The Return of the Titans (16 page)

“I know that we haven't
given you a lot of time to make an important decision,” Mr.
Fitzgerald continued. “But time truly is not on our side in this.
So enjoy the meal, talk to your new friends, relax. After dinner,
you have until ten o'clock to do more exploring or socializing. In
the morning, we will meet here again and say our farewells to those
of you who will be leaving us.” He smiled slightly and sat down
again.

Everyone headed for the loaded tables.
Justin piled his plate with chicken, roast beef, potatoes and
several vegetables. Aaron did the same and, after adding gravy and
grabbing knives and forks, they both found an empty table and sat
down.

“You want something to
drink, Just?” Aaron asked.

“Oh right. Sure Aaron.
Anything, thanks.”

Aaron headed back toward the tables. Norm
and Gerry grinned as they passed him, put down their plates on the
table near Justin and sat down.

“Here's another reason to
stay,” Gerry said around a mouthful of food. “Whoever cooks here is
incredible.” Norm just nodded agreement as he dug into his dinner.
Justin waited until Aaron got back before he started
eating.

Aaron put glasses in front of his and
Justin's plates. “Grape juice,” he said as he picked up his
fork.

“Thanks Aaron,” Justin
said with a smile and began to eat.

Gerry was right, Justin thought. The food
was excellent. The room was very quiet except for a few mutters of
conversation and the clink of utensils hitting china. Justin saw
that others must agree about the food because everyone seemed
focused on their meals.

He continued to look around at the other
faces in the room all through dinner.

“I wonder who'll be
leaving,” he said finally. The other three looked at
him.

“Good question, Justin,”
Gerry said with a glance around. He gaze seemed to rest on one
person. “I wonder if that Benson guy will leave?”

Norm snorted. “Course he will, Gerry. Didn't
you hear him before? He doesn't seem too impressed by all this.” He
waved his fork at the room. “Spoiled rich kid if you ask me.” Then
he continued eating.

“Yeah, maybe,” Gerry said.
He shrugged and grabbed his plate. “Think I'll have seconds,” he
said and headed for the center tables. Aaron stood up. “Me too,” he
said and followed Gerry.

“So, you're definitely
staying, Norm?” Justin asked quietly. Norm just nodded as he
continued eating. Justin grinned at the other boy's appetite and
finished his own meal. Gerry and Aaron returned with helpings as
big as their first portions and Norm left for seconds. Justin was
full and didn't want any more so he sat back and looked at the
various faces in the room.

Mrs. Mallon was watching the diners with an
appreciative smile on her face. As she caught Justin's eye, she
gave a slight wink and he nodded and kept looking around.

Mr. Fitzgerald wasn't eating. He was again
reading from a stack of papers and, as had happened the night
before, one of the adults would walk up, speak to him quietly and
then quickly leave the room. I wonder what that's all about, Justin
thought.

He noticed that Benson had
been busy. He was surrounded by several boys and girls, all of them
laughing at some story he was telling. Justin rolled his eyes,
reminded a bit of his former friend Chris. Always wanting to be the
center of attention.

It seemed that everyone had made a friend or
two. There were clumps of boys and girls at every table and from
Justin could overhear, the conversation seemed to be centered
around who would be staying or going. He wondered how many would
leave.

Eventually the sounds of eating were
replaced by the hum of conversation. The servers, led my Mrs.
Mallon, began to clear away the plates. This seemed to be a signal
to Mr. Fitzgerald, who put down his papers and stood up. The room
quieted down almost at once.

“I hope you enjoyed your
meal. You are free to wander for another three hours or so. Then
please return to your rooms. Anyone caught roaming around after
that time will be rounded up and escorted back to the sleeping
quarters. I will see you all in the morning.” He nodded. “Good
evening.”

Everyone started to stand up and the room
grew loud again with conversation.

“So, you guys up for more
exploration?” Gerry asked.

“I am if you are,” Norm
said.

