(Y/N) was a few centuries of age when the first incidents had happened, though widely spaced apart.Humans had moved into the land, encroaching on their solitude, and it cost them their lives.

(Y/N) was immediately curious about people, but her mother warned her sternly that they were the enemy of the Gorgons.They brought nothing but death and hatred, especially the males.

At first, Stheno had killed each and every one.She had sought out any gatherings and slaughtered them all remorselessly, beating them with her brass fists and envenomating them with strikes from her deadly, red, serpentine hair.But after some time, the humans were simply too many to kill.The populace of the entire world was growing exponentially, and humanity was inevitably impinging on their lonely safe haven.

As small villages sprang up, the presence of a Gorgon became known.Stheno feared that her rage would cause the humans to seek vengeance on (Y/N).While her daughter yearned to make some sort of peace, Stheno could not abide by any sort of truce with such vile creatures as the humans.Ultimately, Stheno decided that it was best to take her leave, that (Y/N) had a better chance of survival and happiness without her.Tearful, she bid (Y/N) farewell, and left to return to her sister, Euryale’s, side at the gloomy and mirthless entrance to the Underworld.

All told, Stheno had killed more men than both of her sister Gorgons combined.The reputation of the ‘deadly monster’ in the caves in the hilly forest, far to the North of the nearest town, kept almost everyone away.The nearest village developed a tradition of leaving offerings every week in the hope of appeasing the deadly beast.

However, every few years, some malignant adventurer, hoping to gain the power that Perseus had once had, would come to try and collect a Gorgon’s head. (Y/N) would try and avert her eyes, to flee to save the people.But more often than not, she would either make a mistake, or she was caught being curious.A single shared glance, and the bewitched interlopers were frozen in stone.

It was in this way that the petrifying gaze of the creature in the caves, and its snake-like tail, became known.That is why, to this day, many people still believe the Gorgons were all possessed of such a deadly eye and a serpent tail, but Medusa’s wings, and the tusks of a boar, have often been lost to time.

It was in this fashion, by a delicate balance of fear and respect, that (Y/N) lived for further centuries, alone, in the caves.Gladly, the creatures surrounding her were unaffected by her eyes, as they could not find them enticing, she was too different.

(Y/N) was able to procure foodstuffs from the forest around her, but she still appreciated the offerings, though she did not truly understand why they were given.She did not realize that, to the humans, she was the embodiment of female rage and vengeance, as well as a fearsome protector of holy places.Of course, such ideas had come from long-since twisted tales of her mother.

But one crisp, autumn day, everything changed.

Notes

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