Medusa: Fate's Game Ch. 08

A psychopath, like Perseus.

"Blinding white? Was that the first time you did that... eye glowy thing? Like you do when you get angry now?"

"It... it was."

"It sssounds to me like you awoke to that in a cruel way."

He choked on a chuckle, and forced himself to look her in the eyes. She had a tiny smile again, and she placed both her hands on his knees as she leaned over him.

"I've seen you angry," she said. "I know how angry you can get. And I'm sure you would have killed Otrera for what she just tried to do to you. But... for trying to tear us apart, and for trying to use your past against you, I might have done similar. And with your brother? Maybe it was because it was the first time that... power"—she poked him in the chest—"awoke inside you? I don't know, I just... I know there's something different about you. And it's not all good. But! But... you... you're not... like Perseus. Otrera says you are, but she's wrong!"

She brought herself to standing, as much as a gorgon could stand, and helped bring him up to his feet with her. "I looked into his eyes, Darian. I talked to him. He... he wasn't you. For him, the whole thing is... fun. The violence, the murder... fun. It wasn't just that he was comfortable in it, like Otrera said, but... like an actor delighting in play fighting, like it was a game."

Fun? Game? He frowned and stroked his chin. Otrera was right about him, he was comfortable with violence, at home with it, but fun? Of all the things he'd tasted when killing, when the thrill of battle took him over, he wasn't sure fun was the word he'd use.

The serpent continued. "I can understand why you didn't want to talk about your brother, or any of it! And I... I..." She looked left, looked right, looked over her shoulder, then back at Darian. "You're a scary man, Darian."

The words dragged him down until Medusa was holding him up by his shoulders, lest he fall back down.

"But," she said, "I... I know you're not Perseus. Scary like Perseus, but you're not him. And I don't know why you are the way you are. When Otrera made you angry? It was like you were a different person, consumed by something. You would have ripped her apart with your bare hands. You would have broken her skull down into a bloody mess, like with the soldier when we first met."

He had to look away again, and grit his teeth. Medusa didn't let him pull away though; she shook him until he had to look at her.

"You know you're more than that! With me... and Pegasus... even that man you spared in Tiryns, Patrius. You're not a—" She came to a stop and looked over her shoulder with a loud hiss.

Otrera stepped around the corner of rock, and leaned against a tree, arms across her chest, and face deadpan.

"Haven't you done enough?" Medusa snapped her tail against the grass as she turned to face the Amazon. "You've hurt him in enough ways. Leave him alone or I'll—"

"It's okay Medusa," he said. Valiant, she was. It made him smile. The woman would have thrown herself into any harm's way to protect him. He put a hand on her shoulder, and gave her a quick nod and smile before walking past her.

He leaned his head around to feel the muscles stretch, the joints crack, and his heart start to speed up. Another duel? The queen wasn't smiling or frowning, or anything he could read. She just stood there, arms folded over her chest, waiting.

The split skin of his face was still there, already bruising from fast healing. But Otrera wasn't much better off. He'd done real damage to her, and from how she was holding herself, her forearms were exposed; they were black and blue. And her tilt suggested a cracked rib from when he hit her side.

Always breaking down every encounter into the ways you can use it to defeat someone. Habits die hard.

"You said you were sorry," she said, "back in Tiryns."

"... I did."

"You said you regretted it, back at the giant's cave, too."

"... I did."

"So you did... You know you're not entirely normal, right? I see it in your eyes, like Perseus — no, I'm not saying you're Perseus." Quick with her words, Darian noticed, as he heard Medusa rustling behind, him ready to intervene. "Something about you is... different from normal people."

"I know." The words hurt, and when he looked back over his shoulder at Medusa, she managed a small nod and smile. "But I'm dealing with it."

"... I'm sorry," the queen said. Darian blinked at her, and looked her up and down. She was shaking a little, and her eyes dropped to the grass. "Sorry for bringing up dead shit from your past. Sorry for trying to kill you. Sorry for... Stheneboea and Proetus. If Philonoe is anything like her sister, I don't blame you for abandoning her."

Damn the woman was brutal with her words, even when she was apologizing.

"It's ok," he said. "And killing those two? It... I wasn't going to kill them. I wanted to, gods I wanted to, but I wasn't going to, for her." He motioned Medusa with his hand. "Trying my best to leave it all behind."

