That's the problem of the labyrinth, you never know whether it is day or night.
Fred, Xanthus and Steve were still in the dark as to how Ares just evaporated into thin air, but Adam fed them some bullshit, catching my eye momentarily.
Steve led us to the end of dungeon, and planted his ear to the wall. Then, he pressed at a spot, and one of the bricks slipped noiselessly, creating a hole to peek through. Steve looked first, then Adam, then Fred, then Xanthus..and then me.
It was pitch black and silent. Suddenly, I heard a voice drifting to my ears, which I recognised as Muriel's, then Ares's, then it turned to Fred's, then all my quest mates. But they were not singing, they were wailing.
Elizabeth..............
I backed away from the wall, terrified. My entire body started shaking.
"No, we are not going to do that!!" I shrieked.
"Yes, we have to" Xanthus pleaded.
"There must be another way!!"
"Allen!! There isn't!! We must do it. Please, we have no choice!" Allen begged and I placed my palms on my temples. Steve pressed on another brick, and the wall slid soundlessly. The darkness was nothing compared to the horror ahead.
The cliff ended in about 10 metres, with a rickety wooden board connecting it to the other side, and below it, a river thundered. A river that ran in the Underworld, Cocytus, the river of wailing.
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The water was not transparent or blue or green. It was yellow, like the sewer, with the souls of the past crammed into it.
I edged to the end, PitFace's voice echoing in my ears. He had seized control on all the rivers of the Underworld, including the Styx.
"Remember, you are likely to hear the voice of your people, but don't panic...think of it as an illusion and we shall pass" Xanthus informed and I drew short breaths, mulling them over into longer, deep ones.
Adam and Steve nodded, and we crept to the plank.
Pressure started building up in my lungs.
Elizabeth...
Beads of sweat trickled down my temples, as I shook off the voices in my head. I flexed my fingers, clammy with anxiety as Xanthus walked calmly on the plank. It creaked. Xanthus froze.
Two seconds passed, then he shuffled forwards, and at the last bit, jumped off. Adam went next, as tranquil as he could be, but silent.
Elizabeth...
I jerked my head fast, blocking out the sounds, watching as Fred crept to the other side. Just Steve and me left. The board started shaking violently, as the river rose higher, licking at its edges.
"You go, you are more important..." he said and I snapped, "Oh yeah, as if I would be able to navigate through these tunnels!!"
The river started rising higher and higher. One drop of it on our skin, and good-bye life.
"Together?" I asked.
"Together? Are you insane?"
"Well, fine. You go ahead, when you are through mid-way, I'll come" I said, and he opened his mouth to retort but I cut him short, "Besides, I have much more experience with danger"
Ladies and gentlemen......that's what you call flirting with death.
He nodded warily and crept ahead, his arms outstretched, balancing himself.
I took a deep breath and shuffled forwards. The board looked wider and safer up close, but the river looked deadly.
The board creaked, and my hands flew to its edges, grasping for dear life. Thankfully, nothing happened.
Steve continued ahead, and I focused on his agile legs as I balanced forwards. Suddenly, he stopped and glanced at the right.
I followed suit, gazing at the darkness, wondering what he was seeing.
"Do you see it?" He whispered on his shoulder, and I asked, "What?"
"There" he pointed out in the darkness, "Look, can't you see the river flowing into a pipe sort of thing?"
I peered ahead and as my vision cleared, I spied something. Embedded onto the rock, was a pipe, like a sewer system underground.
"What is it?" I questioned softly and he shrugged before whispering in an arcane voice that I couldn't quite catch, "Elizabeth, look beside it"
I squinted once again, and my breathing stopped. Hundreds of monsters, dracanae, hell hounds, giants, centaurs stood there, with spears, swords, and bows, diligent.
"What's happening Steve?" I choked and he twisted his head to glance at me, "Don't make a single sound, they still don't know that we are here...okay?"
"Okay..." I whispered, and we clambered ahead when suddenly, a voice sounded in my ears. The sound of a rock hitting the water. The wailing below amplified, and I clasped my palms on my ears, preventing the sounds from entering me.
Elizabeth....
Panic rose in my throat, as I stared at Steve's blonde head, when a wave of arrows charged towards us. Desperate, I drew Optimist into a spear, rotating it with my fingers, back and forth, shielding myself from the shower, as I crept to Steve, and shielded him too.
Suddenly, a tongue of agony raced through my arm and I wheezed as an arrow struck my shoulder.
"Liz!" I heard Fred yell and my vision tunnelled. Below us, the wood gave a strange moan.
"Quick!" I heard Xanthus bellow and Steve heaved me to the other side of the cliff, and I collapsed to the ground. I watched as the board shattered and fell into the river. The arrows stopped firing. Fred held me upright, and without much delay, pulled the arrow from my arm. I screamed in anguish. He threw it away, then held me upright.
"It's okay..it's okay. It's done" Fred whispered as he cradled me in his arms and I whimpered, clearly my vision.
My blurry eyes landed on Adam, who was a feet away from the cliff, whose silhouette stood sharp against the yellow background, looking down upon the Cocytus and just beside him, was a huge pile of rocks.
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"You!" I yelled as I lunged at him and he turned. My hands clasped his collar and I shoved him to the edge to the cliff.
"Give me one good reason that I don't kill you!" I bellowed, and he raised an eyebrow.
"Allen-I didn't, seriously.."
"Oh yeah, you just threw that stone in so the wailing sounds of the river would get another reason to kill us, didn't you? Not to mention that wave of arrows that almost killed us!" I spat.
"Woah! Come one, Allen! I thought you knew better words than 'killed us'" he mocked, making air quotes, sarcasm threading his words.
Anger built in my chest, "You don't know the words I know. You don't the pain I have felt. You don't-"
"Well, in fact, I DO!!" he growled, and jostled me behind, his calm and sneer broken. I stumbled back and balanced myself, caught unawares. Steve, Fred and Xanthus were dead silent.
"I do! I understand what it means like to be ignored, forgotten, to be dangerous, feared by anyone who could have been something to me, to be the prey to people with no good ideas at heart, to be powerful, yet insignificant and lonely. And I guess, being a son of Pluto does that to you! And no matter what dad tries, moving me from one place to another, nothing is possible!! Nothing!" his voice echoed in my ears, as he looked at me with his dark eyes, that reflected nothing but hurt. I watched as he balled up his fists.
"Wait? Moving you to another camp? Hades transferred you to Camp Half-Blood...why?" I demanded.
"He said I would be a part of something important, something where I could use my skills, make friendships, get myself a life......" his voice suddenly mellows down, "Clearly he was wrong.." he added with a soft sigh and swivelled past me, making it to the next tunnel.
"Whe-where are you going?" I croaked after him.
"Nowhere, I guess! Wish I had cooler powers that would allow me to disappear, but I guess, life isn't fair.."
"Life can be if you treat other fair and not get them killed for dinner..." I whispered softly, with words only he could catch.
He looked behind and smiled, "Right. You see, it is also fair when you decide not to investigate a crime and decide to put the blame on one person. So welcome to life, Incarnation!" he muttered sarcastically, motioning Steve....and all the boys set off into the darkness, quiet.
Adam was hiding something, and as I stared at that pile of rocks, recalling what he said, I knew that it was all in his past.
YOU ARE READING
The Olympian Legend Series-Incarnaceous
Fanfiction"Floor six hundred please" I said, swallowing back laughs as the bored watchman groaned, scowling as though he had been forced to watch Shakespeare's monotonous soliloquy. I glanced up at the tall and forbidding Empire State Building and th...
