Briallen Bevin and the Clocktower Guard

Chapter 14: The Room of Truth

"Just don't open your mouth," ordered Briallen as she looked him right in the eyes to let him know how serious she was.

Hayden rolled his eyes and nodded before leaning in and kissing her quickly. He then smiled at her before he ran off to join the snowball fight his friends had just started in the south courtyard. Marisol and Toby watched the couple from one of the couches of the first floor common room. Briallen was spread out on a couch opposite them, her bare feet propped up on one arm rest and her head propped up on the other. A blast of cold wind blew over her toes as Hayden opened the door to the south courtyard, and she smiled at the feeling.

"Don't open your mouth?" repeated Toby, as he flipped absent-minded through a Habory Lane Christmas Catalogue. Marisol brought her hand to her mouth and giggled.

"He keeps trying to kiss me with his mouth open - it's so disgusting!" moaned Briallen dramatically.

Toby made a gagging noise and then mumbled, "Jesus, that sounds gross!"

It was the Friday after Thanksgiving and most of the school was out shopping, except for Briallen and her friends, and they were very bored. Briallen and Toby wanted to make a snowman but Marisol didn't want to go out in the cold, wet snow, as she'd done her hair up nicely in a bouffant that morning and didn't want to ruin it. Lucan had wanted to work on the first clue some more, but until Lindsay and Amir returned from shopping there was no point in obsessing over it as they had been and so Briallen told him she would just meet him the next day. For now, she wanted to spend time with her friends.

"Briallen? Now that Hayden's gone can I ask a question about Lucan?" asked Marisol in a sing-song sort of way. Briallen shrugged her assent as she popped a piece of blue Bestand Bubbles Bubblegum in her mouth. She chewed loudly, smacking the gum, as Marisol went on. "What are the two of you always doing?"

Briallen popped the bubble she'd blown and turned to look at her friend. She half expected Marisol to coyly suggest she was have some sort of sordid affair with Lucan. Marisol didn't say anything else, however, and she didn't look amused. Even Toby had caught the serious tone of his most playful companion and looked up from his catalogue, ready to engage in the serious conversation he hoped was about to begin.

"We've been working on... on a project," said Briallen, stopping herself before she mentioned Reynard's game. Something about the clock-tower guard made her think it was best to follow the only two rules he'd given them for the game, especially after what she'd witnessed the other day in her grandfather's office between Reynard and Minister Everard.

"Briallen, I have all the same classes as you. I know we don't have any projects. What are you two up to, really? Is there something...." Marisol paused to lower her voice, even though they were the only ones in the room. "Is there something dangerous going on?"

"What? No! There's nothing - look, I'm just helping him with some silly project for his Humanities class, alright? Really, it's nothing," Briallen assured Marisol, who looked content with Briallen's insistence that nothing was going on.

Toby clearly didn't believe her, however. She'd have to talk to him later, in private, and find some way to convince him of her lie. He was much more perceptive than Marisol - he'd even picked up on her time-turner use; even if he didn't know exactly what was going on when she had the time-turner, he knew Briallen was doing something she wasn't supposed to.

A snowball hit one of the windows that overlooked the south courtyard. They all turned to look at the window and saw Hayden, waving at them with one hand and holding a pile of snowballs in the other.

"Oh, come on, Marisol!" begged Briallen, looking sadly at the shiny, sparkling snow outside and the kids playing in it.

"In the name of Circe... fine!" cried Marisol, throwing her hands up in the air. "Let's go throw snow at each other like a bunch of monkeys in a zoo!"

Toby threw his catalogue on the table with a loud thud and had his winter gear on before Briallen and Marisol had even gotten up from the couches. Laughing, they followed suit and put on their boots, cloaks, and gloves and ran outside to play.

The next morning Briallen was sniffling with a runny nose but she was happy. The previous day had been the most fun she'd had the entire semester, but she'd spent most of it outside and she was worse off now because of it. The runny nose didn't bother her though, and she knew Mrs Krause could probably cure it in a flash but she was enjoying the feeling as she ate her warm cinnamon oatmeal and flipped casually through her new YW: Young Witch magazine, which was an extra-thick Holiday Special edition. It all reminded her that winter break was almost here, which in turn meant Christmas was almost here, and that was what she was looking forward to most of all - a nice, relaxing, old-fashioned family Christmas without the worry of kidnappers and killers looming over her.

