Medusa: Fate's Game Ch. 03

Medusa frowned down at him, and Darian looked away.

"You shouldn't," she said.

"Why not? I told you what they did to me."

"Not all of it! I only know parts."

"I..." Damn it. "I was Proetus's guard captain, alright? He picked me to be his right hand man, and I protected his streets, his life, his wife, his everything. I protected that bastard's whole damn world. Everything! For four years I was the reason that man could step outside his walls and not get killed. Four years I trained his soldiers, watched over his treasures, guarded his walls, and for what? For what!? So the moment his wife accuses me of something, he can betray me? So he can try and kill me?" White entered his eyes again, blurred the edges of his sight but sharpened everything in front of him, like a target. "He would have seen me dead because he'd rather listen to his whoring, manipulating, conniving wife instead of his best friend!?"

He wasn't holding Medusa's hand anymore; he didn't remember when he had let go of it. Instead, his hands were on his shield, and he threw the slab of ebony toward a nearby tree hard enough to it inches into the wood, through the bark. The sound of its crashing intrusion was deafening.

"Have you ever looked into the eyes of someone you thought was the most amazing person, the best friend you always wanted, and have them smile back, only to find out they were plotting your death?" His voice had risen to a yell, until he could feel it in his bones. "I want to rip out his throat! I want to slit hers! I want to see their blood flow, and then throw their bodies into the streets for the birds! He was my best friend! I want... want..."

Chimera and Medusa were both looking at him. The giant looked like stone, but he'd moved next to Medusa, and a bit in front of her, like he was protecting her from something, or someone. Medusa was staring at Darian with her mouth open, a hand up to her lips, and her eyes wide. Her snake hair had raised back and was glaring at him with tongues and fangs on display too.

He took a deep breath. Then another. He looked down at his hands, and made slow grabs at the air with them while staring at his palms. Palm. The other palm was holding his sword.

He didn't remember drawing his sword either.

The small blade became so heavy, he let it go, and it stabbed into the grass to stand upright. Dramatic, it made him groan, and before the poetic weight of it could make things any worse, he picked the blade out of the ground, cleaned it off, and sheathed it. Getting the shield out of the tree was harder, but he knew he was strong enough to rip it free. And once he did, he put it on his arm, and started walking.

"D-Darian... wait." Medusa slithered after him, grabbed his hand, and turned him to face her.

He looked down. No use in saying anything, nothing to be said.

She stroked his knuckles, and lowered herself down until she was eye level with him. Darian could tell the Chimera giant was near, maybe ready to jump in if Darian attacked Medusa. The huge, dumb brute had become Medusa's new guard in no time at all. Something Darian thought he was only days ago. This journey was already bringing out a side of him he'd had hoped to leave buried in his prison quarry.

But Medusa pulled him closer until her face was only an inch from his, and her snake hair nudged into his neck and shoulders.

"I'm going to be your misssssing piece, remember?" She tugged on his hand, and kissed his forehead.

He tried to step back, but she didn't let go.

"I... wanted to just leave this all behind. None of this idiocy. I don't even want revenge, not really." Liar, you know you do. "I just want to stay away from all this garbage, but when I think about Tiryns, it's... it's like a fire I've lost control of. If I see those two again, I can't guarantee anything."

"What happens happensss. I'll be there to help you." She pulled him back closer, and put another kiss on him again.

Gods, she was like soothing water on a burn. The fire in his chest faded away, and with time, he put his forehead against hers and kissed her back.

"You really have guts," he said. "I must seem like some sort of scary, mindless killer."

"And I know I've scared you before, when I've transformed." She shook her head side to side, rubbing their noses together.

Shit, she saw that. "Sorry, I—"

"It's ok. We have our dark sides. And they are frightening." She motioned back to the giant behind them with a hand. "We're all pretty scary."

"A trio of monsters," he said, and he laughed. "What a story for the Fates."

"A monster wouldn't go on a quest to save a friend." She took his hand, and started slithering toward Tiryns once more. "Speaking of, you've told me nothing of Pegasus. Who are they?"

