[Atlantic Ocean] Gorgades

[Bloodedge]

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4364/36267140940_8ac2928556_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XfNzts)

In the Aethiopian Sea, several kilometers south of the lost city of Atlantis, lies the Gorgades Islands. These islands are home to the mythical Gorgon race, alongside various other creatures with no place in human society. At the center of this archipelago is the island Cerna: home to the royals among Gorgonkind, such as Medusa and her immortal sisters. The palace inhabited by Gorgon royals is placed on Cerna, and is made of the stone bodies of the ancient Titanaboa, and the throne within is made of still-living parts of the old serpents, including their eyes.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4354/36267141970_9383deb7b4_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XfNzMd)

[Apollymi]

Whether or not they'd spoken about it anymore didn't really matter. As Deianira spent a great deal of time on the sea in the last week or so of travels with Athos. Her newest sight would be an archipelago on the horizon, small islands which was apparently where Athos wanted to go in the first place. She had an advanced view of this place from the bow of the ship aptly named the Careless Whisper, with use of her enhanced sight. She had a few thoughts on what this place could be, and she'd remark upon it in due time. Her new armor seemed to blow in the breeze as the young man manipulating the boat seemed to be steering them ever closer to this collection of islands.

Over the last week she'd learned a bit about the young man she was with part of it being is rather strained relationship with his god parent, along with his general dislike of people all together which she figured had something to do with his being a gorgon. Regardless of this fact, she'd taken a bit of a liking to him, for reasons all her own, and she'd help in anyway she could. "This is a nice place. Is this the home you wanted to go back to?" she asked as the islands came into a normal line of vision.

[Bloodedge]

By the time Deianira found words to share with the half-Gorgon, the ashen-haired male ceased his manipulation of the ocean waters, bringing their sea vessel to a calm coast across the waves. Many meters still separated the boat from the central, obviously most populated island in the archipelago. Athos held his left hand against his eye patch while looking out unto the land he sought, and words soon escaped him. "I'm going now," he said, not exactly giving the answer Deianira may have desired, but answering nonetheless. Indeed though, this was the home he sought to return to, albeit not the one he truly desired in the depths of his heart. As he stepped toward the edge of the boat, he hesitated for only a moment. "... Thanks," he stated. Without further ado, the son of Poseidon leaped into the sea, where he would swim toward the forest which seemed to be in a perpetual state just prior to the death of all trees on the island.

[Apollymi]

Deianira received not the explanation she sought, though if she were being truly honest with herself she didn't really expect an answer. What happened next though, was well beyond her expectations. As the lad rather casually mentioned he was leaving, after bringing the vessel to a gentle coast. He did this and soon enough escaped the boat into the sea, but not before uttering a single word of thanks. This was something well and truly unexpected, the raven haired lass had wide eyes, but before she could react he simply disappeared off the edge. She stood there on the coasting ship alone for a few moments, her eyes and mouth agape and her mind full of thoughts. "He said thanks?!" she wondered aloud now on her own. In fact, the child of Dionysus found herself in a bit of internal conflict. To be fair, she'd helped the boy get to the place he wanted to go, so far as she knew. He was now armed in a way which he thought would help him overcome whatever obstacle he meant to face.

Even so, Deianira was plagued by the idea that she still didn't actually know much about this boy nor his plight. Beyond this, he'd offered her thanks which she hadn't rightly expected from him. It felt wrong to abandon him at this point, and beyond that, she had no idea what troubles he'd find himself facing. 'I should probably just leave this be, it tends to upset him when I go places after him...' she thought. 'But... I'd feel bad leaving him right now without knowing that he got what he actually wanted. It's a shade too close to an untruth for me to be satisfied,' she thought as she paced back and forth a few seconds longer. 'Okay, how about... I don't get involved, I'll just make sure he's okay. Yeah, that isn't meddling... not really,' she argued with herself. 'I can't leave him,' she thought. 'But, I don't want to steer this boat, and that water closer to shore looks murky... ugh... fine,' she thought making a deal with herself to do a thing which she didn't do often.

In this moment a necklace which she kept hidden beneath the neck piece of her new armor and before that beneath a leather strip she always wore. This would seem strange it looked a bit like a stone only not like any one which occurred naturally in the world. It had a strange gleam to it and was diamond shaped and glittered golden ever so slightly. The light of it increased by a drastic amount and it'd envelop the young demigod. In doing so, it would clothe her in golden armor decorated by filigree and fitted to her frame. It was not unlike the armor seen on one such as Camus or even Aoilia. It categorized her as one like them, a Champion for a God or Goddess, in particular, Deianira was once again linked to Artemis. Afterward the girl would jump from the top of the ship, and in doing so perform a spin in the air, causing a pair of giant golden wings to blossom from her back. They were part of the armor, but served the purpose to allow the girl to fly which she began to do in the same direction that Athos had taken off in.

[Bloodedge]

Athos proved himself to be far more agile underwater than he managed to be on land, even transformed. He even utilized said transformation to slither onward from just beneath the water's surface. Eventually, he flopped over into a stream of the murkier waters found deeper in this island, which held its dulled golden color due to these marshlands being atop the carcasses of various serpentine creatures and mythical beings, some greater in stature than mortals could fathom. After only a minute or so of travel through these marshes, he began passing old pillars of stone, and encroached upon a stone building with a very realistic pair of humongous serpents forming its entryway decor by wrapping around most of the outer wall, and one even having its tail stretching out into the water itself. This was at the very center of the island, and though the building didn't seem very large, the opening of the door revealed it to be a mostly underground structure, as the torches upon the wall were on a downward slope. The incline was steep. To descend, Athos - without his eye patch, thus in his Gorgon form again - furthered his transformation to grow out his tail as he slid down. By the time he reached his full length of about 20 feet, he was only about a quarter of the way down.

[Apollymi]

Deianira now taken to the skies above was seated with a very interesting problem. Athos had all but disappeared ahead of her taking off in the water, and while she'd figured he'd be faster in the sea than on land, she hadn't accounted for how much faster. 'This just became a strange hunting trip,' she said as her eyes focused deeper than the surface of the water. She began looking for small disturbances to let her know the way he'd gone. And eventually found herself turning off the main path of the oceans blue and green to a murkier marshland. 'Ah, dead snake problems...' she thought as the golden hue of the water was ever so lightly disturbed by the young boy's movements. Those disturbances though, were quite odd, 'Those aren't legs,' her eyes widened. A big game hunt unlike any other could take place here, and though she was only doing this now to look for her friend it was rather quickly becoming an interesting idea to her. Snakes around this area were large enough to pollute the water, they had to be more than reasonable prey. Her immediate ideal hunting happiness only curbed by a singular idea. 'Wait, wait, it'd be bad to think about hunting someone's proper family right? Okay, calm down,' she managed to think. She hung back quite a bit, finally seeing the white haired lad emerge in full snake form from the waters edge and head into a rather strange looking building. She knew for a fact it led underground, but given the boy's behavior and general demands, she could only figure he had a gorgon stare. With this knowledge and some general idea of where they were, following underground didn't seem like a good idea. so instead she found herself examining the outside of this building. 'These are strangely lifelike?' she thought as she'd never seen a scupltor capable of capturing such livelihood in an animal before. And she'd seen many in her time as a demigod.

