Chapter 9: Meeting Medusa

As the two brothers walked through the forest towards the ruins of Baba Yaga Castle, Rael continued to tell his story. As he spoke he could see the images rushing through his mind, almost like he was watching a movie. It was all so clear, as if it had happened only yesterday. He could still hear her sultry, though slightly cold, voice echoing in his head.

"It's alright. No need to be afraid of me."

The woman in the snakeskin coat stood in front of him looking him up and down. The young teenager wasn't sure what to do. All he knew was that for some reason he had lost the desire to run away. He even found the courage to flash her a smile as he replied, "I'm not."

"Good," she said and smiled back. "What's your name then?"

"Rael," he said casually. He knew that he ought to be wary of strangers, especially as a homeless run-away and someone wanted back in New Jersey. She could be anyone, even an under-cover cop but somehow that didn't seem to matter. There was something in him that wanted to open up and tell her anything she wanted to know. It probably had something to do with the fact that a pretty woman, an adult, was wasting her time talking to him, a scruffy street kid. He was flattered. "What's yours?"

"Medusa," she replied with an amiable grin as she extended her hand to Rael.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Medusa," Rael said politely while shaking her hand. His thoughts however weren't quite as proper. Boy, what a pretty smile! And those eyes… He'd never seen anyone with golden eyes before. The truth was that this woman was one of the prettiest he'd ever seen. How old was she? It was obvious that she was older than his fourteen years but he couldn't tell by how much. She looked young but there was something about her that he could already sense was wiser and more mature than her smiling face let on.

"The pleasure's all mine," Medusa said, gently withdrawing her hand from his. Her eyes suddenly turned to the card still held in Rael's other hand. "What is that?"

"This thing? Don't know that it has a real name. I'm the only person I've ever heard of that uses somethin' like this." The boy with the bright gray eyes flipped the ace of spades back and forth between his fingers as he spoke.

"Then it must not be just an ordinary playing card. So what is it that this little card of yours can do?" There was a little sarcasm in her voice but there was also a lot of curiosity. "Care to demonstrate?"

Rael's eyes shone as he puffed up his chest with pride. Would he care to demonstrate? Of course he would! The chance to show off was what he had been hoping for all along. "Love to," he answered without hesitation. The he glanced down the deserted street and pointed to something in a corner where the street turned into a dead end. "See that beer can on top of the dumpster down there?" She nodded and he continued. "Okay good. Now watch."

As he spoke Rael drew back his arm and let the ace fly. It whizzed through the air and knocked the can off onto the pavement. The teen was beaming with pride as he jogged over to the dumpster. Medusa wasn't far behind. She picked up the can and examined the card-shaped blade stuck into it. "So they're throwing stars, of sorts?"

"Yeah, of sorts. Oh hey, check this out," he said with another large and confident grin. Rael stretched out his hand and let his eyes go half closed. As he did this the card dislodged itself from the beer can and flew back towards him, struck his hand and seemed to dissolve into his skin. It only took a fraction of a second, only the blink of an eye.

The barefooted woman's smile broadened. "Impressive, but if you're a talented weapon like that, especially one who doesn't appear to need a meister, shouldn't you be home in bed at this hour?"

Uh oh, now I've done it, Rael thought. She's on to me. Is she a cop? She doesn't really look like one. Well better play it cool just in case. Out loud he simply said, "Why do you say that?"

"Tomorrow is Wednesday. Surely D.W.M.A. has school on Wednesdays. If you don't get some sleep you'll be too tired to study and practice those skills of yours, won't you?"

Rael frowned and turned his gaze to the ground. "I'm not a student there."

"With that talent?"

"I didn't meet all their requirements," he replied with a scowl. It was embarrassing to have her compliment with his skills but then have to admit that the D.W.M.A. hadn't wanted him.

"That's a pity. Death is a fool to let such an unusual weapon, made all the more unusual by the fact that you don't need a meister, slip through his fingers." Rael was blushing ever so slightly at the compliment. She continued, "Regardless you must have to get ready for whatever school you go to."

