by Holub, Joan
Medusa looked at Andromeda, and felt a sudden urge to protect her. She couldn’t let her get her hopes up. They’d only be dashed later on. “There’s no way you’ll be chosen for the wedding party,” she explained bluntly. “For one thing you’re a mere mortal. And your family has no connection to Hera or Zeus.”
Andromeda stared at her, looking wounded. Then, for the second time that morning, her face crumpled into tears. “Meanie!” she wailed.
Aphrodite and Athena, who were now playing a Go Fish card game with their sea nymph buddies, looked over at Medusa, aghast. Others turned her way too, including the gossipy Pheme. And Mr. Cyclops. Medusa didn’t get it. What was so mean about telling the truth?
Clumsily she patted Andromeda’s head, trying to pretend all was well. But the girl only ducked away from her and cried harder still. Though Medusa felt bad about upsetting her, she wasn’t about to admit it. Not with everyone watching!
Before Mr. Cyclops got involved, Dionysus spoke up, “Hey, buddy,” he said to Perseus. “Why don’t you take Andromeda over to look at the hero game board?” When the two kids were gone, he drew Medusa aside. Keeping his voice low, he said, “What is wrong with you? Why do you always attack people like that?”
“You know she doesn’t stand a chance of being in Zeus’s wedding,” Medusa protested. Why was he scolding her? It wasn’t fair!
“She’s a little kid!” Dionysus said, nodding toward Andromeda. “What’s wrong with letting her enjoy her dreams?”
“What’s wrong is that those dreams are totally unrealistic,” said Medusa, putting her hands on her hips in annoyance. “I’m only trying to save her from disappointment.”
Dionysus shot her a look of disbelief. “So instead you crush her dreams? Nice going.”
Leaving her, he went over to Andromeda. “Guess what?” he told her. “I’m going to be in the wedding on Sunday.”
“You are?” Her tears slowed and she gazed at him in awe, as if she thought him the luckiest godboy ever.
He nodded. “And I get to choose any girl on Olympus or Earth that I want to walk down the aisle with me.” Bowing, he said in a formal tone, “Princess Andromeda, will you do me the honor of being my bridesmaid?”
Andromeda’s face lit up with a huge sunny grin. “Really?” At Dionysus’s nod her smile widened even more and she curtsied prettily. “Yes, kind sir.” Then she began twirling around with glee, chanting, “I’m gonna be in the wedding; I’m gonna be in the wedding!”
Suddenly Medusa felt a little greener than usual. Green with envy, that is. Almost as if she wished he’d asked her instead. But that was crazy! She couldn’t be jealous of a five-year-old. Besides, it was Poseidon she liked, not Dionysus.
Why was Dionysus so critical of her, anyway? With everyone else he was always joking around. A lump formed in her throat. It must mean he really disliked her. She blinked back a few tears. Well, so what? she thought the very next minute.
Ping, ping, ping! Almost as if it knew how much she wanted to escape, the lyrebell rang right then. Pretending nothing was wrong, Medusa grabbed her stuff and marched out of the room with her head held high.
8
The Gray Ladies
PERSEPHONE’S MOM’S FLOWER SHOP IS DOING all the flowers for the wedding,” Pheme told Medusa that afternoon as they sat together in the cafeteria. “And they’ve decided that the bridesmaids will wear orange roses.” As usual, her words drifted above her head in little cloud letters. “That’s going to look great with my orange lip gloss, don’t you think?”
“Um-hmm,” said Medusa. Taking a bite of ambrosia salad, she watched Poseidon out of the corner of her eye. He, Apollo, and Ares were each trying to balance their empty nectar cartons on one fingertip as they headed for the tray return.
“And Hera will be carrying a big bouquet of them, so we’ll all match. Doesn’t that sound awesome?”
“Um-hmm,” said Medusa, sipping her nectar. Because Pheme had been talking nonstop, she hadn’t eaten a single bite of her nectaroni so far. In fact, she was speaking so fast that a huge cloud of her puffed words now hung over them. She sure was excited about being a bridesmaid!
Without warning Pheme changed the subject. “So, what was up with that Andromeda incident in Hero-ology this morning?”
