I’m good now… aren’t I? Haven’t I done enough? Besides, how could I tell Blanche that there were too many to remember? It would’ve sounded cold.
I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry for your loss, Blanche. But I’m not my mother. I’m nothing like her.”
“The apple never falls far from the tree,” Blanche retorted.
“This apple did.” I knew it was pointless to think I could change her mind so quickly. How was it possible that one word, Shipton, could unravel all I’d done, and all the changes I’d made? It didn’t seem fair. Would I always be tarred by my mother’s psychotic brush?
“Let us save these conversations for later, shall we?” Etienne reentered the conversation, giving me a much-needed reprieve. “You must prepare for dinner this evening. I will show you to your quarters. Tomorrow, you begin the trials of map-making. Three more await you before you can hold a map of your own making in your hands. I hope you weren’t disenchanted by the puzzle to gain entry, for it will only get more difficult from here on out.”
I breathed a small sigh of relief. Four trials in total, with one down and three to go. It’d still be a rough journey, I imagined, but at least he wasn’t hurling out twenty hoops to jump through.
“Wait, what was the point of the first trial?” I stopped Etienne before he could move off.
He smiled. “I am glad you had the sense to ask. It relates to the idea of Occam’s Razor, that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.”
“But I knocked, and that didn’t work,” Melody interjected.
“Yes… perhaps not that simple.” Etienne pressed on through the corridors, giving us no choice but to follow.
Mean Girls took the lead—Fay, Shailene, and Oliver—with Blanche keeping her distance from me. I trailed behind with Melody, Luke, and Mr. Abara, none of whom seemed keen to start a fresh chat about my past. I was grateful for the silence. My mind gremlins were making enough noise to last me until this entire thing was over.
Turning the corner into another labyrinth of hallways, I got the shock of my life. A monk in a blue-and-gold robe walked in the opposite direction, hands tucked into his sleeves. I’d always wondered if monks really did that. Now, I had my answer. He gave a nod to Etienne as he passed but didn’t say a word to any of us. One thing was sure—he was definitely human.
“There are monks here? That’s dope,” Oliver said.
Etienne nodded. “This is a true monastery. They are here as a security measure and as caretakers. I don’t trust magicals. I have seen too much, and encountered too many, to ever be able to do so. Humans are simpler. Humans are trustworthy.”
Someone’s got a chip on their shoulder. I wanted to ask why he didn’t trust magicals, but after what happened with Blanche et al., I didn’t feel like drawing attention.
Fortunately, I was shown to my room first. Maybe it was a prize for being the one to put the key in the lock. Etienne pushed open the door and gestured for me to enter. The room’s beauty matched the rest of the monastery, with paintings of verdant landscapes and gods and goddesses plastering the walls. In the middle of the chamber stood a huge stone pillar, carved to resemble a Greek god. A circle of water surrounded the base, which had eerie statues clawing their way out, trying to grasp at the god in the center. I guessed the central statue represented Hades, and those clawing figures were the spirits of the Underworld.
Ah, the stuff of nightmares—perfect. I tried not to shudder, considering the rest of the room was so pretty. Greek writing filled the blank spaces between the paintings. My Ancient Greek was hella rusty. And my modern Greek wasn’t much better.
“One of the monks will collect you for dinner,” Etienne said, closing the door behind him.
I padded into the room and straight to the bed, sitting down on the surprisingly soft and oh-so-welcoming mattress. I desperately needed it after what I’d been through in the last twenty-four hours. I had a lot of questions, but they’d have to wait.
Must sleep… must rest… must ignore creepy-ass statue.
I had just lain down when said creepy statue vibrated. My eyes darted toward it. Was that supposed to happen? As I watched, the carved face started to move, and the limbs stretched out. I froze in fear.
“So, you managed to get in. Well done, boy!” Erebus’s voice boomed out of Hades’s mouth, the stone lips moving and everything.
My fear turned to anger. “You better watch who you’re calling ‘boy.’”
“And you had better watch your tone,” Erebus-slash-Hades replied.
“You dumped me on a cliff, and you didn’t give me a single bit of information about why! It’s a friggin’ miracle I’m not ripping your stone head off your stupid stone shoulders right now!” I got up and stalked toward the moving statue. “I’m hoping you’ve got answers for me. If you’ve just shown up to taunt me, you can pack it in. I’m not in the mood.”
Erebus tutted. “Temper, temper.”
“Yes, temper, temper.” I glared at him. “How are you even doing this, anyway? Let me guess, Etienne’s protective protocols are no match for the Great and Irritating Erebus?”
“It wasn’t easy, but I couldn’t leave you here without a line of communication. I need to know how you’re progressing, so that I can—”
The statue stopped moving, then twisted in a different direction from its original state. Now, it sort of looked like Hades was running away from the creepy hands that reached for him. Something had clearly gone wrong. Likely, the monastery’s magical defenses fought against this intrusion.
“Hello? Earth to Erebus, this is Houston, come in.” I waited impatiently.
“I will have to figure out another way to communicate with you.” Erebus’s voice slipped out of Hades’s lips. They moved slightly, as though buffering. His voice sounded stilted. “In the meantime, I suggest you get to work and make sure you learn all there is to know about magical map-making. You are not to leave here until you have succeeded in the trials.”
“And how long will that take?” I pressed.
“As long as it takes.”
“But what am I looking for? What is it I need to find with these maps? I need to know, okay, otherwise I won’t know where to start!”
Hades’s lips froze. “I… will… be in… touch… again.”
“Don’t you dare! Tell me what I’m looking for!”
“I… will… find another… way to… communicate.” His voice sounded irritated.
“Erebus? Erebus, get back here!” I shouted, but he’d already left. The statue didn’t move again.
It didn’t make sense. A super-powerful Child of Chaos shouldn’t have had any problem breaking through a couple protective defenses. It should’ve been, quite literally, Child’s play. Yet, somehow, the spells had pushed him out.
Did this have something to do with his human body limiting him? I’d have to keep an eye on that, or I’d be stuck on this island forever, in this monastery, trying to learn a skill without any context whatsoever.
As far as Erebus’s tasks went, this one was turning into a major headache.