Title: Slither
Character(s): Medusa/Poseidon/Athena
Pantheon(s): Greek
Rating: PG
Summary: Medusa muses on her situation, after being changed by Athena.
Warning(s): Possible, slight triggers for rape victims.



The moon was full, and low in the sky, casting an eerie glow on the world below. She sat at the edge of a pool of water, watching the moon through the ripples. She tried to keep her eyes focused on that particular reflection, and away from her own.

When she had still been a sea nymph, when she had still been beautiful, before she had been unjustly punished for something that was completely out of her control, she had often felt the moon pulling at her. And sometimes, if she listened hard enough, she would've sworn that she could hear the moon singing to her a lullaby. But now, there was none of that. The moon was just a brighter light in the night sky.

The resentment at the change of her fortunes was still present. Always present. But she wasn't sure who she hated more for it: Poseidon or Athena. Poseidon for raping her in one of Athena's temples; Athena for actually changing her, turning her into the monstrosity that she now was. How? How had it been fair to her that she was forced upon, and punished for it? If he had truly wanted her, truly favored her (as he claimed that he had), he would have protected her from him extended family. That was not too much to ask for. He refused to change her back himself, and completely refused to speak to Athena on her behalf ... even when she told him that she was pregnant with his child (a child that she hadn't wanted, a child she hadn't been consulted with on the creation of). And how could this child be anything but a monstrosity, like herself, with her own blood inside of it? It would be just as horrible, just as grotesque as her.

Her eyes drifted down to her own reflection, and she wished that she had the same effect on herself that she seemed to have on men. That first time she had seen herself, after the change, she had been horrified. All of her beauty was gone, replaced by ... this.

She splashed at the surface of the water and looked away, not wanting to see her changed appearance any longer. The hurt and the shame still made her angry. It didn't hurt physically ... the physical nature of her change was only irritating to her at the worst. She wished that the pain had been more physical, as it would’ve been easier to deal with that way. But the wounds had been made to her psyche and her spirit, and were so much harder to ignore.

And more than she wished that she could turn herself to stone, she wished that she could she could turn gods to stone. She knew, exactly, the first two who would be turned by this power, and the thought of them begging her to stop, begging her for forgiveness, put a momentary smile on her face. The thought of then, tormenting them with the possibility of making them figures in a stone garden, and them begging her for death just before she gave it to them, made her smile widen, and a sadistic chuckle come from her throat.

She imagined Athena with that horrid shield raised in some sort of defense against her, that shield that she wished was destroyed. Maybe she would have a spear up, maybe not, but either way, her face would be held in a permanent look of shock, of absolute horror at what was about to happen, knowing that she had brought this upon herself.

Then, she started to imagine Poseidon, rock hard and unmoving. What a glorious change that would be to the constant movement of the seas, and the fickle nature of one who was in charge of the seas. Unlike Athena, she imagined Poseidon from the waist up, bare-chested, coming up from out of the water, trident in his hand, half of it still not showing. But all that showed of him was stone ... still as death. And water all around him, for miles in any direction, just as solid as he was. The thought of that filled her with even more glee than anything else: the thought that not only would he be destroyed, but some of what he loved would be destroyed as well.

But she knew that her deepest desires would not be fulfilled. She would continue to look the way that she did (horribly disfigured and with snakes for hair) for the remainder of her life. Even her own child would never be able to take revenge on them for her, not with the power that they both held. No, the only thing that she could do, would be to take her vengeance out on humanity (not that they would care much. The Olympians had always had a very dysfunctional relationship with humanity).

She had heard rumors of them sending one of their "heroes" to her, to destroy her. How glorious it would be when she turned him to stone, and all of their plans were ruined.

It would be fantastic.