Chloe

“Yo Chris! Get your bony ass out of the tent!”

I groaned…

“Five more minutes…”

There was a laugh from outside.

“Alright then! Guess I’ll drink all this coffee myself, ya lazy bitch!”

Ugh… Gods above… Why did I ever agree to hiking across Crete in the first place? I was tired, my legs hurt, and Sophia was the most insufferable morning person I’d ever met. As much as I loved hanging out with her, Sophia’s incredible energy was the last thing I wanted to deal with in the morning.

Of course, I knew why I agreed. We’d both been planning this since we were nine, to travel to Greece and find the origins of the myths we knew were real. To prove to everyone that the manticore that had tried to kill us and the golden, glowing man who’d rescued us were real, that we hadn’t made them up. All of this is without even mentioning the fact that the tale of Sipriotes was set in Crete, a tale that had stuck with me from the moment I first heard it. A man turned to a woman by the vengeful and merciful Artemis. I was trans, but it took me a long time to realize it, and when I finally did, my love for this story made a lot more sense. Sophia didn’t know, but she didn’t need to. I was honestly feeling kind of trapped, I just couldn’t see a future where I was happily transitioned, not with my financials, so I figured if we visited as many rivers and lakes as possible on this trip, we’d maximize our chances of encountering Artemis. If we happened upon her, then that would be great, either she’d kill me or trans my gender and I could accept either one, and if we didn’t, I’d just keep pretending to be Chris, Sophia’s super cringe best friend.

Groaning and grumbling, I climbed out of my sleeping bag, unzipped the tent, and stepped out into the brisk spring air. Sophia was eating some of the trail mix I’d made before we started our trip, but she paused her feasting to pass me a water bottle and some soap. I washed my hands thoroughly before stretching them up to the sky, offering a prayer to each of the olympian gods. After my prayers were finished, Sophia passed me a large mug of coffee, and I poured half of it into our fire, offering it as a sacrifice to Artemis. Ordinarily, libations would be done with wine, but realistically, any drink will do, and since we were drinking coffee, that’s what the gods got.

Ever since the attack all those years ago, we’d both decided to begin practicing some of the simpler rituals and methods of worship that the Ancient Greeks had done. When you know for sure that certain gods exist, it’s wise to cover all your bases, especially when it starts to seem like your prayers are being answered. It’s not that anything particularly supernatural occurred, but after we started doing it, we both got just a bit luckier, and the world seemed just a little bit friendlier. 

After we finished our breakfast and morning rituals, I packed up the tent, Sophia made sure the fire was out, and we started back on the trail.

Sophia

Today had been really nice. I woke up bright and early, with plenty of time to relax while I did my morning rituals, and when Chris finally decided to wake up and we got moving, the crisp, cool air left me feeling refreshed and motivated. We’d been trekking across the island for about five days at this point, and still hadn’t seen hide nor hair of any mythological beasties, but honestly I wasn’t bothered that much. If you ask me, all that mattered right now was that there was a whole fuckin ocean between me and my “family”. I was just out in nature with my best friend, and if we happened to come across some harpies or something, that’d be pretty cool too. Honestly though, I was hoping for something a little more exciting than harpies. I hadn’t told Chris, but I’d asked to come to Crete specifically because supposedly, this island was often visited by Artemis. It's the same reason I'd wanted to visit Delos before, as it was the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo. I really wanted to thank Apollo (I’m pretty sure he’s the one who saved us at this point), and  I really wanted to be taken away by a bunch of beautiful women who’ve completely disavowed men. That sounded really nice. No offense to Chris…

Gods… Chris. I’d known I was a lesbian for ages. Like, I didn’t have the words for it until a bit later, but I was twelve when I decided the best possible future would be getting a small house in the country with a pretty girl and two cats. And then there was Chris. He knew I was a lesbian, and he was cool with it, which meant a lot considering how shitty so many of my other friends had been, and when I asked if he’d be willing to maybe fake date me for a while back in high school to get my parents off my ass, he was totally down to assist. It was over the course of that whole… thing that I realized I was into him. It didn’t make any goddamn sense, but I was, and it was confusing and weird and it pissed me off. Even now, walking ahead of him on this gods damn trail, I couldn’t get how fucking cute he was out of my head. It’s like my sexuality was basically just women + Chris and I didn’t like it!

Getting abducted by a beautiful goddess and her gang of nymphs was sounding more appealing by the second.

