Chapter Text
“AAAAAGGGGHHHH!” I sat up fast and swung my fist. Wait, why am I screaming? And what am I trying to punch?
I looked at the hand I swung, it stung. My right hand was completely red and my knuckles were bleeding.
What did I hit to hurt myself this bad? Why did I hit it at all?
I looked past my hand and saw something on my ankle. A string bracelet with six different colors: orange and green, black and purple, and yellow and grey.
“Was adding three more colors really necessary?” ∀uuɐqǝʇɥ asked.
“It’s an upgrade! Now they look even better!” ᴚɐɔɥǝן said.
I turned my head—in search of the voices—and was met with nothing but a horrible headache. I clutched my head in my hands.
Who…who were they?
I know them. I know those voices but—I-I can’t remember them.
I stood up and realized something: I was barefoot, and pantless. Luckily, I wasn’t completely naked. I had a large black shirt on with a skeleton pegasus—it looked really cool.
“That’s a ᗡɹǝʍ ⊥ɐuɐʞɐ original.” told me.
Another headache. I looked down at the shirt.
Someone…someone made me this shirt. Someone I…I care about? But didn’t always? I think that sounds right.
I saw—resting on my chest—a necklace with a bunch of strange beads, a rainbow seashell, and a silver ring. The necklace wasn’t the only strange piece of jewelry I was wearing. On my middle finger on my right hand was a black ring with roman numerals on it, I spun it fast, I smiled, I like spinning this thing. My hair slipped forward, I stopped spinning the ring and touched my hair. Half of my hair was in a braid, I followed the braid and felt the braid start at my scalp. I brought my hand to the other side of my head and there was another braid that started on the other side of my scalp. My hair was in two braids that felt a bit damp. The ground felt cold beneath my bare feet. I looked down and around and realized I was in the courtyard of a burnt-out mansion in the middle of the woods.
Where am I? How did I get here? I—wait, who…who am I?
But before I could even figure out my own name, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I looked around, and within a moment I was surrounded by wolves. Talking wolves.
She wakes. One wolf said.
I thought she’d sleep longer. Another added.
She’s feisty. The first talking wolf said.
Are wolves supposed to talk? Or am I just crazy?
The wolves stopped talking when loud steps approached. The wolves parted and another wolf appeared, but this wolf wasn’t like the others. She was huge, at least seven feet tall, even on all fours.
This wolf spoke too, she had a female voice. It was different from the other wolves' voices, their voices sounded like they were in my head. Hers…she’s actually speaking out loud.
“Greetings Izzy Mira,” The giant she wolf said, “I am Lupa.”
I looked around wondering who she was talking to. “Are you talking to me? Is Izzy Mira my name?”
“Yes.” She responded, “you are Izzy Mira.”
She was right, I didn’t know how she knew that, or even how I knew that, but I knew. Izzy Mira is my name.
“Where…where am I?” I asked.
“You are in my Wolf House,” Lupa said, “you are here to train for your journey. Should you succeed, you will find what you seek.”
“My memories?”
“First, you must pass my trials.” Lupa said, ignoring my last ask.
“What trials?”
Just then one of the wolves jumped at me and tackled me to the ground. It went for my face but I blocked it with my arm before kicking the wolf off me. I scrambled back to my feet, extremely surprised by the fact my arm wasn’t torn to shreds by the wolf. “You have sharp instincts, but you must learn and hone your skills. If you are strong, you will pass, if you are weak…” She trailed off and the wolves growled.
She didn’t have to finish her sentence, the implication was more than enough. Lupa had her wolves hound me for a while, all the while she was telling me things and barking orders and what and what not to do. Eventually, she let me take a break. I slumped down in a corner, out of sight, and tried to catch my breath, but the break didn’t last long. Lula’s training was vicious, but she did teach me some handy skills.
I’m not sure exactly how much time passed, but I know it was several months. Lupa would send me away sometimes with some wolves to train in different areas but never too far. I saw the season change from winter, spring, and I could tell that with the heat came the beginnings of summer. I learned some stuff about myself. But I still don’t have my memories back so that sucks. Anyways, I’ve learned I can control minerals and even move through shadows, sounds handy right? Well not when it causes you to almost pass out in China! I met a nice old lady who seemed to know me, but she had dementia so she wasn’t very helpful. Oh—I learned I can speak a bit of Mandarin from that experience though!
For some reason I keep tapping the side of my head when I want to shadow travel. I don’t know why, there’s nothing there.
