Chapter 36 A Mist Opportunity #2
The fog shifts again, this time turning a sickly greenish gray that becomes long, branching lines splitting off in all directions.
“Trees?” I whisper, confused about what they have to do with sickness.
“Veins,” Arjun whispers back, his gaze captivated by the long, winding wisps of fog that wrap around all of us. As they do, I swear I hear the pleas of the desperate echoing softly in my ears.
I write “disease” in my notebook, then glance up just in time to see the fog become a syringe. It’s obviously the object we need to find to illustrate disease, so I write that down as well.
This goes on for the next several minutes, Dr. Minthe calling out the names of the next several things—greed, conflict, envy, pride—and the fog turning itself into picture-scapes of every single one: People fighting and melding into one another before dissolving into nothing for “conflict.” Long, grasping fingers trying to grab on to something elusive for “greed.” One person watching another and slowly breaking down for “envy.” And a hill becoming a mountain that starts to crack, stones avalanching down the side, for “pride.”
That one gets me the most out of all of them. The embarrassment I’ve felt at not being chosen by Athena is totally rooted in pride, and as I watch the rocks come tumbling down, I can’t help wondering what, if anything, Dr. Minthe is trying to tell me.
“What is the last one?” Arjun asks, eyes wide and transfixed at the latest mirage playing out in front of us.
“Death.” Fifi and Dr. Minthe answer his question in the same breath.
A chill slams through me as the fog expands to encompass all of us.
It passes through me, sinks into my bones.
I feel hands wrapping around my throat, feel them starting to squeeze and then getting tighter and tighter until my whole throat seizes up.
In front of me, a fog-created book opens and its pages turn, then crumble.
It would be heartbreaking if not for the hands currently trying to choke the life out of me, hands I can’t see but can definitely feel. I reach out, try to grab on to Fifi for help, but one glance tells me she’s in the same predicament I’m in. Everyone is.
Is this what they wanted all along? I wonder frantically. To get us out here, away from our parents, and then kill us all? The thought seems absurd, but Sullivan has just fallen to his side, his face a terrifying mix of red and purple as he tries to pry the hands off his throat.
“Death is the sneakiest—and the most irrevocable—thing to fly out of Pandora’s box,” Dr. Minthe tells us in his normal tone despite what’s happening around us and to us.
“To commemorate it, you will have to find a replica of Hades’s Book of Death.
It won’t protect you, but it will give you something to hold on to as things around you fall apart. ”
The book is the only tangible thing he’s given us as a class, but as I watch, the fog transforms itself into a list of words.
Path to Victory
Despair: Unlightable Candle
Disease: Empty Syringe
Greed: Bag of Coins
Conflict: Broken Hearts
Envy: Emerald Key
Pride: Shattered Mirror
Death: Book of Death
It seems strange to see everything listed in one place after the theatrics that just happened. But before I can say as much to Fifi, Dr. Minthe says, “It seems one of you has already found an item for the scavenger hunt.”
Immediately my classmates explode into a bunch of whispered conversations as they try to figure out who he’s talking about.
Fifi’s eyes go wide as she leans over to Arjun and me. “Who do you think it is?”
“I don’t know,” I tell them, my heart sinking at already being behind in the competition. I know it’s just one object, but there are only seven. Whoever has one already has a distinct advantage over everyone else.
“It’ll be okay,” Arjun tells me, bumping his shoulder against mine. “We’ve got months to figure this out.”
I nod, because I know he’s right, Plus, all it means if someone already has one of the items is that I’ll have to work harder. No big deal. Everything about my experience at Anaximander’s has been about coming from behind. What’s one more time? I just need to concentrate—
“Ms. Weaver.” Dr. Minthe’s voice booms across the field, interrupting the pep talk I’m giving myself.
And just like that, my heart takes up residence in my throat, where it proceeds to beat so fast, I can’t help but worry that it’s going to take flight—and take me along with it. The fact that my palms have also turned rainwater slick only makes everything worse.
“Yes?” I force the whisper out as my entire class turns to look at me.
“You’re the only one whose key chose to return to this side of the door with you.” He holds up the key I plucked out of the chest and used to get us free. For the first time, I pay attention to the fact that right in the center of the decorative bow of the key is a giant green gemstone.
I assumed it was fake when I first saw it, but now I can’t help but wonder if I was wrong about that.
Before I can wrap my head around that thought, Dr. Minthe holds the key out to me. “Please come forward and claim the Emerald Key of envy for Aphrodite Hall.”