It was incredibly amusing to watch Van stand in absolute stupor while Valentine perused Raven’s room. Van had been lying on Raven’s bed reading a newspaper when Raven opened the door and invited her in. The look on his face was quite simply comical, and he jolted from the bed, mumbling gibberish before having the sense to fall silent.

And so he remained, standing beside the bed red-faced as he stared at the girl of his dreams. Steam was nearly bursting from his ears. Betrayal, embarrassment, joy, and fear all crossed his face one after the other, exchanging places in rapid carousel fashion. Raven snickered, knowing he was going to have a good shouting-to coming from Van later, but it was worth it.

Van stared daggers at him. “What is she doing here?” his angry eyes shouted.

Raven smirked drolly. “Valentine Chessex is our new partner,” he said loudly and with flare. “I feel she can be trusted, and she’s decided that she ‘owes us.’ Now I can’t remember. Do you two know each other?”

Valentine turned in surprise to look at him. Then she timidly turned to Van. “Oh! Uh…” She smiled. “Yes, we were previously acquainted.”

“You know who I am?” Van asked in surprise.

“Of course. Don’t you remember your father used to oversee the grounds of our old estate? I would watch you help him on occasion. It is unfortunate we never got to know each other better, but I was… otherwise occupied.”

Raven laughed and they both looked at him.

“Oh,” he said. “I thought you were making a joke.”

Valentine smiled. “A sad one. But yes, I suppose I was.”

They stood awkwardly for a moment before Van clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. “Well, I guess if you’re joining in on this little caper to beat the schoolmasters, you ought to be told everything.”

“Raven has filled me in on most of the details. It’s a strange task, dedicating so much time and effort just to humiliate the masters. But outside of Fanny, I have no love for them. As long as our actions don’t impede my studies, I feel I am dedicated to Raven’s ultimate cause of ending the reign of the Titan. If this furthers that goal somehow, I will do anything to help.”

Van frowned. “I don’t feel like it’s truly hit me yet how dangerous these plans are. Luring the Titan to the city, making deals with Panka, releasing Sheeharu from her cocoon…”

“Oh yes!” Valentine exclaimed. “That poor girl we used to call the Sleeping Devil. I never knew her real plight. That just makes me all the more willing. And as Raven said, I am in great debt to you both.”

“Not to me,” Van said quickly. “Please think nothing of it. We were very glad to help you.”

She smiled again before glancing around the room once more. “I am astounded by this place. I can’t believe no one ever knew it was here.” She did a double take. “Is that a coffin?”

As she approached the large black box propped up against the wall, Van looked to Raven again. Raven nodded in her direction.

I’m giving you a prime opportunity to get to know her, his look said. Please don’t waste my efforts to help you.

Van understood right away, coming alongside Valentine to peruse the casket-like object. He cleared his throat. “I asked Raven what this was the first time we came here. He wouldn’t tell me. Although… wait a minute! What’s this?”

He pointed to a pandora affixed to the middle of the box. The Class Six card featured a clock with the hands both pointed at the “9” – it flashed with a soft flickering glow every now and again. The pandora sealed the coffin shut. They looked at Raven.

“That wasn’t there a couple days ago,” Van said. “What is this?”

Raven was gathering some things into a pack. He looked up at his question. “That’s a pandora,” he replied.

Van rolled his eyes. “I know what it is. But why is it stuck to the coffin? It’s keeping the thing shut. What did you put inside?”

“Who ever said it was a coffin?”

Van turned to Valentine. “See what I mean? Shady.”

She bit her thumbnail. “I’m kind of curious myself.”

“Now that I think about it, he’s made a few other changes. What happened to that weird scarecrow?”

Raven continued packing as if nothing was out of place. “What scarecrow?”

“Oh c’mon. The other day, you had a giant scarecrow in that corner of the room. It was stuffed with straw, had a funny little hat, and a giant purple flower pinned to its chest. It was a fake rose or something. Ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh yes. It was quite ugly. I got rid of it.” He closed the pack and looked up. “Are you both ready to go?”

They looked at each other. “Go where?” Valentine asked.

“It’s time to explore the Rail. Neither of you have classes the rest of the day, correct? I have everything we need. Candy, chocolate, some cookies, cakes and pies. I also brought crackers, if either of you like that sort of thing.”