My ring isn’t just to spin, it turns into twelve different terrifying weapons that make the wolves want to stay away. Lupa made me fight mostly without it though, something about monsters would still attack me even with that weapon.
I can use magic too. I learned that by accident when I was trying to start a fire. The spell words just came to me, but it did drain me if I used it too much, most of my powers did.
Then there were the voices. I hear them sometimes, but I could never remember who they belonged to. I'd be on the cusp of seeing them, only for the headaches to come and leave me with nothing but flashes of color. I felt empty at times. I’d try saying stuff to see what felt right in my heart. All I learned is that I miss many things, it’s strange, missing what you can’t remember.
My shoulder for some reason always felt strangely light, like there should’ve been a weight on it. I’d lift my hands waiting or searching for something to pet, but I don’t know what. I’d feel my left wrist for something that wasn’t there. I’d look for people I didn’t remember but know I missed so much it hurt. I wonder if anyone misses me, if anyone is searching for me, if anyone else feels this same emptiness I do. There were so many missing pieces. So many questions.
And there were no answers.
So I stuck with what I knew: My name is Izzy Mira, I’m a demigod, and as far as I know, I’m a weirdo.
Sometime during summer, Lupa declared my training complete. After giving me some vague instructions to head south Lupa sent me out into the world, still pantless, no memories, just very trained, and dirty.
Which leads me to where I am now: Fighting some irritating snake ladies who just won’t die!
I had been dealing with them for a while and they’re really annoying!
They should have died three days ago when I dropped a crate of bowling balls on them at the Napa Bargain Mart. They should have died two days ago when I ran over them with a police car in Martinez. They definitely should have died this morning when I impaled them with diamonds from the ground in Tilden Park. No matter how many times I killed them and watched them crumble to powder, they just kept re-forming like large evil dust bunnies. For some reason they wouldn’t let me kill them with my weapon, anytime I got close to ending them with it they’d kill themselves instead. I couldn’t even seem to outrun them. I reached the top of the hill and caught my breath, I’d been running for a while now. How long since I last killed them? Maybe two hours. They never seemed to stay dead longer than that.
I hardly slept the last few days. Eating whatever I could scrounge—vending machine snacks that were stuck in the machine, freshly dumped food in Dunkin Donuts dumpsters, even leftover party food from a family celebrating a birthday. My clothes were torn, burnt and splattered with monster slime. I only survived this long because the two snake haired ladies—gorgons, they called themselves—couldn’t seem to kill me either. Their claws didn’t cut my skin. Their teeth broke whenever they tried to bite me. But I couldn’t keep going much longer. I was about to collapse from exhaustion, and as hard as I was to kill, I was pretty sure the gorgons would find a way.
The first time I met the gorgons were at a Bargain Mart. I snuck in through the back because I hadn’t had a proper bath in months and if anyone saw me now I knew I would get in some sort of trouble. I grabbed some personal cleaning supplies, some pants, and a cool black hooded cloak that didn’t go past my knees because why not?—it looked cool.
It was the first time I’d clearly seen my reflection. I don’t know what I was expecting, but…I look terrible! I was covered in dirt, sweat, and a complete mess with super dark circles under my eyes. I also had two grey streaks in my hair, one on both sides of my head which didn’t really surprise me, I have been under a lot of stress for a while now. The first thing I did was take out my braids—which were barely holding together, then I took off all my clothes and washed what I was wearing in the sink. While I hung my shirt and underwear to dry I started washing myself. This was also the first time I’d seen myself naked, and while I hadn’t seen any naked bodies in the last several months, I had a feeling that normal people don’t have the amount of scars I do. One stood out to me in particular, it was on the small of my back, I went to touch it and electricity jolted through my body. Something was up about that spot, something that made me want to protect it no matter what. After I washed myself best I could, I put my clothes back on along with the pants and cloak and while I was debating whether or not to do something with my hair the bathroom door flew off its hinges and two snake haired employees walked in.
Which leads us to where we are now, on a hill trying to decide my next course of action. I scanned the surroundings. Under different circumstances, I might’ve enjoyed the view. To my left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods and a few herds of cows. To my right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched west—a vast chequerboard of neighbourhoods, with several million people who probably did not want their morning interrupted by two monsters, a filthy demigod, and a savage wolf. Further west, San Francisco Bay glittered under a silvery haze.
Past that, a wall of fog had swallowed most of San Francisco, leaving just the tops of skyscrapers and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. A vague sadness weighed on my chest. I know that…I’ve been to San Francisco before. The city had some connection to…someone. Someone…I know…one of the voices I can’t remember. I try to remember, but it’s still a haze, at most I get colors. Flashes of red and green, yellow and grey, are the most common, at least before a migraine erases the image.
