 
### Arcadius

### The Black Crystals

Copyright 2018 Constantine Missios

Published by Constantine Missios at Smashwords

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

An Odd Bakery

Insomnia

Airship

O. O. Investigator

A Rather Small Victory

The Vaults

Expelled

Nowhere and Tunnel Corner

Old Baba

The House in the Woods

Nocturnus

Headquarters

Two Books

Instructions

The Map

An Unexpected Friend

The Crystal Mine

Puzzles

A Strange Discovery

Rat Trouble

The White Crystal

The Kid

Necropolis

Lucky Streak

The Museum

A Mystery

Inquiries

The Nymph

Octavius' Birthday Present

The Secret of the Smog

Into the Sewers

Machine

The Son

Darkness

A New Day

Farewells

About Constantine Missios

Other books by Constantine Missios

Connect with Constantine Missios
Acknowledgements

A big thank you to all those friends and loved ones whose commends made a huge difference in writing this book. Also, a huge thank you to Mark Preston and his lovely daughter, Millie, for the last-minute comments.

Finally, I would like to mention that although the cover art is entirely my work, the fonts I used for the title were created by Annastasia Samsonova and Jovanny Lemonad.
An Odd Bakery

"Arcadius, wake up! I am not going to say it again."

Arcadius opened one eye knowing his mother was not kidding this time around. Finally, he pulled himself out of bed and rubbed his crusty eyes looking at the window. A soft, hazy light covered the world outside. He walked towards the round window of his attic room and looked at the rooftops sticking out of the thick smog. Dark clouds were looming in the sky. Not a very good day for a first day in school this year, he thought.

"Ionius, think we are going to have an early snow this year?" he asked the small automaton, sitting on the windowsill.

"How should I know? What am I, a meteorologist?" replied Ionius. His voice was like a tin can scraping on the pavement.

Arcadius smiled. Ionius, was just one of the numerous mechanical creatures inhabiting the city of Ephemeria.

"Gosh! You're so ignorant. Sometimes I think you're just a waste of cogs," said Arcadius.

As usual, Ionius didn't take the joke very well.

"A waste, huh? I would very much like to know who would keep you company if it weren't for me, you spoiled brat!"

It was Arcadius' turn to snap. "Stupid automaton," he said smacking softly Ionius on the head. "One of these days, I am going to tell dad to send you to the scrap yard."

Although not a real threat, this was something no automaton in Ephemeria would ever take lightly. Especially in September, a high season for spare parts in the city. So Ionius decided it was better to drop the attitude.

"I think it's too soon to start snowing. Probably it will start raining first," he said.

The smile returned on Arcadius' face. He rushed to the bathroom where once again he tried to tame his wild red hair. He tried to make it look as plain as possible and when he finally realized the battle was as always lost, he gave up and walked mopishly to the kitchen.

"Come on Arcadius, hurry up! Your milk is getting cold," said his mother and almost immediately was followed by his father.

"Listen to your mother, Arcadius," he said, staring behind his thick glasses and the pages of his morning newspaper.

"Yes, Father," he muttered grumpily and forced himself to pick up the glass of warm milk.

Arcadius truly hated warm milk and unfortunately it was only part of his morning torture. Pretty soon, two thick slices of tasteless bread with equally tasteless butter and honey landed in front of him. Mortified, Arcadius stared at the rest of his breakfast. All these things and many more, were products of the FOE, the Factory Of Ephemeria. It was the city's only factory but it produced practically everything, from food and clothing to machinery. It was also the place where his father worked, along with half the city's population. And while his father was quite satisfied with what emerged from the FOE, Arcadius thought everything coming out of that place was simply horrible. Especially the food which had a strange taste, a kind of bitterness and though most of the time it was barely noticeable, it was still there dancing on his tongue.

"Come on, stop starring and start eating. You'll miss the school bus!" said his mother.

With a frown, Arcadius waited for the right moment and when his mother turned her back, he quickly grabbed a paper towel, wrapped the two slices and stuffed them into his satchel.

"Well, someone woke up hungry today," said his mother starring for a moment at the suddenly empty plate. "Want me to make you some more?"

Arcadius immediately shook his head. "No thanks, Mom. I'll miss the school bus," he said and grabbing his satchel, he rushed out of their apartment before his mother had time to say anything.

A few minutes later and after leaving his "breakfast" on the curb (a treat for the city's ever hungry pigeons) he reached the bus stop.

Ephemeria's nightly smog still shrouded everything like a dirty sheet and a grey morning light fell upon the street and surrounding buildings. It was a bit difficult for Arcadius to tell where exactly his apartment building had shifted today.

There were a few more kids waiting at the bus stop. All were familiar, faces he had seen before but never exchanged a word with them. Arcadius was a solitary soul, or that's what he liked to believe.

He looked across the street and spotted a strange shop. Above the door he made out a sign with the number 449. Wonderful smells drifted from the shop, making Arcadius' empty stomach growl. After some brief thinking, he decided he had enough time to cross the street and quickly check out this weird shop.

Ignoring the other kids' raised eyebrows and inquisitive looks, he ran towards the large window and tried to see through the steamed glass. Unfortunately, he could only make out vague shapes and after another moment of hesitation, he opened the front door and stepped inside. Immediately he was taken aback by the warm wave of strong smells. He looked around and saw wooden shelves overflowing with loaves of bread, pastries and candy, and he finally realized he was in a bakery. But not like any other bakery he had seen before. By the smell alone, he could tell those loaves of bread had nothing to do with the bread he was being fed every day.

At first it looked as though he was alone in the bakery, but then he noticed a hat, a bright red fez bobbing behind the counter and small hands placing even more loaves of bread on shelves there.

"Um ... sorry," he said. The fez froze and then, slowly, a large moonlike face emerged from underneath. The face had a rather impressive moustache and a set of beady eyes. For a moment, the little man looked startled and then, as if he remembered something, he smiled and climbed on something behind the counter.

"Oh ... hello Effendi! Welcome! My first customer, what a joy! What can my humble little bakery offer you, Effendi? Something sweet? A delicious loaf of bread? Maybe a cinnamon bun? " said the little man.

Arcadius blinked.

The little man smiled. "I suppose, this is the first time, Effendi meets a dwarf, am I correct?" said the baker.

Arcadius' jaw dropped, but his rather dumb expression did not seem to bother the dwarf. His smile became even broader and his thick mustache tilted a few inches upwards.

"I see, Effendi is going to school and I suspect his breakfast was not very satisfactory, am I right? Would Effendi allow me to suggest something strengthening? Something that will keep his vigor all day long? " said the dwarf.

Still startled, Arcadius nodded and the baker clapped his hands. "Perfect, perfect! I have exactly what you need. Something special for a long day at school. Yahla! Yahla, bring me a date pie! " he shouted.

A huge crash of pots and pans came from the back of the bakery.

"Oh, what have you done this time, you pestering creature?" cried the dwarf-baker. Then, as if he had just remembered Arcadius was still present, he said, "A thousand apologies, Effendi, my assistant is... somewhat graceless."

A sudden puff followed by a wisp of yellow smoke, made Arcadius jump. The bright cloud dissolved, revealing a strange woman whose lower half was made of yellow swirling mist. She was scantily dressed and her creamy skin was decorated with intricate, red lines. Pearls were woven in her dark hair and a gleaming jewel, like early morning dew, adorned her left nostril.

"How many times do I have to say it? You know my nerves are super sensitive and your screaming doesn't help at all! Look at my hands" she said. Golden bracelets jingled on her slender wrists. "See how they tremble? If you keep on doing this, you will simply send me to the afterlife. Well, if there is an afterlife for poor genies like me."

"Oh, stop with the babbling and complaining, Yahla. This is embarrassing! Don't you see we have a customer? Bring me a date pie!" demanded the dwarf.

Yahla turned, saw Arcadius and her almond eyes took a reproachful expression. "Ewww... Is that a child? Why is it here?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"Close your mouth! He is a customer, our first customer since we arrived here."

Yahla turned towards the dwarf. "I curse the moment you brought me into this miserable place. Nothing but dampness and fog. I can't even get my hair straight. And I'm a genie! Not to mention every morning you have to guess where you are in this dreadful city. I truly wonder, how you intend to keep a steady clientele in conditions like these? One day the shop is here, the next there and then somewhere else," she said.

"My professional decisions are my own. Should I remind you of our agreement?" said the dwarf.

Yahla snorted. "Professional decisions!" she said. "What a joke!"

The dwarf's cheeks turned to ripe strawberries. "The date pie, Yahla," he said.

Yahla muttered something incomprehensible and held out her hand like she was offering something to the baker. The next moment, Arcadius heard the puff again, saw another wisp of yellow smoke and there it was; a small plate with a piece of pie on it.

"Thank you," said the dwarf-baker and snatched the plate.

Yahla threw another scornful look to Arcadius and disappeared leaving behind a trail of yellow smoke.

"What... what was that?" said Arcadius trying to understand what exactly had just happened.

"A thousand apologies, Effendi, for the rudeness of my assistant. Of all the genies in the Equinox Desert, I found myself the least cooperative. She's all whining and bickering. Better should've married," said the dwarf wrapping the piece of pie with nimble fingers.

"Genie? What is a genie?" asked Arcadius.

The baker eyed him like he asked the stupidest question in the world. "They're spirit-servants, of course," he said sliding the wrapped piece of pie towards Arcadius. "Two coppers please."

Arcadius paid the dwarf-baker using his daily allowance and was ready to ask more questions about genies, dwarfs and the Equinox Desert, but then the dwarf said, "Thank you very much, young Effendi. Perhaps you should make haste, I think your school bus is about to arrive any minute now."

Arcadius remembered school and grabbing his pie, he stuffed it into his satchel and ran towards the door.

"Good day, young Effendi!" cried the dwarf behind him.

Arcadius waved in response and ran back to the bus stop. Moments later the smog parted and the school bus with its groaning locomotive, arrived like a red beast.
Insomnia

Burgus, the bus driver glared at Arcadius. "Come on kid, get on bus, we don't have all day," he said.

Arcadius lowered his eyes and hopped into the bus.

"And don't let me catch you making any fuss back there. That's if you don't want to find your own way to school."

That was a serious threat. Next to professor Gnomonius, the city's drivers were the most prominent in Ephemeria. All members of "The Drivers Guild" possessed the mysterious ability to easily find their way around Ephemeria's ever shifting maze. All the steam-buses, steam-taxis and rickshaws of the city were operated by that mysterious group.

Arcadius skulked towards the back of the bus and took an empty seat. He glanced at the opposite side and saw a strange girl with long golden hair sitting there. She seemed to be his age, but she was wearing an old fashioned blue dress that made her look like a large doll. Then Arcadius noticed scratches on her knees, like this girl had a habit of falling on rough ground.

As if feeling his gaze, the girl turned and stared back with green eyes. And her mouth quirked. It was an alarming smile. None of his schoolmates ever smiled to Arcadius (unless of course they had a nasty prank underway) and in general, nobody ever smiled during the first day in school.

As if to annoy him further, the girl made her smile wider. And Arcadius became more self-conscious. Not wanting to encourage some odd-looking newbie, he turned his head towards the window and after a while his thoughts drifted back to the amazing bakery.

Little by little, the school bus filled with students and around eight forty, just before the bell started ringing, it parked in the huge courtyard of the GEI.

The Grand Educational Institute (or GEI) was huge in width, length and height and, mirroring Ephemeria, it was mazelike. From afar it looked like a big stack of boxes carelessly left in the middle of a room. And when you crossed its imposing front gate, the first thing you noticed was the "Avenue", possibly the largest and longest corridor in the world. In fact, it was larger than most of Ephemeria's streets, hence the name. Like a sharp sword, it divided the GEI in half, leading to a towering inner gate, which in turn led to the stuff's quarters. Numerous secondary corridors and winding staircases led to classrooms, laboratories and inner courtyards. Everything in the GEI was chaotic and labyrinthine. So much so, professor Gnomonius, the headmaster, had asked for guiding signs to be installed at every corner. The building was so disorienting there was a rumor that a long time ago, before the signs, a girl was lost there and was never found. They even said her ghost still wandered the dark corridors of the GEI, trying to find her way back.

Along with the rest of the students, Arcadius was herded to a vast reception hall. Most of the teaching staff were waiting there. The professors had formed a line with headmaster Hector Gnomonius, the greatest inventor of Ephemeria, standing in the middle. He was a gaunt man of about sixty years old, with grey hair, round spectacles, a black suit and black shoes so polished, they reflected the solemn daylight like mirrors.

"Quiet! Please be quite!" shouted professor Hipati, trying to put some order to the huge flock of students. Unfortunately, her squeaky voice seemed to be lost within the echoing racket.

"Silence!" thundered a harsh voice and immediately everybody fell silent. Professor Leo Stronghold was renowned for his roaring voice.

"Thank you, my dear friend," said professor Gnomonius nodding and professor Stronghold proudly touched the hook-like edges of his enormous moustache, nodding back.

Professor Gnomonius turned to the students. His keen eyes sparkled behind the spectacles balancing on his beaky nose. He smiled, crossed his hands behind his back and began his usual welcoming speech in a soft fatherly voice.

"Dear students, I and the rest of the teachers would like to welcome you in the Grand Educational Institute of Ephemeria! We would like to welcome the oldest of you, hoping you will perform yet another year according to the high standards and expectations of your city. Be obedient and diligent and rest assure a bright future awaits you in Ephemeria. As for you, who enter the gates of this esteemed Institute for the first time, I want you all to know that your teachers will be there for you. They will be there to show you how to become useful citizens and people dedicated to the city's laws."

Professor Gnomonius made a theatrical pause and added the last sentence of this speech.

"I wish to all of us, teachers and students alike, a productive and enjoyable year."

The crowd broke into applause not so much for the encouraging and reassuring words, but more for the fact they would soon stop standing in the cold reception hall.

Out of the corner of his eye, Arcadius noticed the strange girl from the bus still smiling. And it kind of irritated him. His first time here, he was feeling miserable and all he wanted was to get back to the safety of his attic room. But this girl not only looked perfectly fine, she also seemed to be enjoying the whole thing.

Suddenly Arcadius felt a sharp pinch on his left arm and when he turned, he found himself looking at the maliciously smiling round face of Kratos Jumphop. Kratos was Arcadious' worst nightmare, a bully who divided his schoolmates into two distinct categories: those who served him and those whom he tortured mercilessly. Unfortunately, Arcadius fell into the latter one.

"Hey, Carrot, get ready to have your bones grinded this year", whispered the burly boy with the scruffy black hair and the cold blue eyes.

Arcadius acted as if he heard nothing, but the sad truth was his heart sank right down his feet. And once more, he wished he could get back home.

At that moment, professor Hipati started reciting her long list of student names and the classes they were supposed to go this year. And thus, Arcadius learned that the strange girl's name was Augustine Hydrogold and that they would be in the same class, a fact he was not happy about. The girl looked like trouble.

When Hipati finished with the names, they all formed small groups and headed for their classrooms. Arcadius and fifteen other boys and girls, crossed dark corridors, rusty metal bridges and long stairways all the way up to the small and dusty classroom 12G.

"It looks like a prison cell," Arcadius heard someone saying. He turned and saw the girl standing next to him.

Oh, great! She's stuck to me like a tick, thought Arcadius. The last thing he wanted, was to be seen with a girl. If Kratos noticed that, he was doomed. He would spend the rest of his school days being a laughingstock.

"What did you expect?" he said tersely.

"I don't know, but certainly not this. It's stuffy and it smells bad," she said.

"All of you, please sit quietly. I'll call you one by one, to come and collect your books. Am I being clear?" interrupted professor Autoclytos with a stern voice.

"Yes, professor," chanted the students and moved to the wooden and uncomfortable desks.

Arcadius glanced at the huge stack of books under the blackboard. Who knows how many boring books I'll have to carry this year, he thought and turned to find a place to sit.

Most of the students had already rushed to form couples and occupy a spot. Arcadius did not have a best buddy so every year he ended sharing a desk with one of the other outcasts. While looking, he heard Augustine say, "You want to sit there?" She made the question as if Arcadius had already agreed to their partnership.

"Look, I don't know where you came from, but here boys sit with boys and girls sit with girls," he replied hopping that would put an end to her annoying presence next to him.

"Why?" she asked instead.

"Because!" he said angrily and turned his back on her.

And then with a sudden rush of dread, Arcadius realized that almost all the desks had been filled and only two spots remained available. One was next to Onufrious Fragrancius and the other would have to be shared with that girl.

Onufrious, unlike his last name implied, was a stinky boy with a rather dumb look on his face. Plus, like Arcadius, he was one of Kratos' favorite targets. Arcadius was facing a true dilemma. Which was worse? Spending the rest of the year next to stinky Onufrious or next to a girl? It took him less than a second to decide and taking a big breath he went to sit next to Onufrious.

Again, Arcadius wished he could be back home, with the comforting company of Ionius and of the books he borrowed from the public library, or even better, he wished he could get back to that amazing bakery and the dwarf and the genie. But the hours had a different opinion, rolling slowly and when school was finally over, the sun was already setting.

*

Traditionally in Ephemeria, after the first day of the new school year, students had nothing more to do than carry back home a few extra pounds of books. When Arcadius opened his satchel to take out all those books, he discovered he had forgotten the piece of pie he bought from the bakery that morning. He was planning to eat it during one of the breaks, but he had completely forgotten it. His satchel was now soaked in a strange and delicious smell. How was it called, that pie? Datepie!

Arcadius heard a growl of approval from his stomach, sure sign he was starving. He took out the somewhat squashed piece and looked at it.

"What is that?" said Ionius coming closer.

"A piece of pie I bought this morning from the weirdest bakery I have ever seen," said Arcadius and indeed everything now seemed unbelievable. If not for the pie, he would have thought he dreamt the entire thing.

"You shouldn't eat it. You won't be able to eat dinner afterwards", suggested Ionius.

"And what do you care if I eat dinner or not?" said Arcadius. "It's my stomach, not yours."

"I'm only saying it for your sake. Don't come crying when your mother spanks you for not eating dinner."

"Shut up, you stupid can opener," said Arcadius unwrapping the pie.

"Don't you tell me to shut up! This is not a way for a young gentleman to talk. And just because I'm an automaton, that doesn't mean I don't have dign-"

With a sudden move, Arcadius flicked the small switch on Ionius' back. The automaton froze and the room fell silent. Relieved, Arcadius turned his attention back the pie. He took a small, cautious bite and his mouth filled with an amazing taste. It was the best thing he had ever tasted and surely nothing like those things coming out of the FOE. In fact, he could not believe food could taste this amazing. In a few hungry bites, the piece of pie was gone and Arcadius was feeling stuffed and surprisingly vigorous. And as Ionius had predicted, he was completely unable to eat the disgusting lentil soup his mother had cooked for dinner. Luckily, his parents decided to have yet another quarrel about the family's finances, so he managed to slip away unnoticed and get back to his room.

Having nothing else to do, Arcadius grabbed the novel waiting on his nightstand and started reading. It was one of the novels he regularly borrowed from Ephemeria's old public library, a book about pirate ships, undiscovered islands and great treasures. He could spend hours and hours reading and if not for his mother, he would probably stay up all night reading.

So, in the evening, once again his mother peered from his door with a surprised look, as if he was an unexpected thing in the attic room.

"Arcadius, why are you still awake?" she asked. "Go to sleep. I don't want to drag you again out of bed tomorrow."

He knew there was no point in trying to bargain for a few more pages, so he put the book aside. "Yes, Mother," he said and blew out the oil lamp next to his bed. His mother closed the door leaving him in the dark-blue night.

Usually Arcadius fell asleep right away, but for some reason that night, his mind buzzed like a bumblebee. From the small attic window, he could see the moonlight trickling to the floor forming a bright pattern. At first the silence was filled with muffled noises, his parents talking in the kitchen and an occasional engine running somewhere outside. Until his parents went to sleep and all noises from outside dyed out. Silence covered everything, but Arcadius still lay sleepless in his bed.

What is wrong with me tonight? Why can't I sleep? he wondered and once again, his mind turned to the amazing events in the dwarf's bakery. Could that date-pie be the reason for his insomnia? After eating it, it was like he had just woken up from a long and restful sleep.

Eventually he felt so frustrated he sat up and looked around his dark room. Maybe a glass of warm milk might help, he thought, although he hated the stuff. His mother said warm milk could help someone fall asleep and he really did not want to spend the whole night awake.

He pulled the blanket away and stepped out of his bed. It was rather chilly so he hurried to the door. His hand was almost on the knob when a bright light flooded the room. He jerked his head towards the window and what he saw made him gasp.
Airship

A flash of light tore apart the night sky over Ephemeria. And when the flash was gone, Arcadius saw a schooner hanging midair. The vessel was exactly like those he had seen in paintings, but instead of sailing in the seas, this one was ablaze and struggling to stay in the air. Its sails were on fire and huge odd-looking engines under large wings struggled spewing sparks. Arcadius could see a someone, running frantically on the deck, while another strange flying machine seemed determined to destroy the schooner. This thing was smaller and it looked like a balloon carrying an egg. An egg with small round windows and a nozzle shooting green rays to the schooner, causing small bursts of fire.

Suddenly a cannon roared on the schooner's deck and a cannonball sailed into the night. It slammed right into the balloon above the egg causing a huge explosion. The sky filled with green flares like fireworks and both balloon and egg disintegrated into small pieces.

Mouth gapping, Arcadius stared at the flying schooner that seemed about to crash on his apartment building. But then, with great moan, the airship broke into half and fell like a meteorite behind some buildings, a little further away from Arcadius' attic.

In the sharp silence that followed, only bright red traces remained on the sky. Arcadius stood frozen, trying to think what he should do. Should he do something? If he called his parents, probably they wouldn't believe him and would sent him right back to bed. Come to think about it, why haven't they woken up? Surely, they must have heard those huge explosions. It was like a thunderstorm. But when was he ever woken up because of a thunderstorm? Never. Odd come to think about it.

Filled with indecision, Arcadius looked at his still warm bed. Then he looked at Ionius. The frozen automaton reflected a dull silver light. Thank god, he had him turned off otherwise he would have made a huge fuss for what he was about to do.

Arcadius drew a deep breath and hastily put his shoes on. Then he opened the window and climbed out, on the steep roof. Arcadius' apartment building was four floors high and on top was the attic with his room. Fortunately, there was a metal staircase close to his window and Arcadius carefully walked on the slippery roof tiles, grabbing the banister hard. The metal steps creaked ominously as he slowly started to climb down. A few minutes later he found himself to the narrow alley behind his building.

The alley was empty and dark. The gray smog that choked Ephemeria every evening, made the street lamps look like huge floating fireflies. For a second, Arcadius felt the doubts returning. Maybe this was not such a good idea after all. But again, the image of the flying schooner exploding and the debris falling from the sky urged him onwards.

He started walking, trying to figure out where the ship had fallen. From his window, it didn't look that far away, but now in the hazy and winding streets and alleys of Ephemeria, Arcadius was not so sure.

After a while, he reached a small crossroad and once again he noticed the eerie silence. He wondered how come he was the only one out here. If he didn't know better, he would have thought Ephemeria was an empty city, he would have thought he was the only one alive here.

Arcadius was about to cross one of the streets, when he sensed something. Something hostile close by. He felt eyes piercing the smog, staring at him. Evil eyes. And then he heard the shrill. Arcadius froze and his heart went crazy.

Ahead of him, a dark form, darker than the shadows, emerged from the smog and a fiery eye stared at him. Long bony hands raised towards him and the dark form floated closer. For some reason, Arcadius was unable to command his feet, unable to make them move. He just stood there.

The creature's claws were almost upon him, when something shot out of the smog. It was small, box-like and it was buzzing like an angry fly. It fell on to the creature, which immediately withdrew back into the smog with another shrill.

The box-like thing hovered and buzzed for a few moments as if to make sure the creature was gone and then it turned its attention to Arcadius who held his breath trying not to scream. A good decision, for when the thing flew closer, Arcadius realized it was indeed a box. A small wooden box with delicate, transparent wings. They flapped so fast he could barely see them.

The box made a few cautious circles around Arcadius, and then hovered in front of his face. The lid opened, and a pair of small, red eyes peered from inside, studying Arcadius.

The box seemed to conclude Arcadius was unimportant and so the lid snapped shut and the box flew away, cutting through the plumes of drifting smog.

Arcadius exhaled and stared at the box flying away. This was going to be a very strange night, he realized and possibly a dangerous one. But danger seemed to be less in the company of that odd box, so before it vanished in the winding streets, Arcadius ran and caught up to it. The box didn't pay any attention to him and for a while the two wandered the streets together.

Unlike Arcadius, the box seemed to know exactly where it was going. Soon after, they came across the fence of a large junk yard, filled with old machinery and ironware. Arcadius had almost forgotten the airship, but now, behind the mountains of junk, he saw the glow of a fire and realized it must have fallen somewhere behind those huge junk piles.

The box had no problem flying over the fence, but Arcadius had to look for a hole to pass through and when he did, he found himself in a strange world. At night, the old machines in the junk yard looked like half broken giants and metal monsters.

Following the glow, Arcadius walked the twisting pathways of the yard and finally found what he was looking for. The wreckage was even more impressive up close. The flying schooner lay half broken on its side, like a dying sea monster. The masts looked now like crooked tree trunks and the sails were gone. Sparks burst out of smaller parts of the ship, some exploding into colorful flames while a gigantic propeller groaned trying to keep on turning.

Arcadius saw the box making small circles above a pile of debris. He came closer and at first, he could not understand why the pile had caught the attention of the box. Then a moan came from the ashes, followed by a soot covered hand.
O. O. Investigator

The hand sprang up from the debris and Arcadius jerked back. Then he remembered the figure frantically running on the deck of the burning schooner right before it crashed. He knelt and scooped large handfuls of ash and dirt. Slowly a young man appeared from underneath.

"Hey, sir, are you all right?" He said shaking the man from the shoulders. He did not move. "Sir, are you ok? Should I go get someone?" said Arcadius ready to run for help.

But then the man moaned again and slowly shook his head. "Please mom... just a bit more", he said.

"Wait-what?" said Arcadius confused.

The man rubbed his eyes, smearing even more soot on his face. "Hmm...? What? Who are you?" He sat up and shook his head a little more vigorously. "Oh, my head... Where on earth am I?"

Arcadius stared at the young man with the long black hair. "You are in Ephemeria", he said.

"I am where?" said the man, looking around. Suddenly he jumped up. "Oh, my god! My ship, my ship! Look at my lovely, little ship! Aaaah... It's ruined! And I am still paying for the loan" He bounced from one foot to the other. "Oh... what am I going to do? What-"

With a sudden swoop, the box snapped its lid biting a few of the man's fingers. "Ouch!" he cried and jerked his hand back. The box snapped angrily its lid a few more times and the young man seemed to calm down a little.

"Damn box. Stupid, horrible box", he muttered, sucking his fingers. Then he turned his attention back to the wreckage. "If I ever catch those vagrants who did this to my ship... oh, mind you, they will regret the day they picked a fight with me", he said but almost immediately his face sagged and he started lamenting again. "Oh, what will I do? They will skin me alive, back in Felinia. Sharpclaw has already payed me a huge advance..."

"What is Felinia?" asked Arcadius.

The man turned to him like he noticed Arcadius for the first time. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I am Arcadius Carr-" started Arcadius but then decided not to mention his last name. So far, it had been a reason for plenty of ridicule among his classmates and especially Kratos.

"Arcadius Carr? What Kind of name is that?" said the man.

"Arcadius Carrot", whispered Arcadius looking down.

"What did you say? Speak up, kid," said the man.

"Carrot! I said my last name is Carrot! You got a problem with that?" yelled Arcadius.

"Oh, my! What a prickly little boy. And those manners! I just asked your name," said the man.

"And what is your name?" said Arcadius mimicking the man's tone.

"I am Euphronius Margarus Darkshroud!" said the man, putting one hand on his waist and raising the other.

Arcadius blinked.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked the young man.

"What kind of name is that?" said Arcadius.

"I beg your pardon? You think yours is better? Besides, mine is famous," said the young man.

"Haven't heard it before," said Arcadius.

"Pff! It's impossible not to have heard about the famous private investigator Euphronius Margarus Darkshroud."

"No," said Arcadius.

"Well they do call me Phrony. It's my nickname you know," said the young man.

"No," replied Arcadius stubbornly.

"Oh, well," said Phrony. He took out a small card from the inside pocket of his charred suit jacket and gave it to Arcadius. "Here is my card, kid. In case you ever need me."

Arcadius took the card and read the golden letters shimmering in the firelight:

Euphronius (Phrony) Margarus Darkshroud

O. O. Private Investigator

25 Jaguar St. Opportunata

"What does O. O. mean?" asked Arcadius.

"Odd Objects, of course," said Phrony.

"And what is this Opportunata?"

"Don't tell me you don't know Opportunata!" said Phrony and this time he looked sincerely surprised. "There's no way, you don't know the greatest, most beautiful and amazing city in the whole wide world!"

"I don't," said Arcadius, drily.

"Well, then I'm truly sorry for you, kid," said Phrony raising his eyebrows scornfully. "And now, if you excuse me, I have a ship to save and a job to finish. A very important job for the nation of Felinia," he added.

"And where is that Felinia?" asked Arcadius.

"Obviously, very far away," said Phrony. "By the way, where the hell am I?"

"I told you, in Ephemeria."

"Ephemeria, Ephemeria! You keep saying that, but where is this Ephemeria? I've been practically everywhere, but I've never heard of a place called Ephemeria."

"Then I am truly sorry for you," said Arcadius.

Phrony stared with a blank expression for a moment. Then he smiled. "Touché, kid, touché!"

"So where is that, Felinia?" insisted Arcadius.

"Felinia, as everyone knows, is the great cat kingdom."

"And why is it called Felinia?"

Phrony gave a sigh. "Because feline means cat. So, their kingdom is called Felinia. It's as simple as that."

"Never heard it before," said Arcadius.

"Then obviously you were not paying much attention to your teachers," said Phrony.

"My teachers, never mentioned anything about cat kingdoms and cities called Opportunata," retorted Arcadius.

Phrony gave another sigh. "Look, kid, I'd love to sit here and argue with you, but you see that thing burning?" he said pointing at the wreckage.

Arcadius nodded.

"That was my ship!" cried the man. "And if I don't fix it as soon as possible, I will not be able to continue my investigation. And if I don't continue my investigation, then I will not find the black crystals. And you know what? That is a really, really terrible thing. Especially if you've been given a large advance and you've spent most of it! So, for the love of every god in the universe, I would really appreciate it if you just... scram." And with that, Phrony turned his back and walked towards the remains of his flying schooner.

Arcadius certainly wasn't ready to just turn his back and walk away as if nothing had ever happened. So instead of heading back home, he walked and stood next to Phrony who seemed lost. He was looking sheepishly at the wreckage, while the box hovered over his right shoulder.

"Maybe we should put out the fire first," offered Arcadius hesitantly.

Phrony gave him a look and at first, Arcadius thought he would start yelling again. But then he smiled. "Excellent idea, kid! You've finally started to prove useful. Let's put out the fire first and then we'll see what we can do," he said.

Arcadius smiled back. "I think there is a fireplug somewhere outside the junk yard. If we can just find an old bucket..." he said.

"Oh, but I have something much better," said Phrony and turned towards the box. "Box, open," he ordered.

Surprisingly, the box obeyed and Phrony shoved his hand inside. Wide-eyed, Arcadius saw almost half of Phrony's hand disappear inside the box. But how? It was so small.

"Now, where is it... where have I put it?" mumbled Phrony.

Arcadius expected the lid to snap any minute biting Phrony's hand. Instead, he gave a loud "Aha!" and produced an odd pistol.

"What's that?" asked Arcadius.

"This is the famous rain-pistol of Hydroceanius, the legendary knight. It was his gift to me after finding him, his set of fake teeth."

"Fake teeth?"

"Yes, Rubynius had stolen his teeth to avenge his poisoned army."

The sudden flood of information was too much and probably it showed because Phrony sighed and said, "Never mind, it's a long story."

"How are you going to put out the fire with that?" said Arcadius.

"You'll see," said Phrony. He walked closer to the burning ship and pointed the gun towards the sky. He pulled the trigger and from its trumpet-like nozzle, something like a firework shot into the night leaving a thin trail of sparks behind. There was a blinding flash and when Arcadius' eyes cleared, he saw a dark cloud boiling right above the burning schooner. A second later rain came pouring down and met the sizzling flames. In a few short moments, only smoke was coming out of the wreckage in thick plumes.

"Wow!" said Arcadius.

"Well, I have to agree with you. Never used it before, but it looks truly amazing," said Phrony. He opened the box's lid and threw the pistol back in.

"And now what?" said Arcadius.

"Now I must repair my ship as best as I can and then I must look for the black crystals," said Phrony. He was already looking around the huge piles of junk. "Luckily, this place looks filled with things I can use. Where did you say we are?"

"In Ephemeria!" said Arcadius.

"Oh, yes! Ephemeria. Must make a note of that. Never miss an opportunity for expanding your business, kid."

Arcadius returned a blank stare for a moment and then asked, "So, what are those black crystals you are looking for?"

Phrony exhaled deeply. "God, you like questions, kid. And I don't have time for chitchat. If you want to help, try to look for a large trunk. I keep my tools there."

"You mean a trunk like that one?" said Arcadius pointing. A big trunk was next to a pile of cogs and rusted boilers. The lid was open.

"Oh, no!" cried Phrony and ran towards the trunk.

Arcadius followed suit and he saw the trunk was empty. Whatever was inside had probably scattered when the ship went down.

"Now I'm dead! Now I'm truly dead. Gone are my tools!" said Phrony.

"I don't understand why you're screaming like that. Ephemeria is filled with tools," said Arcadius.

Phrony shook his head. "No way... those were really special tools. You can only buy them in Opportunata," he said.

Arcadius smiled reassuringly. "I am sure you can find the tools you need here too. In Ephemeria we got every tool you can think of. The FOE produces everything and it's the best," he said.

"The FOE?"

"It's the biggest and most amazing factory in the world," boasted Arcadius following his father's pride for the FOE.

Phrony gave him a more serious look. "Well, maybe I'm not as unlucky as I thought. Maybe I will manage to find the black crystals."

Arcadius grabbed the opportunity. "Well, what are those crystals?"

Phrony took a mysterious expression. "They were four crystals kept in the great temple of Bastet, back in Felinia. Bastet is the goddess protector of the cat kingdom and these crystals were supposed to be sacred or something. I don't know exactly what they are, but the truth is Emeraldeyes Sharpclaw the Third, went mad when he found they had been stolen."

"Emeraldeyes?" said Arcadius.

"The cat emperor, the one who hired me to find the crystals. I just said so, kid. You're asking questions, but you're not paying attention," said Phrony.

"And who stole the crystals?"

"I am not sure. I caught track of the robbers and followed them for several days. Until I finally saw them here, above this city, flying in that strange thing. Right before they started blasting my ship," said the investigator angrily. "But I showed them. I banged them with a good cannonball! Did you see that?"

"Yes, but what about the crystals? How do you know you didn't blow them up in pieces?"

For a second that caught Phrony by surprise. Obviously, the that thought had not crossed his mind. He shook his head. "No. The black crystals are no ordinary gems. They can't be destroyed that easy. At least, I hope they can't, otherwise..." He swallowed hard, probably thinking the cat emperor would not be satisfied with black dust instead of black crystals.

"So many strange things are happening tonight," said Arcadius thoughtfully. "I can hardly believe it."

"What do you mean, you can hardly believe it? You think I'm lying, kid? I don't have time for lies," said Phrony leaning towards Arcadius.

"No, I don't mean that. It's just that... until now I had never seen things like that. I mean truly magical things. Flying ships, black crystals, rain-pistols, flying boxes, scary ghosts..."

Phrony froze and his eyes went round. "What do you mean scary ghosts? What kind of ghosts?"

"I mean scary ghosts. With claws and such. One of them jumped at me at a crossroad. I thought I was done for it, but then your box came along, and drove the ghost away."

Phrony leaned even closer. "Describe that ghost," he ordered.

"I didn't see it very clearly. It was dark and there is the smog. It looked like a shadow and it had one orange eye." Arcadius felt a shiver. "Oh, and it was screaming."

"It was screaming?"

"More like a screech."

Phrony stood and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "A dreamghost... Oh, that's bad."

"A dreamghost? What's that?" said Arcadius.

"That's trouble," said Phrony.

"How did your box managed to drive it away?"

"Actually, that is not strange at all. The box is made of sunwood. Dreamghosts fear two things in this world: cats and sunwood. And before you ask, sunwood comes from a special plant growing high on the mountains of Patagonia. It grows for hundreds of years absorbing sunlight and its wood is perfect for crafting magical objects." He looked at the box. "Like that thing. A magician gave it to me in return of a favor, but now I think he gave it to me because he wanted to get rid of it. It's so annoying. It follows me even to the toilet."

Arcadius giggled and watched the box with amused expression.

"I think there is something strange going on here," said Phrony. "I can feel it. And I must find those crystals quickly. If only my ship was in a better shape."

Arcadius saw his chance. "I can help you," he said. He could not keep the excitement from his voice.

"Don't be silly, kid. This is serious business-and dangerous. I have no time to waste," said Phrony.

"But I can help. Think about it. While you fix your ship, I can track down your crystals. This way you won't lose time," said Arcadius.

Phrony hesitated.

"And besides, I know this city and you don't," argued Arcadius.

"Well you've got a point there," admitted Phrony. He rubbed his chin for a moment and then smiled. "The way things are right now, I don't have many choices, do I? Maybe you can indeed help me. Ok, kid, here's what we're going to do: while I fix my ship, you will look for the crystals and if you find anything, you come right back and report to me. Nothing more, am I being clear? And you must be very careful, this could prove dangerous. You don't have to act like a brave hero or something, ok?"

Arcadius nodded.

"Good." Phrony turned towards the box. "Box, come over here," he said in a commanding voice. The box did so. "Open."

The box opened its lid and once again, Phrony shoved his arm inside.

"What are you looking for?" asked Arcadius.

"I am looking-" Phrony took out his arm and threw something to Arcadius, "for this."

Arcadius caught the object and then opened his hand.

"A wristwatch?"

Phrony rolled his eyes. "Of course, it's not a simple wrist watch. How could a mere watch help you find the crystals?"

"Then what is it?"

"It's the watch of transformations," replied Phrony.

"The watch of transformations...." repeated Arcadius. In the dull light he saw the watch had only one clock finger and instead of the hours, it had animal figures. And the spot where the twelve o'clock was supposed to be was empty.

"You see the clock finger? When you wear the watch, you turn the clock finger to an animal figure and you turn into that animal."

Arcadius stared wide-eyed. "No, way! You're joking!"

"Of course not! I never joke about such things, kid."

"Can I try it?"

"No, you cannot. I didn't give to you for fun. This is a tool to help you find the crystals."

Arcadius nodded. He was not going to argue and risk something that amazing.

"And keep in mind that each transformation doesn't last long. Only about ten minutes."

"Understood," said Arcadius.

"Good. Now put it on and be careful not to lose it, I don't have a second one."

Arcadius did so.

"Oh, and never, ever put the clock finger to the empty spot," added Phrony.

"Why not?"

