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Mirror, Mirror... — Description
"This is sure to earn me a spot on the Town Guard," Eve thought as she walked slowly down yet another dark corridor. Armed only with a mirror and a dagger, she was determined to be the one to finally take the life of the gorgon who lived in the old temple in the forest. For hundreds of years, adventurers and warriors of all kinds entered the temple with the same goal, but few returned alive. Those who did return only did so out of fear, having seen the stone statues of the warriors who preceded them and looked into the eyes of the gorgon.

Eve, however, was confident she had the idea that would bring her success. She had looked through as many ancient texts from as many libraries as she could to find some sort of hint of how to defeat a gorgon. Finally, she came across an otherwise long forgotten tale of a mythical warrior who had defeated another gorgon by using the reflection of his shield to avoid her direct gaze.

"It's perfect," thought Eve as she used the mirror to look around the corner at yet another empty corridor, "I'll use the mirror to see her and walk backwards towards her using the mirror to guide me. If she sees me sneaking up, I can tell in the mirror and run. If not, I'll take this dagger and pierce her in the back!"

This was, of course, not the first time this plan had played out in her head, but each time she repeated it, her confidence grew and grew. She once again reached the end of another corridor and used the mirror to look around the corner. This time, however, she saw the wriggling snakes that made up the gorgon's head. She was walking away from Eve towards the statue of a woman warrior holding her sword at the ready. The statue's face was of pure anger - surely, if she were not made of stone, she would be truly formidable.

The gorgon stood before the statue and raised her hand to the stone warrior's cheek. "After all of these years, I think you're still my favorite. Such intensity and yet such beauty. A face of determination despite overwhelming defeat." The gorgon gave the statue two pats on the cheek before turning around towards the other end of the hall, and that's when Eve saw them: the eyes.

Immediately, Eve knew something was wrong. She gasped as her body instantly felt cold and tense. Mid gasp, she became almost completely paralyzed, unable to move her legs, arms, or head. She watched in horror as her fingertips turned a lifeless gray, and all feeling in them went away. As the stone wave crawled down her fingers, she could hear the sickening sound of cracking coming from not only her hands but her feet as well. She was turning to stone and all she could do was whimper.

As her hand became solid granite, Eve noticed the gorgon walked down the hall towards her, grinning. The gorgon had heard the gasp and seen the mirror and was coming to examine her new prey. Soon, the gorgon leaned her head around the corner bringing it almost level with the mirror.

"Why hello there," the gorgon said, continuing to smile. "That's a nice mirror you have there." Eve tried to move her mouth to respond and although it was not yet stone, she could still only whimper. "You seem scared. I wouldn't be if I were you." The gorgon stood up and walked around to Eve's right side, all the while running her finger along Eve's granite forearm. "I know this isn't what you planned for when you came in here, but little did you know you'd become one of the lucky ones. You get to be immortal."

Eve could feel the stone wave was up to her waist and her shoulders now, having consumed most of her body. In her peripheral vision, she could see the gorgon examining her body. "Just think about it - while everyone out there grows old and dies, you get to stand here staying just as you are, young and beautiful, for hundreds-no, thousands of years! And all of the while, I'll be here to admire you, to take care of you. Just like I have for the countless others just like you." Eve felt her breasts become stone as the wave from the arms began to merge with the wave from the legs to begin their final push towards her head. The gorgon wrapped her left arm around Eve's back and placed her head right next to Eve's.

"Your body is beautiful, dear. The stone, solid curves, your lovely hair solidifying into one perfect mass. It's like a work of art. You really should see this for yourself." The gorgon reached towards the mirror and twisted it. Eve watched as her own face and the gorgon's side by side in the mirror. She watched as the stone wave made its way up her neck and started crawling across her face. She watched as the gorgon's snakes slithered along her hair as it too became granite. She watched and watched and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"There. Isn't that better? Watch the last imperfections of flesh give way to perfection." As Eve saw her face turning to stone, her vision started fading. She could tell her consciousness was slipping away with the last bits of her humanity. Just before everything went dark, she heard the gorgon tell her one last thing.

"Welcome to my collection."

---

As the cracking subsided, the gorgon stepped away from her statue, pleased with her work. She took the mirror from the statue's hand and looked at herself in it. "One of these days, I want to meet the one who started that mirror myth and buy him a drink," she said as she ran her hand through her hair. "Of course, for all I know, he's probably in my collection somewhere." She finished fixing her hair up and placed the mirror back in the statue's hand, again pointing it at its lifeless eyes. "Here, you can keep this. I have plenty." With that, she walked down the corridor, leaving her new statue alone in the glow of torchlight.

Like so many before her, Eve thought she could slay the gorgon. She thought she would have glory. And, like so many before her, now she is stone.

---

Ho boy.

So, I've had the idea for this story/piece for a long time and I'm very very satisfied with how it turned out. I feel like I spent a lot more time on this one than a lot of my other stuff and I feel it paid off. I drew each and every scale on the snakes and while it was hard work, it was actually surprisingly fun to do. Ordinarily I get burned out by the end of a piece but this one was fun the whole way.