"Ana..." Kisuke is fiddling through his portable computer. He's currently arranging the data he got from Medusa. He feeling excited with all the stuff he got from her ranging from the complicated arrangement of Mana inside her body and a bit of data about Divinity. He already got some clues for who truly she is, but also wondered if the legends are true and what did she do for her to deserve this kind of punishment.
"What is it?" Medusa answered while she reads a book. With Kisuke's help and teaching her magic to differentiate colors without using her eyes, Medusa was able to read books like a normal person. Although it's not a substitute for vision, Medusa is very happy about it.
Kisuke closed his laptop and faced Medusa who is sitting beside him, "Let me take a look at your eyes."
"Wha!? No!" She removes her focus on the book and answered him immediately.
Putting away his laptop, Kisuke pulled out snacks, "Eh? Didn't you say I can do anything?"
Medusa hesitated for a bit but after shaking her head, she answered, "...Still! No!"
"Why though? I don't think it would be that bad. From what I can tell, you aren't actually blind. Are your eyes scarred or something that it looks ugly? I can probably create some kind of ointment to fix that. I just need you to show it to me."
"It doesn't have any scar... But it's ugly... and most of all, dangerous!" Medusa can't fully control her eyes. Although she can control its potency, she didn't have a way to turn it off without sealing it off completely. And it's already been too long since the last time she relieved these eyes and didn't know if she can still control it. If unlucky, she thought that she could instantly petrify Kisuke which is something she won't like and would regret. After all, he is her savior and he let her experience all these things even if temporary, 'There's also a chance that he'll guess my identity and origin if I were to take it off.'
Aside from her concern about his safety and those around him, deep inside, she didn't want him to hate her because of her origin. If it's the first time they met, she wouldn't really mind if they were to know her identity, but as the days go, her reluctance grew bigger. Although she only stayed with them for a few days, each day, she would keep thinking about the time she inevitably leaves and would keep telling herself, 'One day... Just one more day...' until it became a form of torture for her.
Medusa knew that if her identity were to be revealed to them, she would have to escape this cozy and happy place. She's a bit hopeful that Kisuke wouldn't treat her a monster, but she knew how dangerous this feeling is if she was to fall for it. After all, the feeling of loneliness by leaving is a lot better than the feeling of despair when one is betrayed.
"Dangerous? How? What does it do? I'm pretty confident with my ability, so I can probably deal with it." Kisuke kept insisting as his curiosity kept bothering him, 'If she's really the Medusa or someone related to her, then her eyes must be the petrification eyes... I want to see it!'
Looking at his eyes full curiosity, Medusa hesitated again and looked down, 'It's also unfair if I keep hiding like this... I guess this is the end...' She decided and steeled herself, 'Dragging this any longer would only make it harder for me and for everyone else...'
Medusa recalled the time she spent here and heaved a large sigh. She already knew that Kisuke can indeed resist her mystic eyes if he only gazes at it for a few seconds. The time she spent with them didn't just end with her enjoying life, but also gathering information for herself. Even though she didn't think that Kisuke and Yoruichi has enough capability to face a God, she knew that her weakened self and petrifying gaze wouldn't be able to affect them fast. As long as she seals it again before she could do further harm, it's fine to show it to him.
But she didn't immediately remove her blindfold but says, "Please tell me the state of two other souls inside me before we proceed."
Kisuke partially knew what she's thinking about after observing her actions, 'Hahaha~. Is she really that worried?' He pretended that he knew nothing and answered without hesitation, "They are fine now even if left alone. They would recover their strength and would one day wake up if there are no accidents that befall them."
Medusa, this time, sighed in great relief, "Is that so?... Thank you very much for everything you've done... If I got in the chance in the future, I'll repay this kindness hundredfold."
"What are you talking about? This is all part of our deal. As long as you let me examines you, everything is already fine."
"Right... And the last thing you wanted to inspect is my eyes... Understood..." Medusa stood up and gestured for Kisuke to follow her. She went straight to her temporary room and sat down on her bed. "Before we proceed, please set up a barrier... A strong one since I don't know what might happen to others if we don't do so."
