Even before Perseus embarked on the perilous journey to slay Medusa for her head, many a men came looking for the vicious, feared gorgon with snakes on her head. Most, if not all of these men had only one intention: to slay Medusa. A lot of them tried, almost all failed. Perseus was the only successful one. The Queen of the Gorgons was really one tough monster to defeat. Surely, we all know this for a fact that whoever gazed into the glowing green eyes of Medusa would be turned into stone, never to be brought back to life again. That was the fate that the brave warriors who set out far from their homelands to slay this terrible creature met.

Medusa wasn’t always the ugly being that books and stories depicted her to be. In fact, she was once a very beautiful maiden who was cursed, thus leading to her looking like what we know now. Medusa was scorned severely by her brand new face and right now, she was in search of something that could reverse the curse.

“My beautiful face. Where has my beautiful face gone!” Medusa would cry every morning feeling her bumpy, toad-like face and skin, her hair that slithered and hissed and looked at her hands which were once as smooth and white as milk. Medusa couldn’t help but cover her face in humiliation.

“How have I become so ugly?!” her tears streamed down her face as she reminisced about the times when she was a beautiful maiden and all the men loved her and were after her.

“If only I could come up with something to reverse this horrendous spell.”  Medusa’s face lit up at the sound of her idea and stormed back into her house, down into her basement where her laboratory was. Medusa lived in the gritty side of the city, where the less fortunate and morally incorrect people lived. Medusa wasn’t incorrect morally though but when it came to those who crossed her, you know what powers of hers she used.

Medusa was a brilliant chemist who knew alot about spells and chemicals. She would’ve loved to share her knowledge with others but most people for that matter feared Medusa. And Medusa didn’t have to wonder why.

“What if I create a potion to reverse my looks?” Medusa said, rummaging through her books and her chemical closets. It had been quite a while since she last performed an experiment so she was quite unfamiliar with the apparatus. Medusa made her way around the laboratory, confused. Even the snakes on her head were confused and began to hiss in dizziness. When Medusa finally got a hold of herself and had her memory refreshed, she figured the laboratory out and tried to look for a book about reversing curses.

“Let’s see...ah! Here we are! Reversing physical curses.” Medusa opened the book on the page and began to set her apparatus up.  She was really desperate to get her old face back.

“Even just during the day.” Medusa looked at the ingredients and tried to find them in her extensive potion and substance closet. It did her heart good to know that she had every single spell substance there was.

“Good thing I collect these things.” Medusa touched the glass which automatically swung open, revealing her potion collection which was, in short, more than 300 bottles of ingredients picked from nature. Medusa picked the rose, the lilac, and the rabbit’s heart.

“Perfect.” she said as she gazed upon the flasks and vials. Taking them to her experiment table, Medusa read the procedures on the book and poured in the necessary ingredients to make the perfect look reversing potion.

“Rose petals.” she dropped a couple.

“Lilacs.”  The potion was starting to bubble and smell pleasant. Until Medusa reached for the largest container of the three: the rounded one containing the rabbit’s heart.

“Finally! The last substance.” Medusa kissed the glass container and slowly but surely shook the heart out of the container, making it fall onto her chopping board. Medusa took a knife from a cubby hole underneath her table and used this to slice a part of it. After doing so, she dropped the small thing in the flask. The ingredients mixed by themselves, smelling foul at first but eventually morphing into the beautiful scented potion that she was to take to reverse her misfortune. The bubbly purple-pink concoction was poured into a small vial, just a small sample of it would do.

“Yes. Beauty shall be mine again!” Medusa cackled to herself. her eyes scanned the place and set on the instructions in the book. She chanced upon a warning at the bottom of the procedures. Medusa took a better look at it and read it.

“WARNING: This potion lasts only until 8 pm. Beyond that, you shall return to your old form.” this warning broke Medusa’s heart but willing and desperate to get her beauty back, the serpent-haired monster threw all caution to the wind and drank the potion in the vial straight up, down to the last drop. Medusa didn’t feel anything at first, making her doubt the effectivity of the potion.

“That wasn’t so bad.” she said. “I thought it would be worse.” Suddenly, a small whirlwind was starting to form at the bottom of Medusa’s feet. The whirlwind was gray at first and gradually increased in size and turned from gray to purple, the color of the potion she just drank. The mini tornado was soon as big as Medusa, totally engulfing her.

