Medusa: Fate's Game Ch. 11

"You... you! Why didn't you help?" Soaked in blood, the snake monster slithered over to him, and grabbed him by the shoulders. Transformed as she was, her grip was large enough to encompass his shoulders, and strong enough to shake him.

"Why do you think?"

"You! You... you risssked my life to—"

"To teach you an important lesson, Medusa. Look." He gestured to the creature split in two. "You did that as if the manticore were made of parchment."

"It..."

"I will aid you with the next prey, you have my word. But I felt this important for you to realize, serpent. Athena may have cursed you, but this curse has made you strong, strong enough to slaughter and kill as you are." A hand, palm open, motioned up and down at her current state. "Even without the stone gaze, in this form, you are capable of more than I ever will be. Embrace it."

She looked at him, and stared. The maze of pythons on her head did the same, each looking at him, flicking their tongue, heads swaying in a slow, synchronized dance.

"Embraccce it..." Sighing, she looked down at the huge claws on her scale-covered hands, and the crimson that dripped from them. "I don't like ssslaughtering things."

"But know that you can, Medusa. When the tide of bodies and swords washes against us, and our only option is to push through, know that you can. A hundred men, a thousand, and you could tear through them all. Look." He pointed to the gashes of her body. Already they were healing, the same as his would. But he was only a giant, strong and sturdy, and that was all. She was capable of much more.

She flicked her long tongue a few times, and reached up to touch her face. "I look like sssuch a monssster like this... sssound like one... fight like one." Claws slid up and down her snake snout, and touched the massive fangs within. The wrap she wore across her breasts was soaked in blood, and her breasts were now flattened to her chest, covered in scales, like armor.

"Bellerophontes has seen you fight like this, Medusa, and still loves you. Embrace your abilities, enough with your childish shame. You could have defeated Perseus if you had truly given into your monster, saved Gallea from his sword." He didn't know that of course, but if guilt and shame pushed the woman back, maybe it could push her forward too.

She hissed at him, and pushed him hard enough to make him stumble. And when she did, she looked down at her claws again, him, and then the mess of death behind her.

"... I am really ssstrong like thisss, aren't I?"

Growls came out of the dark, and the sound of stalking paws upon grass drew their eyes. He grinned at her, nodded, and turned to face the newcomers.

It had been a long, long time since he'd had a friend to join him in the slaughter.

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~~Medusa~~

"No manticore are near," Chimera said.

She trusted his senses better than hers. Even while transformed, her senses were not much better than a human's. A human's. She was human, wasn't she?

Images of the dead manticore drifted behind her eyes as Chimera opened the door to their basement hideaway. She could only hope their efforts would reap benefits without dooming them. There was a lot of risk with their hunt, and the dozen manticore they'd killed, but the rewards would be great if Andromeda did not capitalize.

"I will return tomorrow."

"Wait... what?" Once she was down the hole into the basement, she looked up to Chimera, head tilted. No longer transformed, she combed her snake hair with her fingers, head tilted as she looked up at the giant. She was a bloody mess, literally.

"Stay here. Tomorrow I will rejoin you, but until then, I must use the day to... it does not matter." Sighing, Chimera closed the door.

And just like that, she was alone. She coiled up in the first room of their basement, and stared up at the door overhead. Only a tiny crack of pale light came through, and the candles in the next room were out. She had no choice but to sit there and wait for Darian and the others to return.

Her clothes and hands and scales were all bloodied. The bow, she set beside her against the floor, and tried to analyze it in the dark. She hadn't fired a single shot; they wouldn't have done much in the dark and shooting at fast, agile felines, with trees everywhere and rocks too. Chimera had been right to tell her to transform, and learn to get... brutal.

Brutal was too soft a word for what they did. With hands, teeth, claws, and pure strength, they'd torn the huge cats apart. Shredded them. Broke them. Bone and flesh, snapped and torn, it all made sounds she did not like and covered her in blood she did not want. But there was no denying the reality: she was far stronger than she gave herself credit for. She'd torn that first cat in half, literally, and done it to more thereafter.