Chloe

It was getting late. Finally! The sun had begun to set a little while ago, and Sophia and I had both done our evening prayers to the chthonic deities (the ones who live in the underworld), and had arrived at a small river to set up camp. While Sophia was setting up the tent, I walked off down the river looking for firewood. The trees were dense here, shockingly so. Most of Crete was rocky mountains and grassy scrubland, according to the research I’d done before we arrived, only about 9% of the island could be considered forested at all, and yet here and now, by this bubbling creek, the trees were so dense that the camp dropped out of view in mere moments. We’d set up beside the water, so I wasn’t concerned with getting lost, but something about the dark green pressing in on all sides was making me nervous.

From up ahead, I heard something. It sounded like splashing, and was that-

Sophia

-laughter?

Chris was gone, he’d been swallowed by the trees within a few moments of beginning his search for firewood. I hadn’t been worried, but… who was laughing out there? That sure as shit wasn’t Chris’ voice. It sounded like some teenage girl who’d just gotten away with a prank. Something wasn’t right.

I stepped away from the tent that I’d been setting up, trying my damnedest to follow Chris’ trail. I had to find him. Some memory that I had locked away was screaming that laughs by the water were bad news. Then it hit me. Actaeon! This island was holy to Artemis, and if the story of Actaeon had any truth to it at all, then laughs by the water at night could be lethal for Chris. I sprinted through the dense leaves, dashing alongside the river. I saw them, bathing in the water, and then I saw him!

Chloe

“Chris!”

“Sophie?”

How the hell had she gotten here? As a matter of fact, where was here? I was walking by the river when I heard something, right? It was laughter, right? And splashing? When I heard it, everything went kind of blank. There was just something pulling me towards the sound, drawing me towards the water. 

Someone laughed to my left, I started to turn towards the sound.

“Chris! Look at me! I need you to listen to me right now, do not look at the river! Please…”

Right, Sophia was here, and she wanted me to look away from the river. Why? What could be so bad in there? I heard movement in the water behind me, and a wet hand was on my shoulder.

“You get away from him! That’s not fair, that’s not how this works! If you force him to look at you, what right do you have to punish him?”

She was screaming. I think she might have been crying, but I couldn’t see her. She was lost somewhere in the trees, or she was stuck just outside of my periphery. Somehow, I couldn’t make myself care. The hand on my shoulder wouldn’t let me. I felt a warm breath on my neck, and a whispered voice somehow managed to occupy the entirety of my awareness.

“It’s sweet that she cares so much about you. It’s just a shame that you’re lying to her, and that she’s been lying to you. You’ll both have to be honest with each other eventually.”

The voice drifted from my left ear over to my right.

“But for now, I think it would be for the best if you turned around… Chloe.”

She was probably right. That would be for the best, wouldn’t it? 

I turned.

Sophia

Chris, my Chris, was standing glassy eyed by the water’s edge. He looked like he was barely lucid, and although he was looking towards the forest now, the women in the water were all staring at him, giggling and tittering among themselves. I angled towards him, running faster than I ever had before. If I could just get to him, I could take him away. I could keep him safe! This whole trip was a stupid idea. It was a dumb risk, and we never should’ve sought this shit out! 

“Chris! Look at me! I need you to listen to me right now, do not look at the river! Please…”

For just a second, he seemed to be getting some kind of clarity back, but the woman closest to him stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. He froze, and my heart froze with him. Suddenly, there were strong arms wrapped around my midsection, and I was hoisted off the ground, kicking wildly at whoever had grabbed me.

“You get away from him! That’s not fair, that’s not how this works! If you force him to look at you, what right do you have to punish him?!?”

I heard a stern voice from the woman who had grabbed me.

“Trust me, there will be no punishment tonight, girl. Tonight, I’m answering both of your prayers. If your prayers to me this morning meant anything at all, if you truly believed them with any part of your heart, I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

My prayers? Then this was-? I wasn’t just being held by a woman, I was being held by a goddess! She was holding me, which meant that the women in the water weren’t a danger to him! Artemis was right behind me, and she was asking me to trust her.

“Yes… I can.”

The last thing I noticed was a gentle brush of soft lips against mine, a fluttering, fleeting touch that somehow left me craving more, and then the world faded into nothing around me, and I was left breathless, in a pitch black abyss, aware of only myself and the statuesque woman now standing before me.

“I’d like to offer you a challenge.”

ashlynflagg

A challenge from a goddess? What could go wrong?

 

Another Ancient Greek fun fact of the day! The Greeks had wine with pretty much every meal, so how were they not drunk all the time? The truth is they cut their wine with water, although it may be more accurate to say they cut their water with wine, given the proportions. That's not to say they never got drunk though. Dionysus was the god of uncut wine, after all.