Medusa: Fate's Game Ch. 12

"Tritus said he had an idea of the best places to check out. When he gets back, we'll start. We'll have to convince them Medusa is here to help."

Otrera shook her head. "You don't. Sophia does."

Medusa gasped and shook her head. "You want Sophia to talk to this... mob?"

"They're her people, Medusa," Otrera said. "She wants to help. And if anyone's going to convince these people to trust a gorgon, the Medusa, it's her."

The Medusa. A title. Darian frowned and let go of Medusa's hands, but when he walked closer to Otrera, Medusa put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him back into the alley darkness.

"It's ok," she whispered. "Otrera's right. I... just... can't imagine a mother being a part of this. When she was crying for her son, she..."

And silence. Otrera stared at the crowd, Medusa looked down, and Chimera rumbled something closer to a sigh.

No one talked about children. Athena cursed Medusa to be a monster and forever alone; the chance Darian and she could have a child was slim to none. Creatures of a different race, satyrs and centaurs and humans and such, could occasionally have children together. A rarity at best.

And though Darian never said it, he was happy about it. No one else to risk. He forced down a bile-filled chuckle, and grit his teeth. A disgusting cliche, the man too afraid to have children, afraid to pass on his sins, his hate. Or worse, kill his children.

Not the time Darian. Not the fucking time.

The four of them sat in silence, and watched the crowd grow, until people were struggling to fit into the streets. When Tritus and Sophia returned, they were dripping with sweat, and panting. Must have been running around the whole city.

"It is done," Tritus said.

"A lot of people came." Sophia took a few deep breaths and walked up to stand between the four of them in the alley. "A... a lot. They were all hoping for something like this, someone to give them a push. I knew it! I knew they... I knew it'd work."

The mother was beaming, and smiling, and looking at Medusa more than anyone else. And it was making Medusa very uncomfortable. She squirmed, raised her hands to her lips, looked away and up and down, looked anywhere but the human that was idolizing her. Darian smiled, and watched his love struggle, even when she looked to him for help. Nope, not gonna help her deal with a fan.

"There's... a lot of people out there," Medusa said. She slithered a little closer, but stayed behind Darian, pushing him ahead so she could see more of the crowd. He wasn't a very good shield though, and she had to stay close to the ground and shadows.

"And we have to point them toward the person that's been dominating, controlling, and killing them for a few years now." Otrera tilted her neck until it cracked — a very Chimera thing to do, Darian noticed. "Tritus?"

But the man shook his head, and walked over to Sophia. "Her words are far more powerful than mine."

They all nodded, except Medusa. She was trembling, that way she always did when she was nervous.

"This may be new to all of you," Sophia said, "But we've been in this horrible place for so long, and unable to fight back. We want to fight back!" She stomped back out, out of the alley, and turned around to face them all. "And now we have a chance. My son gets to live because of Medusa, and... and so will Rhea!"

She stomped her foot down again, and Otrera choked on a chuckle. Darian found himself looking at the woman a little longer though, and his eyes settled on hers. Hard eyes, like Tritus.

Patrius stepped up from the crowd. A few eyes followed him, torches held above, and some people turned to walk after him. The old soldier walked up to Sophia and Tritus, and soon a few dozen were behind him. A mob, following the leader. And once they were unleashed, they'd pour over the enemy like a swarm of locusts.

Or they'd pour over Medusa, Darian, his companions, the resistance, and turn them all over to Andromeda. Fear makes people do stupid things, and the mob in front of him all had wide eyes, shivering hands with shaking torches, and nervous glances over their shoulders.

"Ready?" Patrius said.

Sophia nodded, and held out her hand for Medusa.

"M-me?" Medusa said.

"Yes you! You saved me, my son. You... just come. The rest of you too! Stand behind me, and everything will be fine."

Who was this woman? Sophia, just a normal woman, a normal mother, tall, with tattered clothes like many of the civilians. But she walked out into the crowd of hundreds, and did not waver as she dragged the trembling Medusa.

Darian fell in beside Medusa and put a hand on the small of her back. When she slithered upright, she was a tall thing, and her head was a couple feet above his, a couple feet above everyone else's. It meant everyone gasped as one as the gorgon came into view of the crowd.