"None of your business."

Arcadius smiled slyly. "You don't really know what's going to happen, do you?"

Phrony returned a scornful expression. "I'm sure something very bizarre, and if I were you, I wouldn't try to find out what. I assume you don't want to end up transformed into something disgusting, like a toad. Permanently."

Before Arcadius could say something, the ground beneath their feet, started shaking and rumbling. It was like an earthquake.

"Oh, for the love of a thousand gods! What now?" cried Phrony.

"It must be midnight," said Arcadius looking around.

The piles of junk were trembling.

"So what's the big deal?" said Phrony.

"Ephemeria is shifting every night around midnight," explained Arcadius.

"What do you mean shifting?" said Phrony with wide eyes.

"I mean every night the buildings here switch places. I must go, otherwise I won't be able to find my house," cried Arcadius and hurried towards the edge of the junk yard.

"The crystals, kid! Don't forget the crystals!" shouted Phrony.

"I won't," he shouted back.

"What kind of a cursed place is this? My damn luck!" he heard Phrony yelling somewhere behind the junk piles.

After a few moments, Arcadius finally spotted the hole on the fence and made it to the other side. Now the ground was shaking hard and Arcadius was trying hard not to fall. How on earth none of them ever woke up from all this shaking? How on earth _he_ never woke up from all this shaking?

Arcadius was running through the empty streets, trying to find his way back home. The thick smog swirled around him making things worse, but he was lucky enough and the moment huge cracks appeared on the streets, he found his apartment building. Gasping, he climbed the metal staircase leading to the roof and right before he stepped into his room, he turned and saw the odd spectacle of Ephemeria transforming. It was the first time he ever saw what was happening to the city each night.

Like huge dancing giants, the buildings were floating and turning amid the smog. His own building was moving like a raft on a slow icy river while a huge metallic grind vibrated through the air. In the center of the city stood the Grand Educational Institute like the axis of a universe. A god amongst the giants, gazing grimly at the efforts of his subjects. An odd green light glowed behind its numerous windows and openings. An eerie light.

Arcadius felt a shiver and hurried to the safety of his room and the comfort of his bed. Suddenly he felt exhausted. The moment he closed his eyes, he fell asleep and in his sleep, he saw winged boxes, dreamghosts and airships.
A Rather Small Victory

Next morning, Arcadius understood why his parents insisted he slept early. He could barely open his eyes, but when he finally managed to wake up, he wondered if he had dreamt last night's adventures. Then his eyes fell on his wrist and the watch of transformations. All his exhaustion and sleepiness vanished, and he jumped out of bed.

He flipped on the switch Ionius had on his back and the automaton finished what he was saying the previous day. "...gnity. Hey-what? What happened? Is it morning already?"

"Poor Ionius!" said Arcadius slyly. "Do you need your oiling again?"

Ionius realized what happened and he got mad. "You shut me off! You little brat, you shut me off!"

"Yes, I did and if you don't shut up, I'll do it again."

"Nice way to treat me. Me, who sit here every day keeping you company and out of trouble," said Ionius.

"As if you have anything better to do," commented Arcadius not really paying attention to the automaton. Today he had more serious things to consider and no time to argue with Ionius.

Right before he stepped into the kitchen, he stopped and took off the watch of transformations. He could not risk an interrogation from his parents, who greeted him as if nothing happened the night before and that confirmed his suspicion. They were totally oblivious of last night's events, something that was both reassuring and alarming. But the question remained. How come no one woke up last night? The explosions above the city had been almost earthshaking.

"Dad...? I think I heard something strange last night," he said hesitantly.

"What exactly?" said his father.

"I think, I heard something like an explosion," said Arcadius and carefully studied his father's expression.

"Probably, you just dreamed it. I certainly didn't hear anything." His father turned to his mother. "Selephcina, did you hear anything?"

"No, my dear, I didn't hear anything," said his mother smearing the usual slices of bread for Arcadius' breakfast.

"You didn't feel the city shaking?" said Arcadius. "It felt like the whole building was rocking."

This time, his parents gave him a more curious look and Arcadius knew it was time to shut up.

"But my dear Arcadius, you know very well the city never shakes when it shifts. Otherwise it would be impossible for any of us to sleep. Everything happens very smoothly, without anyone noticing. It has always been this way. You've probably had a bad dream," said his mother. She smiled reassuringly and brought him his breakfast.

"Maybe you should stop reading all those books from the library. They're not good for you. You see how they make you imagine things?" said his father. "You better read a good book about mechanical engineering like I did your age. What kind of an engineer are you going to be?"

Arcadius, who had no desire to be an engineer like his dad, stayed silent and nibbled his bread thoughtfully.

*

After swallowing his breakfast as quickly as possible, Arcadius ran to the bus stop. As usual the morning smog was still there, but instead of freshly baked bread and cinnamon, today the air smelled stale and a little bitter. He glanced to the other side of the street, but of course he didn't see any bakery there. Only a shop that looked like a hardware store. And again, he wondered about last night's insomnia.

The red school bus came gushing steam. Thankfully Burgus was not the driver today and Arcadius hopped in more casually. Almost immediately he spotted the strange girl, Augustine. He tried to avoid her but it was of no use. When she saw him too, she smiled and waved and when he sat, she came and took the place next to him.

"Good morning," said Augustine with her green eyes sparkling.

"Morning," he said flatly and turned towards the window.

"I am Augustine," she said.

"Yeah, I know," muttered Arcadius still looking outside.

"You know?" she said.

"I heard it yesterday, when Hipati read the lists."

"Oh, yes, I forgot about that," she said. "So, what's your name?"

"Arcadius," he said unwillingly.

A few silent moments followed, during which, Arcadius wished she would leave him alone. Instead she asked something that made his heart jump.

"Hey, did you see that thing over the city last night?"

Before he could stop himself, Arcadius said, "You saw it too?"

"Yes! It was amazing! It looked like a ship, but I'm not sure. It was too far away. But the noise when it crashed!" said the girl.

"Yes, it crashed near my house," he said.

"How come you were awake? I thought everybody in the city drops totally dead at nights," said Augustine.

Arcadius gave her a suspicious look. "Why were _you_ awake?" he asked. "And what do you mean, everybody in the city?"

"Er... well, I don't live in the city. But gran says everyone in Ephemeria sleeps like a log at nights. And nobody ever wakes up before dawn."

Arcadius felt a surge of curiosity. "So, if you don't live in the city, where do you live?"

Her smile was gone. "A little outside," she said.

"Outside where?"

"What does it matter? Did I ask you where you live?" she said almost angrily.

"OK, whatever. I don't care anyway."

She smiled again. "So, what was that thing last night?"

Arcadius stared at Augustine. She was weird and he didn't know if he could trust her. The mission Phrony gave him was important and he didn't want to mess it up. He shrugged and said nothing.

By the time the school bus parked in front of the GEI, a cold wind was blowing, chasing away the smog, leaving the air crisp. All students gathered at the Winter Courtyard and then headed for their classrooms.

"What is our first class today?" asked Augustine. She seemed determent to stay next to Arcadius no matter what.

"I think it's Geophysics," he answered.

"Sounds interesting," she said.

"It's not. It's all about metals and rocks. Sandarach is in love with metals and rocks."

"Who's Sandarach?"

"Professor Sandarach. She teaches Geophysics," explained Arcadius. "Is this your first time at school? Never seen you before."

She hesitated again. "Yes. Before, my gran taught me things at home."

"Really? That sounds awesome. Wish I could do that," he said.

"Why? Don't you like school?" asked Augustine.

"I hate school," he said without hesitation.

At that moment, Kratos and his gang made their appearance. Passing by, the burly boy gave Arcadius a hard shove, nearly knocking him to the ground but Augustine grabbed him and held him up.

"Hey, look! Carrot Boy is hanging with girls now," yelled Kratos. The other boys in his gang started laughing and Arcadius turned red. Exactly what he was dreading. "I bet tomorrow he'll even start wearing dresses," added Kratos making the others chuckle even louder.

Arcadius looked down biting his lip. He was about to start crying, but he would rather die before he gave Kratos and the rest that satisfaction.

"Come on Carrot Boy, be a good little girl and start crying," said Kratos with a low voice.

But instead of that, something else happened, something that made everyone gasp in awe and disbelief.

"Hey, fathead? Who told you girls cry?"

Everyone froze looking at Augustine with round eyes. Arcadius was among them. No boy or girl, had ever dared to challenge Kratos. And that was the reason a few moments had to pass, before Kratos realized what had just happened. When he did, he turned and glared at the girl who called him "fathead".

"You're going to regret that strawhead," yelled Kratos.

"Really? Why? What are you going to do, buckethead?"

Augustine kept going and Arcadius tried to think of a way to make her shut up.

"You'll see what I'm going to do to you," roared Kratos and charged towards Augustine. But she proved to be faster and more agile. She stepped aside and at the same time, she shoved one foot under Kratos. Before Kratos could react, he was sprawled on the floor.

A sigh of amazement rose from the kids around them. Arcadius immediately knew that if Kratos managed to stand up, Augustine was done for. He jumped on Kratos' back, pinning him on the floor and that caused another wave of amazement.

At the same time, Augustine grabbed one of Kratos' arms and twisted it hard behind his back. Kratos cried out while their schoolmates watched with gaping mouths. Surely this was not the way you expected a fight with Kratos to go.

Meanwhile, Kratos, was trying to figure out how things had turned so bad so fast. How was it possible for a coward rat, like Arcadius, to have straddled him and a freaking girl to mercilessly twist his arm behind his back? His rage made him thrash around, but the more he thrashed, the more Augustine twisted his arm.

"Surrender, buckethead!" she yelled confidently. "Surrender and swear not to bother us ever again."

At first, instead of an answer, Kratos yelped. Some of the kids around, laughed and that made Kratos painfully aware of his humiliation. Now he was about to start crying.

"Swear it!" yelled Arcadius. For the first time, Kratos was the one cornered and this was Arcadius' chance for revenge. Even if he would pay it dearly later.

"OK! Let me go!" yelled Kratos.

"No! Swear it," said Augustine.

"I swear it! Let me go, you dump strawhead!" said Kratos.

Arcadius gave him a good slap on the back of his exposed neck. "And don't you ever call her dump strawhead. You hear me, buckethead?"

Instead of an answer, Kratos sobbed.

"What on earth is going on here?" said a stern voice.

All the students turned and saw Professor Sandarach. Augustine released Kratos' arm and Arcadius stood up. Kratos was finally able to stand up too.

"This is preposterous! Three students of the Grand Institute, rolling and screaming on the floor like animals! Beating each other!" said Professor Sandarach scornfully. "What kind of behavior is this?"

All three lowered their eyes and Professor Sandarach turned to the other students standing around. "Well what are you all staring at? Go to your classroom and without any more fuss. If I ever see anything like that again, you will have to deal with the headmaster, do you understand me?" she yelled.

"Yes ma'am," said the other students and hurried away.

Sandarach turned her attention back to them. "As for you three, since it's still the beginning of the new school year, I will be quite lenient. But mark my words, you will have more homework than the rest and I will expect flawless work tomorrow. Maybe that will teach some sense to you. Now move," she ordered, and they obeyed without a word.
The Vaults

Arcadius was still savoring their unexpected victory against Kratos when they reached their classroom. He threw Augustine a thoughtful look. She had already taken her sit alone at one of the desks. None of the other girls chose to share a desk with her. A thought came across Arcadius' mind. This was the first time someone had stood by him against Kratos. Was it so important that this someone was a girl? Augustine proved braver than most of the boys he knew, and she certainly fought better.

Instead of going to the desk where Onofrius sat, Arcadius did what yesterday seemed unimaginable. He walked over to Augustine and said shyly, "If you want, we can sit together."

She looked at him and then nodded smiling. "OK, but you will tell me what happened last night," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You think I'm stupid? Something odd happened in Ephemeria last night and I'm sure you know what," she said. Her green eyes sparkled again.

Arcadius sighed. "OK, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone," he said.

She nodded again, and Arcadius sat next to her. When the school bell rang signaling their break, they all made their way to the Winter Yard. Arcadius sat with Augustine in a corner, away from the others and told her everything about last night. After the incident with Kratos he had decided he could trust Augustine. Besides, now he would need allies against Kratos, who was undoubtedly already planning his revenge for his humiliation in front everyone.

"Are you really going to look for those crystals?" asked Augustine when he finished his story.

"Yes, I will. Only... I don't know how... or where. Phrony only gave me the watch," he said.

"Can I see it?" she said. Arcadius took the watch out of his pocket and handed it to her. Augustine turned it over curiously for a while and then gave it back. "My gran tells me, in the cities far away from this place, there are people who make all sorts of amazing things. Magical things. Maybe she knows this city, this Opportunata. Maybe she can tell us something about the black crystals," said Augustine.

"What do you mean us?" said Arcadius.

"You really think I'm going to let you do this alone? I can help too you know," she said almost angrily.

"But you are a-" Arcadius stopped.

"A girl?" said Augustine. Her eyes were now two angry green flames.

Arcadius looked down for a moment and then he sighed. "I guess, you're right. Two are better than one. But where should we start?"

The smile came back on her face. "I say first you try out this watch. See if works."

"Here? Now?" said Arcadius.

"Of course not! Don't be silly, you can't use it in front of everyone," said Augustine. "On our next break, we can go to a quiet place and then you can see how this thing works."

"Ok, but where?" asked Arcadius hesitantly.

"Well, there must be a place around here, where we can be alone," she said.

"I don't think so. The GEI is always crowded during school hours. Well, all of it aside the vaults. I think nobody ever goes down there," he said.

"Then that's where we should go," said Augustine.

"Are you crazy? We're not allowed to go there, we should wait until we finish for the day and then try the watch," said Arcadius.

"But, that's exactly why the vaults are perfect. We will be alone."

"Yes, but what if we get lost? The vaults are even worse than the rest of the GEI. If we get lost there, nobody will ever find us. Not to mention we don't know what's down there," said Arcadius with a shiver. The idea of spending the rest of his life in a dark, damp maze along with who knows what else lurked there was not appealing at all.

"We won't go far," insisted Augustine. "And we can use marks to find our way back."

Arcadius smiled at that idea. He knew that trick, he had read about it in one of the novels. "You mean draw marks on the wall?" he said.

"Exactly. We can use a chalk or something," said Augustine.

At that moment, they noticed Kratos staring from the other side of the courtyard. He had a vicious look on his face. The tall boy turned to the rest of his gang and said something. The other boys turned their heads towards Arcadius and Augustine and laughed. Arcadius was certain, Kratos was already cooking something nasty.

"OK, fine. Let's try the vaults on our next break," he said to Augustine.

She nodded and around midday, instead of going to the Winter Courtyard with the rest of the students, Arcadius and Augustine snuck quickly down to the Avenue and the little door leading to the vaults. Peering behind a corner, they saw the place was deserted. Although the GEI was full of students, the Avenue was usually empty during classes and breaks. When the bell rang, all students had to go to the courtyards while the staff went to their offices. Only in the beginning and the end of the school day the Avenue was filled with people.

After making sure they were alone, Arcadius and Augustine, tried the door to the vaults.

"It's locked," said Arcadius.

"That didn't cross my mind," said Augustine. Her voice was filled with disappointment.

"What now?" asked Arcadius.

"I don't know. Isn't there any other place we can be alone?" she said.

Arcadius shook his head.

Suddenly they heard the door unlocking from the inside.

"Quickly, someone's coming," said Arcadius grabbing Augustine by the hand.

They both run back to the corner and peered to see who was coming out of the vaults. It was Voos Woolfius, the hunched caretaker of the GEI. Dragging his feet, he came out of the vaults and locked the door behind him before putting his keyring back to his pocket.

"Run behind me," whispered Augustine.

"What?" said Arcadius, startled.

"Act like you're chasing me, like we are playing a game," she said and stepping out of the corner, she run directly to the caretaker.

Arcadius had no time to think. He ran behind her, while Augustin was sprinting as if some demon was upon her. And inevitably she fell hard on Voos.

Augustine and the caretaker sprawled on the floor.

"Oh! What are you doing, crazy kids? Oh, my back!" yelled Voos.

Arcadius looked at them with round eyes. Now they had it bad. Surely Voos would take them to Professor Gnomonius. Arcadius saw in his mind the terrible punishments awaiting them. What on earth was that girl thinking? Before the caretaker had time to react, Augustine sprang on her feet.

"Oh, we are so sorry! We didn't mean to hurt you, we were just playing," she said and nodding to Arcadius, she started running again.

Bewildered, he followed her, while Voos cried from behind, "You are not allowed to be here! You hear me? Stop, you spoilt brats, stop! If I ever catch you, you're going to be sorry. You hear me?"

"Don't stop, run!" said Augustine to Arcadius and they ran all the way back to their classroom.

"Why did you do that?" said Arcadius gasping.

Augustine smiled slyly. "That's why", she said raising one of her arms. She was holding the keyring Voos had in his pocket.

Arcadius' jaw dropped. "You took his keys? How did you do that?"

"I might not know much about chemistry and machines, but I know other things. In the woods, these are more useful."

"In the woods?" said Arcadius.

Avoiding his eyes, Augustine put Voos' keys into her pocket.

"You live in the Haunted Forest?" insisted Arcadius.

"It's not haunted. It's just... a little different," she said.

Arcadius felt a familiar mixture of curiosity and excitement. The Haunted Forest was a place everyone in Ephemeria had learned to avoid. They all believed it was a place of scary things better left alone and they believed it so much, they had even built a wall around Ephemeria to protect themselves.

Augustine ignored his surprise and stared at the clock above the classroom's blackboard. "We don't have enough time to go down to the vaults now. We should wait until the next break."

"Yes, but what are we going to do with the keys? Voos will be looking for them."

"When we finish, we can say we found them on the floor and give them to a Professor," said Augustine.

When the bell rang for the fifteen-minute brake of the day, Arcadius and Augustine went back to the small door leading to the vaults and tried the bunch of keys Voos was carrying. After a few unsuccessful tries, they finally found the right key and opened the door.

The first thing they saw inside, was a steep staircase leading downwards. The walls were illuminated by dull gas lamps, mold clang on the stone and the air smelled stale like it rarely stirred.

"I don't like it here," said Augustine.

"I don't like it either, but it was your idea to come down here," said Arcadius. He carefully started going down the steps. "Besides, we won't go far. Only to the bottom of the steps so I can finally try this watch."

They both climbed down the staircase and stared at the empty corridor leading to the darkness.

"I definitely don't want to know what's down there. Come on, wear the watch so we can be done with it," said Augustine. She sounded nervous making Arcadius feel uneasy too.

He took out the watch of transformations and strapped it on his wrist. He looked at Augustine. "Where should I turn the clock finger?"

"To the cat. You might even chase a mouse down here. I'm sure this place is filled with them," she said trying to be funny. She wasn't.

Arcadius made a face and turned the clock finger to the cat.

They waited, but nothing happened.

"Well?" said Augustine.

"I don't know," he said. He felt truly disappointed.

"You think, he tricked you?" said Augustine.

"Why should he?"

Suddenly, they heard a tiny click and the cat figure on the watch started glowing in a soft blue light. Before they had time to say anything, the glow wrapped Arcadius like a hazy cocoon.

"What's happening?" said Augustine with round eyes.

"I don't know, I think it-" he started when suddenly he disappeared in a flash of light.

When Augustine's vision cleared, she saw an orange cat in Arcadius' place. "Arcadius? Is that you?" she said and hesitantly took a step closer. But suddenly, the cat sprang towards the depths of the dark corridor.

"Arcadius, no! What are you doing? Turn back!" yelled Augustine.

She started running after the cat, making quick strokes on the wall with the chalk they brought with them. The cat was way too fast and soon it vanished into the darkness. In the end, when the corridor branched in front of her, Augustine was forced to stop. She was gasping and had no idea where to go, left or right? She chose the corridor on her left and kept on marking the walls.

There was no point in running anymore and as the gas lamps became few and far apart, she started questioning what she was doing. A sensation that something evil, something hostile was lurking behind the deep shadows, crept in her.

She had to find Arcadius, but maybe it was best to inform the teachers instead. No. This was her idea and it would be her fault if something happened to him. She decided, it was time for a little help. From her pocket, she took out a small wooden box carved like a leaf. When she opened the lid, a soft pink glow came out.

"Oi! Wake up, Oi! I need your help," she whispered.

Pink mist swirled out of the box and a short, pink creature materialized in front of her. It was almost transparent and it looked like a monkey with an egg-like head, no tail and no fingers.

The creature, turned to Augustine. "Oi?" came a whisper.

"No, we are not in the woods. We're in the city," said Augustine softly.

"Oi, oi, oi," whispered Oi.

"I know, I'm scared too. There is something bad down here."

"Oooooiiiii," said Oi.

"No. We can't leave Arcadius here. This was my idea and we have to find him," said Augustine. "Glow a little stronger, it's too dark and I can't see where I'm going."

"Oi," said Oi and his transparent body became a little brighter.

"Thank you. Let's go then," said Augustine and started walking again. Oi followed suit.

The corridor they were following was very long and on the sides Augustine saw small rooms crammed with all sorts of things. For a while she wondered whether she should call Arcadius, but then she turned that idea down. Something told her it was better to keep quiet and a few moments later, she was glad she did. A shrill broke the eerie silence.

Augustine froze.

"Oi," whimpered Oi and his pink glow flickered.

"Don't be scared," whispered the girl trying to sound brave. But the truth was she was scared too.

Augustine peered through the darkness ahead, but she could not see anything. A few moments of silence passed and then she heard something. She heard claws scraping the stone floor.

Oi started fading.

"No, Oi. Don't be scared, I'm here with you," whispered Augustine, but took a step back. She looked around and on her right, she spotted a small chamber. Without a second thought, they both ran inside.

In the gloom of another gas lamp, she saw large trunks stacked in a corner.

"Hurry, Oi. Let's hide there," said Augustine.

They took cover behind the trunks and Oi cuddled in Augustine's arms. His glow had now become softer than a firefly's. Augustine held her breath and peered from behind the trunks.

With wide eyes she saw what was now blocking the doorway and immediately understood the grave danger she was in.

A dreamghost. It was exactly like her gran had described it, thin and black as night. On its back, two huge wings flapped lazily. Its feet faded before touching the floor like charcoal dust washed away. Its arms were huge, ending in long claws that clicked horribly. Its face even worse. A black emptiness with one eye burning viciously on its forehead.

The creature stood still for what seemed like an eternity. Its eye fixed on the trunks. She silently prayed for it to go away and right when she thought her wish would come true, Oi whimpered.

The sound seemed to reverberate in the small chamber and Augustine's heart stopped. The dreamghost jerked back and immediately charged towards them.
Expelled

When Arcadius turned into a cat, reality seemed to shift. He still had a sense of himself, but at the same time he felt something else inside his mind urging him to follow feline instincts. He felt split into halves and it was very difficult to keep his human thoughts.

Now his senses worked in a very different way. Now he could hear the rats scuttling behind the thick walls of the vaults, he could smell exciting smells beckoning him to explore. And the darkness was no longer darkness, but a shimmering gray light.

Arcadius tried to harness the cat but the need to roam freely into the vaults was too much to handle, too powerful.

He darted into the twisting corridors feeling free, feeling like he could do anything. And very soon he was deep into the underground chambers, chasing shadows and those elusive rats. Until his sensitive ears picked up the sounds of voices and for some reason that was even more exciting.

Running down one more staircase, Arcadius found an old metal bridge. It was rusted and it had collapsed half way above an underground abyss. The voices were coming from the other side. Arcadius cautiously stepped on the broken bridge and walked to the edge. He looked down and he saw nothing but darkness. The dim roar of rushing water rose from somewhere below, probably an underground river. Falling in there was the safest way to end up dead.

If Arcadius was still a normal boy, this was the time he would turn back to the light and the safety of the GEI. But he was not a boy and the cat in him was not so easily intimidated. He took a few steps back, turned his emerald eyes to the other side of the broken bridge and sprinted as fast as he could. And then he jumped. He soared in the air like a fury arrow and without much difficulty, he landed on the other side. The bridge creaked slightly but he was not heavy enough to make it crumble.

Arcadius saw another corridor leading away from the bridge. He followed it and after a few feet he came in front of a closed door. The voices were coming from the other side. He looked around and saw a tiny opening on the wall next to the door like a rat hole. He went closer and listened carefully.

"You disappoint me. Is it so difficult to do something right?" said a deep voice. Arcadius had the impression it was familiar, but he wasn't sure.

"It'th not my fault. How thould I know that thcum would meddle again?" said another voice. This one was squeaky and could not pronounce the letter "s".

"I don't care. I gave you and your minions a refuge. I helped you and in return I asked for a very simple thing: the black crystals," said the first voice.

"But you have one of-" tried the squeaky voice.

"I don't need one, I need four! Is that so hard to understand, you wretched thing?" said the deep voice.

"There i'th no rea'thon to decome th'o rude. I have th'pies everywhere and very th'oon I will get you the re'tht of the-" said squeakyvoice but the first one interrupted again.

"I hope so-for your own sake."

At that moment, a horrible shrill blasted in the underground corridors. A shrill Arcadius had heard before. It was a dreamghost and his thoughts immediately went to Augustine. He had left her behind and the cat instinct told him, she was in danger. He looked at the rat hole. He really wanted to hear what else those voices had to say, he felt it was important, but at the same time he knew Augustine would be in trouble without his help. And he couldn't abandon her. So he started running back.

*

The dreamghost charged towards Augustine and Oi. The tree-spirit vanished into thin air, leaving Augustine alone and terrified.

The dreamghost swung its huge arms and the wooden trunks turned into splinters in a cloud of dust. Now there was nothing standing between them. Augustine took a step back and the dreamghost followed. A soft gurgle came from the monster and then a green mist like hazy tears drifted from its evil eye. Augustine felt dizzy and her mind going numb. The green mist became thicker forming something like a twisting tentacle, trying to reach Augustine, trying to slip into her mind.

She knew the dreamghost wanted to eat her thoughts, to suck her dreams and she tried to resist its power, but it was useless. Slowly she started feeling more and more tired as if she had days to sleep. And no matter how much she tried to urge herself to stay awake, the green mist was stronger and her eyes kept closing.

And right when she was about to lose the battle and fall asleep, the dreamghost left another sudden shrill. The green mist vanished and she felt her thoughts coming back.

"Augustine! Augustine, are you OK?" she heard someone asking.

She opened her eyes and saw Arcadius' face. He had a look of concern and for some reason that made her feel good. She realized, she lay on the floor but she could not remember falling. "Arcadius... you're back?" she said and sat up.

"Yes. And right on time. A little later and that thing would've finished you," said Arcadius helping her stand.

"It was awful. I could feel it in my mind, Arcadius," she said. A shiver ran through her spine. "How did you make it go away?"

Arcadius shrugged. He seemed puzzled. "I don't know. When I came here and it saw me, it disappeared," he said.

"Were you still a cat when you came here?" she said.

"Yes. I came here a few moments before I turned back to myself again," said Arcadius.

"That must be it then, the cat must've scared it off. Dreamghosts fear cats," said Augustine.

"Why?"

"Don't know. I remember gran saying so."

"Your gran seems to know many odd things," said Arcadius.

Augustine nodded. "My gran knows everything," she said.

"We must hurry back to class," said Arcadius. "The lunch break must be almost over."

They started for the exit following the marks Augustine had made on the walls, but as they stepped out of the vaults, they heard someone yelling: "There, headmaster! I told you, they went into the vaults, I told you!"

"They are the ones! They were running down the Avenue and it seems they stole my keys!" cried a second voice.

Augustine and Arcadius turned and saw Voos Woolfling heading straight towards them, followed by Professor Gnomonius and Kratos. The burly boy was smiling maliciously.

*

"I truly am disappointed by the two of you. Especially you, Mr. Carrot. I cannot understand how a quiet and diligent student like you, decided to do something as irresponsible as that." Professor Gnomonius' voice was calm but stern. And both kids could sense the underlying anger. "The vaults of the GEI are old and dangerous. A serious accident could've happened. It's not a place for students and that is why it's kept locked. So, I really want to know what exactly you two were doing down there."

Arcadius and Augustine looked down. They stayed silent.

"Well? I'm waiting for an answer," said the professor Gnomonius.

Arcadius was ready to confess but then Augustine started talking. "It's all my fault, sir," she said. "I told Arcadius it would be fun to take the keys and explore the vaults. It was my idea."

Professor Gnomonius eyed Augustine carefully. "Truth be told, I am not surprised, Miss Hydrogold. You are completely undisciplined, and I am certain the lack of program and strict rules in your upbringing is the reason for this," he said. His expression was full of contempt. He turned to Arcadius. "But to entice a disciplined student like Mr. Carrot over here to take part in such actions... This, this is very serious. You could have both been in danger and this is something I cannot ignore."

They looked at professor Gnomonius who this time returned an almost angry look.

"I have no other choice but to punish you in the most severe way. Hopefully, that would be an example enough for the rest of the students and knock some sense into the two of you."

Arcadius held his breath ready to hear his sentence.

"So, I will expel you from this school for an entire day," said professor Gnomonius.

Arcadius' heart sank. This was not just the first time he got expelled, it was the first time he got punished. The shame he felt was almost unbearable. Not to mention all the things his parents would have to say about the entire situation. He turned to Augustine and was surprised to see that she seemed to take her punishment rather lightly.

"Perfect!" she said. A wide grin adorned her face when they both stepped out of Gnomonius' office.

"What do you mean "Perfect"?" he said. He felt anger bubbling. After all it was her idea to go to the vaults. "There's nothing perfect about it! My parents are going to kill me and who knows what they will come up for a punishment."

"Yes, but at least now we have all day tomorrow to look for the black crystals," she said.

This had not crossed Arcadius' mind. But still, being expelled from school was much too high a price for that.

"I really don't understand why you care so much what other people think of you," said Augustine.

"Don't you care? Don't you want other people to think that you are... I don't know, the way you're supposed to be?"

"How are we supposed to be?" she asked.

Arcadius shrugged. "I don't know..., proper, I guess," he said.

"I don't even want to know what that means. And I think neither do you. So, no, I don't care what other people think of me. I care only what people I like think of me. I care what my gran thinks of me," she said confidently.

Again, Arcadius felt a little envious. He wished, he could think the same way. He wished, he could be as brave and as confident as Augustine. Not to care what others thought of him.

"So, we can meet tomorrow morning and start searching for those crystals," said Augustine.

"No way my parents will let me leave my room tomorrow," said Arcadius.

Augustine sighed. "Can't you just sneak out? Like you did last night?"

"Last night they were asleep," he answered.

"Then find an excuse," said Augustine.

"What excuse?" said Arcadius.

Turns out the excuse was right under his nose. After dealing with his parents' anger and disappointment, Arcadius was sent to his room where he had to tolerate Ionius' scoffs too. In the end, he sought refuge to the old novel ha had borrowed from Ephemeria's Public Library. It was then he had the idea to use that book as an excuse to leave his house tomorrow. He could say, he had to return it to the Library. But he assumed investigations took a lot of time, so he had to add something else, something believable that would take enough time for him and Augustine to do what they had to do. In the end he managed to think of something. He was being punished, so it would be believable to say professor Gnomonius added some extra homework to their punishment. Homework he needed to do at the Public Library. His parents would believe that.
Nowhere and Tunnel Corner

Next morning, Arcadius' parents were still mad. Their lips tight as if to stop harsh words from escaping. Still, in a curious way, it wasn't enough to make him feel ready to repent for yesterday's adventures with Augustine, or guilty for today's plans. In fact, he felt excited.

But being excited did not mean being stupid. He had to at least pretend to have regretted his actions, if he wanted to have a chance of getting out of the apartment. And that is what he did. He stood in front of his father looking down and listened to everything he had to say and in the end, he promised to be once again the best student in school. Then his mother gave him permission to go to the library and return the book and of course do his "homework".

Carrying five books with him in his satchel, Arcadius stood on the pavement and waved at a rickshaw. He sat in the back seat of the creaking thing and asked the Driver to take him to Nowhere and Tunnel Corner, where Augustine had asked to meet. Finding the address on his own was out of the question, so a rickshaw was the only option.

But the Driver gave Arcadius a curious look when he heard the address. "Are ya sure, ya want to go there, lad?" he asked in a throaty voice. His dark eyes were fixed on Arcadius.

Arcadius nodded, and the Driver shrugged. Then he spat on the cobblestones and started cycling.

Ephemeria was bustling by now. The narrow streets were filled with rickshaws, steam-taxis and steam-buses and people running, talking, yelling or going on with their daily routines. Aloof, Arcadius watched the commotion around, until his eyes caught something familiar.

As the rickshaw darted through a winding street, he leaned outside and looked behind. Yes, he was not mistaken, it was the dwarf's bakery. For a second Arcadius was about to ask the Driver to make a quick stop, but they had already turned into another alley and the bakery was now far behind in the city's maze.

Arcadius pondered how useful a map of Ephemeria would be and how futile it would be to try and make one. How you could have a map of an ever-shifting city, he thought as they kept on turning in the streets.

*

Turns out, "Nowhere and Tunnel Corner" was a bust stop at a strange part of the city, and Arcadius soon realized why the Driver eyed him curiously. The bus stop was right on the edge of Ephemeria and close to the wall keeping the Haunted Forest away. And the "Tunnel" was not simply a name as he first though, but it was an actual tunnel. The entrance was bared with a rusted half open grille and behind lay only thick darkness.

Augustine had not arrived and when the rickshaw disappeared back in the city's embrace, Arcadius was left alone. In that part of the city a strange emptiness and silence prevailed. All the buildings and houses around, had their windows and balconies turned away from the wall and the forest. Passers and vehicles were also absent. Only an old dustbin was left near the tunnel's entrance. That and the old bus stop of course.

Arcadius walked to the dustbin and looked at the rusted sign hanging from a lamp post. The sign said, "Bus Stop 9-Nowhere and Tunnel Corner".

I guess this is where Augustine takes the school bus each morning, he thought and turned at the pitch black in the tunnel. He felt a shiver running down his back followed by a surge of fear as he heard approaching footsteps and a voice singing softly.

Arcadius took a step back but then he recognized Augustine's voice. A few moments later he saw the girl walking towards him with a flickering pink light at her side.

"Wow! What is that?" he asked.

Oi, the pink creature was peering at Arcadius behind Augustine's legs.

"Hi! You mean Oi?" said Augustine. "He's a tree-spirit and he's my friend. But he's kind of young and still scared of the darkness in the tunnel."

"A tree-spirit? Amazing!" said Arcadius.

The spirit seemed to relax a little bit. "Oi", said Oi and took a shy step towards Arcadius.

"Does it talk?" asked Arcadius.

"Well, not exactly. This is the only thing he says, but if you get used to it, you understand the meaning. In a few years, when its tree grows more, he'll be able to talk properly."

"What do you mean, when his tree grows more?" said Arcadius.

"I guess you don't know much about the woods, do you?" said Augustine.

"Not much," admitted Arcadius.

"Well, every tree has a soul and a spirit. Its soul is like yours and mine, but it's in the trunk," said Augustine.

"And its spirit?"

"The spirit is more like a guardian. It's born the day the seed sprouts. Then it grows and lives as much as the tree it protects," said Augustine.

"OK, but then why is Oi with you and not with his tree?" asked Arcadius.

"Because when tree-spirits are too young, they don't have enough power to actually protect their trees. They don't yet know how to do it. That's why young trees are protected by older tree-spirits. But as soon as a tree-spirit grows, it must do the same."

"And what kind of tree-spirit is Oi?" said Arcadius.

"He is a cedar spirit. And he's very useful, especially at night. I use him as a lamp. If he doesn't get scared that is, because then he fades. Gran says, cedar spirits are easily scared when they're young. They're shy and a bit of chicken-hearted. That's why I was singing back in the tunnel. That lullaby calms him down and I can use his light to see where I'm going," said Augustine.

"Wouldn't be easier to have an oil lamp with you or something?" suggested Arcadius.

Augustine returned an exasperated look. "Yes, but where is the fun in that? Anyone can have a candle or an oil lamp, but not a cedar spirit lighting their way," she said.

Arcadius had to agree.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"I don't know. I guess we must start looking for those crystals," said Arcadius.

"Well we know where one of them is," said Augustine winking. "If what you heard at the vaults is true."

"It is."

"Then maybe we should try to get it," said Augustine.

"Are you crazy? If they ever catch us down there again, we'll be expelled for eternity. Not to mention the dreamghost," said Arcadius.

"I guess you're right. But where should we look for the rest?"

Arcadius gave it some thought. "I have no idea," he said in the end. "That flying thing blew up into tiny pieces. The crystals could be scattered anywhere in the city."

"But there must be a way to track them down. Didn't that Phrony guy tell you anything more useful?"

Arcadius shook his head.

"Then, we should go talk to him again. Maybe he knows a way," she said.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I almost had to force him to let me do this and he might get mad if he finds out we don't actually have a clue. Besides, I have no idea where to find that junk yard now."

"Great..." said Augustine.

"You know what..." said Arcadius after a few moments. "Those crystals are supposed to be magical or something like that, right?"

Augustine nodded.

"So maybe there is a magical way to track them down," he said.

"I don't understand how that's going to..." she started saying but then her eyes went round. She realized what Arcadius had in mind. "My gran!" she said.

Arcadius grinned. "Exactly! You're the one saying she know everything about magic and such," he said.

"Sure. She must know about those black crystals. But there's a problem."

"What problem?"

"Don't you think it's going to look odd if we start asking questions about black crystals all of a sudden?" said Augustine.

Indeed, it would be odd. And Arcadius knew quite well that when you asked grownups the wrong questions, things usually ended up in them yelling and you being punished.

"We must think of a way to learn what we need without her suspecting anything. And let me tell you this is not going to be easy because my gran is very clever. Even I can't fool her easily," said Augustine. It almost sounded like a challenge.

"I'm sure I'll think of something," he said smiling confidently.

"I hope so," said Augustine.

Arcadius looked warily at the tunnel. "Is you house far?" he asked.

Augustine smiled. "Not much. And don't be scared, there's no boogie man in there," she said in a mocking voice. "But if it makes you comfortable, I can sing to you too," she added.

"I don't want you to sing to me and I am not scared!" said Arcadius. He was glaring at Augustine but truth be told, he felt a knot in his stomach.

"Let's go then," said Augustine.
Old Baba

Augustine was singing her lullaby as they were crossing the tunnel and Oi jumped merrily around their feet like a strange firefly. At some point, Arcadius noticed something on the ground.

"What are these?" he asked.

Augustine stopped and followed his gaze. "The old train tracks," she said.

"Train tracks?" said Arcadius.

"My gran told me a train once crossed this tunnel, a long time ago, before I was born. The train was something like a steam-bus but much longer and it rolled on these tracks," she said and Arcadius imagined something like an iron worm crawling in the tunnel. "Gran says, people in Ephemeria used to travel all the time. They were going to cities far away and people from other places used to come here," said Augustine and started walking again.

The thought of Ephemerians traveling far from the city was something like a revelation to Arcadius. One of his biggest dreams was to travel far away and see other places, but until know he thought it impossible.

"Did they really travel to other places?" he said.

"That's what gran says."

"Never heard of something like that," he said. "I wonder why they stopped."

