Hi! Sorry that it's been so long! I was under a lot of stress and discouraged from writing fanfiction with all of the information on the comic coming to light. Thank you everyone who's still interested in this and I'll try my best not to just disappear like that again. :3
I suggest going back and re-reading the book if you're still interested, and please do not point out differences from this to cannon, such as designs, names, plot, etc. Past chapters may be edited in the future.
Again, I am so sorry and forgive me for the excessive third person POV. Got carried away.

Song: The Great Unknown
Art by UnlimitedCrazy
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"For all our knowledge is lost to thy. Who is worthy will find the point where we keep all knowledge."
-Grayson, The Haunted, episode 8: Catacombs part 2
***

Third person point of view-

They walked down the stairwell, their only light source being Drake's bright eyes. A faint sound of running water bounced from the walls to their ears, streaming down the damp steps from melting snow up above. The ancient stone had cracks here and there, the atmosphere similar to both the catacombs and the hatchery a few of them had visited years ago. Drake could see perfectly within the blackness around them, even with the glow of his eyes. There was a sense of bliss from being in such dim light, a calmness that brawled with the worries inside of him. The darkness called, beckoning him to travel further into its gullet of mystery.

Grayson stayed next to Drake, Markus close behind the emperor to protect him from the mysterious creatures that may have lurked in the ominous pitch black. Cecile tried pushing past the three guards in front of him, eventually giving up and settled with staying behind them in frustration.

The uneasy tension lingering in the air grew more suffocating. Drake recognized this feeling; like the black magic that had struck them outside of the mountain, like those monsters; those demons that had attacked them. His hands shook, the feeling growing so intense that he no longer sensed the life forces of his friends. Eleanor and Cecil had also pointed this out, the royal Mage staying close to Grayson's side despite all the guards huddled by him.

"My lord," Cecile spoke eloquently before the emperor. "I apologize for not protecting you out there. It should have been I who was hurt instead of you."

Grayson lowered a brow. "Cecil, what are you talking about? Yes, I was hurt, but I'm glad that it was me rather than anyone else. Besides, nothing that happened was your fault and it was because of you with your talisman that we were able to escape!"

The boy smiled, a warmth in his cheeks burning against the cold air around them. His back straightened, feeling pride and proudness with Grayson's words. As long as Grayson was happy with him.

"Thank you, sire." Grayson simply smiled.

Grayson smiled to him before turning back to face what was ahead of them, instructing the group to stay cautious and alert. His right hand remained firm over the hilt of his sword, metal leg clicking here and there with each step that hit the stone beneath.

Drake held his arms across his chest, mumbling as the anxiety slowly built up. His eyes closed to calm down, everyone freaking out from a split moment without their light source, Drake apologizing, now mumbling instructions to himself to not blink.

Occasionally Drake would look behind himself just to be sure that all of his friends were still there; to ensure himself that he was not alone. Every time he turned around, a fear took over that would not disappear, that this was all a dream destined to become a nightmare. The sounds, while they provided minimal comfort, more so allowed a second wave of anxiety to rise within his being. His ears twitched with every sound from footsteps, to the water, to simple heavy breathing. Every time someone spoke up, mainly the archaeologists who found difficulties in containing their excitement, he jumped just a little bit. It was dreadful, this constant apprehension building up inside of him, growing so intense that he wished for death, until he allowed the darkness to calm him.

He gazed at his locket. They needed him, they needed to stay safe. He would not let some demon hurt them. Looking at their pictures helped him to relax, a sweet bliss from their smiling faces. The relaxation that his mind rarely had the pleasure to have caused him to lose focus on his footing.

He yelped as his foot slipped on a damp step, water running down like a stream. Both Grayson and Markus were quick to either grab his arm or cape to pull him back to steady ground. They warned him to be careful, Drake responding with an apology. A faint blush came to his cheeks as embarrassment planted it's seed, Grayson and Markus chucking.

Grayson noticed a liquid feeling on his hand that he had grabbed Drake with, a cold, sticky feeling. Drake's blood. Drake had healed himself after the incident involving those...demons, but the blonde was bothered by the question as to how those things could have harmed him. Perhaps it was because Herobrine was also a demon and only they could harm each other. His eyes averted to his blade, the Audrin 2.0 barely visible in the faint white light. Only others demons and the poisonous properties of witches blood.

Grayson looked back up, resisting to look at the others so he could watch where he stepped. "Find any torches as soon as you can. The magi can only light the way for a brief time to save mana. Speaking of which, Eleanor, the honor?"

The raven haired smiled in the darkness, a sudden purple light igniting around her hand, which momentarily caused everyone to stop and Jeremiah to nearly fall over before Mia caught him by the hood, laughing while he thanked her with cherry red cheeks.

They all fell into silence once more, continuing down the stairway that seem to stretch on for miles. This time, Drake felt a need to fill the void of silence before it drove his nerves. "So, what do you think we will find, treasure wise?"

Angie and Jeremiah spoke of their desires and hopes of what would be uncovered in the crypt. They spoke so cheerfully that Mia could not keep her thoughts contained and joined in.

"I hope there are more maps to the other lost crypts! Another journey!"

Drake shrugged. "I don't know about that. I don't really want to face those creatures again."

Jeremiah laughed. "Come on! You were amazing out there! Now that we know them a bit more, it should be easier to stop them next time."

Drake swallowed the lump in his throat. What was he thinking? Of course they would need to fight them again when they left this place. He did not want to...he did not want to feel like he was in a nightmare again, like everything he knew was a nightmare.

"I hope we find something helpful for our cause in the war." Grayson dragged him from his anxious thoughts. "Weaponry or something of the sorts. At least something that can get the monarchy a lot more marks for infantry."

The perky elf immediately replied with her jolly voice. "Gold, and Jewels! Maybe even artifacts that were actually used in the War of Minecraftia!"

He felt like someone had to grab her before she passed out. He and a couple others laughed, the hybrid's mood brightening as his thoughts were sent adrift from his eerie surroundings to his friends. Finding artifacts from the war would be interesting, although, which side would have used said artifacts? One of the five kingdoms? Herobrine's army? It did not take long for the anxious knot to twist his empty gut once more.

Another silence fell between them, Mia holding her arms as if she were cold, despite wearing such a heavy set of winter clothing.

"Do any of you guys suddenly feel...scared?"

"I do." Jeremiah replies, followed by Angie, Cecile and Samantha with similar responses.

Cecile continued with his thoughts. "I feel scared and...angry. I don't know why. It happened so suddenly, aimed at nothing."

Grayson nodded, a growl reverberating in the back of his throat. "I feel...angry too. It's not intense, more so a knot of irritation in my gut. Not just anger as well, I feel...lost, empty." His fist balled, desperately attempting to ignore the rising feeling.

"It's the black magic. The longer we stay in its presence, the more intense these feelings will be. Whoever built this place must have been able to counter the effects of it." Eleanor clarified.

Drake hesitated to speak but eventually he mustered up the will to state his feelings. "I feel all of that...anger, hopeless, fear... We need to find a way to counter these affects, soon."

Drake remembered the map, those words like a curse. For some reason they kept coming back to him in his anxious state. "He will rise..."

Their heads lifted to a light up ahead that began as a simple pinpoint, expanding the further down the team went. They exchanged whispers of awe, Mia and Jeremiah jumping with excitement, the negative emotions pushed aside for now. There emotions were still present but easy to push back at this stage.

