Capítulo 119: DA : Chapter 119: Turn On Each Other III
He looked, half in disbelief, as Raven walked in along with a woman Jason hadn't seen in (for him) over a decade. She'd grown in the last few years, truly filling out to become a beautiful woman the likes of which would make mortals green with envy.
...
That wasn't his focus though. No, right no he had to quell the surge of anger her face brought him, phantom images of that night crossing his gaze. They both saw them, Piper starting in surprise as her eyes widened upon seeing them. Jason's fists clenched up as he unconsciously started to flare his massive aura to the point a glow started to surround him, a similar haze clouding up his vision.
However, before he could act in any way and possibly do something he could regret he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. The touch was well into freezing, the grip firm enough to crush steel with pathetic ease, and another aura was flared to counter his own. All of this together broke him out of the wrathful daze that had taken him as he glanced back to see Percy locking eyes with him.
At that moment though it wasn't Percy, his best friend and resident goofball, the guy that visits the orphanage just to make the kids smile and wrestles his wolves for fun. Right now it was Perseus, his king and a god more than capable, and willing, to beat him down if he dared tried to break one of the rules of the city. The primal fury embodying the terror of darkness, as unforgiving as the worst avalanche, looked at him through eyes of writhing black fire.
He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. Just with that look Jason dropped his aura and lowered his gaze almost imperceptibly, something that only another council member would have caught.
Perseus gave him a small nod as he removed his hand, leaving a dull ache as a reminder of how close of a call that had been. He look elsewhere, now noticing that Piper had dropped to her knees in fear, trembling with Raven giving her a comforting hug with Andromeda standing between the girls and them, having used her own aura to guard the girls.
Andromeda was also giving him a glare, clearly miffed that he'd slipped so quickly. He sighed at the look and bowed his head in apology before looking past her to look at his niece, trying to convey his apology through the look. She sent him a small but reassuring smile, letting him know that she understood before returning her attention to the slowly calming demigoddess.
"Please excuse me," he said softly to all before breaking down into particles of light and headed for the Palace of the Skies to clear his head.
Maybe Medusa and Percy weren't the only ones that had to slay their own demons…
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( Athena POV )
She bit her lip as another lash struck, the sound of her dress and skin alike tearing being her only marker for how many times she'd been struck. Her ribs felt like they were slowly getting ready to give as the wires wrapped around her torso continued to squeeze every few seconds. Ichor was trailing down her body and pooling at her feet but throughout it all she didn't make a sound or cry, her stubbornness and pride simply wouldn't let her.
Her eyes had remained closed tight the moment she heard Medusa's whip as it parted the very air before striking her. Each lash felt like the few cuts she took from Percy's swords. The freezing burn, a paradox of pain, was almost paralyzing even if this was minor in comparison to the actual swords slicing through her skin. Sadly the numbing effect was working against her. Rather than one large gathering of pain being added to, each strike felt like a new pain that slowly faded only to be replaced.
She didn't know how long she'd been there, was it night or day, would they ever stop? She just wasn't sure and that thought scared her. She flinched as she heard the whip being readied again and waited for the icy sting … but it didn't come. Instead there was just silence and her own labored breathing. She didn't dare move though, not wanting to entice another attack even with the aching of her body and tightness in her chest. Then…
Sniff. Sniff.
She wasn't sure whether to believe her ears or not but that sound was unmistakable. Joining it was the sound of someone choking up and then she could hear them moving from being behind her to just in front of her. The noise continued and out of sheer curiosity she slowly opened one eye, only to open both in shock.
Standing before her were Medusa and Arachne, both with furiously trying to wipe away the tears trailing from their bloodshot eyes as they looked at her in mixes of anger and sadness. She just hung there, helpless and at a loss for words as she watched the two monsters she once created as they desperately fought a losing battle against their own tears. Medusa had even dropped her ichor stained whip as she tried using both hands but it was useless.
"Why …?" she whispered as she looked between them, unable to find any reason why they were the ones crying when she was the one being tortured.
"Why?" Medusa echoed through a sob before she took a deep breath, more anger than anything taking hold as she straightened up. "It's because this just isn't fair."
"How is-"
"It isn't fair!" she shouted through more tears, interrupting her. "It isn't fair that after everything you made us go through we can't even do the same thing to you!" At Athena's silence Medusa took a shuddering breath before continuing. "Millennia of being alone, to either be hunted like an animal by any fucking hero wanting to make a name for themselves or that huntress' sick pleasure.
Hundreds, maybe even thousands of demigods and innocent mortals alike dead because I was turned into a spiteful, demented bitch that took out my anger on those that didn't deserve it like I was some sort of Olympian. And even the company of other monsters." At this Medusa shuddered, her arms wrapping around herself as she looked at Athena with seething anger.
"Do you have any idea what happens to female monsters if they are even remotely attractive!? How many times I offed myself because I was cornered and knew what was going to happen to me?"
By now Arachne had moved closer to hug Medusa from behind as the pseudo-goddess lost the anger in her eyes only to be replaced with sadness and hurt.