He chuckled and rubbed at the back of his neck. The woman could sooth his frustrations, his temper, his rage with just a few words and a soft touch. And then distract him from what bothered him. She really had the makings of a mother — something Athena's cursed had robbed her the ability of. Already his thoughts went to dark places, but he shook his head to dislodge them and squeezed Medusa's fingers a little tighter in his palm.

"Athena came to me, after I had been sent on the quest to kill this guy." Darian gestured to the giant following them, who gave him a low growl in return. Darian grinned at him. "And she told me of a special well in Corinth. Pirene, water of the Muses."

"Athena." Medusa hissed, but did the same as Darian, shaking her head to dislodge the thoughts. "And what did you find?"

He shrugged and laughed at the memory. "I found no Muses, but sure enough, other creatures were there, strange and exotic creatures I never knew existed. They scampered away at the sight of me. Pegasus was there too, but he did not flee, and when I approached him, he approached me in return. A beautiful, white-winged horse. Wings so massive, they dwarf those of those Erinyes she-demons. A coat so white, it almost shined like jewelry. Dark, deep eyes. Intelligent eyes. Pegasus was no simple horse, but a... a... a friend. He couldn't talk, but he could understand me, and we became closer friends than a man and his dog. We soared the skies together, explored Greece and beyond, all the way to Egypt and Persia and the frozen North. Together, we defeated him," again he motioned to the Chimera, who again growled in return, "and others! We saved people from dangerous monsters, made friends with kings and queens, went on more quests to retrieve lost items of divine value, and defeated more deadly foes to save yet more cities of Greece. I became — we became famous! Together, him and I, we spent our days facing danger head on, saving people when we could, and... and bathing in the glory of people's praise when battle wearied us. The whole world was in our hands, and we both loved it."

He took a deep breath, and sighed long with the bitter sweet memories of his time with Pegasus. They really had been great times.

"I only discovered later that Proetus had actually sought my death, but by then I was an icon, an idol. People knew my name, they knew Pegasus's name, and neither he nor Iobates could move against me." A painful memory hit him of Iobates' second daughter. No use in bringing her up now.

Medusa was still slithering forward, but she had turned to look at him and her jaw had dropped. Even her snake hair was raised and staring at him like he was some sort of magnificent, unknowable entity.

"All thisss... happened while I was on my island?" she said.

He nodded. "Yeah. I was no fool though, I wasn't going to go fight a woman who could turn people to stone with a glance. And besides, I knew what happened to you, I saw no reason to ever try and hurt you."

She squeezed his hand and smiled. "Why were you so different to everyone else?"

"Ego." He smiled back and shrugged. "I don't let the gods dictate what I think, I never did. And... and that was part of what lead to this." He used his free hand to point at the V etched into his forehead. Bile started to rise in his throat again, and he couldn't hide the wince that came with it.

"It's ok. You can tell me about that later." She patted his hand, and lowered her torso to slither closer to him, shoulder to shoulder,

She really was too good to him. If he wasn't careful, he was going to lose that. He had to get control, dig his heels in and keep the insane fury inside his skull from blinding him. It wasn't normal, or natural, the Fates had robbed him of something and replaced it with this bloodlust madness. Ever since he'd kill those robbers and saw the shocked, horrified faces of his parents and brother, he'd known something was wrong. They were terrified of him, of the carnage he'd embraced that day to slaughter those thieves.

He could still remember licking the knife to see what their blood tasted like.

"So," he said, and he rubbed his eyes a few times to try and realign his thoughts, "to the East is Gallea and Pinna, a hard day's journey. To the North is Tiryns, a couple day's journey if we push ourselves." He squinted at Medusa and frowned. "I suppose I could tell you you should wait for me with the satyrs, but I know you won't."

"I won't!"

Darian rolled his eyes. "Alright, but I can't take you into the city with me."

She nodded. "Chimera and I will find shelter in the forests nearby. I am sure he can find us a place to hide."

Chimera gave a loud grunt, but he nodded. With the pelt of the weird animal he wore over his head and down his back, it reminded Darian of their first fight. The snake tattoo, the massive teeth that framed his face from the lion's mouth over his forehead, the goat horns on the lion's head, he couldn't blame onlookers from describing him as a three-headed beast. He was an intimidating, terrifying bastard.

"You sure?" he said. "I know I said you'd be safe with him, but... he is a beast."

