Hiss

You mortals got it all wrong. Again.

When will you stop believing what the young, gorgeous, Apollo-inspired warrior tells you?

I begged to be changed. I begged to be removed from the haunts of men.

I was raped! What did you expect me to do, just die?

I wanted to. You can't say "no, thanks all the same" when it's a God that's knocking on your hymen. I had pledged myself to a Goddess that is known for accepting only virgins to Her mysteries, and that was stripped away from me as quickly as the clothing was ripped from my body. I begged Him not to do this to me. I knew my life would be over. I would be seen as tarnished forever, thrown out of the temple to scratch the itch of someone more powerful than myself. My own parents would never take me back, they would see me as a failure and soiled goods.

Do you think that Athena, being the Goddess of Wisdom, would just cast me aside? She was angry that Her domain was breached. She was furious that Her sanctuary was violated, and by her uncle no less! She was the One who held me while I screamed, She's the One who cleaned me up, and She's the One who carried me to a council of war with the other priestesses to contemplate revenge.

Because when the Goddess of Wisdom is involved, revenge will be served bitterly snow-cold, or not at all.

She also summoned Amphitrite. Make no mistake, the Gods rule only because the Goddesses aren't annoyed enough to take the reins. Yet. And there's more than a touch of "this is what you wanted, you stupid mortals, so this is what you get" thrown in for extra punishment.

There are rules, you see, in the governance lands. Though I wanted His member on a platter, that cannot happen. But Amphitrite is never one to trifle with. Sacrilege within the confines of a space sacred to another is not to be tolerated. He couldn't retreat behind neither the "but she was so beautiful I just couldn't help myself," nor the "she led me on, seducing me within sight of my realm" defenses. The temples have walls, and we were far from any salt water. Amphitrite can overlook some things, but not this.

She took it upon Herself to exact personal revenge. She is a shape-shifter, and She took my old beautiful, perfect form. And wore it for a millennium, following Her husband wherever He went, so He could take no other lover without Her knowledge and consent. And She did not give it. And when He turned to Her to satisfy His desire, knowing She knew, She would change Her form to mimic my own as it is now, then let it take the form of decay while He was still engaged, so that her organs would spill out and her skin would rot. Over, and over, and over, to satisfy His pleasure for a full thousand years. She made sure He could take no self-pleasure either, that member was Hers or nothing. I heard He was miserable, and He took out His frustrations in sending hurricane after hurricane to the mainlands. His own daughters made sure those storms only killed menfolk, to everyone's surprise. It is amusing what is written down, and what is not, by the menfolk who claim to know all.

To this day He does not know why He raped me. Athena suspects the Erotes were playing with Eros' bow, or deliberately joggled Eros' arm when He shot. They have remained suspiciously silent on the matter, and it is because of what became of me. They wanted no part of either punishment.

Those ancient folk considered beauty of form to be the highest honor, and therefore the surest sign of purity of heart and spirit. One wonders how they missed the sociopaths - or did they just change the stories to make them appear ugly, with external flaws to match the internal? I, who lived this story, wonder myself sometimes. Narcissists are named after Narcissus, you would think they might have delved into this a bit further.

Look at the justification of one of Zeus' alleged lovers. Shower of golden rain? Zeus may be randy, and persistent, but even that one is a bit gaudy. I wasn't there, but I can see a poor half-wit shepherdess being forced into a situation so very like mine. And when she returns the flock to town, obviously pregnant, and is asked questions, how would she describe what happened? "He peed in me." How soon before the town helped raise an exceptionally beautiful child, and eased her conscience by convincing her that it was not her fault, and with her mind not being all there, it wasn't long before the story of "some stranger rapist" became "Zeus in disguise who got you pregnant with this beautiful baby" via a golden shower of "rain." Both fluids come from the same orifice, so it's not a stretch.

Yes, it was That Child. But it's my turn to tell my side of the revenge, so you'll have to wait.

Amphitrite took care of punishing the god. Athena decided to punish the men. Not the women, the men.

I was disgusted with myself. I hated being beautiful if this is how men saw me - a thing to be possessed, to hurt, to savage, without guilt or remorse. Even to see the other girls look at me with pity. Me! I used to be their darling, the one chosen to become High Priestess eventually, and that was all taken from me by a being who didn't even care. I begged to be changed into a thing that men would not desire, and that men couldn't hurt.

Athena listened to me. And Athena whispered to me about Revenge. And Change. And Vindication.

It was a long time till I entered that far-off cave, and the irony is not lost on me. Till that day, I was free to walk where I wished, and I did. I walked in brothels, in smelly taverns, on the decks of invasive ships. I walked to other countries, and walked in barracks, and in palace halls, and into towns with bad reputations. I walked into thieves' dens, and past gathering armies, and especially into any temple dedicated to... him. I will not speak his name.

No one could stop me.

Eventually, I got tired of it all. Immortality is always gained at the cost of fear, and pain, and suffering. I saw it all play out before my eyes, over and over. Wisdom is gained by experiencing even worse, and I often wondered what Athena suffered to gain her aegis.

Athena heard my world-weary sigh as the prayer it was, and took me home.

My sisters welcomed me gladly. Chthonic deities care nothing for shape, only what is left when Selene's dark tresses give way to rosy-fingered Eos as She wipes away the vestiges of evil from the shadows it haunts.

We didn't lurk there. We would roam where we would, or at the direction of one God or another, if They had the temerity to approach us. Even the high Gods are not immune to discomfort when gazing upon us. It takes centuries to heal from our wounds. But it was our home, it was comfortable, and it was a place to rest.

I chose to fade, eventually. Let those warrior wannabes think they could kill any of us. Athena Herself gave him the placebo weapons to "overcome" me. Sure, he cut off my head. It grew back, eventually. Have you never wondered why my head looks like an octopus'? My mind, like my aquatic friend, is not just housed in my braincase. And, also like my aquatic friend, my limbs grow back. All of them.

We still roam. Some of those amazing sculptors? Look again. Maybe you're not allowed to get to close to the classic statues because you'd be horrified to discover what the curators know. There's a reason they use x-rays so judiciously on statues. There's a reason why they would like the Elgin Marbles back so desperately.

I still wander. I still lurk. And sometimes, if the Gods smile, I add another curious collectible to my garden. I love checking online for famous rape cases, and meeting the perpetrator in person. If they're released. If they're never caught, but highly suspected. My home is welcoming, and my gardens are beautifully adorned.

Watch your back, little human. Maybe I'm there. Dare to turn around, before you violate another woman?