Eventually the sounds of eating were replaced by the hum of conversation. The servers, led my Mrs. Mallon, began to clear away the plates. This seemed to be a signal to Mr. Fitzgerald, who put down his papers and stood up. The room quieted down almost at once.
“I hope you enjoyed your meal. You are free to wander for another three hours or so. Then please return to your rooms. Anyone caught roaming around after that time will be rounded up and escorted back to the sleeping quarters. I will see you all in the morning.” He nodded. “Good evening.”
Everyone started to stand up and the room grew loud again with conversation.
“So, you guys up for more exploration?” Gerry asked.
“I am if you are,” Norm said.
Aaron shrugged and looked at Justin. “I wouldn't mind. Who knows what will happen tomorrow. You?”
“Sure,” Justin said. “I'm not so tired anymore. You pick the direction, Gerry.”
“Okay then. Back to the courtyard we go.” And Gerry led the way out of the Court and down the hallway.
Once they had returned to the courtyard, Gerry looked around for a moment. Others passed them and scattered in different directions.
“Well, we went left earlier. And the Ocular room is straight ahead. So let's pick a door to the right this time.”
They all agreed and Gerry led them across the room, choosing one of the doors in the middle of the right side wall.
The door slid open and they wandered down a hallway. But this one was different than the others they had seen. The walls were carved with images of creatures; monsters from myths and legends.
“Hey look,” Aaron exclaimed and pointed at one carving. “There's a gryphon.”
“Yeah, and a minotaur,” Justin said, looking across the hall to the opposite wall.
“Wow, it's all the avatars from Arena.” Gerry walked further down the hall, looking from left to right. “How cool is that?”
“Wait a second.” Norm had walked past Gerry and was looking even further down the corridor. “I don't remember these guys in the game.”
The other teens hurried down the hallway and looked at the carvings that Norm was staring at.
Aaron reached out and touched one, tracing the edges of the carving. “I don't remember anything like this in the mythology that I studied. What is it?”
Justin stood beside him and looked at the figure closely. The head was feral, wolf-like while the body was humanoid but seemed to be covered with fur. He shivered as he looked at the face that was glaring at him from the surface of the wall. The eyes seemed to glow insanely. “I think it's a werewolf,” he muttered.
Aaron turned and looked at him. “You've got to be kidding. Werewolves in Atlantis? I would have remembered that from the legends I read!”
“Yeah, me too Aaron. But that's what it looks like.”
“What about the one beside it, guys?” Norm pointed to the next figure carved into the stone. Again, it was shaped like a man, but this time the head was that of a hawk or eagle and the body was covered in tiny feathers. Justin marveled at the fine detail of the carving. Each feather was distinct and beautifully rendered.
Gerry chuckled. “A were-turkey maybe?”
The others giggled, except for Justin. The expression on the man-bird was the same look of insane rage as that of the werewolf.
They continued down the hallway, exclaiming now and then at some of the more exotic carvings. The most impressive, they all agreed, was the dragon.
It was the last carving in the hallway before it ended at a metal door. The dragon had no wings and was not breathing fire, but it was definitely reptilian and huge, with a mouthful of fangs that seemed to be dripping a liquid that smoked as it hit the ground. The boys gaped at it for a moment and then turned toward the door.
Like the door leading into the Ocular room, there was no handle or button that permitted entry into the room beyond the closed door.
“Well, how did Mr. Denofrio get into that door earlier?” Gerry asked.
“He just touched it, I think,” Norm said. He looked at Justin and Aaron. “Didn't he?”
They both nodded. So Gerry shrugged and reached out, placing his palm on to the door. They waited a moment but nothing happened. He shrugged. “Guess we aren't allowed in,” he said and turned to head back.
“Hang on a sec,” Aaron said. He was looking at Justin. “You do it, Justin.”
“What?” Justin looked back at Aaron with surprise.
“Touch the door,” Aaron said with an odd tone in his voice.