She knew she was strong, but she'd always held back when transformed, always tried to keep the monster away. When it was out, when she donned its strength and armor, she could feel how easy it would be to become what people thought she was. Maybe not the way Chimera was a giant, with an animal's hunger, or the way Darian had a rage inside him that threatened to take him over. For her, it was a far more subtle thing, a tiny part of her that said 'they think you a monster, so become a monster.'

Of course she never listened to it. Perhaps Chimera did? Perhaps Darian did? Perhaps—

A scream cut through the door of the basement. Human. She looked around, down at the floor, and back up at the door. The scream continued.

"Don't! Don't, I'm sorry I was outside! I had to look for my son!"

"Mommy!"

"Please, let us be! We'll go back to our homes!"

Medusa collapsed onto the basement floor, hands to the dirty stone, and scraped her nails against it. No. This couldn't be happening. Somewhere nearby, one of the manticore was approaching some civilians. And she was going to hear it all.

Don't expose yourself, don't expose yourself, don't expose yourself. More cries, more screams. She reached up to her ears and covered them, but where her hands blocked the real screams, her mind replaced them with her own, and she removed her hands; the real screams were better than the fake ones.

"We'll go back to bed, we will! You don't need to take us."

More growls and snarls; the manticore was close. She could do something, she could save them! Save the civilians, the people she was told to avoid. They'd rat her out, tell the guards, tell Andromeda, ruin their plan. But they're just afraid, for themselves, for their family, that's why they'll tell Andromeda. To avoid being sacrificed, not for ill will.

They're worshipers of Athena, and that meant they not only knew of Medusa, but that they considered her a monster. She should stay inside, hide, let them go.

But it was a mother, and her son.

So? Did that make them any more worthy of life than a man?

A little! A child without a mother! A child... without a mother...

That made the mother even more likely to tell Andromeda about her. In hopes it'd spare her from being sacrificed, in hopes to save her son.

A colossal joke. The coincidence, the circumstance, how could it be happening this way? Her, alone, and with no choice. No choice at all.

She transformed, and slipped out from the basement. Silent, with a hundred years of practice being as quiet as death, she eased her long, massive body from the basement. Longer, thicker now that she was transformed again. Stronger and faster, and still silent. She slithered around the animal pen, around the houses, and into an alley near the noise.

She was right. A manticore was snarling at a mother, a tall woman, tattered and dirty clothes, and a boy at her side standing only to her hip. The manticore jumped forward to land two feet in front of them, and they both collapsed onto their butts as it snarled. They both screamed, and screams grew into ear-piercing shrieks when the manticore put its paw on the boy.

"No, don't take him! Please!"

Medusa swallowed the bile and nausea growing in her stomach. But as she watched the manticore reach down, bite into the boy's foot, and start to drag away the little one, bile was replaced with venom. As drops of blood from the injured, crying boy's leg fell to the streets, venom turned to fire. The mom wept, hand reaching out for her son, but she did not attempt to save him. If she tried, the beast would probably kill the boy, and take her instead.

Hate, and rage, ice and fire. This, this is what Otrera and Darian could tap into so easily? This disgusting, horrible sensation that made her arms shake, her snake hair practice their bite, her bones ache. Always she was the soft thing, the kind and gentle thing, always trying to be nice, always failing, only ever wanting honesty, and kindness returned. Now, every scale on her body boiled, searing anguish she had never known as she watched the boy get dragged away. And as she drew closer and closer, the darkness her friend, the taste of fury was on her forked tongue as she got close enough to see the white of the creature's eyes.

She struck out. One manticore was no issue; she'd killed many that night already. The issue was getting the boy's leg out of its mouth without it chomping down. One hand found its snout, the other the jaw beneath, claws stabbing into flesh and bone. And she pried apart.

The boy fell out of its mouth, and as he fell on his butt and stared up at her, she wrestled the manticore down to the ground. Do this quickly, save them and get out. A small part of her wanted to tear the manticore apart, piece by slow piece, and make it suffer for the audacity of what it was doing. But it was a small part, and she buried it quickly as she focused on the more important things.

