CHAPTER SEVENTY

Riddles in the Dark, Part 1

“Ninety-five... Ninety-six...” Sam huffed.

His arms strained against the weight of the Argo VII’s backend.

“Ninety-seven... Ninety-eight...” he puffed.

With his fingers grasping tightly onto the rear bumper, Sam dropped and then re-raised the school bus until its backside was higher than his head. This was the final exercise of the latest version of his daily missions [EXPLOSIVE TRAINING MENU #3]. Unlike number one which focused on his entire body’s growth and number two which concentrated on weapons training, number three was geared solely toward increasing Sam’s physical strength and allowing him to make better use of his, in Chiron’s words, “Cheat of a power.”

Sam couldn’t disagree with that assessment as ‘Herculean’ made it possible for him to bridge the wide divide between power levels, a feat that no other low-level heroes have ever managed to do.

“Ninety-nine... One”—he pushed his arms up as high as they’d go—“hundred!”

Breathless, Sam let the Argo VII go and its rear end fell on the grass with a loud thud.

“Hey!” Farsight yelled. “Stop manhandling my baby, you neanderthal!”

“Sorry!” Sam answered. “Got a little…excited there.”

CONGRATULATIONS! You have completed daily mission [EXPLOSIVE TRAINING MENU #3] Rewards: Permanent +2 increase to Strength.

Not bad, kid. Your time’s a lot faster than yesterday, Chiron said approvingly.

“Starting…to get the…hang of it,” Sam replied while still slightly out of breath.

“We’ve noticed,” Thunder said as she passed him a towel. “Do you think the training will help you even the odds against Apex?”

“I hope so.” Sam used the towel to wipe the sweat from his brow. “We’re bound to face him again after what happened at Independence Hall...”

Sam could still recall it in his mind’s eye; the sight of the Liberty Bell mangled into a messy heap by someone strong enough to crush it. He remembered feeling a great deal of sadness at seeing such an important symbol of liberty broken and discarded in such a disrespectful way like that. As if Apex had left it there as a promise for Sam and his friends that they would soon share the Liberty Bell’s fate.

It had also been clear that the enemy now knew the same secret they did and that the destruction of the Liberty Bell was meant to keep others from discovering the all-important clue. Luckily, Farsight had the foresight to have Jackboot write it down. Not that any of them could have forgotten the secret words engraved on the bell’s surface.

“Sam...?” Thunder called him back into the here and now. “Lost in your head again?”

“Sorry,” Sam smiled sheepishly. Then his gaze drifted from Thunder to the signpost a little way ahead from where they’d parked the Argo VII on the shoulder of the freeway. “I just hope we guessed right.”

WELCOME TO ILLINOIS, THE LAND OF LINCOLN.

“All clues led to the windy city,” Thunder reasoned, although her brow had creased just like Sam’s did. “Come on. let’s go find the fleece.”

Much, much later, Farsight parked the Argo VII in the tight parking space opposite 806 North Michigan Avenue, which was the location of one of the city’s most famous landmarks; the Chicago Water Tower.

Sam was gazing up at its lone spire from the window by his seat. “Um, are we sure this is the place?”

The light of the late afternoon sun bounced off the turquoise tiles at the top of the tower, sending a myriad of shimmering blue rays down onto the ground that gave off this visual effect of seawater crashing against the building’s lowest walls.

“Atop the spire lies a hint to Poseidon’s gift,” Jackboot recited. “I reckon this might be the place... It’s old enough. Built in 1869 if I’m not mistaken.”

“According to the Flint Consolidated Satellites Crow-Man lets us use,” Farsight tapped on the tablet in her hand, “there are four statues of Aeolus in the city, and all of them have their hands up with fingers pointed in this general direction.”

“Checks the let Aeolus guide you on this daring quest box, doesn’t it,” Jackboot agreed.

With baggy civilian clothes hiding the hero suits they had underneath, the crew of the Argo VII made their way to the small park where the tower stood.

Built in the castellated Gothic Revival style that gave it a ‘fairy tale’ vibe, the tower and building at its base were made from yellow limestone, which was a very popular material used for monuments dedicated to the gods. The bell-shaped roof was a good fifty-five meters up and made with turquoise tiles that were said to be a favorite of the priestesses of Poseidon.

“There’s a crowd gathered here,” Sam noted, his brow furrowing. “Styx, why is this place so packed?”

A long line snaked from the building’s entrance and slithered to the other end of the street.

“They’ve got an art gallery in there that’s currently showing a Superion greatest hits exhibit,” Farsight explained.

“We could have used that information earlier, Ash.” Sam’s gaze took in the sight of the many Superion enthusiasts idling by the building’s entrance. “How are we going to look for clues with this many people around?”

“Easy”—Farsight pushed past her friends to take the lead—“you have me.”

Getting past the line was easy enough for the seer who led the way with an air of authority that forced would-be complaints to get stuck in civilian throats. Even the guard at the entrance let them through without tickets after Farsight had shown him a very official-looking warden badge.

