"Hey, Skippy!" Blackjack called over. "I think that's it!"
Scipio took a second to look before replying. "I believe you are right."
Both pegasi simultaneously began their descent. The air began to warm up slightly and the ground loomed closer. Soon enough, they set down at the edge of a particularly dense forest. Outside the woods was a mostly empty stretch of grass and rocks, except there was a large hole in the ground. The pegasi took only a couple of tentative steps toward it before stopping.
"Don't ask us to go in there, Boss," said Blackjack with a nervous voice.
"We wouldn't say yes if you did," said Scipio.
"Wasn't planning on it," Percy assured them.
He dismounted, and Jason and Reyna immediately did the same. They took a few steps closer, then hesitated. An ominous feeling settled over Percy, and he was sure they felt it too. He knew they wouldn't like whatever was waiting for them inside.
"I don't like this," said Jason. "The power — it's palpable."
"What are you talking about?" Reyna asked.
Jason looked at them. "You can't feel it?"
Reyna shook her head.
"Other than a sense of dread?" said Percy. "Nothing."
Jason furrowed his brow. "Strange. I can almost see the power around it."
Percy glanced at Reyna, but she looked just as confused as him.
"I can feel it as well," said Scipio. "I do not see, but that cave has a powerful aura. I do not recommend going in there."
"You know we have to," Percy replied.
"I do," Scipio said with a resigned voice.
"You two feel free to leave," Percy told them. "I don't know how long this will take."
"Just whistle when you need us, Boss," said Blackjack.
They spread their wings and flew off, leaving the three demigods behind.
"Let's not delay," Reyna said, taking the lead.
The trio approached the large hole, which they were assuming was the Hollow of Prophecy. It was directly in the ground and about as wide as a castrum. When they got right near the edge they were able to see a slope leading down into a big empty cave, a tunnel at the opposite end of it. Percy didn't see any kind of supports and wondered how it hadn't caved in, but then he remembered magic exists.
"There's no way this isn't it," Jason said helpfully.
"Last chance to have second thoughts," Percy offered.
Neither of them turned away. Percy drew his sword and stepped right up the edge. After some mental back and forth with himself, he stepped forward and slid all the way down the slope to the bottom. Only a couple seconds after his feet touched the floor of the massive cave did Reyna and Jason land on either side of him. The three cautiously advanced together toward the tunnel across from them, but then a noise stopped them in their tracks.
Click, click, click, click.
It started off slow, but then quickly sped up until it was rapid. The floor slightly rumbled and Percy could feel something working beneath the ground. He looked around, but couldn't see anything. Eventually, the clicking was joined by another strange sound that happened every several seconds.
Chshhhh. Chshhhh.
Percy decided that waiting for whatever was going on to finish was a bad idea. He was about to make the call to run straight for the tunnel, but then a large section of the ground popped up. A perfectly circular slab of stone flew away revealing another pit beneath the one they were already in. One after another, two large metal hands rose over the edge and planted themselves on either side of the pit. A bronze man then pushed himself out and stood tall, about four times Percy's height. And as if the prospect of fighting a metal giant wasn't frightening enough, panels on its forearms slid open to eject two huge daggers out in front of him, which he caught with surprising dexterity.
It looked very intimidating, and far more complex than the tales about Hephaestus's automatons let on. Even while it was just threateningly standing still, there were parts all over his body that were constantly moving. On his shoulders and under his chin were two pipes that periodically let out bursts of steam with that chshhhh sound. Many gears were spinning at varying speeds across his chest, neck, and between his joints, generating the clicking noise. Across his abdomen, thighs, and upper arms were these strange tubes that pumped up and down, out of sync, on thin rods. Percy doubted even Leo could manage to figure out how this thing works.
The worst part about him was his head. It was the only part of him made out of silver rather than bronze. While its creator hadn't bothered to make the rest of its body match the shape of a human any more than the proportions, its head was sculpted to have the exact shape of a human head, which made it rather off-putting. It looked like one of those marble busts of old Greek emperors you could see in temples and the like. That wasn't even the strangest thing about the head, though. Sprouting from its scalp were dozens of chains that dangled down to his neck like hair. And most intimidating of all, glowing red orbs sat behind fully functioning eyelids that blinked every few seconds. Percy could almost see intelligent thought inside them.
Now, according to the tale, Talos was a name given to a gargantuan automaton that circled Crete. This thing, while huge, was way too small to be the same one. But because he had nothing better to call him, Percy decided to refer to their giant opponent as Talos.
"So, what's the game plan?" Jason asked.
Before either of them could make a suggestion, Talos reacted to the sound of Jason's voice. It instantly drew its arm back and launched a dagger at him. Jason rolled out of the way with perfect reflexes, and the dagger lodged deep into the ground right where he'd been standing, its handle still standing taller than any of them.
