3. Medusalith Amaquelin (Part 2)

A week after her chat with Maximus in his secret lab, Medusa caught her mind wandering off to the older prince again. Every time she was with her sister, Crystal, she couldn't help but think how lonely Blackagar must be, since Maximus mentioned he wasn't allowed visitors. So with great resolution and the streak of rebellion she'd always possessed, she headed to the wing of the palace that the Prince was said to be housed in. She felt a little guilty to have tricked the information out of Gorgon, but the thrill of committing an act in secrecy had been too great.

So on a rare afternoon when she did not have classes and Crystal was taking a nap, she set out for Blackagar's secret room and sneaked down the mazy corridors in a way that she was sure both Gorgon and Karnak would have been proud of, had they any idea what she was currently up to. She held her breath and plastered herself against the wall as she let a couple of guards round the corner before heading down the same corridor herself.

This is it. She stood before the grey, monotonous door. Nothing about it hinted that Attilan's future king resided within. Her gaze slid to the panel to the right of the door. It's a one-way lock, so anyone can enter, but Black Bolt cannot leave even if he wanted to, Gorgon's voice replayed in her head. Why do you need to know anyway? Fortunately, Medusa's swift but subtle change of subject after that had been successful. Steeling herself, she pushed the panel and the huge door slid open.

Medusa didn't really know what she was expecting to see. An impressive living quarters adorned with ornaments fit for a future king? Or a cell-like chamber given how it sounded as if the prince was being imprisoned? She never got to finish that thought. Her eyes fell on the lone figure in the vast room. He was turned away from her, but as soon as he heard the door opening, he stood up to face the source of noise. Medusa felt her heartbeat elevate, but wasn't sure if she should attribute that to the thrill of her misdemeanour, or to Blackagar's intense gaze on her. His blue eyes were searching, the initial look of surprise long gone, replaced by curiosity and… sorrow?

The silence in the room was getting increasingly loud and encroaching, so she said the first polite thing that came to her mind. "Hi, I'm Medusa."

She took a couple of steps forward, not waiting for any sort of consent from the prince. She'd already broken enough rules by opening the door behind her, one more misstep wouldn't make much of a difference.

In those couple of steps however, she made, to her horror, multiple realisations. One, she hadn't rehearsed at all what she was going to say to the prince. Maybe apart from pointing out the fact that they were now in similar predicaments, having both lost their parents. Her plan had been singular and simple - find out where Black Bolt is and pay him a visit. Two, she had made a pointless introduction since Blackagar would surely already know who she is. And three, he couldn't speak, so how in the world were they going to communicate? She tried to hide her unease as the silence between them stretched out once more. Blackagar simply frowned at her introduction, eyes tracing her every movement. She saw him flinch, his shoulders squaring as soon as she closed the distance between them.

"I'm not afraid of you," she declared, hoping he will ease up on his defensive stance. Nevertheless, the prince raised a hand and gave a shake of his head. Stop.

Medusa halted her advance. He tapped his throat once, and held his arms up in a sign of surrender, or warning, she couldn't be sure.

"I know… about you. Your condition." A pause, then she corrected herself. "Your gift."

He lowered his head at that, hiding his face from her view.

"No, don't!" His head snapped back up. "Don't do that, please," she said more softly this time, remembering that this was a prince she was speaking to. Strangely, whatever snide remarks she'd thought of making about their parents being gone had disappeared from mind. Instead, all she was felt a growing connection, not dissimilar to what she had pointed out when she was with Maximus.

Blackagar's questioning gaze fell on her once more. "I need to be able to see your face, since you can't speak," she explained. His brows quirked, in a "that makes sense" way. He then pointed in the direction of the door, to Medusa, and threw both hands up in a shrug. How?

