Chapter Text
DEEP DOWN, MAYA knew she didn't want to die, which was the reason why she kept fighting every day.
Day and night blurred together after a while of being down here. She didn't know how long it's been, but what she did know was that she had more experience slaying monsters than she would ever have had she stayed there.
Maya no longer scared easily, already used to the darkness, already used to the sporadic monster reforming in front of her that she stabbed without a second thought.
Maya was tired but she knew she still had fight left on her, her powers always saved her at the last minute.
Unfortunately.
That day - or night, who cares? - wasn't different, having caught off guard by a reformed violent harpy that scratched at her face and arms. The harpy was about to land the definite blow when the monster froze up, tensing.
Maya panted heavily underneath the monster, staring intently at the harpy with blood running down the sides of her cheeks.
The harpy screeched, turning its own claws to its stomach and Maya seized the opportunity to sit up and run her celestial bronze blade cleanly through the harpy’s neck, showering her with a wave of yellow dust.
The demigod coughed for air, doubling over in relief, laying briefly in the stingy sand ground, the prickles of pain in her skin being a welcoming sensation as she rested her aching and sore muscles.
"No more naps" Maya grumbled to herself, rolling over her back to stare up at the red-greyish sky. "At least not until I get there"
With difficulty, Maya struggled to stand up, using her dagger as support, cracking the muscles of her body and limping to the river in front of her, dropping to her knees at the bank, cupping scalding fiery water which no longer made her flinch and she splashed her face with it. Her pale face turned red and she winced briefly, feeling her skin slowly and painfully fix itself. Once done, she poured another handful of water to her lips, drinking it. The cuts she gained from fighting in glassy terrain with the harpy slowly disappeared and so Maya, now feeling a bit better, sat back, placing her hands behind her to lean back as she took a moment to reflect on her fight.
The harpy had been a nice welcoming present, believe it or not.
She was lonely, sue her.
Monsters lately had been absent when they used to crawl over every inch of land, making her survival hard to manage. Because of time running differently, Maya didn't know how long it was but from one day to the other, monsters reforming had a different goal into reaching the heart of the land, her flesh no longer a priority when a bigger goal was in sight.
Maya had seen those doors. She had been tempted on trying to slip through them but she wasn't stupid to go there on her own with just her dagger when it was crawling with monsters. Her dagger was her most precious weapon of destruction, even going as far as to turn monsters against each other but she didn't know if it would work against hundreds of them. Going there was suicidal.
She wanted to die but not like that.
A sudden crash snapped her out of her thoughts, turning her head to the side, gaze flickering up to see some weird object crashing into a sharp mountain then down towards another riverline.
Maya's lips pursed, pushing her sore body to her feet, her knuckles white around the hilt of her blade. It wasn't thoroughly uncommon to see objects falling into tartarus some days, but something about this caught her attention for some reason.
Her instincts told her to investigate. And so, with a new goal in mind, Maya slowly walked all the way through this river line, keeping her eyes on the horizon where the object landed. So focused she was into reaching her destination that she didn't notice the new objects falling from the sky until suddenly the river below her erupted high into the air into a massive geyser.
Maya no longer felt surprised nor scared about anything but she couldn't deny the way she froze mid step with widening eyes as the water went back down to normalcy.
It took her body a moment to respond but adrenaline suddenly burst through her veins and with newfound energy she didn't know where it came from, Maya found herself running straight to the explosive water.
She wouldn't be surprised if this was another trick from tartarus to crush her spirits.