Marvin dragged the Blue Daisy to a dock. Several crew members leapt across the gap and tied the ship to the pilings. Once everything was secured, the giant squid released his hold and disappeared back among the tiers. Anne somehow doubted he would go far.
The airship was heavily damaged. Several long gashes ran along the hull, and one of the masts had a large crack in it, not to mention the busted railings, broken equipment, torn rigging, and injured or missing sailors. It would be a while before the Blue Daisy was ready to sail again, if ever. Marri looked crestfallen at the damage, but she soon masked her expression.
“Have the crew disembark and form up in ranks of two on the dock,” Marri instructed Locke in a commanding tone. “Tell them to leave their swords, but make sure everyone is carrying a concealed weapon,” she added.
Locke conveyed her orders to the crew. Once they had secured all the equipment on deck, Anne and Marri led the crew off the airship, along the dock, and up a path that led to the main castle gate. Fortunately, the paving stones were smooth enough that Marri didn’t have too much difficulty in her chair. They were followed immediately by Penelope and Hiro. Locke and the helmsman came next, and then the rest of the crew in twos. They walked in silence, but Anne could feel the tension in the air. They were all hardy sailors, and none had shied away from the fight with the giant squid, but now they seemed ill at ease.
The main gate into the castle towered over them. They entered through two massive oak doors and marched into the wide circular courtyard beyond. Some of the courtyard stones were darker than the rest and formed a large X, except each arm of the X consisted of a long, narrow diamond that was half black, half white. The overall shape looked familiar, but Anne couldn’t quite place it.
Octo-Horse Pirate was standing in the center of the courtyard with the parrot still perched on his shoulder.
“Have your crew line up in ranks,” he said.
The crew moved into formation, ten sailors to a row, without further instruction from either Marri or Locke.
Octo-Horse Pirate clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing in front of them. “In consideration of the time constraints under which we are currently operating, I’m going to get straight to the point.” He stopped in front of Marri. “Did you recover the gold medallion as I requested?”
Marri shifted uneasily. “Yes, but—”
“And what did I instruct you to do with the medallion once you had it in your possession? Did I instruct you to experiment with it?”
“No, I just thought if I could—”
“Did I instruct you to activate it?”
“That—that was an accident. I was only trying to—”
He leaned in menacingly. “What did I instruct you to do?”
Marri met his stare with one of her own. “To bring the medallion directly to you, O Great and Wise Supreme Leader.”
Octo-Horse Pirate ignored her sarcasm and resumed his pacing. “And yet despite those very clear orders, you elected to access the medallion on your own.” He stopped again, this time in front of Anne. “And how did that turn out?”
Anne glared at him. “It could have gone better.”
He laughed. “Indeed, I can well imagine. You’ll notice I haven’t even asked about the vial of black liquid missing from my supplies. You’re lucky you didn’t blow yourselves up, and half the Hierarchy with you.”
Octo-Horse Pirate returned to the center of the courtyard and faced them. “Well, I fully admit this isn’t how I planned to do this, but sometimes you have to work with what you’ve got. So, to the quest riddle, then.”
“We’re not telling you anything about the riddle,” said Penelope.
“And why would I need you to?” he replied. “How do you think I found my way here?”
“You already knew the riddle,” said Anne with dawning realization. “But how? We thought Hieronymus Darkflame originally activated the quest.”
“He did, but he didn’t follow through with it, did he? He left it to someone else to do his dirty work. So, here we are, ready to finish what dear old great-grandfather started.”
“It’s great-great-great-great,” said Hiro.
“Whatever.” Octo-Horse Pirate gestured to the castle walls. “We’re at the castle high, that much is obvious, but what could the rose that never bloomed possibly refer to? Any thoughts?”
No one said a word.
“Anyone? No? Well, I have one.” He pointed to the shape on the ground. “Being sailors, I presume you’re all familiar with this symbol.”
Anne studied the shape again, and this time she remembered: It was a compass rose. They were used to indicate north, south, east, and west. You could find one on any map.
