Chapter Twenty-Two
"Are you fucking kidding me." It was more of a statement of dismay and anger than a question.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as Hannibal glared at the big flat wall in front of us. Arikos groaned and slumped against the wall perpendicular to it so he could press his forehead against his knees, and Menoetius remained silent and stone-faced as Hannibal turned away from the wall to glare at him.
"You led us to a dead-end," he said. Menoetius stared at him blankly.
"This is where the tunnel led to, that's not my fault. I didn't build this dumb thing, you and your dumb people did," he responded. I moved between them before Hannibal could kill him. I'd noticed the hybrid getting more and more tense as time went on. I could tell that dealing with Menoetius in tight quarters and a desperate situation was getting to him. Even worse, he hadn't seen Akin in quite a while and I was positive that had something to do with his short temper.
Even I was about ready to snap someone's neck, but I knew that no amount of screaming and beating up Menoetius, no matter how tempting it was, would help the situation.
"It's not a dead-end anyway," Menoetius replied smugly and at Hannibal's pointed glare, he sighed and went to knock his knuckles against the walls, "Hollow, genius. Something's on the other side of it."
"So, what? We blast it open?" I asked, turning to Menoetius, who shook his head.
"There's a trap on the other side."
"How do you know that?" Hannibal demanded. Menoetius glared at him.
"Because I know more than you."
"Okay, that's enough," I said sternly, having had it with Menoetius's nasty little remarks, "I get it; you both hate each other and that's just fine. Feel free to gut each other on the sidewalks of Hell if it so pleases you, but right now, the fate of the universe and Apollo is at stake and I will be damned if it all gets blown away by Atlan because you two couldn't set aside your differences for two fucking minutes." Menoetius just gave me a flat, bored stare that tempted me to punch him in the nose. Hannibal turned away and went back to glaring at the wall as if it was all the wall's fault.
Of course. What was St. John thinking putting Menoetius and Hannibal in a group together? He had to know they hated each other. Did he do it out of a sick twisted sense of humor, or was there a real purpose to sticking us with Menoetius? Even more evidence that I was right about the Greek Titan, but I kept it to myself, because whenever I brought it up, Hannibal denied it.
I think it was more his not wanting Menoetius to be the Key, as opposed to the truth. I wasn't sure why he didn't want Menoetius to be the Key either. How would that even effect Hannibal?
"So how do we open this dumb thing?" Arikos asked, getting to his feet. I looked at Menoetius, who frowned for a moment, staring the wall up and down. He approached it and spread his hands out on the wall, not pushing or anything. Then he stepped back and cocked his head.
"Open," he said in Atlantean, and the door clicked. Everyone stepped back as the door opened by sliding back into one of the walls, revealing a glass chamber on the other side that was slowly sliding back into the wall along with the door. If we had blasted the door open, we would've broken the glass chamber open, allowing whatever poisonous gas inside free to kill us. Or at least, everyone, but Hannibal.
I turned to Menoetius with a frown while Hannibal and Arikos continued ahead very slowly. Menoetius stared at the wall, like he was honestly surprised it worked before he looked at me and frowned.
"You're not going to bitch at me how I know that would work?" He asked dryly. I shook my head.
"I want to know," I admitted, "But it's not important right now." Menoetius nodded and we followed the rest of the group, maneuvering through another set of tunnels. It was a long silence before Menoetius spoke to me in a quiet tone.
"It was a dream," he said. I looked at him curiously.
"What?"
"A dream," he repeated, sounding irritated and at my raised eyebrow, he continued, "I had a dream the other night, when we were in Olympus, the night before we left. The problem is that I'm not supposed to be able to dream." I frowned, then paused as we avoided another booby-trap of darts shooting out of the ceiling. Menoetius was silent for a while before I finally asked,
"Why can't you dream?" I asked.
