"Your name is not Rhys."


    "...I am pretty sure it is. Rhys Wilder, my name is Rhys Wilder."


    "!!!"


    Rhys could really only widen his eyes as Mique just suddenly pushed him away. He quickly crouched down to try and defend himself; kill her as fast as possible if he needed to. But Mique did not really do anything else but just stare at him with her eyes opened even wider.


    She was not really saying anything, causing Rhys to also just stare at her as he figured out what to do next. He stared at the Hearts floating above her head, only to see the three Hearts that filled up during their intercourse to start flickering — all of them at the same time, something that had not really happened before.


    "Who are you?" Mique then said as she stared Rhys in the eyes, "Why would you even say that name!?"


    "Why are you getting mad at me? You''re the one who asked for my name," Rhys slightly crouched so that he could maneuver if he needed to. Rhys was not overestimating his strength at all, but he was sure he could take on quite a few of these gorgons — the only issue was his mobility.


    With a single leg, there was really only so much he could do… unless, of course, he just moved through the shadows from now on.


    "That''s not your name."


    "What''s my name, then?" Rhys shook his head.


    "I don''t know, but it can''t be that," Mique also shook her head.


    "But it is," Rhys shrugged, "And it doesn''t matter, it would seem I''ve overstayed my wee here. I''ll try to find the one who sold me and get your gold back. The Shiven, whatever they are, I''m just going to escape from them when the timees…


    …I''ll see you again soon, Mique."


    Rhys then started grabbing the sheets and wrapping them around his body. It would have been nice to have some clothes, but it would seem he would need to do some extra steps just for that — the most important thing to do right now was to leave this ce and hide somewhere, he wasn''t safe here with Mique suddenly bing hysterical.


    "Wait…"


    But before Rhys could actually even start to leave Mique''s room, she grabbed his arm.


    "...You''re telling the truth."


    "...Well, yes," Rhys breathed out, "Why would I even lie about my name in this situation? I''m in apletely strange ce surrounded by strangers from another race."


    "Because the name you uttered is something I—no. It''s something we had heard every day when we were in school as children," Mique closed her eyes and also let out a loud sigh, "It is a tale—no, it is a lesson of belief, history, and what follows it — a prophecy."


    "..."


    "What? I went to school," Mique raised an eyebrow as she saw the look of disbelief on Rhys''s face.


    "...I wasn''t thinking about that at all," Rhys could not help but sigh. Mique seems to be perceptive, but not at the same time, "And it''s probably just a coincidence."


    "The story states that someday, a strange man, carrying from the sky would one day show himself to our people, and he carries your name," Mique gestured to Rhys to stay before slithering her way to her shelves, grabbing one of the books and flipping its pages, "Right here!"


    Mique then rushed back toward Rhys while pointing at a certain word in the book.


    "I can''t read—" Rhys was about to shake his head as he could not even read a single word on the book Mique was showing him, but not even a secondter, the words just suddenly made sense to him.


    He thought his abilities could really only make him speak with the other species, but it would seem he could also understand their literature; he didn''t really have a chance to test it with the cenleons,


    "That… is my name."


    "Yes!" Mique raised her voice as she turned the book back to her; her braids, bouncing along with her breasts as her limb started wiggling in excitement, "This is a very sacred book for us, Rhys. Although I haven''t read this for a very long time, it shows our oldest written history, the birth of Medusa. And—"


    "...And what does it say about me?" Rhys asked before Mique could start rambling.


    "That…" Mique then started reading the passage that mentioned Rhys, "...It says that you are the one who will cure Medusa''s curse and lead us to salvation."


    "And who''s this Medusa?"


    "She''s our ancestor, said to be the very first of our kind," Mique nodded.


    "And she''s still alive?"


    "No," Mique slightly chuckled, "How can she even be alive."


    "...So that book is nonsense, then," Rhys could not help but sigh, "How can she be freed of her curse when she''s already dead?"


    "That… they said not to take in the words literally," Mique closed the book, "But we were told that everything that has been written here is real!"


    "Well… I guess it doesn''t really matter if it''s real or not. The Rhys Wilder in that story is not me," Rhys shook his head.


    "No… No… I think it''s you," Mique started shaking her head as she once again opened the book, this time to the first pages, "It''s said here that our kind used to have four limbs. 2 hands and then two lower limbs…


    …we initially thought that meant we had two of these," Mique started wagging her snake limb, "But what if… what if it means we have the same limbs as you? Like the monkeys. What if… what if the curse they mentioned is this…?"


    "You''re not cursed, Mique," Rhys could really only let out a sigh as he ced his hand on Mique''s cheek, "You are perfect as you are."


    "P…please don''t say something like that. My… my insides can''t handle it anymore," Mique quickly backed away; slightly covering herself as she did so, "But this is serious, Rhys! What if—"


    "What if this doesn''t have anything to do with me," Rhys stated while shaking his head, "It doesn''t — this is all just a coincidence."


    Of course, Rhys was not really confident with his words. Twice now — twice now he was told that he had some sort of great destiny ahead of him. And he had also already lost count of how many times he was told that his path would lead to him crossing fates with the gods.


    Arachnea, First King Aethelc, and now the history of the gorgons also included him. Every time, he tries his best to actively avoid being thrown into a mess he didn''t want, but each time, the Fates seem to find a way to bring him in.


    He truly doesn''t want to get involved — he wanted to change the world, to conquer it so that he would never have to feel oppressed anymore. He''s not some sort of hero that would lead the world to some sort of revtion that would lead them to rebel against the gods.


    One could argue that all his tragedy began because the gods gifted them powers in the first ce, but it wasn''t the gods that fucked him, it was the humans themselves.


    So why — why does the Fates want him to involve himself in whatever this is?


    "Rhys…?" Mique could really only lean closer to Rhys as he suddenly turned quiet.


    "It… doesn''t matter," Rhys shook his head and sighed, "You said it yourself, this Medusa person is dead."


    "We can go to the shrine and ask. They will wee you there, Rhys!" Mique smiled. The air of maturity that previously surrounded her waspletely gone.


    "Or they will kill me for trying to desecrate your… religion," Rhys sighed.


    "No," Mique shook her head, "I know the Head Priestess, if I exin to her everything and introduce you, she would understand everything, more so than me. This is also the chance to gain your freedom."


    "...I can just escape here and gain my freedom."


    "The Shivens will chase you everywhere," Mique argued, "Wait, no—if you do this, if youe with me to the shrine, then I will remove the pledge and free you myself despite paying a lot of money for you."


    "..." Rhys was truly thinking of just escaping here. He could just jump into the shadows and then summon Ayesha to help him — of course, that would mean that Ayesha would also be lost with him. There was also the fact that he didn''t know if she was doing something important.


    Perhaps… was it time to just actually face whatever the Fates have in store for him? After all, he was sure that if not this, then another event would just take its ce — perhaps something even more forceful.


    Rhys then turned to look at Mique; herrge eyes almost like a puppy now as she ced both her palms on his chest.


    "Fine," Rhys sighed and nodded, "Let''s… see what this is all about."