The Ancient Prophecy

66 : The Sacrifice - Alk

The son of Hyperion glared at Aemillious' ragged apperance . He had thought the son of Kronos long  dead . How did he get here ?
        Alk stood right beside the marble altar , glancing from the corner of his eye at the dagger that waited upon it . He knew that it was bathed in deadly poison . He knew what would happen if any of them tried to make the blood sacrifice at the altar . We would drop dead in seconds , rotting with desease .
         Before anyone else could move to do anything , Alk watched as Iro slammed Aemillious into a wall , her sword at his neck . The look in his half-sister's eyes was menacing enough to make Alk almost shiver . But the son of Kronos only grinned at Iro , even as the bronze sword was almost against his throat .
          Alk took a step foward , his hand finding the handle of his sword out of reflex , ready to free it from its sheath any instance , even though he knew that any brought weapons were useless . But just as he prepared to speed towards to help his half-sister , Iro turned her head to him and shoot Alk a look that spoke for itself without words . She wants to deal with him alone .
         He backed away from the fight , turning towards the marble altar again . His heart thumped inside his chest quickly , his mind already running again through the plan he settled . Make the blood sacrifice at the altar and open the Vault . Use the dagger... He move closer to the altar but then stopped abruptly . The dagger was gone from the altar's surface . His brow furrowed , lifting his head to look around for the weapon .
         It was now in the hands of Phedora , who held the tip of it just above the palm of her hand in a shaky grip .
"What are you doing ?" Alk quickly ran to grab the wrist of her hand that held the dagger , forcingly yanking it away before the blade reached her palm .
          Phedora stared right in his eyes , brow furrowed "Fulfilling the Prophecy once and for all ." despite her scowl , Alk noticed a spark of fear in her eyes . She does not want to do this .
"Do you in the slight know  what is going to be happening if this dagger pierces your skin ?" Alk frowned too , his words having a cold edge to them .
"Of course I do !" she snapped .
"Then what in Tartarus were you trying to do ?"
"I told you . Fulfilling the Prophecy !"
"That is not how you are supposed to be fulfilling the Prophecy , Phedora !" his tone tinged with desperation .
"How could you know ? The Prophecy is about me !"
           Alk did not know if her words meant to sting but they did anyways "I know ! And I also know that you of all people should not be dying !" his voice took a higher tone , almost yelling at Phedora .
"Then who should be doing the sacrifice ?" Phedora's voice lowered , her eyes darting away from Alk's .
Me , Alk thought but did not say . He remained in silence . But it was a silence that spoke louder than words .
"Alkaios..." Phedora started , her voice weary "...You can not be meaning what I suspect you are meaning..."
             It was Alk's turn to look away . He could not bear to meet her gaze "Let me do the sacrifice , Phedora ."
"No ! There must be another way ." she stated stubbornly .
           Alk almost laughed "If there was another way , do you think we could have been right now in this situation ?" he smiled bitterly "We could be using our own brought weapons for the sacrifice . But I do not know if you noticed that our weapons have grown bad as we went further and further into the Maze . Dull ." as if to demonstrate his statement , Alk grabbed his sword from its sheath with his free hand and ran his thumb along the blade . His finger had not even a single cut on it .
"The Titans were not stupid when they designed the Prison ." Alk added , slidding his sword back into the sheath "This was all but a part of their plan to ensure none got to the Vault . Their plan to murder the Demigod of Prophecy , you ."
           After he finished his sentence , they both remained in silence . Alk turned his head in time to see Phedora's hand falling to her side . The son of  Hyperion let go of her wrist slowly , letting her place the poisoned dagger back onto the altar .
"Then what are we going to do ?" Phedora almost muttered , a hint of helplesness in her tone .
           Alk sighed "I told you-" he quickly lifted the dagger off the altar "-Let me do the sacrifi-"
           Before he could finish his sentence , Phedora disarmed him swiftly with one of her daggers , making the one bathed in poison  land in a further corner of the room .
"No ! I will not watch you drop dead right before my eyes , Alkaios . I already almost killed you , I will not let you sacrifice youself just for my sake !"
           When Alk looked into her electric blue eyes , he saw the crack of lightning , as if a storm was unleashing right behind her pupils . He almost faltered . Almost .
