87. Without Mercy
The only way Medusa could describe what occurred was a sudden, violent breaking of a dam.
The moment she shook Perseus' hand, her curse crashed in, using the contact to infect everything.
The world around them flickered, and her awareness rushed outward.
Around them, like burning parchment in reverse, the silent infestation continued, plain grey eating away at the scene of Athena's victory.
Interestingly, Perseus showed no reaction. He maintained his relaxed smile and shook her hand as if he had just sealed a deal of the century.
"...can feel my connection."
Medusa blinked at him, trying but failing to make sense of his words. "What?"
He held his free hand before his face, appearing thoroughly pleased. "You really did it. I can feel my body, but..." His smile slipped as he met her gaze. "It's dying."
"It is?" Medusa forced an attentive appearance despite the deluge of information flooding her mind.
She could see it all. Every memory of this very hard-to-kill cockroach.
His life thread was unravelling before her eyes, and she was shocked by the lengths his hate and ambition drove him.
It would have been a waste of epic proportion if she had succeeded in killing him days ago.
His soul was a priceless repository—a reward for all the pain he had put her through.
"You envenomed my body." He glanced at their still joined hands. "Surely, you do not expect our deal to still stand."
Unpleasant as it felt, Medusa had no plan of releasing his hand. Her curse was yet to be well and truly done with the harvest.
She forced a toothless smile. "Don't be shameless. We made the deal after I attacked you out there. Honour dictates that you keep your end of the bargain."
When he scoffed and glared at her, Medusa felt some relief. Show your real face, not that ill-fitting mask. You're no sheep.
"The deal is off." Still glaring, he attempted to pull his hand free. A look of mild confusion crossed his face when Medusa held on, refusing to let go.
"Where is your honour? Did it die when you sacrificed your brother?"
That look of thunderous shock on his face. But it was quickly gone, replaced with a narrow-eyed gaze. "What did you say?"
"To call you a viper is a great insult to vipers." Finally, her curse was done, but she gripped his hand tighter. "You thought you could fool me? Even now, you are thinking of using the ruler."
To his credit, his expression did not change. Instead, he watched her with a chilling calculation that may have terrified her in the past.
"I saw how you got this skill." She gestured around with her free hand. "What you did to Hades was vile. You learned well from your father."
Perseus had not shown her the rest of his life after Athena's victory.
There was the important bit where he 'rescued' Zeus, proceeded to play the servile son who kept his cards carefully hidden as he learned from Zeus only to strike him at his weakest.
Athena had left her adoptive father alive and imprisoned, but Perseus had not only killed Zeus, he also incinerated his soul.
"It appears I miscalculated." He summoned his sword and sliced her wrist off before leaping away. Medusa looked from her handless arm to Perseus, who now hovered above her, his sword seeming to glow from the force of his fury.
She looked back at her arm, somewhat fascinated. There was no pain or blood, just the smooth, glowing surface of a clean cut. "This is the second time you're cutting my arm," she said dryly.
"Was it the Moirai who told you about my brother and Hades?" He asked from his height, face squeezed with fury. "She was the one, wasn't she? That spying rat!"
How interesting that he would rather believe someone revealed his secret than accept the more possible conclusion that she had taken over his soul realm.
"You should perish with that knowledge. Blame the Moirai for your death. "
Holding his now significantly larger sword with both hands, he swung downward and cleanly cleaved her in two.
Medusa permitted the attack because it didn't matter.
Her current form could be recreated again and again now that she was the master of this realm.
But she let him enjoy a temporary triumph.
Speaking of the soul realm, there was an uncanny feeling to it; Since she took over, there was the sensation of being made of a large eye.
From above and all around, she could observe everything.
Despite not having a physical form, she watched the two halves of her previous form collapse into fading motes of light.
Perseus hovered in the same spot, still glaring with murder in his eyes.
"I didn't expect it to feel this good," Medusa finally said.
Perseus snapped around and swung his sword in an arch that cut nothing.
"That you had the gall to suggest we join hands after everything." She paused. "How naive."
"You're the naive one for restoring my connection to my body," Perseus spat bitterly as he soared higher, turning about as he searched for her. "You don't know what you've unleashed."
"Because I know what you're capable of, you must die."
