The craft took to the air, and Medusa's stomach turned. The only time she had ever liked being airborne was when Blackagar held her, and even then she didn't prefer it.
Maximus' shoulders relaxed slightly once they were in the air. "He can't follow us here," he murmured to himself. "We can shoot him down before he reaches us."
She wanted nothing more than to break free and grab him, shake him, beat him, but she could only sit and be still.
"Worry not, my love," said he, turning to her. "We will be free of him soon."
I'm not the one that's worried.
In what she could see out the window of the craft, the spires of Attilan were zooming by at an alarming rate. Maximus paced the floor, every now and then running a hand through his hair.
Where are you, Blackagar?
Almost as if in response to her silent plea, the sound of an explosion was heard over the noise of the engines. Something like turbulence rocked the craft, and Medusa nearly fell over, unable to steady herself by her own will.
"What was that?" Maximus cried frantically, stumbling forward to where Agon maneuvered the craft. "Turn us around!"
Agon twisted the controls sharply, sending them spinning around to face the opposite direction. Now through the window Medusa could see the Royal Palace rising in the distance, and the dust surrounding a huge hole in one of the walls.
"That must be him," Maximus muttered. "Quickly, get us out of here!"
Agon jerked the controls in the opposite direction, sending Medusa stumbling into the wall. She wracked her brain. What could Blackagar have done to wreak such destruction? Unless…
"The Pacifiers will hold him. They must." Maximus spun on his heel, starting back in her direction. Medusa steeled herself, waiting for him to manipulate her into some falsified action of love and commitment, but it never came, because Maximus froze in his step, staring at her. No, not her, something behind her.
"How did you get in here?" Maximus screeched, his eyes wide and full of terror. "How did you escape?"
Medusa couldn't turn her head to see what was behind her, but it certainly didn't feel like there was anyone there.
"Run this ship into the ground!" Maximus screamed, never taking his eyes off the thing he saw.
The ship tipped downwards as Agon obeyed. Medusa slid forward, panic shooting through her. No, no! What are you doing?"
Maximus laughed a sick, depraved laugh that made Medusa tremble inwardly. "If you've come to take her, brother, then neither of us will have her!"
Medusa could feel a twinge in her mind. Consumed in whatever madness had overtaken him, Maximus' powers were beginning to weaken their hold on her mind. If only she could move her hand, reach up, and get the whistle…
They hurtled downwards at a sickening speed that grew every second.
Medusa's fingers twitched of their own accord. Come on, please!
"Finally, you will die as you should have the day you were born!" Maximus yelled over the sound of wind and engines. "Finally—" His face went blank. Medusa watched in surprise and horror as he crumpled to the floor.
Rynda lowered the toolbox she had used to knock out her son, letting it crash to the floor.
Medusa gasped, released from his hold. The cliffs were coming up fast. Her hands shot up to the whistle concealed in a knot in her hair, and she blew it. Suddenly Lockjaw was there, whining and confused about the sudden change of environment. She dove forward, wrapping an arm around his neck.
"Get us—"
A hand fell into her own. She looked down and saw Maximus' hand in her own. Then she looked up into the eyes of Rynda, and they were clearer than they had ever been.
"Tell my sons I loved them both, no matter what they did." She looked at Lockjaw. "Go."
They vanished from the ship just as it crashed against the cliffs.
/
"No!" Crystal screamed, and she ran forward, but Gorgon grabbed her and lifted her bodily off the ground.
"Let me go!" she shrieked, hitting and kicking at him with all her might. "Let me go! My sister is in there!"
Blackagar opened his mouth in a silent scream. His apparatus flared, and the air around him in a ten-foot radius exploded with energy. Karnak, who was unfortunate enough to be standing in the blast radius, was knocked flat on his back. He made no sound, but they all heard the exclaimation of pain in his mind.
No!
Before anyone could find the words to respond, he was gone, taking off towards the flaming wreckage at breakneck speed.
"Brother!" Triton ran to Karnak's side. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, yes, don't worry about me!" Karnak said, rising to his feet.
Triton set his jaw, looking from his brother to the flaming wreckage in the distance. "I have to help him."
"I don't think—" Karnak's protests were too late. Triton ran to the edge and jumped right off the edge, performing an expert dive into the water far below.
"Let me go!" Crystal sobbed, still struggling. "I have to help them!"
"No!" Gorgon snarled, keeping his grip firm. "We can't lose you too!"
Then there was a whoosh behind them. Gorgon and Karnak turned around and froze in shock. There stood Medusa, clinging to Lockjaw with one arm and half-holding an unconscious Maximus in the other. For a long moment no one said anything, and it was Crystal who broke the stunned silence.
