11. Seek and Find

Once again, Otugh was talking loudly to make sure we knew they were coming. This new team didn’t seem to care about his story any more than the last one had. He told them about the rope and the lantern, as well as the fact that there were already two teams on the job.

“That’s not a problem,” a familiar sounding voice said. “We’ll clean them up too. Stick around. We’ll be done in a moment.”

Annabeth and I exchanged looks.

“I know that voice,” she said.

“Me too,” I agreed. “But from where?”

She just shrugged. We”d find out soon enough.

Otugh peered down through the opening first.

“Ahhh! I see you are still doing well,” he said with a relieved smile. I felt touched, as he seemed genuinely happy to see us.

A face popped up beside him, a very familiar face surrounded by frizzy hair.

“Well, look who it is!” he exclaimed. “It”s the House team! I was hoping we”d run into you.”

“Frizzy!” I exclaimed back, like we were old friends. “The last time I saw you, you were getting some sense slapped into you. Did it stick? Or do you need another round of therapy?”

I tried to sound all concerned and hopeful in a sarcastic kind of way.

“You little House shit,” he growled. “I”m gonna stick my sword up your ass and break it off.”

“Sounds like he needs a lot more therapy,” I said to Annabeth in mock sympathy. I started rubbing my hands together, vigorously. “Whenever you”re ready, just come on down and we can get your session started,” I said to him. “I’m going to need you to bend over, though. Slapping your face obviously didn’t work, so I’m gonna try a more intelligent part of your anatomy.”

That set Frizzy off, and he started cussing up a blue streak. Otugh was still there, and he looked very concerned as the new team threw the rope through the hole and started climbing down.

“There aren’t any more rats, so you know we’re going to have to fight them this time,” Annabeth said quietly.

I nodded. “Wait until they all get down, and then hit them hard and fast,” I directed.

I had a few seconds, so I checked out their team name—Bear Hunters—and their path—Path of the Giant Shredding Claw.

“What do you think their Path actually does?” Annabeth asked.

“It sounds like they just made it up,” I replied softly. “Giant Shredding Claw? Surely that isn’t real. After all, anybody can make up a Path name. These guys were in the back of the line with us. I don’t see how they can have any real power.”

“I think it sounds made up too,” Annabeth replied. “But don’t get cocky. Let’s get through this without any injuries.”

“Agreed,” I said, and that’s all the time we had to strategize, as the whole team had made it down the rope.

Frizzy was still cussing, but he did the smart thing and didn’t charge us on his own. Instead, he’d started summoning a magic sword. Actually, the other three people on his team were summoning swords too. They should have called their team four of clubs, though, as none of their swords looked that great. These guys didn’t have anything that I could see related to their Path. Nothing looked like a Giant Shredding Claw, or even bearlike. I felt more certain than ever that they’d made up their Path and they were in over their heads.

Frizzy had a big mouth, and he was certainly the most passionate of the bunch, but he wasn’t the best fighter. The other three were battle ready, while he was still trying to get his weapon together.

‘Basher, you”re up,’ I told him. ‘Find out if these guys have shields.’

My Basher flew over and easily passed over all their heads.

“They don’t have shields,” I whispered to Annabeth as Frizzy finally got his sword together.

I was really tempted to take these guys out like we were in the sand arena on our beach. That would have been downright fun, but there was always a chance they could surprise us. So I did the responsible thing and went for the easy kill.

“Lights,” I said and threw my arms over my face. Annabeth was a split second behind me. Then I turned my four Flashers loose, and they lit the place up like it was the surface of the sun.

They just did a pulse—no sense in wasting magic—but it was bright enough I could see the bones in my arms. I’d seen this before, but it was so cool and never got old.

Team Bear Hunters had no idea this was coming, so when I lowered my arms and opened my eyes, they were effectively blind. The team was stunned as tears streamed down their faces. Their retinas were probably burnt out, and it was going to take them a long while to recover from that. The realization that this was not going to go well for them hit home, and they tried to stumble away.

The only thing left to do was punch their ticket home, and that’s just what we did. Annabeth didn’t even bother summoning a weapon. She didn’t need to, as her punches were just as strong as mine.

I stuck to body blows, as I didn’t want to accidentally kill them for real. Even Frizzy didn’t deserve that. Still, I have to say it felt wonderful to punch the crap out of Frizzy.

Bones crunched. Mages popped, and a minute later, we were once again the only team on the floor.

I must admit that did a lot for my confidence. It felt good to knock a fresh team out of the tournament, even if they were low on the power rating, like us.

I looked around to see if they had dropped any pearls, but it didn’t look like it. I guess this was their first quest? If so, they had been very unlucky.

I didn’t feel too bad for them, though. They’d been willing to kick us out of the tournament and take our rat tails, after all. The other members of the Bear Hunters hadn’t been as mouthy as Frizzy, but they’d gone along with what he wanted.