"Well, let's just say a cousin of ours has been very helpful with regards to me finding out your location," she replied light-heartedly. When Blackagar tried to suppress a smirk, she continued, "However, he has no idea what I'm up to, so he's innocent in that regard." He nodded in agreement, a small grin forming on his face. Medusa found herself wondering whether he had any, if at all, reasons to be happy while being held in this secluded chamber. As she regarded his temporary amusement, she had to admit that the prince had grown to be very attractive, and felt her face flush when she caught herself thinking that way.

Medusa cleared her throat to get rid of that thought. "Anyway, I heard you weren't allowed visitors and thought that sounded really horrible, so… here I am. I hope I'm not intruding into your personal space by doing so, though the size of this room seems really excessive for one person."

Now, she could afford to give the room a once-over, and she saw a drab living area that seemed to contain only what was necessary. On the side they were at was a bed and table with a few books on top. There was a bathroom on the far side, and in the middle was a sealed glass chamber.

"Is that..?" She pointed out. Blackagar caught her drift and nodded, his face grim. She found herself being drawn to the chamber, and she could hear him in step behind her as she stepped forward to take a closer look. In it was a singular chair with multiple straps on the armrests and a steel table with an assortment of medical equipment. She spotted a needle amidst the small clutter and turned around so fast she nearly bumped into him. Blackagar froze, his face just inches away from hers. Medusa jerked backwards in response, and she could feel her hair reacting in a similar fashion. The astonishment on Blackagar's face was somehow hilarious in that moment, and she wondered what his thoughts were, but filed that question away for another time.

" Is that - is this where your… training takes place?" She asked instead, with an unintended emphasis, afraid that she was overstepping her boundaries. He clenched his jaw and nodded stiffly. Medusa thought she saw a hint of fear flash in his eyes but she couldn't be sure. He pointed at the chamber, then to his throat, mock-slashing it with two fingers.

"It helps you to control your voice?"

She got another nod from the prince. While she was still debating with herself if she should pursue the subject further, he tapped his wrist with urgency and indicated towards the door.

"Someone's coming soon?" She asked anxiously. Blackagar tilted his head to one side. Maybe.

Dismayed but resigned that her visit would be cut short, she let herself be led to the door. "I guess this is goodbye, Prince Blackagar," she turned to face the prince and bowed slightly. He covered his mouth to suppress what Medusa would have guessed was a snort, before signing for her to do away with the… crown on his head?

"Oh." It dawned on her. "So, no 'prince' then? Just Blackagar?" Still, he shook his head, but waited for her to decipher his intention. He brought his hands together till they were just an inch apart, before holding two fingers up..

Short? Two words? "Black Bolt? You want me to call you Black Bolt?" She deduced. Blackagar grinned, pleased that he had made his point across. She shot a smile back at him before pushing the door open wider to make her exit. She gasped as she felt a warm hand on her arm, but the touch vanished before she could turn around. Blackagar looked apologetic, maybe even embarrassed as she waited for his explanation. He pointed at her, then to himself, before breaking eye contact with her.

"You want me… to visit again?" Medusa ventured. Surprised, Black Bolt regarded her with renewed fervour. Yes. Will you? His eyes seemed to convey so much to her.

"I would. Gladly."

The relief on his face was palpable. Reluctantly, she stepped out and closed the door behind her. She wondered when was the soonest she could visit again.

Exactly a week after, she found herself back in Black Bolt's room. She didn't want to refer to it as a 'chamber' any longer as it reminded her of the lone chair and the needles she saw that could only equate to one thing… Pain. She was pretty certain that was part of Black Bolt's training, even if he had been vague about the topic during their first meeting. This time, she brought along various literature works. She had spotted some books on his bedside and figured he might be interested in having more options to pore over. By the end of their second meeting, they had gone over four chapters of the book he had chosen, with Medusa reading aloud as Black Bolt insisted she do so. She also updated the prince on the going-ons of herself, her sister, Crystal, as well as his cousins. When she mentioned she had barely seen Maximus at all the past week, Black Bolt simply frowned but they did not dwell on the topic any longer.