"Gotcha~." With a snap of his fingers, Kisuke activated the barrier that he already placed inside her room just in case something happens.
Medusa smiled wryly at his actions, "Fully prepared, aren't you? Also, please make a hole on the barrier just in case you would need to escape if anything goes wrong and seal me inside." Although incredibly bothered, Medusa is making a way out for herself just in case Kisuke became hostile against her. Medusa plans to stun him using her eyes to make enough time for her to escape.
Kisuke wanted to point out how naive she was but stopped himself as he knew where she is coming from, "Okay~." With another snap, a small opening was created on the window leading outside.
Medusa stood up from her bed and checked the whole is she really can go through it and after confirming that she could, she returned to her bed to prepare to remove her blindfold. Her actions garnered some admiration from Kisuke, 'It's great that she wasn't blinded by how we are treating her and would still check things herself.'
"Well then..." Medusa took a deep breath before touching her blindfold. She first removed the restriction spell placed on it and the amount of Mana in the surrounding noticeably became denser. Next, she removed it completely, revealing her whole face for the first time in many... many years. Medusa's heartbeat skyrocketed due to nervousness, and cold sweat started pooling on her back. She also started to regret doing this as this will inevitably change the way he looks at her. But she's already in this stage and she can't keep secrets forever. Before opening her eyes, she circulated her Mana through her entire body and cleared her mind, entering a trance. Opening her eyes, Medusa, for the first time, clearly saw Kisuke's face.
Kisuke's eyes widened when he saw her eyes and stopped moving because his mind started working in numerous ways to analyze what is in front of him. This, however, caused Medusa to misunderstand and thought that he was being petrified faster than she thought and was about to seal her eyes again before escaping for good.
Before she could do so, however, she heard him say something she thought impossible if someone looks straight at her eyes, "...Fascinating..."
Not sure if there's a chapter tomorrow... Got another party to attend.
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Enjoy~
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Advance Chapters here:
pat reon.com/goyya00
"...Fascinating..." Kisuke muttered with a big smile on his face as he intently stared at Medusa's purple-jewel like eyes with rectangular pupils.
It took Medusa a few seconds to respond due to how unexpected his response was, "Huh...?"
If she didn't know any better, she would think that her mystics eyes became normal eyes. But then again, she wasn't so sure anymore and checked it. The results just gave her more confusion as she knew that her eyes were working properly... sadly.
Kisuke didn't mind her reaction and kept staring straight to her eyes. Kisuke can feel his blood flow slowing down significantly if he didn't try to resist her gaze. As an experiment, he stops resisting her power on the index finger of his left hand. The petrification started from the blood before going to his muscle tissues until it reaches his skin.
Medusa was finally aware that her gaze isn't affecting him in any way. Inside, she's feeling happy at his apparent immunity, but she's still worried about him knowing her real identity. Because of the way he's acting, she didn't know if Kisuke already has a clue or not, but chances are he didn't know as she's confident that he would make a disgusted face if he knew. So, with much hesitation, she asks to confirm, "...Aren't you afraid of me?"
Kisuke's still staring at her as he answers, "Why would I?"
Medusa gritted her teeth and said, "...Because of my identity..." She closes her eyes and waited for his answer.
Kisuke raised his hand on her forehead and flicked it.
"Ow!" Medusa was startled. She raised her hand to cover her forehead and looked back at Kisuke who has a cheeky smile, "What identity? Aren't you Ana? Did you read too much fantasy book that you developed a chuunibyou case?"
Her eyes widened at his answer, '...He knew...'
"...Why?" Medusa asks while she stares back at him.
"What do you mean why? I'm too busy to go along with your antics" Kisuke still pretended that he knew nothing, but it was too obvious for Medusa.
"Pfft..." Medusa felt compelled to laugh. She already put down her worries and felt relieved.
"You're weird..."
"I don't want to hear that from you!" Medusa retorted at his words as he is not qualified to label others weird, "Thank you..."