"Hades wouldn't let me," Menoetius said dryly, "No, the only thing that's allowed to visit me in my sleep is my nightmares, and his stupid bastard son, Malachi, to make sure I'm not plotting some super secret uprising. It didn't mean much to me, just that maybe I was given a break for once, or that Hades was misinformed about how scary tombs are to me, but... When we got down into that chamber and I saw the door, it looked exactly like the one that was in my dream, the one that would open if I told it too."
"Does it open because you tell it to, or because the priest just couldn't find a creative password?" I asked. Menoetius shook his head.
"I have no idea. All I know is that I told it to open and it did," he answered, then frowned, "And all the traps were already triggered in my dreams. It was like someone was leading me, but I couldn't see them. I just felt compelled to keep going through the tunnels and traps until I got to the end."
"The end would be the priest's burial chamber," I filled. Menoetius nodded.
"The entrance Hannibal was talking about is behind his sarcophagus, but in my dream, I never had the chance to open it. Everything goes dark and I wake up feeling clammy," he explained. Now that was curious. If Hades and Malachi could keep control of Menoetius's dream patterns, who was powerful enough to circumvent their powers? Was another oneiroi involved or was it the Moirai at work? I had no idea, but whatever it was, it was helping us through this labyrinth of a tomb and hopefully, nothing would go dark when we reached the end.
"Have you ever seen anyone in your dreams ever?" I asked. A strange shadow passed across Menoetius's face, like he was remembering something before he shook his head and averted his eyes.
"I've never dreamt of anyone, even before Hades had his son invade my sleep," he muttered. I decided to stop asking about his dreams. They seemed to be a bitter topic, and while I still wasn't very fond of Menoetius, I felt that strange surge of protection inside me that begged me to keep an eye on Menoetius. For Hannibal and Arikos, that would make sense. For Menoetius? Part of me didn't like it, but it didn't matter. I was a protection god and right now, I had a lot of protecting to do.
We maneuvered through the tunnels for what felt like another few hours before we reached a large open chamber that revealed exotic paintings on the walls, a beautiful fountain with crystal clear water spouting out the top of what appeared to be a dragon coiled around a staff shaped for Zetnos's symbol, colorful flat stones embedded into the ground and dozens of plants that had gone extinct on Atlantis for centuries, even before it sank into oblivion.
And across from the entrance clear on the other side of the room was the sarcophagus made to look like a dragon carved into the stone box. Relieved we'd finally made it, I started toward it, but Menoetius caught my arm and yanked me back, just in time to avoid a spike that shot straight up out of the ground and would've skewered me had I stepped down.
"Thank you," I breathed, heart pounding in my ears. Menoetius looked uncomfortable at the thanks, then scanned the room.
"There are traps like this all over the room. Just stay behind me in a single file line and step where I step," he informed. I nodded and moved behind him, watching him take a step forward past the spike that had shot up between the stones. He hesitated, then moved to the left, then waved me forward. I followed his steps, glancing back at Hannibal, who took a couple steps behind me, followed by Arikos.
It was easier said than done as we twisted and turned around the spikes that lay in way between the stones below, and it wasn't until we were directly in front of the sarcophagus that Menoetius went still, staring at the sarcophagus with a strange dazed look. I frowned.
"Are you alright?" I asked. He blinked, then looked at me, then back at the sarcophagus. He didn't say anything, just moved to one side of the sarcophagus to study it before he pushed against the sliding open top to it. I moved beside him and helped him push until it was cast aside and Arikos made a noise of disgust.
"Oh, gross! He's actually in there!" He exclaimed, making me raise an eyebrow. When we looked, sure enough, the corpse of the priest was still lying at rest in the sarcophagus.
"Uh, he's kind of..." Menoetius's voice trailed, his features pinching. Hannibal narrowed his eyes.