Since Pheme had been in class and heard everything, Medusa had expected the question sooner or later. But by now she’d learned to speak carefully around this girl. Because anything she said would be all over school in a flash. “Oh, that? That was no big deal,” she replied, trying to downplay it.
“No big deal?” Pheme echoed, like she couldn’t believe her ears. “Andromeda announces that she’s the most beautiful princess in the sea, and you say it’s no big deal? The sea world doesn’t take such boasts kindly, you know.”
Medusa looked at her in surprise. That was the incident she meant? Not Andromeda’s crying fit because Medusa said she’d never be in the wedding? And not the blow-up between Dionysus and her? Phew!
When Pheme finally took a forkful of her nectaroni, Medusa sneakily batted away those last cloud-words that had risen from the girl’s lips. She hoped no one else had had time to read them. That’s how rumors got started!
Whoosh! Suddenly the door to the cafeteria flew open and a strong gust of magic wind rushed in. Summons for Medusa Gorgon! it roared.
Every eye in the room turned toward Medusa, and several kids pointed in her direction. She held her breath. Was this wind going to deliver her Immortalizer necklace? Her excitement rose as the wind headed her way, swirling around students in its path and making them squeak in surprise as it tangled their hair and lifted the hems of tunics and chitons.
When it stopped at her table at last, the force of it blew away the remainder of Pheme’s words. Then it imparted its message:
This command I bring your way—
It comes from the three Ladies Gray.
You must go to their office today.
You must depart without delay!
Await an escort in your room. . . .
Okay?
Medusa nodded. What else could she do? You couldn’t disobey a summons from the Gray Ladies. They were the school counselors, and MOA rules said you had to drop everything and zip over to their office when called.
“Somebody’s in trouble,” Pheme sing-songed. “What did you do wrong?”
“Nothing,” Medusa said defensively. “It’s probably just a mistake.” She’d never been called to the counselors’ office before. Not even after she’d stolen Athena’s Snakeypoo invention earlier in the year. But truthfully this summons could be about any number of things—including Saturday’s shoplifting. She gulped. Before Pheme could pump her for secrets, Medusa asked the wind, “Is that all? You didn’t bring any packages for me?”
Packages? No!
Now away I blow!
With that the wind whooshed from the cafeteria again. “Were you expecting a package?” Pheme asked nosily.
Medusa jumped up. Pheme had a way of getting you to spill your guts if you weren’t careful. She had to get out of there, fast. “No. Just thought I’d check. Take my tray to the return for me? I have to get going if I’m to catch my ride to the counselors!” Then she bolted off.
“Okay, but dress warmly!” Pheme called after her. “Rumor has it that their office is in a distant land and it’s freezing cold!”
Distant land? What a pain! thought Medusa as she took the stairs up to the dorms. That explained why an escort was being sent for her. As a mortal, long-distance travel was difficult. It was embarrassing that she couldn’t whip around in a magic chariot or use the magic sandals like immortals could. Having to depend on others was the pits!
In her room she grabbed a long forest-green wool cape from her closet. Pulling both ends of the black ribbon tie at the neck of the cape, she yanked hard to fasten it shut. A long piece of ribbon snapped off.
Just then a knock came on the door. Stuffing the torn ribbon into her pocket, she called out, �
�Who’s there?”
“Your ride to the Gray Ladies’ office!” said a voice. Athena? Sure enough, when Medusa opened the door a crack, she saw Zeus’s daughter standing in the hall. She was all bundled up in a wool cape too. Hers was blue-gray and matched the color of her eyes. Even though their rooms were only a few doors apart, Athena had never come to her room before, and vice versa.
Medusa quickly stepped into the hall so Athena wouldn’t accidentally get a peek at her supercrush bulletin board. She locked the door behind her. “I guess your dad is making you give me a lift, huh? Like he made you help Heracles with his twelve labors that time?”
Athena’s eyebrows rose. “That was supposed to be a secret.”
“Pheme told me.”
Athena let out an exasperated huff. “Ye gods, that girl finds out everything eventually! Well, we’d better head out.”