“Otugh!” I called. “Are you up there?”

I heard the cautious shuffle of feet, and finally, Otugh peered through the opening.

“I’m here,” he called down. “Are you both okay? What was that?”

“It was just a bit of light,” I said soothingly. “It’s nothing to worry about.”

It suddenly occurred to me that some of what he was storing was light sensitive. Hopefully, I hadn’t ruined anything. I needed to keep this conversation going about other things before he thought too long about that.

“Just so you know, we’ve finished your quest. And we also cleared out all the rats. Even the rat king.” I gestured at the tail on the ground that was much bigger than all the others.

“You did?” Otugh looked around like he couldn’t believe his eyes. “You killed all of them? Just you two?”

“It wasn’t just us,” Annabeth chimed in. “We had some help from the Fists of the Desert. That’s the first team you brought down after us. We gave them some motivation, and they really came through for us.”

Otugh stared at Annabeth, like he was seeing my sweet, tiny partner in a whole new light.

“So what do we do with all these rat tails?” I asked. “Do we throw them up there to you? Or are you coming down here to count them?”

“Oh, nothing like that,” Otugh replied. “You just need to tap them with your Stamp. The Bank will keep a running tally and inform both of us how much you’ve earned.”

“That sounds easy enough,” I said and leaned down to tap a nearby tail. As soon as I did, it disappeared with a pop. That was actually pretty fun, so I popped another one. Annabeth got into it too, and soon we were both going around the floor popping tails. It sort of felt like I was popping bubble wrap, as it was mindless, fun, and not dangerous at all. I was actually a bit disappointed when all the tails had been accounted for.

While we were moving around, I noticed something I’d missed before. There was a small gray ball of magic, about the size of a marble, that was near the spot where the rat king had fallen. At first, I thought it was a really big pearl, but then my Mark of the Deep Earth perked up, and I realized there was a small stone in the middle.

Real pearls are formed when a piece of sand gets into an oyster. Somehow it coats the grain in layer after layer of stuff until a pearl is formed. Maybe this was something like that? Or maybe this was the rat king’s core?

I showed it to Annabeth, and she thought it was interesting. But she didn’t know what it was either. We needed to get going, though, so I asked her to put it in the pouch of pearls for later review.

Since our work here was done, we both jumped up to the sixth floor for the last time. Otugh looked shocked to see us leap like that, but he just pulled up the rope and picked up the lantern.

“Follow me upstairs, and I’ll give you your reward,” he instructed. “You have both done a wonderful job, and I’m thrilled at what you’ve been able to accomplish. Now, since we have some stairs to climb, you can tell me all about it.”

Annabeth gave him an abbreviated, light-hearted version of what had happened, and I chimed in with a few extra details. Otugh seemed to enjoy the story, although he was walking up the stairs slower than I expected. A few times he winced and held his side, but when Annabeth inquired if he was okay, he just brushed it off as no big deal. She shot me a look behind his back like “we are going to fix this,” and I nodded in agreement.

Once we got back to the main floor, we went into his office. When Annabeth saw little Ank, I thought she was going to summon the Fists of the Desert right there and kill them for real this time. She was furious. For that matter, I was too.

Ank’s face was bloody, his nose was bent at a strange angle, and he’d obviously been crying. I’d heard him hit the wall downstairs, but it looked like someone had punched him a few times too. They’d punched him hard.

“I’m telling you right now, Jason,” Annabeth said with pure rage in her voice, “if I see any of the Fists at the Palace, I’m going to challenge them to a duel. And then I’m going to hurt them. I’m going to hurt them badly.”

I nodded in agreement and let her have her rage. I made a silent vow to myself, though. If I saw them first, then I was getting in the first duel.

Ank seemed so happy to see us, and he ran to Annabeth and hugged her tight. She wrapped her arms around him and grandma hugged him right back. It was a Hallmark moment, except for the fact that we were still covered in blood and rat bits, and looked like monsters ourselves.

We were done with the vanquishing portion of the quest, so I needed to get cleaned up. I was sure Otugh would appreciate me not messing up his office, and we needed to look a lot better than this before we went back out on the streets again. I was putting out a serial killer vibe at the moment, and nobody wants to be around that.

I got in touch with my Freshness Fountain and looked through the options. There was a quick refresh that not only took care of me; it also took care of my clothes. I spent a bit of magic and let it do its thing. When it was done, I felt a lot better, and I wasn’t covered in blood anymore—but my clothes still looked rough. It looked like I’d just come from a Jeffrey Dahmer tie-dye convention.

At least I didn’t smell, and my clothes were dry.

“Annabeth, you’re getting the boy all dirty,” I said gently.

“Oh my goodness, you’re right!” she exclaimed and tried to brush him off, which just smeared the blood and made it worse.

“I used my Freshness Fountain to get clean,” I told her. “Well, cleaner, at least. Do you have an option that will work for your clothes with your freshness charm?”

