[Atlantic Ocean] Gorgades

[Apollymi]

'Acknowledgement~' the young woman chimed in her own head of course. The words of Chrysaor were quite interesting and new to her. She'd never before heard of a method which would allow her to keep her powers as a huntress, while being anywhere near remotely normal. If this had been a normal situation she might have probed his mind further, but it was obvious to her that he only intended to share such information, if he could be the one to make use of it. Such a deal wasn't at all something Deianira would find herself agreeing to at any point now, or in the future. Beyond this, she could not very well tolerate the sort of attitude boasted by Chrysaor in this moment. "Mistake?" she frowned in this moment, something very rare in the case of the normally jovial huntress. In fact, even when she was upset she normally wouldn't allow herself to actually do anything other than smile. Even so, she would be rather obviously displeased, and this would only be added to by the arrow penetrating the barrier put up by Athos and resulting in a spill of blood which only made the young woman's silver eyes widen immensely. She fought the desire to call out to the boy physically, knowing it would only stoke the older Gorgon male's distaste and likely lead to more injuries for the white haired lad. 'Wiggle or something to let me know you're still okay in there,' she murmured telepathically reaching out ever so slightly with her own mind.

This boy was one of only a few people, whose emotions she could trust as his own, him dying here would be incredibly disheartening. "Curse? No no... you have the wrong idea here..." she said such a thing while still not finding it in herself to smile. "People aren't mistakes, people make mistakes," the young woman said, having an extensive philsophy about such things by her own actions. "No one can control the circumstances of their birth. Living with something like that looming over your existence... that is a curse," she said coming to an understanding of why Athos had been so distrusting and hard to befriend.

Whatever other traumas he'd experienced, none of them would compare in her own eyes, to the idea that everyone he'd grown up with, who was supposed to look out for him, thought him a mistake. Something to be hidden and pushed out, she couldn't imagine living with knowing this was how people felt about your very existence. She thought her life confusing enough for not knowing people's real thoughts of her from their emotionally manipulated ones, but this only made her feel more for the white haired lad. How he tolerated such an existence was beyond her, but it only gained Athos a great deal of respect in her eyes. "I'm not cursed, this life is one I chose and I have no problem seeing it through as it is. I could easily give up being a huntress, and that will be my choice," she said pausing for the gravity of the thing she was about to say and finding that smile she'd so recently forgotten. "But it wouldn't be for a king who thinks so little of his own younger brother. If you treat him like this, I can only imagine how everyone else is treated. It's not a sacrifice I am willing to make," Deianira's statements ended and she realized how such a 'blessing' from Artemis was meant to play out. Though admittedly she wouldn't want to give up being a huntress, if she had to for the sake of someone else, she would... but it would be solely her decision if they were worthy of her sacrifice. Such a thought gave the young woman an extreme amount of comfort. After all, she hadn't expected at all to think about herself during this endeavor and in chasing friendship with the shy gorgon lad, she'd found one of her defining principles.

[Bloodedge]

"You say people make mistakes. Poseidon made the boy. Missstake." Chrysaor was quite clearly set in his opinion about his young brother's existence. He had no place in this world, and Chrysaor's senses told him he had now been reduced to an eternity in Hades. No movement came from beyond the hole in the stone wall. The Gorgon King had kept his promise. "Fear not for your own future, my queen. The boy was no brother of mine. You will stand among Gorgonkind as my mother once did, whether it is something you believe now... or not..."

In a matter of moments, another tremor suddenly took place beneath Chrysaor. A torrent of water emerged from this, carrying Athos. The white Gorgon coiled himself around his elder brother's torso, revealing a bleeding hole in the end of his own tail as he did so, though he was no worse for wear otherwise. "What trickery is this!?" Chrysaor exclaimed. Athos had nothing to say to the other male Gorgon, but he did have something to do... and do, he did. Though his right hand wielded a sword forged by Hephaestus, Athos relied on his left hand to claw into the flesh of Chrysaor's arms, delivering his neurotoxin on both sides with intentions of limiting his opponent's greatest strength. In these moments, Athos seemed to have a much greater amount of focus than in his previous fights. This battle, above all the others, was one he needed to win.

[Apollymi]

"You're not hearing me, that mistake is on Poseidon..." she said. It was strange to her to be arguing such a point with another person. She wouldn't have to have this conversation with people she normally associated with, and found it to be the singular most frustrating conversation she'd ever had. "Ugh, I'm going to need a proper drink after this. It's like I've been talking to a wall..." she said, as she pinched the bridge of her nose with the middle finger and thumb of her left hand as if to relieve the pressure of a coming headache. "I'm not going to be your queen," she said, as an immediate follow up to the idea that she would somehow be the same as Medusa to his people. "That sounded harsher outside my head," she followed up, though she didn't apologize for it, she truly wasn't interested in Chrysaor. Seers misinterpreted their visions all the time, and she was almost positive he'd done this in her case.

