Chapter forty
The Sphinx’s Lunch
“I don’t think so,” the man chuckled darkly. “Many of my custors have failed when the temperature hit a hundred degrees Celsius. How long do you think you can hold out? The Sphinx might already be hungry, and it won't be pleased if you die too soon—that wouldn’t taste good.”
“Wait, how do you keep your custors from escaping if they break the door?” Asked Elizabeth, her mind racing. She had to get them out of there, or they would be burned alive.
“Well,” he drawled, a slow smile creeping across his face as the rising heat crackled around them, heightening the palpable tension in the air. Elizabeth rose up on her tiptoes, her heart racing as she fought to avoid the searing warmth that threatened to engulf her.
Beside her, Veronica appeared to be in a battle of her own, her face marred by fresh bruises blossoming like dark flowers across her cheeks. Beads of sweat trickled down her legs, glistening under the dim light, while each labored breath she took escaped her lips with a rasp, revealing the exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm her.
“They often tried it; they’d get sucked right back in when I activated my magical fan. Anyone who makes it through that door gets drawn back in if I flip the switch,” he explained, the grin never leaving his face.
“Why do you have it ON, then?” Elizabeth demanded. “Simple. Nobody gets out loose now.”
Veronica scrambled to her feet, fingertips brushing against the searing walls, a sizzling sound emanating as she appeared to be stuck to the floor.
“What the—”
With a frantic rush, she pressed the button, and at that mont, Elizabeth smashed into the locked door, yanking it open with all her strength. A rush of energy surged through the opening, a wind howling wildly as yellowish parchnt whipped inside.
Veronica staggered forward, and they curled up behind the door, their hair swirling chaotically around them. The man looked montarily stunned.
Suddenly, Elizabeth spotted the familiar figure bursting toward them—Percy rushed inside, and without hesitation, leaped forward, driving the man back with a powerful shove.
Caught off guard, the man stumbled and, before he could regain his footing to shut off the fan, he was thrust into the sauna room, colliding violently with the wall before sliding down to the floor.
Veronica pressed the gleaming button labeled 'ON,' and like magic, the wild winds that had been whipping around them ceased their chaotic dance, leaving an eerie stillness in their wake.
In the sudden calm, Elizabeth collapsed into Percy’s arms, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
“How did you manage to break that barrier?” she whispered breathlessly, awe flickering in her eyes.
Percy remained silent, his only response a comforting tightening of his arms around her, gently patting her back in a soothing manner.
“Oh, co on! We don’t have it all day!” Veronica blurted out, her voice tinged with impatience, her feet tapping the ground as she glanced at them with urgency.
With a flick of his wrist, Percy directed his attention to Veronica’s blistered feet, channeling a warm energy that gradually knitted the burnt skin back together. Veronica stared down at her feet in astonishnt, her expression softening into a tentative nod of gratitude.
As Elizabeth turned montarily, her gaze caught the sight of the man who had ambushed them, now writhing in agony within the very frying pan of his own making.
A satisfied smile broke across her face as she witnessed his downfall.
Together, they began to turn away, fingers entwining tightly.
Just as they started to step forward, Veronica called out, panic lacing her tone, “Wait, co with !” Her voice sliced through the silence as she turned a corner and went down a narrow staircase, accelerating.
Suddenly, the Sphinx, now morphed back into a beautiful woman, appeared behind them.
Driven by an urgent need to escape, they charged down the old wooden staircase, each step creaking ominously beneath their hurried feet. The air was thick as they entered the narrow hallway, its walls lined with faded portraits that seed to watch their every move. Their lungs burned as they gasped for breath, the cold, musty scent of aged wood and dust mingling with the frantic rhythm of their heartbeats.
"Where are we going?" asked Percy, gasping for breath.
"To the secret chambers, we've unsealed the first door." Yelled Veronica, her voice quivering with an unknown excitent.
"For heaven's sake, slow down! I can't catch up!" Elizabeth shouted as she took a glimpse back.
And a second later, Elizabeth had better wish she hadn't stopped.
That ferocious-looking woman was closing in on them; that torch glowing in her hands had turned into a bloody sword.
"This way." Whispered Percy, he grabbed Elizabeth's wrist and pulled her toward a hidden room in the corner.
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Veronica hurled the heavy door shut with a forceful bang, just in ti as the woman's form twisted and contorted grotesquely, transforming into a writhing mass of venomous serpents.
"That's a narrow escape." Sighed Elizabeth, clutching her chest, breathing rather fast.
"No ti to waste, co with ," Veronica urged them forward
"Where are we heading?" asked Penelope nervously.
"Well, the secret chambers," explained Elizabeth instinctively. She had no idea why she said that, and she even felt like she didn't say that by herself.
Veronica bent down and tapped the third concrete block on the floor. It cracked open slowly, revealing a secret passageway.
"Here you go, hop in," she said softly, her eyes shining.
“What about you, de Angelo?” Asked Elizabeth, brushing her hair.
“I’ve got things to do, you two first.”
Datura lifted her hands high above her head, her fingers splayed wide as if trying to catch the shimring stars that mirrored the light in her eyes. The flas crackled and surged higher, twisting with wild abandon, casting an ethereal glow on her face. She felt a surge of energy pulse through her veins as she seized the syringe from her side.
The reddish liquid inside shimred in the flickering light, glinting like dark promises.
As she drew it closer, the colors seed to shift, deepening into an almost hypnotic hue.
