When we enter the decrepit castle, I expect to see nothing but ruins. Instead, there’s a large grand staircase in the middle of the room and a single door at the top, leading to God knows what. There are candle wall sconces on the ghastly russet brown wallpaper, dimly lighting the area. But there’s enough light to reveal three portraits.

“Whoa… spooky,” Yumi comments as she fiddles with the books on the bookshelves and loose papers scattered around the floor.

The first portrait depicts a young woman with long chestnut brown locks cascading down her sides. With the minor lighting within the painting, her strands almost appear red. Her petite frame, gentle expression, and timid posture makes her look like an innocent and compassionate person. She didn’t wear any make-up, but her skin appeared flawless. A nameplate hangs from the bottom of the frame, revealing faded lettering. If I concentrate hard enough, I can barely make out the name: Euryale.

When I glance at the portrait once more, the picture shifts to a horrific image. It’s a female monster with red vipers for hair, a pair of brass hands, and venemous glare. Her mouth is agape as she bares her fangs, ready to jump from the painting. Her skin is bright red like a ominous blood moon.

Next to the painting of Euryale, I notice there’s a similar portrait of another woman, but the caption below reads Stheno. She has short, wavy, black hair and a steely gaze that pierces my soul. She wears a light blue chiton, a cold contrast to Euryale’s warm green gown. She has a regal air about her, so I assume she’s the eldest.

Just as Euryale’s picture changed, so does Stheno’s. Her once black hair becomes blue snakes, ready to strike at anyone who dare to approach her. Her skin has turned into an icy cobalt, her presence invoking the essence of winter.

My gaze finally lands on the painting of Medusa, before she was cursed. She has golden hair as bright as the sun, and an equally shimmering yellow peploi that matches her hair. Like her sisters, she has unique silver eyes, but her irises are full of compassion and kindness. The picture transforms, revealing a monster similar to Stheno and Euryale, but instead, she has cobra snakes for hair and metallic skin, unlike her siblings. Her silvery eyes have become a poisonous crimson red, tarnishing whatever goodness she ever had in her soul.

That’s when I realize these paintings represent who they are: three beautiful sisters who were cursed to live as Gorgons for the rest of their lives.

As if on cue, anguished cries echo through the crumbling castle, forcing all of us to cover our ears to drown out the painfully loud noise. What remains of the structure shakes uncontrollably and rumble begin to fall from the ceiling. I watch Mist raise his shield over Serafina and Yumi’s heads, while Braeden ushers me under a table. It’s not big enough to hold us both, but I still expect him to join me since it’s better than being hit directly by the falling rubble.

To my astonishment, he pulls his sword out and swings, knocking it away from me. For the first time, he’s not smiling. He has a hardened look of determination, but his lack of enthusiasm doesn’t stop him from keeping the debris away from me.

The shrill cries stop, making the shaking come to a screeching halt. Braeden extends a hand, but I reject his good gesture, crawling out from under the table. I scurry up the steps, thinking it would be best if we moved onto the next area before it happens again.

“What the hell was that?” Yumi asks, glancing around nervously.

“A scare tactic, nothing more,” I quickly reply, inspecting the door for any sign of booby traps. It appears normal, but I don’t know what awaits us on the other side. I feel a looming presence behind me and turn around to find Perseus standing there, completely dazed. “…Can I help you?”

He opens his mouth and says:

making it difficult for her enemies to withstand.
Stheno’s fury will corrupt all who meet her gaze,
inspiring listlessness for those who enter the maze.
In the center is the cursed Medusa, the mortal Gorgon.
Only slaying her will eliminate all of Sarpedon’s misfortune.

“Can’t anyone speak normally?” I mutter. “Why does everything have to be said in a prophecy?”

“We’re in a place reminiscent of Ancient Greece, it would be weird if we didn’t get a few prophecies along the way,” Yumi replies, joining me as Perseus regains his senses. He staggers back, confused. Yumi adds, “Are you alright, Perseus?”

“Join me in my battle against the Gorgons and restore peace to this pitiful island of Sarpedon. Only then will His Majesty, the King, will cleanse me of the grave sin I’ve committed and allow me to return to my mother’s side. With the enchanted bag of Hesperides, the adamatine sword of Zeus, the winged sandals of Hermes, this polished shield of Athena, and the helm of darkness from the Dark Lord himself, we shall be victorious!” Perseus declares in response, raising his sickle high. A prompt follows soon after, beckoning us to decide whether we are ready to face Medusa.

“Did anyone lose any health?” Braeden asks, looking around for signs of injury.

