Fluorescent lights beat down upon Medusa as she reached her arm into the glass enclosure. "Hello, Darling." She cooed, nudging the orange-spotted snake with the side of her gloved finger. Sweat beaded in the crease of her forearm from the red glow of the heat lamp. The enclosure was labeled with bold lettering.

"Ginger"

Pantherophis Guttatus,

Common Name: Corn Snake

"Come here. I'm going to help you feel better." Ginger lifted his head, tongue flicking in and out to gather Medusa's scent, then nudged her back with its snout. Ginger was on the timid side, but his recent lack of appetite had raised some concerns with his care team.

Medusa sensed his presence within her, the discomfort in his little body, the way he yearned to burrow back into the enclosure. With as much care as possible, she reached out with her power and urged him to come to her. Medusa knew he sensed her when his upper half lifted and his head tilted curiously to the side.

Medusa smiled. Ginger's discomfort quieted as a sense of calm and safety washed over him. He began to curl around Medusa's fingers. "That's it, come on." She encouraged as Ginger climbed up onto her lab coat-covered arm. Once he had safely mounted, She carefully lifted her arm and the snake out of the enclosure.

The needle was already prepped and ready in her right hand. Medusa concentrated on pumping the little snake full of love and safety, lulling him into blissful serenity. When she pierced his skin, Ginger didn't even feel it. He remained happily wrapped around her, none the wiser to the procedure. Pulling the plunger upward, Medusa waited until the syringe was full of dark blood before meticulously removing the needle.

"You'll be right as rain soon, I promise." She whispered, running a finger along Ginger's spine. His satisfaction was palpable in the air. Medusa chuckled as she lowered the snake back into his enclosure and commanded him to disentangle from her. If her initial diagnosis was correct, Ginger would be out of quarantine and return to his usual enclosure within the week.

Footsteps approached from down the hallway. Medusa already knew who it was before he entered. This particular scent mixed with expensive sandalwood cologne had become a comfort over the years. Medusa replaced the top of Ginger's enclosure and turned. Tristan, her research associate of almost six years, stood at the entrance to her lab. He grinned, a dimple appearing on each cheek. Medusa set the blood sample down on a nearby steel tray with a clink.

Tristan adjusted the strap of his bag with one hand. "Just wanted to let you know I'm heading out for the day." He raised a brow, tipping his chin suggestively. Never a day went by that this man didn't try to wrangle her into some outing. Six years, and he had yet to succeed. But he lingered a few more moments than necessary as if willing her to change her mind.

Medusa peeled off her latex gloves and stepped on the trash pedal to dispose of them. "Hold on a moment," she told him, then crossed the tile floor to her desk. It was bare of family photos and decorations. It was always temporary, and there was no point in getting comfortable.

Medusa bent over and pulled the bottom desk drawer open, the metal tracks scraping. A pile of purple and white tissue paper rustled as she gathered the perfectly wrapped gift and held it out to him with a smile. "For the baby."

Tristan's brows almost disappeared into his hairline as he smirked. His dark eyes flicked between the gift and Medusa. "You know," Tristan drawled, "Here's an idea—" He held up a finger when she opened her mouth. "Hear me out. What if you just came to the baby shower instead of working on a pile of paperwork I know full well you already completed?" He jutted his chin to the labeled folders stacked inside a wire basket. She had already finished them and double-checked her work. But that wasn't the point. The point was that there was a line. One she swore never to cross again.

She didn't meet his eyes as she said, "You know I don't socialize outside the office." Medusa busied herself with the pile of perfectly organized papers, mindlessly searching for a missing crossed T or dotted I that she knew wouldn't be there.

Tristan scoffed, taking a few steps into the lab. "And yet you know everything about my husband, always get a gift for Delilah's birthday and send flowers for my anniversary. That doesn't sound very removed to me." Tristan stared at her with an infuriatingly smug expression. He was endlessly persistent. Medusa huffed.

"Sending flowers to your favorite colleague is different from attending their baby shower and coming to Sunday dinner with their family."

"It absolutely is not." He laughed through his words, shaking his head. "You're impossible, you know that?" There was a fondness underlining his insult.

Medusa waved a hand dismissively. "I've been told." She'd been hearing the moment she landed on this damn planet.

"Well, if you change your mind, the invitation is over there." She didn't need to look to know he was pointing at the pretty cream cardstock invitation she'd tacked onto her bulletin board.

"I won't!" She called as he disappeared around the corner.

