Chapter 10: The Vault

Chapter 9

I woke with Alex’s face inches away from mine. I knew that if that had happened to me before passing out I would either blush or headbutt her. Or both. Now it just made me smile. I felt as if I had slept for a week, even though I knew it was only a few minutes at most. I don’t know how I knew, but I knew that I had friends out there. Those that, like me, were doing incredible things to save this world and all who lived in it.

“Not the worst thing a man could wake up to,” I commented. I received a shocked look, followed by a blush, and punch on the arm in reply. Then Alex moved away. Steve was sitting next to me with a confused look on his face, and Jimmy the Minotaur was examining what I had made.

“What happened to you Mark?” Steve asked. “I tried to cast healing spells to help you recover, but they bounced back at me, giving me more energy than I had used to cast them. It was almost as if a God was helping you.”

“Honestly Steve, I don’t know what happened. I finished the puzzle, figured out what I made, and then I passed out from sheer lack of energy, having used it to make the thing. Now I am awake, feeling as if I slept for days, and I get the strange feeling I have been compensated with supplies.” I reached into the pocket and found my feeling confirmed. They were full now, with a metal my hands found unfamiliar, and yet familiar at the same time.

“It is something beyond your current, and quite possibly future, understanding Steve Smithson. He was in fact visited by a god, but one that - if the fates are fortunate - you will never have to meet. He will probably never remember such an experience either. Now, Mark Uwriy, what have you made for me?” Jimmy was holding a part of the puzzle. I walked over to him and set them out in a grid. They filled the entire table and some of the ground around it. Must have been hundreds, possibly thousands of pieces. I had no idea how I had completed it in such a short amount of time.

“It is a puzzle Jimmy,” I started. “What happens is you take one piece,” I demonstrated by picking one up for a moment. The piece in my hand stopped changing shape and stayed the way it was, in this case an eye. Another piece began to glow, then the rest, and then they all formed one type of piece and waited. “Now, until you say the keyword they will stay this way for as long as you work on it, or three days of not being used. Once you finish the puzzle you can say the keyword to bring them back to the original non-static pieces, or you can leave it alone for a few days. Every solution to the puzzle is useful in some way - for example the way I have it set up now it makes an image of you, so that when its completed you will have an automaton copy of you to discuss things with or help you move things around.

“After three days, it will fall apart, and you can rebuild your automaton and continue what you were doing, or you can try another combination. The puzzle can produce whatever you need it to, but never in the same way, so that it is always a new experience to put it together. Libero,” the pieces fell back into their shifting state.

“That is the code word? Libero?” Jimmy asked, his blue eyes lightening to sky blue.

“Yes. Use that word, and they all fall to this state.” I replied. “They also should change size with the table, so you do not have to shrink down to our height to use the puzzle.”

“Thank you Mark Uwriy, son of Hephaestus. This is a great gift. You are free to continue. But that is not enough of a repayment for such a gift, so let me give some additional information to repay this. The Vault itself is just a container of magical receptacles, items of the Gods in the current and past states, trophies of conquest and things like that. But that is not what truly makes it powerful, nor, do I think, is that what the thief is after. I believe he is attempting to get to the power source of this place. Once there he can use the power of Ares, who’s shield he stole, to access the power source and gain all of that Godly power for himself. If he does this, then everyone, including his patron Gaea, is doomed.”

With that lovely bit of news, the door opposite the entrance opened, showing us the path we needed to continue on our journey. On the other side sat three packs, one designed with a boar’s head logo and a space to hold a baseball bat, the second with crossed torches and what appeared to be knife holders on the carry straps, and the third decorated with a symbol like my tattoo - a hammer with S.P.Q.R under it.

Steve, Alex, and I walked up to the bags. Steve and Alex put their bags down next to the new ones and in a flash of light their old ones dissapeared. They looked in the new ones and found all of their materials were transferred, Alex’s bat was in the holster - set at a position that allowed easier access to it - and Steves knives and bronze wire was set into the straps of his new bag. I reached into my bag and found it to have some foodstuffs, medical supplies, and what looked like toy weaponry. Inside an inner pouch I noticed a sketch pad that, when I opened it up, contained some very interesting schematics. On the bag, where it would rest on my back, there looked to be a space to hold something, but it was empty. I reached into it on a whim and found my specialized throwing daggers on one side, and axes on the other. I checked my jacket pockets and found all my supplies still there.

“Thank you for helping him.” A voice came from behind us. We turned and found another Minotaur. This one pure white - fur, hoofs, eyes.

“Josh I take it.” I said to him. He nodded.

“He ran out of books and projects three years ago. New books may come out every year, but hardly enough to keep him occupied down here. See, we take on portions of both of our parents. I tend to be more physically inclined, like our father, not needing much education beyond what I need to do to keep my hands busy. Jimmy on the other hand, he needs to keep his mind busy. You have given him a way to do that for ages, not only because he will spend countless ways trying to figure out that ingenious puzzle you made, but because of the automaton feature. It will let him have conversations and discussions that I cannot provide.” Josh kneeled in front of me.

