Thea paced restlessly in front of the steps of Medusa's temple. For the fifth time, she attempted to advance, to go in after her comrades, but an invisible force kept her back. She growled in frustration.
"You should relax. They will be okay." Io's voice echoed behind her as it glanced off the stone. Thea turned and saw her sitting regally next to the extra weapons and provisions. She immediately felt jealous that even after all the days of traveling and fighting, Io still looked like royalty.
"You are truly blessed…" Thea muttered, surveying her own attire with distaste.
"Blessed?" Io laughed harshly, surprising Thea, "To be ever young and desirable, forced to live while you watch your friends and family grow old and die. Forced to live in a world controlled by spiteful gods and selfish men. No, Thea, I am not blessed, I am cursed." Io finished softly, her eyes boring into Thea's with an intense light.
"I'm sorry, I did not realize…" Thea began, but Io cut her off with a wave of her hand.
"I have come to terms with my fate. You, on the other hand, would do well to learn from my misfortune. Do all you can to release their hold on you Thea, or else, your destiny will be even darker than mine." Io warned, her eyes softening to sadness. Thea sat down at the bottom of the stairs, struck by the weight of the woman's words.
"You have a chance for a life Thea, a life that I would give anything for…Don't let the gods control you…" Io began.
"No!" Thea practically shouted causing Io to snap her mouth shut, "The gods are not forcing me to do anything. I am choosing to give up my life to save Greece, to prevent the gods from destroying us all. I am choosing to sacrifice the desires that are in my heart to protect the life of the man I…of the man I…" Thea faltered feeling tears prick her eyes.
"You really do love him, don't you?" Io asked standing up and going towards the distraught girl. She looked so lost and weak that it broke Io's heart.
"But we'll never be together. I will die for him, a thousand times I will die for him." Thea swore, a tear spilling over her eye and down her cheek as she realized the inevitable was going to happen, and very soon. A scream echoed out from the ruins and startled the women. Io tensed as Thea gripped her daggers reflexively. As the scream died, they looked at each other with hardened expressions. Whatever was going on in there was not good. Thea sheathed her swords and kneeled. She closed her eyes and tried to contact her patron, the god of war, Ares.
"Ares, since the day of my fathers death, you have blessed me with incredible abilities and strength. Please, give Perseus the strength to defeat this opponent, for with his victory, he will be able to prevent the war that you prophesized. If he is alive, I know that I will have the courage to do what needs to be done when the time comes." Thea prayed, pouring her whole entire being into pleading the war god for a blessing. She felt her skin tingle and could see a red glow from behind her eyelids and she knew that Ares had answered her prayer.
Thea kept praying until she heard Io's happy gasp from behind her. She opened her eyes and lifter her head to see Perseus striding down the steps with a large bundle under his arm. He smiled at them, but his happy expression contorted into horror at the same moment Thea heard a pained breath from behind her. She spun around to see Io, her face disfigured with pain and shock as a blade protruded from her stomach. The blade was yanked out of her, and as Io fell to the ground, Thea saw the same monster that she had battled in the woods.
"Io!" Thea screamed, drawing her swords and advancing towards the creature with hatred burning in her eyes. The creature laughed cruelly as Thea struck. She spun around his counter attack and locked his sword between her blades. Just as she thought she could gain the advantage, the monster pushed Thea back with an incredible amount of power. Thea was thrown back, her body spinning into the side of the ruins. She fell to the ground in a heap and could feel a trickle of blood slide down her face.
She watched, unable to make her body cooperate as Perseus engaged the monster. Thea realized she was lying a few feet away from Io, so she pulled her injured body towards the other woman. Io's face paled as the blood ran out of her from the wound.
"Io, stay with me. I can help you…" Thea said trying to staunch the flow of blood. Io grabbed her hands and stopped her frantic attempts to save her. Thea's vision blurred and she realized she was crying. She held on to Io's hand as though she were the lifeline to reality. She could feel someone kneel down beside her, and she looked over to see Perseus. He too tried to stop the flow of blood, to somehow save her.
"Perseus, stop." Io ordered, a small smile resting on her lips.
"You've been with me since the beginning. I cant leave you here now." Perseus said, refusing to give up.
"It's okay Perseus. I can finally move on…" Io explained, and Thea realized with a start that this is what Io had been waiting for all along. Perseus closed his eyes and held onto Io's hand as she took her last few breaths.
"Remember Perseus. You are not just half man, half god. You are the best of both." Io whispered as her whole being transformed into light. With a flash, Io disappeared. Thea sniffled and blinked away her tears. She looked at her hands to see hers and Perseus's intertwined. She looked at him and stared into his eyes, seeing all of his sadness.
"Just us?" she asked, hoping that he would contradict her.