Still, the daughter of Dionysus was given a small glimmer of happiness, and that for her was tremendous, as Athos emerged from the space below apparently more than well. She'd brushed against his mind and found him still among the living due to her earlier prodding use of telepathy. Even so, she was more than a bit relieved to see him in actuality. Though the wound in his tail made her wince just a tad. "That looks dreadful..." she said aloud of the wound a deep acknowledgement of the young son of Poseidon for managing to keep fighting and further more hide his presence and launch a proper attack against his brother. She watched as this carried on, beginning to think logically about the kind of poison or venom the young gorgon boy used against his older brother. From her own observation it was probably a neurotoxin which could have a couple of different outcomes. 'Hm, I wonder if that will work out...'

[Bloodedge]

Once Athos' neurotoxin was applied, Chrysaor lashed about to throw the younger male off his torso. In doing so, he quite literally swatted the boy away, though Athos' tail remained steadfast around his humanoid midsection. "Pesky brat, get off me!" the king shouted. Athos' neurotoxin was of a powerful variety, but it seemed to have come with a great downside when applied to one such as Chrysaor. The Gorgon King stretched his arms so quickly, with such unfathomable strength, that it snapped the bindings he had in place himself. These things were actually in place to limit Chrysaor's movements, as his power was too great for his own body to handle it. Now that his nerves had been affected by Athos, he'd lost a great deal of sensation already, so he had less measure for the amount of strength he was using. Of course, this resulted in him using something closer to his true physical power, which was beyond what even enchanted bindings could fully restrain.

Athos hissed at nearly being thrown away, but he persisted still. That is... until Chrysaor took hold of his tail with such a tight grip, his fist was nearly fully closed around the serpentine half of the boy's body. "Hrngh!" grunted the youngest son of Poseidon. Just then, the unexpected happened. Whatever Athos had planned was shot down by a quick pull of Chrysaor's left arm, which tore away the end of the tail it held in such a firm grasp. What was previously no more than a pierce wound and a tightness which caused him great discomfort, became...

"HUAAAAHH!" Having roughly a quarter of his tail ripped off left Athos in absolute agony, and he quickly fell to the floor. Much to his dismay, he was not allowed to wallow in this agony, as he was just as quickly scooped up by Chrysaor's tail, and held in a bone-crushing embrace. All the while, Chrysaor - seeing Athos as nothing more than something to eliminate as an aside to his ongoing conversation - continued speaking with Deianira. "You would say no to me? What a foolish decision. You have until this thing stops breathing to change your mind, lest we have to settle our engagement the difficult way."

[Apollymi]

Deianira continued to watch as Athos made contact with his brother. His neurotoxin did indeed seem to work upon the Gorgon King, which was useful information to have, but the young huntress could see that things would get worse before they got better. 'I hope he did that on purpose...' she said as she steeled herself. She was a huntress, she had an iron will, but she couldn't help but feel that the physical punishment the lad was putting himself through for his potential victory was far too much. But she imagined by comparison to his emotional damage he didn't feel like it was much. Even so, as a section of the boy's tail was ripped away she reflexively flinched. It seemed surprising, even so she couldn't do anything about it. She didn't know what kinds of ceremonial rights bound this boy in his fight with his brother. She couldn't interfere it if would risk what he was working towards, all she could do was offer her unwavering support of him. 'I'm sorry, I really am... but I have the odd feeling you've felt worse... I don't know what you intend here... but you have my support...' she offered Athos, as she held back a well of emotions. She felt for this young man, respected him, and watched his suffering steadfast for the opportunity she'd have to help him.

That being said, the Gorgon King seemed rather set on the idea that she would be his bride, and spoke to her in a way which implied a threat the likes of which Deianira wouldn't necessarily put up with. Her eyes narrowed in this moment and she started at the blind Gorgon King and something rather venomous fell from her face. "Yes, I would say no. I'm saying it right now. No. It won't happen, I won't allow it..." she said seeming to think about it more, the threat which came with it implied that he'd have her even against her will, and that was something Deianira definitely wouldn't tolerate. If the son of Aphrodite couldn't talk her out if it, she wasn't going to let the brutish Gorgon King take it from her. "Also, you've got the wrong idea... I've only been spectating this travesty because I don't want anyone challenging his rule when he wins. He wants to be here and I want him to be happy, I won't take this from him. But you look like base prey to me..." the young woman mentioned, remembering that upon reaching this island she'd thought of hunting whatever was here. It would be a standing challenge if Chrysaor wished to try and claim this young woman by force. She sincerely hoped for Athos to be able to handle himself, she didn't want him harmed and she knew this win was important to him.