And the gasp was followed by silence. They had no stage or platform, no way to stand above the crowd other than Medusa's natural height. So Sophia took them toward the crowd, and into its center. People spread apart like water, and stared the gorgon up and down with dropped jaws. They whispered her name, and glanced between each other as their eyes grew wider still.

And of course, things only got worse when Patrius came out with Otrera and Chimera. The two stood on each of his sides, and Chimera walked tall, with no effort to hide his height. Darian glanced around at the crowd that was circling them, but they were circling only because the monsters were stepping into the middle of their congregation. None of them moved forward or got closer, or drew their swords. At least that was a step in the right direction.

Darian took off his helmet, and hooked it under his arm. Let them see he was human at least, forehead forever marked.

"Medusa."

"It's Medusa..."

"And a giant."

"Is that... Bellerophontes? Hero turned slave?"

"I know her! The dark-skinned Amazon, Otrera."

"Didn't Bellerophontes kill her?"

"Bellerophontes? Then... the snake tattoo on that giant! Is he..."

Well, they were famous, he knew that. He didn't think they were that famous though, at least not him and Otrera. They were even guessing Chimera's identity by association, which wasn't a good thing. And as they got closer, the crowd started inching back, hands trembling all the more.

"People!" Sophia raised her hands, and waved at everyone with open arms. "Calm yourselves. These people are the reason we're here tonight. The reason I'm alive."

"They're the reason?" A stranger stepped out from the crowd, a tall man, big shoulders, scars on his hands and face. Someone with a history, Darian figured, someone with weight to their name. "I thought... I'd seen this stranger around, putting together what I guessed was a rebellion." He gestured to Patrius.

"And I have been." Patrius moved in closer to Sophia, and held out his hand. Athena's gift, just a tiny jar in his hand, innocuous. "But my old friend has arrived, with back up. Medusa, the gorgon. Chimera, the giant. And Otrera, Queen of an Amazon tribe."

"Old friend eh? Bellerophontes?"

"Please Hieremias." Sophia shook her head and put out an arm, as if blocking Darian and his friends from this rather aggressive stranger. "Just listen. Patrius has been doing his best to start a resistance, but he was working in secret, as a stranger. Bellerophontes has come to aid him, and... he has made interesting friends."

"Interesting! That a joke?" Hieremias frowned and swung his torch through the air to light up the four monsters. "A dead Amazon, a giant and enemy of the gods, a hero Zeus cast down, and Medusa herself! Athena will—"

"Athena has done nothing for years!" Sophia marched up to the man, and shoved him back, hard. He stumbled back, and only the arms of the people behind him prevented him from falling over. "And when one of the beast was taking my son, it wasn't Athena who saved him, it was Medusa!"

Darian thought the earlier silence was bad. Everyone stopped breathing when Sophia was done. The only noise was the soft murmur of a hundred torches.

"Medusa... saved your son?" Another person from the crowd asked.

"Yes! Medusa saved my son, and me. And not only that, these four have been killing the beasts while they prepare to attack the one who holds us here, the one who has taken Rhea!"

More gasps. Darian raised a brow, stared at the mother turned rebel leader, and at the rest of the crowd. They were nodding, clenching fists and raising them, gripping the swords that Tritus and his crew started handing out.

The crowd started to shift, whisper, and step in a little closer to hear Sophia better. Their eyes were so obvious, so blatant in their shifting emotions. Fear turned into anxiety. Anxiety turned into excitement. People nearby got to a knee to let others behind them see the newcomers over their heads, and as Darian looked over the crowd, he could hear them whispering their names, along with 'warriors' and 'saviors'.

"My challenge is not to Athena. I do not know why she had helped so little in our time before now. But not only has Medusa come to my aid, Patrius's gift here that lifts you from the city curse is a gift from Athena herself! They have both arrived at near the same time. Coincidence?" Sophia smiled and gestured to Medusa. "Or is Athena giving Medusa, and indeed the others, a chance for redemption?"

The crowd erupted. Smiles turned into cheers. Fists turned into swords held high. Torches raised with them, and those without torches raised their shields. Just a few words, a few seconds, and the mob was on their side.

