MEDUSA 𓆙 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 [English Edition]

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟗 • Last summer

SINCE HER ARREST, Sky hadn't seen Viperine, but something inside her twitched with unease.

He helped Silva carry the weaponry through the scattered wreckage of Alfea. The windows were smashed, the gates knocked down, but at least Silva's beloved arsenal was in order.

"Where's Riven?" asked Silva.

"Probably getting high somewhere out there."

It was all Riven had done lately, after all. And it looked like that's what he was doing the night the burns struck.

Bloom and her friends rose to prominence, but what was Sky's best friend up to?

"One day I hope you'll understand that everything I did was for your benefit, Sky," Silva said deeply. "The world is not perfect. It's not black and white, heroes and villains. The good and the bad."

"Then why have you spent your whole life convincing me otherwise?""

Sky seemed desperate to ask, "Did you ever love me?" But he never asked or would ask. He didn't want to hear the answer for fear of it. But in that rush of courage... No! He can't even think about it.

"Saul!" shouted Verena, running to where they were. In a sudden act, she hugged him tight around the neck. "Please don't say anything. Just listen to me. Staying with you, falling in love with you, wasn't part of the plan. But it was all real. Saying yes to you is real. You will doubt many things about me, but please don't doubt my feelings for you. I really love you. And I hope you can forgive me."

"Celeste, you're making me worried," Silva said apprehensively. "What's happening?"

"I messed up, Saul," she admitted. "I believed the wrong people. And people got hurt or died because of me. But I'll make everything right. I promise I will..."

"Celeste, stop! What's happening?"

"I don't deserve this and I know I'm wrong to ask, but I need you to trust me," she pleaded. "Now, more than never."

"I trust you," Silva assured. "Now tell me what's going on?"

"I love you," she said, tears streaming from her eyes. "Please forgive me. You two."

In the driveway appeared an entourage of SUVs and Queen Luna's Rolls-Royce.

"They shouldn't be here," Silva said with a frown. "We told them the attack was over."

He walked toward Queen Luna's entourage, confident and fearless as ever. He only stopped when the queen's guards aimed their bows directly at him.

"What is going on?" Sky asked.

However, Queen Luna wasn't the first out of the Rolls-Royce—it was Viperine. What was she doing there?

"Oh, it's so nice to see you here ready," she hissed, mockingly. "Ah, Silva, it is with regret in my stony heart that I must put you in prison."

"What the hell is this, Viperine?" Sky asked, not amused.

"Don't pretend to be a saint, please." He rolled his eyes. "For the attempted murder of Andres of Eraklyon."

One word and it was like a stone thrown across Sky's life. Viperine was grinning evilly, as if she was savoring the moment.

The door of an SUV opened and a man got out. Sky recognized his face from hundreds of photos. He knew him from the hundreds of stories Silva had told him.

"Now, now, now," Verena hissed. "The old mouse finally came out of the hole."

"Is that how you greet your old man? Didn't you miss me?" He laughed, looking at her fondly.

Sky wondered what she was up to, but...

"Hi, Dad," she said. "Of course I did."

Silva and Sky froze. None of them knew what to do or how to react. Did Verena lie to them all this time? Did she hide that Andreas was alive?

"I brought you a surprise."

But Andreas opened the door, letting a mini-creature jump off the bench and run towards the woman.

"Cassian!" shouted Verena, reaching down to pick it up.

"Mommy!"

Viperine opened her mouth, not understanding. Where did that fetus come from?

Okay, she knew the answer to that question, but she didn't understand what people he came from... Why did he look so much like Verena?

"A typical normal day in the life of a high school student," thought Viperine. Verena was crazy! Was she just a mother? What the hell was she talking about? Had she fallen and hit her head too hard? If so, they would need to make some changes to their plans.

Luna, who had then gotten out of the expensive car, ordered her soldiers into Alfea and put things in order. One of those subjects was Silva. Sky's specialist director looked even more stunned as they put the handcuffs on his wrists, and Sky was told to walk away with the rest of the specialists.

Sky watched as soldiers stormed his house, rearranging everything there. He had to watch as they took Silva away in handcuffs, and his father stayed the entire time.

His father was alive, and he'd never bothered to contact Sky once. Next to Andreas, leaning toward him as if he were her father, was Beatrix.

One of the girls who had killed someone and led a school riot. She smiled with Viperine at Dane and Riven, displaying her smugness.

Without meaning to, Sky thought, "Bloom, I'm glad you're not here. Don't come back. Alfea isn't safe."

Maybe it never was.

But, what did it feel like the last time Sky approached Viperine? She looked up, smiling with more deadly venom than she'd ever seen before.

"Why?" he asked, denying himself.

Sky's worst nightmare happened, and he realized he should never have played with a snake.

"I know what you did last summer."

━━━━━━

10.8.22

N O T E S

FAIRYTALE, a book available on my profile, will reveal exactly how the first season of Medusa ends. The book, however, has not been translated into English and is incomplete. I had no intention of translating it, but would you like it? Please inform me so that I can begin working on the translation. I'll see you in the following season!

𓆙 𓆙 𓆙

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