Once they finally reached the end of the stairwell, they were greeted by a dark room only lit by the glowing stone embedded within the columns that stretched to the opposite end of the room.

The columns all connected, creating arches on the ceiling between all of them. Statues as all stood tall, seven to be exact that circled around the fountain in center on the room, water pouring from roof to floor, the base covered in elegant designs and fourteen gemstone, two of each of the seven colors.

Drake, Grayson, and Mia felt their eyes grow, a wave of dejavu washing over each of them. A chill ran down Drake's spine, cracking his neck involuntarily as he stared at the darkened water running down, large figures floating within the liquid. Drake could see flashes of images before his vision, losing grip on the present for a brief moment. The catacombs.

They approached the fountain slowly, Jeremiah suddenly screaming as he jumped back, horrified.

"There are people in there!"

Indeed, there was. Like at the catacombs, these people were frozen in time, bodies limp as if they had embraced their fates. Underneath it's liquid appearance, the water was more like ice within, trapping whatever entered; including the two people within who looked like warriors covered head to toe in armor, weapons that they had dropped that never touched the ground. Why would they do this to themselves? What were they trying to escape? How was it so wicked that they had locked themselves in time itself?

"It's like at the catacombs!" Mia remarked, lime eyes as bright as emeralds in the light of the sun. "They're frozen in time!"

For everyone, past the fascination, there was an eerie feeling about the frozen men in armor within the water. Eerie with a hint of dread that Mia somehow pushed past, at least for a moment or two.

"Why would they freeze themselves in time?" Drake finally brought up, eyes unable to rip away from the people as he examined them.

Grayson shrugged as he thought about the oddity, forming his own hypotheses. "The demons perhaps?"

Drake did not support nor turn down the theory, simply staring at the two men as he became lost in his own thoughts trying to make sense of it. Something about the answer did not settle with the hybrid despite its plausibility. Perhaps he was over thinking it and that was all the reason there was. Then again, when was he ever wrong?

Grayson inspected closer at the two human beings, seeing past the haze of the water. Grayson leaned in closer, eyes squinting to take in more detail blurred by the liquid. Their armor was dented, not a speck of rust despite being submerged in fluid. The metal still gleamed in the mystic lighting from the glowstone, gold on top of an shield of red and purple embedded on their chest plates. A gold dragon. Grayson nearly choked on his own breath.

"Those...Those insignias....The Order of Arcane!"

Drake and Mia were caught by surprise, others have faint to no knowledge of whom their emperor spoke of.

"The Order?" Markus spoke with his eloquent deep voice. "The men who protected the dragon egg a handful of years ago?" Grayson had told them the story. Most of his officials were aware of the former organization.

Grayson swallowed to clear his throat, giving a slow, weak nod as his eyes failed to break away from the frozen bodies. "Yes. Those are the ones. Why...why are they here? Why are they frozen like this?"

Dante shrugged, walking around the fountain to examine all angles of it and the people within. "Perhaps they were trying to escape the monsters on the island? Or this place could have been a base of theirs before those things arrived." He looked to the statues, unsettled by the eye sockets that sunk into their heads.

Dante examined one of the stone beings, words in Bulgarian written beneath it. The statue was taller than even Drake, each of the seven were taller than him. Some had more reptilian creatures on display while others appeared to have fur or both fur and scales. Some ranged from cute to straight up horrific. Each had a word written beneath it in that accursed language. Mia and Jeremiah both circled around each, marveling over their new discoveries, trying to figure out what they were, why they were here, how old they were, and so forth.

Mia looked to Drake and Grayson, noticing Drake holding his head. She placed a hand gently on his back to comfort him and assure him that everything would be okay and asking what was wrong. He shook his head, telling her if his recollection of the catacombs which this predicament reminded him of. He turned to the statues to get his mind off of it, focused on the odd diamond pattern in the sunken stone eye sockets.

"These are a bit off. It's as if we had to insert something into the places of the eyes."

Jeremiah focused on the odd inscriptions beneath the statues, unable to read them as they were in a different language which he assumed was of Bargelian. He called out to the others, pulling their focus towards the words engraved beneath each lifelike sculpture. His head turned to Angie and Samantha to his left, asking Angie to read it for him.

"All of these appear to be in Bargelian. I think they may help us is getting further into the crypt." Jeremiah turned to the bilingual trio. "Drake, Dante, Angie, you guys can read these, no?"

Angie, filled with excitement, pumped her fist in the air with a loud "Of course", before wrapping her arm around Dante, nearly choking him. "We would not have gotten here if we couldn't."

She let go of her companion, him breaking away with a gasp and low mumble as he rubbed his neck. The three, Angie, Drake, and Dante, split apart to read their own sections of the statue inscriptions. The three struggled for a few moments, none of them professionals at speaking this ancient language, but well enough to figure it out close to one another a minute or so into their

study. Drake only understood a few letters I,E,R,H,A, allowing his brain to fill in the rest according to what he knew.

"I believe this one says pride...and this one says...wrath." Drake cleared his throat, a tight feeling in chest with anxieties dancing in his skull. If he was correct, he knew how this cycle was going to play out in the next few seconds.

"These two say..." Angie pieced them together. "Sloth and lust..." Her eyes lifted to meet with the group, uneasiness settling within her gut, knowing what was on Dante's side of the circle.

"The seven deadly sins." Dante stepped back, with words breathy. "Lust, sloth, pride, wrath, greed, gluttony, and envy."

The hybrid stepped closer to the stone carvings, though anxious, he knew that he needed to get closer. He kept imaging it reaching out to grab his neck or plunge its elongated fingers into his chest. Not like it mattered. His gaze settled upon the empty eye sockets, adding to the unsettling factor for the others, besides Mia and Jeremiah who were in wonder, and more intrigue for himself. The way it was shaped, eight sides coming to a single point within the skull. Like diamonds.

"Perhaps we have to put these gems into the eyes! If we do it right, we may be able to get further into the crypt."

The group went around, Drake, grabbing purple, Grayson taking red, Mia taking yellow, Dante claiming green, Jeremiah taking light blue, Samantha taking sapphire, and Angie taking orange. They looked to the lifeless stone, Jeremiah asking how they would know which gem goes to which statue.

"There appears to be two of each color," Mia points out. "Pride is often associated with purple and violet, so Drake, put your gems into the pride statue. Red goes with wrath."

Drake nodded, telling Grayson to insert the gemstones into the statue to the left of his own. The emperor did so, stretching his toes to reach it, fingertips barely able to push them in with the height of the stone structures. Drake placed his in first, the gems glowing in purple light, then the red stone bathed in crimson light as they were pushed into place.

"I think it worked!" Jeremiah stated with a wide smile across his cheeks.

"So we match up the correct colors?" Markus taking in what needed to be done. "Isn't orange for gluttony? And...yellow for greed I believe."

Dante instructed Angie and Mia where to place their gems. They stepped up to their respective stone carving, ready to set them into position. Mia squealed from the excitement within her, begging to burst forth. She jumped happily on the tips of her toes, reaching up to place in the glittering yellow gems, only to frown as she stretched and stretched, only able to reach up to the statues neck. Her plush lips pouted until a royal guard, Kyle, lifted her up with a grunt so she could reach. The elf blushed for needing the assistance, placing in the gemstones, crossing her arms over her chest with a "hmph" as she was set back to her feet, Kyle giggling as he took a couple steps back.

