literature

Immortality's Limits

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Part 1: Candice

"I just don't see what the problem is here," said the thing calling herself Aphrodite. Candice was hesitant to refer to something as a goddess or an immortal or whatever unless she was 100% sure of the facts. Even so, she had to admit that the woman in front of her was clearly... not normal. Aside from introducing herself as the actual Greek figure of love and beauty, the woman had also demonstrated that she could change her form, stab herself with a penknife and take no injury, and blow up a rosebush with her mind. She also claimed to have knowledge of events from thousands of years ago, but as Candice was never a history buff, this didn't really prove anything.

"Okay," Candice said, scooting a few inches farther down the park bench. "The 'problem here' is this. You're asking for my permission for you to turn me into some weird monster--"

"Gorgon," Aphrodite cut in.

"Right. Gorgon. And I'm taking you at your word that you'll eventually change me back and reward me with riches or fame or something."

"It could be riches and fame," Aphrodite remarked. "You don't have to be selective." She leaned forward like a child begged for a toy.

Candice tried to inch over some more, but if she went any farther, she would fall off the bench. "Y'know, as um... tempting as that offer sounds, I think I'll stick with being human." She half-slid, half-fell off the bench, caught her balance and started to walk away. As far as she'd been able to tell, there was nothing special about her; Aphrodite had only targeted her for the offer because the two happened to be walking in the park at the same time. Surely there would be plenty of other people strolling down this path that she could rope into her scheme. She picked up the pace, telling herself that if she just got out of sight, if she turned the next corner into the tunnel of trees that lined the hiking path, Aphrodite would disappear like some weird dream.

"No!" The voice echoed around Candice a few steps short of her goal, the tone impossible to trace. It could have been terror or fury or a strange mix of both. Candice froze mid-step, not daring to turn around.

"You can't refuse me," Aphrodite said. Her voice had the tone of a whisper, yet sounded as loud as if the woman was standing right beside her. Sweat ran down Candice's neck. She didn't even know where Aphrodite was standing right now; she hadn't heard so much as a rustle of fabric or a footstep on the gravel.

"If I can't refuse, why did you ask my permission to begin with?"

For a long time, she heard no reply. When Aphrodite did speak again, it was through gritted teeth. "You know, this would be so much easier if you'd just cooperate."

Candice heard the sound of wind rushing around her ears. A whirlwind of leaves rattled at her feet. Her muscles seized and she found herself turning around, her thoughts mashed and tangled. The park didn't look like before -- it looked darker, abandoned, like people weren't welcome here. What was she doing here? She'd wanted to walk somewhere, right? Her legs started moving. Yet she felt sure this wasn't the direction she wanted to go. She tried to think about stopping, but the idea slipped through the fingers of her mind. She continued taking steps forward until she and Aphrodite were face-to-face again. Then, in an instant, her mind was clear again.

She... she controlled me! Candice no longer felt nervous or skeptical. She felt raw terror, and it kept her in her place more firmly than any magic.

Aphrodite, for her part, had an expression more of pride than regret. "Everything has limits, you know. Even immortality." She fingered a piece of her hair. It was a rich, chestnut brown, not that different from Candice's, but as she pinched it, a flash of gray and white crept through the strands. Aphrodite shuddered and released the lock, sending it back to its original color. "My sisters and I upkeep ourselves with elixir, ambrosia. Edible forms of the magic of other creatures. But we've hunted too aggressively. There's so little prey left..." She looked longingly up at the trees around them, wringing her hands, looking more than a desperate old woman than she had with the streak of white hair.

"But the gorgons are different. They have lasted longer than any other creature. They have a secret, something we don't know. I believe they have some way to produce an elixir without other creatures' magic to do it. I want to know what they know. I have to or--"

She leaned over and grasped her head in shaking hands. For a few moment, she muttered to herself, either words too quiet for Candice to hear or words so ancient that no living person would understand them. Whatever she whispered, it seemed to calm her, and she lifted her head again. Strands of hair sat out of place and caught the sunlight, making it look like wisps of smoke were escaping from her head. Then again, maybe they were. Her face twisted into an overworked smile. "I need a lure, my dear. And you're the lure. The gorgons are a protective bunch. Exceptional at hiding, but if I can trick them into thinking one of their own is danger, they'll come running."

Candice swallowed hard. The trees behind her didn't seem so safe anymore. Nowhere felt safe. If this woman.. or whatever she was... wanted her, she wasn't escaping. Even if she ran halfway around the world.

Her throat tightened as she asked, "I... really can't refuse, can I?"

