Charmed: Let Gorgons Be Gorgons (12 page)

“Where are we? What have you done?” Medusa demanded as she and her sisters materialized in a lavish bedroom with the kind of comforts she’d never imagined in her previous life. They had all resumed using their glamours the moment they left the scene of the attack. A glance out the window confirmed that the orange-red bridge that crossed the great expanse of water was still in view. They remained in the city of San Francisco. That was upsetting. She’d hoped that her sisters would have had the sense to take her far away from what had just happened.

The way they were being so free with their powers was another concern to add to the list. Typically, Medusa and her sisters only teleported over great distances, like taking them back to their homeland. Since they’d been cursed as gorgons, it now took a lot of energy for them to dematerialize in one place and rematerialize in another. The fact that they were beginning to use this ability freely meant that they were growing stronger. If Medusa didn’t find a way to talk them out of their plans soon, she wouldn’t be able to stop them later.

Stheno ignored her sister’s questions as she picked up a small black device on the table and aimed it at the dark screen of what Medusa believed was a television, turning it on. Stheno continued to aim the device at the television and the image changed to a conservatively dressed woman with perfectly sculpted blonde hair staring directly out of the screen at them.

At first Medusa thought it was one of those video conferencing systems that allowed people to communicate face-to-face over a distance, but she quickly realized the explanation was simpler than that. It was a news report on a twenty-four hour network. She didn’t know if the channel belonged to the man they had turned to stone earlier, but she suspected that it was his. Stheno would probably want to keep tabs on what happened with him as well.

Medusa’s eyes went wide behind her sunglasses as the image onscreen switched to a video recording of the offices of the Gorgon Gaze. Someone had filmed their encounter. A flash of their bodies could be seen among the statues and fleeing men. Thankfully, it wasn’t clear that they were in the act of turning people to stone. Even better, unless one knew what they were looking at, it wouldn’t even make any sense to the casual observer.

Eyewitness accounts came next. A reporter on the street was interviewing people who claimed to be inside the building at the time of the incident. The stories these supposed witnesses were sharing hardly matched the reality of what had occurred. Medusa couldn’t be sure if their fears had heightened their reactions or they were just making things up. The news anchor must have assumed the latter as she could barely keep a straight face as the camera came back on her.

“That’s it? That’s all they got? We came out of hiding for that?” Stheno raged as the anchor moved on to a story that Medusa didn’t begin to understand. It seemed to be a report about a baby singing in the backseat of a car. This is what constituted news in this era?

“They didn’t even get my good side,” Euryale said as she draped herself over the overstuffed white couch. “Or maybe they did. It’s so hard to tell on that shaky video.”

“I thought we came out of hiding to fight for the oppressed,” Medusa countered. “Not become celebrities.”

Stheno gave her sister the same glare she’d cultivated as a child when she was annoyed that Medusa was acting her younger age. “That’s the only way to make change in this modern world,” Stheno said. “Through celebrity. It’s all about going viral. Once we get the people talking, we can effect change.”

Stheno pointed to the baby onscreen that was now dancing in her car seat along with the signing. Not for the first time, Medusa was completely clueless as to what was going on.

“That way also brings out the torches and iron scythes as well,” Medusa reminded her sister. “Or have you forgotten what that first week was like after Athena cursed us? Before we went into hiding and perfected our glamours. When the locals came after us? I don’t intend to go through that again. Not in this time. The weapons of humanity are much more dangerous now.”

Medusa had no desire to go through what she’d experienced back when the curse had taken hold of her. Neighbors and friends had turned on her and her sisters without question. People they had known their entire lives wanted to destroy them. The same innocent beings they had once used their powers to help suddenly feared the magic they possessed.

It wasn’t that Medusa had entirely blamed them. Before she and her sisters had the strength to create their glamour, they had taken on the appearance of terrifying monsters.

“Let me see your eyes,” Stheno said as she moved toward Medusa, reaching for her sunglasses.

Medusa held out a hand to stop her. “I can do it.” She didn’t want Stheno to derail her from the conversation, but her own curiosity had overwhelmed her. Medusa removed her sunglasses and leaned toward her sister. “How does it look?”

“Don’t blink,” Stheno said.

“Don’t blink?” Euryale repeated. “I can see it from here. The eyes are still windows into her monstrous soul.”

Stheno sighed. “She’s not powerful enough yet that we can break the binds of this city and move out into the world at large. We still need to rely on the magic we have been using to fuel us.”

Medusa was torn. She wanted to be free to use the full force of her gorgon powers again, if only so that she could work up her full glamour. Being a gorgon was still nothing compared to the magic she’d had before she was cursed, but the ability to blend in with the rest of humans was priceless.

On the other hand, once her power was at its strongest, her sisters would be affected as well. They wouldn’t need to be tied to the magic of this place or the limited power Medusa possessed. When they turned people to stone it would be permanent, not so easily undone as before. As long as they needed her, she could control them to a degree. Not that she was the one doing the controlling at the moment.

Once Stheno didn’t need her any longer, Medusa worried about what her sister would unleash with her gorgon power to turn people permanently to stone on her own. Where would she stop?
Would
she stop? Medusa had to find a way to break Stheno’s hold over her before it became too late.

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.

“You 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.”