She shook her head. “I just have the most basic charm. It only takes care of toiletries, and it won’t do anything with what I’m wearing.”

I went back to my fancy Freshness Fountain, and sure enough, it had a quick refresh option that I could use for someone else. I sent my Bank Crystal a quick thought of gratitude. It had hooked me up!

‘Before you leave here, I need to speak with you,’ my Bank Crystal told me. ‘It’s not urgent, so finish conducting your business for this quest. I think you will find it helpful, though.’

‘Of course,’ I replied. ‘I’ll check back in a few minutes.’

I gave Annabeth the cleanup special, and soon she was wearing Jeffrey Dahmer tie-dye clothes too. I joked that we’d worn matching outfits and everyone laughed.

Otugh looked like he was going to get down to business, but Annabeth beat him to it.

“Before we get into collecting our rewards and paying our debts, we first need to take care of the healing,” she announced.

“Jason, if you would, please.” She gestured to Ank.

He looked up at me hopefully as I took his small hands in mine.

“Ank, do you swear to open yourself to being healed? Will you allow me to see, touch, and modify your body to make it whole again? Do you fully accept my gifts and my magic, so long as they do you no harm?”

“Sure,” he said instantly. Then he paused. “Will I shake like Papa did?”

“Maybe,” I replied, truthfully.

“Good!” he exclaimed. “I hope I shake a lot!” He gave me an eager smile, exposing his crooked teeth.

“I’m sure you will, dear,” Annabeth said fondly, while she discreetly caught my eye and pointed to her mouth.

“You’ll do just fine, Ank,” Otugh said, as he also discreetly caught my eye and pointed at the boy’s mouth.

I almost laughed and gave it away, but instead, I nodded at both of them to let them know their message had been received loud and clear.

I was going to heal all of Ank, not just his face, so I went with six Ents again. They mapped out his body, and then laid down their healing spores. I was extra careful with the amount of magic I put in him. He was just a boy after all, not a big man like his father.

Once again, the spores puffed up like popcorn, but this time I was ready. I regulated my flow, and at no point did I think he was going to blow up. It took less than a minute before his nose was straight, his black eyes were back to normal, and his janky teeth were straight enough to model toothpaste.

He had a skeleton and a gem core just like his Papa, which made me wonder exactly how all this worked. Were these people really apparitions? How did they have sex? Was Ank growing up like a normal kid?

Once again, the Mark of the Deep Earth connected with his gem core and polished it all up. Ank shook like he’d stuck his finger in a light socket, which I’m sure was going to make him very happy. When I was done, I ran a quick cleanup on him too. It got the blood off his face and mostly out of his clothes, and he looked so much better.

“Wow!” He touched his face. “Wow! Wow! Wow!”

Then he gave me a big hug, which, I must admit, warmed my heart. Then he started skipping around the office yelling, “Wow! Wow!”

Otugh turned him loose in the warehouse to run around and burn off some of his young energy before he turned to us. Once again, Annabeth got the first word in.

“You’re getting healed too,” she stated firmly. He tried to protest and be all manly, but she was having none of it.

“Otugh,” I said, “do you swear to open yourself to being healed? Will you allow me to see, touch, and modify your body to make it whole again? Do you fully accept my gifts and my magic, so long as they do you no harm?”

“I do,” he sighed, resigning himself to Annabeth’s wishes. Despite his reluctance and his protests that he was fine, he still eagerly reached for my hands. I think he was hurting even more than I’d thought.

This time I used ten Ents, and when I was done, he looked like a younger man. His beer belly was gone, and he looked toned and healthy. He didn’t shake very much at the beginning, which left me a little disappointed. I wanted him to have the full healing experience. By the end, though, he was having the Big O in the best kind of way.

He was thrilled with the result, and although he didn’t run around his office yelling “Wow! Wow!” his face said it all.

“When Ank told me what happened to his Papa, I just figured he was exaggerating,” Otugh explained. “I had no idea that this was even possible. I am deeply honored and forever grateful that you would spend your magic on my humble self.”

He swept into a deep bow, and I think he would have knelt down too, but I hurriedly assured him that wasn’t necessary.

“Should you ever pass this way again, just know that I am your humble servant,” he said. “My house is yours. My strength is yours. Any help that I can provide is yours. You have but to ask.”

He would have said more, but he pulled himself together and got back to business.

“The best thing I can do for you right now is send you on your way. To that end, you have collected seventy-six rat tails, so I need to issue payment. Your first ten rat tails are at the special rate of two pearls per tail. Since I am kind, generous, and oh-so-good-looking, the next sixty-six tails are at the special-special rate of three pearls per tail. That brings you to a total of two hundred eighteen pearls. Since you wiped out the entire nest, including the king, you also get the two-hundred-pearl bonus. So your total is four hundred eighteen pearls. Correct?”