Should I head to Los Angeles? It was tempting. Something over there felt familiar, almost safe. But Lupa had taught me to sharpen my senses—to trust the instincts that had been guiding me south. The end of my journey was close—almost right under my feet. I could feel it. But how could that be?
The wind changed, and the horribly familiar scent of reptile flooded my nose. A hundred yards down the slope, something rustled through the woods—snapping branches, crunching leaves, hissing. Gorgons. For the millionth time, I wished their noses weren’t so good. They had always said they could smell me because I’m a demigod—the half-blood daughter of some old Roman god. I tried everything to get rid of the smell, but apparently demigod stink was hard to mask.
I scrambled to the west side of the summit in hopes of an escape. It was too steep to descend. The slope plummeted eighty feet, straight to the roof of an apartment complex built into the hillside. Fifty feet below that, a highway emerged from the hill’s base and wound its way towards Berkeley. Great. No other way off the hill. I managed to get myself cornered. I stared at the stream of cars flowing west towards San Francisco and wished I was in one of them. Then I realized the highway must cut through the hill. What I was feeling under the ground…it must be a tunnel!
My internal radar went nuts. I was in the right place, just too high up. I had to check out that tunnel. I needed a way down to the highway—fast. I slung off my backpack. I managed to grab a lot of supplies at the Napa Bargain Mart while the gorgons were trying to kill me for the first time: a portable GPS, duct tape, lighter, superglue, water bottle, camping roll, and a Comfy Panda Pillow Pet (as seen on TV)–pretty much every tool a modern demigod could want. But I had nothing that would serve as a parachute or a sled. That left two options: jump eighty feet to my death, or stand and fight. Both options sounded pretty bad. I cursed and turned my ring into a sword, it grew into a glowing dark purple sword. The blade balanced perfectly. The leather grip fitted my hand like it had been custom designed for me.
Right next to me, a familiar voice jolted me: “There you are!”
I stumbled away from the gorgon, almost falling off the edge of the hill. It was the smiley one, Stheno. She was still wearing her green Bargain Mart employee vest over a flower-print dress. If you looked just at her body, you might think she was somebody’s dumpy old grandmother—until you looked down and realized she had rooster feet. Or you looked up and saw bronze boar tusks sticking out of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes glowed red, and her hair was a writhing nest of bright green snakes. The most horrible thing about her? She was still holding her big silver platter of free samples: Crispy Cheese ’n’ Wieners. Her platter was dented from all the times I had killed her, but those little samples looked perfectly fine. Stheno just kept toting them across California so she could offer me a snack before she killed me. I don’t know why she kept doing that, but if I ever needed a suit of armour he was going to make it out of Crispy Cheese ’n’ Wieners. They were indestructible.
“Try one?” Stheno offered.
I fended her off with my sword. “Where’s your sister?”
“Oh, put the sword away,” Stheno chided. “You know we won’t let you kill us with that. Have a Cheese ’n’ Wiener! They’re on sale this week, and I’d hate to kill you on an empty stomach.”
“Stheno!” The second gorgon appeared on my right so fast I didn’t have time to react.
Fortunately she was too busy glaring at her sister to pay me much attention. “I told you to sneak up on her and kill her!”
Stheno’s smile wavered. “But, Euryale…” She said the name so it rhymed with Muriel. “Can’t I give her a sample first?”
“No, you imbecile!” Euryale turned towards me and bared her fangs, Trip did the same in return. Except for Euryale’s hair, which was a nest of coral snakes instead of green vipers, she looked exactly like her sister. Her Bargain Mart vest, her flowery dress, even her tusks were decorated with 50% off stickers. Her name badge read: Hello! My name is DIE, DEMIGOD SCUM!
“You’ve led us on quite a chase, Izzy Mira,” Euryale said. “But now you’re trapped, and we’ll have our revenge!”
“The Cheese ’n’ Wieners are only $2.99,” Stheno added helpfully. “Grocery department, aisle three.”
Euryale snarled. “Stheno, the Bargain Mart was a front! You’re going native! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this demigod. Or have you forgotten that she’s the one who killed Medusa?”
I stepped back. Six more inches, and I’d be tumbling through thin air. “Look, we’ve been over this. I don’t remember killing Medusa. I don’t even remember meeting her! I don’t remember anything! Can’t we call a truce and talk about your weekly specials?”
Stheno gave her sister a pouty look, which was hard to do with giant bronze tusks. “Can we?”