[Bloodedge]

The trip Athos was making happened to be one he had made a few times in his life. In this case, though, it was seeming like the longest journey of said life. The corridor he traveled down had multiple offshoots on either side, but he continued on a straightforward path. Eventually, this direct route opened up to reveal a great room that looked something like a discard pile from an ancient library. Books filled the floor in large piles, particularly ones surrounding a staircase that led upward to a throne. Behind the throne was a massive, living tentacle structure with a large eye at its center, and various smaller eyes around that. The true sight to behold however, was the throne itself - or rather, the 41 foot green tail coiled in the area around it, ending in a muscular humanoid torso upon the seat. The figure Athos beheld was a male Gorgon with a crown upon his head, and crimson fabric covering his blinded eyes and binding the majority of his body. His name was Chrysaor, and he was known here as the Gorgon King... as well as Athos' elder brother, one of the first children born of Poseidon and Medusa.

"You..." he hissed as that massive tail began to shift, disturbing the stability of everything around him with weight that greatly surpassed a measured ton. "I knew a Gorgon would come, but you were not what I expected. As well... I banished you. Do you remember those words I spoke to you that time?"

[Apollymi]

Deianira continued to investigate these large snakes on the exterior of the building. Her eyes wide as she realized what they had to be. 'Oh no, these aren't lifelike statues. These were alive at some point, killed, and frozen in statue state...' her thoughts gave her great pause. She'd known Athos had descended into this lair of sorts, and while she knew the boy to be perfectly capable of defending himself, she began to wonder how he'd fare in a fight against something capable of immobilizing something as large as the snakes outside of this place. 'Ugh, I have a bad feeling...' she frowned intensely as she looked at the entrance still hovering above the ground. Instinct and her chats with Invi told her she didn't want to let a snake that could see her normally know her exact location. Still the rumble as something began to stir below gave her pause. 'I should go see... I feel like he's going to be cross with me though,' she said rubbing a golden gloved hand over her face. She'd never had to navigate the feelings of someone who wasn't properly affected by her, and the people who were passively unaffected tended to aim for nice regardless. A feeling of dread settled in as she began her descent and it had nothing to do with her own personal feelings about this place, nor her potential impending doom, and everything to do with the friend she was trying to make, being upset that she'd come. But in her own mind, he hadn't specifically told her not to, so he couldn't really be upset... right?

[Bloodedge]

"You said there would be only one living male Gorgon the day I came back," Athos replied to the green male. This wasn't exactly what was spoken by Chrysaor; what he said was more along the lines of killing Athos so he was the only living male of their species. Of course, he took exception to the way his younger brother responded. "You cocky little shit. You're just like Poseidon, after all." The words spoken by Chrysaor caused an expression never before seen on Athos' visage - one of anger. Of course, Chrysaor could not see this now either, but he could feel what came next.

In a flash, Athos was slithering up to the throne, baring his neurotoxic nails against the venomless Gorgon King. He was swift in his approach, but what he wasn't, was anywhere near as powerful as his would-be victim. Chrysaor's tail uncoiled only slightly to lash out at the encroaching Athos, and it struck the boy hard enough to launch him to the throne room's entryway while knocking all the air from his lungs. Once this was done, Chrysaor's still uncoiling tail went about removing him from the throne. "Attacking the king... is an act punishable by something much worse than death," the elder serpent spoke while stretching the bindings on his right arm to grab a massive bow from behind his throne. His left arm, at the same time, reached out to take up a quiver filled with arrows the size of long swords. "Firssst~... You'll be my plaything."

[Apollymi]

As Deianira made her descent she began to hear voices. One male voice, though seldom heard was recognizable to her as Athos. The other, she did not know on cue but figured it was whoever the boy had come to see. The nature of this conversation let her know, he was likely the one the white haired young man intended to fight, but beyond that point, there wasn't much to be said one way or the other. 'This doesn't seem good.' she thought as her feet still weren't anywhere near the ground. Still a rather sudden movement from Athos made Deianira's silver eyes widen immensely. 'Fast...' she thought only to immediately find herself shifting backwards to avoid the smaller snake boy flying her way. It seemed whoever this was that Athos had come for was quite a powerful foe indeed, and more than twice the smaller boy's size. 'This... isn't good at all...' she said as she watched in the distance as the very green male gorgon took up a bow and claimed the young man now near her would be his plaything. 'This definitely seems like the sort of thing I shouldn't interfere in...' she thought as she examined Athos from a fairly close distance though he didn't seem to be anything more than winded from his first toss. She could be seen likely from the corner of his eye as a golden glint, she could only hope he wouldn't freak out about it. Still, as she shifted backward she used one of her lesser abused power and spoke to the lad telepathically. Of course, doing so would likely be a bit shocking, and it was something she usually avoided doing to people, but the situation seemed pretty dire. 'Now, before you get mad, you didn't actually tell me not to come. So, I decided to see if you were okay. But this all looks pretty dangerous, so do you have a plan? If you do, I'll just watch. It just felt wrong to have agreed to help you, only for it to lead to your impending demise...' she mentioned quickly only to disappear from the boy's mind just as gently as she'd appeared.

[Bloodedge]

"Firssst... maybe you should do something about that lisp," said Athos as he pulled himself off the floor and, metaphorically speaking, pulled himself back together as well. Before the peak of his rise, a shimmer appeared in Athos' periphery. He did not look toward it, but he didn't need to, as a voice entered his mind before he even could. What he heard within his subconscious was the voice that had plagued him for days on end with its constant attempts at involvement with his ordeals. No response was given... At least, not by Athos. Chrysaor did respond to the girl's existence after whiffing the air around him. "There. You're the one. I've been waiting for two years, but you've finally come. The Huntressss... my perfect Gorgon Queen."

Athos had no clue what sort of interaction Chrysaor thought he was having with the female demigod, but that didn't matter; he was distracted now. With this extra few moments of rest, he took up the Boa Sword gifted to him by Hephaestus, and held it at the ready.

[Apollymi]

A mental chuckle came from Deianira as Athos spoke, aloud and to the man she supposed was his brother, given she knew of is other familial relations. She supposed if nothing else, it was nice to note that his lack of manners seemed to extend in all directions, and not just hers. Regardless of this fact though, it would appear she'd been spotted and not by any method she'd expected. The now distracted Gorgon King, spoke directly to her in a fashion she didn't rightly expect, but since she now knew for a fact that he knew of her presence she hid it no longer. She felt more than a mild bit of confusion at his words, mostly the idea that she was somehow perfect to be his queen. "Huntress? Yeah, but I am pretty sure I am lacking at least a couple of qualifications to be a 'Gorgon' Queen, or anyone's queen really," the girl stated as she watched her companion pull himself together and ready his sword. "Also, no idea why you'd be waiting for me, we haven't met... I never forget a face~" she chimed, and though that was true there were several things equally more remarkable in this moment. "Or another archer," obviously she could be a bit of a distraction to Chrysaor in this moment, and she'd do so to help out Athos, if only because it seemed like the smaller boy could accurately use the given advantage, no matter how small it was.