"Medusa!" she cried, ripping herself free from Gorgon's grasp. She ran to her sister, and Medusa let go of both Lockjaw and Maximus, catching her up in her arms.
"What happened?" she asked, mystified at her sister sobbing hysterically in her arms.
"We thought you were dead!" Crystal gasped in between sobs.
"You did?" Medusa looked at her cousins, who were still in a state of shock.
"Y-yes," Karnak said. "We saw the ship crash into the cliffs."
"Oh no." Medusa let go of Crystal and moved closer to the edge of the cliff. Some of the wreckage had fallen onto the thin strip of sand below the cliffs, black smoke and flames billowing into the air, while a majority had fell into the sea, jutting from the water in the shallows.
She whirled around. "Where's Blackagar?"
/
He tore through the wreckage, lifting huge pieces of metal as if they weighed nothing. Sweat poured down his face from the heat of the fire, but he ignored it. He had to find her. She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't be.
He was vaguely aware that Triton was somewhere nearby, looking through the submerged wreckage, and he prayed he would hear his voice call out that he had found her.
There's no way, his rational side whispered. There's no way she could have survived this.
"Blackagar!"
He desperation was so great, he could still hear her voice calling his name in his mind out of sheer hope that it was real, but he knew it wasn't. he pushed aside a sparking piece of circuitry. There's no way.
"Blackagar!"
A hand touched his shoulder. He tried to shrug it off, grabbing at another chunk of metal. His eyes watered, though whether it was from the smoke or true tears, he could not say.
The hand tugged, persistent, and in a burst of anger, he whirled around, his teeth bared. Triton ignored his anger and pointed upwards. "Look!"
Blackagar looked up.
"Blackagar! I'm up here!"
High, on the edge of the cliff far above them, he could see a familiar shock of red hair peering down at them, barely visible through the haze of smoke.
Medusa! He shot upwards, breaking through the smoke and into fresh air.
Medusa gasped, stepping backwards as Blackagar appeared in a burst of wind. His feet touched the ground, and as soon as he saw her standing there, whole, unscathed, alive, he knew the truth: he loved her.
"Blackagar—" Whatever she was about to say was cut off as he enveloped her in a fierce hug, knocking the air out of her lungs. She could feel his breath on her ear, sharp and shuddering. His chest heaved, and she realized he was trying not to cry.
"It's alright," she said, her throat closing up. "It's alright."
They stayed that way for a small eternity, and when Blackagar finally pulled away, she didn't want him to. He took her face in his hands, his thumbs running over her cheeks over and over again. She saw the tear tracks on his face and the redness in his eyes.
Agon? he asked. Rynda?
She shook her head as best she could while he still held her face. "No, they—" Her voice cracked. "There wasn't enough time." She choked on a sob. "I'm sorry."
He pulled her to him again, running his fingers through her hair. It's alright.
"Your brother," she murmured into his chest, "he lives."
She felt his muscles tense. She turned her head to look at his face, and his jaw was clenched. The hair on her arms raised as the air charged.
"Don't do anything stupid," she told him.
"Blackagar?"
He looked up, for the first time acknowledging the others that stood nearby. Gorgon, Karnak, and Crystal all stood waiting.
"Are you alright?" Karnak continued.
He nodded, switching back to signs. Are you?
"We are," said Karnak. "I think it's your brother we should worry about."
Gorgon turned aside, revealing Maximus' body lying crumpled on the ground. Lockjaw sat next to him, watching him for any sign of movement.
Blackagar scowled at the sight of his brother, leaving Medusa's side and walking over to his still form. He crouched down, checking his pulse, then turning his head. He frowned at the sight of the bleeding gash on the side of his head, then turned back to the others.
What happened? he signed.
"Rynda hit him," Medusa said, wiping away some stray tears. "When he was knocked out, it gave me enough time to summon Lockjaw and get out."
Why did you bring him?
"Rynda wanted me to," she said quietly. "She'd been under his control the whole time. She always loved you, Blackagar. Maximus made her that way, until…until the end."
He shut his eyes and bowed his head, unable to convey anything besides heartbreak.
"She wanted me to tell you that she loved you, and your brother."
He did not raise his head, but still signed. Even after everything he did to her?
"Yes," Medusa whispered.
"Your parents died a valiant death," said Karnak. "They will be remembered in the annals of Attilan forever."
Blackagar slowly rose to his feet, casting a disdainful look at his brother.
"What will we do now?" Gorgon asked, and paused before adding, "King Blackagar."
His head snapped up, his eyes wide. What?
"You are the king now," said Karnak.
He shook his head. No, no. I can't be.
"You are," Karnak pressed.