Noah Pierce sat down next to her. She smiled kindly at him as he helped himself to breakfast, and he smiled back, but neither spoke. They ate together in silence. Briallen had read through half her magazine before she realized Noah was sneaking glances at the magazine when he thought she wasn't looking.

"Are you interested in 'Seven Potions to Make Your Winter a Wonderland?'" asked Briallen, amused, as she glanced at Noah from the corner of her eye.

With a goofy grin, Noah replied, "I was waiting for you to finish actually."

"So you want to read the whole thing?" joked Briallen.

Noah chuckled. "I didn't want to interrupt you with my question."

She pushed away her empty bowl and closed her magazine. She hadn't really been reading it anyway - she'd just been looking at all the magic pictures that moved. "Is it a question about Quodpot?" she asked excitedly, hoping Noah wanted to confer with her about something important regarding their team.

"Of course. I have tickets to a Pilot Mountain game - Chicago Zephyrs versus the Durham Dragons - and Benjamin mentioned you wanted to go to a professional game and so... I thought you might want them."

"Are you serious!" cried Briallen, even more excited than before. "You're inviting me to a real Quodpot game?!"

"Not exactly. My dad gets all these tickets for free when he's in town but he just wants to have a quiet break with the family. So I'm giving you our tickets, if you want them."

"Yes, yes! This is so exciting! Oh - I have to go tell Toby and Marisol!" Briallen jumped up from the table, grabbed her things, gave Noah a quick hug, and then run out of the dining hall.

When she entered the portrait hall however she noticed Lucan coming down the stairs from the direction of the Withers common room. He looked frustrated, but that look disappeared when he saw Briallen, and it was replaced with annoyance. "I've been looking all over you!" he said quietly, glancing behind her. She knew he was checking for Hayden. Ever since Hayden had hit him, he'd been extra careful around Briallen.

"Okay, but I have to go tell Toby something first-"

"You can talk to him later. Right now Amir and Lindsay are waiting for us in a study room. Come on," he ordered as he took Briallen by the arm. She yanked her arm from his grasp and glared at him, but her curiosity got the best of her and she followed him into the library.

Amir glanced up over his glasses as Lucan and Briallen entered but left Lindsay to greet them while he continued taking tracing something on a sheet of paper. The table they were working on was covered in large rolls of parchment, most of which were unrolled and splayed across the table in layers.

"We think we might have found it!" whispered Lindsay in shaky excitement. She wore an enormous grin as she pulled her curly, red hair into a more serious pony-tail. "Its name was removed from the plans but we were able to figure out its location from first person accounts in various diaries and books..."

"What are we talking about?" whispered Briallen. She didn't know why they were whispering since the library's study rooms were covered in Silencing Charms but she went along with it anyway.

"The Room of Truth," explained Lucan, taking a seat across from Amir.

Lindsay nodded and added, "Every group except yours has a member who is familiar with Bergamot and its stories, so while you two were apparently figuring out the clue piece, we had all already figured out its location and were just trying to find it."

"I still don't get it," mumbled Briallen while she examined the rolls of parchment. They were filled with detailed drawings of the school and its layout, except none of the rooms appeared to be labeled, contrary to what Lindsay had said previously.

"The reference to 'omphalos.' We all understood that that line specifically was talking about the Room of Truth because we'd all heard the stories but you, being Muggle-born, obviously hadn't, nor had Lucan, who is the first in his family to attend Bergamot," said Amir. He pointed to the roll of parchment on which he'd been tracing something when Briallen first entered the study room. "This, we believe, is the Room of Truth. Its name was erased from the plans. From what Lucan told me about Abel Fewter, it was probably done around one hundred and fifty years ago when the room was closed off to keep kids out."

"They closed it off? Why?"

"There are a lot of strange and unused rooms in the school. Like the swimming pool - that was closed off and hidden ten years after some Kappas got into it and a bunch of kids were hurt. That's the only reason rooms are hidden. They're never destroyed or re-engineered for some other purpose because there's no need when we have wizard space, and one never knows when those rooms will come in handy again. For example, there's already talk of the Dean re-opening the pool."

This was all a lot of information for Briallen, and she still didn't understand what the Room of Truth was, but Amir had finished talking. He folded the paper he'd been tracing on and handed it to Lucan.

"Did you learn anything about how we can get in?" asked Lucan, taking the paper.

"The stories say the Room of Truth only opens for those searching for enlightenment... so, good luck!"