[Bloodedge]

As Chrysaor constricted him, Athos mustered up what strength he could in his right arm to cut at the green Gorgon's tail. It was hard enough to free that very same arm of the grip which had already begun snapping bones all throughout his body, but when he used the blade, it caused nothing more than a small gash which healed itself rather quickly. "Fool!" Chrysaor spoke while whipping the boy around with his tail. His own left arm drew back, and punched at the part of his tail which held Athos. The mere shock wave sent through this was enough to nearly knock the demigod unconscious, and blood spewed from his mouth nonetheless. Strangely, though... this attack tore all the muscles in Chrysaor's arm, and caused it to bleed profusely until its wounds healed as well. "How long must you try? There is hardly any life left in you already; even your regenerative abilities are nothing compared to mine. Look at what little damage you've done, and what damages you still have! Die! Watch, huntress. Watch what happens to his rule, and what happens to anyone who tries to impede mine! No one can stand before me!"

What came from Athos' mangled body next was the slightest upturn of the lips. "It's like a vacation from everything else," he said, though whether it was a response to Deianira's telepathic message, Chrysaor's threat of death, or something in his own mind... was something he would not explain. What Chrysaor couldn't realize due to the neurotoxin in his body, was that his punch - even mitigated through his own tail - should have shot a hole through the tail and Athos. The sword Hephaestus gave him was made with the power of the only thing a Gorgon of Chrysaor's status could fear: the Titanoboa. Its power was that of the original Basilisk, whose spell was a binding power the likes of which Chrysaor's ribbons only aimed to replicate. Chrysaor was rapidly becoming weak. All Athos had to do was survive long enough to capitalize on it.

[Apollymi]

'Ah, he can regenerate, that isn't good...' thought Deianira all to herself. She had long since become disillusioned by the words of the current Gorgon King, but was left to watch the long battle between him and Athos, waiting for the white haired male to emerge the victor. She'd noticed that Chrysaor was having a decent go at Athos, beating him within an inch of his life, and as his mind seemed to drift ever so slightly towards unconsciousness, the young man found it in himself to speak, with a smirk on his face no less. This smirk wasn't something she saw, but rather something she heard or felt within herself as he spoke. "Of course he chooses now to say something..." she said aloud with a roll of her eyes. Even so, she believed more in him in this moment than she had before. He was obviously going to win by virtue of the strength of his will. And this to Deianira was something worth being admired. "Someone is standing before you right now, you just won't acknowledge it..." Deianira mentioned off-handedly. She would indeed watch, but only because she felt the determination in and really wanted to help out Athos and right now she really wanted to witness the end of the present Gorgon King, if only for the white haired young man's sake.

[Bloodedge]

"I'll never acknowledge anything so insignificant," Chrysaor said. Though he knew he was being referred to this way, Athos had no proper reaction to the words. Such a thing was mere commonplace to him now, so he expected the statements. None of that mattered, though, as his goal remained intact. Now, even... it was becoming attainable. Chrysaor could not tell how much weaker he was becoming due to the binding spell of the Boa Sword, but Athos was finding it much easier to breath and move within his brother's constriction. "Give... me..." he started through labored breaths. "Give you what? A swifter death? Gladly," Chrysaor replied. With that, the elder loaded another arrow into his bow, aiming it at Athos' face with the intention of pulling it back. Before he could draw the string of his bow, Athos' sword arm moved in a way that allowed his blade to cleave through the muscular Gorgon's bow-wielding arm.

"Give me... my crown." Athos' return stroke occurred as Chrysaor's arm and bow hit the floor, slashing away half of the snakes upon the latter male's head. His crown, as well, was knocked away from his skull... but so was his blindfold. "Not bad... but... now, any hope you had is gone." As he spoke, Chrysaor began opening his eyes... eyes that had turned the ancient predecessors of the Gorgon species to stone with their powerful spell. Athos was ready for this, though. His severed tail moved swiftly, until it was able to splatter blood in Chrysaor's opening eyes to stop their spell from taking place. It was in this moment that Athos severed his other arm, then rammed the sword into the end of his tail closest to the torso. Then, the youngest son of Poseidon was free to slither away slowly to claim the fallen crown. But... was it over?