The queen chuckled, and stepped forward a little closer.

"I'm sorry about Pegasus too. Andromeda and Perseus haven't abused him, but yeah. He really is a beautiful animal, and multiple times I could see he was... more than an animal."

Relief hit him, and he let out a slow sigh. "Why all the apologies?"

"Because that"—she pointed back to where she came from—"was a mistake. I'm not so juvenile I can't see that. I thought for sure getting a good slice into you, maybe ruin you, would give me... fuck it. Doesn't matter, it didn't work. So, I could brood about it, convince myself of stupid shit, and make everything worse for everyone, or I can swallow my pride and my delusions, and get over it." She too let out a slow sigh of relief, and nodded. "Aethiopia. Andromeda said she got her sacrifices from Aethiopia."

"Aethiopia... thanks, Otrera."

"I'm coming with."

"Excuse me?"

Otrera got closer, reached out with a finger, and jabbed him in the shoulder.

"That woman, that mask, I didn't ask for any of this. She revived me, and... and everything just started moving. I walked into a chamber of bones, skulls, death, and Andromeda stood there. She offered me the power to defeat you, Darian. And I said yes like a blind idiot. Next thing I knew, I had your power, and I was indebted to a mad woman. I never even stopped to ask how the ritual was done! I didn't know it required lives. Just wanted to kill you.

"So I'm coming. Nothing else to do, nothing left of my life. My tribe is gone, and gods help me, the only reason I had to live was killing you and... and I don't want that. I thought I did, fuck me I thought I did. But I don't. What I want is a life worth living. Saving your friend, taking down that witch? Those sound like things worth doing."

Darian had to take a step back. The tiny woman was smiling a little, and standing tall, proud, arms at her side and breath calm. It wasn't hard to imagine her surrounded by fellow Amazons, each a sword and shield, each a weapon and loyal warrior to their queen.

"You su—"

"Yes I'm sure. Don't get in a woman's way once she's made up her mind."

He chuckled. True that.

"Yesss!" Medusa slithered up to them, and wrapped her arms around Otrera.

"Get off me, damn snake!"

"No, this is wonderful!" And of course the serpent picked up the Amazon, and slithered around in a figure eight while hugging her. Otrera squirmed to try and free herself, but a snake's grip was no joke.

Darian laughed. A moment ago he was really trying to kill Otrera. The next, they were allies. Like a ridiculous, grand tale of beautiful circumstance, enemies were becoming friends, united to take down the villain.

Ridiculous, and amazing. He prayed he wouldn't ruin it.

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~~Medusa~~

"You're giving me your bow?" Medusa said.

"I saw that piddly thing you were using. You're a good shot, and you can't do shit against swords, and—"

"I lasted a hundred years."

"How many of them were close calls? How many of them did you have to transform to kill? How many times did you have to use your stone gaze, when there were no friends around to get hit by it?"

She frowned. Otrera was poking holes in her defense, but it was all very true. And as she looked at the beautiful, massive bow, the frown melted away. It was such a magnificent thing, a white bow that looked like it'd been carved from white crystal rock. The string was gold, shining, and the leather quiver had gold adornments, threads similar to Darian's. The massive arrows within had white tips as well, polished until they shined the same as the string.

A heavy bow, too. When she picked it up, she had to recenter her slithering body to keep it from pulling her forward when she raised it.

"What about you?"

"I'm an Amazon." The tiny warrior picked up her two swords, and demonstrated some casual rotations of them around her body. Like dancing. "I know many weapons. And you should use a bow. I can use yours if it comes to it."

The two humans, the serpent, and the giant stood about in the open grass area Darian and Otrera had been fighting in earlier. They'd amassed their gear in a pile, the armor and weapons and shields, and were examining their options.

"You threw me a surprise when you used two swords," Darian said.

"That was the plan."

"Pretty aggressive fighting style. Never seen that before."

"Not aggressive enough." Otrera shrugged and set them back down. "Against a normal opponent, it'd work; I'd be able to create an opening and take advantage. But against a skilled warrior, the shield is simply the better option."

"I've always used sword and shield. I like the options it creates."

"Definitely."

Medusa tried to hide what must have been an absurd and childish smile on her face, but she couldn't. It was too beautiful! Otrera and Darian, talking about... well, killing, but it was still a lot better than them trying to kill each other.

