Wisdom's Daughter

Chapter Three: The Sword

Once we entered the castle, I observed our surroundings, noting the plainness devoid of any decorations. The only features present were a set of endless steps, and an aged elevator. I turned towards the steps.

Nyssa called to me, "We could just use the elevator."

I thought for a while. The immortals were known for trickery. They would likely want to tire out cautious demigods who took the stairs, but also be able to take the lazy ones out at the very first part of the quest. I shook my head.

"It could be a trap. We're going old school, guys. Up the stairs!"

Everybody mumbled in protest but went up anyway.

On our one hundred and thirty-second winding flight of stairs, we decided it was time to take a break. To my relief, we found a cornucopia lying on the floor.

"What is it, Diana?" Zuri asked me.

"It's magical. Produces food." I could barely form sentences for how hungry I was. Zuri suggested we should approach it with caution.

Nyra giggled and shook her head as I rolled my eyes.

"Never deny Diana food, Zuri, you should know this!" Nyra said. Zuri grumbled to herself.

Before Zuri could retort, I ran forward and shot out a picnic that Councillor Demetrius, Protector of the Earth, would have been proud of. Ravenous, all of us indulged in the bountiful meal provided by the cornucopia.

Satisfied and having tended to all the minor scrapes, broken nails, and blistered toes, we settled down to talk.

"So, Diana," Nyra said, "can you tell us more about Khione?"

I frowned at the memory of Khione- and the dream- but agreed to explain it to them anyway.

"At the beginning of time, when Chaos chose to form our universe and create the nine of the Council of Divine Chaos, she also formed many immortal spirits- some evil, and some good. The Council and their firstborn children were given the gift of immortality. One of the spirits she raised, Tartarus, was the spirit of the deepest pit in the Netherworld. He was an evil thing, but remained dormant for many millennia.

"Not too long ago, when countless monsters were somehow forming in the Netherworld, Tartarus took on a body and began to wreak havoc in the worlds; both demigod and mortal. Khione, firstborn child of Councillor Aurael, decided that this was a good opportunity to seize control of the world, so she joined forces with Tartarus, making the spirit even stronger.

"Fortunately, my grandparents and their friends Mateo, Crea, Aslei, Bira, and Levi, travelled around the world on their legendary automaton, The Pegasus, destroying monsters left, right, and straight down the Osto river. They defeated Tartarus, condemning his spirit back to the pit forever, but Khione managed to weasel her way out of being imprisoned for eternity in Tartarus.

"Of course, the Councillors joined in on the final battle, and Seraphel fought with the Sword of Wisdom in her hand. She defeated Khione, who was made to protect the Sword as punishment until a child of Seraphel manages to win it from her."

I took a breath and looked up. Zuri, Nyra, and Nyssa were staring at me, dumbfounded.

"So...that's you???" Nyra asked.

"Yeah...what, did I go too fast?" I asked, scratching my head.

Nyssa burst out laughing and we all joined in until we were out of breath.

"I got what you said. You come from a long line of heroes!" Zuri said. I smiled. No pressure. I shook it off and we decided to get going.

We grabbed our bags and climbed up the stairs for another three hours. When we reached what must have been the thousandth floor, we stepped out onto a wide platform, which had a large door at the other end. At the far corner of the room stood three attractive identical triplets wearing season-styled dresses.