The sudden shy nod as he blushed took me by surprise, not expecting him to act so bashfully at having this remarkable talent acknowledged. Turning away from the statues for a moment, I cupped my hand against his cheek and met his eyes with a smile.

"You shouldn't be so shy about your abilities. It takes honest skill, effort, and a fair dose of natural talent to create something this amazing. Although, I must admit... I have never seen anyone portray Medusa and Perseus quite like this before," I spoke slowly, hoping that he understood more of my words than he didn't, or at least that he understood the feeling behind most of them. "Not that I don't like it, of course! It's just unusual to see not just a change of gender, but also changing them from enemies to... friends?"

"Medusa? Perseus?" He questioned, honest confusion on his face as he looked at me. A confusion I didn't understand. How could he have created these statues if he didn't know who the two were?

"Surely you know about Medusa and Perseus," I slowly spoke, the words sounding questioning even to my own ears as I looked between Medein and the statues. "Depending on legend, she was either one of three sister gorgons who could turn people to stone or one of Athena's priestesses who was either blessed or cursed into the form of a gorgon after... something horrible happened to her. You have to know the legends! I mean, you have statues of them right here, even if the gender isn't correct!"

I flinched a bit when I realized I had raised my voice to the point I was just shy of shouting at the young man before me, softly murmuring an apology as I tried to calm myself down. I don't know why I was becoming so agitated at something as simple as a 'genderbend' of a pair of mythological figures. Honestly, why did it even matter to me? It's not like it was a life changing event to have him do something so meaningless as this.

That would be like saying that someone remaking a movie would undo everything the original movie did, unravel all the stuff that came from its creation. As if the entire world was so easily changed by something so simple as what amounted to one person's fanart.

~~~~~~~~

He could barely believe his ears. Had those arrogant humans really twisted the truth so much after his imprisonment on this island as to turn Percia's legend into a male? And himself? Medusa? They had called him Medusa? And to claim he had potentially been a priestess of all things if he understood (y/n) correctly! How ludicrous!

No, he may have once been one of the favored few of some select gods and goddesses, but he had not paid homage to any particular one of them over the rest. And that had been long ago, before he had given his attention to Percia, admittedly turning from them somewhat in his efforts to save the female's would-be lover.

Perhaps that is why they changed the legends, not liking the fact that not only had a woman and a monster saved them and their kingdom but said woman had 'seduced' their princess away from the suitor that their king had selected for the said princess. After all, it would be unpleasant for their kingdom if word got out that their princess had refused to accept the marriage that would ally them to the neighboring kingdom and bring peace and riches to both the royalty and the citizens.

Not that the snob of a prince they had picked had seemed to care about the princess, too busy drinking and chasing after tavern wenches to notice his would-be bride blushing at the first female to ever capture Medein's attention. And his heart.

"Percia, not Perseus. She was too good for them and jealousy caused them to twist the truth to suit their desires," he spoke his thoughts like they were the truth, and likely they were.

After all, there could only be so many reasons to alter such basic facts like gender. And men had always preferred to have their heroes be as similar to themselves as they could. Strong men to look up to and raise their sons to emulate, meanwhile their daughters were taught to cook and sew as if that was all they were good for at the time.

But Medein knew the truth and no matter how bitter he was at Percia's abandonment of him, he wouldn't be so hateful as to keep the truth from at least one human. Especially since it was because of her that he had been able to meet his beautiful (y/n). It seemed twisted how it was only because he had been imprisoned on this island for so many centuries that he was able to meet the one that he was now sure was in all likelihood his soulmate.

The only one who could ever make him feel complete. His (y/n). How could he ever imagine life without her by his side? It seemed impossible these days, unnatural to even consider such a thing. The last time he had even spent a second thinking about the possibility of her even leaving him behind, he had felt a cold emptiness fill him before he had shaken it off and spent the next several minutes just staring at her as if to memorize every detail of her features.

He'd promised himself he'd never contemplate such horrid ideas again. And if anyone other than (y/n) herself brought such a thing to his consideration, he would make sure they never did so again. A statue had no voice to speak such blasphemous words aloud.

