Daughter of Medusa

by Jessica Cage

  Delilah relaxed and lowered her weapon just slightly, “Your mother, is she okay?”

  “No, she died when I was young. She was outcast by our people for being with a god, I was treated the same.” Carter confessed.

  “Damn the gods!” Delilah yelled and for the first time Carter braced but quickly relaxed again.

  “Woah, there ya go! Whatever that was, it didn’t make me sick.”

  “Good, now, can we go now,” Iris looked at Delilah, “Or are you going to try to attack him again?”

  “No, I have no issue with the man.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Well, thanks.” Carter shrugged. “I can get us a quick lift to Asa, now that the cats out of the bag about magic. Hope you two aren’t afraid of dragons!” He opened the door and waved the two on.

  “Ares,” Iris said, and Carter shrugged, it was a messed up situation all around.

  The three used the service stairs to climb to the roof of Carter’s building. Carter had called in a ride that would be meeting them to take them where they needed to go. When Asa and Ares went to war in the middle of downtown Chicago, they revealed all the supernatural realm to the world. Once that was done, there was no turning back and because of that, the creatures who were once hidden, no longer made any attempt to conceal who or what they were. The sound of massive wings moving through the air drew their attention to the sky. Two large dragons came in for a landing on the roof with a heavy thud. One remained in his large form while the other shifted to a human state.

  “Jax,” Carter called out as he approached the man. “Thank you for coming.”

  “Of course,” he eyed the women that stood behind Carter, “You know usually I don’t offer rides but when the cargo is so…precious, how could I say no?”

  “Trust me,” Carter laughed as he followed his eyes to Delilah, “you don’t want to go there!”

  “She’s trouble huh?” Jax waggled his eyebrows.

  “The worst kind.”

  “Well, you know, I always liked a girl with a little bite.” The dragon shifter joked but kept his distance from the woman who looked him over with a critical glare.

  “This one just might bite your head off!” The two laughed as Iris and Delilah finally joined them.

  “So, where to?” Jax asked.

  “We’re headed to Ogygia,” Carter smiled widely and waited for the recognition to hit. He nearly fell out laughing when expression on Jax’s face changed.

  “The fictional island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea?” Jax scoffed. “Right, so where are we really going?”

  “It’s not fictional, its real, and its where Asa is.” Carter corrected his friend.

  “And how the hell do you expect us to find this uncharted island?”

  “With this,” Carter pulled out a small blue stone from his pocket. “She gave it to me, told me if I ever needed to find her, this would show me the way.”

  “It’s like the staff that brought you to me,” Iris looked at Delilah who simply nodded. If she spoke, it would likely drive the dragons, who were both male, insane and she didn’t want to do that as much as it pleased her to watch Carter suffer before.

  “Okay, well, let’s see where this thing takes us,” Jax winked at Delilah and in return received a grimace that told him his advances would be unwelcomed. He shrugged, turned his back and let his dragon reemerge. Once in his other form he allowed Carter to climb on his back, Iris and Delilah hopped aboard his unnamed friend.

  As they flew, they passed a plane full of shocked passengers who gawked at the spectacle of dragons carrying people. Iris waved at a small child who frantically waved back until her mother slammed the window cover shut.

  Below, the earth looked still, calm, but there was evidence of the growing turmoil on every corner. Though they’d tried to cover up what happened, it was impossible. With social media and live videos, there was no way they would have been able to erase the memory of the supernatural battle that had destroyed half of downtown Chicago. Even if they could have found a way to explain the outrageous amount of damage to the city, there was no getting ahead of the media coverage. The cleanup crew quickly switched to take on the role of the damage control crew. Iris thanked the stars that it wasn’t her job to deal with the panicked human population. War was coming, she and every other being could feel it. It would get ugly, and she hoped like hell that they would be able to survive it.