“WOAAAHHHH!!! HEEEEELLLPPP!!!!” The tornado swallowed Medusa up, making her completely disappear from sight. After rattling the laboratory for a good 15 minutes, the winds started to die down and disappear, revealing the new Medusa.

With the tornado gone, a pair of small, beautiful feet began to walk on the wooden lab floor. The white feet led up to a pair of lovely legs and eventually, revealing the face of the beautiful maiden that once was the most feared gorgon. No more were her hair of snakes. No more were her piercing green eyes that turned men into stone. No more was the toad-like skin that covered her body. Just like before, Medusa was now the maiden she was several years back, even better.

And she came out in the person of Narsha.

“Oh my good Lord.” she said as she glanced over her arms and legs. Pure milky white skin. She touched her hair and joy filled her heart upon feeling actual human hair and not slithering, hissing reptiles.

Finally! I can glance at a mirror again! Oh wait, I don’t have any.  Narsha gleefully shrugged. She dashed out of the laboratory to greet her house and the world with her lovely face.

“Hello world!” Narsha yelped upon exiting the laboratory. She was so in love with her new form that she just had to show it off to the world. Narsha quickly went to her room to get dressed, hoping that some of the old dresses she had when she was beautiful would fit her as the curse had made her a wider, uglier monster. In her room, she opened the closet and there behold a whole cabinet of beautiful Grecian dresses, short ones that she could try on to show off her beautiful legs. Without hesitation, Narsha picked the shortest, most beautiful one and slipped it on, hoping to brag her brand new beauty to the world.

After dressing up, Narsha was ready to go. Actually, she wasn’t going anywhere. She was just set to go outside and show her new look off to everyone in the world. For the first time, she wasn’t turning anyone into stone. She could look at anyone (men, in that matter) and not see him turn into a breakable piece of rock.

“I’m a woman again!” cried Narsha. She stepped out of her house confidently for the first time and went strolling. That’s something she hadn’t done in years. In fact, Narsha was so beautiful that with each step, she caught the attention of many onlookers, namly guys. The men found themselves captivated by Narsha’s stunning face and beautiful body.

“Good morning beautiful!” hollered the flower vendor. Narsha heard this and instantly her heart fluttered. Narsha spun around and smiled at the flower vendor who flattered her with his kind words.

“Good morning to you too!” Narsha greeted back. Hypnotized by her beauty, the flower vendor picked a pink rose from his bunches and bunches of flowers and handed it to the newly transformed Gorgon.  

“Oh. Thank you very much.” Narsha smiled, blushing at the attention she received. Never had she been loved so much, at least in several years.

“My pleasure, miss.” he said. Narsha bowed down and continued her walk, immersing herself in all the attention she received.

On the other side of the city, there lived a handsome young heir by the name of Adonis in the person of Taeyang. Adonis had this face that could make women all over swoon. His appeal was endless and his personality was like gold. Though many women admired Adonis, he wasn’t on a mission to look for his one and only girl. To him, women were just a pain in the heart so the handsome young heir decided to just stay away from them.

One day, Adonis decided to visit the city to see his mentor who lived in the nitty gritty side. That mentor of his was a poor yet knowledgeable man whom Adonis enjoyed talking to. Whenever the young man felt bored, he rehashed his mind and filled it with information and stories courtesy of his mentor. His house wasn’t far away from the bad neighborhood so it was just a short walk away.

Narsha was still strolling and in the middle of her frolic, decided to grab something to drink. TH enewly transformed gorgon headed to the nearest cafe for some tea. Coincidentally, Taeyang was headed for the same cafe to get himself coffee. Taeyang wasn’t ready for the beauty that was to behold him.

Wow. I’ve not seen anyone like her before. Taeyang thought. He was greatly amused by her beauty, her aura glowing before him. Never had he seen such great beauty. Normally, Taeyang wasn’t the type to be captivated by girls but Narsha was a face not to be missed.

“Here’s your Earl Grey, ma’am.” said the vendor who was obviously drawn to Narsha’s beauty. Taeyang was magnetized but unfortunately, it was his turn to order, delaying his plan to talk to the lovely maiden.

