Splitting a Soul~Chapter 21

“Ok, I think it works like this,” Jack said excitedly and pulled a lever that released the brake on the rail cars.

“That is actually right,” Aisling said surprised. The cars began moving forward on the track slowly, rocking slowly as we moved along the tracks.

“Guys, the track splits up ahead,” I said, noticing it split in three different directions. If this was anything like the hallway, picking the wrong path could cost us a lot of time. There had to be some kind of clue to help us. “Does anyone see anything that could help?”

“There, above the doors!” Kimi pointed out. I looked and saw three sets of scales above the doors, each one with a different set of scales. “Could those mean anything?”

“Themis was all about order and balance, so maybe the evenly balanced scale,” Aisling suggested. It seemed like a good idea and Jack turned us that way. We kept following that plan, but there was no way to tell if we were even making progress.

“Anyone else feel like we’re going around in circles?” Jack said as he turned the car back in another doorway with an even scale.

“One way to find out,” Kimi said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of fuzzy dice.

“Why do you even have those?” I asked her, as fuzzy dice aren’t something you normally take on a quest.

“They came with the coat,” she said annoyed. “I still haven’t gotten rid of all the novelty joke items in this thing.”

As we pulled up to one of the gates, Jack slowed down and Kimi tied the fuzzy dice onto a rail beside the track. Jack then released the brake and we rolled forward into the gate. A moment later we entered another room and say the pair of fuzzy dice sitting on the rail.

“I hate this place,” Jack said, hitting the brakes. “So, which one will we try next; the one with the left side lower or the one with the right side lower?”

“I guess try the right one,” I suggested. “What could happen?”

“Alright, why not?” Jack said and we turned to the right. We turned to the right with the same result of finding the fuzzy dice waiting for us. So we went to the left and didn’t fare any better. So instead we just sat there motionless for awhile trying to think of ideas. Jack suggested we all walk down different hallways, but we didn’t want to split up if something did happen. Kimi suggested maybe balancing the scales above the doors, but they were all painted on the walls so it wasn’t like we could do that.

“We’re going around in circles!” Aisling yelled. “We’re wasting too much time here. We don’t even know if time works different down in these caves; it could be morning for all we know.”

“No, we still have time,” I said, at least I hoped we still had time. But it was true that just like in the hallway, we were just going in circles all over again. “We need to take a step back and try this from another angle.”

“Not that much to look at,” Jack commented. “We go in those doors over there and we pop up in that door there. Pretty straight forward I think.”

“So what happened when we go in that door?” I asked, pointing to the door we always seemed to exit from. I examined the door and above it was another scale, but this one was different as it appeared to be a combination of all three scales.

“See, this is why I never play puzzle games,” Jack said as he noticed the scale too.

“I’m there with you,” Kimi admitted. “I never would have noticed that.”

“Might as well give it a try,” Aisling commented. “I mean in the worst case, we just end up back here.”

We all climbed out of the rail car and began to walk slightly uphill over the rail line. We all entered the doorway and were blinded by a bright light. I had to raise my hand over my eyes to keep out the sunlight. I then got nervous about Aisling, who couldn’t even be near sunlight anymore without her skin burning. However when my eyes adjusted I looked over and she was fine.

“That is one of the coolest things I have ever seen,” Kimi said as she looked up to the sky. We all looked up and saw that the sky was a mix of both night and day. The sun and moon circled each other with stars and clouds spiraling around a large gate in the center of the room. The sun didn’t seem to bother Aisling in the least, but it was the full moon in the sky that worried me more.

“I’d have to agree,” Jack said. Just then a stone carriage pulled by two white horses rode up to us and the door opened by itself. “So do we get in?”

“I think we’re being invited,” I suggested and we all got into the small carriage.

The inside was much nicer then the outside, with velvet seats and a mini-bar packed with snacks and drinks. I think the snacks were actually made of nectar and ambrosia, making the cabin smell of anything that we loved the most. I could smell French toast with a side of hot chocolate, but there was no telling what the others smelled; not that it was a bad thing.

“Anyone else feel like this is some kind of trap?” Jack questioned, playing with an energy bar of ambrosia.

“What do you mean?” Kimi asked.

“Think about it, we pass a few tests and now we are being given the VIP treatment. Not to mention we’re on a carriage with enough nectar and ambrosia to heal all of us about ten times over and no one sees that as suspicious?” he confessed.

“But what kind of trap would give us everything we need to be at are strongest?” Aisling asked. If she couldn’t see a strategy, then I doubt anyone else could.

‘That’s because it isn’t a trap, it’s an invitation,’ I heard in the back of my head. ‘It wants us to be at our best, otherwise what’s the point?’

“It wants us to be ready,” I told everyone. “So we can be at our best.”

“What wants us to be ready?” Kimi asked nervously.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’ll find out soon enough,” I said as I looked out the window. By now the gate was maybe a few hundred feet away. We spent the rest of the trip in silence and after awhile, the horses stopped and we all exited the carriage. The horses let out a small whinny before turning around and leaving us in front of the gate. The gate itself looked like an ancient version of the Gateway Arch, if it had been made by cavemen. The opening to the gate itself was inside the archway and was sealed closed. The gate itself looked like the designs on the elevator leading up to Olympus.

“So do we just knock or…” Jack began. I looked up and saw the moon slowly move across the sky. In a matter of seconds, it passed right over the arch and the ground began to shake. The gate began to shake as the doors slowly opened. All I saw was a bluish light erupt from it as the doors became fully open. “Cool, so let’s just get Aisling into that gate.”

“Hold on, we have company,” I said as I looked into the light of the gate.

A large man walked from the light of the gate and stood before us. He looked like a person, but some of his features seemed off. His skin had a blue tint to it like the light of the gate, but his face seemed almost flat and I don’t just mean expressionless. He was missing a nose which caused his face to appear flat. That didn’t stop him from sporting a pair of red sunglasses that completely covered his eyes. The one thing about him I was sure of was that he was obviously strong, with his body almost breaking free of the black leather outfit he had on. Over his shirt and pants was a long black coat that blew in the wind. He stopped and took a look at the four of us.

“So, it seems I have some challengers this time,” he said in a deep voice that seemed to shake the ground beneath us. His expressionless face took on the look of a kid on Christmas morning. “Well alright; let the games begin!”