Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 312: Winona

Even after the arrival, the Arizona desert remained pretty much the same. It was a vast arid place that seemed to be empty, but all it took was a glimpse for Sam to notice that wasn’t the case. Contrary to appearances, the desert was throbbing with life in the most unsuspecting and beautiful ways.

Small lizards, rodents and bugs made of the desert their home. The presence of cryptids was also a given, but because of Sam’s amazing trait, it was unlikely they would be taken by surprise. That was precisely the reason why they decided to land near flagstaff, where the vegetation was scarse and Sam was able to see as far as the horizon to one side and to the mountains on the other.

Medusa worked under the scorching sun, venting all of her frustrations with every hit of her orichalcum hammer as she fixed the bump on an alloy plate. Wearing her overall and googles, her manly look contrasted heavily with both Sam and Uriel who were sunbathing on comfy chairs, wearing sunglasses and sipping energy drink directly from the cans.

Even the desert sun was considered a blessing by those born and raised within the tall walls of the always dim and gray megacity of Texas. Stay updated through novelbuddy

"The repairs are almost done." Medusa heaved a sigh as she wiped her forehead.

"Alright, I’ll let the others know." Sam stood up and went back inside the huge zeppelin behind them and Medusa took the chance to sit besides Uriel.

"So, I’ve been wondering," She muttered fidgetting awkwardly with her fingers. "what do you think about Cassandra?"

"She’s beautiful." Uriel nonchalantly replied.

"I guess you’re right, but that wasn’t what I was asking you."

"I know what you’re asking me. You pobably heard she took an interest on me, but I gave you my answer already. She’s beautiful, that’s all I can say about her. I’m not interested in her in the slightest." Uriel said, completely omitting the fact that he used to be infatuated with her.

"Ahem... and what do you think about Luna?"

"She’s knowledgeable, funny and cute. I kind of see her like a little sister."

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"Do you like her?" Medusa said, taking care to look the other way to avoid Uriel form seeing her facial expressions.

"Alright, tell me what’s going on. I don’t mind chatting with you, but you’re acting weird all of a sudden."

"It’s just, I know that your emotions are all over the place now. I’ve seen that thing inside of you and I can’t fathom how you haven’t lost your head yet, but I can’t help but feel left out. You’ve been really sweet to Luna lately and you’re also very close to Nika, but you never have any time for me. I know things are weird between us, but we’re still friends, aren’t we?"

"Of course we’re friends, but we’ve been pretty busy. It’s not like I can ask cryptids to take a day off."

"Then, since we’re friends, I want you to tell me what do you think of me."

"You’re smart, pretty and strong."

Uriel had no clue as to where Medusa’s insecurities came from, but he was starting to get an Idea about what was she thinking about. If he saw Luna as a little sister, Sam as a brother and Nika as a companion, Medusa was the only one who didn’t fit in ’family’ Uriel unwittingly created for himself.

’Should I tell her I see her as a sister? No, definitely not. What then? just friends?’ Uriel was confounded. It was a conundrum he couldn’t solve by himself because he was lacking a very important part of himself, his heart.

"I..." Uriel attempted to speak but Medusa cut him short.

"Don’t take me wrong, I don’t want to rush things. I know I’m not as pretty as Luna or Cassandra and that you and Nika share a special bond. I know I don’t look feminine now and that I’m too jealous even though we are just friends, but I want to ask you..."

"Stop, just stop there. I think you’re absolutely gorgeous, but you know why we can’t be a couple."

"Don’t be silly," Medusa chuckled. "I’m completely fine with how things are right now. From the moment we met to this day, my life has become so much better. But I have my own life, my own goals. Building this zeppelin is like a dream come true for me, but there’s something I need to take care of eventually and I think it would be unfair to drag you all along in my issues."

"So, this is about your family?" Once again, Uriel had failed to understand Medusa.

Luna was easy to understand since she was naturally as cold as Water warlock, maybe even more, and Sam was raised to hide his feelings since he was a child since his family was really strict with gender roles and they held the ’men don’t cry’ mindset.

Getting along with Nika was also easy because her feelings were closer to a man’s standard, but Medusa was always a mystery to him and Uriel couldn’t fathom her thinking for the life of his.

"Yes, everyone thinks people from the Works family has it easy, when it’s the other way around. My father tried to get me killed, my mom isn’t in the picture, the only people I see as a family are uncle Jon and grampa, but grampa is old and I don’t want him to die without knowing I’m still alive."

"Then I guess there’s no choice," Uriel stood up from the folding chair and took it with him. "when we finish our business in Easter Island we’ll come back and face the Mapple corporation face to face."

Medusa followed Uriel inside the zeppelin and it took off not long after leaving behind the beautiful scenery of the desert near a small formerly populated area east of Flagstaff.

Uriel looked outside the window as the ground grew further away and noticed Medusa forgot to bring her folding chair. There it was, a lonely folding chair next to a highway sign that, unbeknownst to Uriel, read ’Winona, Arizona’.