Narsha sat by the window and sipped her tea, looking at the passers-by. The sun shone wonderfully on her, highlighting her features. Anyone that passed by her seat was immediately turned around to look at her, gazing upon her beauty. Taeyang himself was just about ready to be captivated as he was done with his order.

I hope she doesn’t have a date with her today. Then I’ll have to sit on that chair and talk to her. Taeyang fantasized. The handsome Adonis walked towards Narsha and asked if she was with anyone.

“Excuse me,” Adonis said, seizing the opportunity to strike a conversation with the lovely Narsha. The former gorgon shot her head up and smiled at him, intoxicating Adonis with desire and infatuation.

“Yes. What can I do for you?” Little did Narsha know that she was instantly spellbound by the man who was attracted to her and had been dying to speak to her. It was a mutual attraction at first sight. Rumors were true. Everyone who looked at Adonis was automatically drawn to him.

“I was uh...wondering...” Adonis, who was normally a smooth talking lad, found himself stuttering and out of words, nervous around beautiful Narsha. “Is this seat taken?” he speedily said, pointing to the chair across Narsha. Narsha giggled and blushed at his intent to sit with her and smiled.

“No it isn’t. Go right ahead. Unless you have company with you.” Narsha’s infatuation towards him was becoming obvious through the gleam in her smile and the twinkle in her eyes. Taeyang smiled and rejoiced in his head knowing that he had already mustered the courage to talk to her and was now seated across her, so close to her.

“I’m Adonis.” he extended his hand to her. Narsha shook his hand and smiled.

“Narsha. I’ve heard a lot about you. Though I never knew what you looked like until now.”

“Where do you live?” asked Taeyang. Narsha was struck speechless. She couldn’t tell Taeyang that she lived in the bad neighborhood where most mischievous creatures and evil Gorgons resided. Instead, she tried to lie to save face.

“Somewhere near Olympus.” she lied. “Near the gods’ place.” Taeyang was quite surprised because he himself was from a place near Olympus.

“Somewhere near Olympus, huh?” he said. “What a coincidence! I’m from there, too! Where there do you live?” Narsha was caught red handed. She had no idea how the place looked, more so where the houses were.

“Uhm... My place is kinda hard to describe.” Narsha said. “Too complicated.” Taeyang, who was hypnotized by her lovely eyes (instead of being turned to stone) just laughed. She was too adorable.

“Are you headed somewhere?” asked Narsha who changed the topic, diverting it to him.

“Yeah. I was going to go see my tutor who lives in that part of the city. The real dirty part.” Narsha was offended when he said ‘dirty part’ because it was in that part of the city where she really lived.

“Your tutor? You’re a student?”

“I want to become a soldier, too. But I have to feed the brain first.” Adonis smiled, his sparkly white teeth gleaming in the sun.

“You’re admirable.” Narsha leaned forward, putting her cup of tea down and resting her chin on her palm. “Shall we go?”

“Only after you have finished your tea.”  Narsha giggled as the two of them finished their beverages. After doing so, Taeyang and Narsha stood up with Taeyang walking over to her side to pull the chair for her in a gentlemanly manner.

“Thank you, Adonis. That was very sweet of you.” Narsha could already feel butterflies in her stomach. Her heart had been fluttering the minute Adonis came up to her. Together, the two walked out of the cafe and headed to look for Adonis’ tutor’s home.

While the two were walking, Taeyang couldn’t help but notice himself looking, glancing repeatedly at Narsha. Narsha in turn noticed her shyness. She couldn’t even spare a passing glance at the handsome young man whom she had just met. It was dumb, she knew, to trust a stranger but knowing that this was Adonis-the legendary Adonis-she knew she had nothing to fear. She may not have seen him before, but she heard that he was a kind, noble, and smart man.

The two eventually reached the Raindrop District, where the gorgons were. True to what people had been saying, it was indeed a dirty, destitute place. The houses were in shambles, people were out on the streets, it smelled of smoke. Honestly no place for decent people to be living in. Taeyang had no idea why his mentor decided to settle down here.

“Is this where he lives?” asked Narsha, pretending to be afraid. She was so used to this sight for it was the sight she had been seeing for the past few years of her existence.

