The Spiritmancer in the boat stopped chanting and pointed upward. The sounds of the river faded, then it slowly stopped flowing, trapped at the entrance to the water gates.
On top of the western wall, steel wires rose into the air like puppet strings, and they carried the massive pipe with them. One pipe floated down to the clogged water gate slowly.
Percy could hear Terra counting the seconds go by as the pipe lowered slowly and carefully. He turned to her, irritated.
"Can you stop?"
Terra flinched and turned down, making him feel like a jerk for yelling at a kid. Abusive parents do it all the ti and no one bats an eye, but when I…
Percy chuckled out loud, then he reached over and patted Terra on the back.
"Sorry about that. I'm a bit nervous. Those pipes are fragile."
Terra gave him a weak smile too, then she got a bit closer to him, shoulder to shoulder.
"I don't know why I'm nervous. This is weeks of your work and calculations. You invented new formulas that almost ran Professor Canis mad."
The old mathematical professor was hired by his parents to help him, but the man only slowed him down with his talk of "Not reliably proven."
"His arrogance almost made him run mad. He couldn't believe he was outdone by a kid." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel[f]ire
Terra snickered and leaned more against him. Percy was inclined to push her but this was calming.
Especially as the pipe finally made it below the water gate. Now ca the hard part. So Spiritmancers would control the cable to move the pipe up, while others would push the pipe down.
This would make the pipe stand upright. Then by varying the force that they pulled and pushed with, they would move the pipe under the deflectors and secure it in the slot Percy had prepared.
After that, a magic circle would control the stone in the slot to lock the pipe in place. And the hardest part was done.
The Spiritmancers were able to pull it upright without exerting too much force and cracking the pipe. After that, it was a slow ebb and flow until the pipe was pulled under the deflector.
Percy had to take his cap off for the Spiritmancers; it wasn't everyday soone other than himself managed to surprise him with their skill.
He knew spirits were able to read intentions and perform tasks better than you would be able to with your own hands, but this had to take another level of concentration to pull off.
The pipe was almost inside the slot when a cable snapped. The echoing snap of steel made his heart leap. Terra gasped and Lecetes gripped the stone railing tightly.
Lecetes raised the bracelets to his lips.
"Cable team, have you lost control?"
This wasn't the first ti a cable had snapped. It was their fifth attempt at doing this installation in one week. Each failure had brought them closer to success, though. Percy really thought this ti he would get it…
"We haven't lost control of the cable yet, boss. Mark—I an, the Earth Spiritmancer says his connection with the spirits of the cable haven't broken."
Spirits were highly dependent on shape. You could exert more power and finesse if the shape and task you gave the spirit aligned. Percy cursed under his breath.
"His control of the cable will be off. Call the attempt off; this is a failure."
Terra opened her mouth to say sothing, but shut it after a mont of thought. She sniffled quietly, putting her head down.
Lecetes turned towards him fully, taking the bracelet away from his mouth.
"We could still make it."
"Or we could end up damaging the pipe. We've learned a lesson today; we'll co back stronger tomorrow."
"You'll co back stronger," Lecetes said. "Every ti we give up, it weighs on their hearts."
He pointed at the commoners, at the n standing on the wall, at the people in the boat, and less directly at Terra, who was just a kid. None of it was their fault, rather it was a miscalculation of wire tension by Percy most likely.
But Lecetes took the mission personally.
"Let's make it to the end this ti. Allow us to try, Lord Perseus."
Percy cringed at the sudden use of his full na; he rubbed his hand against his face and patted Terra on the back.
"Fine. Continue the installation."
"Cable team, we are going to keep going. I'll need maximum focus from you, Mark; keep the cable tight around the pipe and control your strength. Spirits be with us."
The snapped cable curled around the pipe once more, but it looked too loose. Percy began ntally calculating how much a replacent pipe would cost and his heart nearly fell.
The pipe moved far more unsteadily up. The commoners at the dock stood on the edges, eyes locked on to the shaky pipe floating above the water.
Terra held his sleeve so tight he thought it would rip. She was muttering pleas to the spirits under her breath, begging them to be steady and receptive to commands.
Each second it got closer made Percy wish his mother had let him beco a Spiritmancer. At least if the installation failed with him up there, he would feel better.
The pipe thudded against the stone rather quietly as it missed the slot by a little, but in the deadly silence over the lake, it might as well have been a gunshot.
Percy's heart burned for a second, and he nearly started screaming at them to abort. But that would only lead to panic and more danger.
Instead he started biting his arm like a totally sane person, chomping down almost hard enough to draw blood.
Then the pipe slid into the slot, and there was a loud click as the magic tool in the deflector activated and locked the pipe into place.
There was a mont of silence, then a thunderous roar. Terra jumped up and down, screaming at the top of her voice.
Lecetes pumped his fist into the air. "That's what I'm talking about!"
The commoners nearly started jumping into the river in—scratch that, they were jumping into the river to celebrate.
Percy nearly sunk to his knees as all the sleepless nights and impossible calculations he carried made his legs shake. He turned to the fortress doors on instinct and found his mother leaning against the door.
"Mom?" he ran towards her and supported her, he could feel how hot her skin was. "Mom, are you okay?"
Hecate looked pale and tired. "I'm okay, just a bit lightheaded, but I wanted to see your project. I'm proud of you, Perseus."
He felt a rush of warmth in his body, but she was obviously lying. Sothing was wrong. Thalos wasn't around so Percy couldn't even force him to reveal what was up—
Wait. He froze and looked up at her.
"You're pregnant."
If Hecate could turn any paler, she'd look like a ghost. A somber smile found its way to her lips.
"There's no secrets with you, huh?"
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