Medusa's Memory
* WARNING: This and the following chapter have rape theme.
Back when Medusa was mortal, she was a beautiful woman, she might not be the fairest, but one cannot deny that she was beautiful. She entered the temple to be a priestess she believed if she served the goddess, nothing ill would befall to her. Because beauty itself is a curse. Arachne and Psyche were women who had been cursed with beauty are some examples. However, it appears that she was wrong.
Medusa vividly remembered that Poseidon barged into Athena's Temple and rape her in front of Athena's altar which was considered a holy sanctuary despite being the priestess in training for Athena. Being a priestess did not save her from a god's lust. The Olympian men like Zeus and Poseidon were maniacs and perverts to the extent. They will stop at nothing. If a woman rejects her, they will just up the ante and wait for the opportunity to force themselves to a woman. It was that fateful day that she was tasked to care for a new temple of Athena when men who smelled like sea water forced themselves into the temple with the pretext to offer prayers to Athena. By the time that they were at the main hall, the man who seemed to be the leader had transformed himself to Poseidon and grabbed Medusa and tried to break free. However, his grip was stronger than her and he even tore her garments in one move. How can she even defy a god? She prayed for Athena as if her life depended on it, but no one answered. By the time Poseidon was in her, the pain of being penetrated forcefully, she started to call out the other gods of Olympus. The two other goddesses, Aphrodite, and Hera did not do anything to stop their family member at all. That's when Poseidon mocked her that even if she called out anyone from Olympus, no one would hear her because she was Athena's priestess, any pleas to other gods won't simply go to them but will go to Athena first. She grew very afraid hearing this. Poseidon himself like an animal ravaging her mortal body mocking her that Athena offered her own priestess because she was jealous.
The worst part was a very horrifying and painful ordeal, Athena, the goddess Medusa wanted to serve in exchange for protection, banished her instead. She even cursed her along with her sisters who had done nothing wrong. With the main reason that she invited men to desecrate her so-called holy sanctuary. No one believed her when she claimed that she was raped by Poseidon. She was innocent and someone took advantage of her. Athena even asked someone to kill her after getting cursed into a monster. This is what Medusa had gone through until Hades himself revived her and her sisters. The newly opened Tartarus was able to discern the truth. However, they were also powerless to go against Athena and Poseidon. She did want revenge at that point but facing a god was something else. She was not a goddess herself at that time. If her benefactor, Hades went against his family it would be considered a rebellion which is also not a good idea. She wanted to forget her grudge by hiding to where they could not even pry. She can start a new life with her sisters with the safe haven that the underworld offered.
Then the decline of the Olympians happened but Tartarus moved to better pastures as it was being integrated with Cosmos at the same time. Perhaps seeing their decline was Medusa's revenge. She was there as Greece declined and Athens, the city of Athena, crumbled into decay. People started to doubt the gods. Though it was not satisfying for Medusa and her kin, knowing that only Tartarus was the one accepted by the Cosmos and got spared from the decline of the Olympus was a solace itself. But if she was given a chance, as promised by their boss, she will claim her revenge. Seeing the
"I remember that since none among the gods would dare but into the scuffle between the three goddesses, they went to a mortal man to judge on who would own the
"What was it?" Morticia was hooked on the story. This event might have happened a long time ago, but this was a major scandal, everyone was bound to be curious.
"One of them had promised to give her the fairest woman of all." Medusa answered tactfully. She glanced at Morticia who was like a puppy eager to get a treat.
"I don't see anything wrong with that…" Morticia seemed to be downcast with the answer. Of course, a goddess would offer something that's something a man is weak of, a beautiful woman. However, she knew men who liked men most likely would be a different story and may have turned that kind of bribe down. Like men who Mely adores so much.
"But what if that most beautiful woman is a married woman and a queen of a powerful nation?" Medusa gave some more juicy details of the life of ancient Greece.
"Oh my! Really? She did not!" Morticia was shocked in disbelief. A goddess just bribed a man using another man's partner. She felt it was wrong. Are the older gods that twisted? And come to think of it, this all stemmed for a petty title of being the fairest of them all.
All the snakes in Medusa's head nodded in unison. Medusa does not even have to nod hers.
"Did she even think what would happen? How did she become a goddess? Of course, her spouse will retaliate." Morticia was quite riled up as she had a barrage of questions to Medusa. Even if it happened before. They are gods. Based on the definition from Cosmos, they as gods have their own moral compass. Even the underworld gods like Yama, which is a good friend of her mentor, Yubis, are righteous. They will do what they believe should be right for their devotees.
"Exactly! That is why it brought calamity on the kingdom where that mortal was originally from." Medusa was very amused how this pale white goddess of death is showing much emotion right now. Even the snakes from Medusa's head were excited. She never had seen a lot of emotions from Morticia in a short period of time. She had known the goddess of death for about a few centuries, but she never realized that the Zariyan Goddess of Death would show a cute reaction.
"If the mortal was a commoner, it should not eradicate the whole kingdom." Morticia started to think again. It was kind of excessive to decimate a kingdom as a retaliation for a shepherd who had kidnapped someone's wife.
"Except he was not a commoner. He is a banished prince of the kingdom. Banished because an oracle told his parents that he will cause the downfall of own kingdom. That fateful decision determining who will win the golden apple led to the war raged for a decade. The gods involved themselves with this affair. A lot of people died, not only mortals but even demigods died. Even if they did not lose their lives on the battlefield, they were sent into their misery that one would kill themselves." Medusa was giving a summary of what had happened during the Trojan war. A kingdom was decimated and reduced to ruin. Fall of several heroes. Tartarus was very busy because of them, there were lots of souls that even Charon, who was a ferryman at that time had to row twenty fully loaded trips in a single day because of the influx of souls going to the underworld.
"All because some goddess wanted to be the fairest of them all." Morticia realized the whims of gods that proved fatal to any mortal. She was sad at that time. Even if she has an aspect of death, she has to deal with the grief of the souls themselves, and this escalated on an epic scale. Wars were never a pleasant affair. A lot of innocents die, especially children who were just starting their life.
"Yes, it was all because of that." Medusa sighed, reminiscing on it made her realize that despite Ancient Greece being small, something like that happened on a grand scale which was very wasteful.
"But what happened to the apple?" Morticia got curious. The thing that caused all a calamity. She grew worried that this might happen to her own world.