The giant rumbled, voice deep enough Darian could feel it through the ground, and he took larger steps to catch up to the two of them.

"What?" Darian said.

Medusa looked up at the Chimera, and then to Darian. She looked worried, Darian could see it on her face, but she took a deep breath and settled.

"If it comes to it, I will beat him again."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night. They were all tired, or at least he and Medusa were. Chimera didn't even understand the concept, he just walked and walked, and only stopped when they said they had to stop before their feet — or scales — fell off.

He made a good guard dog, Darian admitted. The towering slab of muscle and strength was a good hundred feet off, on the crest of a rolling hill, and he stood there with eyes scanning the horizon. They didn't need to take shifts, Chimera would watch until the sun was up, and they'd be off again. He made traveling very efficient — if they could trust him to not kill them in their sleep.

Darian trusted him. He did not like him, but he trusted him. A dog, loyal to the leader of the pack, Medusa in this case. Maybe that was why it bothered him? Medusa had earned the brute's servitude, and not him? He'd lost the battle — of course he did, even with the power of the Fates strengthening him, what was he to do against an ancient giant? It still ate at him though. His first real defeat. And if he lost against the Chimera, what other twists and turns did this fool's journey have in store for him?

He poked at the fire. Medusa was laying down already, and starting to drift to sleep with her human half on her bedroll. They'd found a deer for her — she shot it herself — and she'd eaten it whole. The Chimera had watched, and even with the opportunity available to kill Medusa while she was preoccupied, he hadn't taken it. So, at least Darian could trust him to not kill her once he was alone in Tiryns. He didn't think the giant would, loyal as he was proving to be, but the reassurance was nice.

Darian bit off a chunk of the rabbit he'd finished cooking, and poked at the fire a little more. The flames licked at the wood, tasting it before enveloping it. He threw another stick in and watched it become consumed by fire. He knew that feeling, every time the blinding fury started to flow into him, it overwhelmed him like flame.

He sighed and looked up to the sky. Stars. What tremendous and loathsome entities looked down upon him and his life from there, manipulating, weaving, painting art with the blood of people? The Fates, beyond his reach in their realm of spirits and gods, toyed with him and strung him along. Lied to him, baited him into more adventures that ended with mountains of the dead. Would that happen to him again? And Medusa, would she be one of the corpses on the pile?

He gritted his teeth. Gallea and Pinna would sing tales about this, no doubt. Gods, a grand adventure about the hero Bellerophontes and two monsters, his new companions, on a quest to save the only friend he had left: Pegasus. Would they sing about Medusa's plight? Of course not, no one wanted to hear about the misery of Medusa, a woman, a monster, only that Athena deemed her worthy of her curse. No, the tales would be about him, and they would be twisted into a story about him embarking on a quest to help the Fates. All the more to feed the wheels of blind faith, right? More people lined up at the temples, worshiping gods, worshiping the Fates, worshiping and praying and sacrificing to whatever idiotic—

No. Stop. Take a breath. Look at the fire, see what happens to those sticks when the fire devours it. Don't let that happen to you.

He turned to look at Medusa. She was watching him, sleepy but watching him still, and she smiled when he caught her eye.

"Hi," she said. So cute.

"Hi."

"You shouldn't think too much. I did that, after I was cursed. It took many years to get out of my own head."

Medusa. Seeing her smile at him slowed his heart to a gentle thump, and the pain in his chest faded away. She'd been through far worse, and she was the nicest person he'd ever met. His missing piece.

The thought earned a chuckle from him, and he crawled over across the grass to lay down on his bedroll next to her.

"You've learned a lot about me in the past few days. Still like me?"

She sneaked the end of her tail behind him and poked him in the back with it, making him chuckle and reach behind him to grab it. Her snake skin was soft, far softer than it looked.

"Of courssse." Her hand found his shoulder, and with him only in his tunic and sandals, she squeezed his arm and rubbed her thumb against the muscle. "You have muscles. What girl doesn't love muscles?"

He laughed. "So does Chimera."

"Bah, he's nothing but muscle. I like you for a lot of other reasons." She slithered her torso further along the bedroll toward him, and leaned in to put a kiss on his lips. "I can carry you like a toy doll, all for me."