  Though they couldn’t hear what Carter said, they could see the stone he held, it got brighter and brighter as they tore through the sky toward the sea. What would have taken a plane ten hours, the dragons covered in four. Five thousand miles of earth took them from Chicago to a small piece of land that sat between the islands of Gozo and Malta.

  Jax and his friend dropped the trio off and quickly left them on the island. They flew off into the distance but would remain nearby until they were no longer needed.

  “Is this it?” Iris asked as she stretched her legs. Straddling a dragon for four hours was no easy feat.

  “There,” he pointed. “Gozo, that was originally Calypso’s home.”

  “Seriously?” Iris stared at the island, that like most of the world had been taken over by the human population. “Asa is there?”

  “The stone is humming. She said it would do that when I found her.” He handed it over to Iris who felt the vibration in her hand and could hear the soft hum that came from it.

  “So, where is she? We are here, it is humming, where is she?” Delilah asked and Carter flinched as a knee jerk response, but he felt fine.

  “I don’t know.” His response was full of his frustration.

  “Did she give you any other instructions?” Iris asked.

  “Nothing,” he thought. “She said the stone would guide me to her, and the sea would let her know that I was here.”

  “The sea is supposed to tell her you are here? How?” Iris looked out at the water. “Do we yell at the sea to let her know? Yo, sea. Please tell Asa we’re here for her!” She screamed and then looked back at Carter who rolled his eyes. “Well, that doesn’t seem to be working.”

  “May I see the stone?” Delilah held out her hand and Iris gave it to her. She then threw the stone, with a force that sent it flying miles away from them and landing in the dark waters.

  “What the hell?” Carter yelled, “Why did you do that?”

  “The sea will tell her we are here, the vibration, the humming it was a message that could only be translated by the water.” She rolled her eyes disappointed that he hadn’t figured it out. “Now we wait for her to answer.”

  “You better hope you’re right,” Carter frowned. She’d just thrown his only hope of seeing the woman he loved into the sea. What if she was wrong? It would be lost to him forever. Before he could get too deep into his wallowing, he heard her. The happy melody called out from the sea. His song, the one she sang only for him.

  “She’s here!” He smiled and scanned the horizon for her figure. A few moments later, from the sky above, Asa landed in the form of the Sphinx before returning to her true self, the siren, Calypso.

  “Shit, you weren’t joking,” Iris blushed as she took in the nude body of deep honey that was only covered by long, dark, wet hair.

  “Asa,” Carter greeted her in the name she preferred though she hadn’t pulled her mask to cover her true self. “You’re here.”

  “I told you, if you called, I would answer.” She held out the stone to him that no longer hummed. “You should be a lot more careful with this.” She allowed him to tuck the stone safely into his pocket before she pulled him into a hug. “I’ve missed you so much!” She kissed his neck and nuzzled into him.

  “I’ve missed you to,” Carter grinned. “How has it been out here?”

  “It’s not what I remember, the water is different, the life beneath it is a lot angrier. I’ve been trying to make things better, but a lot has changed. It’s exhausting, but it feels so much better with you here!” She hugged him again and then s
aw the two women who watched them. Her voice took on a slightly jealous tone, “Carter, who are they?”

  “They are friends,” he released his hold on her and turned to Iris and Delilah. “Iris is from Oikos, we grew up together and Delilah, well she’s kind of from your time, or your original time.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “My mother was Medusa. I was taken to another realm and hidden. I’ve returned to kill Athena.” Delilah gave her the short and simple version.

  “Gotcha, and you’re here now, because of what?” Though she’d been given a clear explanation, she was still skeptical of the women she hadn’t met before.

  “We need your weapon,” Iris admitted keeping with the clear cut tone of the conversation. “The god killer.”

  Asa laughed, “Right, and you think I’m just going to hand it over to two complete strangers?”

  “We just want to borrow it; we’ll bring it right back.” Iris pleaded.

  “Carter, are you serious?” Asa stepped back from the man she’d missed from the moment she left him. “You finally come to visit and it’s for this?”