[Bloodedge]

"No. You are the queen... the other bow-wielding Gorgon. There is no greater truth," said Chrysaor. In truth, though Chrysaor had once paid the price of his own eyesight, but it had come with the secret benefit of sight beyond sight. He was a seer, in some respect. He had foreseen the huntress, Deianira, entering his throne room with the scent of a Gorgon upon her. Surely this vision could not have led him astray, as none of his others - including that which foretold his rise to kingship - had done so before. "Could it be... the two of you came together?" he asked while shifting his head toward Athos, who stopped dead in his tracks in that very moment. Whilst this conversation had been such a distraction, Athos had begun slithering toward Chrysaor by taking an arc approach to the side opposite to Deianira. He'd hoped to make use of his sword by approaching in such a way, bu Chrysaor remained aware of the boy's presence at all times. To silence his approach further, Chrysaor readied his bow by pointing it in Athos' direction, loading into it an arrow of great proportions that seemed to take unrivaled amounts of brute strength to even draw back. As he made these movements so powerful in nature, the enchanted fabric wrapped around his body seemed to somehow be stretching, not to accommodate his movements, but to hinder them from a would-be greater state. "You will not sneak up on me, son of Poseidon. Be still as I speak with my queen."

[Apollymi]

"No greater truth? That seems a bit set in stone..." she said with a small chuckle. "No pun intended of course. Well... maybe just a little. It was funny," she said in reference to her own joke. Still this boy spoke as if he'd seen her with the sight beyond that of his normal form, which was the only way such a thing was possible considering he was likely blind by his mannerisms. Regardless, Deianira felt the need to clear up a few things. "I'm not a Gorgon at all, I'm a demigod. Child of Dionysus and separately from that Artemis' chosen Huntress. It is literally impossible for me to be the 'Queen' in your vision, I couldn't be a Huntress anymore if I was..." Deianira managed. She watched casually as Athos shifted around and hoped he would strike soon, but it seemed that the massive gorgon king was more than aware of his younger brother's movements. Deianira's eyes widened as she watched Chrysaor but arrow to bow, with a strength she'd not seen in a demigod in quite some time. And beyond that was quite acutely aware of the movements of the ribbons which seemed to hold back his person.

'You should be very careful. The tensile strength behind that arrow is going to be greater than anything I've ever seen produced. If it hits you, it'll go straight through...' she mentioned that warning with the warm telepathic whisper she'd given the lad Athos before. "The strength required to use that bow is massive. I'm impressed," she said, and there was a great amount of truth in that sentiment, but still... there was the matter of how she'd arrived in this place. "I'm just looking out for a new friend. He got here before me, but I was arguing with myself about whether he'd be upset if I followed him here..." she said honestly. This conversation was something of a distraction, and the golden clad young woman would keep it up. Though she knew her words could likely be taken as flirtatious she didn't mean them as such, she was, in fact, being as honest about her life situation as she possibly could, so that Chrysaor should he continue living after this situation wouldn't get the wrong idea. All the girl knew were platonic relationships, because that is all she could know and keep the full range of powers she currently possessed. This included her ability to use a bow which wasn't something she'd give up, especially given how much it allowed her to help her friends.

[Bloodedge]

"... Hmph," was Athos' response. He'd take the warning of Deianira, but it didn't much matter. He knew the power wielded by his brother was beyond the comprehension of mortals, but of the multitude of reasons Athos himself had been banished by the elder Gorgon, one was the fact that Athos boasted powers Chrysaor could not possess: the powers of their father. As such, the white-haired boy's free left hand touched the floor beneath him, causing finite tremors in the ground to bring rise to a pillar of rock in front of him. As this formed, Chrysaor continued speaking to Deianira. "So you did come together. No matter. Old tomes tell of those blessed by Artemis; some were foolish enough to try hunting us in the past. There are methods for keeping the blessing, and methods for fixing this... lack of Gorgon blood. As king, I hold these powers. Or... are you too attached to this mistake?" Chrysaor's ending query spoke of Athos. He knew of the wall this boy attempted to use as a shield, but he knew more of his own strength. He released the arrow he'd been holding, resulting in an audible effect akin to a small sonic boom as it blasted through the stone wall, and the floor thereafter. Between these two things was a splatter of blood, visible from either side of the barrier, but not a single sound came from Athos. "The boy will never be upset. He'll never be anything. He was never anything more than a clump of genes and powers that should have never coexisted. Join me, huntress. As you can see, my power is more than enough to do something about that curse you were given by Artemis."

[Apollymi]

'Acknowledgement~' the young woman chimed in her own head of course. The words of Chrysaor were quite interesting and new to her. She'd never before heard of a method which would allow her to keep her powers as a huntress, while being anywhere near remotely normal. If this had been a normal situation she might have probed his mind further, but it was obvious to her that he only intended to share such information, if he could be the one to make use of it. Such a deal wasn't at all something Deianira would find herself agreeing to at any point now, or in the future. Beyond this, she could not very well tolerate the sort of attitude boasted by Chrysaor in this moment. "Mistake?" she frowned in this moment, something very rare in the case of the normally jovial huntress. In fact, even when she was upset she normally wouldn't allow herself to actually do anything other than smile. Even so, she would be rather obviously displeased, and this would only be added to by the arrow penetrating the barrier put up by Athos and resulting in a spill of blood which only made the young woman's silver eyes widen immensely. She fought the desire to call out to the boy physically, knowing it would only stoke the older Gorgon male's distaste and likely lead to more injuries for the white haired lad. 'Wiggle or something to let me know you're still okay in there,' she murmured telepathically reaching out ever so slightly with her own mind.

This boy was one of only a few people, whose emotions she could trust as his own, him dying here would be incredibly disheartening. "Curse? No no... you have the wrong idea here..." she said such a thing while still not finding it in herself to smile. "People aren't mistakes, people make mistakes," the young woman said, having an extensive philsophy about such things by her own actions. "No one can control the circumstances of their birth. Living with something like that looming over your existence... that is a curse," she said coming to an understanding of why Athos had been so distrusting and hard to befriend.

Whatever other traumas he'd experienced, none of them would compare in her own eyes, to the idea that everyone he'd grown up with, who was supposed to look out for him, thought him a mistake. Something to be hidden and pushed out, she couldn't imagine living with knowing this was how people felt about your very existence. She thought her life confusing enough for not knowing people's real thoughts of her from their emotionally manipulated ones, but this only made her feel more for the white haired lad. How he tolerated such an existence was beyond her, but it only gained Athos a great deal of respect in her eyes. "I'm not cursed, this life is one I chose and I have no problem seeing it through as it is. I could easily give up being a huntress, and that will be my choice," she said pausing for the gravity of the thing she was about to say and finding that smile she'd so recently forgotten. "But it wouldn't be for a king who thinks so little of his own younger brother. If you treat him like this, I can only imagine how everyone else is treated. It's not a sacrifice I am willing to make," Deianira's statements ended and she realized how such a 'blessing' from Artemis was meant to play out. Though admittedly she wouldn't want to give up being a huntress, if she had to for the sake of someone else, she would... but it would be solely her decision if they were worthy of her sacrifice. Such a thought gave the young woman an extreme amount of comfort. After all, she hadn't expected at all to think about herself during this endeavor and in chasing friendship with the shy gorgon lad, she'd found one of her defining principles.

[Bloodedge]

"You say people make mistakes. Poseidon made the boy. Missstake." Chrysaor was quite clearly set in his opinion about his young brother's existence. He had no place in this world, and Chrysaor's senses told him he had now been reduced to an eternity in Hades. No movement came from beyond the hole in the stone wall. The Gorgon King had kept his promise. "Fear not for your own future, my queen. The boy was no brother of mine. You will stand among Gorgonkind as my mother once did, whether it is something you believe now... or not..."

