Not me JUST realizing I haven't posted ch 33 yet—
Whoops
Well you get a double
And if you see any mistakes do tell me—

Hallez nearly froze, but before she could, she grabbed Fiona by the shoulders, and spun her around, so her back was to the scene. She pulled the shorter girl into a hug, and kept her eyes away from Medusa by keeping a firm hand on the back of her head.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't appreciate this amount of physical contact from anyone. But this was not a normal circumstance by any means.

Fiona struggled against her, crying out. "Travis! Travis! No—!"

"Fiona. Fiona!" Hallez whispered against her ear. "Don't turn around. Don't look."

Medusa turned her head, and Hallez, unable to react in time, stared straight into her eyes. Hallez was expecting to feel herself stiffen, to turn into stone, to feel pain. She expected to start losing feeling in her body as she was petrified.

Hallez couldn't help but imagine herself turning into stone, like Travis, turning into a grey stone sculpture.

Medusa stared back intently, a smirk playing on her lips. Her eyes were bright yellow, with slits for pupils like a snake. Speaking of snakes, the dozens of tiny green, hissing snakes in her hair waved around, staring at everything in the room, occasionally trying to bite each other's heads off, and baring their tiny fangs at Hallez. Medusa's facial features were, by no means, ugly, like the stories said. Maybe average, but not ugly. Then again, this wasn't exactly Medusa's original head. She wore a simple dark green, skinny dress that brushed her ankles, and three-inch black heels. Hallez wondered how the heck she was able to walk in that. Her arms and hands were bare, but her fingertips seemed dyed black, and instead of nails were long, sharp, deadly claws.

There was a brief moment of silence as Hallez and Medusa stared at each other, one in evil anticipation, the other in fearful anxiety. Hallez felt a slight tingling, and suddenly she felt like she was far away. She felt like a wall had come down between her and the world, like she was seeing and hearing and feeling everything through a lens.

It only lasted a moment, but she saw something—something that caught her eye. Something through the lens. A distinct blob of energy, right below where Medusa's heart would be.

As that moment passed, Medusa's smirk faded. Her brows furrowed into a fearsome scowl.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded, looking towards the other guy in the room. He had brown hair, fair skin, and some kind of sunglasses over his eyes in which he wasn't afraid to look at Medusa with. "Why isn't she—?"

"Actually, this is good news, is it not?" the guy said. He was also frowning, his eyes flitting back and forth between Medusa and Hallez. "Didn't I tell you we need her alive?"

"Oh, yes, sure." Medusa waved a hand uninterestedly in the air. "But how is she alive?"

Yeah, Hallez was asking that herself. She was...alive, which, don't get her wrong, was great and all. She would much rather be living and breathing than dead. But the question was how. She was, undoubtedly, unnerved.

She had stared into Medusa's eyes for at least ten seconds, and she had felt nothing except for that weird, detached feeling. It was already gone, but she remembered it clearly.

This reminded Hallez of another time. A few days ago, in the plane, when she crashed it. She'd survived from a few-thousand-feet drop, with nothing more than two-degree burns on her arms.

And now, she'd survived from petrifaction, from suffering the same fate as Travis, who'd turned to stone right in front of her eyes.

As crazy as this question was, she couldn't help but ask herself, Why wasn't she dying?

The guy with the sunglasses studied her. "It must be because she's the daughter of Letum, the god of death."

"But she's still mortal," Medusa complained. She walked leisurely towards Hallez and Fiona, who was still struggling weakly in Hallez's arms, but had quieted down. "No mortal can escape my petrifaction if they stare at me with naked eyes. How is she an exception, daughter of Death or not? It even worked on a child of Pluto once."

"Either way, we need her alive."

Hallez sucked in a breath. "Why?"

Her voice came out stronger than she could've hoped, and she stood straighter under the piercing gazes of the guy and Medusa. She couldn't show them that she was, internally, afraid. "What do you want a daughter of Death for?"

"Nothing that would come at your expense, I assure you," the guy, who seemed to be the leader, said. "It's merely for...something revolutionary, I suppose you could say."

"Something revolutionary?" Hallez questioned. "Something to rebel against the gods, even?"

"You're bright, despite being Death's child, that's something."

"Oh, Arvyn, shut up and let me kill her!" Medusa seemed to get more and more irritated as the conversation went on. She was glaring at Hallez with pure hatred now, perhaps furious she couldn't turn her into stone. "She obviously won't help you with your Plan! Besides, isn't the boy—"

Arvyn didn't appear to move, but something seemed to shift in Medusa, and she faltered. She looked towards him, and flinched.

"M-my mistake." To Hallez's bewilderment—and maybe some terror and astonishment—Medusa dropped her head, apologizing, which even Hallez could tell was not normal. "I was just—"

Hallez didn't let herself think.

