//------------------------------// // Temple Run // Story: Twisted Truth and Lonely Lies // by Plasmadon //------------------------------// Chapter 8: Temple Run The temple was seriously creepy. I mean, it was completely made of wood, and the moment the three of us entered, the doors slammed shut behind us. Even worse, Lasair was literally hemorrhaging power. The glow faded within moments, leaving us in total darkness. “Uh, Nia?” I asked. There was a feminine grunt in response. “Can you see anything right now?” “Not a thing,” was the answer. Well, shit. Cats had way better eyesight than anything else I had seen, but even they can’t adjust to total darkness. “Let’s take stock for a moment, shall we?” Angel asked from somewhere to my right. I nodded, before realizing they couldn’t see me. “Sure. No light, no plan, and minimal chance of surviving. How’s that?” I asked sarcastically. There was an audible slapping noise. “You do realize you can use that freaky ‘Sight’ thing, right?” Angel said weakly. Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. “Let me try it.” I closed my already-blind eyes and tried to focus. Immediately, the telltale signs of the Sight began to manifest. I opened my eyes and stared at the deep earthy colors permeating the temple. Nia and Angel stood beside me, their outlines a vibrant shade of aqua. The temple was a damned labyrinth, twisting every which way until the paths ran out of sight. I groaned as I noticed the visible patches of moving light here and there. Monsters, I was sure of it. “Angel,” I whispered, “follow my voice and get in my hair. Nia, grab my hand.” I felt a shaking paw grab me as Angel clambered along my arm to my head. I realized that Nia must have been terrified. Of course, cats can see well in the dark, but total darkness, when you’re surrounded by your greatest ally and lost your most important sense? It’s a mixed feeling. I carefully treaded across the floor, feeling for any bumps or cracks in the stone in case I tripped. The pulsating lights were getting closer. Damnation, if there were that many beasts running around, we wouldn’t have a chance of escaping! I traced my fingers along the inner edge of the wall. My instincts screamed at me, buzzing with the terrifying fight-or-flight instinct. Instead I did one of the stupidest and most genius things I have ever done. I began to hum. The moment the tune left my lips, I tried to clamp them shut. Another thought forced its way in, making me hum louder. This temple must have been built with crazy acoustics, so the sounds carried. But to where? Instantly, all of the little pinpoints of light in the distance began to herd themselves away from us, congregating on a point just at the center of the wall matrix. That was probably where all the loot resided. I kept humming, but made a shushing sound in between the stanzas to deter my friends from making any noise. The song twisted through my head, and my lips twitched with some of the words. “Take… all away… take it all away…” the lyrics jumped unbidden from my mouth as the lights increased their vigor. As soon as every living creature was away from us, I surged forward, the cacophony of sound only furthering the beasts’ confusion. “Cooper, what’s happening?!” Nia shouted. She sounded absolutely terrified. “I made a distraction, that’s what!” I yelled back, pulling her into a side room. Angel hopped blindly until he bounced into my leg. I placed him in the pocket of my jeans and turned to Nia. Even though I couldn’t see her, I could clearly feel her shaking against my side. “Never pegged you to be afraid of the dark, Nia,” I said. She smacked me on the arm, her claws drawing a deep furrow of blood in my flesh. “Alright, I deserved that one. Now, I need you both to listen, because I’m not going to repeat myself. I’m going to charge in there and toss my sword. I think I can still see a little light in the core, like a base charge. Angel, Nia, the minute I give the signal, run like hell. I’ll grab whatever treasure is in here, then meet you outside.” “Are you crazy?” Nia hissed. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you get almost killed again. What could be in here that’s so important?” “A link to my world/realm/dimension,” I whispered. “Think about it. The language on the doors was inscribed by a language native to my people for more than two thousand years. I wanna know just how the hell this stuff got here.” Nia seemed to deliberate for a long time before finally sighing. “Fine. I won’t be able to save your life, so don’t die or I’ll kill you.” “Thanks, Nia.” I was about to turn and get old Lasair ready when I felt something warm and soft on my cheek. “I mean it. Stay safe,” Nia whispered. I heard the quiet patter of her paws against the stone floor, but it didn’t really register. I was just kissed by a catgirl. Call it some strange fetish or whatever, but I’m actually pretty cool with that. I managed to snap myself out of my trance and induced the Sight once more. The unknown creatures were beginning to prowl around the labyrinth once more. I only had one good shot at it, so I swung Lasair around a few times, building up momentum. At the apex of its swing, I let it go. I tracked the faint gleam of magic in the sword as it faded into the darkness. I raised my hand and closed in a fist, willing Lasair to erupt once more. And erupt it did. There was a blinding flash of light and a supersonic bang. If I hadn’t been remotely expecting it, I would’ve been deafened by the sound. As it was, my ears were ringing for several minutes after the explosion. After the initial burst of light, I could see thousands of fragments of white-hot metal scatter in every direction except mine. Several of them hit hidden torch sconces, enabling me to at least see without the Sight. The other few thousand struck various monsters in various body parts, sailing straight through bone and flesh and going on to their next victim. After what seemed like an eternity, the screams and wails finally stopped, and I picked my head up to look around. If the sconces hadn’t given me enough light to see by, the now-molten metal sticking to just about every part of the walls did. The labyrinth was illuminated in a cherry-red glow. I caught the visage of one of the monsters and froze, ice filling my guts. It was… a human? Its skin was shriveled, and it was a few inches shorter than average. Not to mention the rotting teeth, eyes, and organs spilling out of its body. Nevertheless it was still a human. I could clearly see the bone structure, and though I hadn’t found a college major yet, I had sat in on more than one anatomy 101 class. The only problem was… what the hell was it doing here? I believe I can answer your question, young one. I froze. There was a voice in my head. Now, I’d normally be fine with a voice in my head; it’s usually my conscience, telling me things like “Cooper, you shouldn’t have any beer at this party”, and “Cooper, this is England. You should be driving on the left side of the road”. No, this one was different. It was much more feminine, and was that a little sexy husk I detected? Yes. Yes it was. If this voice is not appealing, I can change it. Perhaps you’d like something a little more sensual? “No, no, I’m good!” I shouted. “I’m really fine!” the voice in my head giggled, its air now turning cutesy and childlike. You’re quite the strange human, aren’t you? Most of them jumped to attention at anything to do with sex, and it didn’t take long to convince the others. “Please tell me you’re not Aphrodite,” I said. Well, it was really sort of begging, but that girl has some serious OP stuff at her disposal. “I do not need a visit from the goddess of love right now. I’m kind of just getting out of a life or death situation." I know. I can tell, considering that you've blown up great-auntie Gaia’s temple. Gaia? Where had I heard that name before? World History? No, World Religions. Greeks, Gaia, Zeus, Demeter… “Persephone,” I whispered. The voice giggled again, but this time it sounded a little less teasing and a little more impressed. “That’s who you are, isn’t it?” I am not just Persephone, Cooper. While names have great power, they are but a tiny part of who we are. Tell me, why have you come here? Is it to seek power, or fame, or glory? Or maybe an honorable death? A test of strength, perhaps? “Honestly, I was just a bit curious,” I said. “How the hell did a temple for Terra –sorry, you’re the Greek version. It’s Gaia- get in a land of fucking horses?” I had something to do with it. I tilted my head in confusion, hoping she would catch the gesture and explain. You see, my mum, Demeter, got sick and tired of Hades wanting to play bondage with me, so she locked me in here and told me to wait. She never came, though, and eventually I just started to make walls around the treasure. It was a bit of fun, but then the Romans broke in. “I can see that,” I murmured. “But why are they zombies?” The voice tinged with a little embarrassment. Um… Well, you understand, right? It had been a couple hundred years, and I was, and still am, going through puberty, you know? Gods kind of have this tendency to drain the life of whatever they’re… doing, as it were. “Okay.” She seemed surprised by my answer. “I mean, I would have done the same thing in your situation, y’know? A bunch of big, strong Roman men, sitting there gullibly. They were probably sex-starved anyway, it only makes sense that you’d want to-” Stop it! Persephone whined. You’re making it worse! I snickered. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. But let’s get back on the topic that doesn’t involve sex. You said something about a treasure?” Oh, that’s right! Yes, great-auntie’s ring is in the center of the maze. I can lower the walls for you, but you’ll need to pay a price. Should have expected that. I was surprised I didn’t, in fact. “I’ll pay the price. What is it?” This. All of a sudden, chlorophyll-green motes of light began to converge on the spot in front of me. When the glow finally died, I beheld a girl that looked to be in her mid-teens; about my age, actually. Her long, chocolate hair fell down to around her thighs, while her bright green eyes looked up at me hopefully. She wore a white sundress decorated with roses, which showed off her rather modest features nicely. Her cream-colored skin was smooth, and held no traces of the average acne that a normal teen would get. I supposed there were perks to being a god, after all. Without warning, Persephone grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me in, kissing me. I felt some of the strength in my body leave me as her tongue darted around my mouth. I understand about the life-force-sucking thing now. She explored for a few seconds, then broke the kiss. “What… what was that for?” I asked, out of breath. Not that it was a bad thing; it was a good thing. A REALLY good thing. She tasted a lot like honey. The might have been a bit of strawberry in there too, along with just a hint of olive. “Are you kidding?” she chirped. “That was the first kiss I’ve given a cute boy like you in a good two thousand years! Besides, I like you. You’re nice and funny, even if you teased me about my… you know.” I resisted the urge to glance down and looked her straight in the eyes. I offered my arm, and she looped hers with it. “Shall we go, lady Persephone?” I asked in a posh manner. She giggled. “I do believe we shall.” It took only a few minutes to reach the middle of the temple. It probably would have only taken thirty seconds, but Persephone was spending a lot of time jumping around and generally enjoying having a body. I had to rap her on the head a few times in order to snap her out of it. “Come on, can’t you just wait for five more minutes?” she begged, pouting up at me. I fought off the weapons-grade adorable and shook my head. “Not when I’ve already waited for ten. Now come on, I wanna see this treasure that Gaia has.” “Fine.” She crossed her arms and huffed, though she was smiling. She led me to the center of the temple: a raised pedestal made of twisting wood. On said pedestal was a little gold cushion upon which sat a ring. It was wrought by what looked to be pure silver, while a sapphire was locked within the tendrils wrapping around it. “So, this is it?” I asked, picking it up. Persephone nodded. “The Anulus Veritas. It was made by my uncle Heph, but he didn’t like it and threw it away. It’ll hold all the magical power you need, and now you don’t need that sword to do magic.” “Really?” I asked, surprise flitting across my face. She nodded. “I’d better try this out, then. Aqua!” The ring lit up in blue, and a stream of water shot up like a geyser from the pedestal. I swung my hand around, and the water followed. I cancelled the spell, admiring the ring and allowing the water to fall to the floor with a splash. “This is pretty sweet. Thanks, Persephone,” I said. She absolutely beamed. After toying with the Anulus for a few more minutes, Persephone led me to the entrance of the temple. It was a lot bigger than I’d previously thought. It was almost as if it were bigger on the inside than on the outside. I could see faint vestiges of light coming from a crack in the door. “Well, this is it,” I said. “It was fun meeting you, Persephone.” “Be sure to drop by once in a while. I could help you with some… problems.” Her voice took a turn for the dirty as her sentence ended, and I decided that physical pleasure was not worth becoming a zombie. Even if it was from a goddess. “I’ll think on it,” I said, trying not to sound horrified by the idea. She winked and waved as I took off towards the clouds. Today’s checklist: Get a magical item from an ancient temple, find a semi-lustful goddess and learn that Nia’s afraid of the dark. Not a bad day today either. I think I’m getting good at this whole Chess-piece thing.