Stepping back, I launched forward in a run, leaping toward a narrow ledge and catching it with both hands. The Labyrinth came alive the stone beneath my fingers vanished, and I plummeted downward into Tartarus.
As I fell, my spear blazed fiercely, and a surge of will wrapped my body, halting the fall and propelling me upward. In the next instant, I stood atop the Labyrinth itself.
Waves rippled across its surface; sharp spikes like spears erupted upward, seeking to impale me. I leapt back, placed a palm upon the stone my fingers glowed with will. A sharp pulse struck the surface, opening a narrow passage.
I dropped inside, landing on solid ground. The passage sealed behind me as if it had never existed.
The walls stirred and began to move.
I glanced again at the compass. The needle spun chaotically, as if broken. This place had no fixed shape: every path it indicated vanished a moment later or led elsewhere. Everything shifted endlessly, chaotically. Finding a way through would be no easy task.
I pressed forward, pushing through the Labyrinth, but the walls closed in tight. Raising my shield, I blocked the enclosing stone from above. Strengthened by my will, it held firm.
The floor and ceiling began to close in, while new walls rose ahead and behind, forming a stone cube to trap me.
I braced my spear horizontally between front and back walls, grounding my feet to withstand the crushing force.
The pressure was monstrous. I hadn't felt such force in a long time.
Gripping the spear tightly, I filled it with will. One mighty surge and everything shattered. Stone cracked, walls crumbled to dust, and I fell into darkness.
The space around me filled with water.
I was fully submerged in liquid. Utter darkness. No sense of direction. Water stretched endlessly in all directions.
I wasted no time. My body surged with will, and I propelled myself forward, guided by the spear. I swam on for minutes, maybe longer. No floor. No surface. No walls. The space was boundless and yet… closed in upon itself.
I had swum too long. I stopped. I needed to think.
Focusing, I imbued the spear with will once more and hurled it, seeking the space's boundary. But each time, it seemed to return to me in a circle.
I was trapped within a sealed bubble, endlessly shifting to hold me inside.
The spear spun faster and faster. Sooner or later, it would strike something.
And then in a single instant the tip caught on something.
My will warped the space, and in the next moment, my hand gripped the spear's shaft. One concentrated strike shattered the wall.
Water surged toward the breach a vortex pulled everything toward it. I let the current take me.
I crashed onto solid ground. The water vanished. Heat engulfed me.
"Kh... " I coughed, raising my gaze to a wall wreathed in flames.
Clenching my will into a fist, I moved through the fire. This time, I didn't ask the compass for a path only a direction. My will was clear.
The needle trembled but pointed toward Pandora.
Enough. I'd had my fill of this cursed Labyrinth.
Focusing deeply, I sought the Labyrinth's consciousness and felt it. Our wills clashed in unseen battle. I compressed its will, locking it within a mental cage.
The Labyrinth grew still. It ceased shifting and held fast.
The flames vanished.
I could feel it: as long as my strength held, I could contain it. But time was short. I hastened toward Pandora.
Almost upon her, I saw walls enclosing a man within them. An old man. He looked at me with empty eyes; his lips moved, yet no sound came save one word:
"Kill."
He was the Labyrinth.
Granting him mercy, I drove my spear through him, releasing him from his suffering.
Returning to my search for Pandora, I found her in a small chamber, dimly lit by a flickering light.
She sat alone upon the bare floor.
"Pandora," I spoke.
Her head snapped up. Fear and confusion swirled in her gaze.
"Who are you?" she asked, tense but unmoving.
"A warrior. I've come to help," I replied, stepping closer.
Pandora recoiled, as if struck by sudden cold. Her eyes grew wary.
"I cannot leave. You must go or the gods will punish you," her voice trembled.
"I fear no gods. Your father waits for you," I answered.
She flinched at the mention of Hephaestus.
"Father?" she whispered. "I… I wish to see him again."
"Come. He awaits," I said, extending my hand.
She hesitated only a moment then grasped it.
Raising my spear, I filled it with will. A radiant energy enveloped us, lifting us into the air. I surged through the Labyrinth's walls, breaking them with force.
Stone crumbled before me, clearing the way.
When my feet touched solid ground once more, I drew the compass. The path between realms opened.
"Go. I'll follow."
Pandora cautiously approached the shimmering rift. She glanced back once one last look at the Labyrinth.
Then she stepped forward, into the world beyond. I followed and we emerged into the forge.
Hephaestus looked upon us first with surprise, then with fire in his eyes. Even the volcano behind him seemed to tremble.
"Pandora!" he cried, his voice a mixture of wonder and joy.
"Father!" she answered.
Despite his wounds, Hephaestus rushed to her. With great care, he embraced his daughter. In his massive arms, she seemed fragile and small.
"Forgive me… for everything. For the suffering, for the hardship you had to endure," Hephaestus said quietly.
"I do not blame you, Father," Pandora replied softly.
Thunder rolled across the sky. Thick clouds blanketed the heavens.
"We should leave," I said, watching the touching scene between father and daughter. It seemed someone had already noticed Pandora's disappearance and the destruction of the Labyrinth.
"Very well. Lead us," Hephaestus nodded.
The path between realms opened once more. Before us lay the Golden Groves a realm of light and tranquility.
"Go. You will be safe there," I said.
"Thank you," Hephaestus said, stepping through the portal.
"Wait! What about you?" Pandora asked, glancing back.
"I will be fine," I answered with a faint smile. I waved to them one last time and remained outside.
The thunder grew louder. I stepped into the open the sky had turned black. And in the thickening clouds, amidst a blinding flash of lightning he appeared.
Zeus.
His body was truly divine perfectly sculpted. Despite his silver hair, he radiated power so intense the very air seemed to tremble. Sparks of yellow lightning crackled between his fingers.
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"My patience is at an end, mortal. You think too highly of yourself. Now, you will die… permanently," he growled.
"I will not touch the Flame of Olympus. I merely repaid a debt to Hephaestus. Are you so afraid for your throne that you would condemn a girl to rot in eternal captivity?" I asked.
"What do you know?" Zeus snarled. "I have lived for millennia. I have seen mortals born and die, build cities, wage wars, and forget themselves. Everything I do I do for order. For the preservation of the world. For the greater good."
"Was the plague that claimed thousands just a few years ago also 'for the greater good'?" I countered.
"You do not understand. Mortals need a firm hand. Without it, they will destroy themselves," Zeus replied coldly.
"Perhaps so," I said. "But better to be destroyed by their own will… than erased by the will of a self-righteous god."
Zeus's eyes blazed. Lightning danced wildly in his hand. With a deafening roar, he summoned an enormous charge brighter than the sun and hurled it at me.
It happened in an instant. I barely managed to raise my shield in time.
The sky howled with fury. Bolts of lightning rained down from the clouds one after another, their wrath crashing upon the earth. Each strike seared craters into the ground. The island trembled with the onslaught.
"You think you can stand against me?" Zeus sneered. "I have slain foes far more fearsome than you."
"You fought the primordial gods and the Titans. Now, you face a man," I answered calmly.
"Then let us see what you are truly made of," he growled.
Zeus's body blazed with divine light. Lightning wove around his arms, and in his palm a dense sphere of pure energy formed. He hurled it toward me a bolt charged with the wrath of the King of Olympus.
I raised my shield. The runes upon its surface flared brightly, absorbing the lightning's force. With a resounding clang, the energy was reflected back.
The counterstrike cracked against Zeus's shoulder, leaving a scorched mark upon his skin.