"Stay. Still." she whispered in Fiona's ear, before letting her go.

This was an opportunity she couldn't not take advantage of.

A second later, she had somehow zipped through the air in her other state, and shifted back directly before Medusa, her dagger, at some point in time, in her hand. She remembered the story of Medusa's death, and thrusted, aiming towards her neck.

Unfortunately, Medusa had somehow known that something was off, and she'd snapped her head up again. She bared her teeth—sharp and pointed—before bringing her arm up to parry the dagger, her claws scratching Hallez's wrist and hand, drawing blood, forcing Hallez to let the dagger go.

It sailed halfway across the grand entrance hall, clattering onto the floor.

Hallez couldn't let that distract her. She grabbed Medusa's arm, the one with blood painted on her claws, and yanked her forward, her foot hooking her leg and attempting to trip her.

"Ugh! You annoying little—"

Medusa, somehow, in her dress and heels, kept her balance and spun around, pulling Hallez down to the ground instead. Her strength easily surpassed the girl's, and Hal was soon thrown onto the ground. She rolled uncontrollably for a second, her head banging against the floor, before she stopped herself and forced herself to stand again, narrowly missing hitting the Ancile copy on the ground, and Travis' stone statue. Her teeth gritted at the sight of Travis' frozen face, his eyes staring dead ahead, his mouth slightly ajar, his hand on his spear. His other hand was halfway outstretched, undoubtedly towards where he thought Fiona was, before he opened his eyes out of desperation, and stared into Medusa's.

It was a prophecy that came true. It was Fate. Like that kid at the Forum so long ago had said, it had been meant to happen from the beginning.

That didn't mean it was just fine, or fair, or just.

Hallez stared ahead, looking at the scene. Medusa was a few feet in front of her, fury glowing in her yellow eyes, snakes in her hair matching her mood and hissing ferociously. The guy, Arvyn, in the back, his arms crossed, staring at the scene like an audience member, merely interested. It didn't make sense. Wasn't he just talking about how he needed Hallez alive? Why was he just letting Medusa fight her?

Hal had to think. Her mind was racing. She had just lost her dagger. She had barely gotten to use it before it got knocked out of her hand. She was decent at self-defense, but she was still no good at hand-to-hand combat, especially when she didn't have the element of surprise. She did, for a second, but it didn't seem to help her against Medusa.

Her only advantage was that Medusa's petrifaction didn't work on her.

Thankfully Medusa's attention was absolutely fixed on her. Fiona was out of the line of fire for now—

Wait. Where was—?

Before she could think, Medusa rushed her, claws reaching out, unavoidable. But before she could reach Hal, there was a brief flash of brown and green, and Fiona was there, behind the monster, her sword drawn, slashing at Medusa's neck. It didn't even draw blood—the skin was too thick—but the force was enough to send Medusa off-course, enough for Hallez to dodge.

"Fiona!" Hallez moved in front of the brunette, blocking her from Medusa's line of sight, just in case. "What are you—?"

"I'm not letting you fight alone this time," Fiona said, her voice deadly calm. Venom was present in her words, but not directed at Hallez. She still shivered briefly. "And especially not against the one who killed my brother."

Hallez didn't protest as Medusa stood up. She desperately didn't want to see the same thing happen to Fiona. She couldn't see the same thing happen to Fiona. She couldn't see someone else die. After her parents, Travis, possibly Cade—

But she also couldn't protest. Fiona had every right to fight Medusa, even more so than Hallez.

She also remembered Minerva's words.

Perseus only managed to find and kill Medusa with the help of others. Try as he might, he wouldn't have been able to on his own. What does that say about you, Hallez Kane?

And Travis.

We can help Hallez, and we're going to, like it or not. Gods help me, we've only known you for a day, but in that day you have very thoroughly become our friend, so like it or not, we're going to help you from now on. We're going to help you even if we have to die while doing so, because we're friends.

The irony of it now.

"Close your eyes. How's your balance?"

She could feel Fiona's puzzled expression. "What?"

"I will try to help you dodge her and give you openings. Please don't fall over, and do not open your eyes, unless I say it is safe to do so."

There was no argument. "Alright."

Medusa had stood now, and was walking toward them again. "Oh, would you look at that! The sister has joined in!"

Hallez breathed out. "Five feet to your left, go."

She shifted states before hearing a response, and floated towards Medusa. There was something odd about Medusa's blob of energy. It didn't feel as natural as the others. It was blotchy, and dim, except for a spot below her heart, the same spot she saw when she'd first stared into her eyes.

Hallez had to get a closer look.

"What is this?" Medusa hissed. "Some Letum trick? The reaping phase? Do you really think you can pretend to be like your father?"