"These arrows are so beautiful! I'm afraid to shoot them." She lined up a shot on a nearby tree, but didn't fire. The arrow looked like something that belonged in the grip of a statue on display in Athens.

"Magical quiver. That Andromeda witch knows what she's doing." Otrera came over, and motioned for Medusa to give her the quiver. When she did, Otrera removed an arrow and put it in her left hand. She removed another with her right, and put it into her left. And again. And again. And yet, the quiver never emptied, and somehow Otrera only ever acquired three arrows in her left hand.

"Ooh." Medusa slung the quiver back over her shoulder, lined up a shot with a tree, and—

"Deeper."

"What?"

"Deeper," Otrera said. "Draw the arrow as deep as you can, while maintaining control."

Nodding, she re-knocked the arrow and drew it back as far as she could, until her arm was about to start shaking. Before it did, she took a deep breath, aligned her sight, and fired.

The snap of the string made Medusa's human half vibrate, but sure enough, the arrow stuck into the tree. More than stuck, it went in deep, deeper than an arrow should have.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Andromeda has some serious control over that mask and its Fates' magic. She used it to create Perseus's armor and sword — no idea where he got the shield though. His armor's pretty similar to Darian's, right? Fates' shit just shitting shit all over shit everywhere."

Medusa laughed and put the bow and quiver back. "What about Chimera?"

"What about him?" Darian and Otrera said in unison.

"He has nothing! Otrera has her Amazon armor and her swords, and even if she didn't, we could get her something. Darian has his gifts from the Fates', and now I have Otrera's gifts. But Chimera has nothing."

The three of them looked to the giant, only to laugh when he shrugged.

"That reminds me," Otrera said. "You guys found him in a hole in the ground, you said? Dressed in nothing but a loincloth of fur, and a dead cat."

Darian shrugged. "Dressed the same as when I fought him the first time."

"So, the dead cat has horns. There is no cat like that."

Chimera snorted, untied the hands of the lion-like creature from his neck, and tossed it at Otrera. She fell with a very un-queenly squeak, and disappeared underneath the layers of fur.

"This is heavy!"

"Before humans were building cities," Chimera said as he walked toward them, "and your kind were just learning to build tents from wood and animal skins, there were greater creatures than there are now. Beasts that hunted more than men, but giants too, and when the gods had the courage to walk Gaia's skin, even they were the beasts' prey. This is but one of those creatures. The only one of his kind."

Otrera wriggled herself free of the giant dead cat covering her, and held its massive, jawless head by the horns. "Only one of his kind? How's that work?"

"A child of Echidna, mother of monsters. This one prowled the plains for centuries before my family brought it down."

Family. Medusa tilted her head, and watched the giant closely. His head and eyes fell for only a split moment before he raised them, and replaced them with a smile.

"You are very old," Otrera said. "Ancient. Old man."

She said it with an air of insult, but Medusa saw the smile change on Chimera's face. She knew that smile, that was a playful smile!

Medusa reached down to take the cat pelt from Otrera, and giggled when she wrapped it around herself the way Chimera would. Her snake hair did what they could to make the skull of the cat fit her, but it was just too big. Its fangs dwarfed her face, and its length reached well past her hips. So big. The paws were bigger than her head.

"How is this thing still so soft? Soft and sturdy. It's thousands of years old!"

"The great beasts of that time were all immortal," he said, and he shrugged again as he sat down beside Otrera. "There are few of us left. The old beasts."

Old beasts. Something she would probably qualify as now; she didn't seem to age anymore, and as far as Chimera was concerned, she was a beast too. The thought should have made her upset, but the warmth and softness of the pelt washed away her anger. Maybe she'd get a pet cat once this was all over with, like an Egyptian.

Otrera looked at Chimera, head to toe. The giant was naked after all except for his loincloth, and the man was over ten feet tall of muscle, scars, and enough masculinity for a whole city. Medusa didn't care much for the gruff look of his body, the extreme ruggedness, the huge muscles, but Otrera did, that much was obvious. What Medusa hadn't expected was the looks the two shared, the subtle smirks, the occasional meeting of the eyes. Lustful eyes!

The past few days, she'd thought maybe something had been going on. Everyone had become so much more happy since finding the wine, since long past drinking it. And Otrera and Chimera had gone off on walks more than once, when the queen still had her hands bound.