Drake, being one of the few who could actually reach the eyes of the structures, assisted Angie in placing the orange gems in their pace, the girl gasping in awe as amber glow ignited behind the gems like gorgeous flame. She asked what next, Dante stretching up to place in the green stones.

"Green for envy...I believe sapphire belongs with lust." He pointed to the stature of a slim creature, brod head to toe, settled next to Pride. "Samantha, put the gemstones into that one."

The archeologist did as told, letting out a sigh of relief as a blue glow ignited behind the gems. Now all that was left was sloth. Drake found himself pacing, Grayson became frustrated, urging them to move faster, Angie snapping that they were going as fast as they could. The guards, Markus, Victor, and Kyle heightened their alert. It was obvious that tension was growing despite that the team knew of what to do. They felt entangled by an invisible force, strangled by rising emotions that they tried to hold inside.

"That leaves light blue for sloth." Jeremiah said, reaching to place in the cyan gemstones into the second widest statue, which was sitting making it easier to reach.

Mia smiled, gasping in awe over the bright rainbow lights reflected from the gems to the fountain water. It was gorgeous. There was a moment of stillness, a moment in time where it was eerily quiet, a fear jolting to each person in the room that they had missed something or had done the puzzle wrong. Samantha opened her mouth to comment, only for her lips to seal themselves as a quiver ran through her already anxious body.

The room gently shook with a growing sound of moving stone. As the rainbow lights from the statues dimmed for darkness to slither forth, another light source emerged from the opposite end of the chamber from the entrance way.

"That was...suspiciously simple." Dante mumbled as nearly everyone else rejoiced in their accomplishment, however short lived that joy was.

Drake knew that he was right, however he was quick to find a rational explanation as to why this was the case. He could feel it, everyone could. A soft growl reverberated in his throat, slipping his hand into his pocket to hide the white glow that his inflamed anxiety would not allow him to extinguish.

"I do not think that test was meant to be complicated..."

"Why so?" Cecile questioned, trying to stay close to Grayson as if he were one of his guards. "If I were to make a crypt, I would make it challenging for others to get through."

He noticed that Drake's fingers were fidgety and how he was trying to hide their faint glow by either grabbing them or slipping them into his pockets. His shoulders would lurch slightly, just enough to be noticeable as if he was trying to hold back violent episodes of twitching.

They left the chamber, entering a stone hallway that allowed their voices to bounce off the walls and back. Torches ignited as they passed by, leaving some feeling awe stricken while others found it unsettling.

"The room was meant to be time consuming. It was filled with black magic and even now I can feel that darkness through this hall." Drake looked down, forcing himself to breathe in and out to control his anxiety and anger. "If we don't make it out of this soon, I doubt any of us will be sane by then of it."

"Oh..." Cecile cleared his throat, chest suddenly filled with pressure. He turned away from Drake, still glancing to him out of the corner of his eyes.

He watched Drake's ender ear twitch, his eyes flickering with obvious frustration he was holding back. He thought of how this dark magic consuming them could drive them all insane. How long would they be able to last?

"How could there be black magic down here? Would it be from the demons up above?"

Drake scratched the back of his head, momentarily forgetting about the energy swirling uncontrollably around his gloved fingers. "Well..." Fear welded up inside of him the more he thought about it, with the more he began to realize. "Necromancers are able to harness the abilities of black magic and remain unaffected. That's the only way someone would be able to build this place given that it was built with it or added on to. It is possible that the demons had something to do with it I suppose, but..."

Kyle looked over his shoulder, lowering a brow shrouded by his iron helmet. "But?"

Drake found a moment of hesitation, ignoring the laughter and sounds of screams echoing in his ears. "From my research and experience, if my first hypothesis is true, cultists are the only ones capable of necromancy and with the map...well..."

Grayson growled, not wanting Drake to clutter his thoughts with ones about the cultists or Herobrine. His heart was already pounding seeing the light around his hands, his chest already sore from bottled frustration. He cleared his throat loudly, the sound echoing off of the closed in walls, momentarily dragging the demigod away from growing uneasiness.

Cecile glanced back to Drake's magic as he held his hands to his sides. It did not take long for the subject to remerge, the young magi allowing his need for answers to take hold. "But this is a lost crypt, why or how would a cultist build this place?"

The hybrid remained quiet this time around, slowing his pace as he bit into his lip and repeatedly pinched his hands to repress his abilities despite feeling no pain. Cecile could tell

that he was struggling to control himself. He knew that Drake still had not yet had full control over his abilities and was forcing his will over his power to keep himself from losing control over them. The blonde went quiet, looking to Grayson whom also took in Drake's odd behavior.

"Up ahead!! I think it's another room!" Mia called out with enthusiasm.

Drake's ear flinched as he heard a click then a sound he often heard on battlefields to a smaller degree; the sound of a projectile slicing through air. Before they knew it, Markus was struck, his chest plate hit by an object that shattered upon impact with the iron of his chest plate. A red liquid ran down the glint of his dented armor, pieces of a glowing cyan dart made of mostly energy scattered across the floor before vanishing into thin air. All that was left was a thin needle that gleamed of violet. The guard looked to the liquid running down his unpenetrated armor, knowing the liquid was not his blood. There was only one other option. Poison.

"Duck for cover!"

Cecile held up his arms, forming a light blue shield around the group as fast as he could. Mia flinched when one dart managed to make it through just before their protection was up, nearly missing her and Samantha's heads. The shield vibrated slightly as the darts hit, sounding like hail against glass. The elf searched on the floor for anything that could have activated this trap.

"How are these being activated? There are no pressure plates."

Angie, with her shoulders pulled closer to her neck, suggested "possibly by magic. We could have set off an invisible trigger of sorts."

"Cecile, keep up the shield." Grayson ordered, pushing against the dome as he instructed everyone to move forward.

They flinched here and there as the darts continued their onslaught, bouncing off of the magic to be pushed against the walls.

Cecile panicked, the hallway stretching on into blackness, no source of the attack in sight. The mage growled out a mumble, asking when the attack would finally come to an end. Drake growled at the persistence of the weapons as well, knowing that based on the position that the darts were being fired, there was no possible way that there could be this amount, unless the wall had a magic infusion, recoiling the energy from said darts, then firing once more in a never ending cycle. In that instance, then they had to seal off the wall. His brows furrowed, standing straight, head touching the top of the energy dome.

His glowing eyes darted to Grayson and Cecile. "There should not be this many." His lip twitched, momentarily exposing sharp teeth. "I could teleport ahead and see what's going on. There's darts should not be able to hurt me so I'll be fine."

Grayson looked with hesitation in his eyes, however he had faith in his friend. Besides, nothing could hurt him physically any longer. He gave a slow nod, clearing his throat. "Go."

"Watch out, master Drake." Markus warned. "There appears to be poison in them."

Drake gave a nod, assuring him that he would be fine. With that, the hybrid vanished in a burst of light as he teleported away, leaving his friends behind to deal with the projectiles.

As the world stopped swirling, coming back into view with haste, Drake looked around the dark room that his eyes immediately adjusted to. Before him was a wall littered in holes, glowing in blue as they released darts in an unorganized manor, firing at random from different slots. The second his body fully formed within the material plain once more, he was hit by an expeditious feeling, a feeling that instantly crawled and dug into his skin. This could not be possible...