She then rushed Fiona, and Hallez shifted back behind Medusa to kick her in the side, sending her stumbling, but the monsters reflexes were scarily well, and she turned, slashing at Hallez's leg before she could retract it. Hal gritted her teeth.

"Three feet this way! Duck! Use the Sword!"

She forced herself to shift back, feeling her head pound even in that state. Shifting this many times, this fast, was taking a toll.

Fiona had charged forward towards Medusa, and as Medusa swiped at her, she ducked just in time, luckily, and slashed at her legs. Again, no damage, but it made Medusa stumble. Fiona ran away again, both hands on her sword cautiously. She hesitated, before sheathing it, and drawing the other one.

Yet even with the Sword of Perseus, they couldn't keep this up for long. Fiona couldn't see, and Medusa was fast.

But it didn't matter. She'd seen it, and she was sure she knew what it was. It was something like a small energy bundle of thread, looping around and around below Medusa's heart. It had no end, but at the same time, she could tell it led somewhere. There was no good way to explain it.

She suddenly knew what to do, and it almost scared her. How did she know what to do? How could she see the thread? Like...the thread in her vision? Why? How did she know what it was?

But then, of course, she realized why. Obviously, she was the daughter of Letum. Letum, the god of death. She was the daughter of Death. She could see things, things connected to death. Or rather, things that were cut when someone died.

Now, how was she supposed to do this? She turned, and was about to go get her dagger, when a scream pierced the air.

Hallez turned again, and saw—or rather, felt, Medusa's blotchy, odd energy next to Fiona's. Her attack had landed.

She saw, vaguely, that Fiona was swinging the Sword, but it bounced off of Medusa's neck harmlessly. It wouldn't work, Hal knew. At least, not yet.

She didn't have time. If she went to get her dagger, Fiona might...

But she had lost her only weapon, how was she—

No, it's not your only weapon.

She had wondered whose voice it was. She had a suspicion she knew now. Hallez shifted back to physical state, and stumbled. She reached into her toolbelt, and gripped a familiar object. Her pocketknife. Her gift. She had known it came from her parents. She just didn't realize exactly who.

I give you, my daughter, the power of Death.

I lend you, my daughter, my weapon.

I grant you permission to take away one's last breath.

Use this wisely, and send them neither hell nor heaven.

Something flowed through Hallez, like cold, ice water, but it wasn't painful or unpleasant. It felt natural. It was a part of her. It was Death's power. It was Letum's power, her father's, and it was embedded in her. It just had to be awakened.

The pounding in her head lessened, and she could pretend that her injuries were gone.

"Medusa!"

Really, she didn't need to shout. Medusa had already turned her way.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Hallez tore her eyes away from Fiona, who was bleeding badly, the side of her clothes ripped and stained with blood.

A deadly, chilling calm had gripped Hallez. She flicked her pocketknife open, and the blade, though looking weak and fragile and tiny compared to the swords and daggers Hallez had seen and used, the air around it seemed to be sucked away, and a dark, looming energy engulfed it.

Medusa visibly flinched. Her confidence suddenly drained away. "H-ha! Y-you think that tiny thing is going to do anything against me?"

Hallez didn't react. "Medusa, you have outlived your time. May you lay restless, in pain, even in Death."

This had long been overdue. Medusa had somehow escaped Death once, but she would not, could not, do so again. With that thought in mind, Hal summoned a rush of energy, of strength, of speed, she was suddenly upon the monster. She couldn't be stopped, as Death was an unstoppable force.

Fear was evident in those yellow eyes, which widened. She raised an arm in an attempt to slash at Hallez.

"Open your eyes," Hallez said, her voice loud and clear.

Then, her pocketknife gripped firmly in her hand, she stabbed Medusa, right under the heart, where she'd seen the bundle of threads. A wave of shadows erupted from the blade, and Hallez heard an audible snap! from the air, but she wasn't sure if anyone else heard. As she pulled her knife out, power surged through Medusa, and something seemed to visibly change.

Her skin wrinkled, her face shrunk and turned pale, aging decades within the span of a single second. Her head of snakes hissed with alarm, but it was nothing compared to Medusa's own scream.

Then, Fiona appeared behind her, the Sword of Perseus in hand.

"THIS IS FOR TRAVIS!"

With a clean, uninterrupted swing, the sword sliced neatly through Medusa's neck, and her head toppled off, eyes closing. It morphed, and the snakes changed into a mop of unruly green hair, the face changing into that of an old woman's, nothing like Medusa's head.

Silence rang through the hall.

---

Idk why but it feels ironic somehow that this is my favorite chapter—

I'll admit I haven't really been planning for this type of reveal specifically because everything has gone like five meters off the rails since the plot train started churning ahhhh ;-;

Ah well

- Lunya