Medusa: Fate's Game Ch. 06

"Couldn't let her die," Gallea said. He managed to say it without coughing, and earned a smile from his wife. "Can... can you imagine that story? Bellerophontes, angered with the death of his woman, vows revenge? It's been... done to death." His coughing returned, and both women grimaced with each painful heave.

"Where does that leave me?" Pinna said. "Without a husband, just... just..."

Everyone went silent. There was nothing to say, no easy answers. A pile of misery and sadness and no way to fix it.

Medusa shook her head, but regretted it immediately. Her hair still hadn't healed, and the stumps that were once living snakes would be days before regrown. Still, she patted Gallea's chest, and smiled for him.

"When we get to Parosss, Chimera says he can find some herbs to help with the healing. You'll live, and tell thisss tale."

"He better live," Pinna said, "I... I can't do this work alone."

"He'll live!" She nodded a few times, as if each nod would make it more true. "And... and thank you Gallea. I thanked you a million times already, but I think you were delirious."

"I heard it," he said. The satyr smiled a mischievous smile, and winked. "Half-beasts have to stick together... or something, I suppose?"

Medusa laughed. "I sssuppose." With a gentle hand, she felt the man's forehead. Cold, and the satyr was trapped somewhere between shivering and breaking into a sweat. He needed proper rest, on land, with fresh food, clean water, and quality medicine. She knew nothing about plants, or how to use them for medicine, but Chimera did apparently. And after what they'd been through, she was starting to trust him as much as Darian.

"It does mean... you'll have to... adjust the story," he said to his wife. "Can't have my... interference be mentioned."

Pinna shook her head and shrugged. "Medusa defeated Perseus on her own. I won't tell if you won't."

Medusa nodded. "And the others will agree, I'm sure."

Pinna slid over, and Medusa moved so the wife could cradle the husband's head in her lap. His head was so heavy, it was crushing her, and despite her desire to aid the poor man, it was a relief when Pinna took over. Sighing, Medusa slithered over to the door, and looked behind her as she reached the exit.

"I'll come get you when we're near land."

"Th-thanks," Gallea said. Pinna said nothing, only stroked her husband's head and chest. Worry creased her forehead, and when she did glance at Medusa, it was not a happy one.

Medusa left. Pinna blamed her. Medusa blamed herself. It was a horrible mess of self loathing and directed loathing on Charon's ship.

Back out on the deck, Otrera lay on the wood and stared at the fog and mist above them. Her arms were still tied behind her back, and her ankles were still tied together too. She looked... conquered. Her eyes wandered the gray above, and her breathing was slow and calm. Perhaps the Amazon had simply surrendered to the reality that she was captured? Unlikely, given her tenacity. Medusa could not understand what Chimera had said that had struck the woman so, but Otrera had become silent and reasonable.

Kill the Fates. Kill the Fates? What would that do? Would people be released from their bound fates? Or would everything fall into chaos? The idea was so grandiose and ridiculous, Medusa couldn't even contemplate it. You might as well blot out the sun for all eternity, or flood the world in ocean for all time. They were meaningless ideas, because they would never happen.

She didn't want to think about it. She wanted normal. She wanted regular, down to Earth, normal things. She wanted to go home with Darian and curl up by the pool. She wanted to start a garden, grow food. She wanted her legs back.

Chimera and Darian were sitting by the queen. No one was talking, but the air didn't seem oppressive. In fact, if anything, it seemed lighter than before.

Medusa slithered up to her lover, and lay down next to him.

"Leg still broken?" she said, and smiled.

Darian laughed, and winced. "Don't make me laugh, still hurts."

"Chimera looks completely healed."

"I need meat," the beast said, "before that is true. I cannot heal everything without food."

As if on queue, Otrera's stomach growled, loud enough that all three of them looked at the Amazon. In the dead silence that followed, she started to blush.

"Yeah, I'm hungry. Fuck off."

Medusa frowned. The woman was so mean and cruel.

"When I was a little girl, I'd heard tales of the Amazons," Medusa said. "I can barely remember the stories, but they spoke of women who broke away from the cities. They'd started clans in different corners of Greece." The serpent raised herself high, slithered around Darian toward Otrera, and looked down at the dark-skinned woman beneath her. "I thought they'd be... different."

"Yeah well, there was only one clan in my corner of Greece. And Bellerophon wiped that clan out. Forgive me if I'm a little changed for the experience of surviving having a hole cut into me. I was only human at the time."