“Yes.” Taeyang said. “Somewhere in here. Come on.” he cajoled her. Narsha and Taeyang walked through the slums, enduring evil stares from the onlookers. Narsha’s eyes seemed to be changing from brown to green, signaling  that she was a gorgon. Out of fear, the citizens turned away from her, hissing like one of the reptiles on her old hair. Narsha noticed this and immediately, the reality dawned upon her. Her potion wouldn’t last forever and she only had until tonight to be beautiful.

Perfect. Taeyang wouldn’t see me at night and he wouldn’t see me go back to my old form.

Narsha was relieved by that reality and kept her chin up at all times. She was confident in her beauty and with the fact that Taeyang would never know.

“Here we are.” the two stopped in front of a small bungalow that looked to be about 50 years old.

“This is your tutor’s house?” Narsha asked. The house looked eerily familiar to her. Seemed like a house that she and her fellow Gorgons attacked years ago.

I remember this house. This was where we kidnapped that girl, turned her to stone and broke her. We kidnapped her here. Or somewhere near here.  Narsha recalled the past. She brushed it off and placed the bad thought at the back of her mind and focused on what was before them.

“Oh. This is where your tutor lives?”

“Yes. He tells great stories. Most of them about the Gorgons.” Narsha’s heart skipped a beat and all of a sudden, her beautiful face turned pale white, like all the blood had been drained.

“Gorgons?”

“Yes. Gorgons. Horrible creatures they are.” Taeyang shook his head. “I dream of one day becoming a warrior to slay them and put an end to their reign.” Narsha’s heart was skipping, jumping, running before it exploded. She could just feel a heavy erosion in her chest resulting in a slight difficulty in breathing. She was just too nervous.

“Mr. Soo!” Taeyang called his tutor. He heard slight rummaging in the house, meaning there was someone inside. Footsteps slowly approached the door and finally it opened. A short, plump, jolly old man with a long, white beard appeared. His eyes smiled along with his mouth, making his rosy cheeks rise.

“Young Bae, my son! So glad of you to drop by!” said Mr. Soo. Immediately, Narsha recognized the old man.

Holy it’s him! That’s the man whose daughter we killed. Oh God. I hope this potion lasts forever! Narsha’s eyes changed in color, from brown to green. Mr. Soo looked at Narsha and smiled. He didn’t know that she was the very gorgon who killed his daughter.

“Why, I see you brought a friend with you.” he said. “Well come on in, the two of you.” Mr. Soo invited the two inside his house. Taeyang took Narsha’s hand, which was cold, and led her in the house of his dear tutor.

“Have a seat.” invited the old man. Taeyang and Narsha sat down on the warm and cozy couch. Mr. Soo sat in the rocking chair across them and began to tell the tale of the Gorgons.

“One of the stories that Taeyang often comes here for is the story about the Gorgons. He’s looking to become a warrior, you see. To train to defeat the Gorgons and-” Mr. Soo realized that he had not asked for the name of the young woman Taeyang brought with him.

“Before I proceed, do you mind if you introduce yourself, young lady?” he pleasantly asked.

“Narsha.” she said. Her eyes gleamed at him, unknowingly turning from brown to bright green. Mr. Soo’s smile turned into a pokerface upon seeing this but he opted not to say anything.

“Narsha. Hello.” Mr. Soo said without the smile. This bothered Narsha as he could have already noticed her Gorgon side.

“Alright.” Mr. Soo tried to divert his attention from Narsha back to Taeyang and proceed with his story, hoping that it would scare the mysterious girl into revealing her true self.

“Come on, tell her about the Gorgons. We’d love to hear it.” Taeyang urged his teacher. Mr. Soo was quite hesitant and suspicious of Taeyang’s lady companion. He found his mind questioning if she was really a human being. Nonetheless, he proceeded with his story.

“The greatest Gorgon and perhaps the most terrible of them all that I know is Medusa.” spoke Mr.Soo. Narsha’s face turned pale and her skin became quite clammy and cold. Mr. Soo looked over at Narsha who didn’t seem to be calm and looked nervous. Her eyes turned green and the pupils became larger, almost piercing. Mr. Soo noticed this all while Taeyang just focused on the story.