We agreed, and he pulled out a metal box and opened it. Inside were several hundred pearls—all different colors and saturations. It was interesting seeing a collection like this, as Rene was right—most of the colors were from the warmer side of the spectrum. There weren’t that many blue or green pearls, and the ones that were, weren’t my gem tones.

There were a lot of pinks and oranges, though, so we picked out as many of them as we could. They would be useful to Sandy and Annabeth at least. After that, we went for anything that looked gray or sky blue for John or Tyler. I didn’t want to consume our rewards, but it was always nice to have options. I picked out a few that were close to emerald and sapphire, and the rest of them, we just picked out at random.

Ank came back into the office to help us sort through the pearls, and when we were done, Annabeth handed him his agreed upon fee.

“Here are your three pearls,” Annabeth said to the boy, “and here are three more. We appreciate how much you have helped us so far, and we still have more to do.”

“Thank you, lady adventurer,” Ank said, trying to sound all business-like. Then he gave a happy “Woop!” and gave her a big hug.

“What!? No hug for me?” I said with mock outrage.

“You’re good too,” he assured me seriously as I got a hug of my own. I just laughed and hugged him back. Then he went back to Annabeth. Clearly, she was his favorite.

“Before you leave, you remember where the Adventurers’ Hall is, correct?” Otugh gave us a serious look. We assured him we did. Why was everyone making sure we knew about the Hall? Otugh didn’t say—he just gave us a look, like he was trying to tell us something, without telling us.

Annabeth swept all the pearls into the pearl pouch, which made it rather bulky. Pearls are not very big, but we had a lot of them now, so they took up some space. The pouch still fit into Annabeth’s pocket, though, so we were good to go. Otugh opened up a hidden door in the back of the warehouse for discreet deliveries, and we were on our way.

Once again, we all held hands, and Ank pulled us through the streets. The wind was starting to pick up, and heavy storm clouds were rolling in. As we ran, my Bank Crystal tugged at my attention again. I didn’t want to stop, so I split my focus between dodging around people and talking to my Bank Stamp.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I sent. ‘I should have checked in sooner. How can I help?’

‘I’m hoping this will be helpful for you,’ it replied. ‘I know you care about the rest of your crew, so I’ve created a view summarizing everything that has happened up to this point. Would you like me to send it to them?’

‘Omg! Yes!’ I replied. ‘They are going to love it. Send it to me too. I’ll want to review it later.’

‘Very good,’ it replied, sounding a bit like a butler. ‘Just so you know, you normally need to tap stamps with the express purpose of exchanging contact information before you can send messages. However, I took the liberty of opening communications on the bus on the way here. I hope that is okay with you.’

‘Yes. For sure,’ I said. ‘Thank you for thinking of all that. I doubt John or Tyler will notice they got a new message. But Sandy might, and she can show them what we’re up to.’

I sent it a quick feeling of gratitude and then focused on moving through the streets again. I’d come this far without a Stamp, so sending magical messages didn’t automatically come to mind. Fortunately, it was watching out for me.

We moved even further away from the Adventurers’ Hall and into the nicer part of town. We weren’t in the estates of the super rich, but these houses clearly belonged to people who had some money. Ank led us up to a lovely four-story home with lots of character and knocked on the door.

“Indifies!” he yelled. “I got some adventurers for you!” Then he banged on the door again. Ank was a nice kid, but he didn’t have a lot of patience.

“Indifies!” he yelled again, just as the door swung open. A stern looking, older woman glared down at him.

“Hush, child,” she scolded him. “You’re going to get me in trouble with my neighbors.” Then she glanced at us. “Welcome to my home. Please come inside.”

She led us down a short hallway and into her living room. There was an ornate couch overflowing with pillows and two ornate chairs, also with pillows. That was what I would normally expect. What I wasn”t expecting was for the place to be crammed full of tables, shelves, and curio cabinets with lots and lots of knick-knacks artfully arranged on every surface. A kind person would describe the space as “lavishly decorated.” Someone not so kind would say it was the nesting spot for a whole tribe of kleptomaniacs.

“Can I get you some tea?” she inquired politely.

“Indifies, they don’t have time for tea!” Ank exclaimed. “They’re here for your quest, and you gotta hurry. The storm clouds are gathering.”

“Oh,” Indifies said, sounding disappointed. “I get so few visitors, and it’s nice to have a chat for a while.” Ank was dancing from foot to foot and seemed ready to interrupt her again, so she quickly got to the point.

“I’ve lost a blue plate, and I’d love for you to find it for me.” She gave us a hopeful look. “I know that adventurers like to kill things or cast spells—big things like that—but sometimes the smaller things are useful too. I can’t offer much, but if you can take the time to help me, I can give you a reward of one pearl.”

I looked at Annabeth in surprise. Papa Ank had said she had one of the best quests in the city. This didn’t sound like that at all. One pearl was nothing compared to what we’d collected so far.

