Stheno was able to help her family endure. They've managed to stay hidden in the dense forest of Lesbos for three months.
Both she and Euryale have tried talking to Medusa; maybe get her to open up, hoping that doing so will be able to help her. While thanking them for it, Medusa has told them that she prefers not to think about Poseidon. Or anything regarding him.
Medusa has managed to make something of her situation. In the midst of night, Stheno snuck back into their house and got some of their stuff, including some parchments and paints.
She paints, every now and then. It calms her. She's tried talking to Stheno about letting her come together to hunt for food. She doesn't want to sit in the cave all day, but Stheno always refuses. Instead, only rarely taking Euryale with her.
Maybe it's for the best. They eventually realized that part of Athena's curse was turning Medusa into what is essentially a living parasite. Everywhere she goes, the environment decays. The grass withers, as do the trees. The animals, feeling her presence also run away. If she goes out there, in the heat of the hunt, who knows how dangerous her abilities will become.
At least here, painting, she can't hurt anyone.
"Wow."
Medusa's only somewhat startled by her sister's presence. Her snakes even more so, though they quickly try to hide it. Gently, Euryale places her chin on Medusa's shoulder.
"Your drawing looks…" It looks like someone being torn apart; their body starting to separate at the crotch, going up. It doesn't take long for Euryale to figure out what this is. "I love the color palette." Nailed it.
"Really, the color palette?" She doesn't turn around, but Medusa does raise an eyebrow.
"Well, yep."
Tilting her head, Medusa leans on Euryale. "Hm, yeah, I guess the color palette is good. Thank you."
She gives her a forehead kiss. "You're welcome dear." From behind her, she can hear Stheno coming.
"All right, I'm ready to go. Remember how I told you to throw the daggers?"
"Yes."
"And if you see something like a boar, you?"
Confidently, Euryale answers. "Preferably injure its leg so that it can't run."
Feeling a sense of pride at having taught her sister hunting skills so quickly, Stheno can't help but smile. "Good girl." Then she looks at Medusa, whose expression remains blank. Stheno however can see the hint of a smile. Going to her, like Euryale before, she kisses her on the forehead. "We'll be back before you know it."
"Come on, time to go."
"Lead the way."
As they leave, Medusa prays for their safe return. But she doesn't have a god to pray to. Not anymore. She just hopes they'll be alright.
After a while, Stheno and Euryale have reached an area of the forest where Medusa's parasitic powers haven't reach yet.
"Finally." Euryale says exasperated.
"I know. She's trying her best to stay calm and controlled, but Medusa's reach keeps growing."
"Do you think we'll have to keep going farther and farther away?"
"I'm afraid so." Turning around, Stheno smirks. "Maybe one of these days, we might even get the chance to hunt fish."
"Aha, yeah. At this rate, probabl-" Before Euryale has the chance to finish that sentence, Stheno quickly covers her mouth. She gives her sister one of those looks; mild anger mixed with confusion.
Stheno shushes her and points to their right.
It's a boar! Euryale thinks excitedly.
"It's a bit too far for you to throw a dagger at it. Just in case you were thinking of being me."
"Just give me the bow."
"Pfft. 'Just give me the bow.' Euryale, when have you ever held a bow?"
"Well, you could have taught me how to use it."
"You're the one who said she wanted to learn how to use daggers first!" Euryale tries to retort but, "Shush." Turning back to the boar, Stheno takes out her bow as silently as possible.
Placing an arrow, she extends her right arm backwards. Steadily, she takes a deep breath and, let's go.
The arrow hits the boar right in its left eye. After only a second, it falls to the ground dead.
"Brain-shot!" Stheno states happily. Almost like a child. Then, she looks at her sister.
"Do you want to skin it this time?"
"Oh", Euryale quickly puts up her hand, "aha, Stheno you're so funny."
So that's a no. "Damn right I am. Come on, let's go grab it."
As they go to grab it, Euryale looks down at the boar. "Ugh, poor thing. I hate killing animals."
"Well, we can't survive on just fruits. Especially given our size."
Euryale puts her hands on her hips. "Are you saying I've gained weight?"
Stheno takes the arrow out and is about to slice the boar's throat with her dagger, hoping to get some blood out.
But something's going on.
"What is it?"
Stheno isn't sure. Getting up, she doesn't lose eye contact with her sister. She looks to her left.
Then immediately pushes Euryale backwards, just as an arrow flies where her head was. "We've been found!"
They spot the hunter who shot the arrow. "The monsters we've heard about! They're here." Before they even have much of a chance to react, other warriors appear, having apparently stayed hidden. They're not sure where the voice came from, "Men! Attack!", but things are definitely going to get worse.
"Please! Stop!" Euryale tries pleading with them.
"We don't have time for that!" a man tries to attack Stheno, she uses her tail to knock him to the side. "Look at us We're monsters! Men like them don't care about how or why. So, fight!" As another warrior readies to attack Euryale, she takes her arrow and throws it at his leg.
For a moment, Euryale wonders if it's best for them to split up. Then she remembers Stheno saying that this tactic just makes for easier prey. They need to have each other's back.
Stheno thinks that these men aren't very smart. They just keep throwing themselves at her, with raised swords. With just one swing of her tail, she can move all of them aside. With her talons, she could easily rip them apart. But that's not who she is.
Another dude tries to jump her. She punches him in the face, knocking him out. At this point, she can't help but roll her eyes. "How imaginative."
Euryale herself is also keeping up pretty well. "Just leave us alone already." She's surrounded. There's at least three warriors, all holding spears aimed at her. Behind her, she can feel a tree. They got her cornered. Who should she attack first. If she goes for the one on the left.
