[Legends of the Modern Age (Scion)] Chapter 1.C: Twists and Turns

"Nope. Still nothing. I think I heard the word 'milk'. I am not going to milk any minotaurs." The spear remained pointed at the Minotaur, not exactly sure that it wouldn't attack. "Any translation forthcoming?"
 
Libby gives Grisl a sidelong glance. "He said we had to answer some questions, starting with 'Who are you and what do you want,' essentially. So I answered him," she whispers rapidly. "The sooner we fulfill the formalities, the sooner we can find out what bizarre task we actually have to complete."


She decides not to mention the sphinx and the siren bit just yet.
 
The minotaur steps to the right, the wall behind him dissolving into nothingness to reveal another hallway.


"Then you have won the right to traverse the path of the scholar. The last question is thus: When you have your freedom, will you extend it to us?" It says before turning to stone again.
 
Libby takes a deep breath. Minotaurs are not traditionally supposed to be very pleasant people. But being trapped in this place for literal ages doesn't seem quite fair, for anybody, even before being "taken for granite" so to speak.


There has to be some solution that causes minimal harm to all. Maybe if we...or how about... her mind begins to ponder before she cuts it off.


"Very well," she says aloud -- 'very well' being something of a verbal tic for her -- to the other Scions, "we now know two things we didn't before. One is that he route we're about to take is the path of the sphinx, or the scholar, and likely requires mental agility. The other is that the guardians of this place would seem to be getting tired of their job."
 
"I'll be happy to offer them a new one," Karima says only half joking, "and if that's our path, let's get on with it. Our friend here does not seem like he'll be sharing much more information with us for now."
 
Grisl looked between Karima and Libby, "Not sure we should be letting monsters out of here. Not to say I like people being trapped in a maze for all eternity, but maybe we can find a better way. Anyone have a parent that fights for freedom?" Her mother certainly wasn't one known for lenience.


"So... Way of the Sphinx? Okay, let's go then. We can always figure out the best way to let them free without turning this into a bad 70s movie later on." Grisl pointed her spear toward the path that was chosen, and marched forward, expecting the rest of the group to follow.
 
"My mater personifies justice and upholds democracy, but I'm not sure that's the same thing. Democracy means rule by the citizens, not rule by everybody, and there have been many democracies that were neither fair nor free, despite the rhetoric they used. That includes our own." Libby broods as she follows Grisl through the opened passage. "Maybe it's time the pantheon got an ἐλευθερία, a libertas, that's more than just a symbol..."
 
Kendra raises her hand up high. "My dad's had, like, a million kids but has never been married. Does that count?"
 
Grisl looked back at Kendra, "So, it sounds like you have family. Must be hell at weddings." She hacked once, not sure why her breathing was getting worse. Could be any one of a million diseases. She would have to wait another week to see what it would develop into. She hoped it wasn't emphysema again. She hated when she got that one.


"My mother only had eight kids in the last 1000 years. Odin and Thor killed 3 of them because they thought they would become monsters. My uncle wouldn't tell me about the rest." She had to be quiet for most of her life, stay away from the cold climates, don't look at ravens, stay away from other scions.
 
As you move forwards the hall expands in every direction, making room for a truly massive statue of a sphinx, similar to the one infamously found in Egypt. At the base of the statue are several images you now find familiar: a man with a sun-disk above his head flanked by men with shields and spears facing a winged man who is flanked by bullmen. Above them both is an extremely well carved likeness of the oracle, right down to the hidden face. Below the images are words in ancient Greek stating:


"One above and one below, as seen by their fellows. One was truth and the other was hope and the third was bliss. The curse unbroken lies here still. Which is which?"
 
Libby reads the words aloud, first in Greek, then in English, pondering their meaning...
 
Kendra looks at the pictures and tilts her head as Libby translates the writing into English. "Truth's the oracle, right? Or maybe it has to do with the positioning..."
 
"Are there three answers, two, or six? We have one above, one below, the fellows, truth, hope, bliss and a curse. Not entirely sure if this is a matching game, or if we need to know all the sand gods and match them together?" Grisl was fairly well versed in all variety of the occult, including the gods of the Nile and many of the sand people around them. Maybe not as well as her own lineage, but well enough to pick out details in the myths. This however was not in her forte.


"Bird gods often meant truth. And the Oracle would probably mean hope, which just leaves the god with the sun disc as the one for bliss, probably meaning freedom. That does leave me confused as to who made the curse. Part of this would suggest that humanity cursed an bound them here. But that makes little sense unless you want to consider that minotaurs were a second race. But there is no evidence that once existed at all."
 
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Meanwhile the Scion of Athena stands still, brow furrowed. For the first time in a long time, she has found a challenges even her god-descended intelligence...

Libby also possesses the Know-It-All Knack.


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"But the Oracle has neither hope or truth," Libby says slowly, speaking Greek without being aware of it.


"That only leaves bliss. The man with wings isn't the truth either. 'Hope is the thing with feathers.' So the man with the sun-disk is truth...?"
 
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