Atlantis may have been in ruins after so long, but it was still massive. There was no other way to describe it. The group stood at the top of a cavern, at the beginning of a path sloping down and down into the Earth. Even from up here, the sheer extend of the city could be seen and, as the group moved closer, more features became noticeable. 

The city itself was made up of three rings an an inner raised island. The two middle rings were close to the rounded island while the third was further out. Each was connected with stone bridged spanning over water running between them. Remnants of civilisation could be seen on each ring, with the most evident on the island. It was covered in ruins which shared many similarities with a castle. The rings appeared to have a single road in the centre of them, connected to each of the many bridged. Everything was covered with plant life and algae. The remaining sections of building had crumbled over time and continued to do so. Some where nothing but piles of stone on the ground. 

The walls of the chamber the group followed paths down were strangely smooth. There were few rough areas where it looked like writing had once been. The markings were too precise to be anything natural. 

For the city and its surroundings to be this intact considering its age was incredible. 

Xix brushed her hand over one of the rough patches of wall. "I think I get it," she said, voice in awe. "Those tunnels we walked through were old lava tubes. They used to be far underground but were raised over time. The constant lava flow, and now water flow, is why they looked so smooth. I suppose something similar happened here."

"The people must have carved over the smoothness well enough that it's taken this long to wear down," Ema added. "Talk about impressive. This place is, what, a couple billion years old by this universes' standards?"

"You think this is the Atlantis from those stories?" Jay asked, turning to Amneris. "The one the First Queen made."

She shrugged. "I have no idea. It's possible." Amneris raised a hand to her head. "There's a lot of dark power here. Can feel it."

"So can I," Xix said. 

"We move slowly," Colt said. "We don't need one of you overloading and one of you becoming powerless." The two women smiled sheepishly in response. 

The group continued down, stopping occasionally as someone wanted to look at something on the path or the wall beside them. The pathway was longer than expected. It took them the better part of two hours to reach the bottom, not including rest stops. But they had made it to the outer ring of Atlantis. 

"This rift," Ema said, stretching out her legs as she sat on what looked like a broken pillar. "Are we thinking it'll be on the main island?"

"Probably," Xix said.

"Oh, joy. More walking."

"We're close," Hathor assured her. "Not much more walking to do."

"Nope," Ema agreed. "Just a whole lot of running and fighting assuming the bad guys got here first."

The group fell silent. 

No one had considered this. They were all too taken back by the city that not one of them had thought what would happen if Nephthys and Aurelia had arrived first. 

"We can cross that bridge when we get to it," Amneris said. "Right now, we should focus on finding the rift and passing the Trials."

"Can we at least rest a little longer?" Jay asked from where he lay on the old road. "My legs are about to fall off."

Amneris looked over the group. They were all at varying stages of exhaustion. She rubbed the back of her neck with a sigh. "Alright. Set up camp here. Have some food and drink. Get some sleep. I'll take the night watch."

Colt came to her side. "Are you sure? We can rotate-"

"I'm sure." She kissed his cheek. "Not like I need the sleep."

* * * * * * * * 

Fae lights bobbed around the campsite as the group slept. From her vantage point on top of an old building, Amneris thought they looked like fireflies. She could see everything from up here. The entrance to the city was just behind the campsite. The city itself was spread out behind her. Amneris occasionally felt herself looking over it. 

That dark power she and Xix had felt was stronger here. Amneris knew it would get stronger the closer they went to the centre of the city. She let out a breath. The next few days would be interesting, that much was certain. 

"Weren't kidding about not needing sleep."

Amneris sighed. "New body. New rules."

Kek sat beside her on the rooftop. "How long?"

Amneris glanced at her watch. "'Bout five hours." She pushed her hands into her pockets, fingers brushing against a small piece of papyrus. "What do you want?"

"Truce," he said holding up his hands. "Thought you'd want company."

"Says the guy who'd do anything to kill me."

"You're not still pissed about that, are you?"

Amneris pointed to the scar over her right eye. "Little hard to forget."

"I didn't get you killed. You got yourself killed by-"

"Protecting my people after you told Enliatu where I was, causing him to launch a war." She tilted her head back. "If you hadn't done that, I'd actually be alive right now."

"Probably."

"Probably," she agreed. 

Kek leaned forward. "What you got there?"

"Nothing," Amneris said, pulling her hands from her pocket. "If it was important I would have - hey!" She tried to snatch the papyrus from his hand. "You can't just steal things!"

"You're one to talk." Kek looked over the writing. "Isn't this . . . ?"

"Yeah."

He whistled before reading it aloud:
"Should the test be passed, for one the answer will be found
Never again will the power be bound
This is the moment the Eternal is crowned."

Amneris lay back on the roof, resting her head in her hands. "Thoughts?"

"You're insane?"

"Aside from that."

"Someone is gonna get seriously fucked up if we pass these tests." He eyed her. "And you know who it's gonna be."

"Yep." She took the papyrus back. "And I'd rather not have the others involved."

"Always playing the protector." He smiled suddenly. "You better not blow this place up."

"Why are you talking to me?" Amneris asked, turning her head to face him.

"Someone has to look after you."

"Be honest."

Kek looked over her. "You looked lonely." 

Amneris gave him a tight smile. "Go back to bed. I'm supposed to be on lookout duty. You're distracting me."

"Need any help?"

"Never need yours."

"And you're sure? Because-"

"Goodnight, Kek."

Amneris watched him climb down from the rooftop and pick his way through the ruins. She watched until he reached the others before laying back once again. Five thousand years and she still wasn't sure why that man wanted her power so badly. Doubted she would ever know for sure. Perhaps having him around would give her some hint. 

That wasn't the priority.

She had to focus on other things. First was passing the Trials. Next, claiming the weapon, whatever it was. Finally . . . Well, Amneris hoped she was wrong about the final thing. Hope, but knew she was right. 

Nothing would be the same after this mission.