Lucan snorted and stormed out of the room. Briallen looked apologetically at Amir and Lindsay and said, "Thanks for all your help!"

"You're welcome, and be careful! The others are looking for the room too - we stole these plans from Ricky and Rudy so they might've already figured out how where it is!" said Lindsay just before Briallen shut the door to the study room.

Briallen ran to catch up with Lucan. "Hey, Lindsay says the others might have already found it!"

Lucan's head snapped to her but he didn't break stride. Reaching inside his pant pocket, he pulled out the small white card Reynard had given them on the first day of the scavenger hunt. The words on it were still that of the first clue. He slid it back in his pocket and muttered, "We've still got time. Here, look over the map Amir made us."

He gave Briallen the sheet of paper and she unfolded it. It was very confusing to look at because the layout rearranged itself as they walked, to reflect their current position in the school, and she could hardly read Amir's handwriting where he'd labeled the rooms. Briallen turned it over in her hands and brought it up close to her nose as she examined it.

They exited the library on the fourth floor and Briallen gasped as the layout changed again and a staircase off to the left of the page was highlighted in red. With a wave of her arm, Briallen directed Lucan to turn left. The staircase Amir's map highlighted was the very same staircase from the year before that Briallen and Lucan had taken to get to a gorgeous, abandoned chapel that overlooked the cemetery.

She kept offering Lucan directions, while he led the way with his wand, prepared to take on any competing teams they might run into.

"This can't be right," said Lucan suddenly, as he stopped at the beginning of a new hallway.

"The map says to go straight," Briallen confirmed. She looked up then and saw why Lucan had stopped. It was the ghostly hallway filled with spidery crates and dusty statues that Briallen had wandered down a year ago, and there was only one door at the end - the door to what Briallen had called the Chapel. She looked down at the map and saw the door to the Chapel highlighted. "Well... according to Amir's map, that is the Room of Truth."

As Lucan stomped to the door, and Briallen followed casually behind him, he argued, "That can't be right! In the stories, the Room of Truth only opens to those who wish to be enlightened, just like Amir said. We've been in there several times without wanting to be 'enlightened,' and without any difficulty. Do you think this is it?"

"I don't know, Lucan!" cried Briallen, frustrated by the confusion. She stepped in front of Lucan, pushing him aside. "But I'm going to find out!"

She pushed the door to the Chapel open. They both released the breath they hadn't even realized they'd been holding as they slowly entered. It looked exactly as it had the last time they were there: large stone pillars, large stained glass windows, splintered pews... but there was nothing in the room to suggest it was in any way extraordinary, or that it was home to some sort of treasure.

"I don't think there's anything here," said Lucan crest-fallen, taking a seat on one of the old pews in the middle of the room. "If this room has been open for a hundred years, its likely someone has already come in here and taken what we're looking for. Or there was nothing here in the first place and Reynard is just playing a sick game with us all! He certainly seems the sort..."

Briallen sat next to him. She leaned over and bumped him with her elbow to get his attention, and then smiled at him. "But it was still fun. Deciphering the clue, sneaking around the school, getting into fights..."

Lucan offered a wincing smile as he brought his hand up to bruised lip. "Completely unnecessary overreaction. He's a great, uncivilized ape, as my grandfather would say." Briallen didn't laugh but she was smiling. Lucan sighed and pulled the white card from his pocket. It was still on the first clue. "I just wish we knew what happened to the stone, or if there even is a special aragonite stone belonging to Fewter."

"Me too."

A rush of wind suddenly blew over them from somewhere at the back of the room. They turned around to see what was the cause of the gust but the door to the Chapel was closed, as were all the windows, and they were still alone. Another gust of wind blew over them just then, and then it was all around them. Briallen blinked, and when she opened her eyes again she saw the room was just a little different - it was cleaner, and more put-together. She blinked again and this time she was sure that there were new statues and candles, and there were tapestries on the wall.

"What's going on?!" Briallen shouted over the rising, whistling wind. She held tight to Lucan as the wind speed increased even more.

"The room is changing! I think we're entering the Room of Truth!" he shouted back before he began choking on Briallen's long hair as it blew in his face. He only managed to pull her hair out of his mouth once the wind had stopped.

Neither of them moved from the pew, just in case they weren't done moving yet, or the room wasn't done moving yet (Briallen wasn't sure which it was). Slowly, Briallen began to pull away from Lucan as she got a better look at was around her.

