Medusa: Fate's Game Ch. 06

Darian stared at the Amazon "Gods... Chimera. Th-thanks."

The giant grunted, and nodded in return. "You proved yourself." He motioned to the pile of skeletons in the center of the room, where Darian had intervened.

"Pegasus... Medusa! Shit, Medusa. Gods, I have to... to..." He forced himself to stand. Pain was irrelevant. Broken bones, crunching and grinding, renewed the fire in his veins until he wanted to puke. But it didn't matter. Get up. Get up and do something.

He looked at Pegasus. His old friend was stomping his hooves, and shaking his head. His grand white wings unfolded to their full length, and he flapped them hard enough to stir the dust in all corners of the room. The horse wanted to move, but couldn't. Get to him.

Groaning, sweating from heat and exhaustion, Darian reached for the wall and forced himself to stand on his good leg.

"Let's... let's get that ring off of Pegasus's face. He can-"

A yell filled the cavern. Everyone looked to the stairway.

Perseus came down the stairs. He was reaching behind his head, trying to grab something that latched onto his back, and he twisted around with each step. But the thing on his back didn't let go. Its arms were wrapped around Perseus's neck, hooked under where helmet met breastplate, and its fingers were fighting to keep hold.

It was Gallea.

"Get off! Damn beast!" Perseus fell to a knee, leaned forward, and reached behind him with his other arm. He wasn't able to look behind him well with his helmet on, and Gallea used that to his advantage. The satyr twisted and turned, ducked under the hand, and held on like he'd mounted a lion's back.

But eventually Perseus's hand found one of Gallea's horns. The Fate's Child threw the satyr down hard enough Darian could hear the crack. Gallea bounced like a log cracking against a river rock, and went limp.

"Out of nowhere, like a..." Perseus stood up, and looked around.

"Perseus!" Otrera kicked and squirmed, but Chimera's grip was absolute. She wasn't going anywhere. "Get this bastard off of me!"

Perseus frowned and readied his sword. He looked to the skeletons, but they were nothing but dust and shattered bones. He looked to Otrera, but Darian could see the look in his eye; he wouldn't be able to save her.

Perseus, bleeding and bruised. Gallea had attacked him? Where was Medusa?

Darian's body froze. Ice ran down his spine. His eyes petrified in his skull. Perseus killed her. He tried to say something, but his tongue was paralyzed. Perseus killed her and Darian couldn't even take a step toward him.

"You-"

"Darian!"

Her voice, her monster voice. Thank the gods. If Medusa was alive, then the satyr was the one who saved her. The thought took a second to process. Gallea had saved Medusa?

"Darian? Him?" Perseus tilted his head to the side as he looked down at Gallea. Then he smiled, and stabbed his sword down.

Darian put up a hand. "W-wai-"

The sound of sword cutting into flesh and slamming against rock choked the mayhem to stillness. Darian's mouth, still open, hung there as Gallea's eyes opened, and a holler of pain echoed through the mountain. Perseus plucked the blade from Gallea's stomach like plucking a blade of grass, and he flourished the blade with a flick of the wrist so the coat of blood splattered against the rock.

"Gallea!" Medusa came down the stairs, and Otrera gasped at the sight of her. She was transformed, battered, some of her snake hair missing, and blood covered most of her torso. Some of it must have been Perseus's - he could see the claw marks in his arms - but Medusa, even in her monstrous form, looked like she was ready to collapse. Her stomach, her tail, her face, it was all bleeding.

"Oh, Gallea? Then who's Darian?"

"I'm Darian." He spit on the floor. He couldn't do much else, not unless Perseus was willing to run up to him and get into stabbing distance.

Medusa got to the bottom of the tunnel stairway, but she fell to her hands when she did. Exhausted; she must have used her vision. How was the bastard still standing? It must have been that huge shield, it had to be.

"You picked a new name, Bell—"

The serpent, seeing Gallea, screeched. She pushed against the floor, snapped her massive jaw like a crocodile, and got up.

"Gallea! You stabbed him!" Her inhuman voice buried Gallea's groans.

"B...bastard." The poor satyr dragged himself further and further from the center of the room, his blood leaving a thick trail behind him and spread by his hooves scraping the rock. He held his wound with one hand, the other bracing the floor to help him inch away.

Perseus smirked at the satyr, and then at Darian. His eyes drifted over the scenario, to the wounded giant and his captive, and the center of the room where most of the destroyed skeletons lay.