She never even saw that coming. Realizing that just throwing themselves at her wasn't working, they decided to use a different strategy. She didn't even notice the rope tied around her neck. Whoever is holding it, is right behind the tree.
She tries to grab him but fails. Stheno! In desperation, Euryale grabs with her tail one of the three warriors, knocking over a second one, and sends him flying into her sister.
That caught her attention. Realizing what's going on, Stheno's eyes widen. "No!" She screams and quickly runs to help. The third warrior was smart enough to fall back.
Enraged, Stheno grabs the man who was choking Euryale by the throat. As she brings him closer, he tries in vain to grab his sword. She's not stupid. She quickly grabs it away from him. "Tch." Slowly, she tightens her grip. "Doesn't feel good, does it? Suffocating, I mean. I'm only going to say this once. When you wake up, leave. And never come back to these woods." As the warrior faints, Stheno lets him fall.
Euryale, still weakened from near asphyxiation, is on the ground. "Is he?"
"Dead? No, just fainted. We need at least one person to get the message out. Uh-huh!"
Wondering what that sound her sister made was, Euryale looks up. What she sees causes her eyes to tear up. It's the warrior who cornered her, the one who got away! He must have gotten around when they weren't looking!
He took his spear and shoved it through Stheno's chest!
Blood starts coming out from her mouth, the warrior pulls the spear out. Without breaking a sweat, he takes his sword and again stabs Stheno in the chest, pinning her to the tree.
Euryale starts panicking, her face covered in tears. Looking Stheno in the eyes, she can see the light in them fading. Then, her eyes close.
No. She- She can't be dead. Euryale looks at the warrior. He goes and picks up his spear. "No… No! Sthenoooo!"
Euryale lets out a harrowing scream. So powerful that it causes a shockwave that sends the warrior hurtling back, doing the same to many of the trees.
Out of breath, Euryale gets up and goes to her sister. With the tears rolling on her face, she gently touches Stheno's cheek. "Stheno… I'm sorry. I'm so, sorry."
"Uh!"
Euryale quickly recoils back. Stheno's alive!
Stheno's eyes take a moment to adjust after opening them. Looking at her sister, she can see shock on her face. Slowly, she looks down. The sword is still pinning her to that tree.
"H-How!"
"Help… me…"
"Yes!" Euryale quickly goes to her sister and grabs the sword. The two sisters look each other in the eye.
Euryale pulls the sword out, causing Stheno to scream in pain.
"I'm sorry!"
Stheno grabs her sister's hand and gently squeezes it. "No, you did great."
"But, I don't understand. How are you alive?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"You mean, Athena?"
"When she cursed us, she didn't just turn us into monsters, I guess she did far more to us."
Euryale shakes her head. "I thought only Medusa could, you know, do that."
"Apparently not." Stheno looks around, finally noticing how many of the trees are bent. "Um, what happened here?"
Lost for words, Euryale just shrugs.
"Well, we can talk about it later." Stheno gets up. "I think it's about time we headed back home. Before she can react, Euryale quickly grabs her for a hug. Surprised, she hugs her back.
"I thought I lost you."
"Shh, it's okay." She pats Euryale on the head, running her fingers through her sister's snakes. "I'm ok. I'm right here. Come on, lets go get that boar, and go."
"I'll help you carry it. And no. I'm not taking no for an answer. You just got stabbed through the chest twice. I don't care what crazy powers you have, I'm helping."
"Fine." As Stheno grabs its front legs, Euryale grabs its back ones. However, she notices something.
"What is it?"
"Look at their armor. That crest."
"Is that?"
"The crest of Agathinus' family."
Gently, Euryale places the boar down. "Do you think he sent them here?"
"I don't know. They were probably sent by his father. They wasted no time attacking us. Sounds more like the king than the prince."
"Should we tell Medusa?"
"Definitely about the being attacked part. About who attacked as though. I'm not sure if that's a good idea."
"Come on Stheno, he's trying to find her. And I think we both know he won't stop looking."
"I know that! But what good will it do if he does find us!? Find out what happened to her? Hasn't she been through enough?"
"I know. It's just that this doesn't feel fair to Agathinus."
"What's happened hasn't been fair for anyone of us." Stheno lets out a deep sigh. "For now, let's just get this boar back to the cave."
"Fine."
And so, they pick up the boar and head back to the cave. The revelation about Agathinus or his father having sent out a search party left them unsure of what to do and how he would react to finding out about their current state.
As they go deeper into the slowly petrified forest, they run into Medusa. They can clearly see the fear in her eyes.
"Are you okay!? What happened?"
Stheno and Euryale look at each other. The eldest speaks first, "We were attacked."
"I heard Euryale scream your name."
"Yeah. I guess you're not the only one who was given unique abilities."
Somewhat giddily, Euryale reveals her newfound abilities. "Turns out my scream is now more powerful that I thought. And Stheno–"
"This boar is a little heavy, Euryale." She stares intensely at her sister. Some things are better left unsaid. The details of her death don't need to be shared.
"Stheno managed to fight them off."
"I'm just glad you're both safe."
Stheno smiles at her little sister. "Come on, let's go back."
"All right." And just like that, they head back. As darkness falls, Stheno skins the boar and cooks it, unaware of the events going on elsewhere on the island.
Near the center of Lesbos, far away from the petrified forest, Agathinus is in his room.
One of the warriors enters his room. "Prince Agathinus."
The young prince can't restrain himself and quickly goes to the warrior. "What is it? Did you find her?" Every word out of his mouth drips with desperation.
"We found, something. You said one of your betrothed's sisters was named Stheno?"
For a brief moment, Agathinus feels relief. Did they find Stheno? Is Medusa alive? He quickly proceeds to ask the warrior these questions, unaware of how his life will also be affected by the gods' machinations.