The Gorgon Queen

Chapter 2

It's been twelve years since my parents revealed their true identities to me and my sisters.

And everything changed.

Mother and Papa told my sisters and I to keep this secret to ourselves, to not let anyone in town know. But I was too enthralled with the idea of having Gods as parents that I told the children that attended my school.

But the children at Olympus Academy didn't believe me, as per usual. It went so far that one day on my walk home from school, as I was walking along the rocky shore I bumped into some girls who at the time I wanted desperately to be friends with.

Now, I loathe them.

The lead girl, Gaia, saw me and tapped the two girls behind her. "Oh, look who it is!" she skipped her way towards me, the two girls trailing behind.

"Medusa!" she shouted my name even though I was within talking distance. I clutched the cloth string of my satchel like it was a life line, "What do you want, Gaia?" I cringed when my little voice wavered. Gaia smiled, her hazel eyes were golden in the sunlight, matching her long, wavy hair. She plastered a smile on her face,

"I just wanted to let you know what the girls and I saw in the water today." she pointed to the water, it's waved rushing towards us and then retreating back. I clutched my satchel tighter, "What?" I asked. The girls behind Gaia started to snicker. I felt my anxiety rise.

"A creature with scales and fangs," with each word, Gaia took a step toward me. I tried not to trip over the rocks or my dress for that matter. "And sapphire eyes," she paused and tilted her head to the side, studying me,

"Didn't you say your Papa had sapphire eyes?" she laughed and looked at the girls behind her, "Girls, I think we saw Medusa's Papa!"

The girls behind Gaia started to laugh, but Gaia's eyes were fixed on me. She had a smirk on her pink lips that made me want to run into the waves myself and disappear.

"You must think really highly of yourself." she said, "Thinking that your parents are Gods, ha! That's an insult to the Gods." she stepped closer to me and I stepped back, barely catching my footing as I almost tripped over a rock.

"Your parents are nothing like the Gods. You're nothing."

She lifted her arms and shoved me to the ground. I felt a hot pain on my palm as I sliced my hand against the edge of a rock.

"Hey!"

A breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Stheno and Euryale making their way down the incline. Euryale reached me first and helped me to my feet. She saw the cut on my palm and tapped a reassuring hand on my arm, "It's not too deep. We'll patch it up before mother or Papa notices." she winked at me and I smiled. I could always count on Euryale. She was always the one to keep me out of trouble.

I turned my head and saw Stheno marching up to Gaia, her face red with fury. "Lay a hand on my sister again, and the Gods won't even recognize you."

Gaia chuckled, even though I could see the slight weariness in her eyes. She looked from my sister to me and then back, "Maybe your sister should keep her head out of the clouds," she glanced at me, "The Gods won't bless her if she keeps running her mouth."

With that, Gaia took her leave, her minions following behind.

Stheno turned to look at me, the wind blowing through her dark hair. She didn't say anything, just stared and proceeded to the incline that led to the path to our home.

Euryale and I followed and the three of us walked in silence for some time.

"What made Gaia push you?" Euryale asked, breaking the tension. But before I could speak, Stheno rounded on both of us, making us stop short. People with wagons and baskets of fruit had to weave around us so fast that they glared at the three preteen girls in the middle of the dirt road. I didn't like how we were stopped in the middle, where everyone could look at us. It made me feel like people were listening in to our conversation, which they had no business being apart of.

"I know why." Stheno said, her voice stern for a twelve year old, "Medusa keeps going around telling everyone at school about mother and Papa, when they specifically told us to keep it to ourselves." her blue eyes bore into my and I felt myself shy away.

"But people should know who are parents are. Who they serve." I tried to keep my voice down but my growing frustration was beginning to overflow and my voice slowly rose. Euryale placed a gentle hand on my shoulder,

"Medusa, mother and Papa told us not to tell anyone, remember?" her voice was more gentle than Stheno and I felt myself begin to relax. My shoulders slumped and glanced at the ground, "I remember." I grumbled as I kicked a pebbled in between Stheno's legs.

"You can't just go around telling people our family secret." Stheno said, a little calmer this time. I shrugged my shoulders, "It's not like anyone believes me."

Stheno heaved a heavy sigh and knelt down to meet me at eye level. I looked up at my older sister and saw only worry. Worry for our family.

"You know what people would do to us if they did believe you, right?"

Even at a young age, I did know. The town would become chaos if they found out that Gods were living among them. Even though people aspire to be blessed my Zeus, there was always a slight fear.

Fear of demons and monsters.

Nobody ever admitted it, but sometimes when a person was blessed a God or Goddess, the town would hold their breath, waiting to see if that person would use their newfound power for good or evil. If the town ever did found out about our parents, they would bang down the door to see if the inside revealed a God or a demon.

Then they would come to my sisters and I.

Mother and Papa told my sisters that they have the power of immortality, but only when they reach the age of twenty-one. Me on the other hand, I was nothing but a mere mortal. A person with no powers at all.

So, the townsfolk wouldn't have to worry about me, for I was not a threat to them.

Not yet anyway.

"Don't you want to town to know who are parents are?" I asked. To me, my parents were my idols. Even though I was a mortal, I knew I could be more.

Stheno sighed, "I want the town to know our parents like they always have. Normal."

It was in that moment when I realized what Stheno meant. She didn't care whether or not our parents were Gods or not. All she cared about was living a 'normal' life. But, our family wasn't normal. She wasn't normal. Didn't she like the idea of being related to Gods? Maybe even becoming one herself?

We finished our walk in silence.

When we got home, Euryale made it her mission to patch up my hand before mother and Papa came home. As she did, I made a promise to myself.

I wouldn't talk about our parents' secret anymore. I wouldn't tell anyone.

But that promise was soon to be broken, for I only told three other souls about my parents.

One, who I believed would be my eternal love.

One, who I believed was a loyal friend, but turned out to be my enemy.

And the other, who ended my life, but also saved it in many ways.