Last chapter for now! Hopefully it won't be too long.
Once Percy managed to pull herself together she turned her head to look back at Artemis and Luke. At first glance she thought that Luke was dealing with the strange aura that was trying to push them into leaving better than Artemis- she looked pale, her lips drawn into a tight thin line, her brows furrowed and every inch of her was tense.
Whereas at first glance Luke didn't look so tense, until Percy focused on his hands- saw the slight tremor that he was trying to reign in. And when she met his eyes there was a sort of terror in them.
When he noticed her stare he swallowed hard. "Reminds me of all the times I failed him." he tried to make his voice casual, but that look in his eyes made Percy's heart twist.
His failures had been because of her interference, and while she didn't regret them as such she didn't like the idea that he'd been punished so badly that the memory of it made him tremble like that.
"We'll be okay." Percy's voice was calm now, she'd pushed the anxious feeling down. She was stronger than this, and she had to be the strong one. Luke and Artemis needed her right now. She might technically be the youngest but this was her quest. Her responsibility. "I know how it feels but you need to fight it, both of you."
Artemis gave a very sharp nod, gritting her teeth and squaring her shoulders. "You are right of course. It is a mental block, there's no physical force stopping us from doing what we must."
"I've survived worse." Luke added. "But let's not hang around please. I don't want to be here any longer than necessary. It feels wrong."
"The question is where do we go from here." Artemis spoke up, eyes scanning the area. And Percy turned to look around once more, pursing her lips tightly.
"Uh, I'll be honest I'm not sure. I got this far and noped right the fuck out of here last time." she admitted. "I was ten and things had been... kind of crazy over the last year and I decided that for once I was gonna just not mess with whatever it was that made me feel uncomfortable down here."
"Well there's no more tunnels that I can see." Luke pointed out, "Maybe there's some kind of.. I don't know, a spot in the wall or something that'll reveal something." he rolled his eyes, "Gods above but that sounds so stupid."
"And yet it's not the craziest thing I've ever heard." Percy remarked, "The scythe isn't sentient but it's magic will be protecting itself and it's clearly not in this room unless it's somewhere hidden."
"Perhaps the veins of crystals." Artemis moved to the cavern wall, pressing her hand against it, tracing her fingers over the veins of crystals.
"Look for any symbols, anything out of place." Percy ordered after a moment, "I'll summon up a two more lights to hover next to both of you- we need all of us to be able to see well."
It was a matter of a moments work to summon up two more lights, which hovered just above Artemis and Luke's heads.
They spaced themselves out so that they were roughly equal distances apart around the chamber and they started to examine the walls- which was not very interesting in Percy's humble opinion.
In fact it was possibly one of the most boring things she'd ever had to do.
Oh the crystals were pretty enough- glinting shades of red and black- and Percy did absently ponder what stone they were- though given what they were searching for Percy wouldn't be willing to take them even if they were the most valuable stones in the world.
For all she knew they were cursed.
And she took her time as she examined the walls- searching every inch of them for some sign of something more- a hidden passage, any loose rock but there was nothing.
Eventually, after what felt like a lifetime Percy let out a frustrated groan. "I've searched my entire section and there's nothing! What sort of magical cave has nothing."
"There has to be something." Artemis said the words slowly, "You were right about this cave I am certain of it Percy. It's the only reason for the strange feeling here, and for the fact that you noticed a strangeness in time last time you came down here."
"How long have we been down here anyway?" Percy scowled, "It feels like hours and seconds all at the same time."
"It's been-" Luke started to speak before pausing, which made Percy and Artemis both turn to look at him. "My watch has stopped." he finished, "It hasn't changed since we entered the first cave and there's no way we've been in here for so little time. Just the tunnel would have taken at least half an hour-"
"In a normal place maybe." Percy bit her lip, "But you're probably right. Time doesn't pass down here, not normally anyway. And your watch isn't made to register magic like this." she ran her fingers through her curls.
"We must find something." Artemis moved to one of the boulders and perched on it like a chair. "Or else we've wasted valuable time, and given the threat looming we have little enough time to waste."
"Can you use your magic to search it out?" Luke suggested, "To show any hidden passages or something?"
"I wish." Percy shook her head, "Greek and Egyptian magic- the magic itself doesn't mesh well, or I mean..." she let out a huff, "It's complicated, it depends on the spells- I think." She'd never truly tried to merge Greek and Egyptian magic as such. Her powers weren't magic after all, "It makes it... unpredictable." like her in a way. She was the single case in which Egyptian Magic and Greek
Gods combined, truly combined anyway. "Anyway, if I try and use magic to locate the scythe... we can't be sure how it'd go and I'd rather not blow anything up while we're in a cave."
