Chapter 24

RIDDLES IN THE STACKS

Library, House of Fourteen, Santa Monica, California, United States

As the magical bookworm appeared before her, its iridescent scales glinting in the eerie light, Gen felt a flicker of hope spark to life in her chest. With Jack by her side and the wisdom of the ages at her fingertips, she knew that no challenge was insurmountable and no mystery too deep to unravel. They would find the sword they’d come to collect.

And so, with a nod to her companion and a silent prayer to the gods of knowledge and adventure, Gen took a step forward, in the direction of the wiggling bookworm. He had sprouted up from the pages and seemed to be like their tour guide on this odd adventure. Kneeling down, Gen tried to put her face level with where the bookworm was.

“You’re going to tell us where to find Rakurai?” Gen asked, looking at the worm and then sideways at Jack.

As cute as one might expect a jiggling, smiling, bright-eyed worm to be, this one was. Gen was overwhelmed with how adorable the creature was in front of them, sticking out of a book and ready to offer help.

“Absolutely,” the little guy said, waving back and forth in the air, like he was losing his balance in his place stuck in the hole of the book.

Jack squatted down too, looking eagerly at the bookworm. “Great. Thank you. Okay, so how do we find this sword?”

“I’ll give you three clues,” the bookworm sang in a high-pitched voice. “Put them all together and you are guaranteed to find that which you seek. It’s clues that are bound in these pages of books found in this library. So you only must know your way around words, to find your way around these.”

Gen glanced at Jack, giving him a curious expression. “I guess we’ve got that, huh?”

“Definitely,” he said with confidence, looking back in the direction of the bookworm.

“What’s our first clue?” Gen asked this little creature.

He swayed to one side and then the other before opening his mouth wide and singing, “In a castle of ivory, high on a hill, A sword in a stone, waiting for destiny’s will. A king shall be born, the true heir of the land. Who pulls out the sword, with a valiant hand.”

The words were different, but Gen recognized the story. She looked up suddenly, not really seeing anything as her mind raced.

“You know something,” Jack said, reading the expression on her face.

Her gaze focused on his, seeing him right before her suddenly, like he’d disappeared before.

Gen nodded. “It reminds me of Sir Thomas Malory’s ‘Le Morte d’Arthur,’ although this is different.”

“You mean, the Arthurian legend?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “And in it, similarly, he says, ‘Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England.’”

“Good memory,” he commended. “So in this rendition, he’s stated that it’s in a castle and high on a hill.”

“So maybe the place we’re looking for the sword resembles this,” Gen added, her mind reeling with ideas.

“Yes, I think so,” Jack said in a rush. “We need more though.” He snapped excitedly at the bookworm. Then he smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. But can we get the next clue?”

“Indeed,” the bookworm replied. “It is, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. In the age of wisdom, in the age of foolishness. The spring of hope, the winter of despair. The path to light, lies within the darkest lair.’”

Gen deflated after hearing this confusing message. “I don’t know that one.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Jack replied. “It’s A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.”

“Well, what does it mean?” Gen asked and then added, “Especially in the context of finding this sword in a high, lone tower in this place?”

“I’m not a literature major, but I think that particular phrase was about duality,” Jack explained. “It highlights both hope and despair, knowledge and stupidity. Maybe he’s saying that we need to find a place that is distinct in the library like a castle high on a hill, but has a dual nature—like a dichotomy.”

“Okay, I think that works for now.” Gen glanced down at the wiggling bookworm that was as attentive as ever. “What’s the final clue?”

“Here it is, faithful seekers,” he sang. “In the pages of forgotten lore, amidst the bytes and digital core, a weapon of power, awaits the seeker, ready to decode.”

If Gen was slightly confused before, she was absolutely baffled now. “What does that mean?”

Jack tapped the sides of his head with his finger, like the drumming helped him think better. And by the look buzzing in his eyes, he was on the verge of a breakthrough. “Could it be…”

“Be what?” Gen asked, hoping to pull an answer out of him.

He continued drumming, his eyes shifting from his racing thoughts. “It’s just that… Well, could the ivory tower be like a place of great abundance, holding treasures. And then the duality in a library, well, it could mean old meets new. But there’s the last part. The decoding makes me think it’s…”

Jack leaned down low, staring intently at the bookworm. “Is there a computer room in this library?”

“Of course,” the little creature answered, nodding ahead to the long aisle. Through the corridor of books, sitting on the far wall, like it had been there all along, although Gen thought that was unlikely, there was a solitary door.

She stared at it for a moment and then shot her gaze to Jack. “You think that Akio’s sword is in a computer room?”

He pulled his gaze away from the lone door. “It makes sense. It’s separate, like a high castle, it’s a duality in this place of books and it would have things to decode, like computer programming.”

Gen nodded, thinking that she had to take his word for it. She held her hand out to him. “Well, then, I’ll follow your lead.”

He took off, then paused, looking over his shoulder. “And I’ll lead you to greatness, hoping that you’ll always follow.”