The visits became a regular affair. On the fourteenth such visit (yes, she had been counting), she made her way to the room as usual. After waiting for the guards to walk past the study, down the corridor and turn right into another hallway (she learned of their exact patrol times by the fourth visit and so, they wouldn't appear for another forty-five minutes), she strode to the door. Before she could press on the panel to open it, another set of footsteps echoed down the hallway that the guards had just walked down, and they were approaching quickly. She bolted in the opposite direction, back to where she just emerged from, and calmed herself down before peeking out from behind the wall. It was Maximus who stood before the door. His hand hovered above the panel for a long moment, but he never pushed it. Medusa thought she heard him muttering something, indiscernible from where she was. She ducked behind the wall before he turned around, and sprinted down the hallway as quickly as she could quietly. She could not let herself be caught. But that meant she would not see Black Bolt until next week.

As luck would have it, the wait to see Black Bolt stretched on for two more weeks. After the previous close shave with Maximus's bizarre intrusion, Medusa found herself spending the following week's secret-visiting time with Karnak and Gorgon as they celebrated the latter's official acceptance into Attilan's Royal Guard.. She could not turn them down without raising any suspicions, much less with the most-perceptive Karnak around.

So it was with great yearning and eagerness in the following week that she practically flew to the door of Black Bolt's study once the guards' footsteps faded out. She pressed down on the panel with more force than required and waited as the door slid open. Since when does it open so slowly?

She practically stumbled into the room as she squeezed through the opening once she deemed the gap was big enough.

"I'm sorry I -" She was cut off as she found herself wrapped in Black Bolt's embrace. They stayed like this for a few moments, while Medusa found herself speechless, her heart thumping wildly. When he finally released her, he brought his hands up to cup her face, his breath rapid and hands slightly trembling. What happened? His eyes burned with emotion.

"I…" She studied every inch of his face, and understood his fears. She never considered how he must have felt waiting for her each week with no one to talk to, not knowing what happened to her. He must have imagined every worst possible scenario that could have happened, with no way to seek assurance or answers as no one could ever find out about their weekly meetings. She realised it was pointless to explain her absence for two consecutive weeks. She apologised again.

"I should have found a way to visit you, I didn't think - " Black Bolt placed a finger on her lips to stop her. It's okay. Then, he gazed into her eyes with greater emphasis. You're okay.

He released his hold on her, letting his arms fall awkwardly by his side, as if he'd just realised what he had done, and gestured for her to follow him. He sat on his bed with a book in his hand. Medusa lit up when she saw it was the book they (or rather, she) had been reading three weeks ago.

"Missed my voice?" She teased. Black Bolt arched his brows exaggeratedly. Very much so.

The forty minutes they had to themselves flew by and once again, Medusa found herself walking to the exit reluctantly. "I guess I'll see you again next week," she said glumly. "Goodbye, Black Bolt." He took her hand with a frown, the touch sending tingles down her spine. With two fingers, he brushed a lock of her hair before repeating the same arc-movement down the right side of his face and ended with his fingers resting above his heart. He gave her a nervous smile and pointed at her, before repeating the same gestures as before. Hair, heart.

Medusa.

Her eyes widened in realisation, before she took a hold of the hand on his chest. He gave her hand a light squeeze in return.

"I suppose that's as close as I would get to hear you say my name," Medusa commented when she was confident she could do so with a steady voice. He always made it hard for her to leave, even if it was just one week before they saw each other again. Slowly, he walked her the remaining few steps to the door and gave a wave. Go now, Medusa.

The last sign she saw was her name before the door slid shut. "See you next week, Black Bolt," she said, even though he could no longer hear her. Black Bolt. She said his name over and over again in her head, and her hand absent-mindedly pulled on the lock of hair he had caressed. The ghost of his touch seemed to still linger.

Author's Notes:

Apologies for the long break! I've been on vacation and just got back to writing. Double-chapter post :D Thanks to all who favourited/followed! One more part after this from Black Bolt's POV.