The Gorgon's Daughter

As our heroes traveled onward, they often found themselves on terrain alternating between craggy landscapes and gently rolling flatlands. But as winter started to sink its teeth into the land around them, the grasslands, forests, and tundra began to change quickly. Soon, most of the green to be seen was in the needles of the occasional fir and pine trees growing lower down the mountains than the rest of their kin. The snow became ever-present, at times forcing them to risk using established roads and trails. Fortune favored them, for they met with no other travelers.

Whenever our group of adventurers journeyed too high in altitude the pervasive cold, sharp winds, and thin air repelled them. They learned that the appearance of stunted evergreen forests, or ‘krummholz,’ meant they should amend their route to one of lower elevation. Though a higher path would have theoretically made the journey faster, they were simply underequipped to journey too high into the Alps proper, despite Andy’s many trips during which he purchased supplies. Indeed, a mountainous trek would have taken them too far from the inhabited outposts with which they had need of trade. However, even following the careful, circuitous route they were forced to take, they still found the cold inescapable. None of them could ever remember having seen (or even imagined) so much snow.

In addition to tougher terrain, food quickly grew scarcer to forage as well as to hunt. Though none of the three were true nomads, they used the experience gained from the past several months to carry on, albeit at a slower pace. Unsure when or if their travels would become less trying, the three travelers relied on grim determination to carry them forward. Each of them faced different frustrations and challenges.

Andy grew profoundly irritated with the ever-changing tongues and dialects in the towns and military strongholds he visited to barter. Occasionally it led to potentially dangerous situations through language-related blunders he barely understood, but he was able to wriggle free of almost all with a combination of charisma, luck, and cunning. The remainder were dealt with reluctantly by (Y/N).

Of the three, Andy had led the most sheltered life before their journey, and he grew to feel as though he was losing control of the situation. What use was knowing which direction to go on the map in his mind when he did not know the accompanying climate and could not predict the many obstacles that would oppose them? Additionally, though their store of gold was not, in truth, much depleted, it became a source of anxiety for him. Fearful of a robbery from which he could not escape, he began leaving the majority of their monies with (Y/N) whenever he went into civilization to make purchases.

As the cold weather further intensified, he longed to bring his companions to an inn, if only for one night of warmth and recovery from the elements. But he know a fox, however pleasant, would be hard to explain, and a gorgon outright impossible. And so, each time he left a village, market, or fort, his heart was heavy, and he felt as though, somehow, he had failed his friends.

For her part, (Y/N) grew frustrated with the seemingly ever-changing flora and fauna, forcing her to rely heavily on her snakes for aid. And yet, though the cold bothered (Y/N) the least of the three, it made her snakes sluggish and reluctant to provide any guidance. It was only with the greatest efforts at foraging that she was able to keep the group adequately fed for such arduous work, even with Damica and Andy hunting often and the rations purchased at every opportunity.

(Y/N) also grew wary of her feelings for Andy. Over the many months, her initial fascination with him had changed into feelings of unfathomable warmth and depth. It was as though she wished to be closer to him than any friend could be. Well, she was no fool- she suspected she was falling in love, which she found to be unacceptable.

(Y/N) had read about matters of the heart, and she was fearful that her emotions might betray her at any moment. What if her eyes began to glitter and gave her away? What if she began acting so strangely she hindered their journey?

She couldn’t help but notice that Andy’s eyes gave off no light in darkness, and that he acted quite sensibly most of the time. Not to mention his rejection of her the morning after Poseidon had beset them. Thus, it was surely the case that he saw her as no more than a close companion. That thought pained her more than she thought possible, and thus she buried it quickly whenever it rose to her consciousness.

Indeed, she worked constantly to distract herself with other matters and wall off all thoughts of a romantic nature. How pointless they were! She was a centuries-old monster while Andy was a young and kind human. Still, not fully trusting her self-control, she checked her reflection carefully whenever the rare opportunity presented itself.

For her part, Damica was growing afraid, though not of the increasing hardship. With the change in weather her bones ached fiercely, exacerbating old injuries and the newer pains of old age. She worried if, perhaps soon, she would be unable to help her friends. Perhaps even worse was the possibility that, when the time came, they would be unwilling to leave her behind. She refused to be coddled like a pup- she would carry her own weight and more! Stubbornly, she refused to let show any sign of weakness. Unbeknownst to her, her muzzle was now peppered with gray, and both (Y/N) and Andy were both concerned for their bosom companion.

They were too far from home to turn back with nothing to show for it. And yet, they both wondered if Damica would be able to finish the voyage to Mount Olympus, much less the return journey. They agreed with one another, however, that they would never abandon her. And thus the future weighed on them all.

Perhaps the greatest source of true contention became (Y/N)’s guilt. She grew to feel personally responsible for every hardship and challenge they faced. If not for her desire to annul the curse Athena had laid upon her, she questioned, would Andy and Damica not be happy in their respective homes at that very moment? It became often that (Y/N) would apologize to Damica or Andy for the suffering she felt she was responsible for. Damica was successfully able to ignore her, for the most part. However Andy and (Y/N) would occasionally get into heated arguments. In the end, though, they always made peace.

But still, even facing such adversity, their travels were not truly unhappy. At night, when they gathered around their campfires or huddled in abandoned buildings, temporary shelters, or caves, they shared many stories and told many jokes.

Andy spoke of human lives- both his and what he had seen and learned in the villages along their travels. Both (Y/N) and Damica were fascinated by his descriptions of human social behavior. While (Y/N) was saddened to hear firsthand about the short lives of humans, it made no difference to Damica. She knew that both (Y/N) and Andy would outlive her, which didn’t bother her in the least. Just how much longer each would continue past her own passing seemed of paltry importance.

(Y/N) told her friends about her mother and her mother’s stories of ancient days long past- gods and goddesses, heroes and battles. While Andy had read of some of these things, he had always thought it mere fiction. He would listen to (Y/N) with rapt attention. Damica had heard much of it before from (Y/N), but still she listened attentively. She enjoyed the sounds of their voices, their company, and their excitement at learning from one another.

To sleep each night, the group cuddled closely together for warmth. (Y/N) grew to hate her brass hands, for when she accidentally touched Andy, he would startle. However, it was not the coldness of her touch he was reacting to, but rather that she had laid a hand on him at all.

At first, Andy found such close contact with (Y/N) maddening, and his resolution to honor his vow was challenged again and again. But with time he grew to appreciate her closeness for what it was- warmth shared against the cold by someone he… cared deeply for. Very deeply. Not unlike (Y/N), Andy also struggled not to think of her in any fashion that was not platonic.

All of this was readily apparent to Damica, who decided to ignore such fatuous behavior. For the time being, she had given up on facilitating the two of them becoming a mated pair. She had realized that it was between them, that nothing she could do would sway them. And, frankly, she had better things to do. Neither of her companions had any idea how many times Damica steered them clear of potential trouble- the predators, foul weather, and rock and landslides, for the land north of the Alps was rife with danger.

Through the harsh winter, with strength of spirit and great camaraderie, the trio persevered.It was in a land called Austria that they saw the first signs of winter losing its battle with spring. And, several weeks later, as they passed through Hungary, came the true blossoming of spring. Once more green returned to the land around them. Nevertheless, though their labors had already been many, there were still many tests yet to come.

Notes

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