He supposed he should have felt a little emasculated, but it only made him laugh again.

She kissed him, plucking at his bottom lip with hers before reaching up to stroke his beard with her fingertips. Teasing his chin with her hand, she nudged her nose against his, and reached out with the arm underneath her to touch his chest through his tunic.

"It's a shame Chimera is near. We didn't get to touch each other at all last night," she said.

Darian looked over his shoulder behind him. The silhouette of the huge giant stood on the top of the hill, outlined by stars. Grinning, he turned back to Medusa, leaned in, and started to kiss her neck.

"Darian... Darian what are you doing?" She pushed against his chest with one hand, and the other on his chin switched to his shoulder to press against him. He didn't stop kissing her. "Darian! If you keep doing that, he'll see!" Her voice had turned into a whisper, but a loud one; she was trying to be angry at him without alerting anyone.

"He's not looking. Besides," he kissed up along her jaw, and then down her neck to her collar, "he won't care."

"Darian! This is..." She started to squirm, and pushed against him a little more, but they were halfhearted pushes, and Darian only had to slip his hand behind the small of her back and pull her in to press her belly to his.

He had a sneaking suspicion that Medusa's sexual desire went deeper than she knew. She said she worshiped both Athena and Eros; one embraced chastity, the other embraced sexuality. Quite the conflicted creature, Medusa, and he could see it plain as day when he caressed her spine where the wraps left it exposed between her shoulder blades. She melted against him, but guilt was painted on her face. And the guiltier she looked, the quicker and easier it was to warm her.

And she looked especially guilty right then, looking past Darian to the giant on the hill while he touched her body.

"Darian." Her voice was a very soft whisper, and he could hear the heat on it. "Please, if you... don't stop..."

"I thought you said I should feel free to come to you when I want sex?" He pulled a little away from her, but not to stop. Instead, his hand slid over her bare waist, up along her stomach, and under the band that covered her breasts. She was wearing an apodesme underneath the usual cross-chest wrap she wore, tight enough to keep her large breasts snug to her body, and when he pulled it up to let both of her huge breasts slip free of its constriction, he could see her relieved sigh. It must have been uncomfortable. The next moment, relief turned back into guilt, and she put her knuckle to her lip.

"I know, but... he might see."

She was just so much fun to tease. Holding her between the guilt of doing what he wanted, and embarrassment about what they were doing with someone so close, it was unbelievably cute. And when he started to gently run his fingertips along the underside of one her breasts, her expression broke with raised eyebrows and parted lips. A tiny moan escaped her, and she shook her head, as if she could deny the noises she was making.

"If you stay nice and quiet, he'll never know." He cupped the whole underside of her breast, and its size overflowed his palm and fingers. She may have disliked her large, heavy breasts, and her big, puffy nipples, but he didn't. He fondled her with a gentle touch, circled her swelling nipple with his thumb, and grinned at her when she shivered.

"But... but I..."

He did feel a little guilty, manipulating her like this, but when he gave her nipple the gentlest pinch, and she whimpered in return, arousal threw any guilt he had away. She was so damn beautiful. The way she chewed on a finger's knuckle, looking at him with pleading yellow eyes, and the way her snake hair hugged tight to her body with embarrassment, it all set his blood alight.

He slid further down the bedroll, and Medusa watched him, eyes begging that he stop, but when he wrapped his lips around her other breast's nipple, her eyes closed and her head rolled back a little. She stuck her chest out toward him, arching her back, and her hand reached down to slip her fingers into his hair. He suckled on her, slipped his hand behind her to find the scaled rump where her ass would have been, and pulled it to him to slip some of her snake length between his knees.

With his lips wrapped tight to her body, his hand behind her drifted back over her scaly hip, and then down her abdomen where they found the wrap she wore snug to her hips. He put his hand down against her belly scales beneath the cloth, and teased the soft snake skin with fingers sliding up until they found the lowest spot of her body still human: her sex. And with a teasing touch, he put his fingers onto her folds, and started to massage them.

"Darian, pleassse, thisss isn't fair." She kept looking down, then across over him to where Chimera stood, then back to him. But, a gentle kiss against her nipple destroyed her resolve every time, and her fingers in his hair only pulled him closer.