The House of Grey- Volume 4 (29 page)

“
Relax
?”  Monson gritted his teeth angrily
.
“
H
ow can I relax? In the last three days my already weirder
-
than
-
normal life has kicked into overdrive
, from
conversations with myself, freaky dreams, my ability to freeze an indoor fountain,
to
finding out that
my quirky antisocial classmate is actually a
part of some international organization that is trying to find
a
mystical being who is destine
d
to save the world. THE WORLD
,
Dawn!  What does that even mean? And now I’m in a hall that
is
supposed
ly
buried
deep within the mountains of Europe
,
surrounded
by
sweaty
,
half
-
starved men
,
when two minutes ago I was sitting in a dormitory in Washington
S
tate sipping tea and reading a book!  What part of this should I be “relax
ed
” about?”

Dawn
’
s
expression
hovered between a
sympathetic
smile and
a
knowing smirk. Monson
shuddered
as he looked himself in the eye. He was never going to get use
d
to this.

“You
’
re right
,
” relented Dawn
.
“
W
hen you say it like that it does seem like a bit much
.
”

“Is there any other form you could take?” spouted Monson
in irritation.
“
T
he whole conversation
-
with
-
myself thing is getting old.”

“You sure are cranky today. Are you not sleeping well?”

Monson
glowered at
Dawn
.

“Sorry
.
I was just asking
.
”

Monson dropped it
,
moving on to more important topics. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? How did I get here?”

Dawn grinned outlandishly.
“I do not really know. I have never seen anything like this, though I am far from the greatest reference.”

“You don’t know?” Monson did his best to control his incredulity
.
“What do you mean you don’t know? Aren’t you supposed to be the mentor who guides the hero? Hello,
if
I’m the
h
ero
of this stupid story then I should have a guide. It’s in all the good fantasy books. It’s a rule to have a guide.
If y
ou’re not the guide
,
then you’re just
an
annoying person who talks in my head.
”

Monson waited for a moment. “Well?”

“Sorry?”

“Geez, you’re useless.
” Monson sighed one of his rich
,
heavy sighs
as he
plopp
ed
down on the ground. “I’m getting too old for this.”

“At the ripe old age of
fifteen,
h
uh?” commented Dawn.
“
Ready to throw in the hat already?”

“
Shut up
,
” retorted Monson
.
“
A
nd
it’s
throw in the
towel
, not hat.”

“Whatever.  Listen, instead of sitting here wasting air,
you could
try
to
figure out why you brought yourself here
.
”

“What do you mean?” Monson glanced up at Dawn
.
“Didn’t you bring me here?
”

“
No,
I did not.
I just came to make
sure
you
did not
go back in time or something.”

“Could I do that?” 

“Not entirely positive one way or the other, but I
did not
think I should take the chance.”

“You’re no help
.
” Monson twisted around
,
surveying his surroundings. “
S
o you have no idea how I got here?”

“
Oh
, I have an idea how you got here
.
I just
do not
know why
.
”

“That’s comforting
.
” Monson stood back up and started to move around the chamber taking in the vast expanse
,
exerting all his willpower not to
become
overwhelmed.  He tried touch
ing
one of the large columns and was surprised when his hand
went
right through it. A thought came to him.

“I’m not really here
,
am I?”

“Correct
,
” Dawn beamed encouragingly
.

“
OK,
so I’m not really here
,
” said Monson again for his own benefit
.
“
A
nd I have never been to Europe, let alone to a secret underground hall that houses massive stone mosaics
.
S
o how is that I’m here and seeing this? It seems unlikely that I transported myself.”

Dawn continued to smile as Monson worked through the problem
.
“
G
o on.”

Monson analyzed and reprocessed the known information. “
OK
, I’m leaning towards one of two conclusion
s,
but neither makes sense. Wait a moment.”

He
again tried to touch the closest pillar
.
Again
his hand went right through it. 

“Hold on
.
” Monson rounded on Dawn
, eyes wide.
“
E
arlier I was able to touch that bench over there. What happened?”

“Well
,
that is interesting,”
Dawn
answered coyly
.
“
W
hat
did
happen?”

“You don’t know?”

“I
cannot
say that I do
.
”

“You bug me.”

“I do my best
.
”

“I bet you do
.
” Monson started to retreat, but Dawn caught his shoulder before he could get very far.

“I can offer this
,
though. If you find your interaction
s
with your environment to be inconsistent
,
then either you
ha
ve changed or something
has
changed within your environment.”

Monson repeated Dawn
’
s words
.
“Either I’ve changed or something has changed within
my
environment?
OK,
it’s obvious that something has changed within this environment. I was able to touch that bench over there
,
now I can’t. That
must be
something with the environment
,
right?”

“What makes you say that?”
asked
Dawn casual
ly.
“
B
ut
first
answer me this
:
D
o you know enough about
the
nature of this environment to make that assumption?”

Monson thought for a moment. “No
…
I don’t think I do. I think I get what you
’
re hinting at. The logical place to start is within myself
.
”

Dawn simply smiled proud
ly
. Monson understood this to mean he was correct.

He
resumed his exploration of the central chamber
,
reexamining the sequence of events that
had
landed him in this strange place. He thought of Grayson and their topic of conversation right before his “journey
.
” Monson forced his slightly fuzzy head to focus as he
tried to recall
what he was
attempting
to
figure
out in that conversation with Grayson.
He
decided to
start from the beginning.