"He's not decomposed," he stated. At least, not entirely. His dark skin was shriveled and stretched taut over his bones, eye sockets empty gaping black holes with bits of flesh struck further back. More flesh was peeled back from his teeth, revealing two pairs of fangs that indicated he'd been the Atlantean class of vampires, creatures created by Zetnos back when the gods were still deciding on who to let rule their island paradise during the early stages. Of course, Atlan's humans had won and Zetnos's vampires had been sent to the east island.
Unlike some modern species of vampires, these ones had been able to withstand sunlight. They were also worshipped by the Atlantean people as opposed to the mortals who now feared the idea of vampires walking amongst them.
The problem with this corpse was that it was centuries old, even before Atlantis sank, so he should've decomposed a little more than this. It was still easy to make out his features, including the gnarled yellow fingernails on hands that were clasped around a staff of Zetnos in his hands.
"The entrance is behind him? Do we really have to touch him?" Arikos asked in disgust. Menoetius gave him a droll stare.
"Oh, you're scared of a little dead guy?"
"Not scared, just have this aversion to touching juicy corpses. You're scared of things you can't even see."
"I am not scared of--"
"We can discuss your phobias after we figure out how to get this guy out," I said, making everyone look at me as I pointed down at the priest's ankle, "He's chained to the sarcophagus. He must really not want to be taken out."
"I don't think it's a good idea to unchain him," Menoetius said, studying the inside of the sarcophagus, "I just... have this really weird feeling that we'll trigger something if we move him."
"For once, I agree," Hannibal muttered, "We might have to just move the sarcophagus itself or lay him aside and squeeze past."
"Oh, come on, that's even worse," Arikos groaned, shuddering and wiping at his arms as he turned to give the corpse his back, "This is so gross. Why are dead people so gross? Was my body that gross when I died? Just burn me next time. Burn my body warrior style, then scatter my ashes at my coffee shop." Menoetius looked at him, puzzled.
"Why the coffee shop?"
"I really like coffee."
"Anyway," I said slowly, "Hannibal's right. Let's see if we can move the sarcophagus first." Hannibal moved to one side and I on the other so we could examine the back of the sarcophagus, which unfortunately was built as part of the stone wall. I grimaced as I stepped back, wondering how this could possibly get worse, than quickly doubled back on that thought.
It could be worse. Atlan could have us captured like had Apollo.
With that thought, my determination was renewed and I moved back to the front of the sarcophagus to help Hannibal shift the priest to the side. Hannibal didn't seem particularly disturbed by any of it, so I let him move inside with the corpse first to see if he could find the edge of the door. I felt goosebumps prickle my skin at being so close to the corpse with empty eye sockets that somehow felt like they were watching me, even without the eyes. It was almost like standing next to a mannequin at the shops, expecting it to reach out and grab you if you didn't keep it within your peripheral vision.
Even worse, Hannibal was chest to chest with the corpse as he reached to the back of the sarcophagus and felt around for the edge of the door. He paused after a moment, turning his head to glare at Menoetius.
"Tell the door to open," he commanded. Menoetius rolled his eyes.
"Wow, no please?"
"Menoetius, I'm really not in the mood for your cheeky responses."
"No, but someone has to entertain me and if you guys won't, I will. So open up, door!" Menoetius exclaimed, waving his hands up in a jazz-hands fashion. There was a click and Hannibal turned his head to reach for the door when Arikos made the weirdest sound, making me scowl and turn to look at him to see him staring with wide, horrified eyes. Menoetius followed his gaze and his mouth fell open.
Something told me I didn't want to turn around, but I did it anyway and found myself staring face to face with the corpse, whose head had snapped to look down at me. Apparently the click hadn't been from the door mechanism, but the head of the priest turning to look at me.
"Hannibal..." I started, but he didn't even seem to notice the priest had moved his head.
"It didn't work," Hannibal said dryly, "What a surprise, the one time you say it, it doesn't open. Of course it doesn't... That would've just been too easy." I couldn't believe he hadn't noticed the corpse, especially when it turned its head to look at him, craning its neck as if to try and get Hannibal's attention.