"I loved you," she whispered, just barely loud enough for Athena to catch. "I was your priestess and you were my everything. My idol, my guide, the only one I would have gladly given my very body and soul to.
How could I not when you were thought to be one of the kindest and wisest of gods? Strong, intelligent, brave, the very hallmark of the ideal woman that stood for her own in a world of violence, where woman were property at worst, trophy wives and broodmares at best.
And then when he came for me, lured by my beauty and the fact that it would be a strike against you for that fallout over Athens, I was the one you struck out against. I cried, I begged, I screamed and you weren't there!"
With her every word Athena felt as if Percy's blade had sliced into her heart as she looked at Medusa. Seeing every ounce of pain and rage within her eyes, the betrayal and hurt that she had suffered through. Never before had Athena truly seen just how much she had harmed her, once, most loyal of followers. And yet she couldn't utter a sound as Medusa continued.
"I was left broken, afraid, and cursed. I turned into the very monster I once hated when I heard grand tales of heroes and gods. And throughout those years, all I could think about was making you suffer." Now her eyes took a steely glint, the acidic green of her snake eyes boring into the captured goddess.
"So I did by targeting your children with glee, counting it as a small, insignificant victory over you whenever I succeeded … until Percy found us." Medusa's eyes softened at that, a small glimmer of warmth coming into her eyes.
"I don't know what he saw in me or why he truly bothered but I'll never regret the day I took his hand. He returned to me everything I ever lost and so much more. Someone to put my faith into and follow, even to the Oblivion and great Void itself if need be. Someone to support and stand by, to love and trust, and a whole family that could understand me if even slightly. He became someone that truly does have my soul and body as his, and I wouldn't change it for Creation itself."
Medusa then gave Arachne a nod, the spider woman slowly letting go and stepping to the side as Medusa returned her gaze to Athena.
"And when he could have turned me into a merciless killer, used that hatred to twist and contort me, he didn't. Instead he held me, he let me cry millennia's worth of tears and heartache, and then built me up while trying to help me move past it all.
To become something more, not to be a use to him, but to stand and prove it to myself. That I am not just Medusa the Gorgon, but something more and now, after everything is said and done it isn't fair," she said before giving a mirthless chuckle as more tears continued down her cheeks.
"Even now … I still don't want to hurt you.
I don't want to see you like this, suffering and by my hand at that, even after millennia of dreaming of nothing else. I'm finally here, I could use my limited command of Voidfire to slowly burn and destroy your very essence until you are nothing, until you fade, but I can't and won't. Because at the end of the day it's pointless. Your pain won't erase mine or change anything, so all I can do is move forward."
With that Medusa took another shuddering breath before stepping aside as Arachne took one step forward, her own eyes finally dried but now sporting a blank face, her voice crisp and to the point. Athena was already dreading what she was going to say, not knowing if she could take anymore after everything Medusa threw in her face.
"I can't say that my suffering was anywhere near the likes of Medusa's but even then I was hurt by what you did. You were one of my closest friends, someone that pushed and challenged me at my craft, one of the few things I took pride in.
I was always one of the quieter, shy girls that rarely strayed from home, instead helping my family make ends meet with my weaving. Little did I know one of my few friends was a goddess at the time. I remember you were in a mood that day, for what, I don't have the slightest clue. I jested and teased a little, then we got competitive and everyone knows how that turned out.
Perhaps I should have had some more humility but can you really blame me? It was one of the only things I was truly proud of since I wasn't the most eye-catching, I couldn't really dance or sing. But to have my friend reveal herself, in a wrath at that, only to curse me. Perhaps the fact that you made me a hideous monster became a saving grace," she said with a slight glance to Medusa as the Shadow wiped at her eyes occasionally.
"But regardless you proved yourself to be every bit the spiteful and cruel goddess like your father. I don't even know if you ever felt remorse for it but then again, I wasn't like a proud goddess such as yourself would ever admit to your fault and I was left to dwell in darkness and my own bitterness.
Then I got my own sick pleasure with every one of your kids I strangled within my webs when they came for your precious Parthenos, even if a clever one finally got me in the end. But then, decades later for me Phoebe stumbled upon me and made me the oddest little offer at the time," she said before a slight blush formed on her cheeks. "More's the pity she is both taken and faithful but at the time I was more intrigued than anything.
I wasn't amounting to anything, especially after falling into the Pit but I can't regret taking the offer either. Now I am forever bound and loyal to my goddess just as much as Medusa is to Percy but honestly I couldn't ask for more, so why waste my time."
Her eyes then softened as she looked at Athena.
"In the end I'm not any happier making you suffer either. As Medusa said, us harming you is pointless and causing you harm now did little more than take out some frustration but no true pleasure. More surprising for me considering I'll happily admit to being a sadist but perhaps it's that last dreg of friendship I once had with you somewhere buried in my heart.
At the end of the day we are far happier than what once was and so pity you," she said, shaking her head softly as she turned away.
"Third times the charm right? No longer seeing you gods as a cowering mortal or a spiteful monster but more as an equal has opened our eyes. Maybe you'll see it too someday if that is the will of Lady Chaos."
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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.
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