CHAPTER VIII: Τα Κακή πλευρά

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008- THE WICKED SIDE

Σε κάθε από αυτά πύλες
Θα περάσει ένας από κάθε αριθμός
Αποφασίζοντας οι μοίρες τους
Είτε θρίαμβος ή σφαγή


"They're good.", I heard Sev utter a compliment beside me as he let out a smirk while staring at the Greek passage.

"In the ancient times, the Romans never really favored the Greeks. It's like a blood feud between the two races. The Greeks aren't allowed to step into Roman soil, same goes for the Romans into Greek soil.", he started. He suddenly pointed at the passage written on the ground.

"Dominicus and Amabilis wrote this passage as a chant to open the gates of the Vesuvian Labyrinth. Although they were both Roman semideuses, they intentionally wrote the text in Greek para hindi ito madaling mabasa ng mga Romans na magtatangkang pasukin at buksan ang gate ng labyrinth for Hercules' adamantine mine.", Sev trailed off at tsaka siya lumingon saming dalawa ni Kai.

"This is it. We just have to read this chant out-loud and the gates to the Vesuvian Labyrinth should open.", he assured. Napalingon muna ako sa paligid. The tourists around the place didn't seem to mind us. Busy lang ang mga ito sa pagkuha ng mga pictures nila. I guess it'll be fine. And besides, we're protected by the mist. Binasa ko ulit kung ano ang ibig sabihin nung passage.

In each of these gates
Shall pass one of each number
Deciding their fates
Either triumph or slaughter

Mas lalo akong kinabahan. It also served as a warning, sa kung sino man ang magtangkang pasukin ang labyrinth. I took a deep breath at tsaka tumango kay Sev bilang pagsang-ayon. He smiled at me in response habang si Kai naman ay tahimik lang sa kabilang gilid. We stared at the passage.

"Se káthe apó aftá pýles
Tha perásei énas apó káthe arithmós
Apofasízontas oi moíres tous
Eíte thríamvos í sfagí"

The three of us chanted the passage in Greek and in just a few seconds, a glowing bright light suddenly materialized on the Arch infront of us. It looks like a portal. It swirled and emitted a strange aura. I swear I felt like a lump got stuck in my throat due to uneasiness.

This is it. There's no turning away now. May the gods of Olympus favor us in this perilous leap of doom that we're about to take.

***

When I opened my eyes, incredibly tall walls of stone greeted me from left to right. There were even a couple of vines clinging and covering it over time. My eyes widened nang inangat ko ang tingin ko sa itaas.

There was a huge hourglass stuck to the high ceiling of the Labyrinth. Its sands were slowly starting to fall to the lower half of the glass, nagpapahiwatig na nagsimula na ang pitong oras na nakalaan sa'min dito sa loob ng labyrinth.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, just like what Sev taught me yesterday evening. Inisip kong mabuti sina Mageia at Kratos as I took a deep breath and felt a strange force pulling inside my body.

"Idoú to aithério ypárchei zotikótita, akoúste tin apaítisi tis mageías kai tis mageías. Eláte!", my brows creased in confusion, for the reason that after I chanted those words, nothing even happened.

Napalingon ako sa paligid, hoping that Mageia and Kratos would suddenly appear pero... wala.

There has to be some sort of mistake. I was pretty sure that I chanted the exact words that Sev taught me yesterday evening. Paanong palpak ang pagkaka-summon ko?

The Prophecy of FatesTahanan ng mga kuwento. Tumuklas ngayon