“Papa said you have to help them,” Ank urged. “They are good adventurers. They healed Papa and everything, and they killed all the rats for Otugh already, even the big nasty king rat, and they defended their tails and took out the bad guys, and they already got a whole bunch of pearls, and they paid me for taking them through the mountain, and now they’re here, and you gotta help them!”

Ank said all that as fast as he possibly could. I didn’t think he even took a breath. Indifies looked a little overwhelmed, so she held up her hand to stop him.

“If they can find the blue plate, then I might have more things for them to do. They have to find the plate first, though. That’s how I know they’ll have the skills I need for the task.”

Ohhhh. I realized what was going on here. I asked for a moment to confer with my partner and pulled Annabeth to the side.

“One pearl?” Annabeth said, sounding doubtful. “I think we should trust Papa Ank and do this, but it doesn’t seem like a lot.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a quest chain,” I told her. “That’s when the Questgiver asks for something simple. Then, when you complete the easy task, they ask for something else that’s a bit harder. Each time the reward goes up a bit. If I had to guess, all the quests are probably in this house, and they’re probably all about finding things. If I’m right, this will be an easy way to complete a bunch of quests without having to run around to different locations. They may not pay as much individually, but together, they might add up to a lot.”

“So you agree we should do this?” Annabeth asked, and I nodded.

“I think we should split up, though,” I said. “I have my magic sight, so I’ll find the items she needs. You spend time with her and get her talking. See if you can discover all the items she wants us to find. That way I can be searching for several things at once.”

Annabeth liked the plan, so she put on her best smile, and together we turned back to Indifies and Ank. “We accept your quest,” she said. “Now, tell us about this missing plate.”

The plate was baby blue, which didn’t help me much, as my magic sight couldn’t see colors unless the item was magical. So a regular blue plate and a regular red plate would look the same to me. I could easily see the size of a plate, though, and this one was about eight inches wide. She also said it had little indentations on the edge that added a nice touch of interest.

“Why don’t we go into the kitchen and prepare a spot of tea?” Annabeth suggested and started to lead Indifies away. “We’ll let the boys stay here and search.”

Indifies looked happy and ready to settle in for a nice chat, when Bermuda decided he’d had enough time in my Throne Room and popped out to stretch his legs. When Indifies looked back and saw him, her eyes grew wide in horror.

“No! No!” she exclaimed. “That’s a cat. Cats are not allowed in the house.”

“Oh?” Annabeth said. “Why not? Cats are a lovely addition to any household. They provide lots of love and companionship, and they are wonderful to have around. I’m surprised you don’t already have a couple of your own.”

“They also knock things over,” Indifies snapped. “They do it for fun, and often those things break. Look around you. Does it look like I can have a cat here?”

I looked around with fresh eyes at all the figurines, pictures, display plates, and knick-knacks. This was a playful cat’s paradise! I knew Bermuda liked to move things around to suit his taste, and if I left him here alone for ten minutes, I was sure at least one item would get broken. And it would probably end up being a lot more than that.

Bermuda gave a big stretch, and I knew I was in trouble. After he naps, he’s full of energy and likes to chase things. This was totally the wrong environment for that.

“Why don’t you both take Bermuda into the kitchen while I search,” I suggested as tactfully as possible. Indifies looked like she wanted to throw us out of her house, but I guess the rules didn’t allow it.

“Hurry up,” Indifies told me sternly as Annabeth gathered up Bermuda in her arms, and they started to leave again.

“Annabeth,” I called after them. “Remember to seal the deal and confirm the quest.” I tapped my wrist. She nodded.

“Ank, you are going to be my helper,” I told him. “Hold my hands and don’t let me fall over. I can get dizzy when I scan too much.”

Ank seemed happy to be doing adventurers’ stuff as he held both my hands and made a show of planting his feet and standing firm. I gave him a smile before I closed my eyes and extended my senses.

My magic sight is simply amazing. I can see all around me in a complete sphere for a range of twenty feet. I don’t just see the outside of things. I can see inside them and through them. I call it my magic sight, but I can taste, touch, and smell everything too. I can even hear differences in materials as well, but all that input can get overwhelming.

I usually leave my magic sight on, so I’m used to it, but it’s not like I’m actively scanning my environment everywhere I go. I’m not that interested in the wiring or insulation that runs through the walls. Or all the layers of dirt and gravel under my feet. Or the support beams that run across the second floor to keep it aloft.

Since I was on a seek and find mission, though, I pushed my awareness out and started scanning everything around me. I was glad Ank was holding on to me, as it was a lot.

Like a lot.

I felt like I was back in the Stacks and Piles again, searching for a magical artifact to bring to Bitty.

