ATN 3: THE JAR IN THE MAZE

THE CALL OF THE SEA

It was twilight in Themiscyra. The place was not as beautiful as Atlantis surely, but was surely better than a modern city twilight. No vehicles, no factory fumes, and no pollution. You couldn't see the clear sky there. But here, the orangish and purplish colour of the sky looked beautiful. The sea had high tides very frequently, but otherwise, it was fine.

We were taken to the area behind the temple. There, surrounded by red flags, was a gorge. Gerard did a hair-flip and showed us the gorge, saying, "This is where we get in through. I wonder where it leads us."

"Somewhere quite far." I said, "But how do we find our ways if this maze plays mind games?"

"Don't worry about that." Iris said, "Help will come once you are in there. There is one person who always shows up when demigods get into confusing situations."

"Who is that?"

"You will see for yourself."

We knew that getting it out of her when she had decided would be impossible. So, we moved on to the next query. "We are getting in tomorrow morning." Tina said, "What do we need to take?"

"Weapons, food, water, nectar and ambrosia." Iris said, "And definitely, your Atlantium armor."

"There is more." Urwa said, "Though, this is the main entrance, the other openings are around. They open when needed, and close when not needed."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah."

"So, tomorrow morning?" Tina asked me.

"Tomorrow morning. Listen, it has to be the two of us, alright?"

"So, what do you suggest we do while you search for the box?" Dadai asked.

"You stay here, help Iris figure out why her portals don't work when it comes to Themiscyra, and help the Amazons prepare for war."

"You got it, little brother."

"Lets go now." Delilah said, "Its getting dark, and I don't like this place at dark."

"Why?" Dadai asked.

And the two started talking again, as we started to leave. "What is going on there?" Iris asked me.

"Come on, Iris. You are four thousand years old. Figure it out."

She nodded. And as Gerard, Riya and Hiya walked a little further, Iris put an arm around each of my and Tina's shoulders, and said, "You two going alone is kinda worrying. But since the gods want it, it has to be this way. But, promise me. You will come back to me."

"We promise." Tina said.

"And promise me that you will stay together."

"We promise."

"Because he lives inside this maze."

"Who?" I asked.

"Labyrinth's curse. The Minotaur."

"Wasn't he killed by Theseus?"

"Are monsters ever killed?"

"No. Right."

"Come on, lets go."

As soon as we reached the cabins, something happened. Riya stopped and became stiff. Then, she fell down on the ground. Her eyes were pupil-less, and fully blue. We reached to her to help, but as soon as we did, Hiya fell on the ground with a splitting headache. Then she became stiff. Her eyes became the same as Riya. All of us looked at each other bluntly, while our sisters lay on the ground, stiff and weird-eyed.