The demigod collapsed backwards, pulling his face to his knees in a fetal position, shielding his eyes as the darts that continually pierced his crus and feet. Despite shutting his eyes, something about this feeling put him at ease; pain, and yet, he wanted it to stop. A flurry of mixed emotions sparked in his brain, soon realizing that his hesitation was putting the lives of his friends in danger.

As he laid there taking the hits, he looked up past the blue lights zipping by, getting a glimpse of the wall. He could not destroy it otherwise the entire foundation of the room could collapse and he could not teleport his friends out of this unless he knew what was beyond the door to his left, but he would not risk a dark to his bad eye.

His arm sprung up, putting a plan into action almost immediately after it was formed in his head. The darkness is momentarily extinguished by his light.

Cecile pushed forward with the shield, getting everyone to walk along with him at a steady pace, not wanting anyone to trip if they ran. Spider web like cracks began to form in the field around them, breaking slowly like glass as darts struck the same areas on repeat.

"Come on!" Cecile screamed in frustration, the group tripping and forced along as they jogged under the cover of his energy shield, darts flying through the air and ricocheting off of the shield, the onslaught appearing to be never ending. "Where is Drake?"

There was a flash of light at the end of the hallway, a quake rumbling beneath their feet. They turned their heads and shut their eyes until they turned back, blinking to adjust to the dark once more. The darts suddenly began to hit their defense at a less common rate until there appeared to be no more. The royals and magi lifted their heads, wondering if it was just the end of it or if Drake had stopped it. What if they would be attacked once again out of the blue when they allowed their guards to be lowered? Cecile kept up his defense for another moment or two in order to ensure that a second wave would not approach, keeping himself wherry and prepared in case that were to happen once he finally allowed his shield to go down.

The team jumped as Drake suddenly appeared before them in a minor burst of white light, growling. Their eyes traveled up and down to take in his appearance, shocked by the sight of his body littered with poisonous darts. He pulled one out from his neck, Grayson and Mia surprised to see Drake's blood after so long of him being uninjurable. The poised tip of the dart gleamed a familiar shade purple with a red and golden glaze. Grayson's eyelids lifted in shock.

"God...Drake, are you okay?!" Grayson stepped forward, worried with horror in the emerald hue of his eyes, watching Drake pull the darts out from his upper body, a dead look in blank eyes.

"I stopped the darts. We should be okay for now."

"Well..." Jeremiah starred, uneasy. "At least you stopped the darts."

Drake looked down to one of the darts, twirling it between his fingers. The same material as Grayson's sword as its pointed tip and a small chamber of magic energy filled with red liquid. "Manulyian? Who would make darts out of that?"

"Manulyian? What's that?" Angie asks, confused.

Drake removed the last few, not looking his companions dead on. "It is a metal, the only material that was capable of hurting Herobrine... and in turn the only thing that could hurt me."

Grayson's lowered his brows in thought, sucking in air as a possibility came to mind. He turned on his heels to face Markus, eyes averting to the liquid running down his damaged chest plate. He took in the darkened scarlet coloration mixed with blotches of green with near blackened clots. He recognized the coloration and thickness immediately.

"It's not poison...its witches blood." He swiftly turned back to Drake, his breathing turning harsh. "Drake, this could kill you!"

The hybrid had no care in his expression, only continuing to rip the darts from his body, clothing left with holes scattered about. "I'm fine, Grayson. It's nothing that I can't handle. Besides...it didn't kill Herobrine, did it?" He growled the demons name. Grayson stood with his mouth agape, at a loss of words.

Drake dropped the last dart, turning around without saying another word. Grayson turned to Mia, both not wanting to talk of Drake literally behind his back, but they both knew what the other was thinking; why were the darts made with the specific materials that could hurt a god?

They approached the bright light that now illuminated the room and the beginning of the hallway from it, the group gasping in awe for yet another time that day. From top to bottom the entire wall was masked over with bright energy, a dominant white with hints of purple and blue swirling around like the rainbow hues in a bubble. Drake's power.

"Let's find a lever or a button to open this door." Grayson ordered. "We can't let the magi nor Drake waste too much energy. We have to move fast."

He looked to the wall then to Drake for a brief moment, wondering how long it would take for his power to be tapped out, especially with witches blood lingering in his veins. For once he was glad that Drake's heart did not beat otherwise the toxins would travel faster throughout his body. A part of the emperor felt cruel from thinking of his friends misfortunes in such a light. He shook his head and shifted focus back to finding a way to open the door before Drake's abilities gave out.

"I found a lever!" Dante called out to grab the others attention, a small lever hidden in the far right corner, covered partially by Drake's shield. He asked Drake to move that part of the shield so he could reach, Drake doing so but not enough for any darts to slip through.

Dante's gloved fingers wrapped around metal of the lever, pulling with a loud cranking sound echoing against the wall. As the door lifted into the ceiling Mia was the first to stare down into the dark hallway, Jeremiah behind her.

Jeremiah cleared his throat. "A dark stairwell. My favorite." It was difficult to tell if he was being ironic, turning for the guards to head in first, followed by Grayson and Drake before they then entered.

Dante's cheeks lifted with a faint smile, one hiding his nervousness. "That was easy."

The group entered into the next chamber, staring down into a black abyss, however if you looked closer, it was obvious that the distant floor was littered in spikes. They remained huddled on the platform, another far less stable platform in the center of the room and the door to the next puzzle on the other side.

The central platform was balanced the middle like a scale. If one side had too much weight, they would slip into the death trap below.

"What is this?" Mia said, peering over to gaze into the darkness, a shiver running up her spine. "We have to cross? How?"

"It seems that we need to balance on that platform in order to get to the other side." Grayson concluded.

Markus turned to Grayson, gesturing to Kyle and Victor. "We should head out first. Our armor will make us heavier, making it unsafe if we head with any of you."

Th group looked among one another, unsure. Grayson asked the magi if they could levitate the others back up onto the platform if they fell or could simply levitate them across. Eleanor shrugged.

"If we levitate everyone, we may not have enough mana for the next chamber, however I do think we could help two or three of us if we fall."

Drake nodded. "I can levitate myself as well, though not very well. I can teleport across too. No need to worry about me."

Grayson mumbled, pointing out how his body was filled with needle punctures, complaining that he always needed to be worried about; that he no longer could be trusted to take care of himself like he could in the good only days. Drake growled with his teeth bared.

"Guys, what's wrong with you two? You never fight." Mia's eyes grew tearful, not liking to see this unusual spite. They were like father and son; best friends. They should not have been fighting.

Drake rubbed his head, a small pressure as voices grew, illegible but he felt that growing anger gnawing at his chest. For a split moment, he could see glowing eyes on the other side. The two simply growled and went quiet.

"We're wasting time. Guards, go along. We got you covered." Drake assured.

Markus nodded before turning, steadily shuffling into the platform, struggling to keep balance. The stone platform lowered in the direction of his weight, his feet slipping, nearly falling if not for his swift steps to the center. He stood there for a moment with arms extended outward, waiting for the platform to regain its horizontal stability.

"Victor, come across slowly." He instructed, slowly moving over as Victor placed a foot on the platform.