Medusa giggled and rubbed her face on the fur. What sort of things were those two doing?

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Everyone was fucking like rabbits!

She didn't know if it was because of that day with the wine, or perhaps because they knew that soon, they'd be off again to try and save Pegasus and stop Andromeda, or leaving for new land. It could have been all those things. But once Darian and Otrera resolved their issues, and there was no more animosity to be had between anyone in their lovable little group, everyone let loose.

They had two weeks until Gallea would be well enough to start moving on his own power, according to Chimera. Two weeks felt like a deadline before the 'change' would happen, whatever that would be. They all had a lot of anxiety waiting for it, and no where to go while Gallea healed. Apparently, that lead to a lot of sex.

It also lead to no one caring if they were caught. At first she tried to always take Darian far away for their love making, but then, when they came back to camp, Gallea and Pinna would be behind a tree not twenty feet away. Medusa discovered Pinna really had a thing for sitting on Gallea, on his face, on his hips, on him anywhere for their sex. And more than once, Medusa took more than a peek. And every time she did, the next time she made love with Darian, she didn't try as hard to hide.

One night, she didn't try to hide at all. They had one week left, and Medusa and Darian had just finished bathing in the sea. The sun was setting, the day was warm, and the wind had calmed.

"I'm going to take a nap," he said. He lay down on the grass, with his old cocky smile on, and hands hooked underneath his head.

Warm fuzzies drifted through her core, and she copied his smile as she hugged herself. She needed to talk to someone! Talk about love, romance, and all those things she and Darian were doing but were both new to. Pinna wasn't new to it, she was a happily married woman.

So she slithered back to the camp, and looked for her friend. She didn't have to look far.

At first she thought Pinna had decided to sit upon Gallea's lap. He was able to sit up now, and was sitting against a tree in their little canyon hideaway. Pinna was sitting on his lap with her legs wrapped around his hips and back, and she was resting her chin on the satyr's shoulder. It was absolutely adorable.

But it became slightly less adorable, and far more erotic when she noticed how Gallea had his hands on the small of Pinna's back, and she had her hands on his. They were naked, Medusa only just realized, and pressed chest to chest. Their furry deer legs looked so cute, with hers wrapped around him, and the sway of their hips was hypnotic.

It was the most darling sex she'd ever imagined. The way they were holding each other, hugging each other, while Pinna shifted her hips back and forth on his lap, made her whole body warm. She'd have to go back to Darian, and start doing things to him, immediately.

Pinna turned to put her head on Gallea's other shoulder, and she let out a slow moan as she opened her eyes and looked Medusa's way.

Eye contact. Medusa froze, knuckle on her lip, half her body hidden behind tree and rock. Blushing heat almost had her eyes watering, and she managed a small bow and mouthed 'sorry' before she started to slither away.

But Pinna stopped her. The handsome little woman smiled back at her, rested her cheek on Gallea's shoulder, and mouthed 'stay, watch.'

Stay. She wanted her to stay, and watch. Watch! Medusa froze, eyes drifting up and down the two hugging, naked lovers. Pinna looked so relaxed, so comfortable, like she was cozy with a warm blanket. Her eyes drifted closed, her breath steady, her noises a gentle song of soft moans. Every so often, Pinna opened her eyes again, looked at Medusa, and grinned.

The wife slid her hands up and down Gallea's back, up his shoulder blades, down his spine beneath where it rested against the tree, and down to his fur. She was careful of the bandage that still circled his waist, and instead let her hands drift lower to stroke and tease the small, fluffy tail of her husband.

Medusa couldn't see Gallea's face with Pinna's in the way, but her husband did much of the same for his wife. His hands roamed her back, teased fingers along her naked spine, and as he hugged her, his fingers slid up into her hair to comb the long waves of blond. Hair in fingers! Medusa melted at the sight, and the finger on her lip raised to massage one of her snakes instead.

They started moving faster. Or at least Pinna did. Gallea was undoubtedly forced to hold still at his wife's orders; Chimera's medicine was miraculous and strong, but Pinna was no fool. Horny, but no fool. She set the pace, controlled the flow, and danced on her husband's cock with the slow gyrating of her hips back and forth in a lover's rhythm.

"Going to cum soon?" she said.

"Got a few more minutes in me."