A/N: Hey guys! Sorry again for the late update! But I wanted to wait until an amazing artist would finish her beautiful FanArt for me! This chapter is dedicated to JenniferKenway ! Thank you so much for your amazing work! She recreated the scene between BB and Medusa in the last chapter when she twirled her hair! Go check out her really cool work on tumblr! (http://trio-infierno.tumblr.com) Loving you guys so much! 

Chapter 9: Cross-roads

Medusa was sacred when she decided to leave the confinement. Before she opened the door, she turned back to look at Black Bolt. He had lost his smile but still nodded in encouragement. Medusa sighed and left the room, holding her breath. The time in the confinement room seemed to slow down, but in the real world outside, everyone was still moving according to their own pace. And now, Medusa had to hurry so she wouldn't miss dinner. Before she could close the door, she heard voices approach her. Panicking, she slammed it, the sound resonating across the hallway.  Medusa cursed silently, for she knew that it must have caught the attention of the approaching people. Thinking quickly, she stretched her hair to its fullest and jumped in order to catch the banisters hanging down from the ceiling. Maximus and Crystal had turned the corner just as Medusa had stabilized herself high enough to not be noticed. 

"I heard something in this direction, Maximus!"  Medusa could hear her sister's voice from under her, pointing to the Wisdom Bridge, "It went BANG!"

Maximus followed the youngling with patience but froze right under Medusa. His eyes narrowed where the wall would usually open. Medusa knew she had to move quickly if she did not want to be spotted. She sent half of her hair the furthest she could and swung to many meters away from her starting point. Maximus turned again.

"Crystalia, why don't you look from the bridge to see if Medusalith might be there, while I check the hallways again, alright?"

Crystal nodded enthusiastically as she all but ran to find her sister. Medusa continued to swing in order to be out of their sight but stopped when Maximus spoke out again.

"I know you're here, I can sense you."

Now panicking, Medusa swung as fast as she could, her hair making her swing from side to side like a leaf caught in the wind. She knew that she couldn't be caught by Maximus leaving Black Bolt. It would cause too many interrogations.

"But you're good at hiding, I'll give you that."

She looked back to see him and make sure that he wasn't catching on to her, only to see him looking for her on the other side of the hall. She was very close to the corner, when Maximus raised his head up to search the ceiling. Before his eyes could land on her, she let her hold on the banister go and landed on a pile of her hair to soften the landing and the sound. Medusa took a second to catch her breath and slow her beating heart. She turned the corner and her eyes met Maximus's. It lasted a couple of seconds before they both heard a yelp near the bridge and saw a flash of light. 

"Who is that?" she feigned innocence.

"Your sister," he regarded her with frustration and then turned to walk past her, shoving her shoulder on his way. When he was finally gone, she headed in her sister's direction.

"Crystal?"

She saw a blond head on the ground, under a gigantic brown mass. Medusa giggled to herself before she whistled.

Lockjaw turned his big head to look at Medusa and he sprinted to her, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Before he reached Medusa, he teleported behind her. She anticipated that and side-stepped him, pulling Crystal up with her hair, the little girl still giggling and wet with slober.

"He surprised me," she giggled a little more, " and got me!"

Medusa smiled gently at her, wiping away the drool from her face.

"What were you and Maximus doing together? I thought that you didn't like him?"

She wiped her face on her sleeve and stuck her tongue out to Lockjaw who decided to settle down next to them. Medusa was scratched behind his ear while she awaited her sister's response.

"Mother was looking for you because you are late for dinner once again. She sent a maid to search for you but I wanted to find you before, so you wouldn't get in trouble with her." Crystal then jumped on Lockjaw's back and wrestled at his neck.

"Crystal," her sister had a short attention span when Lockjaw was around them.

"Lord Maximus was walking to dinner and found me sneaking out so he decided to help me find you."

Medusa really didn't like how Maximus was showing an interest in her and her family. Not only was he  threatening her mental state but also her relationship with Black Bolt. 

Suddenly, Lockjaw teleported to a tree under the bridge with Crystal on his back. Medusa leaned down from the side and called out to them.

"Lockjaw, could you please bring Crystal back to the dining hall?"

They disappeared in the next second. Medusa could have gone with them but she needed a couple minutes for herself to think and manage the other Boltagon. What would happen with his prescience around?

*                *                *

Triton, Karnak and Medusa were all in the library when it happened. No one expected it to happen and it scared the Royal Family since the lab incident almost 18 years ago.

Medusa didn't expect that Triton had crumbled on top of Karnak when he leaned over to read a book title. She didn't expect him to convulse. She didn't expect him to convulse and for his skin color to turn from beige to green and back again over and over again. 