"Stop it," Medusa hissed, interlacing her fingers with his. "We're already going through enough as it is. That's the last thing we need to think about right now."
"Well, what do we do?" Gorgon repeated. "We have to do something."
Blackagar heaved a silent sigh, and his hands moved again. We wait for Maximus to wake up.
/
Maximus came to slowly. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was his brother's face glaring down at him.
"You can't be real," he muttered. "You're…you're just an illusion."
Blackagar grabbed him by his shirt, hauling him upright. He drew back a fist and cracked Maximus across the face. Does that feel like an illusion? he snarled mentally, shaking him like a ragdoll.
"What happened?"
In response, Blackagar dragged him over to the edge of the cliff. Maximus screamed as his body was forced out over the edge, his brother's hold on his clothes the only thing keeping him from falling. Far below, tiny figures of Inhuman workers swarmed over the wreckage that still smoked slightly.
See that? Blackagar conveyed. You did that.
"H-how did I survive?" Maximus asked, struggling in an attempt to get himself back over the edge, but Blackagar's arm was immovable.
You have our mother and Medusa to thank for that. Blackagar yanked him backwards away from the cliff. And because of you, our mother and father are dead.
Maximus' eyes widened. "They are?"
Blackagar did not reply, but his eyes narrowed and his apparatus crackled dangerously.
Maximus swallowed, his face hurting with the movement. "Then…then will you kill me?"
I am very tempted.
A comforting hand touched his arm, and a tendril of hair wrapped around his shoulders. "Blackagar," Medusa murmured, "remember what I told you."
He inhaled deeply, steadying himself. Fortunately for you, Medusa has revealed to me the true nature of your powers. The Terrigen Mists gave you great power, but it also gave you madness. You are out of your mind, brother.
"I'm not out of my mind," Maximus snarled. "My mind is clearer than it ever has been."
Don't even try to use your powers. Your own technology has come in use.
Maximus sneered. "So now that our parents are dead, will you now be king?"
Blackagar paused. Yes.
Maximus looked over at Medusa, who stood slightly behind Blackagar. "Would you really choose him over me, my love?"
Blackagar shifted, protectively placing himself in between them. She is not your love.
"But she is. She told me how she loved me many times, likely more times than she'll ever tell you."
Blackagar, thoroughly fed up, hit Maximus over the head, knocking him out cold again. He pushed his brother into the waiting hands of the guards who had stood waiting nearby.
"Take him to the dungeons," said Medusa, translating his signs.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Blackagar watched as his brother was dragged off. Finally, when they vanished into the streets of Attilan, he turned away, focusing his eyes on the sunset on the horizon. Medusa came to his side, and for a long time nothing was said.
Your parents probably want to see you, Blackagar signed at last. You should go to them.
"Crystal is with them," she replied quietly, her hair turning to shimmering flame in the light of the sunset. "She'll tell them what happened. I want to stay with you for now."
You don't have to.
"It's not good for you to be alone now."
She was right, he realized. Had he been alone, he might have succumbed to the temptation to speak his brother into oblivion, and if not that, beat him within an inch of his life.
Did you love him?
Medusa huffed. "No. He made me say I loved him. I hated it. I hated it when he made me…" Her voice faltered, and Blackagar looked down at her, panic shooting through him.
Did he…touch you? he signed haltingly.
"No," she breathed, her face flushing.
Blackagar sagged with relief.
"He…he made me kill a man, a servant who heard me screaming." Her chin trembled a little. "All he wanted to do was help me, and I killed him. I felt his life end, and I couldn't…"
Blackagar took her into his arms, his stomach twisting with horror and anger. Shh. It's not your fault.
"I murdered him, Blackagar."
He took her chin, gently lifting her face to look into her eyes. You are not a murderer, Medusa. He made you do it.
She sniffed. "He deserves a proper burial."
He brushed away the tears on her face. We'll get him one, I promise.
Medusa nodded, swallowing hard. "Before Maximus overtook me, he asked me if I loved him."
Blackagar tilted his head. But you didn't love him.
"I know, and I told him as much. Then…" She faltered again, unsure if she should continue, but pressed on anyway. "Then he asked me if I loved you."
Blackagar stared at her, his expression unreadable.
"I said yes," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She could hardly stand to look at him, her heart pounding wildly.
For what seemed like an eternity, he just stood there, but then his face cracked open into a smile despite the tragedy of the day. He signed something, and even though she had never seen the signs before, she knew what they meant.
I love you.
She exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding, and she felt like she could cry again. She smiled, and he tilted his head down, resting his forehead against hers. Her hair wrapped around him in a hug, and the ache of sadness in both their hearts faded just a little.