"My my. You three are a hardy bunch. Such a grand tale this will make!" The Fate's Child stepped toward the center of the room, and with a large smirk, crushed the glowing necklace they'd all forgotten about. "The cursed serpent, the mighty beast, and the struggling hero, dead at my hands, Perseus, who loses his companion to such foes."

"Uh... I'm still alive. I-"A hard squeeze from Chimera's grip silenced the warrior woman.

They all turned to look at the Amazon in Chimera's hand. Beaten and battered like the rest of them, but there'd be no getting out of Chimera's grip. Otrera's head sank.

Medusa hissed, but when she leaned out to ready a pounce, she fell back and braced against the wall. Darian did the same. Neither of them were going to go on the offensive. Neither of them could get to him, get Gallea out of there and away from the bastard. And Perseus knew it. He took a long time grinning at Gallea, who still inched further and further, coughing and groaning, blood trail growing. He turned to look at Medusa, and from how Medusa snarled, Darian could guess the fucker was grinning like a madman at her too. He completed his turn to face Darian, and he pointed his sword at him.

"I could kill you now," he said.

Chimera snorted, and took a step forward. For a second, Darian thought he was going to offer their prisoner, but Chimera gripped the wriggling Amazon's hands into one so she could not escape, and he readied his free hand. Everyone was bleeding, but Chimera was a standing mass of crimson. It leaked from his colossal muscles, soaked the cat on his back, and when Darian looked down, he could see the trails of blood the giant had left everywhere. The skeletons had really hurt him, but Chimera stood tall, with a warrior woman subdued in his grip, and his rumbling voice challenging Perseus.

"Try."

Perseus slowly lowered his sword, and looked up at the giant. "Don't suppose you'll let her go?"

"Your tale said I wouldn't." Chimera rumbled again, deep sound echoing and filling the grand chamber until the mountain vibrated with it. He shook Otrera a little too, until she groaned and tried to kick him. But she was too short, the beast too massive with his arm held out, for her legs to reach him. "And..."

"And we heal quickly," Medusa said. Where Chimera's voice was like the Earth, Medusa's voice was a monster's, layered with rasp and harsh growling sounds that defied her long snout and longer snake tongue. She was standing up.

"Ah. In the company of monsters." Perseus, chuckling, reached up to his mouth, stuck a finger and thumb between his lips, and whistled. The sound was high pitched, painful, enough that Chimera and Medusa reeled back a foot, before they all looked to the sound of hooves on rock.

Pegasus jumped over to them, wings spread. A flash of memories hit Darian, of clouds and sky and wind, of rain and sun and the thrill of the drop. He almost called out to him, to his old friend, when the splash of hooves on blood forced his eyes down. Pegasus looked his way, lowered his head, and neighed a choked sound.

Perseus sheathed his sword, and jumped onto the beautiful horse's back, coating his white body in red, until slithers of blood dripped down his legs.

"Pegasus..."

"He will be there to see you die, fool, when I return with a proper force. A few skeletons? Andromeda has far greater at her whim, and you shall suffer it full force." He laughed, and the unhinged madness in his voice made Darian's blood run cold. Lot of that happening tonight. "We underestimated the giant. The last of his kind, after all. It will not happen again."

The blonde worm was a drama addict. He waved at them, kicked Pegasus's sides - fucking bastard - and left. Pegasus stormed past Medusa, hard enough to push past her and knock her monstrous body aside. His old friend was no gentle creature, he was a big and powerful horse, and he rushed by the great serpent as he left through the tunnel stairs.

And they were left in silence.

Darian looked to Medusa; she was already slithering over to Gallea, a trail of blood following her as well. Her transformation fell away, human skin returning to her bruised body, face returning to a human shape, and snake hair shrinking into its usual bundle of small snakes.

But before she could reach the groaning satyr, Pinna appeared. Like a ghost, she faded through the air beside Gallea, on her knees, already ripping off bits of her tunic and fastening bandages.

"... what the fuck," Otrera said. Darian, Chimera, the two of them stared at the satyr. She didn't look their way, eyes locked on her husband at her feet.

"Stupid bastard!" she said. "Stupid stupid stupid. You're not supposed to intervene! If the Fates find out, they'll kill you!"

"Think... that Perseus fellow... beat them to it." Gallea broke into bloody coughs, and lay back.

