Announcement!: I do not own Percy Jackson, it's characters, all rights are reserved to Rick Riordan! All gods and monsters mentioned in this story and characters too, are not real, they are myth figments of the imagination and the continued idea through human history, do not use this to take religious symbolism or real mysticism, this is all fake. WARNING! DEPICTION OF TORTURE!
Chapter 5: A deadly symphony.
Annabeth Chase looked from right to left and left again, the floor was caked with small stumbling rocks and uneven lumps of granite over each other, they entered the Cave of Distinguished Woes and the entrance behind them simply ceased to exist. Michael Yew objected to it vehemently begging to be let out but Jackson simply laughed and stated that anyone but the cherubs could not enter and leave.
Annabeth's opinion on the matter was simple, it was fascinating, absolutely fascinating. Travelling with Jackson was like travelling with an open reference encyclopaedia with knowledge of the unknown and the mystical just begging to be explored. But it rankled at her that a boy of 15 was able to have access to all this knowledge and will not even share a morsel of how he came to stumble upon it.
Luke was with them on the quest too so in terms of this quest being unbearable is astronomically low, and Lou Ellen is also the pursuer of deeper knowledge which she can respect and Silena is just an overall nice person. The boys on the other hand, were boyish, Pollux was unbothered, Yew was too scared, Beckendorf is the most normal one other than Luke, and Ethan is just obsessed with nymphs according to Luke and too busy fighting with Ro. Jackson was Jackson, that's the most apt description.
The ground around them shifted slightly as Perseus scaled on the right wall using his finger to press a small jutting elk head "Takes us to the lower levels." He called after Beckendorf yelled an incoherent mess of surprise, "keep to the left."
Annabeth stalked towards him and examined the elk head, it was finely carved and jutted out about a pace or so, judging from how the floor simply descended and winded out into a set of stairs that led below, it was most likely engineered using a pulley system with water at its base excursion and powered by a magic stone, or a gathering generator.
Annabeth reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small pad that had a pen stringed to its spine and jotted out a couple of notes and sketched the elk head in detail," Journaling?" Perseus asked.
Annabeth nodded, "It's not every day you go on a great quest." Annabeth hummed, "We are going to study everything back at the barracks." Perseus cocked his head and stalked off and grabbed Pollux away from the ledge as he tried to leer into the darkness, and walked down ahead.
"Lou Ellen!" He called and the young witch walked up to the demigod and whispered conspiratorially amongst themselves and all of a sudden, a blinding light emitted from Lou Ellen's palm. A small orb, twirling and twisting and she pushed it into the middle. Hovering over the pitch-black gap and the stairs illuminated.
Annabeth whistled; it would be nice if she could do that. She will ask Lou Ellen for lessons in magic, now that Perseus expelled the notion that only Hecate's children can do so. Annabeth glanced to the back and Ethan and Luke were just mucking about talking amongst themselves and giggling. She had to admire them, able to joke and keep lax in a situation like that. Jackson skipped down the stairs dragging along Silena and Lou Ellen yelling at Beckendorf to hurry up and to bring Pollux too, something about the priestess of the rites going to be making an appearance.
The priestess of rites? The name was familiar, itching and scratching at the back her brain so Annabeth just filed it away for later and walked ahead, "Hurry up Yew," The demigod yelped and jumped up.
"Yeah." He said muttering to himself more than her, "I'm coming down, I'm on my way."
They walked down the first flight of stairs, pristine in condition, clean too, as if in constant maintenance. In the walls were depictions of the story of the Elk, the birth of it through the earth chasm as the seed of Epimetheus fell into it, creating the Ancestral Elk and being gifted to Zeus as a gift for his rule and ascension as master of Olympus. It depicted the story of the Elk and Pirithous and Theseus. Of how they wrestled the elk to the floor and burnt it's hide, so it cooked from the inside out as it was impenetrable with mortal inflictions. They were inscriptions of the Priestesses, how the first ones were chosen and imbued with the spirit calling flame by the Ancestral Elk, how they maintained their charge and gave supplications and every year before the summer solstice they would clean the temple for the priestess of rites to visit and offer sacrifice to the elk.
Annabeth felt a small something bump into her ankle, she turned quickly and by her foot on the floor, was small orblike shape of pure condensed shadow, "What?" Yew asked a flight of stairs down just a few steps from the grand spiral floor the rest were on.
And then the orb expanded, more like exploded sucking in Annabeth in and in a twisting motion, it felt like she fell from a high place into water, smacking right into it and flaying her skin. She heard Luke's cries wash away with the touch of something and her lungs filled and unfilled and filled again before she could breathe once more. Her eyes shut tight.