"I don't know. I asked gran and she told me sometimes, people do silly things because of love," said Augustine.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

Augustine shrugged. "No idea."

"Oi!" said Oi suddenly.

They looked ahead and Arcadius saw the faint glow of daylight. The end of the tunnel was near.

"We're almost there," said Augustine and ran towards the light.

Arcadius ran after her.

The light grew stronger pushing back the darkness and once they stepped outside of the tunnel, Arcadius froze.

They were standing on a hillside and underneath lay the Haunted Forest. And just like Augustine said, it did not look haunted at all. It looked like the most beautiful thing Arcadius had ever seen. The day was clear and under the blue sky lay this seemingly immense expanse of forested mountains and rolling hills vanishing to the distant horizon. Arcadius saw black pines, white beech trees and spots of walnut and oak trees. Flocks of birds darted from the waving branches and swirled like dancers, before diving back into the green sea.

"It's not scary at all, is it?" said Augustine. She seemed amused by his astonishment.

"No, it's not," admitted Arcadius.

"Oi, oi, oi," said Oi jumping all around.

"Let's go, my gran's house is close by," said Augustine.

They followed the train tracks for a little longer and then, as they came across a small creek, Augustine turned into a dirt path winding down the hillside. The path was barely visible among the shrubbery and the weeds, but the girl walked with confidence. Oi kept jumping merrily, scaring away the occasional birds, hiding behind tree trunks and disappearing in the blink of an eye to reappear suddenly on a moss-covered boulder.

Arcadius was thinking how fortunate Augustine was, living in a place like this and he was genuinely curious when he said, "Augustine, why do you live with your grandmother and not your parents?" He wasn't trying to be smart of hurtful, he was just curious, but Augustine who was walking a few steps ahead froze like he had slapped her or something. Then she turned glaring at him. "What do you care?" she asked aggressively.

Arcadius was taken aback by her reaction and for a moment he was unable to say anything.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean... I was just curious..." he finally mumbled. "I just wanted to know, how come you don't live with your parents like everyone else?" he said. Oh, shut up! You keep making it worse!

For a second, he thought Augustine was about to slap him, but then she simply lowered her head. And for some reason that felt even worse.

"I have no idea where my parents are. I don't even know who they are or if they're alive. I never met them. The only thing I know is that my gran found me in the forest when I was a baby. Maybe they just dumped me, maybe they didn't want me and left me to rot there," she said in a soft voice.

Arcadius felt a knot in his throat and tried to make things right again. "I'm sure they wanted you. Something must've happened and made them leave you behind. Maybe they just lost you or something..." he said.

"And how would you know?" said Augustine. Her eyes were angry again. Oi, felt something was not right and went close to Augustine tugging her leg. She looked down at the tree-spirit for a moment. "Besides, I don't care anymore," she said, "I have my gran. She lets me do whatever I want and I don't have to ask permission for everything like you do."

She turned and walked away almost stomping on the thick undergrowth.

Arcadius followed even though he wasn't sure she wanted him to do so. They both walked in silence, accompanied by a chilly breeze and the sound of rustling leaves. For a moment Arcadius thought he heard a whispering voice. An ominous word rolling from the pine trees, raising the hair on his nape. Danger! Danger, he thought was the word, but said nothing to Augustine who still seemed angry.

But the deeper they went, the more intense was the warning. Was he really hearing it or was it his imagination? And what was the danger? Who was in danger?

In a twist of the dirt path, under a walnut, Arcadius saw an impressive and rather odd-looking rock.

"Wow, that rock really looks weird," he said.

Augustine turned to look. Suddenly she smiled again and stood next to him. "That's old Baba," she said.

"Who?"

"It was the spirit of that walnut. Last summer he petrified," said Augustine as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Meaning?" said Arcadius.

"This is what happens to a tree-spirit when its tree gets old. Slowly the spirit becomes less active until it stops wandering and stays by its tree all the time. And one day it turns into a rock," she explained.

Arcadius eyed the rock suspiciously. It was covered in moss and dead leaves, but he realized there was the impression of a vague smiling face underneath.

For a few moments, they stood looking at the petrified tree-spirit. And that whispering voice grew stronger in Arcadius' ears: Danger! Danger!

Suddenly Arcadius had the intense feeling of someone staring at them. But when he turned to look, the only thing he saw was the wall of shrubbery and trees.

"Last spring, I saw him moving for the last time," said Augustine. "Old Baba was a good tree-spirit. But he was also a little weird too. Sometimes he said things you couldn't understand. You know what he told me last time? He said, _the light will win when the sun rises at midnight._ "

"That's silly. How could the sun rise at midnight?" said Arcadius.

"That's what I thought," agreed Augustine.

They stood there for a few moments longer with Oi sniffing cautiously the rock, and then Augustine said, "We should go, my house is not far."

They moved on, leaving Old Baba behind and with him that whispering warning.

Danger!
The House in the Woods

After a while, the trees grew thinner and Arcadius with Augustine found themselves in a clearing. There stood a small cottage with three windows and a roof of grey slates. Above the front door a round stained-glass window gleamed in the sunshine, and from the chimney swirled thin white smoke.

"Gran must be cooking," said Augustine.

They followed a pathway through lush gardens and Arcadius marveled at the carefully tended flowerbeds and fruit trees. Bees buzzed among autumn roses, while birds chirped and raided blueberry bushes and vines. He even spotted a squirrel peering from the hollow of an oak tree nearby and at the doorstep of the cottage, he saw a huge dog sleeping.

"This is Ursus," said Augustine.

"Well, it suits him," said Arcadius. The dog really looked like a crossbreed between a bear and a dog.

"Yes, but I call him Brush," said Augustine.

"Brush?"

"Yeah. Once I tried brushing his fur with a brush and I lost it there."

"Yeah, right," said Arcadius.

"It's true! His fur swallowed the brush right out of my hands and I couldn't find it. It fell off four days later. I've never tried to brush him again, who knows what else lurks in there," she said.

Arcadius gave the dog a cautious look.

"And he's always sleeping. He never does anything, he only eats and sleeps," she added and stepped over the dog, pushing the front door. Arcadius gave Ursus one last look and followed her inside.

Just like in the dwarf's bakery, Arcadius was immediately enveloped by delightful smells. Fresh oregano, black pepper and laurel leaves, onions and meat simmering in red wine. His mouth was already watering. When they stepped inside the kitchen, Gran raised her bright eyes form her pot and eyed them curiously. Then she smiled.

"Children, you are early. Lunch is not ready yet," she said as if Arcadius' presence was perfectly normal.

"Gran, this is Arcadius," said Augustine.

"Nice to meet you Madame," said Arcadius and felt his cheeks burning.

"Call me Gran, my dear boy. I am too old and you are too young it only seems proper, don't you think?" she said.

Arcadius felt he had to agree, so he nodded. Gran winked and tucked the large silver bob on her head. "How about some cinnamon cookies?" she asked and took of the gray apron she was wearing. Underneath a ruby red dress and an emerald brooch flashed in the bright light coming from the window.

"Perfect!" yelled Augustine.

"Good then. Go wash your hands and come back," said gran.

Augustine and Arcadius ran back outside to a drinking fountain next to the cottage. A stone lionhead spewed crystal-clear water filling a large basin underneath. Inside the basin, Arcadius saw four iridescent fish swimming lazily.

"Those are some beautiful fish!" he said.

"Yes, they're pretty, but better not try sticking your finger in the water," said Augustine.

"Why not?" asked Arcadius.

"These are dragontrout. They're vicious and have razor sharp teeth. They can chew your hand off before you can scream "help"."

Arcadius took a step back. "So why do you keep them here?"

"Because they're very tasty. If you fry them," said Augustine washing her hands under the running water. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Wash your hands. Cinnamon cookies are my favorites and gran doesn't bake them often. She says one day I will thank her for that, but Ι don't know what that's supposed to mean."

Arcadius carefully washed his hands and then followed Augustine back to the kitchen where Gran had prepared a small feast. A mountain of cookies was on a plate along with cake slices, a bowl of whipped cream and two large apple pies drizzled with honey and almonds. A glass jug filled with lemonade reflected golden sunlight.

"Wow! What are we celebrating?" said Augustine.

"Your new friend," said gran looking at Arcadius. He felt his cheeks burning again. "Go on kids, sit! Don't be shy Arcadius, try a bit of everything, I think you'll like it," said gran.

She didn't have to say it twice. Arcadius' stomach was already growling like an angry beast.

"You never let me eat sweets before lunch!" whined Augustine. She placed a large cake slice on her plate and snatched a few cinnamon cookies.

"Augustine, stop acting like a baby! Today is a special occasion. We have Arcadius here and I'm sure this is his first time in the woods, isn't it so, Arcadius?" said Gran.

Arcadius could only nod. He had his mouth stuffed with apple pie which was simply delicious and it could easily rival the dwarf's date pie.

"See, Augustine? We should always be polite and take care of our guests," said Gran and went to check her pot, bubbling over the fire.

"Yes grandmother... you're right," said Augustine in a rather indifferent way and she softly kicked Arcadius under the table.

Startled, he looked at Augustine who leaned towards him and whispered, "Go on, ask her. We're here for the crystals."

Arcadius said a soundless OK.

Gran sat down at the table again. "And, Augustine, you should be grateful you're even allowed to eat today," she said.

"Why?" asked Augustine.

"Because not only you managed to get yourself expelled from the Grand Institute, but you also got poor Arcadius in trouble too," said Gran.

And that was it. Arcadius was suddenly fed up playing the victim in this whole thing. Besides, he thought it unfair for Augustine to take all the blame for what happened. "Er... well it wasn't Augustine's fault. I came up with the idea to explore the vaults," he said.

Both grandmother and granddaughter eyed him curiously. Then Gran smiled again. "Oh, you kids. Your imagination is running faster than the wind and no one can catch up with you," she said. There was a hint of sorrow in her voice, as though she remembered something deeply upsetting.

"Well, we are being punished. They even made us write an essay," said Arcadius in a flash of inspiration.

Augustine gave him a startled look. She didn't recall any extra homework and she was about to object when Arcadius gave her an intense look.

"Really? Augustine never mentioned it," said Gran turning to Augustine.

"I forgot," she said lowering her eyes.

"How convenient," remarked Gran.

"Gran, maybe you could help us a little with the essay," said Arcadius.

"If I can. What kind of essay is that?" she asked.

"It's for our geology class. We have to write about crystals, about black crystals," said Augustine.

"Black crystals? How should I know about things like that? These are scientific stuff, new stuff. I only know the ways of the forest, the olden ways. Besides, this is why I sent you to the Grand Institute, Augustine, to learn all the things I could not teach you."

The kids returned a disappointed face.

"Now if it was an old tale you were looking for, I could tell you something. But still, it's not even about black crystals. It's about black gems," added Gran. "And I don't think gems and crystals are quite the same, are they?"

"There's a story about black gems?" said Arcadius hastily.

"Sure there is. It's an old tale about the black lord, the night demon as they called him. Oh gosh, it's been years and years since I last heard it. I must've been your age, Augustine, when _my_ gran told me that story," she said.

"I love old stories," said Arcadius.

"Oh, yes, Gran, please tell us this story," pleaded Augustine.

"Well... I'm not sure... Maybe it's better if you did your homework instead," said gran.

"Please, gran, please..." said Augustine.

"Oh, all right, Augustine, stop acting like a baby! I will tell you the story but then you'll have to write that essay of yours," she said.

They both eagerly agreed and gran rose once more to check her stew. Then she took a basket with skeins of yarn and sat on a chair next to the window. The knitting pins begun a frantic dance in her hands.

"Let's see then..." she said.
Nocturnus

"A long time ago," said Gran, "when the world was still young and fresh like early spring's cherry blossoms, many odd creatures roamed the earth. It was a time of legends, when gods and goddesses lived in the seas and land, in the skies and in the deep places of the world. They even walked among people.

From that time little remains now. Most of it and especially magic is buried under the dust of time. But back then, magic was still strong. It ruled the world and anyone who could yield it held extreme power. And like always, extreme power corrupted the souls of mortals and immortals alike.

Nocturnus was one of those doomed souls. He was a great and terrible sorcerer, who had gained much forbidden knowledge and had uncovered many dark secrets. But power is never enough and after conquering all a mortal sorcerer could ever conquer, Nocturnus decided it was time to conquer death itself. He decided it was time to become immortal.

Problem was, gods rarely revealed the secret of immortality. Not if they had a say in it. Besides, most of them were as greedy and selfish as Nocturnus. So he spent many years searching for a way to find their secret and in the end he realized that there was only one way to get what he wanted, only one place to find what he was looking for. He had to dig deep into the earth, he had to enter Tartarus, the prison of the gods.

Now, Tartarus was a place worse than hell itself. It was both a prison and an eternal torture for immortal creatures. Nocturnus knew it would be the best place to find someone willing to share his precious secret. And he found him.

After a long and perilous journey into huge fiery pits and bottomless abysses, after defeating the thirty-nine demons and beasts guarding Tartarus, he found what he was looking for. He found Apofis, the most dreaded, the most hated of the old gods, the god of chaos and destruction. A god defeated, exiled and imprisoned for all eternity by the rest of the gods.

Apofis had always one thing in mind: to break free from his prison and destroy the world, to bring eternal night. So, he struck a bargain with Nocturnus. He promised to make him a god, if Nocturnus freed him from Tartarus. But to do that Nocturnus first had to wreak havoc on earth. To aid him, Apofis turned him into a great night-demon.

Armed with Apofis' power, Nocturnus, went back on earth and declared war against all living things. It was a terrible time, a time of living nightmares. It was then dreamghosts were created. Do you know what dreamghosts are, Arcadius?" asked Gran.

Arcadius glanced at Augustine who shook her head slightly. "No," he said. He stuffed another cinnamon cookie in his mouth, hopping his burning cheeks wouldn't betray him.

"Doesn't surprise me. They don't teach you things like these in school. Only mathematics, I suppose," said Gran. There was slight resentment in her voice. "Anyway, dreamghosts were the notorious army of Nocturnus. Horrible monsters that could suck the souls, hopes and dreams of the unfortunate who fell in their grasp. But dreamghosts were not the only things Nocturnus created. He conjured many vicious monsters to terrorize and bring misery to the world.

At the beginning of that war, Nocturnus had the advantage. You see no one expected such an attack. Certainly not the idle gods, eternally occupied with their silly feuds, things like who would rule the best part of the world, who would be king or who is most beautiful of them all.

When they finally realized the danger, it was almost too late. Everything hung from a thread and half the world had fallen into darkness. Nocturnus was about to open Tartarus and set Apofis free, but at the last moment all creatures of the world united and together they defeated Nocturnus' army. They even managed to capture the night-demon himself."

Gran stood once more to check her pot.

"And then what? What happened next? Did they kill Nocturnus?" asked Arcadius impatiently.

"His fate was far worse. Legend says, the old gods took Nocturnus' black soul and tear it apart. Then they imprisoned the pieces into four pure diamonds. The diamonds turned black and from then on, they were known as the black gems of Nocturnus."

Arcadius and Augustine looked at each other. A cold feeling crept into their hearts.

"And what happened to the gems, gran?" asked Augustine.

"As the story goes, the old gods gave them to Bastet, the cat goddess. She was one of Nocturnus' worst enemies during the war and her great cat army had defeated the dreamghosts. So, the old gods thought it best to give her the gems to guard them for all eternity," said gran.

Arcadius couldn't help a wide-eyed look towards Augustine.

"Can you imagine someone finding these gems?" she said in a seemingly casual way, but then she threw a meaningful glance at Arcadius.

"Gran, could someone actually find those gems?" he said.

Gran return a dark look and said, "I don't know. Maybe, but I think it's difficult."

"Why?" said Augustine.

"Well, these gems are supposed to be hidden and heavily guarded. It should be difficult for someone to just take them. Besides, to find them should be difficult enough. You would need their opposite, a white gem, a gem filled with kindness and compassion to track the black gems," said gran and added, "Not to mention this world is so big you wouldn't even know where to look. And even if you did know where to look, the tale I just told you is so old, nobody, at least not me, can tell you with certainty if those gems still exist," said gran. She absentmindedly scratched her cheek and Arcadius with Augustine exchanged another quick glance.

Then, as if gran awoke from daydreaming, she offered a stern look. "And now, I think it's time for you two to go and do your homework. Enough with old tales."
Headquarters

"Pff! This is soooo frustrating!" said Augustine when they went back outside. The bright sunshine somehow made the trees glow in a heavy emerald light.

"What do you mean?" said Arcadius.

"This whole situation, of course. It gets more complicated by the minute. So far we had to find black crystals and now we have to find a white crystal to find the black crystals," she said.

"You're right. Maybe I shouldn't have said to Phrony that-"

"Don't suppose you want out?" Augustine cut him off.

"No!" he said. "It's just that... I'm thinking maybe this whole thing is not for us."

"And why not?" she said.

"Because we're kids not grownups," said Arcadius.

"So, what? I think, we can find those crystals and not just that. I bet we can take them to this Phrony ourselves," said Augustine confidently.

But Arcadius still looked doubtful.

"Unless you want to give up and start doing whatever it was you were doing all this time, studying those boring lessons," she added.

Arcadius had the feeling, chances like this one only presented themselves once in a lifetime and if he willingly let it slip away he might never find it again.

"So? Are you coming, or should I do this myself?" said Augustine. The challenge in her voice was obvious.

"No way. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it together," he said.

"Good, then. I think it's time we went to our headquarters and have our first proper meeting," said Augustine.

"What headquarters? We don't have headquarters," he said.

"Of course, we do. All teams have headquarters and I know just the right place for ours," she said.

"Really?"

"Really. It's my favorite place in the forest and I would've taken you there anyhow. But I think it's also perfect for our base," said Augustine.

Without another word she started back to the forest and Arcadius gave her a curious look, wondering how many surprises she had tucked in her sleeve. Then he lifted his rather heavy satchel and followed her.

The forest closed around them again and soon they started climbing the slope leading back to the tunnel entrance, but instead of following the train trucks, Augustine kept climbing the hillside. There was no dirt path to follow and they had to walk through thorny bushes and rocks ready to roll down. It took them some time, but they reached the hilltop and its only occupant, a huge pine tree standing there like a lonely guardian.

The view from up there was amazing and Arcadius felt bewildered. At their backs lay the Haunted Forest and in front of them, right under the hill, Ephemeria sprawled all the way towards the shores of Lake Crystalia with its glistening waters.

"Wow! You can see the entire city from up here," he said and started looking for his own apartment building.

"I was here when I saw the airship," said Augustine.

"But, I don't understand, this doesn't look like a good place to have our headquarters. OK, we have a great view here, but there's not much else," said Arcadius.

"Of course, there is. Don't be silly, I wouldn't have brought you up here just to admire the view," said Augustine. She pointed up. "Look there."

Arcadius looked up at the pine tree towering above them and at first glance, he could not understand what he was supposed to be seeing, but then, when a sudden gust of wind ruffled the pine needles, he saw...

"A treehouse!" he cried.

"Exactly!" said Augustine pleased with his surprise. Without a single hesitation, she started climbing the thick tree trunk.

Arcadius followed her with slower and more cautious moves and after a while they reached a point where the huge trunk forked.

"Come on. A little bit more," said Augustine offering her hand.

Steadying himself, Arcadius looked at the treehouse nestled further up the pine tree. "How do we get up there? It's so high up," he said. He couldn't see a way to the treehouse and suddenly he was very aware of the height. From the ground it all seemed too easy but now...

"Now we'll get a bit of help from Oi," said Augustine.

The tree-spirit was already jumping like an agile monkey from branch to branch and soon it disappeared into the pine needles. A few seconds later, a rope with knots in comfortable intervals dropped from above like a dead snake.

Again, with irritating confidence, Augustine grabbed it and climbed the rest of the distance to the tree house. This time, Arcadius felt a pinch of fear. He looked downwards, and the ground seemed to roll away with the rest of the hillside. If I fall from up here, I'm dead, he thought and for some reason the voice in his head sounded a lot like his mother's. But then he pressed his lips and thought if Augustine could do it, then he could do it too.

He grabbed the rope tightly and started climbing. It took him quite longer but in the end he managed to reach the top.

"Welcome to our headquarters!" said Augustine.

Arcadius looked around and felt his jaw drop. "Amazing!" he whispered.

The tree house was a proper miniature house. It had a wooden porch and a roof with wooden tiles. The tiles were red but most of the paint had peeled away. There was also a window and a narrow door leading inside. But the most amazing thing was not the tree house itself, but the incredible view. It was breathtaking and as Arcadius was standing close to the wooden rail, he had the impression he was sailing on a boat of wood and pine needles. Sailing high above the ground and over Ephemeria, sailing towards the lazy clouds in the horizon.

Augustine tugged him and they both went inside the creaking treehouse. Arcadius' eyes went round when he saw the piles of odd stuff in there.

"What's all this?" he said.

Half broken dolls smiled from a wicker basket, cogs hanged from the low ceiling, jingling in the soft breeze and toy soldiers marched in close formations on the floor among other stuff Arcadius could not recognize.

"These are things people from the city dumped in the woods. In the olden days that is, when they were not scared of the "Haunted Forest"," she said in a mocking voice.

"And why did you bring it up here?"

"Because I liked it. When I was little, I didn't have many toys, so I played with anything I found in the woods. You know, stuff little kids do..." she said self-consciously. Her cheeks had a reddish tint and Arcadius smiled. Augustine returned an angry look and he quickly snuffed his smirk. "And now let's get back to business. What do you think we should do?" She sat on the floor, on a small patch of empty space.

"I don't know," said Arcadius. He took off his satchel and sat next to her with a sigh of relief.

"What are you carrying in there, stones?" asked Augustine.

"In the satchel? Books," he said.

"Why did you bring them here? Don't suppose you actually think we're going to do any homework?"

"These are just books, I borrowed from the library. They were my excuse to get out of the house," said Arcadius and the next moment an idea flashed in his mind.

Augustine eyed him curiously. "What?" she said.

"Think, I know what we can do," he said.

"What?"

"We can look in the library," said Arcadius.

"Look in the library?" she said. "For what? What could we possibly find there?"

"Books!"

Augustine crossed her hands and tilted her head.

"Well, not just any books," he continued.

"I don't understand," said Augustine.

"The library has many odd books and I am sure we can find one describing white gems or crystals and such. Maybe we can learn something useful there and without raising suspicion," he explained.

Augustine gave it some thought and then smiled. "I guess so. I certainly can't think of anything else," she said.

"I'm sure we'll find something," said Arcadius.
Two Books

Arcadius wanted to enjoy the tree house a bit longer, but he knew the clock was ticking. They had to rush to the public library before it closed for the day and he would have to get back home at some point, preferably before his parents suspected anything.

This time it was him who showed Augustine around. Ephemeria was still a mostly strange place for her. Back in the city, they walked to the nearest crowded street and took a rickshaw to the public library. A few minutes later they were standing in front of an imposing building which, much like the train tracks, was clearly a remnant of a distant past.

It was Augustine's turn to stand and admire in wonder. The library looked like a cathedral with towering, grey pillars, a sprawling staircase with ornate banisters and arced, stained windows gleaming in the sun. Two huge stone lions guarded its front gate, frozen in soundless roars.

"Come on, it's not as formal as it looks," said Arcadius.

They both entered the gloomy hallway that led to a reading area and the librarian's desk.

"I've got to warn you, Glaphcus, the librarian is a bit strange," whispered Arcadius pushing a heavy door.

"What do you mean, strange?" she asked.

"Well, he's not like you and me. He had an accident a long time ago and now he's got a machine helping him walk," he said.

"I don't understand," said Augustine.

"Just don't freak out," he warned her.

They found the reading area empty and utterly silent. Some years now, most of Ephemeria's citizens had concluded books here were mostly worthless. Especially those that had nothing to do with machinery and scientific knowledge. Probably the only reason Ephemeria still had a library, was Glaphcus. The old librarian guarded this place like the most precious treasure. But that did not mean the place was left completely untouched. Back in the day, before Arcadius was born, access to the library's inner halls was free. Now it was forbidden and the collection of books available for reading and borrowing was far less. Now, Arcadius had to choose a book from a rather small list and ask Glaphcus to fetch it for him.

They crossed the huge reading area and stood in front of the librarian. He seemed lost in a thick book with yellowing pages. Glaphcus' bony index finger traced the words as if he was petting them.

"Welcome Mr. Carrot..." mumbled Glaphcus without raising his head. "And this time you brought company... how unusual," he added.

"Er... yes, Sir. And I brought back the books I borrowed," said Arcadius placing the books on the desk.

The librarian finally raised his head and eyed them carefully. His eyes looked abnormally large behind the thick glasses he was wearing. His bald head gleamed like polished wood under the dim light. "Punctual as always, Mr. Carrot. Excellent asset. And who is this fine young lady with you today?" he asked looking at Augustine.

"My name is Augustine Hydrogold," she said red-faced.

"Ah... glad to meet you, Miss Hydrogold. I hope, I will have the pleasure of seeing you often in this otherwise dusty, old place. I had come to believe only Mr. Carrot over here, had the ability to read in this city," said Glaphcus. He made a face like he was tasting something nasty.

Augustine felt she had to nod.

"Good! Then, I will put those books back where they belong, while you my dear fill this form," he said, pushing a sheet of paper and a pen, towards the girl. "You need to be a member of our esteemed library to borrow a book."

She took the form and the pen and threw an inquisitive look at Arcadius. He raised his eyebrows.

"You can use any of the desks to fill it in," said Glaphcus pointing. "As for you, Mr. Carrot, you know your way around."

Glaphcus stood up and Augustine couldn't help a step back and a gasp. From the waist down, instead of normal legs, Glaphcus had cogs, tangled metal wires and joints, forming six spiderlike legs. He looked like a monstrous creature, half man, half a mechanical spider.

"I see, Mr. Carrot did not warn you about my peculiar legs, Miss Hydrogold," said the librarian seeing her surprise.

"No... er.... I mean yes... he mentioned something," stuttered Augustine.

"Do not bother, I am used to this reaction. Besides, it's a small price to pay for the service these odd legs offer me. You know, they were invented by that little bagger, Gnomonius. He is a real genius, I dare say, but not as smart as he thinks in other matters," said Glaphcus.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," said Augustine.

"Oh, of course not, Miss Hydrogold. It's not your fault. Now go along and fill that form," said Glaphcus. He waved his hand and turned away with his spidery legs clicking on the marble floor. He soon vanished somewhere in the depths of the library.

"I told you not to freak out, I told you he was weird," said Arcadius.

"Yes, but you didn't tell me he was like that!" she said.

Arcadius snorted. "Anyway, you sit there and fill the form while I go look in the index book. Maybe I'll find something useful there," he said. He left Augustine fill the form and stepped behind an ornate lectern holding a huge book. All the library's books were catalogued there and Arcadius usually went through only the pages listing novels. This time, he carefully checked the first few pages with the table of contents:

Anthologies of the sleeping poets of Pamvotis, page 695

Architecture of floating houses, page 803

Astronomy of the parallel worlds, page 1001

Geographic description of the poles, page 1544

Arcadius run through the unfamiliar subjects when his tracing finger froze, and his heart jumped.

"Magic and studies of the supernatural, page 5239," he read softly, "This must be it!"

Hastily he turned to page 5239 and started reading the odd titles of the books in that section:

Reports on the dream middle worlds, HALL A4, BOOKSTAND A1, BOOKSHELF 3

Astrology of the Red Forest's pygmy tribe, HALL A4, BOOKSTAND A3, BOOKSHELF 4

Druids of Flandra, HALL A4, BOOKSTAND B2, BOOKSHELF 1

Animalistic Sorcery of the 13th century, HALL A4, BOOKSTAND C2, BOOKSHELF 2

The odd titles, full of mysterious meanings came one after the other, when finally, Arcadius spotted something potentially useful. A book titled "Crystaloscopy and Geomancy, HALL A4, BOOKSTAND E2, BOOKSHELF 5".

He took one of the blank cards, kept next to the huge index book and wrote down the book's reference number and location. He quickly run through the rest of the titles in case something else came up and then he saw the notice on the bottom of the last page of that section:

WE INFORM OUR DEAR READERS THE ABOVE SECTION OF THE LIBRARY WILL REMAIN INDEFINITELY CLOSED UNDER THE REGULATIONS OF THE MUNICIPALITY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANTING.

GLAPHCUS RHAPSODIUS

SENIOR LIBRARIAN

"Oh, no!" mumbled Arcadius reading the notice. They could not borrow anything from that section. He took the card with the book's reference number and went to Augustine who was still trying to fill the form.

"What happened? Did you find anything?" she asked when he sat next to her.

Arcadius explained the situation and Augustine seemed to think it through. She glanced at the librarian who had returned to his desk. "Then we must take that book ourselves," she said.

"How are we going to do that?" he said.

"We need a diversion," said Augustine.

"I don't understand," said Arcadius.

"Something to drive Glaphcus away while you go look for that book back there," she explained.

"I can't think of something," said Arcadius.

"I can," she said smiling slyly. She took out of her pocket the little box where she kept Oi, she opened it and started whispering something Arcadius could not hear. Then she placed the box carefully on the desk and left it open.

Arcadius saw a flash of pink and a second later Oi was slipping like a ghost out of the reading hall.

"What are you doing?" he whispered to Augustine.

"You'll see", she said. "Get ready. When Glaphcus moves away, you'll have to run to find that book."

The next moment, an incredible ruckus came from the hallway outside.

Glaphcus jumped with a surprised look on his face. "What on earth is going on?" he said and ran towards the hallway with his spidery legs rattling on the floor.

"Now! Run!" said Augustine.

Arcadius stormed to the inner halls of the library and then, for a moment, he froze in the sight of that forbidden place, in the sight of so many books stacked in tight rows on huge bookshelves reaching to the ceiling. And the gloomy halls seemed endless, a labyrinth of books, a forest of words. He had never seen anything like it.

He took a sharp breath and started reading the large signs hanging above the entrances to each hall. Finally, he spotted the right one, the one leading to hall A4.

It took a little longer to find bookstand E2 which was in the middle of that hall and the fifth shelf which was close to the ceiling. He rolled one of the attached ladders and climbed to the top. There he scanned the dusty row of books and the titles in gold lettering. Finally, he spotted the book on Crystaloscopy and Geomancy. He snatched it and climbing back down he ran as fast as he could towards the reading hall. But as he crossed a hall under the name "Cartography", he tripped over a stack of books left on the floor. He nearly fell and the books were scattered all over the place.

Arcadius looked at the mess with terrified eyes. If he left them like this, Glaphcus would surely realize someone had been there without permission and given the lack of visitors, he would soon conclude it was Arcadius.

He hastily started stacking the books, when his eyes caught one of the titles. It read, "Map of the moving city". Could it be? The map of a moving city... like Ephemeria? Without thinking, he took the book with him and went back to the reading hall.

Augustine was still waiting there and she was obviously worried.

"Finally! What took you so long?" she exclaimed.

"I had to look for it you know!" he retorted.

"Come on, we have to go before Glaphcus comes back," she said.

They both run to the hallway outside and to the rather funny spectacle of the invisible spirit opening windows, turning chairs upside down, rattling the chandeliers and banging the portraits of grumpy old people on the walls, while Glaphcus stood there wide eyed and utterly lost, not knowing what was going on or what to do.

"Hurry kids, hurry! Get out of the library! There's something evil at work here," he said seeing them. "I knew there was a ghost in the library. Make yourself visible, you abominable thing!" he yelled and grabbed an umbrella from a stand next to the door. He raised it like a sword and stabbed the air a few times.

Arcadius and Augustine followed the librarian's suggestion and stormed out of the building while Oi kept wreaking havoc in the hallway.

"Wait a second," said Augustine when outside.

Arcadius stopped and she put two fingers in her mouth. She whistled sharply and all the noise inside the library ceased. A pink haze swirled from the building and floated to the box Augustine held in her hand. Oi rolled himself inside and Augustine closed the lid, shoving the box back into her pocket.

They started running again and when they left the library far behind, they stopped and burst into laughter.

"It seems Oi is more useful than I thought," said Arcadius and led Augustine towards a steam-bus stop.
Instructions

"So? Did you find it?" asked Augustine as they were waiting for the steam-bus to arrive.

"Yeap, I found it. And not just that," said Arcadius.

He took out the two books and handed them to her.

Augustine gave them a curious look. "I understand this one," she said holding up the book on Crystaloscopy and Geomancy, "But why did you take the other one?"

"I figured it might help us. We might be able to make a map of Ephemeria. Just think how much easier it would be to search the city on our own without getting lost," he said.

Augustine flipped the pages of the book. She looked doubtful. "I don't think it's possible. I can't understand a single word in here," she said.

"Well maybe I can," said Arcadius.

"Here's what we can do: you take this book and see if we can make a map or something, and I will read the other one. And tomorrow we can talk about our findings, what do you think?" said Augustine.

Arcadius agreed, and they decided it was time to head back to their homes.

It was almost noon when Arcadius went back home and as expected he had to sit for lunch, but after all those treats at Gran's place, there was little place left for anything else. Especially his mother's food. And his lack of appetite did not go unnoticed.

"Why aren't you eating, Arcadius?" said his mother.

"I'm not that hungry," he said.

"Aha! So, I was right! If you ever eat cake again before lunch, I will lock you up in your room without any food for an entire day!" yelled his mother.

Arcadius' eyes went round. "What cake? I didn't eat any cake!" he said trying to figure out how his mother new he had actually eaten cake before lunch.

"Oh, don't you lie to me! I know someone ate the cake I kept in the cupboard. And as far as I can see, you're the only one not hungry here," she said.

Arcadius felt a rush of relief. "Oh, that cake. But, mother, I don't like that cake, why would I eat it?" he protested. He really hated the cake from the FOE and in all honesty, he would rather throw it off the window than eat it.

"Then why aren't you eating? And who ate the cake?" insisted his mother.

And there he was. Trapped. He could not tell the truth, so he was forced to take responsibility for something he did not do. It was the only way to escape the unexpected interrogation that would possibly lead to other more serious revelations. But the question remained. Who could've eaten that horrible cake? Certainly not his father; he hated that thing too.

When lunch was finally over, Arcadius went back to his room. There he spent most of the afternoon trying to decipher the incomprehensible texts of the book he snatched from the library. A little after sunset he felt dizzy and ready to give up. Disappointed he closed the book.

Ionius came closer. "I wish, I knew what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into," said the automaton. A few mechanical clicks came from his torso, as if trying to underline the comment.

"What?" said Arcadius.

"Don't think I haven't noticed. You're up to something," said Ionius.

Arcadius went to the window looking outside. The horizon on the west, far beyond Ephemeria, was drenched in a glorious orange hue. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said in a soft voice.

"Yeah, right. Is that why you act so strange lately? First you get expelled from school, then you disappear for almost half the day and now you sit reading this odd book. I hardly recognize you anymore," said Ionius. "So, what's going on?"

"Nothing is going on. You're just acting stupid as usual," said Arcadius but with no real zest for a fight with Ionius.

"You don't full me. I'm not like your parents, I know you since you were a baby. So tell me what's going on."

"I told you, nothing is going on and since you can't be useful, at least try not to be annoying," said Arcadius.

"Or really? I am not useful? I am _only_ useful," yelled the automaton.

Arcadius sighed loudly. "Well then, how about telling me what this stupid book is saying," he challenged the automaton.

Ionius was always up for a challenge, so he grabbed the book and after reading a few pages he closed it.

Arcadius gave him a mocking look. "You see, I told you. You are useless," he said.

"No, I am not! And I am not an engineer like your father. This book is about machinery, and only he can understand what it says. It's written in the old language and if you still haven't got it, these pages are filled with some sort of instructions," said Ionius.

Arcadius looked utterly lost. "Are you sure that's what it is? I suspected it so, but..." he mumbled.

"Why do you even want to read this book? I thought you hated engineering," said Ionius.

Arcadius ignored him. An engineer, an engineer... An idea crossed his mind. "That's it!" he said.

"What?" said Ionius.

Arcadius strode towards him with an irritated look.

"No! Don't you dare to-" was the only thing, Ionius managed before the switch came down.

Arcadius sat on his bed. Ionius was right, he needed help to understand the complex instructions in that book. He needed an engineer, but his father was out of the question. If he showed him the book, he would definitely start asking questions and questions were... well they were out of the question. Arcadius had stolen the book, and that probably was another unexpected low for him. So, there was only one other person Arcadius could turn to for help. Phrony, the young investigator who seemed to know a lot about strange things. And if he could fix an entire flying ship, then he could certainly understand this book.

But where was Phrony now? Where was the junkyard today? He stood and looked outside his window. How could he find Phrony in the maze of Ephemeria? And how could he go looking without his parents finding out?

He realized, his fingers were tracing the watch of transformations on his wrist. He had forgotten to take it off when he came back and he was lucky, his parents did not notice. He was about to take it off when another idea flashed in his mind. And then he smiled.

*

After dinner, Arcadius excused himself saying he was tired. He went back to his room and quickly put his plan into action. He didn't have much time before his mother would come for her goodnights and he was always risking a sudden visit in his room. But it was a risk he was forced to take.

He opened the attic window, placed the book on the windowsill and with his heart racing, he turned the clock finger of the watch to the figure of a bird. The watch made a few clicking sounds and the sudden blue flash wrapped Arcadius. When it vanished, a majestic eagle was standing on the floor.

Like the first time he used the watch, Arcadius had trouble controlling his new form. He forced his huge wings to flap and he hopped to the windowsill where he grabbed the book with sharp claws and flew to the darkening sky above Ephemeria.

Flying was the most exhilarating thing Arcadius had ever done. So much so, he almost lost control of himself. It was a truly overwhelming sensation. The wind was swirling under him, pushing him ever higher, making his wild eagle heart beat in utter delight. And in the back of his mind, Arcadius new it would take only a careless second to be carried away. Literarily.

Thank god for the weight of the book under him. It was like an anchor reminding him his mission.

His sharp eyesight quickly spotted the junkyard and Phrony's airship. He dived like an arrow and landed next to a pile of old rickshaws. Three minutes later he was back to his normal self and with the book in his hands, he ran to find Phrony. Surprised he saw the young investigator had done a lot of repairing. The airship looked now in a much better state.

The flying box was the first that took notice of Arcadius and like a guard dog, it flew to Arcadius but not in an aggressive way. It actually looked happy buzzing around Arcadius' head. Phrony on the other hand was completely absorbed with his job and squeaked like a little girl when Arcadius touched his shoulder.

"You scared the hell out of me!" he said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that," said Arcadius.

"Hmm... yeah, ok fine," said Phrony. He cleared his throat looking a bit embarrassed and wiped his hands with a dirty rag. He was still covered in soot, but his clothes looked cleaner today.

"Wow, you're really good," said Arcadius.

"Excuse me?" said Phrony.

"The airship, I mean. It looks almost fixed," said Arcadius pointing.

"Oh, yes, things are lighting up. It seems I've been lucky in my misfortune. I must admit this place has better tools than those you find in Opportunata. I didn't expect that," he said. Next to him there was a brand-new toolset with the FOE logo on the box.

"I told you, we make amazing machines here," said Arcadius feeling a little proud about his city.

"OK, I admit I was wrong. This odd place is a treasure for an engineer," said Phrony. "So? What are you doing here? Have you spotted the crystals?"