Obviously not satisfied, it threw its second dagger and Jason dodged it too. Percy barely got the chance to enjoy the fact that it'd disarmed itself before it suddenly held its arms wide like he was expecting a hug. The daggers flew out of the ground and straight into his open palms.
Realizing there was nothing better to do, Percy charged. Talos swiped at him with one of its daggers and Percy slid beneath it. He returned to his feet and drove the tip of his sword right at its ankle; it bounced off, not even leaving a scratch. The automaton aimed a kick at him that he had to lunge out of the way of. He saw Reyna and Jason had both begun to attack as well, but their weapons were equally ineffective.
For a couple more minutes the trio tried fruitlessly to damage Talos. No matter what they did, he looked just as whole and shiny as when he emerged from the ground. Jason had even stopped once to aim his sword at its head, but nothing happened. There was no flash of light, loud bang, or lightning bolt to the face; perhaps his powers just didn't work underground.
Eventually, once she accepted that their efforts were fruitless, Reyna made a call that they all should have thought of a lot sooner.
"Percy, Jason!" she yelled to them as she jumped out of the reach of one of its daggers. "This isn't working! Just get to the tunnel!"
The two men glanced at each other and nodded in agreement. They dodged beneath two more swipes and ran between Talos's legs. Percy sprinted toward the tunnel and almost made it before he was suddenly tackled to the side by Jason. One of the daggers stabbed into the ground where he'd been a moment from reaching. Percy looked back at Talos in time to see him aiming his other dagger. He and Jason both rolled away and it lodged itself between the two.
As they got to their feet, the daggers flew back to their master's hands. Reyna hacked at its legs, which got its attention. Percy and Jason took the opportunity and ran the rest of the way to the tunnel. They proceeded a little ways into it before stopping and turning around, watching the entrance. Several seconds later, Reyna ran in and joined them. A dagger penetrated at the mouth of the tunnel and then immediately flew back. They heard a loud thud and then the automaton's noises ceased.
"Thanks," Percy said to Jason.
He nodded.
They took a moment to catch their breaths. Percy glanced down the tunnel and saw only darkness. Half of his sword's edge had a slight glow from the celestial bronze while Jason's entire blade glowed dimly, enough to illuminate the path ahead. Percy gestured for him to take the lead, and he did so.
"I hope that wasn't indicative of the rest of what we're going to face in here," Reyna said as they walked.
"I hope it was," Percy disagreed. "More like that and we'll know we can just avoid the fight altogether and run past."
"For some reason, I doubt it'll be that easy," said Jason. "We'll probably end up with a more difficult fight that we can't just skip."
"Why would you go and say that? Do you want to die in here?" Percy scolded lightheartedly.
"Sorry. What I meant to say is, we'll come out of the end of this tunnel and find the Fates waiting for us, amazed that we passed their test so quickly."
"There's that optimism," said Reyna.
They proceeded onward. Percy was fully expecting to walk for several minutes based on the fact that they still couldn't see any sign of the exit, but then something strange happened. He felt himself go extremely dizzy to the point of being blinded for all of a second, and then he was back to normal. The next thing he knew, they were standing back in a bright cavern exactly as big as the last, except the pit and automaton were gone. Instead, the floor in front of them was replaced with a lake that separated them from the tunnel at the far edge, a tunnel that had an entrance identical to the one they'd just entered into.
"We're back at the start?" said Reyna.
Percy turned around and sure enough, there was the exact same slope they'd slid down and the same big opening letting the daylight shine through. They were in the same cave, only it was different. That or they were in a different cave that had replaced the one they'd just left and been teleported — you know what? It's not worth thinking about. All he needed to know was that they needed to press onward.
Percy walked up to the edge of the water and set his hand in it, but he felt nothing. It didn't react to his touch, invigorate him, or do anything at all. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to enforce his will upon it, but nothing happened. He tried again, wanting to get a feel of any dangers that might be lurking beneath, but met the same results.
"It's not working," he said. He stood up and his hand was wet — it hadn't dried instantly like normal.
"Our powers don't work here," said Jason. "I couldn't summon lightning before either."
"Great," Percy muttered. "Well, who's ready for a swim?"
The water was very cold. Even without his control over the water, Percy was still a fast swimmer, but not feeling like the water was working with him was very foreign to him. Once they got across to the other side, he pushed himself up onto land and found himself soaking wet. For the first time in his life, he was uncomfortable because of water. He hated it.
Other than the freezing temperatures, there were zero threats in the lake. Percy couldn't even understand why it was put there, unless Vesta was referring to hypothermia when she said it'd take more than strength to get them through this.
They entered into the new tunnel and experienced the same thing as before. They walked for a bit toward an end they couldn't see before being suddenly transported back to the cave. This time it looked exactly like the first before Talos had removed a large section of the ground. The tunnel sat tauntingly across from them. Percy impatiently started marching toward it again, but then his vision went dark.