"No! No no no, you... you saved my life!" Medusa didn't care that Pinna appeared out of thin air of course. The serpent lowered herself down, and did her best to help Pinna bandage her husband. "You're not going to die. No no, we'll do something! We'll do something!"

Gods damn it. Darian wanted to help, he really did, but all he could do was lower himself down to the floor, and lay back as well. Otrera, dangling from Chimera's grip, glared at him with enough venom to chill his blood. Pinna's cries and Gallea's groans were a disturbing lullaby as exhaustion overwhelmed him.

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"Burn in Tartarus," the Amazon said, and she spit on the wood beneath them.

"Yeah, well, maybe later." Darian groaned and rubbed his leg. Half a day since it broke, and his body was already healing. The bone didn't need alignment, his flesh did that on its own - painfully - and the swelling and pain were all signs that it was healing very fast. Accelerated healing was not pleasant, but it was better than being off his leg for a few months. He'd be back on his feet in a few days, and in a few days after that, all traces of the wound would be gone.

It paled in comparison to Chimera and Medusa. Chimera, he knew could heal so fast, you could see the flesh cover itself in minutes; it was why fighting him in the past had required some sneaky, underhanded tricks. Medusa, her snake hair was already regrowing, and the huge gashes along her body were closed. Still wounds, but closed at least and no longer bleeding.

Gallea was a different story. He coughed, groaned, and screamed when they bandaged him up. Pinna cried, held his head as they did their best to treat his wound, stroked his hair, and everything else someone would do for their dying loved one.

Back on the ship, they all sat in the middle of the deck in a circle. Otrera was smart enough to not jump overboard with her hands and feet tied, thank the gods. Chimera kept a close eye on her too; he looked like he wanted to eat her.

Medusa stayed close to Gallea and Pinna. Her hair laid flat, her eyes too, and her hands held Pinna between bouts of sobs.

It was a very painful day, in both ways

They were headed to a nearby island, Paros. The villages there were growing, but for the most part the island was devoid of human life. Some place they could hide, get food, clean water, and try and save Gallea's life.

"Gallea you..." Darian winced when muscles tried to move him, only to bend and shift broken bone. "Gallea, you shouldn't... after what I did? You... you shouldn't have..." He frowned at Pinna, and she glared right back at him. She had appeared from thin air; some trick of the Fates so she could monitor his journey, no doubt. She hadn't jumped in even to save her husband.

From the way the wife was holding Gallea, it was obvious she'd wanted to, though. Darian wanted to yell at her, get angry, but he knew it was just his own hate at his choice. He'd chosen saving the giant because... because in the heat of battle, he put victory over Medusa. And that ate at him.

"Sorry. Sucker... for a girl... with a tail," Gallea said between coughs. He managed to smirk too, and wink at Darian, before more coughing fits took him.

Pinna shook her head. "I-"

"I hope he dies."

"How dare you!" Medusa slithered over to the Amazon, and glared down at her. "He saved my life."

"Yeah well, you can guess what I think about you, the infamous Medusa." And then, the Amazon spat on Medusa's belly scales.

Darian gritted his teeth until his jaw clicked and his temples hurt. If he could walk, he'd be kicking her jaw and teeth in until she was spitting them out. The satyr saved Medusa's life. Saved her life! Gods, he hated himself as much as the Amazon did.

"She's just trying to get you to kill her, Medusa."

"I won't kill her," Medusa said. But, she did lean down, and glare at the woman with her hard yellow snake eyes. "She may live if I turn half of her to stone, though."

Everyone blinked. Even Chimera.

"Bunch of monsters," the Amazon said.

Darian rolled his eyes. "You're the ones who kidnapped my friend, are holding him against his will. I'm helping the Fates to save him, and to get her a second chance."

"Second chance?"

"I get the mask back from your thief friend - Andromeda I assume - and the Fates arrange a meeting between myself, Athena, and Medusa. A chance to argue for her side of the story." Telling her didn't matter. She wasn't going anywhere. Even if she did escape, it was innocent information.

"To save your friend... Pegasus? He's a horse."

"Fuck you." Darian slapped his palm against the deck, tempted to drag himself across the deck on his broken leg, just so he could hit her. "Pegasus is... he's my friend, my best friend, and you enslaved him!"

"I did nothing! He was already enslaved when I woke up."

"Woke up?" he said.

The Amazon frowned and looked away.

