CHAPTER SIX

The Hero's Bane

We scale down the cliff looking over the sandstorms and arrive at the bottom. The sandstorms rage so hard that further exploration is without a question, impossible.

"How are we supposed to navigate through this?" Annabeth shouts, over the wind.

"I can lead you," Fiona says, putting on black Ray Ban sunglasses. "You people rely on your eyes for everything. Without vision, you're useless." Fiona clicks her tongue and "looks around".

"Thanks," Percy says sarcastically.

"Other than all the rolling hills, it looks like an open field." Fiona says.

"Well then where should we-"

Fiona waves her hand in Percy's direction, dismissing him. She steps forward and says in a bossy tone, "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Fillip asks.

"You're all hopeless. Follow me," she replies, leading us left.

We walk for a few minutes and then I start hearing a high-pitched scream.

"Oh no…" I say, stopping in my tracks.

"What?" Fillip asks.

"Those are sirens. Don't you hear it?" I reply, with my eyes wide.

"We can't go any further, or we'll be entangled in their trap forever." Annabeth says.

"Maybe we should go," I say. "They live here; maybe they can lead us to Pandora's Temple."

"Are you crazy? We can't go there, we'll die!" Annabeth shouts.

"That's the kind of logic used by everyone looking for the box. If we want to pull through, we should think differently." I reply.

"I agree," Fillip says, clenching his fist into his hand, getting ready for battle.

"You really think they can lead us to the temple?" Percy asks.

"If we can mute them out somehow, we can make them lead us to the temple." Fiona says.

"If that doesn't work we'll just kill them." I say, walking ahead.

We walk ahead for a few minutes when the screeching starts to get louder and I see silhouettes in the distance.

"I'm not going any farther," Fiona says. "I'm staying here, where I can hear clearly. I'm not going to risk getting my ears popped out."

Fiona pulls out her bow and loads it with an arrow. "Try not to get in my way."

I pull out my blades and get ready for battle. "

"Whoa, what are those?" Fillip asks.

"My mom gave me these blades. They appear on my back when I reach for them." I say.

"I have the same thing! Kind of. It's with my sword and my pocket." Percy says, pulling out a pen. He clicks the pen and a golden sword springs out.

"No time for show and tell," I say. "Let's get this show on the road."

I walk ahead cautiously with my friends behind me. I begin to see a silhouette in the distance. Two, actually. Adrenaline gushes through my veins as I charge without hesitation. With my blades ready for attack, a strange force pulls me over. I stop mid-run and I can't control myself. A tenth of a second later, I can't think straight. I get a glimpse of a siren the second before I blackout. It's a girl with long black hair and a long gown that blows with the wind. She has big wings like a bird, and she turns around to face me. Her eyes glow a bright and ominous black, and she opens her mouth to unleash a high-pitched tune. It's nothing like I imagined it. It's a beautiful, entrancing melody. I smile at her and fall asleep uncontrollably.

I awake to the sight of all my friends asleep on the ground. Fillip is the only other one that's on his feet. He has his hand over a siren's mouth. The second siren on the ground, dead, I assume. I rush over and punch her in the gut. She jerks backwards and Fillip lets her go.

"Tell us where Pandora's Temple is or I'll rip your throat out!" I shout.

The siren doesn't sing as I expect. Instead, she smirks. Her wings stretch out and only now do I see her in her true form. Her wings have a span of what looks like twenty feet. Before I can reach for my blade, she flies up leaving behind a cloud of dust.

"I will never tell you!" She hisses from above me. "We will never let anyone navigate this desert, you will die here!"

The siren whips her wings and blows sand at us, disappearing in the wind.

Fillip goes off to awake everyone else but I run over to the other siren that's on the ground. I turn her body over to see that there's an arrow in her mouth. Disgusted, I pull it out. She opens her eyes and I reach back for my blade but she doesn't unleash her song. She looks at me, and it's like she's looking at my soul. A tear trickles down her face as she opens her mouth to speak. Her voice is weak, and her song useless. She closes her eyes and her lips shiver, as if she were about to cry.

"I'm the daughter of Zeus. He sent us here to destroy Pandora's Box. Please, if you know where it is, tell us." I say.

"I don't know if you tell the truth, but I don't care. I don't think that you will find the box, but if you do, destroy it. We've been guarding it for millennia. The gods treat us as machines, if you destroy that box I'll finally be free of my imprisonment. You can kill me but I'll only be reborn back here. Destruction is the only way." She whispers, her voice faltering. "I am not a machine."

The siren gets up and takes one last breath. It's a deep one. She opens her mouth and lets out a scream so loud that it blew away sand dunes. With that being her final breath, she falls to the ground and evaporates into golden dust.

"What just happened?" Fiona asks, confused.

"The path was shown by the warrior's bane," I say, staring out into the desert.

"What?" Fiona says.

In front of us is an unbelievable sight. The sandstorms blew everywhere, but somehow, the siren made an invisible tunnel where the sandstorms wouldn't blow. It was like a forcefield that kept the path clear. In that direction, you could see clearly into the distance. I'm able to see the temple. We venture ahead and the wind blows at us from every direction.

Every step I take closer to the temple, the more detailed I see it. The temple is beautiful and seems untouched by the desert winds. It's similar to the castle at Disney World but much taller and much more extravagant. It's gold, brown, white, and made of stone. It's hard to believe that the deadliest weapon in the world is held here. We stop at the front of the temple to admire the view and I take particular notice of a flock of birds in the air, circling the highest tower of the temple.

"Pandora's Temple is so nice, and peaceful for a place where hundreds have died." Percy says, admiring the architecture.

When we take another step closer, one of the birds shoot down the building, and it lands before us, in front of the gate.

"Who dares to trespass Pandora's Temple?" it hisses.

"Oh my gods…" I say, taking a step back.

"What are you?" Fillip asks, drawing his sword, ready for combat.

The monster steps towards him and smirks. "Hahaha! Your swords won't work on me. I have no taste for the strong, only the intelligent are allowed past. Recognize me yet?"

"I recognize you," Annabeth says, putting on a spiteful face. "You're the Sphinx!"

"That's right," she says with a smirk. "And I'm back with a better show! Never again will I allow someone to best me."

The Sphinx roars and flaps her wings, tossing herself up into the air. The sand below us starts to blow around and a field of skeletons becomes visible under the sand. "Are you scared yet?" she asks, laughing maniacally. While the Sphinx is laughing, a flock of vultures fly down and circle us, our backs now against each others.

I take a big swallow. "So much for nice and peaceful."

A/N: You don't need to tell me, I know. I haven't updated for a few months because I've been pushing it back. I haven't had much inspiration to write. I mean, I know what i want to write but i have to motivation to dedicate the time. I guess I'm just lazy. Sorry! More to come soon. This time, you won't have to wait months. Hopefully.