I let my mind absorb what I was seeing, and there were several things that surprised me. The biggest one was that one of the curio cabinets was actually covering up a secret door. The door was painted over, so it hadn’t been opened in a long time. Behind the door was a set of steps leading down, and there was an entire floor of the house beneath us.

The floor above us looked to contain a bedroom and bathroom, and most importantly, there was a hidden cavity in the floor that contained a small box. Inside the box was a key. If I had to guess, the key opened the secret door, and our quest chain would lead us down to the secret floor below us.

I felt a thrill of excitement. I’d always wanted to find hidden doors and discover secret rooms. This quest was looking up!

For now, though, I needed to find a single plate with a unique edge, so I started sifting through all the objects in the room. It felt a bit like one of those books where you try to find Waldo. It”s easy to look at a picture, and you know Waldo in his striped outfit is someone in the image, but there is so much going on it takes a while to find him.

‘I think you’re trying to process too much,’ my Analytical Side spoke up. ‘This is a lost plate, so it’s not going to be on display like all the other items. Instead, it’s going to be under a cushion or tucked in some remote corner.’

Oh! Duh. That made perfect sense.

As soon as I narrowed my focus, the plate popped right out to me. It was on the floor behind a curio cabinet. It looked like it had fallen off its stand, rolled on the floor under a table, and then slid along the wall to end up in its final spot.

No wonder Indifies couldn’t find it. I’d never have thought a plate would roll like that.

I opened my eyes and thought about letting Ank wiggle under the table and get the plate. He had so much energy I was afraid he’d knock something over, so I carefully did it myself.

Together, we triumphantly followed the voices to the kitchen and showed off our find. Indifies confirmed it was the missing plate, although she seemed very distracted by Bermuda. He was up on her kitchen counters, which were almost as crowded with knick-knacks as the tables in the living room. He was having a wonderful time scooting items to the edge with his paw and watching her freak out. She’d quickly put the item back, and Bermuda would look away like he didn’t care, but as her attention wavered, he’d scoot something else.

It was funny as hell, and he was having a wonderful time. I could have watched them all day. Annabeth had already coaxed the next two items out of Indifies, though, so we got our descriptions and headed off.

The first thing we needed to find was a set of lost diamond earrings. We’d already found something in the living room, so I thought we’d go to the second floor and scan the bedroom. That’s where I thought jewelry would normally be kept.

It turned out I was right, and the earrings were trapped between the bed and the bedframe. Once again, I focused on the unusual places for earrings, and I found them very quickly. The next item was a letter from her late husband, and that was much more difficult. The third floor of the house looked like it was used for her craft projects—scrapbooking by the look of it—and the fourth floor was more of a storage area.

That’s where we found the letter, in a box filled with his old clothing. I scanned the contents quickly, and it hinted that he’d put aside a large sum of money for them to travel in their older years. If I had to guess, this was the real start of the treasure hunt!

We turned the items in to Indifies for four more pearls, which wasn’t much, and she started to tell us her tragic tale. I think she would have enjoyed taking her time and telling us all about her husband and their time together, except a massive boom of thunder shook the house and we all jumped.

“The storm is here!” Ank exclaimed. “You gotta hurry!”

Indifies looked upset, but Annabeth took her hand and gave her a sympathetic smile.

“I know what it’s like to lose a husband,” she said kindly. “They’re as irritating as a wet rooster when they’re alive, but we sure do miss them when they’re gone. Talking about them makes them live again, even if it’s only for a moment.”

Indifies looked at Annabeth like she understood completely, as her hands trembled slightly.

“Unfortunately, this is terrible timing, and we have to hurry along. I hate to ask this, but can you let us know what you really need us to find? I’m sure it’s not an old letter or missing earrings.”

Indifies sighed and nodded. “My husband was a bit of a wanderer in his youth and somehow managed to find many valuable items. He sold a few, and because of that, we’ve always had the money to do what we wanted. I’ve sold the last of the items I knew about, though, and now I’ve started to worry about how I’m going to live the rest of my life.

“You’ve managed to find all my smaller items, so my main quest, should you choose to accept it, is to find any items of value my husband had hidden away. I’m afraid I can’t pay you in pearls, but if you find an item you like, you are welcome to take it with you.”

She looked both sad and hopeful all at the same time. I’m sure it would be hard discovering something left behind by a person you loved and then having to sell it. But that was the position she was in at the moment.

“I’m guessing you don’t know about the hidden room?” I asked. She looked at me in confusion. “Or the box with the key in your floor upstairs?”

“There’s a hidden room?” she asked.

“Yep,” I replied. “Annabeth, seal the deal, and I’ll get the key.”

Ank and I raced upstairs to her bedroom, pried up the floor board, and retrieved the box with the key.

“That is so cool!” Ank exclaimed. “Now we just gotta find the treasure!”

I got the impression he thought there were going to be chests of pirate booty overflowing with gold. I tried to tell him I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be like that at all, but he was already racing back to the kitchen.