"Er... no, not yet," said Arcadius. He felt his cheeks burning.

"Then why are you here? Don't tell me you want to quit," Phrony's face had a scornful expression.

"No! No way!" said Arcadius.

"Then what are doing here wasting your time and mine?"

"I need some help with something and I thought-"

"You thought, I had time to help you out," said Phrony.

"Well yes," admitted Arcadius.

"Well I don't," said the young investigator. He rudely turned his back on Arcadius and started working on his airship again. "If you can't find the crystals, just say so and go home," he added.

Arcadius was speechless. This guy must be the rudest person in the world, he thought. He went to Phrony and as the investigator was bend over a large cog, Arcadius gave him a good kick on the butt.

"Hey! What was that for?" yelled Phrony.

"Because... because..." Arcadius felt his anger swelling. "Because I got expelled from school for you. To help you!"

Phrony was about to say something obviously not very polite, but he saw the box closing in a threatening way. He put the screwdriver he was holding aside and looked at Arcadius. Then he sighed. "Ok, ok. Tell me what you need," he said.

Arcadius handed him the book.

"What is that?" said Phrony.

"It's a map of the city. At least, I think it is, I am not sure. I found it in the library, but I can't make a single word out of it. I don't know much about machines and I thought you might be able to read it. I mean, since you can fix an entire airship," said Arcadius.

"Well, yeah, that's true," said Phrony raising his brows. He took the book and flipped through the old pages. "Yes, hmm... yes, I see... Very Interesting." He closed the book. "And why do you need this map?"

"To look for the crystals. I told you this city keeps changing, you saw it. It would make things much easier if I could search on my own without the help of the Drivers," said Arcadius.

"Good thinking, kid. Very well, I will help you. Come to see me again tomorrow," said Phrony and with that, he turned his back to Arcadius and started working with the screwdriver again.

"Thank you," said Arcadius.

"You should thank the box, not me. For some odd reason, it seems to have taken a liking to you," said Phrony without turning.

Arcadius left the investigator to his work and using the watch of transformations, he flew back to his attic room. And right on time, for when he made it to bed, his mother opened the door and kissed him goodnight. Soon after that he fell asleep.
The Map

The following day, Arcadius got on the school bus as usual, but soon realized something was different. Many of the kids, especially the younger ones, watched him in awe as he passed by to sit next to Augustine.

In the past, when Arcadius became for some reason the center of attention, the reaction of his school mates was outright laughter and bullying, but now there was a strange mixture of fear, scorn and envy in their eyes.

"Why is everybody looking at me like that?" he softly asked Augustine.

"Don't you know why?" she said.

"Know what?" said Arcadius.

"That now you're the boy who got expelled," she explained.

"Oh, great, like I didn't have enough problems. Why couldn't I be the boy who survived?" he said and sunk deeper into his seat.

"The boy who survived? Of what?" said Augustine.

"Don't know, from a disaster or something. Or even better a magic attack," he said.

Augustine eyed him curiously. "You know you're weird, right?" she said.

"Look who's talking."

She brushed him off. "Anyway, stop paying attention to all those idiots. They look at me too like I have measles or something, but I don't care," she said stubbornly.

"Well, I do care, and I don't like people looking at me like that."

"So, you'd rather have them laugh at you. Like before?" she asked.

Arcadius shook his head sulkily.

"Did you manage to read that book?" said Augustine.

Outside the bus windows, Ephemeria was still misty and half asleep and on the sky gray clouds bumped on each other.

"No," he said.

She raised her eyebrows in a condescending manner. "I told you that book was gibberish. Waste of time," she said.

Arcadius smiled. " _I_ wasn't able to read it," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Phrony can read it. I took the book to him yesterday."

While the bus made its usual round in the streets, Arcadius told Augustine all about his meeting with Phrony.

"Do you think he'll be able to make a map?" asked Augustine as they got off the bus and walked towards the Avenue.

"Yes, I'm sure he will," he said.

"I hope you're right. A map of Ephemeria would be very useful," she said.

At that moment the bell rang, and all students went to their classrooms. The first hour it was maths for Arcadius and Augustine. Maths was one of Arcadius' least favorite subjects and while his grades were almost perfect, maths was his great weakness. He hated adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing numbers. It was simply impossible to love what seemed to him like dry logic. Each time he wrote down a mathematical symbol or a number, he did not see quantities and equations, he saw creatures and stories. He could gaze on a simple equation making up stories about terrified numbers running in the middle of the night to escape X factors or avoid being divided. As expected, his grades where average at best. That was why professor Hipati took an extra step to make his life miserable.

On the contrary, Kratos' grades in maths where perfect. For some strange reason, maths was the subject where Kratos excelled, while he was horrible in all other subjects. During classes, Kratos used to pick his nose or even better, spit small paper balls on Arcadius' head. Except maths. During maths, Kratos turned to a perfect student and given the chance, he solved a difficult exercise then turning arrogantly towards Arcadius as if he was silently challenging him.

Today was no exception. But it was worse than usual.

Professor Hipati asked Arcadius to solve an equation on the blackboard. Of course, he had absolutely no idea how to do that. He gazed at the line of numbers and symbols for what seem an eternity, while the entire class was silent. Arcadius could feel the eyes of his classmates on his back. Everyone was expecting his inevitable failure, Kratos most of all. Arcadius kept looking at the equation as if it was a terrifying monster, the chalk frozen in his hand. In the end, professor Hipati crackled her knuckles something they all knew meant she was getting angry.

"I expected being expelled for a day would've made you a little more diligent, Arcadius. At least enough to grace us with some effort," she said.

Someone (probably Kratos) giggled softly.

"Silence!" shouted professor Hipati. Arcadius was now tomato-red. Hipati turned towards Augustine. "Maybe you, Miss Hydrogold, could help your friend here?" she added.

Augustine lowered her head. Someone giggled again.

"I said, silence!" yelled Hipati. She turned back to Augustine. "No? Of course, you can't help him. I wouldn't expect anything else from you," she said. Her voice was full of contempt. "Anyone else?" she said towards the rest of the class.

Immediately, Kratos raised his hand.

"Please, Kratos, show Mr. Carrot over here how to solve a simple equation," said Hipati.

Kratos stood up and went to the blackboard while Arcadius went back to his desk feeling embarrassed. Kratos solved the exercise within seconds making Arcadius feel even more stupid.

When the bell rang again, Arcadius exhaled a big sigh of relief.

"Is she always like that?" asked Augustine when they were alone in the winter courtyard.

"Who, professor Hipati?" said Arcadius.

"Yeah, that old crow," said Augustine.

Arcadius giggled. "Don't pay attention to her. She's mad with me because maths is the only subject I am really bad at, and I guess she takes it personally," he said and added. "So, how about you? Did you find anything useful in that book about Crystaloscopy and Geomancy?"

Augustine's face lit up. "Yes! That book is awesome! I read the entire thing yesterday. It's amazing what you can do with a crystal and a good spell," she said.

"A good spell?" said Arcadius.

"Yeah. Apparently, Crystaloscopy and Geomancy are some sort of magic practice. You combine the powers of crystals with spells and rituals to make things happen," she explained.

"OK, but what about a white gem? Does it say anything about that?" said Arcadius.

"Yes, it does. Well sort of."

"Sort of?" said Arcadius.

"The only thing that could prove useful to us is the ritual to make a crystal of light," she said.

"A crystal of light? Well it could be it. I mean I hope it's a white crystal and not some kind of magic lamp. We already have Oi for that," said Arcadius.

"I'm sure it's what we are looking for," said Augustine.

"And how are we going to make this crystal of light?" said Arcadius.

"Well... we might have a bit of a problem there," she said reluctantly.

"What kind of problem?"

"First of all, we need a crystal," she said.

Arcadius' face went sour. "Oh, not again! And where are we supposed to find a crystal?" he said loudly.

"Don't yell, I'm just telling you what I read in the book."

"Here we go again, looking for things," said Arcadius.

The bell rang and turning, they saw Kratos walking hastily away. They exchanged a worried look.

"You think he heard us talking?" said Arcadius.

"I don't know. I hope not, because I think he is capable for anything. He's a sneaky weasel and after what we did do him, he's looking for revenge. That's why he turned us in last time," said Augustine.

"We just need to be careful from now on," said Arcadius.

"Shall we meet at the headquarters after school and see what we can do about the crystal?" suggested Augustine.

"I can't today. I told you, after school, I have to find Phrony for that map," he said.

"OK then. Tomorrow?"

Arcadius nodded.

*

After school, instead of going back home, Arcadius found an empty alley and he used the watch of transformations to turn into an eagle again.

This time it was a little easier to control his transformation. He found the junk yard quickly and after a few rounds he landed next to Phrony who looked at the bird with a surprised expression before realizing it was Arcadius.

"So, I see you quickly picked up how to use the watch," he commented.

Arcadius, still in the form of the eagle croaked loudly and waited for the ten minutes to pass.

"It's splendidly fun to fly as an eagle, isn't it? Much better than flying on an airship. It gives you a certain sense of freedom. Unfortunately, it's also more tiring and doesn't last long. I've done it a few times myself, you know," said Phrony.

Arcadius ruffled his feathers in agreement.

"Well, let's get on with our matter at hand. I suppose you came for the map, right?" said Phrony and walked to a trunk.

At that moment, the box appeared carrying a bend pipe. It looked like a bird carrying a pipe with its beak.

"Ah, box you've found exactly what I need! Please leave it there, next to my tools. Our boy is here and we must talk," said Phrony.

The box dropped the pipe next to the tools and came cautiously to the eagle. Again, red eyes peered for inside and then vanished with the lid snapping shut. The box seemed to recognize Arcadius and buzzed merrily a few times around the eagle's head. Then it darted somewhere beyond the huge piles of junk. A second later, Arcadius turned back to his normal self.

"Ah, there you are! I have excellent news. You were right, that book has instructions for a map, a map perfectly suitable for a city like this."

"Really? And you managed to make it?" said Arcadius.

Phrony eyed him scornfully. "Nice to see you had faith in my abilities," he said.

"Er... No-I mean yes, I knew you were going to make the map," said Arcadius.

"Yeah, right. Anyway, it wasn't an easy thing to do. You see, this isn't just a map," said Phrony and tilted his head thoughtfully. "But on the other hand, this is not just a city either," he added.

"What do you mean?" said Arcadius.

"I'll show you."

Phrony searched the trunk and produced something like a folded chessboard, then sat on the trunk and unfolded the object on his lap.

Arcadius walked closer. "What is that?" he asked.

"The map, of course," said Phrony. The young investigator smiled at Arcadius' obvious confusion. "OK, let's start with the basics. You see these marks, here on the sides? They represent the cardinal points: East, West, North and South."

Arcadius nodded.

"This green area here that runs through the east side of the map and ends in the South, is the forest. This blue area between the North and the West is the lake and this here on the Southwest is according to my information, a clearing," continued Phrony.

"It must be the dump," said Arcadius frowning.

"Well, you live here, so you must be right," said Phrony.

"But they don't look like a forest, a lake and a dump," commented Arcadius.

Phrony threw him an irritated look. "OK, maybe it's not a masterpiece, but I'm no painter either, so this will have to do," he said.

"Ok, ok, don't get mad. I'm just saying..." said Arcadius.

Phrony snorted. "So, as I was saying, this is the Forest, this is the Lake and this is the Dump."

"And what are these squares here and the cracks?" said Arcadius.

"As I was saying, this is the Forest, this is the Lake, this is the Dump and these little squares represent the buildings of this city," said Phrony and before Arcadius had time to open his mouth again he added, "And the cracks you see, are the guidelines. This is the way the buildings move each night. And this is why..." Phrony turned the map upside down and revealed all the cogs and springs and screws underneath.

"What is that," said Arcadius.

"That is pretty much the mechanism that moves the city. A smaller version of it, but I suspect the real thing looks a lot like this. Besides, I've tested the map's accuracy this morning myself," said Phrony with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Yes, but how does the map matches the city. Ephemeria keeps changing every night," said Arcadius.

"Aha! This my dear friend is the right question. And the answer is syn-chro-ni-zation!" said Phrony. His eyes shone like ambers. "According to this book, the city does not change randomly, but each day of the year it takes a specific form. So, the only thing you need to know to find your way around here, is how the city will look at a certain day of the year. And this is exactly what this map shows."

"I don't understand," said Arcadius. He was truly confused.

Phrony snorted again. "You see these here?" he said pointing at two small squares and two buttons on the margins of the map.

"Yes," said Arcadius.

"What you must do, is put the date you need here... For example, today is the fourth of September," said Phrony. He pressed the buttons and on one small square appeared the number 4 while on the other appeared the word "September". "The fourth of September, today. Then, with this key, you wind up the map," he added and placed a small key in a hole. He turned the key a few times and took it out.

As soon as he took the key out, the mechanism under the map came alive. It started clicking and the squares on its surface began turning and going back and forth, and running along the cracks. After a few seconds and they stopped.

"And behold! The map of Ephemeria today," said Phrony proudly.

But Arcadius was still doubtful. "Yes, but how can you find your way? Where is my house? Where are we? There are only squares and numbers."

Phrony rolled his eyes and sighed. "You don't need anything else. Every building in this city has a number, so these numbers on the squares represent exactly that. They show which building is which. Your place for instance, what is its number?"

"267", said Arcadius.

Phrony looked for a moment and then pointed on the map. "Here. Your apartment building is here, the square with the number 267," he said.

And finally, Arcadius understood how the map worked. "Awesome," he said.

"Yes, it's quite clever, although I find the structure of this moving city even more fascinating. I really wonder who made this and most importantly, why he made it," said Phrony.

Arcadius did not pay attention. His was focused on the map. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he recognized other buildings. Like the GEI which had the number 001.

"Anyway, I think I deserve at least some gratitude, for spending all this time making this," said Phrony.

"What? Oh, yes, sure you do. You are truly clever," said Arcadius.

"Well, I have to admit I am," said Phrony. "And now, if you don't have anything else to ask, I advise you to get back home. I suppose you don't want to be late."

"Yes, I have to get back, otherwise I'm done for it," said Arcadius. It was indeed late and his parents would soon start wondering what happened to him.

"At least now you can walk back home. It's not far as I see on the map," said Phrony.

"Right," said Arcadius and folding the map, grabbed his satchel and started running towards the exit of the junk yard.

"And don't forget the crystals kid! It's important," yelled Phrony.

"I won't," shouted Arcadius.
An Unexpected Friend

Five minutes later and with the map in hand, Arcadius walked for the first time the streets of Ephemeria confidently. All the buildings and alleys around him, corresponded perfectly to what the map showed.

Wait till Augustine sees this, he was thinking when he turned into yet another alley and heard someone shouting. It came from an old house crammed between two apartment buildings. The place looked derelict. The green paint on its walls was peeling away and one of its windows was broken and someone had replaced it with a wooden plank.

"How many times have I told you to clean your room, you ungrateful brat? Do I have to do everything myself around here?" shouted a man.

"OK, dad, I will clean it!" retorted another voice. It was a familiar voice, but Arcadius could not place it at first.

"When? When are you going to clean it? I'm sick of hearing you say you will do something and not actually do it! That's what you're telling me about your homework and every time I get your report card, your grades are getting lower and lower. I work my ass to keep food on our table and you act like a lazy princess," shouted the man.

"I'm no lazy princess!" protested the boy.

"Then prove it and for god's sake, stop whining like a little girl. Do you ever hear yourself? You're no baby anymore, you're a man and men don't cry. But I'm going to make you act like a man whether you like it or not!" screamed the man.

"No! No, dad, not Kriton! Please, give him back!"

"Shut up! No more toys! From now on, you will behave like a man. And there is no room for toys in a man's life, you hear me?"

"Ok, I'll do whatever you want. I will throw away my toys but, please, let me keep Kriton," begged the boy.

"Wait and see what I'm going to do to your Kriton!" screamed the man. He seemed to have truly lost it.

Arcadius held his breath as he saw a huge man stepping out from the front door of the house. His bearded face was all red and in his hand, he held a small catlike automaton. The mechanical creature flailed helplessly its little legs, meowing desperately. Arcadius' jaw dropped when he saw Kratos storming out, following the man and trying to stop him.

"No, dad, please don't!" yelled Kratos, but to no avail.

His father turned suddenly and with one big hand he pinned Kratos to the wall. "Shut up, Kratos! I told you: from now on, no more toys and stupid things like that for you. You'll start reading, otherwise you are going to be in big trouble, do you understand me?" shouted Kratos' father and turning, he smashed the automaton on the wall of one of the apartment buildings. The mechanical cat broke into small pieces.

"No!" screamed Kratos.

"That will teach you a lesson. And now get back inside for the rest of these garbage. I want them all gone in ten minutes!" said Kratos' father and went back inside, slamming the door behind.

Arcadius saw Kratos walking slowly to the shattered automaton. Tears were running down his cheeks and Arcadius suddenly felt for him something he never expected to feel. He felt sorry for him. Kratos was an unforgivable bully during school time, but what his father did to him was really awful. No kid deserved something like that, and the thought made Arcadius feel grateful for his parents. They treated him completely different, even when they were mad.

He crossed the street and walked reluctantly to Kratos. When the other boy realized Arcadius was standing next to him, his eyes went round and then, quickly, he tried to wipe his tears away.

"What are you doing here?" said Kratos and tried to act in his usual aggressive way.

"I was going back home and... well, I heard your dad screaming and..." he said.

Kratos' face took an angry expression. "So, what? What do you care?" he said.

"I don't. I mean... I think it's a shame he broke your automaton," said Arcadius.

"The automaton is none of your business. Besides, it was just an old toy. So, beat it now, ok?" retorted Kratos and turned to get back inside. Then he stopped and turned again to Arcadius. "And if you say anything to anyone about today, Carrot, I'm going to tear you to pieces!" he said raising his fist. Then he went inside the house.

Arcadius stood there starring at the closed door for a while and then looked at the pieces of the mechanical cat on the street. He started picking them up and throwing them in his satchel. Then he ran hopping his own parents would not get angry at him for being late.

"Finally, Arcadius! Where have you been all this time? Are you all right?" yelled his mother when she saw him.

"I'm sorry mother, the school bus broke down again and we had to wait for another to pick us up," he said. Thank god this had actually happened a few times before, so it was a legitimate lie.

"You see Selephcina? You worried for no reason at all," said his father from the sofa.

"Yes, but this is getting absurd! Something needs to be done with all those old buses. What is the mayor doing anyway?" protested his mother.

"I heard they're going to replace the old steam-engines soon. Professor Gnomonius invented a new and amazing model. Really fascinating," said his father.

Arcadius thought this was probably the last time he could use that specific excuse.

"Arcadius, go wash your hands for lunch, it's getting late," said his mother.

He did and then stuffed his mouth with food to finish lunch as quickly as possible. Then he finished his homework and finally, around five o'clock, he started working on Kratos' broken automaton.

Although, Arcadius didn't care much about engineering, he had Ionius since he was a baby. And many times the automaton needed fixing or simple maintenance. Every time his dad worked on Ionius, he had Arcadius by his side watching and so eventually he too learned how to fix and take care of an automaton. His father had even gone as far as to buy him a small toolset, hopping one day, Arcadius would become an engineer like him.

Arcadius took the small box with the screwdrivers, the pliers and the wrenches and another box with Ionius' spare parts. Then he sat on the floor.

"What are you doing there?" asked Ionius.

"An operation," he said. He spread Kriton's broken parts in front of him.

"Oh...! What happened to that automaton?" said Ionius.

"The father of one of my schoolmates smashed it," said Arcadius assessing the damage.

"But why would he do that to a poor automaton?" said Ionius.

"He was angry," said Arcadius.

"It must be really terrible to be broken like that... I'll help you fix it," said Ionius and sat next to Arcadius.

Arcadius smiled. "Ok," he said. He lifted one of Kriton's paws and turned it over. He saw something inscribed there:

For my precious Kratos

With lots and lots of love,

Your Mother

Suddenly Arcadius knew exactly why Kratos wanted to keep Kriton so much. He knew Kratos' mom died when he was younger.

*

Most Fridays, students eagerly waited for the weekend to begin and that somehow helped to relive tensions at the GEI. But this Friday, there was at least one student who was not in the best of moods.

From the moment he stepped on the school bus, Kratos sulked and frowned at everybody, even his closest friends, Patroclus and his brother Patricius. But whenever his eyes met those of Arcadius, he immediately turned the other way red-faced.

"What's with him today?" asked Augustine nodding towards Kratos.

Arcadius glanced to Kratos and shrugged staying silent. And then, when the bell rang for the first break of the day, he told Augustine he would stay in class for one last look on his maths exercises.

When he was finally alone, he reached inside his satchel and took out Kriton. The automaton looked almost brand new and he could not help feeling a little proud of his work. The only thing left was a good winding, but he decided to leave that to Kratos. He placed Kriton inside Kratos' satchel and then followed the rest of his classmates to the winter courtyard.

After the brake, when everybody went back to class, Kratos opened his satchel to take out the book on Mass Production and froze. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"Hey, Kratos, are you ok?" asked Patroclus who noticed Kratos' bewilderment.

"Yeah, and mind your own business," snarled Kratos.

He hastily closed his satchel and sat down at his desk. After a few minutes, Kratos turned back and glanced at Arcadius who smiled. Immediately Kratos turned the other way, his face bright red.

When the bell rang again, Arcadius and Augustine stood up and headed for the door, but Patroclus decided it was time for a little bullying. He shoved his foot and Arcadius tripped and fell flat on his face in a rather funny way. Augustine immediately tried to help him, while Kratos' gang laughed wickedly.

"Look guys, Arcadius brought his mom, to care for him," said Patroclus loudly. The rest of them laughed again.

Arcadius stood up really pissed this time and with Augustine on his side, they got ready for another fight. Strangely, this time the prospect did not scare him at all. No way he was letting those stupid boys make his life miserable. Even at the risk of being expelled again.

But as it turned out, neither him nor Augustine had to do anything.

Suddenly, Kratos stood up and grabbing Patroclus by the shirt, he hurled him to the floor. The boy flumped in a fanny way, much like Arcadius did, but no one laughed this time. They were all too surprised to do that.

"Are you crazy, Kratos? What are you doing?" yelled Patroclus.

"From now on, anyone who messes with Arcadius will have to do with me," said Kratos. Everyone fell silent with mouths gapping, Arcadius' included. It was the first time he heard Kratos use his name, at least not in a mocking way.

When Patroclus got over his surprise, his face turned angry. "Really, and why is that? Are you and Carrot suddenly mates now?" he asked. His tone was both mocking and angry.

"That's none of your business, stupid. And if you don't want your ass kicked, I suggest you get lost," said Kratos. His fists were already clenched, a sure sign of trouble. Patroclus knew that sign very well.

The boy got up, gave Kratos one last hostile look and then left class followed by his brother and the rest. Only Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos stayed behind.

"Thanks," said Arcadius after a few moments of awkward silence.

Kratos turned red again, but this time he smiled. "I owed you that. Besides, Patroclus is stupid," said Kratos shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Really? That didn't bother you before," said Augustine. Contrary to Arcadius, she regarded Kratos suspiciously.

"OK, maybe I was a little stupid too," said Kratos.

"Only a little?" said Augustine.

Arcadius decided it was time to intervene and avoid another fight. "It's ok, we all act stupidly sometimes," he said.

But him taking Kratos' side, made Augustine even more suspicious. "Could please someone tell me what is going on here? Since when you too became best buddies?" She turned to Arcadius. "Should I remind you, he was the one who turned us in to Gnomonius?"

"Yes, but now he took our side," said Arcadius.

Augustine's eyes went dark. "So, what? Don't be stupid, we can't trust him just because he took our side," she said and turning to Kratos she added, "I'm sure he's up to something."

"I'm up to nothing and I don't need to hang out with you! I don't care a bit," yelled Kratos. "Besides, you're the ones who need me," he added.

"Really? And why is that?" asked Augustine.

"Because, I am the one who knows where you can find a crystal," said Kratos.

His words made them jerk.

"You see! He was eavesdropping! I told you, we shouldn't trust him!" said Augustine to Arcadius.

Now he too started eying Kratos suspiciously.

"No, I wasn't. At least not on purpose. I was going to the winter yard when I heard you two talking about a crystal," said Kratos trying to defend himself. The boy had clenched his fist again.

"I don't believe you," yelled Augustine ready for a fight.

"I don't care if you believe me or not. Besides, I want to help Arcadius, not you!" said Kratos and without waiting for an answer he turned and left the classroom.

Arcadius looked at Augustine.

"What? Don't tell me, you actually believe him!" she said.

"I do. And I don't think he's as bad as he looks. And maybe, he can really help us," said Arcadius.
The Crystal Mine

"I think this is a bad idea," said Augustine.

Arcadius left a sigh. The two of them were walking to the winter yard, looking for Kratos.

"We don't need him. We can find a crystal on our own," she insisted.

Arcadius stopped and turned towards her. "How?" he asked.

"We'll think of something," said Augustine, but it was obvious she had no idea how to solve their problem.

"I say, we trust him. Besides, we don't have to tell him everything," said Arcadius.

Augustine raised her hands giving up. "Fine! It's your call, but just you know, if he betrays us, it's on you," she said.

They found Kratos sulking in a corner and Arcadius told him about the crystal they were looking for.

"And why do you need this crystal?" said Kratos.

"That you will learn only if we are sure you're not going to turn us in," said Augustine.

Kratos threw her another angry look. "Fine. I don't care anyway," he said.

"Good. Now your turn. Where can we find a crystal?" said Augustine.

"Yes, where can we find a crystal?" said Arcadius.

"It's easy. In the crystal mine," said Kratos.

"The crystal mine?" said Arcadius.

"Yes. There was a crystal mine here in Ephemeria. It was shut down a long time ago," said Kratos.

"And how do you know about that? I've never heard about a crystal mine before," said Arcadius.

"Yes, how do you know that?" said Augustine, thinking this was an opportunity to uncover Kratos' true intentions.

But Kratos only raised his brows. "I know about the mine because my father used to work there. Before he got a job in the FOE. He'd told me many times about the crystals they found there," said Kratos.

Augustine looked disappointed. "And where is that mine?" she asked.

"My father says it was where the dump is now," replied Kratos,

"Oh, great. Another beautiful part of this city," said Augustine.

"Yeah, but I guess it's our only option," said Arcadius.

"I think it will be really cool to go into the mine, but how are we going to get there?" asked Kratos.

"We! Why should you come with us?" said Augustine.

"Because, you have no idea what to do in a mine," retorted Kratos.

"He's right, Augustine. If his father worked there, he must know a few things," said Arcadius in a compromising tone.

"Fine!" said Augustine. "It's obvious you've made your decision about him. But tell me, how exactly are we going to find the dump? We can't even walk without getting lost in this city. And we certainly can't take a rickshaw or a steam-taxi there without raising suspicions."

Arcadius curved his lips giving her a cunning smile. "We don't need a Driver. We can find the dump on our own," he said.

"How?" asked Kratos.

"The map! He made you the map!" cried Augustine.

Arcadius' smile became larger.

*

It was Saturday morning and Arcadius stood once more at "Nowhere and Tunnel" bus stop. This time he had walked there, enjoying the fact he could go wherever he wished without the Drivers' help. Augustine was already there waiting.

"Good morning, where is Kratos?" he said.

She seemed grumpy. "I don't know, and I hope all those things he told us yesterday where not just a bunch of nonsense," she said.

As if replying to her words, a rickshaw appeared and from under the hooded carriage jumped Kratos. The burly boy walked with large strides towards them. Arcadius gave him an honest smile, while Augustine graced him with an even grumpier look.

"Hi, sorry I'm late, but I was looking for our gear," said Kratos showing the large bag he was carrying.

"What gear?" asked Arcadius curiously.

"You can't go in a crystal mine without a gear. You need stuff," said Kratos. He was looking at Augustine as if challenging her to make a comment. She said nothing.

"So, what did you bring?" asked Arcadius.

"A rope, a small pickaxe, two lanterns and my dad's helmet which is awesome. It has a small lamp on top to help you see where you're going, I've always wanted to try it," said Kratos.

"Great, let's go then," said Arcadius.

"Why don't you show us the map first," said Augustine.

Arcadius opened the mechanical map and explained how it worked.

"So which way are we going?" asked Kratos. He still looked rather confused.

"The dump is right here, in the southwest and we are here, on the edge, close to the wall. So, I guess if we take this street-it should be quite empty at this time of hour- we will find the dump," said Arcadius pointing.

"Good, this way we'll avoid the crowded streets in the middle of the city," said Kratos.

"OK, let's go then because if it gets late, we will draw suspicion anyway," said Augustine.

They started walking and about an hour later, they managed to find the dump. But the place was not at all what Arcadius had imagined. He thought it would be a bigger version of the junk yard, but Ephemeria's dump was vast, lined with barbed wire and bared by a heavy metal gate that opened automatically every time a garbage truck went in or out. Not to mention the horrible stench.

"Wow, it smells awful!" said Augustine when they came closer to the fence.

"What did you expect? Look at those mountains of trash," said Kratos.

"It's unbelievable the city makes so much garbage," said Arcadius.

"How are we going to get in there?" asked Augustine.

"I say, we go in when the gate opens again. If we try to go through the fence, we'll be minced," said Arcadius nodding to the metal thorns lining the top of the fencing.

"You're right. I think it's the only way in," agreed Kratos.

The three of them edged closer to the metal gate, careful not to be spotted by the driver of a garbage truck waiting to get in, and when the gate opened, they sneaked quickly in the dump.

The place was even stinkier from inside. If the junk yard, where Phrony's airship had crashed looked like a labyrinth, this place was an entire world of garbage, with mountains and hills and narrow canyons. Huge flocks of crows and gulls circled the sky above, crowing ceaselessly.

"How on earth are we going to find the entrance to the mine?" asked Augustine.

"By looking around?" said Kratos.

"Yeah, right! As if we have all day to wander in here," she shot back.

"If you don't like it, then you can go and sit outside. Or head back to your place. Besides, this is no job for a girl," said Kratos. The wide grin on his face was not friendly at all.

His words were like a red flag for Augustine. "Oh really? Is that why, you were crying last time at school?" she said sharply.

It was Kratos' turn to get angry. "That doesn't count. You surprised me," yelled the burly boy.

"Yes, it does!" yelled Augustine back.

"No, it doesn't!" said Kratos and took a step closer.

"Oh, shut up the two of you!" shouted Arcadius suddenly. The others froze. "If you want to fight, you can both go outside and let me look for the mine in peace," he said and without another word he followed a narrow path among the garbage.

Kratos and Augustine watched him walk away and then exchanged a glance and grumpily followed him. They wondered like this for quite some time until they found themselves on the exact same spot. They had made an entirely pointless circle.

"Oh great, back where we started," said Augustine glancing at Kratos.

"Yes, you're right," said Arcadius disappointed.

"So, what now?" asked Kratos and sat on an old cupboard.

"I don't know," said Arcadius.

Kratos sighted. "I guess, I carried all this stuff for nothing. And my dad's helmet really stinks. That lamp on top burns something really smelly," said Kratos. He took out of his bag a helmet that looked like a bucket and had a strange lantern with a canister attached to it.

Arcadius took it and sniffed it carefully. "Wow it really stinks!" he said while Augustine pretended not to care.

"Yeah, it's that oil inside the canister. My dad told me it was used a lot in the mine, but after a while you got used of the smell," said Kratos.

"Sorry to interrupt your little chit chat, but can anybody tell me what we are going to do? We came here for a reason, not to waste time," said Augustine. She sounded irritated and she was right. The clock was ticking, and they seemed to be on a dead end. But then Arcadius' face lit up.

"You said this oil was used a lot in the mine, right?" he said to Kratos.

"Yeah, why?"

"I have an idea," said Arcadius and turned to Augustine, "but we must tell him about the watch."

"What watch?" asked Kratos.

"I say, we tell him nothing," said Augustine stubbornly.

"We have to. I have an idea, but we must tell him about the watch," insisted Arcadius and turned to Kratos. "Swear you won't tell anyone about this!"

Kratos sighed again. "All right, I won't say anything," he promised.

"Good," said Arcadius and put the watch of transformations back on his wrist.

"What is that?" said Kratos.

"You'll see," said Arcadius. He turned the clock finger to the figure of a dog and the blue flash wrapped him again. When it disappeared, a large black dog had taken Arcadius' place.

Kratos cried out and jumped on the old cupboard. The helmet fell of his hands and rolled on the ground. The black dog came closer and sniffed it intensely, then it raised its head with its nostrils pulsing. After a few seconds it darted through the mountains of trash.

*

Arcadius found himself in a world dominated by smells. Following his own transformation, the dump had also transformed into a vast universe of intertwining odors. That made it very difficult to track down the smell he was looking for, but eventually he managed to pick up the trail the smelly oil created.

Running with confidence among the trash the dog finally found what he was looking for: the old quarry and the entrance to the mine, almost hidden now behind piles of stinking garbage. The dog walked cautiously towards the dark entrance and peered inside. Suddenly he heard voices and a faint light floating towards him.

"Well? When is the production due to finish?" said one of the voices. It was the exact same voice Arcadius heard under the GEI.

"We will be ready in two daysss, massster," said another voice.

"Perfect! Finally, something is going the way it was supposed to. The machines must be ready on time for the final blow. Then everything will be as it should be," said the deep voice. The satisfaction was apparent.

"Yesss, massster. Yesss... for the final blow," agreed the other voice.

"The only thing left now, is for that incompetent, Rubinius, to bring me the black crystals," added the deep voice.

Rubinius...? He was certain he had heard that name before.

"I wouldn't trussst that vermin, massster," said the hissing voice.

"That is my business, you deal with the job at hand," said the deep voice dryly.

Arcadius wanted to hear more, but he had to lead Augustine and Kratos here before he transformed back to his normal self. So, he turned and ran to the others who were still waiting patiently where he left them. Arcadius barked at them hopping they would understand they had to follow him. Fortunately, they did and followed him back to the entrance of the crystal mine. A few seconds later, Arcadius became his normal self again.

"How did you do that?" said Kratos.

"We don't have time now to explain. Be silent, I think some..." Arcadius cut himself. Someone was coming out of the dark opening. They rushed behind a trash pile and peered to see who it was.

They saw a tall, slender man wrapped in a hooded black cloak stepping out of the darkness. The man stood for a second as if he had somehow sensed their presence. They held their breaths, hearts beating fast, but sudenly the man walked away, disappearing behind the trash mountains.

"Who was that?" asked Augustine.

"And what was he doing in there?" added Kratos.

"He was the one I heard underneath the GEI," said Arcadius. "But I've no idea what he was doing down there. I heard him talking to someone else in there."

"But you said the mine was closed," said Augustine to Kratos.

He shrugged. "That's what my dad told me," he said.

For a few moments, they stood there looking at the dark opening with reluctant expressions.

"So, are we going in or not?" said Augustine.

Kratos looked at Arcadius.

Arcadius pressed his lips. "Yes, we are," he said in the end.
Puzzles

Darkness greeted Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos when they crossed the entrance of the crystal mine and started walking the tunnel ahead. Darkness, silence and the powerful smell of the oil. Augustine and Arcadius had simple lanterns with them, but Kratos' helmet glowed in a strong white light pushing the darkness ahead and making the shadows on the ragged walls dance and roll. Soon the dipping tunnel led them in a cave full of dampness.

In the middle of that small space, stood the stone statue of a miner. It was quite detailed, with a stone rope around his shoulders and a stone pickaxe over his back. He even had a stone helmet, exactly like the one Kratos wore. His stern gaze was turned towards the metal door on the opposite side of the cave, baring the entrance to the rest of the mine.

"This is odd..." said Kratos looking at the statue.

Arcadius walked to the metal door and tried to open it. The door didn't budge an inch.

"It's locked," he said disappointed. Then he noticed the strange line of letters on the door and the two buttons underneath.

"What do you think these are?" asked Kratos pointing at the buttons on the door.

"I don't know," said Arcadius.

"Why don't you push them and see," said Augustine and before they could stop her, she pushed one of the buttons. The letter A glowed on the surface of the door. They held their breaths waiting but nothing happened. The door stayed silent.

"I don't understand, what's that supposed to be?" said Arcadius and pushed the other button. Immediately a second glowing A appeared next to the first one. A click came from the door but again nothing else happened. Arcadius pressed the first button again and a shimmering B replaced the first A. The door left another dry click followed by silence.

Suddenly Kratos gave a joyful cry. "Ha, I know what it is!" he said, and the others looked at him curiously. "It's a mathematical problem."

"Where do you see the mathematical problem?" asked Augustine.

"Here!" said Kratos pointing at the line of letters above the two buttons.

"But these are letters, not numbers," said Arcadius.

"Yes, but don't you remember what Hipati told us once? At the olden days, people used letters to count instead of numbers?" said Kratos. Arcadius shook his head. "Well, I do remember, and I liked the idea so much, I learned that system by heart. I even solved exercises Hipati gave us using letters instead of numbers," said Kratos.

Arcadius and Augustine looked at him curiously.

Kratos' face reddened. "Oh, you know I like math," he said.

"Ok, but if you're right, where are the pluses and minuses and all those stuff? I only see letters," said Augustine.

"I'm sure this is a mathematical problem. We're only missing the symbols in between," insisted Kratos.

"Maybe you're right," said Arcadius. "You see these gaps between the letters? C gap ME gap F," said Arcadius reading the line of letters.

"Pfff, I don't understand a thing. You try and figure it out, I'm getting bored and cold," said Augustine and went to check the stone statue instead. Arcadius and Kratos stayed in front of the door trying to solve the puzzle.

After a few minutes, Augustine decided the statue held zero interest, and leaned with her back on one of the stone arms looking at the boys. But then she felt the stone arm give under her weight and jerked startled.

"Hey, come over here! I think this hand is moving," she yelled.

Both Kratos and Arcadius looked back as if waiting for the statue to come alive. Then they walked closer and stood next to Augustine.

"Well?" she said to them.

"Well what?" said Arcadius.

"Are you going to do anything?"

Neither Arcadius, nor Kratos answered.

"Great!" said Augustine and with an exasperated look she reached for the stone arm.

She first tried to push it further down, but it didn't move. Then she tried to push it upwards and not only it moved, but it went all the way up to the stone helmet. It made the stone miner look as if he was ready to take of his helmet. Again, they glanced at each other in puzzlement.

"What's this, now?" said Arcadius.

"Help me climb," said Augustine suddenly.

"Why?" asked Kratos.

"I have an idea," replied Augustine.

The boys helped her climb up the shoulders of the statue. Then, keeping her balance, Augustine reached the stone helmet and sniffed close to the lamp on the top. "I was right; this lamp is filled with that stinky oil. Give me fire," she said and Kratos raised one of their lanterns.

She took the lantern and used it to light up the lamp on the stone helmet. A bright white light filled the cave.

"Look!" said Augustine pointing at the metal door on the other side.

The raised hand of the statue, threw a wide shadow on the door, but light came through holes shaped like mathematical symbols on the palm. Symbols that perfectly filled the gaps between the letters on the door.

"I knew it!" shouted Kratos and rushed back to the door. Now the puzzle on the door was complete. "C + ME – F. Piece of cake!" said Kratos.

Arcadius and Augustine stood next to him, waiting for the answer.