In a matter of moments, another tremor suddenly took place beneath Chrysaor. A torrent of water emerged from this, carrying Athos. The white Gorgon coiled himself around his elder brother's torso, revealing a bleeding hole in the end of his own tail as he did so, though he was no worse for wear otherwise. "What trickery is this!?" Chrysaor exclaimed. Athos had nothing to say to the other male Gorgon, but he did have something to do... and do, he did. Though his right hand wielded a sword forged by Hephaestus, Athos relied on his left hand to claw into the flesh of Chrysaor's arms, delivering his neurotoxin on both sides with intentions of limiting his opponent's greatest strength. In these moments, Athos seemed to have a much greater amount of focus than in his previous fights. This battle, above all the others, was one he needed to win.

[Apollymi]

"You're not hearing me, that mistake is on Poseidon..." she said. It was strange to her to be arguing such a point with another person. She wouldn't have to have this conversation with people she normally associated with, and found it to be the singular most frustrating conversation she'd ever had. "Ugh, I'm going to need a proper drink after this. It's like I've been talking to a wall..." she said, as she pinched the bridge of her nose with the middle finger and thumb of her left hand as if to relieve the pressure of a coming headache. "I'm not going to be your queen," she said, as an immediate follow up to the idea that she would somehow be the same as Medusa to his people. "That sounded harsher outside my head," she followed up, though she didn't apologize for it, she truly wasn't interested in Chrysaor. Seers misinterpreted their visions all the time, and she was almost positive he'd done this in her case.

Still, the daughter of Dionysus was given a small glimmer of happiness, and that for her was tremendous, as Athos emerged from the space below apparently more than well. She'd brushed against his mind and found him still among the living due to her earlier prodding use of telepathy. Even so, she was more than a bit relieved to see him in actuality. Though the wound in his tail made her wince just a tad. "That looks dreadful..." she said aloud of the wound a deep acknowledgement of the young son of Poseidon for managing to keep fighting and further more hide his presence and launch a proper attack against his brother. She watched as this carried on, beginning to think logically about the kind of poison or venom the young gorgon boy used against his older brother. From her own observation it was probably a neurotoxin which could have a couple of different outcomes. 'Hm, I wonder if that will work out...'

[Bloodedge]

Once Athos' neurotoxin was applied, Chrysaor lashed about to throw the younger male off his torso. In doing so, he quite literally swatted the boy away, though Athos' tail remained steadfast around his humanoid midsection. "Pesky brat, get off me!" the king shouted. Athos' neurotoxin was of a powerful variety, but it seemed to have come with a great downside when applied to one such as Chrysaor. The Gorgon King stretched his arms so quickly, with such unfathomable strength, that it snapped the bindings he had in place himself. These things were actually in place to limit Chrysaor's movements, as his power was too great for his own body to handle it. Now that his nerves had been affected by Athos, he'd lost a great deal of sensation already, so he had less measure for the amount of strength he was using. Of course, this resulted in him using something closer to his true physical power, which was beyond what even enchanted bindings could fully restrain.

Athos hissed at nearly being thrown away, but he persisted still. That is... until Chrysaor took hold of his tail with such a tight grip, his fist was nearly fully closed around the serpentine half of the boy's body. "Hrngh!" grunted the youngest son of Poseidon. Just then, the unexpected happened. Whatever Athos had planned was shot down by a quick pull of Chrysaor's left arm, which tore away the end of the tail it held in such a firm grasp. What was previously no more than a pierce wound and a tightness which caused him great discomfort, became...

"HUAAAAHH!" Having roughly a quarter of his tail ripped off left Athos in absolute agony, and he quickly fell to the floor. Much to his dismay, he was not allowed to wallow in this agony, as he was just as quickly scooped up by Chrysaor's tail, and held in a bone-crushing embrace. All the while, Chrysaor - seeing Athos as nothing more than something to eliminate as an aside to his ongoing conversation - continued speaking with Deianira. "You would say no to me? What a foolish decision. You have until this thing stops breathing to change your mind, lest we have to settle our engagement the difficult way."

[Apollymi]

Deianira continued to watch as Athos made contact with his brother. His neurotoxin did indeed seem to work upon the Gorgon King, which was useful information to have, but the young huntress could see that things would get worse before they got better. 'I hope he did that on purpose...' she said as she steeled herself. She was a huntress, she had an iron will, but she couldn't help but feel that the physical punishment the lad was putting himself through for his potential victory was far too much. But she imagined by comparison to his emotional damage he didn't feel like it was much. Even so, as a section of the boy's tail was ripped away she reflexively flinched. It seemed surprising, even so she couldn't do anything about it. She didn't know what kinds of ceremonial rights bound this boy in his fight with his brother. She couldn't interfere it if would risk what he was working towards, all she could do was offer her unwavering support of him. 'I'm sorry, I really am... but I have the odd feeling you've felt worse... I don't know what you intend here... but you have my support...' she offered Athos, as she held back a well of emotions. She felt for this young man, respected him, and watched his suffering steadfast for the opportunity she'd have to help him.

That being said, the Gorgon King seemed rather set on the idea that she would be his bride, and spoke to her in a way which implied a threat the likes of which Deianira wouldn't necessarily put up with. Her eyes narrowed in this moment and she started at the blind Gorgon King and something rather venomous fell from her face. "Yes, I would say no. I'm saying it right now. No. It won't happen, I won't allow it..." she said seeming to think about it more, the threat which came with it implied that he'd have her even against her will, and that was something Deianira definitely wouldn't tolerate. If the son of Aphrodite couldn't talk her out if it, she wasn't going to let the brutish Gorgon King take it from her. "Also, you've got the wrong idea... I've only been spectating this travesty because I don't want anyone challenging his rule when he wins. He wants to be here and I want him to be happy, I won't take this from him. But you look like base prey to me..." the young woman mentioned, remembering that upon reaching this island she'd thought of hunting whatever was here. It would be a standing challenge if Chrysaor wished to try and claim this young woman by force. She sincerely hoped for Athos to be able to handle himself, she didn't want him harmed and she knew this win was important to him.

[Bloodedge]

As Chrysaor constricted him, Athos mustered up what strength he could in his right arm to cut at the green Gorgon's tail. It was hard enough to free that very same arm of the grip which had already begun snapping bones all throughout his body, but when he used the blade, it caused nothing more than a small gash which healed itself rather quickly. "Fool!" Chrysaor spoke while whipping the boy around with his tail. His own left arm drew back, and punched at the part of his tail which held Athos. The mere shock wave sent through this was enough to nearly knock the demigod unconscious, and blood spewed from his mouth nonetheless. Strangely, though... this attack tore all the muscles in Chrysaor's arm, and caused it to bleed profusely until its wounds healed as well. "How long must you try? There is hardly any life left in you already; even your regenerative abilities are nothing compared to mine. Look at what little damage you've done, and what damages you still have! Die! Watch, huntress. Watch what happens to his rule, and what happens to anyone who tries to impede mine! No one can stand before me!"

What came from Athos' mangled body next was the slightest upturn of the lips. "It's like a vacation from everything else," he said, though whether it was a response to Deianira's telepathic message, Chrysaor's threat of death, or something in his own mind... was something he would not explain. What Chrysaor couldn't realize due to the neurotoxin in his body, was that his punch - even mitigated through his own tail - should have shot a hole through the tail and Athos. The sword Hephaestus gave him was made with the power of the only thing a Gorgon of Chrysaor's status could fear: the Titanoboa. Its power was that of the original Basilisk, whose spell was a binding power the likes of which Chrysaor's ribbons only aimed to replicate. Chrysaor was rapidly becoming weak. All Athos had to do was survive long enough to capitalize on it.