"Love you, Musa!" Tristan called back, waving as he passed the lab window.

"Goodbye!" Medusa shook her head in exasperation, but the beginnings of a smile tugged at her lips. She hated that she loved him, too.

The lab was silent save for the hum of electric lighting and machinery. Alone again. The way it was meant to be.

Medusa knew that it was for the best. Nothing good could come from letting Tristan any closer than she already had. He'd last seventy more years at most. She was eternal. No matter how desperately she wished she wasn't. It was better for everyone if she stayed away.

Medusa turned on some music and let the symphonies smooth over her troubles as she tended to her work. Ginger's blood sample was easily processed and set aside for testing. The task was a welcomed distraction from the ache in her chest. Better a little pain now than devastation later. Medusa reached up to adjust her hijab, cajoling her snakes to behave for a few more hours. When she reached the privacy of her apartment she'd let them slither free around her shoulders without fear.

A knock sounded at the open doorway. Medusa looked up from her papers to find their office manager, Lina, with her knuckles halfway through another tap. Medusa quickly turned the volume down until the song was only in the background.

"Dr. Sarraf," Lina greeted, the end of her sentence lifting in question. Medusa smiled. Lina was a timid grad student with the social skills of a homeschooled teenager. She was nice, but after a while, her fidgeting made Medusa's snakes grow restless.

"Yes, Lina. What is it?"

"Uh... There's a Dr. Liu here to see you from the British Natural History Museum? She wants to speak to you about one of her research projects?" Every sentence was a question with Lina, like wasn't sure about anything she was saying.

Medusa wasn't sure either. She glanced over at her sleeping computer monitor on instinct. She hadn't seen anything on her schedule today. "She didn't make an appointment?" Medusa frowned.

Lina shook her head, glancing back down the hall and shifting between her feet. "No, she and her associate were nearby and figured they'd take the chance."

There weren't very many drop-ins in the herpetology lab. It wasn't the flashiest Smithsonian department by a long shot, and the lab portion wasn't open to the public either. Medusa's brows furrowed. When she didn't respond, Lina continued. "Your schedule is empty for the rest of the day, but do you want me to make up an excuse?"

Medusa hesitated, dipping her toe into the idea and testing the waters. It wasn't like she had plans. Medusa shook her head. "No, that won't be necessary." She set her pen down on the table with a click. If she were to avoid appearing at Tristan's baby shower, it would help to have a distraction. "Send them in." It would be much better for her sanity than waiting for tests to process. Lina nodded and quickly made her way back towards the waiting Dr. Liu.

It wasn't long before three sets of footsteps sounded down the tiled hall. As the three passed by her window, Medusa caught sight of a tall modelesque woman with alabaster skin and flowing strawberry hair. Beside her was another woman with sleek dark hair that hid her profile. It wasn't until they rounded the corner that she saw them in full.

Medusa's breath caught in her throat. Her snakes hissed beneath her hijab, loud enough that it echoed throughout the room and agitated Ginger in her enclosure. The woman standing in her doorway was a living ghost. A face she hoped she'd never see again. With familiar almond eyes and skin pale as moonlight, Medusa would recognize Sersi anywhere.

Medusa was physically incapable of falling ill, and yet she felt as if she might vomit. It took a concentrated effort to force down the lump in her throat and address her assistant.

"Lina?" Medusa didn't break eye contact with Sersi. The red-headed woman beside her raised both brows in what looked like amusement. From the corner of her eye, Medusa saw Lina turn. Medusa's bones were rigid, muscles coiled tight enough that she thought they might snap. Her serpents were close to breaking free from their cover. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" Medusa's voice felt foreign, like some poor imitation of herself. "I can handle things here."

Lina's brows reached her hairline. "Really?" She glanced between Medusa and the visitors with a bewildered expression. Medusa finally forced herself to relax and pull her lips into a small smile.

"Yes, I'll see you on Monday." Medusa waved her away lightly. Lina tarried in the doorframe a moment more before tossing aside her suspicions and returning the gesture.

"Have a lovely weekend, then."

"You too." Medusa nodded. She held her smile until Lina was out of sight and long gone. Then it dropped like a stone. Medusa stood from her chair and rounded the desk. One hand trailed along the tabletop to steady her. "What are you doing here?" Medusa's hiss riled the reptiles in the lab. Lizards climbed the side of their enclosures, and the snakes curled and twisted restlessly. Sersi and the strange woman didn't flinch. Not like any mortal would have.