“For such a gift, the gift of equal companionship, there truly is no way I can repay you. So, I helped you out on your journey. These bags are indestructible, only wearable by you, and work in a similar method that your pockets do.” He pointed at me with that last statement. “They also have additional weaponry stored in them if you need it, and a way to stop my father from attacking you. He may not remember us, but he with the item he will stop his attack on you once. Well,” Josh amended, “technically three times, seeing as you each have one, but it will only work once per incarnation. So he will have to be destroyed and reformed before the trick will work again. This is what I can give you in repayment for what you have done for my brother.

“There is one other thing I may tell you, however. The Dwarves built this place as a sanctuary from the madness that occurs outside and the balance the Mist tries to create. They care nothing for the outside. They care for this place, and the sacred trust of protecting it that was given to them. The thief, as my brother said, is most likely attempting to destroy the power source. This must be stopped, and they cannot interfere because of powers he has already stolen. They have asked me to give you a message.” Josh closed his white eyes, and when they opened, they were solid black. His voice sounded like gravel would if it talked, and echoed through the cavern we were in. Almost as if there were hundreds of voices like it speaking to us.

“Children of the Greeks. Child of Rome. Your task, given by the Oracle and through her the Mist, is of the utmost importance. Our home is precious to us, and the things stored inside the Vault the Gods placed here are far to dangerous to be released in the world outside. Their existence is so contrary that the Mist would be forced to wipe this planet itself out of the universe - a backlash that could tear reality itself asunder. We cannot provide assistance ourselves, but we shall exert control over the earth here to propel you towards your goal safely. The other monsters and dangerous places shall not find you until you reach your goal. What happens then, we have no control over. We hope, no. We pray to your gods and all others that you survive, and succeed.” Josh closed his eyes again, and when he opened them, they were once more pure white.

He pointed his hand behind us, we looked back and saw three seats that were connected at the armrests. When we turned back to thank him he, along with the door to his home, were gone.

“Apparently metal head,” Alex said, “you have helped someone out, which in turn made our journey a little easier. I don’t like the thought of someone who can steal the powers of the gods, nor who would be mad enough to try though. I guess we should continue.” My head started to hurt, and a name came into my head. My pounding brain matched the name to a face.

“Caligula.” I muttered, fighting the pain.

“What?” Steve asked.

“The thief's name. It is Caligula. I remember it somehow.” They looked at me.

“Are you sure Mark?” Alex asked. “Caligula has been dead a long time.”

“I am sure.”

“Kind of makes sense,” Steve cut in. “According to Leo,” pain hit my head again, “Piper, and Jason,” Pain struck even harder and with that a face and title appeared - Jason Grace, Preator of the First Legion, Slayer of the Titan Krios on Mount Othrys - Ironically the mountains name caused even more pain, to the point where I nearly passed out. Alex caught me and told Steve to grab my bag. Steve saw what was happening and tried to grab my bag, but it burned him every time he tried. My head started to feel better and I regained my ability to stand.

“I am alright, what were you saying Steve?” I asked as I walked over and grabbed my bag.

“Umm,” Steve looked a little nervous. “Those three returned from a quest recently where they ended up confronting two people who should be in Hades, but were revived by Gaia to help supply her army. It stands to reason that Gaia is probably raising others who should be dead to cause us problems or help her army. The more distracted we are with them, the less able we are to deal with the bigger issues, or if we leave them along and deal with the bigger issues first, they might be able to destroy our camps or something.”

Alex nodded at this train of thought.

“But why him? Why that Emperor specifically? I can think of others in Greek and Roman history who would probably be better choices, those who hate the gods for interfering with their lives in some way.”

“Because,” I replied, “Caligula,” barely any pain this time, “always wanted to be a God. If Gaia’s goal is to destroy the Olympians, she would want her giants to do it, as they are the most suited. But someone running around who is trying, and has the ability, to steal the power of the Gods is almost as large a danger. Then she has two plans in play that would, ultimately, destroy the Gods. The first is her Giants succeeding, but if we do not stop Caligula, there will be only one god for them to defeat. If there is only Caligula as a God, we will most likely be killed trying to defend our parents, and then there would be no demigods to assist him in destroying the Giants, they win. If they win but we defeat Caligula, same result - they win.”

Alex’s eyes widened at that.

“Let us stop him then.” Was all she said, and then we moved to the rock chairs. As soon as we sat down, the chairs shot off like a rocket. We did not feel the motion, but we could see the tunnels shooting past us. Steve closed his eyes and started praying. Alex just looked grimly forward, as if thinking about what would happen if we failed. I touched her hand.

“We wont fail,” I said. “I get the feeling I took this clown on before and stopped him. With you guys here, it will happen again. His plan will not work.” My face must have looked more confident than I felt, because she nodded and closed her eyes. I closed my eyes and in what felt like seconds I heard a click. I opened my eyes again and saw a gigantic doorway in front of us. The door filling it was golden with thousands, maybe millions, of designs on it, all depicting different things. I couldn’t see all of them because it looked like many were blurred, but the ones I could see showed Greek and Roman legends.

The chairs disappeared from under us, dropping us to the floor. As I got up, I saw someone, who looked like an ant compared to the doors, running towards the Vault. What I mistook for a boulder in front of the entrance got up and something that was definitely not an ant started speaking. Because of the acoustics of the room, we heard every word.

“Welcome,” said one voice, and another slightly deeper repeated it. “Welcome to the Vault of the Gods.”

Chapter 11