[Apollymi]

'Ah, he can regenerate, that isn't good...' thought Deianira all to herself. She had long since become disillusioned by the words of the current Gorgon King, but was left to watch the long battle between him and Athos, waiting for the white haired male to emerge the victor. She'd noticed that Chrysaor was having a decent go at Athos, beating him within an inch of his life, and as his mind seemed to drift ever so slightly towards unconsciousness, the young man found it in himself to speak, with a smirk on his face no less. This smirk wasn't something she saw, but rather something she heard or felt within herself as he spoke. "Of course he chooses now to say something..." she said aloud with a roll of her eyes. Even so, she believed more in him in this moment than she had before. He was obviously going to win by virtue of the strength of his will. And this to Deianira was something worth being admired. "Someone is standing before you right now, you just won't acknowledge it..." Deianira mentioned off-handedly. She would indeed watch, but only because she felt the determination in and really wanted to help out Athos and right now she really wanted to witness the end of the present Gorgon King, if only for the white haired young man's sake.

[Bloodedge]

"I'll never acknowledge anything so insignificant," Chrysaor said. Though he knew he was being referred to this way, Athos had no proper reaction to the words. Such a thing was mere commonplace to him now, so he expected the statements. None of that mattered, though, as his goal remained intact. Now, even... it was becoming attainable. Chrysaor could not tell how much weaker he was becoming due to the binding spell of the Boa Sword, but Athos was finding it much easier to breath and move within his brother's constriction. "Give... me..." he started through labored breaths. "Give you what? A swifter death? Gladly," Chrysaor replied. With that, the elder loaded another arrow into his bow, aiming it at Athos' face with the intention of pulling it back. Before he could draw the string of his bow, Athos' sword arm moved in a way that allowed his blade to cleave through the muscular Gorgon's bow-wielding arm.

"Give me... my crown." Athos' return stroke occurred as Chrysaor's arm and bow hit the floor, slashing away half of the snakes upon the latter male's head. His crown, as well, was knocked away from his skull... but so was his blindfold. "Not bad... but... now, any hope you had is gone." As he spoke, Chrysaor began opening his eyes... eyes that had turned the ancient predecessors of the Gorgon species to stone with their powerful spell. Athos was ready for this, though. His severed tail moved swiftly, until it was able to splatter blood in Chrysaor's opening eyes to stop their spell from taking place. It was in this moment that Athos severed his other arm, then rammed the sword into the end of his tail closest to the torso. Then, the youngest son of Poseidon was free to slither away slowly to claim the fallen crown. But... was it over?

[Apollymi]

Deianira watched as Athos regained his breath, and the strength of Chrysaor's grip seemed to be weakening. 'Oh... neurotoxin,' she thought with a smirk forming over her face. If nothing else, Athos was to be commended for his long term strategy, and for possessing the fortitude required to go through with such a plan. Athos began to speak again, and his words garnered an amused chuckle from Deianira. Though they were drawn out and labored, they were the exact amount of instigation she expected from the lad she'd somewhat gotten to know over the last few weeks. She couldn't help the smile on her face as the young Gorgon King claimed his crown by force. "He's not seeming insignificant now..." she mentioned having watched Chrysaor's arms and the snakes of his hair, as well as his crown be removed by the sword skills of Athos. She likely had nothing more to say about the situation, she felt that the elder male had pretty much sealed his own fate, and was quite deserving of it, considering the hardship he'd given his little brother. Still she held her breath, she didn't know if this fight was over but she definitely didn't want to let her guard down at all.

[Bloodedge]

"Argh! You little shit!" Chrysaor exclaimed. Already, the bleeding was stopping from wounds received by Athos' blade. Chrysaor's limbs were even starting to visually regrow themselves. Athos never looked back, or even seem to give much of a care about the other male's healing. Poseidon's son was in the process of claiming the Gorgon King's crown, and once he did, he placed it upon his head, along with his usual eye patch. This process (specifically the donning of the eye patch) resulted in a return to Athos' normal state as the water he'd previously used in his underground tunnel gathered around his body. Once he was humanoid again, his lower body was once again fully intact, and all injuries presented by Chrysaor were sealed/repaired.

On the other side of things, Chrysaor's healing stagnated shortly after the bleeding stopped. The Boa Sword's sealing ability had taken full effect, and it saw to the official end of this battle. "I am the king now. I'll allow you to live on one of the other islands, but if you try anything when I take that sword out, I'll take your head," he claimed while stepping toward the elder Gorgon. In a matter of moments, his hand was upon the hilt of the Boa Sword, and he - in a manner not befitting his normal antics - looked Chrysaor directly in the face, while awaiting any form of retort.

[Apollymi]

As Deianira watched this battle seemingly came to its end. Athos, claimed his crown and declared himself king, even in the face of his brother who'd managed to stop his own bleeding but was still pinned down by the sword left within his person. He was soon enough fully healed by the water he'd previously used to hide his presence which Deianira more than appreciated given she was quite worried about the lad in general. But more so than happy about the apparent fixing of his body, she was stunned by his attitude even in the face of his brother. 'He kicked you out, he tried to kill you... he ignored your very presence while you stood in front of him...' she thought stunned by his words. 'And you'd still let him stay...' she was beyond words. This young king seemed to be a lot of things, but he wasn't particularly vengeful, even when he had every reason to be. He was fearful of people, wanted to be left alone, but he couldn't actually want to be alone. He still acknowledged his brother's existence he offered to not ignore him in the same way he'd been treated. There was something, noble, honest, and caring about his ability to do that. He didn't want his brother dead, he just didn't want to be excluded. She waited then as Athos approached and stared his brother in his face, she wondered if Chrysaor would accept those terms. If he'd agree to simply live and let live, having been beaten in combat.

[Bloodedge]

Chrysaor remained silent for quite some time. The offer given to him was one he could easily contest. If he could simply have this blade removed by means of trickery, he could finish healing himself to claim a true victory. On the other hand, Chrysaor was very firm as king of the Gorgons, and he certainly could not have his rule challenged after a somewhat illegitimate return of the crown. "I'll come for your head again. You won't keep me from being king for long," he said, though it seemed he would be trying nothing this day. As such, Athos pulled the sword from his brother's tail, allowing Chrysaor to slither away and regenerate on his path to one of the other islands. Athos was free to heave a sigh of relief when this happened, but he also had a few parting words for his brother. "I'll fight as long as it takes..."

Following Chrysaor's leave, Athos sheathed his sword, and approached the former king's fallen limbs. He took from them the bow of his brother, which he balanced between the floor, and his hand which sat upon the item's other end. He had an idea for what to do with this, but being the type of individual he was, he hadn't the words for the situation.

[Apollymi]

The young huntress got to watch as the two brothers came to some sort of strange agreement, it was interesting. She'd seen siblings fight before, witnessed the turn to civility after savagery, but still it was quite strange to witness. Especially when these two looked as if they were trying to kill each other for the entirety of their fight. The amount of respect she felt for this young man couldn't even be fathomed, a smile formed on her face as Chrysaor slithered off to heal up and relief flooded this young man and she smiled for him. 'What a strangely admirable boy...' she said, feeling herself become even more infatuated by the idea of befriending the young man properly. "Gorgon King Athos, huh?" she asked playfully. "It's got a nice ring to it~" she chimed seemingly pleased, as she gave a graceful bow in light jest. "Congratulations," she said quite relieved herself that the boy had pulled off this particular win. She'd been more than a bit worried for him, and as he was now safe, she no longer felt the need to wear the golden winged armor. As she came up from her bow, the entirety of the armor disappeared back into the stone from whence it'd come and she tucked it into the piece of leather on her neck once more.