"Hannibal, dead guy's lookin' at you!" Arikos's shout made Hannibal look up with a scowl, then he went still as he finally faced the priest, who straightened his head, then bared his fangs in Hannibal's face. Hannibal punched him square in the face and smashed his skull into pieces, for a second, before the pieces scattered and danced into the air, then reshaped the priest's head.
"Oh, of course," Hannibal stated, then smashed the skull again and leapt out of the sarcophagus as the skull reshaped itself again. The priest turned toward us and hissed, his body creaking and cracking as he reached out for us, but Hannibal caught his arm and snapped it off like a twig and threw it. Only for the arm to come crawling back. This time, Menoetius crushed it under his boot.
"Now what?" I demanded as we carefully took a couple steps back, realizing the priest's chained foot didn't allow him to leave the sarcophagus. Now he just reached for us, hissing and making clawing motions. It wasn't nearly as terrifying now, especially after seeing how fragile the priest's corpse was after so long.
"We can't move him or we might trigger another trap. He obviously isn't going to let us walk by, and the door inside is still locked," Arikos explained, "Maybe we can just... smash him?"
"And have him keep fixing himself? That sounds like the definition of insanity," Menoetius said dryly, folding his arms over his chest. Hannibal studied the priest curiously before he spoke to him in Atlantean.
"Stop," he commanded. The priest hesitated, then cocked his head and in a very raspy, hissy voice he replied with, "who are you". Arikos groaned and covered his face with his hands, obviously fed up with walking, talking skeletons. I had a feeling he wasn't going to like modern television shows.
"Sos eta Hannibal," Hannibal responded, then took a moment to bow his head in respect, and the rest of us did the same, making the priest stop his thrashing to study us with empty eyes, "Sos eta milos ni Lea." I am Hannibal, I am the son of Lea. The priest shrank back into the sarcophagus.
"Talios, milos ni Lea." Welcome, son of Lea. He moved aside, followed by a click as his body stiffened back into place, and there was a rumble as the door at the back of the sarcophagus slid open into the wall, freeing a cloud of dust before revealing a short hallway that led to a narrow winding staircase. We waited a couple minutes in silence, just to make sure the priest was honestly back into resting before Hannibal led the way past him. I slid in after him, Menoetius, then Arikos moved so fast he nearly tore the priest's ribcage open before he ducked inside and the door automatically shut behind us.
"That was the worst experience of my life," Arikos exclaimed and at our stares, he frowned, "What? Dead people freak me out." I think we were all wondering the same thing; of all the things Arikos had suffered, dealing with an undead priest was the worst?
Hannibal shook his head before he turned and led us to the staircase that was lit up by skull lanterns on the wall with black candles in their mouths. As we descended, the air grew colder and clammy, the air slightly thinner, and the walls began to go from heavily decorated stone to embedded with skulls. I wondered why those didn't freak Arikos out.
We kept going until we came to a door at the end of the stairs and Hannibal opened it up to reveal the familiar cold catacombs of Xandria. It was strange, almost depressing being back. Part of me hoped I would find Dexius, but another part of me was still recovering from his slap in the face. I bit my tongue to force myself to focus on the task at hand.
"Zetnos's main chamber is quite a ways from here," Hannibal muttered grimly, "We'll probably have to stop and rest at some point. I'll wait until we find a safe place. Until then, stick close and don't wander off. The Xios shouldn't attack us if Zetnos is here." We nodded and moved into a close formation as we made our way down the corridor.
"So," Arikos said as we walked, "Anyone else still curious as to why the priest wasn't totally rotted into a pile of dust by now?"
"It was probably whatever spell was cast on him to make him come back," I responded, "He probably has to be at least somewhat whole in order to attack intruders." Arikos shrugged, like he was accepting it. Hannibal frowned, glancing out the corner of his eye toward Menoetius, who caught his look, then dropped his eyes quickly. I could tell Hannibal still wanted to know why Menoetius knew his way around it, and to be honest, I wanted to know how Menoetius could dream up the directions when he wasn't permitted to dream. There was something else at play here, and I couldn't be sure.
