The ship shook on top of the waves that finally began to decrease in size after they left the storm belt behind. The crew had been working on deck as if possessed, no doubt out of bone-chilling fear of what they left behind. Even the most seasoned and tanned seamen were pale in the face and shaking in their sandals.
Overseeing this desperate retreat were the grim faced captain and the young scholar which had much different expressions to show.
“I’m sorry milord.”
“Hm? What is there to be sorry for captain?” The young man was playing with one of his rings while calmly watching the blue ocean that surrounded them.
“Your expedition, ‘twas a failure, no?” He scratched one of his scars and clearly attempted to sound overly empathetic.
“Far from it, Pelagios.” The scholar replied with a thin smile. Those ominous words were beyond the comprehension of a simple minded man like this ship’s captain, so he just backed down.
“Real shame ‘bout that woman. So very young’n’all.” The sailors around him groaned in agreement. This was probably the first and only time they would have a woman on their ship.
“The trump card fulfilled its purpose.” The young man replied and then leaned on the wooden rail. “She will be remembered as the all-important piece that took down the Gorgon.”
“’pologies milord, I don’t get it. Why’d we leave then?”
“Don’t concern yourself with the details. This expedition was always intended to have a second trip.”
“Y-you wanna go back?!” Now even a sturdy man like captain Pelagios seemed legitimately shaken.
“Naturally. I suppose you will not object as long as I pay you double?” He gazed back from the corner of his eyes.
“That’s a whole lotta owls.” People would take great risks in the face of such ludicrous rewards. “But I lost two good men for your li’l strategic.”
“Strategy.” The scholar corrected him subconsciously and then sighed. “I am truly sorry for your losses. Those men did not deserve this kind of end. I only intended to sacrifice the false heroes I hired as bait.”
“Y-you did-?”
“Please do not look at me like that, good captain. Those men were known cheats and impostors. They claimed to have slain the great Calydonian boar, but even children in the streets of Byzantium know that was the handiwork of Atalanta.” His words were carefully chosen and made him sound scholarly, to the people on board at least. Many had heard of the story, but nobody expected the mercenaries to repurpose it for their own fame.
“May Thanatos take ‘is time with their wretched souls! Hunt ‘em good across the plains!” The first mate spat out. The others joined in immediately.
The scholar smiled vaguely.
“So ya were punishin’ criminals?” The captain crossed his arms in confusion.
“That was just a bonus. As I have mentioned, the purpose of this journey was to plant the trump card.”
“Aye, that you did. Well then, when will we return to that forsaken place?” He was already speaking with the conviction of a successful return, despite the treacherous route behind them.
“First I will need to return to Athens for a bit.” He replied thoughtfully.
“Oh? That will take ya at least a few weeks with the roads this time o’year. Should we take ya there?”
“That will not be necessary. Your motley crew will draw unwanted attention there no doubt. It is essential that I pay a visit to the grand temple of Athena, however. I will pay for your stay in a southern port, so you should not take on any new jobs until my return.” The unbelievable monetary power of this man was blinding to the sailors.
A plan had been set into motion, but the results were yet uncertain.
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The blazing sun finally retreated at the edge of the horizon and covered the island into a deep tinge of red. Under different circumstances such a view would have been described as beautiful or captivating, but to the one sitting before the endless red ocean, such things were meaningless.
The priestess sat on the dry sand with her chin pressed against her knees as she listened to the shallow waves. She hadn’t moved from that spot ever since she was told that the expedition had left her behind.
Not far away from her, the Gorgon laid on her side, leaning her face on one arm. She sluggishly watched a spot to the right of the hunched over girl without much interest.
Neither of them seemed to acknowledge the other, but the tension building between them was undeniable. Even the drop of a leaf or the chirping of a bird would have been appreciated to distract from this agonizing silence.
“When are you going to petrify me, monster?” The priestess finally asked. She sounded downright annoyed.
“…that’s the first thing you say?” The Gorgon didn’t have any intention of going along with this girl’s pace.
“You did it to these innocent men, so why not me? Just get it over with!”
“Hmph. Did they truly tell you nothing?” She didn’t even move her head from her bored position. To think that they would bring her along as some ‘trump card’, but not even explain these basic details to her. It was too pathetic, even a monster would feel pity. Not that she did have anything like that to give, but at the very least she should say what needed to be said. “My eyes are cursed to petrify any person that returns my gaze. For a blind girl such as you that would be impossible.”
