“I want someone like you to join us.”
There it was. Finally. The long awaited invitation—her key to learning so much more about this new threat. She listened to this old woman go on and on about her agenda far more successfully than she thought she would. She was doing it in the name of helping her friends but it wasn't easy. Thankfully, it looked like her patience was going to finally be rewarded.
“Why?” Nina asked. She knew the offer was coming thanks to Inspector Amaro, but she was still just as confused by it as she was at the start. “Why me? Because we're both historians? I'm not sure what I really have to offer a group like yours that you don't already have.”
“I've never been a fan of modesty,” the Old Lady said. “If you are good at something, you should be proud of it, otherwise what is the point of even having it? Anything else, and you are just holding yourself back from your true potential.”
That didn't answer Nina's question at all.
After another minute, she continued. “We need someone like you, Nina. You aren't only an expert in most of the world's history but you have experience being in an operation like this...a far more volatile one perhaps but still...you are well-rounded for something like this. And with us, you won't just be spending all your time dodging arrows and booby traps with that David Purdue anymore. No, you will be given a chance to play to your strengths. So what do you think about all of this, sweet girl? It could all be yours. This and so much more. I have made every effort to make this a safe haven for all historians that feel the world has forgotten the importance of the past. We won't. No, we will never forget what has come before. That was what people like you and I were put on this earth to do. We are here to protect the legacy of our predecessors and to stop the mistakes from ever coming to pass again. We are here to remind the world why they need to heed the lessons that the past has shown us. I'm not getting any younger, as I am sure you can see for yourself. I need someone like you, someone who is so much like me...who I can truly trust...”
Nina stared at the library and realized that the infinite books in front of her were starting to infect her mind. They were tempting her to come read them, all it would take was signing her soul away to this crone that was threatening her friends. With this collection though, it was actually tempting, but Nina resisted the urge.
“Thank you,” Nina said, feeling uncomfortable and far too flattered. “That really is sweet of you to say. All of this is...well, it's incredible. But this isn't for me.”
The Old Lady's expression darkened. “Oh?”
“Maybe if you and your people weren't plotting against my friends, then maybe I would be willing to join...but as it stands, I'm not going to turn on them. So I am going to have to decline your generous offer. I'm sorry.”
“That's a pity,” the Old Lady said. Nina expected the woman to transform into a vicious old witch that would make her life hell for spitting in her face. Instead, the Old Lady just let out a long, tired sigh and gave a slight shake of her head. “A great pity, but I do understand. Of course, I should have known that someone like you would be so loyal. It is just another reason that it will be a shame not to have you with us.”
That wasn't the violent reaction that Nina expected but she would gladly accept it.
“So, what now?” Nina asked.
“We let you go, of course,” the Old Lady said. “I know you spent time as a prisoner of Julian Corvus. We don't do such things to our enemies just for knowing more than maybe they should. You've seen our library...and I hope you remember it. The door is still open for you if you change your mind, Dr. Gould. And I hope that if our plans for the Order of the Black Sun get violent, that we are not on opposing ends of the fight. We could do amazing things together, my dear. Such amazing things for this world.”
Nina didn't know why, but she believed the Old Lady. So much of what she was seeing and hearing was like something out of a dream. It was too good to be true, at least she thought it was. It was almost everything she wished that the Order of the Black Sun was but instead, the secret society was held down by its tumultuous past. Things didn't feel this calm with the Black Sun, that was for sure. She would have loved to have stayed in that library for a long while, reading as much as she could.
But that wasn't for her, at least not right now, not while her friends were being threatened.
Amaro appeared behind her, the piece of cloth in his hand. “Alright then, Dr. Gould. I trust you have made your final decision?”
“Yes,” Nina said.
“It might not be,” the Old Lady said. “I hope it is not, my dear. Just remember everything that you've seen. Know that we are not the vile villains that we are being painted as.”
Nina nodded, but she still didn't know what to make of all of this.
The blindfold came back over her eyes and the incredible library vanished without a trace.
Secretly, only in her own head, Nina asked herself if she made the right choice.
13
WILD HORSES
Assateague Island wasn't a place that Sam had ever heard of before. Most of the places he had gone to all over the world were at least near some place he had heard of at one point or another. But there wasn't much of significance near the island of Assateague. It was tucked away on the eastern coast of the United States. It seemed like it got plenty of tourist interest given its luxurious visitor's center and a lot of the activities the island had. It wasn't world-renowned, maybe, but it did seem mildly famous for the wildlife that frequented the island and its beaches.
Sam had to double check the location they had been given to be sure that this was actually the right place. It just didn't seem like the kind of place that a pearl belonging to an ancient Greek god would be. Then again, if the pearl had been lost all that time ago, then that was long before the United States even existed. Back when the pearl ended up there, it was nothing more than a shore on a nameless land.
“Are we sure this is the place?” Daisy asked, clearly sharing his sentiments.
“Apparently,” Sam said. “Why? Disappointed?”