“A compass rose, of course, doesn’t bloom,” he continued. “But how does one wake it?”
Octo-Horse Pirate stepped to one side so that he was no longer standing on the round stone in the exact center of the rose. Then he reached out with one of his tentacles and tapped the stone three times. The stone slid aside, and a pillar rose out of the ground. When it stopped, it was just shorter than Anne. It was an Old World computer terminal, if she wasn’t mistaken, albeit cylindrical instead of square like the ones they had previously encountered.
Octo-Horse Pirate waved Anne over. “Come here, please.”
Marri wheeled herself forward. “It was my fault! Anne and her friends are only here because I gave them no other choice. We didn’t know the medallion would activate.”
“I’m well aware of the things you don’t know.”
Marri hung her head, but Anne grew angry. That was no way to treat a subordinate officer, definitely not in public, and especially not when she was your own daughter. Even if Marri was a kidnapping pirate captain, in that moment Anne wanted nothing more than to give her a big hug and reassure her everything was going to be okay. The crew remained stone-faced, although Locke’s hand twitched at his side several times.
“I’ll do as you ask,” said Anne. “Just leave her alone.”
Anne joined Octo-Horse Pirate at the computer terminal. As she approached, a circular hole opened in the side. The hole was large enough for someone to place an arm inside. She had encountered a similar device on their first quest.
“I don’t know if anyone has told you or not, but that’s a very special gauntlet you’re wearing,” said Octo-Horse Pirate. “One might even call it legendary, if you take my meaning.” He pointed to the terminal. “I believe you know what to do next.”
Anne assumed that by “legendary” he was referring to the line in the riddle about a legend’s power, and since they’d already found the castle and the rose, she guessed she was about to fulfill the third line of the quest. She steeled herself and inserted her gauntlet-hand into the hole. The gauntlet clicked into place, and the hole closed around her forearm. She gave a subtle tug, just to test it, but her arm was stuck fast. As she had anticipated, something pricked the end of her index finger through the gauntlet and the computer terminal emitted a high-pitched whirring sound.
“Do you know what it’s doing?” asked Octo-Horse Pirate.
“I assume it’s taking a sample of my blood.”
“Would you like to know why?”
Anne let out a huff. “I’m not interested in playing your games.”
“Oh, it’s not a game, I assure you. You see, the real power of a gauntlet comes from the person who wears it.”
Octo-Horse Pirate leaned down until he was face-to-face with Anne (or rather helmet-to-face). Anne swallowed, but with her arm trapped in the computer terminal it wasn’t like she could go anywhere. As she stared defiantly at him, he reached up and tapped the side of his horse-shaped helmet, and the visor slid open. It didn’t show his full face, but it did reveal his eyes.
His bright yellow eyes.
Anne gasped. “Your eyes! They’re—they’re—”
He closed the visor and stepped back. “I thought that might interest you.”
The last thing Anne had expe
cted to encounter out here in the middle of nowhere was someone like her, someone who might know who she really was and where she came from. All her hopes for a home and a family came flooding into her, and it was difficult to keep them from overwhelming her. Why? Why here? Why now? Why him?
The terminal clicked again and brought Anne back to the present moment. The hole in the computer terminal reopened, and she removed her arm. She remained standing where she was, however, too stunned to move.
“Let me tell you a little story,” said Octo-Horse Pirate. “It might not seem immediately relevant, but I assure you it is. In fact, I expect you’re already familiar with parts of it. Once upon a time, near the end of the age we refer to as the Old World, a young scientist named Dr. Zarala Cole decided to experiment with power far beyond her knowledge to comprehend and her skill to control. She attempted to create a world but failed time and again.”
“Zarala didn’t fail,” said Anne, finally finding her voice. “She created this world.”
“Or so you’ve been led to believe.”
“The Construct told us she created it,” said Penelope.