Neither of them said another word till they reached MOA’s bronze front doors. Athena was probably annoyed because she had to take her, Medusa figured. Reaching into the big basket of winged sandals near the exit, they each grabbed a pair, and then slipped them on once they got outside.
The laces on Athena’s sandals magically twined around her ankles and the silver wings at her heels began to flap. Gently she lifted a few inches from the ground. “What’s wrong?” she asked, seeing Medusa’s reluctance.
“You know I can’t make these fly by myself, right?” Medusa gestured to her wing-sandaled feet, which were still firmly rooted to the ground.
“Yeah, I know.” Athena reached out a hand. “C’mon.”
Though she hated that she needed help in order to travel, Medusa took her hand. Immediately she rose to hover weightlessly above the ground as well. Remembering the ribbon she’d stashed in her pocket, she pulled it out. Using her free hand and her teeth, she managed to use it to tie their wrists together.
“You don’t have to do that. I won’t let you fall,” Athena promised.
Ignoring her, Medusa finished securely double-knotting the ribbon. “No offense,” she said at last, “but I don’t trust anybody.” No way was she taking a chance that Athena might be planning to accidentally-on-purpose let go of her midflight. After all, the goddessgirl had been pretty mad at her when they’d talked outside the olive grove that morning.
“Whatever,” said Athena, rolling her eyes. “Let’s go!” And then they were off, skimming down the school steps. As they glided across the courtyard, the students they passed did double takes at seeing them together.
Medusa grinned. It wasn’t every day that other kids saw her hanging out with one of the most popular goddessgirls in school!
Just beyond the courtyard Athena whipped out a papyrus scroll the magic wind had given her with directions to the counselors’ office. The girls held it between them, studying it as they flew.
“These directions are so dumb!” Medusa grumped a while later. She read from the scroll: “‘Fly north until you get goose bumps.’”
“In that case we must be getting close,” Athena told her, shivering.
Realizing she was cold too, Medusa raised the hood of her cape to keep her snakes warm. By now the girls were flying high, their long capes billowing behind them. “We’d better find this place fast, or we’ll turn into two nectar pops,” she said.
Both girls looked down. Below them a gray-black sea churned. Floating icebergs dipped and rose in its choppy water. Medusa pointed to a building atop the largest iceberg. It looked like a giant upside-down bowl. An igloo! Carved into its roof were the words: “Office of the Gray Ladies.”
Seeing it, Athena nodded. “Let’s go down.” The girls dipped, then slowed, their feet touching ground.
Medusa worked at the knotted ribbon that joined their wrists, freeing their hands. Then they started to walk. “Whoa!” she said as she slipped on the slick ice underfoot. She and Athena grabbed on to each other, trying to keep from falling.
Athena laughed. “It’s like ice-skating!”
“Yeah, only I can’t skate!” said Medusa. Fog swirled wildly around their legs as they slipped and slid their way to the opening of the igloo. They ducked inside its long tunnel entrance.
“It’s warm in here,” Athena said in surprise once they stood inside the main part of the igloo.
Medusa nodded. “I didn’t expect an ice house to be so cozy.” They were in some kind of little waiting room, and there was a door in the wall that she figured must lead to the actual counseling office beyond.
Both girls loosened their sandal straps and looped them around the silver wings to keep them still. Then they shrugged out of their capes and hung them on the coat hooks on the wall beside the only two chairs in the small room.
“Queen of Mean! You may enter!” three voices chorused in harmony. The girls jumped at the sound. Medusa shot Athena an embarrassed look before she scurried toward the door marked ENTER. Did the counselors know about her secret comics? she wondered nervously. And if so, what other secrets did they know about her?
“I’ll be out here,” Athena told her. Sinking into one of the chairs, she reached over to the side table, picked up a scrollazine called Thrice the Advice, and buried her nose in it.
Medusa opened the door and entered the counseling room. Inside there was no furniture, just three lumps of scraggly gray moss that looked kind of like haystacks. There was a small one, a middle-size one about Medusa’s height, and a tall one.
“Hello?” she called, shutting the door behind her.