"Mind control is possible for me, as you've just seen," Aphrodite said, panting a bit as she patted down the stray strands of hair. "But it consumes valuable magic that I would rather not waste. And I must say that if you force me to resort to such drastic measures again, you will forfeit any rewards I've promised you thus far." She narrowed her eyes. If there had been any panic there before, it had faded, her confidence restored. "That includes, by the way, restoring your humanity once I'm down with you."

Candice nodded. Her body had been so frozen with fear that her neck felt stiff when she moved it.

Aphrodite grinned. "So that's a yes then? You'll obey my orders until I have the gorgons in my custody?"

"Y-yes, I will," Candice stuttered, her voice sounding even more strained than her neck. Aphrodite clapped her hands together like a giddy little kid.

"Oh, excellent. Let's get started, then. Kneel down, my dear. Kneel down."

Candice did so. The autumn grass felt itchy against her legs as she lowered her head. She left Aphrodite's hand grasp her scalp, and a strange, flaming energy filled her veins. Her dark brown locks flew up as if caught in a huge wind, then grew heavy. When they fell to the back of her neck again, they were moving of their own free will, a nest of hiss, writhing serpents. Candice squeaked out a cry. She didn't have a particular fear of snakes, but that didn't make the sensation any less terrifying. The heat faded from her head, but the rest of her body burned as her soft human skin gave way to a pattern of tough, brown and olive green scales. The sensation of the grass irritating her legs faded, and eventually, so did the heat in her body. All of the heat. She felt the chill of the autumn air slowing her down, a sudden craving to bask in the sun. She hugged herself, but feeling the reptilian scales up her arms turned her stomach, and she quickly dropped her arms to her side.

"Ew," Aphrodite said, pulling her hand back and shaking it as if she'd touched raw sewage. "You look disgusting. But I suppose that's the idea, isn't it? Now come along, my dear, follow me. And don't look at any cute fuzzy animals you don't want to turn into paperweights, all right?"

Candice slowly got to her feet, and felt a strange jolt of determination. Things were bad, yes, but if she actually did what Aphrodite said, they'd be far better for her in the end. Yes, she'd make it through this. In fact, she'd turn this situation so completely in her favor that agreeing to become this... thing she now was would be the best decision of her life.

----

Part 2: Aphrodite

"I just don't see what the problem is here," Aphrodite said. Oh, heavens, did her voice sound that desperate? What was her life coming to, that she had sunk low as to beg favors from a human? Even worse, said human didn't even seem to believe any of her claims. She'd demonstrated her powers in a variety of trivial manners, and yet the girl still scooted herself down the park bench like Aphrodite had escaped from some quaint little mental institution.  

"Okay," the human (Candice, was that her name?) said. "The 'problem here' is this. You're asking for my permission for you to turn me into some weird monster--"

"Gorgon," Aphrodite corrected. Really, didn't children learn these things in school anymore?

"Right. Gorgon. And I'm taking you at your word that you'll eventually change me back and reward me with riches or fame or something."

"It could be riches and fame," Aphrodite reminded her. "You don't have to be selective." She leaned forward a bit, but it did not seem to have the effect she desired.

Candice shifted around awkwardly and said, "Y'know, as um... tempting as that offer sounds, I think I'll stick with being human." Then she stood up, actually stood up, and attempted to walk away.

"No!"

The girl paused, but did not turn around. There was something in seeing a disgusting mortal willfully walking away from her that made Aphrodite's mind snap. People used to listen when she spoke. Arrange themselves into armies at a snap of her fingers. Now this little twit thought she could just say no? In that moment, Aphrodite did not care that she could find someone else for the task. She did not care if Athena and Hera's wrath fell upon her for using magic unwisely. This girl would be the bait because Aphrodite had declared it to be so.

"You can't refuse me," she said, projecting her voice so that it would sound as if she stood whispering into the girl's ear, despite standing a good twenty feet away.

"If I can't refuse, why did you ask my permission to begin with?"

Aphrodite almost laughed aloud at the question. Yes, why had she asked? This girl didn't believe in her power? Then maybe it was time she showed it in full force.

"You know, this would be so much easier if you'd just cooperate." Unleashing her magic, she felt like a sprinter barreling down a hill at full speed -- so easy to trip and fall, yet so thrilling to be at that peak of power. The leaves at the girl's feet shifted with energy; the sky above them darkened. Aphrodite watched with glee as Candice ceased being stubborn, her every movement now conforming to Aphrodite's will. Like a clockwork doll, she turned and walked back, facing Aphrodite with the respect she deserved.

It took intense magic to deny someone their free will; Aphrodite could already feel the strain it put on her ancient body.