“It's just not quite what I pictured...” Daisy said.
“It's awful,” Erica chimed in, slapping a large horsefly off of her shoulder. “Can we just get the pearl and get out of here?”
“You were the one that wanted to come along,” Daisy said with a roll of her eyes. “I'm sure you would have been much more comfortable back at that fancy ball of yours. If you want to go back to that, no one's stopping you. Just leave the necklace behind.”
Daisy was usually rather reserved and quiet but it was clear that she really wasn't a fan of Erica's presence on this journey. Sam couldn't entirely disagree. It was sometimes rather annoying to have some snobbish rich person breathing down their necks, judging every single aspect of their journey. Still, they needed the pearl that Erica had on her necklace and they weren't willing to just rip it from her throat. So they had to make do with the circumstances that had been presented to them. They could deal with some obnoxiousness if it meant having the pearl. Once they were done with this voyage, it wasn't like Erica was going to suddenly be joining the Order of the Black Sun. They would only have to put up with her for a short while longer.
“That's not going to happen,” Erica said with a glare.
“I know,” Daisy said. “But wouldn't it be lovely if it did...?”
Luckily, Aya was a much more neutral presence aboard her ship. She didn't have any animosity with anyone—all of her harsh feelings were probably reserved for Dajuan. She just watched and occasionally exchanged amused glances with Sam.
Aya leaned over to him. “But is this the right place?”
“If our Daisy's good friend, Mr. Irving, is to be believed...then yes. This is the right place.”
“Mr. Irving? Who the hell is that?” Erica asked. “And why isn't he here?”
“A colleague of mine,” Daisy said. “He was the one that pointed us in your direction on our search for the pearls.”
There were wild horses walking along the shoreline, dozens of them. Their hooves splashed through the shallow waters as they hurried along the beach. They didn't seem to mind the waves too much but were smart enough to keep a safe distance away from the currents.
Sam had never seen anything like it.
There were a few stray people with metal detectors walking along the beach, hoping to find something valuable in the sand. They may find a random coin or two here or there, maybe some trash lazily left behind, but they would be far from real treasure hunters. They hopefully never found the pearl of Poseidon that was supposed to be somewhere on the beach. If they did, then there was really no chance of tracking it down. At least those metal detectors were useless when it came to finding pearls. That made Sam feel a bit more optimistic about their chances. That, and the fact it wasn't a huge beach. At least they knew they were in the right vicinity, as long as the pearl hadn't been moved.
“How are we supposed to find the pearl here?” Erica asked, looking like she wanted nothing more than to get away from the sandy dunes. “It could literally be anywhere.”
Daisy was staring at the groups of horses that were making their way down the beach. She didn't just look fascinated by them like everyone else, no, there was something really stirring inside that strange head of hers. She started walking toward the horses, following them across the sand. Sam and the others had to hurry up to catch up with her.
“What are you planning?” Sam asked as he tried to keep up with her quick pace. “We're really not supposed to get that close to them. Didn't you see the signs? Is one of the horses actually the pearl or something?”
“Not exactly, but I think I might know where the pearl is thanks to them. I've been giving the abilities of the pearls some more thought. The one Purdue found could control water. The one that Erica has controls earthquakes. The third might have something to do with horses. Don't you think it's odd that we ended up here of all places?”
“Horses?”
Sam was reminded of the little known fact that Poseidon was the god of horses as well as being responsible for the sea and earthquakes too. That took a few seconds for Sam to process. Horses just seemed so out of place when put beside Poseidon's other two dominions. Having horses wasn't nearly as interesting as commanding vast forces of nature. It seemed so minimal but if horses really were part of Poseidon's responsibilities, then maybe Daisy had a point. She certainly knew much more about all of this than Sam did. At this point, he knew to trust her judgment when it came to odd things like this. The more ridiculous it was, the more of an expert Daisy Judge was.
They followed the horses over the dunes and into the marshes of the island, away from the beach goers, the surfers, and the tourists. They went past the fencing that warned them that they were trespassing if they went any further. Sam had trespassed in far more dangerous places than this in his travels so wasn't at all worried.
The wild horses brought them to an enclosure of shrubs that obstructed the view of their surroundings but also kept it well hidden from anyone that went this way. Sam couldn't believe the number of horses that were on that part of the island, far away from any onlookers or camera flashes. This was some sort of haven for them. The strangest part was that all of those horses walked around a spot in the sand in unison. The horses that they had followed to find the place joined in, as if drawn to the pacing horses. They were flocking to it and orbiting the patch of sand like it was some tiny planet for them to orbit.
“I knew there was more to them...” Daisy said with some pride.
Sam usually got annoyed when Daisy acted like she was the greatest problem solver on the planet, but he had to give her credit for this one. He never would have cared to follow a few horses off of a beach. That usually would have been such a supreme waste of time. He had seen a lot of things over the course of his adventures but wild horses acting like this was definitely a new one. Erica looked just as confused but didn't seem to know how to voice her thoughts. At least she was starting to develop a filter instead of just blurting out the first thoughts that came to her head now. That was progress, at least.