“These Gorgons were...” Mr. Soo couldn’t control himself any longer. He just had to tell Taeyang about what he had been feeling.

“SHE’S A GORGON! GET AWAY FROM HER!” Mr. Soo jumped out of his seat, angrily pointing a finger at Narsha, accusing her of being one of the most feared monsters in the land. Taeyang was taken by surprise and he himself stood up in defense of Narsha.

“Mr. Soo! Stop it!” Taeyang blocked Narsha from his mentor’s accusing finger. He took Narsha by the wrist and prompted her to stand up.

“She is a Gorgon, my son. Beware of her! She’s only fooling you!” warned the old man. Taeyang was having none of his and with Narsha, he left the premises. Mr. Soo continued to scream at him, warning him about Narsha’s true identity.  Together, they ran away.

“I’m really sorry for that, Narsha.” Taeyang apologized. “Let’s just go somewhere else. Somewhere quiet.” Narsha looked up at the sky and noticed that afternoon was soon fading away and begged Taeyang to be taken home.

“I want to go home now, Taeyang. Please.” Narsha said.

“Alright. I’ll walk you home.” Taeyang said but Narsha declined.

“No. I want to go home. Alone. Please.” Taeyang was quite puzzled by the way she acted but he allowed her. He had to let her go. Narsha ran into the night, far into the destitute environment where the Gorgons lived. Taeyang just looked down, disappointed.

Narsha was walking quickly into the darkness and from there, a green light started to glow from the darkness. Narsha saw her flesh slowly fading, corroding and turning into scales. Rough and bumpy her skin was starting to become. Also, her beauty was starting to fade and was morphing into her old self. Narsha was quickly turning into Medusa. Only a few meters away from her house, Medusa crawled, begging and crying for someone to help her.

“Help. Help.” she said. However, people were too afraid to even go near her for fear of turning into stone. Medusa then was able to stand on her own two feet and the kindness that came with being Narsha disappeared. A Gorgon was on the loose and anyone who dared gaze the woman with snake hair.

As Taeyang was walking away from the bad side of the city, he heard commotion going on behind him. The handsome Adonis quickly whipped around and saw people being turned into stone. He knew there was a Gorgon on the loose and the one thing that was on his mind was Narsha. Was she able to reach home safely or did she turn into stone?

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!” he heard a bloodcurdling scream from behind him and immediately dashed towards that direction. He was finally going to fulfil his dream of slaying a Gorgon. Though he had no weapons with him, Adonis pursued the slithering monsters and hoped to be able to tackle them with his bare hands and his smarts.

Sooner, more and more people were being turned into stone, others  crushing and crumbling. The green glow was still present and it got brighter and brighter as Taeyang drew closer and closer to the alley where the Gorgon was. There, he saw a lid from a trash can that was made of tin, making the reflection visible. Adonis grabbed this and shielded his face with it. As the handsome young scholar and warrior got closer and closer to it.

“Show yourself, you monster!” he challenged the Gorgon Medusa (who was once Narsha)  heard him and presented herself to Taeyang. She was in all her monstrous glory.

“You dare challenge me, Adonis?” said Medusa.

“How do you know my name?” Taeyang asked with his face shielded. He went closer and closer, still his eyes were closed.

“Your teacher was right.” Medusa spoke. Taeyang’s eyes grew with surprise. In his shock, he lowered his shield and opened his eyes. Huge mistake as he found himself gazing at Medusa’s green eyes. Slowly, Taeyang’s body was getting stiff and as he turned his eyes to his body, his arms and legs were turning into stone. Medusa mercilessly stared at him, piercing him with her killer eyes, even piercing his heart.

“Medusa...” he begged. “Are you Narsha, too?”

“So glad you realized it.” Narsha teased. “Wish you had when you met me.” The handsome Adonis was completely turned into stone, immobilized by Medusa’s stare. Turns out Medusa just used her beauty to lure someone into her murderous traps. With the handsome young man a statue, Medusa slithered over to his side and was just about to destroy him when she felt a slight pinch of guilt in her chest. It was then that she realized that she pitied him. Pitied his state.

I can’t do this. Medusa lost her anger and found it ultimately replaced by pity. The slithery Gorgon bent over, picked the garbage can lid up and looked at her reflection, thus turning her into stone.