“What? You mean I can’t be petrified by you?” She sounded so surprised. They really kept her in the dark.
“It appears so.” She never had a chance to test it until today of course, but now it was finally proven. Even an old monster could still learn new things about herself.
“So then why don’t you kill me with your bare hands?” She seemed really intent on dying for some reason.
“It would make a mess.” She replied without much enthusiasm. Getting rid of a corpse wasn’t too hard, but the ocean tended to spill them right back.
“What’s up with that?” The priestess muttered in annoyance. “Just eat me then.”
“I would rather not.” She twisted her face in disgust.
“Are you just afraid to kill a priestess?!” She finally snapped and got up from the sand to face the Gorgon. She was surprisingly accurate in locating her.
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“Hm. About that… who did you serve again?” Her question was seemingly out of boredom, but there was more to it.
“The great and wise Athena!” She exclaimed proudly.
“Is this another of her schemes?” The snake-haired woman whispered to herself and then finally raised her torso. “I have no qualms with killing anyone who attacks me. Even women or children are not exempt from that.” Although she never had to make the choice for children until now.
“So why not me?”
“You did not raise a weapon against me, nor did you show any intent to slay me. Your passive-aggressiveness is quite grating, though.”
“If I attacked you, would you do it then?”
“Your frail body could not even scratch one of my scales.” She mocked her.
“But-” She clasped her white cloth tightly until her knuckles turned white.
“Why do you wish to die so quickly?” She crossed her arms and rested on her curled up snake half.
“Because…” The priestess turned away with a hint of moistness to her eyes. “I’m all alone.”
“And?”
“If I died in the service of mankind, surely the gods would bless my soul and let me enter Elysium.”
“I would not count on that.” She dismissed the idea coldly.
“I must believe, so I can see my parents again. They must wait for me in Elysium.”
Her yearning expression was painful to the Gorgon. Something all too reminiscent was stirred inside her. She had to completely reject that notion.
“Elysium is not for just any human. You overestimate your parents.”
“They were great people who served Lady Athena their whole life! Of course they would be rewarded.” Her faith was astounding.
The Gorgon turned her body away and glared into the ruins. Now she understood why this human was so suicidal. Just another puppet of the gods.
“I will not take your life.” She declared. “You will not die by my hand and you will not be able to slay me. If your great goddess values you so, certainly she will save you from this island?” Her malicious smirk as she turned back to the girl went unrecognized.
The girl furrowed her brows and puffed out her cheeks like a child. After a few moments of quiet anger she finally opened that mouth again.
“Fine! You will see!” She pointed at the Gorgon and then walked up the stairs without trouble. Her balance and precision were sort of impressive for a blind girl. “Someone will slay you and save me from this place, just you wait.”
“Hmph.” She snorted and then watched as the girl walked towards the inner temple. “Where are you going?”
“Away from you!” She threw back and then disappeared into the old ritual room.
It was an exercise in futility. This island was too small to avoid each other for long. Then again, this suited the Gorgon just fine. She had no interest in sharing her idle days with a human anyway.
Soon night would reign again and another monotone day would pass. Not even the feel of battle could stir any emotions inside her anymore. It was time to curl up in the basement and slumber for a few days.
She slithered towards the edge of the old basement entrance and lowered her head. It was still a bit small for her in this form.
“Hey monster!” Suddenly the yell of the priestess echoed inside the temple and the Gorgon raised her head in surprise. “Where is the food?” The girl moved her head around a pillar and asked such without making a mien.
The Gorgon held her hurting head. The snakes all hissed in complaint for suddenly being hit against the stone ceiling.
“Well?” Unaware of what she had caused the girl approached her and raised a brow.
“Foolish girl…” She smiled angrily while calming the snakes.
“You must eat something, right?”
“I have no need for sustenance.” The Gorgon replied haughtily.
“How could that be?” She was surprised.
“I am not shackled to your human needs.”
Now the girl was squirming about and seemed a bit more panicked. Finally an appropriate reaction.
“Are there no trees with fruit here? What about mushrooms and berries?”
'Why only vegetation?' She wondered quietly in her mind. “There might be some of that; I have no interest in them regardless.”
