82. A Rematch
"Were you really going to kill him?" Akrivi asked, breaking the silence of their monotonous labour.
They were at the edge of a high slope with the rest of the forest behind them. From their position, Medusa could see the eastern part of the island with the beach farther in the distance.
Instead of answering, Medusa tilted one of the large barrels, watching as blood-red liquid slushed down the slope leading to the maws of a vast, dark hole.
The mix smelled, looked and had the consistency of blood.
Phorcydes said it was the perfect lure for what?
She wouldn't tell; instead, she went on about how Medusa would beg for rescue within ten breaths of facing whatever lurked in that hole.
Medusa wanted to argue, but her aunt wasn't wrong to assume she'd be eaten.
Perhaps it was hubris demanding to fight the strongest beast, but she was running out of time.
The games were in less than a month. Her plans revolved around that moment.
Dying over and over under Halfdan's pitiless pummelling and allowing her curse to use extreme measures during training was so she would be prepared for moments like this.
What was a beast compared to Poseidon? If she failed here, then her strength was a farce.
When she shared her wish to face the strongest beast in Sarpedon, Phorcydes had not laughed as Medusa expected.
She had looked her in the eye, asked if she was sure, then nodded.
This morning, she provided fifteen barrels holding the mix and shared a map.
Akrivi helped her navigate the forest to find the beast's nest.
Speaking of Akrivi. He was doing a valiant job of holding in his curiosity.
All through whatever procedure Phorcydes ran on Perseus, he asked no questions.
This morning, he had obediently followed her aunt's instructions.
No snarky retorts, no jokes. Now that she thought of it, it seemed Akrivi was terrified of Phorcydes. Not just Akrivi, the Opsianian as well.
Medusa frowned, thinking back to all her encounters with her aunt.
In her first life, Phorcydes had come across as a funny, wrinkly granny with smiling eyes.
In her sixth, she still came across as a bold but good-natured grandma, though Medusa had no desire to take up her challenge to fight for Perseus.
"Would you not answer?" Akrivi asked as he hefted the fourteenth barrel and walked to the edge of the slope.
"Yes," Medusa finally said as she retrieved the last barrel. "I was going to stab Perseus in the heart and twist my blade for good measure"
Akrivi blinked at her, staring for a silent moment. He nodded tentatively. "It's because he tried to kill you. I understand."
"No," Medusa said. "That wasn't why."
Akrivi held the emptying barrel in place with a foot. "There was another reason?"
"He killed my husband, my baby and my dog."
"What?" Forgotten, the barrel rolled from under his foot and tumbled below.
Then the questions burst forth.
"Your husband? A baby? But your aunt said you're ten.
How do you have a husband and a baby when you're ten?
And how did Perseus kill your husband? There's no way.
He can't be older than fifteen!" He suddenly smacked his forehead as if recalling something important.
"You said you're a bit over two hundred and sixty years old.
Was that not a joke? Even if it wasn't, how did Perseus kill your husband and baby when he's so young?
How does a woman over two hundred give birth?
And how do you look like an adult gorgon with that face, despite looking ten just yesterday? Nothing makes sense!"
Medusa snorted a laugh. "My mother is far older than two hundred, and she gave birth fine."
"Your mother is a goddess," Akrivi answered with a dismissive wave. "Wait. Both your parents are deities. You..." He gave her a dubious look. "You said you're not a goddess. Were you lying?"
"I never lied to you." Never lied where it mattered. "I'm no goddess."
Akrivi observed her as if she were a strange, impossible creature, then he cautiously glanced behind them. Her parents, aunt and Lela were somewhere in the forest waiting to observe. For all she knew, they may be listening in on this conversation.
"That means the age thing is true. Does your family know? How can a person be both ten and over two hundred? Is this a type of time-bending deity ability? Make me understand."
Time-bending. No way that didn't come to play, seeing that Perseus found her the way he did.
How, though? Was it the Monolith? Was it powerful enough to bend time like that?
Or was it the Moirai? Lachesis. In that vision, she mentioned something about Medusa finding her first before Perseus does. Then she mentioned his 'end'.
What concerns me is that boy being in the middle of it all. Only this time have I seen his end, and it is too delicate to handle with carelessness.
Carelessness. Whatever was currently happening with Perseus was mighty careless. All the more reason to quickly kill him now that Atropos was out of the picture, but her aunt was in the way. It would be good to meet Lachesis to get a clearer answer—oh.