"It's MB. The answer is MB," said Kratos after a few seconds.

"So, if we're right, I should push the buttons until we see a glowing M and a glowing B, right?" said Arcadius.

"I think so," said Kratos.

"Well, there is only one way to find out, and cross your fingers, otherwise we will have to go back empty handed," said Augustine.

Arcadius pushed the buttons until a glowing M and a glowing B appeared on the door. They took a step back and nearly cheered when the door slipped sideways in the rock with a grinding sound, revealing another tunnel.

This time they didn't have to walk much before reaching the next cave. But what they saw in there made them gasp in awe. A sight that could have easily come from someone's dream or a fairytale.

"Wow!" said Arcadius.

"Amazing! I've never seen anything like this," said Augustine.

"I know what it is. My dad told me about this place, but honestly, I didn't believe him. I thought he'd just made it up," said Kratos.

They cautiously walked into the large cavern, marveling at the crystal garden surrounding them. As they walked, the light of their lanterns was reflected by the countless carved crystals and broke into myriads tiny sparks. It was as if they were walking among twinkling stars hanging from crystal flowers and transparent trees. A garden made of ice and stars.

"Who made this?" whispered Augustine.

"The miners. At least that's what my dad told me. They were working for too long down here in the dark and they missed being on the surface. So, when they discovered this cave, instead of taking the crystals, they carved this garden. And when they were on a break, they came here to rest," said Kratos.

"It's truly amazing. And we don't have to look any further for a crystal. We can take one from here," said Arcadius.

"No, we can't," snapped Kratos.

"What? Why?" said Arcadius.

"Look around you. Do you think this was made in a day? The miners put a lot of effort to make something as beautiful as this. We can't just come in here and ruin it," said Kratos.

"But it's only one crystal," said Arcadius.

"I think if the miners didn't take anything from in here, we shouldn't touch it either," said Augustine. "I think we should respect it."

Kratos gave her a surprised look but she turned her face the other way.

Arcadius looked down, suddenly feeling a little ashamed. "Yes, you're right, I'm sorry. But we still need a crystal," he said.

"There are tracks here, and they disappear in there," said Augustine pointing to the other side of the crystal garden, where yet another dark tunnel started.

"There was a train here?" asked Arcadius.

"These must be the tracks they used to roll the mining carts. They used carts to carry the crystals out," explained Kratos.

"Then maybe we'll find more crystals in that tunnel," suggested Arcadius.

"Maybe," said Kratos.

"I think it's better if we just leave and look elsewhere for a crystal," said Augustine.

The boys turned to her with a surprised look.

"What do you mean look elsewhere? What's wrong now?" asked Arcadius a little irritated.

"Well... I don't know..., I have a bad feeling. There's something going on down here and it's not good. I think we should be outside," replied Augustine.

"You didn't have a problem a minute ago," said Kratos.

Augustine glared at him. "Well, I do now," she shot back. "Although, I'm sure you're not going to listen to me, so I'm not saying anything else," she added and started walking to the next tunnel.

"You see? This is why I don't like girls," said Kratos to Arcadius. "They say one thing, they mean something else and in the end, they do something completely different."

"Tell me about it," said Arcadius and with that, they followed Augustine who had already disappeared in the darkness.
A Strange Discovery

The tunnel was winding and quite longer than the other ones. In one of those sharp twists they found two abandoned mining carts and inside one of them, were a few crystals left.

"Perfect!" said Augustine and climbing on the mining cart, she took two beautiful crystal shards.

"You see, we found what we needed," said Kratos to Arcadius.

But Arcadius had his eyes fixed into the dark depths ahead. "Did you hear that?" he said.

The other two looked puzzled. Until they heard it too.

"What is it?" said Augustine. Her face was grim.

The sound was distant and low, almost a whisper under the silence of the mine. But it was there, a rhythmic thud like a beating heard.

"It's coming from there," said Arcadius. His finger was pointing the darkness.

"It sounds strange and I'm not sure I want to know what it is," said Kratos.

"I agree. So, I think it's better if we leave this place. We got what we came for," said Augustine.

But Arcadius seemed mesmerized by the sound. "You go outside if you want, but I want to check it out," he said.

"Are you crazy? It could be dangerous," said Augustine. "We have the crystal, why do you want to go deeper?"

"I'm going. You can wait for me outside," insisted Arcadius stubbornly.

"Fine!" said Augustine. "And you're supposed to be the sensible one."

Arcadius gave her a wry smile. "Most of the time," he said.

He started walking towards the sound. Kratos looked at Augustine and shrugged, then he followed Arcadius. For a second, Augustine looked as if she would turn back, but then she gave a soft sigh and followed the boys.

Going deeper and deeper, they heard the sound getting stronger and more specific until Arcadius' suspicion was confirmed. It was the rhythmic sound of engines working relentlessly.

The tunnel led to an immense cave and a metal platform hanging above an impossibly deep pit. From the platform, a narrow wooden ramp circled the walls of the pit leading down to the bottom and the dozens of strange machines working and spewing green steam. Gigantic furnaces melted metal feeding molds and huge hammers and cranes.

Arcadius needed a few seconds to realize what he was looking at. Then his eyes widened.

"It's like a huge underground factory like the FOE, only this one is secret," he whispered.

"Yes, but what are they making down here?" asked Augustine.

"Are those...?" said Kratos.

Arcadius nodded. "Yes, they're automata. But they're strange and so many," he said.

"They're like an army," said Kratos.

They all stepped a little closer to the edge of the platform.

"Oh, my god! Look there!" said Augustine pointing.

"What?" asked Arcadius but at the same time he saw it.

"Is that... a dragon?!" said Kratos with a gasp.

"A real dragon!" said Arcadius looking at the huge serpent like creature blowing fire, heating up the furnaces.

"It's a fire dragon," said Augustine. She sounded excited. "My gran told me they were extinct for centuries now."

"Well, she's obviously wrong," said Arcadius.

"And what are those things there?" said Kratos.

Arcadius noticed little reddish creatures, with long arms and hairless heads, running around the machines. He saw them dumping raw materials in the furnaces or carrying machine parts, helping the assembly of the automata.

Augustine leaned a little more over the platform looking carefully. "Em... guys? I really think it's time to get out of here now," she said.

The boys looked at her curiously.

"Why?" said Kratos.

"Those things there are red goblins. They're really dangerous. If they see us, we're in big time trouble," she said.

But at that time everything went wrong.

Part of the rusted rail Augustine was leaning on gave way and if not for Kratos, she would have plunged into the pit. The burly boy, grabbed her at the last possible moment and pulled her back. Unfortunately, Augustine gave a cry that echoed into the cave like a siren.

The red goblins raised their heads and their yellow eyes spotted the three of them on the platform. A great shriek rose from the pit.

"Hurry! We must leave now, they saw us," yelled Arcadius.

They started running for the exit, while the goblins already scaled the narrow ramp, screaming and holding shovels and pickaxes.

The three kids sprinted back into the crystal garden and for a moment, they thought, they would easily make it outside. Until they came back to the metal door and realized they were trapped. The door had closed behind them barring the exit.

"Oh, no, what are we going to do?" screamed Augustine.

"Look! There is another mathematical problem on the door. This one is complete," said Kratos.

"Ok, solve it and quickly. They're coming," yelled Augustine looking back.

"I need some time to think. This one is not that easy," yelled Kratos back.

"We don't have time!" yelled Augustine.

"Stop yelling! I can't think when you're yelling at me!" said Kratos.

"Ok, you open the door and I'll try to hold the goblins back," said Arcadius.

"What do you mean hold them back? How are you going to hold them back? I told you, they're dangerous," said Augustine.

But Arcadius was already running back. He reached the entrance leading to the secret factory and then turned the clock finger on his wristwatch. This time, when the blue flash vanished, a huge white bear bared the opening.

At first, the red goblins froze against the threatening growl of the bear, but then decided to try their luck. They charged forward screeching. The white bear roared in response and its sharp teeth gleamed. Huge paws begun working and like a sudden storm, the bear fell upon the red goblins chasing them back into the tunnel. The attack was successful and soon the tunnel emptied. But instead of easing his fears, the eerie silence that followed, made Arcadius-even in the form of a huge white bear-feel even more tensed. Something was hiding in that silence, something extremely dangerous. Something that became apparent, when Arcadius saw a red glow flickering into the depths of the tunnel. The fire dragon.

Arcadius turned and started running as fast as he could. He made it back, the moment Kratos finally managed to unlock the mathematical sequence and open the door.

They managed to exit the crystal mine as a terrible wave of fire flooded the crystal garden and turned it into molten rock. They barely made it alive.

"Could someone please tell me what is going on here?" yelled Kratos soon after.

Arcadius looked at Augustine who was still gasping. For the first time she smiled to Kratos.

"Ok, I guess he deserves to know. He saved my life," she said.

Kratos turned bright red again, but this time it was not of anger. And as they walked back to the entrance of the dump, Arcadius told Kratos the whole story.

"Unbelievable," said the burly boy when Arcadius stopped talking. "If I hadn't seen everything I just saw in the mine, I would've never believed you."

"Yes, lately everything has become really crazy around here and everything has to do with those strange black crystals. The man we saw coming out of the mine really gives me the creeps and he is up to no good, I can feel it," said Arcadius.

"You're right. We must find the crystals and stop his plans, whatever those are," said Augustine. There was excitement in her voice.

"At least, now we can make that white crystal, right?" said Arcadius. He was looking at Augustine expectantly.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, now we can. In the afternoon, we meet at the headquarters for the spell,"

"Spell? Headquarters?" said Kratos.

"You'll see," said Augustine.
Rat Trouble

Arcadius was greeted by an unexpected sight when he went back home: his mother screaming like crazy, while his father used a newspaper on something gray and fast. Something running and jumping on shelves and cupboards.

"Be careful Arcadius, don't come into the kitchen, there's a horrible monster here!" yelled his mom when she noticed him.

A few moments later, Arcadius realized the "horrible monster" his father tried to vanquish, was a rather large rat with a piece of cheese stuck between his pointy little jaws.

"A rat!" said Arcadius.

"Step back, son. I will exterminate him. Ha!" shouted his father and smacked again the rat with the newspaper.

But the rat was quicker and the newspaper caught the sugar jar instead. The jar smashed and sugar covered the entire kitchen floor.

"Be careful Lysander, look what you've done!" said Arcadius' mom.

"He's quick the little bugger. But I'll show him alright," said his father.

The rat sat on his fat bottom for a moment and turned to Arcadius' father, looking with beady eyes as if he was silently challenging him. Arcadius' father smacked with the newspaper and this time it was the flour jar that took the hit and the kitchen turned into a snowy landscape.

"Lysander! Stop right this instance, you will ruin my entire kitchen!" cried his mother.

But then, the rat preformed an impressive jump and landed on the windowsill above the sink. And with the cheese still in his mouth, he vanished through the half-opened window.

"There you go, Selephcina, I chased it away. Now stop screaming, please," said Arcadius' father.

"You chased it away? Look at my kitchen! Look at this mess. I'd just cleaned it. And that dreadful thing could come back at any moment. You must go buy mousetraps immediately!" shouted his mother.

"Ok, ok, I'll go, now stop screaming! It was just a mouse after all..." mumbled his father and hurried out of the kitchen.

All this time, Arcadius made a serious effort not to laugh. And when he asked for permission to visit a friend in the afternoon, his mother was too upset to question him and simply consented.

When Arcadius finished lunch, he grabbed his satchel and with the map at hand, he went outside. To avoid unwanted attention, he chose a rather complicated route to "Nowhere and Tunnel" corner. He thought it might take him a bit longer to get there, but it was the best way to avoid questioning eyes. But as he crossed a dark alley, he heard an odd squeak. He stopped and looked around. At first, he saw nothing and then, behind a trash-can popped out a small dumping truck like those they sold in some toy stores. Bewildered, Arcadius saw the truck was filled with sweets and cakes and bread and his jaw dropped even further, when he saw a grey rat sitting on the driver's seat. He looked exactly like the one in his mom's kitchen.

Without having noticed the boy, the rat drove carefully towards the opposite wall of the alley, where a large brick moved revealing a large hole. The truck disappeared inside and the brick fell silently back in place like it was some sort of a garage door. Arcadius stood there for several moments trying to make sure he was not dreaming or something. Then he walked to the trash-can and peered behind it. On the wall there, he saw a rat hole and dumped next to it, a tiny shovel and a wheelbarrow.

Confused, Arcadius picked up the wheelbarrow. It was an exact replica of the real thing and completely functional.

Where did that food came from, wondered Arcadius. He looked at the rathole and then walked to the front side of the building. And for a second, he couldn't believe it was the dwarf's bakery.

Arcadius pushed the front door and peered inside. Bells chimed again but this time something was missing. Actually, a lot was missing. No delightful smells, no loafs of bread on the shelves, no treats or candy on the counter. And no dwarf or genie.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" said Arcadius.

A noise of pots and pans falling came from the back of the bakery.

"Careful, careful, useless creature!" yelled a voice and then feet aproaching. "I am terribly sorry, but we are closed today-" said the dwarf appearing from behind the counter. "Oh, it's the young Effendi! What a pleasure to see you again. Did you enjoy my datepie?"

Before Arcadius could say anything, the dwarf's mouth curved down and his eyes became almost tearful. "What a shame to see my bakery in such a terrible state. It's absolutely horrendous," he said.

"Well... I saw a..." started Arcadius but the dwarf cut him off.

"It is completely unacceptable. I must always be able to offer high quality products to my customers. And where are those products? Do you see any products around here, young Effendi? No. It is absolutely unbelievable. They simply vanished. Loafs of bread, cakes and all. Everything I baked yesterday evening and this morning is gone! Not even a crumb left."

Arcadius had a pretty good idea where his products had gone. It involved a grey rat, a truck and a rat hole.

"Maybe I can help..." tried Arcadius, but the dwarf seemed to have fallen into a never-ending lamentation.

"What am I to do? It's dreadful. And the worst thing is I can't understand how it all happened. Everything was perfectly all right when I went to bed for my siesta. And then, when I woke up again... oh what horror! Everything was gone. The entire bakery empty. Oh, what am I to do? I will go bankrupt if this happens again and I will have to live as a poor beggar on the streets..." said the dwarf.

"I think, I know who stole everything," said Arcadius.

The dwarf shot him with a curious look. "You do?"

"Yes," he said and described everything he saw in the alley. He then showed the dwarf the evidence.

"Unbelievable! It would be easier to think Yahla had a fit and swallowed everything," said the dwarf. "At least, now we know what we're dealing with, young Effendi. And I think it's time to see where the other end of the rat-hole is."

They went back inside and with Yahla's help who raised all furniture in midair, they discovered another rat hole, this time in a corner behind a counter.

"Aha! So, this is how the little scoundrels got inside and moved everything out. But I'll show them," shouted the dwarf caressing his thick moustache.

"What are you going to do?" said Arcadius.

"I will make cement dough," said the dwarf.

"Cement dough? What's that?" said Arcadius.

"A special dough that becomes impenetrable when baked. Harder than rock. Nothing can make a hole to this thing. I will use it to fill the rat hole and then I'll put mouse traps everywhere. We'll see if those thieves, ever dare to robe me again," said the dwarf.

"Sounds like a good plan. Can I help you?" asked Arcadius.

"Of course, young Effendi. You are so very kind and I think it's time to properly introduce ourselves, don't you agree?"

Arcadius nodded.

"Well then, I am Yaga-Oum, best baker in the world and former master cook in the kitchen of the great and mighty sultan Ibn-Tahini-Ariani. You can just call me Yaga, if you like," said the dwarf.

"And I am Arcadius Carrot," he said.

"What a nice last name," said Yaga winking.

"You think so?" said Arcadius.

"But of course. Carrots are my favorite vegetables. I make the most perfect carrot cake actually," said Yaga.

Arcadius followed Yaga to his workroom, where the dwarf used a strange gray flour, a red powder and some water to make the dough. He gave Arcadius some and asked him to close the rat hole in the alley. Arcadius did that and after a few minutes, he saw the dough rise and double. Then, Yahla who grumpily accompanied Arcadius at the back of the bakery, extended one of her fingers pointing to the dough and a gush of fire magically appeared. When the dough was properly baked it truly became hard as rock. Yaga did the same on the other side and then wiped his hands.

"There. That'll teach them. Now I'll put some mouse traps and we should be all right," he said to Arcadius. "I must thank you, Arcadius. If not for you, those vile creatures might have robbed me again under my very own nose. I think you deserve something in return for the help."

"Oh, it's ok, I only..." started Arcadius, but Yaga was already on a stool looking for something on a crammed shelf.

"Where is it... where is it...?" he mumbled. "Aha! There it is!"

He stepped down and handed a glass vial to Arcadius. "There you go! It's yours," he said.

Arcadius examined the vial curiously. "What is it?" he asked.

"A rare extract. Concentrated nectar from purple sunflowers," said Yaga.

"And what does it do?"

"I have no idea. I never had a chance to use it, but the alchemist who sold it to me at the Khartoum bazaar, told me it has some very strange attributes. Maybe you'll find it useful in some way but be careful. If I were you, I would use it only in the most serious situation," said the dwarf.

"Er... ok, thank you," said Arcadius and shoved the vial in his satchel.

Then he realized he would be late for his meeting with Kratos and Augustine and with a hasty goodbye to Yaga he rushed back outside.
The White Crystal

Arcadius found Augustine and Kratos waiting in front of the train tunnel and with a feeling of relief he saw they were actually talking instead of arguing or even worse, punching each other. It would be easier to track down the black crystals, if they did not fight with each other all the time.

"Finally! Where have you been? We've been standing here for ages," said Augustine when she noticed him.

"Something came up on the way here," he said and told them all about the rats and Yaga's bakery as they made their way to the treehouse.

"Did you really see a rat driving a truck?" asked Kratos.

"Yes. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true," said Arcadius.

"You know what I think?" said Augustine. "Lately too many crazy stuff is happening in Ephemeria."

"True. Ever since Phrony and those crystals appeared in the city, it's raining odd stuff," said Arcadius.

"You think the rat raids have something to do with the black crystals?" asked Kratos.

"I'm sure they do," said Arcadius.

They reached the pine on top of the hill, and just like Arcadius, Kratos was thrilled to see the tree house. When they got inside, they sat on the floor and Augustine opened the book on Crystaloscopy and Geomancy.

"To make a crystal of light, the book says we need a crystal, a piece of chalk, a metal bowl, some sulfur, mastic seeds, dried white lily petals and a candle," announced Augustine in a formal tone and at the same time spread all those things on the floor between them.

"What are we going to do with all these things?" said Kratos.

"First, we take the chalk and draw a circle with a point in the middle," said Augustine. She took the chalk and drew a circle on the floor boards of the tree house.

"And what's that supposed to be?" said Arcadius.

"The book says it's the ancient symbol of the sun," said Augustine.

"Really?" said Arcadius.

"Really. Then we take a bowl and place it in the middle of the circle," she continued. The metal bowl she brought was actually a bronze mortar.

"Where did you find that?" said Kratos.

"My gran's kitchen and I must put it back soon, before she notices it's missing," said Augustine.

"Ok, what do we do next?" asked Arcadius.

"Then we put a lit candle and the crystal inside the bowl. Finally, we have to throw in the sulfur, the mastic seeds and the dried white lily petals, saying the spell," she said.

Augustine lit the candle and carefully placed it inside the mortar. Next to it, she placed the crystal they took from the mine. Then she gave the sulfur to Arcadius, the mastic seeds to Kratos and she kept the dried lily petals for herself. And then she had the boys memorize the spell.

"Good, let's begin," she said and looked at Arcadius.

He hesitated for a second, but then whispered the first line of the spell.

"Oh sun, yellow, shiny and so bright..." he said throwing his handful of powdered sulfur in the mortar and immediately, a yellow smoke rose. It was so stinky and thick they nearly choked. Arcadius wrinkled his nose looking at Kratos.

The other boy took a breath and then said, "Cry me a tear of fiery light..." Kratos threw inside the mortar the mastic seeds he was holding.

The sulfurous smoke changed and became white, this time smelling like candy and roasted sesame seeds. All three breathed in relief.

"And let it be a heart of might!" chanted Augustine in turn. She then threw in the mortar the last ingredient, the dried lily petals.

The smoke became transparent and all three chanted the rest of the spell:

"So, when all darkness comes

The heart of might my guide becomes!"

They stood still looking at the mortar, waiting to see what would happen.

But nothing happened.

"That's it?" asked Arcadius after a while. The disappointment was clear in his voice. He looked at Augustine but she shrugged with an equally disappointed look on her face.

"We did exactly what the book said," she retorted.

"Are you sure?" said Kratos.

She shot him with an angry look. "Of course, I am sure! I read the entire book very carefully. Twice!" she said.

A sudden surge of wind shook the pine tree. The tree house creaked and swayed like a boat in rough water. They fell silent again and looked wearily around.

Then, Augustine's little box flew out of her pocket and floated right above the mortar. Wide eyed they saw the box open and Oi, a pink cloud, swirling first and then dropping into the mortar. A flash of bright light followed and then nothing. Just silence and a faint white glow coming from the mortar.

Augustine was the first who snapped out of her astonishment. She grabbed the mortar and yelled looking inside, "Oi! Oi!"

"What happened?" asked Arcadius.

Slowly, Augustine took the crystal out of the mortar. The crystal was now glowing as if a small star was locked inside.

"Oh, poor Oi! What have I done to you?" said Augustine. She was about to burst into tears.

"You think he's still alive in there?" asked Kratos.

Augustine glared at him. "Of course, he's still alive!" she yelled.

Arcadius smiled and took the crystal in his hands. "Yes, I think Oi is alive and I think he is fine," he said. "Remember what the spell said? A tear of fiery light and let it be a heart of might. I think Oi is this heart of might and now he is in the white crystal."

"We must take him out immediately," demanded Augustine.

"Wait. Firstly, we need the white crystal and secondly, we have no idea how to free Oi. I think we should look for the black crystals and then try to get Oi out of there," said Arcadius.

"Yes, but what if something happens to him? What if it's horrible being trapped in that crystal?" said Augustine.

Arcadius gave it a thought. "That spell was to make something good, something helpful not something evil. So, I don't think Oi is suffering and I think he would like to help us," he said.

Augustin was still tearful and unconvinced but she nodded. "All right, but you have to promise me as soon as we find those black things, we'll find a way to free Oi," she said.

"Yes, I promise," said Arcadius.

"And now what? How are we supposed to use this thing?" asked Kratos.

"Well... I don't know," admitted Arcadius. "Maybe the white crystal will somehow show us the way."

Augustine's face suddenly lit up. "I have an idea!" she yelled.

The boys regarded her curiously.

"Give me the map," she said to Arcadius.

He gave her the mechanical map and Augustine spread it on the floor. She then held the white crystal close to her face and whispered, "Oi, if you can hear me, please help us. Show us if you can where those black crystals are. Please help us... help me." Then, the girl placed the crystal on the map.

They waited to see if something would happen but sadly nothing did.

"He can't hear me. He can't even hear me..." lamented Augustine.

"I don't think it's that, maybe he can't answer. It's a good idea, but maybe we are doing it wrong," said Kratos thoughtfully.

"What do think we should do?" asked Arcadius.

"Look, I think the map is like the lake and the black crystals like the fish inside the lake. They're somewhere in Ephemera, right?" said Kratos.

Arcadius and Augustine nodded, trying to understand what he was thinking.

"So, if the white crystal is like a fishing hook, it's silly to just throw it in the lake," he said.

"I still don't understand," said Augustine.

"Do you have any string or something like that?" asked Kratos.

"I have a ribbon," said Augustine.

"It'll do," said Kratos.

Augustine brought him the ribbon and he quickly tied one end of the ribbon around the white crystal. Then he held the other end, letting the crystal swing like a pendulum above the map. "There. Now we have a fishing rod. Maybe this will work. Try again," he said to Augustine.

She took the ribbon. "Come on, Oi! Find us those black crystals!" she whispered to the crystal.

The star inside the crystal sparkled in response and the crystal begun swaying back and forth, left and right over the map. And then, it suddenly stopped, with the ribbon taut as if something was pulling it. They leaned closer to see where it was pointing.

It was a square with the number 872.

Augustine turned to Arcadius. "Do you know it? Do you know what's there?" she said.

He shook his head.

"Er... guys..." said Kratos. The others looked at him. The burly boy was looking at the square on the map with wide eyes. "I know what's there," he said.

"What?" said Arcadius.

"The cemetery," whispered Kratos.
The Kid

"You serious, now? We're really going in there?" said Kratos looking through the ornamental flowers of the wrought iron gate barring the cemetery.

Beyond, immaculately trimmed lawns hosted winding pathways and intricate gravestones. The homes of the dead. It was late in the afternoon and the soft light of the setting sun made everything look sad and rather eerie. That and the silence.

Arcadius and Augustine seemed equally unnerved with the whole idea of exploring Ephemeria's cemetery. Especially at this hour, with darkness approaching fast and shadows stretching like ghosts.

"We have to," said Arcadius finally.

"You sure?" insisted Kratos.

"Why? Are you scared?" teased him Augustine.

"Of course not!" said Kratos.

"Ok then, let's go," said Arcadius. He pushed the heavy gate and as expected, it screeched loudly announcing their presence.

Ephemeria's cemetery was a serene place, easily mistaken for a beautiful park, with towering oak trees, flowerbeds, gravel and slate pathways. But then there were the graves and that changed the atmosphere. It always did. Everything became a little sad in the presence of the dead. The rustling leaves were still bright green but it was a less cheerful green. The flowers were still normal flowers, yet they carried something solemn. As if melancholy leaked from the graves saturating everything. And the graves themselves were something to marvel upon. They came in all shapes and sizes, some small and simple, others entire mausoleums. Some had nothing but a name while others had entire stone angels guarding them.

This afternoon, the soft breeze made the shadows move and tremble. Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos started walking, warily looking at the sad faces of the stone angels they passed by.

"This place looks even scarier than the mine," said Augustine softly.

"Yeah, those statues have a way of looking at you that gives me the chills..." agreed Kratos.

"Like they're ready to come alive," said Arcadius.

"Don't say such things here!" said Augustine.

"What?" said Arcadius.

"Gran says sometimes it's best if you don't say things out loud, if you don't want them to become true," said Augustine.

"Really?" said Arcadius. He glanced around as if waiting for something to pop out.

"Hey, guys? Did you see that?" said Kratos. He was pointing at a marble angel caught in a fight with a marble dragon above a tombstone.

"What? I don't see anything," said Augustine with wide eyes.

"I'm not sure... I thought, I saw someone watching us," said Kratos.

"Stop it! You're only saying it to scare us!" snapped Augustine.

"No, really, I saw something!" said Kratos.

"It was probably just a shadow," said Augustine.

"You know what I say?" cut in Arcadius. "The cemetery is huge. How are we going to find the black crystals in here? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Augustine took out of her pocket the white crystal. "Maybe the crystal can help us again," she said.

"What is that?" said a voice.

They all jerked looking around with their hearts suddenly beating fast.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," said the voice.

Again, they looked around and finally spotted the small boy. He was seated on the head of the marble angel fighting the dragon and immediately it became clear something was wrong with him. He was probably seven and his body was almost transparent, like the faded impression of a boy.

"Oh my god! What is that!" yelled Kratos ready to run away.

"A ghost!" said Augustine.

The boy smiled and like a feather, he floated to the ground. "No, I'm not a ghost," he said.

"Then what are you?" said Arcadius. After his initial surprise, he realized the boy or whatever it was, didn't look threatening.

"I'm a boy. Can't you see?" said the boy slyly.

"Yeah, a dead boy!" said Kratos.

"No, I'm not dead!" yelled the boy stubbornly stomping the ground with his foot.

"I can see right through you," said Kratos.

"So what?" said the boy to him.

"What do you mean, "so what"? Have you seen many boys like you?" said Augustine.

Suddenly the boy sat down and started crying.

"What's the matter?" asked Augustine.

"Well ok, you are right. I am a ghost and I am dead, and nobody wants to be with me..." admitted the boy between sobs.

"Yeah, I wonder why?" mumbled Kratos and earned a shove from Arcadius.

"Hey, come now, stop crying. It's ok. What's your name?" said Arcadius.

The boy shook his semitransparent head. "I don't remember. But all the others call me Kid," he said.

"Others? What others? There are others here?" said Kratos jerking his head around, peering through the lush greenery.

"Sure, there are! This whole place is filled with people," said Kid.

"I don't see anyone," said Augustine.

"You don't see them, because most of them come out at night. During the day, they prefer to stay in the Necropolis," said Kid.

"Necropolis? What is that?" said Kratos.

"It's a place underground, under here. It's full of tunnels, stairs and houses and shops. Most of the people here stay there, but I don't like it much. It's always dark down there, full of spiders and some really stinky places. Not to mention Dice doesn't like me much," said Kid.

"Who is Dice?" asked Arcadius. The idea of an underground city of the dead had already sparked his curiosity.

"Dice Hardskull. Don't you know him?" said Kid. "He's lord around here. And he's tricky and mean."

"Arcadius, are we forgetting something?" said Augustine. "We're not here to meet people, even if they're dead. We're here to find the black crystals."

"Yes, you're right," said Arcadius.

"What are those black crystals?" asked Kid.

They looked at each other.

"Well, maybe he can help us. He knows this place," suggested Arcadius.

"Maybe..." admitted Augustine. She turned to the ghostly boy showing him the white crystal. "This here is a white crystal and we are looking for something similar, only its black. Black crystals. Have you seen anything like that around here?"

Kid seemed to think for a few moments and then he smiled. "Is that what you're looking for? Why don't you say so? I know where that stone is!" said the boy.

"Really, you know where it is?" said Arcadius hopefully.

"Yes. Dice Hardskull has it!" said Kid.

The smile on their faces faded instantly.

"Oh perfect!" said Kratos rolling his eyes.

"It's very strange, but a few nights ago, I saw some flashes on the sky and then a bright thing dropped in the cemetery," said Kid. "I only saw it, because that night was Dice's birthday and everyone was invited. Well, I mean everyone but me. So, I went to see what it was and I found that strange black stone. It was like this one, only it was black as coal. I thought it would make a perfect birthday present for Dice, being black and shiny. Dice seems to like sparkly things. I thought if I gave him that, he would like me a little. So, I took it to him but he laughed at. They all laughed at me! But he kept the stone," said Kid.

"Great! Can you please tell me how we are going to take the crystal from that Dice fellow?" asked Kratos.

"I can help you if you want. And then we'll see if Dice laughs at me again," said Kid.

"Can you really help us?" said Arcadius.

"Yes, but you must do as I tell you," said the ghostly boy.

"I don't like the sound of that," mumbled Kratos.

Kid took Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos to a mausoleum that was built on a somewhat secluded part of the cemetery.

"Why are we here?" asked Arcadius.

"You can't go in the Necropolis looking like that. Only dead people are allowed and you are not dead. So, you have to dress up and act like the dead," said the boy.

"And how are we going to do that?" said Augustine.

"You'll have to borrow clothes from them," replied Kid and pointed at the marble tombs of the old mausoleum.

"Clothes from the dead? Are you crazy? No way, I am wearing clothes from a stiff!" said Kratos.

"But why? They're just clothes. Ok, they're a bit dusty and got some holes, but everybody here wears such clothes. How else are they going to believe you are dead?" said Kid with a serious face.

"And how are we going to take the clothes from these dead? What are they going to wear then?" asked Arcadius.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. These here have traveled," said Kid.

"They have traveled? I don't understand," said Augustine.

"I don't understand that very well, either," said Kid. "I only know some of us, after we die, we wake up here. And at the beginning we are almost normal, we have real bodies. But after many years, our bodies turn to dust and we become ghosts." Kid lowered his head. "Like I did," he added. "But for some reason some of the dead never wake up. Everybody says, these dead travel somewhere very far."

"Can I say, something?" said Kratos turning to Arcadius and Augustine. "Are you totally bonkers? You're really suggesting, we wear clothes taken from dead people?"

"Well, it's no big deal if you think about it. They're only clothes," said Arcadius.

They pushed one of the tombstones and they looked inside expecting something grim and creepy. Sure enough, they saw a dusty skeleton dressed in old fashioned clothes. It wasn't a good sight, but after swallowing their initial disgust and after some poking around, they found what they needed.

Arcadius ended up in a black waistcoat and a pair of buggy trousers, Augustine got an old frock with several holes and after some arguing they managed to fit Kratos in an old suit.

Then Kid took them to a small pond where they found grey mud. They smeared mud on their faces and hands, and when it dried it made their skin look pale, rotten and flaky. In the end, they truly looked like dead people risen from their graves. Even Kratos, after seeing his reflection on the water, started to enjoy their masquerade.

"Boo!" he said to Augustine.

Augustine returned a blank stare. "Yeah, right," she retorted and walked away.

When they finished, Kid took them to the biggest and most impressive mausoleum in the cemetery. It looked like a small palace, with marble columns, statues of slender angels, openings covered with stained glass and a grand front gate. Stepping inside, they saw a large space and a tomb in the middle. The cover of the tomb was a beautiful woman. She too was made of marble, but she looked quite lifelike. The gentle evening light pouring from the openings, graced her smooth skin with rosy colors. She looked like she was dreaming the most beautiful dreams.

"Come, the entrance to the Necropolis is here," said Kid and went to an angel in a nook. He pressed one of the statue's frozen fingers and a dark opening appeared on the wall behind it.

"Oh, perfect! Back underground," said Kratos and Arcadius felt he had to agree with him. So far in this adventure, they found themselves in dark, moldy, underground places, filled with odd and scary things. He really hoped they would skip the scary things part this time.

Kid was already heading down the staircase beyond the opening.

The tunnels under the cemetery proved less dark then those of the crystal mine, but equally unsettling. Curtains of spider webs hang from the ceiling and weird mushrooms grew here and there, glowing with a fade green light.

"There is only one way to take the crystal from Dice," said Kid at some point.

"What way?" asked Arcadius.

"You have to win it in a game of dice," said the ghostly boy. They looked at him confused. "Dice Hardskull loves dice games. He can't resist them and if you ask him to play, he'll definitely say yes," he explained.

"And what if we don't win? What if we lose?" said Kratos.

"You will not lose. I will help you win," said Kid with a smile.

Before they had time to ask more, the white crystal Augustine held all this time in her hand, begun glowing.

"What's happening?" said Kratos.

"We must be getting close to the black crystal. That's why it's glowing like that," said Augustine.

"Hide that! Quickly, before they see it!" said Kid.

Augustine hastily shoved the white crystal in her pocket.

"You must be very careful now, we're almost there. I'll become invisible and wait for you at Dice's place." And with those words Kid vanished.

"Wait! Where are we going to find Dice?" said Arcadius.

"In the palace..." whispered Kid.

Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos started walking again and a little further in the tunnel, they came to an arched wooden door filled with carvings of bones and skulls. They cautiously pushed the door and behind it, in all its glory, they saw the Necropolis.

The city of the dead.
Necropolis

Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos stood bewildered, gazing at the vast underground space up ahead. It was so large one might even be able to fit half of Ephemeria in there. In the middle of that gigantic cave stood three pillars each of them taller than four stacked apartment buildings. Their upper part faded into clouds of swirling blue mist and through the mist, occasional flashes of cold light illuminated the Necropolis underneath. It was as if the city of the dead was caught in a silent thunderstorm.

Necropolis had everything you would expect from any regular city. Streets, houses, squares, markets, even an underground river of black water. In fact, when they crossed a small bridge, Arcadius saw ghostly fish swimming gently in those sluggish waters.

Wandering the streets of Necropolis, revealed an odd spectacle. Dog-skeletons barking playfully and waving skeletal tails, ghosts of cats chasing dead mice, pale people walking by, buying black fruits, vegetables and meat from market stalls. In a small square a band of skeletons with dusty uniforms and black feathered caps played a sad tune, while pale looking couples danced solemnly. In the gardens grew purple clove-pinks and those odd glowing mushrooms.

"Where do you think Dice is?" whispered Kratos to Arcadius.

"In the palace. Isn't that what Kid said?" answered Augustine instead.

"Did you see a palace anywhere? We've been walking for ages," said Kratos.

"Why don't we ask someone?" suggested Arcadius.

"Are you crazy? They'll figure us out!" said Kratos.

"Why would they? I say we ask," said Arcadius and walked to an ice cream cart. "Er... excuse me, sir," said Arcadius to the ice cream man who had his head lowered like he had fallen asleep. When he raised his head, they instinctively jerked back. His eyes were missing, and black holes stared back at them.

"Hmm... what? Just a moment, please," said the ice cream man and took something out of his pocket. Augustine could barely keep her face straight when she realized the man was actually holding his eye balls. He wiped them carefully on his dirty sleeve and then popped them into his eye sockets. "Much better now. Excuse me, I was a little tired and took a nap. That's why, I had to take my eyes out. Ever since my eyelids fell, I can't sleep if I don't pop them out. Old age can be a very difficult thing..." said the ice cream man. His voice was sad but as he took notice of them, his face cheered up. "Oh, three little kids! How nice. And new faces. Did you wake up recently?"

"Err... yes," said Augustine and tried to smile back.

"How nice! You'll see, you will like it here. The Necropolis is a wonderful place, so quiet. And you are still so fresh, you'll have plenty of time to enjoy it here," said the ice cream man. He looked at the misty underground sky for a moment as if contemplating something important. Then he turned his attention back to them. "So, how may I help you? Do you fancy an ice cream? I have lots of moldy flavors. I don't want to brag, but I sell the best ice cream around here," he said.

"Well... you see, we were told there is a palace somewhere here. We would like to see it but we can't find it," said Kratos hesitantly.

"Ah, yes of course, the palace," said the ice cream man. His tone was scornful. "If you ask me, you don't want to go there. It's a horrible place, perfect for lazybones. That scoundrel, Dice Hardskull has all the trash of this town gathered up there. That's no place for good kids like you."

They took a step backwards, trying to avoid the ice cream man's awful breath. It smelled like garbage left for far too long under the hot sun.

"But if you still want to go, there's no point looking down here, in Lower Necropolis," he added.

"What Lower Necropolis?" said Arcadius.

"Ah, the young... What you see down here is the lower part of Necropolis. The palace is in the Upper Necropolis," said the ice cream man.

"But where is this Upper Necropolis?" said Kratos impatiently.

"Raise your head young man and you will see it," said the ice cream man.

They all raised their heads and looked carefully towards the pillars. And soon they realized, what they thought to be pillars, where actually three colossal pipes. And attached to two of them, were huge cogs and smaller tubes, spewing that mist before disappearing somewhere at the cave's ceiling. Around the central pipe there was something like a ramp and nestled on it they could see countless buildings with their lights twinkling like tiny stars.

"That is the Upper Necropolis and on the very top is Dice's palace," said the ice cream man. "Ever since that lowlife scum found this place and convinced everyone to build this city, he hasn't come out of that place. He stays there and acts like he's king. A bad king in my opinion, but unfortunately everybody here thinks otherwise." The ice cream man sighted and continued, "It must be because of all those games and fun. Anyway, even with him around here, the Necropolis is still a nice place. We have our own city and our own houses instead of crummy old tombs."

They thanked the ice cream man and headed for the central pipe. Soon they found the wide metal ramp that circled the main pipe. It was wide enough to support houses and stores on both sides, leaving enough space in the middle for a steep street.