  “They need help. Athena is back and has been back for a while. We can sense her, but no one knows where she is exactly. If they can find her and take her out, that’s one less god we have to worry about later.”

  “I don’t know,” Asa turned her focus to the two women. First she eyed the toned build of Iris. The woman towered over her and her broad shoulder said she was a fighter. A lot about her stance reminded Asa of Carter. She trusted Carter, he trusted Iris, was that enough? Then she looked at Delilah, the woman with the oddly dark eyes and still appearance. Even in the modern clothing she could tell that she was out of her comfort zone. She was about business, she had a goal, a target, and Asa could remember that feeling. She remembered how it consumed her every thought for centuries. Still her instinct was to say no, until she saw the medallion that hung from Delilah’s neck. “Where did you get that?” She pointed to the necklace and stepped closer to her.

  “What?” Delilah looked down and touched the piece that she’d worn her entire life. “This was my mother’s.”

  “Liar!” Asa screamed and her body trembled. “Where did you get that?!”

  Delilah quickly took a defensive stance, her own body vibrating as her staff appeared in her hand. “It was my mother’s!” She repeated, though her stance was that of someone ready for battle, her voice remained controlled. “It has been with me my entire life. Given to me at birth. The witch Lehela is the one who told my watchers to make sure that I kept it.”

  “Lehela?” Asa calmed, she took a deep breath and frowned. “That woman is involved in everything!” She stepped closer to Delilah, “May I see it please?”

  Hesitantly, Delilah removed the necklace and gave it to Asa. Asa laid the metal piece flat in her hand and without explanation, she began to sing. Her siren song, in a tone that would cause no harm to anyone, this particular song was a key. The medallion held something inside, a message. When she finished the soft song, the medallion vibrated and lifted from her hand. It stood in the air and spun in quick circles that created a melody of its own. Asa and the others listened to the song that rang out and when it ended, Asa fell to her knees with tears pouring down her face.

  “Asa,” Carter was by her side, “are you okay? What is it?”

  “That song, that voice,” she looked up at Delilah.

  “What did it say? Who was that?” Iris asked.

  “It was my mother.”

  “Your mother?” Delilah’s face was painted with her confusion. “Who is your mother? Was she my mother?”

  “No, my mother was Callirrhoe, a nymph like me. Well, she was a nymph, I’m technically a siren. None of it makes sense, but you’re from that time, you know how it is.” She wiped the tears from her face. “To hear that voice again, that melody, my heart it soars and breaks a million times over and over.”

  “What did she say?” Delilah smiled, wishing that she could know that feeling.

  “She said that I’m supposed to help you. To listen to the sea and it will guide us where we need to go next.”

  “So, you will help us?” Iris perked up.

  “Yes, I suppose I will.” Asa held out her hand and the weapon that they needed, the god killer, appeared. In the center of the handle just beneath the base of the blade, the jewel her mother had given her shone. It danced with the life of the souls which would remain trapped inside forever.

  Iris reached out for it, but Asa pulled it back and the sword vanished again. “I’ll be keeping the weapon for now,” she frowned at the eager hand that still reached for the blade.

  “Where are we supposed to go first?” Carter asked.

  “We?” Iris spoke, “I’m sorry Carter, but I don’t think this is a trip for you.”

  “What?” He looked between the three faces which all held mirroring expressions of pity.

  “I really think this entire thing is supposed to be like girl power, women united. That’s how Lehela wrote it in her journal. There was no mention of a man, no mention of you.” Iris thought back over her studies which had been years of preparation for the journey they were setting off on now. “No, Lehela was very thorough and if she saw you being a part of this, well she would have included it.”

  “What about needing me to get you to Asa?” Carter grunted. “Lehela obviously didn’t write that in her notes.”

  “Yes, and you’ve done that now. So, maybe you can get Jax to scoop you up and take you home? We’ll return to Chicago when we’re done.”

