[Legends of the Modern Age (Scion)] Chapter 1.B: Enter the Labyrinth

Kendra's face reddened slightly at everyone choosing red largely because of her. "Choosing a path because of me, huh? Not sure what to say..."
 
"If you want some logical explanation, I suppose we could just say we are going in order, red being the first visible colour in the spectrum. But, honestly, I am going that way because you prefer red." And with that moment of explanation, she headed through the door that the red thread was leading them to.
 
Kendra followed close behind Grisl, a giant grin crossing her face. "Oh? Did I hear that correctly? Is someone trying to make me happy?" There was a teasing sing-song quality to her voice, proving Kendra's vocal chords were able to express more than confusion, pissed off and even more pissed off.
 
As you move down the hall the red thread seemingly vanishes, replaced by true hieroglyphics written in red ink upon the tiles. Those of you who can read them see that it depicts a group of Egyptians uncovering a stone archway which seemed to lead to the Underworld, and how they used to to place their dead within. As you move forwards the tale splits in three. On the left wall it depicts a winged man flanked by bullmen conquering the Egyptians and breeding more bullmen from the women. The floor depicts the Egyptians rallying around a man baring a sundisk above his head as he vanquishes the bullmen and forces the winged man to flee. The right wall depicts the bullmen and Egyptians fighting together against the risen dead of both races, slowly and inevitably losing. The ceiling however is covered with red triangles, wells, spinning wheels and question marks.
 
Libby frowns; she does not read hieroglyphics, but the pictures are very suggestive. "A man with wings...alongside bull-headed men" She looks more closely at the half-finished illustrations.


"You know, the stories say the Labyrinth was a prison for more than just the Minotaur."
 
"Yeah... For whathisface, right? The dude that tried to escape by flying or some shi... Thing like that?" Kendra was never the best with names. Or details. At least she was able to censor herself in front of the teacher.
 
"Icarus, I think," Karima says as she studies the hieroglyphics, "Greek legends weren't really my thing, but I remember that one. It always seemed to me that his mistake was making too poor a set of wings rather than flying too high."

Karima can probably read a few more details, she does know some ancient Egyptian, though she hasn't studied it enough to be a proper egyptologist.
 
"Well, I rather doubt Icarus had access to steel and welding equipment," said Liam. "Not like the bloke could build a bloody airplane."
 
"Daedalus's wings still exist, I hear. They were made from wax and string. Modern wings are made from hydro-formed aluminum." It was a strange conversation they had gotten themselves into.


"Why would there be Egyptian pictograms about a Greek myth?" More importantly she wondered if there were some mistake. Would the winged human be something else? Both the Persians and the Hindus had winged beings.
 
"Because it's universal in these parts?" Kendra shrugged. "I mean, we Greeks were pretty awesome and all. We were in Egypt and all that."
 
"I agree with her. Remember the Rosetta Stone? We learned ancient Egyptian because the top of the stone was in Greek," said Liam, jerking a thumb at Kendra. "I wouldn't surprised if there was a bit of intermixing in cultures...'cause isn't that how it went back in the day?"
 
"Some of us learned it from the source," Karima says with a slight smirk, "and all the Mediterranean cultures intermixed, sometimes by trade and sometimes by conquest. The last dynasty was descended from one of Alexander's generals, and they mixed Greek mythology with Egyptian. I'm not entirely sure how either of the pantheons feel about that these days, Father did not mention it."
 
"Yes, but this obviously isn't a literal retelling of the the myth," Libby points out. "The story only mentions one Minotaur. And that's not the only difference between the story and the pictures. This is about something else."
 
"So... you are implying that a Ptolemic retelling may have influence over the current situation we are in." She looked over the hieroglyphs and the pictograms once more.


"This falls into two categories, either a serialized event starting first with the bullmen working with the winged figure, then fighting against them, and finally losing their lives as they are overrun by their own ancestors rising against them. OR. This are three possible events, but only one can be part of the continuum." She went back to look at the room again, beginning with the archway.
 
Kendra looked at Grisl with a blank expression. Slowly she blinked. "Grisl. You totally lost me."
 
"That is.... That's adorable," Grisl commented in her gravelly voice. "I am saying that I am not sure if this is trying to tell a story or force us to make a decision." Either explanation seemed to explain the chaotic symbols on the ceiling, reflecting an uncertainty that they were meant to provide.


"The symbols on the ceiling imply a point where choice overrides Fate. I just am not sure how to choose?" That left her questioning what choice she would make. The wheel representing a continuation, the triangle war or divergence, and the well an alternate path. Maybe?
 
Kenji takes a moment to think "Grisl and Karima, were there any mythological or foreign invasions of ancient Egypt that this picture could symbolize?"
 
"Adorable? Me?" Kendra's brow rose noticeably as she crosses her arms. Her blank expression was replaced with a smirk. "I might have to ask again if you're hitting on me or something."
 
"From the writing," Karima says, studying the hieroglyphics, "I'm pretty sure these are different parts of the same story, and that they are meant as prophecy or warning, rather than myth. The Winged Man is the child of a god," she says indicating the eagle head and jagged legs hieroglyph, "but I do not know who this is, there are no eagle headed deities in the Pesedjet. The man with the sun disk," she says, moving her hand to point it out," is unsurprisingly the son of Ra." She frowns slightly as she looks over the last part again, "the dead rise because of the machinations of cruel and uncaring gods, but it does not go so far as to tell us which cruel and uncaring gods, so that doesn't really narrow down the field."
 
"I suspect the Winged Man thing is more about a metaphorical child of the gods," Liam piped up. "Pharaohs were said to be gods on earth, right? And yet I rather doubt Ra or Horus actually had a direct hand in ruling the kingdom. Nah, they bred Scions and propped them up to be gods. So this thing," Liam tapped the Winged Man hieroglyphic with his rowan wand. "Could represent us or others like us.
 
"I am just being sweet in return." Kendra had done such a good job, Grisl almost felt badly that she wasn't as nice. By nature. Grisl was a cut-throat trader in antiquities and had little reserve of niceties. The fact that she was spending all those on Kendra nagged at her some, but didn't stop her.


Studying the pictoglyphs again, she just decided to use her best guess. "Triangles generally refer to war or conflict, a point of divergence. Spinning wheels are often a reversal in fortune, from bad to good, or good to bad. Wells are either long hidden truths or the beginning of a new and long pursuit. Question marks are just that, often randomness bringing success or doom. I say we choose one for each of us, and see where it leads?"


She had no better explanation. She wasn't even sure it was right. All she knew was it felt right, and for the first time since she was eight years old, she knew someone had her back.
 
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