Forgotten Important Detail.

The entrance to the pyramid resembled a narrow crevice, only one person could squeeze into it, and then, standing sideways. The entrance height was also small, the Mayans were known for their small stature, on average about 5.1 feet tall. For a modern person, especially a European, they would have seemed a frivolous threat, but in the Middle Ages, when most Europeans were about 4.9 feet tall, strong Indians looked like a serious adversary.

Maybe that's why such pyramids, like this one, remained inaccessible for robbery by foreign invaders of those times since they were guarded by strong and fearless warriors who terrified one with their appearance.

Marcus was the first to go inside and turn on the lights which were pre-installed at that spot. A long LED strip rushed into the corridor, about three meters from the entrance, turning around the corner.

"And as I see, you prepared a place for our meeting, didn't you?" David commented at Taubert's actions in a sarcastic tone. After their last conversation before entering, when Marcus made it clear that their desires did not matter, David rejected all attempts to demonstrate imaginary politeness and did not seek to be friendly.

All that worried him was the safety of his wife, and he carefully studied the environment in order to make the right decision in case of an unforeseen situation. On the other hand, could there have been at least some foreseen situations?

"I hasten to disappoint you, but these benefits of civilization will not please our eyes for a long time, the lighting is laid exactly in those places that I could explore myself. And as you know, if I found what I needed, I wouldn't need the help of our beautiful Elena," Marcus stepped forward confidently, the narrow corridor gradually grew wider and higher, and they no longer needed to bend down and hook on the walls and ceiling with their shoulders and heads.

It felt like a corridor was going deeper and deeper, but behind the many turns, it became difficult to guess in which direction they were from the entrance. Either they went down under the main building, or were generally away from it, only one thing was clear - at least several meters of ground and stone were above their heads, and the further they went, the more this mass was pressing the travelers with its invisible presence.

Fortunately for David, Elena looked calm and concentrated, as if she were an experienced archaeologist or caver, more than once exploring the pyramids and caves. Who caused a little worry was Armand.

Over the course of his life, the man experienced the consequences of more than one cataclysm, and after several days of buried alive during one of the earthquakes in Japan, he began to dislike confined spaces. But this dislike was a mere trifle compared to his aerophobia.

So in general, the whole group was quite calm, despite the unknown and unpredictable space around.

David noticed how they walked past several tunnels that were sealed, making it clear that they were not allowed to enter. Obviously, these were the cases when Marcus explored those directions and failed.

"You know, I sincerely do not understand why you needed my wife. As I see it, you could quite well handle it yourself. Given that you have an unlimited amount of time at your disposal, why arrange so many difficulties? You could have started a hobby to climb these uncountable tunnels and after another month or year, you would find what you need."

"Ahaha, David, your offer is so sweet that I don't know how to react," Marcus laughed. If it were in his power, he would have long ago solved this problem on his own, unfortunately, not everything was so simple.

"I indeed researched the upper level of the pyramid quite well, and as you saw, I even left tips on where it is better not to meddle. I remember once I even got lost and got stuck here for three months. Hmm, it wasn't the most enjoyable experience."

Three months? Marcus's words led the rest into a slight confusion.

"What do you mean, three months? Okay, I don't have such abilities, but you could teleport out at any moment. What was the point of hanging around here?" Armand looked at his brother as if he had not guessed about obvious things.

Marcus stopped and turned to his companions, in the twilight of the pyramid a mysterious smile on his face looked ominous, "Oh, haven't I told you? In this pyramid, our abilities do not work. Hmm, my memory must have been crashed or something? Tsk, tsk, and how could I forget to warn about such an important detail?"

"Oh, you bastard! You did it on purpose!" David rushed at the man with his fists, and Elena needed tremendous strength to calm her husband. Armand didn't even try to stop him, and Marcus looked pleased that such a reaction was what he expected. "I knew it! I knew that you were planning something nasty!"

The realization that in case of danger, David could teleport Elena out at any moment was what gave him peace, but now they were ordinary people, stuck in depth in the tangled tunnels of the labyrinth.

"Take it easy, don't be so angry," Marcus spread his hands, he assumed that the reaction to this news is unlikely to be positive, so he prepared in advance for a condescending attitude to any attacks, "If I had warned you first about this small detail, then you would never voluntarily agree to my proposal. To drag your beautiful wife here by force would be somehow, hmm, not gentlemanly."

"Not gentlemanly you are saying, you, son of a bitch?! Do you even hear yourself? This is not a small detail, it's a fucking gigantic detail. What will we do if something happens? We are going hell knows where, and hell knows what for, and you, as I understand it, do not even imagine what is going on at the lower levels. This is a pig in a poke, Marcus. It doesn't map to how the real world actually works! You can take my company, I don't care, even if I go bankrupt, but I'm not going to jeopardize Elena's life."

David's look was decisive and unshakable, no matter what positive prospects this "expedition" promised, the possible consequences were far more dangerous.

Marcus sighed, he had no desire to argue, because regardless of whether David wanted it or not, they were where they should have been.

Amelia's diaries about the future, which were kept by Marcus in the secret room of his office, were the strongest evidence of this fact for the man. In several dozen versions of the events that were known to Marcus, in all of them it was Elena who was supposed to help him find that legendary knife. The only difference that caused him irritation and tension was the fact that the children somehow turned out to be with them.

According to his plan and according to Amelia's notes, they should have returned to the hotel without any problems, and there Marcus was already planning the implementation of his further actions. But the unexpected appearance of children in this situation only confirmed his assumption.

Some unforeseen element appeared, some event occurred that changed the planned reality. And even if everything in general terms was happening as it was needed for him, there were some small details that did not fit into any of the scenarios.

And this fact strained him the most. Amelia was a strong psychic and clairvoyant, and she could not make such a mistake as to overlook some of the factors unless she did it on purpose.

In any case, Marcus could only trust these records, so even if he himself did not know what they could expect in this maze, he was not going to retreat from his plans.

"Mr. Anderson, your anger is absolutely justified, therefore, in compensation and for your reassurance, I propose to do the following. When we step into a previously unexplored area, I will go ahead. Thus, even if some kind of trouble happens, it will happen to me first. Moreover, half of us are immortal," Marcus glanced at his brother and smiled, "So you and your wife have excellent bodyguards."

"You just said that our abilities do not work in this pyramid, so what's the use of your immortality?" David did try several times to concentrate, but neither telepathy nor teleportation worked.

Marcus turned and walked further down the corridor, as if he had already received the approval of his proposal, "Do not compare our abilities with yours. Without these forces, you are an ordinary person. Armand and I, let's say, are genetically modified creatures, if we use modern terminology. Therefore, even without super-powers, our organisms remain at their own characteristics, although the regeneration process slows down a hundredfold."

The man lit a long torch lamp in his hand and stopped at the wall. The LED strip illuminating their path to this, broke off at this place.

A spacious niche, resembling in shape a small room with an area of about ten square meters, diverged in different directions by several tunnels. As in the classic stories about secret treasures, this was a place where the main characters had to choose their future path.

"As for the answer to your question, why I needed your wife, here it is," Marcus raised a hand with a torch to the ceiling, drawings appeared on stone arches similar to some ancient letters.

Elena looked at the ceiling. Signs, which at first seemed to her incomprehensible squiggles, gradually began to make sense. These were the same characters that were on the scroll that Nick brought as a gift.

It was an extinct Sumerian language.

The language that was understandable only to those in whose veins the Teser family blood was flowing.