The Son Of Asclepius, Doctor of Divinity

New Friends

The right tunnel was smaller than anticipated, (Y/N) shrinking his weapons down to their second form to properly fit. Tucking in his shoulders, he and Elara shifted about two hundred yards before the tunnel slightly widened to make room for a door. Carvings along the walls detailed great myths of Nordic warriors, descending upon Europe in their longboats ready to raid monasteries. Odin, Thor and Freya were just a few of the gods that stared down upon him, wielding weapons of mass destruction. Elara brought his attention back to the door by nudging him.

"What do you think? Ssssssshould we go in?"

The son of Asclepius inspected the door before taking the staff off of his back. Pushing it into a crack of the door, he pried it open. The door swung open, grinding against the floor. Peeping around the corner, all he could see was darkness.

"Uhm, ladies first?" (Y/N) joked.

"Haha, how funny," she said, shoving him into the room.

Lighting the staff, Elara quickly entered behind him and the two went back to back. His light was dim, barely being able to provide sight in front of him.

"Do you have night vision, or something along those lines?"

"Unfortunately not," was her response.

The two awkwardly shuffled through the room for a further few minutes before they bumped into a stone pillar. Taking a step back, he realised it wasn't a pillar; it was a cult statue. Intricately carved, the details were immaculate. It was chryselephantine, pristine as if someone down here had been cleaning and maintaining it.

"Sssssso, who'ssss that one?"

"Well, from the pomegranate in his hand and helm that radiates fear, I'd assume that to be our resident Lord of the Dead."

Moving around the base, his foot came into contact with something... squishy. Crouching down, he picked up what seemed to be a half eaten McDonald burger. Fries were scattered around and swam in a puddle of what could only be assumed to be coke. There were few answers to the fast food being here, and he only liked one of them. Standing up and brushing the dust and grime off of his knees, he decided what the next move was.

"I'm going off a guess here, but I think a certain son of our dead Lord has passed through. We need to track him down and stop him from doing something he'll regret."

"Well, I haven't tracked a demi-god in a while, but I can give it a sssssssshot."

She slid down onto her stomach, gliding across the dusty floor. After a while, she got up.

"I've got a trace, and it issssssss a powerful one. He reeksssssss of death and untamed power, but I can sssssssmell hisssssss own fear. He issssss young and wild. If there are any other monstersssss down here, he will sssssstruggle to esssssscape them."

"We best make haste then."

 He put his back against hers and the two continued their shuffle down the room.

The corridors and halls moved up and down like an ants nest, winding tunnels even a god could get lost in. Elara's presence was soothing though on his mind the labyrinths powers were getting to him.

"Son of Asclepius," rang a voice in his head.

He had gotten used to godly voices ringing in his head, but something was different about this one. It was less powerful, but ancient. To not alarm Elara, he continued to walk in silence.

"Who are you?" he asked mentally.

"I think you know who I am. I was once a powerful king, and this maze of my own control."