"Just us…" he confirmed and Thea sighed heavily as she sent a prayer for all of her fallen companions. A fire started in her heart as she switched her gaze to the bundle on the ground. Perseus released her hand to go retrieve the head.
"How are we going to get to Argos in time?" Thea asked wiping the blood from her face with the edge of her tunic. Just then, a shadow passed over the sun, and Thea looked up to see a great black stallion drop down from the sky towards them. She looked at the creature in amazement as it folded its longs feathered wings behind its back. Perseus stroked the stallions neck and mounted it.
"What is it?" Thea asked approaching the creature with caution.
"A Pegasus. A gift from the gods no doubt." Perseus answered holding out his hand to her. Thea grabbed his hand and was hauled up onto the Pegasus behind him. As Perseus spurred the creature into flight, Thea threw her arms around his waist and held on for dear life as they rose up into the sky. She pressed her face into his back in an attempt to not notice how high they were. Perseus laughed at her.
It took them almost two hours to arrive at Argos, and by that time, the eclipse was about to occur. As Perseus and Thea flew above the city, they looked in horror as the Kraken emerged from the water. Perseus guided the Pegasus around the monster gigantic tentacles as they attempted to get in front of it. They flew up above a tower that over looked the ocean. Just as they saw the princess being held as an offering to appease the monster right below them, a black demon attacked. The winged hellion snatched the bundle that held Medusas head right from Perseus's hand.
"You get the head back, I'll save the princess." Thea shouted to Perseus. Shoving her fear aside and ignoring Perseus's shock, Thea threw herself off of the Pegasus and down towards the tower below. She grabbed onto the side of the balcony as it rushed past her. Thea's body swung haphazardly as she struggled to pull herself up. Just as she got a foothold, the Kraken smashed one of its tentacles into the building beside the tower. The tentacle grazed the side of the tower, and Thea was almost thrown loose down into the water. With an extreme amount of effort, Thea pulled herself up onto the balcony.
People were fleeing the area, rushing to escape the sea monster. The princess was held suspended out over the edge by a wooden contraption. Thea pushed past the hysterical citizens and made her way to the device that pulled the princess back inside the tower. A scruffy man with a thick beard and a weird look in his eye tried to stop Thea as she moved towards Andromeda. Thea didn't have time to deal with him civilly, so she pushed the lunatic hard enough for him to be swept away by the crowd.
The device that held the princess consisted of a crank and pulley system. Thea pushed on the heavy wooden crank and slowly brought the princess to safety. Once Andromeda's feet were on the ground, Thea cut off her bonds. Andromeda rubbed her wrists and looked at Thea gratefully.
"Thank you!" the princess cried.
"Don't thank me yet, get back to the palace." Thea ordered right as the Kraken smashed the building on the other side of the tower.
"Quickly, Go!" Thea yelled as she pushed the princess away from the edge as it began to crumble from the shock. As the princess passed out of the tower, Perseus and a demon crashed through the ceiling locked in combat. They tumbled right into the grand fire pit in the center of the room, but before Thea could even scream, Perseus and the bundle were tossed out of the flames at her feet.
Thea helped Perseus to his feet and gave him the bundle. The Kraken roared behind them causing debris to rain down on them from the fragile ceiling. The two turned in horror to face the Kraken.
"Do it now!" Thea screamed as she covered her ears from the ear-piercing roar. Perseus advanced to the edge of the tower and closed his eyes as he exposed Medusa's head to the beast. Thea turned away as the Kraken slowly turned into stone. She alone was able to see the crazed man that she had pushed away earlier throw the dagger straight at Perseus.
Without a moments hesitation, Thea threw herself in the daggers path, the blade digging itself into her heart. A small cry escaped her lips as she stumbled into the pulley system beside Perseus. Perseus dropped the head in surprise when he heard Thea crash into the device next to him. He opened his eyes to see a dagger jutting out from her chest, blood blossoming on her tunic. He turned and saw a man running at him, a mad gleam in his eye.
Perseus threw the man back, and he tumbled into the fire pit destroyed by the flames. Perseus returned his attention to Thea. Her eyes were closed, but the ghost of a smile graced her lips.
"Thea, wake up! Thea!" Perseus screamed grabbing her shoulders and pulling her body against his. Her head lolled back, her long blonde hair tickling his arms. She blinked and looked up at him tiredly.
"Warrior…" she whispered, reaching up to touch his face. As she lifted her head, Perseus could see the amount of effort it took. His lower lip trembled as tears spilled over his eyes. She inched her lips closer and closer, trying so hard to reach him. The ground beneath Thea gave way, and before they could kiss, Thea's body fell from Perseus's grip. The last thing Thea heard before she succumbed to death was Perseus's heartbreaking scream as he called out her name.
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