Demigod Are Real Book 1: More Than A School Rivalry

7. A Riddle Solved - A Portal Opened

The clunky plane that they had retrieved clunked and clonk around, occasionally spitting out fuel from its rubbish chute at the back.

WEI KANG: That cannot be good for the environment.

ALEX: Or the plane's bladder. Black pee means you're severely poisoned.

They high-five and the girls groan.

KAOMI: So, did you know that Wei Kang likes you? It's a definite crush - all the symptoms are there.

Natalie blushed.

NATALIE: What are the symptoms?

KAOMI: Well, tongue-tied, nervousness, fidgeting, pausing every few words...

Meanwhile, I was manning the plane. And, let me tell you, it was dang hard. 

ALEX: So, where are we going?

ME: Angkor Wat, near the equator, the middle of the planet.

ALEX: Oh. That makes sense.

WEI KANG: How long more till we get there?

ME: Actually, we've just arrived.

Angkor Wat was a structural wonder, with the large stupa at the top.

Suddenly, the plane's last bits of fuel sloshed out, and the plane hung in the sky for a moment before falling to the Cambodian structure. It would have been comical if we weren't falling to our deaths.

Everyone: WAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!

The plane crashed beside the temple.

ME: Everyone alive?

ALEX: I'm good.

KAOMI: Me too.

Wei Kang and Natalie: Us too.

ALEX: Hey, there's another note!

It read: Great Thanatos Nagas, A Riddle Solved, A Portal Opened

WEI KANG: Ooh! A portal!!

ALEX: Where does it go?

KAOMI: I have no idea. But what does 'Great Thanatos Nagas' mean?

NATALIE: No clue.

ME: Wait, guys, remember the Trials Of Apollo, Book 3? It said that Thanatos was actually called 'the twin'. So 'Great Twin Nagas' should mean twin snakes around the area. Find two snakes! That's it! Maybe that's where the portals will be.

ALEX: Genius.

ME: I know. Let's go!

Pretty soon, they found the snakes. It was kinda hard to miss - they were at the back entrance and they were almost as tall as the temples. Almost.

ME: Okay, a riddle solved... there should be a riddle somewhere.

WEI KANG: Found it!

ME: Dang! It's in Khmer. Anybody knows how to speak Khmer?

Everyone stares at each other, then shakes their head. Except...

ALEX: Hah! Fools! I have the fastest way to translate the text!

ME: HOW?!

ALEX: Hey Siri...

Everyone groans.

ALEX: It says, 'Two rooms, which occupants can never meet, open in day, shut at night.'

KAOMI: Eyes!

NATALIE: But snakes, naga or not, have no eyelids.

ME: No harm checking.

I leap onto the snake and crawl up to its head. I start to check. Then, I touch the eyelids. I could push them down! 

They weren't eyes - they were buttons!

(Alex is telling me they were eyes and buttons.[Shut up.])

I pressed them, and the mouth of the other snake popped open. A large glowing black thing appeared inside.

ALEX: WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!

Then he fainted. 

ME: Well, then. Anyone fancy a trip to another unknown universe?