Solangelo Oneshots

6

By xoxoMouse

In the cave, no light reaches me. It is cool and dark and the only sounds that echo from the slick walls are the faint drips of water from the ceiling and the light hissing against my ear, the same hissing that has been with me since birth. It comforts me, it always has, and now in my banishment I have the opportunity to focus on nothing but the calming noise. Until the statue by the entrance breaks.

"Go away!" I yell, my voice bouncing back at me. I inch closer to the wall, pull my legs against my chest, hide my face in the folds of my chiton.

A tentative voice answers me, gentle but a man's voice nonetheless. "H-hello?" It calls. "I'm sorry to cause trouble. I seem to have wandered off path and—"

"I said leave! I know why you've come and if you expect to leave with your life then never return."

There are stumbling footsteps coming nearer. "I...You see, that's going to be an issue."

I raise my head, my eyes still closed. I can feel the snakes on my scalp tense, begin to coil as if they could launch themselves at the intruder. Sometimes I wish they could. There will never be peace for me as long as I live. "Leave!" I snarl.

"Please," he begs. "I can't—"

I'm on my feet, crossing the cave, eyes open and seeing red—another man who won't take no for an answer. If he looks, let him see—let him be no more.

But when I find him, he looks me in the face and remains flesh and bone.

"Hello? I don't mean to cause trouble it's just—I can't find my way out." His voice is soft now and he looks at me. No, he looks through me. No—he can't see me at all. I look closer and find his irises are a milky blue.

"Are you...Are you blind?"

"Yes—and I believe I may have broken a vase. Is this a cave? It feels like a cave. Why are you all alone?"

I dare to step closer to him, admiring his eyes. I reach out to touch him, to confirm he's real, and when I do he flinches but doesn't shrink away.

"I can't see but all my limbs still work fine—I'll ask you to remove your hand."

I jerk my fingers away and pin them to my sides. "You're not stone."

"No. Not the last time I checked," he says. "How would I be talking if I were stone?"

"How indeed," I mutter to myself. "But surely you must be."

He sighs and his shoulders sink. "Please point me towards the exit—I'll be away from your riddles and you may return to your evening alone, in a cave, as soon as you do."

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Will."

I take him in. Will. Golden skin and golden hair, freckles that cover his face and arms. Every part of him holds contrast and yet compliments one another—All skin and hair are the same in stone.

"How lucky you are, Will, to not possess sight. It seems to have balanced out your misfortune of having wandered into the Gorgons' cave."

His eyes widen though they cannot take me in, and his body goes rigid—but he still breathes and that is such a miraculous thing. No one has visited me except for my sisters, immune to my gaze because of their femininity, and the warriors who have come to collect my head.

"The Gorgons?" He asks. "And so I suspect that you are—"

"Nico." I need not say anything else. A long time ago I had a last name, but there wasn't any use for it anymore. My name had once meant victory of the people, but I am defined by my ultimate loss. The public refuses to even mutter my name, lest they be cursed as well. If I were one of them, I'd do the same.

"How am I alive?" He asks.

"I have no answer. On all accounts, Will, you should be dead and decorating my garden at this moment." I take him by the arm and begin to lead him out of the cave, towards the woods where the path that will deliver him home safely lies. "Nevertheless, you should be going. My sisters, though they mean well, would not stop to ask questions upon finding you in our home."

He navigates well with just a little assistance. For the first time in a very long time, I am not afraid to be in the company of a man. Still, better to release him before...Well. Before something goes wrong. It always does.

I help him down the embankment to the path, wondering how he decided such a steep incline was the natural course for his stroll.

"How exactly did you stray so far again?" I ask.

He doesn't look at me as he speaks, but his hand is steady and warm on my arm, reminding me he's there.

"Well I didn't have a very good internal compass before I lost my sight. It didn't exactly help."

I nod and realize he can't see it. "Oh. Well, Will, you can follow the footpath back to the city by yourself, correct? I would walk you back but...you can see why that may cause some issues."

He shakes his head. "You know, Nico, most of the time I would accuse someone telling me they were a gorgon of playing tricks—but somehow I believe you."

I almost laugh. "Well the serpents are certainly a giveaway—and the scales."

"The scales?"

I take his hand and hold it up to my face. "On my cheeks...they're quite prominent, unfortunately."

Will strokes them gently, runs his thumb over my cheekbone as if he were wiping away a tear.

"They're...soft."

I'm grateful he can't see my blush, to say the least. "If you happen to be stumbling through the forest anytime soon, Will, I wouldn't mind a visit."

One side of his mouth tugs up into a smile that reveals a dimple on the left side of his face. "You know, Nico, that doesn't sound too bad."

As I watch him walk away, using a branch to feel the uneven ground in front of him, it occurs to me that I truly want him to find his way back to me. And what a scary feeling that is.