It may be possible. Like the case in her vision, Lachesis may be somewhere around the cave of her banishment, and she had mentioned a Monolith vein. Medusa made a mental note to rip the Band-Aid. After this, she'd go in search of both the vein and Lachesis.
"Don't think too hard about it," Medusa said as she tipped the last barrel, watching as red splashed downward. "It will get very dangerous soon. You should leave."
"Do you even know what's down there?"
Medusa shook her head, watching as more red flowed into the hungry mouth of the hole.
"Ha." Akrivi sat on a barrel and massaged his temple. "Worrying about me when you're the one wearing that."
Medusa looked down at the thick noose hanging from her neck. It was soaked in the same red liquid and smelled stronger. The noose was her idea. She didn't want her prey distracted from the bait.
"Your aunt said the beast is very old." As he spoke, he bounced his knee. "It could be stronger than a high-tier low deity."
"But no deity has died from the beast."
Akrivi scowled. "Deities are immortal. You are not. "
"I know."
"So why take the risk?" He asked, a note of incredulity in his voice. "Why's your family letting you do this? Are they forcing you? Your aunt, I wasn't going to tell you, but something's not... right with her." His voice dropped to a whisper. "She almost feels as scary as Hades."
Medusa raised her brow at that. "No one is forcing me, Akrivi. I asked for this."
He wasn't listening. "I've sparred with you. Yes, you are strong, but this is extreme."
Medusa turned from him and stared at the darkness far below. Why wasn't it coming out? Were fifteen barrels not enough? "It has to be extreme."
"But—"
"The Moirai showed you," Medusa cut in without tearing her eyes away. She could swear she sensed a subtle shift in the air.
"Showed me what?"
"The war."
He fell silent. In truth, when she thought of it, she didn't particularly care about the war.
What irked her was that Athena and Poseidon did what they did, and that Zeus played god with her parents' lives.
That complete assurance—the absolute boldness to do whatever they wished with the lives of mortals with no consequence.
She wanted to shatter it. This wasn't about Cosmolith's eventual well-being.
If that happens as a result of her rampage, then good for her birth planet.
"Do you know about the general's oath?"
Now, Medusa was certain; there was a change down there.
Perhaps the beast had woken up. Phorcydes said it's been sleeping for sixty-four years.
It would be mighty grumpy to be so rudely disturbed.
And hungry. Nervous energy churned in her gut.
But it was fine. Fear, nervousness. All was fuel and evidence of her mortality.
"What's that?" His tone was resigned.
"There's a compulsion oath Zeus placed on his generals' souls. When he calls for destruction, they obey. Now imagine those generals unleashed on Greece."
Medusa dared to turn from the bloody slope to meet Akrivi's worried gaze. "It will be me against all of them if I don't find a way to free them from Zeus' hold in time."
"But the Moirai—"
"Look around you, Akrivi. Where's the Moirai?
" Her snakes reared up, alert and hissing.
There was definitely a shift in the air.
"The goal is to grow strong—stronger than Zeus and all of them.
That way, even if the general's oath can't be broken, I will still find a way for Cosmolith to survive.
" She allowed a sombre smile. "You keep singing about your colourful goals.
Large family, merchant guild, wealth, rubbing it in the faces of your mother's family.
You can't have all that if the Grecian continent turns to ashes. "
Instead of answering, he stared at the ground between his feet, knee still bouncing.
Medusa turned back to the slope, and this time two pairs of red, glowing eyes stared back at her. Heart flying to her throat, she nearly drew back but forced herself to remain still.
"I appreciate your concern, Akrivi," Medusa said, body going tense in preparation. "Thanks for bringing me here and helping with the bait. Now, go watch with my family."
She heard him stand.
"Try not to die," he finally said before leaving.
Exhaling a long breath, Medusa's heart rate settled to its usual rhythm.
This time when she looked down, she was more prepared.
It continued to stare unblinkingly. A reptile?
A mammal? She was completely clueless. But it was large, judging by the size of those eyes.
Petrification shifted behind the shield over her eyes. Not yet.
She was totally alone in this. No Clotho in her head.
She couldn't sense her curse, not that she could in the past. Today, her venom would likely be useless.
So brute force? She cocked her head as they continued their staring contest. Precision.
Weight of a titan. Speed too. And at the very end, petrification.