Indifies said she’d never seen the box before, which was a good sign we were on the right track. The box was locked, but it had a simple latch. I put my hand over the lock and flicked it with my magic. The box popped open.

The key was heavy, at least a pound, and it was one of the old-fashioned kind with a large ornate handle on one end and the tooth of the key on the other. I gave the key to Annabeth, the box to Indifies, and together we all headed into the living room.

The secret door was behind a curio cabinet, and Indifies started freaking out when we went to move it. Bermuda, being a cat, decided this would be a lovely time to jump up on a shelf and go for a ride. He actually did pretty well and only knocked a few things over, but Indifies freaked out even more. We moved it out several feet from the wall and were just setting it down again, when another clap of thunder shook the house.

We were all on edge, and the unexpected noise made us jump. The cabinet shook, and most of the collectibles fell over. Annabeth flexed her magic, though, and nothing broke. Now the ride was over, Bermuda jumped down, knocking over some of the few knick-knacks that were still standing.

If we hadn’t been right there, I think Indifies would have murdered him. Bermuda just put his tail high in the air and managed to look both unconcerned and smug all at the same time.

“Deep breaths,” Annabeth instructed Indifies. “Take deep breaths. It’s going to be okay.”

Annabeth and Indifies already had a rapport, so I let Annabeth do what she did best while I focused on the hidden door. It obviously hadn’t been opened in a very long time. It had been painted over, wallpapered over that, and then painted over again.

“Are you sure there’s a door here?” Ank asked doubtfully. If I hadn’t been using my magic sight, I’d have doubted myself too. There wasn’t even an outline of a door or a dent for the keyhole.

“I’m sure,” I replied and got to work. I ran my hand over the edge of the door, using my magic to cut through the paint and wallpaper. It felt a little strange to be working like this. I usually used soul creations to do what was needed. For very simple things like this, where I could touch what I needed to affect, it felt faster to use my magic directly.

Once I got the outline cut out, I started working on the keyhole. Somebody in the past had filled it in with some sort of spackle. I guess they had figured it was a weird hole in the wall and had patched it up. Regardless, it had to go, so I ripped away the paint and wallpaper and cleared out all the filling.

After that, I stepped back and let Annabeth have her moment. She popped the heavy metal key into the lock and turned it. I was surprised at how easily it turned, and now the key was in the lock, it acted like a doorknob. But the door didn’t want to open. Annabeth set her feet, gripped the key hard, and gave it a good yank.

It shifted a tiny bit but still wouldn’t open, so I went around the outside of it again, flexing my magic to help get it unstuck. Annabeth kept tugging, and suddenly, the door came loose. Annabeth might be small, but she was strong and ripped the door out of the wall, hinges and all.

“You’re getting your Hulk on,” I teased her. “First you’re tearing up Sandy’s walls with salt shakers, and now you’re ripping doors apart. I’m going to have to tell John to start being careful of you. You don’t know your own strength.”

I hadn’t been there for the salt incident, as that had happened before I’d shown up at the House, but I’d heard the tale so often I felt like I’d seen the whole thing. John loved to tell the story and do this whole Annabeth-caveman-Hulk impression. It was hilarious, especially after we’d had a few pints of his ale.

“I don’t think John needs any more Hulk stories,” Annabeth said primly as she laid the door on the floor. “Besides, the wood was old, and so were the hinges. It’s a miracle the thing stayed together as much as it did.”

Indifies looked like she was going to pass out as we destroyed her home. Annabeth gave her a comforting pat.

“Jason, why don’t you light the way, so we can see what we’ve discovered?”

I quickly directed my Flashers to fly ahead of us and gently illuminate the stairs and the new floor. Bermuda was fearless and curious, like all young cats are, so he took the lead and scampered down the stairs. The rest of us followed closely behind.

It felt like we’d discovered something from a movie, like National Treasure or The Da Vinci Code. There were maps everywhere, pinned to the walls and scattered on the tables. Some of them were beautiful with exact lines and lovely illustrations. Some were obviously hand drawn and had seen a lot of wear and tear.

In addition to the maps, there were models that seemed built to scale with notes pinned to various parts. One table seemed to be an entire underground cave system with models of monsters scattered throughout. It was almost like someone had set up an entire Dungeons and Dragons role-playing set. Parts of the model were just blank, like they hadn’t been discovered yet.

The space was fascinating and I could have spent hours looking it all over, but it was easy to see the treasures Indifies was looking for. There were stacks of stasis cubes with items inside them. Some of them contained simple items that looked very old, but some of them preserved paintings and other works of art.

I’m not an art connoisseur, so I had no idea the value of what I was looking at, but these items were being preserved for a reason. Indifies gasped and ran over to one of the stacks. There was a light layer of dust, much less than I’d have expected for a hidden place like this, and it was easy for her to wipe off and see what was inside. She started crying, but they seemed like happy tears. I guess she wasn’t mad at us for destroying her wall anymore.