But I did make a mental note to ask Hades about it later.
We kept walking for a few more hours, then stopped to rest in one of the random rooms in the catacombs, laying out our pallets.
"Why are there so many empty rooms here?" Arikos asked as he lay sprawled on his pallet, staring up at the ceiling with a frown.
"To confuse the spirits," Hannibal replied, shaking his blanket out and laying down, "There are tons of empty rooms and dead end hallways and false stairways that could be mistaken for escapes to the surface world." Arikos grimaced.
"Wow, that's kinda rude."
"Spirits should stay where they belong."
"Tell me about it," Menoetius muttered. Hannibal winced, glancing over his shoulder at Menoetius, but Menoetius had already rolled over on his pallet with the blanket pulled over him. Hannibal sighed, rubbing his hand across his face before he looked back over at Menoetius.
"Menoetius, you were the only one I could think of that could've helped Akin and I."
"I didn't say anything," Menoetius replied monotonously. Hannibal frowned. I could tell he still wanted to argue, but he finally rolled his eyes and climbed under the blanket. Arikos and I shared weary stares before settling down for the night. Not that it was easy sleeping in the Atlantean underworld. Every so often, the distant sound of tortured souls would scream in the night, the sound of fingernails clawing at the other side of the door or walls, something slimy creeping past the door, and what I was sure was a Xios passing by.
Thankfully, we didn't have to spend very long there. We woke five hours later to continue our trek through the catacombs, and we knew we were nearing the chamber when we heard voices. It wasn't until we entered the main chamber that we found Zetnos and Lea inside.
Zetnos was extremely tall, if not taller than Hades, which was quite a feat. His long black hair was pulled back from his face in a ponytail, eerie green eyes studying a file folder, and he looked strange in his modern jeans and t-shirt, nothing like the usual heavy dark robes he wore in the past.
Meanwhile, Lea was not nearly as tall, but tall nonetheless, with bundles of curly black hair piled up in a loose lazy bun with gold headbands leading back to the bun, and she wore a pair of snug jeans and a loose peasant shirt in the brightest shade of blue I'd ever seen.
"Hannibal," Zetnos greeted instantly when he saw us arrive, then looked mildly surprised to see the rest of us as well. Almost immediately, a wall came down over Lea's expression as she turned to face us and I watched Hannibal's eyes drop to the ground.
"Hey, Lea," Arikos greeted cheerfully, and she raised an eyebrow at him, "We're here to take Zetnos's little shiny ball thingy." Zetnos frowned and Lea stared at him.
"The scrying orb? What for?" She demanded, eyes surveying us suspiciously. Though, she went still when her eyes fell on Menoetius, who cocked his head at her curiously. Her eyes instantly darkened and she approached him before Zetnos could reach out to stop her. Her hand came across Menoetius's face so hard the sound echoed through the room, and I almost expected Menoetius to snarl at her, but he just turned back to face her with a bored expression, despite the red print on his cheek.
"That's for treating my baby like shit," she said coldly, and Menoetius just shrugged.
"Akin did the same thing," he replied. I couldn't be sure if he was referring to the fact that Akin had also hurt Hannibal at one time, or the fact that Akin had probably also smacked him. Lea looked less than amused by his comment and sized him up the way I'd seen her do to many warriors on the battlefield.
Lea wasn't the type of woman to slap you and walk away. I could tell she was plotting even more painful punishments for Menoetius. Thankfully, Zetnos came over and touched her arm, giving her a look that made her huff and turn away from Menoetius, folding her arms over her chest. Hannibal looked at Menoetius, who just shrugged it off, then he looked at Lea and Zetnos.
"So what's this about needing my orb?" Zetnos asked cautiously. His guarded expression told me he knew exactly what his orb was, why it was so special.
