A Magician's Sea

I

I was left in the pit. Abandoned. Lost. Forgotten... All for the war. All for her. All for Olympus.

I felt anger of course, and fear like no other. Being alone in the pit is simply... indescribable.

Time passes differently down here. Sometimes slow. Sometimes fast. But in my case... backward.

My escape? I left with a thousand scars, but not through the doors of death. I found a chamber of serpents. A chamber of secrets.

Don't ask how I found it. I know I didn't. Because if you were left in the pit, I know that you would take any miracle you could grasp.

Bloodied and bruised, I dragged myself across the marbled floors. I left the stone red. Soaked with the blood of a demigod.

I found water there. Imagine that. It seemed like a gift, all too good to be true. But I didn't question it. I didn't think twice before jumping in.

The feeling of weakness had become so comfortable to my frail body that when the water strengthened me, I could barely keep conscious.

The power of a God. It was mine again. Don't dare think that I felt stronger than I had ever felt before. I can tell you confidently that I was nothing compared to who I was before.

Only in time would I be able to catch up to my former self. Become myself again. At least physically. Mentally... I could never be the same again.

I had found a book there. Left to decompose upon the stoned flooring. Open and torn.

A serpent fang lodged into the pages, dried ink; that appeared as if it was blood, stained onto the surrounding surface.

I did not touch the leather binding of the book. Nor did I read the text scribbled upon the crumpled pages.

It provided no use to me. And it clearly provided no use to whoever left it there. Abandoned. Lost. Forgotten. Just like me.

I spent little time observing and searching through the chamber. The water led me to the exit. To the outside world. Above hell.

A maze of pipelines, the water rushing through the middle lines. I walked beside the water for countless days, but my mind did not shatter.

I was used to it. The same appearance of the seemingly endless journey. Everything looked the same, almost as if I was walking in a circle.

The water kept me alive -- kept my strength at its peak. I did not question the quality of said water. I could tell it was not ideal. But water is life, and I needed every drop.

After days of walking, I reached a possible exit. It was a relief to find I was back on Earth, however, opening the exit to a girl's bathroom was not what I had hoped for.

I heard the shouting of children, maybe a few years younger than I — running across the hallway that seemed to be connected to the restroom.

I ignored it. I would not settle for an exit that led to a girl's restroom. It was a simple decision, if there was an exit here, in a girl's bathroom, then there was bound to be one sooner ahead.

Once again I walked next to the water. If not only five hours later, I came across another exit. This time much more suitable - a train stop.

It was relatively similar to a subway station in Queens, New York. Where I had lived. Long ago.

It was an unfamiliar feeling to be surrounded by others. Other people. The chattering of adults wishing their children luck as the little ones boarded the train.

The one question that dominated my mind was - why were they all wearing robes? It seemed as if they had all gone Halloween shopping and wore it for a school day.