Boon or Bane- A greek story

Encountering Medusa

Damini woke up in the same warehouse as she had seen in her glimpse. She was sitting with her back against a wall, with her legs in front of her. Her arms were tied behind her back and her ankles were tied to each other. Her vision was blurry and her eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, yet she could somewhat make out her surroundings. It was dark and dusty. Rays of sunlight were coming from a closed circle window on the top of the wall. Other than that, there was no other light source. A bunch of boxes were stacked upon each other in the corners. She could see the sewage system in the warehouse and a tank from her dream. Besides the boxes, the warehouse was empty with an exception of some broken stuff kept here and there.

Peter and Annabell were with her too. They both were towards her left, with Annabell in the middle and Peter on the other side. Their arms and legs were tied too, and they had some cuts and scratches on their arms. Their eyes were open, but none of them were saying anything. There was no sound except the soft breathing of the three.

"Wh-where are we..?" Damini managed.

They both looked towards her. "Medusa's lair...after that baker, Felix, knocked you out, we tried fighting him, but he was too powerful. He captured us too and brought us here. It's been a few hours." Annabell explained.

Damini stifled a sob. She still couldn't believe that Felix would do something like this.

"We have to cut our ropes ourselves and find a way out!" Peter said

"Peter, I have an idea! Could you pull out my dagger from my belt?" Annabell asked

"Okay" Peter turned towards the other side, and from his fingers, tried pulling Annabell's dagger from her belt. After a few tries, he was successful.

"I'll try cutting the ropes," Peter said. He managed to free Annabell's arms by cutting her ropes.

"Great job Peter" Annabell exclaimed. Then she cut her leg ropes. Annabell stood up and got to work on Peter and Damini's ropes.

In the next five minutes, both Peter and Damini were freed. The second Peter's hands and legs were freed, he jumped up and hugged Annabell. When they let go, both of their faces were as red as tomatoes. That made Damini giggle real hard. If possible, they both turned a darker shade of red.

Annabell cleared her throat. "Um..so..we should find a way out before Medusa arrives."

As if on cue, Medusa suddenly vaporized in the middle of the room. Medusa was a tall woman, with slithering green vipers for hair, long hands with sharp brass talons, and bat-shaped wings of Gold. She was wearing sunglasses- the kind blind people wear, to cover her eyes. Damini remembered that one look into Medusa's eyes would turn the person into stone, so she was careful not to look into her eyes, sunglasses or not. She had an evil expression on her face. She laughed. A burst of pure evil laughter you'd expect to hear on TV when the villain does something mischievous. Damini was terrified.

"Trying to escape, are we, darlings?" Medusa said in the same purring voice as she did in her glimpse.

"Too bad! Auntie Medusa is here to stop the fun!" Medusa said, laughing.

"Let us go, you monster!" Annabell screamed

Suddenly, Annabell made a quick movement of pulling out her dagger, but Medusa saw that coming. She grabbed Annabell's wrist and pulled her towards her. She turned her body and held her arm behind her back. In the commotion, Annabell dropped her dagger but Peter picked it up rapidly.

Medusa raised her razor-sharp talons and made a claw-like gesture in front of Annabell's throat.

"Drop the dagger, boy," Medusa said in a rasping voice "or your girlfriend gets it." Annabell looked terrified.

Peter dropped the dagger hurriedly.

"What do you want from us, Medusa!?!" Damini exclaimed.

Medusa laughed again. Damini was getting tired of her throaty laughs. She wanted to slap that smile off her face.

"Darling, I think you mean 'what do you want from me' The other two are just here because I like to add statues to my statue collection." Medusa smiled. "You, my dear, are here because of your powers. I was waiting for you to turn 16, but never mind, the earlier the better. That day, when you were five, your stupid demigod mother had figured out my plans for you, so she was planning to take you up to Mount Olympus to grow up with the gods so you'd be safe. Of course, I wouldn't have let that happen, so I took her and your father and, ah, gave them some of my special treatment. I'm sure you've heard the prophecy.

'A girl stuck between times, races and choices

Will work like gorgons' blood for the gorgo'

I've been looking for a girl matching this prophecy for a century. And then I found you. And I knew that I found the child of the prophecy. "Work like gorgon's blood for the gorgo" and Gorgon's blood can heal anything. So, I knew that you, my dear, will solve all my problems and heal me!" Medusa did another one of her annoying laughs. "I was keeping a close watch on you for a long time. The cyclopes, the baker, they all were spying for me. You know, when you turn 16 your powers reach their peak? I wanted to take you when you were a kid, but I couldn't. Then I found you in an orphanage. Now, dear, they were giving you food and shelter, while I was plotting a master plan. Why bother with capturing you when I could keep a close watch on you, without worrying about food and other nonsense."

Damini was shocked. She could have grown up with her parents, lived a happy life, but NO. This monster had to come and ruin her life. Damini was filled with rage. Damini walked to the middle of the room, with medusa behind her. It was the same scene as her dream now.

"I don't want to hurt you, I just need you for your powers, dear. Your little friends will have to die though. But never mind them, huh? You and I, together we will rule the world!"

Medusa laughed an evil laugh.

Damini suddenly realised what the prophecy meant by "stuck between choices." Damini has the choice to choose between good, and evil. Choose between serving Medusa and killing her and save the world. Damini turned in the opposite direction.

"Never! I will NEVER serve you, you monster!"

"Well, that's just too bad then, darling."

Suddenly, thousands of snakes swarmed into the room in her direction. Damini screamed.