She said 'human' with an edge to it, something Medusa knew was meant to anger her. But at the same time, Otrera seemed... bitter. Less a villain seeking to undo her, more an angry child, upset with circumstance.

Darian sat up, but Medusa held up her palm to him.

"You don't think I'm human?" she said.

"Look like a monster to me."

Medusa frowned. "You know the story?"

"I do," the Amazon said. She sat up too, and eyed Medusa head to tail. "It was horrible what happened to you. But it happened, and now you're a monster."

Medusa blinked. Why was this woman so cruel?

"...I remember my mother," Medusa said, "from long ago. She was a baker. And my father, he worked with trading, and trade goods. I think he was responsible for importing wheat."

"I-"

"I remember serving Athena, worshiping Athena, and paying tribute. I remember paying tribute to Poseidon too. I remember serving faithfully. I remember being just a little girl, and coming home from the temple to tell my mother how the day went. So long ago, it's all hazy, and I can't remember the faces. But I can still remember the sssmell of bread. Not many places made bread then, not like now according to Darian, so people showed up for some Athens bread. It was well received. I can't remember what my mother looked like very well, but... but I can remember her smiling, when I said it sssmelled good."

Darian and Otrera were both staring at her like she was a ghost, a spirit speaking of dead days. She had to dig hard to find those memories, and let her mind roam over things she'd rather forget; it was too painful to remember what it was like when she was human, when she had legs, when people didn't want to kill her on sight.

"I am not a monster. I am a woman. Are you no longer human because you're a Fate's Child?" she said.

Otrera looked down, then to Darian, then back to her. "I'm not sure."

This woman! She dripped of self loathing. Medusa couldn't help but be reminded of herself, when she was newly transformed. How many days had she spent staring down at her reflection in the pool, wishing she wasn't who she was anymore.

"I think you are," Medusa said. "Or at least, we all still have our souls."

She slithered back over to Darian, and lay down around him in a few coils. On queue, Darian sat up against her coils near her torso, so she could rest her human half atop one of her coils, and stroke the man's hair.

Chimera rumbled a laugh, deep and slow, but when Medusa caught his eye, he looked back to the front the ship, and went quiet. The giant didn't believe as she did, but that was alright. She'd get through to him sooner or later.

"So, monster or not, what's the plan, hmm?" Otrera looked at her and Darian, and frowned whenever Medusa's fingers combed through to Darian's forehead and back. "You think I'm going to tell you where Andromeda is? I told you, I don't know where she is, I couldn't tell with how Pegasus flew me there."

Darian shrugged. "I am sure you'll think of something useful." His eyes closed, head drifted back, and he melted against Medusa's scales. She smiled, body warming at the feeling of his weight against her. Twice now he'd been through battle with her nearby. Twice he'd lived. Maybe they'd succeed on their journey after all?

"What about Perseusss?" Medusa said. "Do you know anything about him?"

The Amazon shook her head. "Not really. Andromeda never told me anything about him, and he never spoke of himself."

Never spoke of himself? The man had seemed more than willing to talk about himself to her; probably because he thought she'd be dead. Cocky, arrogant.

"He told me... he told me he'd been sent to kill me, before all this. Andromeda intervened, and... recruited him, I guessss," Medusa said.

"Well, now they're lovers, bent on killing the Fates together. And I'm sure that'll end well." Otrera groaned, and lay back down.

"Why did you help her then, if you do not want her to succeed?" Darian said.

"For a chance at killing you. And because I owed her my life."

Medusa eyed the Amazon. The small woman, thin and lean, muscle obvious against her tunic, shrugged and shook her head, long black hair shaking as she did. Acting. The Amazon was hiding something. Something to do with what Chimera had said to her that had broken her, perhaps? Medusa nodded, but made mental note. There was something there, some hidden reasoning that meant something.

Look at you Medusa, being sneaky and smart! She lowered her head to hide her smile in her forearm, and continued to comb Darian's hair.

Darian's eyes closed as Medusa ran her fingers down to his neck. "And you said she has to sacrifice people to power the mask?"

"She... did." Otrera looked down again, and Medusa watched her. The Amazon looked torn, sad, which only made sense if she felt guilty about the lives sacrificed to give her her gift. Another mental note!

Darian raised a hand to take Medusa's out of his hair, only to hold it tight and press it to his chest.

"Did she say where she was getting those lives?" he said.