Sersi smiled as she looked Medusa up and down. "You look good."

Medusa lifted her chin and clenched her jaw. "I know." The air was thick with tension. Medusa felt trapped in that little lab, a snake cornered by two badgers. Medusa's eyes ran from Sersi to the other woman beside her. "Sprite, I presume? You always did love the red-heads." Sprite's grin was a punch to Medusa's gut. So achingly familiar that for a moment she was back in Mesopotamia on that rocky beach after their first victory.

Sprite huffed a bitter laugh, "Good to see you, too." Sprite's shoes clicked against the tile as they skirted the edge of the lab and lifted a long manicured finger to glide along the top edge of an iguana's enclosure. The creature darted inside its rocky cover.

Something inside Medusa's chest chafed at Sprite's casual demeanor. Medusa glared at Sprite's back, then whipped her head to look at a more subdued Sersi. "What? Did you finally pull your heads out of your asses long enough to realize I left? If you're here to bring me back, I would've thought you'd come a bit sooner." Sersi's eyes found the floor. At least she had the sense to look chastised.

Sersi shook her head. "We wouldn't be here unless it was necessary." Sersi's throat bobbed, and when she looked up again, there was a glint of sorrow in her obsidian eyes. "There have been some developments..." Her words hung in the air like looming storm clouds.

"The Deviants, they're back." The words jolted through Medusa as if a switch had flipped, some instinct to fight. Sprite hadn't even turned around to say it. They were always too blunt for their own good. Medusa's snakes rippled beneath her hijab, shifting the fabric off-center. Medusa cooed beneath her breath, urging them to quiet.

There was a pregnant pause. Sersi watched with patronizing pity, waiting for Medusa to respond. Sprite waved a hand, conjuring a mirror image of one of the tortoises that startled the real thing back into its shell.

Medusa rolled her shoulders back. "Last time I checked, you didn't need my help taking care of that." She sounded too bitter for someone who had moved on with her life. Medusa internally chastised herself. There was too much emotion swirling around her mind. She couldn't filter it all out before it left her lips.

Sersi sighed, "Medusa." Medusa flinched at the sound of her name, her true name. It'd been so long since she'd heard it. "Ajak is dead. Murdered by Deviants."

Ajak? Dead? How was that even possible? She was the best of them, chosen by Arishem to be their leader. The lab suddenly seemed too confined, too isolated. Medusa needed to breathe. She needed somewhere to go. This conversation was too charged with nostalgia and pain to take place in her office beneath the unforgiving fluorescents and whirring machines.

Medusa ground her teeth and snatched her jacket from the back of her rolling chair. "Come on. We're going for a walk." She didn't wait for their response or to see if they followed. Medusa strode down the familiar halls, ignoring any questioning looks from coworkers. She could care less what they thought of her now. She'd pack up her things within the week and never see them again.

The end of her temporary lives always came like a brick to a window, shattering the flimsy illusion of normalcy. There was a moment when Medusa knew it was over and she'd have to flee again. The instant they walked into her office, Sersi and Sprite had pulled the curtains on her life in DC.

Medusa pushed through the glass doors of her building and out into the crisp spring air. Immediately Medusa felt like she could breathe again. Perched on the edge of concrete steps, she looked out onto the paved path and the humans passing by in small groups of all ages. Children squealed in delight at the monkey enclosure and tugged on their parents' sleeves to watch the creatures move about.

Their joy was like a cut across Medusa's skin. A pit had opened in her stomach. Sensing the others over her shoulder, Medusa stepped forward and led them onto the zoo's main promenade.

It was full of families and tourists, all in town for the Cherry Blossom Festival that weekend. The white and pink blooms were at their peak, and the air was thick with sweet floral scents. Medusa knew that Sersi was analyzing her expression from beside her. She ignored it until she thought Sersi's eyes might drive a hole through her skull.

Medusa sucked in a breath and finally began the dreaded conversation. "How did it happen?"

Sprite pressed their lips together and tucked their hands into their pants pockets. "They found her home, killed her, and left her body in the dirt."

Medusa flinched. "Why weren't you with her?" Medusa was careful not to make it sound like an accusation.

Sersi let out a long sigh, her porcelain skin creasing with uncharacteristic distress. Sersi was always the most level-headed of them all. She approached every situation with compassion and serenity, never letting the chaos around her disturb the still surface of her mind and emotions.

