The Serpent’s Lair

**The Serpent’s Lair** is a case featured in *Criminal Case*. It takes place in the *A Look At Medusa* chapter of Graecita.

## Plot

**You are now experiencing the story in third-person view**

The crew of the *Hamilton Laurent’s Revenge* are seen walking a footbridge, following the Graeae’s lead to Medusa’s lair. Captain Mary was feeling dizzy and not watching where she was going, she steps on a broken plank and nearly falls into the ravines, but Zachary manages to catch her and save her from the fall. He helps her walk the end of the bridge and the crew arrive to part of the island which contained the ruins which were once of *Sarpedon*. Jorge and Agwé were shocked over what they saw and asked the Graeae how the city ended up in this condition where the Gray sisters revealed that Medusa and her full sisters were once citizens of the city before getting turned into gorgons because Medusa broke her vows of priesthood to Athena and that the city formed a mob to hunt down the gorgons but failed and the city was left in ruins by the process. While the couple were shivering with fear, the Graeae turned to the crew and pointed at a cave that was near the city and instructed the team to enter it and explore it until they find a structure that is Athena’s temple which is where Medusa dwells. The crew thanked the sisters, who were about to take their leave but Ophelia stopped them and told them that they forgot someone. The sisters were confused over what she was saying, until Ophelia put their tooth on Deino’s hand and excited, the two sisters started fighting to decide who should use it first. The fight got really aggresive that fell onto the bridge making it fall apart, taking them with it. Concerned the team looked down to see if the Graeae were ok, and were relieved to see that the sisters were still hanging by the bridge, which was long into to take them safely to the bottom of the ravine. However, the group now had no way to go back to their ship, but they decided not to think much of it until they were done fighting with Medusa.

The crew walked toward the cave and Mia peeked in to sense any signs of Medusa but was unable to hear even a hissing sound. The team decided before entering the cave all together, one or two must explore so that Medusa wouldn’t take them all by surprise once they come hunting for her. Mary offered to go in, but the crew noticed she was feeling unwell and told her she should rest instead. The group talked and they agreed that Mia and Zachary should go in and they wished them safety before they entered the cave. Feeling tense, Mia and Zachary made sure to look at all directions as they’re exploring the cave so that Medusa would not give them a jumpscare. Suddenly Zachary stopped and Mia asked him what was wrong and he pointed at a trail of blood he had spotted. This puzzled the duo as they thought Medusa killed her enemies by turning them to stone, leaving no blood behind, so they decided to follow the trail. When they followed the trail they found Niilo Hämäläinen laying unconscious with a wound on his left arm and the side of his head, and they also found a headless body which wore clothes they recognized as Perseus’.

**You are now playing as Mia Loukas**

Zachary and Mia were surprised at seeing Perseus dead and wondered if Medusa had killed him, but they doubted it as it didn’t seem like her style. While they were talking about the murder, they heard someone grunting and they turned to see who was making the sound and realized that Niilo was still alive, just severely injured. Zachary helped him up and they took him out of the cave where Hasuro bandaged his injuries and when he woke up, Zachary and Mia questioned him on how he got hurt. Niilo explained that while he was heading to fight Medusa, he felt something sharp hitting his arm and blood started flowing, out of instinct he turned to see his attacker but they immediately used their sword to hit him on the side of his school which caused him to fall onto the cold hard ground. Unfortunately, he was unable to catch a good glance on his attacker and so, Zachary and Mia decided to investigate Perseus’ murder themselves where they found reasons to suspect Allen Muir who was scavenging the city and Jennifer Tanaka who they decided to avoid confronting for taking sides with Medusa until the murder investigation is over. The duo went back into the cave where they started walking around whilst discussing the case and found themselves stumbling across an old temple. The temple was in ruins with lava flowing across the ground and there were several stone statues of random men, women and some were even of satyrs. Fearing for their lives, the duo tried to back away but their path was blocked by a serpent’s tail.

When they heard hissing, Zachary and Mia quickly shut their eyes, holding their breaths as they felt something scaly moving around their bodies. Suddenly, Medusa talked, asking them who they are and what they are doing in her home, but instead of speaking in a confrontational tone, her voice was soft and shaky, it was very clear that she was scared. This gave Zachary comfort and he revealed to Medusa his name along Mia’s and told the gorgon that they are not here to hurt her, hoping she would go away from them. At first, Medusa did not believe him but when he told her they were Jennifer’s friends, she let them go and allowed them to look around her temple to find Perseus’ murderer. In the temple, the duo found a bloody sword which they decided to send for analysis and they discovered that it was the *Hárpē*, a sword that Perseus received as gift from Hermes, who happened to be in the island and they decided to interrogate him. They also discovered that Niilo’s attacker was none other than Perseus himself and that Jennifer tried to use her charm-speaking gift to seduce Perseus into leaving Sarpedon to save Medusa’s life. While they were recapping the case, Hasuro rushed to them and told them that Niilo took *Hárpē* and went back into the cave.