He saw nothing and couldn't feel anything. His ears were met with an almost maddening silence. He didn't even get a chance to panic before he could suddenly see again.
He was no longer in the cave, but in the middle of a marketplace. He couldn't feel his body, but he could look around. It didn't take him long to figure out where he was — Cyrene, his birthplace. There were people all over the market, and many looked angry. Several started shoving each other around, then throwing punches. He didn't know what caused the uproar, but soon enough, weapons were drawn. Blood was spilled. Chaos ensued, and then he saw his mother.
He watched her fearfully skirting around the edges of the mob in an attempt to get to safety. She managed it for a bit and got really close to being in the clear. But then her luck ran dry. A stray sword aimed at someone else cut a deep gash in her side. She cried out and collapsed to the ground, blood spilling out like water from a jar. No one came to help her, and she was left to bleed to death.
The scene changed. His mother was gone and so was the marketplace, but once again he was amidst an angry crowd. Ahead of them was a raised dais where several men stood. One wore legatus's armor and a purple cape, but he wasn't Marcus. Behind him, several legionnaires stood guard, ready to move into action at a moment's notice. Standing directly at the forefront with a legionnaire wielding a greatsword standing behind him, was Daedalus.
The legatus announced to the crowd that justice was about to be swiftly wrought upon the villain that sought to undermine Rome's authority.
"I accept my fate," said Daedalus. "You could at least do me the honor of reading me my supposed crimes, Minos."
The legatus looked genuinely confused. "Minos has been dead for centuries, you senile old man. And we haven't got all day to stand here repeating what everyone already knows. Legionnaire, get it over with."
Daedalus was shoved onto his knees and his head was forced onto a wooden block. The legionnaire behind him raised the sword and waited. The crowd egged him on and shouted hateful things about Percy's old mentor.
"After all these years, you finally won," Daedalus muttered. Percy somehow heard him perfectly even from a distance. "Don't think I'm giving up once I meet you down there, Minos."
The sword dropped, and Daedalus's head fell. Percy looked away before it happened, and was surprised to see a young Reyna watching at the back amongst more soldiers, her face bearing a horrified expression.
The scene changed once more. He stood amidst an open field, a castrum standing off in the distance. He saw himself wearing legionnaire's armor, running away from a tent toward a phalanx of Greek demigods that were too far away. Half of them were disarmed and kneeling, the rest looking murderous.
Once it was over, the grass was stained with blood. He'd watched his friends die once again, himself kill Ethan, and the murderers get away with the help of Alabaster's magic. After that, the visions finally ended and he was back in the cave. He collapsed to his knees and shut his eyes, taking a moment after everything he'd just seen.
"Whoah!" said Jason.
Percy turned around and saw that he had caught Reyna and steadied her. She looked just as traumatized as he felt, but Jason looked unperturbed. The son of Jupiter looked between them both with a worried expression, clearly confused.
"What just happened?" he asked.
Percy met Reyna's eyes, and they understood each other. They'd been shown their greatest tragedies, for what reason he didn't yet know. Even before she opened her mouth, he knew what she'd seen.
"I saw my father," she said, her voice shaky. "I saw myself kill him."
"The meeting," Percy replied. "And Daedalus, and my mother."
"I didn't see anything," said Jason.
"Really?" said Percy. "Nothing? Not. . . not Thalia?"
He shook his head, looking equally as perplexed as them.
Percy and Reyna took a second to regain themselves. He'd spent so much time recovering from every one of those deaths. Why did that all have to resurface now? What purpose did it serve? Were the Fates just trying to shake them? Did they want them distracted for the challenges yet to come? If so, why had they spared Jason?
Well, if they were trying to distract him, it wasn't going to work. He'd come too far and lost too much to let those things hinder him this long after he'd let them go. He pushed the thoughts aside and got to his feet. Reyna looked to be on the same page as him.
"Let's press on," she said.
"Are you sure?" Jason asked. "We can take a break for —"
"We can take a break once we're done," Percy interrupted. "The sooner we get through this cave, the sooner we can leave and never come back here."
"Well, alright then," said Jason. He took the lead.
They were able to walk through the cavern to the tunnel once again without any kind of hindrance. A short walk yielded the same results as before, popping them back at the start with a new challenge to face. This time, it took the form of three villains, all of whom should be dead. He knew that because he'd been a direct cause of all three of their deaths.
Luke stood directly opposite him, looking off, but angrier than ever. His scar was gone and his armor looked to be solid gold and styled perfectly Greek. He wore his signature glare and wielded a sword that was — other than the fact that it was golden — identical to the one he'd favored in life.
