Brothers, Pt III

As the months passed their collection of violent-looking statues began to outnumber them, and Sthenie and Eurie took great pleasure in arranging the stone men in disgraceful poses. The twins had grown accustom to their half-serpent forms, and were now quite graceful, sometimes even using their wings to raise themselves above the ground for short spans. Meddie, on the other hand, was growing quite large and clumsy. She spent as much time as she could floating in the ocean, the only place where she felt at peace. Her handsome god never reappeared- but then, she didn’t really expect him to. They were so capricious, those great ones.

She only ever let her tears mingle with the seawater, so that her sisters would not see them on her face.

One clear evening while she was floating a head popped up in the water next to her. Meddie, taken by surprise, thrashed about awkwardly before managing to cover her eyes. Her hair snakes writhed in confusion, and one of them attempted to hide in her ear. The other head giggled.

“It’s okay,” said a light, fluting voice. “You can’t hurt me. I’m not made of flesh.” Meddie peeped out from between her fingers. Sure enough, the head appeared to be formed entirely of clear, shining water- a feminine head of great delicacy and beauty. The girl smiled, and dimples appeared in her transparent cheeks.

“I’m Benthie ,” she said, “And you must be Keto’s daughter.”

“Yes,” Meddie responded, letting her hands drop and wondering why so many of the immortals of the world seemed to be concerned with the offspring of her monstrous mother. Her hair-snakes lifted in curiosity. “My name is Meddie.”

“Nice to meet you, Meddie. I’ve come to be your friend.”

And it was as simple as that.

***

Every few days Benthie would make an appearance near the caves- although of course she could not leave the water. She was so sweet and nurturing, so utterly charming that Meddie could not help but love her- and the twins did, as well. She was a strange combination of sister, mother, and friend to them all, and they bloomed in the radiance of her affections. It provided a much-welcomed contrast to the increasing number of hostile young “heroes” that kept popping up. It reminded all of them that they were not really monsters, for what monster would enjoy such simple things as sharing hot fish chowder, or giggling over girlish jokes, or singing nonsense songs to the child growing in Meddie’s womb? And Benthie turned out to be a wonderful midwife, full of knowledge pertaining to all things pregnancy and birth related. She always had some piece of advice or an herbal concoction to soothe Meddie’s stomach, and the girl began to be far less afraid of what would happen to her when the baby decided to be born. Gods-children births were notoriously hard on the mothers, after all- often fatal for both parties.

It was Benthie, too, who came up with the idea of training Meddie to function like a blind person.

“You need to get used to moving about using your other senses. Your gaze doesn’t hurt me or your sisters, but there’s no guarantee that it won’t hurt your little one- and I’m certain that’s an experiment you don’t wish to conduct.”

Meddie was horrified- she’d never even considered the fact that looking at her newborn child was a potential death-sentence. She immediately began wearing an eye-mask that her sisters fashioned for her from discarded packs, and she devoted many hours of every day to learning to navigate without sight. Such was her determination to protect her baby that she made amazingly swift progress, and could soon maneuver through the caves in utter darkness.

One evening, as she was practicing dodging waves by the sounds they made, Benthie brought up something else that had never occurred to her.

“You know, Meddie, you’re awfully gigantic. And even tho’ I know you have monstrous heritage, and it’s entirely possible that your little one will have some… interesting traits, I am fairly certain that it’s not a little one you’re carrying. I’m pretty sure it’s a little two.”

Meddie froze, and cold water rushed up to swirl around her ankles. Her hands moved protectively over her belly, and in response someone’s limb gave a particularly forceful jab.

“Oh my,” she finally said, but she didn’t deny it. The moment she heard the words, she knew. There were two little lives sharing space within her body, just as Sthenie and Eurie had once shared Keto’s womb.

“I mention this not only to prevent surprise at the birth,” Benthie continued, “But also because twins have a habit of coming earlier than singles. Which means that rather than two months left in your pregnancy, you may have as little as one.”