“As long as I can have some fruit I will be fine.” The girl declared far too optimistically. All worry was already wiped off her face.
“I do not believe humans can survive on just that.” Far be it from the inhuman monster to explain that to her, though. “Why not try to fish?” That way she would stay away from the temple for a while at least.
“Oh… yes… fish.” She lowered her head and spoke hesitantly.
“Hm?”
“It’s just, well, all I ate at the temple was fish and stale bread. I am kind of sick of it.” She confessed with a downtrodden expression.
“Why should I care!”
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Due to her growling belly the priestess eventually gave in and sat down on the shore with a makeshift fishing rod. It was basically just a stick and some cord taken from her white cloth, topped with a rusty bent needle. The last rays of the sun warmed her for a bit, but then cold night arrived.
Hours passed. The moon slowly rose to the top of the world.
“Cold.” The girl muttered while waiting for a fish to bite.
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“Are you still here?” The Gorgon made certain to not pay attention to the distant figure of the girl even once after waking up. Yet when it turned noon and the heat started to put life into her snake half, she felt compelled to at least look at the human’s spoils.
The girl was hunched over and unresponsive.
“Not a single fish?” She glared at the empty sack next to the girl. How could one be so incompetent at fishing? Those tiny animals were even less intelligent than the average mercenary. “What are you even doing-?” Just as she leaned down she suddenly realized something “Why are you asleep?”
“Huh?! D-did something bite!?” The girl’s eyes shot open and she pulled back the line with all her might. Of course due to the lack of resistance it just flung out of the water and she fell over. “Ouch… nothing again.” She touched the empty makeshift hook.
“I am probably just jumping to conclusions, but let me ask anyway.” The Gorgon and her snakes all looked at the hook with dulling eyes. “Did you use any bait?”
“Bait?” She tilted her head innocently to the side.
The Gorgon suppressed her deeply rooted instinct to throw the human off the cliff. She couldn’t break her vow not to kill her over such a triviality! Even if she really wanted to.
“The fish will not bite if they have nothing that attracts them to your hook.” She explained with strained patience.
“I see.” She nodded as if she finally comprehended. “So you also got sick of fish after a while.”
“How did you make that connection?!”
“If you are so knowledgeable about fishing, you must have done it often in the past.” The priestess said with a knowing smile.
“These are the basics, common sense basically.”
“I never fished before. My father took me with him once, but he didn’t let me touch the rod.”
“Did you not see him put on the bait-“ Suddenly the Gorgon stopped herself. That’s right, she had somehow forgotten already. But could anyone blame her? This human had been acting so naturally that it truly could slip one’s mind.
The priestess was blind.
“Oh, so that was why he brought worms along!” She clapped her hands together in realization, only to swiftly catch the falling fishing rod. As she dug through the earth to search for worms (as if there would be any in a rocky cliff side), the Gorgon watched her with intense eyes. Something was off.
“Say little girl, are you truly blind?”
“I told you, I am not little. I am a woman.” She replied indignantly, but then stopped her toiling of the ground. “I was born blind, yes.” It was a fact that didn’t seem to bother her anymore.
“Your movements are too precise. You are aware where everything is. You even managed to construct this fishing rod without trouble.” It didn’t add up.
“Ah, that’s because I am blessed.” She replied casually and brushed off dirt from her clothes.
Of course in this world, when a human spoke of being blessed it could mean many things. Some felt blessed for the mere fact that they got to see another sunrise. That was not the kind of blessing this girl spoke off.
It seemed that her claim about being favored by the gods was not empty talk after all.
“The great and wise Athena blessed me as a child. She granted me enhanced hearing, so I may find my way in the words of the world.” She clutched her chest and smiled warmly in remembrance of that day.
A human touched by Athena - who became a priestess no less - ended up on Sarpedon. This could not be a mere coincidence. She had sensed something repulsive about this intruder’s presence. A divine blessing was an eyesore that she should have noticed sooner.
Now the Gorgon knew she made the right decision to wait and observe.
“What is your name, human?”
“Huh?” She raised her head in surprise at the ordinary question. “I am Eugenia of Lamia.”
It was a late introduction, but when she gained a name, finally the girl was more than just another human in the dozen to the Gorgon.