Now, Sersi looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks. Her eyes flit around the park as if searching for any sign of a threat. Unease loomed over Medusa as they passed below yet another brightly colored banner advertising the Zoo's main attractions and upcoming events. Sersi cleared her throat before she began to speak.

"After you left, things between us began to deteriorate. The restraint on interference became almost unbearable for some. A few of us broke off from the others throughout the years, some on better terms than others. The rest stuck together for another thousand years, but after a while, it was clear that whatever threat the Deviants posed was no longer there. Ajak sent us off and told us that when Arishem called we'd reunite."

Medusa's eyes widened, and she looked between Sersi and Sprite's redhead illusion. "You've been separated? All this time?"

Sprite kicked a pebble down the path, their illusion momentarily flickering to reveal the adolescent body within. "Yup." Sprite popped the p ruefully. "No point sticking together when we have no purpose."

"We met up here and there," Sersi explained. "Sprite and I are living together in London right now. It helps to have someone who knows... you know." Medusa wished she did, but since she left the Eternals behind, none had ever been let into her life completely. Not willingly, at least. Those who did catch a glimpse wished they hadn't.

Medusa wanted to ask so many questions. Why were they the only ones approaching her? Where did the others go when they separated? Did Arishem know that their leader was dead? But she was no longer one of them. She settled for a weak condolence. "Ajak didn't deserve that fate. I'm sorry."

Sprite scoffed through their nose. "You say that as if we're the only ones who lost someone." Sprite's illusion evaporated in a flurry of luminescence, and there they stood, arms crossed in contempt. "Ajak was your family too." Sprite was just as Medusa remembered them. Their coppery hair, short and choppy, fell haphazardly over their forehead and behind their ears. They wore a simple loose-fitting button down and trousers rolled at the ankle and belted to keep from slipping off.

Medusa took a steadying breath of sweet spring air. The underlying scent of animals in their enclosures was ever-present. "I hadn't seen her in three thousand years. She was a stranger to me. You all are." Her words were poignant, betraying her false indifference.

Sprite halted abruptly, and the zoo spectators parted around them. They received a few curious glances at the disruption of the flow. Medusa stilled, sensing the bubbling fury within Sprite's stiff stature. Sprite practically spat their words like a curse. "That's Bullshit, and you know it. Ajak was our leader. She loved us — you, without condition. She was our mother! It doesn't matter how long it's been! We are still your family!"

Medusa couldn't quite meet Sprite's eyes, but she felt them like daggers through her skin. Medusa kept a tight rein on her tone so as not to escalate the conversation teetering into a fight. She was hyper-aware of the humans around them, watching Sprite's outburst from the corner of their eyes. Medusa frowned, a weight settling in her chest. "I left for a reason. I cannot claim a family that I've had no part in. I lost you all long ago."

Sprite tipped back their head and barked an acidic laugh. "You didn't lose us. You threw us away." Sprite turned to Sersei, their nostrils flaring. "Why did we even bother? We can do this without her."

Sersi gave a solemn shake of her head. Sersi was never one to resort to anger in conflict. She grew more reserved and sank into despair rather than lash out. Medusa raised a brow at Sprite's claim. "Do what?" What was there to do? Ajak was dead. There were no Eternals anymore.

Sersi was the one to pick up their stroll again and merge into the sea of zoo visitors. Medusa followed by her side, ignoring Sprite's scoff. "There's more," Sersei sighed. "When Ajak died... She chose me as her successor. To lead the Eternals."

Medusa frowned. She hadn't expected that at all. It made sense that there would be a successor, but from what she remembered, Ajak's lap dog would've been the obvious choice. Ikaris was practically her second in command already. "You?"

"Yeah, I'm just as surprised." Sersi shrugged, eyes lingering on a pair of lovers entwined on a park bench, laughing between sweet kisses. "That's part of why we're here. When I became the Prime Eternal, Arishem revealed his plan to me. The reason we were sent to Earth and the truth of our origins."

"The truth?" Medusa slowed her pace as a bolt shot up her spine.

"We were lied to." Sprite spat, their eyes burning with unbridled fury. "Everything we believed about Olympia, about Eternals, it was all fucking lies."

Sersi's eyes softened as she looked upon Medusa. An ever-familiar look of pity. The explanation to come became all the more daunting with that look. "We weren't the first of Arishem's creations. The Deviants were his first attempt at creating Eternals. They came with the same purpose as us. But when they realized what would become of this world if Arishem succeeded, they turned against him. They failed. So he created us. Beings incapable of evolution to bring about the birth of the next Celestial."

