena, watching as Phil instructed Meg in how to dress a false wound on Rarity's foreleg.
"You want to wrap the bandages tightly if you don't want loose blood all over the place," Phil instructed.
Meg tied the bandage off. "That good enough?"
"Well," Rarity complimented, "it is tied quite neatly. Almost like a…unique bracelet."
"That'll hold," Phil evaluated. "Not bad for your first day."
"You hear that?" Meg called up to Hercules. "Next thing you know, the two of us will be on the battlefield together."
"Awesome!" Hercules cried, and Pegasus gave a whinny of approval.
The sun's last rays faded. Rainbow Dash yawned. "Well, I'm officially tired."
Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack chorused out their "Me too"s.
"We set up your bunks where my old room was when I trained here," Hercules informed them. "It'll be a bit cramped for living space…"
"We're used to that," Applejack replied. "Thanks a lot, everypony. Today was tough, but y'all really know how to make the new kids on the island feel welcome, you know that?"
"Our pleasure," Meg told her.
"It is kinda cool to see the island this busy," Hercules pointed out. "And you've all been really, well, friendly. I think this is gonna work out!"
"Thank you," Fluttershy said quietly.
"Well, we should get some sleep," Twilight said, getting up. "We're working on honing our form tomorrow, right?"
"Right," Phil confirmed. "Heroes are only as good as their weapons."
"Yeah, right," Rainbow Dash laughed as she and the others followed Twilight to where their sleeping quarters would be set up. "But it can't hurt to learn to use 'em better."
"Hey," Phil called after them. "Ladies."
The six Equestrians stopped to look back.
"Two words," Phil said. "You're doin' great."
"Actually," Twilight began to interrupt, "that was th – "
"Thank you," Rarity replied.
Then all present retired to where they could rest.
OLYMPIC GREECE
That night, chaos took root in the soil. Spread across the land, it began to grow. It would be in full force come morning.
Chapter 48:
· Watch the retconning magic as I try to quickly state that the KH events took place by now so that the timeline makes sense for later events.
· The Disney Megara is based more on the mythological Deianeira than the original Megara, so that's the bio I'm giving her. Deianeira was the sister of Meleager, so Meg is going to be Meleager's "little sis." I don't actually think that will have any real bearing on the story at this point, though. Just explaining a side detail.
· I wanted Meg to be able to have a bigger role in questing, but I don't see her as a weapon wielder, and she's definitely not going to be able to pass as a mole for enemy forces anymore, so a field medic is what was left. (Besides, KH had her throwing health orbs at you from the sidelines, so there's a precedent.)
· It isn't to say that everyone in this story is a pacifist. In fact, pretty much all the other heroes in this storylet are in favor of taking care of problems by slaying monsters. The Mane Six, however, aren't giving up their "no killing" conviction.
· Whip rope. It can whip and rope. Mostly rope.
· The similarities between Zeus' symbol on the medallion and Rainbow Dash's Cutie Mark were pointed out to me through the My Little Brony page on Memebase. Don't credit me with that connection. I don't even know if I'm going to go anywhere with it, though it seems a shame to leave a coincidence like that unexplored.
· The Gorgons should live on islands called the Gorgades, but it just didn't make sense to split up their property on multiple islands, so I just condensed it into one island called Gorgade.
· As with Princess Luna and Luna Lovegood, I again have to address the problem of characters with the same name. Just assume that every time I refer to Medusa in this storylet, I mean the Gorgon and not the witch from SE and the last storylet.
· I'm actually using Medusa's HTAS personality and backstory here despite it being the least popular of pop culture depictions. This is because "Gorgon" is my favorite HTAS ep, and also because I have friends (who are readers) who have adopted Medusa as a symbol of the oppressed. You can also see for now that she has the HTAS design.
· Euryale and Stheno you may recognize as the personalities from American Dragon: Jake Long (episode "Bring It On"). They were some of my favorite one-episode-wonder (well…two-episode-wonder) villains from the show, and actually, Stheno's bloodlust and the way ADJL made her the ringleader worked out for my portrayal of Medusa – I could have Stheno kind of egg her on into things and convince her that being cruel is for the better. I not only gave these two their ADJL designs (the dresses), but kind of poked at ADJL's changing of "Stheno" to "Fury" with Hades' nicknaming.