  “Why do you get to go? You’re no immortal, this would be dangerous for you.”

  “Yeah, but I’m eternally bonded to one,” she lifted her shirt to show the snake mark that was mid dance.

  “What the hell is that?” Carter peered at the mark and when it moved again, he stepped back.

  “That is the reason I am going with them, and you are going home.” She dropped her shirt and pat him on the shoulder. “But really, thank you for helping us get to this point. We couldn’t have done it without you”

  “This is total bullshit.” Carter looked over his shoulder to Asa who he wanted to pull into his arms.

  “Perhaps, but that’s the way it is.” Iris shrugged and moved away from the man who’d become entranced.

  “Carter,” Asa smiled as she stood from the ground where she’d been kneeling and allowed herself to be drawn to him. “I will come home to you when this is done. I’ve learned that here, I have a new home now, and it's with you.” She kissed his lips softly and felt the fight drain from him. “Once this is over, I will return to you.”

  “No fair with the siren impulse thing.” Carter could feel it, her will, her siren, caressing him and convincing him to give in to her desires.

  “Anything to make this easier for you,” she kissed him again, but this time he didn’t let her go with just a soft peck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him. His hand became lost in the coils of her hair as she climbed further into his arms. When he finally released her, he knew that he’d made the wrong move. What was just the soft nudging of a nymph had become the full assault of a siren. Her desire for him, and her want for him to return home to safety nearly drowned him as he already struggled to catch his breath from their kiss.

  Carter didn't want to give in, he didn't want to leave Asa again, but when she looked at him like she did, he couldn't deny her. She’d told him that he wasn’t fazed by her magic like others because he was a demigod, but he wondered how true that was because his feelings and actions were conflicting. His body moved away from her and to the dragon who had returned, though his mind was screaming for him to stay with her. As he climbed onto Jax’s back he looked at the three women who happily sent him away. Asa stood at the head waving at him and blew him a kiss. He nodded to her and smiled. With two strong strokes of his wings, Jax took the sky carrying his unwilling cargo and leaving the women alone on the little island.

>   “What’s our plan, ladies?” When Carter was out of view, Asa turned back to the wide eyes of Iris and Delilah.

  “Step one is you putting some clothes on,” Iris laughed. The wind had kicked up and blew the hair that kept Asa’s nudity hidden over her shoulders revealing to them what was once left to the imagination. The siren stood before them, completely naked and showing the world everything she had to offer.

  “Oh, sorry.” Asa laughed. “It's been a while since I’ve had to worry about covering up. The fish don’t care about bare breast!”

  “No problem,” Iris said, but blushed and turned her eyes towards the horizon. “No problem at all.”

  Delilah smirked and shared an amused look with Asa. She however did not turn away, she decided instead to drink in the visage of Asa's true form, Calypso. She'd spent years reading about the siren and to see her in person brought her great pleasure.

  Using a bit of her stored magic, Asa waved her hand, and what was once a nude body was covered from head to toe. “Better?” She asked and Iris slowly turned back towards Asa.

  “Yes, thank you.” She chewed her lip. “I’m not sure if I want to know how you did that.”

  “We all have our secrets,” Asa winked.

  “You should try to figure out why you have such issues with nudity,” Delilah said poignantly to Iris. “Why does it bother you so much?”

  "I don't have issues with nudity, I just…” Iris trailed off.

  "Next steps ladies," Asa saved Iris from the prying mind of Delilah. She realized that the topic wasn't a comfortable one for their human helper. This wasn't the time to delve into each other’s personal preferences for life. It was pointless anyway; Asa already knew what Iris' issue was. It was pouring from the woman in unmistakable waves.

  "Right," Delilah produced the documents Iris had given to her and handed them over to Asa. “According to Lehela, we have to find four titans. Their locations are marked on the map. They will help us take down Athena. Without them we may not survive.”