Page 41 of Meduso
I lightly smiled at the reaction of my sisters. “I appreciate the both of you saying that to me. But I will still always feel guilty over how all of this turned out. I’m so sorry.”
“Apology accepted, brother. Do not dwell on the past. We must all look forward to the future. Now we have our whole lives ahead of us. Our adventures can finally begin!” Stheno enthusiastically declared.
“Yeah! Now no one controls us. Our parents hold no power over our heads and Athena can no longer intimidate us. It’s such an amazing feeling!” Euryale expressed.
This was something I never even considered, but Euryale had an extremely valid point. I no longer had a fear of every decision I would make. Even if I did make a mistake or error, there would be no form of punishment. It was a weight I was finally able to realize that was lifted from my shoulders. Never again would I have to fear someone else’s disappointment and reprimand.
After just a few months, I knew Sarpedon like the back of my hand. The shortcuts between the mountains and the beaches were easy for me to navigate. I knew where every species of plant grew on the island. This was beyond valuable in order to help with any illnesses or injuries any of us had. I was able to concoct a medicinal remedy with specific herbs and plants. The island was slowly, but surely, becoming ahomefor me.
Now that I had more free time throughout the day and no longer tolerated the long hours of labor at a worthless temple, I was able to learn new skills and hone my previous ones to perfection. My agility and speed had surprisingly improved with my lack of legs. I was able to glide effortlessly between locations at such great velocities.
My combat skills were also now refined. I was thankful that Stheno also had interest in sparring and fighting with weaponry. Although our natural resources on the island were very limited compared to what we had been used to, we were able to be innovative and carve wood and use shards of glass and stone from the different caves on the island to make various forms of weapons. Stheno and I practiced fighting one another on a daily basis. We were even able to convince Euryale to join in periodically, advising her that there could come a time when she would need to defend herself if we ever faced intruders on the island who were determined to hunt us down.
Over the next year, I became a fierce fighter. Any Athenian army would be lucky to have me as their leader and commander. The muscles in my arms and torso also drastically increased in size. Those were the only muscles in my body that I could now bother to build. My boyish features were dwindling, and I was becoming more and more of a man.
After a long day of exerting our energy on one another, Stheno and I became physically tired from our friendly skirmishes.
Euryale rushed over to us. “I’ve done it!”
“Done what?” I inquired.
“I can’t say just yet, but come back to the dining cave. I’ve prepared dinner and have a special surprise for us all.”
Now I was intrigued. There was not much that Euryale could do to shock me since we all lived on this island together, so I wondered what sort of trick she had up her sleeve and how she was able to stealthily keep this surprise from my sister and me.
We slithered back to the cave and saw a few fish dangling from a drawstring over the fire. A few bird eggs were also cooking on a nearby stone. This couldn’t have been the surprise. So, I was curious to learn when Euryale would reveal this to us, but I did not have to wait very long.
She went behind a massive boulder in the cave and returned to us with a large pitcher she somehow made. I dipped my head to get a better look at the contents in the pitcher. It was a scarlet liquid.
“Blood?” Stheno shouted in confusion.
“No! It’s wine!” Euryale clarified. “I’ve made a small grove behind my garden I’ve been maintaining. I found some grapes on the vines on the east side of the island and managed to grow them here in the grove. After several months of experimenting and praying to Dionysus, I was finally able to make wine out of them.”
“Wait… how do you know it’s wine that you actually made?” I asked, curiously.
“Well, I will admit I had to spend several days taste-testing my concoctions and after feeling a bit woozy during my final trial, I realized I mastered the recipe,” she confessed.
Stheno and I chuckled at the thought of Euryale inebriated.
“Well, let us try it out. Do not hold back!” Stheno declared.
Euryale grabbed the crafted cups she created and gave us a generous pour of the wine. After taking the first sip, I moaned with pleasure at the smooth taste. It was not bad at all. Euryale had done well. I was quite impressed. We must have all enjoyed the wine more than we anticipated, for Euryale had to make multiple trips back and forth between her grove and the cave in order to restock the pitcher. My mind was fuzzy, and I found myself laughing more carelessly than I normally would.
Stheno had the greatest change in personality. I had never seen this side of her before. She was very touchy and handsy with us, wrapping her hand around my shoulder for a majority of the night.
We continued to imbibe on the wine over the brightly lit fire. We retold many of the memorable stories of our past. “Remember that time you two hid the Graeae’s eye in our father’s throne room?” Stheno asked.
Euryale and I cracked up, visualizing how angry Deino, Enyo, and Pemphredo were with us.
“Yes. I remember. Father punished me and never let me visit the grotto for a whole month after that incident,” I shared.
“Well, I secretly thought it was funny too. I could never admit it, but I had to rush out of the room while father scolded you, brother, because I could no longer contain myself from laughing,” Stheno conceded.
We recited more stories and shared in laughter at the memories of them. In recollecting the many times my sisters and I gathered, this had to have been the greatest amount of fun we ever had together. There was never a time I could recall where the three of us were all present and as amused as we were now. It made me hopeful of the future, that there would be many nights like this to look forward to.
“Well, well, well. Aren’t we all in pleasant spirits?” an all too familiar voice called from the entrance of the cave.
In an instant reflex, we all rose up into a defensive stance, ready to strike. But as the figure approached, we began to let our guard down. The creature was identical to us, half human, half serpent. It was Echidna.
