Parto 2: La Taglibro. 23: La Lumo

The next X pointed to a small lamp table in the hallway. We set the lamp on the floor and searched the table, under it, around it. Nothing.

“Maybe it’s in the lamp?” I wondered, picking it up.

“Perhaps we should dim the light,” Osiris murmured, glancing towards the hallway. “We don’t want to attract attention.”

I turned it over and shook it hard, but nothing rattled or fell out.

“Maybe Gabino was right,” Osiris said. “We’ve been searching for weeks and found nothing.”

“We’ve only checked two of five! Why are we giving up already? I’m taking the lamp back to my room. Maybe the treasure is inside!” I said, shoving it inside my bag.

“You’re not listening at all.”

“I am.”

“No, you’re not. You’re trying to make this mean something because you don’t want to be wrong.”

I set the lamp down and met their eyes.

“Then what do we do now?”

Osiris hesitated, then pulled out Arakil’s diary. They flipped it open in front of me.

“Look at it,” Osiris said. “It’s just sketches and fragments of poetry. It’s unfinished.”

I stared at the pages. Sketches, shapes, tiny notes scrawled in the margins… but none of it made sense.

“But the map. And the X’s…”

“It appears Arakil was looking for patterns that didn’t exist. We now repeat that error.”

“What about La Metalpolpo?…”

“That’s different,” whispered Osiris. “We know La Vizitanto is real. It maintains order. And… It won’t like what we’re doing.”

“Got it. So you want to give up because you are scared.”

Osiris didn’t deny it.

“You should be too.”

“Well, I’m not,” I said, frowning.

Osiris sighed.

“Take care, then. You’re on your own.”

And they left, leaving me alone in the hallway.

With no one to talk to about it, I spent the next day in my room, trying to decipher something from the diary. There were no more puzzles, just sentences that were more like random thoughts than riddles.

“Will the fragile flame flickering in the wind be extinguished, or will it ignite a beacon?”

“A painting hidden in the shadows. Will its colors ever be seen in the light?”

“The feeling of being watched, even when no one is there.”

I was going over those same lines again when someone knocked at my door. I shoved the diary under my bag on the desk.

La Instruisto 4-5 entered without pausing, their eyes sweeping the room. They stopped near the desk, pulled out the chair, and sat. A cold drop of sweat trickled down the back of my neck.

“Good evening, Kanako,” they said, folding their hands in their lap. “We need to talk.”

I nodded.

“Order is very important, Kanako,” Instruisto 4-5 said, their voice even and measured. “Especially for kids in their last year here at La Nesto.”

Oh, no. Did they find out? I thought. I nodded again.

“Lack of order leads to distraction. Mistakes. Failure.” Their voice didn’t change, but the room felt smaller.

My eyes betrayed me, and I glanced at my bag. 4-5 followed them, and their eyebrows rose. I gasped.

“Yes, it is as you suspect,” they said. “It has come to our attention that you have been neglecting some of your assigned projects.”

My face went slack. I sighed, relieved.

“Oh,” I managed.

“Therefore, you will be dedicating all your free time to completing them. Until they are finished, you will not be permitted any other activities.”

The relief turned into concern. It was a disaster. I couldn’t continue with the investigation.

“But Instruisto,” I stammered, “I…”

“There are no exceptions,” they said, their gentle smile never wavering.

They stood and stepped closer to me.

“We need order, Kanako.”

Then they left.

I lay awake for hours. I tossed and turned. Order. I couldn't stay still any longer. Just one more, I told myself. I grabbed the diary and the lamp. Then I slipped out towards the third X.

The map led me to a clearing by the western wall. The forest night was still and cold, the trees dripping with the remnants of the earlier drizzle. Its darkness was almost absolute, broken only by faint patches of moonlight filtering through the canopy. After walking further into the trees, I turned on the lamp.

I reached the spot and scanned around with the lamp, but couldn’t find anything on the surface. I crouched, digging with both hands.

Then I hear branches snapping behind me. I turned around. A shadow moved in the trees.

I froze.

La Metalpolpo.

I reached back, scrambling for my bag, my eyes fixed on the darkness between the trees.

A metallic scraping echoed through the trees. Then I saw it. A dark, metallic shape. It was taller than I remembered. Taller than any instruisto. Its three red eyes shone when it saw me.

I ran.

The clang of metal against metal echoed behind me, growing louder with each step. A whirring sound came from its head, as if it were scanning me.

I felt it too close and turned my head by instinct. Its tentacles whipped around. One of them struck my ankle, making me fall.

I hit the ground, scraping my knees. The memory of Arakil being dragged away by La Metalpolpo froze me in place. I tried to rise, but it was too late.

The moon was behind La Metalpolpo, its silhouette a dark omen. It slowed down, knowing they had caught me. I couldn’t scream. Its eyes burned into me. A sudden image of my mother, saying goodbye at La Nesto's gates, flashed through my mind.

I closed my eyes.

“Kanako!” a scream pierced through the trees.

Gabino was on the other side of the clearing.

“Run!” they shouted.

La Metalpolpo turned, its three eyes focusing on Gabino. It moved towards them. Gabino screamed and bolted.

I didn’t wait to see what happened next. I ran. My legs burned, but I didn’t stop until the trees thinned and the sky opened above me. Gabino burst out of the trees a moment later, their face pale and their breath coming in ragged gasps.

We held each other for a moment, then collapsed side by side on the grass.

“How… How did you escape?” I stammered.

“I… I don’t know,” Gabino said, their voice shaking. “It just stopped chasing me. I just ran.”

I looked back at the forest, the shadows still and silent. Had we escaped?

“You’re insane,” said Gabino after catching their breath. “I saw you through the window, going to the forest at this hour!”

I looked at the trees, wondering what would have happened to me if Gabino hadn’t followed me.

“You’re right. And Osiris. And even La Instruisto. This is insane. It’s too dangerous. I’m done.”

Gabino’s expression was a mix of relief and concern, their eyes searching mine.

“Are you sure, Kanako?”

“Yes… I don’t want to do this anymore,” I pulled out the diary. “We finished reading it all. Nothing! I will kick Arakil on the shin when I see them!”

Gabino smiled.

“What about the other X’s?” they asked me, curious.

“I was in the forest for the third one and I couldn’t find anything. And guess what was the second one?”

“Another of Abrajm’s socks?”

“I wish! Look!” I showed Gabino the lamp. “Our haul is a rock and this stupid lamp!”

We laughed.

I put the lamp to the side, then pulled the map from my pocket, ready to tear it up. Ready to end this madness.

“Wait!” said Gabino. “Look.”

They pointed to the diary, next to the lamp. It was open on a blank page. The light from the lamp caught on something on it, not ink, but faint grooves in the paper. A hidden message, waiting to be revealed.