Clardusa Part 4 Ocean
Perball is next encountered on a boat, rowing across the ocean to get to Seriphos. He has opted to use it rather than using his winged shoes, as Clardusa accompanies him. A satchel covers Clardusa's head, and beside her are what Perball assumes to be her sons, the winged boar and the winged horse, which are secured alongside her.
The gorgon occupies the middle of the boat, visibly trembling as she perceives the sound of the waves. Her thoughts are directed towards the sea god, as the splashes of the water evoke images of his fins attempting to reach her, only to retreat in apprehension of his grasp. The two animals can only look at their mother muttering in sadness.
Perball looked at her again, remembering that the satchel covering her face prevented her from petrifying him. He tried to make some small talk with her, but she didn't want to listen to him after he tried to kill her and hurt her sons, who glared and snorted at him. This made him focus on rowing more, not trying to anger the winged animals.
Clardusa muttered a bitter comment, her voice laced with sarcasm, about someone finally coming to save Perball, who sat puzzled in the small boat, his brow furrowed with confusion. Unable to contain her irritation, she snapped at him, her tone sharp as she barked, "Mind your own business and keep rowing!" Perball, feeling the weight of her anger, hesitated but then summoned the courage to confront her about the recent death of Anithena's high priestess and the horrific petrification that had plagued her town—a dark curse that had twisted the very fabric of their lives.
Clardusa's fury ignited at the mention of the priestess, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Hissing in a snake-like manner, she declared, with a venomous edge to her voice, "I am that Priestess!" The revelation fell like a thunderclap, shocking Perball into silence. She launched into an impassioned tirade about the chaos that had unraveled since the arrival of a certain fish man—an enigmatic figure who had brought nothing but turmoil in his wake. Her rage swelled, directed not only at her adversaries but also at a goddess she deemed utterly ineffectual. Clardusa's accusations were fierce as she confronted the divine, claiming abandonment in the wake of her trauma when the sea god had committed an unforgivable violation within the sacred temple where her faith had once flourished.
Her face contorted with an ugly mix of anger and betrayal, and her hair seemed to writhe like serpents, mirroring the tempest within her. In a dramatic flourish, she removed the satchel that had shrouded her identity, revealing her furious visage. Overwhelmed by the intensity of her emotions and fearing the consequences of her wrathful gaze, Perball instinctively lifted his shield to protect himself, the metal gleaming ominously in the dim light, as he braced himself against the possibility of being turned to stone by her frantic fury.
Perball apologized after Clardusa calmed down and then put the satchel back on her head. She tells him that Everyone close to her is now a statue in the temple. He has no idea what it's like to be all alone without your family. Perball replies that he does understand the part without a family. Clardusa then turned her head, confused about what he had just said.
When he was a baby, he and his mother, Nicnae, were in a chest that was in the ocean. Ninae told him that they got banished from their original home because his grandpa feared that Perball would kill him. They were discovered by a fisherman who got us out. But the reason he came to her island was to bring her decapitated head back to King Harolydectes of Seriphus as a gift. This only got Pegasus and Chroysr glaring at him. He stepped back from his statement, saying, "But that's no longer the plan." She then asked the Greek hero: Is that why you spare me? Perball, thinking about this, responds that the way Clardusa was holding the winged pig thing was it reminded him of his mom.
The Gorgon is skeptical about Perball but still doesn't trust him because he kidnaps her and her sons. She still thinks he's gonna chop off her head after he saves his mom and Anithena would put her head on her shield. Clardusa, in her thoughts, could kill Perball while he was sleeping. But before Clardusa could consider this plan, a scream is heard, and Perball rows faster to find the source of the scream.