"What did they discover?" Medusa didn't want to ask. She could tell by the anguish in Sersei's eyes that nothing good would come from knowing. Sersi's throat bobbed as she swallowed.

"Earth is acting as an incubator for a new Celestial. They draw power from intelligent life, growing stronger with every human advancement. Until the Celestial is ready to take form and break free from its shell, destroying Earth and everything on it. It's called the Emergence." All three were silent, feeling the weight of Sersei's words like Atlas with the world on his shoulders. Medusa stared at her longest companions in this world in stunned silence. Sersi and Sprite studied her like mathematicians attempting to solve an age-old equation.

Medusa finally managed to untangle the knot in her throat to whisper, "Shit." All of it made so much sense, horrible, devastating sense. Knowing this, Medusa figured there was only one reason why the others would seek her out after all this time. "So, are you here to recruit me to save the world, or destroy it?" She thought she knew the answer already, but nothing was as it seemed anymore.

Sersi's brows lowered, and Medusa felt a nostalgic pain as she was pinned by a pleading look. "We can't let that Celestial break free." Sersi glanced around them, to the human families laughing and pointing, unaware of the threat lurking quite literally beneath their feet. But Medusa felt a spark kick up in her chest, burning in her lungs and throat.

"And why is that exactly?" Her brows furrowed, "The humans have done nothing but scorn and exile me. Why should I stand against our creator for them? If we fail to bring about this Emergence, we'll be as disposable to him as the Deviants. We'd be risking everything."

Sprite took a step closer, shaking their head so their blonde fringe flicked away from their face. "Arishem is the one who made us this way, Medusa. He's the one who gave us bodies that humans despise."

"Do not compare your experience to mine, Sprite." Medusa snapped. "The humans adored you. They never looked at you with disgust. You didn't become one of the greatest monsters of myth ever known. Your body is young, not hideous."

Sprite at least had the decency to lower their chin. "You're right, but the humans weren't the ones to curse you, Arishem was. He's the one who took our past lives away from us and replaced them with a false narrative. We don't owe him anything. He's the one that --"

Medusa flourished a hand, cutting off the rest of Sprite's sentence. "I'm sorry if I'm not jumping to betray a Celestial that could unmake me as easily as he created me."

Sprite ground their teeth and crossed their arms. "You're a coward."

Medusa threw her head back and laughed humorlessly. "It's called self-preservation." Medusa's expression sobered as fast as a cobra's strike. "You think Arishem will roll over and let you kill a Celestial? Even if you succeed, there will be consequences."

Sprite jutted their chin towards Medusa. "And Ona? What about her?"

Medusa's blood ran cold. Her body stilled, as statuesque as the countless men she turned to stone. Sprite was teetering on the edge of a pit of snakes. "Don't bring her into this. You know nothing." Medusa's voice was too serpentine to be human. Her snakes spoke with her, hissing a chorus of warnings beneath Medusa's hijab. Sersi tensed, inching ever so slightly towards Sprite's side. Whether to protect them or hold them back, there was no telling. Sprite didn't balk in the face of Medusa's threat. Instead of challenging her further, Sprite's voice softened and sank into a croon.

"I know that you would've fought a thousand Celestials for one more day with her." It was so quiet as if the world around them paused in anticipation of Medusa's response.

Medusa stared at Sprite, weighing the choice of smiting them where they stood or curling up into a pitiful ball of sorrow. When she finally mustered the strength to speak, her voice was raw with centuries of grief. "You're right. But she's long since turned to dust. It makes no difference to me if this world is destroyed."

Sersei reached across the distance between them in an attempt to console her. Medusa began to pull back when a wave of pinpricks danced across her skin. "Medusa, please --"

Medusa's head snapped to the side, eyes scanning their surroundings. "Stop. Something's wrong." Medusa sucked in a breath through her rouged lips. A predator was near. Apart from the cacophony of human chatter, the animals had gone eerily silent. They sensed it, too.

A child gripped the wall of the Monkey enclosure and whined petulantly. "Where are they going? I wanted to see them!" The monkeys were no longer interacting with children through the thick glass. They had sought refuge in the recesses of their habitat. The birds that chirped above them departed in aflutter of wings. Medusa felt the sharp sting of eyes watching from unseen cover.

Medusa's hand gripped the edge of her hijab as her snakes pushed and pulled against their restraint. "They're here."