“Where did you get that?” Jackboot asked.

“Fabricated it in the Argo VII’s 3D printer,” she replied. “My seer-sense said we would probably need it.”

“It’s a very convincing fake,” Thunder said approvingly.

“We have the best toys,” Farsight grinned at Thunder but then frowned at Sam. “With a working exercise compartment toward the back that you could make use of instead of turning my baby into your make-shift barbell.”

“I, um, didn’t know that, and I will take note of it for next time,” Sam said sheepishly.

“Read the damn manual already,” she chided.

“Sam’s going to work on it, Ash,” Thunder assured her. “Now, lead the way, and let’s get this show going.”

After finding their way into the lower building, the team abandoned the gallery almost immediately because it was too packed with people exploring the exhibit of photos dedicated to America’s top hero, a hero that Sam admired tremendously. In fact, if Thunder hadn’t dragged him away from the entrance, Sam might have wandered into the gallery to explore the exhibit himself.

“What’s he like?” Sam asked as they shuffled into the elevator Farsight kept open for them.

“Who?” Thunder asked.

“Your cousin,” Sam replied.

“He’s a total boy scout, a bit of a klutz, and the corniest joker on the planet.” Thunder had that wistful look on her face like she was remembering a fond memory. “He’s also everything we think he is...a symbol of hope that we heroes of the younger generation aspire to be.”

She gave Sam a scrutinizing look that quickly morphed into a playful smile.

“You’re a lot like, you know,” Thunder said.

“Seriously?” Sam eyed her skeptically. “How are we alike?”

“You’re both good people,” Thunder answered. “And the world needs more of those, don’t you think?”

Their conversation was interrupted by the music that began to play as the elevator made its way up to the tower’s top floors; The Rubberband Man by The Spinners.

“I’ve read that there’s a pump station at the top…could it have some historical significance to match the Liberty Bell? Jackboot asked.

“That was the original Water Tower. It’s been renovated since then to be both an art gallery at the bottom and a shrine to the Olympian water gods at the top,” Farsight explained.

“It must be a rather small shrine then. That top floor doesn’t look very large from the outside,” Jackboot reasoned.

The music stopped. A bell chimed. Then the elevator doors opened to total darkness, and there was nothing beyond them but an empty stretch of space that went on forever.

“Um,” Sam was working to repress the shudder that came with this sight as it brought up memories of that time he was lost within the darkness of an elder giant’s shadow, “I don’t think our flashlights will work here.”

“Might be magic?” Jackboot asked, earning himself an eye roll from Farsight, who countered, “This was not in the brochure.”

“No point standing around wondering,” Thunder insisted.

Thunder was first to step into the void. She vanished from their sights even though they could still hear her exclamation of, “Oh!”

Worried for her safety, Sam jumped into the void—feeling that icy touch graze his skin like he’d fallen into a pool in the middle of winter—and fell onto the other side of it, which was when he found himself staring up at the water.

“Oh...oh!” he exclaimed.

It was like they’d fallen from the top of the Chicago Water Tower and into a circular glass dome surrounded by the greenest of watery depths. While the ceiling was all glass, the floor was polished marble. Fish swam overhead, their gazes momentarily catching Sam’s eyes as they floated past the dome he and Thunder had arrived in.

“So, there’s an aquarium at the top of the tower…” As he followed in after Sam, Jackboot marveled at their new surroundings. “It’s brilliant and definitely magic.”

“No, that thing’s a teleporter”—Farsight pointed a thumb back at the elevator doors—“that’s taken us someplace else…” her eyes widened at the sight of the dome above them. “…that’s underneath a large body of water…probably Lake Michigan.”

“Teleportation is magic,” Jackboot countered.

Farsight rolled her eyes at Jackboot. “With all the possible scientific explanations to teleportation, your go-to is still magic?”

“Guys,” Sam and Thunder both said together, although it was Thunder who put an end to the magic-science debate with, “shut up for a second.”

She was standing closest to the bronze statue at the center of the glass dome that Sam was surprised to have noticed only now as the shiny figure had quite the presence.

It had the head of a man, but with bull horns sticking out of either side of its temple. The left horn was broken around the base. The statue’s body was muscular up to the torso, while its lower half was a scaly coiling tail with fins at its ends.

Sam was staring up at the statue’s face—the obvious anger displayed in the curling of the lip and in the flaring of the nostrils—when he noticed the eyes—these twin irises of the brightest bronze—were staring pointedly back at him.

“Guys”—Sam grabbed onto Thunder’s arm and dragged her back toward him—“I think it’s alive...”

As if it was just waiting for someone to take notice, the bronze statue uncoiled itself from the ground with a series of clicking and banging noises similar to that of an old machine springing to life. It rose to its full height, towered over their group, and then greeted Sam and his friends in a hollow-sounding voice that escaped the statue’s unmoving lips, “To those who have discovered this sacred place, a trial of wit and nerve you must now face.”