After this was done, she took a moment to cheekily look over at the young man she'd been travelling with, and strangely found him with the bow previously in the possession of his elder brother. She was a bit curious, wondering if it'd been left on purpose. It gave her a bit of pause... "Gonna take up archery? It's pretty fun~" she said, chuckling immediately after seeming to find humor in her own words. "Well, I mean... that's a bit biased of me, but... still counts," she managed her jovial nature seeming to have returned to her without much work in the face of Athos' victory.

[Bloodedge]

Deianira voiced her congratulations to the young male, in conjunction with a bit of jest which fit into her typical demeanor, but Athos seemed to be paying no mind to her words. His eye was focused on the bow under his hand, and his mind was focused on whatever key words needed to be spoken. He had taken Chrysaor's crown, and he knew the green Gorgon did not need this bow to be a great force against any opponent. He could have taken, and maybe even used it. Still... he had no desire to wield this bow. Athos had other plans.

As much as he'd have liked to avoid Dionysus' daughter for the full amount of time he'd known her, and as much as he'd made this obvious, she had offered him a great deal of time and attention to help him along. If not for her involvement, Athos would have never succeeded in gaining a tool from Hephaestus, which meant he would have never been able to prevent Chrysaor from overpowering him with vastly superior Gorgon abilities. Even with Hephaestus' craft, he would have struggled more without Deianira acting as a distraction. Even Athos understood gratitude, in at least some respect. Still, he had few words crossing his mind... so, in the end, he simply leaned the bow toward the huntress demigod while turning his head away from her. "Here."

[Apollymi]

'Nothing... really?' Deianira thought as she smiled. Normally her jokes went over well, it seemed she wasn't hitting on much of anything for the last few weeks. Of course, it could be said that she was actually losing her touch, but she didn't believe this for a second. No, to her it simply appeared that she'd finally met her match as far as this was concerned, and it made her wonder if this was what Albafica felt like when she spurned his shows of affection. Regardless, she didn't dwell on this for very long, because she'd grown quite accustomed to Athos' antics and lack of real speech in their travels. 'Oh well... one day maybe, I'll get a chuckle out of him. Or gods forbid a smile~' she mused internally.

But soon enough, her internal jest would be halted by something else entirely. Athos once again spoke, in the few words he tended to use, but by his gesture it seemed he meant to convey something a bit stunning. The young huntress' mind wandered over what was happening before her and immediately her face flushed and for the first time she looked away, "But... well.... I..." she stumbled over words, something completely unseen before this moment. It would seem that she wasn't at all expecting this sort of kindness from Athos. In fact, she wasn't really sure how to deal with it at all. She'd come along to ensure his safety, to help him out... she didn't expect the boy with his fortitude and seeming dislike of people to offer her anything. And she'd been just fine with that so long as he was alright. If his earlier utterance of 'thanks' had stunned her, the offer of the gift of the bow he'd taken from the previous Gorgon King completely floored her. It surprisingly took her a few moments, and she gathered that such a thing wasn't at all normal for the lad either, much like their earlier dealing with Hephaestus she felt that she couldn't turn him down. "I mean... if you're giving it to me," she muttered as she tried to give the flush time to disappear from her face. "And you're sure you don't want it. I'll take it..." she said the small smile returning to her face. "Thank you," she said, with a warm feeling welling up in the center of her being. It was quite strange, she wondered if this was the feeling everyone had when they made new friends and felt their actions reciprocated. She reached for the bow leaned in her direction, she was actually thanking various gods for the fact that this young man was more awkward than she, as he was turned away... and thus she could be somewhat certain he'd have no idea how embarrassed she was at this point. She'd take up the bow if left uninterrupted, and she'd examine it fully as she'd not had a chance to do while it was in Chrysaor's possession.

[Bloodedge]

Athos' gaze remained averted as Deianira replied to his offer, even as long as it took her to do so. He didn't even move until he felt the bow slip out of his grasp due to her claiming it. As for her thanks, he had nothing to say; it was enough of a struggle for him to offer a single word when giving the bow away. His free hands went to adjust the crown upon his head, and he walked away from the other demigod, making his way upstairs again. He finally had a proper place, albeit forced, in what had become his home after banishment from Atlantis.

Little did he know, he was not the only person to have come from Atlantis to Gorgades. As he approached the exit of the lair, a legion of Atlantean soldiers approached the entrance on the back of a controlled tidal wave. At the head of this group were two seasoned warriors of high standing in Atlantis society. One of the leaders was male, sporting a face-crown and a strange material known colloquially as "starfish armor" which covered only tiny pieces of his otherwise bare torso. This armor had a more complete piece in the form of a bracer on his right wrist, and around his shoulders - and flowing from the back of his belt line - were flowing attachments that looked quite similar to the fins of betta fish. "Our long lost prince is inside. How do you propose we approach this, sister?"

[Apollymi]

The bow now in her hands she continued to look it over. "Hmm, this bow is frighteningly strong... I should have asked him how he shoots without seeing..." she said of Chrysaor. This might have seemed strange to some, but Deianira was quite friendly, though she couldn't think of a way to have had that conversation properly. "Though, that probably wouldn't have gotten answered properly... oh well~" she mused happily as she tested the tensile strength of the bow. She'd seen it used, but couldn't bring herself to pull back the string as far as it could go. "Oh, this is gonna hurt~" she chimed knowing that if she wanted to pull past the initial tension she'd have to put most of her body's strength into it, and even then she couldn't guarantee that she'd actually be able to shoot it with any accuracy. After all, using a bow was much more complex than a simple draw and release. Soon after he adjusted his crown, Athos began to walk away from her. Deianira's inspection of the bow, led the young woman to collapse it at the middle an sling it over her shoulder. "Off to survey the land?" she questioned in a playful manner, to be fair she thought they deserved a drink. "We should drink while you do... I brought the cups!~" the young woman said enthusiastically pulling the pair of red solo cups from within her quiver.

Meanwhile this pair was being approached by another. A blonde haired young woman accompanied the young armored male from Atlantis, in 'starfish' armor of her own. The pieces of which seemed to cover a rather skimpy bathing suit and showed off fluttering pairs of fins which were similar to her male counterpart. Hers were attached at her left arm and around her waist covering the back side of her legs. A singular one also graced the left side of her head, in a partial crown. "I am about the direct approach brother. If the prince doesn't emerge of his own accord, then we drag him out by force... it is a simple matter..." she said. It would be a bit unclear what exactly their orders were, but whatever the case might have been, this likely wasn't a friendly visit.

[Bloodedge]

Athos continued moving with a closed ear toward Deianira. He'd shown his gratitude in the only way he knew how, and he was ready to move on right away. When Deianira suggested that they drink together while he surveyed the land, he sighed. In no way was it to be implied that they now had some sort of bond together; they'd accomplished all they needed together. Why hadn't she already left? This was all Athos could wonder. "I'm not thirsty. You can leave now," he said mere moments before reaching the entrance.