She haggard on to the floor, smooth and even. Wait, where did the stairs go? Annabeth opened her eyes once more and frantically looked around to a well-lit room with black spherical walls all around her, she quickly stood up hands on her back pocket taking out small two knuckle duster like knives, sleeked with celestial bronze edges. She slid them into each hand and raised them up in the opening stance.
"S-sorry." A timid, girl-like voice called from her right, Annabeth whipped right round her back leg a pace tucked in and bent with her front forward pivoted to the sound of the voice. A lanky tall black garbed woman stepped out; her black hair tucked under a silver cap with blue illuminating twisting elk like branching antlers. Her eyes were black flecked with blue glowing embers, her hand was wrapped around a tall staff with a circular top, empty in the middle with eight spikes protruding inwards. On her shoulders were a cloak of fur, white and blue over her nun like garbs.
"Who are you." Annabeth barked, she made sure to keep a distance away from the woman, judging from her lanky build, she had nearly fifty percent more reach than her.
"I- wait I am, no, no, umm" The girl stuttered about her right-hand waving in front of her, "Guh! Why is this so hard." She muttered, just barely loud enough for Annabeth, she looked away shuffling into her coat, and Anabeth carefully walked forward. She stopped suddenly when the girl turned around and in her free hand was a small flash card," I am Vistana, Priestess in training, and today I will kill you!" She read aloud from the card, "What? No!" She hurriedly looked up at Annabeth, "Sorry wrong card, I meant I will kill you, but please don't resist I will cleanse you with the spirit calling flame." She shuffled some more, "Please! It will feel good, and you can pass on to the afterlife content! I will even bury you outside with full rites!" She pleaded.
"Where is this." Annabeth asked curtly.
"The cave of Distinguished Woes." Vistana said.
"No, i know, where is this exactly." Annabeth said taping her foot on to the floor her eyes never leaving the Priestess's form.
Vistana blinked looking around before realisation sunk into her face, "This is just a dimension, in the plane of life between death. Don't worry when I kill you, it will dispel and I'll be where your friends were." She said as if it was a good incentive," I'll send them straight to you too, so please, this is my first-time doing cleaning and sacrifice duty."
Annabeth frowned slightly, judging from the logic the dimension pocket collapses with a kill, "You can only leave here when you kill someone right?" The priestess nodded, her pale face in a constant nervous grimace, "What if you kill yourself."
The girl froze, her eyes darting left to right, she stuffed the cards into her pocket and griped her staff, "It won't go if i die you know." She giggled nervously. Bingo, Annabeth grinned, it goes if the Priestess dies.
She flexed her wrist and took a step to the left before crouching and leaping to the right, the girl startled, taking a step back before raising her hand above her head and a blue-black flame licked her palms before hovering off above her right shoulder. Annabeth stopped, straightened, before crouching again when the fireball darted too her.
She waited a beat, but the girl didn't sit idle and raised her staff, it twisted from a circle and straightened into a sickle with eight barbed points protruding out, so Annabeth dashed forward, towards the ball of flames and rolled quickly to the left , she looked up and the sickle whistled near her head so she rolled again in quick succession.
The priestess had her sickle lodged, and yanked it hard up, Annabeth used the opening to leap forward off the floor and cocked her right fist back and threw a straight hook. Her fist sank into Vistana's left and something hard met her fists, she sliced sideways anyway.
The girl twisted her body, a howl of pain escaping her before she raised her hand again as she took a step closer, and burning flames of blue waxy chill coated her hands, the air around Annabeth grew cold and lifeless, the colours of the flame became grey and black and everything around her sucked away.
She closed her eyes and jumped backwards landing on her knees, and the cold chill rushed towards her face and she rolled to the right. She scrambled up and opened her eyes and Vistana was right atop of her, sickle overhead.
Annabeth, jumped forward closing the distance and punched twice into her face, left then right and grabbed the horn shaped helmet and dragged the girls head to the left and before she can punch again, Vistana's knee flew into her midriff, air knocked out her lungs and Annabeth struggled to keep her grip.
She staggered the the right and the sickle-staff creaked and twisted into a spear and Vistana held it by the head and tried to shove into her lungs.
Annabeth folded her middle just in time, heat pooled on her right, the blade made a small incision, just a flesh wound.