"I do not have anyone to return to after this ! My mother is dead . My father never cared of me anyways ." he argued , fists clenched .
"Well , I have not seen my mother in years since she went in a mission for the Resistence ! She probably died by now and I will always regret that I never managed to say my goodbyes !" Phedora argued back .
"At least you have your friends to return to ! You have a whole army waiting for your return so they can worship their saviour ." Alk felt raw anger slowly seeping through him "I will not be missed , Phedora ! Not by the Finders , not by anyone !"
"I would miss you , Alkaios !" Phedora grabbed him tightly by the shoulders .
            Alk stopped , gazing at her with surprise . He was not expecting those words . He had not realised he had been crying until he felt a small tear roll down his cheek .
"I would miss you ." Phedora repeated . Alk noticed her eyes were slightly watery .
"Me too ." a too familiar voice spoke behind the two .
            Alk had forgotten that Iro was with them too . He turned to face his half-sister , twisting out of Phedora's grip on his shoulders .
            Iro stood before Aemilious' fallen body . Alk could not phantom how she could had possibly killed the son of Kronos with a dull blade , but there was the testimony of it , right in front of his eyes .
           Before Alk's gaze could shift to notice what she was holding in her hand , Iro had already made her way towards the altar .
"Iro !" Alk took a step closer in an attempt  to stop her from cutting her palm with the poisoned dagger .
           Iro backed away a step , not letting Alk get any closer "I will do the sacrifice and I will not hear any complains about it ." her tone was sharp as a knife edge and her gaze was serious .
"You can not possibly be doing this , Iro !" Alk snapped , feeling another tear cross his face as he spoke .
"Yes , I can be possibly be doing this !" Iro snapped back at him "You saved me from my death ! I want to return the favor !" she moved the dagger closer to her skin "I want you to return with your life . You can always just find another sister to replace me ."
           Alk huffed a sound of stressed laughter "You know that is not how it works... " he wiped a tear with the back of his hand .
"I achieved all that I wanted to achieve . I grasped my sole purpose of joining the Finders . I have no reason to go further on ." Iro continued to speak . But just before Iro could pierce her skin with the dagger a shadow appeared at her back .
"Iro , behind you !" Phedora warned her before Alk could .
           Iro turned clumsily just in time to dodge Aemillious' attack , who , apparently , had not been dead but just blacked out for some moments .
           The daughter of Hyperion seized the son of Kronos against the marble altar "You really do not know when to give up , do you ?" Iro muttered before stabbing him in the back with the dagger .
            Alk's breath hitched inside his throat as he watched Aemillious take a last breath before withering right in front of his eyes . The altar got splattered with crimson blood .
Wait... So that means... His question got answered before he could think it . The ground started to shake vigurously , making Alk almost lose his balance .
            He fought to not to fall onto the ground as he noticed the massive doors slowly move out of their place after centuries of being still .
            They had all unlocked the Vault . And without any of them dying in the process . We did it .
            Alk was splashed into the face with a blinding light . Even though his eyes were already beginning to adjust to the light produced by the altar , this light that came from the Vault was brighter , somehow warmer . It was the light of godly power . We really did it !
           He took a step closer towards the blinding light . All his hard work , all his unslept nights , the years he had spent training , they all added up to this moment . He took another step . Alk felt as if time moved too slow for him to comprehend .
          This was finally the end . The moment when all finally calmed down . The Titans were gone , the Vault was unlocked , the Demigod of the Ancient Prophecy was still alive .
           Alk strolled closer . And closer . The light started to engulph him . His eyes adjusted to the light until he could at last see the inside of the Vault .
          The son of Hyperion could not deny that he first thought it was all a lie . The key the Resistence was so crazed about never existed . Then why would not the Vault be a lie as well ? But as he paced closer into the light he knew for certain that it was all real .
           The room was full of shinning weapons and objects that could be considered ordinary . But Alk knew better than to assume so . Artifacts of the gods .
           Alk marvelled at the multitude of artifacts that were all still looking mighty and powerful even after all the centuries they endured locked inside the Vault .
           The only question that remained was how will they transport all those artifacts to the Resistence's base , that was far from where they stood .
