Medusa: Fate's Game

Chapter 4

~~Medusa~~

"So, what do you think?" Darian said. He posed for them, a brown cloak wrapped over his body, dirty edges and blotches of stains on it.

Chimera grunted, but Medusa smiled and slithered around him.

"You look charming."

"I'm not supposed to look charming! I'm supposed to look forgettable." He adjusted the horrible garb, but no matter how he wore it, his great smile and young face showed through.

"You'll have to hide your face then." She reached for his shoulders, and pulled the cloak over his head until it was all buried in shadow. "Besides, you'll want to hide your mark."

He nodded, and reached up to adjust the hood while scratching the V etched on his forehead.

"This will be tricky," he said. "A bad breeze or if I trip or something, someone will see. They'll recognize me."

"The whole city will recognize you?"

"Yeah, yeah they would."

Medusa tried to whistle, but failed horribly. A hundred years of trying, a hundred years of no whistling. She missed it.

She slithered up behind her man, hooked her arms over his shoulders, rested her chin on one of them, and looked out over the valley below them. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"No, but I have to save Pegasus. Besides, you don't want to talk to Athena? To at least say something to her?"

"I... I don't know what I would say."

Darian reached up to hold her hands where they met on his sternum. "It'll come to you when you meet her. And if I rub off on you at all before then, you'll punch her too."

She giggled into his ear, and rubbed their cheeks together while her hair snuggled into his. "You didn't punch the merchant you stole this blanket from."

"He seemed innocent enough, dumb enough. So you were watching, eh? Told you two to stay out of sight, or I'd have to kill him so he didn't tell anyone you were on the mainland."

"I stayed hidden!" She slithered around in front of him, keeping her hands on his chest throughout the motion. "I have hunted boar and other animals for a hundred years, I'll have you know." Silly man, always forgetting.

He sighed, and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry." His hand around hers tightened, squeezed, and tugged on them to bring her closer. Just when she thought he might look a little guilty for underestimating her, he flashed his perfect hero's smile, and kissed her.

She giggled again, wrapped her arms around him, and squeezed him all the tighter.

Below them, the valley spread out over the Argolic Gulf. The hill they stood upon let them see out over the thumb of the sea and to the harbors of Tiryns, Argos, and even as far as Eion, its docks specs on the horizon. To reach Tiryns, Darian would have to walk around Argos and make his way into Tiryns on foot. With whatever they were hunting being in Tiryns, they had to suspect someone knew he was coming. And that made her stomach want to hurl the deer she ate a day ago.

"Ok, your helmet is in your bag, and it's the only thing in here. Make sure you get a moment to put it on if things go badly, and just throw the bag away." She let go of him, slithered over to the bags, and picked his up. She opened it up, checked to see if his helmet was in there, checked again, and checked again, before handing it to her lover. "And some apples too! If you get hungry. And a little dried meat, if you get hungry again. And—"

"Medusa."

"Make sure you keep your sword and shield hidden inside your cloak. You'll have to hunch over when you walk to hide the shape of your armor — you are not taking off your armor! You can't fit your spear, so Chimera will hold onto it, but—"