~~~~~~~~

I would have thought it was simply Medein misunderstanding what I was saying, if not for the strong conviction I could see shining in his eyes. He knew what he was saying, although I had no idea who had taught him such strange ideas about a centuries-old legend. Why would they change something as simple yet profound as the gender of two pivotal characters in the legend?

And what else had they changed while they were at it?

--------

It had been hours since things had grown quiet between us, Medein doing his best to share his version of the mythology that encompassed Medusa and Perseus. Or as he claimed them to be, Medein and Percia. To imagine that he seemed to believe himself to share his name with a monster, although not as monstrous as some imagine according to his beliefs.

His version of Medusa seemed more... Vulnerable somehow, having been lead at first to believe he had found someone who cared for him, even if not as much as he had come to care for Percia. He had spoken of how he was unsure what curse was used to trap the 'monster Medein' on the island, but I admit that my attention was caught when he came to that part.

I would have to be blind not to notice the various similarities between the legend and the man before me. How long had he been living here that he had either changed the legend in his mind to fit his life or had changed his life to match the legend he'd been told before being lost on this island? Had he really believed himself to have been cursed? To have been trapped forever until I rescued him?

I was unsure which idea was worse, to change a legend to match your life or to change your life to match a legend. I could only hope that whichever one it was he had convinced himself of, he was able to recover from it. I didn't want to contemplate losing him to a delusion.

"Medein, let's go back to town... I don't want to stay here anymore..." My voice was barely a whisper, yet in the silence of the cave, it seemed almost painfully loud. It was impossible to miss the way Medein winced at my words.

--------

I could feel my heart break a little more each time I closed my eyes, the image of Medein's face as I'd closed the door to his room burned onto my eyelids. Even now I could see the hurt as he knew I didn't believe his story of Percia and the monster called Medein.

But how could I? The tale of Perseus and Medusa had centuries of lore behind it. It would be like someone coming out with a new version of Romeo and Juliet with major changes to the characters and storyline and saying that it is the true story and we had all been duped with the version we had been reading.

I resolutely ignored the small voice in the back of my head saying that history, much like mythology, was written by those in charge, the ones who won the wars.

~~~~~~~~

He was running out of options as quickly as he was running out of time. Medein could only guess at how much longer he had before the bracelet lost the last of its strength and the truth would be revealed, whether or not he was ready to show (y/n) the truth that she refused to hear from his lips.

Sure, he'd played at it being part of the legends she seemed used to hearing about, although a far different version from what she had told him was the 'real' legend. It had hurt that she had dismissed his tale so easily, but at the same time, he could understand her reluctance.

After all, what woman would want to have to admit that the one she cared for, who cared equally for her... was the monster that had killed dozens, even hundreds, of men and women over the centuries? He wouldn't blame her if she ran when she finally found out the truth and could no longer deny it, when he changed before her very eyes once the last of the magic ran out and he couldn't hide his true form any longer.

At the same time, he feared it happening, still unsure if she was protected beyond the bracelet's power. However, something deep inside of him whispered that she would be safe, that his gaze would not turn her to stone as it had so many others. That she was protected just as Percia once was, the blessings of the gods having kept her from harm.

To think that the tale told in current times had made them enemies, having him fall because of something as wishful as a mirror. As if he would be affected by his own power so easily! No, it would take something far more than an accidental meeting of his reflection to turn him to stone.

But he was sure that it had made them happy to twist the truth so, to make him seem so much weaker than he was, so much easier to defeat. They had likely been enthused at the idea of him being dead rather than simply trapped.

However, it didn't matter any longer what reason they had for changing the truth into lies. What mattered was how he could ensure that (y/n) was safe when she saw him, how he could get her to stay long enough to hear the truth and actually listen this time. He needed her to understand why he had kept what he was a secret from her. As long as she listened to him, gave him a chance to explain, then it would be okay.

Even if she chose to leave him behind afterward, unable or unwilling to stand at his side.

.

.

.

He could only hope that he would be able to let her go if she made the choice to leave. Because he knew that forcing her to stay would break her heart as much as her leaving would break his own.