Percy's POV
'Percy be safe' A pinging voice that isn't my own shoots through my head, "Adam?" I announce out loud which causes Persephone and Clio to stare at me with bewilderment.
"The mate to the vessel? Unfortunate pup" Persephone comments which brought up a hint of anger in me.
"Excuse me?"
"I said what I said, and I'm not taking it back" she shifts in place, flinching a little bit from pain when the rotted ground beneath my feet slowly extends its area. "Okay okay I'll allow it this once, but can you at least put that damn bracelet on already?". I smirkingly do, only to feel like my body was weightless. A high made from all my energy draining like it's being sucked into one point on me. "Where did you say this rock was from again...?" I ask her, uncomfortable with the tension it puts on me.
"Uh. The Underworld, same place as that mirror you wanted Cliodhna."
"Ah so you do remember it? The mirror held by Amaterasu"
"I must warn you, it has sealed many things inside itself. The weight it carries may very well break it into pieces, but why did you need it?"
"Just as you said. It seals things inside itself." Clio looks towards me with a grinning look, making me uncomfortable at her intentions.
"Are you insane!? Sealing the Unbound wolf...again where have I heard such feebleminded thoughts before? Oh that's right, the oh so perfect heavenly embodiment of the moon. The same one who failed to stop him time and time again until she got devoured herself." Persephone jokes to herself but Clio remains unphased
"Well do you have a better idea?"
"Let the vessel die, let the world burn. Let my garden live and that's about it. I'm a Queen, so are you Cliodhna. Let the ones below us meddle in their own affairs."
"The irony in saying we're below you when you're quite literally in the Under-world." I quickly counter
"Do you take me for a fool? You mortals believe the Underworld and Heavens to be above and below don't you? Have you never stopped to think they aren't?" She corrects, admittingly shutting me up
"Persephone. The mirror" Clio brings us back to the topic
"Yeah yeah, it's in the Underworld now. As are most of the treasures taken from Fenrir's territory, but getting the mirror? Good luck with that, I need another being from there to help me open the gates as I've only recently came to be inside this body. And Cerberus still hasn't appeared to open it for anyone, barely even allowing for the natural cycle of spirits into the afterlife. If you can bring me someone who is, then we'll be getting somewhere"
"And how are we supposed to find someone from there, just lurking about up here?"
"Well here are your choices: Find Hades, Anubis or..."
"Or who?"
"Ignore the thought, find me one of those two and we can be on our way."
"Well I'll keep an eye out for two gods, thanks for the tip." I sarcastically turn to leave her.
"Something interests me...Vessel, are you aware that Fenrir isn't an only child...?"
"Are you saying there's another wolf equal to him that aren't just his spawn that I keep hearing about?" I ask with a look I imagine to be one of panic slapped across my face
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"It's laughable that you believe his children are equal to him to begin with, but no. They're not wolves. Now hurry along, you're burning daylight where my plants are thriving and flourishing." She shifts the terrain itself, causing me to flip on my ass and be carried off by the living carpet of grass back towards the entrance of sands. Clio's floating form simply following me along.
-
My head getting banged across the last tree along the streak I have a sudden remembrance of Chris. "I need to get back to Daybreak" I jump to Clio hoping she can help me someway.
"That's your pack, right? And why would you need to be there at this current time?"
"While Fenrir was showing me memories he was showing me my friends, and I think one of them is in trouble" I calmly explain but my voice still cracking at some intervals, the stress gradually seeping out of me.
"Well how did you get here in the first place?"
"I took...the thing...in Moonlit Sky pack"
"Thing?" She stares in confusion at my terrible explanations
"It just sort of threw me out of itself, I don't know how else to describe it"
"Maybe you're referring to a...current? They're all throughout curse zones but usually only carry the pure energy that swims through the earth of them, fortunate enough for you there appears to be one in these very plants behind us. Possibly as to why you ended up here...they follow the feelings someone expresses in the moment. Matching them to the resonating area as best it can, useful but I can't confirm the safety this one will hold." She points towards the shifting vines, a burrowing like texture lifting up in the grass like something's forcing it out of place repeatedly.
"Alright so I just...hop in and it'll take me towards the pack house?"
"Only if that's what you truly desire, and to be exact. It'll take you to the nearest cursed zone that you wish upon."
"Wait so why were you out here again?"
"The shadows you see, the twirling and laughter you hear along the winds. Those are my sisters, bound to only appear closest to the underworld or even inside of it." The moment she mentions it, my attention is drawn towards the child like laughter almost as if I was ignoring it this whole time. The giggling and half spoken words sending a faint chill along me, "And you wish to take them back as you mentioned before?"
"That is what I seek to achieve, yes. Now I do think you should get on your way if your friend is truly hurt as you were shown."
"Good idea, thank you for what you did. I'll return here once I find someone to help Persephone, maybe we can even help your people." I happily gesture, the feeling of debt building up towards this woman I owe so much to.
"I would like that, thank you"
I step towards the thorn filled vines, a small opening tearing itself open as if welcoming me. "Oh Percy I didn't mention. Those Currents are essentially the stomachs of the land, don't get digested!" She smiles and waves at me as I barely process what she just said to me.
"Is that why it's wel-" My sentence cut off as my full body gets sucked into the ground. The thickness of the air surrounding me, the force of my legs being pulled like a pack of wolves ripping me apart. An agonizing feeling of suffocation overwhelming me as I didn't even get to have a breath before entering it, walls seemingly closing in on me the longer I'm inside it. 'Daybreak...daybreak' I call over and over in memory of what Cliodhna said, It'll only take me to the place I desire the most. Anything else and I'll get flung out into...I guess anything but what I want.
Opening my eyes to witness the pressure choking me I immediately recognise the difference in space compared to the one at the Moonlit Sky pack. Instead of the black surroundings there's replacement of greenery all around me, a tunnel made up of vines and noticeable blue streaks in the air indicating the direction I'm heading. My lungs able to finally breathe I feel some relief wash over me that I wasn't just sent to my death.
I notice a painting like image at the end of the tunnel, a recognisable one at that. My legs bracing for an impact assuming I was going to fall from the upward vision I have...only to remember I'm underground this time. A thump of shock that went through my whole skeleton making me cringe in pain as the current throws me out and into the ground. A mouth full of dirt but given the chance to see, I observe the surroundings. Anxiety building itself inside me and making itself home in my mind, I can't think of anything but get out. Kicking the walls of dirt and forcing myself up I become soothed by the sight of my feet, "I came out in one piece...never again" I cough out with some dirt still lingering on my tongue.
"I recognise this area" I call out in shock. My vision flooding with memories, she said I could only be connected to another curse zone. How can this be a one...the old pack house. The pit I currently sit in with high walls and nothing but dust and mud filling it. That night when me and Thomas fled the house from a rogue attack, we got moved to another place entirely. But I never knew what actually happened that night.
My nostalgic moment being broken by a feminine scream from the sky, "SHIT!" followed by my body being pounded back into the floor...fun.