They walked cautiously among the dead people going up and down the ramp, fearing any moment know, someone would scream, _Imposters!_ But nobody seemed to take notice of them. In fact, the higher they went, the fewer the people they saw. And the houses gradually disappeared leaving space only for taverns. Taverns brightly decorated with colorful blinking lights. It seemed as if they had entered an amusement park for the dead.

Arcadius and Kratos carefully walked to the window of a tavern and peered inside. They saw skeletons dressed in colorful clothes, dancing maniacally, drinking some sort of black wine and shoving silver coins into large boxlike machines, pulling a leaver.

"What are they doing?" whispered Kratos.

"I have no idea," said Arcadius.

"Come on you two. Are you looking for trouble? We have to go," said Augustine and pulled the boys away from the window.

Close to the top of Upper Necropolis, the blue mist made everything look hazy and vague. The taverns were more like bright smudges and the dead on the street, more like silent shadows. But on the very top, the palace of Dice Hardskull stood like a brightly lit wedding cake. They had to admit it was quite an impressive building. Tall and decorated with carvings. From numerous windows, warm and inviting light pierced the blue haze, while a huge sign right above the open gate blinked hypnotically.

"Luck favors the brave," read Arcadius. "What does that mean?"

"Finally! Where have you been?" said a voice.

Startled they looked around and saw Kid floating through the haze.

"You scared us to death!" protested Augustine.

"I'm sorry, but you took forever," said the ghostly boy.

"If you had told us how to get here, it wouldn't have taken us that much," said the girl.

"So where is that Dice fellow?" said Kratos.

"I told you, in the palace. Go talk to him and ask him to play dice with you for the crystal," said Kid.

"We can't just go in there and ask to play dice with him. We need a plan," said Augustine.

But Arcadius shook his head. "We don't have much time. Let's go inside and we'll think of something," he said and walked to the gate.

Augustine and Kratos looked at each other and then followed him inside.
Lucky Streak

Dice Hardskull's palace wasn't exactly a palace after all. Yes, it had monumental halls full of marble carvings, chandeliers and thick carpets, but it also had things you don't usually see in a palace. Like the card tables were dead people gambled and those box like contraptions that blinked and jingled, were skeletons shoved coins and eagerly pushed levers, apparently waiting for something amazing to happen.

In the "throne room", there were large tables for dice games. There gamblers threw their dice yelling, laughing and cursing. And above them all, above that merry ruckus, on a raised platform, Dice Hardskull, the king of Necropolis sat on a gilded throne.

The throne was a gold extravaganza, filled with elaborate flourishes and gleaming gems. Overhead, a thick velvet cloth with gold fringe, although a little worn and with some small holes, casted a shadow of grandeur. The colorful lanterns right above, not so much. As for Dice himself, he was a short and rather plain looking skeleton, an impression set right by the huge crown and the heavy looking neckless around his neck.

When Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos stood in front of the platform and bowed politely, Dice regarded them curiously. Or rather his bony face took an expression that could pass for curiosity.

"Well, well... What do we have here? Newcomers," he said in a thin voice and Arcadius had to force himself not to chuckle. Then Dice straightened his crown and Arcadius immediately noticed a black crystal shining on the crown. "Who are you?" asked Dice.

"My name is Arcadius and over here are my friends, Augustine and Kratos," he said.

"No say? And why are you three here at my palace?" said Dice. His mouth seemed to smile.

"Er... we came to bow in front of the mighty lord of the Necropolis. The famous Dice Hardskull," jumped in Augustine.

"And thus, you should! Because that's exactly what I am," said Dice and stood on his feet, making every bone in his body rattle.

"And to see if what they say is true," added Arcadius with a foxy smile on his pale face.

Dice looked at Arcadius. Then he walked closer and leaned over Arcadius. "What do they say about me, little boy?" he said. His voice was not so funny now.

Kratos swallowed hard and Augustine took a step back. But Arcadius seemed relaxed, almost carefree. "That you are the best in a game of dice," he said.

"They want to see if I am the best in a game of dice!" screamed Dice. Silence fell in the throne room. Everybody turned towards them. "Did you hear? They want to see if I am the best in a game of dice!" roared Dice. The skeleton king of the Necropolis leaned closer to Arcadius. "Tell me little boy, do you know how to play dice?" he asked in a sweet tone.

"No, but how hard could it be? It's just a game," said Arcadius in the same annoyingly carefree tone.

Augustine, despite the mud on her face, turned even paler. Both she and Kratos could not understand Arcadius' sudden boldness.

"Oh? So, you think it's easy? Then how about a game of dice between the two of us? Just to see how easy it is," said Dice.

"Hmm... Yeah, why not. It'll be fun," said Arcadius.

"Want to see how funnier it can be?" said Dice. It was obvious, even for a faceless skeleton, that he was getting irritated by Arcadius' confidence.

"Why not?" said Arcadius.

"Good! Then if I win, you and your friends over here, will be slaves in my palace. How's that? Does it sound funny enough?" said Dice in a malicious tone.

"Sounds ok. But what if I win? What do I get?" said Arcadius.

"Silly question because you're not going to win. But in the name of fairness, say your price son," said Dice.

Arcadius pretended to think about it and then he said, "How about that black gem you have on your crown?"

A soft murmur rippled through the throne room.

Dice Hardskull seemed surprised. Then he grinded his teeth. "I see you are a bold kid. I like that! Ok then, if you win, you will take my black gem," he said and waved to some burly dead guys wearing black clothes. They carried a dice table in front of the throne and Dice took place on one side while Arcadius stood on the other. Then, a dead man with a red bowtie, brought a small wooden cup and threw two red dice inside. Dice took the cup and shaking it, he begun explaining Arcadius the rules.

"Well kid, the rules are simple: you win if you roll twelve. If you don't roll twelve, the only way to win is to roll a number higher than mine. We'll roll the dice three times each and the one who scores best two out of three, wins the game, got it?" said Dice.

Arcadius nodded, secretly wishing Kid was somewhere close.

"Since you're new around here, I'll let you roll first," said Dice and gave him the cup.

Arcadius shook it a few times and with a swift move, turned the cup on the table. A lot of heads leaned over to see as Arcadius lifted the cup revealing the dice. He had scored nine.

"Hmm... not bad kid. For a first timer, I mean," said Dice and snatched the cup. "My turn," he said. He threw the dice in the cup and shook it hard. The dice rattled and then the skeleton king banged the cup on the table.

"There! Ten! I win," shouted Dice lifting the cup and the entire throne room cheered.

Arcadius looked at Augustine and Kratos. They returned a worried look.

"Great, we'll spent the rest of our lives serving this idiot," whispered Kratos to Augustine.

"Your turn now," said Dice and gave the cup back to Arcadius.

He shook the cup again and then he flipped it on the table. When he revealed the dice, they saw he had rolled a five and a six, a total of eleven points.

Another murmur was heard by the dead around the table.

"Even better kid. You're doing quite well," said Dice and grabbed the cup and the dice. "Let's see what I'll bring..."

He shook the cup and flipped it with another loud thud. When he raised the cup they all saw one dice was a six but the other one was spinning next to it. "What the...?" said Dice. The dice finally stopped showing a four. "Ten?" screamed Dice. "What is that? This has never happened before!"

Arcadius realized Kid had indeed kept his word. "Well, come now, don't act like that. Don't be a sore loser," he said.

Augustine gave him a soft shove with her elbow. "Don't push it," she mumbled.

"Fine! You win this round kid and we're even. But whoever wins the next round, wins the game. And rest assured it will be me!" said Dice.

Arcadius rolled the dice again, but this time he scored a mere five in total. The entire throne room shook with cheers and Dice himself started jumping like a frantic puppet. The crown on his head was about to slip of.

"I got you now kid! Get ready to wear an apron and start washing dishes for eternity," shouted Dice. He took the cup and the dice, shook them hard and threw them on the table.

The dice rolled and the three kids held their breaths.

"What is this? Again?" shouted Dice as the dice kept rolling and spinning. And when they finally stopped, silence fell in the throne room. "No! No! No!" screamed Dice looking at his two points.

"You lost," said Arcadius.

"No, it can't be! I never lose in a game of dice. I'm sure it's some kind of trick," said Dice.

"Really? Then prove it," challenged him Arcadius.

Dice grabbed the red dice and examined them carefully.

"Well, ok. I guess you are a sore loser then," said Augustine mockingly.

Dice banged his hand hard on the table. "Ok! You win! Take the stupid gem," he screamed and taking the black crystal off his crown, he threw it on the table.

Arcadius quickly grabbed the crystal and shoved it in his pocket.

"And now get lost. I don't want to see your faces around here. Ever!" said Dice. Grumpily he went back to his throne.

The three kids were more than happy to comply with Dice's wish. But as they turned to go, Kratos tripped and fell on one of the waiters carrying a tray. Augustine, who stood next to him was drenched head to toe in black wine. At first everybody started laughing hysterically, even Dice, but then silence descended on the throne room. Augustine who was trying to wipe the black wine off her face looked around puzzled. Arcadius and Kratos watched her in dread.

"What?" said Augustine.

"The mud is gone from your face!" whispered Arcadius.

The wine had washed the mud away from Augustine's face, revealing she was not one of the dead. At that moment, Dice Hardskull came over his surprise and started screaming again. "I knew it! I knew it! They're imposters! Seize them, they came to steal my gem!"

Arcadius heard a voice saying, "Run, run!" It was Kid.

The urge was unnecessary. A mob of skeletons and dead rushed towards them, so they sprinted for the gate and stormed outside. The gate banged closing behind them.

"This will keep them for a while. Come on, hurry!" said Kid.

They followed the boy to the stone statue of a demon nearby.

"Shouldn't we be running downwards?" asked Kratos.

"You won't make it, they'll catch you. There's a quicker way out of here," said Kid and looking around to make sure no one was watching, he pushed the bat-like wing of the demon. The statue slid sideways revealing a steep staircase going up. The kids rushed inside the opening and the ghostly boy closed it behind them.

"Quickly, these steps lead directly to the mausoleum," he said.

In a few minutes they were back on the surface.

"Thank god, we made it!" said Arcadius gasping.

"But if there was a quicker way down there, why did you take us through the tunnels?" asked Kratos the ghostly boy.

"Because I only know about this secret entrance and didn't want anyone to see it. But now, I had no choice," said the Kid.

"Well if he hadn't tripped, no one would've found out anything," said Augustine nodding to Kratos.

"Guys, I don't think now is a good time for another fight," said Arcadius.

"He is right. Soon it will be dark," said Kid.

And that made them realize they were still in the cemetery and the cemetery was Dice's domain. As long as they were in there, he could still catch them. So they run to the cemetery's front gate and stepped outside. They were about to head back to their homes, when Arcadius stood and looked back. Kid was standing behind the bars of the gate. The ghostly boy was looking at them with big sad eyes.

"We can't leave him here," said Arcadius to the other two.

"But he's a ghost!" said Kratos.

"Who's going to see him if we take him with us? He can turn invisible," retorted Arcadius.

"And who's going to take him? I'm definitely not taking a ghost back home!" said Kratos.

Arcadius looked at Augustine and she sighed. "Oh, all right. Maybe now that Oi's box is empty..." she said and walked back to the gate. "Hey you? Can you fit inside this box?" she asked Kid showing him Oi's ex home.

The ghostly boy gave Augustine a bright smile. "Sure, I can!"

"Ok then, you can come with us if you want," said Augustine.

Kid gave a happy cry and turning into something like a glowing smoke, he slipped inside Augustine's box.

"I wonder how many more we're going to be in this adventure," mumbled Kratos.

As the night fell over Ephemeria, they walked away leaving behind the cemetery, seemingly peaceful and silent.
The Museum

Sunday was rainy in Ephemeria but that didn't stop Arcadius from finding a good excuse to meet Augustine and Kratos at the treehouse. Kid was also with them. His ghostly face was joyous, finally having made a few friends. He was jumping around, asking questions while they tried to finish their homework as quickly as possible.

This of course was because of Arcadius, who despite all the adventuring had no intention of letting his grades go downhill, something rather convenient for Augustine and Kratos, who could both use a little help with their homework.

When they were finally done, they spread the mechanical map on the floor and took out the white crystal. Augustine asked Oi to help and the crystal started swinging from side to side, pulsing with white light. They watched eagerly, waiting to see where the crystal would stop this time.

"It's the number... 251," said Augustine. "What's in 251?"

"The museum!" said the boys together.

"How did one of the black crystals end up there?" wondered Kratos.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," said Arcadius.

"Is the museum open today?" asked Augustine. She seemed excited.

"I think it's open till noon. If we hurry up, we might catch it open," said Arcadius.

The GEI organized frequent visits to the museum, so the boys had been there several times. After some brief planning, they snatched their umbrellas and hurried back to the city and the museum. It wasn't easy getting there, many of the streets had become small rivers that Sunday, but eventually they managed to slip inside the huge building.

Unlike the library, Ephemeria's museum usually had quite a lot of visitors. That, of course, had nothing to do with Ephemerians being especially interested in their city's history, but mostly with the fact the museum hosted a rather impressive collection of machines and inventions. But that Sunday, the bad weather kept the people away and it was the reason why they were alone in the silent and rather eerie halls.

"I've never seen it empty before," whispered Arcadius. His eyes travelled the sprawling spaces and the displays with their frozen exhibits.

"It is a little creepy," said Augustine.

"Why are we whispering?" asked Kratos. They looked at each other.

"No idea. Maybe so none of them wakes up?" said Arcadius pointing at the old busts that returned a somber look.

"What are you all doing here?" asked a voice behind them.

Startled they turned and saw professor Sandarach looking at them curiously.

"Er... you see ma'am..." said Arcadius.

"We had nothing better to do with this weather, so we came here," said Augustine and Kratos agreed, vigorously shaking his head.

Professor Sandarach, a tall, lean woman with a beaky nose, crossed her hands and eyed them like they were some sort of new specimens. "So, you came to the museum to kill some time? Odd", she commented.

"What are you doing here, professor Sandarach?"

"I, Miss Hydrogold have to be here! You are obviously unaware, I am the head of the Petrology and Mineral department of this museum," said Sandarach raising her left eyebrow.

"Oh, I am sorry, professor, I was indeed unaware," said Augustine.

"Anyway, the weather is so bad, only you and I had the courage to visit our museum today. And since you are here, this is a great opportunity for you to have a tour of my department and learn a few extra things about the wondrous world of minerals."

They gave each other a few desperate glances. The last thing they expected was a private tutoring on rocks. They should be looking for the black crystal, not wasting time with Sandarach's babblings about her precious rocks. But since they couldn't think of a good excuse to avoid that, they were forced to follow the professor to the Petrology and Mineral section of the museum. There she begun explaining with every possible detail the rocks and gems on display. At some point, when they stood in front of a glass case with semiprecious stones and Sandarach begun talking passionately, Kratos winked at Arcadius.

"Professor, may I ask a question?" said the tall boy.

Professor Sandarach turned towards him surprised at first, but then obviously pleased about the interruption. "Of course, Mr Jumphop! It would be quite interesting to have a question from you. A unique phenomenon," she said.

"Do these gems come in every color?" said Kratos.

Probably professor Sandarach expected a rather cleverer and more challenging question, because her smile turned into a sneer. "Yes, Mr Jumphop. They come in every color. Certain chemical substances give certain colors," she said.

"That black one is very beautiful," said Kratos and pointed at one of the gems in the case.

"Ah, yes! That is a fine specimen of a lignite," said Sandarach.

"Only lignite has this color?" asked Arcadius having understood what Kratos was trying to do.

The pleased smile returned on Professor Sandarach's face. "Oh, no. There are many ores with this color. In fact, I would say it's rather common. Take coal for example, which is a form of jet. And recently, I discovered a black crystal," said professor Sandarach. They exchanged a meaningful look. "Probably some kind of Augite. I found it on my balcony a few days back. I have no idea how it got there, but I can tell you it is an excellent example of pyrite," continued professor Sandarach as if talking to herself.

"Can we see it?" said Arcadius.

"Unfortunately, children, this is impossible for the time being. I still have the crystal down, at the museum's laboratory. It is hard to classify it and it looks odd. Which of course makes it even more fascinating. But when I am finished with it, I promise to bring it to class so you can all have a good look at it."

Disappointed, they followed professor Sandarach and when the tour was finally over, they stepped back outside.

"At least now we know where it is," said Kratos.

"Yes, but that doesn't help much, does it?" said Arcadius.

"Why don't we let Phrony take care of it? Besides that's what he asked you to do, right? To find where the crystals are and report back to him," said Kratos.

"I'm sure there must be a way to get it. We already have one of them, we can't give up now," insisted Arcadius.

"Arcadius is right. We must try to get the crystal ourselves and then, if we can't manage it, we tell Phrony. When does the museum closes?" said Augustine.

Kratos glanced at his wrist watch. "I think in half an hour," he said.

"The first thing we need to do, is wait for the museum to close. Then we'll see if there is a way in," she said.

While they waited at the bus stop opposite of the museum, the rain finally stopped. But the clouds where still there, becoming darker and greyer, foretelling another downpour. When professor Sandarach finally locked the front gate of the museum and left, the three kids crossed the street and went back inside the museum courtyard.

"So? What now?" said Arcadius.

"Well we definitely can't go back in the same way we did before," said Kratos.

"Let's go at the back and see if there's another way in," suggested Augustine.

They did a full circle around the huge building, but apparently there was no way in other then the front gate. For a while they stood silently, gazing at the towering gate with disappointed faces. None wanted to admit defeat.

Then Arcadius shook his umbrella and shouted, "I know what we can do!"

The others looked at him curiously.

"What?" said Augustine.

"We can ask Kid to get inside for us. He is a ghost, so it's easy for him to get inside. Then he could open a window or a door for us," he said.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea," agreed Kratos.

"We can try," said Augustine.

They returned to the secluded back side of the museum and stood beside an ivy-covered wall. Augustine took out the small box formerly occupied by Oi and opened it. Immediately, Kid sprang out.

"Pfff! Finally! It was getting really stuffy in there," said the ghostly boy.

"Oh please, you should be glad we agreed to take you with us," said Kratos.

"So, where are we?" asked Kid, looking around.

"We are at the back of the museum. You remember us talking about it earlier. And we need your help," said Arcadius.

"What do you want me to do?" said Kid eagerly.

"We want you to get in there and open a window or something for us," explained Arcadius.

The ghostly boy shook his head with a sad face.

"What's wrong?" asked Augustine.

"Well, I can get inside but I can't open a window," said Kid.

"And why is that?" said Kratos.

"Raise your hand," said Kid and Kratos cautiously did so. The ghostly boy raised his own, as if to shake Kratos' hand, but his fingers went through Kratos' palm. "You see? Outside the cemetery, I can't touch anything. I don't know why, but I can't."

"Oh, great!" said Arcadius with a frown.

"Hey, guys..." said Augustine. "I think, I might have found another way in."

The boys turned and saw her looking up. She was looking at the steep rooftop of the museum, at one of the skylights there. It was left half open.

"You're not serious, are you?" said Kratos but Augustine was.

"I can climb up there and get inside to look for the crystal," she said.

"And how are you going to climb up there? It's way too high up," said Arcadius.

"I can climb this ivy," she said pointing at the lush green plant that had covered the wall, reaching the rooftop.

"But that's dangerous!" objected Arcadius.

"It's not if you know how to climb," said Augustine confidently.

"I can use the watch of transformations to get there. I can become a bird and fly all the way up there," said Arcadius but in vain. Augustine was so keen to prove herself to the boys, she had already started climbing the wall.

"Augustine, be careful!" cried Arcadius.

The girl turned her head and smiled. "Don't worry. It's a piece of cake," she said.

You had to give it to her. She not only was brave, but she was nimble too. Those years spent in the Haunted Forest had really paid off and it was like she was climbing that ivy every day. And although an angry wind had risen, she quickly made it to the skylight and slipped inside.
A Mystery

Augustine needed a few moments for her eyes to adjust in the gloom covering the museum's attic. Then she looked around at the things-mostly crates-that surrounded her. Slowly she made her way around, careful not to bump on to something.

After a few more minutes she managed to find a door and behind it, she saw a staircase leading down to the museum's main halls. Some very empty and very silent halls.

The advancing storm outside had snatched most of the light, making the empty spaces even darker and filled with still shadows. Only the occasional lightning revealed details of the displays and the statues and the odd inventions in the halls. Only the occasional thunder broke the haunting silence.

As she crept through the halls, Augustine felt the prickling of fear. Those old statues of warriors frowning from their pedestals, gave her goosebumps and the thought of one of them coming to life was so unnerving, she immediately pushed it away.

"Don't think stupid things, Augustine. Focus on finding the crystal," she whispered to herself and took a deep breath.

She wandered in the long corridors for a while, until she finally spotted a door with a small sign:

PLEASE DO NOT ENTER. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY!

She guessed this was the door to the laboratories and indeed she discovered behind it another long and dark corridor, with doors left and right leading to various laboratories.

Augustine walked hesitantly, with her shoes squeaking annoyingly on the marble floor tiles.

"Paleontology", "Artwork Restoration", "Restoration of Archaic Inventions", she read on some of the signs on the doors and right before the end of the corridor she finally found what she was looking for.

"Petrology and Mineral Laboratory," she said and tried the doorknob.

It was locked.

"Perfect!" she said. "What now Augustine?"

But then she heard approaching footsteps and in the few moments before the door on the other side of the corridor opened, Augustine frantically looked around to find a place to hide. There was none and the only thing she could do, was to run to the end of the corridor, where the shadows were deeper. She crouched there, praying whoever was coming would not see her.

The door opened, and Augustine saw professor Sandarach hastily coming towards her. She seemed angry and she stood in front of the door leading to the Petrology Laboratory without noticing the girl crouching a few feet away from her. She unlocked the door mumbling softly, "I'm such a scatterbrain. Forgetting my notes! And to think they would've escaped tomorrow's test-not a chance."

Augustine new she wouldn't have a second chance. She crept to the door and peered inside. She saw professor Sandarach standing in front of a long work bench, filled with odd jars and scientific equipment. She had her back turned towards Augustine, so the girl run and hid under a large wooden table in the middle of the laboratory.

"Here they are," she heard Sandarach say. Then, Augustine saw her long black skirt move back to the door and when she heard the key locking the door again, it was too late to correct her mistake. Now, instead of being locked outside of the laboratory, she was locked inside. She came from under the table and for a moment considered the possibility of screaming to Sandarach to open the door. She turned the idea down. Augustine would have a hard time explaining why she was inside the laboratory, or the museum for that matter. Not to mention she would have to admit failure to the boys. Not a chance, as Sandarach would say.

She looked around and saw a small window close to the ceiling. Maybe I can get out from there, she thought and her eyes traveled around the rest of the laboratory. Immediately she spotted the black crystal carefully placed on a metal stand. Next to it she saw a set of small tongs and a microscope.

The black crystal gleamed dully and as Augustine kept looking at it, she thought she heard a whispering voice. She went closer and raised her hand to take the crystal, but for a moment she hesitated. She felt like this thing, whatever it was, it was not just a rock, not just a crystal and Gran's tale came back in vivid details. She thought of that demon, Nocturnus.

Suddenly, a terrible howl shattered the eerie silence. Augustine jerked back. The howl had come from the corridor outside. She turned towards the locked door and saw the doorknob slowly turning. Someone was trying to get inside and Augustine was pretty sure it was not professor Sandarach.

Augustine snatched the black crystal, popped it into her pocket and turned towards the small laboratory window. But then a loud bang came from the door and turning, she saw a hairy arm with large claws writhing through a rugged hole on the wood.

Augustine realized she didn't have time to climb to the window and make her escape. So, she run back under the table. A few seconds later came another crashing sound and the door flew from its hinges.

From under the table, Augustine saw large hairy feet walking into the laboratory. At first, she though it was a dreamghost, but then she realized this creature was something completely different but equally dangerous.

"Quickly, find the crythtal and leth get out of here before thomeone elth turnth up!" said a squeaky voice.

"Don't tell me what to do, vermin" said a gruff voice.

"Then thtop doing thtupid things. Did you have to knock out the tall one outthide?"

"What was I supposed to do? She came running on us and she would've raised the whole city with her screaming," said the creature.

"Ok, ok. Find the crythtal and leth go back to the both. He can take care of thith whole meth you've made," said the squeaky voice.

"Are you sure the crystal is here? I don't see it anywhere."

"Of courthe I am thure. My thpieth are never wrong."

"Wait a second. I smell someone in here," said the creature to the invisible little voice.

Augustine felt like her heart was about to burst.

"What do you mean, you thmell thomeone in here?"

"Someone is in here," said the creature and took a step towards the table in the middle.

Augustine realized two things. First, she had started trembling. And a tremble is never a good sign. Second, if she stayed there, the creature most certainly would find her.

She looked towards the broken door and taking a deep breath, she sprang from underneath the table and stormed out of the laboratory.

"Hurry! Grab her!" she heard the little voice behind her.

She broke into a sprint, crossing the dark corridor outside, and the moment she was about to push the door to the museum's halls, she realized she had forgotten something. And paid for her mistake.

Right in front of the door lay the unconscious body of professor Sandarach and in the gloom, Augustine failed to see it and inevitably, she tripped and fell, landing hard on the floor. Dazed, she dared a look behind and what she saw, almost made her scream. A huge dogman was after her, a beast with a human body and the head of a raving dog.

She jumped up again and pushing the door, she stepped into the museum's main hallway. Outside, the storm was raging now. Sudden flashes flooded the empty halls and thunders roared.

Augustine kept running frantically without actually knowing where she was going. Behind her, she could hear angry growls closing on and claws scratching the marble floors.

But she was still lucky. She saw the main gate and it was wide open. With her heart about to explode, she stormed outside and at the same time felt hands grabbing her.

She started screaming.

"Stop! Augustine, it's us! Stop screaming!" she heard someone saying.

Augustine saw the two boys watching her with worried faces.

"Quickly, let's get out of here! There's a dogman in there!" she shouted and they all ran away from the museum.

And when Augustine finally caught her breath and her heart started beating normally again, she explained everything that happened.

"When we saw Sandarach coming back, we got scared and thought she would find you," said Kratos.

"Yes, and we were ready to get inside to see what was going on. We were so lucky, she left the front door open," said Arcadius.

"It's better you didn't go inside. I barely made it out," said Augustine.

"I say we tell the police," suggested Arcadius.

"Why?" asked Kratos.

"We can't leave poor professor Sandarach in the hands of that monster! We must do something," said Arcadius.

"Yes, but what are we going to say? They will ask questions. They will ask what we were doing there," said Augustine.

"We'll tell them what we told professor Sandarach. We were going to the museum just for fun and we heard a scream and called the police," said Arcadius.

An hour later, they were still outside the museum, waiting for Officer Jeremiah Winemug to come out. The storm had turned into a light drizzle and when the fat officer appeared again, he had a thoughtful expression.

"This is odd," he said opening his notepad. "The museum is open while it should be closed. At least according to the time table. Moreover, one of the laboratories' doors is destroyed, but nothing else seems damaged or missing. I am not sure what happened here. I think, I must have a little chat with those in charge." He pulled up his hat and scratched his brow.

"And?" said Arcadius.

"And what?" said officer Winemug.

"Didn't you find anything-anyone-else in there? You must have!" said Augustine.

Officer Winemug gave her a curious look. "And why is that?" he said.

"Bu-but we heard a scream," she insisted.

"Well, then you must've imagined it. There's no one in there, we've searched the entire place. Dead like a graveyard," said officer Winemug.

They exchanged doubtful glances.

"Anyway, kids, thank you for calling us. Rest assured, the heroic police of Ephemeria will get to the bottom of this mystery!" said Officer Jeremiah Winemug, preening.

But Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos were not the least assured. Things in the city were far more serious than officer Winemug could ever imagine.
Inquiries

Next morning the sun shone brightly over Ephemeria, but the mood of Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos was rather dark. They were wondering what would happen when everyone realized professor Sandarach had gone missing.

So, they were quite surprised when they saw her standing in the Avenue, all cheery and carefree with the rest of the professors, waiting for the students to gather and the school day to begin. And their astonishment became greater when later, during the petrology class, she paid absolutely no attention to them. It was as if nothing had happened.

After class, they stayed back, determined to speak to professor Sandarach about the museum.

"What is it? Do you want to ask me something about slates?" she said when they stood in front of her.

"Well... you see professor... we were wondering if you managed to finish studying that black crystal," said Arcadius.

"Studying what?" said professor Sandarach, raising one of her thick eyebrows. "What crystal are you talking about, Mr Carrot?"

"The one you told us about yesterday, at the museum!" said Augustine loudly.

"Miss Hydrogol! I hope this is not some silly joke, I am warning you. I spent the entire weekend in bed. I had a cold. I could not have been at the museum!" said professor Sandarach and she indeed looked sincere.

"But, professor..." started Kratos.

Sandarach raised her finger. "Enough, Mr Jumphop! Enough with all this nonsense. Please go outside with the rest of the students," commanded professor Sandarach with a stern voice and they obeyed without another word.

"She doesn't remember a thing!" said Kratos when they were alone.

"How is this possible?" said Arcadius.

"Maybe it has to do with what that voice said yesterday. You know, the squeaky one. I remember it saying, they would call their boss to take care of professor Sandarach," said Augustine.

"And what do you think he did to her? Hypnotized her?" said Kratos.

"Why not? Or he could have used a spell of some sort on her. Is that so surprising after what we've seen?" said Augustine and both Kratos and Arcadius had to agree.

"Things are getting weirder and weirder. But at least we have one more crystal," said Arcadius.

Suddenly, they saw Voos Wolfious striding towards them.

"Oh, great! What does he want now!" said Augustine softly.

"Hey, you three. Go to the Headmaster's office. Quickly!" he said with a vicious smile on his face.

"But why? We've done nothing," protested Arcadius.

"Now, Carrot! I don't think it's wise to keep professor Gnomonius waiting," said the janitor and they followed him to the Headmaster's office.

*

"Ah, Mr Carot, Miss Hydrogold and Mr Jumphop. Please do come in, children, I have a few questions to ask you," said Headmaster Gnomonius when they stood in front of his imposing office door.

They stepped inside, trying to figure out why he might have called for them.

"But, sir, we have done nothing wrong!" said Augustine.

The Headmaster ignored her. Instead, he took off his tiny round spectacles and started wiping them diligently with a white handkerchief. They waited for him to finish and put them back on his nose, before returning his attention to them. He had a worried smile on his face.

"You know, children, after so many years as the headmaster of this fine and proud institute, I have come to realize certain things, certain truths if you want. May I share one of them with you?" he said.

None of them answered.

"I have come to realize that whenever a student's name keeps popping up, most of the time it means trouble. Trouble that if not addressed immediately, it will only lead to even greater trouble," said professor Gnomonius. "Unfortunately, your names keep popping up the last few days. Which is sad, since I expected your recent punishment would have brought back some sense to you. Especially you, Mr Carrot."

Arcadius looked down with a burning sensation on his cheeks.

"You, Mr Jumphop, on the other hand, you have been a known troublemaker for quite some time now. But I must admit, I expected your behavior to improve in time," continued the headmaster looking at Kratos this time with a disappointed face.

Kratos too looked down having the same burning sensation as Arcadius.

"And finally, you, Miss Hydrogold. You have serious manner issues. It is unimaginable for a young lady to behave in such a crude and irresponsible way. Not to mention your performance in class," said Gnomonius looking at Augustine.

But instead of looking down and although equally bright red, Augustine stared stubbornly back at the headmaster.

Headmaster Gnomonius stood. "My duty... The duty of every honorable headmaster and professor is to address issues like yours. To prevent any kind of deviation from the rules of this school and therefore from city rules," he said. The three kids stayed silent waiting for his conclusion and the reason for all this talk about behavior and rules. "So, I called you here today, because it came to my knowledge that you were participants in a rather curious situation yesterday. I heard someone broke into the museum yesterday and that you three were also present."

They all looked at him surprised.

"Oh, but of course I know. How could I have not known about something as serious as that? And this is why I wanted to ask, what you three were doing yesterday at the museum, during a serious criminal act?" said the headmaster and pierced Arcadius with a stern look.

But it was Augustine who answered.

"You see, headmaster... it was all my idea. Yesterday, after we finished with our homework, I suggested to Arcadius and Kratos, a visit to the amazing museum of our dear city. I thought it a good and educational way to spend Sunday afternoon and to learn a few extra things. Especially me, who as you so accurately put it, have so many things to learn. Something which I hope to change here, at the Grand Educational Institute."

The boys looked at her with wide eyes.

The headmaster's eyes narrowed. "Is that so? You went on a Sunday afternoon to the museum to learn a few extra things? Very interesting, Miss Hydrogold. I hope this kind of thinking is not temporary. Nor your presence here, at the GEI," he said.

Augustine decided not to answer since the look on the headmaster face was nothing but friendly.

"So, tell me. What happened there? What happened when you went to the museum, to learn a few extra things?"

Again, the headmaster was looking at Arcadius, but this time it was Kratos who came to the rescue.

"When we got there, after having too much difficulty, sir, because yesterday the streets were almost flooded... er, but you probably know this already and I told Arcadius and Augustine we should have gone some other day..."

"Get to the point, Mr Jumphop!" said Gnomonius.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. As I was saying, when we got to the museum, we found it open but inside there was no one. Which was odd... I mean what's the point of having the museum open, if there's no one inside? Anyway, it seemed odd and we decided to call a police officer," said Kratos.

"Right. Anything else?" asked the headmaster.

"No, sir," said Arcadius. His voice was almost a whisper and he felt as if professor Gnomonius could see right through him. Like he knew they were all lying.

"Very well, you may go," said Gnomonius after a few moments of silence.

Relieved, the three kids turned to leave.

"Not you, Mr Carrot. I want a few extra words with you," said Gnomonius suddenly.

Arcadius felt his heart sinking and he looked at Augustine and Kratos. Their eyes were equally worried.

When they were alone, professor Gnomonius crossed the room and stood in front of Arcadius putting his hand on Arcadius' shoulder in a fatherly way.

"My dear boy, you must know that I really like you. Your family is an honorable one. And I especially like your father. He is absolutely committed to his work and his duties. I think he is a fine example for you and I was convinced you were to follow in his steps. But lately..." His voice trailed in a meaningful way. "I don't know what to say. I think you should consider very carefully who you choose to be your friends. I don't think you would like to ruin a bright future. And for what? Some nonsense." Professor Gnomonius had a sad face and his concern seemed sincere. "So, tell me my boy, did anything strange happened yesterday at the museum? Something you did not tell me? Did you see anyone going in or coming out of there? You don't have to worry; I will not punish you again."

For a moment, Arcadius almost spilled the beans. But then he pursed his lips and shook his head.

"I see. All right then, you may go," said the headmaster with a disappointed look.

Arcadius breathed a silent sigh of relief and turned to the door.

"Oh, and Arcadius? May I give you an advice?" he heard professor Gnomonius say. He turned to the headmaster again. "Focus on your studies and stay away from trouble." He had an aloof expression. As if he was considering some old memory.

"Yes, sir," whispered Arcadius and went out of the office.

*

"What was that all about?" said Kratos puzzled.

They were again alone the three of them.

"How did he find out about yesterday? Sandarach didn't remember a thing," said Augustine.

"Or pretended not to," said Arcadius.

"You think she was lying? But why?" asked Augustine.

"I am not sure and she might be actually telling the truth. And the headmaster could've found out from Officer Winemug. The mayor and the headmaster know everything that goes around in Ephemeria."

"You think he also knows about the black crystals?" said Kratos.

"I am not sure. He simply might have figured out something weird is going on lately. And that's why he was questioning us," said Arcadius.

"Then we must be more careful with the next crystal," said Augustine.

"You mean, we'll keep on looking?" said Kratos.

"Of course, we will!" said Arcadius.
The Nymph

After school, they met back at the treehouse. They spread the mechanical map on the floor and sat around it. Arcadius used the buttons to set the right date on the map, and Augustine held once more the white crystal above it.

"Oi, please show us where the other black crystal is!" she said.

The crystal started glowing and then, like a hound looking for its pray, started making small circles above the map. It moved like that for about a minute and then it stopped abruptly, pulling the ribbon Augustine was holding towards a certain point.

Astonished, they looked at each other.

"This can't be right," said Kratos.

"Yes, something must be wrong," agreed Arcadius.

"Ok, let me try again," said Augustine. "Oi, please show us where the other black crystal is!"

The second time, the crystal hovered above the map for a little longer, but again it pointed to the same spot. Puzzled, they looked at the map.

"You think the map might be broken? Are you sure you've set it right?" said Kratos.

"Yes, I am sure," said Arcadius.

"Then why is the crystal pointing to the lake?" asked Kratos.

"It's simple. That's where one of the black crystals fell," said Augustine.

*

"So now what?" asked Augustine when they finally made it to the pier.

Lake Crystalia was shimmering under the gentle afternoon light and the cold breeze. It was a wide and beautiful lake with deep emerald waters, yet the people in Ephemeria avoided it systematically. It was full of fat fish, but no one came fishing anymore. You could see abandoned boats rotting in the pier, with their paint flaking like old skin. For some reason the entire area around the pier was abandoned too. Shops, houses and warehouses, closed and decrepit. And the constant splashing of the water and the occasional croaking of a gull, made the reigning silence even more ominous.

It seemed the only use Lake Crystalia had these days to Ephemerians, was a convenient place to dump the city's sewage. And probably that was why a strange smell shrouded the lakeshores. But since no one came here, it didn't matter.

"There's only one way to find the crystal in there," said Arcadius.

"Which is?" asked Kratos keeping his distance from the edge of the water. His father had taught him a few very useful things, but unfortunately swimming was not among them.

"The watch of transformations," said Arcadius.

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem like a very good idea to dive in there," said Augustine with a reluctant face.

"I am sure. We've found two black crystals, we can't just give up now."

"All right, but just so you know, if you're not back in ten minutes we're bringing help," said Augustine.

"If I don't come back in ten minutes, I'll need help," said Arcadius. He put the watch of transformations on his wrist, turned the clock finger to the image of a fish and then exchanged a glance with the others feeling his stomach tightening.

Kratos and Augustine took a step back as the blue flash covered Arcadius. When it vanished, a fish darted in the air like a silver arrow, before diving into the water.

Augustine run to the edge of the pier and caught the fish disappearing into the lake's emerald depths.

*

When the waters closed around him, Arcadius' first instinctive reaction was to hold his breath. But almost immediately the fish part of him, objected to the idea. It was after all rather unreasonable to hold your breath underwater when you have gills. So, Arcadius quickly calmed himself and took his first watery breath. And he realized it wasn't much different than breathing air. At least the feeling of it.

He turned his gaze towards the underwater world, and the first thing he noticed was a green and yellowish tint. In fact, the deeper he dived, the greener the water became. Greener and spookier.

The sun's rays had trouble reaching the depths of the lake and soon they became a soft gloom that turned everything into silhouettes. And that was why he mistook what he saw underneath for a dark forest. An immense forest sprawling as far as he could see, shadowing the lake's bedrock.

But coming closer, he realized this was not a forest but a net of huge, waving seaweeds and gray corals. Especially the corals, with their thick stems, looked a lot like winter trees.