Otrera blinked, and raised her head to look at him. "... she did."

"Where?"

The Amazon frowned, and tilted her head with a quick jerk, hard enough to crack her neck. "I'll tell you, on one condition."

"Oh this ought to be good."

"I'm sure you'll love it," she said. "But, I won't tell you the condition until you're healed."

"What? I have a broken leg!"

"You'll heal fast, you know you will." And with that, Otrera lay back down again, and smiled. "I can be patient if I need to be."

This woman had a stubborn streak to her, that was for sure. But Darian had beaten her twice already, three if she included the war. What lengths would this woman go to kill him? Medusa frowned; probably any.

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

Paros. Darian told her that there were several villages to the East, scattered across the rising land and dotted with fishing towns. As long as they stayed to the forest and rock faces of the West, they'd go unnoticed.

Chimera went out on his own, and disappeared into the rolling hills and forests. How a man twice as tall, eight times as heavy as any normal man could sneak around, she had no idea, but when Chimera wanted to, his feet were like feathers on the rock. Silent. Medusa and Darian found a decent cavern, a sort of large cave that bled into a canyon behind a short cliff. The karstic landscape of rock, cliff faces, sharp drops, and a smattering of bushes and trees made for good hiding.

The serpent, the Amazon, the two satyrs, and the hero sat around a fire come nightfall. Chimera still wasn't back, and Gallea wasn't looking much better. Pinna was holding his head and feeding him clean water. They found a nearby stream, boiled the water in a pot over the fire, cleaned and mended Gallea as best they could.

If Gallea died, Medusa wasn't sure what she'd do. She stared at the small man, and how his usually goofy face had a harsh grimace. He wasn't cold anymore, but hot, sweating, and his breath was shallow. If they didn't do something, the wound would start to swell, stink, and do all the things she'd heard stories about, horror stories about war seared into her mind to survive a century. And that'd happen to Gallea, all to save her.

Don't think about it. Don't think about it! Chimera will find something to help. Or the clean water, good food from the land, and lots of rest will save him.

"You think your giant can treat that injury?" Otrera said. The Amazon was still tied up - feet too - and lay by the fire. "I've seen a lot of wounds. His is how you die a slow death over weeks."

Medusa snapped her tail against the grass. "What do you suggest?"

"Kill him. Spare him the pain."

Medusa's jaw dropped. She looked to Darian, but he was frowning and staring at the fire. Every so often, he looked her way, and his eyes dropped again.

"Fuck you," Pinna said. Her voice was wavering, and so was her hand. Gallea said nothing, but Medusa couldn't tell if he was sleeping, or just couldn't hear them. Or he could and didn't want to speak.

"You may feel differently in a week, when things are growing on his flesh, he's delirious with heat and pain, and he smells of rot. It doesn't smell nice."

Pinna, Darian, and Medusa all stared at Otrera with wide eyes.

"He... he'll... he won't die! Chimera will save him!" Medusa slammed her tail again, but not as hard as she wanted.

Otrera had seen it then, the horror that Medusa knew from stories. Of course she had. Otrera was an Amazon, the queen of a tribe according to Darian. She waged war for years. Death was something she was used to.

Medusa shook her head. "Ssstop it. Stop being... stop treating him like he's gone. He's not gone yet."

"He-"

"You're cold," Medusa said. "You're cold, and mean."

It was Otrera's turn to have her jaw drop, and she stared at Medusa as she sat up.

"You can't be serious."

"I'm sssserious!"

"You... you're Medusa. Me-du-sa. Last I checked, you were betrayed by your gods, turned into a monster, and now the world wants you dead. Give me one good you shouldn't be as bitter as I am?" Otrera glared daggers at her, but Medusa met her stare and returned it. She knew hers were the scarier eyes, yellow snake eyes.

"Ssstare into the eyes of hundreds of dead men, women, and children, for a hundred years, and tell me how you feel."

"Stare? I... oh. Stone..."

Medusa nodded, and slithered around the fire to get closer to Darian.

"That's right. An island of dead statues," she said. "So forgive me, dark and scary Amazon queen, if I got over my hate and fear a long time ago. I had to face it every day." Sighing, she shook her head again, then lay beside Darian. She never got perfectly comfortable though, not while Chimera was gone; she needed him to keep guard of Otrera.