“You want to explore a potentially vast underground grotto and bring nothing but a backpack full of sweets?” Valentine asked.

“And crackers.”

“What about water, rope, a map, or actual food?”

“Well, I didn’t plan on us being down there for too long. And the map’s in my head. We’ll be fine.”

She sighed. “I see I’m going to have my work cut out for me, being friends with you boys.”

Van’s smile was blinding.

Raven shouldered the pack. “Shall we?”

The excursion started off quietly enough. Raven led them back to the Sleeping Devil’s courtyard, where Valentine perused the golden cocoon with intrigue. She confessed she had never dared to come here, but now that she knew the truth about Sheeharu, she was no longer concerned. Even so, she spoke in whispers, and Van stayed away from it.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Raven made his way back to the original passageway and they descended into the Rail. Valentine immediately awed at their surroundings much the same way Van did on their first arrival.

“Right?” Van exclaimed when Valentine’s wonder reached its peak. “And this is just one hallway!”

In little time, they were chatting animatedly. Raven silently watched them talk back and forth as they examined the walls, tapestries, and doors.

“You really did a good job setting them up,” Rue said. Her pandora felt warm.

“To be honest, I thought I would have to do a lot more to get to this point,” he replied. “Do you think Van will consider my obligation in the matter fulfilled?”

“Of course not!”

He sighed. “I suspected as much.”

“They need to fall in love. That was the deal.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

“No complaining.”

“Are you talking to a pandora?” Valentine suddenly asked, coming up to Raven.

“Yes,” he replied.

“I wish I could talk to mine. Is there a way to learn?”

“Not that I know of. And that is saying a lot.”

“We can try to find a way!” Van blurted.

“Alright. Well… I’ll leave that project to you.”

Van became quiet.

“So, shall we begin here?” Raven pointed to the first door, inlaid with gold and jade like all the others.

“What are you expecting to find?” Valentine asked. She lightly tapped the golden knob as if expecting it to be scalding hot. It wasn’t.

“I forced myself to do away with any expectations but one: to find something. I will only be disappointed if we open all these doors and find empty rooms.”

“Shouldn’t we be more worried about dangerous traps or something like that?” Van asked. “Maybe Panka kept this place hidden on purpose.”

“Panka likes to play pranks, not kill his students.”

“I don’t know about that,” Valentine said. “Everyone knows that the punishment for pulling the lever of Panka’s Riddle is extremely violent. It’s said to have killed people in the past for not solving it correctly.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

Raven took hold of the knob. He turned it and pushed the door open. The other two came closer to look inside.

The small room was empty.

Raven sighed. Van snickered.

“It looks like Panka is already living up to his reputation,” Valentine consoled with a suppressed grin.

“On to the next one!” Van said with a raised finger.

He led them to the next door down the hall. With newfound courage, he turned the knob and swung the door open.

“And behind this door we hav—”

A barrage of water exploded from the entryway. The freezing avalanche hit them all in an instant, blasting them off their feet and dunking them beneath the surface. Like a broken dam, water rushed from the door, filling the wall and washing them away. The currents swept them to and fro, dashing them up against walls before pulling them back under. Fighting to keep their heads above water, they glubbed and blubbed for several minutes until finally they were granted relief and flung into the main auditorium of the Rail. They washed up onto the stone floor as the water receded, sliding to a stop staring up at the expansive ceiling. They choked and coughed up fountains of liquid before heaving for air.

They said nothing, slowly catching their breath. But after a long while, Van turned his head to look at Raven, who stared up with a tired expression.

“This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?”

Raven nodded.

Valentine burst into laughter. They looked at her in confusion. But her abrupt mirth only gained, echoing in the vast hall. Soon Van was laughing with her. But Raven suddenly panicked. He looked around for his pack and found it close by. He got up and rushed to its location, shoes slopping on the water. He threw the cover open and desperately rummaged inside. For a few moments, Van and Valentine watched on, wondering what he was worried about.

Finally, Raven let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “The snacks weren’t ruined.”

His new friends exploded with laughter again.

In no time, they were racing back down the same hall to find the next entryway. Raven carefully opened the third door before they all jumped back.