“Why? If it won't open for Gerry, it won't open for me.” Justin turned and started walking away from the door. He was stopped by Aaron's hand on his shoulder. He spun around quickly and glared at Aaron.
“Never grab me!” he said loudly.
Aaron's mouth dropped open and he stepped back quickly, almost tripping. “I...I'm sorry, Justin, Really! I just thought, you know, after you got that mark on your hand and stuff that it might work on the door.”
Justin continued to stare at his new friend. “I really am sorry, Justin,” Aaron said again.
Justin took a deep breath and shook his head. “No, I'm sorry Aaron. In school, when I was grabbed from behind, it was usually because I was about to get pounded.” He felt embarrassed. “Instinct, I guess. Not your fault.”
Aaron looked relieved. “Oh, I get it. I won't do it again, Justin.” Then he grinned shyly. “Next time I want to get your attention, I'll just throw something at you.”
They all laughed and the tension evaporated. “Okay, so let me try the stupid door then.” Justin said. He stepped forward and put his marked palm against the metal door.
At once they heard a clang through the door, and it slid upward with a scraping sound and vanished into the ceiling.
Justin stared up at the ceiling then looked at Aaron. “Well, what do you know? It worked.”
Aaron chuckled. “You're welcome,” he said.
The room beyond the door was the most peculiar one that any of them had seen so far. It was neither round nor square but rather oblong in shape. And it was enormous, even bigger than the courtyard, There were rows of seats along the wall rising in several tiers and in the middle of the room was a large oval area, with a floor made entirely of dull, silver-colored metal.
As the four teens walked into the room, lights flared on overhead, one after another until the room was a brightly lit as a sunny day. The light even had the same quality as sunlight, the same warmth and Justin looked up, almost expecting to see a clear blue sky above them. But it was just an arched ceiling.
“So, what is this place?” Norm said as he stared around the room.”
“Dunno, Norm,” Gerry answered. “But it looks like a miniature football stadium or something. And what are those?”
He was pointing to several short pillars that rose out of either end of the oval floor. They walked over and looked at the surface of the pillars, which were only waist-high.
Each small pillar had two rows of runes carved into the surface and the runes seemed to be made of the same material as the floor.
“I don't get it,” Norm said.
Justin looked around again and then caught Aaron's eye. They stared at each other for a moment and then Aaron nodded while Justin winked.
“I think we know, Norm,” Justin said.
Norm looked at Justin and then Aaron. Gerry was watching them as well.
“Yeah? So, what is it?”
Aaron sighed. “Isn't it obvious, guys? It's Arena, but life-sized.”
Norm gasped and turned around again, looking at the room. Then he laughed. “Of course! Gees, I'm stupid. It's almost exactly like the game!” Then he looked puzzled. “But why? I mean, each of our rooms has a game board. Why bother with this?”
“Tradition, sir. Tradition.”
The four boys spun around to face the doorway. Standing there was a man none of them had seen before. He was tall but reed-thin and was wearing a long blue coat that alm
ost brushed the floor. His curly-brown hair hung down to his shoulders and his strong features were marred by a scar that crossed his face from above his left eyebrow to his chin. He stood and watched them with a small frown on his face.
“I”m sorry. Were we not supposed to be in here?” Justin asked hesitantly.
“Correct sir. You are not supposed to be in here. Not yet at any rate.” He stepped aside. “Please leave.”
“Uh, yeah sure,” Gerry stammered and they all hurriedly exited the room. The door slammed down behind them with the man still inside.
“Wonder who that was?” Aaron said quietly as they moved quickly back toward the courtyard.
“No idea. But he doesn't look like someone I'd want angry at me,” Norm said and swallowed nervously.
“Yeah, really,” Aaron added. “I thought Mr. Fitzgerald was intimidating but that guy? Wow.”
Justin didn't say anything but the man's face remained in his mind. That scar. He wondered how someone could get a scar like that and live.