H
e
first
focused on
the Tower—
how
it
appeared before him now
versus
the drawing in the journal. He recalled the
depictions of the
various items found in the rooms surrounding the central chamber. He pictured the drawing
s
of the angel
ic
figure
s
and the
one of the lone
being standing
out
among
the
millions. Finally, he
conjured
his version of a
h
ero
,
the type of character
who
shows up in movies and mangas to save the day.

Monson
ground
his teeth together. He wanted to know! He wanted to understand. That knowledge was the only way he would be able to act. The only way he could move forward. He had to know
,
he had to move forward. He had to belie
ve
that he could find out,
understand and move forward. An idea struck Monson. An idea
so simple that he almost kicked himself for not
thinking of
it sooner.

“Knowledge
.
”
Monson addressed Dawn solemnly.
“
T
hat was what changed. My own knowledge of my situation.”

“Bravo
,
” said Dawn
,
clapping his hands
.
“
T
hat is one of the keys of using magic. The
knowledge and
understanding of its existence, and your willingness to believe
in
that knowledge
.
B
elief and knowledge
,
Monson
;
remember this. They are two very powerful concepts, more powerful than you could ever imagine. Fun fact for you
:
E
very human born in this world has the ability to use magic
,
b
ut most
cannot.
W
hy do you think that is?
”

“I have no idea
.
”

“Because they refuse to believe
,
” said Dawn quietly
.
“They refuse to look within themselves
and
find what
has
always
been
there.
”

“Wait a second
,
” interjected Monson
.
“
T
hat doesn’t make sense
.
I didn’t believe in magic
.
How
could
I
have
use
d it in the Atrium
?”

“Well
,
you
do not believe
consciously
and you are a bit different
from
most people. Your situation is unique
,
one might say.  It
is
difficult for you to use and understand
magic
because not only are you in a world that
does not
believe in it
,
but
also
your power has already been made manifest
subconsciously.
Accessing it subconsciously makes it more difficult for you to do it consciously.
”

“
OK….
” Monson’s mind started to race
.
“
S
o what does all that mean? I now know that I have to believe in magic
.
D
oes that mean I can use it now?”

“Not exactl
y.
K
nowledge does not equal understanding
, and
you need to understand as well
,
” said Dawn
,
giving Monson another coy smile, which sharply reminded Monson that he was talking to himself. “You won’t be able to understand magic until you understand the secret of the Magi Blade
.
”

“Why don’t you just tell me?”

“Because if I just tell you, you
would not
comprehend
it.
Y
ou
must realize that for yourself. A
concept
ual discussion
would impede you
r progress
and probably kill you in the process.” 

Monson’s eyes narrowed
.
“I think you keep secrets just for the fun of it.”

Dawn laughed
.
“
W
ell
,
you
have
heard the saying that every
…
”
He
stopped and looked thoughtful. “Everyone has their secrets
, right?
I
t would make sense that I have some
,
too.”

“I doubt I have any from you
,
” said Monson
,
glaring at
him.

“Ye
s
, but we have already established that you are special
.
”

“You REALLY bug me.”

“I know.”

G
rudgingly
,
Monson changed topics
.
“So how do I get back? Can you tell me that?”

“Have you finished what you came here to do?” asked Dawn
.
“I doubt you will be able to get back until you
finish that
.
”

“How do you know that?”

“Just a hunch.”

“
Oh—g
uardians
!
I was trying to
remember
what you were saying about guardians. Since you
’
re here
,
can you tell me anything about these guardians?”

“Actually
,
this is one
subject
that I
do not
really know any more about th
a
n you do.”

“Wait
—
Dawn
,
you could be
a
guardian
!
” said Monson excited
ly.
“
C
ould that paper
—the Journal, the final picture Grayson showed me, the last two symbols, could it
be referring to you?”

“No
,
I don’t think so
.
” Dawn shook his head
.
“I’m more of a safety measure I think.”

“You think?” Monson’s eyebrow shot up.

“It
i
s
difficult
to explain, and it
i
s hardly relevant right now. Let
u
s just say that I
a
m here for a very specific purpose
,
with rather strict
limitations. I think you and I will understand more once we figure out who put me here.”

Monson let his mouth slacken
in confusion.
“
N
ow you
really
aren’t making sense. You don’t know who put you here?”

“No
, I do not
.
Nor do I believe I was
meant to.
It seems to me that whoever t
hey
are, they
really
did not
know what was going on.
Even
I
a
m not really even sure.”

“Can you tell me
anything
as to why you
’
re here
?
”

Dawn smiled. “I
a
m here to protect you.”

Monson scowled
.
“But then wouldn’t that make you a guardian?”

“No, I
a
m more akin to a dam th
a
n a guardian.”

“A dam?”

“Yes, a dam
.
”

“I don’t understand
.
”

“No
,
I
do not
expect y
ou d
o
.
”

Monson sighed as he resumed his pacing
,
not knowing what else to do. His logical reasoning caused him to look around
and
scrutiniz
e
the whole
chamber
one more time. It was obvious to him there
must be
information here that he needed
,
but what was it?
Then an
idea came to him
.
H
e figured he might as well try
it out
.
“Dawn
,
can you get me up there?” Monson pointed directly up. 

“Yes
, but
why?”

“Because I have a theory about this place that I want to test out.”

“Sure
,
hold on
.
”

Dawn lifted his arm in a very phlegmatic way
and
pointed at Monson.
He
hesitated.

“What’s wrong?
”
asked Monson
.

Dawn bit the corner of his lip
.
“
Y
ou
will
need to close your eyes.”