As Victor moved to the center, Markus jumped across to the other side, the platform losing balance until Victor slid himself to the middle. The process repeated as Kyle leapt across, stabilizing himself in the center, looking over his shoulder to the emperor and his subjects.

"Alight. Lord Grayson and Cecile, you two come next. You two together should even out with the weight of my armor."

Drake looked over the edge, unsettled to see the spikes covered in blood with the bodies of his friends pierced with blade tip stone. He closed his eyes, opening them again to see only the black and dull gray colors. It is okay...no one is dead...not yet.

Grayson walked on first, Kyle moving to the other side. Cecile stepped on, stumbling to gain balance as the platform shifted from the uneven weight distribution. As the platform evened out, he took an unconscious step forward, stumbling closer to the guard as it suddenly lurched upwards, forcing him and Grayson further onto the platform then what was required. Kyle let out a muffled scream as he lost his footing, slipping into the pit.

Drake and Eleanor quickly sprung into action, extending their arms with coursing magic to ensnare the guard in their spell to save his life. They lift him up and lowered him safely to the other side, Cecile jumping across and sputtering apologizes in tears. Kyle laughed and assured that it was fine and he was okay.

Drake teleports across to the other side, checking to be sure that he and Eleanor had got to him in time. Kyle smiled with a giggle.

"I'm fine, Master Drake. Thank you."

Cecile looked into Drake's eyes, noticing that something about them was different than usual. They were more dim in their glow, leaving his glossy eyes more visible. It was almost scary considering how deathly his eyes coloration appeared, clouded and faint. He assumed that it was from the witches blood in the darts.

Dante crossed after Grayson, Angie crossing next, slow and steady.

"Drake, are you okay?" Cecile asked, flinching when Drake snapped.

"I'm fine! Why does everyone keep asking me that?!"

Grayson suddenly barked, his irrational anger suddenly exploding. "Maybe it's because you lie all the time! You say you're fine but everyone can see that something is wrong with you! Why can't you f**king talk to us? Quite hiding everything from us! Just move on!"

Drake's eyes glowed brighter, stepping forward with the light burning hotter around his hands. "You're telling me to move on?! What about you?! Your family, did you just forget about them? Don't tell me to move on! Don't tell me to stop hiding my problems, hypocrite!"

"Stop it!" Mia screamed, unable to stand her friend senseless fight. Everyone went silent, staring at the elf on the other side of the room standing with Eleanor, Samantha, and Cecile. "What's gotten into you two? You two should both understand each other more than anyone! Just stop fighting, please!"

There was quiet for only a moment as they took in the individual outbursts. Drake grunted and turned away from Grayson with a scowl. "Don't tell me to not hide my secrets. You've hid stuff from me. Maybe if you didn't, thousands of people would still be alive." Drake gave a low growl, his voice low yet hateful, his glowing fist clenched.

Eleanor thought up a rational explanation. "It's the black magic. It amplifies negative emotions to the point where victims lash out, and given that Drake and emperor Grayson have the most...troubled mindsets, it's getting to them quicker than the rest of us. However, I didn't know that you two had any...spite for one another."

The two boys simply growled, more so in annoyance with her calling them troubled rather than with one another. Cecile and Samantha crossed together, followed by Eleanor and Mia. Meanwhile on the other side, the emperor and his commander exchanged glares, Grayson huffing and Drake growling with closed eyes, not at Grayson but at himself. Out of habit, he placed a hand over his left eye, as if it would shield him from a hallucination that he felt coming on. He could see Grayson covered in blood, a sick smile on his face but he knew that it was just in his head. He shook it off and turned back to his friend.

"She's right..." He trailed off, the angered look fleeting from Grayson's eyes, more so taken over by annoyance at their current situation. "We can't be fighting now...given that, we've always helped each other...I'm sorry. Besides, if you are a hypocrite, that makes me one too."

The anger finally faded from Grayson's expression, a sliver of a smile on his cheeks. For Drake, however, it was easier to say than to do. He continued to feel that boiling anger riled inside of him, as did Grayson but he was more fit to resist. Those voices in his head pestered him to persistent in attacking his friend, but he knew to ignore it, no matter how obnoxious or loud...or how tempting it was.

"Let's get going. Quickly now." He said as he helped Mia across, turning around and pushing past the others to lead them to the next chamber.

"..." Mia stayed quiet as they walked along, her own thoughts filling in the writhing silence. "I wonder if they are okay. I have never really seen them act like this, other than when Herobrine was messing with Drake's head. I know that Drake has hidden stuff in the past...but what can he be hiding now to get Grayson so p**sed?"

Dante pressed a button at the end of the room, the door rising to reveal an empty dark room. They entered slowly, weapons and magic prepared in case anything were to attack out of the pitch black. Drake's eyes and the magic from the magi lit the room as they walked to the center, seeing that the chamber was long. Immediately the elf and humans felt sweat in their pores, blasted with a wave of heat.

Angie gazed around, confused. "Perhaps there is a secret somewhere in here?"

Mia wondered near the entrance, finding something standing out against the flat wall. Her ears lifted as her eyes lit up, letting out a breath of air. "There's a button over here!"

The others turned her attention towards, Samantha questioning why the button was close to the entrance, the anxiety bringing pain to her chest as if she were out of breath.

Drake's ear twitched. "It's oddly warm in here. The other rooms were cold..."

The elf warned that she was going to push it, the magi already preparing spells for whatever was bound to happen. Her finger pushed the stone button into the wall, a faint click echoing into her long ears. She jumped as dark orange light began to glow from the walls, small doors opening up to reveal four passages on each side, each a few feet from the ground, about two square feet wide each and evenly spaced from one another.

Each person in the group took a step back as a brownish red substance slowly poured from the passages like molasse oozing down, igniting in its own flame. The temperature in the room immediately became unbearable, every mortal feeling as if their skin was melting off their muscles and bone.

"Lava..." Dante gasped, dark skin glistening in sweat.

Grayson's coat was already smoking, on the verge of bursting into flame. With the flames of the lava, the chamber was lit by a dim light, revealing a picture and inscription on the other side of the room.

Cecile sprinted for it, the heat already causing his head to spin and fill his vision with purple spots, threatening to make them each pass out.

Upon the wall was a massive carving of a bird with its wings extended to their full length, it's feathers in magnificent detail with what appeared to be fire rising from its body. A Phoenix.

Unlike with the first puzzle, the words above were in the magi language rather than Bargelian. He had no time to really think of the oddity.

"I can be black as night or white like heaven's palace

To the sky I will sore as the earth burns in malice

When h**l consumes the soil and all life will flee

Only the flames and I will be all that will be."

"I know this sounds weird but doesn't it sound familiar? What He was doing to our world, how he killed almost every living being leaving nothing but chaos?" Dante says with his voice high, panic struck.

"It does sound like Herobrine..." Drake mumbled, twitching at the name slipping past his lips. His gaze averted to the inscription, recalling back to the hatchery with a similar puzzle.

"No...That can't be right. There's nothing to impute the answer with. In that case, the answer has to be something in this room."

"What if he's right?"

Drake turned around, watching as everyone backed away from the lava with sheer fear in their expressions. They coughed, and wheezed, and gasped for breath as the area filled with dark grey. Their backs pressed against one another, on the verge of collapse with quivering legs screaming to give out. Eleanor attempted to freeze the approaching lava with a high class spell, but with every attempt the ice melted, occasionally forming obsidian which the lava would flow around them over.

