Bleeding Color

"I'm listening." Honi whispered, her voice barely distinguishable as from amongst the hisses of the Gorgons.

I leaned back and forth. "So am I. I'm listening to you right now. What makes that so special?"

Her snakes danced about with the shaking of her head. "You don't understand. I'm listening to your heart beat."

My heart? What an odd thing to listen to. I rose my right hand to lay across it, feeling the beats. It was an odd little machine that kept me alive...I think. Honestly I wasn't sure what I was needed a heart. Humans need hearts...therefore I should and yet I don't require food or water continue breathing. So what did that make me?

She touched her own chest, resting a top her heart. "A human's heart beat picks up speed when they lie."

Mirror images we both remained still, as though stoned by the gaze of those that surrounded us. I did not understand this feeling. It was...warm. Not like I felt with Pitri, but a welcoming feeling of almost comradery for this girl I barely knew. Something about her, it resonated within me. It was like the stories I used to be read.

"What makes you think I'm human?"  I muttered, dropping my hand with the weight of the thought. I was doubting my humanity, how could this girl just know it.

Instead of answering, she came forward and pressed her forehead against mine. It was so surprising, I just froze. Suddenly my face was wet. I shook under the weight of the name as everything was released in a fountain of pain. I wanted to hit her. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to die. I wanted to live. I wanted to save. I wanted to decimate. I was nothing and everything, unable to to decide where I belong. And somehow this girl knew.

I finally shoved her away, rubbing at my eyes furiously as I sniffled. She smiled, barely visible beneath the veil. It was a nice smile. She shifted her attention to her mother. Yellow eyes meeting black, and from even beneath the veils something passed between them.

"My daughter has taken a liking to you." The Gorgons moved, forming a loose circle with the Lamias.

Honi and I were surrounded. Yet I couldn't bring myself to be afraid. Honi reached out and grasped my hands tightly. I bobbed my head up and down between ours hands, her eyes, and the circle. It didn't click what was happening. I had never experienced something like this before. Normally when I was surrounded like this is was because of an attack or the scientists wanted to admire their handiwork. Nothing more than a commodity or an enemy. This, this was something different though.

"We shall help you, little Alice."

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"Do you like it?"

My hands twirled the spear in my hands. I had basic knowledge of use for most weapons. Still I missed my swords and their familiarity. Looking to Honi, who awaited with a sweet smile, I nodded.

Honi drifted forward, tracing her hands down the spear in mine. "It's a Gorgon heirloom, said to have been brought over from the gate during the invasion."

The weapon dropped, clattering to the ground. I had...I had held a murder of man-kind. I had been wanting to use it.

Carefully, Honi picked it up. Not commenting on my sudden abuse of something she obviously treasured.

"We'll find something else. Something that hasn't harmed a human."

I stared at her, shocked she understood. My voice dropped low. "Can you read my mind?"

A light laughter peeled through the air, her snakes hissing along to the merriment.

"No, I just know how to read people. Like I said I listen."