Nothing. In fact, instead of more water, an intense shine met their vision. The room was a tower packed full of gold, jewels, and treasure chests! The bright gleam of the wealth nearly blinded them. They slowly walked inside, eyes wide in wonder. It was more fortune than anyone could have ever dreamed up.

Van immediately reached out to grasp some nearby coins. When his fingers came close, a gooey black substance began to ooze from the surface of the gold. A stench of otherworldly intensity issued from puffs of dark steam letting off from the secretion.

The trio slowly backed away and Raven closed the door.

The next door featured the start of a maze. An entryway made entirely of creeping vines led deep into the bowels of a dark passage. Raven led the way, eager to see where it took them. It took hours, and Van got lost and separated from Raven and Valentine several times, but finally they reached the apparent end where a prize awaited each of them.

For Valentine, a very ancient-looking book sat in a velvet-laced basket. It was an olden volume on Hydra written by a man Raven knew by name, but nothing more. Van’s reward was a smooth cloak of canvas identical to the ratty one he now wore. He donned it immediately, casting his old one aside. Raven’s prize was a large chocolate cookie. He ate it with relish.

Beyond the prizes was another door. They exited, only to find themselves in the same spot in the hall where they had entered.

They explored several more rooms that afternoon. Some had dangerous tests like an immense Golem that challenged them all to battle. These things they wisely sidestepped for the most part. Other places had grand delights like the maze room. One room in particular was actually filled with kittens and puppies pouncing and frolicking on various toys and fluffy edifices. They played with the baby animals for over an hour.

It was Raven who finally had the sense to suggest they stop for the night. While Van and Valentine were disappointed at the suggestion they stop searching out Panka’s amusements, they immediately felt tired and knew he was right. They had been inside the Rail for half a day and only finished a single hallway.

Even so, Raven led them to one more door before they retreated back to Panka’s Tower. It was the door Panka did not construct, the one with Valius Shrale’s mark. Raven kneeled to closer inspect the doorknob while the other two watched on. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he realized the triangle insignia was actually embedded into the wood with thin, deep grooves. He carefully turned the knob. It was locked, of course.

He was not yet prepared to attempt entry by other means. There was something truly vile about it. A feeling that once again reached inside and made him cold. Rue must have felt it, too, because she became quiet, and her pulse couldn’t be felt.

“So, Panka told you he couldn’t get inside?” Valentine asked. “That must mean it’s being guarded by sorcery far more powerful than any pandora could produce, at least not without an incredibly complex seal. It might even be an artifact.”

Raven hummed. “I agree. And this mark is most likely a lock, meaning the only safe way in is to obtain the original key, an insignia ring or seal of some sort. I don’t expect we’ll ever find that. But we must find a way inside. Valius Shrale is the key to finding out what really happened to Sheeharu the day she destroyed the city. And if he kept his secrets here, this is where we start.”

“So, you think whatever he kept behind the door holds the answer to saving her?” Van asked.

“Possibly. Panka said that Sheeharu disappeared for an entire week before her transformation. He couldn’t find her anywhere, and that’s saying something. I suspect wherever this door leads is where Sheeharu disappeared to, and that’s why Panka couldn’t find her.”

“A black triangle with a red dot,” Valentine said, examining the insignia above the door. “I’ve never seen it before.”

“Neither have I.”

“Oh, that,” Van said simply, putting his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, I know what that is now.”

“You do?” Raven and Valentine said in unison.

“Yeah, I knew I’d seen it before. I just couldn’t remember where. It was driving me crazy, so I gave it to one of my boys to investigate. He got me an answer in no time.”

“One of your… boys?” Valentine repeated with a strange look.

“Er… you know… a friend.”

Clearly a lie, but Raven pressed him. “So, what is it?”

“It’s Valius Shrale’s symbol.”

Raven scowled. “I already deduced that from inference.”

“I think we both did, which is why I didn’t mention it until now. Panka already told us this door was created by him. So, I didn’t think anything else of it.”

“But how did your… boy… figure out this was Shrale’s officially adopted insignia? I’ve never seen it anywhere else. No text I know of has record of it.”

“Now you’re asking the right question,” Van replied with smile and a snap of the fingers. “And now that I think about it, there is a place you’re really gonna want to see.”