Darian didn't seem too scared, even with his broken leg. He turned his head enough to meet hers, and put a kiss on her cheek. A quick kiss turned into a lingering thing, and his nose nudged against hers before he sank into her chest. She turned to face the fire, on her side with Darian in the groove of her body. She did so enjoy being the big spoon.

"And what's this about?" Otrera said. "Why are you two are item?"

She and Darian nodded in sync. It earned an annoyed groan from the Amazon.

"Andromeda attacked the ship I was on. I was being shipped to be sold off or something, and her sea creature - if that even was hers - broke the ship. I washed up on Medusa's island, and... yeah." Darian propped his head up on an elbow and palm, and netted his free hand's fingers into Medusa's. "You don't approve?"

Otrera opened her mouth to say something, but caught herself. "... I don't disapprove, if that's what you're wondering. Humans sleep with centaurs and satyrs and everything else under Apollo's light. You say you're still a person, and not a monster, so I'm sure a snake woman is perfectly reasonable."

"Even one cursssed by Athena?" Medusa said.

Otrera shrugged. "What do I care what that bitch does or wants?"

Medusa blinked. The Amazon was starting to sound more and more like Darian the more she opened up. Harder, crueler, and more bitter, but at the same time, the similarities were there. The thought made Medusa smile. If she could strike a friend in the Amazon, peace could be had! A better solution to their journey maybe.

Childish thoughts, but she entertained them anyway.

"You sound like you speak from experience, sleeping with non humans," Darian said. Medusa half expected her lover to have a smirk or grin on his face, but his face was straight and calm. Intrigued even?

Otrera eyed him closely, as if looking for a weakness in armor. But after a moment, she shrugged and nodded.

"Amazons sleep with men only to breed; you probably already know. That doesn't mean we're not human and don't seek some companionship though. Typically, we'd seek that in each other, but a lot of us also enjoyed a good fucking from a dick every now and then. And I was the queen of my tribe; I had choices, selections. One time, we got into a bit of a fight with a tribe of humans, wild people, strange folk. We were hunting in their territory and we didn't notice. Instead of coming to blows, I negotiated with their leader. Turns out, they weren't humans, but something called a werewolf. They turned into these huge, giant wolves that walked upright. We're talking eight feet tall, fur and muscle, big shoulders." The Amazon smiled and looked to the sky. "Sex with him was great. A few months that lasted, getting laid every couple of nights."

Medusa's jaw dropped. "I... I uh... was he-"

"Oh they went full werewolf any time they were hunting, fighting, or fucking. So yeah, that was an eight-foot-tall beast between my legs. And his cock had the strangest shape too, you know? Flesh red from top to bottom, thick at the bottom. Fitting that thing balls deep inside was always tough. Worth it though."

The silence hit them all like ice water. Even Pinna's gaze had drifted to Otrera, and her eyes were just as wide as Medusa's. The only noise was the crackle of the fire, a fire Medusa hoped covered the immense blush she started emanating. This Amazon was so... so... blunt! Otrera was smiling, but Medusa saw no teasing or mischievousness there. Was the Amazon truly so comfortable talking about sex? Sex with other non humans no less!

Medusa tried to picture the tiny, dark-skinned woman, naked, bent over, with a massive wolf human hybrid thing... doing things to her. A stark contrast to her, and how it was with Darian, a small man, who was regularly trapped in her coils.

The image made Medusa's body warm. Of course, once she looked back over at Gallea, warm vanished, and she settled her chin on Darian's shoulder. She could see Darian was intrigued by Otrera's story too, but her touch must have reminded him of the situation, and his growing smile faded. Contagious melancholy.

"You're very direct," she said.

"Yeah well, life is short... for most of us." Otrera looked over at Gallea too, and a frown settled on her face. "Brave of him to take on Perseus."

"He... he shouldn't have had to," Darian said. "I had an opportunity to run up and go after Medusa, but Chimera was in trouble. If I hadn't jumped in, he'd be dead. And... and you. Gods, this all your fault. You killed Stheneboea and Proetus just to put another mark on my head! And that fight in the cave, none of that had to happen. Gallea wouldn't be dying. Medusa and me were hurt, and somehow Chimera's still alive despite being half eaten and torn apart."

When he stopped, Medusa looked to Otrera, and braced for the response. But the Amazon didn't bite back. She stared into the fire, and sighed.

"I'd never planned for anyone else to get killed or hurt. Just you, you fucking little bastard. Just you. Revenge for my dead family, my dead sisters, my dead tribe, re-"