· The contract from "Gorgon" I have adapted in order to be a plot device to explain why Medusa lives a life of villainy (outside of all the cajoling Stheno does as to why power plays are worth it).
· The soul well is brought in from KH. I just think that there have to be WAY more fearsome souls in there than Auron.
· This design of Orcos is from GoW Ascension. The spelling was chosen because it's halfway between "Orkos" and "Orcus" (and "Orkus" looks silly). He and Medusa are teamed up in the flashback to form the catalyst of the plot of Kid Icarus (as mentioned in the last chapter's Author's Notes).
· The Oath Stone is another concept from GoW. Orcos keeps them in order to hold people to blood oaths. They are forged from the spilling of the blood of "enemy," "friend," and "kin." Kratos killed Orkos at the end of Ascension to nullify the Oath Stones, but obviously Hades is beginning work on reforging some to suit his needs here.
· I didn't go into this with the intent to ship Medusa/Orcos, but it grew on me.
· And here's a mythical event I wasn't sure how to approach: how Medusa became a Gorgon. I didn't want to phrase Poseidon as her "boyfriend" the way the Percy Jackson books did. In generally accepted mythical canon (there are a couple versions), Medusa was raped by Poseidon on the altar of Athena's temple, and Athena punished Medusa by turning her into a Gorgon (though some say Athena gave her those powers as a defense against future attacks). And, presumably, her sisters with her (though some versions say that they were born Gorgons and always were Gorgons). So…I'm just leaving that as an implication here. You can decide for yourself if that's even how it happened, because I KNOW I can't characterize post-rape and don't want to really deal with the subject here. I didn't want to airbrush the "boyfriend" thing over it, though. Anyway, the important point is that Olympians turned Medusa, Euryale, and Stheno into Gorgons, and that's why Medusa sees some justification in attacking them. (For Orcos, it's avenging the death of Aletheia, which was Ares' fault in a way.)
· Also, I'd like to bring up that in this world, there are many minor Gorgons and Furies; each respective trio of sisters just represents the "queens" of each race.
· Orcos gets a monster form to explain his design in Kid Icarus and also because it's just what I picture when I hear/read his name, particularly when Orcus comes up in English Romantic poetry.
· I have introduced ALMOST Hades' entire army for the chaos…but there are a few surprise players waiting in the wings, of course.
· My high school friends and I used to memetically quote Emeril Lagasse for some reason, though we never really watched any of his shows. So I couldn't turn down the perfect opportunity to "kick it up a notch."
· The Furies' designs are all GoW. And so far, they're my favorite GoW characters – I needed them!
· To simplify more multiple naming: all mentions of Alecto in this storylet are the Fury, not the Death Eater. And I'm going to be referring to Megaera the Fury as "Megaera" and Megara the heroine as "Meg" (I know that one has an extra E, but I still want to be as clear as possible).
· So Hecate was scoping out Mozenrath this whole time! Aaaaand no one is surprised.
· I was originally going to legitimately write another battle between Circe and Mozenrath during which he would either prove his potential to Hecate by beating her or discover he needed Hecate's assistance by losing again, but for as many pointless things as I put in this story, that was a scene I just felt I couldn't pull off convincingly.
· Hecate's wolves have no canon names as far as I know. "Lukos" and "Aetos" are what Google Translate spat out for me for "wolf" and "eagle" in Greek.
· The crystal is a callback to the HTAS episode "Underworld Takeover."
· To have the gauntlet be dragonskin was inspired by the book "Sapphique" by Catherine Fisher. And if all goes well, this gauntlet and the gauntlet in Sapphique are not unrelated.
· Hecate's questionnaire should give you an idea of what Mozenrath's current character arc is going to be. Yeah…he's going to be doing a little more "training" and a lot less "action." But I promise that in the end, it will pay off, and this is necessary building towards plot stuff.
· The word of an Olympian goddess is eternally bonding (see: Eris), but following oaths sworn on the Styx is absolutely compulsory. This is proof that Hecate has no illusions. She legitimately wants to build Mozenrath up as a protégé so that she can vicariously have his victory spoils and employ his services against Hades.
· Meaning, officially, that Hecate and Mozenrath are the beginning of a rival villainous faction to the Overtakers.