The tunnel was exactly as Percy remembered it being, it was long but fairly narrow compared to the other caves along this stretch of the coast. The light bobbing above her head only lit some of it- but what it lit was dark and damp, the ragged stone walls glistening in the soft glow. And just as it had when she was little, the cave looked perfectly normal, just as much of an exciting adventure as it had once been when she was a ten year old girl, when she was younger and smaller- if not too much shorter.
She let out a slow breath, her gaze focusing towards the back of the cave- which was still shrouded in darkness since the soft glow of the light floating just behind her couldn't quite reach it that far.
"Well." she turned her head to glance back over her shoulder, noting the curious looks on Artemis and Luke's faces as they looked around the cave. "This is definitely the right one. I remember it pretty well- there should be at the back of the cave- it's not too big but we should all fit through it well enough on our hands and knees. I can't remember how long it was but it'll lead into a second cavern. That's where I was when I decided I had to go back last time. When it started feeling... y'know." she gave a wry smile, "Wrong." well, the cave would probably be a bit of a tight fit for Luke but he'd be able to squeeze through if they were crawling.
"It doesn't feel too bad yet." Luke muttered the words, "But I'm not looking forward to this- you said it felt wrong?"
"It will." Percy grimaced, "But we don't exactly have much choice."
"Knowing the cause for the feeling should make it easier to resist." Artemis spoke up, "Or harder I suppose. We're playing a dangerous game here. We must consider the risks."
"We already know the risks." Luke scowled, "If we fail then Kronos will be at full power with his Scythe and we're dead."
"As opposed to him being full power without it." Percy grimaced, "There's always risks Artemis. Sometimes you have to take that leap. As terrifying as it is."
"I wasn't saying that we should turn back." Artemis shook her head, "Only that we need to be aware of what waits for us."
"I don't care what's waiting." Percy stated firmly, "We do what we have to, one thing after another. We do what's right and we can't do anything more than that. And if we do manage to get the Scythe then Kronos will have to climb over my dead body to get it."
That statement rung in the air for several moments before Percy decided to move forward, the light following her, revealing move the further into the cave they got.
Then Luke spoke up again, a note of hesitation in his voice. "We don't know how long we're going to be down here right?"
"With the way the Scythe influences time? No." Percy glanced back at him, "Why? Does it matter?"
"Well the walls are damp." Luke pointed out, "Which means that water comes in here when the tide comes in. Meaning if we're still in here when that happens-" and Percy laughed.
She couldn't help the noise from slipping past her lips. She understood, of course she did Luke's concern was entirely reasonable in his eyes, but it amused her, probably more than it should.
"Relax." she gave him her best reassuring grin, "I'm a water elementalist. I have a natural talent with it." she ignored the slightly narrowed eyed look that Artemis gave her.
Let her have her suspicions if she wanted. They'd find out sooner or later but Percy currently didn't trust either of them enough to outright tell them. Especially Luke.
He might be earning some trust now given the fact that he'd helped them escape and given them crucial information but Percy could not, would not forget that this was largely his fault in the first place... though she supposed that Kronos would have found someone else if it wasn't him.
"Will your natural talent save our lives if these caverns flood?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow- not in disbelief as such but in genuine question. And she could hardly take offence to that, she could understand how it might sound unbelievable to him.
"Well given the fact that I managed to swim under your boat, and all the way to my boat without you or any of your monsters spotting me in the water after I snuck aboard your cruise ship..." she smirked at the sudden sour look on his face.
"I am never going to live any of this down am I?" his voice was almost a grumble as he shook his head- but there was no heat in his tone, more just a reasonable level of annoyance.
"Nope." Percy popped the P, "Listen, down there the last thing you need to worry about is high tide. I can easily protect you from that." she crouched down, the light following her when she reached the back of the cave, pointing towards a narrow short hole in the rocks- almost hidden by an outcrop of rocks just in front of it. "We have to go down there."
"Well that looks fun." Luke snorted, "Who goes first?"
"I will." Percy pulled a face, "I'm the one basically leading this mission so I'll lead the way. Besides I know the tunnel- at the end it's got a drop, about six foot but still, once I'm down I'll be able to help you guys out so that you don't hurt yourselves-"
"Will you be able to reach-"
"I will stab you Castellan. And Artemis won't tell on me if I do will you."
"I would cheer you on if you stabbed the foolish boy." Artemis spoke up, shooting Luke an almost smug look.
"Ugh." Luke pulled a face, "I can't believe I'm getting ganged up on by you two. It's ridiculous-"
"Yeah, two little girls are verbally kicking your ass. Trust me you do not want to get into an insult contest with me-" she grinned,
"Even a friendly one."