Aaron shrugged and looked at Justin. “I
wouldn't mind. Who knows what will happen tomorrow. You?”

“Sure,” Justin said. “I'm
not so tired anymore. You pick the direction, Gerry.”

“Okay then. Back to the
courtyard we go.” And Gerry led the way out of the Court and down
the hallway.

Once they had returned to the courtyard,
Gerry looked around for a moment. Others passed them and scattered
in different directions.

“Well, we went left
earlier. And the Ocular room is straight ahead. So let's pick a
door to the right this time.”

They all agreed and Gerry led them across
the room, choosing one of the doors in the middle of the right side
wall.

The door slid open and they wandered down a
hallway. But this one was different than the others they had seen.
The walls were carved with images of creatures; monsters from myths
and legends.

“Hey look,” Aaron
exclaimed and pointed at one carving. “There's a
gryphon.”

“Yeah, and a minotaur,”
Justin said, looking across the hall to the opposite
wall.

“Wow, it's all the avatars
from Arena.” Gerry walked further down the hall, looking from left
to right. “How cool is that?”

“Wait a second.” Norm had
walked past Gerry and was looking even further down the corridor.
“I don't remember these guys in the game.”

The other teens hurried down the hallway and
looked at the carvings that Norm was staring at.

Aaron reached out and touched one, tracing
the edges of the carving. “I don't remember anything like this in
the mythology that I studied. What is it?”

Justin stood beside him and looked at the
figure closely. The head was feral, wolf-like while the body was
humanoid but seemed to be covered with fur. He shivered as he
looked at the face that was glaring at him from the surface of the
wall. The eyes seemed to glow insanely. “I think it's a werewolf,”
he muttered.

Aaron turned and looked at him. “You've got
to be kidding. Werewolves in Atlantis? I would have remembered that
from the legends I read!”

“Yeah, me too Aaron. But
that's what it looks like.”

“What about the one beside
it, guys?” Norm pointed to the next figure carved into the stone.
Again, it was shaped like a man, but this time the head was that of
a hawk or eagle and the body was covered in tiny feathers. Justin
marveled at the fine detail of the carving. Each feather was
distinct and beautifully rendered.

Gerry chuckled. “A were-turkey maybe?”

The others giggled, except for Justin. The
expression on the man-bird was the same look of insane rage as that
of the werewolf.

They continued down the hallway, exclaiming
now and then at some of the more exotic carvings. The most
impressive, they all agreed, was the dragon.

It was the last carving in the hallway
before it ended at a metal door. The dragon had no wings and was
not breathing fire, but it was definitely reptilian and huge, with
a mouthful of fangs that seemed to be dripping a liquid that smoked
as it hit the ground. The boys gaped at it for a moment and then
turned toward the door.

Like the door leading into the Ocular room,
there was no handle or button that permitted entry into the room
beyond the closed door.

“Well, how did Mr.
Denofrio get into that door earlier?” Gerry asked.

“He just touched it, I
think,” Norm said. He looked at Justin and Aaron. “Didn't
he?”

They both nodded. So Gerry shrugged and
reached out, placing his palm on to the door. They waited a moment
but nothing happened. He shrugged. “Guess we aren't allowed in,” he
said and turned to head back.

“Hang on a sec,” Aaron
said. He was looking at Justin. “You do it, Justin.”

“What?” Justin looked back
at Aaron with surprise.

“Touch the door,” Aaron
said with an odd tone in his voice.

“Why? If it won't open for
Gerry, it won't open for me.” Justin turned and started walking
away from the door. He was stopped by Aaron's hand on his shoulder.
He spun around quickly and glared at Aaron.

“Never grab me!” he said
loudly.

Aaron's mouth dropped open and he stepped
back quickly, almost tripping. “I...I'm sorry, Justin, Really! I
just thought, you know, after you got that mark on your hand and
stuff that it might work on the door.”

Justin continued to stare at his new friend.
“I really am sorry, Justin,” Aaron said again.