[Apollymi]

Deianira watched as Athos regained his breath, and the strength of Chrysaor's grip seemed to be weakening. 'Oh... neurotoxin,' she thought with a smirk forming over her face. If nothing else, Athos was to be commended for his long term strategy, and for possessing the fortitude required to go through with such a plan. Athos began to speak again, and his words garnered an amused chuckle from Deianira. Though they were drawn out and labored, they were the exact amount of instigation she expected from the lad she'd somewhat gotten to know over the last few weeks. She couldn't help the smile on her face as the young Gorgon King claimed his crown by force. "He's not seeming insignificant now..." she mentioned having watched Chrysaor's arms and the snakes of his hair, as well as his crown be removed by the sword skills of Athos. She likely had nothing more to say about the situation, she felt that the elder male had pretty much sealed his own fate, and was quite deserving of it, considering the hardship he'd given his little brother. Still she held her breath, she didn't know if this fight was over but she definitely didn't want to let her guard down at all.

[Bloodedge]

"Argh! You little shit!" Chrysaor exclaimed. Already, the bleeding was stopping from wounds received by Athos' blade. Chrysaor's limbs were even starting to visually regrow themselves. Athos never looked back, or even seem to give much of a care about the other male's healing. Poseidon's son was in the process of claiming the Gorgon King's crown, and once he did, he placed it upon his head, along with his usual eye patch. This process (specifically the donning of the eye patch) resulted in a return to Athos' normal state as the water he'd previously used in his underground tunnel gathered around his body. Once he was humanoid again, his lower body was once again fully intact, and all injuries presented by Chrysaor were sealed/repaired.

On the other side of things, Chrysaor's healing stagnated shortly after the bleeding stopped. The Boa Sword's sealing ability had taken full effect, and it saw to the official end of this battle. "I am the king now. I'll allow you to live on one of the other islands, but if you try anything when I take that sword out, I'll take your head," he claimed while stepping toward the elder Gorgon. In a matter of moments, his hand was upon the hilt of the Boa Sword, and he - in a manner not befitting his normal antics - looked Chrysaor directly in the face, while awaiting any form of retort.

[Apollymi]

As Deianira watched this battle seemingly came to its end. Athos, claimed his crown and declared himself king, even in the face of his brother who'd managed to stop his own bleeding but was still pinned down by the sword left within his person. He was soon enough fully healed by the water he'd previously used to hide his presence which Deianira more than appreciated given she was quite worried about the lad in general. But more so than happy about the apparent fixing of his body, she was stunned by his attitude even in the face of his brother. 'He kicked you out, he tried to kill you... he ignored your very presence while you stood in front of him...' she thought stunned by his words. 'And you'd still let him stay...' she was beyond words. This young king seemed to be a lot of things, but he wasn't particularly vengeful, even when he had every reason to be. He was fearful of people, wanted to be left alone, but he couldn't actually want to be alone. He still acknowledged his brother's existence he offered to not ignore him in the same way he'd been treated. There was something, noble, honest, and caring about his ability to do that. He didn't want his brother dead, he just didn't want to be excluded. She waited then as Athos approached and stared his brother in his face, she wondered if Chrysaor would accept those terms. If he'd agree to simply live and let live, having been beaten in combat.

[Bloodedge]

Chrysaor remained silent for quite some time. The offer given to him was one he could easily contest. If he could simply have this blade removed by means of trickery, he could finish healing himself to claim a true victory. On the other hand, Chrysaor was very firm as king of the Gorgons, and he certainly could not have his rule challenged after a somewhat illegitimate return of the crown. "I'll come for your head again. You won't keep me from being king for long," he said, though it seemed he would be trying nothing this day. As such, Athos pulled the sword from his brother's tail, allowing Chrysaor to slither away and regenerate on his path to one of the other islands. Athos was free to heave a sigh of relief when this happened, but he also had a few parting words for his brother. "I'll fight as long as it takes..."

Following Chrysaor's leave, Athos sheathed his sword, and approached the former king's fallen limbs. He took from them the bow of his brother, which he balanced between the floor, and his hand which sat upon the item's other end. He had an idea for what to do with this, but being the type of individual he was, he hadn't the words for the situation.