"It's called the Orb, a relic that can allow the user to see premonitions," Hannibal replied, and at Zetnos's questioning stare, Hannibal continued, "The god St. John told us to fetch it in order to further our pursuit of Atlan." Lea and Zetnos shared wary stares. Zetnos glanced over at the orb in the center of the main chamber where it sat in its cradle, a silent power in the room. He seemed to be debating on the idea. His eyes drifted to Lea for a moment and she looked at him curiously, but he averted his eyes right away.
Yeah, he was definitely going to have trouble parting with it for the reasons we figured.
"We'll return it when we're finished using it," I offered, making him look at me, "We're not sure how long we'll need it, but we'll bring it back here once we're finished. We realize how important it is to you and we'll move it with great care." Zetnos pursed his lips thoughtfully and Lea looked at him hopefully before his eyes drifted back over to Hannibal, who gave him a look that said he completely understood his connection with the orb. Zetnos went over to the orb, frowning down at it and Lea drifted over to join him.
"You can't use the premonition setting without the Key," he said at last.
"St. John informed us we already knew who the Key was," I replied. Zetnos blinked and looked up at us. His eyes went from one face to the other before he looked back down at the Orb. I could tell he was still debating the idea.
"It might be the only hope to stopping Atlan," Lea told him softly. Zetnos's jaw was tense and I honestly regretted asking him for it, but Lea's hopeful stare did exactly what we knew it would do. Zetnos was ever bending over for Lea, and sadly, my auntie could be totally oblivious to it. To her, it was nothing more than her brother being kind. She had no idea how much Zetnos truly loved her.
"Fine," Zetnos relented at last, looking less than pleased before he looked up to meet Hannibal's eyes, "You may not remember, but at one time, I told you that you would be able to use the orb as I do. In doing so, you must take care of it, as I have." Hannibal inclined his head respectfully. Zetnos took the Orb very gently into his hands and Lea conjured a backpack large enough to contain it. She zipped it up and started to pick it up, then grunted.
"How did you pick that up with just your hands? My god, that thing weighs more than Atlan's ego," she scoffed. Zetnos nodded.
"It takes a certain touch," he replied.
"Where are you all going after this?" Lea asked us.
"We're returning to Olympus. We're hoping St. John will be able to help us get a leg up in this war," I explained, leaving out the fact that we did this whole thing to get Apollo back. Arikos gave me a quick look at that. But Hannibal seemed to recognize my need to keep the real mission quiet, so he just nodded when Zetnos looked at him.
"We'd accompany you," Zetnos said grimly, "But. We're not fans of the Greeks, and they us." Lea nodded, giving a small shrug, her hands folded behind her back. A gesture that said she didn't really feel bad about spitting on Greeks. Arikos smirked, passing a sideways glance at Menoetius.
"I don't think they're that bad once you get to know them," he admitted. Menoetius looked at him, but Arikos looked away before he could notice. Lea smiled, but she looked confused. Zetnos turned to Hannibal.
"We can let you out the nearest exit. It'll take you out through the mountain, but you should have no problem getting past the statues. They're rather accepting of new rule," he explained. Hannibal nodded. Menoetius went to the backpack and picked it up before anyone could reach it, and threw it over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing more than a paper bag. Lea's eyebrows went up and Zetnos instantly seemed to realize something. Hannibal grimaced, but said nothing as he started to leave.
"Hannibal, wait," Lea said quickly. Hannibal hesitated, but didn't turn around. Wanting to give them privacy, I got behind Arikos and Menoetius, ushering them toward the nearest exit with Zetnos in tow. Menoetius just rolled his eyes and started down the hallway with Arikos close behind him. I slowed down with Zetnos at my side.
"He's the Key, isn't he?" Zetnos asked. I frowned.
"I'm thinking so. He led us through the labyrinth your vampiric desert priest set up," I responded. Zetnos blinked and looked at me, baffled.