           His only worries up until then had been about the passing of the Prison and the sacrifice at the altar . But now that they passed even that , new questions rose inside his mind . How do we get out ?
            Alk stared frantically around the room , searching for any sign of an exit . All his feelings of easiness dissipated all at once .
"Alk , look !" Phedora tapped him on his shoulder , taking a step beside him . The girl pointed to a place on the tall ceilling .
           Truthfully , he never thought of looking at the ceilling , since it was so far up . The son of Hyperion craned his neck to look upwards and saw a small trapdoor .
"But how do we get there ?" Alk asked both Phedora and himself at once .
          After a moment of thinking , Phedora spoke "I could use my power to lift everyone to the trapdoor ."
"And the artifacts ?"
"After I will know everyone is safe , I will transport the artifacts too ."
"Will it not cost you a great amount of energy ?"
"It is better than summoning lightning two consecutive times ."
Lightning . A small flash of memory appeared before Alk's eyes . He fought a shiver , feeling a phantom feeling of cracking lightning beneath his skin . He only gave Phedora a small nod of his head in agreement .
          After his breath became steady again , Alk took a long look around the room before realising that Iro had not entered the Vault along with himself and Phedora . 
          Without a moment of hesitation or thinking , Alk  quickly turned around and speeded back towards the entrance of the Vault . His heart thrummed inside his chest , panic slowly adding another appearance to its countless ones for the day .
          The boy found his half-sister crouched on the floor before the marble altar , hand clasped tightly in her other one . 
"Iro ?"
           The daughter of Hyperion turned her head to look at him . Her eyes were watery and her face was pale like a freshly produced piece of paper .
"You get out of here and return the artifacts ." she spoke , her voice slightly strained .
"What ? I can not leave you behind ."
"Yes , you can ."
"But why ? Why do you not want to escape with us ?"
"I...I am sorry , Alk ."
"Iro , what is going on ?"
"..."
"Answer me , Iro !"
          Iro did not speak . She instead held out the hand she was clasping . Alk noticed almost immediatly the sick green hue it had to it . His heart started thumping loud enough to be heard by his ears . No...
          He grabbed his half-sister's hand and turned it on all sides . Then Alk saw a small cut on the side of her hand , swollen and pulsing . Infected with poison .
"No... no no no... " Alk muttered , tears slowly returning in his eyes "How did you... ?"
"It was an accident... I am sorry..."
"Stop speaking like that..." Alk spoke , his voice low and wavering "We can still leave before the infection speards ."
"Alk..."
"We still have time..."
"Alk ."
"You will be alright ."
"Alk !" Iro raised her voice "Just leave . Leave me here . I will be but a burden . You have to get the artifacts out too ."
"No , I refuse to leave you behind !"
"Alkaios , do as I say ." her voice was serious , taking the tone of an older sister "I can not hold on much longer . I feel it spreading every second ."
"Iro..."
"Alk , go already . Go with Phedora and help her fulfill the Prophecy . Make sure all our work was worth something in the end . Make sure we pay off all those centuries of torment we have created the Resistence ." she gave him a pained smile "We have gone too far to give up now . You have gone too far to give up now . And I am proud of it , Alkaios . I am proud of you ."
          These words single handedly made him burst into a new round of tears . The words he had been wanting to hear all along either from his mother or father . I am proud of you .
          He crouched beside Iro and hugged his half-sister one last time , burrying his head into her shoulder . With a weak hand , Iro reached out to pat his back "Go , brother ."
          Alk took a moment of hesitation . The son of Hyperion gazed into Iro's eyes , searching for any sign of conflict in her . But there was none to be seen . She was sure of her decision .
          Half-heartedly , Alk let go of Iro and rose from the ground "...Alright , Iro ." he wiped a tear from his eye , trying but failing to appear more composed "Goodbye . I... I will never forget you ."
"Make sure of it ." Iro chuckled bitterly "Goodbye ."
          Alk turned on his heel quick enough to leave no room for hesitation .
         Phedora waited in the entrance of the Vault .
"Let us go ." Alk went through the entrance again , passing Phedora .
         The girl speeded next to him , strolling by his side , trying to match his quick pace . She looked worried but did not utter a word to him . And Alk was glad of it .