"I will rise...fire and I...something that corresponds with fire."

Cecile's eyes grew in realization. "Smoke! Smoke corresponds with fire! It rises, I will wise."

Drake and Cecil inched back towards the group as the lava slowly sealed them in, pieces of clothing spontaneously bursting into flame, mainly Grayson and the guards capes that they desperately patted out. Soles of shoes melted and stuck to the floor, holding feet in place with a tight grip. In almost no time, skin went red and blistered, sweat making the pain more excruciating as it slithered along wounds.

Drake's eyes moved upward, following the rising smoke, spotting an smoke duct, rows of small openings carved in the stone to release the smoke into an area above. The light from the lava did not reflect from any vent that it may have connected to, making it appear that the environment above was wider than needed.

"Cover your heads!" Drake warned, the light on his hands approaching the point of blinding.

Past the panic, the listened, even the reluctant Dante. Drake put his arm in the air and released a massive amount of energy, the room struck with a violent tremor with stone large and small falling from where Drake's attack had made impact. Grayson grabs Samantha to prevent her from falling, screaming suddenly breaking out as the lava burned Jeremiah's skin, pushing Angie back to keep her from the same fate. His prosthetic was slowly melting, the metal dripping to the floor and wood combusting.

With a hole now in the ceiling, Drake placed his focus upon it, imaging his body standing above the ceiling, looking down on his friends. As his body became surrounded in light and ender particles, he grabbed Cecile and Mia, the two closest to him, and teleported the them to safety.

"We need to hurry!" Cecile pulled Grayson up with a levitation spell, Drake teleporting down and grabbing Markus and Angie.

Cecile pulled up Samantha, Eleanor lifting up Jeremiah who stomped out his boots that had started on fire, feet blistered and in so much pain that he collapsed the moment he was free from the chamber, face in tears. He was not the only one however, Victor's own armor melted and burned his skin by his legs and feet, he too no longer able to stand as Drake teleported him and Kyle up. Eleanor levitated up Dante, screaming as the lava burned her legs, Drake catching her just before she passed out into the flames. Cecile swiftly grabbed Dante before the magic faded and he plunged to his fiery death.

Drake felt no pain despite his feet and ankles being only inches away from the lava, metal on his shoes melted and the bottom of his pants in flames, along with Eleanor's. He quickly teleported both of them out before the lava ate up what remained visible of the floor.

Drake rested her unconscious body down away from the others, ignoring how drained her life force had become, how the skin on her lower legs and feet had become charred black and bleeding red. He put all of focus into healing her wounds, watching and waiting for her eyes to open as her injuries were enveloped in white light.

Everyone felt relief as their friend opened her eyes, groaning as she asked what had happened. Drake helped her up, Mia immediately hugging her despite that the two did not know one another too well. The mage laughed and hugged back, a smile almost appearing on Drake's face, a little twitch taking its place.

The team rested as Drake went around and healed his friends burns, hissing, and flinching and complaining from the burning pain his healing ability caused, only bringing immense comfort a minute or so after they were healed. Grayson was the only one laughing at this fact. Dante was reluctant but eventually allowed Drake to heal him. Dante bit his lip, smacking the ground with his fist from the pain. Afterward he sat there, watching Drake get up and make his way to Grayson, asking about his prosthetic leg.

"Do you think you could still walk with that?"

Grayson cleared his throat and coughed, lungs still irritated by the smoke that lingered in the hot air. He said noting before standing to his feet, Drake helping him stay upright before he allowed his arms to hover and his friend to stand on his own. Grayson took a few steps forward, stumbling but soon giving a weak nod.

"I think I will be okay. How is everyone else?" He asked, looking around at the others, swaying and stumbling on his feet.

"Yes...I think we are okay..." Angie pants, looking around to her friends, seeing a few of them mumbling that they were fine, or simply nodding.

"Good." Grayson dusted himself off, wiping away sweat drizzling down his forehead.

Despite being healed, they needed to rest and recover from the heat, still burning like a fever. Drake sat beside Grayson and Kyle, looking down at his hand that a glow lingered around, flickering. Grayson asked him what was on his mind, noticing that thousand yard stare. Drake hesitated but explained what was on his mind. What if what Dante had said was right? What if that poem had a double meaning? What if it was talking about Herobrine and if that were a case, what were they digging themselves into?

Grayson took in a breath, releasing it slowly. "I don't know if that's true, but don't let it get to you. No matter what, we're going home together and we're putting and end to the cult and digging that devil's name into the mud."

Drake did not say anything, snuffing out the energy on his hand before he picked himself up to stand on his feet. Grayson followed suit, then the others.

"Where to next, Dante?" Grayson tried looking over Dante's shoulder, the archeologist stepping away from him for personal space.

Dante stutters before turning to Grayson. "This...this way." His finger pointed northbound. "There's a large area but no other hallways. It may be the ending or lead to a staircase."

Mia and Jeremiah run ahead, laughing in excitement to see what was next. Grayson walked with a limp, everyone else with their feet pressing against the stone floor as the bottom of their shoes had melted, the metal cleaned from the bottom of the guards formerly armored feet. As they went ahead, Drake pressed his fingers into his arm, clawing at himself despite feeling no pain from the action. However with the witches blood in his system, he felt a bit sick to his empty stomach, nauseous and jittery, though he did not know if it was because of the toxic blood or his anxiety. His eyes continued to dart around as he mumbled, clawing at his body.

Angie starred at him out of the corner of her eyes, noticing his bizarre actions. She pushed her way over to Grayson and whispered, not wanting Drake to be upset with her mentioning him.

Mia and Jeremiah slowed down as their footsteps echoed more, approaching the end of the corridor into yet another room. They relish the cool air against their skin, singing praise to be free of the inferno they were preciously, their skin still red in certain areas, the near experience not stopping their curiosity and excitement for what laid ahead.

They gasped in awe, the ceiling stretching like a dome above their heads, realistic statuary of grotesque creatures standing all around. Like a cathedral, every inch of the ceiling was covered in extravagant paintings.

The images depicted a brutal war, people and monsters fighting amongst one another, dragons flying through the air and three beings painted with stretched out arms, one a female with long flowing brunette hair, her eyes blue, the other a man in a helmet with a thick beard, eyes golden, and the third surrounding by imagery of destruction and death, Herobrine drawn in the vessel of Collin with a creature of all black and dark horns standing behind him; the demons true form. Tying it all together, the center of the ceiling depicted the appearance of a clock with Roman numerals, a massive crack slicing through it.

"Wow..." Dante basked as he looked up, taking by astonishment of the paintings beauty and depictions.

They all looked around, heads turning in wonder and curiosity. Attention was immediately pulled towards the imagery of Herobrine, surrounded by battles and humans bowing to his likeness. Two diamonds floated above his head, the third only broken shards within his hand. Drake felt a growl reverberate against the back of his throat. He clawed at his arm, ignoring the semi-transparent likeness of Herobrine standing next to him.

"Wonderful isn't it?" Then, just like that, he was gone.

Drake turned, now seeing Grayson by his side, placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him despite their lasting annoyance with one another from earlier. Drake gently pushed his hand away and turned his attention back to the paintings surrounding them, looking to the other two people painted beside his nightmare.

