iconoclasmyth

People may not be what they seem. Mythical creatures too.

She woke up with the frozen touch from the conductor on her shoulder.

"Tickets miss, please."

She handed it to him briskly while looking outside at the moon and great landscape that passed fast by the window. The ticket was creased and she would had been embarrassed if she hadn't other more important things to occupy her mind. She needed to arrive in Stedfast to meet her peers. Soon out of the young Hunters Academy, Zaya was anxious to show her talents at the force.

On the television the famous case was all over the news. A terrible murderer killed his victims with untraceable poison. Coroners were having trouble separating murder and natural death and so far, all they knew was the substance was unknown. A beautifully tall woman was being interviewed by a journalist.

"We're doing all we can to find this killer. We believe she maybe hiding in the Stedfast area right now. Residents, beware."

"She?" The journalist interrupted.

"Yes. We believe Medusa may be behind it."

Before Zaya could find out more, the broadcast was cut short and all lights went out. The adrenaline rushed through her and she could barely believe it. Stedfast, her train. She yelled 'Praise the Gods!', and startled most of her cart mates. So young and already part of such an important hunt, she thought. But what to do next?

The conductor went through the seats, trying to appease the passengers, speaking closely and calmly to each one, eyeing her intently. But before they knew it, light were restored and a faint smell of burnt copper came from behind the television set. Still she felt to excited to go back to rest, her feelings matched by those around her, in the light of recent news.

She leaned her head on the window, watching the woods outside. Medusa. She dreamt of the day she would catch her. She would definitely be a part of the Hunt, with the killer being so close. In her killing fantasies she would chase her, both riding fast on their horses. She would throw the perfect arrow that would both knock Medusa out completely, keeping her powerful weapons shut, forever. Strangely enough, none of her victims had turned to stone, so Zaya thought she was working on the sidelines, enchanting others to do her bidding. If only the news had stayed on longer.

"Most passengers were asleep and failed to notice, but Zaya, still groggy, noticed a hooded figure standing on the platform. The mantle covered its user face and the gold lines drawn across the fabric was the only thing truly visible in the dead, dark night outside. Zaya thought of the kind of power someone like that had, to make a commercial train stop in the middle of its journey, just so they could be picked up."

It was the middle of the night, and the dim aura around the flickering bulbs had soothed her. But suddenly, and in the middle of nowhere, the train slowed and stopped at an abandoned station. Most passengers were asleep and failed to notice, but Zaya, still groggy, noticed a hooded figure standing on the platform. The mantle covered its user face and the gold lines drawn across the fabric was the only thing truly visible in the dead, dark night outside. Zaya thought of the kind of power someone like that had, to make a commercial train stop in the middle of its journey, just so they could be picked up.

She felt as if her energies had been drained. Was is the training in the morning? The curiosity about the person boarding would have to wait, she was in desperate need of some coffee. The person, whoever they were, entered the train and placed their single bag on the holding compartment above. She watched as the cape flowed beautifully, leaving traces of neon color behind it. Zaya stood between the isles, hypnotized by the colors and the movement. Snapping out of it, she began making her way to the food cart. She would pass right through the enigmatic person, and she wished to peek a look. As she moved she noticed the people around her seemed dead asleep. Some, weirdly enough, looked more dead than asleep. No one moved. Chest were not moving.

"What in Zeus name is this?" She whispered, her voice slurred. She approached a person whose arm hung outside their seat in the middle of the isle. She touched his hand and it was freezing cold. She recoiled and looked around her. Dead. Those people were dead.

Her heart raced and the colors she had seen coming from the mysterious person's cape were now spreading. The windows on the train were bright pink, the floors bright green with touches of blue and yellow. She felt her finger tips tingle. In the back of her head she blamed the events on the arrival of... Who was it?

"Hey, you!" She screamed, but her voice sounded strange, too low, almost like audio in slow motion. "You, there! Who are you?" She looked around at the bodies on their seats. "Are you ok?" She asked as a reflex of her training. Things were just coming out of her mouth, she held on to chairs to keep from falling as she approached the person in disguise that now stood in the corridor, watching the Amazon stumble.

As Zaya glimpsed inside the hood she noticed a mask. And inhuman eyes.

"Medusa!" She yelled, but her voice was nothing more than a vague murmur. She lounged an awkward attack on the mythic figure, but ended up landing face on the ground, a meter away.

"Foolish girl." She said, stepping over her and moving in the direction of Zaya's seat. As she did, she unhooded herself and leaned on each dead passenger, allowing each of her snakes to bite them. Zaya, weekened by the fall and seeming tiredness could only turn on the floor and watch it.

She couldn't believe that was to be her end, watching innocent people murdered while the culprit fed their lifeless bodies to her disgusting head snakes. She could see through the small glass window on the door that led to her cart, on the other end of it, the conductor approaching, unaware of the danger that awaited him as soon as he entered that space. She tried to scream to save him, but her mouth only opened, no sound came out of it.

He walked in and Medusa locked eyes on him. He had a dagger on his hand and lunged on her. The altercation was messy and between her foggy eyes Zaya couldn't make out much. All she saw was a small serpent fly through the air. It was horrifying. She did not fear for her own life, but for the life of that brave man who stood between her and the devil.

The conductor was overpowered soon after the fight began. He tried fleeing, running towards Zaya who laid in the corridor, unable to move. He screamed, his face covered in blood and his tearful eyes screamed desperation. Both would meet their end soon, him first. She finished him by allowing all remaining serpents to feed on his face, something Zaya couldn't watch.

She thought 'I'm next.', and avoided opening her eyes. She thought of Cerberus and Hades and whispered soundlessly 'I'm ready.'.

She felt the prick of a serpent's snake and nothing more. She waited, eyes closed, for death to come. But minutes later all she could feel was the power of her limbs returning, the movement of her fingers and toes, arms and the movement of her legs. Finally, her back lifted her just enough so she could pull herself up and watch as Medusa made her way through the seats to continue the activity the conductor tried to prevent before.

"You are not killing them, you're saving us."

Medusa was focused and hard at work and wouldn't answer. After she had finished inoculating all that still had the faintest sign of life, she uttered. "I'm not the villain here." and her eyes traveled to the body of the man that laid dead in front of Zaya.

"Him?" She asked, shocked.

"My old assistant. I fired him after I realized he drained my serpents while I slept. He turned their healing powers into venom. He disappeared and the murders started soon after. I've been chasing him for months. Here." She leaned over Zaya who recoiled by instinct. She took her wrist and allowed another serpent to bite the artery. Zaya squirmed but the antidote worked quickly and she was on her feet in no time.

"I couldn't save all of them, some were already gone. You're different, stronger, but by morning the survivors should be up."

"What will you do?" Zaya asked, unsure of what to do next.

Medusa fixed her pantyhose underneath the skirt. She murmured something like 'son of a bitch ruined my stockings' and went back in the direction of her seat to fetch her case.

"I need to go, but you should tell them what happened here."

With a swift movement she jumped out of an opened window, leaving Zaya to relive all the moments from the past night and thoroughly reconsider all her certainties about people, Gods, and especially unfair positions she had of widely unpopular women.