Afraid Niilo would do something stupid, Zachary and Mia rushed into the cave and started looking for him. The two heard a scream coming from Medusa’s temple and went to save Niilo, only to find that he had turned to stone. The duo confronted Medusa and she apologized over what she had done, but excused herself claiming she was just trying to save herself as Niilo had come to kill her. Even though they doubted they could make Niilo human again, they decided to take out his statue from the cave and continued their investigation where they learned that Hermes was mad at Perseus for giving Athena a lot of credit for him defeating Medusa while he barely got any and that Allen resented Perseus because he failed to do his job as a husband which is to protect Andromeda, who Allen considered a friend, from harm. After finding enough evidence, Mia and Zachary determined that Allen Muir was Perseus’ murderer.

Allen was angry at the accusations and tried to deny them but after Mia and Zachary started pressing on him, he flipped out and admitted that he killed Perseus to rescue Medusa from him. Allen revealed that the gorgons were his friends and when Andromeda told him that her husband came to the island to kill Medusa, he begged her to convince her husband to go away. Unfortunately, Andromeda died so instead, Allen head all the way to Medusa’s cave to warn her that there were people who came to hunt her down. This made Medusa feel scared so Allen decided to temporarily stay at her cave in order to protect her from any harm. While Allen was out collecting fruits for Medusa and himself, he spotted Perseus heading to the cave and quietly followed him. When he arrived, he caught Perseus attacking a kid (Niilo) and before he could kill him, Allen took a rock and threw it at Perseus which made him drop his sword. Allen then grabbed the sword while Perseus was acknowledging what had happened, Allen chopped off his head with one slace from *Hárpē*. Zachary asked Allen how he could make friends with a monster like Medusa, which infuriated Allen and he told Zachary that Medusa is a sweet girl and he knows nothing of her. The hermit was about to attack Zachary and Mia, but was restrained by Alex Stamos, who came out of nowhere and he assured Allen that they are his friends. Alex then turned to the duo and told them that they must have a lot of questions and asked them to meet him and Jennifer at Medusa’s lair to get the answers.

After confronting Allen for Perseus’ murder, Zachary and Mia thought about Alex offering to “give them answers” if they met him at Medusa’s lair and they agreed that it is finally time to confront him and Jennifer over taking sides with a “monster”. But before they could step foot in the cave, Ophelia stops them and tells Mia that Hasuro wants to speak them regarding Mary’s health and it is super urgent.

Worried for their captain’s well-being, Ophelia and Mia went to meet Hasuro and asked him what was up with Mary where he answered with a sigh and revealed that Mary was poisoned. This shocked the two women and they asked him questions like who poisoned her and what type of venom was put in her system. Unfortunately, Hasuro wasn’t able to determine what was used to poison her to create an antidote, however he believes he knows who tried to kill her, pointing at Jorge and Agwé. He explained that he isn’t so sure if they were behind this, but he noticed that ever since they gave Mary a drink, her health was declining and she was starting to cough a lot and that he believes they filled the water canteen with poison. Wanting to see if this was indeed the case, Ophelia and Mia went to talk to the couple and they asked them if they could give them the water canteen. The couple were hesitant, but they agreed but when Jorge reached for it, he realizes that he lost the flask. Ophelia and Mia then went to search for it at Sarpedon’s ruins and when they found it, they sent the canteen to Hasuro. Hasuro the revealed that his theory was true and the water in the canteen was indeed poisoned and that he believes he could create an antidote for Mary before she could die. Ophelia and Mia were relieved to hear of this, but were really furious at Jorge and Agwé and confronted them over it. Jorge tried to play dumb, but Agwé felt incredible guilt over what he did and admitted to everything. He told the duo that they didn’t want to do this but Anne forced them to go with the plan. Jorge sighed but seeing that it was best not to hide the truth, he revealed that Anne’s plan was that after they had slain Medusa, he and Agwé would poison them all and when they start feeling weak, they will take Medusa’s head and rush back to the ship. Anne would then leave the island with the head, the prisoners and their ship, leaving the crew for dead. Both Jorge and Agwé begged them for mercy and Ophelia assured them that they will not punish them as they were just acting like pawns, however once the crew go back to the ship, Anne would have hell to pay.