[Apollymi]

The young huntress got to watch as the two brothers came to some sort of strange agreement, it was interesting. She'd seen siblings fight before, witnessed the turn to civility after savagery, but still it was quite strange to witness. Especially when these two looked as if they were trying to kill each other for the entirety of their fight. The amount of respect she felt for this young man couldn't even be fathomed, a smile formed on her face as Chrysaor slithered off to heal up and relief flooded this young man and she smiled for him. 'What a strangely admirable boy...' she said, feeling herself become even more infatuated by the idea of befriending the young man properly. "Gorgon King Athos, huh?" she asked playfully. "It's got a nice ring to it~" she chimed seemingly pleased, as she gave a graceful bow in light jest. "Congratulations," she said quite relieved herself that the boy had pulled off this particular win. She'd been more than a bit worried for him, and as he was now safe, she no longer felt the need to wear the golden winged armor. As she came up from her bow, the entirety of the armor disappeared back into the stone from whence it'd come and she tucked it into the piece of leather on her neck once more.

After this was done, she took a moment to cheekily look over at the young man she'd been travelling with, and strangely found him with the bow previously in the possession of his elder brother. She was a bit curious, wondering if it'd been left on purpose. It gave her a bit of pause... "Gonna take up archery? It's pretty fun~" she said, chuckling immediately after seeming to find humor in her own words. "Well, I mean... that's a bit biased of me, but... still counts," she managed her jovial nature seeming to have returned to her without much work in the face of Athos' victory.

[Bloodedge]

Deianira voiced her congratulations to the young male, in conjunction with a bit of jest which fit into her typical demeanor, but Athos seemed to be paying no mind to her words. His eye was focused on the bow under his hand, and his mind was focused on whatever key words needed to be spoken. He had taken Chrysaor's crown, and he knew the green Gorgon did not need this bow to be a great force against any opponent. He could have taken, and maybe even used it. Still... he had no desire to wield this bow. Athos had other plans.

As much as he'd have liked to avoid Dionysus' daughter for the full amount of time he'd known her, and as much as he'd made this obvious, she had offered him a great deal of time and attention to help him along. If not for her involvement, Athos would have never succeeded in gaining a tool from Hephaestus, which meant he would have never been able to prevent Chrysaor from overpowering him with vastly superior Gorgon abilities. Even with Hephaestus' craft, he would have struggled more without Deianira acting as a distraction. Even Athos understood gratitude, in at least some respect. Still, he had few words crossing his mind... so, in the end, he simply leaned the bow toward the huntress demigod while turning his head away from her. "Here."

[Apollymi]

'Nothing... really?' Deianira thought as she smiled. Normally her jokes went over well, it seemed she wasn't hitting on much of anything for the last few weeks. Of course, it could be said that she was actually losing her touch, but she didn't believe this for a second. No, to her it simply appeared that she'd finally met her match as far as this was concerned, and it made her wonder if this was what Albafica felt like when she spurned his shows of affection. Regardless, she didn't dwell on this for very long, because she'd grown quite accustomed to Athos' antics and lack of real speech in their travels. 'Oh well... one day maybe, I'll get a chuckle out of him. Or gods forbid a smile~' she mused internally.

But soon enough, her internal jest would be halted by something else entirely. Athos once again spoke, in the few words he tended to use, but by his gesture it seemed he meant to convey something a bit stunning. The young huntress' mind wandered over what was happening before her and immediately her face flushed and for the first time she looked away, "But... well.... I..." she stumbled over words, something completely unseen before this moment. It would seem that she wasn't at all expecting this sort of kindness from Athos. In fact, she wasn't really sure how to deal with it at all. She'd come along to ensure his safety, to help him out... she didn't expect the boy with his fortitude and seeming dislike of people to offer her anything. And she'd been just fine with that so long as he was alright. If his earlier utterance of 'thanks' had stunned her, the offer of the gift of the bow he'd taken from the previous Gorgon King completely floored her. It surprisingly took her a few moments, and she gathered that such a thing wasn't at all normal for the lad either, much like their earlier dealing with Hephaestus she felt that she couldn't turn him down. "I mean... if you're giving it to me," she muttered as she tried to give the flush time to disappear from her face. "And you're sure you don't want it. I'll take it..." she said the small smile returning to her face. "Thank you," she said, with a warm feeling welling up in the center of her being. It was quite strange, she wondered if this was the feeling everyone had when they made new friends and felt their actions reciprocated. She reached for the bow leaned in her direction, she was actually thanking various gods for the fact that this young man was more awkward than she, as he was turned away... and thus she could be somewhat certain he'd have no idea how embarrassed she was at this point. She'd take up the bow if left uninterrupted, and she'd examine it fully as she'd not had a chance to do while it was in Chrysaor's possession.