"This is amazing!" Mia could not help herself, zipping around the room like a hungry cheetah to examine the art. "Look at the details!"

"That's definitely Him," Jeremiah stated, turning around to face the others. "But who are the other two?"

Eleanor spoke as she examined the female depiction, surrounded by imagery of dragons and presumably magi based on the color streaks and blotches resembling flowing magic, along with books and angels connecting her to the other figure. She wore a long white dress with long brunette hair cascading along her back, eyes partially closed.

"I think this is supposed to be the magic goddess." Samantha declared, pointing out the connections to magic.

"Then who is this?" Kyle pointed up to the last figure, his head and the top halves of his golden eyes covered in a light blue helmet with a purple mixture, covered in armor with a long brown beard, holding a golden cross to his chest with a purple gem in the center, angel wings and light protruding from his back, sounded by angels with four darkened figures standing before him, no details added to their forms.

"Drake," Grayson called, staring at the unidentifiable man. "That cross he's holding. Does it not look familiar?"

The hybrid stood tall and examined it. It only took a second for the flashbacks to kick in, remembering when they had first crossed into this time and found Ironmere, remembering Armen in that shining armor and holding the very same item in his hands.

"The Cross of Mercy."

"Does that mean that this is showing the war of Minecraftia?" Angie said, taking in details of objects spread about that she and and the majority of the others did not recognize.

She continued. "The monsters, the gore, humans fighting...Him...it seems an awful lot like it."

Grayson examined the odd pictures as well, hit by a wave of shock upon seeing objects and weapons that he had not seen in well over a decade and a half.

"Drake...there's technology from our time in here."

The others were left further confused, all with the exemption of Mia, having not known their emperor and commander's story of being from the past.

Drake looked around, and indeed there was. Behind the man with the cross were jets and tanks. Drake had trouble believing his own eyes.

"Like beneath the Red Keep. How is that possible?"

Mia spoke up, looking around the ceiling. Her attention turned to Grayson and Drake. "I didn't think there was advanced technology in the war."

Drake's vision blurs here and there. Grayson was at a loss of what to say nor think. This was mind boggling. "Apparently we were wrong."

Grayson's eyes traveled to Drake, catching the hybrid swaying out of the corner of his eye. "Drake, are you feeling okay? I know that you don't like me asking, but..."

"I'm fine." Drake growled with his Enderman ear dropping, appearing to be having a troublesome time with staying upright on his feet.

Grayson felt an uneasiness churning in his chest. Something was off with him, not just because of the magic getting to their heads.

Suddenly, the exits were covered in light blue light with a mixture of purple and blue, almost the same mixture of color as Drake's power, only more blue than white. The group shook in their feet, nearly as the ground rumbled, cracks in the foundation spreading like silky webs beneath their feet. The stone began to fall into the ominous void below, the crevices reaching out to the group.

"Look out!" Drake called out, casting a shield around them to protect everyone as they began to plummet into the darkness below.

At first, the darkness filled with screams of terror, the ground quickly noticed the lack of air rushing against their bodies from the shield. Eleanor quickly cast a spell to slow their fall, everyone gaining the courage to open their eyes from the lack of pressure from the fall. The non-magi were surprised to find that they were floating mid-air, slowly descending into the ominous pit as Eleanor levitated them down to safety.

"Why did the floor just break?!" Jeremiah yelled, his heart pounding from adrenaline.

The falling rocks from the floor now above them began to levitate back upwards, shifting back into place and repairing its own foundation, trapping the group below.

"I suppose we were either supposed to levitate down like we are now or fall without dying, which is unlikely. The next puzzle must be beneath us." Drake attempts to explain.

The dread once again set in, a fear of the impending unknown.

...

Lalea's point of view-

I was down in the basement, my original intention being to dust, however I got caught up in messing with the artifacts we had stored. At first it was playful, I would look through books and use simple, nondestructive spells, like creating miniature northern lights or spells I thought would interest Landen.

Then, the further I dug into shelves, the more...alarming the artifacts had become. Drake came down to the basement more than anyone and usually he would be the one to tend to it when he returned home from his job. I began to question his trustworthiness with what I had found.

There were small jars of blood and a single blade of purple and gold. My stomach twisted. I recalled back in the day when Drake would use this to collect his own blood to make sigils to protect himself from evils that were not truly there. I thought he was not doing that anymore...it was worse when I found and old clipboard, papers with an unmistakable hardened stain of blood and his handwriting on the multiple pages. The first one was dated over one week ago.

"Interrogation log XXXX-

Subject resilient to mental and physical forms of information gathering. Has informed that the enemy army is now over one thousand strong. This somewhat contradicts imperial soldier claims that the army is small. He will not inform of the goal of the enemy nor their amount of artillery and their next target. He continually speaks in a familiar language though I need to perform more research to recall which it could be."

"Interrogation log XXXX-

Subject suffered severe trauma from interrogation and passed. Before death he confirmed the capture and torturing of multiple imperial soldiers and spies, with plots of ransom and turning them against us. As of now it is unknown rather or not these claims are true as subject had a tendency to contradict known claims."

Some parts appeared to be erased, but I could make out the faint graphite smear of the word 'Him'. The words left my heart pounding. What is he doing at the capital that he's not telling me about?

I jumped when I heard Landen come down the stairs, putting away the clipboard for the time being. She looked around, not used to being down here, commenting how it was "dark and scary".

"What's up here?" Landen tried stretching to grab one of the jars on an upper shelf, her fingertips touching and pulling at the clipboard.

I didn't want her to see any of that, to recognize the jars of blood or if she saw what was on those papers, understanding what her father was doing. Not only was I scared that she would find out but I was mad a Drake. He was definitely going to hear it from me, as well as Grayson for allowing him to do such horrific things.

I went over and picked her up, a nervous laugh slipping past my dry lips.

"Are they my birthday presents?" She asked, kicking her legs in excitement.

"They're daddy's stuff, so try not to touch them."

She frowned and wrapped her and around me, apologizing. I rubbed the back of her head, giving her a quick kiss as I assured her that it was okay. My gaze moved back to the papers and jars, trying to repress the anger I felt towards my husband for hiding this from me.

I set her down and let go of her, watching her interest be pulled to Drake's armor set. I giggled in response. She reached up for it, asking playfully if she could try it on.

I giggled once more. "It will be a bit heavy, don't you think?"

She persisted anyway, stretching to get his helmet despite being nowhere near the height to reach it. I decided to be generous and got down the helmet, putting it on her head, which pulled her head down from the weight and covered her eyes with the face shield. A laugh spilled from my mouth. She laughed as well, her muffled voice asking to try on the chest plate. I hesitated but decided that it would not hurt as long as I was careful. I took of the helmet, struggling to maneuver the chest plate but was eventually able to set it down gently over her.

My heart skipped beats, seeing how small she was in it, and how much she was enjoying to wear it. She flailed her arms around, the long sleeves flapping around.

"Look! I'm like daddy now!"

Fortunately she was sitting so the weight did not make her fall, at least not her whole body. She did, however, end up falling backwards, but I grabbed her before her head hit the ground. I laughed as I hugged her, my face warm.

"You're mommy's little angel." I wished that Drake could see...