"No no, you started this," Medusa said. Hissing, she reached down, and picked the Amazon up by the shoulders. She stared at the warrior as she slowly encircled her with her coils and wrapped her with a few feet of her snake body. "Explain yourself. Darian said he defeated you almost two years ago. He was still with Pegasusss then. What do you mean 'woke up?' How are you ssstill alive? How did you get the powers of a Fate's Child?"

Like a snake crushing its prey, Medusa tightened her length around Otrera's legs. Both winced, Medusa was still injured, but Darian could see the anger and desperation in her eyes.

Otrera's eyes went wide. Her breathing shortened to quick pants, and her struggles renewed. But with legs tied - bound in snake coils - and hands tied behind her back, she wasn't going anywhere. Medusa held her shoulders, and encased more of the helpless Amazon; each row of thick snake body around the warrior woman had her wriggling and fighting.

But despite her obvious discomfort, she only snarled, and stared Medusa down. "Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because... because..." Medusa looked to Darian. Darian grimaced. There was no reason for her to tell them anything.

"Because they have honor."

The booming voice of the giant filled the deck. He hadn't said a word in some time, staring out into the mist from the front of the ship as usual. But, like a stalking cat, he'd sneaked his way over, and cut through the atmosphere like a knife.

"Honor?" Otrera said. "Don't make me laugh, you idiot-"

Chimera reached down, took the Amazon by the shoulders with both hands, and lifted her. Medusa had to loosen her coils to not get picked up along with the warrior woman. She was small person, Otrera, smaller than Darian, and she practically disappeared into the giant's hands when he wrapped her torso in both palms.

"They fight to save a friend. They fight to free themselves of an unjust curse. They fight to escape the whip of their captors." The beast raised Otrera higher, so she was eye to eye with him, and he rumbled deep in his chest until Darian could feel it through the deck. "You went to war, and lost. Such is war. But now you are a child, whining and seeking petty revenge."

"Petty? I-"

"Pathetic! Petty. Instead of raising an army once more, learning from your defeat, and marching to victory, you've become nothing more than a resentful assassin. You are a disgrace to the Amazons, and Ares will never favor someone such as you."

Otrera opened her mouth, but said nothing. She was stunned. Chimera glared at her, face so close he could have licked her like tasting his next meal. They glared at each other, but Darian could see how shaken the Amazon was. He didn't know why, but Otrera looked... defeated.

"Andromeda... is a sorceress. She spent a long time bringing me back from the brink of death, almost two years. When I woke up, she... she... sacrifices lives to fuel the mask. I didn't know. I didn't... know..."

Darian and Medusa jaw-dropped in sync. She was talking. Chimera grumbled, but set the Amazon down with a gentle motion so she was sitting once more.

"A sorceress," Darian said. "That explains what she did with the skeletons. And... and that creature she sent after me."

Otrera sighed, and nodded. "She wants to kill all the Fate's Children, cause she knew the Fates would send them after her, once she stole the mask. When she heard about what happened to Bellerophontes, she captured Pegasus, because she needed wings."

The Amazon was being helpful! Darian quirked a brow at the giant, and Chimera nodded in return, before sitting down with legs crossed, knees apart, and looked Otrera to listen. Whatever he'd said had broken her to the point her eyes were downtrodden, and her head hung forward.

"Why did she steal the mask?"

They all looked Pinna's way. The satyr stood before them, with Gallea doing his best to remain quiet behind her, head propped up on a bed roll. The poor woman was covered in his blood, but the man was alive.

Otrera raised her head. "... she... she's going to kill the Fates."

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~~Medusa~~

Gallea did not look good. Pinna and her took turns watching him, replacing his bandages as best they could, cleaning them, and tending to his wounds. He was pale, and the wound wasn't closing like Medusa was used to.

She'd forgotten how fragile people could be. She was a monster now, she healed from worse wounds in days, but the poor man who saved her life was struggling to heal from one simple stab wound. Just one. No wonder the two satyrs wanted to stay on the sidelines; one wound and their life was in danger. She'd forgotten what that was like. The men she'd killed, their deaths were always quick. She never had to see this.

"How much longer till Paros?" she said.

"A few hours." Pinna was sitting across from her. They'd moved into the cabin room, the one Pinna and Gallea slept in. Otrera was no longer a threat, or at least, whatever Chimera had said to her had broken her resolve somewhat; she could trust the giant to keep an eye on her.

Pinna combed her blonde hair past her small horns, and frowned down at her husband.

"You damn fool," she said, voiced hushed. "You... you know we weren't supposed to-"