"Enough with that and let me take a look at your eyes more." Kisuke fixed her head in a position where he could easily examine her eyes from different angles.
With her nervousness and worries gone, Medusa's mind finally caught up to what's happening. Their faces are only a few inches apart and she became extremely conscious of him. More so than normal because she has trauma and complex with her eyes. A few more seconds of staring contest has passed and Medusa's face is now dyed red. Due to embarrassment, she covered her face with both of her hands as she can't take his stare anymore.
"Oi oi... What are you doing? I can't see your eyes if you cover them up."
"...Please don't stare at me... It's embarrassing..." Medusa bashfully muttered in a very low voice but Kisuke, who is in front of her managed to catch it.
"What? I've been staring at you for a while now, and only now you're getting embarrassed?"
"...Please forgive me..." Medusa pleaded for mercy while still covering her face. Her ears were beat-red remembering what happened earlier.
"For a cool beauty, you sure get shy about strange places."
"It's not strange!"
"Well, whatever. I'm done anyway." Kisuke then examined his petrified finger.
Medusa felt his gaze moving away from her and uncovered her face. But what she saw almost gave her a heart attack, "Your finger!"
"Ah... Don't worry about it... But really... This is amazing. I can't revert its effects. I have to study the process of petrification and the composition of the petrified part." Kisuke then started muttering to himself.
Without regard to his reaction, Medusa suddenly stood up and grabbed Kisuke's hand with a petrified finger and touched it gently, "... W-what should we do!?"
If it's just in the semi-petrified state, Kisuke's Mana inside his body could automatically heal it as long as the source of petrifying ability was cut off. But a completely petrified part like this is impossible to heal from her knowledge. Even the greatest heroes in the past died with their bodies petrified. She doesn't know if a God can reverse it but she's sure that Kisuke is a human and doesn't have a God's physique.
"Nah... Don't worry about it." Kisuke took back his hand and to Medusa's shock and dismay, he suddenly broke off his finger effective cutting it from his hand. Due to this, Kisuke blood splurted out like a mini fountain.
"What are you doing!? Are you insane!?" Medusa hurriedly grabbed his hand back with one hand and the other one tore her shirt to get a piece of cloth. She hurriedly wraps it around his hand to keep the blood from flowing out, "What are you spacing out for!? Hurry! Use some healing magic to stop the blood flow!"
Kisuke ignored her instructions and asks, "I'm glad that you're worried about me, but you didn't strike me as the protective type."
"What the hell are you talking about now!? This isn't the time! Ah... This is my fault! I shouldn't have agreed to this! Because of this mistake, you lost your finger! And why is your finger the only thing affected?" Seeing that Kisuke isn't doing anything to heal his wounds, Medusa then crudely transferred her Mana to the stump of the severed finger to temporarily stop the blood flow.
Kisuke wanted to poke more fun from her, but seeing her worried expression, he stopped himself and patted her head, "Thanks... And as I said, don't worry about it." Kisuke then separated from Medusa, "Ah!"
Without waiting for her to move further, Kisuke discarded the cloth soaked in blood and suddenly donned his hollow mask.
When the bone mask with green marking suddenly appeared, Medusa stopped herself from chasing Kisuke. She noticed that his eyes changed along with his aura. She took a step back as Kisuke's current aura is very malevolent. She didn't know what to do aside from watching him.
In the part where his former finger is placed, Medusa noticed a white matter bubbling out and after less than a half of a minute, it formed a white claw-like finger. Kisuke put his hand on his mask and it disappeared as he swiped up. And the claw-like finger suddenly cracked with its shell-like structure falling down revealing the new finger inside it, "See? You don't have to worry~." Kisuke then showed it in front of her and Medusa unconsciously grabbed it to examine it, "...How?"
"One of my tricks~." Kisuke then took another look at the petrified finger and said, "This is a good specimen... I have to go and break this down into pieces." Without waiting for her, Kisuke hurriedly exited the room to experiment.
"...What is that all about?" Medusa muttered to no one.
Protec the snek.