"Yeah yeah shorty," Luke scoffed, "Let's just get in the tunnel I guess. We need to get this done."
"At last something we can agree on." Artemis muttered the words, and soon enough Percy was on her hands and knees, slowly slipping into the tunnel.
It wasn't comfortable even for her- the slightest of all three of them. The stone beneath her hands was cold and rough, and she could feel the cold even through the fabric of her jeans. But that was just something they'd have to put up with.
The real pain in the ass was the fact that she couldn't really see. The light was floating along just behind her, which at least gave Luke and Artemis some light but she only got a small amount that peaked in from behind her, her own body blocking most of it.
Well, she'd just have to rely on the feeling of the tunnel beneath her hands and knees.
So she moved forward, taking her time with it, ignoring when she felt sharper stones along the tunnel catching at her hands, arms and jumpers. Small pains like that were easy enough to deal with at least.
And she kept going for what felt like hours though she knew logically it was probably only half an hour to and hour maximum, until she felt, against the palm of her hands, the lip of the tunnel.
And honestly it was a good thing that she wasn't putting all her weight down on the palms of her hands instantly or she'd have likely topped out uncontrollably. Instead she came to a stop, "Okay, we've reached the end. I'm gonna get out and I'll call out when I'm ready to help you."
She shifted carefully, dropping onto her elbows, and then onto her belly and squirming her way forward, slipping her arms out of the tunnel first so that she could drop them down.
Gods but she wished there was a way to turn around and back out instead of this awkward ungainly slide fall out of the stupid tunnel.
But she knew that there was no chance of that, it was too narrow so she simply manoeuvred herself forward until her weight dragged her fully out, and thankfully she was ready for it- she caught herself with her hands, forcing back a grunt at the jarring feeling as she used a last push of effort to push herself away from the tunnel exit, flopping onto her back with a thud that winded her.
But she didn't have time for that did she? She took a deep breath through gritted teeth before pushing herself up onto her elbows and scrambling to her feet.
And at last she could see again- the small light was glowing in the air by the tunnel exit.
"I'm out!" she called up- and a moment later Artemis face was emerging from the darkness, peering out of the tunnel, and she could see a glint of relief on the other woman's face.
"Here." she reached up towards Artemis, who in turn reached down, sliding herself forward enough to reach Percy's hands. And Percy helped the ex-goddess brace herself, so that when she dropped she didn't fall face first.
Once Artemis was steady she gave Percy a small nod. "Thank you."
At which point Luke's face emerged, looking very disgruntled, "Help me get out of here you two." his voice was strained, "It's too tight in here for me." and it did look like he was uncomfortable, his shoulders pressing against the tunnel walls- his tee was looking worse for wear too, with some holes at the shoulders from where he'd scraped against the wall.
"C'mon." Percy stifled her laughter as best she could, reaching up and grabbing one of his arms when he reached down- and it was much easier to help him down since she also had Artemis on his other side gripping the other arm.
She gripped it for just a moment to help him steady himself.
"Thanks for that." Luke brushed himself down once they let go, frowning, "I have a question Kane, how the fuck did you get back up there when you were a kid? If you came this far, you would have probably been even shorter back then-"
"The urge to stab you returns." Percy poked her tongue out, "I'm athletic, I did a running jump, gripped the edge and clambered back into it."
"Impressive." Artemis looked around, "So this is the second cavern then. The one where you decided to return to the surface."
And Percy nodded, looking around properly for the first time.
This cavern was smaller than the cave entrance- a circular chamber, and Percy could see veins of shimmering crystals threaded through the walls of the cavern like veins, the light of her little orb reflecting off of them, with several boulders scattered around the chamber.
It was beautiful, if somewhat creepy.
And Percy swallowed hard, a feeling she remembered all too well from the last time she'd been in this cavern flooding through her.
This was wrong, she shouldn't be here. She wasn't welcome. Her chest tightened, her heart speeding up in her chest. She needed to leave, to turn back and flee without even waiting for Artemis and Luke to follow.
But no. No she had to fight the feeling. She couldn't turn back and run now after coming so far. She had no choice, her friends needed her to be strong. Both Luke and Artemis were shivering, eyes blown wide with fear.
If she showed the slightest weakness they would flee.
And who the fuck did the scythe thing it was dealing with? How dare anyone or anything try to chase her off like an errant child.
She was Percy Kane, Princess of the House of Life. Blood of Pharaohs. She was the daughter of Poseidon, and more than all of that she was the living embodiment of Chaos itself. The girl who had forced Apophis himself out of her domain.
She bowed to nothing, especially not fear.