They descended in silence.
Neither spoke—safety had been so close, yet impossibly far.
Back in the tomb’s darkened corridors, Jason leaned against the wall, eyes on the ground. “I’m starting to think we’re going the wrong way.”
Annabeth didn’t answer at first. She paced, gncing toward the stairwell. Finally, she stopped. “That town—it’s behind us.”
Jason looked up. “So… turn around? Try to scale the tower from the outside?”
“Don’t be stupid,” she snapped, then softened. “Sorry. No. Too dangerous. We’d kill ourselves.”
“So what then? Head back toward the corpse room? There were other passages we didn’t take.”
Annabeth winced. “Or we change how we do this. Stop looking for obvious exits.”
Jason frowned. “What do you mean?”
“How many times have we seen breaks in the walls? Colpsed tunnels?”
Jason nodded slowly. “Plenty. We’ve been skipping them since the beginning.”
“Exactly.”
He pushed off the wall. “But we still need to go down.”
“Obviously.”
The next morning, they studied the map.
“This colpsed section isn’t far,” Jason said, pointing. “I swear there was a passage behind it.”
Annabeth nodded. “And we don’t have to double back much. Maybe half a day.”
“Not even. We’ve been moving slowly. Sure, we still have to make sure nothing eats us, but checking all the marked spots might take less time than getting here did.”
As predicted, it didn’t take long to reach the first colpse. Part of the wall and ceiling had caved in, blocking half the hallway.
“We still need to be careful,” Annabeth muttered, eyeing the ceiling warily.
Jason nodded. “Let’s go.”
Annabeth id a hand on his shoulder. “No. I’ll go first. And… we need to talk.”
“About what?”
“The st few times we ran into something, you almost got eaten.”
Jason frowned. “Okay…”
“I’m better armored. Whatever this ‘css’ thing is, I can take more hits. That pig-thing tossed you like a ragdoll, but it didn’t get past me.”
“I… fuck. You’re saying I’m the squishy mage, huh?”
Annabeth nodded. She knew part of it was Jason trying to protect her, but things had changed. Now, it was her turn to protect him.
They stood there a moment before he gave a reluctant nod.
The colpsed section was just as they remembered—rotted or petrified wood, dust coating everything. No exits. No signs of life. Still, they checked the map and moved on.
Two days ter, not far from one of the fountains, they slipped past a colpsed wall and found a stairway leading down. Beyond it, more hallways—and another fountain.
But their map, once detailed, now offered no guidance. Still, the stairway gave them hope. They wouldn’t just search corridors anymore—anything that led downward was worth a look.
“We’re definitely heading back,” Jason said, comparing the old map with the one he was sketching.
Annabeth noticed it too. The walls had become more tomb-like again. “How’s our food?”
Jason frowned. “That pig-thing helped, but I’m worried we won’t find another fountain.”
“There’s still the one behind us.”
Wiping charcoal from his fingers, Jason pointed to a corridor near their water source. “Let’s try this way.”
“Sounds good.”
They found it behind a cracked mural of a lion-headed god—a narrow crawlspace, barely wide enough for one person.
“I bet we’ve missed a lot of these,” Jason said, kneeling. Faint scuff marks in the dust caught his eye. “Something’s been here.”
Annabeth nodded, weapon drawn, and squeezed through, dragging their packs behind her.
The crawlspace opened into a natural tunnel of red stone, which led to a circur chamber with a domed ceiling painted in faded consteltions.
Annabeth circled the room, fingers trailing the walls. “There’s more of your writing.”
Jason squinted. “‘The path to the living lies through Asmet’s embrace. Light the way, and the gate will open.’”
Annabeth frowned. “What does that mean?”
Jason gnced at the mage light—bright, but inert. “I think there’s a hidden door.”
“Want to check the other one first? We might find another passage.”
“No. I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
He rummaged through their packs, pulling out cloth scraps, a torch, flint, and steel. As soon as the torch caught, the consteltions shimmered. A low rumble echoed through the chamber.
“Holy shit,” Annabeth breathed as a section of the wall slid open, revealing a staircase spiraling downward.
The stairs were carved from the same red stone, and strange carvings lined the descent—monsters of every shape and size.
Annabeth paused at one. “Let’s not meet any of these.”
“Noted.”
The air grew warmer as they descended. Eventually, the stairs ended in a vast chamber filled with doors.
Some were sealed with chains, others bore symbols etched in gold, and one had been broken open, the floor in front of it scorched.
Jason stepped forward, but Annabeth grabbed his arm. “Wait. Look.”
He flicked his fingers, reigniting the mage light. Footprints marked the dust before the doors.
Jason crouched. “Someone came through here. Maybe more than one.”
Annabeth narrowed her eyes. “But which door did they choose?”
They checked the broken one first. Inside was a colpsed tunnel.
The other doors were locked—except one. It bore only a symbol: two overpping circles, one silver and one bck.
Jason gnced at Annabeth. “Do we open it?”
She hesitated. “If the city’s below us, this might lead to it. Or around it. Or…”
“Or something,” Jason finished. He nodded. “Right. Then we go forward. Carefully.”
Together, they pushed the door open.
Inside was a narrow hall, its floor and walls covered in a mosaic of stars. At the far end stood a statue of a woman cloaked in feathers, her face hidden beneath a wide hood, her hands outstretched. Between them floated a glowing crystal.
Annabeth stopped. “That’s new.”
Jason frowned. “I wonder.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Doing something stupid,” he said, putting out the torch before stepping forward—then paused.
“Are you sure?”
Jason ughed. “No.”
He reached out and brushed the crystal.
It pulsed once—then fred, flooding the chamber with silver light.
Suddenly, they were somewhere else.
They stood in a different chamber. A simir statue loomed before them, but the ceiling had changed. Gone were the consteltions; in their pce were gentle hills, painted with animals running freely across the sky.
“Wasn’t so stupid after all,” Annabeth said with a grin.
“That remains to be seen,” Jason replied, pointing toward an exit. “After you.”
Though the architecture remained familiar, something felt different. For the first time in days, they felt like they were actually getting somewhere.
Another fountain wasn’t far off—thankfully. But as they explored, it became clear this area wasn’t meant for caretakers or the dead. These were living spaces.
Annabeth suspected one section might have been a market. Scattered among the debris were everyday items—a bronze cup and pte, fragments of what looked like a chessboard, an ivory comb, and other simple tools. In nearby rooms, they found rotted beds, broken chests, and crumbling tables.
Who were these people?
Why did they live here?
And most of all… where did they go?
They continued slowly through the ruined quarters, discovering the remnants of everyday life.
Annabeth knelt beside a shattered table, brushing away dust to reveal a carved pattern—interlocking circles.
“Look.”
“They used this everywhere,” Jason said, joining her. He pointed to a matching symbol etched into a chest on the far side of the room.
Jason knelt and examined it. The lid was warped but intact. Inside were scraps of fabric and bronze tablets, their covers etched with the same overpping circles.
“Looks like a ledger,” Jason said. “Names, dates… maybe a merchant’s home. Or a guild.”
In another room, they found a circle of stones bckened by fire. Surrounding it were broken cups, ptes, and a beautiful ceramic kettle still intact. But no bodies. No signs of violence.
It was as if they had simply walked away.
Finding no answers, Jason and Annabeth pressed onward.
And discovered another set of stairs, leading down.