Under this blanket, the bottom was covered with thousands of little anemones and starfish and slugs that glowed softly. Arcadius was briefly mesmerized by their rainbow-like shimmering. If only Augustine and Kratos could see this, he thought. Swarms of tiny fish swirled around the seaweeds and the corals resembling flocks of birds.

He almost forgot the reason he was there-until he sensed danger. It was such a sudden and strong feeling he felt himself jerking. He started swimming cautiously, trying to spot the source of the danger. And then he saw it. A huge shadowy figure sliding around the corals, closing on him. Arcadius noticed all life around him had vanished.

This can't be good, he thought.

A few seconds later he managed to make out what the huge figure was, and although Augustine was not there to confirm, he knew he was looking at a water dragon.

The creature resembled a fish, at least his tail and it had a sharp fin on his back and his black wings looked a lot like those of a giant manta. Even his feet had membranes besides sharp claws and his head looked a lot like that of a crocodile.

The dragon smelled Arcadius immediately and realized the little silver fish was not just a fish, but something else, something potentially tasty.

Arcadius shook off his numbness and started looking for a place to hide. He swam between the hard branches of a coral and stayed there hopping he was invisible. But the dragon was not that easily fooled. He swam directly towards him and started sawing the coral with his huge jaws.

The hard coral broke into small pieces that floated around, while the dragon's long snout got closer and closer. Arcadius new there was only one thing he could do. Start running, he told himself. And that is what he did, or rather he started swimming as fast as he could.

He darted from the coral towards the surface, with the dragon on his tail. He was a fast little fish, but the dragon was faster and right before Arcadius could break out of the water, the dragon opened his mouth and swallowed him.

Water dragons are a lot like cows and just like cows they have more than one stomachs and when Arcadius was swallowed by the dragon, he found himself in the first stomach which mostly served as a storehouse. And what a storehouse it was. In the darkness, Arcadius realized he wasn't the dragon's first launch of the day. Along with him, he could feel many other things rocking and tumbling as the dragon dived back to the depths of the lake.

It was as if he had been caught in the middle of a whirlwind. And things got even worse when the ten minutes of his transformation inevitably passed and he became a boy again. A boy inside a dragon's stomach.

Arcadius tried to hold his breath as much as he could, but very soon he felt he was going to drown. And this time his end seemed unavoidable. What a terrible way to lose his life, he thought. Inside a dragon's stomach! But then, against all odds, Arcadius felt a huge force, like a rush, pushing him back up the dragon's mouth, along with everything else in that first stomach.

The creature was throwing up and before he had time to realize what was going on, Arcadius was back in the water of the lake.

He was flailing, feeling his lungs ready to explode. He could not hold his breath any longer. Panic and the murky water made his vision blurry. Now I am truly dead, he thought. But again he was wrong.

A huge bubble appeared out of nowhere and wrapped him like a cocoon of fresh air. Gasping, Arcadius filled his lungs with oxygen.

"This is preposterous! What else are they going to dump into my lake? Have they gone mad? They started throwing little kids!" said a gurgling voice.

Breathing heavily, Arcadius stood up and looked around, trying to figure out what had happened and if he was still alive or dead. Outside the bubble that protected him from the water of the lake, he saw a shimmering huge hall filled with slender black columns, holding horseshoe arches. Above the arches was a vault ceiling made of carved coral and colorful starfish. Underneath his feet the floor was made of marble and mosaics showing fishes and even more corals. Between the columns of this hall, he saw glowing jellyfish floating like lanterns.

A huge roar thundered in the water. Arcadius turned and saw the water dragon standing right behind him. The beast had his fierce green eyes fixed on him.

"Well done, Murky! You did a good job today. Go and rest now. Who knows how much dirt you will have to clean tomorrow from our beloved lake," said the voice.

Murky stared at Arcadius for one more second and then with a swift, lithe movement, he swam out of the hall.

Arcadius turned to see who was talking and from the other side of the hall, he saw a figure coming closer. It was a woman with long green hair floating around her face, much like the seaweeds. She was wearing a gown that swirled like mist around her slender body and she was holding a stick made of coral, gilded with emeralds and pearls.

"What are you doing in my lake little boy?" asked the woman, piercing Arcadius with stern black eyes.

"Er... I am Arcadius..." he started.

"I did not ask your name. You should answer only to what you are being asked. Unless you are dumb," she snapped.

"No, I am not dumb," said Arcadius, raising his voice.

"Lower you voice! Here only I do the yelling," said the woman in a cold voice. "And if you are not dumb, answer my question. What are you doing here?"

"Your dragon brought me here, I did not come on my own," said Arcadius.

"Oh, so we're being clever, eh? And what are you doing in my lake? If it wasn't bad enough, you land-dwellers dumping all your trash here. Do we have to suffer your visits too?" said the woman.

"Well... er... I was looking for something I lost in the lake," he said.

"Oh really? You lost it, or you threw it in the lake along with all these things?" said the woman pointing to the trash Murky puked.

"But I have never thrown garbage in the lake," said Arcadius.

"Do not lie to me," said the woman banging her long stick on the floor. The entire hall seemed to rattle.

Oh, great, this one is totally mad, thought Arcadius.

"I think you need to be punished, lying boy from the land. Therefore, you will be my prisoner here, in this palace," said the woman.

"No, you can't hold me here! You must let me go, I must-" said Arcadius.

"Do not talk back to me! No one defies the Lady of the Lake. No one defies the will of Nymph Crystalia!" said the woman. She banged her stick once more to emphasize her words and a column broke in half.

If this goes on, she will destroy the entire hall before we finish talking, thought Arcadius. He would have never guessed nymphs were so stubborn and mad. But on the other hand, he would have never guessed nymphs existed.

"So, what am I supposed to do down here?" he said as calmly as possible, thinking that for now it would be best to go along with this crazy creature.

"Well, I think my son will find you an excellent birthday present. It's his birthday you know. And I think a nice little toy, is perfect to cheer my little one."

"A nice little toy? I am no toy!" said Arcadius.

"Oh, don't be silly. Of course, you are. There is no other use for you down here," said Nymph Crystalia. "Although, I have to admit you are a little dull. You don't look very entertaining or festive... But that can be easily fixed." She turned her back at Arcadius. "Nereids! Oh, Nereids!" she screamed and three more women swam swiftly from the depths of the hall.

Arcadius gasped. Mermaids, he thought.

Indeed, these women had fishtails instead of legs, and white hair around beautiful faces with equally white eyes.

They stood in front of their mistress and waited for her orders.

"See what you can do with this boy. It will be my gift to Octavius. I think my sweet one will love him. He is so sad lately. Oh! And tell the crabs to take away all this trash Murky brought in," said nymph Crystalia to the Nereids. Then she walked away and disappeared into the vast hall.

The Nereids came closer and swam carefully around Arcadius' bubble.

"So, what are we supposed to do with this one?" said one of them.

"I think we should dress it with seaweeds and silk ribbons, Zargania. We have a lot of those," said another.

"Yes! This way, it will look more colorful. It's so gray the poor thing," said the third one.

Before Arcadius had time to protest and say his cloths were just fine, the Nereids swam away and the bubble with Arcadius followed right behind them as if it was pulled by an invisible rope.
Octavius' Birthday Present

A little later, Arcadius dressed in seaweed and colorful ribbons that smelled like fish, was led to another large hall. In the middle of this hall a large carved rock served as a table and around it, instead of chairs, there were large boulders covered in soft seaweed. The table was filled with all sorts of unfamiliar food, but that didn't come close to how unfamiliar-looking the guests around it were. Those odd creatures devoured ferociously the food as if they were starving. Some of them had a human body but fishlike heads, while others looked like crabs or squids. One of them even had a snail like shell on its back.

Above the table, on the ceiling, there was a round opening and a bright sunray fell on the feasting table, making everything glow impressively. In one corner, a group of Nereids played music and sang with silvery voices that echoed around the hall. Unfortunately, the guests of this birthday party seemed to appreciate the food more than the singing.

Arcadius saw nymph Crystalia sitting lofty on the head of the table and when she spotted Arcadius, she clapped her hands. Immediately the bubble and Arcadius, floated towards her.

The nymph gave Arcadius an appreciative look and smiled. "Hmm... Not bad. The only thing missing is a smile. So, smile child," she ordered.

"No!" said Arcadius. Suddenly he felt angry. He was a boy, not some sort of a pet or an automaton to do whatever she asked him to do. Not to mention, he hadn't felt that ridiculous since the day he peed himself in front of Kratos and all his fellow students.

"Smile!" screamed the nymph and the entire hall fell silent. The guests stopped eating and everybody turned their faces towards them.

Grumpily, Arcadius managed to force a smile on his face.

"There you go. You see, it wasn't that difficult after all," said the nymph cheerfully.

Reluctantly, the guests returned their attention to the food and Crystalia stood up. She walked all the way to the other side of the rock-table with Arcadius and the bubble following suit.

"Octavius! Octavius, my dear! I have a surprise for you," she said.

Reaching the other side of the table, Arcadius saw a strange "boy" sitting silently there. It must have been around his age, although he could not be sure. The "boy" had no arms or legs. Regular arms or legs, that is. Instead, he had tentacles like those of an octopus. Actually, he looked a lot like an octopus. His head was large and bald, with big frogy eyes and skin white as fish belly peppered with purple freckles.

The octopus-boy turned his huge melancholic eyes towards Arcadius. He did not look the least entertained or even happy about his birthday party. He looked like he would rather be alone or somewhere else.

"Oh, thank you very much, Mother," he said with an indifferent voice. "It is very nice. What is it?"

"It is a boy from the land, my sweet. And it is all yours to do whatever you want with it," said Crystalia.

Arcadius clenched his teeth but said nothing.

Octavius' eyes seemed to brighten a little. "Really? Does it talk?" he asked.

"Of course, it does. It speaks nonsense, but it's not trained yet. I think you will be perfect for that," said Crystalia.

Arcadius was now ready to explode. Train him? Like a dog or parrot? That was absurd. But before he had time to open his mouth, Octavius opened his first.

"Mother, can I take my present to my room?" he said with a bright smile over his tiny mouth.

"Sure, you can, my sweet. Happy birthday," said Crystalia and kissed Octavius on his head.

Immediately he stood up and waving his tentacles, he swam out of the hall with Arcadius and the floating bubble behind him.

The octopus-boy, led Arcadius through the many ornate rooms of the underwater palace, until they reached the top of a coral tower. In there, Arcadius felt his jaw drop. Octavius' room was actually the shell of a gigantic water turtle. It's vault ceiling was painted blue like the sky, but instead of the sun, the moon or the stars, it had colorful starfish that glowed in a hypnotic way. From a round window came the soft greenish light of the lake. The bed was inside a seashell and the rest of the place was filled with countless things, mostly old stuff from the world above.

"What are all these?" asked Arcadius taking Octavius by surprise.

The octopus-boy shrieked and a cloud of ink swirled from under his tentacles.

"Oh, I am sorry," said Octavius looking embarrassed. "I had forgotten you could talk."

Arcadius bit his lip trying hard not to laugh. "It's ok. I didn't mean to scare you," he said smiling.

"These are my toys. Do you like them?" said Octavius. He was smiling too.

"Well, yes. They are very nice," said Arcadius looking at the junk.

Octavius' smiled became larger. "Mother brings them to me. These are things Murky finds in the lake, things the land-dwellers make," he said.

"Yes, but why do you need so many? I mean, soon you won't be able to walk in here," said Arcadius.

"I get bored easily. And how else can I pass the time here?"

"Well, you could play outside, in the lake. It's such an interesting place," said Arcadius.

Octavius took a frightened look. "Outside? Oh no, of course not! I never leave the palace," he said.

"Why not? If I lived here, I would be out exploring all the time," said Arcadius.

Octavius looked sad again. "Mother says outside it is dangerous. She says I might get ill. The waters are not so clean anymore you know," he said.

"Well, I still think it's a shame. Being locked up in here, while outside there are so many things to see and do. If I were you, I would never stay in here," said Arcadius looking form his oxygen bubble.

Octavius returned a look of admiration. "Is this why you are here?" he asked.

"I came here because I have to find something," said Arcadius.

"What?"

Arcadius sighed at the thought of his failed mission. "I was looking for a black crystal that by accident fell in the lake," he said. "It's like a shiny black rock, but now I think it's lost forever."

"No, it's not!" cried the octopus-boy.

"What do you mean?" said Arcadius.

"I have it! Wait I'll show you," said Octavius and turned to the pile of junk littering his room. After a bit of digging, he retrieved a small red box. "Here it is," he said to Arcadius whose heart was pounding. Could he be so lucky?

Yes, he could.

When Octavius opened the red box, he saw the black crystal laying in there. Another of the black gems that seemed to pulse with dark energy.

"Yes, this is it!" cried Arcadius and made to take it.

But Octavius snapped the lid. "No! It's mine!" he said.

"Octavius, please give me the crystal. It is very important. I have to take it back to the city before it is too late," said Arcadius.

"And why is that?"

"Because this crystal is very dangerous if it stays down here," said Arcadius.

Octavius looked doubtfully at the red box.

Arcadius had a sudden idea. "It could infect the entire lake. You know, make the waters bad, like you mother told you," he said.

That seemed to work. Octavius' eyes seemed to widen-if that could be possible-and he said, "Really?"

"Really," said Arcadius.

Octavius sighed. "All right, I will give it to you," he said and Arcadius cried of joy. "But on one condition," said the octopus-boy. "You will have to promise to be my friend."

"But this is not how it works, Octavius," said Arcadius. "You don't buy your friends, you earn them."

"And how do I do that?" asked Octavius with eager face.

"If you give me the crystal and help me get back to the surface, back to land, then you will be my friend. And I will be your friend forever," said Arcadius.

"Yes, but then you will be gone!" said Octavius.

"If you help me, I promise to come and visit you often. And we can spend time together and play," said Arcadius.

"You promise?" said Octavius.

"Yes, I do," said Arcadius without actually knowing how exactly he would keep his promise.

"Ok, then. I will help you run away," agreed the octopus-boy.

*

A few minutes later Arcadius and his bubble followed Octavius who was swimming fast in the green waters of the lake.

The octopus-boy had opened his room window and the two of them had floated outside, leaving the palace as carefully as possible. Now they were swimming above the strange underwater forest of the lake, heading to the surface.

Arcadius was eager to breathe fresh air and see his friends again, but suddenly a roar thundered in the water. The roar of the dragon Murky.

Octavius, who all this time seemed mesmerized by the underwater landscape outside his palace room, froze and with him froze Arcadius and the bubble.

"No, Octavius! Please don't stop now!" he cried to the octopus-boy.

"But it's Murky. I'm sure Mother send him after me. If I don't get back, she will punish me. She will lock me up forever," said Octavius.

"She might. But think about it. Aren't you already locked up in that room? Look how many things you're missing out. And remember, if you help me, I will be you friend forever."

Octavius seemed to be thinking about it while underneath, the dark figure of Murky was closing on them swiftly. At last the octopus-boy smiled.

"You are right. I don't want to be all day in my room. Not anymore. Mother can't keep me in there all the time. So, what if I get hurt or get sick? I think it's worse to be alone all the time and without friends," he said. Arcadius smiled and gave a sigh of relief. "Don't worry, Murky won't get you. I will stall him until the bubble takes you back to land."

"Thank you!" said Arcadius.

Octavius looked at Arcadius and his eyes seemed sad again. "Arcadius, will you remember me when you get back on land?"

Arcadius nodded, "I will, friend. I promise," he said.

"I wish, I could come with you. I want to see the land," said Octavius and with these words he swam back to the bottom of the lake.

At the same time, the bubble and Arcadius with it, thrusted upwards heading for the shores of Lake Crystalia. When it broke to the surface, it floated towards some slimy steps leading to the pier. Arcadius jumped to the steps and the bubble popped loudly.

Finding his balance, he turned to see if Murky had followed him, but the lake's surface glistened calmly under the late afternoon light. He breathed a sigh of relief and then checked the black crystal in his pocket. Good, it's still here, he thought and carefully climbed the slippery steps to the pier. He could not wait to tell Augustine and Kratos of all that happened under the lake.

But when he got back to the pier, he found it empty. He looked around and the only thing he saw, were the silent warehouses and deserted stores. Augustine and Kratos were gone. It took me way too much time to get back here. More than ten minutes, so they were probably worried sick and went to get help, he thought.

But then, he heard a familiar squeaky voice.

"Looking for your friendth?"

Startled, Arcadius looked around trying to see who was talking to him. But the pier still looked empty.

"You won't find them, thtupid boy," said the voice.

Arcadius turned his eyes to the ground and finally spotted the owner of that squeaky voice. He saw a rat standing in front of him. A fat, black rat with a red waistcoat and an impressive, for a rat, sword hanging on his side. His eyes gleamed as burning ambers, red and fiery, staring at Arcadius.

"A talking rat!" said Arcadius.

"Of courth, I talk, you cretin. And I am not jutht a rat. Not any rat. In front of you thtandth Rubiniuth, the great ratking!" said the rat.

"Oh, really?" said Arcadius and took a step towards Rubinius. "Where are my friends, rat?"

"Don't come any clother, little man! You hear me? Otherwithe I will order my thubjectth to ecthecute your friendth!" said the rat. He showed Arcadius something he was holding.

Arcadius saw it was the white crystal.

"What do you want?" he said angrily to the rat.

"I want you to bring me the black crythtalth. I know you have them. Bring them tonight at number 736 and maybe you will thee your friendth again," said the rat. Then he turned and ran to the wall of a warehouse, where he disappeared into a small hole.

For a while, Arcadius stood there, frozen and unwilling to believe this unexpected turn of events. Augustine and Kratos were in danger. And he had to do something about it. But what could he do on his own?

Looking around he found his satchel thrown to the ground. He picked it up and looked inside. Thankfully, Rubinius was not clever enough to search his satchel. Otherwise he would have found the other two black crystals.

The sun was setting when Arcadius shoved the third crystal in his satchel and used the mechanical map to find the right direction. The he started running.

He had to get help.
The Secret of the Smog

Instead of running back home or calling the police, Arcadius ran to the junkyard and Phrony. If anyone in Ephemeria would ever believe that his friends had been abducted by a mad ratking, that would be Phrony. And since he already knew Rubinius, he would probably know how to free Augustine and Kratos from his clutches.

Reaching the junkyard, he was surprised to see the airship almost completely repaired. It was still missing its sails but the haul looked as good as new. Arcadius spotted Phrony on the deck, rubbing his stained hands with a rag.

"Phrony! Phrony!" he cried running.

Phrony leaned over the gunwale. "Why on earth are you screaming like this? I am not deaf you know," he said. "I hope you're not here asking for help again."

"Yes, I need help and I need it now! So, if you want your crystals, you have to help me!" shouted Arcadius.

"Here we go again," said Phrony with a sigh. "Ok, climb up and tell me what you want this time," said the investigator and threw a rope ladder for Arcadius.

In any other case, Arcadius would have been thrilled to climb on an airship, but with Augustine and Kratos in danger, the only thing in his mind was saving them from Rubinius. And once on board, he told Phrony everything that happened during the last few days. The investigator listened carefully without any comments and then he started walking back and forth on the deck with a thoughtful expression. A few moments later, he stopped and turned to Arcadius again.

"I have to say, I am impressed, kid. And although I should be really mad with you for dragging more people into this whole mess-not to mention doing things I never asked you to do-you, and your friends made much more progress than I could've imagined. I have to say, I underestimated you," he said.

Arcadius felt his cheeks burning.

"So, I guess you are right. Now is my time to act," continued Phrony. "That awful Rubinius, is nothing but a little arrogant rodent who thinks he can rule the world. And it seems he's willing to do anything to make that happen. I understand now, I made a mistake thinking after his defeat from Hydroceanius in Opportunata, he would crawl back into some forsaken rat hole and give up. What I don't understand, is why he wants the black crystals."

"I told you. There's this strange man who gives the orders and wants the crystals," said Arcadius.

Phrony nodded slowly. "Yes, but we still don't know why," he said. "Well, one thing is certain: something serious is brewing in this city and we have to act quickly," he added.

"You mean we are going after Rubinius?" said Arcadius feeling a little relieved.

"Yes, eventually," said Phrony with brooding eyes.

"What do you mean, "eventually"?" said Arcadius.

"First we need to take care of something else. Something that can stop us from finding your friends," said Phrony.

"I don't understand," said Arcadius.

"Of course, you don't. You're not thinking hard enough," said Phrony. "What is the odd thing happening here every night?"

Arcadius seemed confused. "You mean the shifting? Ephemeria changing every night?" he said.

"Well yes, that is odd too. But I mean something else, something as strange as the shifting. Come on think, it's not that hard," said Phrony.

Arcadius shrugged. Time was running out and he was in no mood for riddles.

"Oh, for heaven's sake! The smog! I mean the smog!" said Phrony.

"The smog?" said Arcadius.

"You've never wondered why this place gets drowned in smog every night?" asked Phrony.

"No, why should I? What's so strange about the smog? I mean it's just... smog" said Arcadius.

"Is it?" said Phrony with bright eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Phrony sighed. "Besides all else in this weird city, the smog was the first thing that caught my attention. Especially after my second night here, when I fell asleep without even noticing. I slept like a log," said Phrony.

"What's so strange about that and what does it have to do with the smog?"

"It is strange when you suffer from severe insomnia like me," said Phrony. "That got me thinking. Not even the strongest sleeping potions I could buy in Opportunata could make me fall asleep so easily. And I had not eaten or drunk anything here. So, it was the only logical conclusion. I must have inhaled something. And what could that something be?"

"The smog," said Arcadius.

"Exactly," said Phrony.

"This is why we don't feel Ephemeria shifting every night. We are being drugged!" said Arcadius.

"Good, very good. Now you're thinking the right way," said Phrony with a big smile. "Yesterday I decided to make a small investigation and I managed to get to the bottom of this."

"And?" said Arcadius.

"You will see," said Phrony.

*

Five minutes later Arcadius and Phrony were crossing the almost deserted streets of Ephemeria. Everybody seemed to be back home and Arcadius thought his parents would have had a fit by now. They would be worried sick after this and probably would punish him for the rest of his life. But he simply couldn't abandon his friends to their fate. Especially since he was responsible for getting them into trouble.

"Where is the box?" he asked Phrony at some point, noticing its absence.

"Oh, I've sent it to the cat emperor, to Sharpclaw. I had to give him a report on my findings here in Ephemeria," said Phrony studying the mechanical map in his hands. "Here it is. In the next corner."

"Here is what?" said Arcadius but his question was answered when they walked around the next corner.

In front of them stood towering the huge metal gate leading to the courtyard of the Factory Of Ephemeria.

"What are we doing here?" said Arcadius.

"I thought you wanted the answer for the smog. Well, here it is. Come on," said Phrony and walked to a large trash bin by the gate.

They climbed the trash bin and the tall fence, dropping into the empty courtyard on the other side.

"Stay close and don't make a sound. I need your help with something," whispered Phrony.

Arcadius nodded and the two of them crept towards one of the FOE's side walls. There, Arcadius saw some strange holes covered with metal grills. Thick grey steam poured from the holes, crawling slowly on the ground.

"What is this?" whispered Arcadius.

"The smog that covers the city every night. And if you don't want to fall asleep, I suggest you wear this," said Phrony and gave Arcadius a gasmask.

Arcadius placed the mask over his face and followed Phrony who was already climbing a metal ladder screwed on the wall. The ladder led to the factory's rooftop where the air was still fresh and they could take their masks off.

"The smog that covers Ephemeria every night is completely artificial and not at all innocent. It's some sort of strong sleeping gas," said Phrony looking at the crawling smog on the ground. By now the gas had almost filled the entire courtyard and was ready to spill over the fencing and to the neighboring streets.

"Who makes this stuff? And why?" said Arcadius.

"Well you are about to find out who makes the gas. As for the why, I'm afraid that needs more investigating. Now follow me and be extremely careful," said Phrony and walked to a skylight. He crept inside and nodded to Arcadius.

When Arcadius got inside, he saw they were standing on a metal ramp, fitted closely to the ceiling. It was a perfect vantage point and they could easily observe the industrious commotion in the immense space underneath.

"Dogmen!" said Arcadius startled. That was how Augustine called the creature that attacked her in the museum the other time. And the beasts working relentlessly down there, looked exactly like that.

"Hush! You want them to see us?" said Phrony.

"I'm sorry," said Arcadius. "What are they doing?"

"You see those huge boilers at the other side, right in front of that glass wall?" said Phrony pointing.

Arcadius saw dogmen with huge bins, constantly pouring a black liquid in one of the boilers, while others emptied sacks of white powder to the other.

"Each of these boilers produces a chemical that runs through pipes and then falls in that steam turbine in the middle," said Phrony. Arcadius looked at the strange machine buzzing loudly in the middle of that place. "Once the two chemicals are mixed in the turbine, they produce a vapor, the smog that floods the city every night, making everyone fall deeply asleep."

"But why? Why are they doing that?" said Arcadius.

"I have no idea. And it's not just that," said Phrony.

"What do you mean?"

"In another hall of the factory, I saw them lacing with chemicals all those foods you eat around here. And I'm pretty sure those chemicals are not innocent either," said the young investigator.

"Really? They're putting stuff into our food? No wonder everything tastes so bad," said Arcadius.

"I don't think it only tastes bad, I think it also changes your mind, the way you think," said Phrony.

"The way we think? I don't understand."

"Me either. But at least, I know how to stop them," said the investigator and pulled two vials from the small backpack he was carrying.

"What are these?" asked Arcadius.

"These are two chemicals of my own. We'll add them to mixture in the boilers. Those nasty dogmen are into for a huge surprise," said Phrony. "So, here's the plan, kid. The ramp crosses the entire length of the factory and goes right above the boilers. You will take one of these vials and when I give you the signal, you will pour it into the boiler. Got it?"

Arcadius nodded and took the vial. They walked on the ramp to a point where it forked and Arcadius took the left side, while Phrony took the right side. Carefully they positioned themselves above the boilers.

Arcadius stood above the one with the white powder. He looked down and saw a white liquid bubbling like a witch's nasty brew. A strong almond like smell rose, making Arcadius fill a little dizzy. He shook his head and looked to Phrony. The investigator rose his hand ready to give the signal.

But then, a howl came from underneath. Arcadius jerked and the vial fell from his hand. It rolled on the ramp but right before it fell off, Arcadius dived and grabbed it.

From underneath rose even more howls and wild barking. The dogmen had seen them.

Arcadius shot Phrony with a terrified look.

"Now, Arcadius! Now!" cried Phrony.

With trembling hands, Arcadius opened the vial and poured the amber liquid it contained in the boiler.

"Run! Follow me!" yelled Phrony.

He didn't have to say it twice. Arcadius ran and they both started for the skylight. But the dogmen managed to get there first and block their way out.

"What know?" cried Arcadius.

Phrony looked around and his eyes fell on the large glass wall behind the boilers.

"Quickly, follow me!" he said and they both ran back towards the boilers.

At the end of the ramp, Phrony took out from his backpack a crossbow and an arrow tied at the end of some rope. With swift moves, he placed the arrow in the crossbow and fired towards the glass wall. The arrow flew with the rope uncoiling behind and snagged on the wall right above the glass.

"We don't have much time. Jump on my back and hung on tight!" said Phrony.

Arcadius climbed on Phrony's back and locked his hands around the investigator's neck. Behind them, he could hear dogmen running on the ramp, barking and howling angrily.

Holding the rope, Phrony jumped and Arcadius closed his eyes, feeling the air swooshing.

A second later, a huge explosion turned everything around them into a fiery ball.

Arcadius felt a huge thrust on his back, like an invisible hammer smashing him on the glass wall. Then a sensation like he was floating in midair with pieces of broken glass and bright red sparks.

The sensation lasted a few seconds before he started falling again. He thought he was done for it, but then, instead of crashing hard on the ground and maybe breaking every bone in his body, he landed onto something unexpectedly soft.

"Hey, kid, are you ok?" he heard someone saying.

Arcadius shook his head and saw Phrony standing above him. He had a worried expression and for some reason that seemed funny to Arcadius. But he managed not to laugh.

"Oh... What happened?" he asked and stood up.

"We barely made it, kid," said Phrony. He was smiling now.

When Arcadius came to his senses, he realized they had landed on a pile of cardboards that saved their lives. He breathed a sigh of relief but then he remembered the dogmen and turned towards the FOE. His eyes widened with astonishment.

"Oh!" he managed.

Almost the entire building had been destroyed by the explosion. And what was left of it, was slowly devoured by bright red flames.

"As you see, my chemicals did a perfectly good job. There's no way that smog coming back. Or those dogmen for that matter," said Phrony.

For some reason his voice seemed distant. Arcadius could barely hear him.

"I can't hear you very well," he said but Phrony smiled confidently.

"Don't worry, it's the explosion. Your ears are fine. It will pass soon."

"The dogmen, where did they come from?" said Arcadius.

"I am not sure. These creatures were supposed to be mythical. Long gone. They say, in ancient times, dogmen used to rule a huge kingdom. Much like the cat kingdom. But then came the men and conquered their lands and destroyed their capital city. And since then, no one ever heard anything about them," said Phrony. "But now, I understand they only seemed to be extinct."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you ever wonder how these "drivers" could find their way so easily in the maze of Ephemeria?"

"Well, no. They always could," said Arcadius and then he widened his eyes. "Oh, you mean... You mean the Drivers of Ephemeria are actually dogmen?"

"That's exactly what I mean. Their extreme sense of smell is what guides them. Somehow, they found a way to turn into humans and live here, among you, working as Drivers. But who knows what kind of evil plans they are actually spinning," said Phrony with serious eyes. He helped Arcadius stand up. "Anyway, it's time to go and face that horrible rodent, Rubinius," he said.
Into the Sewers

For the first time in many years, Ephemeria was alive at nightfall. Alive but also a little num. As Arcadius and Phrony ran through the street, they saw people looking from windows with dazed faces or standing on balconies not sure what or if they should do something. They all had a puzzled expression. Like people who had just woken from a long and dreamless slumber.

As they passed outside the police station, they saw Officer Jeremiah Winemug trying to calm down a group of shouting people. Somewhere in the background, Arcadious could hear sirens. Probably the fire engines rushing to the FOE.

"I've never seen so many people at this hour," said Arcadius.

"It was about time everybody woke up, don't you think? Look at them, they were oblivious like animals," said Phrony.

A few minutes later they were crossing a deserted part of the city. Here the silence was eerie and the houses old and unkempt. They spotted number 736 which was an arched entrance to the city's sewers. In front of the barred entrance, they saw Rubinius waiting for them and next to him Augustine, Kratos and a Driver.

"Finally! I wath about to-" started the rat when he noticed Phrony. "You! You came to thpoil my planth again?" cried Rubinius.

"Dirty rat! You still haven't learnt your lesson. Release the children immediately, otherwise you'll pay for it, you hear me?" said Phrony and took a step forward.

"Don't come any clother! Or I'll tell him to kill them!" shrieked the rat jumping up and down. The Driver grabbed Augustine and Kratos from the neck, smiling viciously.

"No!" shouted Arcadius.

Phrony stopped. "Ok, you horrible little monster! Tell me what you want," he shouted.

The rat smiled revealing a set of sharp tiny teeth. "I want the crythtalth of courthe. Give them to me and I will give you the children," he said.

"No, Arcadius! No," cried Augustine.

"Thilenth, thtupid girl!" said Rubinius.

Without a second thought, Arcadius took the three black crystals out of his backpack.

Rubinius' eyes gleamed. "Bring them here! Bring them here!" he screeched.

"No. You let them go first," said Arcadius.

"No! Throw me the crythtalth firtht," said the rat.

Arcadius threw the crystals, and they rolled like black dice in the middle of the street. Immediately, the Driver ran for them and at the same time, Augustine and Kratos ran towards Arcadius and Phrony.

But when the Driver touched the crystals, he started shivering and his body begun changing. A terrible howl left his mouth as he turned into a huge dogman.

"Thith time, victory will be mine, you thtupid invethtigator!" shrieked Rubinius and both, he and the dogman turned to the barred entrance and pushing it, they vanished into the city's sewers.

"I thought we would never make it," said Kratos gasping.

"Yes. Drivers came onto us while we were waiting for you at the pier. They grabbed us and took us down to the sewers. It was awful," said Augustine.

"Yes, and that rat kept saying how he would cut us into little pieces if you didn't bring him the crystals," said Kratos.

"Excuse me for interrupting this lovely reunion, but I have to remind you, that the city is in grave danger. Rubinius has the crystals and who knows what he plans to do with them. I advise you to get back to your homes and your parents. Only there, you will be safe tonight," he said.

"This is Phrony?" said Augustine with a smirk.

"Yes. Is there a problem little girl?" said Phrony.

"Well... I expected you a little more impressive," said Augustine coolly.

"Oh, really? What did you expect? Muscles? A sword maybe and a shiny armor?" said Phrony.

Before Augustine had time to answer that, Arcadius said, "What are we going to do now?"

"You are not going to do anything," said Phrony. "I am going to go down there and hunt that vile rodent. You are going to go back to your homes."

With those words, Phrony crossed the street and followed Rubinius and the dogman down to the sewers.

Arcadius, Augustine and Kratos stood silently for a few moments looking at each other. Doubt hung on their faces.

"So, what are you thinking?" said Arcadius in the end.

"I am thinking of a nice roasted chicken and my bed," said Kratos.

"I think he is right. I think it's dangerous to follow them down there," said Augustine, guessing what Arcadius was thinking. "It's truly horrible."

"Haven't you had enough adventures?" said Kratos.

"I know it's dangerous, but I have to find out what those crystals are. I have to," insisted Arcadius. "Besides, I am sure Phrony would need help, no matter what he says."

The three kids turned to the dark entrance leading to the sewers.

"Well, you're not completely wrong on that," agreed Augustine.

"I think he'll be just fine, he's a professional. And if we go down there again, we might not be so lucky this time," said Kratos.

"You are right," said Arcadius and the other two kids looked startled. "It's too dangerous and it's not fair to ask you to come with me."

"Oh, no! If you go down there, then I am coming with you," said Augustine. The look on her face made it quite clear any arguing would be in vain.

Arcadius smiled and they both turned to Kratos.

The burly boy, sighed. "Well, I guess my dad is going to kill me anyway, so I might as well help you out before he does."

*

The first thing they saw when they crossed the entrance to the sewers, was a slime-covered flight of steps leading to absolute darkness.

"I don't suppose any of you has a lamp?" said Arcadius.

"Maybe we should give this a better thought," said Kratos looking at the darkness ahead.

"I have an idea," said Augustine.

"Of course, you do," said Kratos with an eyeroll.

"Kid! Hey, Kid, come out," said Augustine opening her small box.

"Finally! I was in there for hours!" said Kid coming out of the box.

Right away, it became obvious what Augustine had in mind. Kid was glowing like a firefly, and although it wasn't as good as having a proper lamp, the glow was strong enough for them to see where they were going.

They cautiously went down the steps and after a while they saw a huge tunnel with something like a trench in the middle. The trench was filled with black sluggish water and the air with a foul smell.

"Who knows what's in there," whispered Kratos with disgust.

"Yes, so be careful not to fall in it," said Arcadius.

They started walking down the tunnel, but after a while, they had to stop again because the tunnel forked in front of them.

"So where do we go now?" asked Augustine.

"Where did he go?" said Arcadius thoughtfully.

They stood there, watching the tunnels ahead. One was leading straight away, while the other made a sharp right turn. For a few moments, the silence was broken only by the occasional dripping of water.

"There's no point staying here like logs. Let's just pick one," said Augustine in the end.

"Ok, then. Let's go that way," said Kratos pointing at the tunnel straight ahead.

They all agreed and started walking, but soon they found themselves standing in another junction. Augustine was about to say they could get lost in there, when Phrony came out of a side tunnel. He stopped in his tracks, looking at them behind some odd yellow goggles, with an expression of disbelief.

"What are you all doing down here?" he said.

"Er... well, we came to help you," said Arcadius.

"Silly children! Didn't I tell you to go back to your parents?" said Phrony. He seemed truly angry, but then he looked over his shoulder. "Damn! Quickly, come with me!" he said and pulled them all back to the tunnel they had come from. "Quickly, get in there," he said to the kids pointing at the trench with the sewage water.

"You got to be kidding," said Augustine.

"Do as I say if you want to save yourselves. Hurry, they're coming!" whispered Phrony.

They heard barking and growling from the depths of the tunnel. Sounds that send chills up their spines.

"Dogmen!" said Augustine.

"Yes, and if you don't want them to find us, get into the water," said Phrony jumping in the trench.

The kids followed him unwillingly.

"Now keep quiet. And tell that thing to stop glowing, they're coming," said Phrony nodding towards the ghostly boy that was hovering above the dirty water.

"Hey, Kid, hide yourself," whispered Arcadius and immediately Kid faded.

A second later two dogmen carrying lamps, came from the other side of the tunnel. They were big and their dog-heads turned around, looking for intruders.

"Gar, do you smell anything?" said one of the dogmen.

"Not anymore," said the other.

"But I'm sure I smelled a human," said the first one.

"Maybe a draught brought it from the city above, Hrum" said Gar.

"Maybe. But we must be careful. Tonight, is the big night," replied Hrum.

"Yes, but we can't be late. The master will soon be at the large chamber," said Gar.

Hrum just growled and sniffed the air one last time. Then the two dogmen turned and vanished back in the tunnel.

Relieved, Phrony and the three kids stepped out of the trench, dripping dirty water.

"Pff! I stink worse than rotten cheese!" said Augustine.

"Would you rather have them catch us?" said Phrony irritated. "Although maybe I should've let them catch you. Maybe then, I could do my job unhindered."

"We just want to help," said Arcadius.

Phrony gave him a good look behind those yellow goggles he was wearing. Then he sighed. "I guess I can't escape you kid. Ok, then, let's go after those two and find out what they were talking about," he said and took a few steps before stopping and turning again. "But please be quiet!" he added.

It seemed those yellow goggles, Phrony was wearing, were yet another amazing instrument. With their help, Phrony could see the tracks those two dogmen left behind. And not just that. He could also see in the dark, so they easily managed to follow those horrible creatures.

"Careful!" whispered Phrony suddenly and pushed them on the wall of the tunnel.

With his heart pounding, Arcadius dared a look ahead and what he saw, made his jaw drop.

The tunnel led to vast vault chamber. And it seemed like all the sewers of the city ended up there. Dirty waterfalls filled a small black lake, which in turn formed a river flowing into a huge barrel tunnel. Wooden ramps led form the secondary tunnels to a platform right in front of that huge tunnel, a platform held by ropes, bobbing gently like a raft.

Gathered on the platform, were all those horrible creatures they had come across the last few days. Arcadius saw dreamghosts and red goblins, dogmen and of course countless large rats carrying pistols and swords. It was an entire army of evil beings. Among them Arcadius saw the ratking, Rubinius.

All of the creatures had their backs turned to them and were looking towards the large central tunnel. They stood silently, apparently waiting for something to happen. Or someone to arrive, because a few seconds later, Arcadius saw a flickering light emerging from the depths of the main tunnel.

"Oh!" said Augustine softly. "It's the headmaster. It's professor Gnomonius!"

"Hush!" said Phrony.