“Usually an X is supposed to mark the spot,” Sam said. “But horses will do just as well. Thanks guys.”
Sam moved toward the orbiting wall of horses and started pushing his way through to the sand in the middle of their stroll. Part of him was concerned that they were guarding something and would all just start kicking him with their hooves if he got close to the sand but they all remained calm, just continuing to circle around like they were part of some ritual. Sam didn't bring a shovel so just got on his knees and started clearing as much sand as he could out of the way with his bare hands. He punched through the coarse earth, shoving every bit of sand out of his way as he dug. Suddenly, Daisy was right beside him, throwing her own arms into the sand. Erica didn't do the same and neither of them were too surprised. She wasn't there to help them get another pearl. She was there to deal with hers.
“Wait,” Daisy said, her eyes growing large with excitement.
She withdrew her arm from deep in the sand and when her arm came out, it was holding something between its fingers—a pearl.
The pearl looked just like its siblings, a little white orb with blue markings swirling around its surface. Sam couldn't believe he was holding it. It was the final pearl. They had actually done it. Now all they had to do was bring them all to Poseidon's trident and then they would hopefully have calmed down the god or whatever that water being was that had attacked the facility.
They both got up and Daisy held the pearl tightly in her hand. The horses all seemed to respond to the new owner of the pearl, bowing their heads low.
“Go now,” Daisy said. “We will return the pearl to its proper place.”
The horse surprisingly did exactly as they were told and dispersed in an orderly fashion, just as Daisy asked them. So that was what this pearl could do. It couldn't command the sea or earthquakes but it could command the creatures that Poseidon had made to walk the earth.
“We have all three,” Daisy said, giddy with excitement and holding the pearl high. She was closer to interacting with a Greek god than ever. “Let's get to that trident!”
14
THE TIPS OF THE HIDDEN TRIDENT
Their excitement over having the three pearls was still palpable but this whole mission required more than just finding the pearls. They needed to bring them back to their owner, back to Poseidon's trident, and that wasn't going to be an easy task.
Sam poured over that torn up old piece of parchment for hours. No matter how much he looked it over and squinted his eyes, nothing stood out to him as unusual about the map...but there had to be something useful. The location of where the pearls needed to be was there. That was what Mr. Irving said and that strange homeless man hadn't been wrong so far. Sam remembered him talking about it vividly, saying that the map showed the location of Poseidon's trident, but that the only way to get there was once they had all three of the pearls reunited.
Daisy joined in and the two of them spent more hours on the boat trying to figure out which way to go. There wasn't any clues, anything that could lead them to the trident. Even Erica stood over them, but didn't seem to really be paying all that much attention. She was probably just bored, or impatiently trying to hurry them along by hovering over them.
“Wait, look,” Erica said and pointed to a small piece of land that was sketched on the chart. It was tiny and very easy to overlook. It was long but split into three sections on one end. It unquestionably looked like a pitchfork—or a trident.
“Do you think?” Daisy asked.
Mr. Irving did say that the answer was on that map and this was the only thing that even remotely resembled a clue on that chart.
“There's only one way to find out.”
The ship traveled to the spot on the map. It was a fairly long journey but they were all in a good mood now that they were possibly so close to their destination. Positive atti
tudes helped make any voyage go by faster. It helped distract from the swaying vessel, the choppy waters, and the possibility that they could end up getting lost at sea or eaten by sharks.
“We're close?” Aya called down from the wheel. “Very close.”
Sam rushed to the edge of the boat and looked out to the distance. He stood there for hours, but nothing new came into view. The only thing he saw was endless water stretching out in front of him.
“Where is it?” Sam asked, looking out ahead of them. “What are our coordinates?”
When Aya told him, it matched the coordinates of that pitchfork-shaped island perfectly. It should have been there right in front of them...but it wasn't. If it wasn't ahead of them, then it should have at least been close by and within view, but there was nothing at all anywhere around them, no matter what direction they looked in. There was nothing at all. They were still just surrounded by a vast plane of nothing but blue ocean. The trident island was nowhere to be found.
Sam swore under his breath. They finally had all of the pearls. They were so close to getting them back to the trident but now the place where they thought the trident was, was gone...if it had ever been there at all. There was a chance that the map was wrong and this island didn't actually exist, or there was a chance that the island had sunk and disappeared beneath the waves, like some lesser Atlantis.
Sam really hoped that it was the latter, even when that would make things difficult too. Whether it was underwater or not, at least it would exist and they could physically get to it. It would just be harder, that was all. Hopefully Aya had some scuba diving gear she could spare on board. If that was the case and the missing island really was beneath them, then they would need some way of being able to breath when they returned the pearls. If they were lucky, then it wouldn't be too deep down either; if it was then they wouldn't have to worry about breathing since the pressure of the water would crush all of them to pieces if they tried to get near the island below. It was a conundrum and Sam really hoped that luck was on their side.
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