Darian bit his tongue. Athena's motivations with Patrius were still a mystery, and the timing of his arrival far too coincidental. The four of them knew better than to trust a god, but at the same time, Sophia did, as did the city. Many trusted Patrius, and they all took Sophia's words as divine revelation. Athena had sent them to help, and in her infinite wisdom, was providing the four of them with the opportunity to redeem themselves.

He swallowed his vomit. Otrera had waged war on cities that worshiped Athena. Chimera was an enemy of the gods. Medusa was a monster Athena created. And he was struck down by Zeus, for daring to fly toward the Olympus peak. None of them should be helping her, but they had no choice.

"Then we march! While we have the chance, while the night is young, Rhea alive, and these warriors at our sides!" Hieremias drew his sword, pointed it up, and then toward the sea where the acropolis stood upon the high cliff. In the clear night sky, lit by stars and moonlight, the target was easy to see, and everyone in the crowd turned to face it.

"Yes!" Patrius did the same, and Darian smirked. Still spry for an older fellow. "We march, and attack her head on while we still have the element of surprise!"

Otrera grimaced, but was quick to hide it. Darian was thinking the same thing too: it was going to get bloody. A part of him considered the sneaky approach, him and Otrera climbing the mountain while Andromeda was distracted with the riot. But the risk would be too great, with too many unknowns; he had no idea what sort of spell trickery Andromeda could use. The march with their newborn army was the better plan, if they could disguise their approach in the waves of the riot.

The problem was the inevitable bloodbath their current plan was going to cause. It meant a head-on confrontation. It meant Medusa being in the middle of a battle. He didn't know if she could handle that, and she shouldn't have had to.

He did not like any of this, but it was his best shot at getting Pegasus back, getting the mask back, and meeting Athena. So, he swallowed the rising bile in his throat once more, and looked back to Patrius. The old soldier was grinning at him; reliving his glory days, probably. Darian did his best to not think of the man's wife and children.

"Bellerophontes. Otrera." Hieremias walked up to him, his frown having grown into a full grin, ready for a fight. "You two, your names are known. You have fought many battles. What should we do?"

Darian looked to Otrera. She was smiling, and as far as he could tell, it was genuine. Not a lot of men asking for her advice, probably. And given the Amazon's history of constant failure in war, it must have been a pleasant change of pace for her.

And as long as she didn't forget the mission, he was glad to gesture toward her, and hand her the choice.

Otrera raised her hands, and motioned down with her fingers. The crowd grew silent, until again all they could hear was the breathing of lungs and torches.

"We will march to the bridge. You say the beasts and guards remain there while the sorceress prepares her sacrifice, so it is there we will meet them. Patrius will lead the people, and the four of us will hide within your ranks. We must disguise our presence, Chimera and Medusa too."

Hieremias raised a brow and looked between the two taller monsters. "They'll have to crouch."

People laughed. Even Darian couldn't hold back a tiny chuckle. As much a mindless peon of Athena this Hieremias was, he was growing on him.

"But," Hieremias continued, "do you intend for us to—"

"When the guards and beasts attack, the four of us will burst from the crowd!" Otrera stomped down her foot. Her tiny weight against the ground was thunder. "We will be the sword and shield that breaks their ranks, tears through their defenses, and shatters their confidence. We will kill many, and as the four of us march up the path to the acropolis, the people will clean this city of their filth. Those that slip by us, the people will destroy!"

And people cheered. Swords and torches were high once more, and many started to jump and stomp their feet. Otrera had a way with words.

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~~Medusa~~

She'd never been so nervous in her entire life. Her hands were shivering, cold and tingling at the tips. Her snake hair was dancing in random sways, and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't get a deep breath. Her snake body was trembling, even as it pushed her along while she crawled forward.

Slithering forward on her hands was easy, natural even, as it kept her whole body parallel with the ground. What wasn't natural was doing it with a crowd of people all around her, close to her, hiding her from enemy eyes through sheer proximity and numbers. She could feel the heat of their bodies, hear their murmurs and whispers, and see the shaking hands. Everyone was afraid, but for the first time, it wasn't of her.