The four returned to the courtyard and wandered over to the fountain. What looked like most of the others were standing or sitting around the fountain, talking quietly. Benson was there with what Justin was starting to think of as his gang. They were still hanging on his every word.
Justin snorted quietly and looked up at the several basins from which the water was falling.
“Hey!” he said. “It's only a little after eight. We can still poke around if we want to.”
Gerry glanced at Justin. “How do you know what time it is?” he asked, puzzled.
Justin lifted his chin to indicate the fountain. The second lowest supporting pillar had a clock face on all four sides.
“Cool,” Gerry said. “So, my choice was a waste of time. Who wants to pick the direction to our next adventure?”
Norm chuckled. “I will, if that's okay?”
They all agreed. “Okay then. The doorway to the left of the arch to the Ocular room.”
“You got it, Normie. You can lead.”
“It's Norm, Gerald.”
Gerry rolled his eyes. “Fine, Norm. Lead on. And watch that Gerald stuff.”
The group spent the next two hours poking around Sanctuary. They did not find anything else as interesting as the Arena room, but rather an assortment of small rooms used for various things such as storage. They found a room with stones heaped almost to the ceiling. An adult in the area told them that they were the same light stones that were used in the various fixtures throughout the complex.
Another room was being used to store bags and bags of flour. Still another held hundreds of kegs of what, when Gerry pried the top off of one, looked like clear oil.
Finally, tired of walking and not finding anything of much interest, and getting close to the curfew set by Mr. Fitzgerald, the boys slowly made their way back to their rooms. They arrived with plenty of time to spare and Justin and Aaron stopped into Norm and Gerry's room and played a couple of quick games of Arena.
It turned out that Norm and Justin both had a knack for the game. They also had a favorite avatar; Justin's was the minotaur and Norm favored the harpy. Aaron and Gerry couldn't settle on one favorite and kept trying different types. Norm pointed out to Aaron, after soundly beating him twice in a row, that if he couldn't stick to and get used to one avatar, he'd never play consistently. It was then that Aaron announced a bit stiffly that he was going to bed. Justin caught his eye and hurriedly agreed, not wanting to hurt Aaron's feelings. They said good night and left for their own room.
“So, quite a day, wasn't it?” Justin asked, looking at Aaron cautiously. His friend still looked a bit disgruntled at his loss to Norm, but Aaron managed a weak smile.
“Yeah, it was. My feet are tired.” He took off his shoes in the bedroom, stowed them under his bed and walked into the bathroom with his toiletry bag. “What do you think of this place now, Just?” he called out. Justin walked into the bedroom and sat on his bed to remove his own shoes.
“I think...I think we've just scratched the surface, Aaron,” he replied Aaron stuck his head out of the bathroom, his toothbrush in his mouth and looked at Justin quizzically.
“What do you mean?” he said in a garbled voice.
Justin shrugged. “I mean, if you can devote a room as big as the one we saw to a game, that must mean this place has a lot of space. Just how big is Sanctuary anyway?”
Looking thoughtful, Aaron ducked back into the bathroom. Justin heard him gargle loudly, then a minute later he came back into the bedroom and grabbed his pajamas from the shelf beside his bed. As he began to change, Justin picked up his own toiletry bag and went to brush his teeth and wash up. When he returned, Aaron was lying on top of his bed staring at the ceiling.
“I wonder why they want us?” he said quietly.
Justin sat down on his own bed and looked over at Aaron. “What?” he asked.
“These people, these Guardians. Why are they doing this?” He turned his head and looked at Justin. He looked more serious than Justin had seen him look before. “Sure, they say we're the new Titans, but so what? What's in it for them? What's it all about?”
Justin sighed and got into bed. “Good questions, Aaron. I've been wondering myself. But I don't have the answers. Not yet anyway.” Then he lay back and stared upwards. “But before I tell them I'm staying, I intend to get some.”
Chapter 12
The next morning was decision day, or D-Day as Justin thought of it. The kids were going to decide if they were staying or going. Jonathon had roused them out of bed at seven o'clock and told them that breakfast would be served in the Court at eight.
