They reconvened a day later to present their findings. The witnesses Jake spoke with at The Grove in L.A. told him there were over 100 people at the famous open air shopping district including a well known actor who turned into living statues for about five minutes before returning to normal. Most onlookers thought it was a publicity stunt for the actor's latest film and the studio readily took credit for it. One of them took a picture of the people in their stiffened state from the top floor of the store he was in and gave Jake a copy. They added it to the growing collection of pictures Jenkins had compiled and organized.
Ezekiel, Cassandra, Flynn and Eve had similar stories but the number of frozen people seemed to increase with each new sighting. Nothing was stolen and there seemed to be no lingering effects on the ones who were affected, but with the clippings book urgent shaking to get their attention every few minutes they became more concerned.
"Vexing…" Flynn thought out loud. "So what do we know about people turning into statues?"
"Well there's the Bible story of Lot's wife turning to a pillar of salt when she looked back to their burning home." Jake said.
"And there is a rare medical condition called Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva or FOP for short that slowly turns hardens the bones in the affected person's body. It's due to an excess of calcium buildup that eventually make the person stiff as a statue." Cassandra added.
"Keep going." Flynn encouraged.
"Let's not forget Medusa." Ezekiel added. "But if I had something that could freeze people that would have made my former job a lot easier." he joked.
The team became quiet as they tried to think. Jenkins came by with a stack of books for them to look through and each took one. Cassandra glanced at the picture Jake brought back then walked towards the board to get a closer look.
"Cassandra, do you see something?" Baird asked.
She nodded and pointed to the picture. "There's a pattern. See how they are divided? Some all bunched at the bottom then break off into three spikes. It kind of looks like a flame symbol."
They gathered closer to look. "I don't see it." Baird strained her eyes. Cassandra took a marker and outlined the pattern she saw. "Ahh…" They uttered in unison when they saw it.
"It reminds me of something, but I can't put my finger on it." Jake ruffled through the other pictures to see if there were anymore overhead shots. He found two more taken in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
"Ok in this one the people are standing in a triangle." Jake said.
Ezekiel picked up the other one. "And this one has them in a rectangle."
Flynn looked up from one ancient book and interrupted them with a loud, "Ah-ha!" They gathered around him.
"The key of Callidora, of course!"
"Who?" Baird asked.
Flynn began to explain. "In ancient Greece there lived a wealthy man named Artemis. He had four beautiful daughters, Callidora, Celadine, Cymone and Chrysanthos. He was cruel and jealous, wanting to keep them from ever leaving him so he had four enchanted keys made for them to keep suitors away. He tied one on each of their wrists and they were unable to remove them. Celadine's key turned her suitor into a bird, Cymone's key turned hers into a dog, Chrysanthos key turned hers into a goat, but for Callidora he fashioned the cruelest key of all. Callidora's key turned her beloved into a statue."
"How is that the worst key? They were all separated from their true loves." Ezekiel argued.
"The others had a companion something to care for, albeit in the form of an animal, but Callidora was headstrong and defiant so her father had her suitor, a brave soldier named Orestus turn to stone. All she could do was look upon his face and long for him."
"How sad." Cassandra said.
"The story ends happily enough. Callidora appealed to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. She was able to unbind the keys from their wrists thus breaking the spell. She took the the keys away and the sisters were reunited with their beloveds. Artemis was sentenced to spend the rest of his life alone, his only companions being a bird, a dog, a goat and a statue of his four daughters to remind him of what he had lost because of his cruelty."
"So someone has found Callidora's key and is using it for what purpose? To pose people in random shapes? It makes no sense." Baird observed.
"You're telling me it makes no sense, because it should be here in the Library with the rest of the keys." He ran to the spot in the Library where they where kept. Only three keys were there.
He came back and told them the bad news. "Lamia!" He shouted all of a sudden, remembering when she and her assassins invaded the Library. Along with the Crown of King Arthur, they took numerous other artifacts.
"But Lamia and Dulaque are dead." Jake said as he looked over at Cassandra. She slunk into a chair and kept her head down.
Jenkins stepped in. "Technically he vanished and is presumed dead."
"So you're saying it could be Dulaque?" Ezekiel asked unwilling to believe it.
"Dulaque… Of course, he always was a trickster, if anyone could find a way out of certain death, he could." Flynn responded.
"Well it seems like he's going through a whole lot of trouble to let us know he is alive. Why?" Baird furrowed her eyebrows deep in thought trying to figure out the mind of this madman.
"And what do these random shapes mean?" Jake asked. "A flame, a triangle and a rectangle." He kept repeating the words to himself. Jenkins and Ezekiel started looking at the pictures again to try to find more patterns, Cassandra quietly slipped out and went back to her room.
She paced the floor, holding her head in her hands trying to shake the feeling of despair coming over her. This was all her fault. The fact that wild magic was in the world again was all on her. In her desperation to be cured she trusted the wrong people, she let them in and she would never be free of the consequences of that act. Dulaque was back. She sat at her desk and wrote two notes, one for the team and another one for Jake as she left the Library through another door.
"Where is the last place Dulaque was known to be headquarted in?" Flynn asked.
"London." Jake answered.
"Ok, that's where we will start. Jones, Eve and I will go to England, Jake you and Cassandra stay here with Jenkins to see what else you can find out from the pictures."
"Alright." Jake said. "Come on Cassie, let's try to figure this out." He turned to where she was sitting. "Cassie?" He went to her room to get her and came back with the letter she had written to the team in his hand. "She's gone."