The room was blanketed in golden light and in shadows, and through the windows Briallen could see the sky was dark, even though it was only mid-day. The tall pillars, whose carvings were previously worn with age, looked brand-new. The embossed artwork in the pillars was so crisp that the plants and people it consisted of looked as if they might spring to life at any moment. The pew she and Lucan sat in was now a solid, shiny mahogany that felt smooth and cold under Briallen's fingers, and when she stepped into the center aisle between the rows of pews her slippers landed on something soft and thick.

She looked down and saw there was an plush, ornately woven carpet running down the center of the Chapel filled with images and scenes of famous witches and wizards like Merlin and Morgan le Fay. She slid her slippers off and walked barefoot down the aisle, letting her toes feel every string of the soft, shiny thread the carpet was made of. Her eyes were drawn to the tapestries on the walls next, which were just as ornate as the rug and seemed to tell a story about a mermaid an a dragon; Briallen didn't recognize the story but she was captivated by the woven mermaid who swam through an ocean in and between several tapestries.

She spun around to face the front of the Chapel only when she felt Lucan's hand squeeze her shoulder. She gasped, and instinctually brought her hands to her mouth to try and hide the sound she made, as she laid eyes on what was in front of her.

Not far in front of them, three stone steps led to a raised platform on which there were three omphali positioned in a triangular pattern that pointed to the aisle. The omphali were only a few feet high and looked like giant eggs cut in half, with a small basin at the top. Each had its own unique design of lines and archaic symbols embossed on them.

But the omphali weren't what Lucan wanted Briallen to see. He pointed to what was in the middle of the omphali triangle - a tall statue of a old man in long, draping ropes, and whose spindly fingers were pressed together in front of him as if he were praying. This alone was not all that bizarre, especially not in a place that so closely resembled a cathedral in Briallen's opinion.

What was so bizarre about the statue was its head.

It had three faces, and a flat top that Briallen thought must look, from above, like a triangle pointing opposite the omphali triangle. One embossed face was turned towards Briallen and Lucan, while the other two looked off into the left and right corners of the front of the room. And each face wore a different expression: the face looking at them was sad, while the one of the left was happy, and the one on the right was angry.

For a reason unknown to her, the statue frightened Briallen, and she could see it had the same effect on Lucan. She wanted to ask him if he saw an aragonite stone anywhere so that they could leave, but she couldn't form the words, and then she realized they didn't even know how to leave. Looking behind her she saw there was no door and she had a feeling that if she went to the windows she would see no ground - no anything. They were in an in-between space - a void.

Lucan slowly pulled Briallen closer to the platform at the front of the Chapel and, at first, Briallen resisted. She didn't want to go anywhere near the unsettling statue, with its three stone faces. But then she thought, What better place to put a treasure than on an alter? The aragonite must be in one of those stone things...

They stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at the statue. Suddenly, it looked down at them. Briallen opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. She clutched Lucan tightly and hid her face in his sweater.

"You cannot speak until we let you," boomed the statue, its stone lips spraying flecks of dust as they formed their words. "But we are sad and do not feel like conversation." It sighed and Briallen felt the room vibrate. It stood silent again, but kept its eyes (which lacked pupils) on Briallen and Lucan, both of whom were too afraid to move. Finally it asked, "Why are you here?"

Briallen refused to speak to the statue as she had a feeling it was the reason the room was called the Room of Truth. Lucan opened his mouth and seemed shocked by the words that came out as he said, "Because I want to prove myself to... to..." He struggled to keep from naming who it was he wanted to prove himself to. He was breathing heavily as he continued, "I wish to find an aragonite stone!"

The statue's head suddenly began spinning and the omphalos stone on the left shook and rumbled and then cracked down the center.

The head stopped spinning and now the happy face looked down mischievously upon them. "You lie to yourself! You have but two chances left to tell the truth, our friend. But we would not mind if you lie again for we so desire some company... we are just so negative at times, and it is refreshing to be happy for once." It chuckled and Briallen felt the room vibrate again. For a moment, she thought she saw the sun and clouds out the windows, but she shook it off as wishful thinking. The statue then asked again, "Why are you here?"

"We want... Fewter's..." Lucan was turning pink as he struggled with his words, which came out through clenched teeth. "Fewter's aragonite stone!"

The statue's head began spinning quickly again, and the omphalos stone on the right cracked and split down the middle. Briallen was annoyed by this. She pulled Lucan's face to her and, because she could not speak, she slapped him hard across the cheek and glared at him. He snarled at her and then looked back up at the statue.

