When Myths Meet Magic || 1 || a Harry Potter-Percy Jackson crossover

21|| Percy

Percy peeked over to see what Annabeth was talking about. At first it was all dark. Then a lightbulb flickered on to reveal a woman— no a bird— no a lion. No, it was a sphinx.

They stepped inside the room, another door visible on the other side.

The sphinx turned to them and smiled, but the smile changed into a snarl.

"Hello, demigods," she said through clenched teeth. "Here to murder me?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I did it fine the first time," she snapped.

The Sphinx's lip curled. "I remember each and every demigod who had ever slain me, which was few in number. And you were not one of them."

"Honestly who gives a crap. Can we get this over with?" Nico drew his sword again. The sphinx glared at Annabeth more.

"No. This child thinks her better than me, and I shall prove her wrong! I was hired by that descendant of Hecate to help guard a stone, which I agreed to. I could test out my new machine by quizzing those who dare try to steal the Stone!"

Suddenly, a spotlight flickered on, illuminating a... white grading machine behind the Sphinx.

"Not this again," Annabeth said loudly. Her knife glinted in her hand as she angled it towards the spotlight. "Let's just get this over with. We're wasting time."

The Sphinx crouched and claws grew on her once-bare paws as her snarl grew even uglier.

"Wait!" Hermione stepped in between Annabeth and the sphinx, which was incredibly brave. "We need to pass you! If I'm correct, you signed a contract saying you'd test the person and let them pass if they answered correctly! But if they failed, then you could destroy them. And it's not wise to cross magic."

The sphinx backed up. "How did you know?"

Hermione pointed to a piece of paper attached to the machine. "I read the terms of agreement."

The monster sneered. "Fine! Approach me and answer the question!"

"No way. Can I just kill you?" Annabeth hefted her dagger.

"Just answer the question," Ron said. "You're smart, it'll be quicker that way."

Annabeth started to walk towards the machine, but the sphinx stopped her. "Ah, but I do not wish for you to answer. I will choose instead, but if they answer incorrectly, I will kill you," she said. Annabeth growled and lifted her dagger, but was stopped by Harry.

"God, Annabeth, just go by the rules! That's how the person in front of us passed!"

The sphinx smiled evilly. "You seem wise, Harry Potter. You must answer my question."

Harry turned pale. "But—"

"You said yourself, go by the rules right? Well, I have a riddle for you.

"There are two sides of a world. A side with infinite knowledge, and a side which seeks answers. There is an infinite chasm in between each side, but there is a bridge strung across it. Before anyone crosses this bridge, he must first state on oath where he is going and for what purpose. If he swears truly, he may be allowed to pass; but if he tells a lie, he shall suffer death by hanging on the gallows there displayed, without any hope of mercy. Now it happened that they once put a man on his oath, and he swore that he was going to die on the gallows there— and that was all. Will he live or die?"

"Can you rephrase that?" Harry said after a moment of blank silence.

The Sphinx sighed and nodded to her grading machine, where a paper suddenly appeared. Ron reached over and they all huddled around it, trying to read the riddle. The lioness-woman paced around her machine in circles.