Looking for answers, Zachary and Mia head to Medusa’s temple where they found Allen, Alex and Jennifer waiting for them. Immediately, Zachary confronted Alex and Jennifer over their “betrayal”, revealing that he had read their prophecy and knows their in cahoots with Medusa. Alex and Jennifer were trying to calm him down to explain themselves, but Medusa sensed a fight coming on and went to attack Zachary. But before she could reach him, Jennifer grabbed Zachary and blocked Medusa’s way, look at her in the eyes and began turning to stone. Medusa was horrified over what she has done and Zachary, furious over her “killing” his friend tried to charge at her, but was restrained by Alex who told everyone to stop fighting. Zachary have had enough and he pointed out that Medusa just petrified Jennifer and Alex defended her by saying that she didn’t mean to do it and that killing Medusa won’t bring Jennifer back. Zachary questioned Alex on why would he pick sides with a “monster” in which Alex responded by telling him that Medusa could not control her powers and that she was punished over something that wasn’t her fault. He then turned to Medusa and asked her if she feels ready to tell her story, but Medusa stayed silent, looking at the other way, afraid tor turn any else to stone. Alex sighed and remembered that Jennifer had given Medusa a pair of sunglasses back at Cambright and wondering if Medusa brought them with her, he asked Zachary and Mia to look around the temple to find it. The duo felt cynical but trusting Alex’s judgement, they inspected the temple and found the sunglasses in a broken state. After restoring the spectacles, they gave them to Alex who closed his eyes and approached Medusa to put the sunglasses on her eyes. Once she put them on, Medusa looked at everyone in the room in the eyes, who were all relieved that they did not get petrified. Alex then politely asked her to tell her story and at first, Medusa was hesitant to relive her trauma, but she found the courage to speak up about how she was once a priestess who vowed virginity to Athena, how one day Poseidon raped her to spite Athena, who instead of punishing Poseidon, took her anger on Medusa and turned her into a gorgon with the ability to turn everyone she looks at to stone. Medusa continued by saying that her sisters tried to defend her, which Athena saw as hubris and so she turned them into gorgons as well, but unlike Medusa she made them immortal to symbolize that no matter how much they try to protect her, they could never really save her from harm. Zachary was speechless when he heard the story and Alex felt sympathy for him, understanding how hard it must be to accept that his father was a monster. Zachary eventually sighed and apologized to Medusa over the actions of his father and promised that his crew will find a way to break her curse, but while he was talking, Stheno and Euryale entered the temple. The gorgons were furious at seeing Mia at their sister’s place despite having warned her not to come in and were about to charge at her and Zachary but was stopped by Medusa. Alex then stepped in and told the gorgon twins that Medusa told them the full truth and that they are here to help them not to hurt their sister. The gorgons were relieved to hear this and they all left the cave together.

**You are now experiencing the story in third-person view**

When Mia and Zachary got out of the cave with Alex, Allen and the gorgons, their crew all stood up from shock, reading to charge at the gorgons but Mia assured everyone that the gorgons are on their team. This relieved them, but Yoyo was stills skeptical and she asked that if they chose to spare Medusa, then what would they do if they came back to Anne. At hearing this question, Maverick rolled his eyes and reminded Yoyo that Anne tried to kill them and that they would be fools to follow her orders and that once they get back to their ship, they should start a mutiny against her. Everyone agreed and Mia asked Hasuro if he was done with the antidote and he nodded, revealing that he had given it to Mary but they will have to wait a few minutes before she could start moving again. Meanwhile, Alex thought of a plan to break Medusa’s curse and asked Mia to accompany him while he talks to the messenger god, Hermes. Alex told Hermes that he wants him to send a message for them and when the god agreed, Alex asked him to go to Olympus and ask Athena to meet them at the palace of Graecita in a week (which is the estimated time for the crew to make it to their city). After Hermes left to deliver the message, Alex and Mia head back to the rest of the group and they started walking until they reached the spot where there were once a bridge. The group wondered how they’d get to the other side and while they were talking, the gorgons hopped, made it the other side and their tails were long enough to form a bridge for the others to cross.