The head had stopped spinning and this time, its angry face was growling down at them. "YOU'RE A LIAR! YOU WILL NEVER GET WHAT YOU SEEK AND YOU ARE ANGERING US!" Its shouting caused the room to vibrate violently and Briallen knew she saw the sun, and the trees, and the clouds out the windows this time. The statue began roaring again, "YOU HAVE ONCE CHANCE LEFT OR YOU WILL REMAIN HERE! NOW ANSWER US - WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

Lucan cringed and Briallen cowered. "Because I want to prove to her that I'm not a bad wizard!" Lucan shouted back at the statue. "And we want Fewter's aragonite stone!"

The final omphalos, which was directly in front of them, rumbled and Briallen groaned internally, thinking it was going to crack again because Lucan hadn't named the person he apparently was trying to prove something to.

But the omphalos didn't crack - instead, a beam of light emanated from the basin at its top. The other two omphali magically repaired themselves and the statue's head began to spin again. Suddenly the beam of light went out and the statue's head flipped down, and the face that had apparently been on top of the head, and unseen before now, was looking smugly down at Briallen and Lucan.

"In the basin of the third omphalos you will find a reward for your honesty," whispered the statue. "And we hope you will remember that while at times it may be necessary to lie to others, it is never a good idea to lie to yourself. Take your gift and go now, let us return to our slumber for we are growing weary of you."

Hesitantly, Lucan and Briallen approached the omphalos in front of them. Within its shallow basis was a small, shiny, milk white stone with many orange needle-like crystals protruding from either end. Carefully, Lucan used two fingers to pick the stone up from its middle.

As soon as the stone left the basin, a violent whirlwind began again. Through her hair, which kept blowing over both her face and Lucan's face, Briallen watched as the room began to melt back to how it was normally. The lush aisle carpet dulled, frayed, withered, and eventually rotted away, along with almost everything else in the room. The three omphali stones and the multi-faced statue vanished completely.

The wind slowed, and then stopped. Relieved that she could see the sun shining again, Briallen pulled away from Lucan and tried to steady her rapid breathing.

"Where'd you guys come from?" snapped Grace, popping out from behind a column near the back of the room. She had her wand pointed at them. Her game partner, Melanie, appeared from behind another column on the other side of the room and she also had her wand on Lucan and Briallen.

"We, uh..." mumbled Briallen, trying to think of a story to tell Grace.

It was too late, though. The older girl's dark eyes had immediately found the sparkling crystal in Lucan's hand. "Is that the clue piece? It's the clue piece isn't it? Hand it over!"

Lucan put his hand behind his back and raised his wand at Grace. Briallen, seeing a fight was imminent, pulled out her wand as well.

"Hey, hey, now - calm down, Daniels," said Julian with a smile and a chuckle. He and his own partner, Peter, had just come through the door. Julian had his wand on Grace, while Peter had his pointed at Melanie. Grace scowled at them and lowered her wand and Melanie mimicked her friend. Julian continued, "It's too late now, check your cards. Second clue came up just before we came in."

Lucan turned his wand to Julian and growled, "We're not giving anyone the clue piece! We were nearly trapped in here trying to get it!"

Julian put his hands up in surrender and grinned at Lucan. "We're not looking to take it from you. You heard Reynard - it's the last clue piece that wins the game. I just wanted to thank whoever it was that figured it out and progressed the game. Well done, Stone, Bevin... wouldn't have expected the two of you to figure it out."

"We were the only ones to figure it out!" snapped Briallen. "Amir told us the only thing you guys knew was the Room of Truth - we figured out the actual clue piece!"

"Amir?" Julian turned to Peter, who was a Wenlock like Amir. Peter shrugged that he didn't know what Briallen was talking about. Julian's smiled faded and he looked thoughtful, and just a little angry. "You got them to help you, then. Clever. How'd you manage to convince them of that? What'd you do to them, Stone?"

Briallen answered before Lucan could. "We didn't have to convince them of anything! They quit the game willingly and said they'd help us if we asked. Well, we asked and they helped. Lucan didn't have to do anything to them!" She glared at them all, showing them she was onto them being the source of all the tricks and pranks being played on her.

"Amir and Lindsay quit the game?" asked Melanie, sounding both uncertain and excited.

"That increases our odds, then," murmured Julian. He flashed a Cheshire grin. "And now the game has really started! What, or should I say, who, is next?"