Different Kind of Venom

Prologue

"A moment's desire, and a lifetime you shall suffer for it."
  
   Every day, every passing hour, and with every male she lured in and petrified, Medusa cursed herself. She cursed herself for submitting to the lustrous god Posiedon. He had shown her a night's pleasure on account of the punishment that she was made to face. And for that, she loathed him even more than she loathed herself.

   He had known what would happen when he bedded her at the Athena's altar. But of course, Medusa was probably nothing but a means to spite the goddess. The gods believe everyone to be their lesser, thus they do not mind using mortals — and monsters — to do their biddings, they do not mind tormenting them for something as trifle as having a laugh or proving a point.

   And Athena excelled at proving her point. Medusa remembers it clearly.

She had just felt the throes of pleasure when light filled the temple and Wisdom appeared wearing a white toga and holding her gold-tipped wooden spear. The goddess looked almost as pale as the statues that stood on every corner of the temple. Her beautiful face a cold mask of hate and repulsion and pride, her brown eyes held a piercing glare at Medusa; one that can make the wildest of beasts whimper with fear.

Medusa was a priestess of the temple at the time, she had loved Athena with all her heart, and to her Athena the perfect image of female strength. But she had been young and senseless; oh the things Posiedon promised!

She shook with fear as Wisdom sneered. She tried to hide her naked form under Posiedon, who was yet to pull out of her. And just as tears brimmed her eyes and stutters formed on the tip of her tongue, Posiedon, looking nothing short of bored, sat up, leaving her void and vulnerable. She could not look away from Athena — despite her shame and her urge to cover her nude milky skin.

It was that moment, staring at the disgust in her goddess's eyes, that Medusa truly felt the gravity of her recklessness.

   "Give it a break Athena, darling, don't look so glum". It was that cocky bastard who broke the silence. The bastard who had cooked it all up and readied it just for her to fall into.

   Athena ignored him completely as she continued to glare at the poor naive girl.

   "You have betrayed me, child. You have abandoned the only home you had for cheap pleasure. And for that, you shall never know a home. You have dismissed the sacred stone that you lay upon. And for that you shall forever associate with unholy stone. You have relished in the looks given for your beauty. And for that you shall never savor such looks. For this moment's desire you shall suffer a lifetime.

   I, Athena, Daughter of Zeus, Wisdom Maker, Olympian Goddess, lay my curse on you Medusa, Daughter of Ceto. You are no longer my priestess, and you are no longer human. Your place is with the Gorgons now, as they are your new sisters. Enjoy your life as a monster".

  
   Just as the young priestess was beginning to beg for mercy, her curse began. She felt herself grow, her back crack, and her scalp burn. And that was all she felt before she woke up a monster....

   As the centuries passed, Medusa's name spread, terror bringer, hedious monstrosity, snakes for hair, hater of men, evil seductress, and, the worst one, Athena's gorgon.

Medusa lived bitter ad painfully pregnant from the sea god — unable to give birth, as she is now a monster. She lived with her two and only kin, her gorgon sisters: Stheno and Euryale. She continued to follow the foreign instincts of luring men in and turning them into granite; into a monochrome shade of gray she had come to hate, their faces a frozen image of pure terror. She had feuled those instincts by defending herself from men who thought of her death only to bring them prize and fame.

And only one man could achieve that glory, backed by the gods, gifted by them. Perseus. The man with a face so beautiful she would have almost felt guilty for destroying.... If she could have.

He had snuck in when Stheno and Euryale were napping. He had used Athena's mirror shield and never looked at Medusa directly. She felt the blade peirce her neck. She felt every inch of her writhing in pain, her unborn child struggling now more than ever to get free. She felt her white wings lather in her blood. The serpents on her head slithering and hissing with pain.

She remained in the state of misty inert consciousness, peering into her body from above. As her mortal form finally went limp, she watched as two figures emerged from the blood that was quickly spreading from her neck onto the grimy scaly floor coating the feet of nearby statues. 

A white winged horse, and a baby boy. "Pegasus," she whispered, "and Chrysaor. My sons!"

That moment, she felt her body chill as a breathy chuckle of goddess floated in her ears. "You thought death would save you, monster," Madusa had almost forgotten the feel of terror that Wisdom's voice once planted in her, "We shall see how you like regrowing a head."

Medusa collected whatever that was left of her strength to yell;

"No! You cannot do this to me, Athena. You are the real monster."

"SILENCE!" the goddess's voiced boomed, "you may have forgotten your place rotting away in this cave of filth. This is your place, witch. And do not make me remind you of it again. Enjoy immortality, gorgon."