Her petrification worked perfectly on carpas.
This beast should be no different, but those eyes. ..
"There used to be a one-thousand-year-old ekhidna in my bogs," Phorcydes had said the night before.
"She was a nasty guard. Wilful. Too intelligent.
The beast you will face is ten times stronger.
Meaner. Are you sure, my beautiful niece?
" Her aunt cupped her face, her wrinkled brow wrinkling even more with worry.
"You don't have to do this, you know? I have nothing but a stretch of endless years ahead.
Many years ago, I put my mind to it, and I freed myself from Zeus' thrall.
If I work harder, I can find another way. This is not your problem to bear."
But Medusa was not so patient. She hated this world where she had to share the same air with those who saw her life as nothing.
When its head finally made an appearance, Medusa let out a dry, disbelieving laugh.
Her aunt had given her a clue with that conversation. It was an ekhidna, but, judging from the size of that head, a far larger and meaner-looking one. It didn't help that it was drenched in red.
As she pulled the rest of her bulk from the hole, her hair moved like it possessed a life of its own.
Each rope-like lock lengthened, slid across the red liquid and smeared it all over her body, adding to her garish appearance.
Her claws were a deep red shade, far longer and sharper than the bog ekhidna's.
She would stab the slick earth with them and pull herself up the slope as the rest of her serpentine length propelled her through the red mud.
All the while she ascended, her feral gaze remained fixed on Medusa. Medusa flatly stared back.
Aether first. Medusa formed layers and layers of shields, tightly weaving them around her body. Slicing a line across her palm, she retrieved her daggers and her practice stone, giving them a healthy coating before drawing them back in.
If I struggle with this, then it's all for nothing. All those months of relentless brutalisation under Halfdan and her curse would be for nothing. The only acceptable outcome was giving the ekhidna a crushing defeat. Her family was watching after all.
Tainted aether surged from below. It was twitchy, flaring and retracting in an erratic pattern. The ekhidna bared her teeth. Knife-like fangs flashed as lines of drool slid down her chin. Her eyes were wild with fury and rabid hunger.
For the briefest moment, Medusa recalled that day at the bogs. Her weak ten-year-old body. Galene's desperate struggle and how easily her barrier was ripped apart, then Medusa's scream, achieving nothing in the face of the ekhidna's rapid regeneration.
Rapid regeneration...
"Today, we shall see," Medusa mumbled before leaping over the edge.
"You're crushing my arm," Phorcys said, but Ceto wasn't listening.
Her heart thundered in her throat as she watched from their vantage point. Medusa wouldn't see them standing atop a large shadow hand stretching from the earth. Wouldn't it be better if she could see them? That way, she would be assured that help was near should she need it.
"Where is she?" Ceto asked, resisting the urge to bite her nails. Medusa had just leapt down the slope; now they couldn't see her from their angle. "Can you move the hand closer?"
Phorcydes ignored her request, and Phorcys patted her hand in comfort. "Medusa will be fine."
You don't know that! No matter how old our child is, she's an infant compared to that ancient beast. How was he so calm?
Even his heartbeat was steady against her ear.
But he was anxious as well, judging from how he kept absently stroking her hand and staring at the spot where Medusa disappeared.
"Are you certain this is—"
A mass of locked dark hair erupted like a hundred snakes. Their target was a small figure tumbling across the sky.
"That's..."
Phorcys nodded, expression placid.
Medusa twisted mid-air, faced the ekhidna and screamed.
Ceto winced as a fan-shaped blast marked a swathe of the forest. Trees flattened, and dark soil rose like tides, exposing roots.
The force of the attack snatched the ekhidna as well, slamming her into the chaos and tangling her hair and tail in broken branches.
The shadow hand moved closer and higher, giving them an even better view.
The ekhidna shrieked with rage and ripped herself free, barely reacting as her caught hair tore from its roots.
As Medusa watched the ekhidna from a high tree branch, a smooth, bloody stone appeared in her grip. She tossed and caught it once, twice, before hurling it with enough force to generate a loud, tearing sound.
The ekhidna was not prepared. The stone blasted a hole where her heart should be, sending chunks of flesh and blood spraying on its way out. Just as she began to heal, the stone flew back, creating another hole in the healing wound on its way back to Medusa's grip.
"What sort of attack is that?" Ceto whispered in awe.
She had lived long enough to hardly feel surprised, but this was new.
