Page 61 of Crown of Olympus
Answer my riddle correctly, and I shall allow you to pass unscathed. Answer incorrectly, and you shall be…she paused, seeming to consider her words.Scathed.
I nodded again, bracing myself.
I have no mouth, yet still I whisper.
I am born in silence, yet die in time.
I am the thief with empty hands,
Stealing things you cannot find.
What am I?
The riddle hung between us, settling in the stillness as my mind ticked over. The air around me shifted, humming with static — until a confoundingly familiar presence settled at my side.
Caelus.
The gilded eyes of the Sphinx flicked to him, her lioness tail swishing coyly. She was enjoying this.
Caelus’ eyes widened slightly, brows twitching upwards. She’d spoken to him, too, somehow bypassing me. His jaw clenched, and he glanced my way — subtle, but I caught it.
The storm-wielder flared his fingers, lowering one hand to rest on the handle of his shiny, silver dagger. A gift from Daddy, perhaps, but a warrior’s reaction nonetheless.
He was wary of the sphinx, and rightly so.
She turned back to me.
Have you an answer to my riddle, child of death?she purred.
“Yes,” I said, hesitating. If I was wrong, she would eviscerate me. If I was right… I’d be leaving Aphrodite behind.
My morals were slippery fuckers at the best of times. Right now, they taunted me with the choice: save the realms,or help my friend… and whatever Aros and Caelus were trying to be.
Fear not, child. You may pass if you are correct. The goddess Athena was quick to answer hers — I’d hazard a guess that she passed through an hour ago. You may yet catch up.
It figured the goddess of wisdom answered quickly. I rolled my eyes at her somewhat unfair advantage, earning a cackle from the Sphinx.
“An echo.”
As I spoke, she fell silent. Her brows lifted in surprise; her tail no longer flitting from side to side. Caelus braced, hand clenching the dagger tighter. Something that looked a lot like concern passed over his features.
Impressive,she crooned.You may pass.
I dipped my head slightly, grasping for my usual mask of indifference, but found it harder to slide back into place. Just as I reached the passageway, her silken voice flitted through my mind once more.
Beware, child. For even the shadow fears what it becomes in the absence of light.
I chose not to react, not to turn and face her warning.
I already knew how deep the darkness inside me ran.
I was nothing but darkness.
Still, a chill that had nothing to do with the icy pathway meandered down my spine as I continued on, without so much as a backwards glance.
Eventually the path ended.The temperature dropped with every step. A tactic, no doubt designed to weaken our resolve before facing whatever came next.
A weathered wooden door stood before me, jarringly out of place against the rest of Hermes’ labyrinth. It had a faintly blue facade and a rusted bronze skull in its centre.