At the *Hamilton Laurent’s Revenge*, Anne and her crew were growing impatient having to wait for Jorge and Agwé to return with Medusa’s head, that they assumed they must have turned to stone with Mary’s crew and decided to depart the island with their ship. This made Captain, Vicci, Tyrese and Cedrick worry until they spotted the crew returning to the ship with Jorge and Agwé walking guiltily by their side. Anne was disappointed at seeing them but when she saw Mary looking sickly, she acted concerned and asked the crew what happened to her. Mia stepped up and confronted Anne for trying to poison them, revealing that they know about her plan. Anne rolled her eyes and claimed she doesn’t know what they are talking about and asked for them to give her Medusa’s head (which she assumed they have slain), but Mia crossed her arms and revealed that they haven’t killed Medusa and demanded that Anne give them their ship back along with her prisoners as an apology for her assassination attempt. This made Anne furious, she refused to let the crew in the ship and dared them to fight their way in. Suddenly, a splash happened which made Anne’s crew check the waters where they saw that Cordaro and George Turbot were thrown out of the ship and two gorgons suddenly emerged from the cabins. While Mary’s crew were confronting Anne’s, Stheno and Euryale swam in the sea and got in the ship through the window, throwing out everyone inside before heading to the main deck. While Anne’s crew was distracted, Mary’s crew charged into the ship, fighting for their place. The fight was intense, but Mary’s crew won, forcing Anne’s crew to walk the plank. Once the mutiny was over, Medusa and Allen came out seeing that the tension was over. The crew asked Allen if he wants to join them to Graecita but the old hermit shook his head, calling Sarpedon his home and he does not want to leave it behind. Medusa hugged Allen goodbye before entering the *Hamilton Laurent’s Revenge* and they were ready to leave, but before they sailed, Mary got up and threw a lifeboat for Anne, wishing her a safe journey to *Clew Bay*.

A week later, the crew were really close on making it to Graecita and Mary who had finally recovered from the poison’s effect is seen taking over Mia in controlling the ship’s helm. While Mia was heading back to her friends, she noticed Zachary laying by the edge of the ship staring depressingly at the water. Feeling sympathetic, Mia walked up to him and asked him if he’s still thinking about Medusa’s story. Zachary replied with silent and Mia continued talking by assuring him that none of them will judge him over his father’s actions and that they’ll always think of him as a great guy and who his father is will never change that. Zachary gave her a slight smile and finally got up from his position, thanking Mia for her moral support. Suddenly the ship stopped and Mary announced that they arrived to Graecita. Outside, a crowd is seen waiting to celebrate the group’s return and the soldiers’ rescue, and Gina Rosales is somewhere in the crowd with her godsisters, praying that Niilo was still alive. The crew got out of the ship and the crowd stood confused when they noticed three gorgons with them. Gina went into the front to see if her Niilo was okay, only to spot two statues in the background, one is of her madam, Jennifer Tanaka standing bravely, trying to protect someone from harm and another of a young man laying on the ground, looking traumatized like he was about to be killed. She recognized the young man as her beau, Niilo Hämäläinen. The Aphrodite daughters were horrified at seeing their older half-sister in that state, but Gina could only think of Niilo and out of anger, she picked a stone that she saw at the ground and threw it at Medusa, which hit her on the head, causing her glasses to fall on the ground. Medusa turned her head to Gina’s direction, wanting to turn the girl to stone, but Flora Baros rushed to her out of instinct and covered her, making her turn into stone instead. This made the whole city panic, and the foolish ones went to attack Medusa only to become petrified. Kaleb suddenly came out to stop the mayhem and demanded everyone to go back to their homes. Alex approached his friend and asked him if Athena was at the palace. Kaleb nodded and with Alex by his side, started guiding the gorgons to the palace and Zachary went to follow them. But suddenly, Marionette came running to them with Shirley Kennedy walking behind her in a slower pace, and she started calling for Madelina. When Madelina didn’t respond, Marionette turned to Zachary and asked him where she is, Zachary replied with sigh and told Marionette that he’ll explain everything to her but first, they need to head to the palace. When they were out of sight, Shirley went straight to Vicci and hugged him, telling him to never leave her again.

Athena is seen waiting at the palace’s private living room with the queen, Norah and Susan, when suddenly Kaleb and Alex entered the room. Athena stood up to ask the satyr why he had sent for her, only to be surprised at seeing three large gorgons entering the room as well. Athena was pissed off and asked Leonora what this is all about, but she and the human girls in the room were just as confused as her. Alex came forward and requested an appeal to have the gorgon’s curse lifted. Athena refused, claiming that Medusa had “broken her vows” and got what was “coming to her”. The other two gorgons snapped and called Athena a coward who is too afraid to punish Poseidon and took her anger at their sister instead just to save her undeserving dignity. This infuriated Athena, who was about to punish Stheno and Euryale for committing “hubris” again, but Kaleb convinced her otherwise, asking her if she doesn’t believe they were punished enough. Athena eventually took a moment to think about the appeal and eventually agreed to lift the curse. But before the gorgons could get excited, Athena revealed that she will only break a curse if she received an apology from Poseidon before vanishing from the palace. Meanwhile, outside the room, Zachary had told Marionette about the things that happened in the journey and how Madelina chose to go back to New Concordia through a yacht. Hearing that made Marionette feel guilty as she believed if she had been a better friend to Madelina, she would’ve stayed and questioned herself on why she didn’t just break up with Kaleb sooner. Zachary comforted her and told her there was nothing anyone could go and that unlike her, Madelina was basically made to move into Graecita and its not a surprise she wanted to go back home. However, Marionette still felt bad and wondered if Madelina misses her.

