Reincarnation to the Past

Chapter 24

I looked past the gate in awe. Although I've seen many palaces of Poseidon, this one had a uniqueness of its own that set it apart from those in the future. It looked similar to the buildings in this time- period and this kingdom.

Directly beyond the gate, there was a courtyard that led to a stairway, which opened to the main building. There were other buildings on either side of the main residences that were separated by gardens made of corals, kelp, Posidonia, luminous underwater plants, etc. But we didn't bother with those since I sensed the object in the main building. We walked up to the door and opened it with ease.

We walked into what seemed to be a large, narrow hallway with countless statues in front of either wall, which diverged into two separate hallways, one leading in a leftward direction and the other in the right, which would further open to many more passageways... It was pretty dark and smelled musty, and the stone walls had some kind of green algae or moss growing on them.

Since the hallway was too narrow for even two of us to walk side by side (imagine a narrow hallway as it is and then add one huge string of statues on both your right and your left; that's how congested it was...), let alone all of us, we were forced to walk in a single file, with me leading, then Bai Ze close behind, followed by Lì, and lastly Bai Zou. Both Lì and I were holding a burning torch that we had found at the entrance.

I had just opened another door we came across and went through, followed by the others, which was when I first noticed it. Everything was identical, from the walls to the statues to the very number of stones that made each wall... At first, I just thought that maybe whoever built this place had severe OCD or something similar (I mean, even the number of statues at each turn was the same). But it wasn't after half an hour of opening doors, all of which opened into one hallway after the other, and walking down numerous straight and curving halls, tunnels, and staircases and coming upon dead ends here and there that I finally figured out what we were in...

Bai Ze (walking very close to me): Is it just me or doesn't it seem freakishly like we keep coming back to where we started???

Me: It's only right that you feel that way considering that we've been walking in a maze for about the past half hour...

That made Bai Ze freeze where he stood, causing the others to stop too. "We're in a maze! Since when?!", he screamed in a panicked tone. "I'm guessing since the moment we stepped into this building...", I spoke with a nonchalant shrug as I stopped and turned around to face them. I mean, I wasn't too worried, since I could still sense the presence of Hades' aura.

Bai Ze (glaring at me): And for how long did you know this?

Me: I only realized about a few minutes ago... I must say, we're very lucky to not have come across any booby traps so far.

Lì (worriedly): Booby traps?

Me (glancing back): Well, if we are in a maze, there is a 50-50 possibility that there will be booby traps... So try to be extra careful.

Bai Zou (speaking for the first time): How are you even sure that we are not lost?

Me (shaking my head): I'm not... I didn't think much about all the same hallways until a few minutes ago...

Bai Ze (worried): And you're not even the slightest bit worried...

Me (shrugging and starting to walk with the others slowly following behind): Well, even if we're lost, they say to always take a right and you are bound to reach the exit, or there is also something about touching the wall with the nearest hand, and keep touching the same hand to the wall and keep walking or making marks on the wall, so that we know if we are going along the same path... Although I wouldn't worry too much, since I've been following the out-of-place presence all this time...

Bai Ze (sighing with relief): So that means we're not lost, right?

Me: Not necessarily...

Bai Ze (the worry returning to his voice): What do you mean??

Me: Well... If I were to explain, yes, I can sense the presence; I have been able to since the time we entered this domain, but I can only sense the immediate presence...

Lì (confused): What does that mean???

Me (trying to explain): Well, for example, I can sense the presence leading to the object, but it's like... well, right now, I can sense it till the end of this hall (pointing ahead); once we reach the said end, I will be able to sense more... But all in all, even if we get lost, the presence will ultimately lead me to it.

Bai Ze: What if we come across a dead end???

Me (smirking): Well, then there is always 'that' option...

Bai Ze (annoyed at my vagueness): What option???

Me (smirk growing): We blast our way through until we reach there... So don't worry too...

A sudden 'click' sound from behind, stopped me from completing my sentence and my gut churned. I immediately froze, making Bai Ze crash into my back. It was pretty obvious what had happened, it would seem that someone from behind stepped on or touched something that triggered some booby-trap, Almost instantly, the floor just about five steps ahead of me gave way. I look down the newly opened hole to see some pretty sharp spears pointing up toward me...

As a caution, I dug my hand into the bag, created a very small piece of meat, tossed it down, and watched as it got pierced into the spear, and a second later got burnt to ashes by an upward shot of flame, that lasted for a solid minute. "To think, had I not stopped when I did, I'd have become a pierced and burnt kebab!!! ...", I muttered jokingly as I took a step back... A flash of fear and panic crossed Bai Ze's face, "What now???"

I held my hand in front of me and condensed the atmospheric water to form two swirling puddles, one at this end and the other beyond the trap. To demonstrate, I stepped into the water and sank into it only to appear out of the puddle at the other end. I looked expectantly and motioned for them to follow what I did, Bai Ze did with a bit of hesitation but the other two stepped on it immediately...

"See... No need to worry too much...", I said in a smug voice, before continuing... After that, luckily we didn't come across any other traps until we finally came up to a huge door that didn't seem to have any way of being opened, no amount of pushing, tugging, or even passing my powers through seemed to work...