Medusa opened her eyes, seeing two fishes swam past her. I’m underwater?

She closed her mouth but didn’t panic. Not even her snakes panicked.

Part serpent, she could breathe as long as she could. But she still needed to breathe air.

She immediately swam up toward the surface and emerged. Fresh air entered her lungs as she gasped over the salty water.

While keeping herself floating, she looked around in the middle of an ocean under the night sky. However, she wasn’t too far from land.

On the left side was the shore, but beyond the shore were tall buildings in sparkling lights. All rectangular and one of them barely touched the sky.

Medusa doesn’t recognize the buildings at all. They didn’t look like any structure she remembered before Athena transformed her into an abomination. It has been a thousand years when she became imprisoned in the Tartarus. The age has changed since she was gone. Or she appeared in a unique country, far from her old home. Where ever she was at, at least she was free from the Underworld.

She quickly swam toward the shore. Her scepter still in her left hand.

As soon as her bare feet touched the sand, she crawled out of the water. The slight waves splashed against her from behind.

After she crawled farther from the water, she let herself rest on the sand. Feeling the fresh air and cold water relieved her.

In the Tartarus prison, there was nothing but hot magma and rocks in the sultry air. No food or water to satisfy her hunger, even if the dead doesn’t eat. All she ever tasted in the Underworld were ashes and salt from the rocks.

Back on the Earth, she was alive and breathing. Breaking out and using the scepter’s power to escape was worth it.

Now free, it was time for her to fulfill her plan. Finding a solution to avenge herself.

She rose and brushed the sand off her rear. While staring at her green skin on her arms, she realized she might start a mass panic if they see her true form. Guards will attack her without mercy. She will be back in the Underworld without another chance to escape. She needed to disguise herself, to remain hidden from the foolish humans.

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She glanced at her scepter and waved it over her head. While mumbling in the Greek ancient tongue, yellow sparkles rained down upon her from the scepter. Warm energy filled her up as her skin glowed.

Her green flesh vanished, leaving her with tan vanilla skin. She stroked her hair, feeling it was smooth and long without being her snakes. And she noticed the color of her hair was brunette.

Perfect!

In her human form, she could easily walk among humans without being seen as a monster. She also bet she looked like her human self before she was turned. She remembered having long brunette hair and light tan skin. Indeed, she was beautiful, until Athena took it away from her. The disguise might bring her back some memories, but it will protect her from human eyes. If only she could see her human form in a mirror.

She walked across the sand toward a wall of green hills on the edge of the beach. Feeling the soft grass below her feet felt better than the ground in the Underworld.

At the top of the green hill was a street in front of the buildings. Strange vehicles drove by, making loud noises. They have four wheels, but horses pulled none of them.

The people walking on the other side wore strange clothing too. From where Medusa lived in the living world, the Greek people wore togas and silk dresses. Here, each person wore shirts and pants in a variety of styles.

The time of mankind has changed since the gods left the humans alone. But all that was about to change when Medusa sets her plans into motion.

She walked down the sidewalk into the city. More noises and the smell of smog was everywhere over the crowd of humans.

So much was going on around Medusa. She felt dizzy. Fortunately, she spotted an alley and strolled through it.

The alley was a little dark but less nosy. No humans were in sight too. Just garbage cans, litter in small puddles, and the walls were bricks. At least some places were peaceful and a little quiet.

Halfway in the alley, Medusa approached four men, standing against the walls. They looked bored until they looked at Medusa.

“Hey baby,” said the tallest man with big muscles and a black tank top on. “Looking for a cosplay convention.”

Medusa didn’t understand what the black man said. But it looked like he was checking her out because of her gray peplos dress. “I am only passing by. Do not disturb me.”

The skinny man stared at Medusa’s scepter. “That is a nice shiny object you got there. You should sell it to us.”

Medusa shook her head. “My possession is not for sale.”

The tall black man pulled out a knife. “Then we will just take it from your cold dead body.”