Charmed: Let Gorgons Be Gorgons

by Paul Ruditis

  As Stheno stepped away, Medusa flipped her sunglasses around so she could see her reflection in the lenses. It was no use. The glass was too dark to give her a proper image.

  “Here.” Euryale reached out from the couch and handed her a cellular phone for some reason. Medusa only understood why when she saw her image on the screen. The device had some odd kind of mirroring technology. It took Medusa a moment to search her newly implanted memories to realize it was a camera meant for capturing images for posterity.

  Her sisters were right, of course. Not that there was any logical reason for them to lie to her. Medusa’s eyes still had not changed. They still bore the look of the serpents that she wore. It was the one part of her true form that her glamour could not hide. At least, not until she was at full strength again. Not that it mattered if Stheno kept revealing their monstrous side to the world.

  Medusa put the glasses back over her eyes. She didn’t need to hide them from her sisters, but she felt more comfortable when she knew they weren’t visible to anyone. Herself, most of all. She hated catching even a glimpse of them in a reflection. She despised what Athena had done to her.

  “What is your goal?” she asked Stheno.

  “Goal?” Stheno’s innocent act was always her worst trait. It was mainly for show since it wasn’t remotely convincing. That was by design. It was her way of letting Medusa know she didn’t really care for her youngest sister’s opinion on important matters.

  “How does this end?” Medusa clarified. “When do you stop? When you have turned every human in this world to stone? When the entire planet is hunting for us monsters? What is the purpose of this plan that has us appearing on the news and going viral or whatever it is you were talking about?”

  Stheno considered Medusa’s question. Once again, it was all a show. She had the answer to whatever Medusa could ask, long before it formed it in her mind. She waited patiently for Stheno to deem herself ready to respond.

  “Fear.”

  “Fear?”

  “It’s a great motivator,” Stheno said. “Inspire the proper amount of fear and people will do exactly what you want them to do. Too much and they will attack you. Too little and they will ignore you. But the proper amount is just enough to motivate them to listen to what you have to say.”

  “And then you’ll what? Change the world?” Medusa asked.

  Stheno smiled. “Something like that.”

  “And you think no one is going to try to stop you?”

  “Oh, someone will definitely try to stop us,” Stheno said. “Three someones. Well, four now, I guess. But I’ve got something else going on that will keep them preoccupied for a while. At least long enough to get a better video of us doing our work out there.”

  Medusa closed her eyes behind her sunglasses. “I assume you don’t intend to tell me that part of your plan either.”

  Stheno smiled and remained infuriatingly silent.

  “I’m so over Greek mythology,” Paige said as she bit into her second pizza of the day. “I mean, Medusa? Really? What could she possibly want now?”

  “Seems to me her agenda’s pretty clear,” Phoebe said. “Her victims aren’t exactly shining examples of progressive thought.”

  Piper and Prue glared at their sister. “You really need to sound less impressed,” Piper said. “And more… ‘Protector of the Innocents.’”

  Phoebe shrugged. “I call ’em like I see ’em.”

  Paige put down her slice of pizza. “Well, I see it this way. We have an ancient evil turning people to stone. Three ancient evils, actually. Everything I learned in school taught me that Medusa was some badass monster who attacked anyone that came into view. Just because these first victims weren’t the most innocent of Innocents doesn’t mean she’ll stop there. No big deal. We’ve taken on our fair share of monsters. This one’s no different.”

  “Ha!” Frank spat… literally. Bits of pizza flew from his mouth.

  “What?” Paige handed him a napkin. “And ew.”

  “Nothing,” he replied as he wiped his mouth, leaving the bits of sprayed pizza out on the table where they were.

  The sisters stared at him for a moment, waiting for more, but he just continued munching on his slice. Piper was the first to move on, turning to Paige. “Why don’t you orb up to the Elders and see if they can tell us about more about Medusa and her sisters.”

