"AXTON!" Ace screamed out desperately for Ax.


    The woman stepped back, looking at Ace. Ax dashed past Ace from behind and struck the woman with his sword. She blocked his blade with the back of her hand, wincing in pain. Her eyes turned into slits once more, and she stared into Ax''s eyes; with a green flash, he was turned to stone once more.


    The woman inspected her hand, seeing the blood drip from a slit cut into her scaly limb. She looked back up at Ace, and she hissed furiously.


    HISSS


    She ran straight towards him, her claws aimed at maiming Ace. Ace reacted fast; he didn''t want to get hurt. He grabbed his sword and deflected her claw, causing sparks to fly everywhere. As the lady''s arm flew back in recoil, she stared into Ace''s eyes, her emerald irises split down the middle, brows crooked with rage.


    She stopped attacking him. Ace was... confused.


    "Wait! Ax!" Ace looked around in concern, his eyes inspecting every angle and direction he could visibly see, looking for his best friend. Ace stopped looking for him as the thoughts ran, his mind going a mile a minute.


    Ace grabbed his gun and aimed at Ax''s statue. Much to the lady''s visible confusion. Her eyes widened in realization. As Ace shot his bullet, much to his surprise, the lady leapt in front of Ax''s body, her shoulder catching the bullet instead. Freezing in ice. She screamed in pain and ran as fast as she could towards Ace''s gun. Before she could reach him, Ace shot at Ax''s statue.


    Ax''s stone head had become encased in ice, however. The momentum from the bullet had caused the statue to fall over, shattering it. The lady ran to Ax''s shattered remains once more, trying to pick up the stone fragments, her eyes turning hazel.


    "I''M STILL ALIVE—" Ax screamed as he ran to strike the woman once more. Ace grabbed Ax''s jacket from behind and pulled him back.


    "Wait," he asked Ax. His eyes are staring at the lady.


    "What''s wrong? We have to beat her to leave," Ax simply said it as if it was common knowledge.


    "Look," Ace said, as his eyes pointed at the lady.


    The lady looked relieved to see Ax alive. But it didn''t last long; her snakes hissed loudly at the sight of Ax. Flaring out in every direction and pointing at them. She looked down at her bleeding hand once more, and her eyes turned back to emerald as she started to run towards Ax.


    Axton dodged her, causing her to tumble over and crash into a different statue, causing it to fall over, breaking its head. Causing it to shatter. She then hissed as loud as she could, as if a sword had been quenched in a forge. She stared at Ax once more.


    Before the green light could flash before Ax''s eyes, he grabbed some gravel from the ground and threw it into her eyes, temporarily blinding her, causing her to wince and hiss in pain.


    Ace took this opportunity and grabbed Ax''s hand and ran.


    **


    Ax and Ace had run away from the woman''s gaze. Hiding behind a collection of statues of different people who had been trapped here since before they entered the cursed room.


    "Shit, how do we beat her?" Ax asked Ace, breathing heavily. He was tired of running, physically and literally.


    "Quiet down! She''ll find us. But... I''ve been noticing some patterns," Ace whispered, his voice showing rage but turning quieter as he was trying to explain to Ax.


    "Alright, spill," Ax whispered back, quieting down and paying attention.


    "So, the one we''re fighting. She''s ''Medusa,''" Ace uttered.


    "Yeah, no shit," Ax answered back, sarcastically. "She''s the Greek monster, the one slain by Perseus," he finished.


    "Yeah, exactly. But here''s the problem. The only way to kill her is to kill her without looking," Ace explained.


    "Yeah, of course. That''s where you"


    "But..." Ace interrupted him, continuing his explanation.


    "I don''t think we should kill her..." Ace replied quietly, trying to avoid making Medusa find them.


    Ax was confused, then he grabbed his chin. Lost in thought.


    "You don''t mean to say..." he said as his eyes widened and he looked up at Ace.


    "From what I saw... she''s very protective of the statues. Which are the different people she turned? Her eyes only turned to slits when provoked, and he was relieved when she saw you alive... even though you tried to kill her," Ace finished his explanation.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "You don''t say... are you sure it''s what I think it is?" Ax asked him, looking for reassurance.


    "She took a bullet for the man who tried to kill her," Ace finally finished, confirming both of their suspicions.


    "Okay, so what''s your plan? Just to scream and walk up to her and pray for the best?" Ax asked Ace, both lost in confusion.


    "I don''t... know. Do you have any idea? Any other secret cards up your sleeve that I don''t know of?". Ace looked at Ax, hoping he had an idea on what to do.


    Ax arched back with his arms crossed, his back leaning on the statue of an elven woman who had turned to stone while lying on the floor. He saw her detailed brooch in the shape of an apple, as it had turned to stone. His brows furrowed, he squinted as he stared at the fruity shape.


    His eye widened.


    "No... but you definitely do!" Ax said a bit louder than he should''ve, excited. Making Ace look even more confused.


    ***


    Ax got up from his position, his sword in his right hand and clutching something in his left fist. Medusa was still looking at him, wanting payback for hurting her.


    "Hey! Snake for brains! I''m over here!" He screamed out, his voice echoing throughout the room.


    Medusa looked at him, her brows crooked in rage and pain. Ran as fast as she could, at blistering speeds. Straight towards him, her claws aiming for his chest.


