Twelve

ch 14: Riddles Revealed

Sarui paced anxiously back and forth the living room. "They should have been back long before us."

Sci sat, perplexed but motionless, on the couch. To Sci's right sat Ra, who silently nursed his reddened forehead with an ice pack. To Sci's left sat Cori. He too nursed his bruised forehead but occasionally threw dirty glances at Ra.

After what seemed to be hours but what actually could not have been more than twenty minutes, the front door opened.

Sarui was surprised to meet Eran's angry gaze as soon as the door swung open. He was followed by an equally unhappy Meg and Ini.

"Who is this?" Eran questioned roughly as he motioned to Cori.

"Capricorn," Sarui answered meekly.

"Does he remember anything?"

Sarui let her gaze drop to the floor slowly as she answered. "We haven't done anything yet. We were waiting for you."

Eran's lips pursed into a dissatisfied line and his eyebrows furrowed. "Waiting?"

Suddenly, Ra stood. Due to his abruptness, he stumbled slightly. After regaining his composure, Ra turned to face Eran with squared shoulders and an irked expression. "What the hell, Eran. Calm down and get yourself together. I don't know what happened at your mysterious meeting that got you so damn pissy, but cool it. We did what we were supposed to, and, since you're our leader at the moment, we decided it would be best to wait for you before we made any major decisions. Good?"

Eran closed his eyes and took in a sharp breath. "Good."

"First, tell us what happened at your meeting."

"The mystery man was that bastard Apollo."

Sarui scoffed in reaction. "Of course."

"He told us nothing but useless riddles and false hopes," Eran continued angrily.

"What were these riddles and false hopes?" Sci questioned.

"First, he told us of a weapon that would kill the hunter: Artemis's silver bow and arrows. The problem is that there is no possible way for us to obtain the weapon. The god's response was that he had someone 'taking care of that'. He later told us that only the strongest of us could wield it, whatever that means." Eran's eyes flashed in annoyance. "The god then gave us the name of one who could kill the hunter with supposedly any weapon. He said that he was a constellation like us and is called Nepa. It didn't mean anything to me either. Lastly, he gave us a riddle, as if his previous words weren't useless and confusing enough."

"Calm down, brother. The god may have actually provided us with something useful."

Eran threw a crumpled piece of paper at his brother. "Make all the sense of it you can. Gods speak in nothing but unsolvable riddles."

"'The last face that Orion sees shall be a familiar one. The eternal enemy of the hunter shall finally be victorious once more. Whether he be the friend or tool of the gods, it matters not.'"

Eran shook his head. "Absolutely worthless."

"It sounds like Scorpio."

The unsolicited comment came from Cori.

Sarui quirked her head and the rest wore expressions of surprise and confusion. "Sci? Why do you suppose so?"

"I studied Greek mythology throughout my childhood. It's part of my major. My grandmother was obsessed. Whatever. There are two generally accepted versions of Orion's death. One being that he was killed by a gigantic scorpion. Ugh there are so many variants. Basically he pissed someone off and they sent a giant scorpion, our friend Scorpio over here, after him. Maybe it was Apollo that sent him. . . The second version states that he was killed by Artemis herself. According to this version, Apollo challenges Artemis to hit a moving target in the water. Poor goddess didn't realize said moving target was Orion's head bobbing with the waves as he was swimming. She used her silver bow and arrows. Apollo really is such a douche."

The light streaming through the window flickered slightly.

"And what does this riddle mean by 'the strongest'?" Eran questioned.

"Classically, I suppose the strongest of you should be Leo. After all, he is the leader. Oh. He's absent. Captured? Uhm I suppose the leader is now Eran, making him the strongest at the moment. But that's only if it carries over. If it doesn't, then only Leo can use the weapon."

"What of the name Nepa?" Ra asked.

Cori shrugged. "I can't go around doing everything for you."

"Google it?" suggested Sarui.

"National Environmental Policy Act. I have a feeling that is not what we're looking for," answered Ra with tired sarcasm. "Regardless of its origins, it must just be an obsolete name for Scorpio, right?"

The rest nodded in unison. Each face displayed a satisfied expression, all except one.