  “Do I have to?” Paige asked, semi-seriously. She’d never been a big fan of the group that ruled the upper regions, despite the fact that they had recently undergone some changes in policy and she had some friends on the Council now.

  “The Elders might know more. I’d call Leo, but he’s dealing with Phoebe’s problem and I don’t want him to stretch himself too thin.” Piper said. “Besides, the Elders were the ones that dealt directly with the Titans. These gorgons are all part of the same time period. Roughly.”

  “Very roughly,” Frank mumbled from the table.

  Phoebe rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored him. “We’ll take anything we can get. I don’t even know the names of the other two. Anyone?”

  Prue, Piper, and Paige just looked at one another. “I don’t even remember ever hearing about other sisters until Leo mentioned them earlier,” Paige admitted.

  “Oh, come on!”

  Four heads whipped around to glare at the dwarf. Four voices snapped at once: “What?”

  Frank dropped his pizza crust in the box as the fairy giggled above him. “Oh, nothing really. I’m just a little surprised that the Charmed Ones rely on gossip and rumors to fight evil. It’s really impressive you’ve done as well as you have with such poor research skills.”

  Paige let out an exasperated huff and Prue practically had to hold her back. It was easier for the sister that had the least experience with the magical community to keep her cool. Paige stepped back while she let Prue take over.

  Prue kept it simple as she glared as the dwarf. “Enlighten us.”

  “First of all, the Titans predate the gorgons,” he replied. “By like a century or so. Once the Greek gods did their job and destroyed them, those doofuses stuck around to wreak their own havoc. Your Elders were useless in stopping the power mad gods and goddesses they created. Completely turned their backs on the nightmares they had unleashed on the world until it got to the point they had to step in and do something about it.”

  “Sounds like the Elders,” Paige said. “But what’s that got to do with the gorgons?”

  “Nothing,” he replied. “And everything. You’ve got to take all that you know about Greek mythology with a grain of salt. Most of those stories are about image rehabilitation, primarily for the Elders. History is written by the ones that get to tell their stories.”

  “So what we know about Medusa isn’t true?” Piper asked.

  Frank laughed. “Seems to me like you don’t know anything about Medusa and her sisters: Stheno and Euryale. But even if you did know the common myth that survived for thousands of years, you’d still only have part of the story.”

  “And this is something that dwarves just happen to be experts in?” Piper asked.

  “Dwarfs,” he corrected. “And dwarfs with a doctorate in Greek mythology tend to know a bit more than the average human.”

  “Wait,” Phoebe said. “You have a doctorate. So you’re Dr. Frank Stein? Please tell me your middle name begins with an ‘N’.”

  The dwarf glared at her now. “X, actually. You have a problem with that?”

  Phoebe smiled and shook her head. “Nooooo. No problem at all. Although if I were you I wouldn’t be so snippy when someone wanted to call me grumpy instead.”

  Frank stuck his tongue out at her. “May I continue?”

  “By all means,” Phoebe said.

  He cleared his throat. “Once upon a time--”

  “Seriously?” Paige said.

  “Y
ou tell your stories the way you want. I’ll tell my stories the way I want. May I continue?”

  Paige waved a hand for him to hurry it along.

  “Once upon a time, there lived three sisters. The most powerful witches of their time.”

  “All time,” Phoebe corrected. “We’re the most powerful witches of all time. Talk about getting your facts straight.”

  Frank sneered at her. “Who said I was talking about you?”

  “The gorgons are witches?” Prue asked.

  “Witches first,” he said. “Gorgons later.”

  Paige and her sisters took seats on the couch, careful not to crush the fairy that had perched herself on the armrest. Prue had to widen it slightly with her magic so they could all fit. It seemed like this story might take a while.