Oh, Hera would throw a fit over this. But it was worth it. That look of complete horror in Candice's wide eyes, the knowledge that she would now listen to anything Aphrodite said and obey without question... every second was worth it.

"Everything has limits, you know," she explained. "Even immortality." She cringed at the thought, but it seemed a demonstration would illustrate her point better than anything else. She squeezed a bit of her (admittedly perfect) hair between her fingers, and for just a moment, released the magic's hold on it. She shuddered as it revealed its true age briefly (extremely briefly), then let the magic cover it up once again.

"My sisters and I upkeep ourselves with elixir, ambrosia," she went on, "Edible forms of the magic of other creatures. But we've hunted too aggressively. There's so little prey left..." She stared up at the trees, where she could once find so many magical creatures flitting among the branches -- fairies and flaming birds, not to mention the humble tanuki that had once made their homes in these forests... she had her sisters had sucked the magic from nearly every last one of them. But...

"But the gorgons are different," she heard herself whisper, unsure if she was even speaking to the moral anymore. "They have lasted longer than any other creature. They have a secret, something we don't know. I believe they have some way to produce an elixir without other creatures' magic to do it. I want to know what they know. I have to or--"

Panic seized her. Even though she no longer held control over Candice, she could feel the exhaustion creeping into her body from the effort it had taken. She was dead if this didn't work. Hera would have her magic next, leave her an empty, shriveled husk. How could she have wasted her energy so frivolously? And all to prove a point? "I'll do this... I have to do this..." she found herself muttering. Then she straightened, forced herself into a smile. No, she could not break down here. What was done was done. She had the mortal's obedience, and soon she would have the gorgons, and then everything would work out the way it was meant to.

"I need a lure, my dear. And you're the lure." It was no longer a request, simply a statement of fact. "The gorgons are a protective bunch. Exceptional at hiding, but if I can trick them into thinking one of their own is danger, they'll come running."

Candice swallowed. Aphrodite could see the tiny, pathetic gears in her mind turning, looking for an out. Naturally, she came up empty. "I... really can't refuse, can I?"

Ah, now there's the attitude we need. "Mind control is possible for me, as you've just seen," Aphrodite said, coming to the horrible realization that she was not only panting with exertion like some animal, her hair was out of place. She quickly patted it down. "But it consumes valuable magic that I would rather not waste. And I must say that if you force me to resort to such drastic measures again, you will forfeit any rewards I've promised you thus far." She narrowed her eyes. She did so love doing that. It felt so powerful. "That includes, by the way, restoring your humanity once I'm down with you."

Candice nodded, a jerky motion, and it made Aphrodite's face shift into an uncontrollable grin. I've got this. I've really got this!

"So that's a yes then? You'll obey my orders until I have the gorgons in my custody?"

"Y-yes, I will," the mortal stuttered out.

"Oh, excellent!" Aphrodite clapped her hands; she couldn't help it. She could feel a bit of energy starting to return to her. She hadn't messed up at all, she now how as a loyal a servant as she could ask for, and... and, oh, for heaven's sake, why was her servant still standing up?

"Let's get started, then," she said, motioning to the ground. "Kneel down, my dear. Kneel down."

Her servant obeyed. She didn't even seem so frightened anymore. Aphrodite licked her lips; this next part would take another jolt of magic from her, but she would have to deal with it. She grasped her servant's head and ordered the mortal's body to change form. Locks of brown hair twisted into serpents, soft flesh became covered with iron-hard scales. Aphrodite tried not to watch the process. Not only did it remind her of how little energy she had left right now, creating something repulsive out of some beautiful was never her strong suit.

At last, she released her hold. Her body felt lightheaded from the effort she'd exerted, but she refused to show it. As Candice studied her new form, Aphrodite shook out her hand to make it look like it was merely the creature's ugliness that was causing her to stand unsteadily.

"Ew," she added for emphasis. "You look disgusting. But I suppose that's the idea, isn't it? Now come along, my dear, follow me. And don't look at any cute fuzzy animals you don't want to turn into paperweights, all right?"

She turned, started to walk down the path, and heard the sure sound of the newly transformed monster following her. She would drink some elixir as soon as they got back to the base... that would make her feel better. She had not taken some that recently, so Hera would not give her too much grief about it. And as long as the gorgons were captured in the end, what did it matter? Once Aphrodite was successful, Hera would never dare question her methods again.
This is my entry for Contest: The Face-Off

One story, told twice from two opposing POVs. I selected dramatic situation #31: conflict with an immortal. I love Greek mythology, and the gorgons are my favorite mythological creatures. I have ideas for a longer story with this one... we'll see if I ever get to writing them. ^_^;;

Until then, hope you enjoy!
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