So Justin and Aaron headed for the baths, got cleaned up, went back to their room to dress and then left for the Court at about five to eight. They ran into Norm and Gerry again and the four entered the meeting room together.
The central tables had been set up again and everyone was already serving themselves. The four teens grabbed plates and loaded up on bacon and eggs, sausages, toast and jam and then settled down at a table.
There was very little talk during breakfast. Norm was plowing through his food as usual, Aaron and Gerry were also focused on eating and Justin was still thinking about his decision. Stay or go, he thought. Stay or go.
Yes, his mother wanted him to stay and he did too. But was she really safe? And for how long? Aaron's words kept repeating themselves in his head: why do they want us here?
He barely touched his food and, while Norm and Gerry were away from the table loading up on seconds or thirds, Aaron looked over at Justin.
“What's wrong, Just? Don't like the food?”
Justin shook his head. “No, the food's great as usual.” He sat back and put down his fork. “I'm not sure what to do, Aaron. It just keeps going round and round in my head. Stay or go.” He stared at Aaron as if looking for answers in his face. Aaron just shrugged.
“I'd like you to stay, Justin,” he said quietly then reddened. “You're the first real friend I've had in a long time and it won't be the same here without you.” His expression became serious. “But if you think you need to go, to be with your Mom, then I think you should do it.”
“Thanks Aaron. It would be a real adventure, staying here and learning and all that, wouldn't it?” Aaron nodded vigorously. “But your question last night bothered me.”
Norm and Gerry sat down again but neither started eating as they noticed the intense looks on the other guy's faces.
“My question?” Aaron sounded puzzled. “What question?”
“You don't remember?”
Aaron laughed lightly. “I was half asleep, Justin. I don't even remember going to bed really.”
Justin looked at all three of them. “You wondered why they wanted us to stay.”
“Oh, right. Well, yeah I did. Still do.”
“Why?” Gerry spoke up. “They told us why, Justin. To keep us safe.”
“Yeah, fine. But why do they care?” Justin felt almost angry. “I m
ean, I doubt if they are doing all this, putting themselves in danger, sacrificing themselves,” Justin saw Wilson's face flash through his mind for a moment, “fighting these enemies, whoever they are, just to be nice. What's in it for them?”
And that, of course, was the question. Now that Justin had said it out loud, he realized that it came down to that one question. What was in it for them?
The others seemed to understand clearly for the first time.
“Good point,” Gerry said as he sat back on his chair. “What exactly is in it for them anyway?”
The others seemed to be mulling it over. But Justin had made up his mind.
“I want answers,” he said. “And if I don't get them, I'm gone. That's it.”
“But, but Justin,” Norm said, looking scared. “What about those people that attacked us? If you go back now, alone, aren't you afraid that they might come back?”
“Of course I am. But how can I stay here if it's for the wrong reasons? What if we're not these new Titans at all? For all we know, we could be some sort of lab experiment, or something worse. What if these guys are actually working with the bad guys? How would we know? All that other stuff with our parents and our convenient rescues the other day, that could all be bull, right?”
“Now that's a good point!” a voice said from nearby. Justin looked over at a table next to his. Several girls were sitting there, apparently listening and Justin saw the girl named Denise that he had met the day before. She spoke up again as she looked around at the others at her table.
“What if Justin's right? This place is amazing but it doesn't mean there's not something else going on here. Something not quite as innocent as we've been led to believe.”
The other girls started talking amongst themselves and Denise gave Justin a little smile before she turned back to talk to her friends.
“So we aren't the only ones with doubts,” Aaron said as he watched the girls talking.
“Good. Maybe if we all start asking questions, we'll get some real answers.” Justin watched as the debate at the next table spread to the table beside it, and then the next. Within fifteen minutes, there seemed to be a general discussion going around the room. Gerry got up and wandered casually over to the central table and got some juice. When he returned he gave Justin a small grin.
The Return of the Titans Page 12