Time slowed down as Triton stopped moving. Karnak's face went blank as he saw his brother slowly disintegrate in front of him and he stood there powerless. He had spent years meditating in order to find the weakness of an individual, and now, he was watching his brother suffer in horrible agony. 

Medusa had the sense to shriek for Lockjaw and to have him teleport to the Laboratory in need of aid. Everything stopped when Triton disappeared with Lockjaw. Medusa watched as Karnak stood up and tried to leave the library, making a pile of books fall over. Medusa stopped him in his steps with her hair and left him struggle for a while, letting him yell to let him go. After he stopped, she advanced towards him and told him to calm down. That it wouldn't help Triton if he stayed in this condiiton. Karnak stayed silent and then stood up gently. Medusa released him and kept a reassuring hand on his shoulder, guiding him to his brother. When they arrived to the Laboratory, they noticed Agon and Rynda standing above a container. They had submerged Triton in water, trying to control his seizures.

A couple of minutes later, Gorgon and Maximus entered the room, followed by Triton's parents, Mandur and Azur. We later found out that Triton had shown symptoms for a couple of weeks now, that lead up to his seizure. Karnak blamed himself, of course, because he had noticed his brother's odd behavior, but hadn't thought much of it.  It took a couple of days to find out what happened to Triton. Maximus was the one who found out what had caused so much panic and trouble. That didn't sit well with Medusa. 

"It seems as though the terrigisis in the water of the lake Triton has been researching from, is very high. I found out that there is a leak from the Terrigen Crystal Underground that has exposed the water to unhealthy doses of terrigisis. Triton is quite fortunate to have survived for so long. I believe it is due to the Royal Family gene that he has been able to fight it."

It was at that moment that Medusa realized something about Maximus. She just didn't want to admit it to herself. 

"How do we fix this?" 

The Inhumans could barely hear Triton when he was underwater but this one question that he had asked, weighed heavily on all of their minds. They all knew that any exposure to the Terrigent Mist or Crystals was permanent.

"You do not," responded Agon.

*                *                *

Medusa was headed to the Laboratory a couple of days later when she bumped into Karnak.

"Oh, excuse me, cousin, I did not feel your approach--" She stopped when she noticed his bags.

"Are you heading somewhere?" she inquired.

Karnak didn't answer her while he picked up his belonging.

"Karnak!"

He sighed and turned to Medusa with tired eyes.

"Dear cousin, Medusa. I have just exited from an argument with my brother, I do not wish to commence another. Please do not ask any questions and let me be. Farewell."

Medusa let him go. 

She entered the room to find Triton alone, still underwater. 

"Did he leave?" he asked.

"Where is he going?"

"To the priests. He wants to mediate. He claims that he wants to become stronger, and learn people's weaknesses even before they do. I know he blames himself for this, but he should not. It wasn't his fault."

"Why were you arguing?"

"It is because I do not wish to see him leave. I understand the need for him to protect his loved ones. However, I wanted him to see that I need him right now. Having him leave at this time is not aiding anyone. He is leaving with my condition still unstable and builds this image of my sickness. And while he leaves, I am trapped here alone, without my brother's support. Do you understand my turmoil, Medusa?"

"There will come a time Triton, where all of us have different choices to make. For some, it has come sooner than what we expected. It might seem wrong for you, but Karnak is choosing his path."

Triton laughed sourly.

"Oh forgive me, I have forgotten whom I was addressing. I believe that you have already found your calling Medusalith? You have been disappearing for months now, leaving your family and your duties behind! Not only do we have an impending war upon us, but we cannot trust you anymore! Do you know what the people have been saying about you? What your own family has been believing? Do not speak to me of choices when I dare doubt you about yours! "

Medusa was taken aback. She had never known about these insinuations before. 

"But in a way, I envy you. You have the freedom to choose where you will go, while I am stuck here, in a prison, an aquarium, too afraid to walk the land in fear of choking on oxygen."

"Triton, I truly am sorry about all of this. If you still believe in me, even though I would not myself, trust my judgment. I am building something grand, and you will be content of the new age approaching. Have patience, I implore you."

Triton did not answer her and so Medusa decided to head back and find comfort. At this late time of night, she would usually be heading to see Black Bolt. However, in the middle of her steps, she changed her mind. It had been a couple of days since she had seen him, but she realized that in those days, she had spent more time with her family than she usually did int he past 6 months. Now was the time for her to play her part and support her relatives. She was slowly watching her family crumble to the ground. Karnak had left. Triton was trapped in a cage. Maximus was planning something dangerous. She dared not think of how Gorgon viewed her. She was caught in a web of decisions, and needed to sort her priorities. On one side, she had to build up the trust she had broken from her family and ensured that she played the role she was suppose to have sustained. On the other, she had to build a king and sustain the future of a whole nation.

Medusa was at a cross-road and now, she had to choose.