Fingers around the beast's face, she slid her newly bloodied claws underneath its neck, squeezed tight, and lifted the manticore into the air. She slammed it into the ground hard enough to break bone, and wrapped it up in her coils while it tried to get its bearings back. Scorpion tail was the first concern, even as its panicked thrashes cut into her.

"M... mo..."

The boy was too close! Only two feet away from the feline's claws.

"Quickly!" Medusa said. "Get back!"

No one moved, only her and the predator. The mother was standing at least, and staring at her. She recognized the look of shock and fear on the woman's face, mixed with exhaustion and the chill of the city curse. The fact Medusa was covered in blood and cuts from the earlier hunt didn't make things any better.

"Get your son!" Her voice rose from a harsh whisper to a yell, but when she turned to look to the boy and try and push herself away from him, the cat bit down against her. Teeth punctured scales, but the meat of her snake body was thick with muscle. It still earned a harsh groan of pain from her, and her monstrous voice had the two humans frozen.

She coiled the beast tighter, and tighter, ignored the pain of its bite, and crushed the manticore inch by inch. Like a boar. When it could no longer breathe, she knew she had it, and she squeezed her titan body around it while she dug her claws into its face to try and alleviate its bite. It died with its fangs puncturing her.

Chimera was right. Absolutely fearless, but dumb as a bug. She set the beast to fall away from the still frozen boy, and uncoiled herself as slow as she dare permit. No time to explain to them what was going on, no time to talk. She undid her transformation, and shook her hands to try and remove the blood that soaked into her fingers and knuckles.

Their mouths dropped.

"... Medusa?" the boy said. Even a toddler knew who she was, on sight at that. Shock had replaced his crying; better that than loud wails.

The mother scampered up to join her boy, and picked him up to hold him to her chest.

"Medusa, why... what... I don't understand. I—"

"I must dispose of this body before it is found. Please, go hide, and tell no one of this." She could only hope her blood on the road would not draw suspicion. Of course it would, but enough to be a problem for her, or the civilians? She had no choice! She couldn't just let them die. So, with a frown, she grabbed the corpse of the huge cat, and started to drag it with her as she slithered toward the forest. When she had a moment, she'd sprinkle dirt over the blood to try and hide the trail.

"Medusa, wait!" The mother dragged herself after her. Medusa only had to glance back for a moment to see the woman was weighted by the curse, shivering and cold, but sweating. Or was the shivering because of her?

"Please, I... this shouldn't have happened. You shouldn't know I'm here." Medusa's face fell away, and she dragged the body beyond the city and into the forest. No way the mother would follow her, especially not with her son in her arms.

But she did, even as Medusa dragged a giant corpse through brush and rock and into darkness captured by the trees and grass.

"Why are you here? You... you saved my son!" The mother was swaying the little boy on her hip now, who doubtless could no longer walk easily with his injured ankle.

The boy was gawking at her, eyes wide, mouth open, finger between lips. He was whimpering, tears on his cheeks, but when she caught his eyes in hers, he did not look away. Instead, his mouth opened wider, and he stared all the more.

Just a little boy. No hate, no fear, not for her.

She forced herself to look away from his eyes, and got back to work dragging the corpse further.

"I had the power to save you and your son." At last the corpse was far enough. They were deep in the woods now, rocks and trees everywhere, and Medusa slithered up behind a large tree to put it between her and the woman. She peeked around it, and her snake hair did the same. The mother was still there. "You... you should go back home. There will be no more sacrifices, not if I can help it."

And she smiled. There would be no more sacrifices if she could help it. It was the most absurd proclamation, ridiculous, entitled, and insane. But she said it anyway, and raised herself a little higher too.

The two stared up at her all the more.

"But you," she said, "you two need to go back to your homes, and just pretend this never happened. I won't be able to help if the sorceress finds out."

"Why are you helping us?"

Medusa lowered herself back down, and started to slither away from the dead feline. When she looked back, the mother was still following her. Following her! A woman, a human, following her, instead of screaming terrified and running away. Instead of crying for help.

"I... I wasn't... I um..." What to do what to do what to do!? She screwed up! They were supposed to be operating in secret, save the city, not a single person. She might have ruined everything, exposed the resistance. "I was... it's a..."