“No!” Euryale’s red eyes bored into mine. “I don’t care what you remember, daughter of the rich one. I can smell Medusa’s on you. It’s faint, yes, but you were the last one to see her and she hasn’t been seen since! You killed her and she still has not returned from Tartarus. It’s your fault!”
I didn’t really get that. The whole ‘dying then returning from Tartarus concept gave me a headache. Of course, so did the idea that a fidget ring could turn into twelve different weapons, or that monsters could disguise themselves with something called the Mist, or that I was the daughter of a corpse-breath god from five thousand years ago. I did believe it. Even though my memory was erased, I knew certain things for a fact, I’d accepted that this crazy messed-up world of gods and monsters was my reality. Which pretty much sucked.
“How about we call it a draw?” I said. “I can’t kill you. You can’t kill me. If you’re Medusa’s sisters—like the Medusa who turned people to stone—shouldn’t I be petrified by now?”
“Heroes!” Euryale said with disgust. “They always bring that up, just like our mother! “Why can’t you turn people to stone? Your sister can turn people to stone.” Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, girl! That was Medusa’s curse alone. She was the most hideous one in the family. She got all the luck!”
Stheno looked hurt. “Mother said I was the most hideous.”
“Quiet!” Euryale snapped. “As for you, Izzy Mira, it’s true you bear the mark of Achilles. That makes you a little tougher to kill. But don’t worry. We’ll find a way.”
“The mark of what?”
“Achilles,” Stheno said cheerfully. “Oh, he was gorgeous! Dipped in the River Styx as a child, you know, so he was invulnerable except for a tiny spot on his ankle. That’s what happened to you, dear. Someone must’ve dumped you in the Styx and made your skin like iron. But not to worry. Heroes like you always have a weak spot. We just have to find it, and then we can kill you. Won’t that be lovely? Have a Cheese ’n’ Wiener!”
I tried to think. I didn’t remember any dip in the Styx. My skin didn’t feel like iron, but it’d explain how I held out so long against the gorgons. Then I remembered the spot on the small of my back and I knew, that was my weak spot. Maybe if I just fell down the mountain…would I survive? I didn’t want to risk it—not without something to slow the fall, or a sled, or…I looked at Stheno’s large silver platter of free samples. Hmm, I have a bad idea.
“Reconsidering?” Stheno asked. “Very wise, dear. I added some gorgon’s blood to these, so your death will be quick and painless.”
My throat constricted. “You added your blood to the Cheese ’n’ Wieners?”
“Just a little.” Stheno smiled. “A tiny nick on my arm, but you’re sweet to be concerned. Blood from our right side can cure anything, you know, but blood from our left side is deadly—“
“You dimwit!” Euryale screeched. ”You’re not supposed to tell her that! She won’t eat the wieners if you tell her they’re poisoned!”
Stheno looked stunned. “She won’t? But I said it would be quick and painless.”
“Never mind!” Euryale’s fingernails grew into claws. “We’ll kill her the hard way—just keep slashing until we find the weak spot. Once we defeat Izzy Mira, we’ll be more famous than Medusa! Our patron will reward us greatly!”
I quietly put my sword behind my back and deactivated it. I’d have to time this move perfectly—a few seconds of confusion, grab the earth…Keep them talking. “Before you slash me to bits,” I said, “who’s this patron you mentioned?”
Euryale sneered. “The goddess Gaea, of course! The one who brought us back from oblivion! You won’t live long enough to meet her, but your friends below will soon face her wrath. Even now, her armies are marching south. At the Feast of Fortune, she’ll awaken, and the demigods will be cut down like–like–“
“Like our low prices at Bargain Mart!” Stheno suggested.
“Gah!” Euryale stormed towards her sister. I took the opening. I grabbed Stheno’s platter, scattering poisoned Cheese ’n’ Wieners, and slashed it across Euryale’s neck, beheading her. I raised the platter, and Stheno found herself facing her own greasy reflection.
“Medusa!” she screamed. Her sister Euryale had crumbled to dust, but she was already starting to re-form, like a snowman un-melting.
“Stheno, you fool!” she gurgled as her half-made face rose from the mound of dust. “That’s just your own reflection! Get her!”
I slammed the metal tray on top of Stheno’s head, and she passed out cold. I threw the tray at the reforming Euryale and turned back to the side of the hill and jumped. Right before I slammed into the downside of the mountain I summoned a sled-like slab of shiny rocks (the land here feels rich and every time I summon a rock from the earth it’s usually something pretty) to catch me, and I slid—very uncomfortably—down the side of the hill.