Standing across from Reyna was the disgraced and publicly executed former legatus, Marcus Lurio II. He held a spear and shield in his hands. Facing Jason was their most recent adversary, Titan, who wielded greatsword. Both men's weapons and armor were also golden.
As Percy stared at Luke, that profound anger that he thought had died with the rebel leader surged up inside of him. He felt an uncontrollable need to drive his sword through his chest again, but for some reason hesitated. The longer he stared at him, the more he realized he wasn't looking at an actual person. He noticed how oddly his skin shimmered in the light, and at points he could even see straight through him to the wall behind. This was just something else the Hollow had fabricated.
"They're not real," Percy said.
"Could've fooled me," said Jason.
"Well the tunnel's on the other side of them," Reyna pointed out. "Only way to it is through them."
Percy flourished his sword, but the fake Luke showed no reaction. Only when he took his first step forward did Fake Luke take a stance and grip his sword with both hands. Percy charged and when he swung his blade, it connected with Fake Luke's golden one. Any thoughts of him being a ghost that couldn't be touched were now gone.
Soon enough the room was filled with the sound of metal clashing against metal. All three demigods were locked in battle with their respective ghosts. And in all honesty, it was a tough skirmish.
When he'd fought the real Luke, he'd been wearing armor. That greatly reduced the number of weak points that could be aimed for. Luke, of course, had managed to hit one anyway with sheer skill, anger, and probably a bit of luck. Unfortunately, it seemed this apparition shared not only Luke's face, but his skill too.
He didn't know how well Reyna and Jason were doing in their fights but could tell they were having a difficult time based on the fact that he couldn't hear anyone having won yet. He definitely believed he had the worse end of the deal, though, because Luke was by far the strongest opponent of the three. Titan had a lot of skill, for a certainty, but relied more on brute strength, which was his shortcoming. Percy had never properly seen Marcus fight, because the dagger duel in the consul's room didn't really count, but had heard enough to know he wasn't someone to be underestimated. He was battle-hardened and experienced enough to make him very formidable but he was still just a mortal in the end. Luke, on the other hand, was a demigod with many years of training to make him one of the toughest swordsmen Percy had ever seen. Beating him again without borrowing Reyna's strength would be difficult.
Fortunately, however, it proved he didn't have to defeat Luke on his own. Soon enough Reyna had dispatched Fake Marcus and she came to his aid. Once it was two-on-one, the fight became trivial. Fake Luke was disarmed and Percy swiped his sword at him — he vanished into nothing. He then went to help Jason, but he finished off Fake Titan before he could get there. The cavern went silent.
"How many more of these do we have to go through?" Percy asked. He then looked up to the roof and raised his voice. "What's the point of all this?"
The Hollow didn't respond.
Reyna grabbed his hand. "We can't afford to lose our heads."
He met her eyes and his annoyance began to dissipate. "You're right. Let's just keep walking through the tunnel to nowhere, and hope something eventually comes of it."
"Everything here has to have a reason," Jason said. "Eventually the Hollow has to run out of challenges and trials or whatever and we'll find the Fates. Vesta wouldn't have sent us here if it's all pointless."
"It just feels like it's screwing with us just for the sake of screwing with us," said Percy. "I don't know what any of this is supposed to mean. I just want to talk to the Fates and figure out the next step so we can get out of this cursed place."
As soon as he finished talking, something happened. He suddenly felt dizzy and the room started spinning. His eyesight went blurry and it looked like the tunnel split into three for a second. Then he heard the vivid sound of someone getting stabbed repeatedly while screaming for help. Percy didn't hesitate.
"Come on!" he said, not even bothering to see if Jason and Reyna had heard it too.
He ran into the tunnel and the noises stopped. He felt a similar sensation as usual when getting far enough into it, but this time he didn't come out in the normal cave. Instead, he found himself surrounded by tall brick walls lined with torches alight with green flames. Ahead of him was a wall leading in two directions. Looking around, he found that he was alone.
"Reyna?" he yelled out. "Jason?"
No one responded.
"Reyna!" he shouted louder. "Jason!"
Still, he heard nothing. He ran to the end of the path and randomly decided to turn left. When he made the turn, he found another path leading off to the left and a little farther ahead, a couple more branches led right. He was in a maze.
He forged ahead, picking where to go without even thinking. Turn left, go right, straight ahead, reach a dead end, go back, try again. He didn't know where he was going and there was no method to his walking. He just kept going and hoped he'd eventually reach the end.
After several minutes of making progress — he hoped — he decided to call out Reyna's name again. Sadly, he still heard nothing in response. He was about to try Jason's just for the sake of it, but then someone spoke behind him.
"She's not here," said a young man's voice. "She's in her own."
Percy whipped around to face the voice and leveled the tip of his sword at his throat. It took him two seconds to register who he was seeing. Standing in front of him, unflinching at the weapon pointed at him, was his cousin Nico, son of Hades.