Arcadius and Kratos watched wide eyed as Headmaster Gnomonius stood in front of the creatures. A dogman wearing a golden armor stepped forward and gave him the three black crystals.

"Finally! The other three crystals are ours," shouted Headmaster Gnomonius to the assembly, raising his hand. The creatures on the platform roared while he pocketed the three black gems. "The time has come my faithful servants. The time to complete our plans. Tonight, with your help, I will take control of Ephemeria once and for all. Nothing will stand against us anymore. And soon I will bring order to chaos, soon my machines will be able to build a new world, a world of science and logic. Tonight, a new era begins and you will be given the place you deserve. Oh, it will be a golden age!" said Headmaster Gnomonius and the creatures in front of him roared enthusiastically.

"What's he talking about?" whispered Augustine frowning.

"I have no idea," said Arcadius.

Gnomonius turned towards the dogman with the golden armor. "Argh, take your dogmen, the goblins and the dreamghosts and go arm yourselves in the crystal mine. The automatons there are ready. I want you to start tearing that hideous forest down. I want you to level it by sunrise. In its place we will built a new city. The most magnificent city the world has ever seen. Its towers will reach the skies!" continued Headmaster Gnomonius.

"Yes master. With pleasure. We will destroy that awful forest and we will spare nothing!" said Argh and then howled.

Immediately, in a huge ruckus, the army of dogmen, red goblins and dreamghosts flooded the side tunnels forcing Phrony and the three kids to hide again in the trench with the dirty water.

When the creatures vanished and silence fell over the tunnels again, cautiously they stepped out and looked at the large chamber. Now only Rubinius and his rat army stood on the platform in front of Headmaster Gnomonius.

"Tho, mathter... I did what you athked me to do. I brought you the crythtals. Thouldn't I have my reward now?" said Rubinius.

Professor Gnomonius looked at him like he was some sort of annoying insect. "All right, rat. Although you have been a disappointment many times, you brought me the crystals. That much is true. So, you can claim your reward. You can take Ephemeria and make it yours. Besides, soon I will no longer need this place," he said.

"Yeth mathter, you will have your gloriouth mechanical thity," said Rubinius and turned to his rat army. "Men! Tonight, the thity will be ourth! To war!" he shrieked and thousands of armed rats flooded the sewer tunnels. And again, Phrony and the three kids went into the filthy water of the trench.

"If I step one more time in that horrible thing, I will throw up," said Kratos when the rat army vanished and it was safe enough for them to get out.

"They will destroy the forest!" said Augustine ignoring Kratos' comment. Her eyes were filled with fear. "They will use those terrible machines in the mine. We have to do something!"

"Yes. And not just that. The rats will take over the entire city," said Arcadius and turned to Phrony.

The young investigator was looking towards the now empty platform in the chamber. "What we must do is take those crystals. That mad man is going to use them somehow and if he does, I fear that would be the end of us," he said.

"Well I don't care about those stupid crystals anymore. I must go to my granny. I have to tell her the forest is in danger," shouted Augustine.

Phrony nodded and took off his goggles. He gave them to Arcadius. "Take them and get out of here. Go warn everyone in the city and the forest. They have to prepare for war," he said.

"What will you do?" asked Arcadius taking the goggles.

"I will go after that man," said Phrony and run towards the platform.

The three kids stood there for a few seconds, watching him reach the platform and then vanishing in the darkness beyond the huge central tunnel.

"Arcadius, we have to go" said Augustine.

Arcadius turned towards her and then he shook his head. "No. You Augustine go tell Gran what's happening, and you Kratos go tell Officer Winemug. Not the mayor, because I don't think he'll believe you," he said and gave Augustine the goggles.

"And what will you do?" asked Kratos.

"Me and the Kid will follow Phrony," he said and before they had time to object, he turned and ran towards the platform.

"Arcadius, come back! Have you gone mad?" shouted Kratos but Arcadius did not turn.

"Let him," said Augustine.

Kratos looked at Augustine with worried eyes. "But what if something happens to him?" he said.

"I'm sure he will be all right. He's tougher than he looks, you know," said the girl with the hint of a sad smile on her face.

Then she put on the goggles and the two of them started running towards the exit of the sewers.
Machine

With Kid lighting his way, Arcadius followed Phrony in the barrel tunnel. He walked as cautiously as possible, careful not to fall into the rushing black water that flowed in the middle.

A little later, he heard shouting and strange noises coming from up ahead. He risked running and after a while he saw what was happening. Phrony was engaged in a swordfight with an automaton a little taller than him. The automaton had bright headlights throwing a harsh white light, forming crazy shadows on the tunnel walls.

At first, Arcadius thought the automaton was some guardian programmed to stop anyone who tried to cross the tunnel, but then he heard Rubinius' squeaky voice.

"Thith time you won't get away, thtupid invethtigator! I will cut you into pietheth and you will never again interfere with my planth!" said the rat. He was sitting inside a small cabin in the chest of the automaton, frantically pushing levers and buttons.

The automaton held a sword, trying to fulfill Rubinius' wish: to cut Phrony into pieces. But it was not easy. The young investigator was an agile and capable swordfighter, skillfully avoiding the automaton's blows and striking back. Unfortunately, his sword did not seem to have any effect on the automaton.

"Oh, really? I wonder if you'll still think that when I get my hands on you!" replied Phrony.

"Not thith time," said Rubinius and the automaton struck with its sword.

Steel clashed and rung throughout the tunnel.

By fighting Rubinius, Phrony was losing time and the Headmaster was now far ahead, with no one to stop him.

Well, no one but me, thought Arcadius.

Taking a big breath, he ran through the middle of the fray, narrowly avoiding a stray sword strike. Phrony was startled and almost payed for that. He ducked at the last moment and the automaton's sword swooshed over his head. Then he glanced towards Arcadius who was already running to the depths of the tunnel, "Hey, kid? Where are you going? Stop!"

"Someone has to stop the headmaster!" shouted Arcadius back.

"It's too dangerous! Stop!" cried Phrony while avoiding yet another blow from Rubinius' automaton. He tried to go after Arcadius but the automaton blocked his way.

"Oh no, you are not going anywhere. Firtht we will thettle our differentheth. The mathter will take care of the boy," shrieked Rubinius wickedly.

"You damn rat!" said Phrony and attacked the automaton.

*

Arcadius kept running in the darkness of the central tunnel with Kid on his side, until he reached something that looked like an underground cliff. A sudden end to the sewer leading to absolute blackness. The river of filthy water plunged into the abyss with a roaring sound.

"Where did he go?" said Arcadius looking around him. He couldn't see a way further ahead.

"Here. Over here, Arcadius," said Kid standing close to the wall of the tunnel.

Arcadius walked there and saw a metal ladder hidden in the shadows. It led upwards.

"He must have climbed up there," he said and without hesitation he started climbing the ladder. It went on and on and when at some point, Arcadius dared a glance down, the only thing he saw was darkness. A vast darkness filled with the distant roar of falling water.

Finally, after a few more minutes of careful climbing he came to the top of the ladder. He stood there and under the faint glow of his ghostly companion he looked around. And he felt a shiver going down his spine.

"Where are we?" said Kid softly.

"We are in the vaults, under the GEI," whispered Arcadius.

"I don't like it here. It feels strange," said Kid looking around.

"I don't like it either. But Gnomonius went through here and we have to follow him," said Arcadius. Hoping we don't get ourselves lost, he added silently.

Thankfully, they came across those markings Augustine had made on the walls a few days back and following them it was easy to find the way out.

The door leading to the GEI was unlocked and when Arcadius and Kid slipped out of the vaults, they were greeted by silence and a green glow coming from the Avenue.

"What is that?" said Kid.

"I have no idea," whispered Arcadius and crept closer to the Avenue.

He peered behind a corner and he saw that a large portion of the marble floor had disappeared. A wide staircase led now to some place underneath. The green glow was coming from there.

Arcadius looked left and right and then he tiptoed towards the staircase. He saw there was no one there and was about to climb down when he heard Kid.

"Arcadius, do we really have to go down there?" said the ghostly boy.

Arcadius turned and looked at him. Kid was scared, truly scared. "We have to, Kid. We must stop Gnomonius. There's no one else to do it," he said and tried to smile, "but if you don't want to follow it's ok, I understand. You can stay here and I will go alone."

"No! I can't let you go alone," said the ghostly boy.

"It could be dangerous down there," said Arcadius.

"What more could happen to me? Look at me, I am already dead," said Kid.

Arcadius nodded. "Ok, but I'm thinking maybe it's better if you get invisible. That way, if you see things are getting really bad, you can go and tell the others, tell Phrony," said Arcadius.

Kid nodded and with a thin smile he became invisible. Arcadius turned to the staircase and took a big breath before climbing down the marble steps.

It didn't take long before he found himself standing in front of a large doorway. It was wide open and from inside came that creepy green glow. Stealthily, Arcadius walked to the gate and peered inside.

A great octagonal chamber lay ahead, filled with odd pipes and cables and several flickering lamps, forming a huge skein in the middle. There, on a pedestal, he saw a big glass ball. It was the source of the green glow and immediately Arcadius felt it was also the source of something truly evil. In front of the pedestal, professor Gnomonius was carefully placing the three black crystals in glass tubes. A fourth was already inside one.

"Ah, Arcadius..." said professor Gnomonius without turning, startling him. "I was certain you would come. I was certain you would not take my advice and mind your own business."

His voice was thoughtful and maybe a little sad. But when he turned towards Arcadius, his face looked scary under that sickening green light. "I suppose you came here to stop me, am I right?" he asked scornfully.

Arcadius recovered from his astonishment and he cautiously walked into the chamber. "Yes. What you are doing is crazy!" he said and a part of him could not believe he was actually defying the will of the Headmaster.

"And what am I doing, my dear boy?" said professor Gnomonius.

"You want to use the black crystals. I don't know why, but I know that if you do, everything will be destroyed. The black crystals are evil," he said.

"Is that what your friend told you? That Phrony person? And why should you trust him? Why should you trust a stranger?" said professor Gnomonius.

Arcadius shook his head but said nothing.

"Oh, Arcadius, you are such a naïve boy," said professor Gnomonius. His voice was now fatherly and without a hint of maliciousness or aggression. "But you see, that was always the problem with you children. You are so eager to believe and follow anyone offering an adventure. Adults on the other hand understand the necessities of life. They understand responsibility and therefore are easy to herd. But you kids have this restlessness, this enduring need to rebel and do whatever comes to mind. And that, my boy, is a terrible defect if you want to build the perfect city and a civilized world." Professor Gnomonius tied his hands behind his back and continued talking as if he was in class. "Many years ago, I used to believe it was a problem easily fixed with conventional ways. A proper and strict school. That was why I created the Grand Educational Institute. Alas, this was not the case. Soon I realized it was not enough and you (if you don't mind me saying so) are an excellent proof of that. What if the lessons taught here where supposed to teach you science and logic and discipline? What if I forbade all those books talking about superstitions and what if I kept us away from that horrible forest and its secrets and oddities? Nothing! Nothing could keep you under my control. Until one day I realized what the actual problem was. Can you take a guess?"

Arcadius shrugged.

"Why your vivid imagination, of course. Your need to dream. That is what's making you want to break the rules. I soon realized, if I ever was going to create a world of order and control, I should first control people's imagination. Only then we would be able to move forward, to the bright future of the machines, to the cold metal that follows rules with diligent precision. Only that could be our ultimate salvation, our ultimate evolution," said Headmaster Gnomonius. His eyes were gleaming from fervor.

"But you have dogmen and talking mice and dreamghosts in your service. How do all these strange creatures fit into your plans?"

"Excellent question! I'm glad you're asking. Whether I like it or not, relics of that awful past of myth and magic still linger in the world. And the best way to destroy them is to use them. To study them and logically explain their existence. That way you deny them their magic. Imagine how much less impressive the dogmen are if they come out of the shadows and we all treat them like nothing more but another species of animals, no matter how odd. Animals that we can use to further advance our knowledge, our science. And in the end, when all the world will be mechanical and we have conquered all knowledge, we will be able to get rid of them. Just like other useless things, like our emotions for instance. Then and only then, we will become something truly superior. Something truly divine," said professor Gnomonius leaving Arcadius speechless for a moment.

"But people are not machines! They can never be like the machines!" he said and he could hear the frustration in his own voice. What professor Gnomonius was describing was not a paradise but a nightmare. People without emotions and without imagination, living life like automatons.

"You are wrong. If everything that reminds our past disappears, then men will be like machines. Eternally untouched by pain and grief and death," said Gnomonius.

"Is this why you want to destroy the forest?" said Arcadius.

"Oh, I see you heard my little speech previously. Well, yes, that is why the forest and every other forest must be destroyed. It's time for a new age, the age of the machines."

"Well I don't like this new age of yours!" cried Arcadius.

Professor Gnomonius gave Arcadius a condescending smile. "And here is the solution to the mystery you so eagerly wanted solved", he said. "The machine you see here, I built especially for children like you. It will make you dream only one thing: the machines. No more fairy tales and ghosts and adventures. You will only dream machines and you will only build machines."

Arcadius gave the glowing glass ball on the pedestal a mortified look.

"The only problem with this invention, was the power source. Unfortunately to make it work, I needed huge amounts of energy. No matter what I tried, it was not enough. Fortunately, at the right moment the dogmen came along and revealed to me the existence of these amazing crystals. They hold such an extreme energy, that is more than enough to power my machine for all eternity," continued Gnomonius.

"What they hold is not just extreme energy, professor. What they hold is Nocturnus. And if you use them, you will set him free," yelled Arcadius. He had suddenly realized what great danger they were facing.

Professor Gnomonius looked at him and raised one of his eyebrows. "What are you talking about, silly boy? They're just rare crystals, formed millions of years ago in the bowls of the earth. Nothing more, nothing less. They are the missing piece and once I flip this switch here, you will be the first to witness the power of my beautiful machine," said Gnomonius and pointed to a small switch on a panel next to him.

Arcadius tried to run towards him without actually knowing what he was going to do, but then he felt strong hands grabbing his shoulders. With his heart racing, he turned and saw Voos Woolfling standing behind him, smiling viciously.

"Well done, Mr Woolfling," said professor Gnomonius, "Please bring Mr Carrot closer to the sphere. I am curious to see the effects of my machine on him."

"Yes, Headmaster," said Woolfling and started dragging Arcadius.

"No! Let me go!" screamed Arcadius with wide eyes. "Let me go!"
The Son

The moment Woolfling dragged Arcadius towards the crystal globe and professor Gnomonius was about to switch his invention on, a voice was heard. A voice that froze the hand of professor Gnomonius.

"Dad?"

Arcadius turned and saw Kid. The ghostly boy was looking with wide eyes at the Headmaster. Arcadius turned towards professor Gnomonius and saw his hands shaking. "No, it can't be!" he heard him whispering.

"Dad, it's me! I remember! I can remember now!" cried the ghostly boy.

"Achilles? Is that really you, my son?" said Gnomonius with a trembling voice. Now his face had a pained expression and he did not look at all like the powerful headmaster he was a few seconds ago. "My child... Have you come back to me?" said Gnomonius. He stepped away from the panel and the switch, walking towards Kid.

"But I never left, dad. I couldn't. You never let me go. Your sadness kept me here in the cemetery and never let me leave to where all souls must travel," said the ghostly boy, Achilles.

Arcadius saw professor Gnomonius tearing up. "Oh, my son, my dear, dear son. Why didn't you listen to me? Why did you have to go there?" said professor Gnomonius softly.

"Because I was not like you, dad. Because I liked other things and you only wanted me to study and be a scientist like you. But I didn't want to be a scientist. I wanted to be an explorer," said the boy.

"I was only thinking of your own good. I only wanted to protect you from the dangers of the world," said professor Gnomonius.

"But you didn't protect me. You locked me up. I only wanted to play in the forest and listen to mom's stories. I wanted to see the world beyond the city and be an explorer," said Achilles.

"It was all her fault! Your mother filled your head with all that nonsense. Her fairytales. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't-" Professor Gnomonius stopped himself as if the next words were too unbearable to say. But in the end, he did. "You wouldn't have died!" he whispered.

Achilles shook his misty head. "But dad, if it weren't for mom, I would have never been born. I was her son too," he said.

Professor Gnomonius looked down without saying anything.

"Oh, dad, what happened to you? Do you remember when you used to laugh and play with me? You were good and now you want to destroy all the things I liked, the forest, the lake" said Achilles and turned to Arcadius. "Now you want to destroy my friends. Why?"

Professor Gnomonius shook his head and his lips said something no one heard.

"Please stop, dad. Please be like you used to be," pleaded the ghostly boy and suddenly bright tears ran across his cheeks.

Professor Gnomonius dropped on his knees. "Oh, don't cry my son, please don't. I will stop, I will do whatever you want if it makes you happy. Please don't cry," he said while tears crossed his own face.

Achilles smiled again. "You promise?"

Professor Gnomonius nodded. "I promise," he said.

"I love you, dad," said Achilles.

"I love you too, son. I love you and I would give anything to make things right. To bring you back," said professor Gnomonius.

Achilles' smile became sad. "You can't, you know that. But you can always remember me. If you do, we will always be together," he said.

"I know..." said professor Gnomonius.

"Then let me go, dad. Set me free," said the boy.

Professor Gnomonius looked at him silently for a moment. Then he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "All right, son, go. Go and fly away and be happy," he said.

Astonished, Arcadius saw the ghostly boy become real again and hug professor Gnomonius. They both stayed there for a long moment, holding each other, until Achilles started glowing brightly. His body became transparent again and then started fading.

"Good bye, dad..." he said. Those were his last whispering words. Then he vanished and Arcadius knew this time he would never come back.

For a few moments, it was as if everything else had been forgotten. The black crystals, the evil machine, the war. But then professor Gnomonius stood up and turned to Woolfling who was still holding Arcadius.

"Release the boy," he said in a dry voice.

"But, master, the crystals are in place. The machine is ready!" said Woolfling.

"You heard what I said. That machine will never operate," said professor Gnomonius.

Arcadius left a sigh of relief. Thank god it was all over, he thought.

But then Woolfling gave a terrible howl and right in front of them started changing. He started transforming into a huge dogman.

"We will see about that, human!" he growled. His voice was like something rolling on gravel. "Our real master will be free again and we will get our revenge for what you humans did to us!" he yelled and jumped towards the machine's control panel.

"No!" screamed Arcadius but it was too late.

A sudden blue lightning crossed the four glass tubes and something like ink flowed from the crystals towards the huge glass globe.

"No! What have you done?" shouted professor Gnomonius.

The green glow in the crystal sphere was slowly turning into a dark cloud.

"I freed Nocturnus! Our great and terrible master. Witness his rebirth, human! Witness the coming of everlasting night," screamed Woolfling and left another howl.

Professor Gnomonius tried to run towards his machine but Woolfling jumped in front of him. His bared sharp teeth were gleaming. Then he jumped on Professor Gnomonius and the two of them rolled on the floor.

At the same time, Arcadius stood dazed. He was staring towards the dark cloud which was getting bigger and bigger until it filled the entire glass globe. Then, with a screech, the glass globe shuttered and the dark plumes spilled into the chamber.

Arcadius suddenly snapped out of his amazement.

I must do something, I must stop it, he though. But there seemed to be nothing he could do to stop the coming of Nocturnus. The black crystals in the tubes kept feeding the dark cloud and it kept swallowing everything.

Arcadius looked around frantically until he noticed his backpack. It had fallen close to the doorway. He remembered Yaga the dwarf and his gift, the little vial with the strange extract of purple sunflowers. Maybe that can help, he thought. There's nothing else I can do.

He ran and snatched his backpack from the floor. He took out the vial and after a moment's hesitation, he opened the small bottle and swallowed the yellow stuff inside.
Darkness

At first, nothing happened. But then, Arcadius saw a white mist cover everything around him. The sounds of Gnomonius and Woolfling fighting, slowly withdrew until there was nothing but silence. Arcadius felt as if he was falling in a dream. Then a strong wind rose and swept the mist away and like a huge theater curtain withdrawing, it revealed the Haunted Forest.

Arcadius was aghast. What? How did I end up here, he thought. He looked around and immediately he noticed something. The sun was shining through the lush leaves of the forest. It was midday now, but it was nightfall when they entered the sewers. He couldn't have been underneath the GEI that long.

He made a few cautious steps and soon realized he was standing in front of that strange rock that Augustine said it was once a tree-spirit.

"What is going on?" he said to himself.

He heard sounds. Someone was coming. Arcadius quickly crouched behind some shrubs and a few seconds later he saw Oi appearing behind a tree trunk. Wide eyed, he saw the little tree-spirit jumping merrily around followed by Augustine and... Himself?!

What is this? I must be dreaming, he though as he saw them standing in front of the petrified tree-spirit.

"Wow, that rock really looks weird," he heard himself saying.

The words seemed familiar and suddenly Arcadius realized what he was looking at. I am back at the first day Augustine took me to the Haunted Forest, he thought. But why? What does this mean?

"That's old Baba," said Augustine.

"Who?" replied his other self.

"It was the spirit of that walnut. Last summer he petrified," said Augustine.

"Meaning?" said Arcadius.

"This is what happens to a tree-spirit when its tree gets old. Slowly the spirit becomes less active until it stops wandering and stays by its tree all the time. And one day it turns into a rock," explained Augustine.

Arcadius saw his mirror image turn and stareg right where he was hiding. Like he could see him through the bushes. Oh! So that's why I felt someone watching us back then, he thought. But if that was true, then it also meant what he watched now was not a dream, but something real. For a second, he felt his mind utterly confused.

"Last spring, I saw him moving for the last time," said Augustine. "Old Baba was a good tree-spirit. But he was also a little weird too. Sometimes he said things you couldn't understand. You know what he told me last time? He said, "The light will win when the sun rises at midnight.""

"That's silly. How could the sun rise at midnight?" said the other Arcadius.

"That's what I thought," said Augustine.

After that, they left and the place was silent again. Puzzled, Arcadius stood up and walked to the petrified tree-spirit.

Why am I back here? What does this mean? he wondered. But before he had time to think the white mist came swooshing back and covered everything.

In seconds Arcadius was right back into the octagonal chamber underneath the Avenue. But now, everything around him was shrouded by the terrible darkness of Nocturnus. Everything was shrouded by emptiness and a crashing feeling of loneliness. Professor Gnomonius and Woolfling had disappeared and only a small part of the staircase behind Arcadius remained visible.

He ran towards the staircase with his heart racing. Things were really bad; he could feel it. If he didn't act now, everything would be lost. But what could he do?

And then the last words of Baba, the petrified tree-spirit, returned in his mind: light will win when the sun rises at midnight.

He looked down, at the dial of the watch of transformations on his wrist, at the mysterious spot left unmarked. On a normal wrist watch, it would be the place for number twelve... or midnight!

Could this be the answer, he wondered. Phrony had warned him against it. But what else was left to do? He raised his head and looked at the swirling darkness that kept growing and swallowing everything.

There's nothing worse than this, he decided and taking a big breath, he turned the clock finger to the empty spot on the watch of transformations.

*

Arcadius was expecting the familiar blue flash, but instead, something else happened. The glass and the dial of the watch popped up like a locket and Arcadius saw something like a small galaxy swirling slowly underneath.

The next moment blue stars exploded form the watch and flew around Arcadius forming ghostly animals.

Arcadius saw the blue figure of a cat rubbing around its feet and a glowing eagle landing on his shoulder. He saw a huge dog wagging its tail and a bear standing on its hind legs. He saw a sparkling fish floating in the air and a monkey jumping up and down. He saw a deer, a tiger and an elephant. Even a snake coiling around his left leg.

And then, a deep threatening voice echoed from the darkness all around him. "You can't defeat me with your silly magic, mortal boy..."

Arcadius raised his head and saw two fiery eyes staring from the darkness. He felt his legs giving out.

But then, the ghostly animals started spinning and merging and melting one into the other. And a few moments later they formed a single blue spark that hovered in front of Arcadius' face.

Without knowing why, Arcadius opened his mouth and swallowed the tiny blue spark.

"I will destroy you..." shrieked the voice and huge tentacles of darkness darted towards Arcadius.

But Arcadius was no longer afraid. Behind his closed eyes, a strange sense of calmness had descended. A strong purpose filled his soul. His entire body was bright. It was the shining of everything he had ever loved. The thoughts of everything that was good in his life. His parents, his friends. The thoughts of everything that was good in the world. The trees and the wind and the animals. The sun caressing his face, the clouds that sailed on the sky. His dreams of faraway places and unbelievable adventures.

All those things Arcadius wanted to save.

"No, I will destroy you," he said to the darkness.

He opened his eyes and the light from inside him grew stronger and stronger, pulsing and pushing the darkness away.

The darkness tried to resist, but the light kept springing from Arcadius and it was stronger.

"No! You can't stop me!" screamed the darkness. "You are nothing but a mortal boy! You can't!" It tried to fight back. Its ugly tentacles swirled wildly but the light was like a sharp sword. It kept piercing the darkness, it kept slashing the tentacles.

"No, no!" it screamed.

"Yes" whispered Arcadius.

And then he was a burning star, crashing the darkness.

"I will take my vengeance for this mortal boy! Some day you will feel my wrath!" screamed the darkness but his voice was distant and desperate. "I promise you that..."

Then it vanished into the blazing light.
A New Day

"Arcadius? Are you awake my love?" said a voice. A familiar voice.

Arcadius slowly opened his eyes and bright sunshine flooded his vision, momentarily making him squint. Then his mother's worried face hovered over him.

He rose a little and realized he was in his bed. In his attic room.

"What happened? Where is the evil machine? And the black crystals?" he said. For a second, he thought everything was nothing but a dream. But then his mother smiled and sat beside him on the bed.

"Don't worry baby, everything is all right now," she said stroking his head.

Arcadius felt a little irritated by his mother's affectionate way.

"But how did I end up here?" he asked impatiently.

His mother smiled again. "Well, I take it, you would rather have your friends answer such questions, right?" she said. Arcadius looked puzzled. "Besides, everything is a little confusing for me too," added his mother.

"What do you mean?" said Arcadius.

She turned towards the door. "Children, you can come in now," she said and immediately the door opened and Augustine followed by Kratos rushed into his room.

"Arcadius! Finally, you're awake!" said Augustine and walked to him.

"Yes, we thought you'd never wake up," said Kratos.

Arcadius' mom smiled and walked out of the room leaving them alone.

"I don't understand, how did I end up in my bed?" asked Arcadius again.

"Phrony found you a little after you managed to destroy that horrible machine," said Augustine. "You did it Arcadius! You actually defeated Nocturnus!"

"How did you manage to defeat him?" asked Kratos.

Arcadius told them everything about the events underneath the Avenue.

"No way!" said Kratos when he finished.

"I would've never imagined Baba's last words actually meant something," said Augustine.

"Your turn," said Arcadius. "What happened after I left you in the sewers?"

"Oh, you should have seen that," said Augustine with sparkling eyes and Kratos nodded.

"Yes, it was scary and exciting at the same time," said the burly boy. "First of all, the entire city was suddenly flooded by rats. They were everywhere and they were big as cats. And they had weapons too, running and terrorizing everybody. I found Officer Winemug and told him what was going on, but he didn't believe me. At least not until he saw the rat army. Then the real fighting started. With the police officers and the firemen and many of the city folks, we started chasing those little monsters. You should've seen me and my father, Arcadius!" said Kratos. "We took a broom each and tried to chase the rats away. But they were way too many."

"So how did you manage to defeat them?"

"Well, that was the most amazing thing of all. We were outside of the town hall when we saw them. Huge cats charging into the streets and tearing the rat army apart. I mean it was brutal- you should've seen them snatching the rats with their teeth and claws," said Kratos.

"You didn't happen to see a flying box around there, did you?" said Arcadius after some thought.

Kratos' eyes widened. "How did you now?" he said.

"Well, that was Phrony's flying box and I am guessing those huge cats your saw came from Felinia, from the cat kingdom," said Arcadius. The other two looked at him curiously. "I'll explain later," he added.

"Anyway, I think what happened in the city was nothing compared to the battle of the Haunted Forest," said Augustine.

Arcadius suddenly remembered the machines in the crystal mine. They were supposed to destroy the forest. "Is your grandmother ok?" he asked.

Augustine smiled reassuringly. "Oh, yes, she is fine. She was never actually in danger," she said. "By the time I got back to the forest and our house, the machines, the dogmen and the red goblins had already started tearing the forest apart. Of course, Gran would not just sit and let them do their work. We both ran deeper into the forest, in a place I had never seen before and there, Gran asked the goddess of the forest to help us."

"The goddess of the forest?" said Arcadius.

"Yes. And she answered, she summoned her tree-spirits and the old people and together they all raced against the machines. Gran and I, we were riding a huge white bull! Oh, Arcadius it was such an amazing thing, I wish you could have seen it. Anyway, at first, I thought we would easily win the battle, but then came a horrible screech and that dreadful fire dragon we saw in the crystal mine, appeared leading even more machines. They started torching the forest and they would've burned everything if it weren't for that huge wave," said Augustin.

"Huge what?" said Arcadius.

"A wave from the lake. It was even taller than the GEI," said Augustine.

"Well, that's hard to believe," said Arcadius softly.

"It was, we saw it too," confirmed Kratos. "It rose slowly from the lake and then it washed upon the forest and all those fires."

"Yes, it washed those monstrous machines and the fire dragon away," added the girl.

"I'm still wondering how it happened," said Kratos looking outside the brightly lit window and the lake beyond.

"I did ask Gran, but even she doesn't know what caused the wave. And to tell you the truth, I don't care much if the forest is safe," said Augustine.

Arcadius stayed silent. He had a rather good idea of who might have caused that saving wave. Someone with tentacles and an irritating nymph for a mother.

"And what about professor Gnomonius? What happened to him?" asked Arcadius.

The other two kids shrugged with grim faces.

"Nobody knows. Nobody has seen him since you destroyed his invention and Nocturnus," said Augustine.

Arcadius turned to the window and gazed at the sunny day outside. He had a feeling this adventure was almost over, but not quite.

*

Later that day, in the afternoon, Arcadius' mom allowed him to go out for a walk with Augustine and Kratos. The three of them went to Nowhere and Tunnel Corner to wait for Gran. Augustine said she wanted to visit the city.

The sun was still shining warmly when they saw Gran coming out from the old train tunnel. She was wearing her bright red dress and a green shawl and she was carrying a basket. Next to her, Oi was jumping merrily. Augustine had already told them, Gran released Oi from the white crystal.

"Oh, how nice, you are all here!" she said seeing them. "How are you Arcadius? I heard you managed to do great things the last few days."

Arcadius reddened and turned his eyes downwards.

"Shall we go? It's been ages since I last came here, and I want to see Ephemeria. I wonder how much the city has changed," she said.

Arcadius saw Augustine was equally startled hearing Gran visited the city in the past. Apparently, she had never mentioned such a thing and Augustine always thought Gran hated the city. A city seemingly unchanged and yet totally different in some very important ways.

First of all, Ephemeria had stopped shifting. Nobody new why, but Arcadius suspected it had to do with the disappearance of professor Gnomonius. Then it was the smog; it had vanished and so did the horrible food and of course the Drivers. But maybe the most important change was the Ephemerians. There was a new brightness in their eyes. Everyone now seemed to be more aware of their own life and of their role in life. It was as if everyone had discovered a new and exciting purpose to live, as if they had all awakened from a dreamless slumber. And Arcadius knew it was true in a sense. When everyone stopped breathing that foul gas, their minds cleared up and they started thinking like they should, like normal people. They started dreaming again and wondering what was going on in the big wide world beyond Ephemeria.

After a long walk around the city, Gran led them to the last place they expected to go. Or rather, go again.

The cemetery.

"Why did we come here, Gran? Didn't you say you had to see someone?" said Augustine.

"Yes, but I didn't say he was alive," said Gran. She was smiling but in her eyes, sadness twinkled like a distant star.

The three of them exchanged worried glances. Since their last meeting with Dice Hardskull, they weren't keen on visiting the cemetery again. But Gran walked the paths between the solemn graves confidently and they had to follow. Finally, they reached a secluded part of the cemetery, a place with only one small gravestone.

"Who is that?" said Arcadius.

Someone was standing in front of the gravestone with his back turned towards them.

"Children, I want you to wait here," said Gran. Her voice was unexpectedly serious.

She walked to the man and stood next to him. He turned and they all felt their jaw drop.

"Hello, Hector," said Gran.

Professor Gnomonius was a mess. His clothes were dirty and torn and he was disheveled.

"Hello, Esperia," he replied. "Did you come to see him?"

"Yes. About time, don't you think?" said Gran and from her basket she took out a bouquet of wildflowers. Then she carefully placed the flowers on the gravestone.

Professor Gnomonius looked at the bouquet. Then he turned to Gran again. "Will you ever forgive me?"

She gave him a sad smile. "I have done that years ago, Hector," she said.

Professor Gnomonius wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. "Then why don't you come back to the city?" he asked her.

Augustine held her breath.

"I can't, you know that. So many years in the forest, I have become like the trees there. My roots are in the forest now, and they go deep," she said. "Besides, our son's heart belonged to that forest. Even to the river that took his life," she added.

Professor Gnomonius nodded.

"But you have to go back to the city, Hector," continued Gran. "You have to fix things. Despite your mistakes, you're a brilliant inventor and you can really help them. They need you. You just have to remember what I always told you: even machines need a soul."

Professor Gnomonius gave her a thin smile. "You've always been smarter than me," he said.

She smiled back and then turned towards the gravestone. "Goodbye Achilles. Goodbye my baby," she said softly and then walked back to the three kids that stood silently.

"Shall we go back to our house, Augustine?" she said and then turned to Arcadius and Kratos. "I think you should come too, boys. I think there's someone waiting for you there," she added and this time her eyes sparkled.
Farewells

When they stepped into Gran's kitchen, Arcadius saw Phrony sitting comfortably in her armchair popping cookies in his mouth. Next to him, on the table, there was a large glass jar and inside it, Arcadius saw Octavius. The tentacles of the octopus-boy floated in the water filled jar and his large bulging eyes seemed mesmerized by everything around him.

"Phrony!" yelled Arcadius. "I thought you were gone!"

"Hey, kid. I see you've woken up, I was starting to worry," said Phrony and then licked his fingers and stood up.

Octavius popped his head out of the jar and waved hello with his tentacles. "Hi, Arcadius! You see? Mom let me come and see you," he said with a gargling voice.

Augustine and Kratos came closer and Arcadius made the introductions.

The flying box was hovering nearby, checking out Ursus the huge dog, who was sleeping as usual. When it noticed Arcadius, it buzzed merrily around him.

"Hello box!" said Arcadius and then turned to Phrony.

The young investigator looked rested and relaxed. He was wearing a clean suit and his hair was carefully combed. "Well, kid, you did it. You solved the mystery of the black crystals," he said to Arcadius.

"I didn't solve it by myself. If it weren't for Augustine and Kratos and Octavius, it wouldn't have happened. I only did it because I had the help of my friends," he admitted and both Augustine and Kratos reddened. Octavius too would if he could.

"Yes. Turns out, we all need a bit of help once in a while, right?" said Phrony. "Even I."

"What happened to Rubinius?" asked Arcadius.

"Well, as you would expect, I managed to defeat that little fat rascal," said Phrony looking to the floor.

"Who you calling fat? You thtupid invethtigator!" shrieked a little voice from down there.

The three kids jerked, but Phrony smiled reassuringly. He stooped and withdrew a wicker basket from under the table. Inside the basket was an extremely angry rodent and former king.

"What are you all looking at? Jutht you wait until I make my ethcape! My revenge will be terrible!" shrieked Rubinius.

"You are not leaving prison anytime soon, rat. And I think I have the perfect solution for a pest like you," said Phrony.

"What are going to do?" asked Arcadius.

"I have a cousin, an alchemist who's always in need of subjects to try his concoctions, not to mention his birthday is coming up and I think, dear Rubinius over here, will make an excellent birthday present," said Phrony with a smirk.

"Don't you dare! You hear me? Otherwithe you will feel the wrath of the ratking!" shrieked Rubinius.

"Yeah, right," said Phrony and shoved the box back under the table.

Arcadius looked at him with sad eyes. "So, you are leaving?" he said.

"Well... yes. I must take the black crystals back to Sharpclaw."

"Will you ever come back?" said Arcadius.

"Who knows, kid? Besides, I already told you, you should never miss a business opportunity, and I think an odd city like Ephemeria is an excellent business opportunity for someone like me," said Phrony.

Arcadius lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Phrony sighed. "Well, I have to get going. The winds are favorable," he said and taking the box with Rubinius, he turned to the others. "It was really nice meeting you all." He made a deep bow and walked out of Gran's house.

The flying box hovered to Arcadius. Its lid opened a little and the red eyes stared at him.

"Good bye, box," said Arcadius softly. He felt something hard stuck in his throat.

The box turned and followed Phrony outside.

Augustine and Kratos walked to Arcadius.

"Don't be sad. We are still here," said the girl.

But Arcadius felt that thing in his throat become even harder. He looked down and his eyes went to his wrist. He still had the watch of transformations. "He forgot his watch. I have to give it back," he said and ran outside.

"Hey, Phrony, wait!" he yelled.

The young investigator stood and turned towards him.

"You forgot the watch of transformations," he said and gave Phrony the watch.

He took it and looked at it. "Amazing thing, isn't it?" he said smiling.

Arcadius nodded. "Yes, it is," he said.

"Well, keep it," said Phrony and gave the watch back.

Arcadius' eyes widened. "Are you serious? I can keep it?" he said.

Phrony put his hand on Arcadius' shoulder. "I think no one deserves this watch more than you, Arcadius. At least no one, I can think of," he said.

Arcadius returned the smile.

"Good bye, Arcadius. I really do hope we meet again soon."

Arcadius stood there, in the sunshine, watching Phrony walking away with the flying box on his heels.

*

A little later, the three kids and Octavius in his jar, were all on the tree house overlooking Ephemeria. The sun was setting and the western sky was a gleaming orange and a velvety purple. The chilly autumn breeze carried the smells of pine and the smoke rising from the chimneys in Ephemeria. City lights were twinkling like tiny sparks.

"Why did you want us to come up here?" asked Augustine.

"To see that!" replied Arcadius pointing.

The others turned and saw a magnificent airship rising from Ephemeria. It had all its sails unfurled and its haul was golden under the sun's last rays. It silently sailed towards the distant mountains and slowly disappeared in the horizon like a morning dream.

But somehow it left behind the promise of new adventures. And Arcadius was grateful for that.

THE END

About the Author

Constantine is an avid reader and has been a storyteller for several years. He has published a selection of Greek gothic short stories and a fantasy novel, both in Greek. When not writing his own stories, he enjoys long walks, witty conversations and the skillfully crafted stories of others. He has been a translator for ten years and a painter for as long as he can remember. One of Constantine's delights, is to write amazingly impossible adventures.

He enjoys traveling, the drama of Caravaggio and admires the impressive mind of Leonardo da Vinci.

He also likes jump scares and cats.

Other books by this author

The Night of the White Poppy

A series of Greek gothic short stories. Published in Greek only. 2007

Leqwell and the forgotten gods

Fantasy novel. Published in Greek only. 2009
Connect with Constantine Missios

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