  “As you already know, the oh-so-wise Council of Elders gifted mortals with the powers of gods so they could take on the Titans. And as you also know, mortals went a little crazy with power. Ruled—and tortured—the ancient Greeks for years and years. Toward the end of their reign Medusa and her sisters were up-and-coming witches. And since the Elders rarely deal directly with their messes, the sisters were sent to Greece to check out what was happening when things finally got out of hand. See if they could work some magic to do some good. Half those stories you hear about heroes rescuing people from the Nemean lion or killing the Minotaur? That was really Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale. But since they worked their magic in secret, some random dudes took all the credit.”

  “How come no one knows about this?” Paige asked.

  “How many mortals know about the work you do?” Frank replied.

  “More than I’m comfortable with sometimes,” Piper said. “But we get your point.”

  “I thought you might,” he said. “Remember the time period. Not only were witches in hiding, but women as heroes? That didn’t go over so well with many of the storytellers. Medusa didn’t care. She wasn’t in it for the glory, unlike her sisters, so the Elders balanced out the sisters’ powers with their desires. Medusa was the most powerful by far, but she had a mortal lifespan. Stheno and Euryale were immortal, but weaker on their own.”

  “Why?” Paige asked.

  Frank shrugged. “Why do the Elders do anything? But this is where the legend meshes with reality. While they were checking on the Gods, Medusa fell for Poseidon, which was kind of against the rules. Witches falling for Whitelighters or Cupids is one thing, but witches falling for the Elders’ magical screw ups was quite another.”

  “Did Poseidon love her too?” Paige asked.

  “You think I have access to Poseidon’s diary?” Frank asked. “Who can tell? It was over two thousand years ago. But that’s not the point. Whether he loved her or not, the one thing everyone agrees on is that he forced himself on Medusa. Raping and pillaging was nothing new to these Gods. They constantly forced themselves on the powerless, taking what they wanted through magic or sex. As powerful as Medusa was, she couldn’t stop him.”

  Paige shook her head in disgust. “You hear these stories in school and you think they’re just crappy legends. But then you realize they really happened to people.”

  “It gets worse,” Frank said. “The rape occurred in the temple of Athena. And the Goddess of War was pissed that her temple was defiled.”

  “I’m guessing she unleashed a big can of whupass on Poseidon for that,” Paige said. She’d briefly inherited the abilities of that particular goddess when the Charmed Ones had taken on the escaped Titans. She still remembered the rage she had felt tied to that magic. When she imagined it directed Poseidon’s way it made her smile, though it was a smile tinged with regret.

  “You’d guess wrong,” Frank said. “One god would never blame another god for the things their power made them do. No. Medusa bore the brunt of Athena’s anger.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding.” Paige felt angrier about it due to her connection to Athena. “She blamed Medusa for her assault? She attacked the victim?”

  Frank nodded. “And that’s when Athena cursed her into becoming a gorgon. It was motivated by rage, but it served a greater purpose as well. It was her way of fighting back against the Elders. Took out some of their servants. The witches. Medusa still had magic as a gorgon, but she was incredibly weaker.”

  “So she was victimized, victim-blamed, and finally used as a pawn in a battle that she didn’t start?” Paige asked, growing more disgusted by the moment.

  “Pretty much,” Frank replied. “Athena turned her into a gorgon so that no one would ever want to look upon her. The added bonus was that it sent a message to Athena’s enemies not to mess with her, or else she’d turn them into something even more hideous.”

  “I’m starting to understand why Medusa wanted to turn people to stone,” Phoebe added.

  “But I’m not understanding why Athena would give her any power,” Paige said. She’d only shared Athena’s powers for a brief time several years ago, but the one thing Paige took from the experience was that the Goddess of War was a first and foremost a strategic tactician. Punishing Medusa while still allowing her to do anything like turn people to stone seemed off.

  “That was an unintended consequence,” Frank said, clearing up Paige’s confusion. “Medusa was only supposed to be a horrible monster, striking fear in any man that looked upon her. But Medusa’s magic was twisted in the curse, which is how she came to turn people to stone when they upset her.”

