30 One Last Time Dealing With Sphinx And Barros
1469 Words
Seeing enraged Sphinx, Peter tried to calm down, pretended that he was calm, and looked at Sphinx.
“I was right. There’s something there,” Barros said, but Peter only ignored him.
The sphinx was glaring at him with red eyes. “Prepare yourself later, Peter.”
Peter only nodded and waited for Sphinx to answer.
The sphinx hesitated, but his red eyes turned back to normal. Somehow, he ended up laughing. It was because he had no idea what was to happen next; he couldn’t predict what was to happen and he couldn’t foretell anything out of Peter and his friends.
“The answer is me,” the sphinx only said.
Peter nodded and looked back at Barros. “The answer is Sphinx itself,” he said.
Barros nodded. He expected Peter to answer right. After all, he had the sphinx to give him the answers. He didn’t speak and waited for Peter to ask him.
The sphinx was inspired to take revenge for the mocking that Barros made of him. He exchanged look at Peter and Peter could see the menacing smile on Barros’s lips.
“Who was Barros’s mother?” the sphinx asked.
Peter was confused. “But that’s not a riddle,” Peter said.
Barros chuckled and interrupted. “I’m fine with anything. I can answer it all,” he said with confidence.
“He just asked you a question anyway. Or should I say, he asked me,” the sphinx said. The more he remembered what Barros asked him earlier. But he had his fun. It was his turn to ask Barros.
Peter watched the sphinx carefully and gulped. Later, when the sphinx would ask him, he was sure the sphinx would want to eat him. The situation just got messy, and he wasn’t sure if he was to stay alive.
“Who’s your mother?” Peter asked.
Right when Peter asked that, Barros’s expression changed. The confident grin on his face had gone, and it was changed with anxiety and surprise. He had never expected someone to ask him that.
Somehow, his blood started to boil.
The question was taboo for him. Because as a demigod, only his father’s bloodline is revered. It was applied to all demigods. The god bloodline was only honored.
Peter watched Barros having a hard time in his life. He wasn’t sure if he was to answer that or not, but Peter and the sphinx were waiting.
Somehow, the delay of the sphinx’s answer was a hope for Peter and his friends.
“Come on, Barros. Answer it. Who’s your mother?” Zack asked.
The demigod glared at him and looked at Peter, about to say something. “I...” he paused and pondered before he had come with a decision. “I refuse to answer that,” he said.
A smile slowly crept up Peter’s face, as Ray and Zack started jumping in happiness. Finally, the long-awaited progress.
“We won. You have to restore our friend’s invisible head and arm,” Peter said.
Barros felt defeated but he was laughing. “Before that, I just wanted to say. Even if you cheated on using another creature to answer me, it’s first time honoring a mortal,” he said and smiled at Peter. “You, you are one of a kind.”
“The credit should be mine,” the sphinx said.
“Yeah, but I am the one who summoned you,” Peter said. He glanced at Ray and gave him a thumbs up. After all, it was Ray’s suggestion to summon the sphinx.
Barros walked to stoned Josh and with the blue flame under his palms, he touched where Josh’s head was, and slowly, his stoned head started to appear. He moved onto the arm, and it started to appear as well. Josh’s stoned body was complete again.
“I think my part is done here,” Barros said and he left just where he entered—the hole on the roof of the indoor pavilion.
Just when he left, the circle where he stood started to flicker before it was gone.
“I guess demigods don’t need someone to close their circle,” Peter murmured and looked at the sphinx, looking down at him. “I will get back to you. I just need to put this on Josh,” he said.
Peter didn’t wait for the sphinx’s response and walked to Josh. Ray and Zack followed as well and watched Peter break the glass orb and poured it on top of Josh.
The invigorating blood trickled from his head down to his food, but not enough to cover his whole body. Peter expected it to not work and expected for Josh’s body to be normal at the same time filled with patches of stones.
Seconds passed, and finally, Josh was starting to get normal.