The sounds of thunder rolled over us again, and suddenly, a voice emanated from the walls.

“Citizens of the Realm, it is once again necessary that we cleanse the city.” The voice was deep, commanding, and firm. “Please go immediately to your home or the nearest city structure and lock yourselves inside. For those adventurers that are visiting our fine city, you have two minutes to exit any dwelling. Any adventurers that remain indoors will be trapped behind the wards and automatically purged. Once the wards have been established, adventurers will have twenty minutes before the cleanse begins. You should gather your belongings and head directly to the exit portal.

“I sincerely regret the abruptness of your departure, and I hope your time with us has been both productive and profitable. Remember us fondly, and I look forward to having you visit again.

“Everyone, your two minutes begins now.”

Annabeth and I looked at each other in shock, but Ank and Indifies didn’t seem surprised at all.

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t allowed to tell you,” Ank said anxiously.

“That’s okay,” I said. “I figured there had to be something that happened at some point to bring this first round of the tournament to a close. I just wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

I turned to Annabeth. “We gotta get out of here. The end game has started, and I don’t want to get trapped here and automatically eliminated.”

“For sure,” she agreed, “but not before we pick out our reward.” She looked around at all the tables and stasis cubes. “Although, I have no idea what we should choose. Do you see anything of value that stands out to you?”

I looked around again, and my natural sight was overwhelmed by everything in here. My magical sight saw a familiar glow of magic, though. It was faint, but it was there.

“I’m going to assume that magical items are worth more than mundane ones,” I said. “So let’s take a look at this.”

I hurried over to the farthest wall, which was the only one that wasn’t covered in maps. Instead, it contained rows of hooks from which hung a whole array of gear for camping and exploring. There were backpacks, blankets, canteens, cooking utensils, shovels, and pickaxes, to name a few. Three of those items glowed with power, and I pointed them out to Annabeth.

“That pickaxe is magical,” I told her, “as well as the copper-looking compass and the white rope. I have no idea what any of them do, but the compass seems to have the most power.”

“Let’s go with the rope,” Annabeth said immediately and picked it up. It seemed smooth, about as thick around as my finger, and both ends were capped with small metal knobs. It wasn’t very long, about fifty feet, but it seemed like a sturdy piece of rope that wasn’t very heavy.

“Why the rope?” I asked, surprised. “The pickaxe probably just has something to make it dig better, so I can see passing over that. The compass is smaller, though, and it might do something neat like always point towards treasure, or whatever we’re looking for.”

Annabeth shook her head. “The rope wants to go with us. It has had its fill of hanging on a wall, and it’s ready for adventure. Besides, having a rope could be very useful.”

“The rope is talking to you?” I asked in surprise. Penny and Eggy were charms, and they talked to me, but they were awake and aware. The rope seemed nice, but it didn’t feel like it was at their level.

“Yep,” Annabeth replied, like that made all the sense in the world. Then the rope wrapped itself around her waist several times, and then looped into a knot in the front. Annabeth laughed delightedly and gave it an affectionate pat.

“See?” she said brightly. “It”s all ready to go.”

Annabeth had clearly made up her mind and I trusted her judgment, so the matter was settled. We were taking the magic rope.

We had less than two minutes to pick something anyway, so Annabeth having a clear preference was a blessing. The voice was calling out the time, and we had fifty-five seconds left, so we hurried back to Ank and pulled him into a group hug.

“I’m going to miss you,” he said as his voice quivered. Annabeth kissed him on the cheek and gave him another squeeze. She was having an emotional moment too, but there wasn’t time to linger.

“Be good, Ank,” Annabeth said in parting.

“Don’t be too good,” I added playfully. Then we raced up the stairs. We were almost to the front door, when I realized Bermuda wasn’t with us.

I swore, turned around, and dashed back down the stairs again. Maybe he would have been okay—he was a Companion after all—but maybe he wouldn’t. I wasn’t about to lose my fur baby.

Bermuda was sitting on the model of the cave system, back leg in the air, licking his private parts without a care in the world. He gave me a very indignant look as I swept him up in my arms and raced out of the house. We made it with ten seconds to spare.

My Flashers!

They weren’t the fastest flyers, so I sent my Surfer Dudes after them. Ank and Indifies would be left in the dark, but the light from the living room was shining down the stairs, so they should be able to find their way out just fine.

It wasn’t until my Flashers arrived that I realized just how dark it was on the street. The sky was completely covered in thick black clouds, and it felt like it was the middle of the night.

“The two-minute sorting time is over, and the wards are now in effect,” the voice, which I assumed was the king, spoke again. I felt a powerful magic snap into place, and all the houses on the street were now covered in milky white force shields.

“The cleanse will begin in twenty minutes. Adventurers, you have until then to pass through your portal and go home. Good luck.”