Medusa became quick friends with the two Gorgon sisters, perhaps too quick, in my opinion. But I would not deny the results her empathy with the two monster women provided. Even if their conversation revolved mostly around small tidbits about their lives, it allowed me to complete a picture of their motivation and their personalities. And most importantly, how much of a danger they might be.
Needless to say, both Gorgons seem to possess quite a hatred for one specific Olympian, Poseidon, as he was apparently closely involved with their sister Medusa. This of course prompted my acquaintance, Medusa, to share her experience with the Olympians, and mine just as well. Both snake women had been surprised at my battle prowess, which Stheno commented as being lucky to be still alive fighting me.
Now, considering this a sign of an advantage, I might have against the Gorgons, would be illogical. The real world did not work on fictional power levels, where one group of people could never come even closer to the other group they perceived as stronger. No, all of the combat was ultimately highly situational. However, having a reputation as an untouchable individual was advantageous as long as the enemy was somewhat rational and gave up beforehand, based solely on the other's notoriety. Which of course did not work in the unreasonable environment, known as total war. Where even the strongest of the mages might be done in by a stray bullet or an artillery shelling when they least expected it.
I had no intention of making such a mistake and thus opted not to underestimate the Gorgons despite how frightened they looked when my close acquaintance Medusa dramatically described her secondhand account of my battle against Athena and Artemis. After the initial shock, they showed a similar dislike towards most of the Olympians as I did, just more openly.
Thrust into disadvantageous lives, on the whim of so-called gods, I could certainly understand Stheno's anger. Especially since I had a whole lot of similar experiences two times over, that damned Being X toying with me, during the whole length of my quite short second life. Not to mention all the things that have happened in this life so far. But as I established, he was not involved, his own ego would not allow him to leave me alone for this long. This of course still left me with an unpleasant question - how I came to be in this life? Yet, pondering on this question at the moment was nothing but a distraction I could not afford. Thus it was better to focus on the current problem at hand and start thinking about the seeming impossibility of my third life only once I secured safe working conditions in the Underworld.
With the midnight just passing, my decently sized ship reached the north-most part of Africa, after following the coast for most of the day. Now the decision to be made was whether to continue sailing during the night, thus shortening the time the Gorgons were in the vicinity and minimizing any risk they might still possess for maybe a bit too trusting Medusa. But at the same time bracing the danger of possible submarine attack by any kind of sea monster. Or anchoring the ship and waiting until the morning, and prolonging the time spent with two snake women, risking a mutiny.
All in all, the option of possible mutiny was preferable over the attack from beneath the waves, especially given that both Gorgons were quite docile, even if they were annoying with their demands to get unbound. Medusa's pleading looks pointed my way, here and now, were not helping either as she was against any kind of perceived cruelty, even if it was a necessary evil to keep her safe.
But knowing my close acquaintance, it would be nigh impossible to convince her that the Gorgons still might pose a danger to her. And at this point, being so near the safe rear position, I had absolutely no intention of alienating my closest ally. Releasing the snake women should be an acceptable risk, especially after they willingly revealed so much information about themselves.
The only question remainining was - how annoying it would be to get rid of them, should they go rogue and attack any of my companions?
"How well, can you swim?" I asked the Gorgons, once I was sure the ship had been properly anchored.
"Why do you ask?" replied Stheno, somewhat confrontationally.
"Just in case the sea monster comes to bite our ship," I said calmly.
This might not have been the main reason why I was asking about their swimming ability, but I wanted to know if I could just throw them overboard and not have to bother with them anymore. After all, they revealed that they spent most of their lives on the mainland, and their home region was not exactly known for its abundance of bodies of water. Thus I could easily conclude that their potential to stay afloat was likely rather low.
"Well... This is the first time we went sailing on a ship," answered Euryale, sounding clearly uncertain about her ability to swim
"Arachne! Why are you teasing them!" said Medusa angrily.
My close acquaintance, you know it is rather rude to be angry at the person who is trying to keep you safe. And despite my better judgment, I came to accept your emotional illogicality, as it had its uses.
"It is not teasing, but a valid question, Medusa," I said, letting nothing of my thoughts be known.
After which, I continued explaining that in case the ship, we were currently located on, encountered any kind of accident and the whole crew was forced off, it would be likely beneficial if the two Gorgons stuck nearby Orthrus to use him as a float given their rather abysmal swimming skill. At the same time, Orthrus would be used as an early warning and first line of defense against the potential danger the Gorgons embodied.
"Orthrus do please take 'care' of these two should anything dangerous happen," I said looking at the oversized dog from the Underworld.
Given how intelligent the two-headed giant monstrous dog proved to be, he understood my plan, his left head barking in acknowledgment, while the other, I could have sworn, was grinning. Needless to say, Orthrus was very competent and a good boy, I would have to certainly reward him somehow once we reached the Underworld and I managed to earn my first paycheck. But first, I would have to ask Persephone for the dog's liking, since he hardly showed preference for a treat, during our time traveling together.
With that out of the way, I explained to the two snake sisters, that I intended to release them from their biding, but only on a condition they behaved themselves. Both perked up in the excitement and Euryale showered me in thanks, which was unnecessary as I fully intended to observe them for any sign of animosity. Medusa, of course, was pleased with the decision to release the Gorgons, lightly teasing me how much of a good-hearted softie I was. She certainly did not need to know about my countermeasure of throwing Gorgons overboard, should they prove to be too much to handle.
"You two do not have to worry! Orthrus might look scary at first look, but he is so soft to pet," explained excited Medusa, leading two freed and somewhat scared Gorgons, towards the two-headed monstrosity in the form of a dog.
The children were strange. Over time, she more or less stopped being suspicious of them, and they both earned her trust. But in Lady Arachne's name, both of the children were unusual, even her companion agreed to that.
But in the end, it was to be expected. With the boy, making one innovation and improvement to the whole island once after another. Even sped up the construction of a temple dedicated to her lady, by inventing stangle-looking contraptions, which greatly helped the builders in their work. And in all of this, she could see how the boy enjoyed himself, his eyes shining, when he built new things.
Not to mention, how happily he made weapons and armor for Lady Arachne's personal guards, who now resided on the island of Lesbos. Such craftsmanship was unseen in the whole world, something only a true child of Lady Arachne could hope to achieve.
On the other hand, the girl did not seem to do much of anything, but she and her companion knew better, as they both observed the girl closely. Oftentimes the girl would sneak out of the mansion and venture to the city, where she would haggle with numerous vendors, getting the best price for things she wanted, building up her fortune and infamy.
Infamy might be an accurate word to describe the girl's actions, despite the sellers liking her quite a lot. After all, she set the vendors against each other, only for herself to establish new deals among the sellers, from which she of course profited. Ruthless, but efficient, her companion agreed. Yet ultimately harmless as the new deals were more efficient and profitable, rather than based on personal affection.
Now with everything in her hands, it was a time to finally have the Weaver and the Queen of Lemnos be brought here before her, to have them either swear loyalty or be judged.
She was absolutely not in the best of moods, especially ever since Hades delivered the grim news about Nike going missing, and likely being dead eaten by the monster of her making. And it was all her fault!
Even if the initial shock had already worn off, she was not able to function properly. So much she has lost coming to this world, yet it could never outweigh all the things she gained.
"They are here," announced the custodian of the Underworld, one day she had nothing better to do than to dwell in her dark thoughts.
The moment he said that she discarded all of her worries, or rather, put them aside for now until she had to deal with them again. Only after she explained everything to Arachne.