The Construct was the holographic interface for Zarala’s computer. Anne and her group had met the Construct on both of their previous quests. Zarala looked exactly like Anne, like a twin sister, except for her brown eyes.
Octo-Horse Pirate shook his head. “The Construct says whatever the Construct has been programmed to say. And that is exactly the problem with computer programs: They can be altered.”
“You’re saying the Construct lied?” asked Hiro.
“I’m questioning whether she is aware of the full truth herself. For example, did you know there was another scientist? One whose name has been maliciously stricken from the history books, a brilliant young man by the name of Dr. Oswald Grey? Did you know he was the real genius behind the work Zarala so eagerly claimed as her own?”
“No one’s ever heard of an Oswald Grey,” said Penelope. “You’re just making this up.”
Anne recalled her dream. “No, he isn’t,” she said with dawning realization. “When I was unconscious in the Never-Ending Maze, after touching Emmanuelle’s dragon stone, I had a dream or a vision or something. Zarala was there, and so was Oswald. He was also in the dream I had this morning.”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” said Penelope.
“No, but this does,” said Octo-Horse Pirate, and he took a thin blue book from his pocket. “This was Oswald’s journal. It confirms that he was the one who built the computer and used it to create this world, achieving what Zarala had been unable to. Unfortunately, in her jealousy, Zarala tried to seize control. Oswald resisted, and a terrible war was fought that shattered the world and introduced an error into the matrix, a corruption. In an act of self-preservation, the computer erected a barrier to contain this evil, thus dividing the world into two parts.”
“What barrier?” said Penelope.
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Octo-Horse Pirate. “Walk to the edge of any tier and look down.”
“He means the Big Glowing Field of Magick,” said Hiro.
“Correct. Unfortunately for Oswald, he found himself trapped on the wrong side of the barrier, the one containing the corruption, while Zarala remained safely on this side.”
“What does any of this have to do with my blood?” asked Anne.
Octo-Horse Pirate rested a tentacle on the top of the computer terminal. “Why, everything, of course. In the Old World, a person’s blood was used to prove identity. It contains something called DNA, a unique blueprint that describes how each person is put together. It wasn’t enough for Zarala that she had won. She was intent on destroying her opponent. With total disregard for every other living creature in the Hierarchy, she tried everything she could think of to bring down the barrier. Unbeknownst to her, however, and lucky for everyone else, the computer had put a safeguard in place. Only a blood sample from both Zarala and Oswald would work, thus ensuring their cooperation to eradicate the corruption before the barrier could ever come down.”
“And let me guess, the gold medallion brings down the barrier,” said Anne.
“Correct again.”
“But if it will release this corruption, why would you want the barrier to come down?”
“That is for me to know,” said Octo-Horse Pirate. “Suffice it to say, there is something on the other side I very much desire.”
Penelope snorted. “You’re doing all this for some lame treasure?”
Anne sensed it was more than treasure he was after.
“How do you expect to get any blood samples?” Hiro interjected. “Both Zarala and Oswald have been dead for thousands of years.”
Octo-Horse Pirate chuckled. “Have they? Let’s find out, shall we?” He turned and spoke to the terminal. “Do you have the results from the blood sample provided?”
“Yes,” said a metallic voice. “The genetic sample belongs to Dr. Zarala Cole.”
Anne couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could her blood possibly be a match for Zarala’s?
“That’s ridiculous!” shouted Hiro, clearly exasperated. “She’s only thirteen!”
“DNA doesn’t lie,” said Octo-Horse Pirate.
“You said the program needed the blood of both Zarala and Oswald,” said Anne.
“That’s true,” said Octo-Horse Pirate.
He reached into his pack and brought out an object made of brown leather overlaid with strips of gray metal. It was a gauntlet that looked identical to Anne’s. There was even a circular inset on the underside of the wide extended cuff. Octo-Horse Pirate pulled the gauntlet onto his hand—his right hand.
