Chapter 38
Rescue
The Lady of Sapphire led the Sapphire Society to the gym. By now, with the sun close to setting, the building should be completely empty.
As soon as they saw where they were headed, Viv, Eddie, and Oliver had a sinking suspicion they knew where Lily would be. And they were right.
Sure enough, the ghostly lady took them to the side of the building, to a familiar door that led to the gym's underground level and was marked forbidden to all but the school's staff members. Once gathered in front of the door, everyone was bathed bright light that shined from a magic circle beneath their feet. The next thing they knew, they were all in a hallway of dark stone with the only sources of light coming from flickering flames held in stone bowls attached to the walls.
"Well, this place sure brings back memories," Eddie quipped as he looked around. "Not good ones though."
"So now what?" asked George. "Do we just go straight down?"
Viv nodded. "Yeah. Down there, there'll be one of those crystal balls , like at the . . . hideout . . . Oh, shoot!"
"What is it?" asked Oliver, concerned about the outburst Viv made after she trailed off.
"I totally forgot about this puzzle," Viv groaned. "Solving it is the only thing that can open the secret passageway into the maze, but only Lily can make them work!"
Horrified, Hassan cried out, "So we're trapped here!?"
"Worry not, children," said the Lady of Sapphire. "There is not much I can do in my current state, but I can alter the workings of some of the maze's functions so that you may pass through its chambers."
Many of the Sapphire Society members looked at her blankly. Eddie went, "Huh?"
"She means she can hack this underground lair and unlock all the doors for us," Tanja said.
"Oh. Why didn't she just say so?"
After the spirit floated over to the big, blue crystal ball and got it glowing, a section of the wall next to her sank down to reveal a passageway to the next hallway exactly like the last time the Waller twins had been here. The Lady of Sapphire went on ahead with the Sapphire Society gang following closely behind. She led them to a three-way fork and then down the left pathway, which led to another fork with two choices.
With so many twists and turns to follow, the gang was grateful to have the Lady of Sapphire leading the way. Especially Eddie and Viv who could no longer remember what route they took the last time they were here. They did, however, remember what lied ahead and warned the others.
First up was the lava pit.
Just as the pit below started to fill with superhot magma, Melody conjured up a huge bubble that carried the whole gang over to the other side. They were out before the lava even reached up to a quarter of the pool.
Next was the bottomless pit room. It had not been restored, unlike the lava pit room, but the pieces of the single bridge to the other side had been broken apart again. Oliver took on the task of connecting them back together, taking turns with Alejandro to move them at the correct angle.
After making it over to the next room, Hassan used a magic spell to cover everyone from head to toe in shiny, silvery metal. The arrows flying left and right bounced harmlessly off their steel skin. They didn't even feel a thing.
When it came time to deal with the strangling plants, George took a deep breath and blew out of his mouth a spinning tornado of fire that filled up the entire room and both shredded the murderous plants to pieces as well as burnt them to ashes. Viv handled the lightning room, cloaking everyone in a shroud of electricity that repelled the bolts that came flying down from the ceiling to try strike them down.
Once they approached the big hole on the floor, Eddie snapped his fingers and everyone got big, white-feathered wings sprouting out of their backs. The wings carried them down the hole and towards the next room, disappearing after their owners touched down on the floor.
"Well, this has been surprisingly easy," said Eddie. "I remember us freaking out a bunch the last time we were here."
"I guess that just goes to show how much we've leveled up since last time," Viv said smugly.
Oliver added, "It also helps that we know what to expect beforehand."
"I guess it was a good thing I came here on my own last time, after all," said Eddie.
He had a proud look on his face, but his sister shook her head and said, "No, I'm still mad about that."
Using a magic spell, Tanja moved the many layers of the dial puzzle with her mind until they formed a picture of a parrot which undid the lock on the doorway to another room with lots of large, stone blocks. Erin and Naomi took turns using their minds to stack the stone blocks to make a staircase up to the exit. After that was just one more puzzle before they could at last reach Lily. But there was a problem.
The Lady of Sapphire floated in front of a row of large crystal balls, arms crossed and frowning. She stared at them for about five minutes before someone finally spoke up.
"Uh . . ." went Erin. "What's the hold-up?"
"Have patience, child," said the Lady of Sapphire. "I just need to think for a bit."
"Think about what?" asked Tanja. "Can't you just bypass the security like you did with that first crystal ball way back when we started?"
"I can but . . ."
"Don't tell me," said Oliver. "You still need to solve the puzzle, but you can't remember the right combo?"
"Well . . . " The ghostly lady gave him an awkward smile and shrugged.