"Is it a secret?"

"Yesss," Medusa said. The mother blinked and took a small step back. Her hisses must have scared her. Medusa sighed and approached the road, but stayed within the shadow of the forest.

"... how can I help?"

"Help? Me? But... you know... what Athena did to me."

"Athena didn't save my life, my son's life! You did..." The mother kissed her son's hair and clutched the boy to her chest. "I'm Sophia. This is Elias."

"Hi." The small boy turned his head from his mother's bosom to take another peek at her.

So cute!

"I'm... well you know. I uh... aren't you afraid of me?" She reached up to comb her snake hair. Everyone was always afraid of her, except for this woman; or at least, she kept her fears from overtaking her.

"Yes. And the way you looked, and sounded, when you fought the scorpion lion? You looked... like a real monster, a dangerous monster."

Medusa sank, and reached out to lean her weight against a tree. But a light touch on her hand made her stand up straight and snap her hand back. The mother stepped back too, but she still had her hand out.

She touched her. Another person had touched her, willingly.

"But, even as a monster, you saved my son. And now, you don't look like a monster at all. I... I don't know why you're here Medusa, or what's going on, all I know is it's been over three years since this city has become a graveyard for the living. No one's come to help in all that time. No one except you."

Snakes danced around Medusa's head, despite her attempts to stop them, and warm flutters filled her until she was smiling, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

Patrius had come to help them, at Athena's word at that, but barely over a week ago. These people had been tortured so for over three years? Athena's people? Did their goddess not care about them at all?

Considering how quick she was to curse you, Medusa, and for something not of your own doing, the goddess didn't care in the least, about anyone.

"And you don't look very scary right now," the mother said. "I... do you have a place to stay? I live alone with my son, and... we might be able to hide you."

This woman! This poor woman. Where was the father? Medusa raised her hands to her cheeks and shook her head. The father was probably dead. Probably sacrificed! And she was offering the snake monster a place to hide out of the goodness of her heart. Deep breaths, Medusa.

"I... I think you should come with me," the serpent said.

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~~Otrera~~

The trip back to the hideout was a tough one. The faceless guards and their pet cats were moving in strange directions. Before, it'd been nothing but the idiot felines that bothered with the outer homes of the city, while the guards stayed near the center and the bridge to the acropolis. Now, more of the guards were moving with more of their cat friends into the outer areas of the city. And the guards carried torches.

The six of them kept to the shadows as best they could, but every few minutes they had to stop and wait for one of the patrols to go by. Why had their routes changed? She looked to Darian, but in the dark and shadows, she couldn't see his eyes. Was it Medusa and Chimera? Did they get caught, stir up trouble, hint to Andromeda that something was happening? Deep breaths, Otrera.

Once they had a window to speak, the six of them ducked into an alley, far from the center of the city, and only thirty minutes from their hideout.

"What's with the patrols?" Darian said.

Patrius shrugged. "Don't know. No alarm has been sounded, or they'd probably be running to the target, or back to the acropolis. They're just... increasing guardsman on the patrol, and moving them further out."

Increasing guardsman. Easy to say, but in effect, it meant someone knew they were losing men, or manticore in this case. Or did it? She didn't understand what sort of magic Andromeda was using, just that it was vast. Autonomous maybe?

So many ifs. One unlucky guess could mean the end of their pathetic little rebellion. Patrius and Darian were both capable soldiers, smart, quick to react and react efficiently. Intelligently, even. But they weren't capable of tactical reasoning like she was.

"Let's head back to the hideout, but scout the area when we do," she said. "Medusa and Chimera should be out there in the forest somewhere, drawing manticore into early deaths. We can take advantage of that, and use the nearby trees to keep an eye out for what's going on."

The five men nodded in unison.

How nice it was to have men agree to a woman's plan. Why didn't they ever do that before she was a Fate's Child? If people had been like this since day one, she might not have joined the Amazons, and become the queen of her tribe. The wonders of hindsight.

As they passed the center of the worker's area, they found the guards circling it. Manticore at their sides, spears in hand, they marched down the streets with torches high, like ants.