Justin took a deep breath and shook his
head. “No, I'm sorry Aaron. In school, when I was grabbed from
behind, it was usually because I was about to get pounded.” He felt
embarrassed. “Instinct, I guess. Not your fault.”

Aaron looked relieved. “Oh, I get it. I
won't do it again, Justin.” Then he grinned shyly. “Next time I
want to get your attention, I'll just throw something at you.”

They all laughed and the tension evaporated.
“Okay, so let me try the stupid door then.” Justin said. He stepped
forward and put his marked palm against the metal door.

At once they heard a clang through the door,
and it slid upward with a scraping sound and vanished into the
ceiling.

Justin stared up at the ceiling then looked
at Aaron. “Well, what do you know? It worked.”

Aaron chuckled. “You're welcome,” he
said.

The room beyond the door was the most
peculiar one that any of them had seen so far. It was neither round
nor square but rather oblong in shape. And it was enormous, even
bigger than the courtyard, There were rows of seats along the wall
rising in several tiers and in the middle of the room was a large
oval area, with a floor made entirely of dull, silver-colored
metal.

As the four teens walked into the room,
lights flared on overhead, one after another until the room was a
brightly lit as a sunny day. The light even had the same quality as
sunlight, the same warmth and Justin looked up, almost expecting to
see a clear blue sky above them. But it was just an arched
ceiling.

“So, what is this place?”
Norm said as he stared around the room.”

“Dunno, Norm,” Gerry
answered. “But it looks like a miniature football stadium or
something. And what are those?”

He was pointing to several short pillars
that rose out of either end of the oval floor. They walked over and
looked at the surface of the pillars, which were only
waist-high.

Each small pillar had two rows of runes
carved into the surface and the runes seemed to be made of the same
material as the floor.

“I don't get it,” Norm
said.

Justin looked around again and then caught
Aaron's eye. They stared at each other for a moment and then Aaron
nodded while Justin winked.

“I think we know, Norm,”
Justin said.

Norm looked at Justin and then Aaron. Gerry
was watching them as well.

“Yeah? So, what is
it?”

Aaron sighed. “Isn't it obvious, guys? It's
Arena, but life-sized.”

Norm gasped and turned around again, looking
at the room. Then he laughed. “Of course! Gees, I'm stupid. It's
almost exactly like the game!” Then he looked puzzled. “But why? I
mean, each of our rooms has a game board. Why bother with
this?”

“Tradition, sir.
Tradition.”

The four boys spun around to face the
doorway. Standing there was a man none of them had seen before. He
was tall but reed-thin and was wearing a long blue coat that almost
brushed the floor. His curly-brown hair hung down to his shoulders
and his strong features were marred by a scar that crossed his face
from above his left eyebrow to his chin. He stood and watched them
with a small frown on his face.

“I”m sorry. Were we not
supposed to be in here?” Justin asked hesitantly.

“Correct sir. You are not
supposed to be in here. Not yet at any rate.” He stepped aside.
“Please leave.”

“Uh, yeah sure,” Gerry
stammered and they all hurriedly exited the room. The door slammed
down behind them with the man still inside.

“Wonder who that was?”
Aaron said quietly as they moved quickly back toward the
courtyard.

“No idea. But he doesn't
look like someone I'd want angry at me,” Norm said and swallowed
nervously.

“Yeah, really,” Aaron
added. “I thought Mr. Fitzgerald was intimidating but that guy?
Wow.”

Justin didn't say anything but the man's
face remained in his mind. That scar. He wondered how someone could
get a scar like that and live.

The four returned to the courtyard and
wandered over to the fountain. What looked like most of the others
were standing or sitting around the fountain, talking quietly.
Benson was there with what Justin was starting to think of as his
gang. They were still hanging on his every word.

Justin snorted quietly and looked up at the
several basins from which the water was falling.

“Hey!” he said. “It's only
a little after eight. We can still poke around if we want
to.”

Gerry glanced at Justin. “How do you know
what time it is?” he asked, puzzled.