The stone sped to her like she was made of magnet and it was iron.
And what was that force behind her throw?
Not only that, the stone was aether-powered throughout the attack.
How did she do that? Blood carriers cannot manipulate aether around an object once it has left their touch. "Is our child truly mortal?"
Phorcys was no longer stroking her hand.
Now he stared as Medusa created more holes in the ekhidna, keeping up with the regeneration at a frightening speed.
Ceto's grip around Phorcys' arm grew slack when two daggers joined in.
They sliced off interfering locks of hair with what appeared to be casual throws and catches on Medusa's part.
All this was done from her position on the tallest tree closest to the ekhidna.
The barrage continued, Medusa calm and relentless with her attacks. The ekhidna didn't have time to counterattack between regenerating and attempting to avoid cuts and holes in her body.
"She's trying to see how many attacks before regeneration stops," Phorcys said.
"Ah, we've all been in this situation," Phorcydes said from her spot to the left.
Ceto's brow furrowed as she continued watching her daughter. Now she was going for the head.
Phorcydes cackled when the severed head simply reattached itself. "What would you do now, dear niece?" Her two companions stood behind her on the large hand, looking equally arrested by the display.
"I told her she would beg for help in ten breaths. I was wrong."
Ceto had never seen Phorcydes' eyes sparkle so brightly.
"Just what is your daughter, Phorcys? What did the Monolith create?"
Ceto looked at Phorcys' face. He didn't look delighted or displeased; if anything, his expression was placid.
Was he not concerned? Did he see their child as a tool to end it all?
It didn't seem like it. Or was she wrong?
He had been away since Medusa was born, only peeking now and then.
There was also that time he took over the host. Perhaps he does not care for Medusa.
As if reading her mind, he held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"It's fine. She will be fine." He spoke as if he were assuring himself and not Ceto. "The Moirai showed me a vision. If she did not, I would never have risked this."
The Moirai again? For centuries, the Moirai had remained a seed of discord between them. Being so forgetful helped her cast away her displeasure, but lately her mind was not as foggy, thanks to becoming a general. His belief in the Moirai annoyed her. And now, even my daughter...
Ceto looked in time to see the ekhidna snatch at Medusa. Crimson claws flashed, but their daughter skillfully dodged the grab, darting from tree top to tree top. The ekhidna slithered through the vegetation, hair snapping at her as she shoved trees aside, screeching in rage.
Medusa calmly leapt ahead, remaining just within reach, seeming to allow the beast to heal.
"What is she doing?" Phorcys whispered as their shadow hand sped after the duo.
When the ekhidna fully healed, Medusa abruptly stopped surprising both the beast and Ceto. Then she allowed herself to be caught.
Ceto attempted to leap forward, but Phorcys caught her around the waist.
"What are you doing?" She yelled. "That thing has caught our child. Let's—"
"Look," Phorcys calmly said.
Ceto looked and gaped. Someone released an appreciative whistle.
"How... How did she do that?"
The hand that grabbed Medusa had turned to white marble, with the effect reaching up to the ekhidna's upper arm.
The stone fist shattered as Medusa shot from her grip and straight for her face.
There were daggers in her hands. With both weapons, she cleanly sliced the beast's neck in two swift moves.
The massive head rolled off only to attempt to rise and reattach to the neck, but Medusa.
.. that stubborn child. She grabbed a lock of her hair, twisted it around her wrist and pulled against the force of immortality, straining to mend death's blow.
"What is she doing?" Phorcydes scoffed. "We all tried that too, but it never..." Her words faded.
They all watched in silence as Medusa swung through the air and merely looked into one of the beast's large eyes.
First, the head seemed to freeze in place for a silent moment, then it fell as it slowly turned to stone.
It started with her left eye, then spread until Ceto sensed something similar to what beat in her chest snap.
Phorcys flinched, and so did Ceto. She grabbed his arm, hugging it tight. This time her heart raced for a different reason.
The stone head hit the earth with a dull thump, and the body collapsed to ashes soon after.
When Medusa looked straight in their direction, Ceto gulped as a long-forgotten fear raced up her spine. So this was what the fear of death felt like? Welcome back.
Medusa pointed at the stone head, thumbed her chest proudly and beamed. Ceto burst into tearful laughter.
"Ho." Phorcydes shook her head, clearly shaken. "It seems the end is near after all."