I pulled away and lifted the helmet from her head, setting it aside as I told her that we had to go to the schoolhouse now. She pouted and complained but I asserted authority and told her firmly that she had to. Of course she was upset, but it is normal on school days. I can not say I was not the same as a child when it came to school. As I lead her out of the basement, I looked back to the shelf. I'll have to have a talk with Drake when he gets home and knock some sense into him...

...

Third person point of view-

The group settled down onto the ground, the light from Cecile's magic slowly dissipating, leaving them in near darkness for only a moment.

Eleanor and Cecile used their magic to light up the darkness, purple and blue light engulfing their hands. Drake raised his right hand, the bright glow a mixture of blue, purple, and white, revealing that they had lowered into a wide, dark corridor. There were torches on the walls in metal holders, the wood brittle and in the process of decay, though a select few were still in well enough conditions to be ignited.

Cecile lit the touch and approached his comrades, as they were now huddled in a circle around the map. Dante held the map in his hands, the archeologists determining where to head in the labyrinth of tunnels.

"It seems that we need to go down the right hallway." Angie tells everyone as she looks up.

Jeremiah continues to examine the map while Cecile provides light from above. "If we take this hallway it should lead us into a room. We should be cautious in there."

Their heads turn to Grayson, looking to the leader of the expedition to get his opinion. "We will go down the right hallway, but keep a lookout. After those last few traps... I do not want to take any chances." I tight pressure filled his chest, trying to rip his mind away from the dread that continued to linger. His irrational anger was rising.

He broke away from the group, leading the way down the hall incase anything inconspicuous were to suddenly show its face with ill intent. The others follow, Cecile staying close to Grayson, holding the torch to guide the way.

"What do you think is in that room?" Samantha asks Mia, who seems to be thinking of the possibilities. "The Treasure? A trap?"

"I hope treasure." The elf replies, hopeful. "The last trap I was not fond of. And with this...depressive feeling setting, I just want to get out of here."

They approach the door, Grayson and Markus pushing the heavy stone door open.

The group goes silent as they all cautiously enter, the room barely lit by the torchlight. The room was made primarily of stone, vines growing all around. It was almost like the catacombs that Grayson, Drake, and Mia had visited years ago.

Six statues stood with three on each side, standing upon pedestals with each statue baring its own emotion. Drake examined the status closely, the grotesque figures of ungodly creatures. Like goblins with mangled wings protruding from their backs.

"Gargoyles." He thought as he took a step back, a bad feeling in his gut from what stood before him.

The others walk around the status, examining them with interest. There were other broken statues around as well, all which were broken appeared to have previously been the statue of an angel. No, not angels, the magic goddess.

"Why are they here?" Angie asks Samantha, who is standing beside her. Samantha took in the design of it's face and eyes, taking in the realistic details.

"I don't know, but whoever put them here really knew how to add the smallest details." She answers before turning to Dante, who is standing beside Grayson and the royal guards protecting him Incase anything were to happen.

As Grayson turns to look at Dante, he gasps when his eyes avert to Drake standing a few feet away from the archeologist with his back turned to the statue.

The statue had moved, it's arms now extended, only a few inches away from taking the hybrid into its clutches as he stands unaware until he hears Grayson gasp. He turned in his heels to see what was troubling him, surprised to see that the statue had not only moved it arms, but it's eyes that were closed moments ago had opened up. The creature seemed more sinister and...intriguing.

Drake stepped away towards Grayson, his gaze never ripping away from the stone carving.

"Umm...guys, these statuses can move! Don't let them out of your sight!" Drake calls out to the group.

The others began to notice this as well, taking in how every statue seemed to have shifted positions as they gazed back to the stone. They slowly backed up into each other in fear.

"What do we do?" Dante yelled, clenching the map in his possession.

"I've read of these, gargoyles are said to be possessed by a form of demon. I think they're meant to protect whatever is here. They hone in on objects that move so we need to get them to lose focus on us." Mia yells, the torch in her hand close to burning out.

"How?!" Cecile, takes his gaze away from the statute, allowing it to move closer before turning back with a gasp.

The mage lit his hand in magic and prepared to strike it with an earth class spell, but it only seemed to reflect from the creature back to the human. He screamed and jumped out of the way, covering his head as the blast strikes the wall and rattled the foundation of the crypt. The statue moves closer...

"Reflecting enchantment. Magic won't do." Drake growls, staring a single statue down, white light against his fingers. "I could get rid of them."

Grayson grabbed his arm and forced it down. "Not yet. If you're power can get reflected like regular magic, then we're all as good as dead."

The statues inch closer, arms outstretched, mouth agape to reveal their poised row of rather sharp teeth. Cecile pointed out that if magic would not work, then outsmarting the creatures would be be their best bed.

He thought back on Mia's words, an idea forming. They seemed to move whenever the torchlight would flicker, the split moment of darkness allowing an opening for the creatures to move.

"I have an idea!"

Grayson, holding up his sword despite its inefficiently against their foes, turned to his friend with a focused, yet distressed gaze. "I'm all ears, Drake!"

"First we need the statues to get closer. Cecile, blow out the torch then quickly light it again!"

Immediate object sounded off, the atmosphere piercing. "Are you insane?! Don't!" Dante screamed, sweat on his forehead.

"Cecil, you have to trust me! Do it now!" Drake yells back, the touch light now only ember bright.

Cecil was hesitant, but he trusted Drake. The hall grows dark as he blows out the light, Drake quickly closes his eyes, allowing complete darkness. They can hear the stones move, opening his eyes quickly to see the statues mere inches away, surrounding them like herded cattle.

"Everyone grab onto me!" Hands grab his arms and cape, being sure that everyone had a good hold. In a flash of light, the group is teleported near the exit behind the gargoyle statues.

Everyone stumbled around, getting used to the light headedness from teleportation. Grayson looked back to the statues, all of them unmoving in a circle. Surely they should have moved at least an inch or after they teleported. Grayson asks Drake what he did to keep them from moving any longer.

Drake smiled, a look of confidence just as the old days. "It's simple. When they were at the right the angle I was able to teleport us away, making them stare at one another. If they can only move when looking at moving objects, then they'll never move again." He chuckles.

"Nice thinking, Drake." Jeremiah smiled.

Drake smiled before his body was struck with a heavy feeling, slowly taking himself to his knees.

Grayson turned to Drake, kneeling beside his friend on his knees. "Drake? Buddy?"

The demigod mumbles incoherent words and sentences before he picked himself up, his head swaying as if he were groggy from waking up early morning. "I should not be feeling this weak." He picked himself up to his feet, Grayson grabbing his shoulder to keep his friend upright. "Usually I have more energy than this."

"Do you think that it is because of those darts that you feel weak?" Mia asked, eyes filled with worry and sorrow. "The ones back in the catacombs were enough to make you pass out. You need to take it easy." She moved to his left, now worried and preparing for him to collapse.

Markus quickly spoke up, keeping Drake from growling at everyone's concern for him. "We need to get out of here, just be sure that those gargoyles do not attack and that we get out of this magic as soon as possible." It was obvious that he was worried as well.

"Right. It still might not be safe in here." Drake said as he stepped forward, Grayson and Mia never straying too far behind.

The group continued forward, approaching massive doors. They all felt heavy with dread, with anger, with apprehension. It was only a matter of time before the forced up emotion, and the deprivation of them, would claim them all.
...

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