Magnus Chase and the Wrath of Morpheus

Chapter 15

TJ Sums Up Our Situation in a Cute Little Battle Chant

I was thinking about my dream and how it shook me to my core. I suddenly understood what the Mare were all about. They are creatures of the night, they are living nightmares here to bring out our worst fears and regrets.

I also realized something I never dared to think about, I regret that I didn't help my mother. I blamed myself for her death even though I know she would probably tell me I'm wrong.

But the fear that I might be right and that she might blame me as well for what had happened was so big and present that Morpheus' lackeys had found that weakness within me and made it grow.

I don't know about my friends. I don't know what they went through, what their fears are and what causes their nightmares, but I know that it must've been just as hard for them as it was for me.

Hector interrupted my thoughts.

"Okay so why don't we grab some carry out and get to that island as fast as possible? I don't know about you, but how do you feel about camping in the woods?"

"Ha! Pretty good actually!" Carter exclaimed. When we all looked at him confused over why he wanted to go camping so desperately, he closed his eyes and held out his hand. Suddenly it vanished like it had vanished when he threw away his phone or when he grabbed the ushabti. He pulled back his hand in which he now held a sleeping bag. He grinned from ear to ear.

"Sadie told me that I would never find use for this. Well, who's laughing now, huh? Anyway, I have stored about 6 of those plus one tent and other stuff you need to camp out in the woods. Now let's grab some lunch and take a cab to..." He realised that he had no idea where we wanted to go and looked at me.

"Where did you say this island is?"

"I think my Mom and I asked the cab driver to bring us to Wright's Park. We should do the same. But before we go, is this really a plan? We just go into the woods, camp out over night, and then go to the island to see if Morpheus is there? Is that really our plan?"

Nobody answered. I knew it was our only plan, but I just wanted it to be clear that it might not work out. This whole trip to the island could just as well turn out to be a huge waste of time.

Alex was the first one to break the silence. "I think we were able to handle situations way crazier that this one. We'll be fine." He unplugged the flash drive and put it in his pocket. "Let's go. We can't waste any more time and now I'm starving too."

We left Dr. Bradley's office, thanked the lady at the front for being so kind, and walked outside the museum.

The blazing sun had reached its hightest point. The light reflected off of every shining surface it could find, temporarily blinding me. I covered my eyes with one hand while I pointed at a take away restaurant with the other one. "Let's grab some food there," I said and led the way.
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The cab driver looked at us a bit confused when we told him where to take us, but the wallet I stole was luckily still full even after we all bought food so he finally agreed to give us a ride.

On a more serious note though, don't ever carry as much cash with you as that man did. You've seen how badly it could end...

The ride was pretty boring to be honest. We had to split into two cabs again as we did before: Alex, TJ, Hector, and I in the first one, then Mallory with Halfborn, Grover, and Carter in the second one. Since we were separated into two groups, we couldn't discuss what we should do when we arrived. No plan, no place to sleep, no motivation to be on this quest than the sheer pressure of saving the world once again...just an ordinary day for people like us I guess.

Luckily, the cab driver made a final right turn soon enough and came to a stop in a small parking lot with the I-39, the interstate highway leading through Boston, on one side and a beach connected to a lake on the other side.

Now we couldn't see the cars driving by, even though we still heard the distant humming, it was becoming a constant reminder that we were now getting farther and farther away from civilisation. On the other hand, the advantages of pure nature without any disturbances from mankind were quickly established when the other taxi arrived.

"Where is Grover? Did you leave him behind?" TJ asked when he saw that only Mallory, Halfborn, and Carter got out of the cab.

"Of course we didn't!" Halfborn yelled indignantly and threw his arms up in the air, "Who do you think we are?"

"Well what happened then?" TJ yelled back.

"He saw a dead squirrel at the side of the road and freaked out. We stopped and he tried to heal the squirrel but it was already dead so he told us to carry on with the quest. 'It would need a proper burial,' he said and left. I don't know, I guess he's a real nature fan."

TJ turned around and looked at me. "He's kidding right? He just left? What the heck?!"

I sighed and thought about it for a while. I didn't really want to say out loud what that meant for us, but I guess everybody already knew.

"We have to keep going." Alex said. "There's no point in quitting now and you know I'm right. So, where do we go from here?" He looked at me as if I was the one who knew where to go...then I realised that I actually was the only one who knew where to go.

"Sorry, I trailed off a little... This way!" I announced, grabbing my bags and walked into the woods, following a signpost that said Wright's Pond Path.

Behind me TJ started singing. "Into the woods with a yell and a cry, we are the ones who will most likely die."