"That's impossible. That was built centuries, if not a few millennia before his time. How could he possibly be able to navigate it?" He asked. I shrugged, folding my arms over my chest, looking down the corridor at Menoetius, who had stopped to grimace at a particularly grisly skull in the wall and Arikos tapped his shoulder, making him jump and whirl around to hit him, but Arikos ducked and laughed.
"The only explanation I can think of is that he's the Key," I told Zetnos, who frowned sternly as he watched Menoetius attempt to argue with Arikos, who was still laughing at his childish prank, "Zetnos, all he did through the labyrinth is tell doors to open and they did. He said he had a dream the night before this mission of the labyrinth and someone leading him through it. He knew everything that was going to happen." Zetnos was silent, staring at Menoetius now. Something about his expression made me uncomfortable.
"Zetnos, what else is the Key supposed to do aside from using the Orb?" I asked. Zetnos turned to stare at me now.
"And don't forget to eat something aside from Asian food," Lea's voice made us turn to see Hannibal and Lea walking out of the main chamber, a very stern look on Lea's face while Hannibal appeared more confused, "Akin tells me you eat way too much of that Japanese and Thai food. If you want something real yummy, try Zetnos's Atlantean mango stir fry. It's delicious and food for you." I raised an eyebrow, then looked at Zetnos, who blushed, but tried to cover it up with a placid expression.
"You held us up to nag at him about his eating habits?" Arikos asked, returning to our side. I noticed Menoetius kept a safe distance, frowning at us. He appeared to be an outsider looking in, and no one was willing to invite him in.
"It's my job," Lea exclaimed, looking offended at Arikos's question, "I've been waiting my whole life to do this. Besides, he didn't get this buff eating Thai food." Hannibal cocked his head, like he was making a mental list of all the foods he'd ever eaten. I shook my head and Arikos laughed. Zetnos smiled faintly at that.
Judging from Lea's sudden warm cheerfulness, whatever had happened between her and Hannibal had been worked out. I figured she wouldn't be able to stay mad at her only son for so long. Whatever Hannibal had done wasn't nearly as bad as missing out on having a mother for that amount of time, surely. And even though Hannibal appeared to be stoic to everything being said, I noticed he was actually looking at Lea now, not avoiding her presence entirely, meaning he, too, was warming up to the fact that he had a mother who adored him. It was strangely... sweet.
After another few minutes of listening to Lea catch up on her "baby doting", we went down the corridor toward the exit. It wasn't until after we reached the door that led to the spiral staircase that I realized I never got to ask Zetnos what the Key was really used for. All I got was a stare that told me we were in for it, and my stomach clenched at that as I glanced back at Menoetius, who walked behind me with his eyes on the steps, his expression blank.
We reached the surface, heading through the door and through the prison to the other side. It wasn't until we reached the gates that were supposed to be guarded by the gargoyles that something felt extremely wrong.
The gate was smashed and stuck to the ceiling, and the stone statues were in piles of rubble.
"Why do I get a really bad feeling from this?" Arikos said, scanning the broken stone statues. He stooped down to pick up a piece of one of the gargoyle faces, his expression sad. Hannibal approached the pile, frowning at the remains while I went to study the damage done to the gates. Something huge had smashed them up there into the wall like that. They were sticking out like jagged chunks of metal. Worse, the gargoyles were completely destroyed-- dead.
"This is really sick," Arikos said at last, "These guys were pretty great." Hannibal said nothing, but he appeared strangely perturbed by their deaths as well.
Something didn't feel right.
I sent my powers out, feeling for any sort of foreign presence and instantly smacked into something very close by. As in, right behind us, close by. Alarmed, I spun around in time for a sword to go ramming through Menoetius's gut, spilling blood onto the floor between us and his eyes widened, blood leaking past his lips.
And the backpack with the Orb in it was currently in Ulenon's grasp, his hand wet with blood on the sword handle.
Fuck.