At nighttime, in *The Pedersen*, Madelina and Angel are watching the movie *Thor: Love and Thunder* on TV with a couple of comic geeks. Angel joked about how Lady Thor (the movie’s lead) looks a lot like her, but Madelina was uninterested and asked how much more minutes is left for the movie. Realizing Madelina was unamused, one of the boys tried to a move on her by putting his hand on her lap. Realizing what was going on with the sexual tension going on in the room and the “feminist” movie the boys had agreed on, Madelina slapped the guy who touched and decided to go outside for a breath of fresh air. A night party was going on in yacht and while she was walking, a bunch of drunk men tried to hit on her and when one got too close she knocked him out by punching his jaw and finally managed to get outside. Meanwhile, Natalie was on the water staring at the yacht and when she saw Madelina outside, she quickly emerged from the water. This startled Madelina, who asked the nymph what she was doing here and Natalie went to straight to the point, asking her to come back to the crew. Madelina refused, telling Natalie that she made her choice and is bot coming back and that no one there likes her. Natalie tried to guilt trip Madelina by asking her if her (Natalie) opinion does not matter to her, which made Madelina feel bad and she tried to tell Natalie that was not the case, but while she was coming up with excuses, Madelina spotted a ship approaching the yacht. The ship looked long and old, and judging by the craft, Madelina assumed it must belong to Vikings. Knowing that if they saw Natalie they would hunt her as a trophy, Madelina told Natalie to go away. Natalie was about to argue, but when she saw the ship, she got scared and dove so that its passengers won’t see her. Meanwhile, Madelina quickly rushed back into the room where Angel and the comic geeks are hanging together and told everyone to hide.

It’s been minutes since the Vikings invaded the yacht and Madelina is hiding in a closet fearfully, holding Holly on her hand to protect herself in case she wasn’t found. Madelina could hear boys screaming for their lives and suddenly, the door of the room she was in opened and someone entered. Madelina quickly started chanting a spell to charge on the unknown viking, only to realize the guy who entered was one other than Chet Peretz. Her heart started beating and because she didn’t say the name of the spell properly, it caused a bang that knocked her out and she felt into the closet door making her reveal herself. Chet quickly went to check out what happened and was surprised to see Madelina was here but was soon ambushed by the comic geeks who were ready to save “their queen”. Fortunately for him, the bang attracted the other vikings and upon seeing them, the geeks backed away from fear of getting beat up. The other vikings noticed Madelina laying unconscious and felt attracted to her, suggesting that they should do immoral things to her. Holly was shivering with her as the vikings were fantasizing about raping Madelina and Chet knew he had to do something to save her. This is when he noticed the DVD cover of the movie *Thor: Love and Thunder* on the couch where a girl who resembled Madelina is seen holding Mjollnir and showed it to the Viking chief, Rune. The cover interested the chief, who asked for the girl’s identity and one of the geeks responded by revealing that the girl in the cover picture is called “Jane Foster”, who is the girlfriend of Thor and one of the few people who was deemed worthy of Mjollnir. The chief’s sister, Freja accused the boy of spreading lies and claimed to have studied all of Norse history and had never heard of the name “Jane Foster” but her brother told her to shut up. He then turned to his people and demanded that they take “Jane” (as in Madelina) to the ship and take good care of her and no one is allowed to put their fingers on her.

## Summary

### Victim

* **Perseus** (Found in a cave with his head decipicated)

## Suspects

Niilo HämäläinenAllen MuirJennifer TanakaMedusaHermes
## Quasi-suspects

Hasuro HakuJorge & AgwéAlex StamosAnne BonnyGina RosalesMarionette PatrickAthena ParthenosMadelina AlonzoChet Peretz
## Killer’s Profile

* The killer practices swordsmanship.
* The killer drinks pumpkin soup.
* The killer wears hiking boots.
* The killer is male.
* The killer wears plaid clothing.