"Look lady…"

"Lady Medusa will do nicely," she said raising one eyebrow and frowning just a little.

"Fine. Whatever. Lady Medusa. Look I don't to school anywhere, okay. Nobody cares if I come or if I go, if I leave or if I stay. I look out for myself. That's all."

He turned his eyes to the ground again. He didn't want her to see the embarrassed and frustrated flush on his cheeks. When she didn't reply at first, Rael looked up into her face and was surprised to see that she was smiling.

"No need to get so flustered. I already knew all that. I just wanted to see how honest you'd be with me about everything, how much you'd trust me."

"Y-you made a fool outta me? What for? Why does it matter if I trust you?" Rael spluttered in confusion.

"Because I can't help you if you won't trust me."

"Why would you wanna help me? You don't even know me."

"But I feel like I do, after watching you for so long."

"Wait what? You've been followin' me? Why?"

"That's simple," the witch said as she sat down on the front steps of the nearest building and gestured for Rael to sit beside her. When he hesitated, a suspicious expression on his young face, she shrugged and went on. "I heard that there was a very interesting young man hanging around this neighborhood and that he had some rather unusual powers. I may be a witch…" Rael opened his mouth to say something but she spoke for him, "… as I'm sure you've guessed from my being in this particular area so late at night, but that doesn't matter. The point is that I may be a witch but weapons are one of my passions. I found you quite interesting the first time I saw you and was intrigued by your skills, so I just kept watching. Finally I decided that I had seen enough and was going to approach you."

The gray-eyed young man still looked a bit incredulous but the frustration and fear had left his expression. He noticed that Medusa was silently smiling at him. Wow, Rael thought for a second time as he stared back at her, she really does have a pretty smile. She's just good lookin' all around. Got nice hair, nice eyes, nice ass, nice brea…

His mental critique of the witch's looks was cut short when she resumed speaking. "I suppose you're wondering why I took the time to find you and why I decided to come and meet you."

"Obviously it wasn't just so you could tell me how amazing I am. Don't think you plan on starting up a fan club or anythin'." Rael chuckled quietly and saw Medusa shaking her head. She might have been rolling her eyes too. Not one of his better wise cracks. "You said somethin' earlier about helping me. Is that what you mean?"

"That's right," she said and patted the cement step beside her, again indicating that the weapon should sit down beside her. This time he did so, his gray eyes looking up into her golden ones with interest. "What I want, Rael, is to make a little deal with you." He liked the way she said his name, quiet and a little breathy but with a strange strength behind it that was strangely sensual. Was she flirting with him or was that just his imagination?

"What kind of deal are we talkin' about?"

"I'd be willing take you under my wing and teach you how to perfect your skills. When I'm through with you The Reaper will be begging you to join his sorry school."

"You can do that? You can me a better weapon even though you aren't one?" Rael's eyes had gone a little wide at this unexpected offer.

"Of course. You don't have to be a weapon to teach one. You don't think all of the professors at D.W.M.A. are weapons do you? You just have to know about them and having a little magic of some sort never hurts either." Her smile was no longer coy or teasing but confident and bold.

"So what's my end of the bargain then? For somethin' that impressive you must be expectin' somethin' pretty good in return. What would I owe you?"

"Not as much as you think. All I want from you is that you work for me when your training is complete. A weapon as talented as you could be very useful." She looked him straight in the eye and put out her hand for him to shake. "What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

"Hold on," Rael said, shaking his head gently. "I got a few more questions first." He laughed as he saw the trace of surprise in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm not quite as dumb as everyone thinks I am. Like I said, for a deal that good there must be a catch or two. First off, where do you live? Is it in a neighborhood with a lot of traffic? Since you seem to know so much about me, you must know that I'm not exactly on good terms with cops, especially the kind from outta town."

She chuckled quietly and said, "That won't be a problem for you. My lab is outside the city. I'll make you a map if you like."

