Sarah could hardly believe what she saw. The child of runes? Who was that? She continued reading but it abruptly stopped on the third page. Frantically she flipped through the rest of the pages, only to find that they were all blank. Her eyes wide with astonishment, she shook her head and convinced herself it had to be stress that was causing her to hallucinate. Yes, that had to be it. She read the last page over again: "...Aeolian paused at the fork. Which way to turn? An old turtle had said, 'Right is right, wrong is wrong, left is right, and right is long.' What was that supposed to mean? After much careful debate, she took the road leading to the right..." That's where the page left off. Sarah frowned. Her long, dark brown braid swung slightly as she stood. She'd let it grow out. She began pacing the room, debating to herself whether the riddle was meant to show her the right way, or show her the way to her demise. Right is right...wrong is wrong...left is right....right is long. If left is right, and right is long, then that means that left is the long way, right? No! Ugh!! I hate riddles! Alright...back up. Left is right. Is left the right way? No...because if right is long...wait. Left is right. Left is right...! She picked up the book and shook her head. No! Go to the left! Don't go right! Aeolian!! As much as her mind screamed, she knew she couldn't do much more than scream in her mind. The person in the book couldn't hear her...or could they? With a smirk, Sarah wandered back into the room where it all started -- Toby's room.
Aeryn growled to herself. She'd been walking for hours, and she didn't see any castle. The turtle had tricked her...or had she gone the wrong way? With a groan of exasperation, she turned back only to find that there was no more path. There were only thick woods behind her. She growled and threw her hands up. "Dammit, Jarreth! How do you expect me to find my way if you won't give me a fuckin way out?!" She yelled to nothing in particular. She then heard a light chuckle behind her. She couldn't help but facevault as she turned. Jarreth stood there with one of his crystals in his hand. "Hello, my dear. Having a bit of trouble, are we?" His smirk was unnerving. She wanted to slap it right off his face. Instead, she crossed her arms and glared at him. "Trouble isn't even the half of it. First, you start off with mind tricks, and when I find a way around it, you throw out a kid that looks like some weirdo rapist con artist, and when I get out of that, you throw me a riddling turtle that managed to confuse me beyond belief. Come on! Why don't you just throw me a fuckin bone here?!" She exclaimed as she growled. Jarreth chuckled some more and cocked his head to the side. "Well I never told you it would be easy, Aeryn. Why don't you be a little more grateful, hm? I have been throwing you many hints, you just haven't gotten them. I gave you the boy because he would lead you to the castle gates. I gave you the turtle after you got rid of the boy because he told you the way to the city. So, who's the one throwing mind tricks now? You are. You're just mad because I didn't just show you the straight way and let you right in. I told you, Aeryn, you have to show me that you are worthy of helping me." He said. Aeryn stared at him. "Why should I be the one worthy of helping you?! You came to me asking for help!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. Jarreth smirked and cocked his head to the other side. "You think I'm just going to trust you right away after my incident with Sarah? I think not. You have to prove yourself trustworthy to me, and then I will discuss with you what is to be done." He replied, "And until then, you will have to continue this escapade of yours until you find my castle. Now, if you don't mind, my dear, I have little to do and so much time to do it." With that, he disappeared, leaving behind a very irate Aeryn balling her fists and punching various objects along the way.