"Where are you!" Perseus thundered.
"After trapping my soul, you plan to return to your body," Medusa explained as if reading a report. "You also plan to drain my body of the monolith's energy, heal your body, then trot off to retrieve the ruler from your little timeless dimension."
That slight shift in his face. Seems he was finally beginning to see beyond the fog of his arrogance.
"You... You're merely guessing." He didn't sound as confident.
"I see it all, Perseus," Medusa continued. "Even your terror as death approaches."
He released a harsh laugh. His slipping control showed in the occasional flash of panic in his eyes, the way he snapped his focus about, and eyes that grew increasingly wild. "Many have tried and failed to kill me. And if any would succeed, it wouldn't be a beast."
"Did you forget? I killed you back on Earth."
His sword wavered in his grip. "If you killed me, how am I here?"
"You're already dead," Medusa replied dully as she considered the best way to erase the stain that was his existence.
"You are the dead one!" Perseus shouted.
"Do you hear me? You're dead! You know nothing of the lengths I can go to crush those I've marked as enemies. Stupid whore! You should have accepted the merciful death I first offered. Now you're finished."
His gaze flew about as he raged. "When I'm done with you, I'll seize those you cherish and crush them like I did that mewling beast-loving husband of yours."
He summoned at least fifty swords and sent them flying in all directions.
Medusa took on a physical form and allowed a sword to strike her. Like before, she felt nothing.
When he caught sight of her impaled form, he grinned, some of that rage giving way to satisfaction. "Done hiding?"
... mewling, beast-loving husband of yours.
His smile soon wavered and vanished when Medusa casually unsheathed the weapon from her body. From his memories, she understood the fundamentals of how the soul realm and its attacks worked. If she wanted, she could end this in an instant, but he went and made things personal.
"You assured me that there would be no weapons in this space. Said it was a kindness. Liar."
She flicked her wrist, and the sword shifted to her stone dagger.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face as she multiplied the weapon into twenty, forty, sixty.
A hundred. Then they spread, forming rotating coronas vibrating under her control. She casually waved forward.
His reaction speed was immaculate; she would give him that. He slashed in a blur, twisting and in some cases even kicking her daggers back at her.
She gave him some free rein, allowing him to believe he still had a chance.
He was not limited to summoning weapons alone.
Beasts, a myriad of them, burst into existence, their number rushing at her with teeth and claws.
Medusa accepted the attacks, using them as casual training of sorts.
She limited her strikes to body and blade, but ensured a steady stream of daggers assailed Perseus in a relentless barrage.
"Stop." There was a faint hint of desperation in his voice.
Ignoring him, Medusa slashed with her claws, and like Arke's attack, four lines travelled ahead, cleaving beasts and grazing Perseus before he managed to twist away.
More beasts. Even more slashes in response.
What remained of the beasts burst to nothing, revealing a very haggard Perseus.
One of her slashes had gotten him across the arm, but that didn't stop him from hurling himself at her, a sword in each hand.
Medusa waved, and he shot downward, crashing into a hard surface she willed into existence. She descended and watched him struggle to his feet.
"You..." Despite his total defeat, raw hatred and defiance burned in his eyes. "You can not kill me. I am Perseus. Son of Zeus. You are nothing!"
When he attempted to multiply his weapon, Medusa cancelled the effect with a thought.
"What is this?" Strain contorted his face. Medusa vaguely sensed a push against her authority and easily crushed it.
"How?" He held his hands before his face, furious expression shifting to puzzlement.
Medusa continued to approach.
"Stop." He raised his sword, brandishing it with wild slashes. "Do not come closer."
Medusa halted.
"What did you do to my soul?" he raged. "What did—" He suddenly went silent, then started laughing, collapsing to his knees as he did so.
"Now I see. It was her. From the start it was her."
His face grew expressionless as he gazed at her.
"But you. Do not think you'll escape. The Monolith is without mercy. We're all mortals in the end."
Uninterested in untangling the puzzle of his statement, Medusa gave the command. "Take him."
Snakes of varying sizes burst from below, biting, squeezing and spitting venom. Black veins mapped across his soul as wisps of smoke curled upward from his mouth, nose and eyes. He remained silent all through, that defiance returning to his eyes. At least he did not beg, unlike his younger self.