Annabeth pushed forward closing the gap even more, braced her left leg to keep Vistana's knee in check and sank her blade portion of the knuckle dusters into her shoulder and before she can drag to the left, the girl screamed. It was archaic and pain-filled and cold spirit flame burst from her skin, some catching on to Ananbeth's and the pain was excruciating.
She gritted her teeth and gave a guttural cry before dragging her blade out and rolling back, she slapped at the skin in her forearms that stung with the flames.
"It eats," the girl said heavy breathing, "At the very soul, inflicts the deepest cold." She made a grabbing motion at the air and a ball of spirit flame roared to life into her hands, "colder than the winter frost, second only to Khione's wail." She saved savagely, "Oh elk of the highest virtue, oh caller of the flames of the in between, the cold and misery the father of woes so very distinguished, cast upon me your Virile power! Cast!"
The air warped around her, at near her feet, small jagged peaks of flames erupted, soaring into the sky, her clothes burnt, and instead of ashes was left garbs of silk white with intricate patterns of blue swirls were left behind, the flames changed her clothes and her helmet melted too. Only the antlers were left and it looked to be fused into her head.
Annabeth breathed slowly and calmed down, she focused her eyes and called upon the aspect of war she locked upon herself. Her eyes sharpened, details were clearer, she could see the bundle of corded muscles below Vistana's dress, how they relaxed and tensed with every move.
"You should have just died quietly." Vistana muttered, " I don't like violence." She said, her staff raised and in the shape it had when Annabeth first saw it, a circular middle with eight points turned in.
Annabeth felt a ripple of goose flesh erupt along her skin, hair standing straight. She kept calm and tensed her left foot forward, right foot back and both fists up in the natural stance. She breathed normally and waited. Something in the air was rising, everything around her felt colder, her tongue and lips grew dry and her saliva just simply receded from her mouth.
"What are you doing." Annabeth asked Vistanna, the priestess just met her with her black coal like eyes. Annabeth pushed forward and every step she took closer, her skin burned with cold. Searing hot cold, chill so cold it felt her very bones turn ice but she gripped on. Step after step, it felt like pure torture, Vistana's face morphed into horror.
"Stay away!" She called, "You'll die from the pain."
Annabeth ignored her and soldiered on, it felt like her left arm was gone and dead, but she took another step. Vistana was rooted to the spot her arm still up, Annabeth guessed right. She can't move when she does this, Annabeth was face to face her arms still up in the boxing stance, then she let it loose, her punch rocked across Vistana's face and the crippling pain ceased in slow embers. Annabeth threw another from the left, and she carried on for about four more punches. Vistana was laid on her back, staff away, her eyes glistening with unshed liquid.
Annabeth straddled her slowly, she still felt so very numb and she held her right blade over her throat and pressed gently down, "Please." The priestess croaked, "I don't want to die."
"Dispel this then." Annabeth said, "I'll let you live."
"You won't." The girl simply moaned.
"I promise I will." Annabeth shook the girl some more, "On the Styx I will." And clap of something echoed in the distance rolling even in this dimension.
The girl moaned and muttered something under her breath, "The dimension around her shook, the floor crumbled and with a crash and a flash of black, Annabeth blinked and opened her eyes and she was atop of the girl but she was laying on a set of stairs.
Perseus was right behind them sword out, silvery and glistening in the limelight pointed at the girl, "Who's this straggler?"
Luke rushed ahead and grabbed Annabeth and pulled her up, "Yew!" He called and the demigod son of Apollo rushed to her and grabbed her arms.
"You're freezing!" He yelped and pulled his hand away as steam hissed from their contact. Yew turned and fiddled around with the fanny pack bounded across his waist and pulled out a small packet of golden liquid, punctured it with a small syringe and drew it out, "Hold still." He said and poured it in.
"Help her too." Annabeth said pointing at Vistana, "I promised her." Perseus sent her a glance, and Silena hovered to the left with Lou Ellen, the daughter of Hecate's hands raised and glowing black.
Perseus hefted up the priestess as she gave a small yell, and walked her down the steps until they was on the floor, carved with a massive elk head in the middle of a circle of eight braziers. Pollux swaggered over to each, pouring a something into the middle of them and lit them on fire.
"We are going to the Ancestral plain." Perseus said drily, the priestess whimpered in the floor, the only sounds that were made was Pollux walking to each brazier and lighting them on fire, "Now you can come with us and fight the elk." Perseus said, "Or lie here and behave."
"I'll behave." The girl said fast, "Please don't make me fight, I-." She choked on something and coughed up a sob, "I beg of you."
