Medusa sighed, her violet lashes fluttering as her gaze swept across the bustling streets.
The world she was seeing right now was so much different from the world she once knew.
Or perhaps, she realized with a bitter smile, it wasn't the world that had changed.
It was her.
In her former reign, whenever she walked through a city, the very ground seemed to cry beneath her feet.
Word of her approach spread like wildfire, and entire cities evacuated in frantic terror.
Families packed up in desperation, merchants fled, and even mages were ordered not to waste their spells on her — because what was the point?
Against her, they were nothing but gnats awaiting smothering.
It was faster to abandon entire strongholds than resist.
So in her memories, she always walked alone.
Empty avenues.
Shattered windows.
Silent homes where laughter had once thrived.
The sound of her own footsteps echoing through hollow streets.
But now…
Now she walked in a city alive.