Suddenly the tall lump spoke. “Give me the eye!”
“What?” Medusa asked in surprise.
“The eye. Sisters, the eye! Who has it?”
At that a hand darted out from the smallest lump. It was holding a round white ball. With a squishy sound it popped the ball into the top part of what Medusa figured must be its face. Then the ball blinked at her. Eww! It was actually an eyeball! Its big gray iris looked her up and down.
“So you’re the counselors—the Gray Ladies?” Medusa asked.
“What does she look like?” the tall lump asked, ignoring Medusa’s question. “Oh, give me that thing so we can all get a look at her.”
Squish! The small lump popped the eye out again. It was passed from gray lump to gray lump so each could stare at Medusa in turn.
These had to be the counselors, but they weren’t made of moss or hay after all, Medusa realized. That scraggly, tangled gray stuff was their hair! It was so long, it dragged on the ground and completely hid them from view. And for some reason they shared only a single eyeball among them. Talk about weird!
Under their gaze Medusa was suddenly reminded of the Olympic Games when Artemis’s brother Apollo had come up against the Python. That menacing serpent could read minds and had used the ability to defeat its competitors.
But counselors were supposed to help students, right? Not trick them. Then, why had they snooped into her mind and found out about her comics? Would these lump-ladies guess her most embarrassing secrets? Like her Poseidon crush? Her snakes’ shoplifting? Her desire to be immortal and popular? She didn’t trust them one bit!
The tall lump spoke up. “Don’t be afraid to trust.”
Medusa jerked her head back. Definitely reading her mind! Which made these ladies not only weird and tricky but creepy, too! Her snakes curled in tight circles around her head, as if trying to form a cap that mind-reading waves couldn’t penetrate.
Now the tall lump-lady plucked a white square from the center of her “face” and passed it to the middle lump, who stuck it onto her own face. It took Medusa a few seconds to realize that the square was actually a very large tooth. Not only did the lumps share a single eye among them, they also shared a single tooth! They passed the tooth around and were only able to speak when they stuck it into their mouths. Which made them not only weird, tricky, and creepy, but also dentally challenged.
“Don’t be afraid to make friends,” the middle lump suggested before passing the tooth to the small lump.
“Don�
�t be afraid to be nice,” it said, adding its two obols worth of advice.
Godzooks! Sure, Medusa didn’t bother making friends or being nice, but it wasn’t because she was afraid of those things. Was it? Whatever! She certainly didn’t need these strange counselors telling her what to do.
“Can I go now?” she asked defiantly.
The Gray Ladies looked confused. What had they expected her to do? Bow down and thank them? Say something like, Yeah, great idea! From now on I promise to be super-nice so that everyone will like me and want to be my friend? No way!
Like most people, these lump-ladies just didn’t get her. But at least they didn’t seem to know all of her secrets, as far as she could tell. Maybe her snakes’ mind-reading-proof cap was working.
“Go if you wish,” said the small lump, who still had the tooth. “But think about what we said.”
“Uh-huh,” muttered Medusa. “I’ll get right on that.”
“Good,” said the small lump, sounding pleased.
Like Medusa’s own mom, these lump-ladies didn’t seem to know sarcasm when they heard it. As she stomped out of the room, Sweetpea, her cuddliest snake, rubbed lightly against her cheek, trying to calm her.
“Let’s go,” Medusa told Athena, not looking at her.
“Can’t. I’m next,” Athena replied, putting aside her scrollazine and hopping up from the chair. At the same moment the three Ladies called out, “Daughter of Zeus! You may enter!”
“Huh?” Medusa stared in surprise as Athena walked past her through the small door and into the office. Since Athena hadn’t contradicted her belief that Zeus had sent her only as an escort, Medusa had assumed she was right. But it looked like the Ladies must’ve commanded Athena to come here for counseling too! Why on Earth and Olympus would a brainy, pretty, popular goddessgirl like Athena need the advice of three weird, creepy, dentally challenged counselors?
There was one way to find out. Sneakily Medusa pressed her ear to the closed door. Unfortunately, Athena spoke too softly for her to hear what she said. But she could hear what the lump-ladies advised.