174. A Moment's Quiet Reflection
Amy decides to try showing the medusa its reflection, thereby (hopefully) turning the medusa to stone and nipping this whole conflict in the bud. She starts walking in the direction of the twig-snapping sound she just heard, being careful to turn her head sideways and hold the mirror out in front of her as she walks. This turns out to be an incredibly awkward way to get around and Amy finds herself stumbling over rocks and roots in her path. Still, she can't actively look for the medusa, lest she risk making eye contact.
“And, once I do locate the medusa, how do I point the mirror at her without looking? This whole thing is super frustrating. Why can't medusas be more fair? Is it medusas? Medusae? Hum. I'm not sure...”
While Amy drifts off on a tangent contemplating ancient Greek grammar, the medusa slithers from out of her hiding place in the bushes. She can barely suppress a giggle at the silly girl walking without looking where she is going and waving a mirror around. As though the medusa could be stoned by her own reflection! If that were true, she could be defeated just by looking in a lake!
The medusa decides to have some fun with this one. She lets out an ear-piercing scream and throws her hands up over her face to hide her eyes, then stands as still as she possibly can. This is no mean feet for a gorgon, as she not only has to keep her arms and body still but also each of the snakes that make up her hair.
Amy is startled from her reverie by the medusa's screech. She puts down the mirror and looks around for her foe. There she is, about twenty feet away, a woman with green, scaly flesh, dressed in a white tunic, with a head covered in snakes. She has her arms up covering her face, but is completely still.
“I must have frozen her with the mirror! Good,” thinks Amy, “Better go check her for any useful items.”
All the tension of the confrontation has left Amy and she casually walks over to the gorgon, already looking at its tunic and the ground around it to see if the creature has dropped anything that might come in handy. A few feet from the gorgon a niggling doubt pops into Amy's mind. Why is the medusa green? If she was turned to stone, shouldn't she be gray?
Suspicion aroused, Amy stands an arm's length from the gorgon, inspecting it. She rubs her chin with one hand, then bends over to reach out and carefully poke the medusa's arm. At her touch, the medusa quickly drops her arms, stare's Amy straight in the face, and shouts “Boo!”
The petrification occurs too quickly for Amy to make a move. In half a second, her entire body has transformed from flesh to stone. Amy is frozen forever in the position she was in when the medusa dropped her arms; body bent at the waist, butt sticking out, one arm extended to poke the gorgon, the other hand rubbing her chin in thought, one eyebrow raised in a quizzical fashion.
The medusa inspects her prey. “Very nice,” she says to herself, “but I think I might be able to improve upon it a bit.” With two quick slashes of her claws, she removes Amy's shirt and pink bra, exposing her stone breasts and prominent nipples, hardened as a side effect of the petrification process. The gorgon then uses her claws to rip off Amy's cut-off jean shorts, exposing heart-print panties.
“Delicious!” exclaims the gorgon, “Such silly panties for such a serious pose. And now, the final touch...” The medusa dashes back to her lair to get one final accessory. She returns holding it behind her back, then reveals it to the living statue with a flourish.
“I don't know your name, but henceforth I dub thee 'Lady Dummy.'” She ceremonially crowns Amy with the last piece of clothing she will ever wear: A giant white dunce cap.
Amy silently fumes at this indignity. Unable to move or express her annoyance in any way, she is left to pout silently to herself for the remainder of eternity.
Amy is in no condition to continue this adventure.