"That's a fair point." Luke said after a moment, "Doesn't help us much though. What do we do now- check the boulders?" his tone was sceptical- but Percy shrugged.
"I mean, it can't hurt right?"
She moved towards the closest boulder to her.
It did not look special. It was just a large stone, but she should at least try and look at-
"Over here!" Artemis' voice was slightly high. "Look!"
And Percy and Luke rushed to join her.
She'd risen from the boulder she'd been using as a chair and she was crouched in front of it, pointing at the base.
And it took Percy an embarrassingly long time to realise what she was pointing out.
The boulder didn't seem to be resting on the ground- it looked as though there was some sort of dip at the very least which the boulder was resting in.
"We need to check beneath it- beneath all of them-"
"It's huge." Luke eyed it carefully, "It's not going to be easy to move-"
"You saying you're weak?" Percy shot him an almost teasing grin.
"You know, I know you're baiting me."
"Is it working?"
"... Yes. Come on let's try and roll it out then."
And it took all three of them to do it, in the end after a few attempts Luke and Artemis braced their shoulders against the stone and tried to push slightly up and forward, and Percy, stood between them pressed her fingers against the base, trying to slip them beneath the boulder so that she could push upwards once there was enough space to get a grip.
And it felt like a lifetime but eventually the boulder lifted very slightly and Percy's hands slid beneath the boulder quickly and she grunted as she lifted upwards.
Holy Hades but it was heavy- Percy could hear Luke's strained breathing and Artemis' little stifled noises of effort, but together they managed to lift it out of the dip and push it away.
Doing this revealed the fact that it was not, in fact, just a dip.
Percy blinked as she looked down at the spot that had just moments before held the boulder.
A hole in the ground- the boulder had been resting on top of it just so and now the hole was visible- not a big hole, but it was dark.
"Let me-" Percy dropped down, laying on her belly and peering down into it, biting her lip as she tried to see inside.
She didn't have any luck. She couldn't see how deep it was, it was pitch black down there and her little light didn't glow bright enough to illuminate the bottom of the hole.
If there was a bottom.
That thought was terrifying.
"How the fuck do we get down there?" Luke breathed the words, "This is insane we don't even know how far down it goes we could break our damn legs if we fall."
"Not if we have rope." Percy reached into the Duat- this time reaching for her camping supplies, pulling out yet another backpack.
That earned her a look from Luke.
"Do you have bags for every situation or something?"
"Not every situation." Percy's lips twitched, "I like to be prepared and being able to reach into the Duat makes that a lot easier. You can't blame me for making the most of it."
"No, but I'm jealous as hell." Luke snorted, "Most people on quests have to rely on what they can carry on their backs and if you lose
your shit you're fucked."
"I must admit being human does give a rather different view on things." Artemis acknowledged. "This body tires far too easily."
"Well hopefully you'll be back to being a goddess soon enough." Percy gave her a small smile even as she pulled out a large bundle of thick rope, and a peg and hammer- at Luke's look she rolled her eyes.
"I like climbing okay?" She crouched by the edge of the hole and quickly hammered the thick steel peg into the ground, tugging at it to make sure it was secure before carefully tying the rope around it.
"Okay." She looked up at Artemis and Luke. "My quest or whatever so I'll go down ahead and check it out. I need you two to grip the rope together and lower my down steadily okay? Hopefully you'll be able to hear me when I reach the base of the hole but if not I'll communicate by tugging on the rope."
"Makes sense." Luke looked worried, "What if something happens and you let go of the rope though?"
"I'll be tying it around my waist." Percy told him, "Which should mean I'm pretty stable." and she appreciated the genuine concern in his gaze.
There was some good in him if he was worrying about her. He wasn't doing all this just to save his own skin- from the gods.
"How will the communication work?" Artemis asked, ever practical.
"One tug means that I'm at the bottom of the hole and it's safe." Percy said calmly, "That means you two can climb down and join me. Two tugs means that I'm at the bottom and I'll climb back up because there's something I need to tell you. And three tugs mean
you start pulling me up as hard as you can and as fast as you can because something's seriously wrong.
"Let's hope that there's no need for that."
"Well, we'll see soon." Percy winked, giving a crooked smile as she wrapped the rope around her waist and fastened it carefully, making sure it was secure. "Wish me luck."
"Be careful." Luke gave a wry smile, "Who else is gonna annoy me into staying away from Kronos if you get hurt?"
"You make a good point." Percy winked and sat down on the edge of the hole.
"We will see you soon." Artemis gave her a small nod as she and Luke grabbed the rope, and Percy pushed herself forward as slowly and surely they lowered her down the hole.