  “It doesn’t automatically happen to everyone who lays eyes on her?” Prue clarified.

  “Athena started that rumor,” Frank said. “No. Medusa could control the power to some degree. She could do other basic magic too. Teleportation. Pretty good with glamours after a while. But she was nowhere near as powerful as she used to be. Not that it mattered to Athena. The fact that Medusa still possessed magic enraged Athena. That’s when she sent Perseus after the gorgon to end her life. That’s probably the story you’re familiar with. He used her reflection to turn her to stone. Cut off her head and put it on his shield, which he gave to Athena because he was a little suck up. Blah, blah, blah, the end.”

  “And Medusa’s sisters?” Prue asked.

  “They went after Athena, of course. No one is really sure if it was done out of love or the fact that their own magic was diminished while their sister was under the curse. Of course, with their weaker magic, it was easy pickings for Athena to curse them as well. It took a few years before Perseus could track down Medusa. In the meantime, the gorgons turned more than a few people into stone. Mostly because they were trying to defend themselves. Believe it or not, the people of ancient Greece got a little crazy when there were monsters in their midst. Or anyone that would qualify as a little different.”

  “Not much has changed,” Paige said, though she had trouble considering green, scaled creatures with snakes for hair as qualifying as a “little” different. Still, she was having a problem with the idea of calling them monsters after knowing a bit more about what they’d gone through. It wasn’t entirely different from some of the situations she and her sisters had found themselves in at times, considering how often they’d been used as other people’s pawns. Thankfully, they had never experienced the horror of a sexual assault like Medusa had gone through. “Anyone else suddenly rooting for the gorgons?”

  “No,” Prue said, definitively. “I get that what they were put through was horrible. I don’t blame them for being angry at the gods or Elders or so-called heroes that did those things to them. Hell, I’d want vengeance too. But that was over two thousand years ago. From what you’ve told me, the gods are gone. These people they’re turning to stone sound like jerks, but they certainly didn’t have anything to do with Athena’s curse. The gorgons have to be stopped.”

  “I’m not going to vanquish them,” Paige said, with just as much conviction as her eldest sister. “They’ve been punished enough.”

 
“I don’t even know if we can vanquish them,” Phoebe chimed in. “They’re not demons. Not witches either, now.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Piper said. “If they can be reasoned with, we’ll talk to them. But if they need to be dealt with more forcibly, we can do that too. Much as I’d love to use my magic on anyone who ever annoyed me, there are rules about these things.” Piper turned back to Frank. “The only thing about all this that confuses me is that Leo said that Medusa’s supposed to be dead. How do you explain that?”

  The dwarf simply pointed to Prue and then grabbed another piece of pizza. Apparently, story time was over. Paige was about to ask if he had any more information at his disposal when Phoebe’s pop song ring tone went off and Piper’s phone rang at the same moment.

  Paige suspected that things were about to get a lot worse.

  Chapter 17

  Piper didn’t waste a second, bursting through the front door to Halliwell’s the moment Paige had orbed them to the restaurant. The hostess on duty hadn’t made much sense over the phone, but it was clear there was some sort of emergency. Nicolette wasn’t prone to hysteria. Something big had to be up for her to use such a frantic tone at a volume that everyone around Piper could hear her through their connection.

  Part of the challenge was the dueling noise from Phoebe’s phone as Mika’s voice emerged with similar volume and urgency. Neither call ended well, with both sisters grabbing Paige and telling Prue they’d be right back. Paige stopped off first at the Bay Mirror to drop off Phoebe, figuring she might be able to assist with Piper’s problem since she often helped out at the restaurant. One step inside the dining room and it was clear to Piper that she was going to need all the help she could get.

  The scene inside was like something out of one of those disaster films where the world’s population is struck with some kind of global pandemic. Halliwell’s was apparently ground zero. Piper was expecting the beginning of a zombie attack any minute.