Everyone gasped, and the sphinx just watched the phenomenal occurrence. The blood slowly disappeared with magical twinkling effects, and Josh’s body started to reappear again. From the top of his head, arms, torso, legs, and down to his feet.
Josh still looked like he was frozen, despite not appearing to be stoned. A second or two passed, and he started to gasp for air as if he was drowning. He lost his balance and fell on the floor with his bum, so Peter, Ray, and Zack crouched down to check his condition.
“What happened?” Josh asked.
The three looked at each other, “Don’t summon a mermaid ever again,” Peter said.
Josh then remembered his last memory of seeing a woman with snakes on her head and started to laugh. The four of them laughed, but the sphinx interrupted.
“You still have business with me, Peter,” the sphinx said.
Josh looked at the direction of the voice and saw the sphinx. Shocked, he screamed a bloody scream and stood up, running behind Peter and Ray. “What the heck was that?”
Peter turned to him. “The sphinx,” he said and patted his shoulder. “Ray and Zack will tell you the details. For now, you have to leave.”
“Leave? What about you?” Josh asked out of concern.
“Trust Peter, Josh. And us. We still have some things to do,” Ray said.
Zack started to pick up their weapons and dragged Josh out of the pavilion.
The sphinx didn’t notice anything he could be suspicious of and watched Peter approach him.
“You’re the first mortal that I allowed to order me around,” the sphinx said, circling Peter.
Peter only nodded and followed his eyes at the sphinx’s movement. “I figured. Why did you let me?”
The sphinx paused to think. Peter’s question enlightened him. Why did he even agree with Peter anyway? Now that he couldn’t predict him, he wasn’t sure what the outcome of dealing with Peter would bring him.
“I want to consume the knowledge in your head,” the sphinx answered.
Peter’s eyes constantly glanced for the arrival of his friends. He didn’t know what would his friends do to rescue him, but he hoped he wouldn’t be left there eaten wholly by the sphinx that was bigger than him.
“Why? I’m not that intelligent,” Peter said.
“You’re not intelligent, but I like your way of thinking,” the sphinx said.
“You should ask me questions now,” Peter said, changing the topic.
“Why did you not let your friend stay as stoned? It caused you trouble,” the sphinx asked.
Peter didn’t expect him to ask that, but he answered. “He’s my friend. Even if it’s Zack or Ray, I will still save either of them,” Peter said.
“Even if it’s to cause your life?” the sphinx asked.
Peter chuckled. “I’m not sure. It depends on the situation,” he said.
“Are you planning to tell your friends about you being a dreamlord?” the sphinx asked.
Ah, that reminded him that he summoned the sphinx on his dream. Thus, he knew he was a dreamlord. “No, I don’t have any plan yet,” Peter said.
The sphinx nodded and watched Peter as he continued to circle him. “Where did your friends go?”
Peter was surprised. He gulped and chuckled as he made up an answer. “They left. They’re waiting at me at the foot of the mountain.”
The sphinx hummed and walked in front of Peter to look at him. He stared at Peter before his eyes changed to red. “You’re lying!” the sphinx screamed, his voice roared through the walls of the indoor pavilion.
Peter was scared when he saw the sphinx slowly opening his mouth so wide that it was such a sinister sight. For some reason, he couldn’t move and hoped for his rescue.
In the meantime, Josh just finished pouring the gas around the pavilion.
“Hurry up! Peter might be in danger!” Ray yelled.
Josh took the gas can with still half of it and entered the car.
Ray was warming up the engine and stepping on the gas before he stepped hard on it that it zoomed to the direction of the pavilion. The pavilion was made out of woods, so it was just easy for the car to wreck through it.
Their timing was right, Peter was just about to be devoured.
When Peter saw the car coming on the way of the sphinx, he jumped away from the sphinx and looked at the obsidian spears connected placed on the front of the car.
The sphinx turned around to look at what’s coming but he only saw spears coming his way.
- Writer