Still in wait, the warriors of Atlantis readied themselves. The pair who seemed to be the leaders of this group discussed with each other the methods of approach for their task, and it became clear that the blonde female fancied an approach that wasn't all too kind to the one they sought. The male of this pair was not very pleased with what they were doing, but he looked ahead nonetheless. "That's very forward of you. I thought you would be a bit more reprehensive about this."

[Apollymi]

Deianira walked along with the lad in her usual good humor. She found his company strange and had been having quite a bit of fun getting used to it. Of course, it would seem that the newly crowned Gorgon King wasn't as interested in the bonds of friendship as Deianira was... When he stated that he wasn't thirsty and that she could leave, her hand met her chest. "Still not too friendly, huh? Well, that's for the best I suppose, otherwise I'd really have to make myself scarce..." she spoke rhetorically, and in a way which most would find slightly puzzling. But beyond the solemn nature of her words, she was well and truly elated. "That really is different. I'm not used to being ignored so thoroughly..." she said a grin spreading across her face. "You got your home, and now you want to be alone, I get it. It was what I wanted to help you with all along, so I suppose I can't push too much..." she concluded. She knew this lad was strange, and likely more apprehensive than any of the others she'd had contact with. She was interested by the fact that he still didn't want to be around her, and that nothing about him changed over the course of them knowing each other, even given her abilities. She'd love to get to know him properly, offer him the friendship she thought he deserved. This once sad boy she'd found all alone in the middle of the forest, but... maybe now wasn't the time. "Well then... circumstances aside, it was nice meeting you, Athos~" said the young woman as she playfully bounded out ahead. "But if you ever change your mind about that drink, need help toppling a kingdom, or find yourself in need of a general translator to the normal people of the world~" she paused and gave a quick bow. "You know where to find me." Her offer of friendship was long standing. She really didn't mind helping anyone out, this boy more than others she'd give her help completely because he was a good person in a way that most people didn't manage to be, regardless of his less than praise worthy social graces.

The blonde lass who aimed to approach the lands with a man called 'brother' at her side, seemed to be resolute in her determination. The thoughts expressed by her brother, were ones which rang true to her as well, blue eyes shifted to their corners to peek the male walking at her side. "Of course I find this reprehensible..." she said, seeming to remain quite firm, though she wasn't all together pleased with why they were sent here, she had her orders and she would follow them. "But that is exactly why we must be firm and fast. If we waver the others will as well... and we would have to go back to face Poseidon, empty-handed. He deserves better from us, than our questioning of his orders," she said. Seeming to have complete faith in their leader, who admittedly she hadn't seen in quite a while, until he showed up with the orders which would lead to them standing before the entrance to the Gorgons Lair.

[Bloodedge]

Even when being shooed away in some sense of the phrase, the daughter of Dionysus persisted with offers of kindness that were well beyond Athos' comprehension. He couldn't understand why she would make such offers, if she would benefit nothing from doing the things she agreed to. Perhaps this was just a flaw of Athos' brought about by his own social ineptitude. Whatever the case, he could not see himself needing any of the things Deianira said she could provide. He had no use of alcohol, his kingdom was before him now, and he had no intentions of interacting with the human world for the rest of his life. "Goodbye." This was the final word he intended to offer Deianira. Once he'd spoken, he stepped outside. What he saw there was something warranting shock and, to some extent, worry.

"Huh... I guess you're right," the male said with a sigh. He was taken aback by the orders they had received from Poseidon after the god had abandoned Atlantis for so long, but if there was one thing they couldn't do, it was disobey any order given to them; their entire livelihood depended on this level of servitude. As their discussion approached what would have been its natural end, the target they sought emerged from within the lair. "Go figure. I'd like to say it's good to see you again, Athos... but you must know why we're all here."

[Apollymi]

For her part in this, the daughter of Dionysus was more than well aware that the son of Poseidon wouldn't understand the kindness she offered. Even so, for Deianira that was more of a reason to offer them, not less. She wasn't much caring about personal gain, her interest in everyone was platonic, she simply wished everyone to truly know the same kind of happiness she fed people as part of her abilities. And if she could offer Athos anything similar in any way, she would, because his actions denoted that he was the sort of person who would treasure such niceness, even if he was incapable of properly demonstrating it. The finality of the boy's statement made her chuckle a bit, "Ah, really? No 'see you later'," she posed as if it was a question in the same joking manner she always had. Still the stunned girl waited just a few seconds longer than was necessary and ended up behind Athos as he emerged. "I suppose that is a bit much to ask, huh?" this would be the girl's parting sentence. But upon reaching the outside her eyes widened just a bit, she'd gotten used to Athos' mannerisms in the weeks they'd traveled together and found him at least worried about the people before him.

The young woman of this pairing nodded her head. The young man now standing before them, made her eyes widen. He'd grown quite a bit since he was last seen, he even seemed to have matured, but her acknowledgement of these things would be given with a bit of solace. "You seemed to have grown quite a bit since we last saw you, don't make this more difficult than it has to be..." she offered. Still it was a greeting which came with the hint that something might be amiss. And Deianira had gone quiet scanning the horizon with silver eyes that took note of every sentient life form which approached. These two were out front but behind them just far enough off into the horizon to remain unseen was a legion of what could only be Atlantean Soldiers. 'That is the kind of welcome one would expect from someone like Ares not Poseidon...' her smile remained but the seriousness in her eyes never changed.

[Bloodedge]

The words of the pair struck a chord within Athos the likes of which he did not enjoy at all. Though he hadn't expected them to arrive, he could easily piece together the reasons for said arrival. The woman's speech made this clearer yet; there was only one thing that could be made more difficult by him resisting in this scenario, and it was connected directly to Poseidon's orders.

"Come on now; we're going to take you back home. You'll be made into a spectacle there, but your death will be as kind as we can manage, kiddo," said the Atlantean male. These two were apparently quite attached to Athos from the boy's time spent in Atlantis. Still, their job had to be done, and that job now involved seeing to the half-Gorgon's death. Now that it was a thought, the male looked around the area and gave heavy consideration to where they currently were. "At the very least, you can obviously say hunting Gorgons was your last activity. There's honor in that."

Athos had gone completely still. These people were once very precious to him, and now they were here to end his life. Poseidon had reached very low into a bag of dirt to pull something like this. He was still, but a mighty trembling sensation plagued him just beneath the skin. Even his voice emerged in a somewhat more timid than normal manner when he finally spoke. "I... could just kill you here. All of you."

[Apollymi]

In the moment that this pair of people were speaking, Deianira in all her infinite wisdom decided to have a drink. A red solo cup was produced from within her quiver and she filled it with golden liquor while listening to all present speak. Those silver eyes of hers never lost a hint of that particularly savage glow as she watched the moon rise over the horizon. Her gaze shifted only slightly, when Athos finally decided to speak. His words, were about what she expected of him in a moment like this. The trembling boy, who only wanted to be left alone, kept being confronted by people who wanted to keep doing rude and savage things to him for stuff which had nothing to do with him. She sighed and upon finishing half the cup looked to the lad at her side. The blonde young woman seemed to be stunned that the shy lad had even uttered anything resembling a threat towards them, "You can't threaten us, this is the way it has to be," she said seeming to defend her desire to the end. The still drinking raven haired lass spoke up then, with a smile on her face. "Nope, not at all the way it has to be. It's the way you're making it..." she said, if Athos would be cross for her interfering she might as well say what she wanted to in this moment. Her words brought the blonde haired lass' attention to her but only to look at her as if she'd grown another head.