He seemed to register the shock on Anne’s face. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you not know your gauntlet had a sibling?” he asked. “No, I don’t suppose anyone mentioned that to you. Or perhaps they simply didn’t know. No matter. I’m happy to acquaint you with some of the features of twin gauntlets, the most important being this.”
He stretched his gauntlet-hand toward Anne. “Transfer medallion!”
Anne’s gauntlet snapped forward of its own accord, nearly pulling her off her feet. There was a blast of light as the gold medallion leapt out of the inset on her gauntlet—
—and flew straight into the inset on the gauntlet worn by Octo-Horse Pirate.
“Hey, give that back!” Anne shouted.
“Thief!” cried Penelope.
“Activate stasis field,” said Octo-Horse Pirate with his gauntlet-hand still outstretched.
A green dome sprung over the courtyard. Anne found herself frozen in place, unable to move or even speak. Only Octo-Horse Pirate and his parrot seemed unaffected.
“My apologies,” he said. “The quest is at a delicate stage, and I can’t afford to take any chances.”
With everyone stuck in place, he shoved his gauntlet-hand into the hole in the computer terminal. There was a distinct click as the gauntlet locked into place, and the hole closed over his forearm. The whirring sound came again, and then there was another click and the hole reopened.
“Do you have the results from the second blood sample?” Octo-Horse Pirate asked the terminal.
“Yes,” said the voice. “The genetic sample belongs to Dr. Oswald Grey.”
Anne’s head was spinning: gauntlets, blood, Zarala, Oswald, the medallion. She willed her limbs to move, even just a little, but she was stuck fast, just like everyone else.
There was a loud rumble, and the ground shook beneath their feet, although the stasis field continued to keep them frozen in place. The tier had started moving. Moreover, all the tiers within view were leaving as well, fanning out in all directions.
Octo-Horse Pirate faced them again. “For the quest to finish, this castle has to connect to the BGFM at a specific location. The castle was originally aligned directly over this spot, but when the world fractured, the castle was flung far away. It will take some time for it to realign itself—roughly fourteen hours from now, if I’m not mistaken—a
nd when it does, the barrier will fall. And now we must deal with the loose ends, namely, what to do with all of you.” He looked to the parrot. “Thoughts?”
“Polly want an execution?” said the parrot.
Anne tried to protest, but she still couldn’t move a muscle. Was this truly the end of everything? Had they finally met their match? Everything they had worked so hard to build gone in a flash? And on top of it all, she couldn’t even move her eyes to signal some sort of good-bye to her friends.
“Oh, I think we can do better than that,” said Octo-Horse Pirate. He walked over to Marri again. “I would like to be able to trust you, but given all that has transpired, that’s simply not a risk I can take. Also, I have always tried to impress upon you that actions have consequences, so if it helps, you may consider what is coming as discipline for your poor choices today.
“Also, I need to borrow this,” he added, removing her leather pack from her chair.
The pack containing the bag with the dice!
Anne struggled again to move, but it was no use.
Octo-Horse Pirate proceeded to remove each pirate’s weapon and drop it in the pack. He even took Penelope’s wooden sword and Hiro’s letter opener. When he was done, Octo-Horse Pirate shouldered the pack and walked back to the center of the compass rose. He tapped the top of the computer terminal and moved to the edge of the courtyard. Anne’s heart thumped loudly as she watched the gray cylinder sink back into the ground.
“This will be… unpleasant,” said Octo-Horse Pirate, holding up his gauntlet-hand. “Deactivate stasis field.”
“Say hello to the lady,” squawked the parrot.
The stasis field disappeared, and the stones of the courtyard vanished beneath them. They dropped down a vertical shaft, straight through the heart of the tier and out the bottom. Several pirates cried out as they fell, and even Anne let out a gasp before the wind stole it away. Bodies tumbled and flailed and crashed into one another. Anne spotted Penelope and reached for her, but before they could lock hands, one of the pirates careened into them and they went spinning off in opposite directions, completely out of control. There was no sign of Hiro.
The Adventurer's Guide to Treasure (and How to Steal It) Page 11
