Son of Artemis: The Assassin God Unleashed

Chapter 5: The Golden Net

Fredrick's POV:

The temple wasn't what I thought it would be from the earlier scans we made. While the scans showed that there would likely be a pillar in the center, there wasn't. It was most definitely a statue of some sort, but it was covered up. As for the sides of the temple, it wasn't just a small room but a vast library of scrolls, tablets, mosaics, tapestries, and a few carvings made into the walls, which likely would have eventually been statues. 

Oddly enough, there were two statues carved out in the back, two women guarding what looked like the entryway to the lower room, that our scans said might exist.

"Fredrick, this discovery...these scrolls," my old professor began saying. "This might completely change our understanding of History."

"This might be the largest discovery of ancient written material in our time," one of the younger professors said. "Heck, there might be more written materials here than came from the Dead Sea Scrolls."

"Just think what might be in the second room if this is the first," another said, and he began heading towards the two statues in the back.

Before he was grabbed by the shirt collar and pulled back from the statues and passageway by Malcolm. "Are you stupid or something?" He asked. "What did you study and teach to come here?"

"Malcolm," I said. "He's a tenured professor."

"Tenure doesn't prevent him from asking for a death wish," Malcolm countered. "He can't tell that that's a statue of the huntress and someone unknown, nor can he read the Ancient language above the passageway."

"What does it say?" I asked timidly, as the other professors were now paying attention.

"It's a burial chamber for fallen huntresses," Malcolm said. "Even I wouldn't risk going through there since there's a statue of an Olympian goddess on one side of it, and it's clearly not in the center of the room."

"Come on, kid, you're just being superstitious," one of the archeologists said.

Malcolm let go of the professor. "I am not going to stop any of you from committing your own death wishes. Just let us translate first."

"What about the canvas in the center of the room covering a statue, more likely than not," another asked. 

"Let us translate first," Gwendolyn said. "It would be better to get an idea of what we'd be uncovering before jumping in and just doing it. 

"So, what will you all be translating first?" A colleague asked of them.

"Clearly, the few scrolls that look like they were thrown in through the windows," Malcolm answered. "They are likely from the cult of believers before they were likely relocated and kept away from the temple. If not, they are the last additions to this temple, regardless."

"In the meantime, why don't you all work on documenting the tapestries and other visible works before deciding on what to do next," Gwendolyn suggested.

"Dr. Chase?" Asked a few of the hesitant colleagues.

"They have a point. Let them get to work translating, and we'll document everything before deciding on the next steps," I responded. 

I watched as the kids picked up the few scrolls on the ground before going around to look at everything in the temple. The artistic work here was beautiful, more so than many pieces I've had the pleasure of viewing in museums and college/university archives. However, one thing was confusing me. One of the women who was fairly prominent and repetitive in the artworks looked an awful lot like Annabeth, though it is possible that this could also be Athena, but it doesn't seem like Athena's style or, from memory, any style in which Athena was previously depicted.