    Ax closed his eyes and raised his sword to eye level. As she raised her arm to claw out his heart.


    Clank


    Ax dropped his sword on the ground right before Medusa could hurt him. Confusing her, her eyes were still filled with rage.


    Ax took a final deep breath, and he opened his eyes.


    Medusa, with all her snakes, stared into Ax''s eyes. His gaze was unwavering and unchanged, but it was not a gaze of fear or anger. It was of sympathy.


    Her gaze softened in reaction, turning to hazel as she took a step back. Her snakes lowered as they all looked at him, their lush jade-like scales shimmering in the little light there is in the room.


    Ax opened his fist to show two slices of the golden apples, and as he looked at her bruised shoulder and bleeding hand, he could only speak in a language she didn''t understand. "I''m sorry... for hurting you," he uttered as he looked into the woman''s eyes.


    She didn''t understand a single word he spoke, but his tone spoke volumes instead.


    She took one glance at the apples and glanced at him once again. She then grabbed the apples off his palms and took one bite and another. And another. The apples tasted like figs and blackberries, pomegranates, and honey. A sweet smoothie of both, which also filled her stomach. Quenching her thirst and calming her nerves.


    The bruise vanished, and the bleeding stopped as she inspected her hand, the wound closing.


    She looked back up at Ax, Ace now standing behind him, walking up to his side. Sharing the same gaze.


    Medusa only nodded in acknowledgment. A red door appeared behind her; her head snapped back at him. Medusa took a close look at Ax''s face, staring into his eyes as if she recognized them.


    Her eyes widened as if she realized something they didn''t, "τη? μοι?ζει?... ?χει? τα μ?τια τη?," she uttered. She then turned around and walked towards the red door.


    Before she opened the door, she took a glance at the two of them. Nodding at them, saying goodbye, "οι θεο? να ?χουν ?λεο?," she said as she finally left, closing the door behind her.


    Room Cleared


    ***


    Both Ax and Ace dropped on the floor, as if the weight of the world had been lifted from their shoulders.


    "You... are a smart one... Gotta learn a thing or two," Ace uttered as his shoulders loosened.


    "You''re one to talk; you were the one who figured out the trick to clearing this room," Ax complimented him, reassuring his wits.


    Crack


    Both of them stopped talking, both getting up.


    "You heard that right?" Ax asked Ace.


    "Yeah, I did... it came from—" Ace was about to answer him.


    Every statue in the room shattered—no, they shed. Freeing the people who were stuck and who were turned to stone. Elves, dwarves, centaurs. Humans even. They all were dazed and confused. But they snapped out of it.


    Some of them stared at Ax and Ace and spoke in languages neither of them understood. Acknowledging them, thanking them even as they summoned blue doors and black doors as they left the room.


    Ax snapped out of awe, closed his mouth, and ran towards the blue door one of them had left, trying to open it. Shuffling, struggling with all his might.


    "Damn it!" Ax screamed out in frustration as the door vanished, leaving him grasping at air.


    "That''s not how you do it... I''m guessing you''re new here, aren''t you?"


    Axton and Aseef looked back; this came from a voice neither of them recognized. They saw a blonde-haired man with blue eyes, holding a hockey mask and a baseball bat. He was wearing a varsity jacket and jeans, along with a pair of Converse shoes.


    "Who are you...?" Ax was about to ask him, but-


    "No time. Out of my way." The man, who didn''t look over the age of 21, pushed Ax aside, putting on his mask. Pointing at a dead body on the ground.


    "What the hell?" Ax asked as he stared at the man in shock.


    Ace looked at the body on the ground; he recognized it. It was the body of the statue Medusa knocked over when she tried to attack them. It was headless, but it was wearing a brown custom-fitted suit with a black token tied around its waist on a chain. He was wearing a trench coat on his shoulders before he died, a brown hat not too far from his grasp either.


    "He''s... dead," Ace said as he stared at the man walking up to it.


    "Oh, it''ll take more than that to kill this bastard," he said as Ace and Ax stared at the body.


    It twitched.


    The body twitched. Where the stump remained, blood pooled over it.


    But where his head was, it sparked. It then burst into flames, as if a small bush was cast on fire. The hand twitched and moved, gravitating towards the hat.


    The body itself then moved, the flames burning hotter and brighter. The dead man stood up on his own two feet, his back turned on them. The flames... under it, the three of them could see a flaming... skull? The skull turned around, as it did. Seared flesh started to form and wrap around its bony interior.


    As the previously dead man turned his shoulders to stare at them, his hand started to raise his hat. His eyes and muscle formed on his head, then his skin, then his hair. The fire is dying down as he regenerates.


    As the fire stopped, he put his hat back on.


    "You... you still don''t get it, do you—" The man started to talk to the blondie.


    The blondie raised his bat and smashed it across his face as hard as he could, making him fly into the wall, splattering blood everywhere.


    "You two... might want to leave..." The blondie said as his orange and yellow token was rustling tied to his waist. The blood on the floor and wall burst into flame as if it was gasoline.


    "Like right now," he said as he was ready to give the flaming man a beating.


    "Meet me later; if you reach Nexus, look for the ''Prometheus Foundation.'' That''s where you''ll find me, if I live, of course," the man said casually.


    "As for me... I have some unfinished business to attend to." The blondie finished as he was walking up to the man wearing a suit.