Not completely, anyway. Those that were closest to her kept glancing her way, at her hair and her snake body. Her bow was on her back, quiver too, and some of them stared at the magical weaponry, while others stared at the length of thick snake muscle that followed behind her. They had to stay close enough so she couldn't be seen, so they had to keep within inches of her. It made slithering hard, and as she struggled to get into a rhythm with the nearby feet, she glanced up at the crowd protecting her. Some met her eyes, and managed a nervous smile. Others turned away.

Sophia would have given her a big smile, but she'd stayed behind. Mothers with children under twelve were not to join in the riot; such was the way of these people, for mothers to remain at home, protected. It made Medusa frown. She wished she could have seen Sparta when they were near, and see all the wonders she'd heard about how they treat their women. Would they march next to the men to rebel against their captors?

Chimera was close, silent and moving like a prowling lion. He was walking on his hands and feet, and he had a big blanket draped over him. Medusa could see glimpses of him through a few of the rows of people between them. Her guard. It felt like so long ago, the giant had beaten Darian in a fight, and she had to defeat him instead.

And only last night that he taught her how to embrace her transformation, learn to stay in it, control it, unleash it. She didn't want to, not in front of all these people, but Sophia taught her something: not everyone was as mindlessly afraid of her as she thought.

Otrera and Darian walked in the crowd near her. She glanced up at them from her low spot over the ground, and they glanced her way every so often to make sure she was still doing okay. Darian especially, every few seconds, and she had to give him a small, dismissive wave of her hand to get him to stop. She would be fine, much as her love worried about her. It was him she was worried about.

After a while, they came upon the bridge. Medusa couldn't see it well, not with everyone in front of her, and her to the ground, but looking up she could see the towering cliff. Everything was so bright in the unusual night sky, even the torches of the mob around her didn't wash it away. The acropolis was a tall building, and it drew the eyes of everyone beneath it. But only for a moment. The guards and manticore upon the bridge were what drew them next.

Everyone silenced, as if the ocean had swallowed them whole, and only the ebb and tide of the breeze and torch fire made noise.

Laughter drew their gaze. Otrera's. The Amazon queen stepped forward to the front of the crowd, and as he did, the masses parted for her.

Medusa had a moment to peek past her to see what lay ahead. A bridge as described, a massive thing though, something an entire kingdom would have had to work together to build! Wood and metal, it was wide, thick, and it reached across the bay to the center cliff as a grand road. Along its pillars, torches were lit as well as huge braziers, each burning strong with magnificent fire.

And upon it stood a hundred things, a dozen manticore before them. The felines she recognized, she'd killed many, but the guards behind them she did not. Glowing red eyes, and hoplite armor that exposed black skin where human skin should have been. So these were the guards the others were talking about.

Otrera and the crowd stayed in front of her, enough so that she couldn't get a good look at the exact center of the bridge. But there was no mistaking the sound of hooves on wood.

"Otrera, you live?"

Medusa's body went still, petrified, breath stuck and eyes locked onto Otrera's back.

Perseus.

"I do, Perseus."

"Well! I must say, I didn't expect to find you here. I knew a little rascal had been stirring up trouble, someone named Patrius, but I had no idea you were involved. Tell me, how did you come to Aethiopia? Why are you here? I thought for sure Bellerophontes and his monsters would have tortured you to death for secrets you did not know."

"Came here for a little payback."

"Why? For what?"

"You know what."

"... and this is why you brought a mob?"

Otrera chuckled all the more, and raised her sword. "Brought more than a mob."

She lowered her sword, and pointed it at Perseus. The ground shook, quaked, and everyone dodged out of the way as it ripped apart underneath Chimera's feet.

"The beast!"

The crowd cheered and yelled as Chimera ran into the group of manticore that lined the front of the bridge. The cats were stunned, eyes wide, and their shrieks joined the overwhelming noise as the giant rushed them down.

Chaos erupted. The crowd jumped aside; at least they remembered to stay out of the way, and hopefully follow the quartet as they pushed forward. It'd be the people's duty to clean up stragglers, and make sure no surprises came at them from behind. So far so good, Chimera had full room to unleash his size, and in a single swing of his arm, swiped one of the felines in the side of the face hard enough to send its head sideways, too far over its own shoulder.

"Otrera! What is the meaning of this!?" Perseus, atop Pegasus's back, backed away from the madness. Still forty feet between him and the front lines, and dozens of the onyx-skinned guardsmen around him.