“No. Who would lose any HP from that little smoke show?” I retort. “They wouldn’t have hit us.”

Braeden squares up to me, standing tall. There’s a fierceness in his eyes I’d never seen before. “Let me assure you, Lamai. Those rocks have the strength to knock out a quarter of your health. That might not seem like much to you, but the damage adds up. Take it from someone who has gone through this level. You’d be foolish to run in there without preparing.”

I turn to Yumi and ask, “Did he just call me Lamai?”

“Ignore it,” she answers.

“Only my mother calls me Lamai. I don’t remember logging in to play with my mother,” I mutter.

“I think everyone’s fine,” Mist says, trying to dissipate some of the tension in the room. “Sera’s tired, though. We’d be better off finishing this within the next hour. I think we’d all be happier if we got some much needed rest.”

“Then, let’s not waste another moment. Remember, don’t meet her gaze. It’ll stun you, but the paralysis lasts for an inconveniently long time. The last thing I want is to end up camping out on this floor for the night. Our goal is to protect Perseus. He’ll take care of the rest,” Braeden explains.

The door opens as he accepts the quest for us as a group, blinding us with a powerful illumination from the other side. The light fades, revealing a simplistic maze crafted of gray rock walls and boulders, and the occasional vine.

From our current position, I can see the top of Medusa’s head, the snakes’ hisses echoes in the clearing. Yumi readies her bow as Perseus begins taking his first few steps. After one turn, we find ourselves stuck at the first checkpoint, where a sphinx awaits us with a difficult riddle. With the body of a lion, the wings of the bird, and the head of a female woman, she uses her massive frame to block the gate leading to the next area.

“Before you can face your next challenge, you must answer one riddle correctly. Answer incorrectly and you will be striked down whence you stand, mortals. Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?” the sphinx’s loud voice booms.

Braeden steps forward and confidently answers, “Man. They crawl all on all fours as a newborn, walk on two feet as an adult, and uses a cane in old age.”

The sphinx smiles and bows its head. “Correct.” She bows her head in submission and disintegrates into nothing just as the gate of vines crackles open.

We rush through, only to be stopped by a mob of serpentine monsters we’d seen when we arrived on Sarpedon. Their forked tongues fan the air, searching for where we are. They hesitate and a rattling sound follows. They shake their tails in warning, trying to intimidate us and weaken our mental strength as they prepare to attack, but we refuse to back down.

One by one, the serpents leap forward with a speed I’d heard of in nature documentaries, but Braeden and Yumi are quicker. Braeden jumped, avoiding one of the monsters’ attacks before delivering a swift strike to its head, slicing through its scaly skin like it’s nothing. Purple blood splattered on the dirt, and a bright light surrounded its corpse, fading away.

Yumi takes aim and releases her arrow, blinding another serpent. “Glacies!” I call out, encasing it in ice. Perseus runs towards it, quickly closing the distance between them, and swings his sword down for a critical hit. The ice shatters, leaving the monster in pieces.

Together, we take all of them down, eventually drawing closer to Medusa. When we get close enough, Perseus signals for us to stop and a sequence much like a cut-scene begins. A small mirror, the size of a TV appears in front of us, allowing us to watch events unfold without being subjected to Medusa’s magic.

“You will die for your crimes today, Medusa,” Perseus announces, his back facing the Gorgon so he could avoid her stone gaze.

She turns slowly, revealing a head full of menacing green snakes. Her red eyes glow, but fail to turn him to stone. Using his bronze shield to maneuver around her as she continues trying to incapacitate him, but he manages to tumble out of reach every time. This game of cat and mouse continues for an unbearably long ten-minute interval, leading me to believe whoever wrote the script for the fight had a little too much time on their hands. Games with cut-scenes this long should be banned. I’m dying of boredom here.

A blood-curdling shriek startles me and my head snaps back to the mirror just in time to see Perseus successfully decapitate Medusa from behind. Her head lands on the ground with a thud, the snakes’ aggressiveness continues until he airs out the sack fastened at his side and places it over her face. From the outside, I can see the snakes attempting to bite their way out, but the sack is strong enough to contain them. Perseus raises the bag high above his head victoriously and the quest is marked complete.

I watch my orange experience bar fill up until it reaches the halfway mark, and all the tension in my body is released. My muscles ache, the weight of my staff is heavier than it was in the beginning of the day. All I can think about is going to sleep, but then I wonder if I’ll truly feel rested the following day. In the beginning, it was easy to think we could get through the game within a couple of short months, but seeing how exhausted we are after completing the fourth floor, I realize we’re going to be trapped here far longer than we all could hope for.