“Oh my,” Meddie repeated, and plopped down, breathless, in the surf.

***

Meddie was exhausted.

Her body had been rippling for twelve hours, but true labor (as Benthie had once described it to her) had still not yet begun. To make matters worse, Benthie herself was nowhere to be found- a fact which, while it was of mild concern to Meddie, the twins found absolutely terrifying. They kept rushing in and out of the caves to look for her, hopping and fluttering in their agitation. It might have been funny if Meddie were not so very tired, and so desperately wanting some quiet so she could sleep. Even her hair-snakes had curled up tightly against her skull, trying to hide in their own coils.

Finally, using her best Big Sister voice, she gave her sisters tasks.

“Sthenie, you must go up into the cliffs to find me some of the bark Benthie told us about, to ease my pain. Eurie, you must go down to the sea and call for her. Maybe a passing nymph will hear you, and get her the message.”

At first they refused to leave her, but finally she convinced them that she would be fine for an hour or two- certainly the babies were in no danger of making an appearance- and moreover she promised she would leave off her eye-mask for self-defense.

“My hearing has gotten so acute- you know nothing will enter the caves without waking me, and one glance is all it will take to ensure my safety. So go! Go, go, go, because you won’t have a chance to go once my pains begin in earnest.”

Thus it was that Meddie found herself alone, and was finally able to slip into a fitful slumber.

***

It was not a noise that a normal person (or perhaps even a normal former-semi-immortal) would have noticed. It was so light, just the gentlest movement of air, but it woke Meddie immediately. She sat up, glancing around, wincing as her body gave the first shudder of a true contraction.

“Who’s there?” she demanded, although she saw no one- not even a shadow in the torches’ light. Still, she knew there was someone there. She could smell male sweat, leather, and that strange scent she had come to associate with the ‘heroes’. If pressed she would have labeled it arrogance. She turned towards the empty air that- according to her ears, nose, and the air currents against her skin- should have held a figure.

“Show yourself!” she hissed, and the snakes of her hair hissed with her, fanning about her head in their most impressive aggression-display.

“Oh I think not,” came a young, laughing voice. “Although I must admit, being invisible does not seem to be nearly the advantage she assured me it would be.”

Meddie wrapped her arms about her middle, glaring as hard as she could. Even if she couldn’t actually see him, if she could get him to accidently catch her eye she might add another statue to the collection. Her sisters would probably be delighted by an invisible statue.

She heard the sound of a sword being drawn, and her blood went cold.

“What do you want?” she demanded, panic rising. Her gaze was her only defense- without it there was nothing she could do to protect her babies- not even run, with her body in spasms. For the first time she found herself wishing that the grey-eyed goddess had cursed her with the same fangs and talons she’d given to the twins.

“Oh, it’s not what I want,” the young man said in a conversational tone. He seemed to have moved closer, although she had heard no footsteps. “If this were about what I wanted I certainly wouldn’t be here, in this filthy little cave. I’d be fishing the open sea, or- better yet- I’d be sitting by my true father’s side, enjoying my rights as his natural son. But no, instead here I am, carrying out the whim of that stupid tyrant who only wants to sleep with my mother and doesn’t have the stones to do it while I’m around. But just you wait- I have plans for him.”

During this speech Meddie had scootched herself as far up against the cavern wall as she could. Now she glanced surreptitiously about for a rock to throw.

“If you hate him so much, why do his bidding?” She reasoned, fingers closing about a likely-looking stone.

“I’m not,” came the petulant reply. “He only thinks I am. I told you, I have plans-“

Just then Meddie flung the rock with all the force she could muster right where she guessed his nose should be.

Clang!

“Hey!” screeched the youth. Then he laughed, and Meddie’s stomach sank. “Not bad for a swollen old monster. Too bad for you I’ve got this excellent helm.

"And now I think we’re done talking.”