Perseus nodded satisfied and whispered something that Annabeth couldn't hear and small blue light bonded atop the girl's wrists and feet and she struggled slightly on the floor and no movement was made, "Don't worry, when the elk is dead it will go."
"Can I join?" A voice called from the left, Annabeth shuffled and out came a demigod of middling height, he had long black hair with grey streaks randomly peppering his hair, and mud brown eyes. Mediterranean looks too and a squared jaw, cheeks slanted down and grimy haggard overalls with a small tool pack on his left a bastard sword strapped to his back, "If you're going to kill the blasted elk, can I join?"
"Who are you?" Pollux asked, standing near the last unlit brazier.
"Bryce Lawrence, son of Orcas." The demigod offered, "been trapped here for a couple of months."
"How did you find us?" Beckendorf asked squatting near the base of the stairs looking up at the demigod that was descending down, a rustic metallic spear leaning on the black smith's shoulder.
"You guys are not very quiet." Bryce grinned, "Look, I need a way to leave this blasted cave, and I overheard that you kill the elk and you're out."
Perseus shared a look with Annabeth before lazily drawling, "In a way yeah." The mad demigod walked towards the newest addition, on closer inspection the boy looked to be of the same age as Luke, and on his left arm a patch of skin was red and raw like it was sliced off and a new layer of skin grew.
"You can join us." Perseus said, "On one condition."
"What is it?"
"I am the boss, if I say start dancing the chimichanga?"
"I dance the chimichanga sir!" The demigod straightened and saluted the boy.
He grinned and clapped the man on the shoulder , "Welcome to the bastard bunch cadet! You are not a member of the squad as of yet! Probationary Period."
"I'll be happy with that too sir." On the boy's clothes were a dots of purple something, as if it stained his clothes recently, he wasn't far off but the smell of blood was thick, she couldn't tell if it was hers or his.
Perseus turned around and motioned to Pollux and the final brazier lit and all of a sudden the scenery around Annabeth melted, smudging out of view and new cleaner walls took its place, white walls, stark and tall and stalwart, the grass on the floor was covered in lines of moss. The air was fresher, clearer and the sound of a stream was running nearby.
"Come on!" Perseus called magically infront of them all, Yew finished patching her up and stood up packing his supplies with him and following the young demigod after him.
Annabeth did too, falling into step with Luke, "I was worried." Was all he said, blue eyes glossy.
"I know. But I did well though."
Luke's hand ruffled her hair, warmth spread across her head from his touch, "That you did." He cocked his head backwards as if pointing to something, "was she hard?"
"Very." Annabeth shivered, "never been that cold before."
Luke grinned slightly, "you was practically ice when we got you. Tell me how the fight went." And Annabeth did, going into detail, following down a path that when they went on further the sound of a running stream grew louder.
Something about Bryce kept Annabeth's eyes on him though, his smell was still there, and the way his eyes scanned everything like he was assessing something, looking for something specifically was off putting, as if he came here before.
Perseus muttered to himself, Lou Ellen was craning her neck towards him most likely to eavesdrop, Beckendorf and Silena were talking animatedly at each other with Yew, Pollux and Ethan arguing over cereal.
The foliage on the floor took into cobblestone, a path of slated granite polished and laid atop of it began and a small ascending bridge took over with with two garbed women on either side, same sickle as the priestess from before.
"Halt." The one on the left called, "Halt I tell you!" She barked again as Perseus ignored her.
"Milday told you to halt!" The one on the right said, she was more slender and slightly shorter with auburn hair as opposed to her superiors black.
"Hmmm." Was all Perseus said, he tapped his right forefinger in his crossed elbows before coming to a stop, "Stop me again, and I'll kill you." He said casually.
"And you call yourself a hero." The superior said, "No matter, state your business."
"Business?" Lou Ellen muttered.
"You already know why we are here." Perseus took a step closer, the one on the right readied her staff into a spear and leaved it at him. "We are going to kill the ancestral Elk."
The woman laughed, head back and melodious , the ringing shrills of it bouncing round the green grass as if it joined in too, "I doubt that, it has been killed countless times, it seems like you are too late."
The superior turned and clapped her hand and the one on the right lowered her spear and followed suit down the bridge.
"Come on!" She called back to them, "I'll take you to the transport altar." She sneered at them, "Since you're so adamant to fucking die."
Perseus hummed, "Today is a good a day as any to." He peered at the priestess that lowered her spear, flashing her a feral grin that made Annabeth's spine tingle in whatever madness Jackson had planned for them, "don't you agree missy."
A/N Sorry for the long wait, it was a very hectic couple of months that I had so many things going on all at once.