Down at the center of the temple, in a large cavern filled with golden crystals, two children fell into the small lake beneath the tunnel they had just travelled through.
Hands immediately reached for them and began dragging them toward the shore.
Kurst, Dina's older son, immediately started fighting back and looking for his younger brother.
His blue eyes squinted through the splashing water.
"Yuno! Let go… of me."
No matter how he fought against the hands holding him, he couldn't escape.
It was like they were made of stone.
Soon they reached the shore and gasped for breath, struggling to their feet to see who dragged them through the water.
It was two identical-looking boys.
They were handsome in the way a fox was—something you'd both admire and hate when it stole your lambs. Their hair was half black, half white, and each of their eyes shifted and morphed from grey to purple constantly.
Kurst had seen them fighting the Whitemoon bastards throughout the temple. The first sign that they weren't human was the way the water ran through their hair. Water didn't make their limp—the hair stayed perfect and dripped from the tips.
"We're made of stone," the golem explained. "Can't get my hair wet. I'm Percy, a friend of your mother."
The Whitemoon men had said the same before they started abusing them. Kurst grabbed Yuno, who was shivering from the water.
"Oh, sorry about that," the golem said to Yuno. "Hey, you gentlemen back there. Give us some heat, will you?"
Kurst turned, and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest.
There were multiple giant crystal monsters behind him, each of them glowing with a golden sheen, standing silently.
Until Percy ordered them, of course. Now they all turned up and began glowing brighter, filling the air with heat that made him sigh with relief. He looked down to Yuno, who smiled brightly.
The smile made his heart ache. He turned back to the two Percys, heart thumping.
Were they really safe?
"Where's my mother?" he asked simply, throat slightly dry.
The golems reached down and molded the stone beneath their feet like clay, forming two bowls, which they cleaned with the lake before getting water. They handed the bowls to Yuno and Kurst.
"Your mother is up there, fighting the Whitemoon that tormented you," the two golems said at once. "I brought you down here for safety. I'll bring her and two other people soon, since that bastard Lethel wants to go crazy."
Kurst took both bowls, drinking his first to check for any weird tastes or smells before giving his little brother the other bowl.
"Drink slowly, Yuno." He paused and looked at Percy. "Thank you for saving us. I'm forever in your debt."
"You sound a lot like your mom," Percy remarked, then looked up suddenly. "But we aren't safe yet. Let's go to the generator circle."
Another hole opened in the cavern and a third Percy fell through, splashing loudly into the lake. The third Percy was slightly blackened and holding a golden box when he reached the shore.
"Delivery for Perseus Amphene?" the golem joked, raising the golden box. "Is there anyone here with that name?"
Kurst and Yuno looked at each other as the golems chuckled, then followed the three Percys when they started walking. Kurst kept eyeing the massive crystal monsters around them.
Thankfully they reached the smaller cavern quickly. Inside, the cave was lit by the golden light of wandering crystals and a massive circle on top of a white stone altar.
At the edge of the circle was a girl pressed against the floor, constantly shifting between human form and sand.
"Aahh… ahah," her pained gasps filled the silent space, making the boys uncomfortable.
"What's happening to her?" Kurst asked carefully.
"She's a bit angry with me," Percy answered softly. "I have her under a gravity trap. It's not my preferred way of dealing with things, considering I came here to save her too, but she's too strong to let loose."
That was when Kurst noticed the boy sitting on the altar—same black-and-white hair, pale skin, and leather armor. His eyes were closed, but Kurst knew they were the same purple and grey.
"You're all copies of him?" Kurst whispered. It was incredible; right now he was meeting two kids almost the same age as him, but with mysterious powerful abilities.
"Yep," the third Percy answered, walking over to his original body with the golden box. The real Percy didn't open his eyes and just received the box.
He ran his fingers over the box for a moment before it clicked open by itself. He opened the box and reached in, pulling out a golden scorpion. The most update n0vels are published on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
Kurst's breath seized as the scorpion moved, crawling over Percy's pale hand.
It crawled up his arm and tapped at his chest for a couple of moments. The golems looked between each other.
"I guess letting you in can't do much harm, but be ready—you'll fight the fire minotaur for us."
Kurst was still trying to understand what the hell they were even talking about when the scorpion crawled into Percy's chest, phasing through the skin in a ripple of golden light.
"What just happened?" Kurst asked, slightly panicked.
"We're getting help from a high-ranked spirit," one of the Percy golems explained. "I'll have to use its power through the circle. My spirit doesn't have enough strength or spirit energy to manifest it on my own."
Spirit manifestation?!
Kurst's mind reeled; his eyes searched Percy's face for a joke.
"That's a Rank 4 ability…"
"Well, I'm using it today, it seems," Percy said, casually blowing Kurst's mind.
Before he could argue, the sound of something splashing into the lake in the cavern echoed toward them. Kurst stared outside, feeling something tighten in his chest.
"Guess." Percy grinned brightly.
In less than a minute, a fourth Percy golem appeared along with three people—a tall man with wild red hair and a dusty beard, another man with grey hair and scars on his arms.
Then a woman, with cropped black hair and teary blue eyes. Kurst felt his body freeze, limbs seizing up. Yuno let go of his hand and ran toward Dina.
"Mom!" the small child screamed, launching himself into her arms. Dina cried into his shoulder and kissed his forehead.
Then her eyes landed on Kurst, and he felt like his heart would escape. She walked over with Yuno in her arms and knelt in front of him.
"I missed you, my boy," she said in Jaltovian. It was the first time he had heard the language in years. He settled into her arms and cried with his brother.
They were finally safe.