Oliver turned to the twins. "You've been here before. Do you remember what order Lily fed magic power to those crystal balls to get the doors opened?"
He nodded back to the huge blue doors decorated with the school symbol in gold.
"Sorry," said Viv, "but I don't."
"Same," said Eddie. "It was a while ago, after all."
"Well, I guess we're doing this the old-fashioned way," said Oliver.
He took out a pen and a notebook which he used to jot down the combos used as the Lady of Sapphire tried again and again to get the door open. Tanja chimed in whenever she could, and within minutes, the doors swung open. Bright blue light shined out of the cracks, making the members of the Sapphire Society turn away. When they looked back again, they found themselves face to face with a giant cluster of blue gemstone that had two people entombed within, a young girl around eleven or twelve years old and -
"Mr. Lin!" Viv cried out. "What's he doing here?"
"Viceroy Kevin Lin found and confronted the the Schemer," explained the Lady of Sapphire. "But alas, his power was no match for the Schemer who easily bested him in battle."
"Well, now we know why he was absent from classes," Eddie said, looking up at the trapped and frozen teacher. "Why does he look like he's leaping and shrieking like a monkey?"
Viv shrugged. "It's Mr. Lin. He's always doing stuff that don't make a lick of sense."
Tanjya looked up at the girl trapped with the history teacher. "So this is the Sapphire Princess. She really looks a lot like you, Ms. Lady of Sapphire."
"That, she does," said the Lady of Sapphire. She stared longingly at the girl who, unlike Mr. Lin, looked like she was peacefully sleeping while floating in a pool of blue.
"I'm starting to get a clearer picture about what must've happened," said Oliver. "To sum it all up: Somehow, Mr. Lin found out who the Schemer was and went to confront him, only to lose and end up captured. And then Lily came to rescue Mr. Lin, only to end up captured herself. My guess is she was lured into a trap by the Schemer who used Mr. Lin as a hostage."
"You are correct, Oliver," said the Lady of Sapphire.
"But speaking of Lily, where is she?" Viv asked as she looked around. "I don't see her. Do you know, Lady of Sapphire?"
There was no answer.
"Lady of Sapphire?"
"Huh?" The ghostly lady was still staring at the Sapphire Princess with her hand pressed on the blue gemstone when Viv's voice snapped her out of her stupor. "Yes? Oh, right! Lily!"
She pointed to a door at the right side of the chamber. "She's in that room over there. But before we go in, we must retrieve the Sapphire Bracelet. Only with the bracelet can we free her from the Schemer's terrible curse."
"Okay," said Viv. "Then where's the bracelet?"
The Lady of Sapphire pointed to another door opposite of the one that she claimed Lily was behind.
"There," she said. "I can sense the bracelet's power beyond that door."
"Behind there, huh?" Viv said.
She walked over to the door and reached for the door handle before being stopped by Oliver.
"Wait, Viv! We don't know what else could be in that room. There could be traps, so we need to be careful about this. Let me go first."
Taking Viv's place at the door, Oliver wrapped his fingers around the door handle and slowly pulled it down. He tried pushing the door and then pulling it. Pulling it worked and he opened the door a crack, just wide enough to peek in with one eye.
"Well?" hissed Viv. "What do you see, Oliver?"
"Shh!" Oliver shushed.
The room beyond the door was round, just like the first. But it was much smaller. There was a midnight blue armchair sitting in the middle of the room with a table next to it. On the table was a white teapot, a dainty white tea cup with steam wafting out of it, and the Sapphire Bracelet.
"Bingo," Oliver muttered under his breath.
He turned his gaze to the armchair itself which had someone sitting in it. The person was covered from head to toe in blue robes with their face concealed beneath a hood that cast a completely black shadow.
Oliver swore, and then he slowly closed the door shut.
"I saw the bracelet," he told the others. "But the Schemer's there right next to it."
Exasperated, Viv groaned. "Great! Now what do we do? We need that bracelet to help Lily!"
Oliver shook his head and whispered, "I don't know."
He took another peek inside and frowned. There was something familiar about the way the Schemer leaned over the chair's left arm with one leg folded over the other while holding his hands together on his lap.
"No way. Could that be . . . ? Ow!"
Oliver's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain to his cranium.
Panicked, Hassan hissed, "What is it? What's wrong?"
Oliver shook his head and whispered back, "It's nothing. Just got a headache. It's gone now."
He peeked back into the room again and saw the Schemer standing up.
What's he up to now? Oliver wondered.
He watched the Schemer walk over to the side of the room and push open a door there before walking through it. Once he was through, the door closed shut, leaving the room with no one inside.