Then, with a swift flick of her wrist, she released the syringe, squirting the thick liquid arcing through the air. The droplets escaped in slow motion, suspended like tiny jewels against the backdrop of the dancing flas. Ti stretched painfully as they hovered, weightless and limp, caught between the pull of gravity and the fierce glow of the fire.
Penelope watched, breathless, feeling the tension build in her chest as the world around her blurred.
A part of her wanted to flee, to escape this madness, but she stood rooted, her heart pounding in rhythm with Datura's incantations. Penelope was bent down, her pulse quickening as Datura cut into her neck where the tattoo glimred.
As her blood filled the syringe, Penelope fought against the flood of turmoil.
Had she beco a re vessel for Datura’s grand designs?
The crimson liquid ford a glowing orb in Datura’s palm, pulsating as if it held a heartbeat of its own.
Following Datura’s orders, Penelope threw the cut hair into the fire, her instincts clawing at her to stop.
As the strands swirled in midair, illuminated by blue flas that engulfed them in a captivating dance, how could such beauty exist amidst the horror she felt?
Elizabeth gently closed her eyes, and for a mont, she felt as though she were suspended in midair, tumbling through a vast, shimring void. Suddenly, a radiant beam of golden light sliced through the darkness, compelling her to open her eyes and face whatever lay ahead.
When she did, she found herself perched on the cold, damp stone floor of an extraordinary chamber that felt like a hidden realm from another ti. The air was thick with mystery and the faint scent of damp earth and ancient stone.
The ceiling lood above, adorned with grotesque gemstones that sparkled like weary stars, their surfaces glistening with hues of erald green, deep ruby red, and vibrant athyst, refracting light like miniature prisms and casting a kaleidoscope of colors around the room. Surrounding her were countless ticulous carvings depicting mythical creatures and swirling symbols, their shadows dancing in sync with the shimring light beams that seed to originate from nowhere.
In the center of the chamber lay an enchanting magic circle, illuminated by a soft, pulsating radiance that seed to emanate from the very ground itself. The circle was etched with intricate runes that glowed faintly, imbuing the space with a sense of ancient power and mystery.
As she took in her surroundings, Elizabeth turned her head to see Percy materialize beside her, landing with a graceful yet assertive thud. His expression mirrored her awe, grounded yet filled with excitent as they both absorbed the wonders that surrounded them.
"Veronica?" Elizabeth called out, her voice barely above a whisper, a tinged note of worry lacing her words. She strained to hear a reply, but the only answer was an unsettling stillness that clung to the air like a thick fog.
Veronica’s absence felt like a betrayal; they were isolated here, left to face the unknown without their steadfast guide, leaving Elizabeth feeling vulnerable and exposed, like prey caught in a snare.
What could possibly possess Veronica to send them alone into this shadowy, hidden chamber? The thought stung, igniting a tempest of emotions within Elizabeth—deep sorrow intermingled with a fierce sense of indignation.
Did she want to retaliate against them and help the nonblenders?
Just then, a disembodied voice, cold and haunting, began to weave its way through the air, gliding towards Elizabeth like smoke curling from a dying fla. It echoed ominously around the chamber, sending a shiver down their spines and rendering them motionless, as if the very walls were holding their breath in anticipation.
With a slow, deliberate movent, Elizabeth turned her head, her heart pounding in her chest.
The chamber was vast and dimly lit, illuminated only by the flickering light of distant candles that cast elongated shadows across the stone walls.
Her gaze fell upon the floor, where countless intricate pentagrams and hexagrams were carved into the cold, unyielding stone, their shapes sharp and deliberate. Each symbol glimred faintly, as if imbued with a life of its own, drawing her in with an unsettling allure. The air buzzed with an electric tension, thickening around them as if reality itself was holding its breath, waiting for the next chapter to unfold.
Yet Elizabeth felt like she was an animal waiting to be slaughtered.
Is it all a ruse that all Veronica really wanted was to have them killed?
“Hello—” a voice resonated, cascading down from the chamber’s towering ceiling to the polished stone floor. Elizabeth's heart raced as she instinctively stepped back, her eyes darting around in search of the source. Swiveling on her heels, she found the space behind her cloaked in shadows, revealing nothing but the flickering outlines of ancient artifacts lining the walls.
“Don’t be afraid—” the voice continued, its tone soft yet rich, as if woven with threads of silk and mystery. With a mix of curiosity and courage swelling within her, Elizabeth called out, “Who are you?”
Just then, an ethereal figure erged from behind a shimring veil, gliding gracefully toward her.
The elegant lady seed to shimr in the dim light, her long, beautiful silver hair with a violet sheen glowed in the darkness and stread out behind her; her magnificent, dignified sapphire-blue eyes were sharp and bewitching.
She draped a silvery dressing gown, and a pair of violet half-moon spectacles was perfectly settled on her prominent nose bridge. Underneath that, as she snapped her fingers, her fingertips emanated a beam of light that surrounded her face veil, revealing her alluring smile.
"I'm Lady Athena, the goddess of wisdom," she said, her voice warm like sunlight on a chilly day.
"You’ve just unlocked the first door to Grekheim."
"How'd I do that?"
“Think about it. Your bravery, your grit, always having your friends’ backs. That’s how.” She grinned.
Percy, always sharp, jumped in. "So, what’s next?"
“To get your prophecy, you’ll need Lord Apollo. He’ll hook you up."
And just like that, the air crackled with tension. They were on the edge of sothing big.
Unknown paths lay ahead, and danger lurked in the shadows.
This was just the beginning.
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