"Well, I mean... you threatened him first. It's only natural he'd say something like that, but by the look of him he doesn't want to, it's just the easiest reaction, the first one to come to mind," she said with a grin spreading across her face, as the woman with her fish fins thought about it for a second her eyes widening at the assertion. "From his perspective you're invading his land, bringing up bad memories, and taking away the little comfort he's managed to find with his own two hands," she said to give a bit of perspective on the role this pair and their legion of soldiers were playing. She knew Poseidon wanted the lad at her side dead, she had no idea why aside from the obvious problem of who the boy's mother was, but that wasn't his fault, and since the boy had been exiled twice from everything he'd known as home, it wasn't anyone's place to come and take it from him. She thought this pair who might have known him before deserved a bit more perspective, like the things drunken people think of in the middle of a stupor. "But I get it. You're just following orders," she mentioned aloud to this pair before her.

[Bloodedge]

"Cocky, cocky!" was the male's retort. He and the woman at his side were among the best Atlantis had to offer, and certainly the strongest members of its military force to date. Even individually, they were legendary in being second only to Poseidon himself. Not even one such as Athos had ever stood much of a chance. "You may be the son of Poseidon, but you're still just a whelp to us. I don't know why he thought we were needed to bring you in, but there's no way you're getting out of this."

Athos knew better. In truth, he would have always been more capable than this pair, but his powers as the son of Poseidon were not the first abilities to manifest themselves fully in him. No... his first true showing of power was what resulted in his exile from Atlantis. As a child, Athos bloomed the way Gorgons did - an act that Poseidon could not accept while others knew Athos was his son. It wasn't until after banishment that he truly delved into his abilities as a proper demigod, meaning the residents of Atlantis would have no idea what he was truly capable of at this point in time. "You're wrong, Archippos," he said, still shaking beneath the skin.

Before his next response to Athos, the man apparently known as Archippos had words to share with Deianira. "It doesn't matter what anyone wants to do, or what anyone thinks they can do. We're taking the boy. If you plan on interfering, you'll make an enemy of Poseidon himself. Just leave us to our job," he said, though one thing spoken by Deianira was strange enough that he was soon looking toward the blonde woman at his side. "His land?" he wondered aloud.

[Apollymi]

Deianira shook her head, even so she figured she might as well finish her drink before anything bad happens. This male's reaction to Athos was about what the girl at his side expected. "Uh-huh... probably because an army of fodder is still fodder" she quipped as an idea for why Poseidon sent the pair of them along. "Or because he thought familiar faces might make him hesitate to defend himself, which would make Poseidon a bit of a jerk... But...who knows~" she said with a chuckle as she finished off her drink and tucked her cup away. If there was one thing Deianira knew about gods, by having one for a parent it was that they could be incredibly petty and fairly easy to read beyond their divine status. And the more she spoke with Athos and learned about the boy, the more she thought that Poseidon might be one of those secretly nefarious types with a good public persona.

Regardless of this, the blonde girl chose now to speak as well, but to Athos as he spoke of how wrong the man named Archippos was. "He's not wrong! There isn't anything to be done, it is bad enough without some strange sense of false bravado!" the young woman seemed rather easily agitated and all of this happened while Deianira stretched and flexed her fingers. It appeared this pair wouldn't simply talk it out and that was almost a shame, but she had no attachment to them and only wanted the boy's well being. At a time it might have been true of them as well, but right now they were making themselves very easy enemies. 'Anything you need, I've got your back...' she mentioned to Athos in the same way she had during his fight with Chrysaor. With all these people coming out of the woodwork against him, she felt he deserved someone on his side. The actions of the freshly crowned Gorgon King, were nothing but virtuous and he was simply trying to find his home. Beyond this point it seemed that, they were content to try and start this fight with Athos, but when Archippos statements became directed at her she smiled widely. Her silvery gaze shifted towards Athos and she shrugged her shoulders absently her hands finding themselves tucked into the belts at her waist.

"I don't plan on interfering in anything. I've been hanging out with him for a few weeks now, and if I know anything it's that he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself in a fight," said the girl, but she remained steadfast regardless. "But, I didn't know if he'd want to try and talk it out or not, and I'd be wrong to abandon him just now. And Poseidon is pretty low on my totem pole right now so... I don't really care if I make him mad or not. I'd take a few off Athos' hands if he wanted me to," she said with the same amount of sincerity she always seemed to have. "Blasphemy!" was the only word spoken by the girl at the young man's side.

[Bloodedge]

Archippos had heard enough from both of these teens. Athos was offering nothing but claims to power he'd never shown himself to be even potentially capable of, and the girl with him spoke ill of their lord Poseidon, while also undermining the power of Atlantis in claiming some ability to handle part of their army. "Both of you kids are making this harder than it should be. Thea, grab the kid," he said as his left hand rose to signal the legion at the island's shore. The collective power of Atlantis' legion was so great that a massive tidal wave rose in mere moments, threatening to encompass the entire island they stood on.

Athos sighed again. This truly was something he didn't want to deal with, and yet, it seemed Gorgades was not the safe haven he expected it to be. Poseidon would follow him to the ends of the Earth; there had to be something else to do. Regardless, Athos had no intentions of dying. Both of his hands rose in the face of the encroaching tidal wave. He was beginning to apply his own ability to control water at a much higher caliber than the others were capable of. His struggle was apparent, but the wave slowed to eventual stillness after a matter of ten seconds or so. Control of so much water at once was something far greater than anything Archippos had ever seen, but he was not deterred. Surely the deterrent would come soon enough though, as Athos did not stop upon halting the water; he went on to use it for the purpose of entrapping the entire legion in a massive bubble.

[Apollymi]

"I haven't done anything, yet~" Deianira chimed her general playful manner seeming to maintain itself. But it was clear beyond all things that Archippos was done with the conversation side of this. He signaled and the Atlantean Army soon rose up only to be quelled by Athos' use of water, as the boy slowed the water down to a snails pace and used it to capture the whole of the army. "Fine, just be read..." she started a sentence and moved to grab the boy, only to be stunned by his use of water manipulation. She wasn't aware he had this ability at all on such a scale, still, if she let such a thing move her into inaction she wouldn't be a good soldier.

It was more than obvious to the girl known as Thea, that Athos was under quite a bit of strain holding the army together, if she could disrupt him their little farce would come to an end. The bracelet around her arm descended becoming a blade of water which she'd aim to use by moving towards the boy, but, her movements would be interrupted once more. Before she could reach the boy to do anything, Deianira had drawn her bow and under the moon light it'd grown into a long bow which she used to fire multiple moon light based arrows at this woman's feet, so many that she jumped backwards to avoid her lower body being impaled, dozens of times, and maintained her previously established distance to Athos. "Oops, my finger slipped," Deianira mentioned, as if to further make this obvious only the index finger of her left hand rested on bow string her middle finger was soon added to it as she drew back again. Thea stared at this young woman with the understanding that her finger couldn't have slipped at all with that line of arrows fired, she'd done so intentionally. The sliver light in Deianira's eyes shined with deviousness, but she said nothing to the look being given to her by Thea. "That looks like a giant fish bowl. It's a pretty interesting trap," she said seeming amused. "So am I aiming to maim or kill?" she asked as easily as she had any conversation. She didn't know what she should be aiming at, but she could cover most of what was in front of her with rapid fire of moon beams which wouldn't be deflected and couldn't miss their targets, such was her power. She simply needed to know what kind of damages to aim for, lest the young lad with her feel bad at some point later in their interactions.