"Lab, huh? Witch, weapon-trainer, scientist, you're quite the jack-of-all-trades, ain't you?"

She smiled back at him and laughed playfully, "Stop it, you're embarrassing me. Getting back to the business at hand though, if you accept my offer I suppose it won't be necessary to give you a map. I can just take you back with me tonight. That's where you would be living anyway."

"With you? You'd take me to live with you?" The teen's eyes were wide with disbelief.

"Yes. To be properly trained you ought to be continually immersed in your studies. Live, eat and breath it, just like I'm doing with my own child, Crona."

"You've got a kid who's a weapon? Boy, talent must run in your blood!"

"Crona is an artificially created weapon. A demon weapon, like yourself if I'm not mistaken."

"Whoa! You created your own weapon? That's amazin'? I thought the only person to ever do that was the Heretic Witch." Medusa laughed, a little louder than necessary, but Rael was too busy contemplating her words and thinking about the offer she'd just made him, to notice. "So you're tellin' me that I get to come live with you, train alongside your kid, and all you want is for me to work for you when trainin's over? Sounds too good to be true somehow. Oh yeah, that brings me back to my other question. What kind of work would I be doing?"

"Whatever jobs that need doing, I suppose. You look a little skeptical. Alright. I'm like you. I've got people who don't like me much either."

"Like the people up at the school?"

"That's right. Can you believe that they really expect you to consume 99 souls and that of a witch? How barbaric is that? They just send foolish children out to persecute witches just because of the fact they're witches. We can't help being born with our gift any more than weapons and meister's can help being born with theirs." Her voice was raised for the first time since they'd spoken. Her eyes looked shiny as she quickly hid her face from him.

Rael was a little shocked at her words. He had either never known or just never paid attention to that little detail about the school. They really targeted witches just to help the weapons change into Death Scythes? That was awful! His moral musings about Lord Death's school were cut short when he saw how Medusa reacted after she spoke. She was no longer looking at him and her shoulders were shaking softly. She was crying!

"Whoa, it's okay. Don't cry," he said softly as he lay a gentle hand on one of her shoulders. When she didn't turn back to face him, Rael gently turned her around and lightly touched her cheek, giving her a little smile. "It'll be alright. Please don't cry anymore. I don't know what to do when people do that."

Medusa sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. After clearing her throat, she asked in a quiet voice, "So Rael Kess, do we have a deal." She reached out her hand to him and…

"…And like an idiot I shook with her and just like that it was done. I'd sold my soul to that… that witch."

"Go ahead and call her a bitch if you want to," Giriko said with a shrug of the shoulders, "sounds like was one."

"Alright then. That stupid bitch! I hated her! She wasn't crying. She was just laughing at how stupid and gullible I was! She mentioned takin' me to live with her and her son, being part of a family and I was hooked. Gettin' off the streets and havin' people that would love me was all I needed to hear and she knew it! Stupid manipulative bitch! I hate you! I'm glad those damn kids got you!" Rael was panting as he finished yelling. It had been a long time since he'd let it out and openly confessed how much he hated Medusa and in a way it felt good.

"Feel better?" Giriko asked with a little smirk on his face.

"Maybe a little." Rael sighed quietly and stopped walking. "Can we take a break? My feet are killin' me."

"Sure, whatever." Giriko flopped onto the ground and leaned against a tree trunk, stretching his long limbs out in front of him. Rael did the same, but only after checking thoroughly for snakes, spiders, and any other creepy crawly that might be hanging out in the trees or in the undergrowth. "So, that's how you met and then you skip right to the fact that she's a bitch and you hate her, blah blah blah. What did she do that made you hate her so much?"

"Besides lie to me from day one? Wait a minute, you're actually interested in somethin' I have to say?" Rael raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Not really, but if we've got to sit here and let you rest your poor tired feet then we might as well do something to pass the time. Even your story is better than nothing." Giriko shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and stared at his brother expectantly.

"Why do I hate Medusa? Where do I begin?"