"I can't believe it. He just up and left!"
"What? Really?" went Alejandro. "Where could he have one?"
"Who cares?" Hassan cut in. "Now's our chance! Let's get in and grab the bracelet!"
"Wait, there could still be traps," said Oliver. "We should - !"
But Viv could not wait anymore. She pushed past Oliver and rushed into the room before anyone could stop her. After grabbing the bracelet off the table, she turned and walked back out.
Oliver gave her a stern glare and said, "That was dangerous."
Viv fired back, "Hey, nothing happened, did it? Anyway, we're wasting time!"
And then she went running over to the other room. The others followed.
**********
Lily stood in a small round room, depressed and unable to move because of a growing pile of sapphire. At first, the gemstone covered just her feet, gluing them to the floor. But it has grown since then and was now up to her neck. And it was still growing.
She tried to her hardest to break free, but her efforts were futile. Her measly strength was no match against the solid rock. It would be no problem if she still had her magic bracelet, but without it, she was helpless.
I can't believe this is how it ends, she thought bitterly as the sapphire crept up to her jaw. I don't want it to end this way. Someone, anyone, please help!
She could not voice her wish out loud. For one thing, there was no one to hear it. For another, the stone covered her mouth. And then her nose. At that point, she lost hope and thought that it was really over for her. All she could do now was close her eyes and wait.
And then -
BAM!
"LILY!"
Hearing a familiar voice cry out her name, Lily's eyes flew open and she saw her roommate running over to her with the magic bracelet held tight in her hands. The whole gang came pouring into the room after her.
What are they doing here? Lily wondered. She was both relieved and horrified to see them. Relieved because it looked like her friends had come to rescue her. Horrified because it looked like her friends had come to rescue her in what could be the most dangerous place on the planet.
"Hold on, Lily," Viv said. "We'll get you out of there soon."
"No, you need to get out of here before the Schemer comes back," Lily wanted to tell her. But with her mouth sealed, what came out was: "Mh! Mmh mmmh mh mh mh mh mh mmmh!" Or something like that.
"Now, how do we use this thing?" Viv asked aloud, holding up the bracelet. Lily wondered how she got that when it should've been with the Schemer. "Do you know, Lady of Sapphire? Huh? Where'd she go?"
Everyone looked around, but the ghostly lady was nowhere to be found.
"Great! Now what do we do?" Viv whined.
"Oh! I know!" exclaimed Eddie. "Why don't we try making the bracelet touch all this stone?"
Viv turned to Oliver, who shrugged and said, "Let's go for it. I got nothing better."
So, Viv lightly tapped the bracelet against the stone that got Lily trapped inside. Almost at once, both the bracelet's jewels and the huge sapphire stone shined with blinding light making everyone look away. When they turned back around, both the light and all that sapphire around Lily were gone.
Free from the sapphire's hold, Lily's knees buckled and she dropped down to the ground where she sat. The others rushed to her side.
"Lily!" cried Viv. "Are you okay?"
"You're not hurt anywhere, are you?" asked Oliver.
"I'm fine," Lily said. With Viv's help, she stood back up. "But you guys shouldn't have come. If the Schemer catches you-!"
"Who cares about that?" Viv snapped. "What were you thinking, going after him alone like that?"
"You really should have let us know, Lily," said Oliver.
"Yeah," said Eddie. "We could have helped."
"You could end up cursed like last time," Lily said. "I don't want that to happen again."
"How do you think we'd feel if that happened to you?" Viv argued. "Oh, wait. I can answer that because it already happened to you. For me at least, it felt downright lousy. Horrible. You scared years off my life!"
"Listen Lily," said Oliver, "I know that you don't want us to get hurt. But it's the same for us. We don't want anything bad happening to you either. We care about you. You're our friend. That's exactly why we need to work together so that we all make it through this in one piece."
"But, the bracelet - !"
Oliver cut Lily off before she could finish. "The bracelet chose you, yes. You're the only person who can handle the Schemer, yes. But you can't do everything alone. Sometimes you need help just like everyone else. And we, your friends can give you that help. You can see for yourself that we've been doing a good job of it this time. And we'll always be willing to lend a hand whenever you need it. Promise. So, what do you say? Will you let us join you?"
Lily looked at the hand Oliver held up to her. She could see in his eyes that he meant every word he said, and that the others felt the same way.
After a little hesitating, she took Oliver's hand into a handshake and said, "Please, help me save Uncle Viceroy and the Sapphire Princess."
Grinning from ear to ear, everyone said, "Sure!" With Eddie adding, "Did you really need to ask?"
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